The Best Rap Album of November 2014 - To:You by Von Pea

Despite what a lot of people think I really dig Rick Ross and I enjoyed his new release Hood Billionaire. It's not going to convert anyone who has a problem with Rick being a story teller and not "real" but his core fans will dig the shit out of it.

I was very surprised at the albums of Axel F and J-Live. J-Live never had that gangster persona and I suppose it has kept a lot of people away from his music but the brother has dope, intellectual flow and his homage to early hip hop on every album keeps the roots of this genre clearly in the mind of each listener. J-Live's album Around the Sun is for a lack of better words, hot.

 Axel F is another cat with a strong flow and roots deep in soul music. This is the kind of hip hop I am really digging these days. That pop hop shit out now does nothing for me and I guess it isn't suppose to. I grew up listening to Kane, ATCQ, EPMD and Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth and therefore have a very low tolerance for bullshit passing for hip hop. If you ear is close to mine you'll dig Theme Music by Axel F.

Your Old Droog released his self titled album this month and he has a nice flow. Imagine Ghostface Killah being from Russia and you pretty much have Droog. That is not a diss. He has a great voice for hip hop and flow he just needs a super producer to rein him in a tad and tighten up his future albums. I'd like to see 9th Wonder get a hold of this young boy. Just thinking about the album that could come out of that hook up sends chills up my spine.

The best for last. I don't give a fuck what none of y'all say or think about this choice. If you haven't heard this album I don't want to hear shit from you. If you don't hear this album after this review you will do a disservice to your future generations because this joint will rearrange the DNA in your scrotum.

The best rap album of November 2014 is To:You by Von Pea.

Von Pea got you for the head nod, Von Pea got you for the whip, Von Pea got you for the house party, Von Pea got you for the bowl or vape. Nigga, Von Pea just got yo ass with To:You but you are not going to believe me. Go listen to it for yourself and get back to me if I'm lying.

The Best Rap Album of October 2014 - March On Washington by Diamond District

I really was rooting for Stalley's Ohio album and Black Milk's album If There is a Hell Below but although they are solid albums neither was the best album released in October 2014. Even The Black Opera album The Great Year and The Ras Kass-Apollo Brown duet joint Blasphemy dropped some very major albums this month but by a slight margin one album pulled ahead of the rest.

The best rap album of October 2014 honor goes to the group Diamond District with their album titled, March On Washington. This wasn't just an Oddisee joint with two voices tossed in for affect, yU and Uptown XO really stepped their games up and took it to the dope beats Oddisee came up with.

The Best Rap Album of September 2014 - Hallways by Homeboy Sandman

I needed a break so I took a break. It's not like anyone is helping a brother out with the donate button. Hell I'd even take a Dunkin' Donuts card but whatever.

I never did this blog for any kind of recognition I did it because of the bullshit I saw passing for hip hop and those suck ass award shows that haven't let me down yet.

Let's get right to it.

 Fuck all that Lecrae shit, Fuck all that Jim Jones shit. Young Jeezy had a couple hot joints but let's get it straight.

The best rap album of September 2014 was Hallways by Homeboy Sandman. If you don't know who that is it ain't my fault. Call your local radio station and demand to hear him.

No stealing go and get a subscription from Rhapsody.

The Best Rap Album of August 2014 - Codename:Ego Stripper by Ces Cru

The only album worth a damn in August was Codename:Ego Stripper by Ces Cru. So there you have it.

The best rap album of August 2014 - Codename:Ego Stripper by Ces Cru.

There's no video this month because my favorite song Axiom has no video on YouTube and this month sucked so much musically I didn't feel like making one myself as I have been known to do. No, wait I found something you can listen to. Don't say I never gave you anything.

The Best Rap Album of July 2014 - Eyes Watching God by Reks

With the release of albums this month by some of the hip hop greats such as Common, Cam'ron and Onyx. I was really hoping for amazing shit. Especially since it took many of them so long to put out that work.

Well I was almost bored to tears except for a couple of standouts in July.

Common released his album Rewind That which I actually did have to rewind several times because I fell asleep through it a couple of times.

Cam'ron has a couple of songs on his EP album First of the Month: Vol. 1 but in all honesty I have never been much of a Cam'ron fan so I may not be the most objective giving his joint a critique. Check it for yourself.

Those rowdy cats from Queens better known as Onyx dropped an album giving it the old hood try again. There is lots of screaming and yelling on #Turndafucup but I guess my problem is still reminiscing on that dirty grimy sound from 20 years ago. I guess its not fair but fuck it, that's what I want from Onyx and I just don't get it here.

