Billion Dollars in an Elevator: The Definitive 2014 Hip-Hop Timeline

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    Everyday there’s an overload of hip-hop flooding the internet. From banal news to surprise albums to overnight memes, we're drowning in news. Today's BIGGEST THING EVER is tomorrow's "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." We digest so many noteworthy and unexceptional events, it’s easy to forget when the moments occurred. Quick, without looking it up, how many projects did J. Cole drop this year?* If we're living in an age where it's hard to even remember how many projects one of the most popular rappers on the planet dropped, how could you possibly remember everything important? 

    So in typical DJBooth fashion, we wanted to coil the chains of incidents into one central location, a place to re-discover and reflect, a timeline of 2014, everything worth remembering, and a few things we wish to forget.

    For better or worse, this is the year that was.  

    January

    Notable Albums:

    Kid Ink - My Own Lane
    Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo
    Ty Dolla $ign - Beach House
    Step Brothers - Lord Steppington

    Notable Songs: 

    YG - YG – "Who Do You Love" ft. Drake
    Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive" ft. Kendrick Lamar
    ScHoolboy Q - "Man of The Year"
    Tinashe - "2 On" ft. ScHoolboy Q
    Ty Dolla $ign - "Or Nah" ft. Wiz Khalifa
    Gold Linl - "The Heart"
    Mick Jenkins "Leonidas"
    Young Thug - "Danny Glover (Remix)" ft. Nicki Minaj

    Notable Headlines:

    I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since Macklemore bested Kendrick at the GRAMMYs. I haven’t forgiven him for being a diva and releasing that text message. Cilvia Demo is aging well, I have high hopes for Isaiah Rashad. The death of James Avery was shocking, Uncle Phil will live on forever (thank you Netflix for finally adding The Fresh Prince). Is "Or Nah" the longest running trend of the year?

    February

    Notable Albums:

    ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron
    Kid Cudi - Satellite Flight: The Journey To Mother Moon
    CyHoi The Prynce - Black Hystori Project
    Migos - No Label 2
    Yasiin Gaye - Side 1: The Departure (Mixtape)

    Notable Singles:

    Iggy Azalea - "Fancy"
    Lil Wayne & Friends - "Senile"
    Vince Staples - "Nate" ft. James Fauntleroy
    Nicki Minaj - "Lookin' Ass"
    Future - "Move That Dope" ft. Pharrell, Pusha T, & Casino
    Common - "Made In Black America" ft. Ab-Soul

    Notable Headlines:

    I almost forgot CyHi dropped a pretty incredible mixtape this year, it disappeared after the summer started. I wish I could forget Iggy’s "Fancy," and the fact DMX almost boxed George Zimmerman. Future isn’t a favorite of mine, but "Move That Dope" is pretty undeniable.

    March

    Notable Albums:

    Pharrell - G I R L
    Rick Ross - Mastermind
    Young Money - Rise Of The Empire
    Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
    YG - My Krazy Life

    Notable Songs:

    SZA - "Child's Play" ft. Chance The Rapper
    Jay Z & Jay Elec - "We Made It (Remix)"
    Raury - "God's Whisper"
    Jay Elec - "Better in Tune With the Infinite" ft. LaTonya Givens
    Chance the Rapper & Skrillex - "Coast Is Clear"
    Frank Ocean, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon & Diplo - "Hero"
    Alex Wiley - "Vibration"
    Smoke DZA - "Ghost Of Dipset" ft. Cam'ron
    Metro Boomin - "The Blanguage" ft. Young Thug
    Big KRIT - #WeekOfKRIT
    Cozz - "Dreams"

    Notable Headlines: 

    March is the month music started to heat up. YG impressed, Pharrell and Freddie Gibbs completely took over my iPod, I wanted to do yoga and join a gang. Jay Elec dropped new music, still didn’t drop his album. Raury and Cozz appeared as new challengers with promise. Boosie is finally free and everyone yelling free Boosie went to be hypebeast elsewhere.

