Being a Hip-Hop Head in the internet age is nothing short
of amazing and frustrating. On every site, video, and forum you will encounter
flame wars over who is the best and why so and so is terrible. On the flip side
you get the chance to be exposed to so many different types of artists and
sounds that if you ignore all the negative comments what you get is the core of
Hip-Hop; you get to learn and explore culture through music. This year I
decided to take my love of the music to the next level and create a top 5 list
of 2014’s finest Hip-Hop Music. I formulated the idea in summer, but it was not
really set in stone until I included two of my best friends and fellow rap
lovers Alex & Aiyana into the discussion. However this was no simple task
since we all have been listening to an abundance of artists new and old this
year, constantly sending each other new music hoping the other would enjoy it.
It was in the midst of finals week in December (a great time to get caught up
in a new project mind you) that we put an official plan into action (The plan is detailed below this
paragraph). So with this in mind we each sifted through a wiki list of all
2014 hip-hop releases which has hundreds of albums, picked a good chunk of
music to listen to and just went to town on 2014. There were upsets and
debates, and before we get into the actual list I think it is important to
understand all of our musical backgrounds. This is NOT an objective list and is
a combination of all of our tastes in interests. I love to think that we have
good taste in music but if you disagree that is your right. We each put a lot
of effort and thought into our own lists and putting them together is no easy
feat. We listened to a good 35+ albums to make this list, and anything you
could recommend one of us has probably listened to (Ab-Soul, Big K.R.I.T, Common,
Isaiah Rashad, Wiz, Eminem, Wu Tang, T.I, Iggy Azalea, and it goes on). Past
the Top Five you will see honorable mentions of albums that did not make the
list. Let us begin
Here
is the process as I posted in the Facebook group I made for the 3 of us:
1.) Come up with your own top 10 list of albums by the
time you get home from break (or close to there)
2.) Have reasons why you picked albums because there will
be a short write up of each
3.) Send list to other members of this group so we have a
chance to maybe listen to albums that we haven’t had the chance to hear yet
4.) We will all meet up in person over break and make
this list
Musical
Taste:
Zeke “Zk” Starling- I
have grown up around soul, jazz, funk, and early rap for the majority of my
life. Childhood consisted of Diana Ross, MJ, Sly and the family stone, Lauren
Hill, etc. It was not until I started dancing that I got to develop my own love
of rap music. I was always a big fan of Eminem and my mom loved Tupac so of
course I drifted to rap with a message or conscious rap. Here I found my love
of rap as a form of musical poetry that can be recited over soulful
instrumentals to send a personal message or positive vibes with a powerful bass
and snare that makes a club banger we can all jam to. As my dancing love grew
so did my desire to find more and more music. Now I am as deep in the Hip-Hop
world as I have ever been, keeping up with the latest albums, watching
interviews, studying chords and sounds within the actual songs (I have been
playing music for 10 or so years if that matters) and I think I have a pretty
refined taste. A few of my favorite
rappers are: Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, Chance the
rapper, and Logic.
Alex “Trap 3 House”
Elms- I grew up on pretty much
everything but hip hop and rap. My early music taste was shaped almost
exclusively by movie soundtracks and my dad's collection of 60s-80s rock. I
enjoyed the Beatles, The Who, Electric Light Orchestra, and a lot of mainstream
pop music that I had heard from various other places. It wasn't until college
that I started branching out into rap, hip-hop, and trap music. Thanks to
friends, both new from college and old from high school, I had a wealth of
suggestions for classics and more recent releases. Once I understood that rap
was about more than just songs about big money, drugs, and women, I gained an
appreciation for it that I never would have thought possible. I fell in love
with the complex narratives, concept albums, and addictive beats that hip hop
provided. I started with artists like Kanye, Eminem, and BoB and let my ear go
from there. I'm still finding out more about my style as I find more music, but
as of now some of my favorite
artists are Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and
Drake.
