Ayo what the heck's up y'all?? It's ya boy Denzel back up in the mix n' today we gonna be startin' on the lists - startin' off wit' the best albums that dropped this year. I been kinda organisin' this thing for a year, but also been mad busy witta helluva lotta otha stuff than bloggin', an' this shit don't jus' come to a brotha outta the sky, nahmean? It takes revisin', an' thinkin' ova, n' a heckuva lotta fixin' errors, n' changin' my mind here an' there, an' listenin' to everythin' I done included ova again. But yo - nuff said, it droppin' TAH-DAY! Let's jump in here y'all:
10. Logic - Ultra 85
I know summa y'all weren't expectin' this thing to be here, due to the fact that Logic's considered corny. But yo, I ain't gonna front, this thing was dope. "Paul Rodriguez" was a dope intro, an' then we got tracks like "Deja Vu", "Gardens III" and "44ever" all of which go hard. There's summa that pop sangin' typa stuff here an' there, which keeps me from likin' ALL of this, but word, this thing mad dope, son can kill it when he wants. “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” is a really deep track, Logic killed it there. Really, the whole thing is dope, an' my only real problem is son's skits. He got a nice concept goin' here, 'bout two astronauts chattin' 'bout music n' all, but they done gone an' stuck a lotta this onto tracks themselves. So what ya get is 4 minutes of Logic spittin' fire, then you gotta listen to five minutes of conversation 'bout videogames or sumthin' from people you don't really know much or care 'bout. Main issue wit' this is ya can't technically skip the skits unless you wanna bootleg the CD an' who the heck gonna be wantin' to do that?? Still, dope tape. If it ain't your type of thing, I won't be mad atcha, but it's worth a listen.
9. Maxo Kream - Personification
I jus' played this thing through again today. This whole thing a dope hood ballad, word. I didn't even know son existed till he got that feature on Curry's album n I was like "Dang, this kid spittin' hard b!" Then the album came an' it's gonna be more of the same. Hardcore dopeness. Maxo flowin' over them joints like butter n droppin' jewels as he does so. That intro hard as heck, a whole lotta tracks here jus' creative as heck (Hood Fraternity y'all) an the features comin' correct. Word is bond y'all, I don't be knowin' how a tape this stacked done flown under the radar. We got That Mexican OT here, we got Bigxthaplug here, we got Denzel Frickin Curry on this thing. Hell, Tyler the Creator hisself spat a mad dope verse that jus sticks in ya head on "Cracc Era". I mean, I don't know any good reason why this tape gettin' slept on like heck y'all. Maybe it cause 2024 was too packed or sumthin', but still, this a star studded lineup, so sumthin' shoulda been heard.
Anyhow, except for "Bang the Bus" which woulda been better left as the ice cream man's jingle or sumthin', every track here dope. Even the filler's is dope jus' as standalone tracks. The beat off "Cracc Era" goes crazy hard, Tyler killed that thing imitatin' Kendrick Lamar's "ADHD" track. Judgin' from all the love Tyler's been showin' Kenny, I'm feelin' 100% this was a homage, 'specially after hearin' son freestylin' ova "Hey Now". Son's tryna be down wit' Kenny or tell us sumthin' like that. Movin' back to Maxo, we got "Street Fraternity" n' "Big Hoe Me". "Big Hoe Me" is a must listen even if you ain't gonna play nuthin' else off the tape. That thing caught me first time I listened, b. Then we got "Drizzy Draco 2" which is seemin' like a direct diss at Champagne Floppy AKA Flake AKA Drake, which comes out pretty dang hard. "I see thе same lame niggas postin' pictures with them thangs, be the same lame niggas gettin' robbed for they chains" been livin' rent-free in my head all autumn n' winter. The way son says them lines jus'...kills it. Denzel Curry comes in witta dope verse on "Triggaman" which got a nicely sampled hook, n' Maxo does his thing there like heck. Yo, if this tape ain't in your collection, I don't blame ya cause the shit wasn't hyped for NUTHIN', but wake up y'all, this thing mad dope an' ya trippin' if ya still sleepin'!!
