Top 11 Most Anticipated HipHop Albums of 2011

Ok with 2011 already seeing a couple dope albums dropping, including Talib Kweli’s Gutter Rainbows and the recently released Saigon album, The Greatest Story Never Told. 2011 is shaping up to be a sold year for hip hop.  Here we fill out the top 10 most aniticipated hip hop albums for the rest of 2011:

1. Dr. Dre – Detox

Release Date: Fall 2011

The good doctor has been promising us Detox for quite some time now and it looks like it will finally drop.  Ten years after the critically acclaimed Chronic 2001 and closing in on 20 years since the classic Chronic dropped, it’s hard to tell what to expect from Detox.  Already we are seeing a couple singles off the Detox album but neither produced by Dre himself; and isn’t that what you  look forward to Dre for?  Also would have been nice to see Nate Dogg on the hook of “Kush” to fill out the  West Coast vibe that Dre helped usher into hiphop. In any event we’ll have to wait to see what Detox brings.  In the meantime you can keep tabs on the what Dre is up to with Detox by checking out Dre’s site and the Detox-dedicated Detox-drDre.

2. Kanye and Jay-Z – Watch The Throne

Release Date: Sometime 2011

Kanye murdered it with his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Fantasy while Jay-Z cleaned up on the business end. This March brings the two together for what could be an electrifying album and potentially hottest album this year. With all the internet buzzing off the first single H.A.M. and consequently introducing a new slang word to the hip hop community, the anticipation for this album is sky-high.  And if what Swizz Beatz says about the album is true, this album can be a hip hop classic. Some of the best music comes out when artists aren’t worried about singles, and how many records are they going to sell and instead just get in the studio and try to make good music. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how they use the five components of a hip hop track to arrange them to make their hits.

3. Jay Electronica- Act II: Patents of Nobility

Release Date: Sometime 2011

Steadily building up hype since 2007 with is nine-minute long drumless Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), Jay Electronica has been wetting listeners appetites for his full length album Act II: Patents of Nobility. To date he hasn’t dropped a wealth of music like some emcees do to build a hype witch makes him appear somewhat elusive.  We’ve seen the Just Blaze produced Exhibit A and Exhibit C. We’ve also seen Jay bless Kweli’s album as well as a couple mixtapes of his work.  The biggest buzz for Jay Electronica has been the signing to Roc Nation in November 2010 and the Jay-Z assissted “Shiny Suit Theory” track.  We’ll have to wait until Act II drops to see if he lives up the hype.

4. J. Cole – Untitled

Release Date: Spring 2011

J. Cole has steadily been building buzz for his 2011 release. After having a 2010 filled with touring and dropping one of the best mixtapes last year with Friday Night Lights and building more buzz with the video for In The Morning featuring Drake, there’s a lot of heads waiting for his RocNation album to drop.  Will his album live up to the hype of the mixtape?

5. Snoop Dogg – Doggumentary

Release Date: March 29th, 2011

Snoop has been in the game for quite some time and says he still has he same passion as when he first started. With collaborations with Swizz, Wiz Khalifa, Lil John, Kanye, Daz Dillinger, Too Short, John Legend and  several others this will surely shape up to be a solid disc from Snoop.  He’s already blessed Wiz Khalifa’s remix to Black and Yellow and laid down a verse for Kush off of Dr. Dre’s Detox and has his single WET burning up the internet. Doggumentary should leave is with some solid raps, dope beats, tight basslines, and overall good music – it’s sure not to disappoint.

6. Raekwon – Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang

Release Date: Spring 2011

While Cuban Linx II was definitiely the same classic as the orignial Only Built For Cuban Linx it still manged to impress Raekwon continuing to  ride the success into his next major project Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang.  With a number of collaborations ranging from Lloyd Banks to Nas and Rick Ross this could potentially be a solid album with plenty of replay value.  And with producers such as Mathematics, Erick Sermon, the Alchemist, and Havoc, the beats on this tape could be insane.  We’re just keeping our fingers crossed for a couple RZA-laced tracks.  If you haven’t already, check the slick video for his Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang.

7. Phonte – Untitled

Release Date: Fall 2011

Arguable one of the most slept on lyricists in the game, Phonte has been dropping ill rhymes since the early days with his group Little Brother. After the split with producer 9th Wonder, the subsequent break up of LB and a couple efforts dabbling more on the R&B side of things as one half of the group Foreign Exchange, Phonte is set to drop a more hip hop album (expect some singing to be mixed in there). In any event, if you haven’t really paid much attention to Phonte make sure you go check Little Brother’s albums Getback and the Minstrel Show to start. Not sure who is on the production side, but hopefully 9th Wonder will bless a few tracks and perhaps we’ll see a collabo with Big Pooh to give us that vintage Little Brother feel.

8. Wiz Khalifia – Rolling Papers

Release Date: March 29th, 2011

Wiz has steadily been killing the hip hop scene with numerous mixtapes and appearances. It wasn’t until the radio-hit Black and Yellow and the remix with Snoop and T-Pain that’s got Wiz the mainstream buzz every artists craves. Riding high off the success of Black and Yellow comes Rolling Papers in March.  ”Uh-huh you know what it is!”

9. Pusha T – Untitled

Release Date: Fall/Winter 2011

We’ve been waiting for a mixtape from Pusha but he’s apparently been busy in the studio with the likes of Kanye and Lloyd Banks. Not much has been touted about his upcoming album thus far but it’s safe to bet we’ll see Kanye on there in some form.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see a Lloyd Banks collabo neither as it’s not uncommon for rappers to return guest appearance favors when they both have album out.  Other than that, perhapd we’ll see some Pharrell on there and some classic Clipse tracks.

10. Lupe Fiasco – Lasers

Release Date: March 8th,  2011

After taking a little bit of a hiatus from dropping two slamming albums, Lupe is back with Lasers.  His first single “The Shows Goes On” was released late last year.  His latest single “Words I Never Said” featuring Skylar Grey hit the internet and we see Lupe in prime form dropping knowledge and intelligence over banging beats and tight production. Lasers is shaping up to be another solid Lupe album – expect dope beats, solid production, and some of the best lyrics from Lupe every 16 bars.

11.  Pharoahe Monche – W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)

Release Date: Spring 2011

We’re not sure what to expect from Pharoahe on his next endeavor but it’s sure to have some dope tracks on it with M-Phazes holding down some of the production and you know Pharoahe going to drop some razor sharp lyrics. Pharoahe always struck as an underground emcee that could have success in the mainstream ala Mos Def. We’ll see where he takes it for his next album but you can be sure there will be some real hip hop on this album.

But there’s more…

Of course these are not the only albums dropping this year.  Others worthy of keeping an eye on:

Big K.R.I.T. – Return of 4eva

Cali Swag District – The Kickback

GZA – Untitled

Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele 2

Jean Grae – Cake or Death

Lil Wayne – The Carter IV

Rick Ross – God Forgives, I Don’t

Slaughterhouse – Untitled

Busta Rhymes – E.L.E. II

Drake – Take Care

Nas – The Lost Tapes 2

50 Cent – Untitled

Murs – Unitled

Evidence – Cats & Dogs

Common – The Dreamer, The Believer

Q-Tip – The Last Zulu

Elzhi – Elmatic

-Cole

This post was written while listening to: The Greatest Story Never Told – Saigon

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