Best Ever Albums

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

badseed — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 19:05:47 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 12/17/2015 00:05

Mercury wrote:

In keeping with my last few minutes of spewing forth just Kendrick love, I'd say TPAB is the best this year or any year. It's absolutely legend. Granted I've not heard much hip hop compared to some of
You. But still.

Same. It's funny, on the post about Carrie & Lowell becoming #1 of 2015, I urged TPAB lovers to give C&L another listen. Right after that I gave TPAB my first complete listen in a couple months and it was like listening to it for the first time again. Now I don't see how it doesn't make my top 5 of all time. Guess I need to update my chart soon. I've been trying to but it's becoming harder and harder the more I think about it. Like I have at least 30 albums that I NEED in my top 10.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Mercury — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 18:09:43 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 12/16/2015 23:09

In keeping with my last few minutes of spewing forth just Kendrick love, I'd say TPAB is the best this year or any year. It's absolutely legend. Granted I've not heard much hip hop compared to some of
You. But still.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

HipHop — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:32:32 GMT

Author: HipHop

Posted: 12/16/2015 19:32

90059, or Shadow Of A Doubt

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Lachapelle — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 17:36:32 GMT

Author: Lachapelle

Posted: 12/14/2015 22:36

ASM (A State of Mind) - The Jade Amulet

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Link

Great album altogether. Love the live instruments, and the storytelling. That DOOM feature too... �'�

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Muslim-Bigfoot — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 17:02:06 GMT

Author: Muslim-Bigfoot

Posted: 12/14/2015 22:02

dividesbyzero wrote:

Muslim-Bigfoot wrote:

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B4.Da.$$ by Joey Bada$$

curious as to what you liked about this one. Found it pretty unremarkable tbh

I know why people were disappointed by this; there's a lot of songs and many of them go nowhere and the rapping seems to fade out and lyrics are at best bland and at worst lame and cringe-worthy. But I'm a fan you know, this shit is becoming extinct so even an underwhelming one satisfies me if it has its moments and this one does have those. I don't listen to this for enlightenment and although dumb stuff puts me off and blocks my enjoyment of the other aspects of sth but if I like the overall atmosphere and the production and also like the way the rapper rides the beats and his voice isn't annoying, that's more than enough for me. But yeah this could be much much better (some might think "how is this dumber than the other more popular shit out there"; well it isn't but they are straight-up dumb which is more tolerable).

What a resplendent extolment.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Lachapelle — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 13:28:25 GMT

Author: Lachapelle

Posted: 12/14/2015 18:28

dividesbyzero wrote:

Muslim-Bigfoot wrote:

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B4.Da.$$ by Joey Bada$$

curious as to what you liked about this one. Found it pretty unremarkable tbh

I felt underwhelmed when I first heard B4DA$$ too.. But that's only because I had expected more from him.
If I went into this project not knowing who he was, I would have probably left in amazement. It's honestly an amazing debut album from a young rapper who I have no doubts will only get better.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 23:32:13 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/14/2015 04:32

Muslim-Bigfoot wrote:

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B4.Da.$$ by Joey Bada$$

curious as to what you liked about this one. Found it pretty unremarkable tbh

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Lachapelle — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 22:53:19 GMT

Author: Lachapelle

Posted: 12/14/2015 03:53

I'll just throw this here..

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http://pnommusic.com/album/777-ep-produced-by-al-divino

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Patman360 — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:15:04 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 12/14/2015 00:15

Have listened to nowhere near enough hip hop this year but I'll rectify that over Christmas, anyway, here's a few favourites, that are good but entirely predictable.

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Every Hero Needs A Villain by Czarface

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Mr. Wonderful by Action Bronson

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Twelve Reasons To Die II by Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge

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Blade Of The Ronin by Cannibal Ox

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Surface Tension by MuRli

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Lachapelle — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:40:57 GMT

Author: Lachapelle

Posted: 12/13/2015 22:40

Trendall wrote:

Lachapelle wrote:

Thanks for the post.. listening now.
Definitely some different vibes coming from this album. I'm liking what I've heard so far.
Not sure how I'm feeling about the lack of snare in the beats tho.. I guess it gives it a strange mood, but I can't help but think some drums and snare (even a very minimal amount) would add to some of the tracks.

