The 15 Most Disappointing Rap Albums of the Last 5 Years

It's a shame when our favorite rappers don't live up to expectations.

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Complex Original

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Everyone loves it when their favorite artist delivers an awesome album because it either catches everyone by surprise or affirms all the expectations that were heaped on to them. What makes it all the more special is that it rarely actually happens. Whether it’s a career derailing debut or a telling slip-up from a rap veteran, disappointing albums come in all shapes and sizes. But rest assured, the more albums you make, the more likely you are to make a dud. 

There is one key distinction to make. All bad albums are not disappointing and all disappointing albums are not bad. Sometimes you expect an artist to suck and they do, other times you expect so much that something good isn't good enough.

There are certain things that make an album a letdown. Maybe the album had a star-studded lineup and didn't deliver? Maybe it came after a streak of excellence and just couldn’t compare to recent highlights? Maybe fans thought the artist sold out? No matter the reason, disappointing albums sting. To cope with the pain we associate with our favorite MC’s blunders, we compiled the 15 Most Disappointing Rap Albums of the Last 5 Years

Written Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin), David Drake (@somanyshrimp), and Max Goldberg (@goopygold)

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The Game, LAX (2008)

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Label: Geffen
Saving grace: "My Life" f/ Lil Wayne
Clunker: "Ya Heard" f/ Ludacris

For a while in the mid-2000s, Game was the West Coast's only major star. If that wasn't enough pressure to have leading up to his third solo album LAX, Game was coming off two very well received albums, 2005’s The Documentary and 2006’s Doctor’s Advocate, and a string of high profile beefs with everyone from G-Unit to Roc-a-Fella.

It is under those circumstances that Game dropped the completely average LAX. While there weren't many bad songs, there was no "One Blood," "Hate It or Love It," or "Wouldn't Get Far." Plus, for whatever reason, suddenly Game stopped picking the awesome beats that would make his albums so memorable. Luckily Game picked up the slack on his subsequent releases, but for a moment there it looked like there was little reason to keep listening to him. —Max Goldberg

E-40, The Ball Street Journal (2008)

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Label: Sick Wid It/Geffen/Warner Bros.
Saving grace: "Earl"
Clunker: "Break Ya Ankles"There are a scant few rappers who can get to E-40's age and not only remain creatively vital, but relevant as well. Scarface, although he hasn't released a record in a couple of years. Jay Z, certainly. Some might argue Nas as well. But E-40 has one thing on all three: He's also been prolific as hell. In the past five years, he's released ten albums, with three more due out by the end of this year. It's a little bizarre, but the record that kicked off this reign was the disappointing Ball Street Journal album.

What was really missing from Ball Street Journal was musical vision. E-40 had been given a second pop culture life just two years previous, with the crossover success of his My Ghetto Report Card album. Ball Street Journal had a few standout moments—"The Recipe" featured a peak-era Gucci Mane verse, and "Earl" was an ominous monster. But tracks like "I'm On One" didn't elaborate much on the Rick Rock-led hyphy sound that had been running through the Bay's veins for years at that point. "The Ambassador," meanwhile, was a flip of the same Digable Planets-sampling trick that inspired 2006's "Yay Area."

Worst of all was "Break Ya Ankles," a Lil Jon-produced track that attempted to capitalize on the success of the similar-sounding 2006 hit "U & Dat," which had been E-40's highest-charting song. Even when "U & Dat" broke through, Jon's production style was already starting to sour on the pop charts; by 2008 it was positively moribund.

Ball Street Journal wasn't unsuccessful, selling 450,000 copies. But from a creative point of view, it suffers in comparison to the flurry of records that emerged in its wake, so dense with music that they seemed to develop their own gravity. —David Drake

Clipse, Till The Casket Drops (2009)

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Label: Re-Up/Star Trak/Columbia
Saving grace: "Popular Demand" f/ Cam'ron
Clunker: "All Eyes On Me" f/ Keri Hilson

Coming off their first two excellent albums, the Clipse should've followed one simple rule: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The duo's previous two albums were entirely produced by The Neptunes and it resulted in some amazing music.

2009's Til the Casket Drops was their first album that featured other producers and some of the magic was gone. Whether that's due to the group's chemistry running its course musically (they have since split), the influx of other producers, or the beginning of a rut for Pharrell production wise (as evidenced by the similarity between "Door Man" to Wale's "Let it Loose") the results were disappointing.

