Music means everything to me, music heals people, music brings people together, music does great things for people. But Hip-Hop has always been more than music to me — it’s storytelling, emotion, and truth wrapped in rhythm. I’ve listened to a lot of rap over the years, but a few albums just hit differently. I’ve ranked this top 5 based on three different criterias: storytelling, hits, and versatility. These five, from Tupac to Kendrick, aren’t just classics — they shaped how I hear and feel music.

5. All Eyez On Me - Tupac (1996)

   This album feels like Tupac at his prime and his most alive — confident, raw, and emotional all at once. This was a big time for West-Coast Rap. “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” is pure energy and aggression, everything he says is with a certain tone that shows that he can’t be messed with. 

   Antonio Lovett, Lakeview’s Hall Monitor, gives his thoughts on the album… “One of the top five, top three, for sure, of all time, this generation and before. It was one of the first albums where he’d come out, and like, you can see how lyrical he was, how he pronounced his words, how his wordplay was.“I Ain’t Mad at Cha” shows his more reflective side, without sounding soft. All Eyez On Me is an entire mood, from pain to pride.

4. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan (1993)

This one is chaos in the best way possible. You’ve got 9 different voices, styles, and personalities all over gritty beats. It’s raw, funny, dark, and just a bunch of boys having fun rapping. It’s just straight East-Coast and New York Rap. “C.R.E.A.M.” is still one of the most iconic songs ever made — simple message, but it hits. “Protect Ya Neck” sounds like a lyrical fight, with everyone trying to outdo each other. 

   Senior Hunter Basch gives his take. “One of the best albums of all time, especially in New York, because it established the hip-hop game… it was good for the hip-hop game on the East Coast.” It’s that underground sound that changed what group rap could be.

3. Graduation - Kanye West (2007)

   This album just radiates good vibes and good feels. It’s bright, colorful, and full of confidence. This album wraps up the “College Trilogy” with this album following after “College Dropout” (2004) and “Late Registration” (2006), also arguably some of the best rap albums of all time. This album feels so ahead of its time to this day. Kanye really had the hip-hop world in a chokehold with this album and was really at the top of his creativity here. “Flashing Lights” and “Stronger” still sound futuristic even today, and “Good Life” is pure motivation — it's the kind of song you put on when you’re chasing goals. 

   Senior Brandon Handsor expresses how Graduation changed the rap game. “One of the best hip-hop albums ever, I still, to this day, revisit that album every now and then. Honestly, Kanye West did his big thing with that one… from an artist’s standpoint, the way the beats flow or the melodies, I don’t think I’ve skipped any song on that album.” I like how Graduation blends rap with stadium vibes, making it feel bigger than hip-hop and even life but still deeply personal.

2. Illmatic - Nas (1994)

   This one is basically poetry over beats. Nas was only 20 when he dropped his debut album Illmatic, and he sounded like a wise old soul. The storytelling here is unmatched — “N.Y. State of Mind” puts you right in the middle of Queensbridge, like you’re walking those streets yourself. “The World Is Yours” is that perfect balance of hope and reality. Every line feels intentional, and every beat feels timeless. 

   Senior Reid Brown expresses his opinion “I think Illmatic was really influential to hip-hop… A lot of the beats on that album are really some top five beats, N.Y. State of Mind is a really good beat and his flow on a lot of those songs are really good.” It’s short, but that’s what makes it perfect — no filler songs, just peak greatness.

1. good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar (2012)

   To me, this is the best story ever told through rap. It’s not just an album — it’s a movie in sound. Kendrick takes you through his life growing up in Compton, the good and the bad, the temptations, the faith, the pressure. “Money Trees” and "Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” hit especially hard — they’re deep, emotional, and honest. Every track connects, and by the end, you feel like you’ve lived through it with him. Clara Dale explains what this album means to her. “I feel like that album kind of delves into a lot of the struggles that people face, especially in the black community, he’s always been an advocate for the black community and he’s always felt like he has to share certain messages, like with Money Trees and Swimming Pools, he shared the message behind addiction and he’s doing what he can to help his community.” It’s personal, cinematic, and one of the best examples of storytelling in any genre.

   At the end of the day, these five albums show what I love most about rap: the truth, the heart, and the stories that never get old. Each one has something special — whether it’s Pac’s emotion, Wu-Tang’s chaos, Kanye’s vision, Nas’s poetry, or Kendrick’s storytelling — and together, they make up the soundtrack to what I think hip-hop should always be about real life.

