My Favorite Tracks of 2015...So Far

Alright, time to get the ball rolling on this. Last time I put anything up here I was still in another country and this blog didn't really end up on my list of top priorities. Even when I came back home, getting my blog(s) rebooted didn't really end up on my radar. Until today, that is, when I suddenly got the inspiration to write a piece about my favorite songs that have dropped so far this year, of which there is no shortage. If 2014 was a drought for hip-hop (which it wasn't, for the record) then 2015 has been a tsunami. Big names like Dre, Kendrick, Drake, and Big Sean have put out records along with notable LPs from others like Future and A$AP Rocky making this year great for hip-hop fans.

All that said, let's get down to this. I have favorite songs from this year but I can't rate them against each other, so this is just a general list -- any placement is coincidental

Drake - "Back to Back"

I've gotta say, I don't really know what to say about this one that hasn't already been said by others. This song made HUGE waves when it dropped, and still is -- the beef wasn't really huge and was mild by past standards, but given that no big names have had any notable disputes people were hungry for something interesting, and definitely provided some entertainment. His one-two punch of "Charged Up" and this song made Meek Mill's response "Wanna Know" seem not only late but also completely inadequate, and he ended up not even responding to Meek's track. All issues of ghostwriting aside, the shots thrown in this song were pretty awesome and cement Drake as one of, if not the top, MCs in rap right now. I still find it ridiculous that Drake helped put Meek on by jumping on some of his biggest songs, and Meek went and pulled that drama. With the publicity from this song along with the release of If You're Reading this it's Too Late, Drake's been having a pretty good year.

Big Sean - "All Your Fault" ft. Kanye West

Not everyone loved Dark Sky Paradise. I'd go as far to say most people didn't, actually, even if it got an overall better reception than Big Sean's previous album, Hall of Fame. The last time I blogged on here I did a short review of the album, and I really enjoyed it at the time, but six months later I gotta say I don't revisit it much except to listen to this particular song. "All Your Fault" features crazy neo-soul chopped vocals and generally awesome production. Kanye opens up the song with one of his best recent verses and handles the hook well, using a combination of both him and the sample repeating "live for your love." Big Sean kills his second verse with a fast flow, and the song is rounded out by a ridiculous back-and-forth verse between Kanye and Sean. The only thing I'd change about this one is have the beat right out for a bit at the end...I can never get enough of it. Bonus points for the random Travis Scott ad-libs all over the song. 

A$AP Rocky - "Excuse Me"

This is one of the standout songs from Rocky's sophomore album, ALLA. Honestly, when I listened to this one when I downloaded the album, I didn't like it at all. I thought the beat was kind of boring and thought the hook was corny, but as I listened a few more times I realized that it was becoming one of my favorites from the album, along with "Canal Street" and "Back Home." The sub-bass that kicks in along with Rocky's smooth-as-butter flow on the second verse really makes the song for me, and the hook became a nice switch-up from the strings backing the verses. The song was made even better for me when I found out the beat is over a decade old. It's probably a matter of mastering but it sounded brand new still. 

Dr. Dre - "Talk About It" ft. King Mez

I had a lot of trouble picking a single song of off Compton to add on this list. Between "Genocide," "Deep Water," "Darkside/Gone," and "One Shot One Kill" (you know what, pretty much every song on the album) I really didn't think I could choose one. However, I eventually picked "Talk About It" because the first time I listened to this album that beat smacked me in the face, transitioning the spoken-word intro into one of the most aggressive songs on the album. King Mez, a rapper I had never heard of until Dre put him on, opens up the song with a verse with a great flow and gritty delivery, and Dre kills the second verse with his opening "I JUST BOUGHT CALIFORNIA!" line. There's nothing about this track to dislike -- not the sometimes confusing beat switches on the other songs or weird voices from Dre. Just pure, thundering awesomeness all the way through. 

Action Bronson - "Falconry" ft. Meyhem Lauren & Big Body Bes

Not gonna lie: Mr. Wonderful was a huge disappointment to me. When the album dropped, most of the good songs had been released already (and one, "The Light in the Addict," as a Party Supplies single) leaving the rest of the LP as filler. However, "Falconry" really stood out to me for some reason. The song is reminiscent of some of Bronson's more gritty mixtape tracks, with Lauren coming in for a solid verse and Bes delivering one of his classic rambling outros. The Alchemist also came through on this song with an awesome, 90s-reminiscent loop, and Bronson's verse is one of his strongest on the album. My main qualm with this one is that its too short and left me wanting more of this style of Bronson on the album over "City Boy Blues" or "Only in America." Basically, all I want on Bronson's next album is more rapping! Although I'd just be happy with Blue Chips 3. 

Kendrick Lamar - "King Kunta"

Yeah, yeah, this is kind of an easy choice given that To Pimp A Butterfly was easily one of the best and most popular albums of the year. I'm a fan of the album, even if I don't go back to it as much as Good Kid, MAAD City, but "King Kunta" remains the easy standout to me. I remember when it initially dropped people were so taken aback by the funk sound when they were expecting something super dark and aggressive following in the footsteps of "The Blacker The Berry," but they came to love everything about this track -- the "what's the yams?" section of Kendrick's verse, the dissonant piano in the background; everything came together to create a powerful song that's funky and dark at the same time. You've got to give it up to Kendrick for making a funk song in the 2010s that achieves this much success. There's a reason TPAB is so critically acclaimed, and it's exciting to see what he'll do next. 

