Not sure why people are saying it's a dry year for hip-hop. There's so much great, lesser known stuff out there that I can guarantee you'll love. Personally I got 8 great records out of this year compared to last year's 5.
billy woods' collaboration with Kenny Segal, Hiding Places, proves he might be the best writer in hip-hop right now. Although you might have to get used to his off-kilter flows, his commanding presence and synergy with the production make it impossible not to hear him. What sets woods apart is his unique style of painting vivid pictures with his poetry, tying into the greater theme of anxiety that is Hiding Places.
woods' follow-up, Terror Management, is more disjointed and has woods returning to his vignette style which might be off-putting for its abstractness and potentially a lack of cohesion. Although I don't find the scattered Terror Management equally impressive, it's very much a powerful follow-up and worth several listens as there's a wealth of depth hidden here.
Charlotte rapper MAVI dropped his debut project, Let the Sun Talk, at age 19 a couple of months ago. One might instantly race to trite comparisons with Earl Sweatshirt, but the latter's approach to lo-fi hip hop is much more muddied. MAVI interjects lots of life in a sub-genre that often risks being a bit too morose for its own good. MAVI too paints vivid pictures that take several listens to fully understand. Like Mavi says himself on sense, "I make the songs you gotta read, baby".
I'd never expect to enjoy a Drain Gang release, but its instantly noticeable Ecco2k stands very far above his Swedish peers. e is a tightly written record about drug abuse, vulnerability, racism, and futility. Ecco isn't a great writer in a typical sense, but what makes e work is the subtlety and genuine emotion that meshes with the ethereal production. Anything more verbose would be an ill-fit over these hollow soundscapes.
Benny the Butcher proves himself yet again with The Plugs I Met, a brutally consistent 6-track EP with Daringer at the top of his game. Benny isn't doing anything particularly new, but the way he does it is so madly refined and enjoyable. It might be a bit on-the-nose sometimes but when he pairs up with GOAT rapper Black Thought, there's just no way you don't bob your head to it for its entire runtime.
slowthai's Nothing Great About Britain embodies the punk I feel often lacks in the United States scene. Many parallels run between the US & UK political situations -- and slowthai, a boy from a less wealthy neighborhood, has the perfect vision and energy to make this blunt political statement work. That's not to say slowthai is blindly angry; he also paints pretty pictures about his own life over slower beats, like on stand-out track Gorgeous or the emotional Northampton's Child.
And there's many many more I could still touch on -- Rapsody's Eve is a celebration of the black woman who have often been phased out of art canon, and is an exclamation mark that Rapsody ranks among the hip-hop's upper echelon, not just for women. Lizzo's Cuz I Love You, although a bit media prepackaged, is a powerful celebration of self-acceptance in a society that suffers increasingly from insecurity. Tyler, the Creator's IGOR continues the trend of well-made art pop, this time it being a more conceptual record about a gay relationship. There's the early Aesop Rock and Tobacco collaboration, Malibu Ken. Quelle Chris' Guns. Wilma Vritra's Burd. And shit, I haven't even had the time to get around to clipping, Mach-Hommy, Gang Starr, Little Brother, Griselda's Shady debut, Slauson Malone, Medhane, Roc Marciano, Your Old Droog...
pretty good year, I'd say.