april///seventeen

1. Kap G - "Icha Gicha" feat. Pharrell
it's so nuts that atlantic signed this guy, gave him a standard album roll-out paired with the requisite big name radio features (one of the early singles had chris brown on it), and let him and pharrell make what is probably one of the most bizarre major label rap songs of the year. of course, the secret is that with a few more instrument tracks on logic this sounds a lot more standard, even though kap g is, on the low, one of the more talented/creative of this generation of major label atlanta talents. but then again, the bravery to make a song like this is half the battle anyway.

2. Cousin Stizz - "Headlock" feat. Offset (Vinylz)
i'm all about formulas, especially when they include offset

3. AD & Sorry Jaynari - "Who Dat?" feat. Kool John (Sorry Jaynari)
i've listened to this song upwards of twenty times now and i still couldn't really tell you what the structure is, who raps what and when (besides kool john saying "pockets like mcmuffins"), how many hooks there are, etcetera, but i also find it hard to care

4. G Perico - "All Blue" (Kacey Khaliel)
the second-hand directive has always been arresting in this subset of hip-hop, but there's something particularly forceful/coercive when g perico takes it up: when he raps that he'll "take you all around [his] turf in one day," the excursion doesn't sound optional.

5. K$UBI KAYY - "I Know, I Know" (BLKJCKX)
this beat pulses through the hook, and it takes a really good rapper to know when to step back

6. Jace & Ducko McFli - "Rollin'" feat. IamSu! (Ducko McFli)
bedtime raps 2017!!!

7. Nebu Kiniza - "Coastin'" feat. TK Kravitz (Nebu Kiniza)
this really an excellent update of the nebu kiniza formula; a little bouncier, a little more melodic, a couple new sounds -- this might be the best of them.

8. Nef the Pharaoh - "Move4" feat. OMB Peezy & Jay Ant
this really should be an omb showcase but somehow nef managed to bury him before he even says a word -- but also, how more immaculate can a hook on a song like this get? especially how it's stretched out in the end as the rest of the song falls away? 

9. Kevin Gates - "911" (Frank Dukes & Kevin Gates)
what if i think this is better than "what if"?

10. Dominique - "Hey Bardi I Made a Song" (Trapanese)
it's raw, especially the couple times the voice doesn't strike through the beat as decisively as it should, but when it clicks, it clicks. 

11. Divine Council - "Talkin' Down" (ICYTWAT)
0:40-1:19

12. Kendrick Lamar - "ELEMENT." (Bekon, James Blake, Ricci Riera, Sounwave & Tae Beast)
there's too much to say about this album; too much to say about this song (the most important, of course, is that this is the best kid capri tag on DAMN.). while good kid, m.A.A.d city was sectioned off -- the subversive radio song, the song for the whip, the festival drop, the twelve-minute jazz epic -- To Pimp a Butterfly responded by swinging all the way into one small corner. DAMN. isn't the best kendrick album (that title was locked in forever two years ago), but it's the one that blurs the lines the most; it's a flex framed in a lament, layered again and again and again. and somebody let james blake produce a whole hip-hop album already.

13. Rothstein - "Ballerina" (Shepard)
this like a boxing match in a song

14. Rich Homie Quan - "Back End" (Cassius Jay)
easy to forget that quan was sleeper the star of Tha Tour, Pt. 1, or that like noz pointed out a few months back, that he was quavo before quavo was really quavo. this whole album a good reminder.

15. Allan Kingdom - "Don't Push Me" (Dro & SinGrinch)
this hook probably the best use of the soundcloud flow ever, hidden in the type of 4:30pm pre-sunset melancholy tone of reflection that has always been the best, most poignant host to that type of rap

16. Freddie Gibbs - "Amnesia" (DYNC3, Dupri, Jay Nari & Speakerbomb)
it's always cool to listen to a new song off a new album and think that when all is said and done, you've listened to something somewhat career-defining

17. Amir Obè - "Cigarettes" (NYLZ)
i would probably be okay with amir obè writing the entirety of drake's next album (given what More Life actually ended up as, i feel pretty justified). i will forever maintain that the best rappers are the ones who make music so fully breathtaking that it makes you forget you ever held some expectation of content or emotional impact. at the end of the day, music is music, isn't it?

18. Playboi Carti - "Location" (Harry Fraud)
this is just so, so, so good. 

19. Pollàri - "Star" (YungCortex)
i didn't know i needed disco rap, but i guess i do

march 2017

1. Nnamdi Ogbonnaya - "Let Go of My Ego"
the way this song stutters into existence is why i listen to music. like all good weird music, there's an alternate universe where this is a top 40 hit. man somebody give young thug a medal for helping allow this to happen.