Maybe you would prefer Ka's solo stuff, albums like The Night's Gambit or Grief Pedigree. Similar sort of stuff but with more snare.

I'll check those out, thanks.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

junodog4 — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:16:07 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 12/13/2015 22:16

Apart from what everyone else has said, I'd like to echo the sentiments about Earl Sweatshirt. I Don't Like Shit... is a fantastic album and should rank higher on lists. Unique and frank.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Trendall — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 16:57:37 GMT

Author: Trendall

Posted: 12/13/2015 21:57

Lachapelle wrote:

Maybe you would prefer Ka's solo stuff, albums like The Night's Gambit or Grief Pedigree. Similar sort of stuff but with more snare.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Muslim-Bigfoot — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 16:05:19 GMT

Author: Muslim-Bigfoot

Posted: 12/13/2015 21:05

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Today, I Wrote Nothing by Billy Woods

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I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside by Earl Sweatshirt

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B4.Da.$$ by Joey Bada$$

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Deeply Rooted by Scarface

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Hud Dreems by Knxwledge

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Skinny — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 15:32:43 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 12/13/2015 20:32

Skinny wrote:

I don't distinguish between best and favourite. With that in mind, here's my top ten:

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10. Scarface - Deeply Rooted

It shouldn't come as any surprise when a new Scarface album turns out to be fantastic, but with a seven year gap between records - I'm not counting Dopeman Music, which was largely forgettable and far too reliant on a pair of anonymous weed carriers - you always have to approach with caution. Added to the fact that most rappers who have been around as long as Face has have stagnated, and the omens weren't exactly great for Deeply Rooted. Also, I must admit to being pretty ambivalent towards some of the advance "singles" (not really sure what constitutes a single anymore); I thought 'God' was decent, but I generally find John Legend to be a little clean-cut for my tastes, and the concept wasn't exactly handled with subtlety, whilst 'Steer' was even more disappointing - whilst Face went hard, the beat and chorus sounded like one of those overwrought dubstep crossover efforts from 2011 that could've soundtracked a commercial for Gatorade, and it gave the impression of a middle-aged man trying to be "down wit da kids". Thankfully, my concerns about the state of the new album were entirely unfounded. Scarface is in beast mode throughout, rapping with a passion and a fury virtually unknown amongst rappers of his age, and he displays a great economy in his writing, giving his themes and concepts a simple, powerful clarity that routinely makes his message as effective as it can be. I also like the way the album evolves as it unfurls, beginning with trademark tales of the hood but gradually widening its lens to handle bigger, weightier, more universal ideas - isolated, I found both 'Steer' and 'God' to be pretty underwhelming (as mentioned above), but in the context of the record they work, almost acting as counterpoints that give a real balance to the more philosophical second half of the album. Personally I think the first half is stronger, with its more traditionally Southern-sounding soul beats, and a couple of amazing hooks from Z-Ro (although I would've loved for him to have dropped a verse at some point, too), and he handles gangster tropes with a real lightness of touch, refusing to either glorify or condemn that lifestyle, allowing his direct lyrics and gravelly, bluesman-esque voice to lend his songs a gravitas that most other rappers are incapable of summoning (although the likes of Gibbs and Kevin Gates seem like natural heirs to Face in that regard). I find the second half of the album is more hit and miss, and I'm definitely colder on the ballads than the rest of material ('Voices' is built around some pretty cheesy, Eagle Eye Cherry-knockoff guitars, whilst I have reservations about that Cee-Lo hook on 'You' as well), but on the whole Scarface displays a real maturity in managing to broach weighty, often dangerous topics (religion, community, racism) without ever sounding preachy or self-righteous, positioning himself as a concerned observer who has been around the block and has some stories to tell, the very definition of growing old gracefully in hip-hop. Overall it's a stunning album, getting off to a blistering start before settling into something more nuanced and emotional, containing some dazzling moments (honestly, that transition from 'Anything' into 'Do What I Do' might be my favourite musical moment on any album released this year, across any genre) and managing to add up to more than the sum of its parts, proving that Face is hip-hop's premier 'wise elder statesman', touching on a variety of ideas and handling them all superbly.