8. Freddie Gibbs - You Only Die 1nce
Word is bond y'all, Gibbs is one of the hardest rappers out here in the game. Son be givin' all the fake studio gangster type rappers a run for they money, nahmean? Son got joints on here that's introspective, n' joints that jus' make you wanna go out on the streets sellin' crack. I mean, son's on here half the album sayin' bars like "The devil sent the reaper to my door and he never took me! I sent him back with double, smoked a blunt and said, "Good lookin'!" THAT'S the typa stuff Gibbs got on tracks like "brick Fees" n' "Origami". N' those summa the dopest tracks anybody dropped this year. We got a pretty solid diss at J. Cole wit' "Rabbit Island", an' then the outro's mad introspective shoutin' out a lotta rappers who died this past year. If y'all into that, you can see where a lotta the releases in the last quarter of the year was gettin' their inspiration n' all from - this album. Yeah, the lack of Madlib production on the album y'all was complainin' 'bout is kinda sad, but it ain't like Gibbs is gonna die if Madlib don't produce. This thing standin' up solid, an' them skits son got mesh so dang well. This thing's all types of dope, don't sleep fam.
7. LL Cool J - The Force
The review king wasn't expectin' this tape to drop cause of all the hype we'd been hearin' 'bout it for a while, but when it did, I wasn't disappointed. LL's still on his grind n' jus' killin' it here. The intro, Spirit of Cyrus, was dope, tho' Snoop Dogg's hook kinda a lil' rushed soundin'. Then we got "Black Code Suite" which jus' tears everythin' apart, 'specially wit' Q-Tip's hook."Proclivities" deserves a shoutout too cause Tip's production on the joint's mad smooth despite it kinda being a bit too soft for my taste, kinda got perfumed soap in my ears. LL was spittin' hard on "30 Decembers" an' "Runnit Back", the only thing that kept me from vibin' wit' that section of the tape was "Huey in the Chair" which kinda seemed outta place n' generic. "Basquiat Energy" though straight up kills this whole thing, an' "Murdergram Deux" has Eminem spittin' like I wish he'd have spit on his album this year. All that closin' off wit' "The Vow" a posse cut, jus' was mad dope. Yo, this thing was straight fire, if you ain't got this disc, ya trippin'!! I keep sayin' that y'all, n' I keep sayin' it cause it's artiFACTS!! LL came back jus' to show y'all he STILL one of the nicest rappers in the game, WORD!!
6. Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal
Summa y'all gonna remember I kinda wasn't too thrilled wit' this thing when it came out, I think I gave it 69%??? Kinda don't remember. All I know is I kinda didn't give sista the respect she deserved, yet afta that review I jus' kept comin' back to this tape ova n ova again. Like the thing jus' was gettin' in my head. So I kinda reevaluated cause even a dope reviewin' king like Denzel hisself, that's me y'all, mighta slept on sumthin'. An' yo, this thing dope.
We gotta lotta tracks which go hard, then we got sum tracks for the pop girlies. I kinda vibe wit' summa them tracks, but we got a track like "Denial is a River" an' that shit makin' the whole tape dope. We got "Boiled Peanuts" right befo' that (but word up sista - what IS a boiled peanut??), really that whole four track part jus' a mad dope run. I'mma quit blabbin' an' jus' tell it to y'all like this, straight up, nahmean? If y'all ain't checked Doechii out yet, ya betta do so. It's aight if ya don't want a physical of this thing, but jus' take one listen. This sista gonna be the next big thing in female rap n she worth a chance.
