best hip hop
By Philip Murina June 7, 2023
May’s selection of the most important hip-hop new releases to hit Bandcamp include ambient explorations into monochrome mental states, a rebellious middle finger against the traditional music industry of Los Angeles’ mainstay, and an egocentric stance. Contains uplifting lessons for positive personal progress from Identified the Flower Child of Memphis. It also spotlights another of his key releases by one half of the impeccable Armand Hammer duo.
Anwar high sign and jallo point
no matter what happens
UK based yellow point has built a formidable reputation as a producer adept at evoking a sense of imminent danger through thoughtful, minimal beats crafted from deftly repurposed library record snippets and understated jazz piano riffs. there isfor no matter what happensPoints partnered with Philadelphia MC Anwar high sign (formerly known as Has-Lo) presents an album that oozes subtle melancholy. A refreshing blend of confidence and blatant self-doubt permeates Anwar’s verses throughout the album. On the drumless, fuzz bed-filled centerpiece “Diminished Spirit,” the rapper’s voice swings positively while at the same time “dealing with a lack of self-esteem,” a wild dream and no guidance. “Wee-Bay Face,” which ends the album on a fittingly hushed note, sees the rappers hobble through an atmosphere of enigma as “not everything is known, and some things are worth hiding.” That’s what I’m telling you.
Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
map
map Continue billy woodsA recent series of releases (whether as a soloist or not) in 2022 Ethiopianin 2019 terrorism management) or alongside Armand Hammer member ELUCID (2021’s Haram2020s shrine). Reflects 2019 setup hiding placeLos Angeles Beat Wizards Kenny Segal A series of blues that once again charts the project’s musical terrain, injecting understated melodic crackling stripes into the bass-saturated low-end realm to bring out the ruminative notes and ironic tenor of Woods’ brogues. provide a work of art. “I won’t go to soundcheck/I won’t go to a dressing room too bright/I might be in my local greasy spoon or a Szechuan restaurant,” Woods raps over “Soundcheck”‘s secret jazz-flavoured bag, Then I nodded. Feel the history, quiet confidence:
I’m from when the bottle was crushed on the spot on your head
I am nervous
I’m not laughing, I’m surfing through the set
After the curtain, I sit for a while before going to pick up my check.
admire Woods’ erudition of language maplyrical support, what chris In addition to the aforementioned “sound check”, Danny Brown Blessing the eerily vibrating “Year Zero”, aesop rock Passing through the flashy “Waiting Around”, EluciD. The hollow atmosphere of “Baby Steps” and the poignant closer “As the Crow Flies” cement the connection with Armand Hammer.
dust wraps the blues
problem
Rapper from Portland, Oregon dust wraps the blues The release of his third album has been characterized as akin to the idea of rapper Action Bronson recording a record with blues icon BB King. It’s set against the backdrop of a guitar-infused production that exudes the same dark charm as “L’Orange” and “Solemn Brigham.” marlowe On excursions, the dust rhymes and thrives when conveying feelings of loneliness or drowning out the sad laments that whiskey prompts. Riding the boom-bap drums and scratchy guitar riffs that fuel “Dust My Broom,” the rapper cop “feels like a stranger every time I come home” and “like I cracked a code.” I seek solace in reading old texts in ‘Happiness. And on “You Gotta Move,” Dust expresses the sentiment that sums up the album’s appeal. “That’s why I’ve let my regrets age like bourbon in a barrel / Somehow my mourning is getting shorter by the day.” dust wraps the bluesa limited number of handmade lathe-cut vinyl versions of the album are available for copying.
sorry
life force
Continued collaboration with Virginia MC concept jackson and a friend in London king cashmere, life force Introducing Producer Astronomical Observation Beat Science sorry. Released on the Astral Black label, this instrumental project adorns a palpable space-futuristic aura with snappy, syncopated drum patterns. This album movement also has subtly time-traveling subplots. Early “Hoodoo Beams” conveys the spirit of Roy Ayers’ jazz fusion in the mid-’70s, with lilting guitar riffs floating over a bed of restful synths. “I’ll Make It” taps into his ’80s R&B zone through a combination of rich melodies and echoing snares. And “Be Safe Tho” pulsates with the kind of understated bops and clipped snares that defined the ’90s collaboration between Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and J. Dilla as The Ummah. there is Beware of those with green thumbs. A limited number of cassette copies of the album are available along with a terrarium carefully crafted by Ewee herself.
