Stove God Cooks' 2020 album is a smashing coke-rap success. The production is handled entirely by Roc Marciano, an underground legend who understands how to bring the best bars out of rappers with a range of instrumental sounds. However, the project is undoubtedly carried by rapping, not production. Stove God Cooks has a unique, high intensity delivery that pairs well with his dark humor. His lyrics are fun to listen to, flashing between evocative imagery and hilarious one-liners. Often, he ... read more

Juice WRLD's heartbreaking death pulled the rug out from under many fans and collaborators who saw him as the voice of a generation. His unfiltered introspection, mental health struggles, substance abuse, and personal shortcomings were always on display for all. The grace with which he dealt with his issues made him a relatable figure for struggling youth, and losing him cut a deep wound. This album effectively honors his legacy and will undoubtedly satisfy Juice WRLD fans. It sounds like a ... read more

The singles that preceded this project gave every indication that UnoTheActivist was ready to drop a classic. He appeared to have mastered the art of psychedelic alternative trap, with melodic baby-voiced flows and a knack for emotional lyricism. Although the peaks of this project offer us glimpses into UnoTheActivist's potential, this album's inconsistency makes it still another stepping stone on his way to a future classic.

Throughout his career, UnoTheActivist has influenced Playboi Carti ... read more

"Barnacles" is a charming and playful take on well-established trap formulas, both lyrically and instrumentally. Sahbabii doesn't do anything especially new or groundbreaking, but his individuality and sense of humor shine through on this amusingly breezy listen.

The production quality on this project is very solid. Most of the beats feel like somewhat stripped down Pierre Bourne compositions-- still atmospheric and airy, but fitting into a much less radical collection of trap drums ... read more

Although this is another solid release from Westside Gunn from a musical standpoint, he makes a number of puzzling executive decisions that make this release a confusing followup to the excellent "Pray For Paris." To begin, for an album with a 33 minute runtime, this had very little actual music, and even less from Westside Gunn. Five out of the 14 tracks on this project are instrumental interludes or skits, which lack much of any entertainment value and only serve to scatter the ... read more

From listening to this album, it seems abundantly clear that virtually none of these songs were meant to be released in their current form. Pop Smoke had just dropped Meet the Woo 2 prior to his death and likely did not have much fully formed material for an official release. This is not at all unique for a posthumous release, so the low quality of most of the music here was unsurprising. It also says nothing at all about who Pop Smoke was as an artist. His Meet the Woo mixtapes memorialize him ... read more

Throughout this project, Preservation's chameleonic and focused instrumentals provide an excellent backdrop for a slew of experienced and accomplished rap veterans to drop thoughtful and intricate verses. The musical focus is broad, but many of the sounds pay tribute to classic Eastern musical tradition to accompany the Hong Kong concept. Although this project is likely not accessible for the casual hip-hop listener, its hidden lyrical and instrumental gifts make it yet another 2020 underground ... read more

This new City Girls project is, on the whole, an inconsistent release that relies heavily on JT and Yung Miami's rapping to carry weak and generic instrumentals. The good news is that both are excellent technical rappers who can shoulder the burden more often than not. The bad news is that some of the beats are truly atrocious.

Lyrically, this is mostly a sex-positive swaggerfest full of hilarious NC-17 one-liners. JT and Yung Miami are unafraid of saying exactly how they feel about money, ... read more

MIKE is a gentle giant. His music conveys a sense of organized clumsiness, with crafty songwriting that both paints outside the lines and stays locked inside its comfort zone. His use of layered instrumentals with smeared effects and patched-together samples helps him navigate the fine line between dark hopelessness and colorful warmth. In fact, it's easy to compare MIKE's music to visual art.The cover art for this album is, in a way, a visual representation of what the listener is about to ... read more

An album of catharsis, of troubled emotions, of learning to accept change in others and yourself. Phoebe Bridgers juxtaposes youthful naivete with dark morbidity on seemingly every track, highlighting the deepest questions of human nature in a casual and understated manner that only doubles down on her hopeless outlook. She pens all of her emotions over a wide range of instrumentals, culminating in the epic screaming outro on "I Know The End." Her fears, recurring questions, and dark ... read more

Key!'s newest is a passable project that features a few outstanding beats and occasionally infectious vocal performances, but mostly just feels underwhelming. Key! has a charismatic vocal touch and quite a few flows in his arsenal. However, he doesn't have very much to offer as a lyricist; so when his beats are lacking, his songs are entirely forgettable.

