Last year 'The Independent' Paper ranked the 15 greatest posthumous albums of all time :

[BlackDiBiase]

15. Songwriter – Johnny Cash​

14. Sophie – Sophie​

13. The Shining – J Dilla ​

From his hospital bed, his mum apparently massaging his aching hands, Detroit-born rapper J Dilla worked on what would be the first of several posthumous albums, while being treated for complications brought on by the blood disorder thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and a form of lupus.

The Shining serves less as a cohesive body of work and more as a testament to Dilla’s versatility as an artist. Finished and mastered after his death in 2006, aged 32, it includes the woozy “E=MC2”, with Common rapping sharply over a sludgy bass line and shuffling beats. Dilla’s ear for a hook is evident on the psychedelic “Body Movin’” and dreamlike “So Far to Go”, the latter starring D’Angelo’s honeyed tones.

Each track seems tailor-made for Dilla’s guest stars, from the elaborate, orchestral arrangement of “Love” that backs Pharoahe Monch’s cerebral flow: “Open your heart I’m sure you’ll find a way to truly get this/ To cure a man from all his disease and from all his sickness.” It’s easy to imagine the gospel influences and hopeful prayers were as much for him as the listener.

12. Originals – Prince​

11. Yeaaah Baby – Big Pun​

Why is it that Christopher “Big Pun” Rios is so often marginalised in debates about hip-hop’s GOAT? Perhaps it has something to do with his death – the Bronx rapper’s demise from a heart attack and respiratory failure, aged 28, was no less tragic than Biggie and Tupac Shakur. Perhaps it lacked the myth-making violence of his Nineties peers, but there is also the matter of his output: Capital Punishment, Pun’s 1998 opus, was the only record he released during his lifetime besides a slew of (often spectacular) guest appearances.

Yeaaah Baby (2000), the follow-up, didn’t come out until two months after his death. It’s spottier and more eclectic than Capital Punishment, but frequently and compellingly brilliant: Pun’s rapping here is dense, forceful, and features of some of the most intricate multi-syllabic rhymes ever committed to record. The beats evoke a heady and slightly dated mix of genres, from R&B to Latin music, but Pun’s rich, punchy voice binds it into something cohesive

10. Circles – Mac Miller​

Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller was working on a companion record to his critically adored, Grammy-nominated 2018 album Swimming when he died from an accidental overdose, aged 26. Completed with the help of producer Jon Brion and released with his family’s blessing in 2020,Circles showed the artist at the height of his creative powers, and seemingly on a quest to reach a state of balance.

In what proved to be his last interview, Miller spoke of how “the beauty is in being able to be in both places” – good and bad, peace and chaos. That explains the to-and-fro nature of the album, from the waltzing piano of “That’s On Me” to the cyclical “Good News” . It’s like sitting on a rocking horse that topples you gently into the next song. On Swimming, Miller was adrift, searching for self-acceptance. Circles sounds like he could have found it, even if just for a moment

9. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory – Makaveli / Tupac​

Recorded in just three days, The Don Killuminati served as the third and final release of Tupac Shakur’s Death Row contract, which he signed while in prison (the “seven days” referred to how Pac laid down his vocals in three days, while mixing took another four).

Critics have argued that TDK – released under the artist name Makaveli – is Tupac’s personal statement, in contrast to his acclaimed fourth record, 1996’s All Eyez On Me, which represented Death Row and the West Coast. Now his eye was fixed firmly on asserting himself as the king of hip-hop, not just his own territory.

It explains the opening salvo on “Bomb First”, as he spits, over a sly-sounding keys motif: “Money-making plans, pistol close at hand, swollen pockets/ Let me introduce the topic, then we drop it/ Expose snakes ’cause they breed freely/ See me ride! Located worldwide like the art of graffiti…/ Extreme venom, no mercy when we all up in ’em/ Cut ’em down, to hell is where we send ’em.”

TDK dropped less than two months after Pac’s murder, fuelling conspiracy theories that he might have faked his own death (the sleeve copy included the words, “Exit 2Pac, Enter Makaveli”). For many fans, AEOM was the greater album, but TDK offered a tantalising close-up of the rapper’s soul, as he stated on closer “Against All Odds”, this was “the realest s*** I ever wrote… the truest s*** I ever spoke.”

8. Pearl – Janis Joplin​

7. MTV Unplugged – Nirvana​

6. Preludes – Warren Zevon​

5. From a Basement on a Hill – Elliott Smith​

4. First Rays of the New Sun – Jimi Hendrix​

3. Dreaming of You – Selena​

2. Closer – Joy Division ​

1. Life After Death – Notorious BIG​

Released 16 days after Biggie’s murder, Life After Death opens where his first album, 1994’s Ready to Die, ended. The narrator lies in a hospital bed, dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while his best friend (played by since-disgraced label boss Sean “Diddy” Combs), struggles to accept his demise: “We were supposed to rule the world, baby… this s*** can’t be over.”

Over the double album’s sprawling 24 tracks, the artist born Christopher Wallace deftly demonstrates his storytelling prowess. The devil’s in the details, he evidently knew, and so his characters are spotted in a “cherry M3” or “marine blue 6 coupe”. The sound effects – pouring rain, a woman screaming, a baby crying, gunshots – are as good as you’d hear in a Scorsese flick.

Then there’s the sheer range of the thing, from the blood-soaked noir of “Somebody’s Gotta Die” to the euphoric bounce on the brag-filled “Hypnotize”. There are lively skits that interrupt “Kick in the Door”, which features a superb looping sample by DJ Premier of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ spooky “I Put a Spell on You” – the macabre mingling with the machiavellian. Though he never lived to see it, Life After Death immortalised Biggie as the man behind one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time.

Disclaimer : UK Publication so take with a pinch of salt please.

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

I can't argue or debate it because I haven't heard every posthumous album and I've only listened to 6 of those.