You've seen the singles, now here are the albums. The best of what 2019 had to offer is below. It's an eclectic mix, a clash of old and new, trap music and soul samples, crisp battle rhymes and garbled vocal gymnastics. Somehow hip hop makes it all work. The beat goes on. Let's hope it never stops. Here's to another great year of hip hop and the dawn of a new decade. Enjoy.
10.Young M.A. – Herstory In The Making – If Young M.A. is not the best MC on the planet, she's gotta be the nicest. On her long-awaited debut album, Herstory In The Making, she gives a masterclass on the lost art of MC’ing – ripping through one brooding trap beat after another while sounding like she’s only giving you about 60% of her max effort. Her one-two punch of “Big” and “No Mercy” are a couple of the best singles of the year – a two-part hay maker of raw talent and swagger, nifty ad libs and cunning wordplay. But don’t get me wrong, Herstory is not all puns and punchlines, over the course of 21 tracks M.A. lurches from playful to contemplative to full-blown confessional in the blink of an eye. Fully revealed, it’s an impressive portrait, and I'm willing to bet that there’s plenty more where that came from.
9. Skyzoo & Pete Rock – Retropolitan – Sun-kissed and bathed in warm nostalgia, Retropolitan is throwback affair that takes listeners on a dreamy trip back in time to early 90s New York hip hop, when Black Moon, O.C. and Smif-N-Wessun roamed the streets of Brooklyn. Back in the lab like he never left, Pete Rock emerges with a platter of vintage soul-beats, imprinted with his signature piano loops, jazzy instrumentation and old-school drum samples. Skyzoo does his part to match the aesthetic, with liquid flows and intricate, double-entendre filled lyricism that offers shades of Illmatic and Mecca and the Soul Brother. The miracle here is that despite all of the reminiscing, Retropolitan still manages to defy expectations, sounding fresh when it should be well-past it's sell-by dated.
8. Goldlink – Diaspora – On Diaspora, DC native Goldlink proves himself to be a modern day chameleon, sliding in and out of brightly-lit tracks that sprinkle in hard core hip hop, Caribbean rhythms, house music and healthy dose of neo-soul. By the time Wizkid shows up on the simmering “No Lie”, 11 songs in, Goldlink has thoroughly removed any lingering doubt that he can pull it all together with aplomb. Overall, it’s an intoxicating brew, one that should cement his status as a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
7. Young Thug – So Much Fun – Even on his most accessible album to date, Young Thug remains inscrutable. So Much Fun lives up to its title with a series of chirping, futuristic, heat-seeking tracks that contract and expand in 20 different directions at once. Packed with a kitchen sink full of pulsating beats and to-die-for features, it’s a fun-house ride that aims to keep the dance floor packed, the mind altered and the mood euphoric. By now, from Young Thug, that’s exactly what we’ve come to expect.
6. Rapsody - Eve - Brilliantly conceived and executed, Eve is another joyful celebration of Black Girl Magic from North Carolina’s native daughter, Rapsody. A lyrical technician of the highest order, Rapsody drops slick and cerebral bars that shout out powerful black women who have inspired her over the years, including Afeni, Nina, Michelle, Oprah and Aaliyah. Meanwhile, long-time collaborator 9th Wonder and a host of other top-notch beatsmiths provide supple production that creates a light enough touch to keep the album from buckling under the weight of self-seriousness.
5. Polo G – Die A Legend – At first spin, Polo G sounds like your garden-variety 20-teens mumble rapper. His breakout hit “Pop Out” is built around a contemporary trap beat and a hypnotic, sing-songy hook. But a closer listen to his debut album, Die A Legend, reveals that he’s a much deeper thinker than one might expect. On songs like “BST” and “Dying Breed”, hood fairytales and glorified violence are pushed aside in favor of tragic, intimate portraits of street life that strike a powerful chord. Despite the somber mood, there are moments of triumph that shine through here, especially on songs like “Chosen 1” and “Picture This”. It’s like Polo G is trying to tell us, he’s lived through the kind of hell most tough guys want no parts of…and he doesn’t plan on going back to it.
4. Little Brother – May The Lord Watch - Little Brother is something of a hip hop miracle, somehow managing after all these years to make music that never changes, yet never gets old. After a 9 year hiatus, May The Lord Watch, finds Phonte and Big Pooh in fine form, rapping thoughtfully about life at 40-something over ethereal production that sounds both grounded and as light as a feather.
3. Dreamville – Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 - Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 has the raucous energy of an early Wu-Tang project, with dozens of hungry young rappers/producers competing for their turn to shine in the booth. Recorded over 10 days in an Atlanta recording studio, the ambitious project yielded a little bit of everything, including tracks that ranged from blistering posse cuts (like Under The Sun and Down Bad) to sultry slow jams (see Self Love and Got Me). Quarterbacked by "head honcho" J Cole, the record comes off as a loose jam session with free flowing ideas and a passionate spirit of collaboration. Overall it works brilliantly.
2. YBN Cordae – The Lost Boy - YBN Cordae takes a star turn on his refreshing and surprisingly earnest The Lost Boy. Over sharp beats and well-curated samples he unleashes a brash set of crackling redemption songs - ones that reveal the old soul of a man wise beyond his 21 years. And he does it all while deftly striking the balance between humility and bravado. It's a superb and wholly entertaining debut.
1. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana – On Bandana, we bear witness to two virtuosos at the height of their powers. Madlib, a producer with infinite imagination, is at his best when he’s able corral his high-minded ideas into digestible song structures that dazzle listeners with waves of kaleidoscopic sound. It would be easy for a lightweight MC to get lost in Madlib’s shape-shifting orbit, but here Freddie Gibbs proves he’s more than up to the task. His gangta rap instincts and vivid street narratives are pushed to their outermost edges – rapid-fire, engrossing, deeply nuanced and altogether exuberant. Despite all of its complexity and gradation, it can still be said that Bandana triumphs because it nonetheless represents hip hop in its purest form. It's the album of the year because, at its core it’s simply a lively combination of dope beats and rhymes.
