Rap of the Year 1979 - now @rapuvdayear - Tumblr Blog

This news is gutting: One of the most creative, significant rappers of his generation. Dead at 28. RIP Takeoff

To bless the timeline

So, I just learned about FN Meka, and… why? That’s my only question.

Nothing sums it up better than this tweet: https://twitter.com/hypervisible/status/1562214674086723584?s=21&t=7hYGfZWYYTHRHOlT3vhkvg

rapuvdayear

A TikTok explainer: https://twitter.com/digitalsista/status/1563194685149282305?s=21&t=VqrtZe0IiQT9HWCuuDz0xQ

So, I just learned about FN Meka, and… why? That’s my only question.

Nothing sums it up better than this tweet: https://twitter.com/hypervisible/status/1562214674086723584?s=21&t=7hYGfZWYYTHRHOlT3vhkvg

Thank you, YouTube algorithm, for bringing this to my attention

“Just dropped a diss track with @Arbys. Grab some popcorn and a Spicy Fish Sandwich. #ArbysSpicyFishDissTrack #ArbysPaidMeButIWouldSayThisAnyway https://t.co/dzTuBlM9Ok”

I can’t decide whether this is more hilarious or depressing. There’s definitely something in here that’s noteworthy about the mainstreaming/corporatization of rap and the (ever-present) appropriation of Black American pop culture.

The details are fuzzy, but I remember something about back in the early 2000s when McDonald’s essentially tried to crowdsource advertising ideas by reaching out to rap artists--established or up and coming, it didn’t matter. I’m fairly certain that this pre-Silicon Valley, pre-Cloak & Dagger revelations Thomas Middleditch bit was part of that whole story. And maybe this Dude ‘n Nem track, too? (Sidenote: Dude ‘n Nem should’ve blown up way more than they did; really innovative sound that was overshadowed by the drill scene in Chicago and everything that it represents about the city). A few years later, Kanye wrote his ode to McDonald’s, and there was that whole Hamburger Helper mixtape hoopla.

Anyway, Rolling Stone adds some context to this new Pusha T diss. And hey, good for him, I hope he gets paid this time. But stop teasing us and release the album, please!

2021: “Jesus Lord”/“Life of the Party” Kanye West/Andre 3000 (GOOD/Def Jam)

This is the year that I truly confronted just how out of touch I have become with current day rap. As always, I took a look at Noz’s year end list (the true authority, IMHO) and only recognized, like, five tracks. Between that and the fact that most of my experience of rap in 2021 was mourning the deaths of rappers from my youth, I’ve come face to face with a cold hard truth: I am OLD. Also, I didn’t listen to much rap this year and sprinted to play catch up in the final weeks of December. Ultimately, I fell short (apologies to Meek, Thugga, Spitta, Keef, and Gucci; I downloaded your albums but never listened to them).

All that being said, this will probably be the last time I do one of these “rap of the year” posts. I’ll still post things here occasionally, but as far as keeping up with what’s *actually* impacting the genre, I think those days are behind me (and let’s be honest, they have been for some time now).

As it turns out, there actually was a lot of decent-to-great rap this year! But since I am a sucker for emo raps, storytelling, and unconventional rhyme schemes, there were two verses--not tracks--that stood out to me the most, both from the most controversial and infuriating album of the year... which also makes it the most “2021″ album of the year: Donda. Long-time readers will know that I think Kanye’s alleged “musical genius” is overrated (and that’s without even touching upon everything else about him that is, frankly, just exhausting). His early period was built on the work of his mentor No I.D., and while he perfected the chipmunk soul sound--sorry, Just Blaze--it was a gimmick. I’ll say this about him: he certainly understands the zeitgeist and has a knack for convincing music critics that he’s pushing the envelope. But a lot of his work is overproduced or, more recently, unfinished. Donda suffers from both of those qualities, and yet, it also is his best work since Yeezus and has him spitting arguably his best verse ever, the one on “Jesus Lord” above (oddly enough, none of the reviews I’ve seen ever mention this track when praising or criticizing the album, which is strange; to me, it was the third best, and of those three the only one that had any rapping on it). The Jay Electronica verse is what ruins the rest of the song for me. So, I’m pretending that Kanye’s verse gets mashed up with Andre’s from the unreleased-yet-leaked “Life of the Party” where, true to form, Andre dips in to drop something that transcends rap. There is a thematic consistency between the two anyway, so it’s not a stretch to throw them together (would someone please remix them into one, please?).

Honorable mentions: SUNDOWN TOWN; WILSHIRE (was hard to pick just one from Tyler’s album; MASSA and LUMBERJACK are great also); Black Illuminati; Nothing Like the Sun; WHOLE LOTTA; Illegal Search and Seizure; Picasso; Fairytale (Shit and Yes Lawd also go hard); Rich ***** Shit; Period; Aspen.

1996: “What They Do” The Roots (DGC/Geffen)

2021 has just been death after death after death of rap figures. RIP Hub (I like him in this video, which is also funny in its own right).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cjaf9N54cAk

HBD Shawn Carter

#Youtube

Young Dolph was shot and killed in Memphis last week. Biggest loss in contemporary rap in YEARS. I haven’t posted about it because, well, I simply don’t know Dolph’s catalogue as well as I wish I did. So, any retrospective I wrote would be half-assed and insincere. All I can say is that if you like southern rap from the 2010s, he was one of the best to do it. Here’s a small taste:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_q_iMwIQZps

#Youtube

BET Awards should be the only award show. The energy of the performances and the crowd!