There are a few great moments on this short tape. The intro track, "Bottom of the Bottle," is an exhilirating pop-rap dance jam ... read more

Armand Hammer's latest is a searing, apocalyptic think-piece that is both difficult and wonderful to listen to. ELUCID and billy woods make a formidable duo with similar rapping styles and a shared desire to push experimental hip hop further. Their poetry is usually bleak, very personal, and critical of just about everything.

The production on this project is fascinating. The instrumentals are dirty, grimy, and artfully disordered. At times the instrumentals play with colorful and meditative ... read more

Flatbush Zombies have returned with another hypnotic drug-rap project, a six track EP featuring some emotional songwriting and intense instrumentals. I was very excited for this project when I heard it was dropping. FBZ make some of the most druggy, instrumentally textured rap music that bridges the gap between Travis Scott and Freddie Gibbs (maybe not great examples, whatever). Mostly, though, I'm a big FBZ fan for pretty much one reason: Meechy Darko. His emotional, guttural delivery is truly ... read more

Solidly fun album from Lil Yachty. Nothing groundbreaking, but Yachty raps pretty well and the beats are solid enough to keep it interesting. Definitely could've been cut down significantly. Still, I think Lil Yachty often deserves more credit than he gets for carving his own lane in trap music. His voice and delivery are charming and distinctly his own.

Run The Jewels' longevity is nearly unprecedented for a rap duo. El-P and Killer Mike have been making official Run The Jewels projects since 2013, but their partnership on Killer Mike's "R.A.P Music" makes this essentially their fifth full length project as a duo. Since they started making music together, El-P and Killer Mike have relied on the same formula: angry, funny, clever political raps over brutal instrumentals. Each project has dismantled the subjects of Jaime and Mike's ... read more

Hook continues to make unique trap/cloud music on her new EP. This project toys with a variety of sounds and styles within the production and Hook's vocal deliveries. Although the project doesn't do much for me at the beginning, it really hits its groove around "Brb" and maintains that high quality through the finish line.

This is essentially a breakup album. Hook talks mostly about heartbreak, jealousy, and anger as a result of failed relationships. Sometimes she lashes out, ... read more

Gonna keep this one short in the spirit of the EP. Basically, Lucki does the same thing he does so well on all his projects-- an emotionally numb, unfeeling take on the materialism in trap music. His lyrics flash back and forth between three main themes: 1) driving fast 2) going through women and 3) drug use/addiction. His lyrical style is simple but potent-- it's an intensely personal portrayal of a fast lifestyle that is unfulfilling and emotionally vapid. Lucki either drives away the women ... read more

In today's segment of totally unsurprising news, Freddie Gibbs has dropped another legendary collaboration album with a seasoned producer. This album comes less than a year after Gibbs' second collaboration with Madlib, "Bandana," which I thought was better than any other hip hop album last year except for JPEGMAFIA's "All My Heroes are Cornballs." This new album has raised the bar for hip hop albums for the second year in a row and continues Gibbs's career long quality ... read more

Earlier this year, Medhane dropped "Full Circle," a solid but unspectacular EP that didn't leave much of an impression. I approached this project with indifference-- I'm a big fan of MIKE and Earl Sweatshirt and really enjoy the sLums sound when it's executed well by other associates (Maxo, Navy Blue, maassai, etc), but also am often disappointed by a lack of ambition to move the niche sound forward. Thankfully, Medhane has dropped easily the best sLums project of the year and the ... read more

I'm not understanding these positive reviews. Kota the Friend's new album offers very little past the opening track, it's a 37 minute slog whose most exciting moments are the contributions by Lupita Nyong'o and Lakeith Stanfield between songs.

The most glaring shortcoming of this album to me is its utter lack of good hooks. Not a single song had anything remotely catchy or exciting for a hook, which is a real songwriting failure and an indication that perhaps Kota could've used some more help ... read more