Even though January is almost over now, I still think it's an appropriate time to look back on the previous year 2020, and to count some of our favourite albums of a year that brought so much pain, disappointment and boredom. 2020 left us asking a lot of questions, A) what the does WAP mean? B) finding out the answer to "A" and then wondering if you will ever see one in real life.
Amongst all the bullshit that 2020 was, we received several hip hop albums - some of these were poor, plenty were mediocre, and a handful were great. In this list we are looking at some of our favourite albums of the year. These albums probably aren't the best drops of 2020, but this is subjective, and these are the ones we enjoyed the most. These are 4 albums we think you should discover if you haven't, or re-visit again. Again, this is just opinion, apologies if your favourite album didn't get spoken about. There's a decent honourable mentions list at the bottom too that's worth checking.
Kofi Stone - Nobody Cares Till Everybody Does
Having progressed steadily under the radar for a few years, while still being mentioned as a rapper “who has been heavily slept on” by successful artists such as Loyle Carner and Tom Misch; this debut album from Kofi Stone was always going to be interesting to see if his compliments form his peers were deserved.
Coming from Birmingham and not benefitting in the same way most London artists do in terms of having easier access to others in the industry - respect has to be given to Kofi for getting his name out there in the way he did, before even releasing an album.
The album is clearly inspired by classic US 90s Hip-Hop beats with flowing rhymes layered over them, giving the familiar old sounds a fresh twist. The way in which the rapper is not scared to reveal his vulnerable side by sharing personal stories from his youth is quite refreshing to see. He isn’t the first UK rapper to use a more mellow tone, yet there is only a handful out there, so it is good to see his courage in utilising that artistic side of him. This aspect of the album accumulates with the song “It’s Ok to Cry”, with Loyle Carner’s feature having to be one of the best he has ever delivered. Kofi also brings in Ady Suleiman on ‘Talk About Us’ to provide a hook and soft backing vocals in classic Ady style. Kofi did really well in picking his features for this album with these two songs having to be the standouts.
Nevertheless, Kofi flexes his ability to stand on his own on sick songs such as ‘Busker Flow’ and ‘Dirty Air forces’.
Overall, this was a really good album that kicked off the year well, I look forward to seeing what else Kofi Stone has in store.
He also listened to 'That’d Be Great' by Rajclan so clearly, he’s a top guy;)
*Disclaimer: this album technically dropped in December 2019. What this shows is, there wasn't too many 2020 albums which we really took to in terms of them having a lasting affect on us or really grabbing us emotionally. Still, check Kofi's album regardless of what year it came out.
- Amil
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon III (The Chosen)
This is an album I spoke about very recently. If you read that review, you will have seen I really connected with this album. If there was an accusation of "corniness" or "cheesiness" to Kid Cudi's first Man on the Moon project, that certainly is lost today.
This new project is fresh, authentic, and Cudi's performance is exceptional. His soothing humming, his grittier rap style and his impressive singing all created an awesome listening experience. He is perfect for creating a "spacey", "psychadelic" aestethic with his music. What I love about this album, he has a great ear for hooks, his melodies are extremely catchy on-impact, and the way he speaks about his vulnerabilities makes him and his music very likeable. He allows listeners to connect with him. He takes you to places you have been before but in a creative way. His music is relatable and can seem dark at times, but the take-home message is of positivity and strength. When you mix this with nice, colourful beats, brilliant song-writing and smart vocal performances you are only going to resonate with people more. I would certainly recommend this album to Cudi fans and non-Cudi fans alike.
Star Track - Tequila Shots
- Joe
Pop Smoke - Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
It’s always easy to be skeptical about a post-mortem album and the motivations behind it, but given the quality we had already seen with Mac Miller’s ‘Circles’ album, there was reason to hope that Pop Smoke's ‘Shoot for the stars, Aim for the Moon’ would not disappoint. This album was executively produced by 50 Cent which was nice to see one New York legend finishing the work of another.
The songs are heavily polished and loads of them are banger-worthy which builds on his existing collection with songs such as ‘Welcome to the Party’ and ‘Dior’. I loved playing this album throughout summer as it really did fit the mood of just having a good time with friends. With his aggressive drill flows and eccentric beats mixed with his unique voice, it made it very hard to not get hooked onto this album. My only issue was that it is a bit feature-heavy, and I feel like a lot of the artists jumped onto the tracks after his death in attempt to make the track list look as star-studded as possible.
Unfortunately, I feel like this slightly diminished the authenticity of the project as I doubt Pop Smoke would have chosen to have so many features had he been alive. Despite that, this was a really enjoyable album to listen to and another well-constructed post-mortem album. Hearing this album will always take me back to some enjoyable moments from summer 2020, and when music has the ability to do that, you know it is special. R.I.P Pop!
- Amil
Big Sean - Detroit 2
Another album that has been spoke about previously on this page, and another album that is filled with great performances, quality production and sick listening experiences. There are so many lyrical highlights on Detroit 2, and I think that is exactly what makes this album so great. His improvements as a lyricist, even from his 2017 efforts (I Decided and Double or Nothing) are tenfold.
Some of the lyrical highlights can be seen on "Why Would I Stop, Lucky Me, Don Life and Friday Night Cypher. On these songs Sean is flowing like a demon and he is rapping his arse off. His bars are hard, they aren't corny or poor attemps at wordplay like he was accused of in the early part of his career. This album shows improvement as an MC, and puts him right up there with Kendrick and J Cole for me.
From this album we gauge more about what makes Big Sean as a person and what makes the city of Detroit so endearing and great. I think that was the intention of this album. With diverse and full production, features for the most part doing their job and Sean performing very well, this album is certainly an album I can say is one of the strongest in 2020. Definitely a highlight of the year and of Sean's career.
Star Track - Lucky Me
- Joe
Honourable Mentions:
Eminem - Music to be Murdered By
Royce da 5'9 - The Allegory
Logic - No Pressure
Nas - King's Disease
Joyner Lucas - ADHD
Dreamville - Revenge of the Dreamers III: Director's Cut
Freddie Gibbs - Alfredo
Mac Miller - Circles
Westside Gunn - Pray for Paris
Knucks - London Class
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music
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