It's been a few weeks of since 2021 concluded, and it's given me the chance to reflect on some of the music that came out in the past 12 months, what I've been listening to, and which albums I thought were the best.
For the past couple of years I have done these 'album of the year' posts where they list some of my, and sometimes my friends', favourite albums of that year. This year I'm doing something similar, but thought I'd change it up a little and put the albums in an order of which ones I liked the most. I have done a top 10, number 1 being my favourite. Humans have a weird thing for putting things in order and aggressively ranking any form of media, music, films, tv shows, the lists can be relentless...
As well as a top 10 albums list, down the bottom I have listed some honourable mentions, plus some other categories like best album art work and best song. I think it's been a great year of Hip Hop, so this is my sort of celebration of it, so yeah, here it goes from 10-1...
10) J. Cole - The Off Season
Dropping in mid-March, if my memory serves me correct, this was the first 'big-big' drop of the year. I remember the hype surrounding this album once he first posted about the record on Instagram was massive, and probably the most hyped album of the year - until Kanye and Drake started their rollouts. I believe this came out at a similar time to Tyler's album, and like Tyler's, I feel as though this album came and went a little too quick for me. Only a handful of songs really stuck with me, 'hunger on the hillside' and 'pride is the devil' to name 2. Undoubtedly though, I think this album is really good. It was great to see J. Cole progress his lyricism, demonstrate his skills and bring us a more 'braggadocious' Cole. Cole has cemented his place as a household name and living legend. I would have liked to see this album with more boom-bap beats because that is my favourite version of Cole, but this was still a solid piece of work to add to his discography.Star Track - Hunger on the Hillside
9) Nas - Magic
Sneaking in very last minute dropping on Christmas Eve, Nas dropped his second project of the year along with Hit-Boy whom produced the vast majority of this project. Hit-Boy seems to generate great chemistry with whoever he works with and this year he has been one of the most consistent and prolific producers. Nas' chemistry with Hit-Boy is reflected with how comfortable and 'at-home' he sounds on the Magic instrumentals. On the track 'Meet Joe Black' Nas flows tremendously and he really is in 'rare form' as he said on the track 'Rare' from King's Disease II where he flowed in a similar manner. Big props to Nas for still creating great music in the 4th different decade of his career, he is really holding it down for the older generation of rappers and showing that Hip Hop isn't necessarily a young-mans game.
Star Track - Meet Joe Black
8) Kanye West - Donda
Although I'm not too enthused by the length of this album, I feel as though it was silly how long it was (and that's not even including the deluxe tracks) and it meant it was a bit more difficult to take it all in and digest it, I feel as though I have just about gotten to grips with it and worked out which ones I'm a fan of and which ones I'm not. The track 'Jesus Lord' is brilliant, Jay Electronica's vocabulary, delivery and flow is so compelling and the talking skit at the end was really moving and emotional and although I didn't know much about the Larry Hoover case before, it really brought me in. Kanye is still doing what he wants in terms of the music which is great, this was kind of similar to 'Jesus is King' in the way that it still had a lot of gospel moments, but the themes weren't as strong or focused. 'Jail' was a cool track that reminded me a lot of '808's & Heartbreak Kanye'. 'Moon' with Kid Cudi was another really great track where Cudi stole the show in some ways - it just reinforces my hopes that there will be a second Kids See Ghosts album to bless us in the future. Overall this was a nice album. The rollout was getting tedious and I think the inclusion of the 'pt2' versions of the songs was unnecessary, but these grievances are muted for the most part because without these moments of gross egoism and awkwardness for the sake of it (how I sometimes saw it) a.k.a 'kanye-isms', he wouldn't be Kanye, and that would be much worse.
