AOTY #10: Injury Reserve - Injury Reserve [2019]

Welcome to my Album of the Year highlights! I’ll give you a little run down with a brief history to start, show you the tracklist (with the tracks in bold being my favorites) with all of the featured guests (if any), give you some descriptors that might make you more inclined to check it out, and I’ll provide links to stream/buy the project down at the bottom. Enjoy!

Let’s start this Album of the Year 2019 list off right with Injury Reserve’s debut album, Injury Reserve. This self-titled debut on Loma Vista Recordings came earlier this year in May, and serves as the result of a long journey over multiple mixtapes. Despite the album releasing to mixed reviews, I found that the eccentricity, varied production that pulls from multiple sounds-styles throughout their career, and the animated performances from Ritchie and Groggs put this album several shelves higher than their acclaimed mixtapes Live from the Dentist Office and Floss.

Tracklist

1. Koruna & Lime

2. Jawbreaker (Feat. Rico Nasty & Pro Teens)

3. GTFU (Feat. JPEGMAFIA & Cakes da Killa)

4. QUERTY Interlude

5. Jailbreak the Tesla (Feat. Aminé)

6. Gravy n’ Biscuits

7. Rap Song Tutorial

8. Wax On (Feat. Freddie Gibbs)

9. What a Year It’s Been

10. Hello?!

11. Best Spot in the House

12. New Hawaii (Feat. DRAM, Tony Velour, & Dylan Brady)

13. Three Man Weave

Parker Corey (Left/Top), Ritchie With a T (Middle), & Stepa J. Groggs (Right) showed off their proclivity for left-field and unusual instrumentals with Injury Reserve. Parker in particular impressed me with with his incredible experimental variety.

Recommended if you like:

JPEGMAFIA, experimental hip-hop production, bouncy and fun beats, The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams), futuristic and digital production, BROCKHAMPTON, odd but charismatic performers, personal and reflective lyrics, impeccable sampling, Odd Future, albums with varying moods and aesthetics

Here’s my original write-up of Injury Reserve:

May 2019

↓ Listen to Injury Reserve ↓

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music