In a recent interview with Complex's very own Noah Callahan-Bever, Push cited the album as the only time he actively tried to reach a larger audience. The album absolutely has its moments, Pusha's "Popular Demand" verse is one of his best, but it lacks the authenticity and cohesiveness that made the first two so excellent.—Max Goldberg

Asher Roth, Asleep in the Bread Aisle (2009)

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Label: Schoolboy/SRC/Universal Motown
Saving grace: "Blunt Cruisin"
Clunker: "Bad Day" f/ Jazze Pha

Asleep in the Bread Aisle fell on two different sets of ears and left neither fully satisfied. The first group consisted of fans that checked out the album because they loved the single "I Love College" and left disappointed because the whole thing wasn't a radio ready ode to partying. The second group was made up of fans who were hooked by The Greenhouse Effect's excellent raps over an assortment of beats but felt that Asher's album lacked the hip-hop knowledge and skill boasted on his mixtape. 

While Asleep in the Bread Aisle would never be able to please both, it's a shame it didn't please the latter. The rest of Asher's career has seen him follow the path championed by the second section of fans, and he's excelled. His true self is a lyrical weirdo, capable of killing beats like he did on Pabst and Jazz. Unfortunately, he hasn't released a second album to properly show off his skill. In the meanwhile, rappers like Mac Miller (who also dealt with being boxed-in as a "frat rapper") and Wale (who was apart of the same freshman class and also dropped a lackluster debut) were able to recover. Sadly, Asher hasn't been able to do the same. —Max Goldberg

Wale, Attention Deficit (2009)

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Label: Allido/Interscope
Saving grace: "Pretty Girls"
Clunker: "90210"

It's hard to remember now considering his current status, but after Wale's debut album, Attention Deficit, he was all but dead and buried in the rap game. Wale was widely thought of as a joke and "Chillin'" was the punch line. At the time, he was coming off three excellent mixtapes, highlighted by The Mixtape About Nothing. Where The Mixtape About Nothing was creative and awesome, Attention Deficit was relatively boring.

The fact that the most typical comments on the album are that "Chillin'" was corny and that Wale got renegaded by J. Cole on "Beautiful Bliss" show you how bleh most of the album was. While there are some sleeper songs ("World Tour and "Mirrors") the album seemed like the end for Wale. Thankfully, he's erased the disappointment associated with his debut by hooking up with Rick Ross. Still, when we interviewed him a few years back, we could tell the failure of that album still haunted Wale. —Max Goldberg

B.o.B., B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray (2010)

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Label: Rebel Rock/Grand Hustle/Atlantic
Saving grace: "Bet I" f/ Playboy Tre and T.I.
Clunker: "Magic" f/ Rivers CuomoFrom the very beginning of his career, it was clear B.o.B was not a typical rapper. He was an MC, producer, and singer who insisted on making different types of music. Leading up to his debut album, B.o.B released a string of mixtapes , notably B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray, May 25th, and Cloud 9, that featured him rapping his ass off on songs like "The Biz," "Gladiators," and "I'm That Nigga" with T.I. When the album finally dropped, fans didn't get much of that rapping and instead got a whole lot of pop cross over singles. Usually, fans would be quick to criticize an album like that as a sell out but with B.o.B that's most likely the music he wanted to make all along.

While "Magic" and "Airplanes" absolutely killed radio and became huge hits, fans that fell in love with B.o.B's raps weren't looking for those types of songs. The disappointment that comes with B.o.B's debut is very likely the fault of fans like us for expecting a talented rapper to make a certain type of music he didn't want to make. Still, we can't help but feel a bit mislead. —Max Goldberg

Gucci Mane, The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted (2010)

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Label: 1017 Brick Squad/Asylum/Warner Bros.
Saving grace: "What It's Gonna Be"
Clunker: "Gucci Time"
From 2007's Back to the Traphouse through 2009's The State Vs. Radric Davis, Gucci built a phenomenal grassroots buzz. He seemed at the verge of crossing over; a few poor decisions were made, both on the part of his label (the Usher-assisted "Spotlight" was not the wisest single) and on his own (his inability to stay out of prison). But when he emerged for his next album, 2010's The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted, the public seemed ready to give him another chance. He had a huge budget. What could go wrong?