Star Track - Jesus Lord
7) Lloyd Banks - The Course of the Inevitable
When I first listened to this album I remember thinking this is going to be album of the year for me. And it wasn't far either. Helped by MC's like the Griselda boys and Freddie Gibbs, the resurgence of 90's sounding boom-bap with greazy content has been refreshing and exciting, and this album by Lloyd Banks has been one of my favourites to spawn from this movement. The mixing on here is a little rugged, but I feel as though that adds to the grittiness of the sound and the realism of the content. Features were top-notch on here, Freddie Gibbs and Benny the Butcher both included. The beats were hardcore and true and Lloyd Banks' flow was nothing short of sensational. You can tell Banks puts his heart into this album and really cares about it. He discusses content such as his relationship with 50 Cent, how that has affected his career and how a lot of his career he has had to do it himself rather than the popular belief that 50 was the only reason for his success - these songs made for interesting listens. The hooks aren't the focus of the album, but he proves he can make hard ones on tracks like 'Crown' and 'Break Me Down'. Excited to hear what he has next and would highly recommend this album.
Star Track - Break Me Down
6) Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
The first UK album to feature on this list. This album is phenomenal, super creative, the tracklist is extremely diverse. There was boom bap beats full of soul and jazzy moments, the song 'rollin stone' had a grimy instrumental and 'protect my energy' felt like a bit of an 80's throwback but in a really cool way. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is empowering and I can imagine women, women of colour really relating to this album and that is a beautiful part of music. Simz is a really capable lyricist, she is elite, her flow, cadences and rhyme schemes are on-point for the most part. It feels like she was born to write bars. The skits were strange but really added to the listenability of the album and tied it together well. This is an album where it feels like you go on a journey with the artist accompanied with style, top-tier penmanship and content that is easy to get behind.
Star Track - Protect My Energy
5) Nas - King's Disease II
What a great year it was for Nas, the follow up to the 2020 album 'King's Disease', KD2 was exceptional. When the feature list dropped I knew it was going to be great. Eminem provides an ill-flow on his feature, EPMD do their thing, so do A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and YG on 'YKTV', and the track 'Nobody' with Lauryn Hill was a masterpiece. This album had it's louder moments, but overall I found it really chilled out and relaxing to listen to. Again, Hit-Boy produced much of this album and the beats all came hard. There were a couple numbers towards the bottom of the tracklist 'Brunch on Sunday' and 'No Phony Love' that I found a bit cheesy, but apart from that, Nas gave us some serious tracks. His lyricism and storytelling is still done in a proficient manner that keeps you hooked and interested to come back to this album time and time again. He never seems like he is trying too hard and that really impacts the listenability in a positive way. Nas has always come across as this really cool, laid-back guy who can spit and puts out Hip Hop tracks - he's done it again this year with 2 really nice bodies of work.
Star Track - Nobody
4) Russ - Chomp 2
This was my first introduction to Russ' music. The reason I checked this out was because I saw the tracklist full of dope rappers and the production list looked wham as well (Hit-Boy, Alchemist, Mr Porter, Preemo), when I saw them, I had to listen. I knew it'd be a bar-fest but didn't know how good it would actually be. Russ holds his own in every song, no word of a lie. I do feel as though Papoose killed him on 'Bucket Hat Low' and Ransom got the better of it on 'Blue Chip', but all in all, Russ' rapping was quality. He sounds nice and clear with a comfortable rapping voice, he has nice punchlines and cool content and his technical abilities are there too. 'Free' has a really nice sample for the hook and when I heard Big K.R.I.T.'s verse on that, I dunno why, maybe because I'd just got into one of Krit's albums for the first time at that point and this was the first verse I'd heard from him outside of that album, it really hit me, and the smooth, relaxing piano-led instrumental was moving through me. Some of the tracks on here really connected with me and hit my soul in some way or another and that is why this album is so high up. I haven't seen anyone apart from my pal Reece talking about this album - I think it is criminally underrated in this case. This album is a massive W for Hip Hop and some people will be flying the flag for this album till the day they die.
