Polls Is Talkin': Album of the Year x My 5 Favorite Albums of '08

Happy New Years to all! Whatever you do tonight be safe. To bring '08 to an end, I'm posting what readers felt was the album of the year. Based off December's poll, the album of the year is...

Hit up the full story to peep the rest of the results and my top 5.


Poll Results:

1. Lil Wayne - Carter III - 17%
Tied with Kanye West - 808's & Heartbreak

Lil Wayne & Kanye west come in at number one of the polls. Ironically, the frequent collaborators had two entirely different expectations for their albums. Lil Wayne appeared on various tracks and made numerous mixtapes leading up to his highly anticipated album; Mr. West on the other hand, did his thing on features as well, but announced he's releasing an album two months before it's date. Although both artists first singles contributed to this year's autotune craze, the overall sounds of these albums were complete opposites. Carter III is this year's highest selling hip hop album, and 808's & Heartbreaks is officially platinum in over a month.

2. Other - 14%

While the poll consisted of over ten popular albums of 2008, there were other candidates that weren't listed. Therefore the "other" answer was available for those who chose otherwise. Here's nine other slept-on joints that potentially could've been the album of the year.

3. T.I. - Paper Trail - 11%
Tied with: Nas - Untitled

Nas' controversial Untitled album (originally titled Nigger) is tied with T.I. whose no stranger to controversy. While this year wasn't a good start for T.I. with his weapons charge and parole violation, Paper Trail turned out to be a success, and is still selling till this day. While the bold Untitled album didn't feature many radio friendly tracks, Nas' point with this album was to speak his mind and cover racial and political topics.

4. The Game - L.A.X. - 8%
Tied With: Q-Tip - The Renaissance

The last tie on the poll is the feature heavy L.A.X., and the jazzy Renaissance album from Q-Tip. Both were great albums, but had entirely different vibes. L.A.X. gave you a west coast feel and had guest appearances ranging from Ne-Yo to Ice Cube. The Renaissance stuck to the traditional A Tribe Called Quest sound, marking Q-Tip's comeback. The Renaissance received good reviews from critics and fans, but unfortunately it failed to reach gold status unlike L.A.X.


5. The Roots - Rising Down 5%

The Roots continue to deliver solid albums with their eighth effort Rising Down. The album was one of the more darker albums of 2008, but out shined a lot of the material that was released this year.

Runners Up:
Common - Universal Mind Control 2%
Ludacris - Theater of the Mind 2%

My Top 5 Albums of 2008:

Click the album title to read the review

1. Nas - Untitled


2. Q-Tip - The Renaissance


3. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (no review available)


4. Kanye West - 808's & Heartbreak


5. The Roots - Rising Down (no review available)