1. The Roots – undun
Undun, dun. A rap album of the decade if only for it’s unprecedented conceptual ambitions, marrying hip-hop to the most expansive kind of musicality. But then again we are officially team-Roots, so rather than sounding like assholes by going on about how good it is, maybe it’s better to cherrypick a few choice quotes from other publications:
Dire narrative has always sustained this tirelessly adaptable hip-hop crew, and undun, the backward-spooling parable of an ill-fated hustler, is a mother lode. – NY Times (#8, Top 10 LPs)
The 10th and best full-length studio album of the group’s career. Over 38 filler-free minutes…the tightly wound narrative is…animated by its sharp turns of phrase, coal-grey images, and, most of all, its evocative music -Chicago Tribune (4 stars out of 4)
No verse is wasted, no optimism is spared…at 39 minutes, undun feels like a lifetime, because it is one….The result is a cinematic moment waiting to be processed, fictionalized into hip-hop. It’s as if the listener zoomed in beyond the safe narrative distance of the song and actually ended up in the movie. – NPR
Undun is not just a very good album; it is, to me, the Roots’ most thoughtful, important album. It does what we expect great albums to do, what Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back or Prince’s Sign o’ The Times or Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On all do: It tells a story that we rarely hear. – Capital NY
what about the Adrian Younge album? it sounded like you were going to put Something About April on this list.
thats because i forgot to add the honorable mentions! now with audio/youtube clips and buy-links as well…
I really dont think that little dragon album deserved #2. At all. It was boring as hell. Id rather see Amy at #2.
Can’t say i agree at all. i will say that if the Amy Winehouse record was a completely realized LP it would probably be higher than #4 but as it is, we just got a collection of random gems more than a true album.
good list, would have loved to see Onierology by Cunninlynguists, Dr. Lecter by Action Bronson, and Nine Types of Light by TV On The Radio on there, im still repeating those beauties, some of the best albums iv ever hear. period.
Wow. Not even an honorable mention for Phonte’s Charity Starts at Home.
real talk. that phonte album was fire.
How the Thundercat – Golden Age of Apocalypse album didn’t make it, well never know. The list solid though.
undun #1? lol
i agree with undun being number 1
is funny that this is their web site
but undun is definitely the best lp i’ve heard since the renaissance
shit is cohesive than a mafucka
It’s a good list. i feel undun is #1
No cute phrasing. No creative analogies. Direct, clear, with as much clarity as possible………..How in the fucking Motherfucking FUCK! did Charity Starts at Home not make this list?
no fair! i called undun as hip-hop album of the decade a few weeks ago!
“Oneirology” by Cunninlynguists was definitely the best hip hop record i’ve heard this year. Haven’t gotten a chance to check out the new Roots or Common LPs yet, however.
I used to Love Okayplayer (it used to be my homepage), but in age of blogs and websites being able to speak the truth, its sad too see OKayplayer relevance dwindling. I have seen so many top 10 lists most of them putting in stuff to make them sound cool. But is is the most ridiculous bias list i have ever seen, pretty much a di@k sucking of the artists they support/sponsor the site. I think only 2 or 3 would get anywhere near the real top 10 album’s of the year and others music media’s lists. I mean Jill and Amy you have to be joking Little dragon are great but this is there worst record the other 3 are much better only big now and on this list because they were on the Gorillaz album (happy for them the deserve it).
Maybe one day okayplayer will be a bit more objective.
I miss the old Okayplayer
I mean we stated upfront that as team Roots, we’re not even going to try to be objective about undun but i am glad to note that quite a few people agree with us that it is the shit. otherwise i think this list pretty objectively reflects the consensus of the OKP staff–i put Little Dragon #2 because thats a record that we all wholeheartedly agree on and speaking for myself I have never listened to a Gorillaz LP (no shots, like Damon Albarn’s other work) so that was def. not a factor. Definitely not joking about Amy Winehouse or Jill Scott and some people I heard from felt Lioness should have been # 1, so there you go…
Horrible list. okayplayer is slowly loosing credibility. No Phonte? No J-Live? No Action Bronson? No Oddisee? No yU? Shame on you okayplayer.
undun was the album of the year.
