Kids See Freddie’s Fetti: My 62 Favorite Hip-Hop Projects of 2018
Last year was the busiest year in Hip-Hop and also one of the best ever. That made things hard to process, especially when I thought about my favorites and how they presented their work.
Eventually, I realized I couldn’t get carried away pondering whether an artist intended a release to be an album or an EP or mixtape. I can’t get caught up in if a full, possibly bloated album like Scorpion or Culture II should be pitted against Freddie’s 10 tracks, Daytona’s 7 tracks or something like Some Rap Songs, which contains more than 10 songs but feels briefer than those last two projects I mentioned.
As good as I’m alleging that 2018 was, it was noticeable that we were let down by some of the bigger names in rap. Thankfully, indie Hip-Hop rose to the point that several artists have lapped many of the legends from your youth. That makes for an interesting blend of eras and sounds at the top. I wrote about all of this as I identified my favorite projects from the year. Let’s go.
62. Sauce Heist & Dirty Diggs — DIAMOND DUST SHOES
Standout Track: “Take It Slow,” featuring Eto
61. Ghostface Killah — The Lost Tapes
60. Meek Mill — Championships
Championships are now Meek Mill’s reality. Whether he’s shining on the court before a Sixers game, devoting his platform to criminal justice reform advocacy or trading bars with his once-nemesis Drake, Meek feels like his dreams and nightmares have transformed into championship rings. It’s nowhere near over — the Pennsylvania Supreme Court wouldn’t remove Judge Genece Brinkley from his case, and racists are vandalizing his grandmother’s Philadelphia property. But this project celebrates everything he’s overcome to this point. It also has the verse of the year, which you’ve surely heard by now. Meek isn’t deterred, he’s determined to keep piling up victories and show the world the champion he truly is.
59. Crimeapple — Perfect 3
Favorite Line: “False prophet tryna kick knowledge, practice him as chops and kicks/He on the chopping block, everybody know son don’t got the chops for this.” — “Luxury of Ignorance”
58. Czarface & MF DOOM — CZARFACE MEETS METAL FACE
57. Metro Boomin — Not all Heroes Wear Capes
Best Sequence: 5. “Space Cadet,” featuring Gunna. 6. “10 Freaky Girls,” featuring 21 Savage. 7. “Up to Something,” featuring Travis Scott and Young Thug.
56. Nas — NASIR
We all know Nas is better than this. He proved it with Swizz Beatz a couple months later. But “Adam & Eve” and “Cops Shot the Kid” got me as hype as Nas and friends in those release party videos, and “Bonjour” is the carefree song from Nas I didn’t realize I needed. NASIR is not a legacy enhancer, but he didn’t really need one.
55. Styles P — G-Host
54. Migos — Culture II
Standout Track: “Made Men” — Trap jazz??! A lot of people disliked this album, and the ones who sorta liked it didn’t make it this far into the album because they thought it was bloated. They missed out.
53. Willie the Kid & Klever Skemes — Gold Rush
52. Chuck Strangers — Consumer’s Park
51. O.C. & PF Cuttin — Opium
Instant Realization: P.F. gave O.C. a beat that sounds like the first cousin of Sean Price’s “Planet Apes,” which he also produced.
50. Tragedy Khadafi & BP — Immortal Titans
This album is for the Capone-N-Noreaga fans who remember that Tragedy was the backbone of The War Report. For the ones who know that Trag is one of Hip-Hop’s true unsung heroes, whether he was comparing Queens to Iraq on that 1997 classic or providing a political punch under the alias Intelligent Hoodlum in the early ’90s. He and producer BP seemingly came out of nowhere with this album, dropping jewels with guests like Hus Kingpin, Smoovth, Nature and others.
Did you know that he was integral in the beginnings of Lords of the Underground? Need to know more about his Juice Crew history and why his time with the collective was cut short? He covers it all in the brief, biographical “Story Never Told.”
49. Smoovth & Giallo Point — Medellin II: Don Fabio
48. Benny & 38 Spesh — Stabbed & Shot
This short project was the beginning of a brilliant year for both Benny and 38. The duo highlighted it with the massive back-and-forth centerpiece, “Driver’s Seat,” with Jadakiss and Styles P.
I had no clue who 38 Spesh was before 2018, but I quickly became familiar, seeing him run beside Benny, the spitter’s spitter. They would both go on to create bigger and better material as the year continued, but this provided excellent insight into what the future would hold.
47. Crimeapple — Aguardiente
Standout Track: “Another Round” — Producer Big Ghost LTD helmed the entire project, and gives Crime woozy horns and a hard beat for his slick, metaphorical tale about the exploits of E&J, Jim Beam, Captain Morgan and more.
46. T.I. — Dime Trap
Best Moment: At the end of Young Thug-featured “The Weekend,” Tip explains his process and “the evolution of trap music.” As he puts it, “dope boys go through many things,” so the music should and will reflect that when it’s done well. Nearly 20 years in, T.I. continues showing us the possibilities of the sub-genre he basically fathered.
45. Cardi B. — Invasion of Privacy
A Sentence: I came for the sound effects, fun and energy, but I stayed for the bangers, pop hits and narratives that sledgehammered my expectations.