profit
monochrome
monochrome An immersive ambient oriented project from a London producer profit demands a transatlantic roll call of rappers including Akai only, Vritraand archibald slim Brings lyrical light to a collection of immersive soundscapes that utilize musically monochromatic themes. The emotional appeal of this release, which spans nine tracks, is conveyed through ELWD’s use of understated melodies, with the producer blending dashes of live instrumentation and sampling mentality to create light-dark music and lyrical tones. are interacting well. The opening “WICKED WAYS” is VRITRA’s quiet tone, Jung Morpheusthe MC duo weighs the chance paths of life that are nothing more than an elegantly quiet refrain, and the mid-project cut “THE WHOLE WORLD” expresses an unsettling sound, Obijuan Traverse a megahertz-filled metaverse to the sound of overlapping soul-centric loops and lush strings.examination monochrome A tender and vivid hip-hop exploration of the contrast between music and emotion.
cool cut
reservoir dogs
Invented by a Cologne producer cool cut, reservoir dogs This is effectively a proud salute to the dirty side of the modern underground rap realm. A brassy instrumental scene Following his setter ‘INTRO BRISK FINGAZ’, a prolific roll call of acclaimed MCs made it through the session, contributing to block his corner transmissions from each region. Crusty New York spitter Gorilla Her nems out the gate first, weaving her line of vintage big buns into an uncut boast of “MIC CHECK 1, 2.”Fortress of Rochester line up Painting a nonchalant, cash-centric bar into a piano-sounding ‘PAPER CHASE’, and a billboard for Massachusetts-based Tragic Alliance Estee Knack Partnership with Buffalo Representative the way “CRIME PAYS” with static embossing. To help the album maintain a coherent bravado vibe, KOOL KAT’s production room created a blend of stony, boom-bap drum patterns topped with edgy strings and dramatic flourishes of bitterly hostile keys. fused in the center.
motown priest
Hawthorne
Hawthorne Follow the MC who grew up in Detroit and is now based in New York motown priestattempts to confront the concept of self as he navigates his life’s journey. “What do you know about the rage when you look in the mirror and become a monster that mutates into yourself?” It mixes the brooding vibes of ’80s-style synth work and flows with majesty. As the album unfolds, Priest delves into America’s poverty problem on “Farewell Towelfare,” revisits childhood aspirations from an adult perspective on “For Sale,” and explores the ephemeral “silver chains and cheap stuff.” He violently abuses the rappers who are blinded by the trap. “Alpha Beta Grill”. Closing with evocative words, the climactic cut “Drug Money Theory” is facilitated by the beatmaker’s protagonist’s devilishly wormy bass tone paired with a suitably painful electric guitar slither. It’s a vicious skewer of “good old, great America.”
Paws One
persona non grata
persona non grata Take to the pitch as Los Angeles’ main limeslinger Paws Oneis giving a rebellious middle finger to the traditional music industry.
Let me guess, you were devastated when DOOM died
If it wasn’t for the hype, I would never have played
All facts, like all I have said,
Loyalty is meaningless even if you shout
On “Sepukku,” the introductory line, the rapper grunts and flows with steely determination against a haunting production of ominous rotary phone chimes. Elsewhere on the album’s punch, “Welcome Home” mirrors Pawz One spotlighting the whimsical nature of love for their homeland, while “Bad News” delves into the parameters of misinformation, Good With That uses layers of rearranged strings to lead the MC into a humble appreciation for life’s true blessings.Smartly turn on guest features persona non grata Limited to the presence of veteran rappers Las Kas The MC Eight team up for a tense remix of “Out Of Bounds,” featuring an MC trio warning out-of-towners about a bruised stomach on their home ground.
she has no name
T.Image to change EP
time to change The EP is a compact introduction to the Tennessee-based poetic talent. she has no name.Frequented against an enchanting R&B and intimate piano background, ‘She Who Wont Be Named’ sets the jazz-encrusted project’s uplifting agenda with the introductory title to her track. Gently outlines, where she warns the MC not to compare
[…] yourself, your own shortcomings and the perfections of others
Remove Negative Thoughts from the Shelf and Focus on Your Direction
Pick up sadness from the floor and carry it on the wind
Close the door of self-loathing and never let it back.
The theme of personal positive inspiration recurs throughout the release, with “Unnamed” smiling to calm his inner rage in “Sweetly,” and seemingly impossible obstacles in the rocking “Neighborhood.” “Playing in the sand like a child again” on the standout “Flower Child From Memphis” on the quiet piano, from slamming into “A Tribe Called Quest” to swinging gracefully.