2. Kid Tyler - “72″ feat. Famous Dex (Big E)
important visual accompaniment: exhibit a, exhibit b

3. KOSHR. - “.223″ (KOSHR.)
i always liked my roommate but then he showed me this song and now i like him more

4. Brodinski - “Weekend” feat. HoodRich Pablo Juan & José Guapo (Brodinski)
this song is so great for so many reasons -- on the low, though, it's structured incredibly. back-and-forth rapping always has a special place in my heart but it is very rarely fed to me quite like this

5. Mike WiLL Made It - "Bars of Soap" feat. Swae Lee (Mike WiLL Made It)
still haven't made it past the first 8 measures, i'll keep you all updated

6. Frost - “Did I Do That” (Keanubeats)
i question pretty often why i still gravitate so instinctively towards music like this -- songs that don't explore subject matter (largely inapplicable to my own life) to a degree that future hasn't already subjected me to -- and at some level, it processes as an abdication of my responsibility as a Listener of Music to choose to burrow deeper into one musical rabbit hole instead of blinking a couple times and remembering that 95% of the time i've spent consuming music in my life has been dedicated to just one genre. i still do not have an answer for this particular musical dilemma but i do know that i can sing this entire hook to you front-to-back and there's like, two english words in the entire thing.

7. 24hrs - “Whatever”
24hrs - 1, nav - 0

8. EMI - “Like Us” (Bobby Raps, Charlie Handsome & Rex Kudo)
like part of me really doesn't have the mental headspace to deal with yet another relatively talented singer that's got her first singles produced by like, post malone's entire production team, but this sounds like lorde got pissed off two years ago and started hanging out with travis scott or something

9. Richy Hyliger - “14k Italy” (Mason Flynt)
my enjoyment of this song is almost certainly inversely-related to the length of my attention span but that is okay

10. Allan Kingdom - “Know About It” (FNZ & Ronny J)
this is the best thing that could have happened to this man's career

11. Navé Monjo - "Collect My Pay" 
hook!!!!!!!

12. BIGBABYGUCCI - "In My Bag" (BLVC SVND)
i will also admit that the first thing i thought of when i saw lil uzi vert was "rock star" and i am very glad that BIGBABYGUCCI did not stop there

13. Amir Obé - “Wish You Well” (NYLZ)
this dude quiet stunning. 

14. Playboi Carti - “Woke Up Like This” feat. Lil Uzi Vert (Pi’erre Bourne)
horribly tragic that this wasn't the single

15. Smino - “Amphetamine/Krash Kourse” feat. Bari, Jean Deaux & Noname (J.Robb, Monte Booker & Phoelix)
the album should've been way more "anita" and way less this but i will suspend that cynicism and disappointment temporarily

16. GoldLink - "Herside Story" feat. Hare Squead (Felix Joseph & Hare Squead)
this hook makes me want to cry

17. Drake - “Sacrifices” feat. 2 Chainz & Young Thug (DeeJae & T-Minus)
guess what my favorite part is! do you understand that young thug is on the biggest mainstream hip-hop album of 2017 twice and one of those times is a jeffery throwaway! 

18. Charli XCX - “Dreamer” feat. Starrah & RAYE (A.G. Cook)
didn't know that i've been waiting for charli xcx to sing about stepping out of beamers my whole life but i'm glad that's been cleared up

february twenty seven teen

1. Syd - “No Complaints” (Syd)
this whole album is standard good/great/amazing but it wouldn’t be what it is without this – a minute where emotion doesn’t shift into menace, it becomes menace

2. Future - “I’m So Groovy” (Tarentino & Tre Pounds)
this the whip song

3. bbno$ - “Run It Up” (Slight)
2018

4. Sean Leon - “God/Guard Up” (WondaGurl)
this album is like frank ocean was a 7/10 rapper and he tried to make blonde and for most of it he falls into a childish-gambino-because-the-internet-era-self-aggrandizing artistic loop but for 3 minutes he blacks out

5. LAMB$ - “Make It Count” (DJ Patt)
it’s nice to know that as the primary mainstream purveyors of this type of rap begin softening its impact by drawing back or stringing through melodies, some still worship relentlessness

6. Rothstein - “Get Your Shit Together” (ryanjacob)
this is an amazing pop song

7. Rich Gang - “Bit Bak” feat. Young Thug & Birdman (808 Mafia & TM88)
i swear i genuinely love this song, but i would also be lying if i didn’t say that i made that artistic judgment the moment i heard “rich gang”

8. Chris Travis - “Iceland” (BigHeadOnTheBeat)
who named this song? give them medals, lots of them

9. Two-9 - “None of These” feat. FatKidsBrotha, Key! & Jace (CeeJ & Mitch)
this is like, a melting ice cube as a song. i live for simple chant-able rap verses that take me only two listens to fully internalize. also he said “i pull up in apcs, no nudies”

10. 24hrs - “VSVSVS” (Nard & B)
something about the “jewelry and women as a metric of my success” trope still holds strong, decades later!!!!

