Top Ten Rap Albums of 2016

As I make yet another comeback to this blog, today's return comes with my annual list of the best albums to come out this year. In a year where I only churned out three album reviews, the content of the list is just a big mystery. Overall I thought this was a solid year, one that was not bad at all but not quite as strong as some of the past few years. Let's see which albums I thought shined brightest in 2016 on my Top Ten Rap Albums of the Year!

The Five Honorable Mentions 

Chance the Rapper- Coloring Book
  











One of the most celebrated albums of the past year, I was pretty happy with the direction Chance went in with this breakout project. Coloring Book was full of positive vibes and catchy feel-good tracks. Chance has the charisma and fun loving attitude to stick around for a while as a popular, acclaimed rapper and this album shows for it. Pouring emotion onto every song, this was definitely a colorful highlight of 2016.

Favorite Songs: No Problem, Same Drugs

Injury Reserve- Floss

I only discovered this underground Arizona rap trio a few months ago, and I'm pretty glad it was this project that served as my introduction. This was a fantastic blend of many different rap styles, and these guys did a solid job from the relaxing tracks to lyrical ones that show off their storytelling skills. Where Injury Reserve shines the most, though, is with the bangers. High energy songs such as All This Money were some of my favorites of the year, and these guys know how to make a catchy song. For this reason, I was quite impressed by Floss in 2016.

Favorite Songs: All This Money, What's Goodie


Kodak Black- Lil Big Pac
 

Here we have one of my biggest shockers, a debut project from an artist who broke out this year for a mix of good and bad reasons: Lil Big Pac by Kodak Black. I was pretty surprised by the solid flow and ability that Kodak had to simply put together a collection of fun, well done tracks. With an artist as young as Kodak, its hard to say what direction his career will go in, but he's got his own sound and he did it well, evidenced by how much I kept putting this album on throughout the year.

Favorite Songs: Can I, Everything 1k


Domo Genesis- Genesis

An artist who has long been one of my favorite members of Odd Future, Domo Genesis' debut album had been anticipated for quite a while. Upon its release, I was happy to hear Domo spit his usual style of bars along with some chill, relaxing beats. Genesis is a chill, trippy ride that has a great vibe surrounding it. With Domo throwing in some fresh tracks such as Dapper on this project, I can definitely say he put out one of the better albums of this year.

Favorite Songs: Dapper, Coming Back


Gucci Mane- Woptober

After making his celebrated return earlier in the year with a glamorous studio album, Gucci Mane broke out that gritty, dark style that he is most known for on Woptober. Even if this project didn't have any truly incredible tracks on it, Gucci was very consistent on it in putting out catchy, fun, hard hitting bangers. I honestly can't ask for much more from Gucci, and Woptober is just beautifully reminicsent of classic Gucci Mane.

Favorite Songs: The Left, Right on Time



The Top Ten

10. Isaiah Rashad- The Sun's Tirade

 

TDE member and Tennessee rapper Isaiah Rashad followed up his incredible 2014 debut Cilvia Demo in pretty great fashion. This album had a different vibe to it, with Isaiah mixing in a lot of narratives, storylines, and two part tracks on this long, very lyrical project. It really is a lot to digest and this guy has always packed so much content and meaning into everything he says. I loved the themes on this album and among all the lyrical moments, The Sun's Tirade still has its banging Southern beats and catchy hooks. This guy simply deserves all the acclaim he has gotten lately.

Favorite Songs: Park, Free Lunch


9. Future- EVOL

It seems like a foregone conclusion that every year we will get at least one solid project from Atlanta MC Future. In the world of booming, Southern trap bangers this guy simply knows what he's doing. On EVOL, an album much shorter than his past work, he had excellent hooks and there wasn't really a bad song on it. Future worked with some beats that were more experimental than I'm used to from him, but he did his thing over this production and it felt comfortable. Future has been incredibly consistent these past few years and you can always count on him for great albums featuring his signature sound. 

