Being December, most people already have their best of lists and top tens of the year set in stone. But 2016 is the year that just keeps on giving as all hell broke loose in the last week, especially for hip-hop fans. The release of no less than four absolutely cracking albums from Childish Gambino, Smoke DZA and Pete Rock, J. Cole and Ab-Soul all filling our stockings with early Christmas gifts.
Childish Gambino – Awaken, My Love!
Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino threw everyone a curve ball two weeks ago when he dropped his slick AF LP Awaken, My Love! No one believed him when said he was going to ditch hip-hop, but as the psychedelic yearning melodies revealed to us in single Me and Your Mama which were expanded upon throughout his entire release. It’s already drawn comparisons to Tame Impala and Radiohead but I think that takes a little a bit away from what Glover has achieved himself on this album. The level of production is sublime, really sublime. Second single Redbone pulsates with electro synth that transcends both the artist and listener to unfamiliar places. From the ambient and uplifting high end to the downright funky on the low end, you find yourself engulfed in the album. California blips and bops all over the shop and Riot sort of feels like a poor man’s James Brown interpretation resulting in the album being a little disjointed, but don’t let that take away from the record. Baby Boy drips with soul and although some might call cringe-worthy the hook in Stand Tall is as catchy and bumpy as anything. Despite the commercial success commercial success of his last two attempts at hip-hop records, this album is one Gambino can really claim as his first real crack at making something his own. Many will love it and many will hate it. I did have a sceptical predisposition but I think this is pretty fucking good album.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8&w=560&h=315]
Smoke DZA & Pete Rock – Don’t Smoke Rock
It may have been a little overshadowed by the former, but Smoke DZA teamed up with beatmaker Pete Rock to drop a stomper of an album on the same day, Don’t Smoke Rock. With names like BJ The Chicago Kid, Dom Kennedy and Wale appearing on a record, it melds old-school beat architecture with new-wave ideas and flows. Black Car Superhero featuring Rick Ross bangs like the classics of the 90s and Royce Da 5’9”, along with DZA, impressively hold it down on the skinless Hold The Drums. The most refreshing part about this album is that Smoke DZA has managed to escape the weed smoking bravado stereotype on this LP. A topic he has done to death, this album has more substance and punch, making it a really engaging listen. I do realise my own hypocrisy as I point to the awesome collaboration with Mac Miller on the album closer Until Then, which kicks off with a quote from classic stoner movie Friday, but the flow on the album closer is undeniable.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTCrE0C8v54&w=560&h=315]
J. Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only
The entirely solo 10 track follow up project to 2014’s Forest Hills Drive has been eagerly anticipated; with rumours of potential collaborations throwing around names like Kanye, Kendrick and Wale how could it not be? But 4 Your Eyez Only is once again a J. Cole only affair.
The intense intro tune For Whom The Bell Tolls immediately shapes the album as a product of a hopeless and self-depreciating headspace, also showing us Jermaine putting his pipes to the test. The 31 year-old continues to pick away at select heart-strings in Change. A message of self-realisation converted into a cry for a switch in community attitudes over a funky beat with the help of Ari Lennox (signed to Cole’s label) on the melodic bridge.
Both She’s Mine tracks, Part 1 and Part 2, consolidate Cole’s mind state as his spoken word delves into his own life and love in comparison to everyone else over stripped back classical keys. So given the album context you can understand why a track like Foldin’ Clothes was included, but you can’t help but giggle to yourself at the cheesy lyrics. Sometimes its grounding to be relatable, and sometimes it’s just plain boring. “Raisin brand in my bowl with bananas and some almond milk / I never thought I’d see the day I’m drinking almond milk.”….. nah.
Ab-Soul – Do What Thou Wilt
We already had some insight into what to expect from the TDE member’s fourth studio album Do What Thou Wilt, with the release of singles Huey Knew, Braille featuring Bas and D.R.U.G.S, and last week we received the whole damn thing.