11. Lil Uzi Vert - “Luv Scars” (DJ Plugg)
this is the best song lil uzi vert has ever made, the best song on this playlist, one of the best songs of the entire year. there are at least eleven iconic moments in this song (the dj tag, the first bar of the first hook, the first time he says his patek is flooded, “what you thought it was?”, the way he says the first line of the verse with the same cadence as that adlib, the “whoaaaaaaaa, let me take my time,” how he says he doesn’t wear hanes, the way he says “i just made a bag from like half of a show,” the way the first verse moves into the second hook, the five star room bar, the way his “would’ve warned ya” devolves into wails). the biggest draw to this kind of music is the heartbreak that envelopes the words. 

12. Playboi Carti - “Fa$ter”
“less is more” is a cool artistic mantra especially when you apply it to coherence. anyway, this song sounds like armageddon

13. Kodak Black - “Water” feat. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
do you understand that a boogie wit da hoodie is a star? it’s easy to begin and end that conversation by mentioning and enclosing him within one of his influences – but it’s a vast undersell of what a boogie is capable of to just say speaker knockerz’s (RIP) name

14. HOMESHAKE - “Khmlwugh” (HOMESHAKE)
if i had an elevator it would play nothing but this

15. Jonwayne - “These Words Are Everything” (Dibia$e)
long live atmosphere

16. Future - “Incredible” (Charles Frost & Jacob Heat)
he made an ‘80s electropop hit just 14 songs on this playlist after he dismantled my subwoofer? 

17. Terror Jr - “Come First (Felix Snow Based Mix)” feat. Father & Lil B
this is instantly iconic; back to our regularly scheduled programming

18. SahBabii - “S.A.N.D.A.S”
huge on 30 second non-song sketches

19. SwagHollywood & Richie Souf - “Matrimoney” (Richie Souf)
i don’t know if this song is good

20. Smino - “Anita” (Monte Booker)
too often, the way we visualize musical innovation is in the framework of a drastic jump – a paradigm-shifting reconceptualization of what constitutes a melody, what constitutes an instrumental, what holds up a song and what holds it back. but i’d posit that the most striking hip-hop and pop innovators of the past few years simply draw lines, between one thing we know well and another we know well, but through arbitrary walls that we’ve chosen to let spring up to structure our understanding of music (see: the weeknd). even the most melodic of rappers aren’t supposed to let their voice strain to the limits of their vocal cords, and hip-hop beats aren’t supposed to sound like rainforests: but we’ve seen those things before, just not in a song like this, and to make the unfamiliar instantly so reminiscent is an artistic achievement of the highest degree.

21. Young Clancy - “Always Have” (Young Clancy)
this is great but is made so much greater that the bottom of this song drops out (vanishes) and we’re left watching him grasp frantically for drugs as his lifeline.

january seventeen

1. bbno$ - “damn” (lzr)
the first time i heard this i was in a korean club and literally had a heart attack because i was trying to shazam it but my shazam app kept telling me i didn’t have wi-fi (even though i had wi-fi) but it’s all good cause i got it and played no songs other than this, “t-shirt” by migos and a k-pop song for a full week

2. Key! & Reese LaFlare - “Money Phone” feat. Offset (Bobby Kritical & Kc Da Beatmonster)
key! is probably the worst rapper on this song, which is telling

3. SwagHollywood - “I Can’t” feat. ThouxanBandFauni & Uno the Activist (K-naan)
i wish i got cheese like i work for digiornos

4. Kap G - “Freakin’ N Geekin’” (Go Grizzly)
wonderfully manic (1:25-1:31)

5. PnB Rock - “There She Go” feat. YFN Lucci (Bizzy Genius)
smoothest transitions in-out of hooks this side of 2017

6. Tory Lanez - “Bal Harbour” feat. A$AP Ferg (C-Sick)
every time tory lanez puts out a project i really don’t want to like it, and generally don’t like it, but there’s always one song that gets me. last year off the first installment of this tape it was “makaveli” and this time it’s this one. this is the first tory lanez song i’ve listened to in a very long time that wouldn’t be better if travis scott or quavo or rich homie quan rapped it.

7. Migos - “Deadz” feat. 2 Chainz (Cardo)
it took a long time for me to get through my first listen of culture because i kept running back the 2 chainz verse

8. ThouxanBanFauni - “Damned”
ominous af

9. Tunji Ige - “Why Don’t You?” (Heaven in Stereo & Tunji Ige)
i’ve been screaming this for two years plus but this dude is like the best musician on the planet man

10. Ethereal - “How’d It Happen” feat. Lil Yachty & Lord Narf
on the lowest of keys ethereal probably the best awful-associated act besides abra

11. LAMB$ - “Another Day” feat. Playboi Carti (Plugs)
when the carti tape drops and it’s inevitably horrifying i will always, always have this

12. SALEM - “Ur Feelings” feat. Nabi
this is amazing, probably

13. Kay P - “Blood Flow Down My Wrist” (Charlie Shuffler)
this song is devastating. “hedonism as a means of escaping pain” is a pretty common paradigm in hip-hop as it is, especially in the wake of 2014 future, but despite the sheer number of people who get sucked into it it’s still gripping for me – especially when you get songs like this, from rappers who push that dynamic to farther extremes against more bizarre backdrops. 