44. Eminem — Kamikaze
Em channeling his inner Playboi Carti and crooning, “woke up to honkies sounding like me” is one of the funnier things I heard this year. “The Greatest” is what you get if you blend 2018 commercial trap with the goofy type of beat we’re used to hearing on Slim Shady singles. Mike Will ‘Made It’ zany enough to work. ”Not Alike” is a Tay Keith banger that’s even goofier, with Em mimicking what he hears when he listens to the most popular artists of the moment on his own radio station. Aside from making me laugh and nod my head, this track also made me realize that Royce Da 5’9” and Drake are the only people to rap over DJ Premier and Tay Keith production in 2018. That’s an accomplishment.
Like many of the artists from his era, Eminem isn’t exactly getting better with age. He’s also hellbent on proving the obvious: that he can rap. I understand why that’s a point of criticism for many, but those yells would be much louder if he insisted on attempting the things he doesn’t do well (hello, Recovery). Kamikaze found Em executing in his comfort zone much better than he had in years, while also manipulating modern flows because, well, he can.
43. The Alchemist — Lunch Meat
Of course we’re fiending for a longer release reminiscent of the 1st Infantry, Chemical Warfare days, but it’s a different time. It’s cost effective to drop just a handful of songs with trusted collaborators, especially when you’re releasing a project on Bandcamp, directly to the consumer, on a limited run. Nobody has perfected this process more than our boy Al. His usual accomplices — Roc Marciano, Action Bronson, Styles P, Westside Gunn, Conway and Benny — feel right at home on the first of what will surely be many short and sweet suites from the Chemist.
42. V DON — The Bone Collector
Favorite Line: “Put a butter roll on his head for throwin’ salt in my mentions.” — Crimeapple on “Ain’t Safe”
41. Styles P & Dave East — Beloved
Got Dayum Moment: The idea that Dave East is one of the best young MCs in NYC and beyond is nothing new. However, pairing him with an all-time great like Styles P is a different animal. It meant he’d need to level up. That definitely occurred from the second he begins rhyming on the spasmodic “It’s Lit.” He’s got no regard for the fact that some people might be shocked that he has no regard for much of anything when on the mic:
Hail Mary, I fucked over good people like Madoff
Smack ’em with the pistol, if I shoot, I’m goin’ away, dawg
Bricks at the Sheridan, pounds at the Aloft
It’s fucked up, but Donald Trump is the new Adolf
Whoa. Don’t question East.
40. Planet Asia — Mansa Musa
Standout Track: “Peace God” is a floaty Five Percenter anthem that would make many of P.A.’s predecessors proud.
39. Termanology — Bad Decisions
The Lawrence, Mass.-born, NYC resident Termanology dropped a dope one-foot-in, one-foot-out type of album about family life and the trappings of the underworld. As creator of the Good Dad Gang, we know what Term values most, but the better of his two 2018 projects, Bad Decisions, explores how the streets keep calling.
38. Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs
First off, Earl did battle in 2018 with Freddie Gibbs for best album cover of the year honors. But, more importantly, this album made me realize that Earl Sweatshirt just might be the one to take this chopped-up, disheveled style of hip-hop to the mainstream, or at least to the edge of it. That would also be a victory for The Alchemist, Knxwledge, Blu and everybody else who has been making music that sounds like this for several years. The immediate acclaim this project got makes it fairly easy to envision this happening. It’ll be a little annoying when the misinformed inevitably pretend that Earl invented something here, but that’s the price that needs to be paid sometimes to remind people that Hip-Hop is a sonically diverse genre.
Some Rap Songs plays like a continuous story, and one that you’ll definitely need to parse through multiple times to understand. But if you’ve been listening to Earl over the years, you can’t help but be happy for him after hearing songs like “Veins,” which finds him reflecting on life after finally going outside. Earl seems rejuvenated, and Some Rap Songs indicates new perspectives and a new era for what was already a great career.
37. V DON & Dark Lo — Timeless
Best Sequence: 2. “Roy Jones,” featuring Benny 3. “Ron Harvey” 4. “Tenchu”
You could draw or describe a family tree to depict how I discover a new artist. Here, let’s try it: I fell into a big V Don hole last year because of his recent projects with Willie the Kid. I rock with Willie the Kid because of his EP with my favorite producer The Alchemist, but also because of DJ Drama, who paced my college and post-collegiate years with classic mixtapes from Jeezy, Lil Wayne and others. And so on.
In 2018, I bought V Don’s 2015 compilation, The Opiate. Even though it featured Dave East, members of the A$AP Mob, Conway and Westside Gunn, it was Philadelphia’s Dark Lo who stood out to me. His abrasive tone, uber-violent wit and hilarious adlibs have only improved in the three years since, and Timeless appears to be Lo’s arrival. I’m going to stop short of saying this album takes after its title, but it’s very good. V DON might be the game’s most versatile producer, having crafted his own stoned spooky sound that can lean toward trap or boom bap, depending on his mood and the MC he’s working with. For Lo, it’s haunting pianos and dusty chops that give him space to deliver a flow that’s equally aggressive and comedic.