Straight off the bat, the often slept-on Black Hippy trash talker calls a (Raw) Backwards on all rappers over an ambient and building beat which fills you with the same real intensity as playing the James Bond: Golden Eye on your ‘Tendo ’64. The kind of intensity the album really feeds off as sometimes it can lyrically go begging.
There is no denying the production on this record and the West-Coast rappers ability to create a party, which was oh so evident in all three singles. Threatening Nature (leaked a few days ago) also boasts a crisp drum line which leaves room for Soulo to make his mark vocally. On Beat The Case///Straight Cooked featuring ScHoolboy Q, the track really shines toward the end, when the beat switches up to a synthy boom bap and Ab-Soul really lays down some bars with some substance beyond his high-life living.
Even in Now You Know, Ab-Soul shows glimpses of his ability to spit verses with wistful clarity but as many of the numbers on this LP do it leaves quite a bit to the imagination. The stabby snares cutting in and fading out periodically will make a crowd bounce but to release a 16-track piece of work there needs to be a level of cohesion which I cannot seem to grasp on this record. He is definitely not a dude to be slept on, this album will be big but I expected more.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uphiZ2tcTv0&w=560&h=315]
Let’s hope this roll keeps on keeping on into 2017.
The mixtape has a storied history in hip-hop, originating within the genre way back some time in 1970s New York, and has continued to grow in popularity from the late ’90s until today. Nowadays the mixtape holds a special sense of value; as the internet has begun to kill the CD (and long after cassette tapes have been chucked in the bin) and the Soundcloud generation has emerged – mixtapes are arguably more important to hip-hop artists, and fans, than ever.
Consider that most artists contemporarily make their money from tours and merchandise, as opposed to ‘album sales’, the Soundcloud mixtape begins to make considerable sense as the Holy Grail of a rapper’s repertoire. Kind of like how duct tape is a cure all for everything*, picture mixtapes as the same thing.
With that in mind, embrace the power of the tape and feast your ears on these!
Bodega BAMZ – All Eyez Off Me
Nobody would argue the significance of a certain Tupac Shakur in terms of influence on hip-hop and culture as a whole, with the late rapper almost universally agreed to be one of the single most important artists to have ever lived. Hailing from Spanish Harlem in New York, Bodega BAMZ presents himself with a notably high level of respect and admiration for the late rapper, exemplified on his latest mixtape, All Eyez Off Me. Not only does the title pay homage to the late legend’s All Eyez On Me, but BAMZ having also released the tape at 4:03PM (New York time) – the time of day rumoured to be that which Tupac Shakur died at on September 13, 1996. While greatly different artists, the influence of Shakur on BAMZ is ultimately apparent on All Eyez Off Me. The rapper is doing a considerable amount to legitimise the artistry of the languishing art of ‘street rap’ in 2016. Listen below, and find Bodega Bamz on Twitter here.
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Smoke DZA – George Kush Da Button: Don’t Pass Trump The Blunt
Having only featured one of the tape’s highlight tracks (the Mac Miller produced Beloved) just yesterday in our Rap Wrap, it’s only fitting that the Kush God Smoke DZA‘s fresh tape (and follow up to March’s He Has Risen) makes an appearance in this list of Mixtape Madness. Borrowing a title from DZA’s 2010 tape George Kush Da Button, the latest DZA offering is, in typical Kush God fashion, a smooth ‘weed rap’ offering featuring such high-profile collaborations from Joey Bada$$, A$AP Rocky, Domo Genesis and Action Bronson. And, of course, no Smoke DZA tape would ever be truly complete without a Rugby mention. Enjoy below.