14. GrandeMarshall - “Stress” (GrandeMarshall)
where has this been

15. Wintertime & Felix Snow - “Louis V. Lover” (Felix Snow)
felix snow is my jesus

16. Sampha - “Plastic 100°C”
heartrending, like everything else he’s ever touched

17. Chris McClenney - “Headlines” (Chris McClenney)
WOOOOOOOO

18. The xx - “Replica” (The xx)
geniuses, all of them

19. Jonwayne - “Out of Sight” (Jonwayne)
bedtime raps 2017, a movement i have always been and will always be here for

20. Maxo Kream - “Grannies” (Beatplugg)
hide your flows maxo kream is coming

best music, 2016

sometime early this spring, my hard drive broke.

this is bad, generally speaking, but especially Bad because all 30,000 of the songs i own were on that hard drive, and i was left with an itunes library that now had a heart-attack-inducing number of gray exclamation points next to song names (to this day, every time itunes asks me where to locate a song i shudder involuntarily). this was a truly horrible development, a dark era of my existence where i spent a horrible number of hours researching, finding, and visiting hard drive repair stores where sixty-year-old men looked at me like i was a preschooler before spewing out long sentences about drive data configurations and telling me that no, they couldn’t fix my hard drive and yes, my hard drive was far past saving and hey, what the fuck did you do to fuck your hard drive up this badly? it was rough, and it swallowed up nearly two weeks of midterm season as i panicked to reconstruct my meticulously tagged library (i format all features the same — “feat.”, no parentheses no capitalizations — and alphabetize all producers in the “composers” field and always make sure to have the right number of total tracks in the track number field and i 100% have a problem). but at the same time, this might be the best thing that happened to me, music-wise: going through and piecing together a life of music helped me mentally assemble a far clearer picture of what music was important to me and why it was. i have a playlist that’s titled “M”, and it’s made up of the few songs in my life that freeze me with my memories: some of them are my favorite songs ever, and some of them i’ve only listened to once or twice, but it’s my most valuable possession.

and as far as this list goes: idk man i tried separating these lists into rap and non-rap (even tried a weird rendition where i pulled out “r&b” and it was all blood orange and beyoncé and nxworries next to each other and that was super strange) but that felt wrong, fundamentally unrepresentative of the music that soundtracked my year, so instead it’s the below. what i cared about this year — or, more accurately, what made me care. i hope you like some of my #hottakes.

Songs
20. Flume - “Say It” feat. Tove Lo (Flume)
19. A$AP Mob - “Crazy Brazy” feat. A$AP Rocky, A$AP Twelvyy & Key! (Wavy Wallace)
18. Joey Purp - “Cornerstore” feat. Saba & theMIND (Donnie Trumpet, J.P. Floyd, Knox Fortune, Peter Cottontale & Thelonious Martin)
17. Noname - “Diddy Bop” feat. Raury & Cam O’bi (Cam O’bi & Phoelix)
16. Starrah - “Rush” (Retro Future)
15. foggieraw - “Drop 40” feat. Sam Stan & dreamchild (dreamchild)
14. ScHoolboy Q - “Groovy Tony/Eddie Kane” feat. Jadakiss (Dem Jointz & Tae Beast)
13. Childish Gambino - “Redbone” (Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson)
12. Solange - “Cranes in the Sky” (Raphael Saadiq & Solange)
11. Isaiah Rashad - “4r Da Squaw” (FrancisGotHeat)
10. Ugly God - “Water” (Danny Wolf & Ugly God)
9. Kevin Abstract - “Empty” (BLACK MONDAY, Michael Uzowuru & Romil)
8. French Montana - “Lockjaw” feat. Kodak Black (Ben Billion$)
7. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’ - “No Heart” (Metro Boomin’)
6. Whitney - “Golden Days” (Whitney)
5. Chance the Rapper - “No Problem” feat. Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz (Brasstracks)
4. Anderson .Paak - “The Season/Carry Me” (9th Wonder & Callum Connor)
3. Young Thug - “Pick Up the Phone” feat. Travis Scott & Quavo (Allen Ritter, Frank Dukes, Maneesh, Mick Schultz, Mike Dean & Vinylz)
2. Kanye West - “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 & Pt. 2” feat. Kid Cudi, Desiigner & Caroline Shaw (Kanye West, Menace, Metro Boomin’, Mike Dean, Plain Pat & Rick Rubin)
1. Frank Ocean - “Nights” (Buddy Ross, Frank Ocean, Joe Thornalley, Michael Uzowuru & Nishad Trivedi)

