Huge post incoming
Album of the Year:
1) Danny Brown - Old; 4 points
-Album shows both sides of a great artist. Danny has improved in lyrical ability, and extremely effective story telling. Production is insane. Album is personal, and has so many straight bangers. Many don't seem to be fans of the second half, but when I look at the second half it is stacked with great songs. Probably 2 tracks off the whole album I'm not fond of. One of the few best artists currently in hip-hop.
2) Kanye West - Yeezus ; 3 points
-Kanye made his most daring project yet. Delivers great music with more aggression then ever before. Songs are loud and angry; packing more emotion than many artists can dare try. Only misfire on the whole thing is Bound 2.
3) Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap ; 3 points
-Album came out of nowhere for me. I hadn't listened to 10 days previously. Got an album with extremely catchy pop-rap tunes, and surprising depth. Chance established himself so well with his zany voice and crazy adlibs. Spring/hot weather album of the year for me.
4) A$AP Ferg - Trap Lord ; 2 points
-Another one that I couldn't have seen coming. After an awful verse on
Ghetto Symphony I expected a shit album. This thing is full of heaters. Like Chance, Ferg successfully established this character of his. Fun album, slaps better than any other this year. "TRAP LORD YOU'RE SO TRILL"
5) KA - The Night's Gambit ; 2 points
-Not much gets grimier than this album. Best album of the year from a purely lyrical stand point. Production is fairly minimal, but soul wrenching and tough. Ka goes over the beats with a spoken word like flow. Pretty brilliant. Not an easy listen, should try catching yourself in a mood.
6) Action Bronson - Blue Chips 2 ; 2 points
-Bronson gives me what I expected. Ridiculous production that shouldn't work.. but does. His trademark punchlines about food, wwe comparisons, and ridiculous portrayal of self. Album is pure fun.
7) Starlito - Fried Turkey ; 1 point
-As a person who is not much a fan of Future, I feel like Lito does what Future does better. Effectively singing on tracks mixed with hardcore rap. Didn't even hear of him until he got GAF shine. Loving this album as of late.
8) Deniro Farrar - The Patriarch; 1 point
-An album that appears to be trap like. Deniro is a socially aware, gangster rapper who is influenced by cloud rap. Lyrically Deniro paints a personal, painful picture of himself over the great production. Unfortunately, I haven't listened to this album as much as I would like, probably because I need to put it on my phone.
9) Denzel Curry - Nostalgia 64 ; 1 point
-Dark, fast pace, southern inspired rap. Like Deniro above, he tackles social topics over hard beats. A little more hit and miss than Patriarch though.
10) Childish Gambino - Because the Internet ; 1 point
-Much improved sophomore album from Gambino. Initially liked it quite a bit, but it's a flawed album. Gambino, like Chance, has surprising depth. He just isn't as good a rapper. Luckily he sings on a lot more tracks. I think he can do much better, but it's a start. Beware of corniness, obviously.
Song of the Year (keeping this to one song per artist):
1) Schoolboy Q -
Man of the Year (This fucking song is such an anthem. The video has some phenomenal eye candy though, check it out.)
2) Kanye West -
Blood on the Leaves (One of Kanye's very best. Perfect evolution of 808's sound.)
3) Danny Brown -
The Return (Hypnotic beat with some great bars over it. Ridiculous feature by Gibbs, and a great chorus.)
4) Black Hippy -
UOENO Remix (Aside from a somewhat weak Soul verse, everybody goes in on this song. It's the perfect combination of the flawless UOENO beat and some killer verses)
5) Chance the Rapper-
Pusha Man (First part of this song is straight driving with the windows down music, second half is a serious, heart wrenching look at what Chance has experienced. This song shows the potential of him, fully.)
6) A$AP Ferg -
Let It Go (Ridiculous desert like intro leads right into an absolute barrage of trap bliss. This track will make you wanna break shit. Couldn't think of a better intro to Trap Lord.)
7) A$AP Rocky -
1 Train (Old school posse cut. Best song on a disappointing album. Try as they may, Joey Badass and Yela can't slow down this track. Joey tried with his "conscious" shit, and Yela with his corniness, but ASAP's brings straight bravado, K. Dot raps crazy eyed, Danny brings his amazing punchlines/flow, Bronson comes with the humor, and Krit just destroys everything.)
8) Drake -
Too Much (I turned on the album pretty quickly, but this song is just a great Drake song. He successfully emotionally manipulated me. It's just effective, a beautiful chorus from Sampha, and some decent verses from Drake. Hit at a good time for me too.)
9) Juicy J -
Money A Do It (Song is too hard. The first half is good, but the beat switch up is just insane. Juicy knows how to craft these like they're nothing.
10) Starlito -
The DUI Song(s) [Ft. Danny Brown] (Such a great chorus. Extremely introspective and affecting verses. Danny feature is one of my favorites of the year. Another track that shows how much he has mastered delivery.)
Individual Categories
Artist/Group of the Year: Danny Brown
Producer of the Year: The Alchemist
Rookie of the Year: Chance the Rapper
Feature Killer of the Year: Kendrick Lamar
"L" of the Year: MMG.
Biggest Album Disappointment: Long Live ASAP
What better way to start 2014 than:
