If you are a hip-hop mega-fan, you probably enjoyed the stacked list of performers at this year’s Superbowl Halftime show. Here are a few extra recent albums to listen to if you have already heard the classics and need more than Dre’s The Chronic and Dogg’s Doggystyle.
Billed as both the return of Dr. Dre and his final record, Compton met expectations after 16 years of absence. It coincided with the release of the biopic film Straight Outta Compton, about his former group N.W.A., but Compton stands on its own. Reflective of Dre’s past and forward-looking regarding the title city, his allegedly last record shows the rapper/producer as aggressively literate as he has ever been.
Beginning with a killer Stevie Wonder hook in “California Roll,” Bush announces itself with a classy, nostalgic vibe and sticks to that mode for 40 minutes straight. The chill funk of Pharrell Williams’ production gives a consistent flow to each of the ten tracks, and Snoop Dogg’s endless swagger is in top form.
The recent outputs of the legacy artists at the half-time show have been spotty (to say the least), and Eminem is the most spotty of them all. The Marshall Mathers LP 2, despite the title, is easily the freshest of his otherwise out-of-touch new records, defying the expectations of this sequel by focusing on the moment.
Mary J. Blige, the R&B artist of the core group, has continued to turn in a decent record every few years. Though it doesn’t have any of the halftime show collaborators present, she knew how to pick a good list of musicians for Strength of a Woman, and her voice remains strong across all 14 tracks.
You could count all of Kendrick Lamar’s discography as must-listen albums, but the most overlooked full-length, even with its massive success, is Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. For classic-sounding, incredible skill on display with a sustained dark, hazy mood throughout, look no further than this one since it was a legacy record the day it was released.
One could effectively argue that 50 Cent’s albums get worse as you chronologically progress through them, but his middle album, Curtis, is the last that comes across as lyrically on point. Curtis still has his usual menace, but with an equal number of pop-leaning softer songs as well.
Anderson .Paak is fresh off a massively successful studio project with Bruno Mars entitled An Evening with Silk Sonic, but his best album will always be Malibu. Twisting from one thrilling R&B texture to the next, Anderson .Paak’s skill and versatility culminates here thanks to his boundless need for discovery within his music.
Look out for these seven top-notch performers on almost all of the records on this list! Each album features a slew of great guests and lots of Kendrick Lamar verses.