Albums
15. Bon Iver - 22, A Million
14. Solange - A Seat at the Table
13. Kamaiyah - A Good Night in the Ghetto
12. Joey Purp - iiiDrops
11. Young Thug - JEFFERY
10. Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
9. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
8. James Blake - The Color in Everything
7. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
6. Kevin Abstract - American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story
5. Anderson .Paak - Malibu
4. Isaiah Rashad - The Sun’s Tirade
3. Whitney - Light Upon the Lake
2. YG - Still Brazy
1. Frank Ocean - Blonde

Other Things I Love That Don’t Fit Into Those Lists
20. $ki Mask the Slump God - “Take a Step Back” feat. XXXTENTACION (Ronny J)
19. Noname - Telefone
18. Gucci Mane - “First Day Out Tha Feds” (Mike WiLL Made It)
17. Kodak Black - Lil B.I.G. Pac
16. RJ - “Flex” (Authentic & LarryJayy)
15. G Perico - Shit Don’t Stop
14. Cousin Stizz - Monda
13. Felix Snow - “Love” feat. Lil Uzi Vert (Felix Snow)
12. Smino - “Blkswn” (Sango)
11. Lil Yachty (everything)
10. Eli Sostre - Still Up All Night
9. Curren$y & The Alchemist - The Carrollton Heist
8. Nessly - Solo Boy Band EP
7. Wifisfuneral - “Run That Shit Da Fuck Up”
6. Payroll Giovanni & Cardo - Big Bossin’ Vol. 1
5. Quavo - “Trapstar” (Murda Beatz)
4. Roy Woods - Waking at Dawn
3. Young Thug - “Texas Love” (Ricky Racks)
2. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’ - Savage Mode
1. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - Artist

Rappers I Didn’t Know Before This Year
10. Dae Dae
9. Innanet James
8. $ki Mask the Slump God
7. XXXTENTACION
6. Kamaiyah
5. G Perico
4. Brian Fresco
3. NBA YoungBoy
2. Eli Sostre
1. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie

All the Songs on Blonde by Frank Ocean, Objectively Ranked
17. “Skyline To"
16. “Facebook Story"
15. “Close to You"
14. “Be Yourself"
13. “Pretty Sweet"
12. “Godspeed” feat. Kim Burrell
11. “Seigfried"
10. “Pink + White” feat. Beyoncé
9. “Solo (Reprise)” feat. André 3000
8. “Futura Free"
7. “Solo"
6. “White Ferrari” feat. James Blake
5. “Good Guy"
4. “Ivy"
3. “Self Control” feat. Yung Lean & Austin Feinstein
2. “Nikes"
1. “Nights”

Verses on the Only XXL Cypher That Matters and Has Ever Mattered
5. Denzel Curry
4. Lil Yachty
3. Kodak Black
2. 21 Savage
1. Lil Uzi Vert

Young Thug Songs
10. “King TROUP” (Wheezy)
9. “Gangster Shit” (Wheezy)
8. “Digits” (London on da Track)
7. “Drippin’” (TM88 & Wheezy)
6. “With Them” (Mike WiLL Made It, Resource & Wheezy)
5. “Kanye West” feat. Wyclef Jean (Cassius Jay & Wheezy)
4. “Webbie” feat. MPA Duke (Billboard Hitmakers)
3. “Harambe” (Billboard Hitmakers)
2. “Texas Love” (Ricky Racks)
1. “Pick Up the Phone” feat. Travis Scott & Quavo (Allen Ritter, Frank Dukes, Maneesh, Mick Schultz, Mike Dean & Vinylz)

Quavo-Related Moments
10. Migos on VladTV
9. Quavo .Wav Radio cover
8. Verse 2, Lil Yachty - “Minnesota (Remix)” feat. Young Thug & Quavo (Grandfero)
7. “Dat way” - Quavo, multiple songs
6.  Verse 1, G.O.O.D. Music - “Champions” (A-Trak, Kanye West, Lex Luger & Mike Dean)
5. “Quavo!” - Quavo, multiple songs (mostly “Champions”)
4. “Santa Done Dropped the Sack Off”
3. “Birds in the trap sing Brian McKnight/Percocets and codeine, please don’t take my life” - Quavo, Young Thug - “Pick Up the Phone” (Allen Ritter, Frank Dukes, Maneesh, Mick Schultz, Mike Dean & Vinylz)
2. RapSnacks Dab of Ranch Jingle
1. “Still be playing with pots and pans, call me Quavo Ratatouille” (“Bad and Boujee”)

