For the most part, Hip Hop in 2019 was nothing if not wide-ranging. Rap music from all over the world made us think, entertained us and left a mark on the culture. But there are five albums that fell more than a little short — they were so underwhelming they earned the title of the Most Disappointing Hip Hop Albums of 2019. Considering this was a year when Nick Cannon went for Eminem’s neck with multiple disses — and got roasted for his troubles — it took extra effort to suck this much.
At the end of every year, the team at HipHopDX likes to review and recap the most important things that happened in our culture. We look back at the Beef’s, the best social media moments, some of the best rap lyrics in the game, as well as recognize the overall best. So check all that happened in Hip Hop in 2019 or click here if you want to see the full list of Hip Hop Awards, nominees and winners.
Here are the Most Disappointing Hip Hop Albums of 2019.
Logic — Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
It’s one thing to be self-aware and another thing entirely to be self-conscious. And while Logic tries, desperately, to be the former, he ultimately comes off as the latter, which is why Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is nothing but a shoddy emo mess. There are a few moments of brilliance — “Icy” gets by with a little help from Logic’s friend Gucci Mane — but Confessions is mostly a series of songs that feature Logic trying too hard to be “down” for his own good.
DJ Khaled — Father of Asahd
Considering DJ Khaled pulled out all the stops to promote Father of Asahd — even going so far as to play kissy-face with Gayle King on CBS This Morning — one would think he’d have something impressive to deliver. But when the album dropped, we all realized he’d been doing the same thing since 2006. And while that sound and overloaded list of features then, it’s become stale and boring in what is about to be 2020.
Gucci Mane — Woptober II
As an artist, Gucci Mane’s legacy is certainly solidified. However, Woptober II was one of his most unnecessary and irrelevant works to date. Guwop’s second album of 2019 would’ve probably been best served staying on the cutting room floor of the studio. And who told him inviting Kodak Black to drop guest verses on ANYTHING these days was a good idea?
Kanye West — Jesus is King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCI5D5hHWt0
It’s hard to believe that today’s Trump-loving, silver-paint-wearing, slavery-is-a-choice Kanyeezus Christ is the same Kanye West that blessed the world with production on The Blueprint and put out the seminal 808s and Heartbreaks. But with his glory days seemingly behind him, Jesus is King is nothing more than a reminder of how far the mighty have fallen.
Chance The Rapper — The Big Day
It takes a lot for the entire editorial board of HipHopDX to universally agree on something, but they all agreed that The Big Day fell entirely short of expectations. Chance the Rapper is someone who, unquestionably, has a higher bar to scale than most, and perhaps the high expectations of what could have been are what made The Big Day so terribly disappointing. Regardless of the reasoning, the debut studio album fell horribly short of expectations.
Completely disagree, on the Logic album. Might not have been the best album ever but wasn’t even close to being bad.
People just love to hate him.
For some reason he’s possibly most hated on dude in hip hop, while many trash rappers somehow are given a pass…
Jesus is King is my album of the year. Kanye’s music has now evolved into powerful gospel. When i go through real shit, I want to hear something uplifting. I’m too old for the kill kill murda murda shit. I don’t even think y’all all the right ones to review it because it’s mainly a gospel album with like 3 hip hop tracks. Follow God is one of the best Ye songs in his catalog and one of the best this year.
You kanye stans need to stop. Artistically hes a hack. As a person hes a phony and will exploit anything (the president, religion, a hurricane) to stay on the news. Cant understand why such a man is the object of your worship.
Artistically a hack? He has an amazing track record with production, and many many classic rap songs. I mean, cmon man, it’s fine to hate someone, but he has contributed many great pieces. Goldigger? Stronger? Black skinhead? Heartless? Countless productions, like Jayz Lucifer, The Games Dreams from The Documentary… Kanye may not be your tastes, but work wise, he’s contributed more classics than the majority of everyone’s top 10s. I don’t put Kanye in too ten as an Emcee. But I put him in top 10 for what he’s given to hiphop.
kanye’s best days are behind? Didn’t y’all just give 2 of his albums high honors last year (Daytona and Kids See Ghosts)? First they love you then they hate you then they love you again.
