#the 90s were so bleak man. this is a good reminder of the cultural mood

[thealogie]

did you get to the part of the script where they become victims of hate crimes in the hands of tadsfield people yet? some lady goes 'oh they're gay' and spreads the word so no one will take them in

I’m not there yet but I do remember it from the last and only other time I read this script years ago. They really saw the energy of the little girl calling aziraphale faggot and said “let’s take this energy and go wide with it. Let’s make it a much bigger thing”

[signaturesoundsradio-blog]

2019’s Top Rap Albums, according to Capital K

10: Skyzoo & Pete Rock – Retropolitan

Very few dudes out there are rapping like Skyzoo is. He’s been dropping impeccable verses for years, running with legendary crews like Duck Down and Jamla records across his fifteen year career. Zoo has proven himself time and again as a dedicated wordsmith with his carefully crafted songs and projects, but for the first time in a long time we get a clear, concise album from him that is not bogged down by an extensive concept. Instead, Retropolitan is simply an homage to the streets of the Big Apple, told from two men who have watched the city and its culture lose some of their once seemingly indelible essence. Pete Rock brings the type of New York production that has been in season for almost three decades, and with Skyzoo it still feels fresh. Though the NY rap scene remains firmly in the ‘90s, what with old groups making repetitive returns and most new rappers unable to carve out any semblance of originality, the occasional retro album truly nails it, even in 2019. This is one of them.

9: Little Brother – May the Lord Watch

The return that very few people saw coming, May the Lord Watch is a short project (only 10 of the album’s 15 tracks contain beats and rhymes), but it easily silences any questions as to whether Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte might have lost a step since putting out two certified classics in the early 2000s. Picking up right where Phonte’s 2018 No News Is Good News left off, May the Lord Watch finds the two rappers comfortably claiming their place as kings in the ‘Grown Man Rap’ movement. They effortlessly trade bars as they craft narrative of nights in (“Sittin’ Alone”), the married life (“Goodmorning Sunshine”), and thankfulness for the blessings of God (“Work Through Me”). Without an ounce of bitterness, the men sketch their pleasures and pains across Little Brother’s tried-and-true canvas of radio skits and interludes (UBN – U Black N****s – network remains as funny as ever, situating everything the group does squarely in its context of blackness). Notably, the album features no production from original Little Brother member Ninth Wonder, but the rappers feel right at home over the lush, sample-heavy beats which maintain the aesthetic sensibilities of the group’s early classics.

8: Wiki – Oofie

Oofie finds New York rapper Wiki in a much more subdued place than his 2017 solo debut album No Mountains in Manhattan. It’s a definite change of pace from a man who went through plenty of transitions in the past two years, including the breakup of his super-group Secret Circle and a move to his own label Wikiset (under which Oofie was released). On this offering Wiki maintains his dedication to personal, biographic bars, though Oofie is much more focused on Wiki the man than on Wiki’s hometown New York City. The production is more modern but not trendy, making a concerted effort to leave space for Wiki’s bars to shine through. He rhymes with more confidence than ever, a little slower and more sure of himself than the more fun-loving Wiki of 2017. Slower paced but not monotonous, Oofie will not disappoint those looking for well-crafted lines that are at once playful and somewhat melancholy.

7: L’Orange & Jeremiah Jae – Complicate Your Life with Violence

L’Orange made a name for himself as one of Mello Music Group’s earliest virtuosos, crafting beautifully cinematic, dusty records to fit his guest emcees. The pairings solidified his place as one of the underground’s premiere sample-based producers and made for some dark, brilliant albums. This project is no different, with Jeremiah Jae along for the ride as a crook-turned-soldier in a dystopian world of violence and darkness. While the scenes are not particularly gruesome or gory, their psychological tension draws the listener along like a thriller movie, and Jae’s vivid rhymes and unaffected tone make the chilling subject matter all the more enticing. The two artists are at the top of their games here, building an album interspersed with vintage film samples and some spectacular features to create an engrossing, consistent mood in a way that very few other albums did this year. Complicate Your Life with Violence places itself in 2019’s catalog as a bleak assessment of the violent, at times seemingly unforgivable, world in which we live. It’s an album that is both a product of today and a warning of tomorrow.