36. Styles P — Dime Bag
Standout Track: “Money and Checks”
The second of two solo albums of Styles’ busy 2018, Dime Bag is a perfect representation of the evolution of SP. After nearly two decades in the game with Bad Boy, Ruff Ryders and D-Block, Styles really just wants to operate his juice bars, continue on his plant-based diet, and smoke. He’s about 5,000 times more chill than early 2000s Ghost, who would reach for the hawk in a second or proudly tell you he was ignorant and negative. He sums up his current outlook on the scorching “Lottery Games:”
I’m just lookin’ to find my happy place
When you die, a couple of niggas’ll give you accolades
Activate my chi to evacuate
Meditate, smoke one, break down, evaporate
We’ve seen a lot of rappers age poorly, but this ain’t that. There’s literally never been a question about Styles P’s authenticity or skills. You won’t have any after Dime Bag.
35. Conway — Everybody is F.O.O.D.
Standout Track: “Land O’ Lakes,” featuring Busta Rhymes — I’ll remember 2018 as the year Busta let us know he loved Griselda Records as much as the rest of us. His verse here is just as good as his more celebrated appearance on Westside Gunn’s “Brossface Brippler.”
34. Knowledge the Pirate — Flintlock
33. Joell Ortiz & Apollo Brown — Mona Lisa
32. Westside Gunn — Hitler Wears Hermes 6
Standout Track: “Ready Made,” featuring Keisha Plum — Producer Marco Polo clearly had an understanding of the hardbody Halloween vibe Westside Gunn sought for the sixth installment of his highly regarded series.
31. The Alchemist — Bread
Standout Track: ”Roman Candles,” featuring Roc Marciano and Black Thought
30. Hermit and the Recluse (KA & Animoss) — Orpheus vs. the Sirens
29. Mac Miller — Swimming
Rest in peace to a young legend, whose impact will be felt long after his final day. His last piece of art was funky and reflective like much of his previous output.
Whether you loved him while he was here or are just now getting into his music, understand how talented he was at rocking his own Larry Fisherman beats as well as those of others. He made magic with everybody from Dam Funk to Jay Electronica without it sounding forced. Mac Miller was the artistic personification of what I grew to love most about Hip-Hop as an adult: that no artist is relegated a single sound unless they want to be. Rest easy, Mac.
28. 38 Spesh & Kool G Rap — Son of G Rap
Upstate NY and Queens collaborate on Son of G Rap, which has Kool G Rap and 38 Spesh sounding much more like contemporaries than the title suggests. Spesh and KGR show immediate chemistry on an all-star New York roster of producers that includes DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Showbiz, Daringer and 38 himself. While 38’s voice is nothing like G Rap’s, you do start to notice some similarities on tracks like “The Meeting.” There, 38 delivers chilling lines about about a man getting “married and buried by the same pastor” — you know, Road to the Riches-type material. I was a bit perplexed when I noticed that Pete Rock gave 38 one of the same beats we heard on Don’t Smoke Rock, but then Spesh started rapping from the perspective of an aborted child, and I stopped thinking about that.
Spesh showed more range than on his previous projects, and this is really more of his album, with Kool G Rap appearing on nine of the 15 tracks. N.O.R.E., AZ, Cormega, Freddie Gibbs, Vado, Anthony Hamilton and more all showed out for 38 Spesh, and the legend Kool G Rap gave his biggest co-sign of all time. Good year to be 38.
27. Jericho Jackson — Khrysis & Elzhi Are Jericho Jackson
A Sentence: Elzhi is one of Hip-Hop’s preeminent writers, and he proves it over and over with in-depth examinations of fake friendship, self improvement, police brutality and failed romance.
26. Travis Scott — Astroworld
Track That I Loved That My 15- and 21-Year-Old Cousins Didn’t Feel At All: “Stop Trying to be God,” featuring Stevie Wonder, Philip Bailey, Kid Cudi and James Blake
25. J. Cole — KOD
Standout Track: “1985 (Intro to “The Fall Off”)
24. KIDS SEE GHOSTS (Kanye West & Kid Cudi) — KIDS SEE GHOSTS
I recall reading a review of this album several months ago that mentioned that its two best songs, “Reborn” and “Cudi Montage,” are filled with inspirational platitudes. That might be so, but I don’t think that’s worth pointing out because sometimes you need to hear somebody belt, “stayyy strong.” It’s all the more effective when it’s Kid Cudi — somebody who has gone through bouts of anxiety and depression and been open about it. That relatability and honesty has always been a large portion of his appeal. Hearing his growth, especially now that he’s “Reborn,” is easily the best aspect of this project.
Pretty much any nice thing I would have to say about present-day Kanye West would center around this album or Pusha T’s Daytona. Unlike on his solo Wyoming atrocity, ye, some of Kanye’s verses here make it obvious that he spent more than a month working on this project. He’s especially thoughtful on “Reborn” before turning things over to Cudi, and sounding somewhat like his old self on the bangin’ “4th Dimension.”
These 23 minutes feel like a grand emergence from the darkest of times. Cudi and Ye have been through a lot together and separately, but it’s clear that they inspired each other in a way that wrought cohesion and an excellent album that only they could make.
