"Checkers" - Aesop Rock [prod. Aesop Rock] - Black Hole Superette
Aesop Rock has been on quite the run in the 2020s delivering fully-formed, uncompromising creative visions packaged as self-produced concept albums. We're fortunate that someone this talented making high-quality rap music for this long is still so into doing this shit.
"Ugk" - Sauce Walka & That Mexican OT [Iceman Chamberlain] - Chicken & Sauce
Two Texas rappers I've been lukewarm on - personally more into Sauce than OT - join forces for a surprisingly fun full-length collab. Leaning heavy on the late 90s-early 2000s Houston sound, their ode to Pimp & Bun is smooth.
"Flocker's Remorse" - Ray Vaughn [Rayo] - The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu
In 2021 I saw Ray Vaughn open for Isaiah Rashad in LA. Opening rap shows as a new artist is a tough gig, even in your hometown, but this dude came with a unique energy that night and converted a large portion of that crowd into fans including myself.
This was right around the time Vaughn signed with TDE, and for the last 4 years it's seemed the label hasn't exactly known what to do with him - some of the singles have really hit, but the releases have been inconsistent and at some point it seemed the debut album was never coming.
The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu is sad, fun, and surprisingly cohesive. Vaughn sounds confident; he's picking the right beats and working with the right rappers. The TDE talent pipeline is still pumping, with or without Kendrick, and they finally have another (non-Ab Soul) buzzing rapper that isn't co-signed to a major.
"Resume (ft. Kamaiyah)" - G Perico [420Tiesto] - LA Gangster: Gangsta Grillz
Is Kamaiyah the most dependable feature in rap at the moment? Over a certain style of production her hooks, especially, elevate any track she appears on.
The DJ Drama (or any other early 2010s washed mixtape DJ, looking at you Carti/Swamp Izzo) "mixtape" resurgence in the 2020s is beyond played out at this point but this Perico/Drama album is an exception.
"Bobert Horry" - Boldy James [V Don] - Alphabet Highway
As long as Boldy keeps releasing high quality music he will continue to appear on these lists. If he drops 15 albums this year we will probably feature him 15 times. It doesn't hurt that "Bobert Horry" is the best song title of the year so far.
"Triangle Offense (ft. Sideshow & MAVI)" - Niontay [Niontay]- Fada<3of$
MIKE's 10k Global (not to be confused with Elliot Grange's 10k Projects, super fucking confusing) has been on a heater since last year, from Sideshow's F.U.N.T.O.Y., to MIKE's Showbiz!, now to the new Niontay record that took me way too long to figure out is pronounced "fa da love of money". Check this project out for the production - handled by Niontay, Surf Gang, MIKE, Tony Seltzer,...- and check this track out for the gem of a MAVI verse.
"Max B Interlude (ft. Max B)" - Wiz Khalifa [Sledgren, Problem, Daz, Kenneth Wright & Dominique Sanders] - Kush + Orange Juice 2
It's difficult to explain to anyone who was either (1) not of weed-smoking age (i.e., too young); or (2) not of internet-living age (i.e., too old) in April, 2010 how important Kush & Orange Juice was at the time. Yes it shot Wiz Khalifa to another level of stardom and, along with Cabin Fever, garnered him another shot at major label success after his "Say Yeah" / "Make It Hot" (both still jams) flame-out on Warner in 2007.
But if you were, say, a freshman in college who was both a stoner idiot and hip hop fanatic DJing a late night campus radio rap show - the music itself was perfect. The weed songs ("Still Blazin", "In The Cut"...really any of them) became our generation's "I Wanna Get High"s and "Hits From The Bong"s. The production sounds just as good in a car as it does at a party as it does in the old Apple Earpods - Cardo most notably produced two tracks ("Mesmorized" and "In Tha Cut") and became an overnight star. It's not the best Wiz mixtape, that would be Flight School or Prince of the City 2, but it's the last gasp of Wiz as someone completely in control of his craft, and the last of his full-length projects to touch that excellence before going full-on-Pop with Staragte and a number of poor label-led decisions.
I can't say I was excited at the prospect of Kush + Orange Juice 2 dropping 15 years after the fact and nothing about the lead-up singles had me feeling any differently. As an album it's at least 10 tracks too long and has some major misses. But when it pops - and the super-random "Max B Interlude" pops - it's the least manufactured Wiz has sounded in years.
