Okay okay. The Best & Worst lists are coming, slowly but surely. We’ll try to deliver one of these per weekday over the next few weeks. In between juggling my duties for Medium.Com/Cuepoint, regular HipHopSite.Com updates, and DJing, it’s been hard to find the time to do these. So let’s begin with 2014′s best major label album releases. Indie label releases up next…

10. YG – My Krazy Life – Def Jam – Initially we didn’t love YG’s Interscope debut, but as time went on it slowly grew on us. Fully produced by DJ Mustard, the album captured and subsequently resurrected the sound of the west coast, harking back to early classics from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and the Death Row era. We’ve heard the word “classic” thrown around when discussing this album, and while we have come around from our initial opinions on it, we still believe that it more borrows from the classics rather than lives as one. Still a solid out the gate debut from the young Blood.

9. Common – Nobody’s Smiling – ARTrium / Def Jam – Truth be told, Com’s Chicago-centric Nobody’s Smiling LP was better in theory than in execution. Despite No I.D.’s sometimes too experimental production, in terms of poignancy, what he was saying about the city’s gang violence epidemic far outweighs the topics of pretty much anyone else on this list. For that alone, it deserves inclusion. Lyrically on point.

8. Rick Ross – Mastermind – MMG / Def Jam – Due to his bloated, excessive persona, Rick Ross is the rapper we love to hate, however damn if he doesn’t pick good beats. At least he did on Mastermind, while Hood Billionaire was made up of more dumbed down, baller anthems. Mastermind found the then still heavy-set Ross channeling his inner Barry White with soulful samples and lush grooves, as he describes his over-the-top lavish lifestyle. We ain’t mad at it.

7. DJ Mustard – 10 Summers – Google Play – We’re going to go out on a limb and put Google in the “major label” category, considering they probably have more money than Def Jam. Mustard’s 10 Summers was the hottest producer of the year’s answer to Dr. Dre’s 2001, even paying homage to it in the opening sketch. He accomplished what YG’s My Krazy Life couldn’t – variation – by simply extending the guest list. The all-star cast of all the biggest names in hood hits rounded out 10 Summers nicely, creating an album of anthems suited for radio and the club.

6. Childish Gambino – STN MTN / Kauai – Glassnote / Universal – While Gambino’s Because The Internet topped a lot of the industry’s 2014 year end lists, it actually was included on our 2013 year end list. We had since moved on to his brilliantly crafted STN MTN / Kauai project, which is marketed as a mixtape and an EP, but really was an album in two parts. Gambino trolling in true fashion once again.

5. Eminem – Shady XV – Shady Records / Interscope – Face it, Eminem’s scraps and leftovers are better than most people’s albums. Who knows how much of Shady XV was meant for The Marshall Mathers LP 2, but this indirect sequel featured even more mind-blowing rhymes from the original rap genius, while showing off the talents of his Shady 2.0 roster. Lyrical miracles are back, bitches.

4. The Roots – …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin – Def Jam – …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin is a highly pretentious concept album. However, it’s also good. And it is very digestible, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, marking The Roots shortest LP to date. So it doesn’t require large amounts of patience. Like any solid album, it gets better with each consecutive listen, and its theme becomes apparent the more times you hear it. Bravo.

3. Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron – TDE/Interscope – Following Kendrick’s good kid, m.a.a.d. city, Oxymoron is largely an album that seems untampered with by pesky A&R’s. Amidst Q’s cinematic tales of gangbanging and drug problems, he also impresses with his delivery, lyrical styles, and dark, subterranian production. Oxymoron is a triumph of a rap album, because it signifies a return of “underground” rap to the major label scene.

2. J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive – Dreamville / Columbia – The best-selling rap album of the year (650,000+) is from a semi-conscious rapper who rhymes over his own self-produced beats built around funk and soul samples and drum loops. Sorry Iggy, sorry Nicki. A change gon’ come.

1. Big K.R.I.T. – Cadillactica - K.R.I.T.’s second LP for Def Jam may be one of the lowest selling albums on this list, but it’s also quite easily the strongest. It’s probably hard to market a Southern artist that raps about important topics, produces his own beats, and makes albums that sound like they belong in the Outkast catalog. Maybe that will change next year.

New music from Stacy Barthe’s BEcoming, due March 3rd on John Legend’s Homeschool/Motown Records.

The Golden Globe award winning single from the Selma soundtrack gets a video accompaniment.

John Legend and Common Sense perform their cut from the Selma soundtrack on Good Morning America.

From the soundtrack to the new Martin Luther King biopic, “Glory,” dropping January 9th.

New music from the soundtrack to the upcoming film Selma.

From the “There Will Be Sunshine” EP, available at iTunes.

From the new climate change awareness project, HOME, available December 2nd.

Poem by Common performed at The White House for the 2014 Veterans Day celebration.

“MC Lyte’s new track, “Dear John” f/ Common & 10Beats, is the anthem for #EducateOURMen, which is the signature scholarship initiative of MC Lyte’s Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, which has presented two $100,000 university scholarships during the Soul Train Music Awards Red Carpet Pre-Show each year since the organization’s founding. This year, the foundation will present dozens of scholarships earmarked to send men to HBCU’s. Russell Simmons, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jada Pinkett Smith and Faith Evans are just of the few celebrities who support the foundation’s movement (EducateOURMen.info).”

The Nobody’s Smiling team helps out vocalist Snoh Aalegra on “Bad Things.”

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Chi-Town connect on this remix of Herb’s “Fight Or Flight,” featuring Common and Chance The Rapper.

NBA: “The NBA is calling all cities, countries, fans, and teams for the highly anticipated 2014-15 season. #EverybodyUp SEASON BEGINS OCTOBER 28. Check your local listings for tune-in information or visit http://www.NBATickets.com where tickets are available now. Narrated by Grammy Award-winning artist and actor, Common. Music: “What’d I Say Pt I & II” by Ray Charles .”

Hard Knock TV: “Nick Huff Barili of Hard Knock TV, in collaboration with www.GRAMMY.com sits down with Common for in-depth interview. In part 1 Common talks to Nick Huff Barili about working with some of Hip Hop’s greatest producers J Dilla, Kanye West and No I.D. Not only does Common share some of their similarities and differences, but he also tells us stories of working with each of them. As the interview continues Common gives us insight into the inspiration for making the track Rewind That, which is one of our personal favorites from Nobody’s Smiling. Common opens up about living with J Dilla in LA and their close friendship. Part one of our conversation with Common ends with Common, who has accomplished a lot in his career, talking about what he is most proud of. We are just getting started with Common, tune in Friday for part 2 of this interview.”

Chi-town legend, DJ Risky Bizness, is helping to put together a special 20th anniversary party for Common’s Resurrection, happening October 11th at the Emporium Arcade Bar at 1366 N. Milwaukee Ave in Chicago. Performances will include Juice, Mass Hysteria, Prime, Sean Lett, Thaione Davis, Astonish, Mic One, Visual, and others, whom will each perform a song from the seminal 1994 classic. All proceeds will go to the Common Ground Foundation. Common is not scheduled to appear, but who knows…? Details below.