    April

    Notable Albums:

    Chuck Inglish - Convertibles
    SZA - Z
    Nas - Illmatic XX
    August Alsina - Testimony
    Iggy Azalea - The New Classic
    Future - Honest
    Asher Roth - RetroHash
    Bas - Last Winter
    Mobb Deep - The Infamous Mobb Deep
    GoldLink - The God Complex

    Notable Songs:

    The Roots - "Tomorrow" ft. Raheem DeVaughn
    Vic Mensa - "Down On My Luck"
    Big K.R.I.T. - "Mt. Olympus"
    Ariana Grande - "Problem" ft. Iggy Azalea
    Nicki Minaj - "Chi-Raq" f. Lil Herb
    Future - "I Won" ft. Kanye West
    Drake - "Days In The East/Draft Day"
    Chance the Rapper - I Am Very Very Lonely
    Ab-Soul - "Tree of Life"
    Killer Mike - "The Boonies"

    Notable Headlines:

    SZA won me over in April, Donald Sterling lost his team and Questlove teamed up with Vulture for six must-read articles. I might’ve been one of few that loved Asher Roth’s album, he’s far from the college loving frat rapper that he once was.

    May

    Notable Albums:

    Tech N9ne - Strangeulation
    Blu - Good To Be Home
    The Roots - …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin
    Skyzoo & Torae - Barrel Brothers
    BADBADNOTGOOD - III
    Mac Miller - Faces
    Wiz Khalifa - 28 Grams
    Slaughterhouse - House Rules

    Notable Songs:

    Common - "Kingdom" f. Vince Staples
    Rae Sremmurd - "No Flex Zone"
    Rich Gang - "Lifestyle" ft. Young Thug & Rich Homie Quan
    Ab-Soul - "Stigmata" ft. Action Bronson & Asaad
    Nicki Minaj - "Pills N Potions"
    Cam'ron & A-Trak -  "Dipshits"  
    Lupe Fiasco - "Mission"
    Lil Wayne - "Believe Me f. Drake"
    Ghostface Killah - "Six Degrees" ft. Danny Brown
    Lil Wayne - "D’usse"

    Notable Headlines:

    Another month of incredible releases. Mac Miller shocked the world, Cam’ron and Dame Dash together on "Dipshits" had me wearing a throwback jersey and baggy jeans, again. "No Flex Zone" and "Lifestyle" in the same month? We weren’t ready. Kanye got married, Jay-Z floated like a butterfly, Pears stock went up, and T.I. fought Floyd Mayweather before Pacquiao. Thumbs got a complete workout this month.

    June

    Notable Albums: 

    50 Cent - Animal Ambition
    Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy
    Ab-Soul - These Days…
    G-Eazy - These Things Happen
    Riff Raff - Neon Icons
    Alex Wiley - Village Party
    Your Old Droog - Your Old Droog

    Notable Songs:

    Jeezy - "Seen It All" ft. JAY Z
    T.I. - "About The Money" ft. Young Thug
    Drake - "0-100 / The Catch Up"
    T.I. - "No Mediocre" ft. Iggy Azalea
    Mike Will Made It - "Buy the World" ft. Kendrick Lamar, Future & Lil Wayne
    Young Thug, A$AP Ferg & Freddie Gibbs - "Old English"
    The Weeknd - "Often"
    SBTRKT - "Temporary View" ft. Sampha
    Statik Selektah - "Carry On" ft. Joey Bada$$ & Freddie Gibbs
    G-Unit - "Grinding My Whole Life"

    Notable Headlines:

    Still holding a grudge against Ab-Soul for These Days. G-Unit reuniting, Outkast on tour, at this rate Detox will be...never mind. This is around the time I started to see Young Thug’s hidden talent. He completely stole the show on "About The Money" and fit in alongside Gibbs on "Old English."

    July

    Notable Albums: 

    ILoveMakonnen - I Love Makonnen EP
    Common - Nobody’s Smiling
    PARTYNEXTDOOR - PartyNextDoor Two
    Sir Michael Rocks - Banco
    Saba - Comfort Zone

    Notable Songs: 

    Bobby Shmurda - "Hot Nigga"
    Big K.R.I.T. - "Pay Attention" ft. Rico Love
    Father & ILoveMakonnen & Key! - "Wrist"
    Raury - "Cigarette Song"
    Wiz Khalifa - "We Dem Boyz (Remix)" ft. Rick Ross, Nas & ScHoolboy Q
    Statik Selektah - "The Imperial" ft. Action Bronson, Royce Da 5'9" & Black Thought
    Chance the Rapper - "Wonderful Everyday: Arthur" ft. Wyclef Jean, Jessie Ware & Elle Varner
    The Weeknd - "King of the Fall"
    Jhene Aiko - "The Pressure"
    Wale - "The Followers"
    OG Maco - "U Guessed It"

    Notable Headlines: 

    Between Bobby’s hat disappearing and OG Maco’s guessing, the power of social media elevated both these artist into a new realm of stardom. Meek and Wale went back in forth like school girls, I guess Twitter squabbles is a violation of probation, soon after Meek was incarcerated. Don’t sleep on Saba.

