Spin Rate: 10+ Average Song Rating: 3.75/5 3.5+ Percentage: 100% Skips: 0 Bangers: 4
Thoughts: This may come across bias because Flip is a long-time friend of mine – we have lived together in three different places – but I think he crushed this project. I have to admit I was pretty skeptical when he hit me up last year and told me he was making new music and wanted me to help him with the writing process. I turned him down because I haven’t written rap lyrics for at least a decade now and I didn’t really want to work hard to redevelop that skill set. As far as I know, Flip hasn’t made music in nearly as long. Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations for this because, frankly, I didn’t even think it would actually happen. But then he started sending me snippets and telling me about the huge guests verses he was getting and, well, here we are. I was expecting this dude to be dusty, but he sounds just as sharp and talented as he did when he blew my mind back in 2010 at this show. He just has a knack for penning catchy hooks and writing songs that get stuck in your head and stay there. Plus, Flip shows some versatility here with “You Know The Vibes” and the bonus track “Designer,” showcasing some singing and harmonizing abilities I didn’t even know he had. This is just a really solid all around project. The production is good, the big name guests all deliver solid verses, Flip shows off a variety of talent, and every song is good and half of them are straight up bangers.
Notes: Yep. I’m giving my boy the Album of the Month. I was working on a review for this, but I never got around to publishing it – I will be doing that early January, but I can assure this is a good project. If a good friend of mine released something I didn’t like, I’d just tell them it was wack. If someone I know (but wasn’t close with) released something I didn’t like, I’d probably tell them “it’s cool” and it certainly wouldn’t be featured on my monthly blog post. I’m featuring this project because I truly believe in it. Make sure you go check this out. It’s streaming on all platforms. Another friend of mine, Toby Ganger, sent me a copy of his album that is due out sometime in 2021 and it is truly excellent… like album of the year type level good. I’m not sure when the rest of the world will get to hear it, but I’m very curious to see if everyone loves it as much as I do. I’ll go ahead and include a rough rating for each album to make my feelings on each project clearer. Note: the more I’ve listened to an album, the more accurate my rating is. Any rating that has a + symbol means that I’ve found my floor, but I could rate it higher. I won’t leave a rating for anything I don’t have a good feel for yet.
Top 20 Albums in December (all ratings are out of 10)
Note: These albums are NOT ranked in order of preference; they are ranked in order of number of songs listened to (scrobbles) over the past month.
1. Toby Ganger – Free Machine – 8+ (unreleased) 2. *Eminem – Music To Be Murdered By – B Side – 6 3. Tyrone’s Jacket – Tyrone’s Jacket – 7+ 4. *Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon III: The Chosen – 6 5. *Flip Huston – Who Is Flip Huston? – 7+ 6. Rapsody – Laila’s Wisdom (2017) 7. *Jack Harlow – Thats What They All Say – 6+ 8. Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure? – 7+ 9. Lil Wayne – No Ceilings 3 – 7 10. Goodie Mob – Survival Kit – 7 11.*Che Noir – After 12 – 7 12. *Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red – 3+ 13. Statik Selektah – The Balancing Act 14. Recognize Ali – Guerilla Dynasty 15. *Boldy James – Real Bad Boldy 16. *Taylor Swift – evermore 17. Juicy J – The Hustle Continues 18. Benny the Butcher – Burden of Proof – 9 19. Miley Cyrus – Plastic Hearts – 6+ 20. *Tobe Nwigwe – CINCORIGINALS – 6+
The 50 Artists I Listened To The Most In 2020
Notes: I started using the Last.FM app about halfway through the year, so this is really just six months worth of scrobbles.
Eminem
Benny the Butcher
Lil Wayne
Conway the Machine
Black Thought/The Roots
MC Eiht
Che Noir
Spillage Village/Earthgang
Amine
Nas
Berner
Ty Dolla $ign
Busta Rhymes
38 Spesh
Recognize Ali/Dueling Experts
Toby Ganger
The Weeknd
R.A. the Rugged Man
Flip Huston
Big Sean
Logic
Blu & Exile
21 Savage & Metro Boomin
Sa-Roc
Felt
Westside Gunn
T.I.
Pop Smoke
Boldy James
Dua Lipa
Ransom
Phoebe Bridgers
Reason
Goodie Mob
Ariana Grande
CunninLynguists
The Lox
Jaden Smith
Dinner Party
Future
Kaash Paige
Brother Ali
Deante Hitchcock
Tyrone’s Jacket
Rich Brian
Kid Cudi
Dave East
Mac Miller
Elzhi
Ice Cube
As you can see, new music dominates my listening experience. Out of my top 50 artists, only CunninLynguists, Brother Ali, and Ice Cube didn’t release projects in 2020. A lot of my all-time favorite rappers (Biggie, Jay, Pac, Kanye, Outkast, etc.) and current favorite rappers (Kendrick, J. Cole, Joey Badass) are nowhere to be found. I definitely enjoy staying up-to-date, finding hidden gems, and keeping an open mind to everything new, but I can’t help but feel like it dominates my listening experience and I don’t listen to the music I truly love enough. That makes music feel more like homework than pleasure sometimes. I plan to stay very current, but I want to find more balance with this in 2021.