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9. Busdriver - Thumbs

Is it fair to call this Perfect Hair 2? Probably just about, which is a brilliant thing as far as I'm concerned. The production has that same sinewy quality, a rugged stew of hiccupy, IDM-influenced percussion, brawny cartoon synth stabs, and occasional nods to jazz. This, of course, is a sound that completely suits Busdriver, his army of elastic flows meaning that he can either ride - albeit bumpily - atop these beats, or go toe-to-toe in a mad lazerquest battle with them. If anything, this release is even more action-packed than the already dynamic Perfect Hair, with less tea & empathy tent moments meaning that it's more or less an all-out assault on the senses from beginning to end (aside from the acoustic guitar assisted, milo-featuring quasi-ballad 'Worlds to Run', which recalls Perfect Hair's 'Upsweep', and the trap-influenced 'Shadows and Victories', though when you're looking to trap music for a reprieve it should probably give some indication as to the pace of the record). This is a cluttered record both musically and lyrically, which is probably a suitable representation of what goes on in Busdriver's mind - his rapping is full of surreal observations about life in a parallel universe, unanswerable questions, obscure pop culture references, and other inscrutable nuggets of what is surely wisdom to those with the patience and poise to prise it all apart. Can't fault any of the features here either, all of which fit the record's vibe perfectly and work as fantastic counterpoints to Driver's manic style. Overall, this is easily one of the strongest hip-hop releases I've heard this year, and Busdriver is on a mid-career run-of-form that suggests he's entirely comfortable with who he is as an artist, which wasn't always necessarily apparent on earlier releases.

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8. Future - 56 Nights

My favourite of the recent glut of high quality Future releases, though any difference in sound, theme, vibe, or even overall quality with DS2 is largely negligible. This is a short, sharp blast of a mixtape, a series of claustrophobia-inducing, bass-heavy Southside beats, with Future using his hypermasculinity as an uncomfortable, translucent veil to hide his pain underneath, which is revealed by his exhausting, excessive drug and sex addiction (groupies are avatars, and Actavis is sipped like water). His easily melodic vocal style gives everything a sticky quality, and Future uses the undoubtedly danceable nature of his music to expertly tread a fine line between turn't-up party music and genuinely touching confessions, making him the most compelling character in hip-hop this year. I've struggled to get into Future in the past, but this year's one-two punch of 56 Nights and DS2 was just too much to resist, with this release in particular becoming one of my most played albums of the year in any genre.

I'm being cajoled into going to the shops, so I'll be back with the top seven at some point in the near future.

OK, here's some more:

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7. Slim Thug - Hogg Life: The Beginning

The first of three releases Thug put out this year under the Hogg Life heading, and still easily the best. The beats here - but for a brief four-song detour during the album's midsection - offer an update of Pimp C's thick, deliberate soul sound, albeit beefed up by contemporary trap percussion and bouncing bass, with Thug offering his now trademark mixture of street wisdom and tributes to weed, drank, women, and cars. Whilst there's nothing here that doesn't bump, the album is so high on this list thanks largely to the four Z-Ro collaborations, all of which are better than anything that appeared on Z-Ro's own 2015 release. The pair have a natural chemistry on record, with Z-Ro's melodic tendencies balanced out by Thug's relatively austere straight-talking, and their baritones mesh perfectly together. Elsewhere, Chayse turns in an endearing hook on 'Nobody', and young Houston duo the Sauce Twinz add some welcome energy to 'Money Fever'. Whilst this release never strays far from its Texan comfort zone, it's still great to hear a veteran turn in an album this passionate and cohesive, and the only real shame is that neither of its subsequent (pedestrian) sequels came close to matching its quality.

