2021 was a great year for the entire Tampa Bay Hip Hop scene. So many new sounds and styles coming out of both sides of the Bay, with artists new and old putting on for the city. These are my Top 15 Albums of 2021.
It’s was a great year for the whole Outside World ENT family, most notably with Three D Swayze dropping “King Boo”. Have always been a fan of Swayze but it was dope to hear a full project from the homie. “Cash Coma” and “Starfox 64” are always heavy in the rotation.
Dark Aire’s own Sage The Fox really came into his own this year. The darker vibes on “Genesis” made it stand out this year. The energy Sage puts into his music is unmatched. I personally can’t wait to see him perform some of these joints live.
How do you follow up a smash hit like “Oyasumi”? Well you team up with Teen Slug to create some futuristic shit. Muji is already rocking shows and making a name for himself in the scene, with “True Harmony” playing a big part in that. We need a “President Muji” video next gang.
Building off the work he put in on Zhudaru1963’s classic record “Sky Zhone”, Mackey Emmanuel proved he is one of the cities premier MCs with “Feelings On Fuck It”. Mackey is able to dominate the streets and the club with his vocal delivery and street savvy lyrics.
I really dug Young Mop’s growth on “MOP”. Coming off “St.Creaturesburg” I had no idea which route Mop was going to take his sound. The more guitar heavy production was a vibe for sure. “DiAMOND iN THE ROUGH” is going to be on replay well into the New Year. We need visuals for that ASAP.
St.Pete’s Trillest Kent Loon went full force in 2021. Enlisting Chester Watson for features and Production as well has a few unexpected guest spots made “Bittersweet” one of my favorite projects of the year. Loon’s Trill esthetic is needed for sure in the city. I really respect how he’s got videos for a majority of these songs already, Loon stays applying that pressure.
One of my highly anticipated projects of the year HeyeYella’s “Strange Noize” lived up to the hype. “Goat Cheese” is heading towards classic status, while the rest of the album contains some of the best bars the city has ever seen. Energy, Frequency, Message!
Ever since I was put onto Deleteeglitch by Outside Illz, he has been a favorite of mine. The sound and vibe he brings to the Tampa Bay scene is very needed. His artistry can go toe to toe with the underground’s best. I am not sure what he has in store for us in 2022, but if this project and “Primordial Soup” are any indication I am hype.
Pusha Preme was already dominating the scene with his last project “Before I Say, I Do”, but his companion piece to the project “Red Oktober” proved his staying power. This is a project a feel everyone can vibe with, whether you are in the streets or in the club. It’s got anthems like “Outsiiide” and “Never Thought” as well as the more mature introspective tracks like “Heavenly Father”. Tampa Bay will win!!!
Not the only time Adama is making the list but I had to show love to his collab project “Easy Money” with Tjaru. If “Patient” wasn’t enough to put it on the list, all the “Tab Rap” vibes the homies are putting down solidified it. Who would have thought we would see a “GM” reunion in 2021.
Gat$ has been a favorite of mine ever since his collab projects with Jxpvtty. He is hands down one of the best lyricists in the whole game. “Robbed” is the best produced album of 2021, mainly due to tracks like “Moonlight” and “Irreversible”. I wasn’t able to due a solo review for this project, but that just means I have to kick the 813 classics series off with this one.
Drogotdoe and 9henom are two of my favorite people in the world, so when I heard they was doing a collab record I got super hype. “Drugz” is one of the best tracks I have heard from Dro, and that’s saying a lot with his body of work. The production on this project is A1, I really dig that Giallo style sample on “Onlyfans”. Full review coming to The 9layground very soon.
Bro dropped back to back classics. The original “Hot Boy” project brought Trill back to Tampa Bay. Hot Boy 2 was even bigger. With Guapo handling most of the production himself, he was able to get out his full vision. With tracks like “Waffle House” and “Candy Red” maintaining that Trill esthetic, it was a no brainer to put it at No.3.
This project was very nostalgic for me. Mari is still on his pimp shit but coming from a more mature place. “Off The Shits” brought me back to those Local Muzik days, while “Chanel” had a “BMW” part 2 vibe. It was amazing to hear the Young Local$ back, and you already know Spade killed his verse. The Local Muzik Dynasty lives.
Bro had the best run of all time. All five of the albums he dropped could have been the Top 5 but I wanted to mainly focus on “The Effects Trilogy”. I felt like Johnny found his sound with “The Adama Effect”, perfected it on “Side Effects” and then matured it on “The Aftereffect”. I hope to see some visuals for a couple of these songs to bring the vision even more to life, but no matter what I will always have these projects to go back and enjoy. Best in the game.