Weekly Fix #22

Honestly, this was a pretty weak week, with nothing really resonating with me that much. Lots of material came out, but the quality was lacking in all departments. We’re getting more and more projects scheduled for these last few weeks of the year, so there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming days, but this just seemed to be an off week.

I think I have my top albums this year, and it’s been hard to decide how I’m going to lay it out to y’all. As of right now, I have 212 projects, and at least the top 50 are quality albums and EPs that I think people should listen to. As it stands, I think I’m giving y’all a top 25, still not set in stone but I think it’s more manageable. Stay tuned; it should be starting soon.

Here’s a link to the Week #22 Playlists for y’all

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Wiki – OOFIE
I like it more than his No Mountains in Manhattan album, but it doesn’t reach up to Lil Me (and doesn’t even touch RATKING’s albums). Still, there are great moments on here, especially when the instrumentals get stranger and the guests can shine. I am disappointed that none of the singles leading up to this are on the album; Eggs in particular was sorely missed.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Gang Starr – One of the Best Yet
While not giving this the full throated endorsement that a lot of others are giving it, I will say it’s one of the best posthumous albums out there. A large part of this is that Premier is still alive and is still able to provide the tracks with excellent scratched hooks and refrains when the vocals can’t quite make up the track. The features are a mixed bag, but these new Guru verses and hooks are great.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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CRIMEAPPLE – Viridi Panem
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think this project is head and shoulders above Medallo with DJ Muggs from a few weeks ago. There is a pervading darkness to this album, a sense of conspiracy and dread, that comes across in his lyrics and the skits/samples about the richest of the rich. It’s one thing to talk about money, but some of these instrumentals and samples are… scary. The vocal manipulations just make the album unsettling, in a good way. He’s still doing that rhyme thing where he crams syllables, but I feel like it comes across better with better punchlines.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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LOWFi – Legion
I love these kids from Baltimore man. They got a rough edge to them, and are super varied in their flows and production selection. They can go for a more of a boom-bap angle, heavy trap, dark sample based production (think old Flatbush ZOMBiES), and even a more conscious and positive feel. LOWFi is a trio, and the three complement each other well and have some cool qualities. Jay Gramms is my favorite, with and old school flow and gutter vocal quality, Von Wilda had this strangely British quality in his pronunciation, and Hayelo is a more modern trapper with a sloshed flow. I love their album from last year, but while The Allegory was a more evil experience, Legion looks forward and upward for a lot of the runtime; like a modern day Wu-Tang.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Planet Asia & Milano Constantine – The Planet Asia & Milano Constantine EP
I wouldn’t say these two have the best chemistry ever, but they’re both acceptable in their own rights. While I like the rapping, I feel like the instrumentals needed some work, and the mixing wasn’t consistent across the record. The last track with DirtyDiggs on the boards was by far the best one, making me wish this was entirely produced by him like a lot of Gold Chain releases have been recently. Two more things, love and hate: one, I absolutely love the album art with it’s 80’s inspired fonts and looks. Two, the title of the project is garbage.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Step Brothers – Burnt Tree
Evidence mops the floor with these two beats (which aren’t *great* but they work, especially the title track), but I feel like The Alchemist is trying a but too hard in his delivery. He’s basically shouting on the first track, which isn’t what I’m looking for from him. I’m definitely ready for a new Step Brothers LP, but these were strange choices for a teaser EP.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Joe Moses – Westside
It’s alright, but Joe overextends himself with several of the sung/R&B ballads. This isn’t going to get any sort of mainstream attention, so he may as well have just full hardcore west-coast music on here. Still, I think Joe Moses has a compelling enough presence on the microphone and some quality wordplay to assure he’s going to be around for a minute.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Dave East – Survival
Waaaaay too many tracks on here; easily could have cut 10. The biggest problem is that Dave isn’t *rapping* over many of these cuts, at least not in the way that people fell in love with a few years ago now. The Nas influence isn’t showing up as prominently as it should for someone of his skill, instead opting for sung trap tunes and weak flows on R&B cuts. There are a few highlights, but this should have been a mixtape with heavy cuts.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Jacquees – King of R&B
Way too long, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t love this dude’s voice. There were quite a few features I could have done without, and some of the production doesn’t stand out, but Jacquees is never a problem on a track. He’s like a child-like Chris Brown in the best way.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Young Scooter – Trap Hero
It’s like a Gucci Mane album, but with a slight YSL edge to it in the instrumental selections. It’s trap, but it’s a decidedly modern trap with odd sample choices; kooky and soundcloud-y, like a video game sometimes. Scooter is still a Gucci clone, but he can hold his own. The features across the album are a bigger draw to me than Scooter, with Young Thug, Lil Keed, Guap Tarantino, and Lil Baby rounding out a stacked list.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SINGLES-------

Griselda (Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Benny the Butcher) – Chef Dreds
Amazing. It feels like a cypher with these three dudes going back and forth with each other, with Westside usually leading off and Conway or Benny finishing out a set of bars. It’s a faster tempo then some of their other songs, and the drums that drive it are crazy dusty. It’s still dark, but it has a more impromptu 80’s rap appeal to it. I would be very, very surprised if What Would Chinegun Do isn’t in my top 10 this year.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Elcamino (Feat. 38 Spesh) – Stove Tops
This is that dark shit, that self-titled shit. Elcamino works on here because he’s more strained in his delivery, sometimes sounding like Westside Gunn with the pitch in his voice. The beat is nasty with it’s off key piano notes and gross bass. 38 Spesh kills it on his feature, with appropriately dark wordplay.