Albums Given to Me By My Roommate Nick, Who is a Cool Guy
10. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
9. Real Estate - Atlas
8. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
7. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
6. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
5. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
4. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion  
3. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
1. Elliot Smith - Either/Or

nooooooooovember 2016

1. Wifisfuneral - Run That Shit Da Fuck Up
haven’t looked at a carti song the same way since

2. Young Jeezy - “Goldmine” (Big Korey, DJ Montay & Doda)
it’s kind of inexplicable that this tape hit #1 billboard 200, but also it’s pretty explicable if you listen to this song

3. Quavo - “Trapstar” (Murda Beatz)
still unclear if quavo can maintain my attention for longer than 2 minutes by himself in anything other than the musical equivalent of a one-scene-skit, but even restrained to that restrictive sort of framework, he’s really fucking something else

4. The Weeknd - “Reminder” (Cirkut, DJ Mano, Doc McKinney & Sir Dylan)
this is the one

5. Lil Aaron - “4 More Drinks/Pink Fenty Slides” (Brenton Duvall, Dylan Brady, Judge Beats & Y2K)
i love this particular autotune-and-sliding-bass rabbithole of hip-hop so much

6. Nessly - “Relocate” (Captain Crunch)
the zaytoven “ah” in the background is beyond perfect because it’s a constant reminder of how this song is at the same time just a simple extension of travis scott, but also so much more. it lilts

7. 55 Bagz - “Lie 2 You” (Y.I.B)
there is indeed beauty in simplicity

8. G Herbo - “Crazy” (Chase Davis)
i know this sample from somewhere else but it’s tough for me to care – it’s herbo’s now

9. NBA YoungBoy - “Life” 
embodies the “uncomfortably celebratory” tone 

10. Lil Uzi Vert & Gucci Mane - “Changed My Phone” (Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E.)
yeah i don’t really know if this song is really that good but it makes me want to go become a professional athlete and win a trophy and sit on top of a parade float waving my championship cap while playing this really loud

11. Tate Kobang - “Chirp” (Casa Di & TGO Soze)
0:57-0:59

12. Rich the Kid - “New Wave” feat. Famous Dex (Retro Sushi)
been really into songs about incredibly simple concepts that sound incredibly good, this is one of them

13. Future - “Used to This” feat. Drake (Zaytoven)
you probably know what this song sounds like even if you haven’t heard it before. rest assured, it’s as good as it appears

14. Xavier Wulf & BONES - “Did You Hear? Roads are Closed” (White Shinobi)
ice, stone, cold

15. Saba - “Stoney” feat. Phoelix & BJRKNC (Phoelix & Saba)
the first minute of this song is as perfect as any piece of music this year. i’ve tried to write a sentence that captures how much i care about this minute over and over for this and i’ve just given up. he gets a life free pass

16. KingJet - “Necklace” (CZ & KingJet)
0:15-0:22

17. Felix Snow - “Love” feat. Lil Uzi Vert (Felix Snow)
this is the best lil uzi vert song ever and it isn’t particularly close

18. Kevin Abstract - “I Do (End Credits)” (BLACK MONDAY, Joba, Kevin Abstract, Michael Uzowuru & Romil)
this is one of the best songs of the year from one of the best artists of the year off of one of the best albums of the year. wins off its concept alone but that’s a wildly, unfairly reductive box to put a song that’s beyond ridiculous. 

octobersixteen

1. Dave East - “It Was Written” (Mr. Authentic)

this is what it feels like when a person (dave east) becomes a song

2. A$AP Mob - “Crazy Brazy” feat. A$AP Rocky, A$AP Twelvyy & Key! (Wavy Wallace)

this is what it feels when a person (key!) becomes a song and then gives it to a$ap mob

3. 2 Chainz - “Diamonds Talkin’ Back” (C4)

this is public endangerment

4. Meek Mill - “Offended” feat. Young Thug & 21 Savage (Cubeatz & OZ)

this is a young thug song

5. Nessly - “Focus” (OUTTATOWN)

hook! the hook! the hook!

6. K. Forest - “Link” (dF & K. Forest)

this one is the hit

7. G Perico - “Dream N****”

remember this one in a year

8. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - “Timeless” (Arnold, CP Dubb & Jaegen)

not as good as the last ones, but still fucking good

9. IshDARR - “Yes, You” (Vincent Leone)

guys we found a better goldlink

10. Charli XCX - “After the Afterparty” feat. Lil Yachty (Fred Gibson, SOPHIE & Stargate)

the title of this song is all you need to see you don’t need to listen to it. this is a symbolic pick

11. Topaz Jones - “Sportscar” (Den-Z & LATENIGHTEPISODE)

mans got tossed here from a different decade i’m here for it

12. Kap G - “Girlfriend (Remix)” feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Quavo (Squat Beats)

hypnotic

13. Mura Masa - “Love$ick (Remix)” feat. A$AP Rocky (Mura Masa)

the fundamental principle of this (sick british producer makes sick song and puts major rapper on it year later) is appalling but hard to be mad here

14. Floyd - “Attention” (Helica)

somewhere here, there is a beautiful, stripped-down ballad, but the beauty of the melody and the words might even be enhanced by being buried under all of those layers of synths and drums. 

