Checking In On How Busy My Favorite Artists Were In 2016
The year of our demons 2016 has been a busy one for hip hop. A number of artists have followed a recent trend of releasing smaller sized mixtapes with quick turnarounds between projects. I’m a big fan of this trend.
This is not a new thing, of course. Lil Wayne and others (including a big name on this list — that’s what we call a tease!) did this in the mid 2000s. The resurgence is a welcome part of the future of hip hop.
In 2015, we saw Drake and Future release their own individual mixtapes early in the year and then a joint effort later in the year. Drake then went back to the classic procedure and released a 20-plus song album this year. And while Views was the only full length release from Drake this year, he has been making singles and featuring on other artists’ work.
With so much new (and good (and G.O.O.D.)) music this year, it’s been difficult to keep up. In one day, October 28, we were blessed with releases by Jeezy, Meek Mill, AND 2 Chainz. By Halloween, the trick-or-treaters were greeted by “Good Drank” on repeat.
All of that is not to say that everyone has been busy in 2016, so here are the ranks:
Kanye West (Dead Last)
Important distinction here: this is about music. Kanye has the biggest split of busyness making music and busyness tweeting of any rapper out there. The opening months of the year were so much fun just for following Kanye on social media.
If the world ended a week before Pablo’s Day (the new name for Valentine’s Day, btw) the entire afterlife would be lit trying to find Yeezus and get him to release the album to God. Now that we’ve heard it? Eh.
Another important distinction: I enjoyed The Life of Pablo very much and listened to it a LOT. Like a lot a lot. Like annoyed the people that had to drive in my car until summer a lot. Like my three year old learned the rap to “Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1” (the part after the bleached asshole part — come on guys I’m a responsible father) a lot. So I’m not saying that TLOP is bad.
What I am saying is this: only a few songs are VERY well done: “No More Parties In LA” has the best rap verse of the year, but it’s Kendrick’s, not Ye’s. “Ultralight Beam” is deservedly up for two Grammys, but Chance The Rapper is the star of that show. “Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1” is good only because of Kid Cudi’s beautiful hook and “Pt. 2” is basically a “Panda” remix featuring Kanye.
“Real Friends” is Ye’s only good work on the album. The rest of it felt like it was done hastily, even by Kanye’s own admission.
“Wolves” was eventually fixed (as promised!), but even that took some time (over a month).
Since then, Kanye West has been mostly quiet (again, on the music front… nobody has ever really accused Kanye of being actually quiet). He had a guest spot on “THat Part”, a bomb ass Schoolboy Q single, and started the Saint Pablo tour later in the year. The drama since that tour started has really been quite unfortunate.
I hope Ye gets better and gets back to making music. This side of the afterlife is much better off.
Jay Rock (Medical Redshirt)
Jay, have you recovered? Are you good my man? You were on the board earlier but we all want you just to get better. Come back strong in 2017.
In one of the only things that college football does right by its employees/student-athletes is allowing a season lost to injury to not count against their eligibility. So that’s what I’m giving Jay Rock here.
18-ish. Kendrick
Say say say / Is Kendrick here just so I can talk about him?
Say say say / You must know me cause you are on to somethin
Say say say / untitled is this year’s greatest album
Say say say / Disagree and a fight will be the outcome
How to segue?
Kendrick has been laying low this year, but still released an album. Granted, none of the songs on that album were made in 2016. Oh, and none of the songs were “mastered” or even named. Oh, and the album wasn’t even named. Still!
Most of K Dot’s work this year has come on guest features, and as usual they have been phenomenal. There was the aforementioned “No More Parties in LA” brilliance. There was the totally out of place brilliance on “Holy Key.” I mean look at this shit.
How is Big Sean going to be on a track that has Kendrick doing that? Again? Fool never learns.
Spots on TDE youngster Isaish Rashad’s The Sun’s Tirade, Danny Brown’s squad joint “Really Doe,” A Tribe Called Quest’s very awesome and very timely album, and most recently on Starboy, have kept the greatest rapper alive from being forgotten about. I hope he drops an album in 2017 and I cannot wait to listen to it 413 times in two days.