6: Add-2 – Jim Crow The Musical

Probably the most unknown artist on this list, Chicago rapper Add-2 released his powerful Jim Crow the Musical in the twilight of 2019 and immediately slid himself right into the discussion for the year’s top rap albums. An album that is equal parts pride and sorrow, full of both fear and resolve, Jim Crow is an earnest look at the way in which America’s unabashed history of racism has manifested itself in the way it treats its black citizens in the present day. The versatile range of sounds and moods mesh together into a cohesive narrative of life lived in a skin that Add-2 sees as “both a gift and a curse” (“Hashtag”), linked through skits about blackness that give the album it’s ‘Musical’ feel. As a rapper, Add-2 falls somewhere in between Kendrick Lamar and Open Mike Eagle, as comfortable in a driving, breathless flow (“Git Your Hand Out of My Pocket”) as he is in a more reserved and conversational one (“The Secret Life of Blacks”), and that’s just in the album’s first two proper songs. The man can flat out rap, and on top of that, Add-2 does his own beats. Though he (like almost any underground artist) will likely tell you that he’s been grinding away, releasing quality content all along, this album feels like a coming-out party of sorts for the rapper, and it’s worth a listen from any fan of music in general.

5: Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin¿

When word got out that the legendary Q-Tip would be executive producing Danny Brown’s newest album, expectations were naturally high. Following Danny’s critically acclaimed raw and ambitious Atrocity Exhibition in 2016, fans were eager to see how Tip would be able to elevate Brown’s game to new places. However, instead of trying to top Atrocity with another conceptual masterpiece, the two sent in a collection of straight up good to great songs from a newly refined Danny (complete with a new front tooth), who replaced the wildness of his previous work with a veteran’s swagger and confidence. Focused more on masterful bars than shock value, uknowhatimsayin¿ sees Danny primarily sticking to his ‘Old album Side A’ voice, while covering topics ranging from sex on a laundry machine (“Laundry”) to navigating life as a black man in the racist American system (“Shine”). The album is a flex from a man who has already made his masterpiece and now feels content to provide us with high quality, if not necessarily ambitious, reminders that he’s still a top lyricist and song-writer.

4: Brother Ali – Secrets & Escapes

If you felt that maybe Brother Ali had hit a period of creative coasting over the last decade, you’re in good company: so did he. And to remedy this, Ali made an album with the legendary Evidence that made it an explicit goal to throw out any songs that sounded like an Ali (or Evidence) joint. The result is a collection of songs that find Brother Ali at his hungriest, solemnest, and, in a way, most refreshed. Produced entirely by Evidence (and featuring verses from Evidence, Talib Kweli, and Pharoahe Monch), Secrets & Escapes treads familiar topics for Ali: spirituality, his own inner demons and struggles, and societal ills, but in this album he’s less preacher than teacher, an elder with a lot on his mind. Ali’s is a calming presence for today’s frenetic, confused society and he easily shows us that he’s still got the bars he once did. For his part, Evidence has crafted a sonically diverse, jazzy palette with some beautiful samples and dusty drums. If you forgot that he produced Kanye’s “Last Call,” consider this a reminder of Evidence’s status as a premiere double threat. Highlights include “Father Figures,” “Secrets & Escapes,” and “They Shot Ricky.”

3: billy woods & Kenny Segal – Hiding Places

For those that missed it, billy woods truly killed the year 2019. A new solo album, an updated re-release of a capstone essential, a grab bag megamix of new, unreleased, and well-known songs, and this absolutely relentless collaboration with LA producer Kenny Segal comprised woods’ voluminous 2019 output. Hiding Places finds woods rhyming over a more, for lack of a better word, listenable range of beats than many of his recent endeavors, and it works perfectly. Segal’s off-kilter but somehow entirely smooth production gives woods a canvas for some of his most personal and cathartic moments. There are very few rappers who make connections in the way billy woods does, and a vignette about how no one in the hood gets their mail forwarded when they move quickly turns from being a quirky anecdote to a grim depiction of reality as we realize it’s because many people are being chased by a never-ending stream of debt collectors and predatory lenders. The project’s dark humor puts a band-aid over some of its tragic, bleak content, making it an album that grows with each listen. If you’ve heard woods’s name thrown around a lot but never knew where to start, try this album on for size.