This site is anti Christian and anti Kanye
As it should be
They’re paid critics.They were also on Chance the Rappers nuts not that long ago. His album sucked but
This site is anti Kanye and anti Christian…if kanye would’ve said he’s gay they would’ve gave it a perfect rating
Jesus is King is really good
Jesus is King was a masterpiece. Wonder why people are hating. Kanye is one of the few artists who tries something new with each release.
How could y’all leave off Jeezy last album…. shit was trash
Is that why gucci tried so hard to get press off Angela Yee on the breakfast club he KNEW his album was trash…tryna come up cheap! Believing his fans are Dumb & Stupid time will tell if they truly are Lol.
Wait I’m confused. What the fuck does Jeezy last album being trash got to do with Gucci?
Are you stupid?
If you think Kanye’s seminal album is 808s, you are part of the problem… Gotta get these corny Coldplay fans from off these hip-hop websites
Kanyes album was actually really nice.
Trash
I mean, taste is subjective for sure. Someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure. But, I wouldn’t call it trash. I thought it was some pretty beautiful, and positive gospel music. I’d say trash to me is more like the mumble rap type shit. But hey, to each their own! It’s all about personal preference.
Its trash
If it’s such trash, the you should sell music trash too! Why not simply go platinum selling garbage? Making trash must be easy as fuck, so u should go make hundreds of millions Bro!
nailed it bih
Jesus is King is a really good album
I haven’t seen Schoolboy Q on any of the most disappointing lists. It definitely should be. It was so much weaker than any of his previous efforts.
I wouldnt say that school boys album from this year was trash or dissapointing, it had some good songs on it 5200 is my fav, but I get what you mean, it definitely didnt bump as hard as his previous albums.
True! Huge Q fan here… Tde in general is terrible lately. Sad…
Kanye album was pure trash chill TF out dtans
How Sway????? HOW???
If Logic looked like J. Cole, people would like him more. Unfortunately he took after the white side of the family than black side.
He trash black or white still trash
If drake looked like Gucci mane, he would be considered top 5.
This website is the one that tries too hard to be “down”.
Big Day was so terrible it’s not even funny. And anyone saying Kanye made a good album needs to really rethink things. Can’t keep up a rhyme scheme, terrible production, and vague messages about God that is too shallow to be gospel. I don’t care what he raps about for his next album I just hope he finally makes good music again.
Anybody reading this needs to take the exact opposite of what you said honestly. I didn’t listen to Kanye till he put out that album and it’s beautiful. Production is fuckn amazing. It’s just now how u like it. Facts
I can understand bout Guwop, but, there is Tootsies, Came From Scratch, Time To Move. Plus other ok songs
yea woptober was dope
Yeah Woptober was dope, Woptober 2 wasn’t to me
So that shit Drake put out wasn’t trash??
I’m hoping you’re not referring to Drake’s Scorpion album? If so, you must be smoking that new kind of crack, that was some of his finest work, add to that to support what I’m saying, it’s that particular reason they didn’t put his album in the mix as one of the disappointing albums this year
Drake didn’t release an album this year ??Scorpion came out in 2018.
JESUS IS KING is an instant classic. stop it punks
That album is dog shit. Kanye has made GREAT music before, we know what he’s capable of. His latest work is trash.
True only follow god is good the reset is shite.
All because he put Jesus in the title doesn’t make it a classic this is the worst west album to ever come out and the pandering makes it even more pathetic
It’s not pandering. KANYE has been about Jesus since before he made it big. Listen to his old music. Jesus Walks ring a bell? That’s like saying DMX is a sellout for rapping about God for his whole life.