Favorite Songs: Lil Haiti Baby, Program


8. Lil Yachty- Lil Boat

  
The young Lil Yachty came into the spotlight this year, becoming a known figure in the world of rap for lots of different reasons. In terms of music, I felt he dropped a fantastic debut project with Lil Boat. Here he did an awesome job of bringing you into his world and presenting the entire identity of Lil Yachty. Working with the duality of two different characters, Yachty came with a set of relaxing tracks that had a very serene and calm vibe to them. A unique voice in the trap scene of Atlanta, Lil Yachty brought something fresh to the table with this project, and I am excited for the next step that his music will take in 2017. 

Favorite Songs: Out Late, Minnesota
    
7. Kanye West- The Life of Pablo

In a roller coaster year for the legendary Kanye West, he at least made a return to form with his music on his seventh album, The Life of Pablo.  I was a fan of this album because it once again showed the way Kanye continuously switches up his concepts with every album that he does and sounds amazing doing it. This one, much like the man's personal life, was a huge mixed bag of emotions and events, yet with every song Kanye spit some great verses, was very lyrical, and brought some nice hooks to the table. The album was messy in a way that only Kanye could pull off, and all the sounds on this album meshed together to make something very good.

Favorite Songs: Ultralight Beam, Famous 



6. Travi$ Scott- Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

This project from Travi$ Scott didn't receieve quite the same amount of acclaim and hype as his last album Rodeo and I can't seem to understand why. This album, to me, was on par with Scott's best work and it really has some amazing moments. Travi$ Scott keeps building up his unqique sound with every new project and he sounded amazing on this one. His mix of singing along with dark auto tune affects and banging, progressive instrumentals just hooks you in, and this album was a listening experience that I won't forget. A fun ride with lots of infectious tracks, this is a strong recommendation from me.

Favorite Songs: Pick Up the Phone, Sweet Sweet



5. Kendrick Lamar- untitled, unmastered

Only someone with the artistry of Kendrick Lamar can make the bold decision to take a collection of throwaways from his recording sessions and make it into a cohesive, well flowing album. This mixed bag of tracks ends up sounding beautiful, and it makes you realize the insane talent that we're witnessing with this guy. All of these untitled tracks have great flows, concepts, hooks, and this whole thing is such an immersive and beautiful listen. A year after To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick amazes us once again, in a way that no one saw coming. 

Favorite Songs:  untitled 08, untitled 02


4. YG- Still Brazy

What a consistently great artist this guy is becoming. Breaking out from the depths of obscurity a few years ago with My Krazy Life, YG only improved on this new album, which was an awesome revitilazation of old-school West Coast sound. The beats on this were so reminiscent of acclaimed California hip hop, and YG sounded so comfortable spitting over them. Lyrically, YG went over so many big social issues and aggressively give out his take on so many controversial topics. This guy is bold, brash, and confident; he minces no words and it is a delight to hear him killing it.


Favorite Songs: Why You Always Hatin, I Got A Question



3. Run the Jewels- Run the Jewels 3

Rapidly becoming one of the best duos to do it in recent memory. Killer Mike and El-P snuck in the third Run the Jewels album right at the end of the year on Christmas Day. Everything that these two have done on record is pure genius, but this third album could honestly be their best yet. Out of everything they've done this one has resonated with me the most; its infectious sound sticking in my head and their lyrical concepts blowing my mind. Somehow El-P's beats on this album were also more colorful, dynamic, and explosive than what I've heard in the past. This album is just a high-energy piece of insanity that gets better each time I hear it. Pair that with the political, hard hitting lyricism that both of these MCs always bring and you've got one of the best albums of the year, easily. 

Favorite Songs: Legend Has It, Hey Kids



2. Danny Brown- Atrocity Exhibition

Danny Brown came back in full force after nearly three years without any music to deliver one of the most twisted and mind bending rap albums I have ever heard. The veteran Detroit MC's ridiculous flexibility and creative mentality as an artist is shown off beautifully on Atrocity Exhibition as we hear him flowing over beats that no one could ever imagine even showing up on a hip hop album. Danny's talent is out of this world, as he is just flowing through these abstract instrumentals with nonstop aggression and amazing bars. Danny manages to tie together a narrative of his personal struggles and life in Detroit, and he does it in a way only he could pull off: with an sound as outrageous as he is. Atrocity Exhibtion is an insane trip but its so worth it. A truly dense album with loads of content and meaning behind everything that Danny Brown says and does, I'll be playing this one for a long time. 

