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The days of the rap label steering the culture may have gone the way of Suge Knight, but as it celebrates its 20th anniversary, Top Dawg Entertainment remains the guardian of Hip Hop on the West Coast (and beyond).
Seeing the TDE logo on an album cover is the closest Hip Hop has to a hallmark of quality. When albums used to bear the Death Row chair, Def Jam logo or giant “A” for Aftermath, it usually gave the buyer confidence in the product, even if they had never listened to the artist before. Now, with virtually everything a subsidiary of one of the three major music conglomerates, a record label ran by a music person is few and far between.
That’s why TDE and its two decades of success should be celebrated. Not only have they curated an all-star roster that includes SZA, ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock (and formerly Kendrick Lamar, of course), but the label means something to fans and consumers. It has an aesthetic of alternative but culture-defining music, of giving artists time and space to create, and boasts an in-house production team comprised of Sounwave, Tae Beast and formerly Dave Free, among others. In short, TDE is everything a record label should be.
Founded in 2004 by Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, TDE looked local for talent, signing Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar when they were just teenagers. It would, of course, be years before they reaped the rewards of these prodigious discoveries, but Top and the label’s presidents, Terrence “Punch” Henderson and Dave Free, knew they had unearthed some red rubies in the Los Angeles soil.
It wasn’t until 2012 when TDE signed a joint venture with Interscope that it would come to mainstream prominence off the back of Kendrick blowing up the year before. From there, the label has gone from strength to strength, bolstering and diversifying its roster while enjoying one of the most sustained runs of any Hip Hop label.
Even Kendrick and Dave Free’s shock departures in 2022 to set up their own shop in the form of pgLang did not slow down TDE. In the two years since, SZA has released one of the most popular albums of the decade and now the label have broken another star in Doechii, proving Top Dawg and co. remain some of the smartest minds in music.
A 20th anniversary TDE compilation has also been teased, which will surely have fans begging for one more Black Hippy collaboration after the foursome reunited at Kendrick’s historic Pop Out show earlier this year.
Here’s to 20 years of Top Dawg Entertainment — and hopefully another 20.
20. Jay Rock — Redemption (2018)
Jay Rock’s sole major label album so far and responsible for the Grammy-winning hit “King’s Dead,” Redemption is a slice of old-fashioned, well-rounded rap. It’s a shame we only get albums from Rock every five years or so because Redemption hinted that he was on the verge of something bigger.
19. Jay Rock — 90059 (2015)
Most notable for featuring the last pure Black Hippy hook-up with the aptly titled “Vice City,” 90059 is a weed-infused gangsta rap album that’s aware of its lane and speeds down it. As their first signee, Eastside Johnny is the soul of TDE and this is his best album.
18. ScHoolboy Q — Habits & Contradictions (2012)
As far as narrators and storytellers in Hip Hop go, ScHoolboy Q doesn’t get the credit he deserves. “Nightmares on Figg St.” is an intricately-weaved street fable that gives his insular perspective wider meaning, while “Sacrilegious” is a biblical story of a killer seeking forgiveness. Habits & Contradictions was also our first glimpse at Groovy Q’s hitmaking potential, spawning the fan-favorite “Hands on the Wheel” with A$AP Rocky.
17. Kendrick Lamar — Overly Dedicated (2010)
Made when Kendrick Lamar was just 23, Overly Dedicated proved that the future superstar was already mature beyond his years as he offered up a preview of the brilliance to come. “The Heart Pt. 2” and “P&P 1.5” are two of his best songs, but the Compton native was still searching for an identity on the guest-heavy mixtape, particularly with the Lil Wayne impression on “Michael Jordan.”
16. Ab-Soul — Soul Burger (2024)
The latest TDE project from the quietest member of Black Hippy. Created as a tribute to his late friend Doe Burger, who he’s described as the Riley to his Huey, Soul has never rapped better and continues the label’s post-Kendrick hot streak.
15. ScHoolboy Q — Oxymoron (2014)
The most accessible of Q’s albums, Oxymoron successfully flirts with radio hits and takes cues from the snarling Pusha T, but the former Hoover Gangster Crip is nothing if not addictive. Tracks such as “Hell of a Night,” “Break the Bank” and “Collard Greens” (his first Hot 100 hit) remain some of the most giddy of his career.
14. Ab-Soul — Herbert (2022)
Following a long break, Ab-Soul returned in late 2022 with Herbert, one of the most vulnerable and varied offerings in the entire TDE discography. There are classic boom bap bangers (“Goodman,” “Gotta Rap”), emotive introspective cuts (“Do Better,” “It Be Like That”), some James Blake production (“Herbert”) and endless lyrical highlights to pick out.