Star Track - Free
3) Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn - Handle With Care
The second UK record on this list and takes the 3rd position overall. This is the second project from FS & HG that I have in rotation (the other being Breathing Exercises). As great as Breathing Exercises is, for me, this album eclipses that. Frankie puts his heart and soul into the music once again and Harvey G always provides tight beats for a platform for Frankie to do that. The lyrics can be a little soppy sometimes but I've learnt to accept that as part of their setup. The vibe of their music is of course a chilled one that can turn up every now and then. Kofi Stone on the track 'Constellations' was insane, the rhyme schemes alone, but the content was something else and it was another track that resonated with me greatly. I DM'd Kofi Stone telling him how much I loved that verse, and he replied so big up to him every time for doing that. Ocean Wisdom on 'Numbers on the Brain', fucking hell he's sick on that. The singing section was great, I probably would have liked to hear him do the hook with Frankie for the last chorus just because he sounded so great at that singing bit. But yeah, FS & HG prove again they are incredibly talented, a duo with unbelievable chemistry and vision for their music, and although they do share similarities with other UK artists like Loyle Carner, they really do have their own thing, style and sound going on. The UK should be proud to have music as ill as this coming from its shores.
Star Track - Constellations
2) Grip - I Died For This!?
I genuinely cannot believe Grip has not blown up yet. Outside of his core fanbase, I don't think people realise how amazing of a lyricist he is. To pull off an intricate concept such as this one, where Grip looks at his career so far, where he's been and where is now and basically questions was it worth it. He is also basically saying he did die for this (in a metaphorical sense), hence the use of the exclamation point as well as the question mark throughout the tracklist. The song 'And the Eulogy Read!?' was a great opener too, being from the POV of someone reading his eulogy at his funeral. Grip's flow is epic, his voice is kind of lispy but with authority and passion. His rhyme scheme abilities are some of the best I have heard out at the moment, the soulful track 'patterns?' demonstrates this best. He has great diversity, he can do the bouncy, high-octane tracks like 'Glenwood Freestyle!' and 'Walkthrough!' but then the calm tracks like 'patterns', 'conman' and 'at what cost'. The track 'Enem3?' is experimental, interesting, and the lyrics are fire too. As well as being a dope MC, Grip can hold a note well and his singing is sometimes my favourite part of the track. He does the soulful stuff extremely well, but can switch it so he can start really going HAM with it. Eminem really found a gem with Grip and it's a great addition to the current Shady Records crop which is looking really healthy at the moment. Incredible album, too too underrated and I cannot wait to hear what he drops next. In the future I am going to check out his older stuff he has out before he got signed to Shady because I have heard very good things about them, those albums being 'Snubnose' and 'Porch'.
Star Track - Enem3?
1) Isaiah Rashad - The House is Burning
Star Track - True Story
Here are some honourable mentions as well as other EP's/projects that I enjoyed in 2021:
- Tyler, The Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
- Lil Nas X - MONTERO
- Logic - Bobby Tarantino III
- Everyone You Know - Just for the Times
- Skepta - All In
- Dave - We're All Alone In This Together
- Mick Jenkins - Elephant In The Room
- Vince Staples - Vince Staples (Self-titled)
Here are some categories that I thought would be nice to list off as well...
Best Album Art Work:
Dave - We're All Alone In This Together
(Honourable Mention: Mick Jenkins - Elephant In The Room)
Best Song:
Nas ft Lauryn Hill - Nobody
(Honourable Mention: Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn ft Ocean Wisdom - Numbers on the Brain)
Best Ensemble Track:
Dave ft Meekz, Giggs, Ghetts, Fredo - In the Fire
(Honourable Mention: Russ ft Big K.R.I.T., Snoop Dogg, DJ Premier - Free)
Best Feature:
Kofi Stone - Constellations by Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn
(Honourable Mention: Papoose - Bucket Hat Low by Russ)
Best Chorus:
Everyone You Know - 18
(Honourable Mention: Bugzy Malone - Don't Cry)
Lastly, I hope you have really enjoyed reading this article here wrapping up 2021 and what an awesome year it has been for Hip Hop. I am gassed for the great music hopefully will drop this year in the big '22.
Big up and thank you to everyone who has read my blog this year, whether that has been 1 time, or more than once, THANKS. It means a lot when people reply to my stories and we get the opportunity to talk about the greatest genre of all time. Hope you had a great 2021 and an even better 2022. What was your favourite Hip Hop album of the year? See you soon, I'll leave you with one of my favourite lyrics of the year from Ocean Wisdom on his Frankie Stew feature...
"A hundred on the train, I went from that to having a hundred grand and a range, I went from that to getting a blowjob on the plane...".
RIP DMX
RIP Biz Markie
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