Aiyana “Shmoney” H.G- I
started listening to rap music in middle school, when my favorite rapper was
Lil Wayne. The only rap and hip-hop scene I was familiar with at the time
centered around they hyphy movement and mainstream rap music. Thanks to friends
with broader music tastes, my curiosity to branch out and find new music to
fill my one-dimensional itunes selection, and the greater availability and
awareness of underground, underappreciated, and alternative hip-hop, my music
taste and knowledge has expanded. My favorite rappers list has changed and increased to include Childish Gambino, Logic, J. Cole, Eminem, and
Chance the Rapper. I look forward to continuing my music collection and
listening to as many artists and styles as possible.
The
Top Five
5.)
ScHoolboy Q-
Oxymoron. Recommended listening: Collard
Greens
ScHoolboy Q is quite an interesting individual, being
part of Black Hippy and TDE along with rappers such as Ab-Soul and Kendrick
Lamar you would expect him to be skilled but this album approaches popular rap
techniques and practices with a unique flair that gives Q his own sound. The
production could easily be something off of any mainstream rappers album but
the way Q utilizes instrumentals and infuses his own over the top lyrical style
to tell a story of a gangster lifestyle, drug use and addiction, and
fatherhood. You can hear snippets of his daughter throughout the album if you
listen properly which goes along with Q’s musical style. The album tends to
suck you in and before you know it you can hear how Q has create his own niche
of the gangster rap story. At first glance he may just seem like a typical
rapper but upon a closer listening you can hear a man using hip-hop in a
positive way to escape a devilish lifestyle. This is also a 2015 Grammy Nominee
so congrats to Q for getting his work recognized.
4.)
Childish Gambino- STN
MTN/Kauai. Recommended: Dream & Retro
All three of us love Gambino, he is such a talented
individual who has been able to release quality work every year since 2008.
However the reason this isn’t higher on the list is because it requires being a
Gambino fan to truly appreciate. That is not to say you won’t like any song
unless you are a prior fan, this is a good collection of music one way or
another. But to truly understand the context of this release and how it fits
into the complex multimedia narrative you need to listen to his other work.
This album is all about the transition of a character from their fictional
dream life running the Atlanta rap scene to that same character waking up
having to reminisce on better times past. This is probably one of the most original
ideas I have ever encountered in rap, because it stems from an ongoing story
told partially through music, but it hold up as its own project. This has
everything from Gambino spitting over famous southern rap songs, to beautiful
spoken word and insight, and Bino’s amazing vocal prowess. Listen to the songs
and see if you like them, then do yourself a favor and start from the beginning
of Gambino’s albums and discover the genius that is Donald Glover.
3.)
Nicki Minaj- The
Pink Print. Recommended: All things go
This album is one the reasons I have such a problem with
how the Grammys are run. The cutoff dates for nominations is somewhere in November
so things that come out in the last two months are just forgotten about or left
alone until the next year (The Heist was released in 2012 and won best rap
album of 2013 in 2014). This album took me by surprise so much so that it prompted
me to recruit Alex to officially starting this list. We were both up until 3am
listening to this album shocked by how honest and good it was. Now Nicki Minaj
is probably best known for work such as Anaconda and Super Bass, either hyper sexual
or pop like music that most people write off as shallow. However Nicki’s albums
show a side of realness that she publicly never shows. She commands power and
carries herself high but the Pink Print shows she is vulnerable just like the
rest of us. In fact the recommended song is the title track off the album
because right from the beginning she draws you in with smooth sounds and meaningful
lyrics. Her style of music does have heavy influence of pop, bit it is done so
in such a way that it still carries positive messages or honesty. This album
has club bangers, smooth musical jams, and there is a track called “Grand Piano”
which is just Nicki singing over a piano and violin. This is the artists more prominent
showing to date and you owe it to yourself to listen. If more mainstream rap
was like this album I would have no problem with the state of hip-hop today. She
is one of the most original figures in rap today and after this album I have
even more respect for her trying to be a powerful female figure in a male
dominated industry.
2.)
Logic-Under
Pressure. Recommended: Soul Food
Logic is one of the best rappers out there right now. Period.
