Sure this could be a music rap up, but lets be realistic here. This didn’t feel like a stand out year for rap, but unlike games I don’t know if that is on the year or me. My second half of the 2022 saw a fall off from exploring new music, just busy I guess. Lots of anticipation for new work from artist I already know and some new stuff too. The real “write up” here is pretty much my annual Spotify playlist, but I’ve handpicked a few tracks/albums below that, enjoy!
JID - The Forever Story - I can’t pick between this and Vince Staples’s album for my favorite of the year. Both were great for different reasons. Forever Story is the companion piece to The Never Story from 2017 and demonstrates how far JID has come as an artist. The production is hand in glove with the rapping and writing, while the album explores a lot more of his personal life. Turns out all the features he has been on lyrically murdering his host for the past 5 years added up to something special.
Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart - Recency bias here, but when Vince showed up on an episode of Abbott Elementary it felt like the culmination of a banner year for him. I paused the show and announced my excitement to my wife. Jump back to April when this album dropped less then a year from him self-titled 2021 album and I expected a lot, but not this. This year’s album was thoughtful in it’s pacing, mixing chest rattling bangers with introspective mellow tracks with ease.
Freddie Gibbs - Ice Cream - It could be telling that my favorite Freddie Gibbs thing this year was a single that was not on his very good $oul $old $eparately, but it isn’t. I like nearly everything this man drops. It feels effortless, his voice is a killer instrument, and like JID he outshines everyone he features for. Psst…over here…Bust Down might actually be the best thing he did this year. R.I.P. Jak Knight.
Tobe Nwigwe - Lord Forgive Me - The sheer number of new songs and weekly released music videos from Tobe this year was overwhelming. This song stood out, but I loved regularly checking and consuming his work via video, which is not my default approach to music.
Kendrick Lamar - N95 - This is not my favorite, second, third, or maybe even fourth favorite Kendrick album. But it says a lot that this is still an incredible album. Probably more about how profound and sustainable his work has been for more than 10 years now.
Westside Boogie & Shelley fka DRAM - Aight - Still can’t believe I didn’t mention DRAM on this standout track when I talked about the new album on the podcast (ep. 188). Maybe there was just too much to love about Boogie’s second studio album, that I was just caught in the moment. Killer stuff hear and loads of tracks worth throwing on a playlist.
Pharrell Williams - Cash In Cash Out - I don’t even know if Pharrell drops albums anymore. GIRL was in 2014, but he still shows up everywhere, and this year he dropped one of the best tracks with killer features from 21 and Tyler. Their styles are chocolate and peanut butter to me, and blend oh so well here. Throw in the fact that this video is amazing too.
Black Star - So Be It - New Black Star in 2022? Count it as something I did not have anywhere on my radar. I went on a deep dive into the 1998 album after seeing this on SNL the day after air.
What is this? Other genres? Well you scrolled all the way down here, you deserve some a treat…