Compared to last year, 2015 could be considered one of the best moments within the decade output wise. Every sub-genre and commercial level of Hip Hop were fully represented. This is why major label releases from Kendrick Lamar, Drake or Vince Staples all sat well amongst the Oddisee’s and Talib Kweli’s of the world. Sure, several duds here and there reared their ugly heads, however, quality became the key to the year. So much that several hidden gems may have missed the DX review section. Here were some stellar releases we missed that could be a part of anyone’s year-end list.
Boogie – The Reach
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
Compton’s own Boogie emerged last year with the fairly well received Thirst 48 which featured fairly somber themes of self-absorbed social media narcissism. For his follow-up The Reach, he shook the West Coast with one of the year’s biggest bangers with the Jahlil Beats produced “Oh My.” However, his breakout single is the only turn-up moment on the record. Everything else features witty and poignant first-person accounts from his church ironically introducing him to gang life (“First Evergreen”) to one of the sweetest hood romance records of the year (“Found You”)
Skeme – Ingleworld 2
Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5
Ingleworld 3 wasn’t the only record DX’s 2015’s most Underrated Artist dropped this year. Skeme made the first Ingleworld sequel available for free over the summer. Hosted by Gangsta Grillz, Ingleworld 2 stands as his greatest work to date. For someone so connected to the West Coast’s current rap scene, the Inglewood-native managed to get some heavy features from both T.I. and Young Thug among others. Compared to Ingleworld 3, some could note that Skeme’s lyrical abilities were better showcased here.
Curtiss King – Raging Waters
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
King’s Raging Waters was more a triumph of quirky will than a full on change in persona. The talent was there and germinating, but a paring down of the wild froth of ideas he packs into his releases resulted in a svelte College Dropout like a reckoning. From bow to stern, the album resonated warmth and ideas you could tell were put through the ringer. It was also some of the most honest work of King’s career.
KA – Days With Dr. Yen Lo
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
Call him Brownsville’s Marvel masterpiece, but Brooklyn emcee, producer and Natural Elements alumnus KA has once again come up with a malevolent night show of rage and deceit. As New York spirals down the drain of its own legacy, KA is immersed in his pastime with a love that borders on hate. Yen Lo, the fictional doctor of the Manchurian Candidate could represent anything that you want him to. The moral rot of a city that’s lost its soul or the cavernous underpinnings of capital. Perhaps, then, just a function for the steady layers of control crime and its misrepresentation has on us. And how those crimes are relative. Regardless, KA’s Days With Dr. Yen Lo got the help of Preservation to spin his tales. So, with not a drum kit in sight, KA relays the wonder of being an underground man in a den full of them, each sharing the same fever dream as they attack each other with reckless abandon.
Milo – So The Flies Don’t Come
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
Hellfyre Club, that scrappy alt-Californian collective seemed to have a decent 2015. Open Mike Eagle dropped his EP early in the year and then followed that up with hilarious verses on The Catcher Of The Fade. He followed that up with the Serengeti duo cut Time & Materials. Of course, Anderson dot Paak got all his well-deserved shine from being on Dre’s Compton, deftly following that up with an underappreciated if not chipped gem in The Anderson .Paak EP. Sneakily, Milo came in through the back door with an oddball dark comedy So The Flies Don’t Come. Raucous and alive, the weirdness is really intellectual openness, flitting from Marxist theory to just playing around with phonetics. All-in-all, it proved the Project Blowed legacy was still alive and well in a project that didn’t simply rely on jumping the shark to get its point across.
Wiki – Lil Me
Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5
All the rap kids are really sad and no one knows why. But we can guess. Earl and Wiki mirror in each other in off-hand ways and the latter’s Lil Me was one of the most straightforward records of the year. Everything is unglamorous and morose, as he mostly spits drone like about his reality (record label moves and missing the old NY). There’s a veil separate from the money, cash, hoes stuff of the 90s that is bothering the youngsters. Again, like most things in rap, it comes down to authenticity. Do you want to hang out with the real n*ggas or the fakes? In truth, it doesn’t really matter but the mind makes it so.
Thundercat – The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
Easily Thundercat’s best, most resounding, most cohesive record, it’s a shame that somehow it slipped under our collective radars. It’s soft where it should be and where it shouldn’t, and it’s so layered and so carefully constructed that it feels like a fever dream lived largely. A surprise, the album came on the heels of his work with K. Dot on TPAB. And, in truth, Thundercat has been involved in the process of creating a litany of great albums this year including The Internet’s Ego Death amongst others, but his own EP took us down a road of airy brilliance with replay value du-jour.
Sa-Roc – The Legend of Black Moses
Rating: 4.0 Out Of 5
Since around 2014, Atlanta’s own Sa-Roc built an impressive catalogue that’s essentially made her one of the rising conscious rappers from the south. This year, she doubled up on the releases by dropping The Legend Of Black Moses mixtape earlier this year before following up later in the year with Gift Of The Magi. Hearing her take on more popular Hip Hop and R&B instrumentals really displayed her real potential if given a bigger sonic toolset.
Gangsta Boo – Candy, Diamonds & Pills
Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5
The amount of momentum Gangsta Boo gained last year between her collaborative project with Houston emcee/producer BeatKing, joint album with fellow Hypnotize Mind associate La Chat and standout verse on Run The Jewels 2 raunchy “Love Again(Akinyele Back)” insured the Memphis queen well endure past her time with Three 6 Mafia. This year, she dropped Candy, Diamonds & Pills which could be one of the most trunk rattling experiences one will enjoy this year.
Father – Who’s Gonna Get F*cked First?
Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5
Some could have dismissed Father as a novelty act after “Look At Wrist” featuring Key! and ilovemakonnen. Proving his worth as one of the most notable emcees/producers taking over Atlanta’s alternative Hip Hop scene. He returned with more raunch and dread with the appropriately titled Who’s Gonna Get F*cked First? Always self-aware, tracks including “Everybody In The Club Getting Shot” and “BET Uncut” is jovial nonsense that always manages to become fascinating at every turn.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
No K-Rino Makin Enemies or Mega Ran RNDM?
Nobody’s heard of any of these fuck faces. Fuck K-Rino Makin Enemies & Mega Ran RNDM
NF Mansions
Where is C Bo-The Mobfather 2??? It’s one of the bestbest CDs of 2015
Very underground list. I funks with Boogie, an Father a funny dude on the mic.. Check out “the Underachievers” them dudes are Fire!.. Happy Kwanzaa!!
All those albums are trash.
I know how y’all missed The Son And His Father Tape by Son Of Tony. But I demand a recount. Put my music against anyone in this Top Ten, I bet the order change. And I say this humbly & with respect.
Where’s that Loyalty Is Everything mixtape from LA rapper TalentDisplay ?? heard it off daypiff and it had a few bangers on it
That KA project is serious!!!!! Another sure shot
TOP 20 HIP HOP SONGS OF 2015 http://wp.me/p27Pfv-1A
Y’all also forgot The Jacka What Happened To the World
One Mob
Joe BlOw x Philthy Rich-Mob Wire
Mozzy Blahdidah
Roblo A brave new world
And DJ Child Mash Out Babylon
Hellfyre Club hasnt been a crew for awhile. Nocando still runs the label of same name but hes no longer at Low End Theory and Milo has his own collective called Ruby Yacht. Milo, Paak, Bus and OME are still boys but Hellfyre Club is no more. Since a toothpaste suburb anyway. And Milo just got Mass Appeal album of the year beating out kdot, earl, vince, lupe and joey badass on their tourney, he also made rolling stone, spin, ghettoblaster, passionweiss and boston globes year end best of lists.
The underdog will no longer be slept on
As one of the most prominent hip hop sites on the internet, and with your reach into the culture and the nature of consumers, I find it completely unforgivable that your staff has failed to research artists who are lyrically and intellectually elite, in comparison to the artists you choose to focus on instead. While I understand that you have to appeal to your diverse audience of Kendrick, Drake and J.Cole (this list is not exhaustive) fans, it’s appalling that your staff disregards the artists with greater lyrical ability and substance in their music. Kendrick had an amazing year, an impeccable album, but he is not the only artist in our culture with the lyrical talent that speaks to cultural issues, race, love and societal progression. Your reviews of “non-platinum” artists are embarrassing, riddled with grammatical errors, a lazy approach to writing and analysis that was pieced together in less than 10 minutes, and moreover, your writers fail to take the time to listen to albums as conceptual experiences. Your writers follow the tired methodology of searching for the next club banger or the instrumental that will make these Instagram vixens twerk for a hot 15. That’s fine, for some of your audience, but for those of us who value intelligence and appreciate organic, neck-bending lyrics , along with the the art of creating music with timeless meaning, you should consider hiring some staffers who respect the culture a bit more. Some of us know how to interview these impactful artists, in order to respect the visionary mindset of hip hop, which allows artists to pour fragile souls out over an instrumental. These artists have a story that you constantly ignore for an agenda that is no longer effective. HipHopDX is built on strength in relationships, honesty and unique perspectives, but if you haven’t noticed it already, your writers/editors/reviewers are losing their zest and love for the art of hip hop coverage. Why would you let that love die, especially when Hip Hop and rap music is, in its current state, the most powerful art form in the world?
The preachers aren’t changing collective thinking. The teachers aren’t as motivating as they used to be, and to be honest, I am a previous high school English teacher of 9 years. (I used HipHop to motivate my impoverished students from the slums of Phoenix, so my appreciation to the art form is unconditional) The individuals who are CHANGING THE GAME on a day to day basis are the rappers and YOU, the writers who provide the coverage and journalistic integrity to provide a visual of our current world, from the depths of Chiraq, the A and, with all of my respect, New York City. Please consider stepping your writing practices up, giving a unique voice to the “voiceless,” and not accepting simple, boring and PREDICTABLE writing from those whom you pay to interview artists, write album reviews and provide intelligent commentary to your millions of fans, which, again, includes me.
