TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2015 - pt. 2 (10-6)
It’s exceptionally rare for a rapper to have permanence in the grand scheme of hip-hop. Compton is proof that Dr. Dre is one of a select few that are capable of delivering quality music after decades in the industry. In song after song, Dre seems right at home over modern, textured instrumentals courtesy of superproducers like DJ Dahi and Dre himself. With countless quotable lines, his flow and lyrical ability are rawer than ever (ex. “Sometimes I feel like I could just bury ‘em, bury ‘em/Cause delirium, mass hysteria, scarier area/I’m very aware hip hop needed somethin’ to carry it/So I married that bitch and swung down in that chariot”). In addition, a long list of guest features including Kendrick Lamar, Anderson Paak, and Snoop Dogg (to name a few) bring a dynamic sound to the album.
Highlights: “It’s All On Me,” “Deep Water,” “Animals”
Art Angels is a conflicting listen. On one hand, the first third features some of Grimes’s least accessible and most poorly written music ever (I’m looking at you, “SCREAM”). On the other, beginning with ridiculously ear-grabbing “Flesh Without Blood,” it transforms into one of 2015′s best pop albums. Each song in the last two thirds feels fully realized and wholly divergent from the next. Her talent for striking a unique balance between idiosyncratic lyrical delivery and absurdly catchy pop melodies is more apparent than ever before. For the most part, Grimes rarely strays from love songs. Exceptions like “Kill V. Maim” - a reimagining of The Godfather 2 in which Al Pacino is “a vampire who can switch gender and travel through space” - and “Venus Fly” - a badass feminist anthem - are a nice change of pace.
Highlights: “Artangels,” “Realiti,” “Venus Fly”
8. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
Josh Tillman AKA Father John Misty is a bizarre character. On I Love You, Honeybear, his observations and reflections about love and life itself are unorthodox, yet immensely relatable. Songs like “I Love You, Honeybear” and “Holy Shit” explore themes of passionate, almost blind affection. Alternatively, “The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.” and “The Ideal Husband” are brutally cynical tales of failed relationships. Tillman’s lyrics across these songs are often poetic in nature, which makes his sentiments remarkably memorable (ex. “Maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity/What I fail to see is what that’s gotta do with you and me”). Such poetry stands atop lush folk rock instrumentals that establish a strong sense of cohesion throughout.
Highlights: “The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.,” “The Ideal Husband,” “Holy Shit,”
7. Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
Concept albums are inherently ambitious endeavors. With Tetsuo & Youth, Lupe Fiasco took them to a whole new level. The entire record plays out like an autobiography of sorts. The nine-minute, insanely dense intro track “Mural” actually represents Lupe’s current state in life, while songs further into the track-listing represent his past. As a result, every song is a genius double or even triple entendre with its own standalone meaning as well as a contextual one. “The Adoration of the Magi” can be interpreted as a religious song, a song about videogames, or a figurative representation of Lupe’s infancy, for example. This can make listening to the album a daunting task at first. Thankfully, brilliant lyrical moments (ex. “Simple as a Buddhist monk in a temple standing in some heel grooves with the abbot, practicing stillness/Real still til’ he realizes his realness/Defeat Samsara, achieves nirvana and brilliance”) and incredible forward-thinking instrumentals provide enough surface-level enjoyment for even the most casual of hip-hop fans to appreciate.
Highlights: “Mural,” “The Adoration of the Magi,” “They.Resurrect.Over.New”
Trap rappers in modern music are a dime a dozen, and it’s not difficult to see why. Generally, the formula for creating this music is so simple that even the most amateur artists can be successful, albeit unsubstantial. While Travis Scott doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel with Rodeo, he is able to break the mold of countless others in the genre. From the very first track, “Pornography,” it’s clear that his sound has evolved significantly since his previous projects. The booming instrumental and Travis’s warped, autotuned vocals establish a certain grimy extravagance that underlies the entire album. His utilization of autotune is unique in that his voice maintains an expressively organic quality. Digging deeper into what he’s saying is often an unfulfilling experience though, due to mediocre-to-decent lyrics at best. This is most apparent in an ignorant crowd-pleaser like “Nightcrawler,” which also presents the issue of poor guest verses (Chief Keef and Swae Lee in this case). Despite these shortcomings, when Travis flies solo, his infectious refrains and exceptional flows stick with the listener long after the album is over.
Highlights: “Oh My Dis Side,” “Antidote,” “Impossible”
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