Alright ya'll time to get your yearly schoolin of what was poppin and lockin in the hippin and hoppin.
This isn't in any particular order but if you're looking for a primer or a hype playlist then it'll be a good place to start. There'll be a few "Not really hiphop but still amazing/hiphop that came out before 2013 that I stumbled across" nominations at the bottom.
Albums
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2
Let's go EL-P.
It's Run the Jewels. They're the Mel Gibson and Danny Glover of hip-hop, except they're criminals instead of buddy cops. I somersault in the room and then pop to the van damme split on em. The whole thing wrecks, and improves on the first album with some pretty heavy material in some tracks.
- It be feelin' like the life that I’m livin' man, I don't control
Like every day I’m in a fight for my soul
Could it be that my medicine’s the evidence
For pigs to stop and frisk me when they rollin' round on patrol?
And ask “why you’re here?”
I just tell 'em cause it is what it is
I live here and that’s what it is
He chimed “you got a dime?
I said “Man, I’m tryin' to smoke and chill
Please don’t lock me up in front of my kids
And in front of my wife
Man, I ain’t got a gun or a knife
You do this and you ruin my life...
The production is Godlike. Listenining to Angel Duster with some good headphones for the first time is akin to a religious experience. And it's free! Free. Stop reading, go download.
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Clockwork Indigo - Clockwork Indigo EP
My first experience with the Flatbush Zombies and the Underachievers, and I am sad about this because I loved this mixtape. ButterflyEffect (I'm sorry for making this joke twice) is one of my most played tracks this year. Super chill, great all around, also free, go download!
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Childish Gambino - STN MTN/Kauai
I'm pretty on the edge with Bino. I get hyped for his stuff, then it drops, and I'm super hyped, but it gets pretty much no replay value after my first couple of listens. Gambino is like the Cheesecake Factory of hiphop - you go because you know everybody can find something to eat at Cheesecake, but there are also way better places to eat. But I also posit that If your man don't wanna lick it/I volunteer as tribute/you niggas on them Hunger Games/I'm eatin o's like onion rings is one of the best hiphop lines of all time.
That being said, this is a very high quality mixtape, and I honestly liked it better than Because the Internet, so, good work Donald!
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Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Is this hiphop? I dunno. Is it awesome? Uh...
FlyLo knows how to produce like his life depended on it. He's able to create an atmosphere in his tracks that makes you feel, in the case of this album, uneasy. Like you're walking through some alternate world, a land of the dead. Good stuff. Excellent interview with FlyLo here.
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Singles
Lupe Fiasco - Mazinger Z
When I heard that Mazinger Z opening I was grinning like an idiot. It's nice to see Lupe indulge his inner Otaku again, and be able to release some label-less music, because he's at his best when he does that.
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Kendrick Lamar - i
Ya'll know I wouldn't put "Best of Hiphop" without Kendrick showing up in here somewhere. Kdot on that chicken dancin' shit, I don't even know.
Anyways, this song is just so damn fun! People complain about it appealing to the mainstream, but I disagree. It's not poppy enough, and that third verse is unheard of on the radio. I'm especially interested to see where the song fits into the rest of the album that (PLEASE GOD HOPEFULLY) comes out this year.
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Kanye West - Only One
Jan. 1st 2015, but I'll allow it.
I went and hugged my mom after hearing this song.
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Big Sean - I Don't Fuck With You
This song is so stupid, I LOVE IT-
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The Rap Momument
42 Minute Freestyle. Ridiculous, but it gets a little stale near the end, after Killer Mike's verse. It needed more Kilo Kush intermissions in between, in my opinion.
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The Real Awards - Not Really HipHop but still Amazing
cs_Electro - Live Slam Jam
COME ON AND SLAM, AND WELCOME TO THE JAM
I still dislike Charles Barkley, though.
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nakinyko - Poolside Identity
Oh man.
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Killer Mike and Action Bronson freestyle on tradmills
"What the fuck are you doing?"
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Bob the Builder x Bobby Shmurda - Bobby Bitch
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Taylor Swift - Shake it Off (Tesher Remix)
SO THAT'S IT. Alright year for hiphop, better singles than albums, really. I think 2015 will be better. Heeeere's hopin, thanks for reading, etc. etc.
RTJ2 is the core of my workout playlist now. Real ass-kicking music. fuck the slomo I seriously thought someone was going to die when I saw Action Bronson on a treadmill. Also IDFWU made me laugh the first time I heard it, still can't keep a straight face.
Did someone say Taylor Swift trap remix? Edit: Totally not a TS fanboy but rather a fan of versions of things.
Thanks for introducing me to Clockwork Inidigo, Loving Butterfly Effect right now. That beat, and those high choral singers, are just so damn good. For whatever reasons, my brain made me instantly go listen to The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist afterwards.
I dunno how I forgot Pinata. Guess because it was so early into the year. Edit: Also Oxymoron, though really it wasn't that great, in my opinion. Suitable, but not fantastic. That Macklemore cameo, tho. Lots of non-hubski people have asked why I didn't put Under Pressure by Logic on my list, but I don't do Kendrick counterfeits GET AT ME I'LL FIGHT YOU.
What are your opinions on George Watsky? I like a lot of his stuff and I feel like you would, but you didn't put anything up here.
Bruh. Oh Watsky. Watsky Watsky Watsky. He has good flow, I'll give him that. But that's pretty much all I can give him. Props to the dude for going out there and making his music and getting his fan-base and all that jazz. More power to him and all. I am just not a part of that fan-base.
milo - a toothpaste suburb came out in September, i've been pretty into it.
EDIT: eightbitsamurai this album called The Waters by Mick Jenkins came out in August. I missed it, I think you may have too. Give it a listen it kicks ass!