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6. Junglepussy - Pregnant With Success

Junglepussy is the best young rapper in New York right now. You can keep your A$AP Rockys and your Joey Bada$$es and your Action Bronsons (the 2015 version, anyway). Junglepussy has the easily digestible flow and the endlessly quotable punchlines and the brash flashiness of peak-era Cam'ron ("they all ask for hugs, like I'm the fuckin' Pope"), the bizarrely specific storytelling of Ghostface ("fornicating under my grandmama's rosary"; "got me poppin' on top of that Egyptian cotton"), the 'I know what the fuck I want and I'm gonna get it' attitude of Erykah Badu ("relationships are more than food and lusty interactions, dude"; "if your face ain't a sitting place, fuck up out my face"), and a nice line in rugged ragga patois ("an' ah cah barely stop mi asscheeks dem from clappin'") - which, naturally, is a killer fucking combination. Add to that some truly lovely, luscious beats that explore various different avenues of hip-hop, from big budget late-1990s boom-bap to soothing neo-soul to Timbaland-esque twisted robo-pop to something altogether more intangible (and all courtesy of Shy Guy), and what we have here is easily one of the best hip-hop releases of the year.

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5. Freddie Gibbs - Shadow of a Doubt

Judging a new Freddie Gibbs album in 2015 is, for me, an extremely difficult prospect. I first discovered him in 2010 (ish), around the time his single 'National Anthem' was blowing up on blogs. I went back and discovered his fantastic midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik and The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs mixtapes, and realised he was one of my favourite rappers currently working, matching cold-hearted street tales (à la Scarface) with virtuosic sharpshooter flows (à la Bone Thugs) and an honest, passionate bark of a delivery (à la Tupac), adding a keen eye for detail and vivid specifics that I subconsciously look for in rappers (it's the obvious common thread that links most of my favourites, old and new, from Ghostface and Raekwon through to Roc Marciano and Kevin Gates). For the next couple of years, he outdid himself with full-length mixtapes that displayed obvious progress and stood out as his best up until that point - firstly 2011's Cold Day in Hell, and then 2012's Baby Face Killa, which I listened to more than any other album that year. 2013's ESGN was my first taste of disappointment with Gibbs, a record filled with too many generic trap beats and too many pedestrian guest appearances from no-name Gibbs associates, but it was soon followed by Piñata, easily my favourite album of last year, a collaboration with Madlib that instantly felt like an old friend, with Gibbs rapping at a level previously unseen, his street tales painting an unforgiving portrait of life in the American ghetto with more nuance than he had ever managed before, even at his very best. It was the culmination of everything Gibbs had been working towards in the time that I'd been enjoying his music, and stood out as his masterpiece, the record that would be looked back on as the pinnacle of his career. The question, then, is one of expectation. Surely even an eternal optimist can't expect Gibbs to match Piñata, let alone surpass it. So... what exactly would constitute a strong Freddie Gibbs release in 2015?

What we have here is a good album, but I can't shake the feeling that I've heard much of it before. Many of the beats share the same luscious, hazy, 60-denier synths that helped to make Baby Face Killa so coherent, and Gibbs is primarily rapping about selling coke and fucking hoes, which has been his forte since day one. There's a brief but significant out-and-out trap sojourn during the album's mid-section that recalls the stronger moments of ESGN, and the bouncy hook of 'Forever and a Day' would've slotted comfortably into the last third of Cold Day in Hell. Even Dana Williams - whose smooth, mid-range vocals laced Gibbs classic 'The Hard' - returns to lend her subtle talents to album highlight 'McDuck'. (I feel her and Gibbs are natural artistic bedfellows, evoking the suave gangster (note: not gangsta) vibe of Reasonable Doubt-era Jay-Z whenever they link up.) So, what separates this from the rest of Gibbs' canon is quite simple - never before has Gibbs experimented with his vocals in this way, or shown such a variety in terms of flow. Where this album occasionally falls flat lyrically (never going as deep as on Piñata, except perhaps on the self-critiquing 'Freddie Gordy'), the slack is picked up by his impressive vocal workout, with Gibbs stretching his voice like never before, often going higher-pitched and more manic, occasionally threatening to break into a straight-up DMX bark, pulling off a more-than-serviceable Future impression on the hook of 'Packages', and even autotune crooning (with, I think, tongue firmly in cheek) his way through 'Basketball Wives'. Don't get me wrong, Gibbs hasn't gone Young Thug here, and you certainly won't find him screeching and squawking and SKRRRRTing his way through songs - his commitment to razor-sharp flows makes that an impossibility - but we're definitely hearing a Gibbs invigorated by the recent trend towards a more fluid, melodic vocal style in hip-hop.

