Orizio’s Best Of Hip-Hop 2009
Note: This was supposed to be a bit longer, but because we are already into 2010 I decide to wrap it up at 17 releases. I got my major favourites down at least, but do remember that this is MY list, it’s not supposed to be objective – hence no Raekwon/Clipse/Jay-Z, all of which bored me. In no particular order…
Curren$y – This Ain’t A Mixtape
Even though he has been around since the start of the decade, 2009 was a breakout year for New Orleans MC Curren$y. After plying his trade with Young Money and in the mixtape circuit for so long, Currren$y’s successful debut proved a number of things – first, that talented mixtape MCs can become proper artists and second that there are still opportunities for independent MCs to carve out their own niche if they produce distinctive music. Thus TAAM is a confident work that is very much Curren$y’s own. Everything is accounted for – every beat knocks (thanks to Monsta Beats), every hook entertains and Curren$y is a suprisingly talented MC, not really talking about anything important but always flowing smoothly and clever enough lyrically to impress those who enjoy wordsmiths. Everything is smooth and sultry, Hip-Hop designed to be easily digested. TAAM is actually a perfect example of where indie Hip-Hop should be – standing distinctive, straddling both the underground and thecommercial with every part of the music (the beats, the hooks, the lyrics) given equal attention and love. More then anything else its entertaining, the kind of music one puts on when you’re not sure what you want to listen.
Curren$y’s probably been one of the most prolific MCs on ‘09 – he has also released a collab mixtape with Wiz Khalifa that was pretty meh and a solid second LP entitled ‘The Jet Files’. Check out for a third album and a collab LP with Mos Def and Jay Electronia in 2010.
Fashawn – Boy Meets World
Waiting for that sequel to Blu&Exile’s ‘ Below The Heavens’? Check out Fashawn’s debut instead. Produced in it’s entirety by Exile, its not quite as strong as Blu’s debut but the favourable comparion’s are obvious nonetheless. Exile’s beats are lively and full of soul, again the perfect foil to Fashawn’s exuberent and often emotional MC’ing. He draws on familiar subjects – his parents, his childhood, love, travelling etc – and speaks about them with an energy that makes his problems seem real while his rhyming is hard not to like. ‘Life As A Shorty’ and ‘Samsonite Man’ are the standout moments, Fashawn getting nostalgic on the former, talking about a difficult childhood positively, without resorting to self-pity and always sounding genuine. Both beats are simple, with bouncing bass and memorable soulful hooks. ‘Samsonite Man’ features an exceptionally nice Blu verse and is probably the standout Hip-Hop track of 09. Where ‘Boy Meets World’ falls down is in its slight lack of consistency, the few tracks between ‘Father’ and ‘When She Calls’, for example, being pretty forgettable in comparison to the highlights. This aside, ‘Boy Meets World’ is an absolute must for every Hip-Hop fan.
Head to iTunes for a copy of this – the two iTunes bonus tracks are stronger then much of the album itself. Fashawn also has an decent LP with The Alchemist released before BMW, so check that out as well.
Oh No – Dr No’s Ethiopium
Lacking some truly great head-nodding instrumental Hip-Hop for ‘09? Want further proof that Madlib’s little bro is actually the superior beatmaker? With Ethiopium Oh No has satisifed both of these questions, creating an album made completely out of Ethiopian samples that knocks obscenely hard. Check out the lively ‘The Funk’ with its lovely bass and horns, or the darker repetitive ‘Adventure’ with its numerous short cut up samples, or whatever the fuck instrument that is on ‘Madness’. Because of the source Oh No is drawing from, it’s a little difficult to describe, but also because of this it’s all rather new and interesting, while Oh No unsuprisingly doesn’t leave a second of the 32 minutes running time wasted. Very simply, albums like this create serious neck damage. Your indie/hipster friends will probably love the novelty of the whole thing, although lets not hold this against Oh No. Probably the stand out instrumental Hip-Hop LP of ‘09.
Che Grand – Everything’s Good Ugly
New York’s Che Grand’s debut is a nice, if bloated, LP. The standout tracks are extremely strong and varied – ‘Gold Chains (Part Deux)’ has a electro, transient vibe while ‘City On Fire’ with its buzzing bass has a similar electro feel. ‘Life’s Grand’ stands out in particular, a work of true pop excellence, with its energetic beat and gorgeous hook. Elsewhere, Colin Munroe impresses on the hook of the R’n'B track ‘Too Much Too Soon’ while ‘Across The Sky’ has a lovely old school vocal sample. The beats themselves are consistent, encompassing a lot of different styles, something very necessary for an album this length. Che himself is a nice MC, confident and distinctive although it’s usually the beats and hooks this listener concentrated on, possibly because lyrically and flow wise everything is competent but not exactly exceptional. The main problem is the length, 60 plus minutes. Even The Beatles at the best couldn’t make a classic album that long. What’s Hip-Hops fucking obsession with making ridicouly long LP’s?