I have heard complaints of how this album just recycles themes of a struggle
and his broken home life, but Logic’s pure verbal and lyrical ability speak
volumes. This is a conceptual rap autobiography that Logic uses to tell a story
in his first studio album debut, and what a great tale he weaves. He mixes a
relaxed yet fast rap style with serious undertones and dark messages. Gang
violence, domestic abuse, drug abuse, etc are all themes covered in full in
this album. Logic is clearly a student of hip-hop, with this album being
reminiscent of Kendrick’s Good
Kid, M.A.A.D City, with an Eminem flare, and a Gambino style charisma. Logic is no copycat
however, he uses what he has learned to develop his own sound, so much so that
there are a few tracks on the album that have similar instrumentals. To some
this may be a turn off but it goes along with the idea that this is all one
story. Logic described this album as his way of talking to everyone whereas his
earlier work was directed at his niche fan base. Logic makes a statement and is
telling the world he is here and has earned his right to stay. It is rappers
like Logic that give me faith in the future of the younger generation of rap
artists. From start to finish this is a gripping work (with no featured artists
unless you have the deluxe version) because Logic wanted this to show what he
could do as a rapper, and I believe he has made quite the impression.
1.)
J.Cole- 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Recommended: January 28th
Last year I heard J.Cole’s Born Sinner album and it blew my mind. If not for Gambino’s release
that album would have easily been my favorite of the year. With that in mind I had
huge hopes for this project, especially since I had no idea it was coming until
a few weeks before it dropped. When I first saw the track list I was
underwhelmed, this was not going to have nearly as much music as his previous
work and that worried me. This all changed when I heard the beautiful intro
with the thoughts of “do you wanna be happy?” floating around in my mind. All
three of us had this album in our own top 5 lists (Alex and Aiyana had it as
number 1 and I had it at 3), so it was no surprise when made its way to the top
of our collective list. My “low” rating aside this album is a masterpiece that
shifts the focus to a personal look at Cole’s life and how came to be where he
is now. Usually rappers do this as a first project but Cole took the time to
step back and paint a gorgeous narrative in what could be seen as a daring move.
This is Not Born Sinner, it is a new
work that is musically spilt into 3 Acts, with the production and lyricism
following suite and shifting with the story. The album becomes more musical
when it needs to be and more lyrical when the story demands it. You find
yourself getting sucked into the honesty of the work and how smooth it plays
out. The last song is a 13 minute credit song where Cole thanks all the people he
has worked with and even then you are just memorized by the background
instrumentals and you appreciate the work he has put in. Cole is an intelligent
conscious rapper who shows just how far he has traversed in his own life. He
has come a long way from trying to make a radio single and this album shows
that he is now confident in not just his rap ability, but who he is as a
person.
Honorable
Mentions!
Zeke: Mick Jenkins- The Water[S]
Chicago has produced some of the finest rappers in the
game. From legends like Common and Kanye to newcomers like Vic Mensa and
Chance. This year I caught wind of new mixtape that dropped from another
Chicago native: Mick Jenkins. Now out of the 3 of us I was the only one who put
this album on our personal top 10 lists, and I stand by the idea that this
mixtape is amazing. It carries the theme of water as an entity that we are
lacking in our lives and creates songs around the idea of relaxation, finding
ourselves, and Jenkins personal experiences in the music industry. It is clear
that Jenkins has a message to send with songs like “Martyrs” and he wishes to
bring awareness with his unique soulful/jazzy sound.
Alex: IAMSU! Sincerely Yours
This album brings a fresh
West Coast flavor in his studio debut. While the album itself is noteworthy
overall, 'Su's collaboration tracks are the most outstanding. E40, Wiz Kalifa,
and 2Chainz all lend their talents but don't distract from 'Su's raw talent on
tracks like "I Love My Squad" and "Martina." As a
relatively new artist, IAMSU! leaves a lasting impression that I look forward to
hearing more from.
Aiyana: Azelea Banks- Broke With Expensive Taste
Although the tone of her voice appears consistent and similar throughout the
album, each song offers a different musical style. From a fast, mellow trance
to an upbeat Spanish flare, Azealia Banks brings sounds that contrasts what
you're used to hearing on the radio
BONUS:
So if you have read this
far then congrats you have finished our list! As a little bonus we give you
just a few more songs to listen to if you are interested. 2014 was an amazing year in Hip-Hop and we all cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store.Big thanks to Alex and Aiyana for making this possible!!
Best Single of 2014:
Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment- Sunday Candy
Best Hip-Hop Performance: Kendrick Lamar- Snl I love
myself