Beyond that, this record is pretty varied in terms of style and beat selection. Even though most songs here share those aforementioned blunt-smoke synths (that give everything a bleak sheen, even when the songs seem otherwise pretty bright), not to mention that en vogue trap snare roll, there is a lot of hopping between styles here. 'Fuckin' Up the Count' evokes those gritty, piano-led Mike Dean beats that Scarface used to sound so great over, 'Extradite' (featuring two brilliant guest verses from the perennially underrated Black Thought) takes a welcome left-turn into 1970s jazz-fusion, 'Packages' features 808 Mafia at their gloriously unsubtle best, '10 Times' is a skeletal take on DJ Mustard's ratchet bounce (and contains a disarmingly lyrical verse from none other than Gucci Mane), and 'Cold Ass Nigga', the album closer, is the most sonically abrasive Gibbs song I've ever heard, built on ascending buzzsaw synths and a single-note battering ram of a bassline, leaving absolutely no breathing room whatsoever. It's slightly too clean (and probably too basic) to call it a post-Yeezus beat, but I'd certainly but them in the same ballpark. It also makes for a strangely unsatisfying end to the album - for a start, its aggressive nature is more typical of an out-of-the-blocks album starter; secondly, the entire vibe of the song is largely at odds with the rest of the album; thirdly, it's just lyrically such a massive step down from the preceding 'Freddie Gordy' - but I guess that's largely representative of the (frankly quite odd) pacing of the album. That four-song trap section in the middle could've been more evenly spread in order to stop the album falling into a (slightly) monotonous rut, just as the first four or five songs of the album are probably a little too similar to be easily discernible for casual listeners. (Then again, even the best Gibbs' albums feature questionable sequencing - Piñata begins with a forgettable instrumental and ends with a Mac Miller verse.) It's not as though the order of the tracks here is a massive hurdle, but it makes for a somewhat disjointed listen.

Overall, this album feels like a return to the more straightforward coke'n'hoes rap of Cold Day in Hell and Baby Face Killa - in fact, it's the exact Freddie Gibbs album I was hoping for in 2013. There's some really strong songs here ('Fuckin' Up the Count', 'McDuck', 'Extradite', '10 Times', 'Freddie Gordy'), but it's easy to conclude that Gibbs has fallen back into his comfort zone after giving everything he had over Madlib's psychedelic soul meanderings. Of course, taking a step back, Gibbs in his comfort zone is still better than 99% of other rappers. So... what exactly would constitute a strong Freddie Gibbs release in 2015? To be honest, fuck knows; I'll take another Baby Face Killa over ESGN, though, and that's basically what Shadow of a Doubt is. Good Gibbs = great anybody else, and so this album is probably cause for minor celebration (even if, at the moment, it feels like a bit of a letdown following the transcendent excellence of Piñata).

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4. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside / solace

A refreshingly austere hip-hop album, even at a time when more and more experimental tendencies are finding their way onto major label releases. Not austere in the sense of the musical minimalism of the Yen Lo album, but more in its narrow scope - this is music about mindstate, a time-specific snapshot of Earl's paranoid, weed-addled, celebrity-exhausted brain, over dark, distorted, creepingly slow beats. He also displays a subtle dexterity here, often changing his flow significantly within the same song, even if his monotonous voice may mean that the patter patterns may initially go unnoticed. He continues honing his craft both on the mic and at the boards, and he's really brought it all together with a sound that's undeniably his own on this album.

As for solace, well it's difficult to know what to call it - sound collage, EP, epilogue to I Don't Like Shit... - but it features ten of my favourite minutes of music released all year. It feels more abstract and impressionistic than the album, sharing that same sense of disillusion, but without the heavy, clasutrophobic sense of regret and shame that Earl carries with him throughout the LP, replaced here with resignation (/relief?). It also feels far more improvised, which is to be expected from a piece of music made with no official release in mind. The whole thing definitely has a warmth to it, but it's like the warmth you get from a halogen lamp. That final three and half minutes is just gorgeous, displaying the sort of openness that makes the work of Daniel Johnston so endlessly appealing (hearing Earl rap, "I'm the youngest old man that you know", over a lonely, distorted, tinny synth line is one of the most refreshing moments of the year). I'm holding out hope that Earl tacks this onto the end of the album when the vinyl finally gets issued, but then part of me thinks it should just stand as a YouTube throwaway for anybody who happens to stumble across it and find solace in its blunted arms.