Favorite Songs: Really Doe, Lost


1. Schoolboy Q- Blank Face LP












   
Here we have what is, in my opinion, an album very well deserving of the number one spot: Blank Face LP by Schoolboy Q. I had liked this guy a lot with his past few albums, but I never thought there was any way he could create something this good. He blew me away from the first listen, and I've been bumping this album ever since. He had so many strokes of genius on this project, from his vivid storytelling to his absolutely awesome gritty street tracks. The rapping from Q sounds better than ever, with his raspy voice flowing well track after track as he paints pictures of the gangster way of life that he has been through and still experiences.  Blank Face LP plays like a movie, with each song sounding so big and cinematic with layered, complex production setting the tone. I think the overall vibe this project gives off is my favorite thing about it; the content is just so ominous and menacing all the way through. You get the feeling that Q will never truly get away from this dangerous lifestyle. This thing sounds like the future of West Coast rap, with the artist pouring so much emotion into everything he does and lyrically creating visuals that stick in your head timelessly. Schoolboy Q hit one out of the park here, and I'll be happy if his next work is close to as good as this. What an album. 

Favorite Songs: Groovy Tony/Eddie Kane, Dope Dealer 


Coming Soon
Top 25 Hip Hop Songs of 2016
Top 10 Albums of 2015 (Year that I never made a list for!) 

Dame D.O.L.L.A.- The Letter O ALBUM REVIEW

Here, we have the definition of a totally random album that draws my attention. Damian Lillard, two time NBA All Star and face of the Portland Trail Blazers, releasing a commercial rap album? How could I not see how this goes down? Under the moniker Dame D.O.L.L.A, Lillard has impressed me with brief freestyles and verses before but this is just taking his rap career to another level. I'm extremely intrigued to see what Dame has in store here. Is it better than former NBA stars who got into hip hop? Does he actually have the talent of putting together an album? Let's see what Dame D.O.L.L.A. has cooked up with The Letter O.

This album presents something pretty interesting. While I figured I'd have a lot to talk about with this NBA player getting into hip hop and how bad things could have gone, I instead am left with a pretty run-of-the-mill, admittedly generic rap project. This is one of the many albums you're gonna hear where not much is really done wrong, but there also isn't anything to blow you away. Even though Dame didn't do anything to impress me all that much, he definitely did what he had to do to have a solid, respectable album under his belt. I appreciated how versatile he was on this project, as he seemed to cover a lot of bases. The Letter O featured some hard-hitting bangers, personal stories, romantic tracks, and soul influences. Among all this variety though, Lillard keeps up the theme of his hometown and childhood. I liked how much description he would use to portray his come-up in the city of Oakland and how he got to where he is today. On the tracks Wasatch Front and Growth Spurt, he is definitely giving me a clear visual image of some of the hurdles he's jumped over in his life.With those two songs being at the beginning of the album, it was cool to hear Dame coming out of the gate with a personal, introspective vibe. There are a lot of different types of song concepts here, but I like how this project keeps up the same laid-back, jazzy feel for the most part. It's very satisfying to hear Dame taking the sound of his album so seriously as he clearly put a lot of effort into many parts of The Letter O. 

On this album, Damian Lillard really does show off his technical rapping skills, and even though I had heard verses here and there, I was doubting how well he could spit on some real tracks. He has a good flow, sounds comfortable over the beats, and can put a good hook together too. I think the track that most shows off these strengths is Loyal to the Soil. This track is pretty gritty, as Dame spits about the reputation he's built up as a big time star, and how he still wants to be loyal to Oakland, his hometown. He raps at his best on this, and there is even a Lil Wayne feature, something I was thrilled to see. Wayne absolutely rips this track apart, in my opinion. This not only stands out as the best verse by anyone on this album, but simply one of his best verses in a while and one that just makes me want to hear some new Wayne music. On the album opener, Bill Walton, I really thought Dame found a chilled out beat that he sounded perfect on. He came through with some nice bars, NBA-related lines, and an overall solid track to begin the project and introduce people to who he is as an MC. On some of these tracks, Dame and the people he works with flash some moments of versatility, for good and bad. He shows that he does know how to craft some good hooks, such as on the hard-hitting track Roll Call, and Wasatch Front as well. He reaches out to Marsha Ambrosious and Adrian Marcel for some melodic hooks on the songs Thank You and Baggage, respectively. I thought both of these songs were solid and Dame sounded fine on some different production. If I've got any complaints with this album, its that some of the times Dame went outside of the box it didn't work. I was excited for the Juvenile featured-song Legacy, but the song was a total mess in my opinion with a pretty weak-sounding hook. The song Pillow Talk was also the sort of thing that I'd advise Lillard to stay away from, cause he does other types of songs a lot better than how he approached that. Overall, this album definitely doesn't have anything amazing that will blow me away, but was I expecting that? No. Dame D.O.L.L.A. put out a solid project with a clear understanding of songwriting, production, and putting together some nice verses. The multi-talented Damian Lillard showed me that he can more hold his own when it comes to music. 