Cormega released his album Mega Philosophy that was decent once he got out of the way of his guests AZ, Redman, Raekwon and Black Rob. I have always felt the Cormega's delivery should be smoother and more, I don't know professional sounding. He still has that talent show in the rec room flow that we are all waiting to evolve because the voice and content are there but I guess that final polish we are all looking for never will arrive. Do check it out though, it is still real hip hop.

There were a couple of stand out albums this month worth your money.

Planet Asia dropped a very solid album this month. One of the few west coast cats that I fuck with I know for certain that many songs from the album Via Satellite will be in my best of 2014 playlist. You need to get that, this is one of the most lyrical dudes in hip hop right now and the flow is crazy. If you have never heard of him think of him as a west coast Sean P. He's on that level.

My regular readers know that I have no use for that sing songy nursery rhyme bullshit rap music that is popular right now. This next cat is another lyrical beast on the mic.

I could have easily selected Via Satellite album of the had it not been for this next cat's album.

Reks and Skyzoo have to be the most consistent hip hop MCs of the past five years. Everything they drop is nothing but pure fire and Reks' new album is no exception.

Reks wastes no time overwhelming you from the first song to last in an effort to prove that he is the lyrical genius of this era.

The best rap album of July 2014 is Eyes Watching God by Reks.

The Best Rap Album of June 2014 - The Gateway to Greatness by P.SO the Earth Tone King

 I am officially declaring 2014 as the year that the boom bap returned.

J Rawls released a nice album in June called The Legacy featuring Masta Ace and Oddisee among others. Decent effort.

Apathy dropped Connecticut Casual which is a very a dope album with lots of provocative lyrics that you guys might like.

Even 50 Cent dropped an album in June titled Animal Ambition. There are three joints on it I like but you 50 fans will probably find more to enjoy.

Even you cats that like that Diggable Planet/Arrested Development sound will get something to enjoy from a group named The Red, Gold and Green Machine.

Their album Planet Africa is nice and uplifting with that black bohemian vibe that I know you have missed for a long time.

The stand out album of the month comes a cat out of Buffalo New York named P.SO the Earth Tone King.

After spending years perfecting his style in clubs in Brooklyn and Queens P.SO decided to take us back to the golden era of Hip Hop with his album.

The Gateway to Greatness infuses 90's classic boom bap with jazz and a couple dashed of soul to grace us with one of the best albums of 2014.

Don't get me wrong though, this isn't just head nod music, P.SO's flow is crazy and you can tell that he stands on the shoulders of the great story teller rappers but without biting anyone's style. His voice and flow are his own and he spits with the best of them.

You need to get this album today for your summer 2014 soundtrack. And there you have it.

The Best Rap Album of June 2014 - The Gateway to Greatness by P.SO the Earth Tone King

The Best Rap Album of May 2014 - Good To Be Home by Blu

There were three outstanding rap albums this month, the others aren't even worth mentioning. Let's get right to it.

Out of Los Angeles my favorite west coast MC named Blu released his album titled Good To Be Home and let me tell you its a BEAST.

Blu is clearly at one with himself and comfortable in his own skin because the combination of flow and lyrical content in addition to his laid back soul makes for a masterpiece. This album will no doubt be his addition to the classic shelf for years to come. If you like rap music you can't miss picking up this album.

Straight out of Brooklyn comes the dynamic duo of Skyzoo and Torae with their album Barrel Brothers.

Regular readers of this blog know that I am a Skyzoo fiend. This cat is the rapper that I listen to the most so when he teamed up with Torae for this album I had high expectations and they didn't let me down.

As an album Barrel Brothers is about the best thing that you are going to hear in 2014, I can promise you that as you read this.

This is more than East Coast underground boom bap the existence of this joint is a clear signal to me that the golden years of hip hop are about to return.

If anyone tells you that there isn't any new good rap music just hand them this album and back away.

The third standout album of the month comes from a dude that I had never heard of before name Speak so I had to look him up.

I don't know what's in the water in L.A. but those other rappers out there need to dip from Speak's well because this fool brings it all the way on his album Gnarly Davidson vs. The Marlboro Man.

At first look you'd think Speak was a vagrant on skid row but I found out fast that this bum can spit though.

I think growing up being influenced by The Roots and Cam coupled with his Mexican and middle eastern heritage lend something very special to hip hop right now and the album is amazing.

This was really tough and a very good argument can be made for either of these albums being selected as the best rap album of May 2014 but I am here to make the tough choices right.

Fuck it, The Best Rap Album of May 2014 is Good To Be Home by Blu.

My choice will probably change tomorrow so I am just going to go ahead and bang all three for the rest of the year and so should you.

The Best Rap Album of April 2014 - Respect the Architect by Blueprint

There were a lot of albums released in April of 2014. some pretty good and others ehhhh.

Nas released Illmatic XX for the twentieth anniversary of the classic Illmatic.