"Corner Pocket (ft. BbyMutha & Quelle Chris)" - Fly Anakin [The Alchemist] - (The) Forever Dream
Tough to say after only about a week but (The) Forever Dream feels like the current front-runner for rap AOTY after 4 months.
Always a treat to hear underground rap's premier couple (sorry Quelle & Jean) on the same track and even more exciting to hear BbyMutha blessing an Alchemist beat.
"Pimpin' Like Kenny Red (ft. Larry June & Big Boss Spence)" - Too $hort [Decadez] - Sir Too $hort, Vol. 1 (Freaky Tales)
$hort Dog, still got it.
"Dirty Mop" - YSR Gramz & Eightball Tank [Jxlan] - 8Ball Gramz
I stay somewhat tapped in to the Michigan underground street-rap scene (aka the "Enrgy Beats Extended Universe") and this is the first time I've heard the name Eightball Tank. Not the best name for SEO when Eightball & MJG exist, but I guess it worked for Lil Nas X.
This is a slapper, and 8Ball Gramz is the best YSR project over the last year or so.
"Enjoy (ft. Nate Curry)" - Murs [Jesse Shatkin] - Love & Rockets 3:16 (The Emancipation)
Murs is on a nice singles run on the lead-up to his supposed final album. A super-sweet, straightforward throwback love jam.
"Steve Austin (ft. Daniel Son)" - Raz Fresco [Futurewave] - Stadium Lo Champions
Toronto in the house. A real treat to hear Raz Fresco reference Ghost of Tsushima and say he "float(s) like Dr. Robotnik" in the same verse.
"BLK ZMBY" - billy woods [Steel Tipped Dove] - Golliwog
woods one of the best doing it which should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention. This album should be special.
"Style Wars (ft. Tash of Tha Alkaholiks)" - Kool Keith [Grant Shapiro] - Karpenters
Please, Kool Keith, do not ever stop rapping. Tash sounds great dabbling in his world.
"METATRON" - GoldLink [LIOHN & Klahr]
Is GoldLink interesting again? Promising start to his return to the indie world.
"The Grinch" - Key Glock [Oh Ross, RamyOnTheBeat, Broadday & Lo Beats] - Glockaveli
"Uber Dents (ShrapKnel Remix)" - Phiik & Lungs [Olasegun]
Feeling this iteration of the Nerd Rap Fantastic Four™.
"Cleopatra Jones" - Raekwon & Masta Killa [Mathematics] - Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman
All of the hype around Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman has focused on: (1) the 5,000 "1-of-1" vinyl pressings each consisting of a unique artwork variant [dope]; and (2) marketing this as the first true Wu-Tang Clan album since 2014's A Better Tomorrow [misleading].
Yes every living Wu member appears but this is not a Wu-Tang Clan album. This is a Mathematics album that deploys Wu members and a variety of indie rap ringers (Benny The Butcher, Kool G Rap, 38 Spesh, Willie The Kid, etc.) to mixed results. Not to say that's a bad thing, and by all accounts I wouldn't be surprised if this record is actually better than Once Upon a Time In Shaolin. Mathematics is and always will be >> Cilvaringz.
"The Louvre (ft. Stove God Cooks, Westside Gunn, Rome Streetz & Joey Bada$$)" - Statik Selektah [Statik Selektah]
Come for a glamorous shit-talking posse cut, stay for the Stove God Hooks.
"Small Talk (ft. Samara Cyn)" - Ovrkast. [Ovrkast. & Angelo LeRoi]
Have historically enjoyed Ovrkast. more as a producer than as a rapper, this is the first solo track of his that really has my attention.
"Jalen Hurtski" - Tee Grizzley [Chopsquad DJ] - Forever My Moment
No one tell Tee Grizzley that Detroiters should not be hopping on the Eagles bandwagon in 2025...if things go according to plan the NFC Championship game next year could get awkward.
"It Factor (ft. El-P)" - Boldy James [Real Bad Man] - Conversational Pieces
Yes this is Boldy featuring El-P aka Mr. "You Call Me Underrated Again and I'm Diggin' a Hole".
"Crayons (ft. Open Mike Eagle & Something Something Brax)" - Milc [Spinitch]
OME's shift to clickbait YouTube-ery has been mixed, but there's no denying the man can still rap his ass off.
"Human Zone" - thegoodnews. (Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Po3 & CTZN) [CTZN & Juan Alderete] - This Just In!
Del rapping about computers taking over will never get old.
"Thx" - Ken Carson [F1LTHY, Lucian & Lukrative] - More Chaos
The fucking beats this guy gets.