23. El Camino — Walking on Water
El Camino isn’t officially on Griselda Records, but he is known as the young shooter and prodigy of Westside Gunn and crew. He doesn’t have as powerful a voice as WSG, Conway or Benny, but his lyrics, at times, seem far more direct and stark.
Among the highlights is the heartfelt dedication to his late grandmother, “Rosemary”, where Camino spits the heartbreaking and ominous line, “my heart gone, ain’t no replacin’ you.” That’s the only respite from this set of combative content. “Communion” includes a verse from Benny the Butcher so vicious that Camino saw it fit to list his feature as his Spanish namesake, ‘Elcarnicero.’
Walking on Water is short, yet impactful. It purposely feels familiar, with plenty of recognizable samples and snippets from State Property and Max B and Gucci Mane DVD freestyles. In a short 30 minutes, El Camino achieves the kind of vibe some artists struggle to establish in 70 minutes. In just his early 20s and from the gutter of Buffalo, Camino has no shortage of things to say. He’s already gearing up for another project, with nothing but a bright future ahead of him.
22. Drake — Scorpion
Best Sequence: (Disc 1) 7. “8 Out of 10,” 8. “Mob Ties,” 9. “Can’t Take a Joke”
21. PRhyme — PRhyme 2
Biggest Surprise: A song with Yelawolf (“W.O.W. [With Out Warning]”) was somehow better than a song with Roc Marciano (“Respect My Gun”).
20. Roc Marciano & DJ Muggs — KAOS
When Roc Marciano made his collect call after getting bagged on the title track of his 2010 classic, Marcberg, the Long Island MC spoke about one day being so big that he would need a chauffeur. Eight years later, those dreams have turned into facts for our protagonist. Now, he’s calmly delivering bougie boasts like, “all my shit’s tailored, all your shit’s whatever” beside legendary producer DJ Muggs. Life is good for Roc Marci, and his creative output is even better. He dropped an astounding four projects in 2018, including KAOS. The man really gave us a platter of Hip-Hop we didn’t actually deserve.
“White Dirt” finds him poring over what others might make of his persona. In about two and a half minutes, he discusses being told that he’s “douchey” and “so rugged but R&B smooth.” Meanwhile, “Aunt Bonnie” doesn’t offer any of the tenderness you might anticipate with such a title. Nope, it’s a reference to the Bonneville his killers ride in, waiting for you to test him.
On KAOS, the beats are far more sinister and psychedelic than Marc fans are accustomed to, thanks to Muggs. This apparently took Roc to even more nefarious and braggadocious places than he’d ever led us, which is crazy, to say the least. He didn’t give up on his bloody vignettes and kingpin talk, he enhanced it. “I’d rather do crime with the mob than punch a timecard,” Roc gruffs on “Aunt Bonnie.” It’s really a cinematic, banner song for Roc, particularly near the end as opera vocals rise to the surface and he envisions himself as a gun-toting underground superhero:
They gentrified the game, that’s when the God came in Cartier frames
I sprayed your frame, you changed body weight
There are at least three different versions of this album, but one contains two pleasantly surprising bangers that find Muggs experimenting with a trap-esque sound that sacrifices nothing. “Caught a Lick” and “Twist Ya Wig” are so crisp, so fresh, that you wouldn’t mind Roc trying his hand at more tracks like this, unless you’re an angry YouTube commenter.
I understand the criticism that this is just Roc chiming in on a preexisting wave, but shit, dozens of MCs have done the same thing with his signature sound since 2010. He tried something new (for him) and floated, point blank.
It’s not a bad idea to put all the songs from Roc Marciano’s three vocal albums from 2018 on a playlist and just shuffle them. It’ll help you notice some of the differences and merits of all three of his exquisite works.
19. Black Thought & 9th Wonder — Streams of Thought Vol. 1
Standout Track: “Thank You” featuring KIRBY
18. Freddie Gibbs — Freddie
It’s not that I expected a soundscape that matched that album cover, but I was surprised at just how much energy gangsta Gibbs packed in these 10 tracks. The beats are unrelenting, and even when he and primary producer Kenny Beats slow the tempo a little for “Triple Threat,” they then smash you upside the head with “Set Set” and “Toe Tag.” This is a certified gym and whip banger, speakers beware.
17. Roc Marciano — Behold a Dark Horse
If you’re a Roc Marci fan who found KAOS and RR2 to be a little too experimental, this one was for you. If you ever whined about Roc’s drumless production, enjoy the treat that is “Congo,” which is about as faced paced a track as you’ve ever heard the don do. With Q-Tip on the hook, your neck is in for a three-minute workout messin’ around with this cut.
Tip returns for the closing “Consigliere,” a triumphant production where Roc explains, “I’m playin’ the long game.” He’s no liar — he’d drop KAOS and Pimpstrumentals after this one.