The album is a re-release of the original album in addition to remixes of the original songs by various producers. You can't really go wrong with Illmatic. Big shout to Nas and happy anniversary.

Ratking released the album So It Goes and although most people will not like it I really found his avant garde' flavor very interesting. It's worth a peek on iTunes or Rhapsody.

Dr. Doom released the album Machine Man under the new name of  Mobonix. To all you Dr. Doom heads there are five really strong cuts so check it out.

My favorite song of April is off the new Asher Roth album RetroHash. The album is to all over the place for my liking but you must hear the song Parties at the Disco and as the children say, get your life.

There were a lot of other albums released also but as my regulars know, my policy is if I don't have anything nice to say about your shit i don't say anything at all. On to the two albums that really stood out.

Sean Poppy aka Smoke Dza dropped his fourth album titled Dream, Zone, Achieve and before you accuse me of being biased to East Coast many of his songs sound like he comes straight out of Atlanta. I dig Smoke Dza's ability to choose soulful mind bending melodies to flow over which you never hear from southern rappers with his style.

The entire album is tight and will be one that I'll be listening to for the rest of the year but believe it or not it wasn't my favorite album of April.

Bringing that Ohio sound to the game Blueprint aka Printmatic released my favorite album of April Respect the Architect.

It is going to be very easy for lazy cowards to marginalize Respect the Architect as another "underground" album not really on par with major releases but I have never been on that bullshit about differentiating underground albums with so called major releases. I only care about telling you what I think is the dopest album released each month, period. I am not a hip hop bigot.

If you have never heard of Blueprint don't let that keep you from getting at this album as soon as possible. It is after all the best rap album of April 2014.

The Best Rap Album of March 2014 - Glitches in the Break by Black Milk

This was the month of the Bay Area rappers apparently. Everyone from Sage the Gemini and Clyde Carson to Lil Debbie released full albums. Unfortunately none of it was to my liking but I'm sure they'll do well in their region.

Those old heads Onyx drop an album, Wakedafucup, that I was about to send to the trash bin but the second half of the album really picked up well and there are enough decent cuts on it for me to tell you to sample it on iTunes.

Then there were the albums from the major artists. Kid Cudi, Rick Ross and Black Milk.

Kid Cudi did absolutely nothing to change my opinion about his music. I guess it sucks for me to have grown up on Digable Planets, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and many more that I actually know the difference between bull shit and great music when I hear it. If his schtick is up your alley then by all means enjoy.

Rick Ross, I was so very much looking forward to this album. You see I never had any problems with the crime tales and whether or not he was "keepin' it real". I listened for entertainment, his flow and tight production which since linking with Def Jam has been outstanding.

This album, Mastermind, is aiight but not really much more. There are 6 cuts I listen to and out of those five I really like but nothing great.

If you think Rick Ross is nothing but a fat fraud and people who listen to his music are nothing but suckers this album certainly won't do anything for you. True Rick Ross fans such as myself will find songs of value but this one will not be on the classic shelf.

I normally don't even review an EP but this one from Black Milk had two things going for it.

First it had more than four songs on it and second I fucks with Black Milk so I had to include this in my albums to review this month.

Glitches in the Break actually has nine songs on it including my favorite song of the year, Cold Day. You have got to hear this joint.

Never straying from his roots of soul and R&B Black Milk's own production and ridiculous flow easily made this the dopest album of the month by a whole lot.

Cats need to stop trying to compete with Black Milk and just hire him to produce your albums because if he drops one the same month you really don't have much of a chance. This right here is real hip hop.

The best rap album of March 2014 is Glitches in the Break by Black Milk.

The Best Rap Album of February 2014 - E&J by Dag Savage

There were some very interesting albums this month, each with a couple catchy joints.

N.O.R.E. dropped his album as the artist named Good Belt Gang N.O.R.E. Presents: Resource Room, which wasn't bad.

Prodigy released an album with a mix of old Mobb Deep material and new joints called The Most Infamous which will satisfy most Mobb Deep fans for a minute.

Schoolboy Q is making noise right now and if that's your thing that's cool but his album does nothing for me.

The two most outstanding albums released in February 2014 were E&J by Dag Savage and Never Say Die Vol. 1 by Archie Bang.

It was close but I have to give the nod to Dag Savage just for being more soulful and clever with the lyrics. However I also recommend that you by Never Say Die Vol.1 because it too is a solid joint.

The Best Rap Album of February 2014 - is E&J by Dag Savage

The Best Rap Album of January 2014 - Lord Steppington by the Step Brothers

Fuck all that Kid Ink bull shit. If you want a dope album don't waste your money on that.

The Best Rap Album of January 2014 - Lord Steppington by the Step Brothers, period point blank.