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Hip Hop Last Week
The next Golden Age is here.

Weeks of atrocity

A carefully curated playlist of hip hop bangers guided me through a half-marathon yesterday. My knees feel like a doctor tested my patellar reflex with the full swing of a hammer, but things are looking up- the weather seems to be pulling a sick one-eighty, I have a ton of new music to listen to, and I no longer have to willingly hurt myself by running long distances. I couldn’t write last Monday, but now I’m back. Let me fill you in on everything important that happened.

  • The Internet, a jazz/funk/soul collective led by burgeoning Odd Future members Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians, announced a Spring 2017 album. Syd and Matt will both release solo projects this fall. Listen to the Internet’s album Ego Death if you aren’t familiar with the band (I’m just now revisiting this, and holy shit, it’s good).
  • Freddie Gibbs returned home from Austria after being acquitted of charges from an alleged 2015 incident. Keep the music coming Freddie.
  • Danny Brown debuted his fourth album, The Atrocity Exhibition. It’s a magnificently anomalous, poetic, and honest piece of work. Frankly, I always appreciated Danny Brown for his uniqueness, but I never considered him a top-tier hip hop artist. He changed my mind in the first three songs.
  • If there’s one thing you do for me this week, even if you don’t read or listen to what follows, please watch Common’s Tiny Desk Concert at the White House.

Get Bigger

If you happen to cross paths with me on the streets after 10/21, you may stumble upon something horrifying- me lip-syncing, making stupid faces, and seemingly dancing-while-walking to the latest NxWorries album. Stone Throw Records gave us another free preview into the upcoming project. It’s everything I’ve learned to expect from .Paak and Knxwledge.

Bad Tendencies

You probably have never heard of Theo Martins, and if I’m being honest, I hadn’t heard of the name until this song. I may have been in the dark, but after some research, a quick run-through of his debut album Wonderland, and a few 60-minute IPAs, there’s no doubting that the talent was there (and remains). He didn’t just appear from nowhere.

Two weeks ago Theo teamed up with producer Thelonious Martin. Rumor has it that the following track will be the lead single off the duo’s collaborative project, Why I Left. We can only hope…

Inner Peace

No question, this is my favorite single of the bunch. Funny thing is, I didn’t even consider adding the track to this playlist after first-listen. Almost two weeks later and it’s been my go-to every day- it’s such fire. AK is making a name for himself in a newfound solo career and, of course, side-by-side with Issa Gold.

400

Two weeks ago I told you to listen to Five O’Clock Shadow. Now I’m nudging you to listen to more of Jimi Tents. Sometimes I feel like I’m writing about the same artists every week, but that’s one of the goals of this page, right? Tell readers who deserves more credit and try to bring these artists to light? It’s my work… so I guess I can talk about whoever I’d like, and hopefully people will listen. I’m talking to myself again…This song is sick.

Leanin’

Producer, MC, visionary- LIKE is all three. I listened to his new album, Songs Made While High, at least five times and couldn’t pick out a favorite. I literally just chose the song that was playing when I was curating this playlist. It’s hard to associate the sound of these tracks with the old school or the new, although you could draw connections to both- maybe this is the future?

September 26 to October 9

Throw me a ❤ if you’re feeling irie. If you want to explore my SoundCloud, follow this link.