2015 The Albums: League of Their Own

This award started long before the site was even a thought, in one publication, radio show or another. Since 2000, I have handed out a "League of Their Own" Award to an album that is made by an artist who is the most forward thinking, open minded, revolutionary musician out there today. Their accomplishments in the past 12 months have either resurrected a sound, broke down walls and created new frontiers or have totally reinvented a genre all together. In the past winners have included: 

2000 - Radiohead - Kid A 
2001 - The Strokes - Is This It? 
2002 - NERD - In Search of... 
2003 - The White Stripes - Elephant 
2004 - The Killers - Hot Fuss 
2005 - The Mars Volta - Francis the Mute 
2006 - TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain 
2007 - Kanye West - Graduation 
2008 - Santogold / Santigold
2009 - Mastodon - Crack the Skye 
2010 - Gorillaz - Plastic Beach 
2011 - Bjork - Biophilia 
2012 - Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes 
2013 -  Arcade Fire - Reflektor
2014 - Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2 

...and now, to add to the growing list of musical revolutionaries is an artist who is taking funk and jazz back to new and dangerous territory that has not been heard in decades. If Miles Davis came back from the dead and asked Flying Lotus to produce a record for him, it would sound like the winner of this year's award. It is artists like this that the League of Their Own exists. Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2015 League of Their Own winner is...

Kamasi Washington - The Epic

After being the sax player for Brainfeeder and working with Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington had to make a name for himself and break out of the shadows of his constituents. His near three-hour-long debut, The Epic, takes us into outerspace and back again all while floating on a funky neo-jazz ship. Broken up into three acts: The Plan, The Glorious Tale, The Historic Repetition, Washington and his band take us to places that music and this genre have not experienced in this generation. The Epic lives up to it's name and Washington's future is one to watch. This record truly stands on it's own and will stand the test of time as something that will turn heads and hearts for decades to come. 

Read: 2015 The Albums: Honorable Mentions 

Stay Tuned Next Week For Our Top 10 Albums of the Year!