On the surface, hip-hop had a not-so-awesome year in 2014. The titans—Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Drake and others—took the year off in regards to releasing full albums. DJ and producer A-Trak, however, wrapped up the year with an op-ed here on Cuepoint about how ’14 was actually a transcendent, “pivotal and surprising year in hip-hop.” And he’s spot-on. It was like all the new jacks saw the veterans and superstars were taking a water break and decided to go from zero to a hundred real quick.
Out bopped Bobby Shmurda, shmoney dancing. With right and left hooks came Migos. Young Thug, boasting panache (and nearly unintelligible raps), swagged his way to noteworthiness. But none of the 2014 upstarts—except for possibly Thug and Travi$ Scott, whose Days Before Rodeo album was stellar—seem to have the sheen and skills to make an album that propels them from being marginally hot acts enjoying their 15 minutes in the sun. I hope to be proven wrong, but something tells me Dej Loaf isn’t in a Detroit studio making timeless, galvanizing music. But fret not. Help is on the way, which is exactly why 2015 is going an even better year for hip-hop.
Kanye West’s seventh solo album, the follow-up to 2013’s polarizing Yeezus, is set to to drop this year and is poised to be a bar-raising effort. In a late 2013 interview, Kanye compared Yeezus to Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 Nebraska album. It did well, though wasn’t a pop success. The Boss followed it up with his biggest smash Born in the USA. “This next one,” West said referring the album he’s wrapping up now, “I have a feeling… has to be Born in the U.S.A.”
“Only One”—a lightly auto-tuned song featuring Paul McCartney on keys and inspired by a convo Kanye’s late mother Donda had with him from Heaven—dropped as the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve and appears to be the calm before the storm. Ty Dolla $ign, nearly on his way to unseating Future as go-to hook man on all tunes urban, confirmed to Billboard that he’s featured on West’s next single, which also enlists the services of Rihanna and Sir Paul. Sounds promising, right?
Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album’s on deck, too. He’s been holed up in Los Angeles polishing the set off, his twisted locs only sprouting onto the TV screen to preview new work as he did on SNL to perform its self-assured first single “I.” And for those rap heads that weren’t feeling that, his performance of an untitled cut as the last musical guest on The Colbert Report was a stirring swirl of lyricism and militance with Thundercat on guitar and Bilal howling behind him.
And up in Toronto, Drake is at it again, prepping the release of his fourth album Views From the 6. The guy has so mastered the art of making a hit record to the point that even the free Soundcloud loosies he shared last summer smoked up the charts and spawned careers. He and production partner Noah “40" Shebib no doubt are crafting another moody offering full of quotables that will clutter your Twitter timeline.
Oh, and here’s a list of other guys dropping this year: A$AP Rocky, Big Sean, Wale, Meek Mill, Lil Wayne, Action Bronson, Tyler, the Creator, Raury and more. That’s not even including the aforementioned newbies that are out to prove that they’re more than a flash in hip-hop’s searing skillet. There goes champagne rap, blissfully-ignorant rap, gangsta rap, conscious rap, emo rap, trap rap, and “real” rap. All those sub-genres are getting play this year at high levels.
There were a load of interesting, quality releases by folks in 2014. My initial response to A-Trak’s piece was, “Of course A-Trak thought 2014 was a dope hip-hop year. He’s aware and cool enough to go digging for fresh jams like a true fan would.” It was an awesome year for colorful zeitgeist rap, the kind that surely is inspiring the Kanyes and Drakes. The kind they’ll funnel into massive records. 2015 will be a better year because there will be something for everyone. The cool underground kids will have joints to bang. The pop rap fans will have superstars returning that’ll bring jams right to their doorstep. No shovels required. Get ready.