Shut the fuck up. Stan’s like you is the reason this trump lover still relevant
I’m not a Stan. I just like it, so you shut the fuck up bitch. It’s just a fucking opinion. Seriously, grow up. Music and art are subjective. I think Lil Xan is trash, but hey, if u enjoy it, good for u. It’s MUSIC and ART. To me, Kanyes music is nowhere near as low as most mainstream hiphop.
Pal. Kanyes new project is wack. Stop praising mediocrity.
GOOD LIST. I HATED ALL OF THESE ALBUMS. SUMMERTIME SHOOTOUT 3 DESERVES A NOD TOO.
I can’t tell if the people saying Jesus is King was great are trolling or not. We’re all in agreement that it was a disappointment to everyone except maybe Joel Osteen, right? Just making sure.
I respectfully disagree. Many enjoy it. It’s not hiphop though. I don’t usually like using this as an argument, but it went platinum quite quickly. That doesn’t mean it’s quality, but it does mean people enjoy it. Music is subjective. Most popular music sounds like shit to me. But hey, music can be as simple as an African man in the sun beating a drum and yelling, and if people enjoy it, they enjoy it.
Album sales doesn’t mean people enjoyed it. That just mean they were curious enough to see if he could actually put together a good Christian album. Once it was put out the concensus was that it was a bad album with no reply value. It has been plenty of bad albums that still sold well the first week
T
Lame albums because they sre mainstreamed it it was sesn price or mf doom you have to worry about limpnest
Rick Ross dropped a dud…Jeezy dropped a dud…how is it possible not ONE female artist made this list in a year females were so prevalent. Fabolous dropped a dud…Did Drill Music have any success? French Montana a dud…Casanova 3x a dud…Young M.A. a dud…Gangstarr a dud
Gangstarr a dud? Foh
Calm down, Bernadette. You lot are trying too hard.
the funni thing is rap/hip hop has steadily gone downhill since pac an biggie died. the fact that nipsey was able to make it as long as he did was by chance. now artist aren’t really artist because they’re jus puttin out the same ol same ol. there’s no more pen an pad rappers/lyricists because the record label wants albums so regular no talent ass mu’fuccas put out shyt that succs. dj khaled should’ve never gained popularity w/ all the hot mess crap he puts out. also, the game is flooded w/ any an everybody tryn 2 get fame off falsehoods.
Wow. I’ll agree that they’re more bad rappers than good rappers out right now. But I still have to acknowledge that there are alot of people who still have bars. It’s not all bad. It’s also exciting that there are some rappers who have bars that are being acknowledged in the “mainstream”.
Not quite friend. After Pac and Big, we got a ton of AMAZING classics hiphop! Jayz made amazing classics after their deaths. DMX mad countless classics, and is the best agreessive hiphop ever made. 50 cents udnergorund classics are AMAZING. Ludacris in his prime was something special and fun! Nelly was hot for pop rap, same goes for Ja Rule. Eminem made amazing all time classics, with some of the craziest flows of all time! See what I mean? Yes, the overall hiphop declined, but some of the best legends ever came after Pac and Bigs death. TUPAC is amazing to me, Biggie is overrated to me.
So hip hop has been bad since the mid 90s? Get the hell out of here. The golden age may of been the early to mid 90s, but there have been SO. MANY. DOPE. ALBUMS since then. Ignorance at its worst, and only a fairweather fan of the genre would profess hip hop died when Pac and Biggie did.
Not really sure disappointing is the right word for any of these albums. I dont think Logic is capable of “disappointing” me because he last few projects have been bad. Not surprised the lastest is bad as well. What were was expected of Kanye as well? He said what he was going to do. This is what I kinda expected. The Gucci album is definitely on par with what he’s been dropping since he came out of jail. One thing I feel about the Chance album is he always raps about what’s happening in his life. Should we be surprised he made essentially a wedding album seeing how he recently got married. All khaled albums are cookie cutter to me. Very formulaic. A couple bangers here and ther but never a complete body of work…. “Disappointing”? Not in my opinion…Expected maybe. Lol.
