THE BEST HIP HOP ALBUMS OF 2023 ...(SO FAR)
Struggling to find a list of the Hip Hop Albums that have been shifting the culture? Take a look at our lists for Rap and R&B to get a complete survey of the projects that are dictating the conversation around Hip Hop culture.
Quaranta – Danny Brown
The 11-part tracklist is essentially a “best of” taken from 30 to 40 songs recorded over the pandemic, he recently told Apple Music 1. Even though his triumphant stint in rehab has afforded him another lifeline, Brown’s only been sober for six months, whereas the concept in question was conceived when he was still trying to cut a deal with his demons. Yet, it sounds like he had already switched gears and was deeply contemplating a sustainable lifestyle long before he acted on it, almost as though his music was ahead of his day-to-day prognostics. Far beyond the excess of Old and somewhere between the curse of XXX and Atrocity Exhibition resides Quaranta — tired and resigned but, above all, buoyant. The LP is characterized by a mindfulness that Brown usually channels through humor on his podcast and sporadic attempts at stand-up comedy, but his now-somber tone deters from the thrill of probing death while simultaneously trying to circumvent it.
Welcome 2 Collegrove – Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz
The years-in-the-making Welcome 2 Collegrove marks the second collaborative project by these longtime colleagues and close friends. The pair released Collegrove in 2016, an album overshadowed by Wayne’s label troubles and effectively a 2 Chainz solo effort with a handful of Lil Wayne features tacked on for good measure. The sequel might not see the duo vibing like Ghost and Rae on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, but their chemistry is evident, born out of a real kinship that authentically translates on wax. The album largely succeeds off the natural chemistry of its co-creators and the wide range of instrumentals that touch on several regional rap styles that both rappers learned to conquer during their decades-long careers. But the mayors of Collegrove keep it in the parking lot, displaying a flair and attitude endemic to rappers from south of the Mason–Dixon line.
The Night Shift – Larry June & Cardo
On The Night Shift, June’s second album this year with a legendary producer (in April, he released The Great Escape with The Alchemist), he adds just enough new wrinkles to keep his sound interesting. There were no sharp left turns; June still raps about women, biking, and smoothies (even interpolating the opening two bars from his own 2019 song “Tracy, CA” on “Stickin’ and Movin’”), but with some extra monetary flourishes. If you don’t believe his tried-and-true formula of rapp works, The Night Shift is a testament to the contrary; since 2019, the old school Beamers have become McLarens, the limos have become private jets, and the Kenzo sweaters have become Celine pants.Larry June is at his best when he sticks to his reliable recipe, compounding a few new concepts with each successive project. The Night Shift is June continuing his growth and evolution as an artist, however incremental it may be.
And Then You Pray For Me – Westside Gunn
His highly anticipated new release, which sits at a relatively hefty 21 tracks, did deliver many things we expected, like an AA Rashid intro, an interlude from his daughter berating our wealth, a poem from the always-dope Keisha Plum, hell, even a wrestling sample. As a great nod back to PFP, Cartier A. Williams appears again with a tap dancing interlude produced by Mr. Green (a producer we haven’t seen Gunn work with in years).
MIKE – Burning Desire
Since releasing his 2017 breakthrough May God Bless Your Hustle, MIKE has been on a prolific run. His catalogue has continued to expand and improve annually, with high-quality projects released consistently and MIKE himself appearing sharper with each outing. Running concurrently with that artistic growth, he seems to be settling into his role as an elder statesman in New York hip-hop’s underground. After being a mainstay in the community for years, the now 25-year-old has solidified himself as a figurehead in the scene – and with his latest LP, it seems he is acutely aware of just where he stands. With Burning Desire, MIKE brings forth his most self-assured work to date. The project is a no-holds-barred effort, existing as a lyrically dense, texturally diverse and unapologetically singular experience.
Faith Is A Rock – MIKE & Wiki
After connecting this past November for the snack-sized One More EP, released in conjunction with Dutch streetwear brand Patta’s collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, Wiki and MIKE have unleashed a full-length project, Faith Is A Rock, produced entirely by The Alchemist. Containing three songs from the EP—the collaborative “One More,” and solo tracks “Be Realistic” and “Odd Ways”—this 10-song project admirably delivers what core fans of both MCs had hoped for from a more substantial offering, with Al unsurprisingly in peak form. The duo’s chemistry is off the charts going back to back, keeping the wordplay complex enough to command multiple listens in order to fully decipher.
Open Mike Eagle has always taken a grandiose approach to his rap music. From 2010’s Unapologetic Art Rap to 2016’s Hella Personal Film Festival and 2017’s opus Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, the Chicago-bred, LA-based underground broke superhero has often organized his work around a key theme or principle. His latest project, another triumph of ghetto engineering, is perhaps his finest work to date, or at least sets the stage for an epic debate amongst indie rap fans everywhere. This album has an explicit theme—the hard, often unrewarded work of Black artists everywhere—and one that bubbles beneath the surface and gives the album its brilliant thrust. Namely, this is a celebration of rap, of its beauty and brokenness, of those at the top of the game and those gone too soon to ever reach a peak. This is an album of triumphs and toils, of all that the game has given Mike and the ways in which it has fallen short for him. Mike is probably your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, but more importantly, he’s your favorite rapper’s biggest rap fan.