    In 2004, a New Jersey post-hardcore band consisted of formally 5 members: Gerard and Mikey Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero, and now deceased member Bob Bryar as of 2024.  The band broke up on March 22, 2013. They reunited back in 2019 when the band dropped a new song and announced a tour. My Chemical Romance released their first studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, which has sold over 3 million copies. The album consists of 13 tracks. The album tells a story of a man trying to get passed all these challenges to see his beloved again.
      The top tracks are "Helena”, "The Ghost of You”, and “I'm Not Okay ( I Promise)”. The song "Helena is about Gerard and Mikey's Grandmother's death. The song “I'm Not Okay (I Promise) is about self-hatred. The song is about “The Ghost of You”; the feeling of grief.  21 years later, the album is in the top 100 on Billboard's top 100 albums. 
      The reason this album has remained timeless is that the songs and their meanings continue to resonate with teens today, like they resonated with teens in the early 2000s. The album explores the topics of grief, death, love, revenge, anger, and depression.
  “The album is timeless because once you learn the lyrics of the songs well, you sometimes connect with the songs and the album,” said Savana Slaughter, ‘29.
  Since the album explores those topics, it could help people understand why people feel or dress the way they do, since people express themselves through looks and music.
    Freshman Natalie Mouat  said, “I think the album helps others understand how others may feel and why they resonate with the album.”
      Even though the album has been around for over 20 years now, it helps teens understand others, their own feelings, and helps them feel as if they aren't alone. The album and the band still resonate with teens for those reasons. 

   The long awaited Short n’ Sweet tour started on September 23 and has quickly become a highlight in the music scene. With roughly an hour and a half of performance time, she is able to create an intimate and memorable concert experience.  Starting in Columbus, Ohio, Carpenter still has a long way to go since she ends her tour in 2025, Milan, Italy. 

   “It was really fun, she had some of her old songs on the setlist.” said Lakeview student, Grace Linsdeau, ‘27.

   Linsdeau was able to attend the concert at Little Caesars Arena, Sept. 26. Carpenter performed one of her most popular songs ‘Nonsense’ mostly known for its fun and different outros, especially during her time opening for Taylor Swift in The Eras Tour.

   “It changes a lot but I think my favorite song right now is probably Good Graces.” said Kylie Johnson, ‘25.

   Carpenter performs ‘Good Graces’ second after opening with ‘Taste’, another popular song on the album. Carpenter released a single from the album Short n’ Sweet, called Espresso, on May 17, and it quickly became popular on TikTok and other social media platforms. 

   Sabrina makes each night special, whether it's changing her outfits, or dance moves. One of her most popular dances is during her song ‘Juno’. She interacts with one lucky fan and gives them a pair of ‘pink fuzzy’ handcuffs, which is a line in her song. Later, her heart stage rises up into the air as she dances. 

   Each concert is a new and fun experience for everyone watching, whether you’re actually there or watching from a livestream. Carpenter's energy is magnetic and everyone watching her knows it. As she continues on her tour, we are all excited to see what happens next.

   Taylor Swift released a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19,2024, and fans are amazed by her work once again.

   This new album broke streaming records within the first week of its release. The album has surpassed 1 billion streams since its release.  

   “I love this album. It’s very real and you can really tell that she was just writing her real feelings and wasn’t trying to cover anything up,” said Peyton Miskelly, ‘25.

   The original album was released at midnight with 16 tracks, and at 2 am Swift had a surprise for the fans and dropped a double album called “The Tortured Poets Department:The Anthology,” which had 31 tracks on it.

   Swift had been hinting the number “2” a lot since announcing the album, but fans had no idea what trick she had up her sleeve this time. 

   To prepare for the upcoming release of “Tortured Poets” (as Swift likes to call it),she took a pause from her Eras Tour beginning March 10, 2024. Upon the album’s release, fans anticipated Swift adding it to the setlist, debuting the new “era” on May 9, 2024.  

    Due to this new set being added, she had to take a few songs out of the set list from before.

   “ I love the new set but I do really miss parts of the old set,” said Jordan Miskelly, ‘25.

   The album features songs addressing her 6-year romance with ex-boyfriend, English actor Joe Alwyn, songs confirming a brief rumored romance with The 1975’s Matty Healy, and even songs about her current boyfriend, Kansas City Chief’s tight end Travis Kelce.

   “ My favorite song is definitely ‘I Hate it Here.’ I just think that her vocals in the song are so good and it’s kind of a relatable song,” said Trinity Koehn, ‘26.

   The Tortured Poets Department marks Swift’s 11th studio album, not including her previously released re-recorded albums. Fans are still waiting on her next 2 re-recorded albums to be released and there is no way of telling when she is planning on releasing those. 

   If you haven’t yet, go and listen to Swift’s new album “The Tortured Poets Department,” and see what your thoughts are on her art work. 

   The Grammys was on February 4, 2024, and Taylor Swift made a big announcement that had fans going crazy.