    August

    Notable Albums:

    Dilated Peoples - Directors of Photography
    Mick Jenkins - The Water[s]
    Wiz Khalifa - Blacc Hollywood
    G-Unit - The Beauty of Independence
    FKA Twigs - LP1
    Travi$ Scott - Days Before Rodeo
    Ty Dolla $ign - Sign Language
    Lil Bibby - Free Crack 2
    Curren$y - Saturday Night Car Tunes
    Raury - indigo child

    Notable Songs:

    Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda"
    Rae Sremmurd - "No Type"
    Logic - "Driving Ms. Daisy" ft. Childish Gambino
    Eminem - "Guts Over Fear" ft. Sia
    Run the Jewels - "Blockbuster Night Pt. 1"
    Vince Staples - "Blue Suede"
    ILoveMakonnen - "Tuesday (Remix)"
    Lil Wayne - "Grindin"' ft. Drake
    Juicy J - "Low" ft. Nicki Minaj, Lil Bibby & Young Thug
    Beyonce - "Flawless (Remix)" ft. Nicki Minaj
    Lil Herb - "Fight Or Flight (Remix)" ft. Common & Chance the Rapper
    OnCue - "So Much Love"
    J. Cole - "Be Free"

    Notable Headlines: 

    Great month for the unknown and upcoming. Rae Sremmurd broke the matrix by transcending one hit wonder status. ILoveMakonnen made Tuesday less boring with the help of Drake. Mick Jenkins, Raury, and Travis $cott scored my entire month. The Michael Brown travesty brought Ferguson to the forefront of social media. I saw Dead Poets Society for the first time, due to Robin Williams passing. I recommend anyone that hasn’t seen it to do so immediately.

    September

    Notable Albums:

    Jeezy - Seen It All:The Autobiography
    Lecrae - Anomaly
    Chris Brown - X
    SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
    Young Thug & Friends - Rich Gang: Tha Tour Part 1
    Jhené Aiko - Souled Out
    OnCue - Angry Young Man
    T.I. & Friends - G.D.O.D. 2

    Notable Songs: 

    Kendrick Lamar - "i"
    Black Milk - "Gold Piece" ft. Bun B
    Rick Ross - "Elvis Presley Blvd." ft. Project Pat
    Wale - "The Body" ft. Jeremih
    Dej Loaf - "Try Me"
    Flying Lotus - "Never Catch Me" ft. Kendrick Lamar
    Big Sean - "IDFWU"
    Common - "Kingdom (Remix)" ft. Vince Staples & Jay Electronica
    Rapsody - "Hard To Choose"
    ScHoolboy Q - "Studio (Remix)" ft. Nas
    Jeezy - "Holy Ghost (Remix)" ft. Kendrick Lamar

    Notable Headlines:

    There’s a rapper named Father, let that sink in. Once Drake signed Makonnen, nothing was the same. Kendrick made his long awaited return, “I” has grown on me immensely since its release. Flying Lotus is from another world. Rich Gang Mixtape is surprisingly good. Rapsody’s "Hard To Choose" is a must hear.

    October

    Notable Albums:

    Childish Gambino - Kauai
    NehruvianDOOM - NehruvianDOOM
    Flying Lotus - You’re Dead!
    Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait
    The Game - Blood Moon: Year of The Wolf
    Hoodie Allen - People Keep Talking
    T.I. - Paperwork
    Logic - Under Pressure
    Run the Jewles - Run The Jewels 2
    Stalley - Ohio
    Black Milk - If There’s A Hell Blow
    Cozz - Cozz & Effect
    Tinashe - Aquarius
    Rapsody - Beauty and the Beast EP
    Future - Monster

    Notable Songs:

