12.
Rick Ross
Black Market
Producers: Jake One, Scott Storch, Ben Billions, DJ Mustard, D. Rich
MMG/Def Jam
You’ll be hard pressed to find more than a handful of rappers that have consistently rapped as well as Rick Ross. His sound has evolved several times, and he spearheaded a sonic revolution with Lex Luger in 2010, but lyrically, William Roberts has steadily delivered every time he steps up to the plate. Black Market, pegged as the end of an era—it’s his eighth and final album under his current Def Jam deal—sounds as if Ross has reached even deeper into his bag of tricks, rapping with fervor and a level of tenacity we haven’t heard from the Miami native in quite some time. Whether it’s the deeply introspective “Free Enterprise” or “Dope D*ck,” where he takes veiled shots at 50 Cent and others, Ross was clearly out to make a point with Black Market. If the South is headed in a direction where party anthems and trap ballads will become the rule, not the exception, let the record show that of the exceptions, Black Market sits at the top.
