the top 5 mainstream-ish hip hop albums of the year
the absolute best album of the year: vince staples - summertime 06
the yung gawd blessed us a few times this year away from music as he stirred up controversy with his disregard for 90s rap, his almost beef with N.O.R.E, countless beefs with twitter thugs and consistently delivering the best interviews of 2015 this side of khaled.  his most meaningful contributions to The Culture though was his breakthrough double disc Summertime â06, building on the momentum from his very good but slept on ep Hell Can Wait.
summertime â06 is an absolute tour de fucking force of introspection, social commentary and GANGSTA rap, seamlessly transitioning from one theme to another while showing the interconnectedness between them all. it is dense in a way that isnât rappity-rap. there are no purposefully convoluted wordplay that require a few listens but there is the want and need to go back to it to unpack each song, each verse, each bar to see how it all produces vinceâs most formative year.
no i.d. delivers some of his most cohesive work in years, providing a dark, evocative  soundscape that allows vince to get all the way in his bag. summertime 06 is the rare double disc that you would never know was a double disc thanks to vinceâs unrelenting charismatic prowess and overall album structuring. itâs the brilliant amalgam of effortless lyricisim, storytelling, opaque production, smart sequencing and pacing that make summertime 06 the definitive best album of the year and one that weâll be reminiscing about as a true classic for many many years.
Song you need to listen to right this second:
â45, 9s 'round 9 in the AM
Yesterday I sat in place, today I'm finna take it
A week ago, they killed my bro, that's been the price of bangin'
Since my granny Alameda days, robbin' cause we need a raise
Fingers do the talkin' when the Cs do the walkin'
And the Cs been polluted, baptism for the shootersâ
the most important album of the year: kendrick lamar - to pimp a butterfly
2015 will be remembered as the year of kendrick. following up on his classic and wildly successful good kid m.A.Ad city, everyone was eager to see if he could top his 2012 release. kendrick chose a totally different path in 2015, eschewing radio and chart success to create an album that is uniquely important to this year as any release, even if it isnât technically superior to his previous effort or even many other records from this year.
for an artist who seemed to go the fuck out of his way to make an album for himself, a whoooooooole lot of people loved this shit. the jazzy, neo-soul record was initially met with universal acclaim before suffering through some derision to deservedly land somewhere in the middle. TPAB is the movie that sets out to win an academy award with a big budget, all star cast (flylo, thundercat, George wison, pete rock, 9th wonder) and dramatic âOscarâ moments that ultimately falls short of its promise. its a tough listen mostly because of its vast array of characters, density and disjointedness.
what kendrick did manage to achieve though is an album, similar to dâangeloâs excellent black messiah, that perfectly captured the anxiety that engulfed many brown people in 2015. it also managed to capture the hearts of folks who gravitate towards âconscious rapâ without being corny. it is impressive in the ground that it covers, a sprawling 16 track continent of soul, jazz, blues, and hip-hop. Its highs are definitively higher than any other albumâs high this year. âalrightâ became the cover song for protests across the country. âthe blacker the berryâ wrestled with the ambiguity and conflict resulting from the destruction of black communities from inside and out. âiâ is a joyful celebration of loving yourself, reminiscent in tone to james brownâs âIâm Black and Iâm Proudâ.
TPAB is important, not because its good, although it is very fucking good. Its important because it gave a lot of people a voice that they desperately needed. it reminded a lot of us that its ok to be proud of who you are and where you came from even if there are inherent problems that lie within each. Itâs important because it served as the tipping point for so many discussions on race, gender and socio policy. Its great contradiction is that there is something on the album for everyone and for no one at all really. It is truly a landmark in the canon.
Song you need to listen to right this second:
âAnd I put that on my Mama and my baby boo too
Twenty million walkin' out the court buildin', woo woo!
I made it past 25 and there I was
A little nappy headed nigga with the world behind him
Life ain't shit but a fat vagina
Screamin' "Annie are you ok? Annie are you ok?"
Limo tinted with the gold plates
Straight from the bottom, this the belly of the beast
From a peasant to a prince to a motherfuckin' kingâ OH YEAH
the most enjoyable album to listen to of the year: future â DS2
there was a time long long ago in a far away galaxy when listening to future was considered a dirty pleasure, especially amongst the always opinionated Hip Hop Heads. Â heâs long broken through that stigma, producing melodies, both catchy and nuanced on his three mixtape run after the disappointing sophomore album honest. whereas honest was all over the place, reaching for commercial appeal while attempting to stay true to futureâs trap // dystopian love roots, DS2 sees a more focused future producing his most successful piece of work in quite some time.
for an album that is so moody, future manages to produce at least eight songs that Iâve heard at parties/clubs consistently this year. it brings together fans who knew future pre-pluto and those who got put on post-honest. those fanbases are vastly different but future finds the balance for both groups. metro boomin provides most of the production allowing future to make use of his melodic authority and vocal talents to shine on every track. future even reaches new lyrical heights and delivers a few of the more poignant lines in his career.