Everything. "Sold 60,000 the first week, second-best selling album I ever had," he told us. "But I didn’t push it or promote it or push the right songs, things got leaked." The lead single, the Swizz Beatz-produced "Gucci Time," seemed to misunderstand his appeal (pun unintended) completely, trying to wed his Southern style to an "On to the Next One"-style East Coast banger. It couldn't even get on the Hot 100, where his previous album had placed three singles.

Meanwhile, radio stations in other cities were still spinning mixtape tracks like "Beat It Up." His label, attempting to force his record across the counters, pulled his mixtapes from free tape sites like DatPiff. Collaborations with artists like Ray J and Wyclef Jean felt more than a little tone-deaf. Despite some highlights, The Appeal marked the moment when Gucci became consigned to the underground eternally. By the next winter, he released his collaboration with V-Nasty, BAYTL, and dreams of Lil Wayne-level pop superstardom were put to bed. —David Drake

Lupe Fiasco, Lasers (2011)

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Label: 1st and 15th/Atlantic
Saving grace: "All Black Everything"
Clunker: "Out of My Head" f/ Trey Songz

Lasers was put in an incredibly tough position before fans had even heard a single song. It came out surrounded by controversy. The always combative Lupe Fiasco had officially gone to war with his label, Atlantic Records, who he claimed had possessed the album for more than a year but refused to put it out. On top of that, Food and Liquor and The Cool set the bar unbelievably high for Lupe's third effort.

Under those circumstances, Lasers would have to be seriously impressive musically to not be a disappointment. It wasn't. With more pop singles and less amazingly weird and creative Lupe songs that its two predecessors, the album was just a let down on all fronts and even Lupe said he hated it. —Max Goldberg

Wiz Khalifa, Rolling Papers (2011)

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Label: Rostrum/Atlantic
Saving grace: "Black and Yellow"
Clunker: "Get Your Shit"
By the time Rolling Papers was released in 2011, Wiz was riding high (see what we did there?) off of two albums and a bevy of mixtapes highlighted by the mixtape classic Kush & Orange Juice. His status as every stoner's favorite new rapper was absolutely cemented and deserved. However, when his album dropped, a lot of the diehard fans he had accumulated over his five plus years of output weren't pleased.

Rolling Papers was attacked for being too poppy and borderline uncool. The reaction was so unanimous that in a letter to his fans, Wiz even acknowledged it was a mistake. The album wasn't a total misstep, as Wiz still plays songs like "Roll Up" and "No Sleep" live and they absolutely kill, but Wiz simply didn't deliver the album his fans wanted.—Max Goldberg

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV (2011)

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Label: Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic
Saving grace: "John" f/ Rick Ross
Clunker: "How To Love"

Tha Carter IV's first mistake was its name. It shouldn't have been the fourth installment in the Carter series, the preceding three were classics and the name alone set the expectations too high. Almost inevitably the album was a disappointment. It lacked the innovative edge of its three forefathers.

But still, it was seen as Wayne's comeback album after he served a prison bid for gun possession. Plus, after dropping a misguided rock album, Rebirth, it was seen as a return to form for New Orleans rapper. Yet, on the album itself, Wayne wasn't doing anything new and he wasn't doing what he had always done as well as before.

It's telling that one of the album's best songs, "Outro," features exactly no Lil Wayne and is significantly better than Wayne's take on the same beat. Would this album have been as much of a disappointment if it was titled I Am Not a Human Being II? Probably not. But Wayne gave it the Carter name so it had to live up to something that it couldn't. It's kind of like the Marcus Jordan of hip-hop albums.—Max Goldberg

J. Cole, Cole World: A Sideline Story (2011)

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Label: Roc Nation/Columbia
Saving grace: "Lost Ones"
Clunker: "Workout"Don't get the wrong impression: J. Cole's Cole World: A Sideline Story was not a bad album at all. It was a commercial success and it had some pretty great cuts on it. But like Drake says, "Good ain't good enough." Especially if your J. Cole, an artist who is competing with the likes of Drake and Kendrick Lamar and who dreams of being the same conversation as a Nas or a Jay Z one day. Is that an unfair standard? Absolutely. But hey, like Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, "With great power comes great responsibility."  