   While Swift received her 13th grammy for best pop vocal album for her album, Midnights, she announced her brand new album The Tortured Poets Department that is coming out on April 19, 2024.

   While Swift received her award she said, “So I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand new album comes out on April 19.”

   Fans were not expecting a new album announcement, but they were definitely expecting something. All of her fans thought that she was going to announce that one of her re-recorded albums would be coming out soon, but this made fans way more excited.

   The Tortured Poets Department has a track list of 16 songs and 1 bonus song on the vinyls. A few songs on the track list will be featuring other artists like Post Molone and Florence+ The Machine. The Tortured Poets Department is also supposed to be in the synth-pop genre, which Swift is well known for her albums to be in all sorts of different genres. 

   Jordan Miskelly is a big Swiftie and this news had her extremely excited. 

   “I was definitely not expecting a new album but I’m still so excited to hear it for the first time,” said Miskelly ‘25.

   Swift’s latest album, Midnights, came out in October of 2022 so it has been a little while since people have heard any new music of hers. She is also releasing this brand new album while in the middle of her world tour, The Eras Tour.

   This album will be her 11th album released and fans cannot wait to hear what it sounds like.

   To end the amazing and fun night at the grammys, Swift won album of the year and she is the very first artist to win that award a total of 4 times!

   An album is finally coming! Tik tok music fanatics have rejoiced since the announcement of SZA’s Sophomore Album “SOS” releasing this Friday. It hasn’t been taken lightly, considering this will be the artist’s first studio album since all the way back in 2017. 

   SZA’s first album, CTRL, could be seen as objectively great, especially for young adults who relate to songs like “20 Something.” CTRL took a dive into SZA’s relationships, life struggles, growing up, insecurities, and more that teenagers and adults alike can relate to. Seen as one of the most complete albums of its decade, CTRL was nominated for 4 grammys, unheard of for a debut album.

    Obviously this type of accreditation and success can only bring anticipation for

her new album, but SZA hasn’t left us completely high and dry since the release of CTRL. A deluxe version of CTRL came out this past summer with unreleased songs that were initially intended for the album. This included 7 tracks, which were already known by fans due to leaks and things of that nature. She also has released a couple singles, but it might be more appropriate to just label them as hits.

    With the help of her incredibly large Tik Tok fanbase, SZA has put out top 5 singles like “Good Days,” on Christmas 2020. This would lead her to yet another Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song, along with other nominations. She was also a recipient of a Grammy award for her collaboration with Doja Cat on the song “Kiss Me More,” in 2021. Other singles the artist has released in this time include “I Hate U,” and “Shirt.” SOS the album will feature all of these singles (except Kiss Me More).

   SZA fans here at Lakeview are excited for the release of the album. Kendall Jackson (‘23) is particularly excited to hear the work.

   “I’m so excited because I really liked the singles she put out in the time since the last album. I Hate U was one of my favorite songs at one point,” said Jackson.

   Some students have a longer relationship with the artist, like Annalise Stevenson (‘23), who has listened to SZA since 2020.

   “I started really liking her when she released Good Days. I started listening to CTRL after that and loved it. I’m excited to experience her releasing an album,” Stevenson added.

    SZA’s sophomore album will be released on December 9, 2022. The album will have features from Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridges, Travis Scott, and more. SZA has also teased that more features will be included on the deluxe version of the album.

   On Oct. 22, 2021 the eighth studio album, Blue Banisters, by iconic American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey was released. This album has 15 track listings and has a listening length of 61:54. What makes this album truly unique is that not all tracks were recorded at the same time, recording times varied from 2013 to 2021. 

   This album captures the essence of Lana through her tragic glamor lyrics with a baroque pop sound. Many songs feature her raw vocals with classical piano in the background, but these elements still work together to make a catchy pop tune. The tracks include very few instruments besides piano and an additional instrument such as tittering jazz drums. 

   Her lyrics give homage to 60s and 70s glamor and poetry while also having some verses relevant to the present. In her track “Dealer” (feat. Miles Kane) , Lana’s lyrics deal with the influential beat poetry movement of the 1960s. Through her lyrics, she tells a story of a distruate beat poet struggling with drug addiction. 

   While in the same album, she deals with her feelings of isolation during the pandemic, most notably in the track “Black Bathing Suit.”Where she tells of how her loneliness has affected her personal life and her ability to maintain that life. These lyrics show a personal side to the artist and aren't just some catchy filler added to the album for increased sales. Many of Lana’s earlier albums, such as Born To Die, felt impersonal and manufactured. This album really showed a vulnerable side to the artist that we have never seen before. 

   Overall, Blue Banisters, is another wonderful album by Lana Del Rey. The songs are really worth giving a listen to even if they aren't someone's usual musical taste. The album does a good job in making the songs sound cohesive and like they are part of one story.