Over the last twenty days of December (and obviously 2013), I’ll be writing about my favorite twenty albums and songs of the year, one a day. Not best. Not most influential. Not most likely to land on a Complex slideshow. Just my favorite, ranked in order.
6. tyler, the creator – wolf
It’s hard to define the change Tyler, The Creator has gone through this year as a “transformation,” because he’s still retained many of the elements that vaulted him to fame in 2011 with “Yonkers” and Bastard: he’s still bitingly sarcastic, prone to emotional outbursts, and hardly afraid of the controversial. It’s like watching a ten-year-old mind loose in the body of an immensely talented twenty-year-old. But since his days as parent-adversary and troubled-role-model, Tyler has made massive steps forward as an artist. He’s relying less on the Eminem-esque shock value of his lyrics, and instead taking advantage of his unique skill set as a producer/rapper. It might sound like a disadvantage that Tyler never formally learned how to play a musical instrument, but it’s certainly playing to his strengths now; the types of chord progressions he’s using in his music are jazzy, funky, and like nothing else in hip-hop. Wolf is the most mature piece of music Tyler has ever made, and the straight-out-my-basement homespun sound of Odd Future’s earlier music has evolved into something more distinct and polished. It’s a concept album, but the story isn’t what carries the album – in fact, several of the best songs off Wolf (like Tyler’s interpolation of Eminem’s “Stan”, “Colossus”) don’t even fit into the narrative. Instead, it’s Tyler’s charisma: even beyond the steps he’s taken as a rapper, and even without the violence that laced most of his earlier songs, Tyler’s growl is gripping. This is an artist coming into his own.
6. roc marciano – “the sacrifice (prod. madlib)”
The sample driving “The Sacrifice” forward doesn’t waste any time sputtering to a start like a ‘90s RZA loop, it jerks right into action. It’s uncharacteristically soulful for a Roc Marciano backdrop, but that’s a role Madlib’s been providing for Freddie Gibbs lately too, so no surprises there. It’s also not a surprise that Roc is just as sharp lyrically as he’s been on virtually every single song he’s ever made; who else can rap about the same things over and over on every song so consistently while mixing it up just enough to be interesting every time? What is surprising, though, is how well all the elements of this song come together. The eight-note bassline, the loop drifting in and out of audible range, the shrill trumpet notes dancing into the beat every few measures. It’s all impeccably polished (for a rapper who revels in the grittiness of New York, that’s a nice change), and very soulful material. Who else you know pulling out lines like “My main ho, cop me the Range Ro’, she say no/I need one for every color in the rainbow”?