13. Isaiah Rashad — The Sun’s Tirade (2016)
Reminiscent of that distinctly fuzzy Dungeon Family sound, Isaiah Rashad’s sophomore LP further emphasized the Tennessee titan as an outlier in the TDE family. The Sun’s Tirade was also put together at the height of Rashad’s substance abuse issues, a struggle explicitly expressed on the album.
12. Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022)
Coming out of a dark writer’s block and family turbulence, Kendrick’s final album with TDE occasionally reached outside of its grasp. But for the most part, the lengthy and ambitious Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was a scintillating treatise on generational trauma, celebrity culture and family.
11. ScHoolboy Q — Blue Lips (2024)
A return to form for ScHoolboy Q after the disjointed Crash Talk, Blue Lips captures him in all his singular glory, complete with delirious raps and wanton excess. Q may not have the same lofty social insight as Kendrick Lamar, but what he does have in abundance is a freneticism that he always feels in control of.
10. Isaiah Rashad — The House Is Burning (2021)
The House is Burning was Zaywop’s post-rehab return following a hazy few years of drink, drugs and financial difficulty. It was the first album he had ever made completely sober and he has never sounded so confident in his rhymes. Appropriately, The House is Burning ends on a more hopeful note.
9. Doechii — Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024)
One of the most talked about albums of the year, Alligator Bites Never Heal has launched a new star in Doechii and is deservedly nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2025 Grammys. TDE’s first (and so far only) female MC could very well go on to dominate Hip Hop over the next decade.
8. Isaiah Rashad — Cilvia Demo (2014)
Recently celebrating its 10th anniversary, Isaiah Rashad’s debut mixtape expanded the West Coast sound of TDE into the heart of the American South. At its core, Cilvia Demo is indebted to its Southern rap forefathers but is more introspective and intoxicating. Combined with Rashad’s conversational rhymes about adolescent angst, it may be the most underrated project in the TDE canon.
7. Kendrick Lamar — Section.80 (2011)
The release of Section.80 led most people to hearing Kendrick Lamar for the first time as his last independent release gained traction far greater than anybody could have expected. It was an early example of the now-legendary rapper’s skill for virtuoso storytelling and tackling dark themes with fresh insight.
6. SZA — Ctrl (2017)
The album that proved TDE was more than just a rapper’s paradise, SZA’s debut LP of lovelorn slow jams appeared to usher in a new era of rawer R&B and proved that the label had also unearthed one of the great voices in modern music. “Doves in the Wind” remains the standout.
5. ScHoolboy Q — Blank Face LP (2016)
While Q has not quite kicked on commercially in the way that Blank Face LP promised back in 2016, the album remains a scorching, ominous and often psychedelic masterpiece. Q, at his best, has arguably the most engaging voice in Hip Hop as songs such as “Groovy Tony,” “Str8 Ballin” and “Ride Out” prove.
4. Kendrick Lamar — DAMN. (2017)
Further developing some of the ideas and sounds he explored on To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN. is a more personal project but no less vast. Aside from being Kendrick’s first album to sell over half a million units in its first week (603,000, to be exact), it wrote the Compton kingpin into the history books as the first ever non-jazz or classical musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music — just in case any Drake fans thought about doubting his credentials.
3. SZA — SOS (2022)
The long-awaited sophomore album from TDE’s First Lady gave her the status deserving of her talents. The sultry-voiced singer went from cult queen to mainstream superstar seemingly overnight as women everywhere appeared to resonate with SOS‘s themes of female angst. It also spent a remarkable 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200.
2. Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)
The West Coast was back and it was being carried on Kendrick’s diminutive shoulders. The blog rap star, coming in with the hype of a Dr. Dre co-sign, was the shot in the arm Hip Hop needed in the early 2010s as he mixed cinematic storytelling with stacked rhymes and radio-friendly hooks, without sacrificing authenticity. good kid, m.A.A.d city still sounds as fresh as ever.
1. Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
A jazz-rap masterpiece, To Pimp a Butterfly elevated Kendrick Lamar above anyone that could be billed as his contemporary with a ruthless interrogation of what it meant to be Black in America in the 21st century. The album was to Hip Hop what The Beatles’ Revolver was to rock ‘n’ roll and almost a decade on, it still swirls with a hypnotic surrealism. It’s not only the crown jewel of TDE’s catalog, but the best album of the 2010s.
Honorable Mentions:
• Ab-Soul — Control System (2012)
• Kendrick Lamar — untitled unmastered. (2016)
• Jay Rock — Follow Me Home (2011)
• SiR — Heavy (2024)
• Kendrick Lamar — The Kendrick Lamar EP (2009)