For all of Cole's well-publicized quest for a single, his debut had it's share of big songs, but it ultimately lacked the lyrical heavy hitters that made his mixtapes so excellent. On top of that, three of the best songs on the album were old news as they were lifted from those aforementioned mixtapes. In the end, Nas wasn't the only person Cole let down.—Max Goldberg

Meek Mill, Dreams and Nightmares (2012)

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Label: Maybach Music/Warner Bros.
Saving grace: "Dreams and Nightmares"
Clunker: "Young & Gettin' It" f/ Kirko Bangz

Before Meek Mill's debut album Dreams and Nightmares came out, he had already showed off a personality that directly translated to the music he made. He was a hard kid with an undeniable edge, which to his off-the-walls, high energy, street ready music. But Dreams and Nightmares was disappointing because it didn't feature that Meek Mill as much as his previous work did.

With a few exceptions, like the album's intro or "Believe It," the music is forgettable and more importantly not what we had come to love from the Philly MC. His preceding mixtape Dreamchasers 2 was full of songs like "The Ride," "Flexing," and soon to be banger "Burn" that showcased what Meek does best. On the album that sound was replaced with songs like "Maybach Curtains," "Who You're Around," and "Young & Gettin' It" which are good but could be made by anybody and don't bring the edge that makes Meek so great.—Max Goldberg

G.O.O.D. Music, Cruel Summer (2012)

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Label: GOOD Music/Def Jame
Saving grace: "Mercy"
Clunker: "Sin City"

G.O.O.D. Music's Cruel Summer is a lot like the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers' season. For those to whom that analogy is confusing, the 2004 Lakers boasted four sure fire Hall of Famers (Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton) but lost in the Finals. Both the Lakers and Cruel Summer were chock full of stars and had sky-high expectations but ultimately suffered from a lack of chemistry and depth.

Just like the Lakers, Cruel Summer's starting five (the first five songs on the album) are excellent. It features two of the biggest rap singles in recent memory ("Mercy" and "Clique"), two awesome songs for more hardcore hip-hop fans ("New God Flow" and "The Morning"), and an R. Kelly feature ("To the World").

But after solo Kanye cut, "Cold," it gets rough. The remaining songs range from forgettable ("Higher" or "The One") to regrettable ("Don't Like"). On top of that, the album sounded less like a collaborative effort and more like dudes sending .mp3 files back and forth. Ultimately the expectations were too high and Cruel Summer lost to the Detroit Pistons the music couldn't live up to the hype.—Max Goldberg

2 Chainz, Based on a T.R.U. Story (2012)

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Label: Def Jam
Saving grace: "I'm Different"
Clunker: "Money Machine"  

In 2012, it was hard not to root for 2 Chainz. He was just a lovable guy: He was charismatic, funny, and his success was such a longtime coming you knew he was loving every second and appreciated every moment. His run really began in 2011, however, when he released mixtapes like Codeine Cowboy and T.R.U. REALigion. The later of which featured his hit "Spend It" which featured everything we loved about him, like the unforgettable Similac line.

By the time 2012 rolled along, he became one of the most in-demand rappers, doing guest spots for G.O.O.D. Music, A$AP Rocky, Juicy J and anyone else willing to pay his supposed $100,000 fee. But maybe he should have kept the best verses for himself. By the time his album rolled around, he just didn't have the same muster. His flow seemed a bit exhausted, like he had stretched himself too thin. The wit of bars like his Similac line were replaced with flat announcements like, "She got a big booty so I call her Big Booty." Ultimately, we were happy Chainz got his moment to shine and we loved singles like "I'm Different" and "No Lie" but we wish he could have made more of his moment. —Insanul Ahmed

Rick Ross, God Forgives, I Don't (2012)

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Label: Mercury/Island Def Jam
Saving grace: "So Sophisticated"
Clunker: "Ice Cold" f/ OmarionBy the time Rick Ross's God Forgives, I Don't dropped, he was securely on top of the rap game. His MMG protégés Meek Mill and Wale were thriving, Rich Forever was one of the hottest mixtapes of the year, and he topped MTV's Hottest MCs in the Game list the year prior. More importantly, he was on a streak of hot albums: Deeper than Rap was solid and Teflon Don was absolutely excellent. So, it's 100% safe to say that expectations were high for God Forgives.

The struggle to find a single was an early sign of problems, but when the album finally came out it was noticeably underwhelming. "Hold Me Back," while enjoyable, doesn't hold a candle to it's Teflon Don counterpart "B.M.F." The rest of the album lacks the depth that made it's predecessor so excellent. Ultimately the album didn't do much to lessen Ross's domination of the rap game, but it was a step back musically. And in a growing trend, it couldn't compare his free mixtape from the same year, Rich Forever. —Max Goldberg

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