Wrap Up
+Well put together tracks, clear cohesion and sound going throughout
+Dame proved he can not only spit verses, but be versatile and deliver hooks
+Emphasis on his personal come-up that made it interesting 
-No moments to REALLY impress me, run-of-the-mill and generic overall
-Takes a few risks that don't work in his favor

Best Tracks: Loyal to the Soil, Bill Walton, Roll Call

Worst Track: Pillow Talk

7.3/10

Mac Miller- The Divine Feminine ALBUM REVIEW

With Mac Miller, you truly never know what you're going to get. The Pittsburgh rapper's career has been a roller coaster thus far, with total artistic shifts that seem to happen every few albums. When Mac really made a switch in sound in 2013 on Watching Movies with the Sound Off, it seemed like he found something he was comfortable with. He only cleaned it up on GOOD AM, a pretty solid and fun album with some good replay value. Mac is a guy who is always experimenting and doing new things with his musical range, so let's see if he evolves further on The Divine Feminine.

After some thorough listens with this album, I feel a lot of different opinions going through my head about it. With a situation like this, it can be difficult to properly review the project. On The Divine Feminine, Mac Miller took a pretty sharp turn from his last project, which was a high-energy collection of uptempo tracks. This new album is only 10 songs, all centered around women, love, sex, and in general a lot of the lessons he's learned from women throughout his life. It's pretty interesting to see Mac go ahead and create an album with a core structure and concept like this. He's dabbled in love songs in the past, but here he's making it a centerpiece of the artistry. How he went about making the music, though, is where my opinions change. While I am impressed by the album concept and flow, I'm disappointed in how a lot of these songs sound. Mac had an excellent thought process towards this album, but in my opinion the execution was off.

The Divine Feminine has a very pretty, relaxing, and atmospheric sound throughout it that I'm pretty into. Mac got some good producers together for this album, and I think it sounds professional and gets the romantic concept across. My main gripe with this album, which oddly is something I liked a lot on GOOD AM, is Mac's vocal performance. I honestly didn't like how he approached a lot of these songs vocally at all. His singing has never really resonated with me and on this he seems to do it more than ever, which single-handedly turned me off of some songs. There were also times where I felt his vocals made songs with otherwise good features not nearly as good. There's the track Cinderella, where I think Ty Dolla Sign put in a good hook, and the overall melody of the song is very nice. But, Mac's rapping didn't do anything for me and it felt boring to listen to. A couple of songs here were a bit unbearable because of how Mac sounded. Soulmate, Congratulations, and Skin were all, in my opinion, some of Mac's weaker tracks that he's done. Some combination of bad singing, boring flow, or corny lyricism made these tracks lowlights for me. Another gripe I've got here is the song lengths. While I think this project flows pretty well, some of the songs go on for way too long and I think a lot of people will just get bored eventually. Songs such as Stay, Cinderella, and We were pretty decent, but going on for over five minutes didn't work in their favor.

