AZEALIA BANKS @AZEALIABANKS · Dec 8 I drove past an old plantation that was for sale this weekend and you know I was having many many ideas!

10. Future Honest

Future's Pluto was one of those debut albums that came and undisputably left the world a changed place, and I was thrilled upon listening to his sophomore effort this year to see that since climbing to the top he hasn't rested on his laurels at all. Ciara's ex-fiance isn't all that as a straight lyricist, but unique to him is an incredible ear for hooks and melodies that isn't common in the hip hop world. His delivery is still not traditional in any sense of the of the word, but drenching his words in auto-tune and dribbling them out slowly proves to effectively compliment his messages more often than not. Look no further though than lead-off single "Move That Dope" for definitive proof that brother (+ Pharrell Williams, if you doubted) can RAP!
"Honest" might be a relative term here, but there's no denying that in between all the boasting — at times intertwined with it — dude really lays his heart out on to a lot of these joints in a way that Pluto maybe hinted at but never committed to. So there's **** that bangs and **** that goes straight to the heart, but on this album the two are hardly mutually exclusive. It's a brilliant combination and one that's hard to pull off. I haven't even touched yet on the guest appearances from 1.5 of the 2 greatest hip hop artists of all time; I'll save my words for one of them (), but if the 'angel in your ultrasound' part off "I Won" doesn't do something to you the idk what to tell you, maybe you should go back to listening to Lupe Fiasco. Album is amazing song after amazing song +proof positive there's room in hip hop for rappers out to do things THEIR way and no one else's.


KEY TRACKS

Originally posted by madonnas I respect him but that doesn't mean I have to listen.

Originally posted by Marq Move That Dope >

9. Azealia Banks Broke with Expensive Taste

Woahhhh the fact that this exists >. As an OG Banks fan, I'm weirdly proud of the fact that after years of fake drama which for a point had me counting her out for good, the product she finally delivered out of the blue plays to her strengths so well and feels 100% worth the wait. Over the course of an hour Azealia blends hip hop with almost every genre conceivable, moving FAR past the limited number of flow patterns she's been accused of "recycling" in the past. Thankfully she's kept the excessive noise to a minimum; taken as a whole this is a charismatic and confident record that showcases Azealia's personality and eclectic tastes very well. A personal favorite moment comes one track in on "Gimme a Chance" when she drops out for a second, only to return spitting in Spanish like that's how she's done it since the start of her career. She works well with others — if it's hard for her to improve on an Araabmuzik original production, she definitely shows Ariel Pink a better way of doing things. BWET has its share of flaws, but in terms of vision and consistency it's step up from anything she's done in the past and absolutely owns its status as a real-deal ALBUM. If it takes just as much time for another one on this level, oh well.


KEY TRACKS

8. Charli XCX Sucker

Brash. Straightforward. Compact. Consistent. Self-aware. Unpretentious. Respectful of its elders. Huge, magnificent choruses. If not experimental, more than sufficiently adventurous, + packing at least a beginning and ending track that do proud every single great girl group since the beginning of recorded music. UNRELENTINGLY, MIND-BLOWINGLY catchy. Let's just forget about "Break the Rules for a sec. Shouldn't all pop be just like this? Shoutout to one of the "Fancy" girls knocking it out of the park this year.

KEY TRACKS

desperado
dats how i do my ting

Originally posted by Marq Ch, you know how I feel about Sucker. Broke With Expensive Taste is great stuff.

Originally posted by Kang. Do you like True Romance?

Originally posted by prezli Sucker is better than BWET?