15. Jon Waltz - “Riot” (Eric Lynch, Jack Dine & RNDYSVGE)

like on one level maybe you note that there’s no way jon waltz hasn’t been pounding blonde over the last two months, but on another you also note that this song is ridiculous

16. Jay2 - “Better Serve” (Monte Booker)

i don’t know man this is just so good

17. Daniel Caesar - “Get You” feat. Kali Uchis (Jordan Evans & Matthew Burnett)

i am sold

18. D.R.A.M. - “Wi-Fi” feat. Erykah Badu (Gabe Niles, Pablo Dylan, Rogét Chahayed & SamTrax

i don’t like d.r.a.m. but i love this album?

19. Boogie - “Still Thirsty” 

you could package this guy 17 different ways

20. Rejjie Snow - “Pink Beetle” (Rahki)

freeze

21. .Peter $un - “.Quilombo De Palmares (Demo)” (Ohbliv)

this song a 4pm song

see also: september, august, july

sep.sixteen

1. $KI MASK THE SLUMP GOD - “Life is Short” (prod. Jimmy Duval)

rhyme scheme of the century

2. DJ Mustard - “Know My Name” feat. Rich the Kid & RJ (prod. DJ Mustard)

he said “bought a car, now i’m tryna learn how to start it”

3. Famous Dex - “Switch It Up” (GNealz & Scifi)

when’s drake gonna take the flow?

4. Robb Bank$ - “It Wasn’t Me” (Wishbone)

“shaggy’s son gon’ run up and hit you”

5. Lucki Eck$ - “Bloodboy Freestyle”

he does what he does better than anybody else

6. 21 Savage - “No Target” (Brodinski)

21 21 21 21 21

7. MADEINTYO - “Mr. Tokyo” (K Swisha)

that’s how you expand your range 

8. Lil Uzi Vert - “Call Me Right Back” 

that’s how you don’t expand your range

9. 24hrs - “Monster Truck” (Murda Beatz)

the whole EP could be here but i had to restrain myself

10. Amir Obé - “No Peace” (NYLZ)

1:13-1:29

11. Jay IDK - “Boy’s Innocence” feat. Fat Trel (Lo-Fi & Lyntee)

there is a kendrick progression for this career and a jay rock progression

12. $ilk Money - “Decemba” (ICYTWAT)

where was this in 2013

13. Mac Miller - “Cinderella” feat. Ty Dolla $ign (DJ Dahi)

second best ty dolla $ign song of the year

14. Ty Dolla $ign - “Zaddy” (Frank Dukes, Jahaan Sweet & Ty Dolla $ign)

best ty dolla $ign song of the year

15. Kevin Abstract - “Empty” (BLACKMONDAY, Michael Uzowuru & Romil)

they call this a “hit”

16. AlunaGeorge - “Mediator” (AlunaGeorge & Mark Ralph)

imagine if you didn’t know who alunageorge was?

17. Isaiah Rashad - “Tity and Dolla” feat. Hugh Augustine & Jay Rock (Pops & Crooklin)

i’m not saying the first verse of this song is better than essentially every kendrick verse this year but i’m also not not saying that

18. D.R.A.M. - “Cash Machine” (Ricky Reed)

d.r.a.m. the best piano singer-songwriter since sufjan*

19. Innanet James - “622″ (Ben Jamin)

that’s how you do “off-beat”

july, august

* this is the only piano singer-songwriter i know

july sixteen

what i’m on.

best of 2015; also, why i love music

I’ve written a list like this every December for three, maybe four, years now to varying levels of depth and obsession, and this is probably the most straightforward it’s ever been for me – I could’ve called two-thirds of my album list before the ball dropped a year ago. This was, at first (and still a bit now) wildly disturbing, partially because it’d be by definition offputting to be confronted by predictability in something that holds so much value for me largely because of its volatility, but also because the reason I’d done this every year was because in the act of composing a long list that I knew at most ten people would read, I was able to retread my last twelve months in the terms of the music that felt perfectly composed for it. In the songs that I played over and over all year, the songs that I’d forgotten about after April and rediscovered, the songs that I’d only really played through like twice or three times but months later still felt undeniably important: in this music I saw my entire year laid out. So to look over these lists and think, well, no shit, was not as cathartic as I’d hoped.

What I did remember, though, was this is the first year I’ve ever been enamored by music that wasn’t rap – not just vaguely entertained as a palette-cleanser in between intense streaks of digging through the Clipse discography, but enthralled. I kept non-rap off my main lists, but truth be told Tame Impala and Jamie xx were probably more important to me in 2015 than any rapper period, both in terms of the minutes they logged on my iTunes but also the degree to which they embedded themselves in and intertwined themselves with my life over the past year.