16. The Carters (JAY Z & Beyoncé) — Everything is Love
Standout Track: “NICE,” featuring Pharrell Williams
When I heard this album, my first instinct was to inform everybody I knew that Beyoncé’s was rapping better than her husband. That’s obviously not true, but her flow sounded as in-the-pocket as ever, as evidenced by my constant rewinding of her “Bought him a jet…” couplet on “APESHIT.” On its surface, a line like “can’t believe we made it,” on the chorus doesn’t mean much until you consider that they:
- Release albums on their own platform
- Tell the NFL that it’s not needed and then gross $253.5 million in mostly NFL stadiums
- Shut down the Louvre Museum in Paris for a dope visual
- Aaaand don’t need to rely on any of this new material at all during the aforementioned tour because they have so many classics.
It’s historic flexing, actual power in Hip-Hop, and it’s even cooler that it’s a power couple doing it. That backdrop is perfect for the inspiration within “NICE” and “BLACK EFFECT.” These lines from the GOAT say it all:
Dapper Dan at 4AM, shit, I am the culture
I made my own waves, so now they’re anti-Tidal
I’m livin’ the no sock life to spite you
Since the Kalief doc, they’ve been at my neck
Y’all can tell ’em Trayvon is comin’ next
The SEC, the FBI or the IRS
I pass the alphabet boys like an eye test
15. Roc Marciano — RR2: The Bitter Dose
14. Royce Da 5’9” — Book of Ryan
Lukewarm Take: “Boblo Boat” was the best thing J. Cole was involved in this year.
The second of Royce Da 5’9”’s pair of 2018 albums is among the most personal the genre has to offer. It’s a collection of family stories that covers everything from summer fun to domestic violence. Naturally, bars of braggadocio are splashed throughout because it’s Royce.
One listen to “Cocaine,” and it’s clear that Royce left everything he had in the booth. The track chronicles Royce’s discovery about his father’s addiction. It’s equal parts heartbreaking and head-nodder until — Spoiler Alert — Royce lets us know his dad has been clean for more than 20 years.
I do think I would have ranked this a bit higher if it had a slightly more focused sound (peep the contrast between “Caterpillar” and “Anything/Everything,” for example), but you can’t tell anybody how to write their own book. It’s Ryan’s story, and we all need to be appreciative that he let us in. Royce’s trajectory since 2014’s Prhyme has been incredible.
Also, when Boogie said, “this Metro Boomin mixed with Thundercat” on “Dumb,” I felt that.
13. Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, & The Alchemist — Fetti
12. Skyzoo — In Celebration of Us
Standout Track: “Everybody’s Fine” — You don’t even realize the album’s opener is eight-plus minutes. That’s because it’s an instant classic full of vivid imagery that you don’t want to end.
11. DJ Muggs — Dia Del Asesinato
We’re approaching 20 years since the last Soul Assassins album, but Muggs never lost his compilation crafting skill. It’s a talent he used back then to create a legacy outside of Cypress Hill, and now he’s boosted it with direct-to-consumer creative control through his website. Dia Del Asesinato is lean at 10 tracks, but also comprehensive as it offers many of the featured artists two tracks to establish their chemistry with Muggs. Raekwon, MF Doom, Kool G Rap, Meyhem Lauren and Mach-Hommy each have more than one appearance, with a couple of them getting back-to-back segments.
Journeys like Muggs’ need to be saluted more often. The path from ’90s legend to independent artist who doesn’t repay a giant like Columbia Records for anything, and instead sells limited edition vinyl and CDs for premium prices is beyond admirable.
10. Evidence — Weather or Not
Most Emotional Moment: When Evidence closed the album with an updated version of his contribution to my 2017 album of the year, The Good Book, Vol. 2 by The Alchemist and Budgie. “By My Side Too” is an audio promise to his son, Enzo, that they’ll stick together forever as they both mourn the loss of Enzo’s mother to cancer.
9. Black Panther Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
It’s not often that you see soundtracks popping up on lists like this, but it’s not often that a soundtrack is actually a Kendrick Lamar bonus album in disguise. So, it’s decidedly excellent.
It’s got some of the year’s biggest hits in “All the Stars” with SZA and “King’s Dead,” with Jay Rock and a god-level guest appearance by Future. The album also educated people like me about an already bubbling collective from Northern Cali, SOB x RBE, with “Paramedic!” — a song that’s definitely among my 10 favorites from ‘18.
Another random thing I realized about this star-studded album: These songs are what amounts to a nice cache of canned responses. Party invite that you think might be kinda lame? Just ask “Are you on X yet??!” like K-Dot, ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz and Saudi. You receive one of those awkward “why didn’t you call me” comments on your IG post from Friday? You’ve actually got two options: “Why you emotional???,” courtesy of “Big Shot” with Travis Scott, or “Miss me with that buuullshit” from the anthemic, aforementioned “King’s Dead.” So I guess this makes Black Panther the year’s most useful album?
8. Jay Rock — Redemption
7. Black Milk — FEVER
Jazzy, uplifting, honest about America in 2018, and, of course, overlooked, FEVER is a true gem. I’ve enjoyed the Detroit producer/MC’s previous work, but this is the one that truly clicked for me. “Laugh Now, Cry Later”offers commentary on a variety of topics, not harping on any of them for any significant period of time, and the two-step inducing vibe of “Could it Be” makes it one of the absolute best songs of 2018.
