Feature / Music
2008: A Year In Review

Posted pre-2010

ARTICLE JUMP

Top Five Over-rated Hip-Hop/Rap Albums Of 2008

With the good comes the bad, or in many cases, not necessarily the bad, but just vastly overrated. Hip-hop/rap is a genre, like hardcore, fueled by hype. Here's the cream of the crop in regards to the hip-hop/rap albums that were gloriously praised but, in our opinion, didn't deserve the recognition.

  1. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (Cash Money)
  2. I guess I'm the only one not hearing what makes Lil Wayne so good. The whole Cash Money phase didn't catch my appeal back then and what he is doing now does nothing for me. To me it's just the same thing repackaged and delivered in a new look.

  3. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella)
  4. Kanye gave into the public. Whether he admits it or not, this album is exactly what everyone else is doing in hip-hop... and that means it's nothing special at all. Plus, he loses points for inspiring people to wear shudder shades.

  5. RZA as Bobby Digital - Digi Snacks (Koch)
  6. While his counterpart found his place on the good list, RZA didn't fare so well. For his latest disc under his Bobby Digital moniker, RZA produced a lackluster affair with bland beats and uninspired rhymes. Now he's working on a hip-hop/rock project with members of System of a Down... not good.

  7. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (Atlantic)
  8. Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo hooked up for their sophomore effort as Gnarls Barkley. Unfortunately, there just seemed to be something missing from this album when compared to their debut. Sure, "Crazy" was good, but there were other songs that helped the album reach it's praised status. This one just seems flat when compared to their debut, the demise of having such a great debut.

  9. Saigon - The Greatest Story Never Told (Fort Knocks)
  10. What? This album wasn't released. Yeah, that's why it's on here. Will it ever see the light of day? Chinese Democracy made it out in 2008, so its got to be possible.

(Michael)

— words by the SPB team

Related features

Cheap Fix

One Question Interviews • July 14, 2025

Cheap Fix SPB: What’s the most MacGyver-esque workaround you’ve made to connect different bits of equipment? Chad Nichols (guitar/vocals): You'd think with a name like Cheap Fix, we'd be all over this question. But I'm the least handy of the band members, so I've got next to nothing. All my … Read more

Mike Huguenor

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • July 8, 2025

Mike Huguenor Tell us about the primary guitars you used making Surfing the Web with the Alien? Read more

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2025)

Music • July 6, 2025

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Shane Herrell: A Tribute

Music • July 6, 2025

Shane Herrell: Rest In Power(pop) (1980-2025) The Rocker I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible. Sadly I never got the chance to hear my friend Shane Herrell karaoke Thin Lizzy’s "The Rocker." As a singing bass player we don’t have enough heroes. It might just … Read more

Unseemlier

One Question Interviews • June 27, 2025

Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring? Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would … Read more

More from this section

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2025)

Music • July 6, 2025

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Shane Herrell: A Tribute

Music • July 6, 2025

Shane Herrell: Rest In Power(pop) (1980-2025) The Rocker I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible. Sadly I never got the chance to hear my friend Shane Herrell karaoke Thin Lizzy’s "The Rocker." As a singing bass player we don’t have enough heroes. It might just … Read more

Caterwaul 2025

Music • May 13, 2025

Each year in late May, the 4-day party and noise-rock festival Caterwaul takes over multiple venues in Minneapolis. It’s a stacked lineup this year, to put it mildly, with each night’s headliners FACS, Young Widows, Naw, Pissed Jeans, and Uniform -- and that’s leaving a ton of other great bands … Read more