Favorite Song: Cinderella ft. Ty Dolla $ign
Features: Ty Dolla $ign, Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, Anderson .Paak, Bilal, Ceelo Green, & Njomza
Genius Page

Favorite Song: Pneumonia
Features: Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt, Petite Noir, Kelela, & B-Real
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Favorite Song: Miserable America
Features: N/A
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Favorite Song: Stupid Rose
Features: Jamila Woods & Taylor Bennett
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Favorite Song: Cash Machine
Features: Lil Yachty, Young Thug, & Erykah Badu
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As a Virginia native I’ve been rooting for D.R.A.M. since he first really came on the scene in the summer of 2015 and was devastated to see Drake rip Cha Cha to create the massive Hotline Bling. I thought that this may have been the end of D.R.A.M.’s chance of moving into true stardom. However, his overwhelming positivity, distinctive voice, and original sound, D.R.A.M. has bounced back and become bigger than ever. Not only has his music become more popular, but it’s also become better in my opinion. He’s proven an incredible ability to create diverse hits (Broccoli, Cute, & Cash Machine all sound very distinct from each other and everything else out) and choose collaborations carefully. I’ve seen D.R.A.M. live 4 times now and if he continues at this pace I’m sure there will be many more.

Favorite Song: Goosebumps ft. Kendrick Lamar
Features: Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, Andre 3000, Young Thug, Quavo, 21 Savage, Nav, The Weeknd, Bryson Tiller, Cassie, & Blac Youngsta
Genius Page

After creating an epic debut album with Rodeo (the #3 album on last year’s list), Travi$ had big expectations for his quick follow up album. I don’t think he quite matched the quality of Rodeo, but he certainly created a similarly great album where he finds his own sound a bit better and uses usual tricks to keep things interesting. These tricks are dynamicalt-trap instrumentals and a who’s-who of features with everyone from Andre 3000 to 21 Savage to Nav. My biggest problem with this album is how formulaic it seemed at times, hopefully Travi$ will spend a bit more time experimenting for his two 2017 projects, Astroworld and an untitled collaboration with Quavo. If so we’re likely to see at least one of those problems near the top of next year’s list.

Favorite Song: By Design ft. Andre 3000
Features: Andre 3000, Pharrell, Willow Smith, & Travi$ Scott
Genius Page

I am a huge fan of early Kid Cudi, to the extent that my Instagram and Twitter handles both derive from the song Solo Dolo. That being said, due to every project since Indicud, my main thought when this album was announced was “Please don’t disappoint me again.” Though I support Cudi’s exploration in music and expression, especially since its clearly a major outlet for his mental health, his last few albums have all been misses for me. This one was the hit I was waiting for. Kid Cudi is back in his prime form with the trademark melodies, humming, and angsty yet optimistic lyrics he’s known for over production from Plain Pat, Pharrell, Mike Dean, & Dot da Genius. Not only did he return in full form, he brought a few friends with him in the form of incredible features from Andre 3000, Pharrell, Travi$ Scott, & WIllow Smith. If that’s not enough to get you to listen to this album, nothing could be.

Favorite Song: Guwop Home ft. Young Thug
Features: Young Thug, Kanye West, & Drake
Genius Page

Since 2013, everyone in the hip-hop community had been screaming “Free Gucci” and this May they finally got their wish. This album could not be more aptly titled because all eyes were on Guwop and he immediately delivered a strong return with 1st Day out the Feds and then spent the next 6 days recording the entirety of this album. THis is Gucci’s most cohesive project to date, mostly due to the lack of many outside features, the focused theme of growing in prison, and the incredible production team of Zaytoven and Mike Will behind the boards. Gucci is at his most sharp on this album. While still not hesitating to drop drug and violence references or crazy bars, he does so from a much more sobered viewpoint that makes his tales even more menacing. Following this album, Gucci did an incredible string of guest appearance, collaborative EPs with two of the hottest artists out, and 2 more solo albums, effectively keeping all eyes on him. Gucci is a new and imporoved form of himself (but not a clone) that will surely have an interesting 2017.

Favorite Song: Digits (OG version without Meek Mill)
Features: Yak Gotti, MPA Duke, Peewee Roscoe
Genius Page

He isn’t quite the best yet, but Young Thug is certainly the most interesting artist out right now. With his wide range of flows, vocal inflections, melodies, and adlibs, you never have any idea what a Young Thug track is going to sound like. While the first 2 Slime Season mixtapes were hit hard by leaks and ended up becoming incohesive collections of far too many songs, 3 ended up being a concise and sonically cohesive project that I believe is Thug’s best to date. Many believe that Jeffery (at #27) is better, but I would argue that SS3 has an overall stronger set of songs with no skippable tracks and several of Thug’s best tracks to date (With Them, Digits, Drippin, Memo, Worth It, and literally every other track on this short tape). Young Thug is an incredibly versatile creative force and I can’t wait to see how he spends 2017.

Favorite Song: Kids… ft. Andre 3000
Features: Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Elton John, Busta Rhymes, Anderson .Paak, Jack White, Talib Kweli, & Consequence
Genius Page

I was born in June of 1998. the last time A Tribe Called Quest released an album was in September of 1998. As a result of ATCQ’s lengthy hiatus, I never really was much of a fan of them until now. I went into this album expecting to be disappointed by Tribe’s sound not translating to the current times or Phife Dawg’s posthumous contributions being handled poorly and was pleasantly surprised by an incredible album. So much of hip-hop has been influenced by Tribe that their sound managed to still make sense and everyone returned in top form with a wide array of great guests. This album offered political commentary, Phife tributes, strange soundscapes, witty lyricism, and sharp flows in a way that made me really appreciate a group that I had always kind of written off as before my time.