Q

#1 Kendrick Lamar — q's top 20 albums of 2015

Californian emcee takes the #1 spot in our countdown of the best albums of 2015. Listen, and start your year off right!
A man sings into a microphone.
American hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar takes the top spot in this year's q top 20! (Gregers Tycho/Polfoto/The Associated Press)

Happy New Year! Today we reach the pinnacle of our top 20 albums of 2015 — our annual list of must-hear albums — by handing the honour to many rappers' favourite rapper: Kendrick Lamar.

The Californian emcee, who continues the Golden State's legacy of wide-screen, funky, decidedly political hip-hop, broke the mould this year with To Pimp A Butterfly. On this album he mines the recent history of African-American popular music, from jazz to g-funk, to create a personal meditation on black life in 2015. It's bold, relevant and supremely listenable, and it's #1 on the q Top 20.

WEB EXTRA | From To Pimp A Butterfly, here's the music video for Alright.