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KEY! – Before I Scream
It only takes thirty seconds of listening to KEY! rapping to realise that he’s an Atlanta talent, with the ATL trap sound having become so distinguishable in recent years – not to mention popular, with the rise of ATL talents such as Young Thug, Rich the Kid, Migos and, more recently, Lil Yachty. In fact, as if to further reinforce the fact that KEY! is a thoroughly Atlanta talent, the aforementioned Lil Yachty is tossed a guest appearance on KEY!’s brand new Before I Scream tape, although this is a tad overshadowed by a further guest verse from grime lord Skepta, absolutely the highlight of the tape. And if that isn’t a reason to pay attention to KEY! then I honestly can’t help you, because Before I Scream is evidence sure enough that KEY! is a unique talent even in the stacked ATL scene. Peep the tape below, and throw KEY! a follow on Twitter here.
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You can find James Schofield on Twitter and Instagram.
*Disclaimer: It actually isn’t a cure all for everything, and that wound is now infected, so please seek immediate medical attention.
Image: Smoke DZA
Game of Thrones fans, batten down the hatches – Winter, finally, has come. Or to our US counterparts, summer is almost here, and in all honesty this has absolutely nothing to do with Game of Thrones. Instead, for this first day of our new season, this is the ‘Rap Wrap’. Not unlike Cling Wrap, this shit will stick. I can’t speak on whether any of the following will be of any considerable use in keeping your sandwiches from becoming stale, but you can be certain that all of the following will help your day from becoming stale. Day, or sandwich? You decide.
Smoke DZA, Beloved (Prod. Mac Miller)
The first to fall in to our winter’s lap comes from Harlem’s Smoke DZA, by way of his latest mixtape George Kush Da Button: Don’t Pass Trump The Blunt released to Soundcloud today. The track is produced by Mac Miller, who would appear to have stepped out from behind his Larry Fisherman moniker for now. A smooth offering, perfectly complementing both DZA’s subdued ‘weed’ rap flow, and Miller’s penchant for the psychedelic, Beloved is a laid-back offering, perfect for allowing the day to peacefully pass by and in to gentle oblivion. Or to light up a blunt to, it’s dealer’s choice, I should imagine.
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Bishop Nehru – Love What You Do
Bishop Nehru is a name which might still be unfamiliar to many – which is criminal considering how extraordinarily talented the nineteen year old New Yorker truly is. Still riding the high from his collaborative project with the esteemed MF Doom, NehruvianDoom, Bishop Nehru offers a chilled throwback to hip-hop’s Golden Era with Love What You Do. From the scratches to Nehru’s confident flow, the offering is further in the vein of the track preceding it, with a calm, laid-back presentation to see the day away.
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Hopsin, Die This Way ft. Matt Black & Joey Tee
Having apparently done away with all connections to former label Funk Volume, of which he was a co-founder, Hopsin has hit his stride with new label Undercover Prodigy – as evidenced by latest release Die This Way featuring Matt Black and Joey Tee. For an artist who has perpetually been extraordinarily hit or miss, Hopsin has let loose one of his strongest tracks in recent memory, comparable to his storied Ill Mind of Hopsin series.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be8nu4w-NS0]
Young Thug, Gangster Shit
Only two months removed from his brilliant Slime Season 3 release, Young Thug has let latest single Gangster Shit hit the web. Not one to remain quiet for long, Gangster Shit is another in a long line of tremendous releases by the trap phenomenon – whose popularity, to this day, continues to climb at a frenzied pace. Having collaborated in previous months with such artists as Chance the Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert, it is surprisingly comforting to hear Thugger returning to solid solo cuts, proving himself a competent and infectiously listenable solo artist. One would stop short of saying they hope to hear a full-length project from Thugger soon, with such a project almost guaranteed considering Young Thug’s admirably consistent output of projects. Nonetheless, if Gangster Shit is anything to go by as far as expectations for the next project go, keep your eyes peeled and your ears ready. Sliiiiiime.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7g5JADcrSo]
So tell us how you heard it, what’s the best track of the new season to beat the cold? Or compliment the heat? Or keep the sandwiches fresh? Or… what else did I say?