4 Favorite Projects from the Last 4 Years

This is my personal list, so you will likely disagree with at least a couple of these picks, but in my opinion, music is an art in which everybody has their own tastes and opinions about.  I also value well-roundedness highly, so an album with a couple duds is unlikely to make my list.  So, without further ado, here are my top five projects of the last five years (in no particular order):

ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ (2017)

ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ is the second album from New York rapper Joey Bada$$.  As Joey himself describes it: “This new project is very powerful. That's the best thing I can say about it: it's very strong music.”  The album is very thought provoking and tackles political and social problems.  Similar to Uncomfortable, ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ is more than just ear-candy.  Joey does a fantastic job of blending new-school and old-school sounds with the entire album with hit songs like “Temptation” and “For My People.”  It features some big names in rap including J. Cole and Schoolboy Q.  The album also reached number 2 on the US Billboard 200 and was named one of the top rap/hip-hop albums of 2017 by multiple publications.

Good Religion (2016)

Good Religion is definitely the album you are least likely to have heard of in this article.  This album was created by the Dream Junkies group.  Unlike the other projects and artists in this article, the Dream Junkies are a west coast group from San Diego area.  The Dream Junkies have since split but at the time were made up of Ruslan, John Givez, and Beleaf.  Good Religion is an album that will be a classic for me.  It does what the best Christian hip-hop albums do – talk about God without being too “preachy.”  The laid back vibe on the album also works very well.  This was also the last album by the group, which adds some emphasis to the album including some of the songs such as “Answer Your Call” featuring Carlene Crawford.  Other standout songs include “I Got the Juice” and “Boogie Man,” but it is an all-around great album.  There aren’t many features, but it does feature Murs, Gracy, and Carlene Crawford.  If you haven’t heard Good Religion I would definitely recommend giving it a listen as it is one of my favorites.

Church Clothes 3 (2016)

Church Clothes 3 is the only mixtape on this list.  It is one of many Lecrae’s projects, but his most underrated in my opinion.  Lecrae also created a short film to correspond with it.  Similar to ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, it attempts to tackle a lot of social issues, specifically with race.  However, Lecrae takes more of a religious focus on those issues in Church Clothes 3.  The highlights of the album are “It Is What It Is,” “Gangland,” and “Misconceptions 3,” but like the other projects on this list, Church Clothes 3 is very well rounded with no skips.  The mixtape features rappers such as Propaganda, E-40, and KB.  The mixtape peaked at 12 on the Billboard 200 and is definitely worth a listen.

Uncomfortable (2015)

I touched on this album in my last article, Uncomfortable by Andy Mineo is a masterpiece in my mind.  When it first released, I actually wasn’t very fond of it, but listening to it more I fell in love with it.  It starts of fast with the title track “Uncomfortable.” It continually challenges and provokes thinking and reflection of the listener.  There are a wide variety of songs and vibes on the album with pump-up songs like “Desperados” and “Know That’s Right” and slower, more emotional songs like “Hear My Heart.”  It features a wide variety of artists including Mali Music, Jon Bellion, Willow Stephens, and Mac Powell (from the band Third Day).  The album peaked at 10 on the US Billboard 200, but it deserves more recognition for its excellence.

Everybody has their own tastes and therefore their own opinions on albums.  What are your favorite projects?