Quintessential cleaning music or just something to help you reflect, FEVER is a great straight-through listen — even more so than some of the albums you’ll see ranked ahead of it. Please stop sleeping on this if you haven’t pushed play yet.
6. Masta Ace & Marco Polo — A Breukelen Story
Few, if any, can create the concept album like Masta Ace. He’s been introducing characters, plots, hopes, fears and consequences in 60-minute increments since Slaughtahouse. It’s cool to hear him talk about his “30 years of excellence” on “Three,” featuring EMC. This album follows Marco Polo’s long, complicated journey to the point where he met Ace and began making classic music with him. This is Ace’s best work in years.
5. Benny — Tana Talk 3
As soon as Tana Talk 3’s intro hit, I immediately realized Benny would make a great director or biographer of the remarkable stories of either of his cousins, Westside Gunn and Conway, whenever they’re ready for the silver screen or the page.
Think this overnight? Then you won’t get me
You ain’t see Conway when he barely could walk, hit with that cold blicky
Or West on the run, comin’ home busy
Before he did that stretch, we bumped heads in the Feds
Back in ’06, we all spent time on the cell block, made the jail hot
Now the checks coming straight through the mail slot
But this album isn’t about his more famous family members. After the above lines, he briefly discusses how he wound up in jail and how much it hurt to miss Christmas. The ‘Tana brand of Talk revolves around Benny’s drug dealing glory days on Buffalo’s Montana Avenue, and the lessons learned from those triumphs.
Yeah, Benny signed his deal with Griselda, but even now he still gets that urge:
I’m tryna change, but in my head it’s sounds
Telling me I can be El Chapo instead of Kevin Liles
Aside from a compelling narrative told by a gifted storyteller, Benny is also ridiculous with the punchlines, especially ones that involve sports. They’ll be quick hitters that are real random, too, giving you even more questions about how the Butcher does what he does.
Listen, dawg, we really came from grave conditions
Ran the trap like an offense, and I’m Lane Kiffin
That’s from my personal favorite, “Goodnight,” which has one of the spookier beats ever supplied by in-house producer Daringer. Griselda’s other in-house producer is suddenly … Alchemist? He pops up at least twice on every release by the label, and you really get the sense that he found new energy by collaborating with these cats. ALC always gives them that hard knock that you mostly only heard in his Mobb Deep days. It’s a marked contrast from the pack Al gave Curren$y and Freddie Gibbs.
You can tell how seriously Benny took this opportunity, having been a local mixtape rapper back when he started his Tana Talk series. He can keep saying “the Butcher comin’” all he wants, but it’s clear that Tana Talk 3 marked his big arrival.
4. Phonte — No News is Good News
One of the many interesting things about Phonte is that he exists in the unique space where he can craft poignant love songs with his group, The Foreign Exchange, or alongside Eric Roberson, host podcasts with Questlove, but then he can also tell you, “so help me god, I’ll murder you niggas” with a straight face. All of it is taken seriously, without critique or dismissal, as he’s one of the more respected figures to emerge in the past 15 years.
Hopefully, you know by now that the former Little Brother frontman was basically Drake before Drake. Aubrey has also been giving it up to Phonte for years when asked about his influences.
Aside from engaging in lyrical murder, Phonte also provided some of the best content of 2018. “Find That Love Again,” featuring Roberson, is about overcoming tribulations to get back to what makes you you. With the release of this album, Phonte has reached that point, and wants you to know the same can happen for you, no matter how difficult things have been:
I started questioning everything I’m believing in
Now that it’s over, feel like I can finally breathe again
I hope this record finds you if you ever need a friend
Seven years ago, these stories I wouldn’t dare tell
That’s all for now, farewell until we meet again
Phonte closes out the song with his best J Dilla “Shouts” impersonation, shouting out the luminaries of today’s Hip-Hop renaissance, from Kaytranada to Royce Da 5’9,” Your Old Droog and Conway. “Euphorium (Back to the Light)” is equally as uplifting, with Phontigallo stating that this is actually the “first time in my life I’m finally feeling like I could be myself.”
The year’s best back-to-back track pairing, “Expensive Genes” and “Cry No More,” dives deep into the health issues that devastate African-American families and the heartbreak that often follows. He does all of this in breathtaking fashion in a combined four and a half minutes, and there was no more meaningful stretch in the genre last year. With Nottz setting the tone, Phonte explains on “Expensive Genes:”
Watch your weight, no mistakes in the least
Or else you too will dig a grave with your teeth
I wish I that I could fit in these expensive genes
A waistline that’ll rip the seams
And pharmaceuticals that sit between ya heart medicine
Cough medicine, blood thinners and antihistamines
We got the ocean front view, but scope is so limited
Cuz young niggas be dyin’ of old nigga shit
Wifey sleepin’ in the guest room cuz you snore at night
It’s like 40 years old is 3/4 life
Our biggest fears were shots or armed robbery
Now, the biggest fears are clots and oncology
Phonte’s not a young man anymore, and it’s reflected here. It wasn’t always the easiest listen, but Phonte’s sing-and-spit combo and insight make No News is Good News mandatory listening.