5. Common and Pete Rock - The Auditorium
This thing was mad dope an' got so much soul too. I loved this album, listenin' to the thing gave me tht much needed warn fuzzy feelin' inside. I FELT THIS. Kinda like Pete Rock's collab wit' the InI crew, this thing's some jazzy cuts wit' a buncha stuff sampled off Rakim, Mobb Deep, an' other classics. It don't really have traditional "bangers", it's more of a soul/funk project, but it works SO. DANG. WELL. The other major jazzy-kinda album that came out (witta deluxe to, word) was Juicy J's similar album, n this thing beat that by a mad big margin. This tape's great, jus' dang pure hiphop y'all. We got "All Kinds of Ideas" goes hard wit' that Rakim sample, n' "Wise Up" put "The Bridge" to good use too. "Chi-Town Do It" jus' kills this whole thing like heck, if y'all ain't heard Common flowin' like lava on that, y'all is missin' out. Common's got joints you can vibe wit' all dang day. These two OGs remindin' me of the Pete Rock/CL Smooth combo, this thing so dang soulful n' replayable. They have added yet another historic album to their discographies, an' word is bond, this thing gonna be goin' down in history as one of them great rap albums of all time. If you ain't give this at least one spin, ya sleepin'.
4. Denzel Curry - King of the Mischievous South (Vol. 2 included)
First off y'all know this tape had a mad confusin' rollout. I ain't gonna dive into that whole story AGAIN, but we jus gonna review this thing like it a single album.
I vibed HEAVY wit' this album for several reasons fam. Most obviously, this album mad replayable. I don't know how many times I gave this thing a spin, cause it jus' fun to listen to. We do got a coupla tracks I ain't feelin' - Got me Geeked and Hit Em Up. Got me Geeked be soundin' like sum triphop that done snuck up in here. Hit the Floor jus' soundin' like it was made by a buncha thirteen year olds tryna be "gangsta". I saw son perform "Hit the Floor" live tho, an' the track went stupid hard, so I'm thinkin' son got an aight concept wit' that one, jus' didn't put the flesh on it, nahmean?
Othawise, I ain't got much to be complainin' 'bout here. That intro has son doin' Gangsta Pat's flow. If y'all don't know Gangsta Pat, son's a Southern rapper outta the 90s. "Deadly Verses" is a dope tape son dropped. Back to Denzel, he imitatin' Pat's flow to a T. "Hot Ones " kinda gets brought down by a generic ASAP Ferg feature, but that's dope too. "Act a Damn Fool" kinda got hints of Wayne's "She Will" track, but I don't think they the same. "Act a Damn Fool" the one I'mma be pickin' any day. "Sked" jus' goes off crazy. I mean, when "Sked" comes on, that shit got me wantin' to throw boulders at tall buildin's n' derail trains for fun, namsayin'? An' if y'all wanna cool down ya got "Anotha Late Night", which is a kinda slow jazzy tune 'bout son pickin' up chicks in the city n whatnot. "Still in the Paint" is all kindsa dope, word is bond y'all. Denzel's rappin' the dopest shit anybody dropped here. Bktharula came in an' jus' killed the whole thing. The beat son don' hooked up on here got you wantin' to march down the road screamin' the hook at the top of ya lungs, b. The problem is my namesake got this wack ass kid, Lazer Dim 700, on the second verse mumblin' like hell. That one verse gonna keep me from crownin' the track "Song of the Year" or whateva. One last complaint - we got this "Got Me Geeked" track on the delux that I ain't vibin' wit'. That thing too soft n' kinda remindin' me of Lil' Wayne when son made "Lollipop" - the start of his decline. Othawise, this tape mad dope. There's gonna be sumthin' for everybody on this thing. Denzel's put me onto a lotta local rappers too - Kenny Mason, Bktharula, Maxo Kream. That's hiphop y'all, helpin' your homies. Word, you a busta if you ain't coppin' a physical of this mad dope ish!
3. Kool Keith and CZARFACE - Everybody Eats!
This whole tape purified lyrical killin. This tape what Logic coulda made if he weren't so dang focused on them skits, nahmean? Kool Keith an' Esoteric were on here killin everythin for miles an' 7L's mixin was jus' top notch, word. After I reviewed this, I saw a helluva lotta people complain the tape's wack cause Inspectah Deck ain't on. Yo, who cares really? That like me gettin' mad cause Kendrick ain't in Black Hippy, or Big L not rappin' wit DITC, or Q-Tip doin' his own thing outside of Tribe. Y'all need to know what a change of pace is, b. Yeesh.
