Best Albums of 2012: #7. Robert Glasper Experiment: Black Radio

Since generally most "best of" polls consist of a top 5, 10, or 20 list, I decided to buck the trend and go with my top 7 albums of 2012, although there are some honorable mentions that I could've included.  Number 7 on my favorite albums of the year is Black Radio by the Robert Glasper Experiment.  Robert Glasper is a Jazz Pianist with a healthy influence in old school hip hop and soul.  The Robert Glasper Experiment Black Radio features his jazz piano stylings, but also features tons of neo-soul types like Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Bilal, and hip hop dudes like Mos Def and Lupe Fiasco.  Though it sounds like a combination that wouldn't consistently work, surprisingly everything works on this album, and even some of the appearances by the guests are better than their solo albums (except Erykah Badu--all of her albums are great and her appearance singing "Afro Blue" is no exception).