Deviant’s favourite rap and beat shit of 2011.
So. This was the shit.
Titles with (*) are free downloads.
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Album of the Year
Danny Brown – XXX (*)
No other LP in 2011 grabbed me as much as this shit. It’s a monster.
I tried to write a few words about why. Four paragraphs in and I hadn’t even scratched the surface.
Fuck it, it’s a free download. Hear for yourself.
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Other releases of note….
Kendrick Lamarr – Section 80
Damn I love this shit, mad poppy but I dunno, does the trick. Some amazing lyrics in there. Production is more out there than it appears at first listen too, one for the headphones.
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Quelle Chris – Shotgun & Sleek Rifle
Dude got a deadly voice and makes sick beats. That’s alright by me. Also features Roc Marciano and Danny Brown on the same track. Ridiculous.
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J|||||M – Vice Grip EP (*)
Proper fucking bonkers drum machine gangsta shit. Intense.
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Random Axe – Random Axe
When “The Hex” leaked I nearly lost my shit. The LP itself is kinda disappointing but sure you’ll have that with supergroups.
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Willie Evans Jr. – Introducin’
Slipped under my radar for a bit. Really strong debut from this rapper/producer, dusty beats, a rolling flow and a creamy voice, can’t fuck with that shit really. Looking forward to his next move.
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ASAP Rocky – LiveLoveASAP (*)
Had this in the headphones for months. Sometimes the vacuosness gets a bit much but damn that shit is some dreamy syrup.
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Lethal dialect – LD50
If ASAP is the new new shit then LD is the new old shit. Impossible to write about without saying “gritty”. A proper album, the dusty production adds weight to an already substantial lyric content. Dense. Not since Ri-Ra fucked our shit up all those years ago has any Irish rapper raised the game so much.
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Knxwledge – Klouds
Loads of people I know wouldn’t called this hip-hop. They are wrong.
Knocking drums, chopped up jazz and soul chords. RZA in space with musical nous.
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Elzhi – Elmatic (*)
Fucking stupid idea. It worked tho.
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Death Grips – Ex-military (*)
Not a great LP. But a necessary one. Demented and hard to listen to. Possibly not even worth it. The big tune is “Guillotine”, the soundtrack to many a mosh last year.
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Kidkanevil – Tokyorkshire Research Inc. (*)
Proper sick little beat tape from this fien. It’s a tribute to Raymond Scott of “Lightworks”/Dilla fame, I reckon he would approve. Crunchy psychedelia.
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Paul White – Rapping With Paul White
Probably not as good as the sum of it’s parts, nonetheless it dominated many playlists and featured undervalued Brit rapper Tranqill on a belter. On a technical note it may the most oddly mixed rap LP ever. Which is cool by me. Others weren’t so sure.
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Melodica Deathship – Doom Your Cities Doom Your Towns (*)
So, the LP was released in 2010 but the digital only came out in 2011. Anyway, the finest alt hip-hop this island has ever produced. One for rainy nights sucking on mead by the fire.
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SpaceGhostPurp – Blvcklvnd Rvd (*)
Really silly. Quite dope when it wants to be tho. “My Hood” is one of my tunes of the year.
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Naive Machine – Basket Beats Tape Vol. 2 (*)
Vol. 1 was belting oh so daft. Vol. 2 is more of the same. Saturday night with a gallon of poppers and some girl with dreads in hippy pants shaking her tits in your face.
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SertOne – Versions
Jeez we all fawned over this fien last year. Super modern, lush, digital hip-hop shit. My one wish is that he’d make more bangers. I mean seriously, check out that Crystal Castles remix. Uglyface.
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Kaimbr & Kev Brown – Alexander Green
Another themed release, this time made entirely out of Al Green samples. A buttery, buttery LP, on the vocals and the beats. And Sean Born is one of the guests. That gets you a +1 in my book.
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AG & Ray West – Danksgiving (*)
Where the fuck this came from I dunno. A fine marriage of MC and producer, AG sounds dope on the off-kilter loops concocted by Ray West. Not what I was expecting by a long shot and much better for it.
No streams of this in either audio or video so here’s the link to the free D/L
http://www.redapples45.com/#!/mixtape/danksgiving
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Blu – Jesus EP
Baffling really. And I do like being baffled. He might be taking the piss outta me though. Fuck it.
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As far as I can make out that’s probably it really. As for the stand out tunes of the year, you’ll have to wait til the next Unscene podcast for that juice.
No Action Bronson?
Nope. I thought both LPs were pretty shite as LPs. Good couple o bangers on each no doubt, but too much filler by far.