That's My Dad.

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #27, Odd Future - Rella

I fucked this flow.

2012 may have been a bit of a rough patch for L.A. rap collective Odd Future, with the hit-or-miss “Odd Future Tape, Vol. 2” along with some poorly received experimentation on a number of flopped releases. Alas, somewhere along their madness, Tyler, Hodgy and Domo concocted their call to arms track: “Rella”. Capturing their self-aware humor and utter zaniness immaculately on a series of killer verses, Odd Future comes loaded with their most entertaining hooliganisms, dirtiest beats and finest frivolity to date.

(Source: Spotify)

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #28, Darq E Freaker (feat. Danny Brown) - Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)

Crazy, Psycho, Deranged. Poppin’ these pills, sniffin’ cocaine. 

If there’s anybody who deserves the ‘Most Improved’ award in the underground rap scene, it’s undoubtedly Danny Brown. Showing a level of diligence and resiliency by constantly reworking nearly every aspect of his performance, Brown took every show and feature spot as a learning experience and built on himself. In his constant manipulation and experimentation, his tag teamed effort with prodigy producer Darq E Freaker paid off with the absurdly swagged-out “Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)”; a deviously lyrical jaunt through a grimy night of transgressions built on murderous retro-styled samples. Easily a high point of alternative hip-hop of 2012.

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #41, Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz - Mercy

Swerve. 

With the barrage of hip-hop colloquialisms, fat bass lows and witty yet devilishly ignorant verses dropped by Kanye and company, “Mercy” would still strike a chord among pop and rap listeners alike for it’s thick, mystifying complexion and nearly irresistible opening call to the dance floor. This was 2012’s anthem. And we all lost our shit to this one night or another. 

(Source: Spotify)

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #48, Killer Mike - JoJo’s Chillin’

This album was created entirely by Jamie and Mike. 

2012 in hip-hop featured a massive surge of socially conscious rappers, with Atlanta’s Killer Mike taking full precedent on “R.A.P. Music”, a punchy hardcore hip-hop record that stands shoulder to shoulder with Ice Cube’s defiant heydays. “JoJo’s Chillin’” is the lightest track on the track, but brings the strongest evidence of Killer Mike’s engaging storytelling abilities immense with an ingenious, off-the-cuff delivery and rhetorical incorporation of sex, drugs and gleefully incriminating old ladies. 

(Source: Spotify)

Nas - Illmatic

Show us your pain and everything else will fall into place.

While it certainly shames me to admit that I’m listening to Nas for the first time now in my life, it being as old as I am, “Illmatic” undoubtedly stands up strong as one of the most innovative, defining records of all time for its unbeatable authenticity, progressive existentialist concern and gutsy focus of substance-over-style and less-is-more artistic virtues. (9/10) 

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Aesop Rock - Skelethon

Coming to Aesop Rock’s “Skelethon” in hopes to find a traditional hip-hop album will quickly prove as a dire mistake leading to bouts of frustration. Instead, consume with the focus point of Aesop’s genre-challenging style in mind and embrace the mind-numbing wordiness; it might not be your cup of tea, but “Skelethon” offers a profuse level of detail and lyrical content for those looking for a challenging listen. (7/10)

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Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music 

Just when the gettin’s good for hip-hop this year, former Outkast-attributed and Atlanta rapper Killer Mike prevails on the underground rap scene, bringing the strongest conventional (only mention ‘conventional’ due to Death Grips’ “The Money Store”) hip-hop LP of the year, “R.A.P. Music”: a multi-faceted work of supreme production qualities (special thanks to El-P), profoundly analyzed racial-societal tension matched with first-class storytelling skills and cutthroat bomb-squad styled hip-hop vigor not unlike legends Public Enemy and N.W.A. (9/10)

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El-P - Cancer for Cure

New York MC, entrepreneur and modern underground legend El-P returns to kill it again on his fourth solo LP, “Cancer for Cure”: an immaculately constructed work of futuristic-styled production with an intelligent yet unsettling, conspiracy-laden narrative resulting in a banging hip-hop record more technically impressive than anything else in sight. (8/10)

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Ab-Soul - Control System

It may initially come off heavy-handed to snippy hip-hop listeners, but Black Hippy (east coast super-group of west coast rappers feat. Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar) member Ab-Soul performs on high gear through his multi-dimensional cerebral manifesto: “Control System”. Much like his fellow Black Hippies Lamar and Schoolboy, Ab-Soul’s “Control System” makes for engaging, introspective hip-hop packed with wide-ranged style and subject matter, detailed production and profoundly unique personality. (8/10)

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The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