Sundial – NoName
Noname blends Chicago’s deep-rooted history of poetry and soul-embalmed rap with the polyrhythms of traditionally African instrumentation n her brilliant new album Sundial. The catalyst to this is present here in Saba, Ben Nartey and AJ Halls’ collaboration in the production, bouncing rimshots on every off-beat, keeping pace with Noname’s slick boom-bap. In its introductory skit, “toxic” showcases a feminine-masculine mismatch in the understanding of love. The speaker emphasizes that love is commitment, and Noname expresses that same frustration with “toxic” love from people whose company she wouldn’t even prefer to her own. The yearning is paradoxical and so are Noname’s lovers, having babies with other women even though they had never shown maturity since the beginning. With the album, Noname flaunts a lyrical and spiritual masterclass, while also embracing her vulnerability and silencing anyone who doubted her.
The Patience – Mick Jenkins
On The Patience, Jenkins’ familiar laidback cool is replaced with an anxious, angry bite. Jenkins is pissed – at the industry, fugazis (“Pasta”), money-grubbing peers (“Guapanese”), and his lack of recognition. A feeling of frustrated stasis is palpable throughout Jenkins’ excellent new album, which he mostly recorded while waiting out his CMG contract. His expression on the cover says it all: these songs were crafted during a period of deep frustration, when waiting began to feel like prison, when all he wanted was full control over his artistry. This project is a career reset – years of being a mainstay in underground circles and garnering acclaim from critics has still left Jenkins feeling overlooked. He’s ready to take his craft to a higher level. The Patience is a rewarding opening chapter, a satisfying burst of fresh air after a period of holding his breath. What comes next for Jenkins is unknown – but hopefully fans won’t have to wait too long to find out. He closes the album with a promise: “I’m just now stepping into what I feel like is full agency over my creativity, my artistry, my business, and even myself as a man.” And with this new album, he makes great strides to return to form when he was once considered the next great Chicago rapper.
Signature – Joell Ortiz & L’Orange
Between his multisyllabic rhyme schemes, agility and penchant for piling writerly details, rapping has never been a problem for Joell Ortiz — and it wasn’t on his mostly solid 2021 album, Autograph. There, his raps were generally sharp, with the project’s main issues being indistinct production and spurts of formulaic song tropes that occasionally halted its momentum. Those issues are almost entirely erased on Signature, a reimagining courtesy of soul production maestro, L’Orange. This time, Ortiz and L’Orange cut trite mid-2000s sounds and a few generic songs for a tighter, more emotionally intense offering. As sharp as it is tidy, the Autograph remix edition is an exercise in efficiency and sonic imagination, with the latter being a courtesy of a production dynamo who keeps it anything but stale. In the end, L’Orange left his mark on Signature by penning his own, making this version of Autograph a lot more legible.
Summer’s Mine – Babyface Ray
2022 was the year that Babyface Ray made his mostly seamless transition from a regional rap star in Detroit to an international star with critical acclaim and mainstream appeal. The beautiful part is that he didn’t need to stray far from his signature sound to do so. His latest offering, Summer’s Mine, is a return to form after a slight meander off the path with his second project of last year, MOB. Now, as one of the biggest names in the Motor City’s booming hip-hop scene, Babyface Ray is continuing to put his city on his back with a continuous, effortless knack for unapologetic flexes, nervous flows, and introspective reflections. On Summer’s Mine, all of these characteristics combine for a masterful, all-encompassing body of work that finds Ray claiming the summer for the second year in a row – and succeeding.
Ganger – Veeze
Though it should be considered a musical aggregate of Detroit’s rap scene, Ganger’s mixing is far ahead of its time within the realm of Hip Hop. Where more experimental, electronic-leaning acts change the mixing of vocals and instruments to distort their sound to become hardly recognizable, Veeze and his team of producers, including Ddot, Pooh Beats, and Bass Kid, toy with the idea of a slight change. The mixing on Ganger periodically boosts Veeze’s voice to be just a few decibels too high or too low, leaving his mumbles either subdued by the instrumental or overpowered by it. The result is a sound collage, where each element in each song feels repurposed under the direction of Veeze. On songs like, “WHOda1” and “Weekend,” the augmented volume of Veeze’s voice reflects a warm amity, whether it be whispering roasts into your ear or shedding his vulnerabilities a bit too close to the mic.
Hard To Love – Moneybagg Yo
Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo solidified himself over the past five years as one of the most prolific emcees in Hip Hop’s current landscape. A string of LPs from 2018 to 2021 culminated in A Gangsta’s Pain, which found him advancing his formula of trap and drill bangers built around his distinctive flow, stark introspection, and disrespectful assortment of ad libs. Last year’s layoff found him becoming a single father due to the tragic murder of his ex-girlfriend, a cheating scandal involving his current partner, and a lean relapse. Still, all that couldn’t slow his artistic momentum. On Hard To Love, Moneybagg Yo addresses his real life pain in some of the most vulnerable material of his career without sacrificing the street anthems that made him a star. On Hard To Love, Moneybagg Yo delivers a well-balanced trap treatise on the bittersweetness of fame and the difficulty of living real life in the spotlight. Not many artists could blend those deeply personal elements with the bawdy trap anthems that keep clubs churning but Moneybagg Yo seems to be an exception.
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