there is an urge to try to place future in a box and that will prove unsuccessful 101 out of 100 times. even when contemplating his place in 2015, I had difficulty because I couldnât pin down what made this record so special to me. but then you realize sometimes shit just resonates and it doesnât really matter why. i love this album. you love this album. everyone who listens to this album loves this shit. thereâs something on it for everyone. my good friend and fellow #futurehive member summed it up best when i was debating whether to cover it.
me: i love this album so much
i just haven;t thought about it that much in that light to write about it
just enjoyed the fuck out of it
when i'm sad i wanna pick myself up wit it
when I work out i wanna hear it
and i never get annoyed wit it
Song you need to listen to right this second (besides freak hoe):
They tryna take the soul out me
They tryna take my confidence and they know I'm cocky
Fuck another interview, I'm done with it
I don't give a fuck about a ho, I let a young hit it
I play the games of the thrones with you
I can't change, I was God-given
Tryna make a pop star and they made a monster
I'm posted with my niggas, let the champagne flow
A nigga was depressed now my mind back healthy
A product of them roach in 'em ashtrays
I inhale the love on a bad day
Baptized inside purple Actavis
the most criminally slept on album of the year: asap rocky â at.long.last.a$ap
I still canât believe how many folks missed out on or ignored this excellent release from ASAP Mob front man, ASAP Rocky. rocky has established himself as a tastemanker in hip-hop, both in music and fashion with a cosign being a career maker and a âfuck youâ serving as the death of your #brand. rocky gets some shit in some corners of the internet$ for his appropriation of houston hip hip but on ALLA he manages to take his catalog to new sonic heights while advancing the psychedelic, drugged out elements that he first introduced us to on Live.Love.A$ap more than four years ago.
ALLA is an easy listen from start to finish, given its 18 tracks clocking in at a little over an hour. While it lacks a breakout, radio grabbing single like âfuckin problemsâ it features rocky at his most introspective. âOk, letâs get past all this swag, trapping, and fashion talkingâ he exclaimed on âJukebox Jointsâ Â and he meant it. Â whereas rocky has often been forward thinking in defining cool on his previous releases he reaches deep in his bag for unexpected production and collaborators (see: rod Stewart, danger mouse). rocky did manage to put us on to something new still. he has introduced us to new talent before and new collaborator Joe Fox is another tremendous ASAP discovery as he is credited with at least five writing credits on ALLA and undoubtedly contributing to its droozy, dark landscape.
Whatâs most impressive about ALLA isnât the production or overall sonic quality. We all knew Rocky has a great ear for beats and putting together projects with the help of former mentor Yams. Â what rocky accomplishes with this effort is increased lyrical proficiency and breadth ofâ subject matter. The two are often intertwined but almost never successfully as artists often fail to manage the balance between the two. Give ALLA a spin and list to Rocky in all of his waviness while he gives you more of himself than ever before.
Song you need to listen to right this second:
âI remember all the nights on different corners spittin' pitchin' water
Now I'm richer off the shit I thought of
From the home of the richest ballers
I'm Richard Porter mixed with Mr. Porter
Just picture all the jiggy shit I ordered
I went to France and almost got deported
The fans is screaming when I hit the border
I visit Nice like it's my sisters daughter
Vision broad, I thought of all the different kids and all
Poor without a sip of water, time to get my shit in orderâ
the best album that dropped in the past 30 days that cracked this list because its that good: Â pusha t - darkest before dawn, the prelude
one of the finest compliments you can pay to a coke-rap album is that it conveys its meaning so well that you want to go out in these streets right now and cop a brick. this is no different. Â pusha closed out 2015, one of the greatest years in rap history, and blessed us with 10 of the finest keys of that perico.
pusha doesnât cover any new ground here, and thatâs OK. When you have damn near perfected your craft, there really is no need to stray from what works, just to continuously make incremental improvements upon it and that he does. Pusha still gives us vivid street tales, sneak disses and bombastic coke rap in an easy to listen to release at just over 30 minutes.
the production is masterclass with contributors ranging from metro boomin to kanye, to timbaland. the tone of the record is set on âintroâ and never, ever wavers as pusha delivers haymakers and one line quotables over simple but memorable production that allow his lyrics to get up all up in your nose. Pusha really does manage to make so called pop producers like the dream and timbaland deliver their darkest, lunch room table knocking beats similar to pharrel on the classic hell hath no fury. Â the melodies are few and far in between as push seemingly never takes a verse off, delivering menacing bar after bar of perfect penmanship.
If this prelude truly is indicative of whatâs to come from King Push in 2016 then legooooooo.
Songs you need to listen to right this second:
âThey call him a crack dealer, I am like Warhol
A nigga paint a picture of a bullet for all yâall
My sophomore jinx is more minks
But only for my mother sheâll use âem as couch covers
You niggas cheapening my All-Star Weekends
If yâall canât swim in the deep end then watch nigga
Woo! 80,000 on this watch niggas
Yuugh! And I ainât never had to watch nigga
Rich or wealthy, pick your poison
I think I paid for one too many abortions
Another Celine, itâs like a routine
Itâs like ferris wheel of waist trainers and Seven jeans
Her new body's in my new body
Make her in an hourglass thatâs my new hobby
Rich nigga shit, how I blew my first million
Luckily was somethinâ in the ceiling, keep dealinâ