The Pharcyde’s 1992 debut release, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, is one the zaniest, free-ranging, most influential old-school hip-hop albums out there that works its magic without breaking a sweat. (8/10)

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Jay-Z - The Blueprint

Consider it a landmark of sampling in hip-hop, note it for the inventive production, the daunting self-assuredness in the lyricism, the blend of saluting cultures of past generations while escorting their finest qualities into the new millennium. Jay-Z’s The Blueprint shall always deserve to be remembered as one of the greatest rap albums of all-time. (9/10)

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A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Between all the jazz and hip-hop fusion, the legendary artistic confidence and technical ability, rap legends A Tribe Called Quest were on the top of their game with The Low End Theory; which after countless spins, is considerably the hippest and most influential alternative album of the 90’s. (10/10)

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The 5 Albums that Changed My Life during 7 Days in New York City

1. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Just being in the Bronx.

2. Jay-Z - The Blueprint

Sight-seeing in the Fashion District.

3. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

Being hip in lower Manhattan.

4. Young the Giant - Young the Giant 

Riding the subway, feeling part of something.

5. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Walking alone in the nightlife. 

Death Grips - Ex Military 

Get scared. Get really scared. This is Death Grips.

Death Grips is a California hip-hop group who’ve put themselves out there with minimum information and a lot of underground hype. The disclaimer that goes with this artist is of its over-bearing…loudness. Much like Sleigh Bells or Odd Future, these guys approach a genre with wildness. But where Sleigh Bells translate volume into style and Odd Future mold social commentary out of abrasive attitudes, Death Grips is much more grizzly with their agenda. 

With their debut release, Ex Military, there is a bold proposition both in a philosophical and contemporary context presented. On a first interpretation, Death Grips can feel like a radical group of anarchists at a music festival, waving their violent and freakish flag in a corner whilst the majority walks right by it with no serious regard. But there’s much more relevancy and meaning to what may just seem like a gimmicky ‘shock value’ artist.

The album can be represented, as a whole, through three of its most pivotal tracks. The first, Guillotine (It Goes Yah), is a dense and heavily abstract track that tips the scale back and forth between spoken word and hip-hop. The most prominent feature of the song is its basic yet unforgettable beat that sounds like God stomping its foot on the world and you hearing it thousands of miles away. It’s a viciously dark track that suffocates you with its claustrophobic production and themes of suicide, not to mention, a terrifying music video to boot. The next is Ex Military’s main single: Takyon (Death Yon), a monumental track for the album and Death Grips’ uncontrollable style. It follows closely to Guillotine, yet it packs all the punches you wouldn’t think it dared to. This is seriously as close as hip-hop will get to punk while placing both attitudes on full throttle. Towards the end of Ex Military is where Death Grips averts from the obtuse abstractness and makes sense of their motives more on the track, I Want It I Need It (Death Heated). The song works as a work of prose about our generation’s filthy urges for pleasure; sex, drugs and repeat until you die. It helps to place the entire album in a certain perspective in our minds. 

Ex Military is an album that needs to be talked about. From any possible interpretation made, this is a release that will definitely leave a mark on your psyche; some harder than others. If you’re in need of a defibrillator doused in gasoline charged to your forehead, Death Grips might be your musical match. This is not for the faint of heart, but for anyone else, Ex Military is a seriously urgent piece of art that’ll knock you out cold.   

This album was my dad. (9/10)

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Kendrick Lemar’s Section.80 -

You hear about an up-and-coming underground rapper from Compton and the context around this release. You think here’s a guy probably bound to be the next rapper here to exploit and commentate over sex, violence, the “thug life”, etc. Kendrick Lamar is not that rapper, far from it actually. On Lamar’s debut mix-tape, Section.80, we find heaps of smooth, classy beats, surprisingly insightful lyrics (not by any hip-hop conventions) and a very likable, humble persona from Lamar. It’s a simplistic and intellectual blend of hip-hop uncommon to come across. What makes Section.80 a memorable and unconventional listen is how easy Lamar makes it seem to blend old-school with new-school rap with a certain artfulness; it’s pretty refreshing. Songs like Hol’ Up and Ronald Reagan Era serve as great and specific examples of Lamar’s style, talent and his mature take on society and politics. Section.80 is never afraid to be versatile too. There are some nifty pop elements wandering around this release, refer to the simple yet insightful track No Make Up. The biggest surprise Section.80 pulls is the track Rigamortus, a dauntingly challenging song where Lamar’s beats go head-to-head with his freestyle that create a cohesive and untamable jam. For a debut mix-tape, Section.80 is able to show off how bold this guy can really get if he wants to and then some. I look forward to where this guy goes in the future. (8/10)

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