3. Pusha T — Daytona
It was a rough year on and off the mic for Kan, the MAGA hat don. But I can’t say the same for his year in production. Aided by Andrew Dawson, Mike Dean and Pi’erre Bourne, Daytona’s 21 minutes represent his creative peak for 2018. The vivacious tracks bring Pusha T’s drug empire raps to life in a way that we haven’t heard since the last time they truly locked in, on 2013’s My Name Is My Name. You immediately remember how special their connection is from the opening moment of the album, when Push spews a line that was certainly appreciated by those of us who happen to be fans of De La Soul, Pink Floyd and Plies:
Pullin’ up in that new toy
The wrist on that boy, rock star like Pink Floyd
Wavin’ at rude bwoy
I’m wavin’ at you, boy
Ran off on the plug, too (two), like Trugoy
Pusha Terrance marvels at himself throughout Daytona, that he made the transition from trapper to rapper to record executive, and the fashion in which he did it. The inflection in his voice during the first verse of “Come Back Baby” shows how delighted he is about how he changed his fortunes and excelled in the dope game, in philanthropy, real estate and in the booth:
Blew through thousands, we made millions
Cocaine soldiers, once civilians
Bought hoes Hondas, took care children
Lent my pastor, build out buildings
Rapped on classics, I been brilliant
Now we blend in, we chameleons, ahh!
Since the Clipse days, Pusha’s music has always let you in on the bloodthirst to succeed that fuels the dealer’s risks. With Daytona you get the retrospective view as well as the celebration of the moments when those risks were rewarded.
Pusha T makes music for “high taste level, luxury, drug raps fans,” period, as he tweeted just days before the release. If you know, you know.
2. Westside Gunn — Supreme Blientele
Macho Man Randy Savage was talking tough. Chris Benoit did the unthinkable in and out of the ring. Sabu bounced people off the ropes, and the late Mean Gene Okerlund captured all the special guests’ thoughts on the proceedings. Supreme Blientele really felt like the illest installment of Wrestlemania. You never knew who would emerge next. Anderson .Paak, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Roc Marciano, Pete Rock, The Alchemist, Elzhi, Crimeapple, Harry Fraud and 9th Wonder all tagged in and debuted new moves and used trusted maneuvers for incredible results.
If Flygod was Westside Gunn’s “purple tape,” then his 2018 opus is definitely his Supreme Clientele. The tributary title of this album makes sense because like Ghostface’s classic, Supreme Blientele (released two other times as Chris Benoit and God Is The Greatest) is also weird, excellent and better as it progresses. It’s a hectic and exciting journey that depicts everything from West’s extremely detailed jail stories, up to his present-day treks in Calabasas while, of course, rocking Yeezy Calabasas. WSG’s outfit descriptions are as vivid as his gun talk.
But for all of his adlib assaults, Gunn’s lyrics have improved, and so has his ear for production. That’s hard to imagine if you haven’t heard this, but he definitely gets the best out out of Pete Rock and Statik Selektah and the bluesiest out of 9th Wonder. Everything about this album is outsized, and it’s as good or better than everything he and his label had done up to that point. I have no idea what happened between Griselda and Shady Records as this album was being finished, but I don’t understand how the latter didn’t stumble over itself to release this monster of an album.
Though I do believe the project gets better as it goes along, the middle chunk of it is unstoppable. You get a back-to-back Alchemist section in “Elizabeth” and “MEAN Gene.” Then comes the hazy Sadhugold-produced “Sabu,” which relies on the most random Busta Rhymes vocal sample that only album-cut fiends will remember.
The sampled Busta lines are from 1996’s “Ill Vibe” with Q-Tip, and they have absolutely nothing to do with Westside Gunn’s verses, but they are still somehow perfect: “smoke trees, get cotton mouth, wild munchies/ Bounce down the block, eat food at Luigi’s/ Ass constipated, too much extra cheese.” After that bizarrely addictive moment, of course Busta shows up for one of his best verses in years on the Alchemist thumper, “Brossface Brippler.”
I’ve listened to Busta since Leaders of the New School, but I don’t really recall coke rap ever being one of his attributes — until he got with Griselda. He’s as unhinged as he usually is in his big guest spots, it’s just this time it’s about him reimagining himself as the dungeon dragon of blow:
I cut coke like I’m chopping beats, they call me Mr. Walt, bae
Master, the chef, I’m cooking coke, they call me Salt Bae
Poet Keisha Plum also delivers one of the best performances on this album. She gives chills on “RVD” with her seductive observations. Her part is only 45 seconds or so, but it feels like you just read an incredible chapter of a crime and romance novel. Harry Fraud’s guitars on “Spanish Jesus” will stick with you for days. Benny, the first voice you hear on the album, contributes three verses that served as a great lead-in to his own album’s release.
That Westside Gunn is able to procure top-notch performances from his guests points to a RZA/Dr. Dre/Kanye-type ability to orchestrate and elevate features into perfectly placed moments. Sequencing is everything on this album, and there aren’t any dull moments.
