ReviewsListsDiscographyArtistsGenresCover ArtAbout

Discography Ranked

All Bas Albums Ranked Best to Worst (2026)

Every record label has its quiet storm, and for Dreamville that artist is Bas. Born Abbas Hamad in Paris to Sudanese parents and raised in Paris, Qatar and Queens, he brought a cosmopolitan warmth and an immigrant's perspective to a label built on J. Cole's North Carolina introspection. This page ranks his four studio albums, from Last Winter (2014) to We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up (2023).

Bas4 albums8 min readUpdated November 2026Hip-Hop
Too High to Riot album cover
~7.4

Quick Take

Consensus PeakToo High to RiotWorldly soul meets conscious rap — Bas at his most vitalBreakout MomentMilky WayTribe with J. Cole launched Bas into the mainstreamDreamville DebutLast WinterThe debut that followed his Born Sinner feature

The best and worst Bas albums

Why it ranks here

Bas found his voice on Too High to Riot — an album that balances political consciousness with sun-drenched melodies. 'Methylone' is a hazy, hook-driven standout, and 'Night Job' with J. Cole captures two friends comparing notes on adulthood. His globe-trotting upbringing, from Paris and Qatar to Queens, gives the whole project an identity no one else in Dreamville was touching. It's the rare protest album you can play at a cookout.

Context

Released during a wave of politically charged hip-hop in 2016, Bas channeled his Sudanese roots and Queens upbringing into something that felt personal rather than performative.

Highlights

  • Methylone
  • Night Job
  • Matches
  • Dopamine
  • Housewives

Weak Spots

  • Mid-section dips in energy
  • Some hooks don't stick on first listen

Production

Ron Gilmore · Cedric Brown · Cam O'bi · Ogee Handz

Influence

Helped define Dreamville's signature blend of conscious rap with feel-good production, a blend the label's later Revenge of the Dreamers sessions leaned into.

Replay Value

High — the warm production and tropical textures age beautifully across seasons.

Why it ranks here

Milky Way is where Bas leveled up commercially without losing depth. 'Tribe' with J. Cole charted and went platinum. 'Boca Raton' with ASAP Ferg pairs braggadocio with a breezy beat. The album flows seamlessly from party cuts to introspective late-night tracks, showcasing a versatility that most Dreamville artists hadn't achieved at that point.

Context

Dropped between Dreamville compilation sessions, Milky Way arrived as Bas's most accessible project — timed perfectly with the streaming era's appetite for melodic rap.

Highlights

  • Tribe
  • Icarus
  • Boca Raton
  • Purge
  • Fragrance

Weak Spots

  • A few tracks blur together in the middle stretch
  • Doesn't take as many risks as Too High to Riot

Production

Ron Gilmore · Cedric Brown · Childish Major · Sango · Christo

Read our full Milky Way review →

Influence

Proved that Dreamville could produce mainstream-friendly artists beyond J. Cole — 'Tribe' crossed over without compromising the label's identity.

Replay Value

Very high — 'Tribe' is perennial rotation, and the album's breezy production suits almost any setting.

Why it ranks here

Last Winter is a promising debut that wears its influences proudly — Drake's introspective melodicism, Cole's lyrical ambition, and a cosmopolitan streak that was uniquely Bas. 'Charles De Gaulle to JFK' nods to his Paris-to-New York story, and 'Lit' with J. Cole and KQuick is a celebration anthem. Raw but charming, it's the blueprint for everything that followed.

Context

Bas's introduction to the world — released through Dreamville and Interscope after features on Cole's Born Sinner and the Revenge of the Dreamers compilation, Last Winter established him as the label's resident vibe curator.

Highlights

  • Charles De Gaulle to JFK
  • Lit
  • Vacation
  • Your World
  • Last Winter

Weak Spots

  • Production can feel samey across the tracklist
  • Hasn't fully separated from his influences yet

Production

Ron Gilmore · Cedric Brown · GP808 · Jay Kurzweil

Influence

Set the sonic template for Bas's career — melodic, warm, introspective — and showed Dreamville could nurture artists with a softer touch than Cole's own work.

Replay Value

Moderate — the nostalgia factor is strong for early Dreamville fans, though the production hasn't aged as gracefully.

Why it ranks here

The title says it all — Bas delivers his most emotionally vulnerable project, tackling relationships, identity, and the gap between public persona and private pain. 'Passport Bros' with J. Cole is the lead single and a clear highlight. The album's strength is its conversational intimacy, though the low-energy approach occasionally dips into monotony.

Context

Released after a long hiatus, the album reflects the emotional weight of navigating fame, relationships, and identity as a first-generation Sudanese-American in hip-hop.

Highlights

  • Passport Bros
  • Home Alone
  • Khartoum
  • 179 Deli
  • Diamonds

Weak Spots

  • Low-energy production can feel flat over 17 tracks
  • Some songs lack a memorable hook

Production

Ron Gilmore · Christo · Boi-1da · T-Minus · FKJ

Influence

Pushed Dreamville's sound into more introspective, R&B-adjacent territory — confessional rap without the bombast.

Replay Value

Best experienced as a late-night front-to-back listen — individual tracks don't hit as hard outside context.

Scores come from each album’s scorecard review. A score marked ~ is an editorial estimate for an album we have not reviewed in full yet. Albums are ranked by score; ties keep our editorial order.

Essay

The Complete Picture

Bas's catalog tells the story of an artist who never had a viral moment but built something more lasting: a body of work with real emotional range and a sound that belongs to no one else at Dreamville. Too High to Riot remains his creative peak, the album where political consciousness and Dreamville polish converged. Milky Way proved he could cross over without compromise, and his 2023 album pushed into the kind of raw vulnerability most rappers avoid.

On a label stacked with talent (J. Cole, JID, EarthGang, Ari Lennox), Bas carved out his own lane by never competing on anyone else's terms. Four albums in, Dreamville's quiet storm is still building.

Read next
Full artist profile →More discographies →Latest reviews →

Bas Albums in Order

  1. 2014Last WinterRanked #3
  2. 2016Too High to RiotRanked #1
  3. 2018Milky WayRanked #2
  4. 2023We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked UpRanked #4

Bas Albums: Common Questions

What is the best Bas album?
We rank Too High to Riot (2016) as the best Bas album, with an estimated score of 7.4/10: Conscious vibes wrapped in worldly warmth and Dreamville soul.
How many Bas albums are ranked here?
This ranking covers 4 Bas projects, released between 2014 and 2023.
What is the earliest Bas album in this ranking?
Last Winter (2014) is the earliest release in this list. We rank it #3.
What is the most recent Bas album in this ranking?
We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up (2023) is the most recent release in this list. We rank it #4.
What is the worst Bas album?
By our scorecard, the worst Bas album is We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up (2023), ranked #4 of 4 with an estimated score of 6.5/10: Brutally honest late-night confessions over hazy Dreamville beats.