Movin' on. This might be summa the best turntablism this year y'all. 7L held that samplin' game an' beat game down like HECK. Kool Keith came wit' the fire, an' he was jus' plain fun to listen to while blowin my mind. The intro was dope, n' then we got "Rocket Science" where Kool Keith was spittin' hard bars, n' sayin' he got the flow of the year, n' I can't really disagree wit' son. Eso was spittin' hard on that track too, wit' that "The only time you touch chrome is touching up your desktop toy for eBay" line. "here's Some Homicide" got the most apt title an' jus' got these guys spittin' hot darts all ova summa the best mixin' this year. "We the reason that Professor X needs Logan, I have spoken!!" is one of them hard lines on here, an' that's jus' ONE line y'all. "Mecha and the Sole Brother" has probably the best execution of all the tracks here, plus the outro funny, an' that Elmo line, dang, Esoteric crazy for that one! "Space Cowboy" is jus' one of them fun joints 'bout killin' the sherriff in outer space, but it still dope. Word, I had mad fun reviewin' this tape. Kept rewindin' it back cause I was thinkin' "WHAT did he jus' say?!" An' not cause it was wack, it cause the shit dope!! Word, this master class in emceein' an' DJing. Get this today y'all an' make the CZARFACE crew happy.
2. Kendrick Lamar - GNX
This thing jus' took ova the charts this year like wildfire, n' the plus side was it's mad dope too. The only thing that kinda kept me from puttin' this as number one was a couple soft sorta tracks an that beat off the title track bein' a lil' weird. But this all sorts of dope y'all. If you thought Kendrick was that kinda depressed philosopher off Mr. Morale talkin' bout peace an' love....well...that ain't him no more. This straight up mic killin, an' son's talkin' mad shit all ova this tape. Kenny's talkin' smack 'bout everyone. Like son said "It used to be fuck that nigga. Now it's plural!" Son talkin' smack 'bout Snoop Dogg, an Lil Wayne, Drake obviously, an probably 50 Cent.
This record obviously catchin' mad controversy 'cause a lotta the stuff Dot says got summa y'all thinkin' he a complete fruit loop. I'mma focus on the musical content here an' not judge son's sanity or lack thereof. Half of this mess Songs of the Year, the otha half mad dope listens. Plus, son's got a message here, which he laid out fine as heck. This one of them albums where the features ain't hurtin' son. That AzChike verse goes hard, an' Hitta jus' killed it. Then we got the whole run from "Hey Now" witta a kid callin' hisself Dody6, then to where son actually goes an' EMBODIES Tupac on "Reincarnated" to "TV Off" which jus' makes ya wanna go kill dragons n' shit, to last of all "Dodger Blue" which is a kinda g-funk based cut to jus' cool out an' cruise wit'. That whole dang four track run mad legendary. But yo, I'm spoilin' it for y'all.
If you ain't copped this as a physical yet, or jus' played it online, do it. If ya play nothin' else, "Wacced Out Murals" an' "Reincarnated" is essential shit. This gonna be looked back on as one of them noteworthy cuts outta the twenties, word!!!
1. MC Lyte - 1 of 1
This thing was not only the dopest but the most important project of the year for me y'all. Not only is this mad solid, but it's got a message. If we gonna reform, save, or whateva wit hip-hop, we gotta go back to the roots n rely on God for changes to happen. There ain't a single wack cut here, sista's rappin' is bar none, word. Word is bond y'all, you can feel Lyte put her heart an' soul into this thing, this summa the most...profound??? yea, profound ish out this year. The sista's run from the intro track to "1-5" gotta be studied by y'all. Them beat switches are So. Dang. Smooth. Word, I was rewindin' that part ova n' ova jus' to get that dopamine hit from hearin' them flow togetha so dang FINE. An' then her rappin', oh damn, her rappin' jus' burns up everything. The outro sumthin' else too, wit Easy Moe Bee an' the KRS One story. All this mad dope an' replayable as heck. Plus, this lady didn't cuss or talk 'bout havin sex wit' every damn man, like many of these female rappers be doin' nowadays. This tape so clean, kiddies could prolly get away wit' playin this round they moms. If you ain't copped this tape yet, do it now, WORD!
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