    Ludacris - "Good Lovin" ft. Miguel
    O.T. Genasis - "CoCo"
    Big K.R.I.T. - "Soul Food" ft. Raphael Saadiq/ "Cadillactica"
    Joe Budden - "Ordinary Love Sh*t Pt. 4 (Keep Running)"
    Nas - "The Season" 
    Jay Rock - "Pay for It" ft. Kendrick Lamar
    Nicki Minaj - "Only" ft. Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown
    JMSN - "Ends (Money) / "Street Sweeper"
    Royce & Premo - "Courtesy"
    Drake - "6God" x "How Bout Now" x "Heat Of The Moment"
    T.I. - "About The Money (Remx)" ft. Young Thug, Lil Wayne & Jeezy
    Jaden Smith - "Blue Ocean" / "Fast"
    BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - "Gunshowers" ft. eLZhi
    Chance the Rappe - "No Better Blues"
    Cozz - "Knock Tha Hustle (Remix)" ft. J. Cole
    You Gotti - "Errrbody (Remix)" ft. Lil Wayne & Ludacris

    Notable Headlines:

    Enormous month for hip-hop. If we're doing a month vs. month breakdown of 2014, I'd have to give October the crown. Crazy that it already feels like it happened a long time ago. 

    November

    Notable Albums:

    Joe Budden - Some Love Lost
    Teyana Taylor - VII
    Theophilus London - Vibes
    Big K.R.I.T. - Cadillactica
    Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire
    Shady Records - Shady XV
    Beyonce - BEYONCÉ (Platinum Edition)
    A$AP Ferg - Ferg Forever
    The Neighbourhood - #000000 & #ffffff 
    Killer Mike - Sunday Morning Massacres 
    Eminem - Shady Classics
    Jaden Smith - Cool Tape Vol. 2 
    Migos - Rich N*gga Timeline 

    Notable Songs:

    Beyonce - "7/11"
    Pusha T - "Lunch Money"
    Willow Smith - "9" ft. SZA
    Ty Dolla $ign - "Stand For"
    Rick Ross - "Movin' Bass" ft. JAY Z
    Eminem & Friends - "Detroit Vs. Everybody"
    Lupe Fiasco - "Deliver"
    Frank Ocean - "Memrise"
    Tink -  "Around The Clock" ft. Charlamagne Tha God / "Movin' Bass" ft. JAY Z & Rick Ross
    Freddie Gibbs - "Sellin’ Dope"e
    SZA - "Sobriety"
    Kevin Gates - "I Don't Get Tired" ft. August Alsina
    Open Mike Eagle - "Late Show"

    Notable Headlines:

    J.Cole and Ferguson held everyone’s attention in November. Kim Kardashian gave us distraction of the year for a brief moment. Detroit challenged everybody, I refuse to go up against Trick Trick in any medium, so they win. Elated that Killer Mike re-released the Sunday Morning Massacres, a must have if you weren’t around pre-Run The Jewels era.

    December

    Notable Albums 

    Ghostface Killah - 36 Seasons
    J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive
    Royce & Premo - Prhyme
    D'Angelo - Black Messiah
    JMSN - Blue Album
    Astro - Computer Era
    Kevin Gates - Luca Brasi 2
    PND - PNDCOLOURS EP

    Notable Singles:

    D'Angelo - "Sugah Daddy
    Fabolous - "Lituation
    Nipsey Hussle - "1 Hunnit a Show" ft. Rick Ross
    Action Bronson & Danny Brown - "Bad News" (prod. Alchemist)

    Notable Headlines:

    D’Angelo just dropped an album, Detox really might be… never mind. Lil Wayne wanting off of Cash Money still feels surreal, but it doesn’t rival the surreal feeling of Eric Garner not getting justice.” The month is still young, I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about as we get through these last few weeks. Praying Fab doesn’t disappoint, and hoping that the recently freed Meek Mill will be returning strong. 

    Sweet baby Jesus, that was a lot of work. But it was worth it - I don't know if you can really have any "this is what happened in 2014" or "2014 was like this' discussion without a cheat sheet like this. It really helps you see how quick Makonnen's rise was, how much stamina a song like "2 On" really had and more. See you in 2015. 

    * J. Cole dropped two projects this year. 

    [By Yoh, aka Sherlock Yohmes, aka @Yoh31]

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