There were a small handful of songs on this album that really saved it, and reminded me that Mac Miller simply has tons of talent. This guy can put together incredible songs, and I was at least happy he flashed that a little bit on The Divine Feminine. Dang! with Anderson .Paak, is absolutely phenomenal, and the best track on the project by a long shot. I know I had complained about song length, but this song has the catchiness, melody, and emotion to justify that length. Everything about this song is awesome, and I wish Mac went with grooves like this more often on the album. Planet God Damn was pretty solid as well, as it had a laid back vibe I liked, combined with a very well-done hook. It seemed like Mac didn't try nearly as hard on this track, effortlessly delivering his lyrics over the beat in classic Mac Miller fashion. The only other song here I was substantially impressed by was God is Fair, Sexy Nasty, where I feel Mac and Kendrick Lamar put together a fun, melodic collaboration that combined the direction that both artists seem to be going in these days. Kendrick sounded great singing all over this and Mac's rapping was solid. Lastly, this song wasn't Mac's best singing performance but I need to shout out My Favorite Part for Ariana Grande's performance. She totally saved this track from complete boredom, sounding so strong and confident. Her singing impressed me so much, and I liked when her and Mac started singing together near the end too. I really enjoyed these tracks and they flashed a lot of potential that Mac has when he does romantic songs. The thing is that this potential didn't show nearly enough here. The album isn't bad, but I don't think its very polished. Some lazy singing, odd song lengths, and boring tracks really led to this album being sort of mediocre. 

Wrap Up
+Cool, unique, and interesting concept for Mac Miller to go with
+Album flowed together well and some single tracks were true standouts
-Mac's singing sounded subpar for the most part
-Some songs were far too long to enjoy
-Not much replay value with how boring some of the songs become

Best Tracks: Dang!, Planet God Damn, God is Fair Sexy Nasty

Worst Track: Soulmate

5.9/10

Danny Brown- Atrocity Exhibition ALBUM REVIEW

I'm back and ready to hit you with some reviews. Today, I'm actually talking about something pretty hard-hitting, so get ready. Danny Brown, an underground MC from Detroit, broke out into the nationwide rap scene in 2011 with his album XXX, which, if I might add is absolutely amazing. Danny showed himself as a dynamic, wild, and emotional guy on the mic. Characterized by his high pitched voice and lyrical range, Danny caught on with a lot of people. While I was a bit disappointed by his follow up in 2013, Old, it wasn't a bad album by any means. Now, Brown is back with Atrocity Exhibition. Let's see what he has in store for us now.

Even by Danny Brown standards, this album is WILD. Here we see him devolve further and further into his whirlwind of drug abuse and insanity. As he illustrates this over some of the most nutty rap instrumentals I've ever heard, I seriously get the feeling that this guy is special. Who else is doing this? He starts us off on an aptly named track, Downward Spiral. Over a pretty cool little rock-inspired groove, Danny gives us what the name of the track entails. Even with the success he's had, its so hard for him to get out of the hole he's dug for himself. This was a low-key, yet powerful opener. On Tell Me What I Don't Know, Danny notably goes in with his lower, more reserved voice that you probably remember from the second half of XXX. It seems whenever he uses this voice he's talking about some pretty real topics. With this track he's talking about the stuff that goes on in Detroit, and all the dangerous things he's seen and is still seeing today. These two tracks were solid, but I absolutely loved the next two, Rolling Stone and Really Doe. Two candidates for some of Danny's best songs ever, these two already have me thinking this album will be something special. Rolling Stone has a beat that is awesome, as it sounds so grimy and cavernous. The vocals on the hook from Petite Noir fit it perfectly and I love how they fit into the track. Danny does his thing on the verses and the song comes together very well. Really Doe is a monstrous posse cut with an all-star lineup. I loved Danny, Ab-Soul, and Kendrick Lamar's verses over the booming Black Milk beat, but it was Earl Sweatshirt's verse at the end of the track that hit the hardest. Earl is at the top of his game right now, and this verse showed how much of a grasp he seriously has on riding a beat with his unique flow. Really Doe is a candidate for best song of 2016, in my opinion.

