My Favorite Music Projects of 2018
- Black Panther The Album - Various Artists: Loved this album for the variety of the music yet cohesiveness at the same time. Favorite tracks are “The Ways”, “Bloody Waters”, “Paramedic!”, “King’s Dead”, “Big Shot” and “Seasons”
- Swimming - Mac Miller: The funny thing about this album is that I had skipped his album before this but what compelled me to listen to it was was his Self Care track. I heard it and immediately said I was buying the album the Friday it came out and it is probably the album I felt got me the most since Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon albums. Favorite tracks are “Come Back To Earth”, “Self Care”, “What’s The Use”, “Perfecto”, and “2009″.
- Die Lit - playboi carti: perfect “mumble” rap ignant shit. great foil to the Black Panther Soundtrack. Favorite tracks are “Long Time”, “Right Now”, “Shoota”, “Fell In Luv”, “Mileage”, “FlatBed Freestyle”.
- Championships - Meek Mill: I was skeptical with all the features on the album but I gotta say this my favorite Meek Mill album. Favorite tracks include: “What’s Free”, “Trauma”, “Oodles ‘n Noodles Babies”, “Respect The Game”, “Uptown Vibes”, “Stuck In My Ways”
- ASTROWORLD - Travis Scott: Just a fun album and I could feel the new shit he was into but also felt the influences of his previous projects without it feeling recycled. He grew but stayed the same on this one if that makes any sense. Favorite tracks are “Stargazing”, “Stop Trying To Be God”, “Houstonfornication”, and “Coffee Bean”.
- Daytona - Pusha T: 7 tracks but they were all dope. That’s all I have to say. Favorite tracks are “If You Know You Know”, “Hard Piano”, “Santeria”, and “Infrared”.
- Whack World - Tierra Whack: 15 songs, 15 minutes, all unique. This shit was refreshing and it made me want for more. Favorite tracks include “4 Wings”, “Fruit Salad”, and “Flea Market”
- A Love Letter To You 3 - Trippie Redd: Didn’t listen to the project he put out before this but I gave this a shot after the fact and it’s definitely very solid. Favorite tracks include: “Topanga”, “Negative Energy”, “A.L.L.T.Y. 3″, “I Tried Loving”, 1400/999 Freestyle”
- BALLADS 1 - Joji: I felt this one. The failure in relationships. heartbreak. heartache. Beautiful music. Favorite tracks include “Test Drive”, “Slow Dancing In The Dark”, “Yeah Right”, and “Can’t Get Over You”.
- i am > i was – 21 Savage: A surprise near the end of the year and a welcome one. Love this album. Thought the year was over for dope shit but nah. Favorite tracks are: “a lot”, “out for the night”, “can’t leave without it”, “asmr”, “ball w/o you”, “monster”, “letter 2 my momma”
- Head In The Clouds - 88rising: Great compilation of songs. Rich Brian, Joji, and NIKI were standouts on it and it had some great features. Favorite tracks include “Peach Jam”, “Midsummer Madness”, “History”, “Poolside Manor”, “Beam”, “Head In The Clouds”, “Japan 88″
- Swervo - G Herbo & Southside: Herbo the most dope offbeat rapping nigga alive and Southside beats are all on point. Favorite tracks are “Swervo”, “FoReal”, “Pac n Dre”, “Huh”, and “Honestly”.
- Isolation - Kali Uchis: Very solid album, dope ballads. A lot of shit to vibe to. Favorite tracks are “Miami”, “Flight 22″, and “Killer”.
- Goodbye and Good Riddance - Juice WRLD: dope mixtape. Favorite tracks are “All Girls Are The Same”, “Lucid Dreams”, “Used To”, “Hurt Me”, and “I’ll Be Fine”.
- Everything Is Love - Beyonce & Jay-Z: I’m not a big Beyonce fan but I really fuck with Jay-Z so I gave this a shot and it was way better than I expected. Favorite tracks are “Apeshit”, “Nice”, “Black Effect”, and “LoveHappy”.
