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

Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' is one of the defining hip-hop records of the 21st century. West Coast hip-hop elders like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre anointed Lamar to carry on the legacy of gangsta rap, and the legacy of this album is a crucial example of American storytelling that established the future Pulitzer Prize winner as perhaps his generation’s most accomplished writer.