Freddie Gibbs – midwestgangstaframecadallicmuzik/The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs
I might as well put these two together, considering how close they’re in terms of quality and sound. For those thinking all gangster rappers are either dead or useless, check out Freddie Gibbs. In fact, check out Freddie anyway – he is one of the best young MCs out. With a strong ear for a beat, and some pretty serious producers behind him (Just Blaze, Polow, JR Rotem etc), Freddie spits those hardcore, often misogynistic, usually unsentimental rhymes over consistently brutal beats – ‘Midwest Malcolm’ is about as good as it gets, cocky lyrics, a confident flow and a soulful up-beat music, while ‘Just Tryin’ To Make It’, with its Souls Of Mischief sample and introspective lyrics or the triumphant ‘GI Pride’ with a particurly epic Just Blaze beat are further stand-outs. In fact, both LPs, timing in at over 2 hours, are marked by consistency beatwise and vocally. If I was pushed to a comparison, Freddie Gibbs reminds a little of a Midwest version of Bun B – yes, he is that nice
Exile – Radio
With too many instrumental Hip-Hop albums following the same ’simple and soulful’ formula prodcution wise, Hip-Hop’s most underrated beatmaker pops up with something a little bit different. A rather genius concept album without the lyrics, full of samples from the radio, warped wonky bass and Exile’s trademark soul infused beat style. As such, tracks like ‘The Machine’ and ‘Watch Out! False Prophet’ bubble with a barely concealed dark and atmospheric vibe, while poppier, more straightforward moments like ‘Love Line’ and ‘In Love’ add to the variety. One small criticism is that too many of the tracks sound a little too similar, but the rap and soul vocal samples spread generously throughout help break up any small sense of monotony. Most importantly, this is one of the most interesting sounding, and one of the most creative, Hip-Hop albums you’re likely to hear this year.
Lupe Fiasco – Enemy Of The State
I’d be lying if I said I was a big Lupe fan – his two albums both seem messy and very hit and miss to me – but there is little doubt that his newest mixtape bangs something awful. His flow is undeniably the best of any newcomer this decade, one gets the impression Lupe was born with an iron lung or something because his breath control is flawless, and although his often abstract lyrical style is again a little love it or hate it, there are plenty of clever back-to-back lines to keep long-term fans happy. What ‘Enemy Of The State’ does is keep things short, a Lupe release free of the filler that blighted his two LPs and free of unnecessary guests. It allows for a decent amount of experimentation – never something lacking with Lupe to be fair – the prominent sampling of Jimi Henrix, Street Fighter and Radiohead for example. Most importantly with ‘Yoga Flame’ and ‘Turnt Up’ Lupe has two of the hardest tracks of ‘09.
Unfortuntely, Lupe cancelled the other mixtape he had planned in 2009, but his third album is due Spring 2010.
Slum Village – Villa Manifesto EP
Though the usually prolific Detriot Hip-Hop scene has been a little lazy in ‘09, the D’s foremost group Slum Village have at last returned. Villa Manifesto isn’t the LP we were promised but it is the typically consistent and well-produced rap we expect from T3 and co. The great myth about Slum Village is that they were only worth listening to because of Dilla, but without him on the boards, Black Milk and Young RJ do their thing nicely, providing 6 banging distinctive beat. MC’ing wise Elzhi is still an elite rhymer, T3 is still underrated and the now deceased Baatin is in homage given plenty of bars and as always adds something a little different vocally. There is a rather dark vibe to the EP – in particular, ‘Money Right’, with its familiar but still memorable hook and some nice bass that gives the beat momentum and ‘Dope Man’, with its submerged vocals on the hook, the booming bass and tribal drums, stand out. The only slight bum note is closer ‘Cloud 9′, with Marsha Ambrosius sounding generic on the hook, and the more positive soulful vibe of the track not really fitting in well with the rest of the EP. Regardlesss, this is another tight release from the always consistent Slum, and bears well for the solo albums from T3 and Black Milk in 2010.
Watch out for solo albums from T3, Elzhi and Black Milk in 2010.
