I recognized Mike from old OutKast records, but this was the first solo work I ever heard from him. The title is an acronym for "Rebellious African People" and it is a very politically inclined effort overall, realistically touching on a number of topics without ever becoming preachy. The whole thing is produced by El-P and his flow never lets up throughout.
I was so ready for disappointment... but it never came. This is a mixtape, not an actual album, but it it does its job as a hype-builder/showoff tool so well that I chose to include it here over her (also excellent) 1991 EP. The beats can get samey, but she's a lyrical force throughout and and the six-song stretch from track 9 to track 14 is one of the year's best.
IMO it plays much better if you edit the track listing to include Hood Bitch as the twentieth song.
Kinda figured he was done after the PIECE OF **** that was his last album, but then he came back strong with the year's best single, and all was forgiven. I don't know if this is his best album, but it is his most diverse and ambitious, which is cool. He definitely reaches out a lot farther musically than he has to.
surpriiiiiiise, CMM girl put out the best mainstream pop album of the year. If you hated that song, then I don't think any of the other ones will do anything for you, but pretty much everything here is just as brilliant (minus Good Time which is TRASH). She proves herself to be a good songwriter, and obviously music just does not catchier.
Fun Fact! The first four songs of Kiss > the first four songs of ANY other album released this year.
A beautiful album. It may be mood music (to some? it is for me), but I can appreciate the quality and uniqueness of its construction at any time. Victoria Legrand's vocals and Alex Scally's instrumentation blend together very well. This inspired me to check out their other work so I will do that at some point in the future.
AMAZING album cover, especially if you have the physical version like me.
Another example of a band's sound evolving for the better. I don't think this is a better album than Treats, but the new, heavier sound they push here is something they could easily keep working with for years to come. There are still a lot of amazing songs here and more of that ultra-satisfying core sound they pioneered with their debut.
3 more today. 6 part finale tomorrow if I'm not hungover or dead.
#9. Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE/RAINBOW
Maybe he could be higher had the DICK-RIDING () let up for a second or two, but we don't need to get into that now. Lyrically this is without question one of the best efforts of the year, and when that combines with the peak of certain other aspects exhibited here, the results can be spectacular.
For a decent period of time this was the best album of the year. (not really actually but I had yet to discover the album that was better than it.) His solo debut combines many of the great elements we saw in the White Stripes with others he's shown us through his work as a producer/with other bands. The lyrics and song structures are very interesting throughout.
In my opinion this is Mr. Jones' best album since It Was Written. Inspired by Nas' divorce from Kelis, it is a focused and thematically consistent effort, yet diverse enough to hold your attention all the way. Like I said it's just amazing to hear what he can still do as an MC, so to have that accompanied by music this good is just a bonus.
An amazing & unique album I've fallen in love with recently. JUMPING into our ranks late, it is grounded in hip hop but special in its bubbly production and heavy use of auto-tune. Future is a capable rapper who can hold his own or play off collaborators well, and his boastful, honest, and hilarious (!) rhymes are the highlight here.
This is a mixtape, not an actual album, but it it does its job as a hype-builder/showoff tool so well that I chose to include it here over her (also excellent) 1991 EP. The beats can get samey, but she's a lyrical force throughout and and the six-song stretch from track 9 to track 14 is one of the year's best.
I don't know if this is his best album, but it is his most diverse and ambitious, which is cool. He definitely reaches out a lot farther musically than he has to.
) let up for a second or two, but we don't need to get into that now. Lyrically this is without question one of the best efforts of the year, and when that combines with the peak of certain other aspects exhibited here, the results can be spectacular.
(not really actually but I had yet to discover the album that was better than it.) His solo debut combines many of the great elements we saw in the White Stripes with others he's shown us through his work as a producer/with other bands. The lyrics and song structures are very interesting throughout.