2: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana

Following up a surprise classic is always a challenge. Fans and critics are easy to please the first time but once you’ve set a high bar for yourself there’s no turning back. Knowing this, and never ones to be rushed, Freddie “Gangster” Gibbs and super-producer Madlib made the world wait a whole five years before following up their essential 2014 release Piñata with this year’s Bandana. It was worth the wait. Where Piñata found Madlib inhabiting Gibbs’s realm in a Blaxploitation-inspired story of thuggin’ and dealing, their second album evens the playing field a bit, and Freddie is forced to rap over beats that at times sound like they came straight out of the Beat Konducta series. He proves himself more than capable, rapping on an entirely new level while he easily switches flows to match Madlib’s eclectic energy. Freddie’s content has changed, too, as the years since Piñata saw him spend time in an Austrian jail, lose his uncle and good friend, and split up with his fiance. Much of Bandana was written in that jail, and he’s more reflective, pacing between regret and pride of his dirty deeds and dark past. It’s a classic in its own right, with more depth than most of Freddie’s past work and a seamless marriage between one of the best producers ever to touch an iPad (Madlib’s tool of choice for Bandana) and a rapper eager to put his own name in the Hall of Fame conversation.

1: Maxo – LIL BIG MAN

Maxo raps with a depression born of hopelessness and uncertainty. He’s a man with more questions than answers, and a slow, straightforward flow that brings us into his world with toughness and ease. His are the problems of an entire generation of young men: How can you justify working for $10 an hour when you could make thousands by robbing one house? How can you bring your friends along when you make it, and will they still be your friends by the time you get there? And, most importantly, will you make it to see your next birthday? Maxo raps effortlessly over smooth, low fidelity beats that stand out from most of the lo-fi subgenre through their lushness and clean mixing. Though generally somber, the album does have its upbeat moments (“Kinfolk” and “Headphones”) to break up the darkness, and a beautiful feature from Lojji on “No Love” that adds some ethereal beauty. Maxo is open about his weaknesses and insecurities, yet positive reinforcement comes in the form of a phone call from his grandma reminding him that, as bad is gets, there’s always a place for him at her home. While other albums this year may have exhibited more ambition or technical reach, Maxo’s LIL BIG MAN stands out as one of 2019’s most listenable and emotional, a project with stunning production that bumps in the whip yet powerful lyrics that will hold your attention on the weakest of earbuds.

Honorable Mentions

Atmosphere – Whenever

Probably the best the group has sounded since 2010’s To All My Friends.

Blockhead – Free Sweatpants

Equal parts instrumental album and who’s who of Blockhead’s extensive circle of rap friends.

Damani Nkosi & iLL Camille – Harriett

A jazzy collaboration focused on black freedom and hope by two incredibly gifted emcees.

Medhane – Own Pace

A lo-fi album in the vein of Earl Sweatshirt’s Some Rap Songs but with more clarity and optimism.

People Under the Stairs – Sincerely, The P

The last album from the legendary west coast group, Sincerely, The P is nostalgic and celebratory.

Quelle Chris – Guns

An album that examines the way in which fear, race, and firearms are used to brutalize communities.

Rapsody – Eve

An epic tour de force, Eve is an homage to black women that have influenced the artist and the world.

Albums I didn’t get around to that sound like they might have made this list

Boogie – Everything’s For Sale

Grip – Snubnose

And that’s it. All in all, 2019 was not a bad year for rap. Stick around next year for more reviews and lists from the squad here at Signature Sounds. May 2020 bring you happiness and success. Love & Respect.

- Capital K