Half-Year Review: Hip Hop Albums
Kendrick Lamar — Damn
Kendrick Lamar has provided fans with another masterpiece in the form of ‘DAMN’. This is the rappers fourth album and although the track list is shorter than his previous releases, his content is still as powerful as before, covering topics such as sexual consent and depression.
DAMN features production from some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop. Mike-Will-Made-It produces several tracks as well as the likes of BadBadNotGood, 9th Wonder and Alchemist as well as Top Dawg Entertainment in house producers Sounwave and DJ Dahi. On the other hand, there are only three credited features on the album, coming from Rihanna, U2 and Zacari, which is the least amount of features King Kenny has had on any project.
The stand out track from the album is easily DNA, a track people will be hearing a lot over the summer period in 2017. The track addresses how Kendrick Lamar has been perceived by the world. Half way through the track, there is a sample from a Fox News story discussing the content of some of Kendrick’s previous work where Geraldo Rivera states “This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years,” Kendrick responds to this claim with a powerful verse covering the misinterpretation of the Hip-Hop culture as a whole and how he is working to re-balance these opinions.
One thing for sure is, by the end of 2017, Kendrick Lamar will be in discussion when it comes to rapper and album of the year with the project, DAMN.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Migos — Culture
After stepping onto the music scene in 2009, the group have gone from strength to strength and Culture is a true representation of their growth.
Since around 2013, Migos have been one of the most influential acts in Hip-Hop with their introduction of adlib-rap which is biggest thing in Hip-Hop at present.
In previous releases by the group, in terms of production, the beats are centred around the Trap scene, but with Culture, Migos have shown that they can be versatile with tracks such as ‘What the Price’ and ‘Brown Paper Bag’ that stick to keys and soft piano production. There are still the Trap-type songs that everyone loves from Migos with ‘T-Shirt’ and ‘Bad and Boujee’ but this shows that there are other levels to their music. As well as their production, the way the three complement each other on tracks is remarkable and they have well and truly cemented their position as giants in the music scene not just Hip-Hop.
The group are also undeniably one of the hardest working acts and have already confirmed that ‘Culture 2’ will be released in the second half of the year.
Rating: 4 out of 5
2 Chainz — Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
Since changing his name from Tity Boi to 2 Chainz in 2011, the artist has become an undeniable hit-maker and ‘Pretty Girls Like Trap Music’ could be his strongest project to date.
In the five years since 2 Chainz returned to the music scene, he has come a long way, and anybody who still doubts his lyrical ability will be silenced from start to finish.
What’s also impressive about this project is the autobiographical content. 2 Chainz has been known in the past to rap about the materialistic lifestyle, but on this project, he delves in to his past and the lifestyle associated with the ‘Trap’ and how he initially got involved in the streets.
From being the feature king in 2011, appearing on over 100 songs in a year, to releasing several projects over, He continues to grow as an artist. Age clearly hasn’t been an issue with regards to staying relevant, as the 39-year-old is enjoying the best years of his musical career and potentially his life.
‘Pretty Girls like Trap Music’ is an excellent album with so much to offer, don’t be surprised if you hear tracks like ‘Good Drank’ ‘Poor Fool’ and ‘Blue Cheese’ on rotation for the remainder of the year.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Young Thug — Beautiful Thugger Girls
Beautiful Thugger Girls is easily Young Thug’s strongest project to date and shows a true direction of where the Atlanta based rapper is heading.
The album truly celebrates all the women that have played a vital part in his life and it is more evident than ever how in love he is with his long-term girlfriend.
Since Young Thug arrived on the scene with ‘Stoner’ his musical journey has been at times very confusing but at the same time it has shown how versatile he is as an artist. With every body of work, Thug presents listeners with a different insight to his artistic prowess and also shows that Thug will never conform.
‘Beautiful Thugger Girls’ is a comforting album, and the best in Young Thug’s catalogue as it strikes a balance of album-wide sounds with the occasional moments of experimentation that have truly worked. If he doesn’t compromise his style or sound, then Young Thug has a long career ahead of him.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Written by Liam Bailey. https://twitter.com/liambailey0408?lang=en-gb