Spotify/YouTube

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Rittz (Feat. Yelawolf & Twista) – Put a Crown on It
I love rapping fast, but I will admit it’s rather corny. But, if you’re going to do it, get Twista, because my god he destroys this beat. I don’t even know how this guy can cram that many syllables into his mouth. Rittz kills shit shit too, and Yelawolf, who’s not really much of a speedrapper, is excellent in his own creatively southern way. It’s a banger, and the speeds are off the charts.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Xavier Wulf (Feat. Pouya) – Whatever Mane
No one in the game today has fused the ruggedness of the Memphis heyday and modern trap sensibilities as well as Xavier Wulf has. He’s like DJ Paul arrogance and the occult nature of Lord Infamous rolled into one. He also seems to be a low-key psycho, which is cool. Pouya is a perfect pairing, as a lot of the South Florida flavor comes from Memphis.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Tory Lanez (Feat. T-Pain) – Jerry Sprunger
I’m more into the rapping side of Tory, but I will say the man has a knack for creating excellent melodies. But T-Pain is much better on this track in my opinion, but I swear he’s used this melody somewhere else and it’s driving me nuts. The beat was almost there, but the drums are set in this dancehall-like rhythm that cheapens the track.  

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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88GLAM (Feat. Lil Keed) – Bankroll
This beat is fire with a nice little keyboard melody. Keed kills his part, and 88GLAM is actually ok. Normally I’m not a fan of XO artists, but the two came through and made a genuinely catchy song. One of the two (I don’t know their names and I can’t say who’s who) sounds too much like NAV for my taste.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Reason – Same Ol Shit
Heavy JID vibes with the flow, delivery, voice quality, and lyrics. I haven’t listened to Reason much, other than to know he’s one of the weaker members on TDE, but I can tell there’s potential here for a good album. There are some obscure lyrics with some deeper meaning, but you gotta dig a little to get to the gold. The instrumental is sufficiently dusty, and has me interested in whatever project this is attached to.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Lil Baby – Woah
Relentless flow from Baby over a banger ethereal trap beat. The hook is weak, which is definitely unusual for him. This dude is just one of the most consistent trappers today, and I can’t wait to hear the project that this single is attached to. Love the previous single with Future too.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Stunna 4 Vegas & Offset – Up the Smoke
I wish Vegas would move away from the kitschy trap with pointed bass that DaBaby is riding in on at the moment; it’s hard to take him seriously as a artist when he’s so clearly trying to ride on that wave. Offset for his part is good enough, and despite my problems with the instrumental I think Stunna rides the beat well and had a good flow. But if he wants longevity he needs to switch it up a little.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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The Cool Kids & Kenny Beats – Dipped
ALRIGHT, this beat is goddamn bananas. Normally, I think the hype for Kenny is a little overblown, but this instrumental (which is overblown funnily enough) is warped and sleek like polished abrasion. However, I don’t think The Cool Kids were the best choice to receive this beat; they seem out of place when they normally opt for instrumentals that aren’t as self-serious as this one. It bangs tho.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Iggy Azalea & Alice Chater – Lola
I’m going to preface this with this: fuck all y’all, I like Iggy Azalea. Moving on. This track has a catchy hook, slightly lackluster lyrics but a good charismatic performance from Iggy. It has a Latin flavor to it, giving it a splash of spiciness that adds to the catchiness. It’s slightly too formulaic and mainstream, but if this played on the radio I wouldn’t be upset.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Lil Baby (Feat. Ali Tomineek) – Toast Up
This is another Lil Baby single, but I don’t think it’s *his* track if that makes any sense. It sounds completely different from Woah, like it’s from a producer compilation or a soundtrack of some kind. The feature, who I’ve never heard of, runs the back end of the track with a long verse. The beat has heavy bass and a cool guitar lick, and maybe even a slight west-coast influence.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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KSI (Feat. Rick Ross, Lil Baby, & S-X) – Down Like That
Just in case I had any credibility left after admitting I like Iggy Azalea, let me show you this fucking KSI track. Yes, *that* KSI. Listen, is KSI terrible? Yes, 100% yes. But he’s also not a rapper/music artist in any sense, so I just ignore him. Rick Ross and Lil Baby tho? They didn’t have to go as hard as they did for this clown, and warrant a listen for these two spitting an 8 bar each (imagine how much money the charged this motherfucker).

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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