Strange Fruit Prohect – M.A.S.K. EP
This three man crew out of Texas has undoubtedly made one of the best conscious Hip-Hop releases of 09. The MC’ing is tight throughout but really its S1’s production that steals the show – ‘Sepia Tone’ is truly gorgeous, with its mellon collie vibe and sultry soul hook; its a beat that reminds of J Dilla at his finest. ‘Why Does Summer Have To End’ is a similarly whimsical, distinctive work, perfect summer music with a soulful but strangely avant-garde hook. And although its the slower, more atmospheric moments that really stand out, the rest of the EP has an up-beat soulful vibe to it with constantly excellent hooks, strong verses and original beats. The only question is why exactly Strange Fruit Project couldn’t have added 3-4 other songs on and released one of the year’s finest LPs.
Mojoe – Dirty Genes
Another entry from Texas, Mojoe is made up a pair of a vocalists with a backing band that makes a pretty exceptional mix of Soul, R’n'B and Hip-Hop. The opening and closing tracks make up the album’s strongest pieces, and are two of the finest moments in 2009 music – ‘Dirty Genes’ , with a lovely lick of guitar and a soulful, knockout hook is a true statement of intent, while ‘Smoker’s Section’ is another stand-out, with yet another gorgeous sung hook, some nice horns and introspective lyrics. Everything in between impresses, particurly in term of variety, with every track sounding like it was made for a purpose and with great care, the beats and hooks impossible to criticise, the MC’ing hungry, the singing brimming with melody. There is a little something for everyone – tough club tracks (My Favorite Cut), something more conscious (Strange Revival) and more down beat weed tracks (Smoker’s Section). Dirty Genes is probably the best Hip-Hop album I’ve heard in 09, and another blueprint for how indie Hip-Hop should be – confident, distinctive and lovingly made.
Souls Of Mischief – Montezuma’s Revenge
In comparison to their debut, SOM’s work afterwards has been solid at best. Montezuma’s Revenge is not on the level of 93 Til but it is undeniably SOM’s best other release, and one of the best records to come from the mad underrated Hiero camp this decade. Montezuma’s Revenge’s strength undeniably lies in the production (done by not just by the SOM crew itself but most interestingly also by Prince Paul) which is at the very least consistent with more then a few gems thrown in. It’s Opio rather then Prince Paul who has the strongest beat on the LP with ‘Postal’, an addictive, up beat track with a memorable hook that will keep people coming back, while ‘Home Game’ is about the smoothest weed track you’re likely to hear in ‘09. The MC’ing works less well however – the lack of guest spots from Hiero’s most potent MC Casual (or even Del) is disapointing, his distinctive brutal flow all the more absent as the SOM crew tend to flow and sound a little alike. Nonetheless, Montezuma’s Revenge is one of the most solid releases in 09, and further proof that veterans of the game can still make energetic and entertaining Hip-Hop.
Blakroc – Blakroc
Usually, when one hears the terms ‘rap’ and ‘rock’ together in the same sentence one gets worried that another Limp Bizkit esque release is about to be unleashed upon the world. This is probably for two reasons – rock music in its current most popular incarnarion, ‘indie’ music, is completely without balls (and too often guitars), while many rappers (cough lil wayne Rebirth cough) have an appallingly basic taste in rock music. Blakroc however makes more sense then most rap-rock projects – Black Key’s lay down the music, and their unobstructive, solid bluesy rock works well over the slew of (mostly) impressive MCs, P Monch, Raekwon, Ludacris, Mos Def, RZA etc, the last two in particular sounding enthusiastic through their numerous verses. At the same time, this is far from a classic – Black Keys are well known for making decent but very rarely exceptional music (particurly their latest work) and even though Blakroc sees them at their most energised for years, its still an album that flows well but with few standout moments. Also, some of the guest MCs are unfortunate – Jim Jones for example. Beyond this, the Blakroc projet is one of the few rap-rock successes out there, and something a little different for Hip-Hop in ‘09.
Blockhead – The Music Scene
Aesop Rock’s beatmaker Blockhead returns with an exceedingly tight, well concieved LP that is mercifully all instrumentals (so the most annoying MC to ever grace the microphone is not here ruining Blockhead’s work). The Aesop Rock association aside, this is (pretty much) straightforward Hip-Hop beats, soul and jazz (Only Sequences Change, Which One Of You Jerks…, Tricky Turtle etc) samples are in abundance although no two songs sound the same, with a variety of instruments blessing most tracks (note the piano, strings and horns on ‘The Prettiest Sea Slug’). It’s mainly an LP with a smooth laidback vibe but ‘The Daily Routine’ stand out in this regard, with its mellon collie bass, choir like vocals in the background and some particularly dirty guitar. ‘Four Walls’ similarly has a dark vibe to it, with some doleful, warped vocals and classical piano. What stops ‘The Music Scene’ from being as good as, let’s say, the Kan Kick album, is the fact that a few too many tracks have the same slow to medium tempo, which coupled with the hour long length means that parts of the album drags on not demanding much attention from the listener. Still, ‘The Music Scene’ is a work with a lot of effort put in, from an underappreciated beatmaker confident in his craft.