The album relaxes a bit with the track Lost, a pretty chilled out but also slightly creepy song with Danny doing his thing over a really cool sounding sample beat. This relaxation doesn't last long, though, as the next three tracks are clinically insane. Seriously, you won't hear much rap that sounds like these. Ain't it Funny, Golddust, and White Lines are some of the most creative and crazy music this guy has ever done in his career. Never have I heard beats like the ones these tracks have, and Danny somehow just rides them effortlessly with his cackling delivery. The two I was most blown away by were Golddust and White Lines. Golddust somehow weaves in a headbanging punk guitar riff that keeps coming in and out of the track. Danny goes crazy over it and it ends up just sounding like something he was meant to do. That is how well he flows despite the abstract instrumentals. White Lines similarly has an extremely unorthodox beat and Danny just sounds great on it. Lyrically, Danny really comes back into the drug abuse black hole on this track, sounding like someone who has seriously been through some awful stuff. You are just really hearing a man fall apart on this track, and its insane how vividly Danny does this on the mic. Brown comes with a total banger on Pneumonia, a super fun track aided by Schoolboy Q's frequent ad libs in the background.

Danny goes through the last few tracks getting a lot more fun, starting with Dance in the Water, basically a banging anthem that also has some lyrical wisdom tied into it, with Danny echoing the title of the song in the hook. After From the Ground, a nice, relaxed song with a good hook from singer Kelela, comes When it Rain, a song I literally think I could write about for hours. This might be the wildest, most ridiculous song and musical concept I've heard this year. The crazy thing here is just how comfortable Danny sounds riding a beat like this that I feel like I've literally never heard anyone rap on in my life. Danny makes it into a total banger with a fun hook and rapid fire verses. The next two tracks, Today and Get Hi seem to be the only ones I'm not totally crazy about. While I love every other track I think only like these two. They're good but I won't be replaying them like I will with others. I will admit Get Hi is a funny track with B-Real fitting well on the hook. I love how Danny closes this album with the gritty Hell For It. He sounds determined here, getting past his drug abuse issues and going at the people who have doubted him. Overall this album is outstanding. I never thought Danny could make something that could hold a candle to XXX, but here he pulled out all the stops. I never thought I'd hear some of the sounds I heard on this project, but if anyone can do it, its Danny Brown. This album isn't for everyone, and it might even turn off some fans of Danny with how wild he lets his artistry get. If you really let yourself get immersed in the insanity here, you might have an extremely memorable listening experience.

Wrap Up
+Ridiculously forward thinking and wild instrumentals
+Brown keeps up his constantly excellent lyricism
+Illustrates the sounds of drug abuse better than he ever has before
+Always mixing things up with relaxed songs, bangers, serious lyrical tracks

Best Tracks; Rolling Stone. Really Doe, When it Rain

Worst Track: Today

9.6/10

Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp A Butterfly ALBUM REVIEW

Today, I am finally bringing you my review of Kendrick Lamar's new album, To Pimp A Butterfly. The entire hip hop community has been anxiously waiting for this album since late 2012, when Kendrick dropped his album good kid, m.A.A.d city. This album, one of the best of this decade in rap, showed Kendrick Lamar as an incredible rapper and storyteller. Kendrick told the story of himself growing up in the gang-infested city of Compton as an uncomfortable teenager, not sure who he was. As the album went on, the young Kendrick grew up into the man he is today, as he learned from his bad experiences. Now that this new album is out, the impossible question is answered: how can Kendrick follow up such an amazing project?

On To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar is a man. He is no longer an awkward teenager on the streets of Compton, but a grown adult who is just trying to navigate the life of a celebrity. The album follows Kendrick as he rides the emotional roller coaster of being famous. The album starts out on a fun note, with the song Wesley's Theory. From a pure musical standpoint, this song is absolutely awesome. Flying Lotus laid down an incredibly funky beat on this song as Kendrick killed it on both the chorus and the verses. Thundercat and George Clinton made great guest appearances, playing the bass and singing the outro, respectively. This track metaphorically references Wesley Snipes in its title, a black man who has been "pimped" by the fame, much like Kendrick. This leads right into the For Free Interlude, a fun two mintues in which Kendrick is rapping at his high level, but being funny. This track leads into the incredible 3rd track, King Kunta. This may be one of Kendrick's best songs ever, as the beat is infectious and catchy, Kendrick is being very lyrical, and the song has an amazing groove to it. At the end of this track, Kendrick seems to say the opening lines of a poem, one that he keeps adding lines to with the end of each track on the album. Kendrick keeps the funkiness going with the next two tracks, Institutionalized and These Walls, both of which feature singers Anna Wise and Bilal. Institutionalized was a very relaxed, laid back song which even featured Snoop Dogg on a bridge. These Walls, while fun and catchy, was just not a very interesting song to me. I appreciated the concept, but the execution left me with something I don't see myself listening to.