If you love hardcore hip-hop, you’re going to look back at late 2015 to 2018 and realize you were living in one of the pinnacle periods of the genre. WSG has been making a lot of that happen. He’s got hands in the indie/physical sales lane, as well as the majors via his Shady deal. He also partnered with New Era for a dope Buffalo Bison hat collaboration. On the Pete Rock-produced, Elzhi-featured “The Steiners,” he briefly describes his contributions to the game:
I took a paycut when I signed my deal
I do this for the culture, you wouldn’t understand my sculpture
‘They might not understand the nasal voice and gun sounds, but they should understand that Westside Gunn has already changed the merch game for independent artists, while ushering in a familiar yet futuristic boom bap sound that other artists are constantly emulating. He’s also running the label that has two of the East Coast’s most sought-after MCs in Benny and Conway.
Flygod made it evident that Westside Gunn and crew would impact the hardcore space for years to come. Supreme Blientele, Tana Talk 3 and Conway’s F.O.O.D. series let you know that statement still stands.
1. Nipsey Hussle — Victory Lap
Best Sequence: 1. “Victory Lap,” 2. “Rap Niggas,” 3. “Last Time That I Checc’d”
Fans of a certain age will always remember Industry Rule #4,080. Nipsey’s response to shady record company people is the catalyst for Victory Lap, an album that dropped in February 2018, which feels like it was a decade ago, given our current music and news cycle.
Nearly 30 years after Q-Tip’s aforementioned rule, rappers are no longer helpless as they warn you about greedy executives. They’re now bragging about owning their masters, and outside of family, love and work ethic, there’s nothing you hear rappers speak about with more pride. Nipsey’s marathon has always been about making sure artists understand that their worth is more than simply being a corporate asset.
For every celebration on Victory Lap, there’s a how or some other piece of advice. You know how it feels like certain rappers beat certain topics to death? Well, it’s kind of like that with this album, but Black empowerment and entrepreneurship are the topics at hand, and those never get old. The songs veer in and out of different lanes of this construct: Instruction (“Million While You Young”); chest puffing (“Last Time That I Checc’d”); and profundity (“Dedication”), to name a few.
When I say chest puffing, it’s not just in the sense that he’s boasting about having money, owning things or being the ultimate hustler, but also that he has long been trying to motivate others in this fashion. It’s a style of rap that only a handful have truly been dedicated to in recent years. Nip knows this, and it shows in the way he glides over “Last Time That I Checc’d:”
Look, I laid down the game for you niggas
Taught you how to charge more than what they paid for you niggas
Own the whole thang for you niggas
Reinvest, double up and then explained for you niggas
If you think he’s cappin,’ YG vouches for this twice during his guest spot, including:
Aye, Nip, I remember all that game you taught me
Don’t fuck around and get played by these label owners
Nip wants to put others on and see them succeed. Think Issa Rae’s “rooting for everybody Black” sentiment or Biz Markie/Big Daddy Kane delighting, “damn, it feels good to see people up on it!” Nipsey’s dispensing of game gives him an even more active role within his performance. It’s always exciting to realize, in real time, that you’re listening to a rapper hit his or her stride, and that’s absolutely the feeling that Victory Lap provides.
He and Buddy reflect on accomplishments of this ilk on “Status Symbol 3,” riding around on a jet-fuel-infused victory lap, realizing the aggregate of their accomplishments is a “trip, trip, trip, trip.”
On “Blue Laces 2,” you get a sense of why Nip “hussles” so damn hard. His third verse vividly depicts a beach shootout where his friend got hit, and how he had to keep him calm on the way to the hospital. When they arrived, Nipsey had to think of an alibi to tell the LAPD’s gang unit that had also arrived at the hospital — after they had already tossed his bleeding partner’s gun. You can get stuck on the fact that Nipsey isn’t quite the lyricist that others on this list are, but this is where I remind you that there’s much more to lyricism than vocabulary size or how fast you flow. This is unequivocally among the best verses of 2018.
Mike & Keys, Rance, Sap, Street Symphony, Teddy Walton, DJ Khalil and Murda Beatz deserve ample credit for providing timeless, unmistakably West Coast music for this project, but the producers and guest appearances on Victory Lap really take a backseat to the strong content. Kendrick Lamar, YG, Cee-Lo, Marsha Ambrosius, Dom Kennedy, The-Dream and Belly all do well — especially Kendrick when he envisions 2Pac smiling down on their drive and dedication — but they’re absolutely not what you’ll remember most about this album. Nipsey knew he created something special. He told Rap Radar that he and his confidants decided very late in the process to make the pacesetting title track of this album first in sequence. That’s significant because it contains a few lines that quickly establish that this album is different:
See, bro, if you ain’t live and die by the street code
Been through all these motions, up and down like a seesaw
I could never view you as my equal
Fuck I wanna hear yo CD fo’?!!??
When you make music like this, you should ask that question so incredulously.
Victory Lap is the ultimate go-get-it album of this decade. And what’s more, he brought the GRAMMY’s Recording Academy to Slauson and Crenshaw. Yep, he forced the Academy to accept and recognize his output despite the releases of more commercial artists. These are Nipsey’s terms, his expression, his vision of saving, grinding and living good because of it.
Legendary, self-made progress, indeed.