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3. Boosie Badazz - Touch Down 2 Cause Hell

Boosie hones the angry/triumphant vibe he brought on last year's excellent comeback mixtape Life After Deathrow into album form, and it's as brilliant as I'd hoped. There's something wonderfully retro about Boosie, whose time away in jail means he appears to have missed hip-hop's recent move towards more cohesive album statements that try to convey one vibe and do it well, and so he's delivered the sort of album that was last seen sometime around 2008 or 2009 - a major label rap record that tries to tick all the boxes, with street songs, songs for the ladies, and slower, contemplative moments, harking back to a time when the likes of 50 Cent and T.I. were rap's reigning kings. Whilst this makes Boosie sound like something of a man out of time, the energy and urgency with which he's rapping more than make up for this, leaving the newly rechristened Badazz as something of a wondrous anomaly, a rapper who was never known for his rappity-rapping actually bringing his lyrical A-game - here, he tears through synthetic yet soulful trap beats with a passion the like of which Tupac used to conjure, and it's beautiful to behold. He's always been a fairly simple, literal rapper, with major limitations in terms of technical ability and vocal prowess, he's still my favourite rapper of the year in 2015, and he's made the best album of his career. He makes you feel his pain and his anger, but never comes across as being particularly bitter (apart from a minor misstep featuring Chris Brown that I tend to skip now). The depth in his lyrics and his message eclipses anything he's done before, and it makes the recent revelation that he has cancer even harder to take knowing that he's just hitting his peak as an artist.

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2. Dr. Yen Lo - Days with Dr. Yen Lo

Gritty, sinister, hypnotic New York hip-hop stripped to its bare bones. Ka has been one of the most consistent artists in hip-hop for the past few years, and I can't think of a rapper alive right now with a better sense of space in their music. His internal rhyme schemes are extremely complex, but his delivery is far from showy - there's a quiet confidence here, but there's also a disquieting sense of paranoia and dread that pervades most of these songs. Without just reeling off quote after quote, it's difficult to articulate the power of Ka's rapping, but this is his best album yet (perhaps aided by the fact that he's stepped aside and let someone else - in this case Preservation - take responsibility for the production), and it stands alongside Roc Marciano's Reloaded as a masterpiece of modern New York hardcore hip-hop, undoubtedly in thrall to NY legends like Wu-Tang and Mobb Deep, but also subtly experimental and forward-thinking, doing away with any and all excess to leave a lean, mean slice of dope beats and even doper rhymes.

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1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

You've read all the thinkpieces and critical appraisals, and you've probably made up your own mind as to whether or not this album is as great as everybody seems to think it is. Sure, Kendrick's morality tales can be overhashed and cloying ('How Much a Dollar Cost?' is ridiculous, that Tupac interview is unnecessary, and the whole Lucy/Lucifer metaphor is as subtle as a baseball bat to the head), but the sheer scope, ambition, and overall quality of this album means that it's still something of a masterpiece, and my favourite hip-hop album of 2015.

This album is black as fuck. Much has been written about it being a return to the jazz-rap sound that was last popular in the mid-'90s, but actually I see this record as incorporating its jazz influences more organically than the likes of Jazzmatazz or The Low End Theory - like, it feels like a genuine fusion record. Nods to DJ Quik ('King Kunta' is quite literally just a beefed-up Quik beat), Outkast (this definitely has the same sprawling tendencies of something like Aquemini), Eminem (the multiple personality thing) are here and often unignorable, but Kendrick incorporates all of these influences in to something that is undeniably his own (even though the argument that this is basically just a souped up Soulquarians album holds water). I see its main themes as being the guilt of being a young, rich, famous, black man in america, watching the world burn around you and wondering whether you're doing enough; also it's clearly just about capital - from the nods to Snipes' tax evasion in the opener through to the aforementioned (obviously corny, but Obama-approved) 'How Much a Dollar Cost?'. Sonically this album is rich, full of tributes to hip-hop's past (and those of jazz and funk, obviously, though they're all intertwined anyway) whilst remaining largely contemporary-sounding. Lyrically, I prefer the wider scope of this record to the fairly linear (if still successful) narrative of GKMC. Honestly, I didn't expect this record to top his last, but it has. It's silly good, and worthy of all the praise that's been thrown its way.