After a series of fun, positive tracks, Kendrick takes a complete left turn on the next track, u. All the new things going on in Kendrick's life clearly take a toll on him, as he is depressed and panicked on this track. He is constantly in an internal argument with himself, telling himself he is worthless and a failure. He talks about people from back in his hometown who he has left behind, including a friend who was killed. As the track goes on, we start to see Kendrick is drinking heavily as well, portrayed in a genius way with the bottle sounds going in and out of the track. This song was ridiculously impressive, and I simply can't see any other rappers doing something like this. On the next track, Alright, Kendrick is reassured that everything will in fact, be alright. This song had a pretty upbeat vibe and the chorus was infectious. Next up is the For Free Interlude, a dreamy track where Kendrick goes into detail on Lucy, a character he uses to represent Lucifer, which is constantly causing him to make bad decisons and have conflicts with himself. This song had an interesting meaning, but once again, this is a track I really would not listen to much. It goes on far too long and it just isn't dynamic enough to play on repeat. This is a turning point in the album, with Kendrick going  back home to Compton in hopes of finding himself.

As a result of Kendrick returning home, the next few tracks on this album start to sound like old-school, West Coast Kendrick Lamar. He talks about himself some more on the track Momma, which sees Kendrick going over all the things he has learned about as he has become a huge celebrity. Kendrick really goes in old-school mode on the next song, Hood Politics, which I loved. This song had a great hook and Kendrick had some awesome lines, including a shout out to one of my favorite rappers, Killer Mike. Just as it seemed Kendrick was leaning more towards the West Coast sound and less toward lyrics, the song How Much a Dollar Cost comes. Kendrick kills it lyrically on this track, telling a story about meeting a homeless man who asks for money, who later turns out to actually be God. This track sees Kendrick learning valuable lessons and getting less plagued by Lucy. Kendrick keeps the good values going on the track Complexion, which had an awesome, catchy hook I could really bop my head to. As the title suggests, this track states that complexion doesn't mean anything to Kendrick. Rapsody, the only guest rapper on this whole album, took her moment and owned it on this song. She laid down a great verse filled with quotables. Ironically, Kendrick sticks the very angry, pro-black song The Blacker the Berry right after Complexion, a happy, positive song. On this song, Kendrick is angry, energetic, and his delivery is absolutely gripping. Kendrick deals with racism here, coming with some powerful lines. After this comes the track You Ain't Gotta Lie, the one song on this album I can't really get behind. While it is soulful and nice, it just has no replay value for me and I didn't think the concept was nearly as strong as it was on other tracks here.

The last two songs are where the album hits its ultimate creative climax. The song i comes in as the 15th track, a song that was initially dropped a while ago, but has been replaced with a live version, and it sounds great. This song is funky, catchy, and fun, as Kendrick celebrates self-love, a complete change from the other track, u. Going with the live version, Kendrick connects the story by preaching to two fans in the crowd fighting each other. He really sounds powerful on this track, talking about being a black leader, a king and connecting it to an old African word, negus, which really means "black royalty". He at the end dedicates to the closing verse to Oprah Winfrey, one of the most successful black people ever. On the final track, Mortal Man, Kendrick wraps it up with a beautiful song where he shouts out some more black rulers, like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. The outro of this album is where it really shined, and shocked people in the process. Kendrick reads the final version of the poem he had been sneaking into the end of every track, where you see that each line of the poem connects to a certain song. It is revealed that the whole time he was telling the poem to the late Tupac Shakur. Using exerpts from an unknown interview tith Tupac, Kendrick seamlessly has a conversation with the dead rapper, talking about fame and image, things Kendrick is trying hard to deal with. Kendrick wraps it up with one final poem that shows the meaning of the "To Pimp A Butterfly" title. After reading it though, Tupac is gone, and Kendrick is once again left alone. This is simply one of the best endings to an album I have ever heard, it took me by surprise, and left me feeling that Kendrick has crafted another classic album.



