I always like to take time now to reflect on releases from the previous year. There’s so much music coming out that it is difficult to make up your mind on a top 10 at the end of the year. You’ve got to wait until early the following year and let the music sink in, sit with the output a little while before you can put a best of list together. We’re now almost at the end of February and I feel like I can present my top 10 for 2023. So here we go for another ranking, starting from the top with number 10, and making my way down to number 1. 10. Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 I’ve never been much of a fan. I’ve always seen Nicki Minaj’s music as pop rather than rap and hip hop. That was until I checked out her 2018 album “Queen” on which she leaned a lot more on the rapping than the singing and that album I kind of liked. Nicki Minaj had not released a proper project since then and there was much anticipation for “Pink Friday 2”, even more so that this is the part 2 to what his seen by most a...

This solo effort by Outkast’s Big Boi recently had its 6-year anniversary last June and I just happened to play it again in that same month. I can still remember picking up the CD from Barnes & Noble in L.A. while on holiday on the Westcoast the week of its release, so I’m excited to get back to it for this review. Let’s see if it’s as enjoyable a listen as it was back in Summer 2017! Starting with the short intro track “Da Next Day”, Big Boi wastes no time asserting his confidence on the instrumental rapping a straightforward fire verse which sets the stage perfectly for the album. The following song which features Killer Mike and Jeezy, the single “Kill Ill”, sees the three Southside rap heavyweights trade hard hitting bars over a dope Asian sounding beat. You just find yourself wishing Big Boi’s raps were much more present on the track even though the cringe worthy bars about Bill Cosby supposed innocence (i.e. it’s all a conspiracy). This is actually one of the complaints from ...

Curren$y & Harry Fraud - Vices New Orleans’ Curren$y certainly is one of the most prolific rappers of these times, releasing multiple projects every year. It’s great that the music keeps pouring out, but means that you’re going to miss out on a few along the way and that quality may not always be consistent. That’s certainly not the case of his collaborations with producer Harry Fraud. “Vices” is their 6th or 7th project and to me is the culmination of what they’ve been doing together this whole time. From “Cigarette Boats” to “The Outrunners”, and more recently “Regatta”, the two have been delivering music infused with these South Florida and Miami vibes. So it made sense for them to dive into the universe of “Miami Vice” and pay homage to that show full of flashy clothes, sports cars and charismatic drug dealers. A time capsule of sorts, this album has Curren$y spitting over beats sampling some of the 80s classics that were included in the show’s soundtrack, the whole thing toppe...

Earlier this week - on February 6th to be exact - 50 Cent celebrated the 20th anniversary of his debut album “Get Rich Or Die Tryin”. This is the perfect occasion to revisit the now classic album. So what makes a classic you may ask?  First off, the quality of the music for sure. And there’s plenty of that on 50 Cent’s smashing debut. The fact that Dr Dre produced on the album is not the least, but there’s also the hunger that you can feel from 50 Cent on all the records, as well as his chorus game and undeniable talent for crafting great songs.  Secondly there’s the lasting power of an album that makes it a classic. And here again it is incredible how the music, despite having been made 20 years ago, still sounds fresh and innovative. “In Da Club” is as much of a banger today as it was back in 2003 for example, and the gun toting “Heat” or atmospheric “Poor Lil’ Rich” hit just as hard today. This album also is as cohesive and consistent as can be, making for joyful listening ...

 Only just finished putting together my 2022 year end list and back again with a list of my most anticipated rap albums of 2023. Some of these have been announced - with or without firm dates - and some of have not, but there is a good chance they will come out in 2023. Let’s get into it! Skyzoo & The Other Guys: The Mind of A Saint Inspired by the TV show “Snowfall” which recounts the story of one of the most prominent drug dealers, the album will be tapped from the perspective of a fictional character, Franklin Saint, who has gone from through the trials and tribulations of a major trafficker. But unlike many rap albums that glorify the life, Skyzoo plans on addressing the harsh lessons of the life of crime and use it the album as a vehicle to show the double-sided reality, which is something many rappers fail to tackle. Knowing Skyzoo’s skills and with his 2021 album still in rotation, I’m sure we’ll be in for a treat. Dropping January 13th, 2023. El Michels Affair & Bla...

When you listen to so much music it’s very hard to come up with any kind of top ranking. Even more so when a year is a busy and as good as 2022 was for Rap and Hip-Hop. But it’s good to take time to reflect on all the music that has come out and to try and put together a list of your favorite projects so that you can kind of keep a time capsule for the previous year that you can come back to later. You can then see how well these albums still fare a few years down the line and it’s a good opportunity for anyone reading to catch up on a project that they have missed out on. Usually you tend to forget the albums that have come out early or in the first half of the year as there is so much coming out and it’s difficult to keep your attention on one project for long. Remember the times when an album would come out and the only way for you to listen to it was to buy the CD? I can tell you that back then you’d take your time with a single album - sometime spending months with it - and would ...

As usual, I wanted to close another year with a “Top 10 Bangers of…” article, collecting the songs I ended up playing the most throughout 2022. Criteria for this list are that these songs must have come out during the year, were supported by a music video, and obviously were songs that I kept coming back to long after I first heard them. Here’s the list! Benny The Butcher - Johnny P’s Caddy (feat. J. Cole) Benny The Butcher has been in my current top 5 rappers for a couple of years now, so when he came back with another album in the “Tana Talk” series in the first quarter of 2022, I was excited. This track was the first single in the rollout and also is the opener on the album. The Alchemist laced Benny with one of the best beats of the year and J. Cole delivered my favorite verse of the year on the feature. Benny The Butcher also held his own with a dope verse. This is by far my favorite song of the year and has been in heavy rotation all year. Kendrick Lamar - N95 This year marked th...

  I first listened to R.A. the Rugged Man on the Soundbombing Vol. 2 compilation from Rawkus records. He appeared on the disc with the solo cut “Stanley Kubrick” which was a highlight. This same song’s beat he later accused producer The Alchemist of stealing from him for the Royce da 5’9” underground hit “I’m the King”, as heard on album opener “Lessons”. I haven’t checked much for R.A. ever since, but recently came across his debut album “Die, Rugged Man, Die” in a sale and decided to pick it up. Here’s my Rewind << Review for this 2004 release. The album kicks off with the aforementioned “Lessons” on which R.A. basically uses stories of his long career prior to the release of this debut album to reintroduce himself to listeners. The beat is pure hip hop and the verses are full of gems. I had no idea R.A. had been around so long and the song is the perfect way to start the album. The following track “Casanova (Fly Guy)” has R.A. talking about his white trash, loser ways bein...

What a year it’s been. Let’s not state the obvious, but who would have expected what was going to happen back in February last year when I was writing that 2020 was off to a great start music-wise . Despite all the mess, last year turned out to be a good one in rap music with so many releases that this is why I’m only getting around to write about my top 10 bangers of 2020 now in March. So much music in fact that it’s been difficult to keep up and digest. But here are, in no particular order, the songs that I’m still bumping today and that I will probably find myself playing well into this year. Run The Jewels - Ooh LA LA (feat. Greg Nice and DJ Premier) The dynamic duo of El-P and Killer Mike released their 4th collaborative album under the group name Run The Jewels in the midst of the social unrest and protests surrounding the shooting of George Floyd. The group’s trademark style of music that is politically charged, heavily engaged and hard hitting was very timely and they actually ...