Reks – More Grey Hairs
Reks returns with another Grey Hairs album that is essentially the leftovers over his excellent 08 release, that also happens to be one of 09’s best Hip-Hop albums. The production is mainly on point (which is unsuprising considering he has the support of Premo and Statik Selektah) – as such, Statik’s soulful beats on ‘Stereotypes’ and ‘Play My Music’ have that boom bap bass and an entertaining energy of their own which suits Rek’s playful lyrics perfectly. Similarly, Premo offers up a dark beat with ‘Cloud 9′ with some dirty as hell bass, and while I don’t know who the fuck DJ Gi Joe, he again produces one of the best moments on a Reks LP with some more boom bap goodness on ‘System’. It helps that Reks usually doesn’t waste his words, and mostly succeeds at saying something interesting and witty on important subjects – politics, radio etc – without sounding trite. There are some bum notes – the opener ‘Bitter’ is Reks at his most uninspiring over a generic soul beat, while the ‘track for the ladies’ that is Goodnight & Goodluck has some of the most annoying chipmunk vocals known to man – but nonetheless this in another strong rap release from the Boston MC.
Two Fresh – Baker’s Dozen
Convincingly straddling the middle ground between instrumental Hip-Hop and Electronic, the up and coming duo (and brothers) have released an impressively mature (and free) LP. Its uniformly consistent, a album that in the electronic tradition has to be listened to from beginning to end rather then picking tracks out and discarding others (like far too many Hip-Hop fans now do). And despite the consistent flow, there is a sense of progression, from the more striaghtforward work at the beginning to more and more electronic and sometimes disjointed Fly Lo style beats on tracks like ‘Goodwins Out’. Soul and particurly Jazz samples are scattered throughout but it’s the nasty and dark bass, accompained by promient drums and snares, that drives everything here – from the addictive head-nodding lines on ‘Recollection’ or the low-down Dubstep esque bass on opener ‘My Friend The Genius’ the basslines are king. If you’ve gotten decent headphones and love bass heavy Hip-Hop/Electronic, then Baker’s Dozen is an automatic download.
Kan Kick – Beautiful: Opus Of Love, Deeper Then Flesh
From Oxnard, California, the prolific beatmaker Kan Kick is surely one of Hip-Hop’s most underrated, and he is back with the insanely smooth and addictive instreumentla LP ‘Opus Of Love’. Like most of the very best instrumental Hip-Hop, Opus Of Love is very straightforward, designed to be listened to as a whole and yet ‘Opus Of Love’ has a particurly atmospheric vibe to it that ensures it’s the standout instrumentla album of 09. Its a delicate work at times – note the simple but beautiful piano sample that dominants ‘Serenade’ and the accompanying unobtrusive bass and drums, while ‘Revelations Of Sadness’ has a bit more going on, with a number of piano samples and some repetitive vocals as well, but the effect is very much the same, head-noddingly good beats with a atmospheric quality to them that it is impossible not to love. In fact, you can say this for the album of the whole, andd even though some tracks are better then others, the album a a whole emits a hazy, shimmering beauty to it that makes it an automatic purchase for Dilla/Oh No/Madlib fans.
Buff1 – It’s A 1derful Life
Detriot’s best new MC returns with a strong mixtape with ‘Its A 1derful Life’. A typical feature of Buff1’s work is that the music works as a strong overall product, nice beats, nice hooks and lyrics. This mixtape is no different, even if it isn’t quite as impressive as his two earlier albums – ‘Back It Up’ is typical Buff, a swaggering soulful beat, cocky lyrics and a hook determined to get necks moving (the whole of ‘Do What It Takes’ has a similar effect. ‘Look At Me’ has some particularly outrageous bass, pounding drums and a hook brimming with braggadacio that puts a smile, rather then a grimace, on the listener’s face. Other stand-outs are the more laidback ‘Class’ or the rabble rousing ‘I Gotcha’ – I could go on really. Most importantly, this is easy to listen to from the beginning to end, not just because of the beats and hooks but also because Buff1, with his confient flow, distinctive voice and varied lyrics, manages to match the strong production throughout. Very simply, this is an hour long mixtape that one can listen to from start to finish with ease – how many mixtpaes can you say that of these days?
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