Favorite Song: Don’t Don’t Do It ft. Kendrick Lamar
Features: Andre 3000, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A., Ed Shreeran, Gucci Mane, Future, & Wale
Genius Page

Seven years removed from their last album, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, & Shay Haley have gotten the band back together and this time they brought along a star-studded feature list. This album is a sonic roller coaster that has no rules. Every song sounds unlike anything that I’ve heard before yet somehow the album is able to remain cohesive as a project. It goes from a rapping Rihanna to a Future rapping over an instrumental that sounds like someone’s playing Mario Kart at a punk concert to a full song built over Pharrell’s son singing the letter “G” to three songs incorporating a Twitter video from RetcH to chants over steel drums and everything in between. I would be doing this album a disservice to try to explain it’s instrumetals any farther.

The vocals come with Pharrell’s usual versatility, going from beautiful singing to harshly yells to raspy bars. Shay has fewer contributions, but they all compliment the songs well. Additionally, every single guest on this album is well utilized, bringing their own flair into the world of N.E.R.D. This album sounds so good that the first time I listened to it, I didn’t even realize how politically charged the lyrics are. The album covers police brutality with an entire song dedicated to the murder of Keith Scott by Charlotte, NC police while covering refugees, immigration, and trans rights elsewhere. This album embodied 2017 to me with its combination of strong political themes over extremely weird and progressive music.

Favorite Song: The Story of O.J.
Features: Frank Ocean, Beyonce, Gloria Carter, Blue Ivy Carter, Damian Marley, & James Blake
Genius Page

So far removed from the rapper we met 21 years ago on Reasonable Doubt, Jay is still proving that he’s one of the most talented in the game and somehow sounding effortless. This album rests along with Nas' Life Is Good as a testament for how great rappers can age gracefully.

Hov comes back with his best album since 2003 and tackles everything from his widely publicized marriage problems with Beyonce to the struggles of black wealth. Consistently clever, mature, and brutally honest lyrics rest perfectly over soulful No I.D. instrumentals that lean heavily on samples from Nina Simone, The Fugees, and others. There are several large name singers on the album, but the focus never shifts away from Jay. This album is concise, sharp, immensely relevant, and endlessly quotable. What more can I say?

Favorite Song:
Features: Frank Ocean, Lil Wayne, A$AP Rocky, Estelle, Rex Orange County, Kali Uchis, Jaden Smith,
Anna of the North, Steve Lacy, Corinne Bailey Rae, & Roy Ayers
Genius Page

Though I listened to Bastard, Goblin, Wolf, & Cherry Bomb when they were each released, this is the first Tyler, the Creator album I can actually say that I like. Somehow, despite always turning me off in the past, Tyler created an album that I love with Flower Boy. With this album he finally dropped his cringe-worthy edgelord front and released an album that’s as mature as it is creative. Tyler sticks heavily to natural imagery while addressing relationships, his career, his (still ambiguous) sexual identity, nostalgia, and boredom. The album is fully self-produced and sounds like sitting in the grass on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the Summer. All of the features seem to come and go at the perfect times and contribute beautifully with everything from a track-dominating Lil Wayne verse to TWO gorgeous Frank Ocean features to one of the best verses of A$AP Rocky’s career.

I never expected the man that made Assmilk to release a love song as beautiful as See You Again, but I’m excited to see what happens as Tyler continues his transition away from Scum Fuck and towards Flower Boy.

Favorite Song: Amphetamine/Krash Kourse or Netflix & Dusse
Features: Ravyn Lenae, Bari, Akenya, Via Rosa, Jean Deaux, Noname, Drea Smith, theMIND, & Jay2
Genius Page

Though many still just think of Nelly when St. Louis is brought up in hip-hop, 2017 was a banner year for the city with Metro Boomin producing just about every hit and SZA taking R&B by storm. On the rap front, Smino repped the city to the fullest by releasing his debut album, blkswn, on 314 Day. Though he’s often lumped in with the Chicago scene, Smi is uncompromising with his country roots. He raps in a blend of southern drawl, sharp bars, and buttery rap-singing that’s consistently smooth yet impossible to predict.

The lyrics of the album are mostly stream-of-consciousness wordplay that’s consistently clever (Said I want the cheese/Grilled up when I cheese) and often provides the pure fun that the world needed in 2017. However, at times Smino addresses his struggles with vices, death, being black in America, and more without missing a beat.

When he calls other artists into his world, it’s a parade of Chicago’s incredible female singers, fellow Zero Fatigue rappers, singer theMIND drunkenly hiccup-rapping, and Noname stealing the show with her best verse of the year. The vocals of the album are perfectly complimented by its hazy, bouncy production (with flawless transitions between songs), handled almost completely by Monte Booker.

Considering this is just his debut album and he’s already been making major moves since its release, I couldn’t be more excited to see how Smino moves forward from here.

Chance keeps a prayer card of Saint Michael the Archangel, who he’s referenced before by calling himself “Chancelor the Archangel” on Rapsody’s 2013 song “Lonely Thoughts.” He’s shown off this card before, notably when he spotted a matching one in the Saturday Night Live studio and posted a picture on Instragram with a caption that read:

Found a St Michael prayer card identical to mine on a camera jib at #SNL. Notice where his foot is. there are no coincidences #ultralightbeam

Gucci is a high-end Italian fashion brand that was started by Guccio Gucci in 1921. Gucci belts range from $300 to $1500, which explains why this woman who’s interested in Chance for his wealth was quick to start dancing with him.

Chance wore a Gucci belt in the music video for “I’m the One,” but the logo was blurred, which led to him posting this video to his Twitter:

The girl that Thugger is describing has a large collection of Christain Louboutin’s legendary shoes, which have soles the same color as a baboon’s backside.

This line could also be a shout out to the Migos track “Cocoon” – Young Thug was featured on the remix – in which Quavo says:

Designer gifts red bottoms baboon

Favorite Song: Boogie Man
Features: Murs, Gracy, & Carlene Crawford
Genius Page