Aye yo y’all on some shit if yall thinkin c.o.a.d.m is a bad album, tha shit was fire
Maybe I’m just old, but the floor should already be very low for a Gucci Mane or Chance The Rapper album. Decent guys, I guess. But no one should expect Illmatic from either
Agreed. I think the real dissapontiment comes from somewhat great rappers, like Schoolboy Q, and the shitty album Crash Talk.
Chance the Rapper is dope. People need to quit hating on dude.
Schoolboy Qs album seriously ignored here? I LOVE Q. I still listen to his former albums more so than I’d play old Kendrick or TDE. Oxymoron is amazing, Blank Face has THE BEST playback value, and older project were amazing! Crash talk however, SUCKS! Hated it first listen, gave it many spins, only time I’ll not skip it is if I simply want loud bass when cruising with the top down in the summertime. I am such a disappointed TDE fan! Kendrick was once like the second coming of Pac, a poetic, deep, and passionate rapper… I can’t stand Kendrick now, sadly. Absouls last great album was Control System, which is an underrated classic, and one of the best hiphop albums of the past decade. Jay rocks Redemption is absolute pop rap trash! FOLLOW ME HOME is a classic, and 90059 is a solid album… Tde man… Once they went mainstream, they went radio. So depressing, as they were the saviors of hiphop! I once compared Kendrick music to Jayz most classic music! No more..
I can’t say I agree with everything you said but Schoolboy Q’s album was easily the most disappointing album of the year.
What do u like?
What do I like? Old Jayz, Old Eminem, Old DMX, Tupac, Big L, Big Pun, old 50 Cent, some select OLD Snoop, Kendrick from 2009-2013, Schoolboy Q up until his last album, Some old Ja Rule n Nelly, Old Ludacris, Some Wutang, MASTA ACE, Old Redman, Grieves, Prof, Ice Cube, G Unit…. I have a lot of hiphop I love!
Some people in these comments need to understand that music and art are subjective. It comes down to personal tastes. What’s bad to you is great to someone else.
I couldn’t agree more. These were some highly weak assed albums. I wasn’t expecting nothing special from woptober though. Gucci been putting out mediocrity since before going to prison, and now he’s putting out str8 wackness
Jesus Is King – Fire
Yeah…the author of this article is tripping big time.
agree, album to the fire. kanye sold shit for clickbait
Umm…Chance the Rapper and Ye dropped very promising projects. The only problem was their albums were too short.
RNS is right.. plenty duds in 2019..
PLENTY of dope albums too but this site clearly doesn’t understand what real hip hop is.
What you said!
Every song on Logic’s latest album was fire. The fuck are these people talking about?
The majority of artist on here are talking positivity or religion … guess that’s not “Cool”
I completely agree
Jesus is king is good tho
Beats are decent but Kanye’s rapping is terrible, his singing his hilariously bad, and the hooks are corny as hell.
Gucci mane is not solidified as an artist, every album he has ever put out is terrible. Dont know how you can be disappointed with him, bar should set at the basement floor. Kanye doesnt deserve to be on this list. I normally agree with this writer, the white girl is one of the only ones on here who knows hip hop, not today though.
Who wrote this? Kanye and Logic’s joints are ?. Ijs
Confessions of a dangerous mind is Logic’s best work. Don’t get me wrong it’s not the greatest, but it definitely 150% does not belong on this list. The Logic Em track is one of the best displays of rap period this year hands down. I swear people’s taste in music is getting so shitty. He’s actually a good rapper! Haha Kanye’s cd ass only decent track is follow god and it’s less than 2minutes. Next they’re gonna say Gangstarr’s one of the best yet is a let down watch! Hope 2020 bring some fire WE NEED IT!
DJ Khaled’s Album is dope! Are you even a hip hop fan ?… smh
????Are you f*** kidding me get out of here that bs. Every album he drops it’s not disappointing it’s going to be bad
Are you actually retarded? Someone has to fire you