5. Anderson .Paak
Malibu opened 2016 on a beautiful note. The album is crazy good. You can play it when you travel to keep you from pulling your hair out when your flight is delayed a fourth time. You can play it on a rainy weekend staying inside to keep from getting cabin fever. You can play it when you’re making dinner for your boo to set the mood from regular to hella sexy. You can play it when you’re writing about 2016’s busiest rappers — hey, that’s now!
Paak then went and had a lot of guest spots on some really good albums. He, not Schoolboy Q, has the opening line on Blank Face LP, and it’s a beaut.
Trade the noise for a piece of divine
Shit that might be the anthem for 2016. I would wish that were the hook to “TorCH” if not for the hook to be awesome already. We need a follow up track from .Paak and Q that centers around that.
He also shows up on Tribe’s album, which if it was released before the cutoff would have been nominated alongside Q’s Blank Face for rap album of the year.
At the end of October, Anderson .Paak and Knxlwledge dropped a joint venture Yes, Lawd! and the title is exactly what I said when I saw new .Paak was available. The more .Paak the better. This year was very better.
4. Chance the Rapper
Killing it on Kanye’s first single “Ultralight Beam”? 😍
Releasing Coloring Book as a mixtape for free? 😍
Having a song on CB named “Mixtape” featuring mixtape-extraordinaire Young Thug (later on this list!)? 😍
Not giving a fuck about how the Grammy’s used to do things, releasing your shit as you always do, petition the Grammy’s to rethink how they do things, having them change a rule because your shit was that good, then getting nominated because of that rule change? 😍
Going on tour, buying back scalped tickets and then giving them out? 😍
A bathtub play list for your fans that has Young Thug’s “Harambe” on it? 😍
The future is Chance and Chance is the future (but not Future… he’s something different).
3. 2 Chainz
I really wanted to rank 2 Chainz number two because then I could have shouted “TWWWOOOOO PLAAAACCCEEE” as I wrote the section and then said fuck y’all to the grammar people. The Atlanta rapper released a mixtape with Lil Wayne (that was underrated) and then two of his own (that were properly rated as excellent). He also starred on Chance’s hit No Problem (again with Wayne I now realize).
2 Chainz comes in this high (he and God dappin) also because the quality of work. I mean, who else is coming up with
Inside of the Maybach look like it came out of IKEA / run shit like diarrhea
That shit is like taking an entire school of kids to the pool, it takes time.
2 vs 1 … Battle!
Young Thug
Three mixtapes, a metric shit ton of features and a tour with 21 Savage — called the HiHorse’d tour! — makes for a helluva year. Thugger is deft af on social media, his Instagram account is a must follow.
Slime Season 3 is about as good as anything out there this year. How many opening lines to an album are better than “She suck on a dick on the plane I just call her airhead”? I mean, “Ay Fuck Cancer” is one of them, but that’s also Thug’s!
Guwop
Gucci Mane spent three years in prison. Thats half of 2013, all of 2014 and 2015 and half of 2016. Think back to what you were doing and who you were at the beginning of 2013, now almost four years ago, and what you’ve done in the time since. Thats an entire high school, college, or post-graduate study length. Thats longer than the average NFL career. That is just about the average stay of employment of any person at any job. That was the amount of time Guwop was in jail, away from his studio, away from any production gear, away from his friends and family.
Now. Think about what you were doing in June of this year and what you’ve done in the time since. Did you start a new semester? Good for you, you allowed time to pass without getting kicked out of school. Did you vote? Congrats, you did better than Kanye. Did you engage in inane arguments on social media? Well jolly for you, you contributed to the burning trash inside 2016’s great big dumpster.
What has Gucci done since then? Oh, not that much. He released a song the first day out of prison literally called “1st Day Out Da Feds” and you could pick up a palette of forks with a forklift and not be as literal. Then he released a tape called Everybody Looking and it was so damn literal again. The month of October in 2016 is definitely now known as Woptober in the history books (they’re already printing them). Finally, Christmas is official again with The Return of East Atlanta Santa. The kids can get presents this year, Gucci is back!
So, three mixtapes, a bunch of features for both. With a similar amount of work we boil it down to half year vs full year… Prison trump card wins!
2. Thugger
1. Guwop
2016 is the year of Gucci.