- Freddie - Freddie Gibbs: Solid, solid project and a smooth listen. Favorite tracks are “Weight”, “Death Row”, “2 Legit”, “Diamonds 2″
- FM! - Vince Staples: Probably my favorite Vince Staples project . Very West Coast. Favorite tracks are: Feels Like Summer”, “FUN!”, “No Bleedin”
- Reese Laflare - Reese Laflare: this is actually my first time hearing any of his music and I fucked with this album heavy. Favorite tracks are “Much Better” and “Big Mad”
- Veteran - jpegmafia: another first time listen. I dug the experimentation on this album. Favorite track is “1539 N. Calvert”
- Nasty - Rico Nasty: Another raw album. She beats you in the head with it. Favorite track is "Oreo"
Everything else I enjoyed:
California EP - Diplo: another dope EP, loved the Yachty/Santigold track “Worry No More” track and the Trippie Redd “Wish” track
Alien Boy - Oliver Tree: very interesting EP. Favorite tracks are “Alien Boy”, “All I Got”, and “All That”.
Amen - Rich Brian: soild first album. Favorite tracks are “Amen”, “Attention”, “Glow Like That”, and “Enemies”.
Supreme Blientele - Westside Gunn: gritty and hard as shit. Loved all the wrestling references. Smooth beats. Favorite tracks are “GODS Don’t Bleed”, “Brutus”, “Elizabeth”, “Brossface Brippler”, “Wrestlemania 20″.
Testing - A$AP Rocky: I was a little let down by this project. I did fuck with a couple tracks tho. Favorite tracks are “A$AP Forever(Remix)”, “Praise The Lord”, and “Buck Shots”.
Squidtastic - SahBabii: This project let me down a little like Rocky’s did. My favorite track of course is “Anime World”
Fire In The Clouds - Curren$y: just a dope album to drive slow or chill to. Favorite tracks are “Specialist”, “Spaceship”, “Pay Scale”, “Targa”, and “Never Stop”.
Free Lunch - Wale: One of multiple EPs he released this year but this one was my favorite. Favorite track is “Ungrateful & Thankful”
East Atlanta Love Letter - 6lack: first full project I’ve heard from him and really dug it
BORN AGAIN - Keith Ape: loved the beats on this project.
The Atlas Underground - Tom Morello: I listened to this cuz Killer Mike was on it and recommended it and it did not disappoint
On The Run - Young Thug: this EP was dope. I liked the “Sin” and “High” tracks on there.
Nuthin’ 2 Prove - Lil’ Yachty: This is actually the best he’s put out. Favorite track on this was “Yacht Club”.
FETTI - Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, & The Alchemist: One of the most solid collabs this year. When most felt like a cashgrab, this felt like a cohesive album. Favorite track is “Saturday Night Special”
WHITE BRONCO - Action Bronson: What you’d expect from a Bronson album, dope lyrics and smooth beats. Favorite tracks are “Prince Charming”, White Bronco”, “Swerve on Em”, and “Brutal”
Oxnard - Anderson .Paak: Love this album. Favorite tracks include “Tints”, “6 Summers”, “Smile/Petty”, Mansa Musa”, “Brother’s Keeper”, “Trippy”
Some Rap Songs - Earl Sweatshirt: I liked the experimentation on this one like Jpeg’s. Didn’t like it as much as some hip-hop heads but I thought it was solid. Favorite track is “Playing Possum”
Loose- Jack Harlow: white dude got a lot of bars. only thing holding him back to me is at times he sounds too much like Drake. Favorite tracks are “Sundown”, “Nun Free”, “Slide For Me”, “Sylvia”, “Too Much”
DiCaprio 2 – JID: First time hearing this dude and I really liked this tape.
Mudboy - Sheck Wes: Interesting album. Favorite track: “Jiggy On The Shits”.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse – Various Artists: dope soundtrack. Favorite tracks include: “Invincible”, “Sunflower”, “Start A Riot”, “Hide”
