To be honest, most of these albums aren’t really “underrated”,  I just believe that all six of these albums deserve more love and attention than they get. 

Let’s Start Here. – Lil Yachty

Before this album, Lil Yachty was already an established rapper known for his very unique voice. He was also in the legendary 2016 XXL Freshman Cypher with other massive rappers like 21 Savage and Lil Uzi Vert. This album however, was a complete deviation of what was expected from Lil Yachty. Instead of continuing with his Lil Boat series, he decided to subvert expectations and made this incredible album. Let’s Start Here is a psychedelic rock, psychedelic soul, and funk record that clearly takes inspiration from artists like Pink Floyd and Tame Impala, as you can hear just on the first song. Lil Yachty then implements his unique voice into this mix and it comes out as a diverse but beautifully intertwined album that is truly a unique experience on every listen. This album genuinely surprised me with how amazing it was.

Metaphorical Music – Nujabes

Jun “Nujabes” Seba is a legend. He was a Japanese producer, a pioneer of jazz-infused hip-hop and without him and his beats, the Lofi Girl people know and love probably wouldn’t exist. Nujabes’ beats can be heard on one of my favorite shows of all time, Samurai Champloo, where you can hear his transcendent beats that pioneered the current lo-fi hip-hop mixes that are popular today. Metaphorical Music is a much more fleshed out canvas of Nujabes’ skill, where he concocts beautiful and groovy beats that makes you feel like you’re ascending to a new state of being.

Live Laugh Love – Earl Sweatshirt

I only discovered Earl Sweatshirt a couple of months ago, which, to be honest, is true for most of the artists in this list. The way he’s able to rap rich rhymes on these convoluted and melancholy beats while making it still sound somehow heavenly is what really drew me into his music. Live Laugh Love is a testament to Earl’s healing throughout his life, where he’s finally able to truly live his life and enjoy it to the fullest with his wife and his newborns, hence the cliche but wholesome title of the album. Even as a fairly new listener, I can tell that this album is on a far more positive note than its predecessors, showing how he’s fought and won against his depression in his very eventful and somber life.

The Shining – J Dilla

J Dilla is just like Nujabes, a hip-hop legend who was also a founder of not only lo-fi beats, but also jazz, R&B, soul, and funk infused beats. He is a lot more influential than Nujabes though, as you can see traces of his beats and techniques all over modern hip-hop. He’s so influential, that his producing device, the MPC3000, is actually in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Obviously, someone this influential makes masterful works of art, like The Shining. The Shining is truly just an old-school, funky, and vibey hip-hop album infused with soulful elements, with features like D’Angelo, Busta Rhymes, Common, Dwele, etc.

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert – Little Simz

Little Simz is a British rapper that was born to a Nigerian household, which is almost immediately evident when you listen to this album. As a fun fact, she also acts a little bit. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is an amazing album full of experimental raps combined with some jazz and afro beat elements. You can really hear the Nigerian influences on this album.  I did not expect to love this album as much as I did when I first listened to it. She talks about fame, family, vulnerability all from the unique perspective of a British-Nigerian woman.

Piñata – Freddie Gibbs

One of my favorite albums of all time, period. Genuinely timeless. The producer of this album, Madlib, is who I believe to be the greatest producer of all time, and he is in top form in this album. Madlib has produced so many masterpieces, it’s hard to keep track, and even among those masterpieces, this album still stands out, because of Freddie Gibbs. Freddie Gibbs is THE most versatile rapper I’ve ever heard, which is probably why Madlib decided to work with him even though he doesn’t do collabs very often. Freddie Gibbs truly enhances this album with his countless flows, confident tone, and clever bars. I could listen to this album for a year straight, just because of how much every song differs from each other so much, but is still met with the perfect but multiple flows and rhythms of Freddie Gibbs.