Anyway, those are my ten favourite hip-hop records of the year. There were plenty of other great hip-hop albums released in 2015, but it's these that I've found most satisfying, and these that have kept me coming back since their respective releases. Here's hoping next year throws up another ten hip-hop albums as fantastic as the ten above.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Lachapelle — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 14:01:23 GMT

Author: Lachapelle

Posted: 12/13/2015 19:01

Trendall wrote:

Days With Dr. Yen Lo

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Days With Dr. Yen Lo by Dr. Yen Lo

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Trendall — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 11:28:07 GMT

Author: Trendall

Posted: 12/13/2015 16:28

Days With Dr. Yen Lo

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Days With Dr. Yen Lo by Dr. Yen Lo

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Skinny — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 07:55:00 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 12/13/2015 12:55

I don't distinguish between best and favourite. With that in mind, here's my top ten:

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Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Lachapelle — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 22:56:43 GMT

Author: Lachapelle

Posted: 12/13/2015 03:56

benpaco wrote:

Both good albums, both top ten for me, but I think come years from now, if I'm revisiting one, it will definitely be Time!

This all being said too, you have some good taste for sure, and I'll check out some of those things you dropped earlier. I don't wanna try too many recs for you because you seem to be better versed than I in this all, frankly, but you may enjoy this:

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A Special Episode Of by Open Mike Eagle

Not usually huge on his stuff, but that EP is great.

Yeah that EP is dope!

"He said he likes beats that sound like Zelda towns, I didnt get it when he said it but i felt it now.."

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

benpaco — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 22:51:24 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 12/13/2015 03:51

Lachapelle wrote:

I said Favorite.. Not best. I think TPAB is technically a better album however I enjoy this project much more. And yes I own both Time Astonishing, and The Night Took Us In Like Family and I like Jae's much better. Just because Kool Keith's been in the game longer doesn't automatically make it a better album. It was good, just not as good.

Oh god I started the objective/subjective thing again I'm so sorry BEA ... not even gonna touch that part of this as a result.

On a serious note though, my comment there was a little tongue in cheek, they're both albums in my top 10 of the year that for a long time sat next to each other. You should know this was actually the first album I checked out with Kool Keith. I was aware of his existence and had heard him on a couple tracks but never a full album before. Compare that to Jae, where RawHyde is among my favorite albums ever, and definitely a top 10 hip-hop album ever for me. In my opinion, the sampling on Time! is considerably more impressive and cohesive than The Night Took Us In, and while neither is bad, there's something much more almost like an old serial to Time! than The Night. The features on Time! I think add a lot, but that may well be a result of me loving Blu and Paul Barman as opposed to Gift of Gab (that being said, "Ignore The Man To Your Right" is one of the best songs on the album).

I think the problem to me may be in comparing the albums to other things. Time! feels like an album taking a lot from early sci-fi movies, this very dated idea of what "futuristic" is. I didn't have huge expectations for what Keith would sound like going in. The Night, on the other hand, has that retro feel to a point, but it dances around a lot more, there's times it feels very Madvillain, there's times it feels a little forced, there's times that the lyrics just don't seem to fit with the overall themes of the album, and I like Jae's chill style, but it doesn't lend itself as well to the sort of crime drama at times as compared to DOOM or the others who have done similar things before. And even then, I know Jae can work in a villainous role, because he did it so much better on RawHyde.

Both good albums, both top ten for me, but I think come years from now, if I'm revisiting one, it will definitely be Time!

This all being said too, you have some good taste for sure, and I'll check out some of those things you dropped earlier. I don't wanna try too many recs for you because you seem to be better versed than I in this all, frankly, but you may enjoy this:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

A Special Episode Of by Open Mike Eagle

Not usually huge on his stuff, but that EP is great.

Re: Favorite Hip Hop Album of 2015?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 22:50:29 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/13/2015 03:50

I find separating favorite and best to be kind of an arbitrary thing to do is all. At any rate, just teasing.