Best Non-Hip Hop Albums of the 2000s

I'm going to make a top 10 list for non-hip hop albums for every year I can until I get to a year that doesn't have 10 decent albums. I hope I'll be able to get to the late 50s, but I don't know yet. I'll try to label each album with a genre for people looking for recommendations, but some albums are tough to define, so my descriptions might be a little off.

The 2000s are when I really started listening to music other than hip hop. I listened to some other music before then, but if you asked me what I listened to when I was in high school, my response was "HIP HOP, BOYEEEE!!!" In the last decade my response transformed into "Hip hop, but I listen to pretty much everything." Unfortunately for me, the 2000s were the decade when mainstream media stopped being a reliable source for good music, no matter what genre you listen to. Fortunately, the explosion of the internet meant I could just turn off the radio and MTV and still find good music. Anyway, aside from hip hop, folk and jazz were the best genres of the decade. Jazz had way more good albums, but 5 of my 10 #1s are some form of folk album, so I'm giving folk the edge as the second best genre of the 2000s after hip hop. The best non-hip hop album of the decade goes to Autumn Fallin' by Jaymay. I'm still eagerly awaiting a follow-up. She announced a new EP in 2008, but it never materialized.

Albums highlighted in yellow are DD-Cup/5 Mech classics

2000

1. Medeski, Martin & Wood - The Dropper (Jazz-Funk)
2. Masada - Live in Sevilla (Avant-Garde)
3. Amanda Ghost - Ghost Stories (Pop/Electronic)
4. Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun (Neosoul)
5. Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band - Perceptual (Jazz)
6. D'Angelo - Voodoo (Neosoul)
7. Spaceways Incorporated - Thirteen Cosmic Standards by Sun Ra & Funkadelic (Free Jazz)
8. Joyless - Wisdom & Arrogance (Depressive Rock)
9. Nelly Furtado - Whoa Nelly! (Pop)
10. Radiohead - Kid A (Alternative Rock)

2001

1. Malcolm Catto - Popcorn Bubble Fish (Electronic)
2. Billy Bang - Vietnam: The Aftermath (Free Jazz)
3. Maxwell - Now (Neosoul)
4. Whitefield Brothers - In the Raw (Funk)
5. Michael Franti & Spearhead - Stay Human (Rock)
6. Mathew Shipp - Matthew Shipp's New Orbit (Free Jazz)
7. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part (Post-Punk)
8. Camera Obscura - Biggest Blue Hi-Fi (Indie Rock)
9. Jaga Jazzist - A Livingroom Hush (Nu Jazz)
10. The Philadelphia Experiment - The Philadelphia Experiment (Jazz)

2002

1. Rosie Thomas - When We Were Small (Folk)
2. Till Brönner - Blue Eyed Soul (Contemporary Jazz)
3. Norah Jones - Come Away with Me (Vocal Jazz/Pop)
4. Cody ChestnuTT - The Headphone Masterpiece (Neosoul)
5. DJ Spooky - Optometry (Electronic/Jazz)
6. Tom Waits - Blood Money (Rock/Blues)
7. Devendra Banhart - Oh Me Oh My...The Way the Day Goes By the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit (Freak Folk)
8. William Parker Quartet - O'Neal's Porch (Free Jazz)
9. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (Progressive Rock)
10. Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around (Americana)

2003

1. Michael Franti & Spearhead - Everyone Deserves Music (Rock)
2. William Parker Violin Trio - Scrapbook (Free Jazz)
3. David S. Ware String Ensemble - Threads (Free Jazz)
4. Matthew Shipp - Equilibrium (Free Jazz)
5. Four Tet - Rounds (Electronic)
6. Tomahawk - Mit Gas (Alternative Metal)
7. M. Ward - Transfiguration of Vincent (Folk)
8. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium (Progressive Rock)
9. The Black Keys - Thickfreakness (Blues Rock)
10. Alvin Jett & The Hired Help - Alone & Drinkin' (Blues)

2004

1. Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (Freak Folk)
2. Medeski, Martin & Wood - End of the World Party (Just in Case) (Avant-Garde/Jazz-Funk)
3. Tom Waits - Real Gone (Rock/Blues)
4. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands (Freak Folk)
5. Plantlife - Return of Jack Splash (Funk/Soul)
6. Norah Jones - Feels Like Home (Vocal Jazz/Pop)
7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Post-Punk)
8. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans (Folk)
9. Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (Folk)
10. Devendra Banhart - Niño Rojo (Freak Folk)

2005

1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Folk)
2. Platinum Pied Pipers - Triple P (Neosoul)
3. Robert Glasper - Canvas (Jazz)
4. El Perro Del Mar - Look! It's El Perro Del Mar (Indie Pop)
5. Dead By Wednesday - Democracy is Dead (Metal)
6. Jovanotti - Buon Sangue (Italian Pop/Rock)
7. Vijay Iyer - Reimagining (Jazz)
8. Marissa Nadler - The Saga of Mayflower May (Dream-Folk)
9. Free the Robots - The Prototype (Electronic/Jazz)
10. William Parker Quartet - Sound Unity (Free Jazz)

2006

1. Joanna Newsom - Ys (Freak Folk)
2. Benevento Russo Duo - Play Pause Stop (Jazz/Rock)
3. Roy Nathanson - Sotto Voce (Jazz)
4. Koby Israelite - Orobas: Book of Angels Vol. 4 (Avante-Garde)
5. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (Folk Rock/Blues Rock)
6. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country (Indie Pop)
7. Belle and Sebastion - The Life Pursuit (Indie Pop)
8. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope (Pop/Anti-Folk)
9. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (Soul/Pop)
10. Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa - Raw Materials (Jazz)

2007

1. Jaymay - Autumn Fallin' (Anti-Folk)
2. Jonas Hellborg - Art Metal (Jazz Fusion/ Metal)
3. Robert Glasper - In My Element (Jazz)
4. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Folk Rock)
5. Rebel Clique - Still Curious (Neosoul)
6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Indie Rock/Folk)
7. Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone - On and Off (Jazz)
8. Nylon - 10 Lieder Über Liebe (German Pop/Electronic/Vocal Jazz)
9. Muhsinah - Day.Break (Neosoul)
10. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (Progressive Rock)

2008

1. Bar Kokhba - Lucifer: Book of Angels Vol. 10 (Avant-Garde)
2. Michael Franti & Spearhead - All Rebel Rockers (Rock/Reggae)
3. Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band - Season of Changes (Jazz)
4. Marco Benevento - Invisible Baby (Jazz/Experimental)
5. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue (Folk/Pop/Country)
6. Giovanca - Subway Silence (Neosoul)
7. Lykke Li - Youth Novels (Pop/Indie Rock/Electronic)
8. Lizzy Parks - Raise the Roof (Vocal Jazz/Soul)
9. Jackson Conti - Sujinho (Jazz)
10. Adele - 19 (Pop/Soul)

2009

1. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career (Indie Pop)
2. William Elliot Whitmore - Animals in the Dark (Folk/Alt Country)
3. DJ Spooky - The Secret Song (Electronic)
4. Regina Spektor - Far (Pop/Anti-Folk)
5. Alvin Jett & The Phat Noize Band - Honey Bowl (Blues)
6. Marissa Nadler - Little Hells (Dream-Folk)
7. N'dambi - Pink Elephant (Soul)
8. Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement (Soul)
9. James Carter, John Medeski, Christian McBride, Adam Rogers & Joey Baron - Heaven on Earth (Jazz)
10. Vijay Iyer - Historicity (Jazz)