Allow me to be specific, just briefly. One example of unacceptable publishing practices that HipHopDX is responsible for is your entire coverage, review and promotion of “All Love Lost,” Joe Budden’s most recent album. It was unequivocally overlooked by your entire staff, and when I tried to consider the reasoning for the error, the most obvious answer was a general laziness because someone anticipated that Joe Budden, now older, could not possibly put out a decent album. Yes, I read the review, and your staffer still wanted to reference “Pump it Up,” with the preconceived idea that his decade-old joke was remotely funny. If that is what your staffers call humor, again, I’d suggest hiring some qualified writers. Additionally, this “writer” mustered up a pathetic editorial that overlooked the continuum of Joe’s decade-plus content and his stories of addiction, love, pain, regret and growth. Aren’t these the topics that alleged “classic” albums touch upon? Yes, they are, but your writer chose to overlook all of that, more than likely because of Mr. Budden’s name, and if we’re being petty, the amount of followers on his IG. It sounds funny, but I bet I’m somewhat correct.
The review implied that Joe, “…Had a lot to talk about,” but it was painfully obvious that the album didn’t get a decent listen. In all honesty, if your writers were objective and had the competent metacognition to write a cohesive review or an analytical composition, they would have acknowledged that “All Love Lost” is EASILY one of the most underrated, introspective albums of 2015. It’s not only Joe’s album where your staff shows an inconsistent command of writing and understanding your audience, but it includes the other artists with incredible lyrics, wordplay and influence in the streets that your writers are eternally blind to.
I used “All Love Lost” as an example, here, because of the quality of the album, from beginning to end. To be fair, Joe is not my favorite rapper, but I found myself respecting the raw emotion and content of his songs. And, what’s more baffling that your writers fail to highlight, is that Joe had numerous tracks where he rapped well over 5 minutes. That’s the problem here: Your writers aren’t doing their homework and recognizing an artist who is doing something different than dropping a typical 16. Sure, the album has its flaws, like all albums, but your writers choose to focus on artists without the same lyrical elitism, risk-taking or talent, and as a result, you lose an audience of music fans that want to hear some of the different genres embedded in hip hop.
In 2016, rap has infinite subsets of music, from Childish Gambino to Boosie, from Nipsey to Bryson Tiller, and even a vet like 50 Cent, and with the dominant powerhouse that is HipHopDX, I feel as though you are doing a huge disservice to the fans who want to have exposure to a greater variety of talent. We don’t care as much about the record sales as you do, which is one of the methods you all use to determine what’s “hot.” We understand that strategy. However, if you desire a loyal audience with ever-changing tastes in music, you owe it to them to showcase artists without platinum or gold numbers. Music saves lives, changes history and takes up a significant portion of many of our days. My hope is that you learn to take some unconventional risks in your coverage of new sounds and talent, respect the REAL lyricists out there (both young and older), and hire some writers with a fresh perspective of the changing dynamic of rap music and hip hop.
You owe Joe and so many other lyrical heavyweights an apology for not giving their album the same attention you give to the likes of Future, Drake and even Young Thug. Do you pride your publication for showing fairness along with a type of subjective intellect when it comes to reviewing music? What happened to the principle of respecting the ART, REGARDLESS of whether or not it’s popping on Hot 97? I’m writing this from my phone, but hell, hire me to do the work that your writers cannot do on their own. I love hip hop, along with its innovators, to give a fair listen to these artists, not only on their album, but in the message and conceptual direction they are attempting to push musically and through verbal expression.
And, yes, I am confident enough to admit that, when necessary, I would ETHER each and every writer on this website without breaking a sweat. HHDX is my homepage because I enjoy your site , and admittedly, I respect a great deal of what you all attempt to accomplish, both in terms of social media, PR, outreach and the charities you’re involved in. I just wish you respected the “unknown” artists a bit more, or in the least, paid some decent writers to investigate the trends and individuals who may become the next influential individuals of our time.
Please consider some objective transparency, and if being subjective is the only way your staff can operate, exhibit the unapologetic behavior which implies that artists control what you post. I know this is not what you want your viewership to believe, but your writers have succeeded in making it appear that HipHopDX is controlled by some detached music executive. Simply put, stop insulting the intelligence of your readership by allowing sub-par writers to freely publish with the vocabulary and thought process of Janice Dickinson after some Botox and a couple of Cosby’s quaaludes. I’m better than the mediocre writing that some of your staffers bring to the table, but the thing is, I simply want to help your publication continue its dominance with the LOVE we have towards Hip Hop and the VICIOUSNESS we use to defend its prestige and NECESSITY in our world.
Peace and love to you and yours. Happy 2016 and keep stuntin’ on these other sites that only wish they could compete with you.
I would love a response from one of your writers, even if it’s an attempt to destroy all that I just wrote from this lame, predictive text feature on my phone. I’d appreciate some feedback, banter and a chance to chop it up with one of your writers that truly respects the craft, the music and your site.
this was POWERFUL! and could possibly be the longest post of the year or best
possibly the longest post ive ever read. he went hard af