Overall, To Pimp A Butterfly is a conceptual masterpiece. It is the perfect follow up to GKMC and shows Kendrick looking in the mirror to fix himself. This album has some breathtaking emotional climaxes like u and Mortal Man, while also providing, quite simply the best music I've heard in a while with Wesley's Theory and King Kunta. I would still rank GKMC over this album, though, as that album simply had less tracks that I wouldnt listen to. Songs on this album such as These Walls, Momma, and You Ain't Gotta Lie are nice, meaningful tracks that contribute to the album, but I just won't be listening to them at all. Other than that, this may go down as 2015's best rap album, and Kendrick hit it out of the park again.

TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY WRAP UP
+Fantastic concept and story
+Shocking ending
+Brought elements of jazz and funk that created great songs
+Emotional

Best: Wesley's Theory, King Kunta, Complexion

Worst: You Ain't Gotta Lie

Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp A Butterfly
9.2/10

Kid Ink- Full Speed ALBUM REVIEW

Today I am reviewing the second studio album from Kid Ink, titled Full Speed. This guy, as you may be able to tell from his album cover, is about as generic as it gets. Last year around this time I gave his album My Own Lane a pretty harsh review, but for good reason. There is nothing about Ink that stands out, and he raps the same way every time he gets on a track. He will also throw out some really cringe-worthy lines and hooks on these songs, resulting in a bad project all around. This guy does always manage to collaborate with artists I like, such as Pusha T, ASAP Ferg, and Young Thug. Full Speed is pretty much the last chance I am giving Kid Ink, so will he finally drop a decent album?

Full Speed is a pretty diverse album from a production standpoint. Kid Ink works with a lot of producers I like, and it pays off as the beats on this album were good for the most part. Some of the beats on here were pretty interesting and unique compared to ones I have heard in mainstream hip hop. The second track, Faster, had a pretty fun beat, with a grungy synthesizer leading the track to give it an almost punk sort of vibe. I liked it a lot. On the other end of the spectrum, the song Body Language had a fun, happy, upbeat instrumental, led by some pretty interesting percussion sounds. The Migos-featured Every City We Go had some subtle vocal samples to give it some real personality. The unstoppable Metro Boomin provides the beat for the song Like a Hott Boyy and it sounded awesome, as usual for Metro. While some of the beats here, namely What It Feels Like, Dolo, Cool Back, and Round Here were pretty nondescript, these were kept to a minimum on Full Speed. I liked a lot of the production on this album. For your average mainstream hip hop album, I couldn't really ask for better beats.

So yes, I thought the production on this album was pretty good. I really can not say the same about the primary artist. Kid Ink continues to be an extremely mediocre rapper. I would say he actually got worse on Full Speed. His verses were just so boring, predictable, and dull on this album. He pretty much sounds like a blend of every average mainstream radio rapper. There are moments where he tries to get unique and do something different, but unfortunately this often ends up laughable. The worst moments for Kid Ink here are the hooks. He delivered pretty rough hooks on his solo tracks, like Faster, Round Here, and the absolutely awful Blunted. The tracks with guests on the hooks were a mixed bag. Dolo, the track with R. Kelly, was a massive disappointment. Hearing one of the greatest singers ever relegated to the role he had on this song was pretty sad. Body Language was a pretty catchy radio jam that I enjoyed listening to. I can say the same about Hotel with Chris Brown, a track I actually thought was excellent. With Show Me being one of the only good tracks on Kid Ink's last album, it is evident him and Chris Brown have pretty good chemistry. Other features on Full Speed include Migos, who made Every City We Go a memorable track, and Young Thug, who even with a limited role killed it on Like a Hott Boyy. Overall for Kid Ink, this is his best album. While that is not saying much, I actually liked this more than I thought I would. I legitimately got a few good songs out of this. Unfortunately though, my opinion on Kid Ink hasn't changed, and this album as a whole was nothing more than average.

FULL SPEED WRAP UP
+Some really fun, enjoyable pop-rap tracks
+Solid features from artists I like
+Decent production
-Kid Ink never impresses
-Corny moments


Best: Body Language, Every City We Go, Like A Hott Boyy

Worst: Blunted

Kid Ink- Full Speed
5.6/10

**KENDRICK REVIEW COMING SOON**