Oneirology was just not as good, sorry. It’s a good album, a 90 or 91 on my scale, but it lacks the cohesion of Undun. Basically, it lacks Questlove.
take Lasers off the honourable mentions immediately.
HA. Lasers is a lot of people’s favorite album but im not sure Lupe is one of them…on the other hand 2011 is the year he emerged as a serious force in pop music–and gave us some hints about what he might do with that growing influence over young minds. Deserves an honor-rebel mention in my mind.
That ‘The Div’ isn’t #1 is an issue for me. That Pac Div didn’t even make an honorable mention is a real problem.
C’mon Son!!!
Oneirology is a more complete/cohesive album than Undun. The Otherside, Kool On, Tip the Scale&the Lighthouse song r all GREAT SONGS but as far as albums go that whole orchestrated 4 song ending to Undun is not necessary. Also the whole Robert Redford storyline or whatever was not as comphrensible as i expected. How I Got Over was album of 2010, shoulda won the grammy, but Undun is not the #1 album of 2011, no way, its bias plain&simple.
I disagree. Oneirology has a very loose concept and the rappers do not stick to any cohesive kind of story, the theme is just “dreams” which can be expanded to mean anything. Undun follows a very cohesive story and every line on the album, by every rapper on it, is spitting from the voice of Redford. The beats also follow the theme better in Undun, as they flow in and out much smoother and one song leads into the next (like the tonal shift from Otherside, to Stomp, to Lighthouse)
If you really listen to Undun the story becomes much more cohesive. It is about Redford’s betrayal of his friend and how that ultimately led to his undoing.
yes Oneirology is about dreams, wat other rap album hav you heard that dedicates itself to dreams??? something so huge in our day to day lives gets overlooked so easy&cunninlynguists did a phenomenal job with, and the fact this album DIDN’T EVEN MAKE THE LIST is a testament to bias. If every rapper on Undun is ‘spose to be speaking from the same persons point of view that shows why it can be mundane&confusing
Best album of 2011…in my opinion…”Sound Palace” by Dibia$e. I can’t believe that it wasn’t mentioned.
I love The Roots, but I’m not feeling “undun.” It doesn’t do anything for me. They’re on some “emo-shit” with this one; kinda’ depressing.
I’m happy to see such a diverse range of albums on this list. As for Undun being #1, I am sad to say that this album left me void of any feeling at all. I have a huge level of respect for the ambitious attempt of making a conceptual album such as Undun, it just didn’t work for me. The ironic thing is that everything I feel Undun set out to do was accomplished on How I Got Over. Even prior to Undun’s release, I felt as though HIGO was a beautiful story start to finish that defines my life and how I see the world. It is a much stronger accomplishment to create an album that tells a story one can relate to without actually telling a story. How I got Over is The Roots best album and will be extremely difficult to top. It is the “93 Till Infinity” of The Roots career.
Man you took the words right out of my mouth. HIGO was far richer in terms of narrative structure. I know that undun was a conceptual piece, but HIGO was a far better album for a 42 year old dude like myself who hasn’t got to this age being no dummy. undun is a beast of an album musically, but lyrically HIGO is richer, brighter, and triumphant. undun is a beautiful dark, but it did not do it for me like HIGO did. I ride with the roots on everything, but when the smoke clears people will recognize that HIGO was doper. Everybody is riding the undun wagon because the NPR crowd has been enlightened–fuck that shit. This is Organix alumni over here. Anyway–it’s all good:) Ups to the greatest hip-hop band in the world.
no panda bear’s tomboy?
There were so many great albums last year and I know I’m way late on adding my two cents but that Charity Starts At Home was just dope to me. If it means anything Phonte you made my list bruh…
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