Yet another one of my top 10 list dominated by Griselda and other “Boom Bap” rappers but “Punk Rap” founders Uzi and Carti keep me young. Hopefully next year we get a Kendrick project and Cloud Rap comes back cause I really do miss it. With that being said alto of dope
Despite the more commercial route Conway stayed true to his roots with one of my favorite tracks of the year featuring the legend Method Man. Some of the more NY club records like “Anza” went pretty hard. If it had a few more of those boom Bap records it probably would have been a little higher.
That was a good year! Griselda affiliate 38 Spesh dropped his best project to date with “1995”, an ode to classic tracks from that era. All the beats are classic, allowing 38 to rhyme some of the hardest NY bars. From AZ to Raekwon, 38 makes each track his own. The DJ Green Lantern drops make the tape feel even more like a classic mixtape.
Cooks is the rookie of the year. Roc Marciano blessed him with some of his best production to date. From the sample chops to the way cooks flips drake hooks into his own trap shit. Cooks just wants to be the hardest trapper in the game and that’s what I love about him. One of the coldest lines is when he says “Still smellin like a brick right now”. He really is the Stove God.
After a two year wait Carti had to deliver on “WLR”. For the most part he did. I would have liked to see more production from Pierre Bourne and Workin On Dying but the production went hard. The Kanye and Cudi tracks definitely felt forced so those can go but tracks like “Phonk Monk”, “Slayer”, and both the vamp songs are new favs. Carti and Uzi are the pioneers of “Punk Rap” and “PC Music” the name comes from the old computer sounding production. It’s not better than “Die Lit” but I’ll take it.
I am not sure where this project lies in my Westside Gunn tier. So far I think it ranks second but this is for sure his best project of the year. It was so dope for him to get Slick Rick on two tracks which ended up being my favorites. “Butcher and the Blade” is another boom bap Griselda banger. Other than that one chick song the whole album slides.
Ka might not be for everyone but he gives me the same feeling DOOM does. He’s sort of like an enigma. His bars are always top notch but the production on this project makes it my favorite from him as well as for the year. The theme of brother killing brother really hit home on this project.
Uzi for sure lived up to the hype on not just one but two projects this year. On “Eternal Atake” Uzi used Workin On Dying as the main production which gave the album its inter galactic feel. LUV vs. The World 2 focused on more of a trap centric production style but for me it might even be the better of the two albums.
From being number one to being number three isn’t that bad, Benny is my favorite rapper and his debut “Burden Of Proof” solidified it. This project showed Benny could still be street while still branching out into a more mainstream sound. Hit Boy really did his thing between this project and Nas’s, Hit showed he’s back with a vengeance. With that being said I hope Benny goes back to some more street shit on the next album so it can be number 1.
This is the gangster rap “MBDTF”. From the I untouchable Alchemist production to the features picked perfectly for each track. Gibbs and Alc nailed it. Their project with Curren$y “Fetti” was just a taste of what Alc and Gibbs really had in store for us. Now the debate between heads will be which is better “ Alfredo” or “Bandana”.
On first listen I knew this was going to be number one. I can play this joint straight through no skips. Roc elevated his production bringing you that pimp shit but also incorporating in some darkness. “Mt. Marci” feels like all the best songs from all of Roc’s albums got put on one project. All the tracks are next level but “Downtown 81” and “Steel Vagina” are my two favorites. Who knows how Roc is going to top himself next, let’s hope for Metal Clergy with Ka.