2013 and the Hip-Hop I Liked
2013 and the Hip-Hop I Liked
Calm down! I just picked things I liked! Links Included!
El-P + Killer Mike - Run the Jewels
How can I not put El-P’s crazy flow and crazier beats (pretty accessible here actually) up here? Plus Killer Mike! Jeez! Check out “Run the Jewels”, “36” Chain” or “A Christmas Fucking Miracle”.
Epidemic - Somethin’ For Tha Listeners
I’m a huge, huge fan of these beats. Jazzy piano, saxophone, and smoky and a pretty smooth and lyrical rapper going over them too. Listen to “Rhyme Writers”, “Mic Masters” or “The Ocean”.
Flatbush ZOMBiES - BetterOffDEAD
Erick Arc Elliott is doing what he does and he does it really well, setting up beats for Meechy Darko and Zombie Juice. Rapping over a Baths track and making it fun and good even with autotune is pretty much why I loved this. “Bliss”, “Thugnificense” and “222” are excellent.
Inspectah Deck + 7L + Esoteric - Czarface
The 90s called and are on their way with some sharp lines and smooth delivery. Great production for two rappers with a ton of clout in the world of rap. Go for “Cement 3’s”, “Czar Refaeli” or my personal favorite (partly because Exquire has a fantastic verse) “Poisonous Thoughts”.
Man this guy is fun as hell. Super electronic beats with tons of energy (his raps are really tight too) and reminds you every so often about his sexuality. Most fun tracks include “Spa Day”, “Airbending” and “Breezy”.
Mr. Muthafuckin’ Exquire - Kismet
Big fan of his big, larger than life style. Good stories and lyrics and bold, unexpected choices in picking beats. Check out “Cherry Raindrops”, “Tomorrow’s Gone” and “Paper Hearts”.
RA the Rugged Man - Legends Never Die
Truly, legends do not die. A super talented rapper with a pretty good idea of what kind of beats he should be going over with some. The draw here is how good a voice he has, how dope his lines are and how unbelievably articulate he is delivering them. “The People’s Champ”, “Holla-Loo-Yuh”, and “The Dangerous Three”.
Underachievers - Indigoism
Those trippy beats are perfect for their raps. As lost and woozy as I get listening to the beats, their lines are crisp and delivered well enough that everything just works. “Herb Shuttles” is one of my favorites of the year, but don’t ignore “Maxing Out” and “The Mahdi”.
Aaron Cohen - Potential Fans
Aaron Cohen is “waggin’ a finger at you haters / like Mutombo on the Nuggets”. Beats are making me woozy, man. “Potential Fans” and “Nickvanexelrose”.
All aboard the hype train that sees Earl improve as a rapper but to me struggle to put together a consistently excellent album. Great singles, great rapping, but missing something that keeps it all together. “Hive” and “Whoa” are ridiculous though.
First Light - Fallacy Fantasy
Hiero put out an album and Deltron 3030 came out but it’s Pep Love and Opio that brought some fire on this album and reminds us all how skilled they are as rappers. “Los Lobos” and “Do This Well” are nice.
Logic - Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever
Honesty and piano are two words I associate with Logic. Personal stories and a pretty nice, accessible flow. Actually really like this. “5AM” and “Nasty” are great.
Ntan + Blabbermouf - Start from Skratch
I think it’s an EP but man can Blabbermouf do any wrong? And Ntan is another hyper lyrical member of Het Verzet (Dutch hip-hop crew bringing the raw and heavy 90s beats back) and it’s absolutely fantastic even if I wasn’t completely sold on some of the reggae sounds. “Da Militija” and “Lock Down” are sublime.
RA Scion + Todd Sykes - Adding to the Extra
Todd Sykes’s mellow, soulful beats and RA Scion’s driven, forceful rapping work together for a great album. Two tracks to recommend? “Porno for Pyros” and “Aqua Vitae”.
Raider Klan - Tales from the Underground
Trappy beats, some pretty entertaining rapping and a super dark macabre feeling that I gravitate to. A few silly hooks (looking at you, “It’s Nothing”) that don’t really take away too much. I liked “We Dangerous” and “In This Thang”.
Roc Marciano - Marci Beaucoup
Man he just gives off the vibe of the coolest dude who just happens to rap and be really good at it and sound really good. Check “Soul Music” and “Dollar Bitch”.
Snow tha Product - Good Nights & Bad Mornings 2: The Hangover
Ok I feel like it’s a little limited and a little repetitive in theme, but for the type of production on the album (loud Krizz Kaliko and Tech N9ne sounding beats) she fits fantastically. Go for “You’re Welcome” and “Cookie Cutter Bitches”.
Tanya Morgan - Rubber Souls
It’s fun with a couple really nice lines. Beats a little unconventional for me I guess but very listenable. “Never Too Much” and “More” are good places to start.
Ugly Heroes - Ugly Heroes
Apollo Brown producing wonderful good ole fashioned beats for an album dedicated to “ugly heroes”, ordinary heroes. “Desperate” and “Hero’s Theme”.
Unconventional maybe but only because it pays so much attention to timbres, rhythm and, goodness, singing? Wow! Usually I hate singing in my hip-hop! “Come to Life” and “Ebony Sky” are nice.
Things I Didn’t Actually Like That Much Because Opinions
Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
Absolutely blew me away the first time, and I was playing "Cocoa Butter Kisses" and "Juice" mostly nonstop for a while, but it really doesn’t age well and has little replay value to me.
Probably the one I like most out of this bunch but I felt most of the same things as I felt on XXX (which I still think is like almost a perfect mixtape) and didn’t really feel it was all that different from XXX, with the same schizophrenic themes and the whole “let Danny do Danny”. I guess I came in expecting something a little more different from XXX. Beats are tremendous.
Yeah whatever. I listened to it and beyond the cult of personality of Kanye I couldn’t get why people wanted to just hear a guy whose music exuded arrogance. Plus I get the feeling if I think he’s trying to be cogent and make some great grand point then I’ll be forced to conclude that he’s insane, and if he’s not then he’s just babbling on incoherently. The Daft Punk produced tracks were my favorite musically though. There’s that.
Pusha T - My Name Is My Name
Pusha’s a talented rapper - I just didn’t like these choruses at all.
Bonus! Some hip-hip without rapping!
“Beats” and Things I Really Enjoyed:
♔ Boardwalk Empire ♔ - Sounds of the Onyx
Boy what a great show Boardwalk Empire is, and what a fun set of remixes and beats this was! Pete Rock meets 1920s jazz.
Ackryte - Lifted Transmissions
Midwest producer puts in a bunch of soul and jazz sounds and thickens it. Really thickens it.
Christoph El’ Truento - a series of oopsie daisies and various other flora
Guy from New Zealand who makes some excellent jazz-heavy sounds.
DJ Day - Land of 1000 Chances
Nice, chill, more downtempo and low-key beats. Someone should rap over these.
More vocals over something Shabazz Palaces might do, but damn is it good or what.
Klaus Layer - Es Ist Wie Ein Kreis (It’s Like a Circle)
Warm, rich and fuzzy. And for lack of a better word “phat”.
Things feel really high energy and exciting, peppered with more traditional sounds and rhythms. Glitch-hop describes it fine sometimes.
Neroche - The Crooked Mile
Can you feel the trip-hop because I definitely feel something layered on over the drums that make them seem distant.
Sicknessmp - Diary of Smoke
Phenomenal. Beats from Indonesia, but more from the 90s than anywhere.
Actually one of the chillest things to just vibe to. It does what it tells you.
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