To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar

Best: EVERYTHING

Worst: NOTHING

Do I need to say why? It is a masterpiece! This is the BLACKEST albums you will ever hear. I remember the day I listened to this album (March 18, 2015 to be exact), and I was in love when I heard “Wesley’s Theory”. This album made me feel just about every emotion, the jazz and funk infused rhythms, the poem that ends with him interviewing Tupac, and the cultural phenomenon that it created. “Alright” was voted Song of the Decade for a reason, almost all publications put this album at #1 for a reason. There is no way to describe the feeling you get from listening to this album, especially if you’re Black. It is an album that needs multiple listens to understand the totality and importance of it. This is one of the albums that feels a lot like fine wine: it’s an acquired taste, and everyone might not enjoy it. This is my favorite album of all time, and I don’t get upset if someone were to say that they didn’t enjoy it. However, anyone would have to recognize that this is art at its highest form.

You might be thinking, “How the HELL did you put To Pimp A Butterfly at number 2?? Have you no respect???” I know I thought that while making this list, but there has always been one album that stood head and shoulders above everything else and it topped out as number 1 for my Top Five Albums of the Decade Series.