Revisited: Mos Def, "The Ecstatic"

Mos Def: The Ecstatic 

Downtown Records

Released June 9, 2009 

If you're a hip-hop head, you know who Mos Def is. If you're not a hip-hop head, you probably know who Mos Def is. Reaching far beyond his original scope in the late 1990s, Mos has become a relatively household name with a strong musical and acting career in films like The Italian Job among others. For having a decently long career, Mos has a considerably small discography: 1998's celebrated Blackstar with Talib Kweli; Black on Both Sides in 1999; The New Danger in 2003; True Magic in 2006; and finally The Ecstatic in 2009. Sprinkled throughout his career are guest verses with the likes of Kanye West, Curren$y, and Jay Electronica.

For me, The Ecstatic stands out in Mos's discography. Yes, BoBS is soulful and lyrically masterful, as is Blackstar. However, the jazzy but modern and incredible smooth feel to The Ecstatic makes it an amazing album from one of hip-hop's greats and a truly underrated record when considering the monstrous amount of releases in the 2000s. 

The album begins, ends, and is filled to the brim with production from greats like Oh No, Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, Madlib, and even the late J Dilla on "History." On the surface, it seems like the beats on "Life in Marvelous Times" versus "Pistola" should come nowhere near each other let alone appear on the same album; but somehow, The Ecstatic blends booming modern production with eccentric, finely-aged loops from Madlib into an experience that flows perfectly from beginning to end. 

The styles come from all angles: an entirely-Spanish ballad is found in "No Hay Nada Mas," while "Twilite Speedball" features hard raps over an intimidating horn loop. Mos uses verse and hook structures loosely on most of the songs if it all, resulting in a sprawling landscape of sound that causes the songs to meld into each other beautifully. 

The guest features take an amazing album and make it even stronger, though there are only a few. Slick Rick delivers a perfect storytelling verse about being a soldier in the Middle East on "Auditorium," his wry humor contrasting with a more serious Mos verse about surviving in the modern world. Vocals from Georgia Anne Muldrow on "Roses" and a guest spot from Talib Kweli on "History" round out the diversity.

I could type in circles all day about how great this album is, but you'll really just have to find out for yourself. Get your hands on this record, sit back, and listen to this soulful gem. And then, like me, start hoping that another Mos project will come out sometime soon. 

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Review: Big Sean, "Dark Sky Paradise"

Big Sean: Dark Sky Paradise 

G.O.O.D. Music

Released February 24th 2015

Big Sean has been a polarizing figure in hip-hop for a few years now, following several mixtapes and two albums prior to his new LP, Dark Sky Paradise, which happens to be his best one yet. This may sound like high praise for someone like Sean with a decent body of work, but his last two albums (Finally Famous: The Album and Hall of Fame) experienced lukewarm critical reception, typically spawning a few big singles like "Dance (A$$)" and "Beware" and then fading into obscurity for anyone but serious Sean fans. 

I have never been a massive Sean fan, my first exposure being through "Dance" and some of his poppy singles that he's appeared on over the years. When I began to dig a bit deeper into hip-hop, I came across his more renowned verses on songs like "Mercy" and "Looking for Trouble," and though these small bits and pieces certainly showcased Sean's potential, most of the songs I checked out afterward usually disappointed me enough that I wouldn't bother pursuing any of his other work. 

This changed when someone told me to listen to his 2012 mixtape Detroit, which featured excellent tracks like "24k of Gold" with J Cole and "Life Should Go On" with Wale. The tape was filled with warm production by Key Wane and a soulful feel that Sean had never quite achieved on Finally Famous and still didn't when Hall of Fame dropped.

Dark Sky Paradise changes that trend. Gone are some of the filler songs from Hall of Fame like the forgettable and somewhat embarassing "MILF" and all-out pop from Finally Famous like "Dance." Instead, Sean finds himself trading verses with Kanye and rapping over incredible production from powerhouses like Mike Will Made-It, DJ Dahi, and, of course, Key Wane.

The album's first single "I Don't Fuck With You" didn't mesh with everyone when it released back in September, but it immediately got me excited for the album. The bouncy DJ Mustard beat combined with DJ Dahi and Kanye's soulful intro and outro, along with the catchy hook and a killer E-40 verse, made it the quintessential pop-rap song. Fortunately for those who weren't fans of the song Dark Sky Paradise largely strays away from this sound.

Sean moved away from the bright production on Hall of Fame songs like "Fire" and chooses instead to go over darker production on "Paradise" and "Deep," making the rapper seem less like a faceless pop artist and opening him up to the listener. The high point of the album is easily "All Your Fault" featuring Kanye West, in which both G.O.O.D. artists go back and forth over a soul sample and vocals from Travi$ Scott. The feel of the song is unprecedented for Sean, and rapping-wise he keeps up with Kanye as they aggressively trade lines in the third verse. This song follows another standout track, "Blessings" featuring Drake. Drake provides both his name and an interesting flow to the song, but "All Your Fault" still manages to come out on top.

I have so many praises to sing for this album, but it's not without it's problems. The middle of the album is bogged down with songs like "Win Some, Lose Some" which comes off as completely unnecessary and "Play No Games," which I mostly skip since I'm not a huge fan of Chris Brown or Ty Dolla $ign. That said, the overall feel and pace of the album comes off much better than Sean's previous LP efforts and hopefully paints a brighter picture for his future career than Hall of Fame did.

This album is hands-down Sean's best yet. If you're a hardened Sean hater, the album may not change your opinion, but it's worth checking out some of the bigger singles if you're looking for a few great songs with the biggest current names in hip-hop. While I would have liked to see some more guest verses from other names in the game, I'm excited to see the direction that Sean takes next. He proved on Dark Sky Paradise that he has the skill to go up against some of the biggest names in hip-hop and hold his own, and we'll see if he continues to prove that.

Worth a listen?

Yes 

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