So even if below is the most textbook hip-hop list I could’ve imagined, 2015 was also a reminder in the face of a lot of shit in my life that there’s a reason I spent more time on The Fader or 2dopeboyz than any of my economics textbooks, or a reason that people sometimes (ill-advisedly) ask me for music recommendations and I text them thirteen songs punctuated by long and confusing captions which my phone splits up into like six texts probably for their sanity, or a reason that there’s a small but nonzero chance I spend my life working in music. And of course this all feels vaguely dumb and illogical (maybe borderline absurd, although that’s a bit more semantic depending on the baseline you accept as normal) at times, but the point is that sometimes I feel like I’m not using the months and weeks and days and hours and minutes and seconds of my life to their full potential but then I hear the first piano chords cut through the chatter of the crowd in “Loud Places” and then I remember that yes, this is probably dumb and illogical and semantically borderline absurd but yes, this is also okay and cool and it brings me lots of happiness and I think that’s enough.

Anyway, my list is below. Each artist gets one appearance on each list otherwise it’d all be Future and Young Thug which would be great for me but boring for the ten people who read this.

albums
15. Fetty Wap – Fetty Wap
14. A$AP Rocky – At.Long.Last.A$AP
13. Mac Miller – GO:OD AM
12. Wiki – Lil Me
11. Freddie Gibbs – Shadow of a Doubt
10. Travi$ Scott - Rodeo
9. milo – So the Flies Don’t Come
8. Cousin Stizz – Suffolk County
7. Dr. Dre - Compton
6. Oddisee – The Good Fight
5. Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
4. Vince Staples – Summertime ‘06
3. Future – 56 Nights
2. Young Thug – Barter 6
1. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly

singles
15. M.E.D., Blu & Madlib - “Drive In” feat. Aloe Blacc (Madlib)
14. Kodak Black – “SKRT” (SkipOnDaBeat)
13. G Herbo – “L’s” (C-Sick)
12. Drake – “Hotline Bling” (Gabe Niles & Nineteen85)
11. Jeremih – “Planes (Remix)” feat. Chance the Rapper (Lido & The Social Experiment)
10. Oddisee – “That’s Love” (Oddisee)
9. Vince Staples – “Summertime” (Clams Casino)
8. YG – “Twist My Fingaz” (Terrace Martin)
7. Dr. Dre – “Animals” feat. Anderson .Paak (BMB SpaceKid, DJ Premier & Dr. Dre)
6. Cousin Stizz – “Dirty Bands” (M. Ali & Tee-WaTT)
5. Fetty Wap – “RGF Island” (Yung Lan)
4. Playboi Carti – “Broke Boi” (?)
3. Young Thug – “Mine” (Allen Ritter)
2. Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” (Pharrell & Sounwave)
1. Future – “March Madness” (Tarentino)

best things that weren’t rap
Jamie xx – In Colour
Tame Impala – Currents
Erykah Badu – But You Caint Use My Phone
The Internet – Ego Death
Jeremih – Late Nights
Miguel – Wildheart
Thundercat – The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam
Gallant – “Weight in Gold” (STiNT)
Alessia Cara – “Here” (Pop & Oak & Sebastian Cole)
Neon Indian – “The Glitzy Hive” (Neon Indian)
Nx Worries – “Suede” (Knxwledge)
Jamie xx – “Loud Places” feat. Romy (Jamie xx)
dev09 – “You Made Me” (Stelios Phili)
A.Chal – “Round Whippin’” (A.Chal)
Sorcha Richardson – “Petrol Station” (?)

best songs that i loved but couldn’t justify putting on this list
Kodak Black – “Ran Up a Check” (?)
Jay2AintShit – “PayPerView” (Monte Booker)
Lil Uzi Vert – “Wit My Crew/1987” (Chapo & FKi)
Brandon Tory – “Shine” (FΔDE & Stack Matic)
Donnie – “On My Mind” (D.R.O)
MADEINTYO – “Uber Everywhere” (K Swisha)
Appleby – “Bitter Boy” (Illyand)

best Future/Young Thug songs that were removed to make the playing field somewhat more fair even though they’re both so far ahead it’s still comical
Future – “News or Somthn’” (Nard & B)
Future – “Just Like Bruddas” (Zaytoven)
Future – “56 Nights” (Southside)
Future – “I Serve the Bass” (Metro Boomin’)
Future – “The Percocet & Stripper Joint” (Southside)
Young Thug – “Proud of Me” (Goose)
Young Thug – “Pacifier” (Mike WiLL Made It)
Young Thug – “Again” feat. Gucci Mane (London on da Track)
Young Thug – “Freaky” (WondaGurl)
Young Thug – “Get That Money” (?)