2011 End of the Year Wrap-Up: Top 10 WORST albums of 2011

Okay you've seen the Honorable Mentions list by now, well here's the ten bottom feeders of 2011. Now this list is a tad biased because I don't really care to listen to albums I know I'm not going to like. Most of these albums were projects I was selected to review for Okayplayer or the BG News over the past year.

So are these the worst releases of 2011? No. But they are the worst albums I listened to last year.


Tyler your album was pretty shitty, but not nearly as bad as these albums.

First of all here is my criteria/rating scale:
I have taken categories and gave each of the 127 giving them each a rating of 1-10, here are the categories

• Replay Value - How often did I feel compelled to go back and listen to this album throughout the year?
• Vocal Performance - For hip hop albums this included flows, rhyme schemes, cadences, etc. For rock albums melodies, quality of vocals, harmonies, etc.
• Production - How good were the beats/ music.
• Subject Matter - Lyrical content, song topics
• Songwriting - Ability to structure a good song, includes quality of choruses/hooks and bridges
• Cohesion - How well did the album flow? Did it sound like one piece of music, or just a bunch of random track?
• Originality - How original or creative was the album?
• Gut feeling - My initial instinct on what I thought the album should rand 1-10

In addition, I also added a "Fillers" category, which took off a negative point for every song I rated 2 or less stars in my iTunes.

I also had a category called "The Big 300" which awarded a bonus point to an album for every track that was picked as the best 300 songs of 2011.

10. Machine Gun Kelly	Rage Pack
09. G Huff & Vice	Where Do We Go From Here
08. Mac Lethal	North Korean BBQ
07. Y-Love	See Me
06. Game	Red Album
05. Childish Gambino	Camp
04. Lou Reed & Metallica	Lulu
03. Lupe Fiasco	Lasers
02. Wiz Khalifa	Rolling Papers
01. DJ Khaled	We the Best Forever

Tyler, the Creator's Goblin just missed the bottom 10 albums of the year, but I felt like he needed to be mentioned because: A. He had so much hype built around his album and it was a total bust. B. I actually paid for the album (unlike the rest of the albums/mixtapes on this list).

Most of these albums I expected to suck (ie: DJ Khaled, Game, Wiz), some I suspected would suck but was curious anyways (MGK, Childish Gambino, Lou Reed & Metallica), and there was one album that broke my heart so badly when I heard it, I didn't speak for weeks (Lupe Fiasco).

Now we here at BRL have been huge Lupe fans from the start, and when Lasers got pushed back time and time again, we totally supported him and rooted for him. Finally the album dropped, and it was pretty evident, Lupe's heart was not into it. Lupe promises to get back to his roots with his next LP, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, but if the success of Lasers and his mediocre Friend of the People mixtape is any indication, the Lupe of old is long gone.