Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2009, So Far
Finale, A Pipe Dream and a Promise
Produced by the Motor City’s lava-hot Black Milk, Finale’s Pipe Dream was bound to snare at least a little underground notoriety. Instead, though, it’s the clear-cut leader for the year’s best hip-hop album. Track for track, Milk’s beats outdo almost anything he’s touched before, the pitched instruments rolling like waves atop the twos and fours, but Finale’s delivery is the real discovery here. Lagging about as far behind the beat as possible without derailing, his rhymes layer and resolve with the confidence of a seasoned veteran, and he swings as hard and deeply as anyone out there today. If you only listen to one hip-hop album this year, make it A Pipe Dream and a Promise. (CD, MP3)
K'Naan, Troubadour
Though it plays second fiddle to his brilliant, Juno Award-winning debut, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, K’Naan’s Troubadour is a well-played amalgam of hip-hop strength, Afrobeat shimmy, and immediately accessible pop balladry. As he says in song after song, this Somali ex-pat’s street-toughened bona fides provide the bitter, poetic backdrop to a variety of songs about growing up severely disadvantaged and nevertheless letting the love shine brightly through. (CD, MP3)
• Full album review
• Interview with K’Naan
P.O.S., Never Better
As mentioned in an earlier post, P.O.S. finally lives up to his potential with the aptly named Never Better. Backed by should-be Minneapolis superstars Doomtree, P.O.S.’s gritty crowning achievement mixes hook-driven sing-alongs with feral, mile-a-minute diatribes in what may prove to be year’s most gymnastic album-length rap attack. (CD, MP3)
J Dilla, Jay Stay Paid
Under the reverent direction of Pete Rock, J Dilla’s posthumous, 28-track mix highlights guest spots by both hip-hop legends (Black Thought, Doom) and lesser-knowns (Frank Nitty, Cue D), the variety of which throws the full weight of Dilla’s production savvy into the sad vacuum left by his death at 32. Sadly, the guy was just getting started, but he could already mix circles (er, donuts) around almost every producer of his generation. (CD, MP3)
UGK, UGK for Life
Southern rap isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking for an in, try the guitars. True to the precedent they irrevocably set on 2007’s Underground Kingz, Pimp C and Bun B continue to enlist the best guitar performances around. A posthumous affair (Pimp C died in December, 2007), the reverently named UGK for Life offers an apt testament to a duo whose sound defined its city (Houston) for more than a decade. (CD, MP3)
Suspicious Omissions
Eminem, Relapse
Eminem’s still got plenty of the zany lyrical swerve with which he made his name. Just listen to “Bagpipes from Baghdad,” a five-minute cut of surreal, R-rated fun interrupted, unfortunately, only by the chorus’s insistence on Shady’s own crazy unpredictability. For 10 years now, Eminem’s been brilliant when he’s not being the least bit serious or self-reflective, and Relapse devotes more time than ever to the self-commentary that chronically deflates his lyrical impact.
Mos Def, Ecstatic
Like The New Danger before it, Mos Def’s Ecstatic is a limp collection of exquisitely mastered sketches. Despite its 16 tracks, the album lacks songs. Everything here sounds like a mediocre MC’s really well-funded demos. Once again, it’s clear that there are few sonic pairings that work as well together as Mos Def’s voice and a fat stack of low brass, but “songs” bearing this unforgettable dance of timbres are few and far between, and even they lack the musical motion of the least memorable tracks from 2002’s Black on Both Sides.
Asher Roth, Asleep in the Bread Aisle
Kudos to the guy’s PR machine for pulling the wool over so many eyes simultaneously, but really, people: How, in 2009, does an MC’s being white and smokin’ dope still lend a hip-hop album this much cultural momentum? Granted, I’ve never been one to subscribe to the absolute value of lyrical sincerity, but could someone please ask Asher Roth to sound a little bit like he cares about his own music? Asleep in the studio is more like it…
-- Jason Kirk
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Alex on September 27, 2009 at 12:13 AM
A pipe dream is def NOT better than ecstatic.
Relapse is a musical masterpiece. even if u dont like em u cant deny Dre this one.
and as Sir Jorge stated above me:
What? no Atmosphere?!
Jason Kirk on September 26, 2009 at 10:58 PM
I'm right there with you, jetrocket. Muldrow's been white-hot since her Stones Throw debut. Even her dopey duos with Dudley Perkins are great.
jetrocket on September 26, 2009 at 09:26 PM
I'm a come out of left and place Georgia Anne Muldrew's sloppy cosmic zoning "Umsindo" as my personal best so far..(although Finale is truly dope)!
http://www.amazon.com/Umsindo-Georgia-Anne-Muldrow/dp/B001TITG98/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1254025493&sr=8-1
Rads on August 31, 2009 at 06:05 PM
I think most Def's album is a great album and its definitely 2nd best album of 2009. You should check out "Holistic", I believe they have the best hip-hop album of 2009 and they have received nothing but excellent reviews.
www.holistichiphop.com
www.myspace.com/holisticnyc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76pdVH-eaZs
Jason Kirk on July 07, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Grouch and Eligh's album is OK, kind of the easy-listening strain of hip-hop to my ears. Having trouble finding Root Beer. But for a few early tracks, Atmosphere's never done it for me. Thanks for the recs, though...
sir jorge on July 07, 2009 at 10:48 AM
what? no love for Grouch and Eligh? No love for Root Beer? No love for Atmosphere's mix tape? This list is completely flawed.