(That being said, damn, it really seems like none of them have even thought about this song in like 25 years)

2021: “Vice Lord Poetry” Freddie Gibbs (No label)

Daaaaaamn! The GOAT of the moment Gangsta Gibbs absolutely and effortlessly dropping subliminals left and right. And while those will get the most attention, he also took time to add some exceptionally blackpilled lines (even for someone whose whole vibe is blackpilled):

“Them crackers mark a ***** grave before you touch the cradle.”

AND

“If I had a time machine, the younger Fred would be buying bricks from the older me.”

JFC, Triple S is going to destroy the competition in 2022.

Request

I’m going to need someone to add Andre’s verse from the unreleased “Life of the Party” to another compilation of his guest verses.

He just effortlessly dips in to drop the best verse of 2021 (hell, of the 2020s period!) on a track that gets cut from the album. There’s a reason why he’s the greatest to ever do it.

UPDATE: Here’s Andre’s statement on how it all went down. What a magnanimous soul! https://twitter.com/strappedhh/status/1434248490960445441?s=21

Donda: The album that could’ve been

Having had a day now to let it marinate, there are some parts of Donda that had become stuck in my head. More importantly, there are some tracks that give me all of the feels. And as a rap fan in my late 30s, that’s what I’m looking for (let’s be real, it’s been this way for a while now).

Caveat: There are definitely some parts that feel more than a little victim blame-y re: Kim and the divorce, and that’s not cool. And the religiosity goes over of my head mostly, though at least there doesn’t seem to be the overt Christian patriarchy that was on Jesus Is King.

That being said, I stand by my initial feeling that it’s too long and too disjointed. This has been Kanye’s MO for a while now, though; in this respect, it is more The Life of Pablo than Graduation, Yeezus, 808s & Heartbreaks, or even My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. BUT! If you only play the following tracks, I think it becomes not just a top 5 Kanye album, but a truly top tier work of art:

“Jail”: I can see this being a sing-along at college parties this fall, oddly enough. It’s not a real party song, but the “I’ll be honest/ We all liars” line feels like it should be shouted by a bunch of young, drunk friends at the top of their lungs before breaking into “Guess who’s going to jail tonight?!” Ever the consummate professional, Jay-Z does his job: solid verse, but you forget about it by the end of the album.

“Believe What I Say”: The poppiest track of the bunch. Has vibe like “American Boy,” kinda, right?

“Moon”: I’m not sure why, but this one just makes me smile! It’s a very pretty song, all in all.

“Jesus Lord”: The standout track. Could this be the year that I *gulp* finally have to give Kanye rapuvdayear honors? Honestly, I could do without the Jay Electronica verse (in fact, I would prefer removing him and just taking the three Lox verses from “Jesus Lord Pt. 2″). This is the best storytelling rap I can remember Kanye ever doing. I predict that this will be the first one that I listen to too much and get sick of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnRSWkjuQWE

“Come to Life” and “No Child Left Behind”: Incredible one-two punch that have nothing to do with rap and everything to do with whatever dark ambient gospel vibe Kanye is on now. In fact, if the album was only these two songs, dayenu.

So, that’s six stellar tracks. There are some other decent ones--“Keep My Spirit Alive,” “Pure Souls,” and “Lord I Need You,” for example--but IMHO those six are all you really need to listen to.

-First truly great track: “Jesus Lord.” There are a few cringe lines (e.g., “I’m just reaching for the stars like Buzz Lightyear”), but otherwise it’s the best thing Kanye’s done in... 15 years? “You been down so much you don't even know what’s upstairs/ Suicidal thoughts got you wonderin’ what’s up there” had me like... whoa.

-“Lord I Need You” is also pretty good (despite more cringe! “It’s the best collab since Taco Bell and KFC”). As a bookend with “Bound 2″ from Yeezus, it’s fantastic.

-“Pure Souls” is solid, too. In general, the album really picks up after track 16.

-“Come to Life” and “No Child Left Behind” back to back are a fantastic aural experience. About the latter, @pictures-of-things-on-earth says, “This is what a church would sound like in Blade Runner.”

-This should have been 11 tracks, not 2-fucking-7. Let’s be real: it’s a mess. But there are some really, really high points, too. In the final analysis: better than I expected.

Ok, now 16 tracks in:

-It’s a very disjointed album: like he put 808s & Heartbreaks, Yeezus, and Jesus Is King in a blender and sprinkled some MBDTF on top. Makes for a weird listen, but also kind of a good representation on the moment, maybe?

-I can’t imagine what exactly he was trying to perfect in release delays. A bunch of tracks sound like first drafts, while others are polished. It just doesn’t have the cohesion of a true masterpiece.

-The best thing I can say is at least he didn’t overproduce it (my biggest problem with Late Registration and MBDTF)? But it’s also not as interesting as the sound of Yeezus (his last good album).

-“Believe What I Say” is a legitimately great song. “Moon” is okay, too. The guests on “Keep My Spirit Alive” are also good.

-Kanye has never been a great rapper, but on this he’s particularly… boring? I dunno. He switches between recognizable Kanye flow and trying to emulate Thugga, Gunna, etc. The thing is, they’re better at it.

-Like MBDTF, Donda suffers from an over-reliance on features. On College Dropout, the gimmick—“Make songs with Kweli/ put him on tracks with Jay-Z”—was at least novel. But here it turns this into a good compilation album, not a great solo effort.

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