Westside Boogie‘s “More Black Superheroes” album has made into Complex’s 50 Best Albums of 2022 list at No. 16.
“Maturation is impossible in an echo chamber. Westside Boogie breaks a cycle of trauma and repeated mistakes on More Black Superheroes, an album dedicated to Black mental health. Beyond repeatedly advocating for more Black people to go to therapy (!!), Compton-born Boogie uses his second studio album to tell the story of how he reached this point, against all odds. In beautiful fashion, Boogie strings together stories about his upbringing and dealings with love to prove that anyone can heal, no matter where they’re from.” — Jordan Rose (Complex)
“More Black Superheroes” album is a second release under Eminem’s Shady Records, a follow-up of Boogie’s 2019 project, Everythings For Sale. The 12 tracks-project features Storm Ford on an intro track “Killa Mode,” Mamii on “Nonchalant,” Soulja Boy on “Can’t Even Lie,” Shelley FKA DRAM on “Aight,” Smino and Teezo Touchdown on “Can’t Get Over You,” Kalan.FrFr. and Mamii on “Something Strange,” and Snoop Dogg on “Windows Down.”
Later this year, Boogie also dropped the deluxe version of the album, adding six additional tracks, three out of which was completely new records and three was the audio version of his live performances.
“Super proud of this ..another win because of YALL ..I know y’all tired of me saying I love u but damn ..Now my next s–t betta be number 1 or I’m tripping. thank u Complex.” wrote Boogie on his Instagram.
Former Shady Records artist Conway The Machine also made into the list. His first and only Shady Records release God Don’t Make Mistakes occupied No. 41 spot.
“With critically acclaimed albums like La Maquina and From King to a GOD under his belt, Conway had already reached the upper echelon of rap lyricists before making God Don’t Make Mistakes, and he could have coasted if he wanted to. But he’s not the kind of guy to take it easy. Instead, he pushed himself to go even harder and made the most introspective, well-rounded album of his career. Throughout the project, he peels back the curtain on his personal life, sharing stories about getting shot (“Guilty”) and grappling with the deaths of family members (“Stressed”). He mixes this in with the usual hard-edged grit we’ve come to expect from Griselda (“Bruiser Brody”) and even throws in some streaming-friendly gems (“Scatter Brain”). His Shady Records debut has it all. — Eric Skelton (Complex)
The critically acclaimed project was commercial success for Conway. The album debuted at No. 175 on US Billboard 200 charts and reached No. 30 on UK’s Official Chart.
For the full list of 50 Best Albums of 2022, visit Complex here.