Top 10 Albums of the Year (in alphabetical order)
Apollo Brown & Che Noir – As God Intended (Rap) Benny the Butcher – Burden of Proof (Rap) Conway the Machine – From King To A God (Rap) Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia (Pop) Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo (Rap) Mac Miller – Circles (Rap? Pop?) MC Eiht – Lessons (Rap) Run the Jewels – RTJ4 (Rap) Sa-Roc – The Sharecropper’s Daughter (Rap) The Weeknd – After Hours (R&B/Soul/Pop)
I feel pretty confident in that list, but there could be an album or two I’d slip in or out and maybe some of the more recent releases will grow enough on me to make the jump. If I had to pick an absolute favorite for the year, I think I’d have to go with the Apollo Brown & Che Noir album.
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order)
Amine – Limbo (Rap) Brent Faiyaz – F**k the World (R&B/Soul) Che Noir – After 12 (Rap) Deante Hitchcock – BETTER (Rap) eLZhi – Seven Times Down Eight Times Up (Rap) Felt – Felt 4 U (Rap) Flip Huston – Who Is Flip Huston? (Rap) Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure? (Pop) Logic – No Pressure (Rap) Planet Asia & 38 Spesh – Trust the Chain (Rap) R.A. the Rugged Man – All My Heroes Are Dead (Rap) Reason – New Beginnings (Rap) Royce da 5’9″ – The Allegory (Rap) Tyrone’s Jacket – Tyrone’s Jacket (Rap)
Bangerz Playlist Additions – Follow me on Apple Music @DarkKnight1717 to add my playlists
Ariana Grande, “positions” Benny the Butcher, “3:30 In Houston” Boldy James, “Street Shit” Che Noir ft. RJ Payne & Sa-Roc, “Moment in the Sun” Chris Stapleton, “Devil Always Made Me Think Twice” Conway the Machine, “Ameenah’s Van” Conway the Machine, “Serena vs Venus” Don Toliver ft. Travis Scott & Kaash Paige, “Euphoria” eLZhi, “Hot Winter Cold Summer” Eminem ft. White Gold, “Zeus” Goodie Mob, “4 My Ppl” Gorillaz ft. Moonchild Sanelly, “With Love To An Ex” Jamo Gang, “Runyon Canyon” Jessie Ware, “Read My Lips” Lil Wayne ft. Drake, “BB King Freestyle” Lil Wayne, “Lamar” Miley Cyrus ft. Stevie Nicks, “Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)” Reason ft. Mereba, “Westside” Recognize Ali, “Wreck-Ignition” Russ ft. Benny the Butcher & Black Thought, “Momentum” T.I. ft. Eric Bellinger & Killer Mike, “How I Feel” Tyrone’s Jacket, “Backpack Song” Tyrone’s Jacket, “Streets” Westside Gunn, “Shawn vs. Flair”
Busta Rhymes – Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God
Notes: Wow. I sure didn’t listen to much new music this past month. Half the albums that cracked my top 10 last month were still in my top 10 most listened to albums for November. Only three albums released in November even cracked my top 20 and two albums from decades ago found a way in. My friend Phil sent me a copy of his upcoming album and I listened to it many times through even though some of the songs are still unmastered. His album is due out sometime in December, but you’ll find his project in my #4 slot down below. I’ll go ahead and include a rough rating for each album to make my feelings on each project clearer. Note: the more I’ve listened to an album, the more accurate my rating is. Any rating that has a + symbol means that I’ve found my floor, but I could rate it higher. MC Eiht’s album jumped way up in my esteem and I’m now wondering if it’s one of the best albums of the year. I’m shocked by it. I liked it so much I added his last album to my current playlist and that project also cracked my top 20 last month. Hopefully, I will get back to doing some actual reviews in December.
Top 20 Albums in November (all ratings are out of 10)
Note: These albums are NOT ranked in order of preference; they are ranked in order of number of songs listened to over the past month.
1. Busta Rhymes – Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God – 7 2. Ty Dolla $ign – Featuring Ty Dolla $ign – 6 3. MC Eiht – LESSONS – 8 4. Flip Huston – Who Is Flip Huston? (unreleased) – 7 5. T.I. – The L.I.B.R.A. – 6 6. Black Thought – Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane and Abel – 7 7. Dej Loaf – Sell Sole II – 5 8. TQ – They Never Saw Me Coming (1998) – 7+ 9. Benny the Butcher – Burden of Proof – 8+ 10. Ariana Grande – Positions – 6+ 11. *Goodie Mob – Survival Kit – 6+ 12. *Berner & Larry June – Cooks & Orange Juice – 5+ 13. Conway the Machine – FROM KING TO A GOD – 8+ 14. Lil Wayne – Lights Out (2000) – 6+ 15. MC Eiht – Which Way Iz West (2017) – 7+ 16. Reason – New Beginnings – 7 17. clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned – 5 18. Deante’ Hitchcock – Better (Deluxe) – 6+ 19. *Future & Lil Uzi Vert – Pluto x Baby Pluto – 5+ 20. Sam Smith – Love Goes – 6+
Bangerz Playlist Additions – Follow me on Apple Music @DarkKnight1717 to add my playlists
38 Spesh & Street Justice ft. Che Noir, “Overthrow” Benny the Butcher ft. DOM KENNEDY, “Over the Limit” Busta Rhymes ft. Kendrick Lamar, “Look Over Your Shoulder” eLZhi, “Light One Write One” Freddie Gibbs ft. Big Sean, “4 Thangs” Goodie Mob ft. Big Boi, “Prey 4 Da Sheep” Gorillaz ft. Fatoumata Diawara, “Desole” Jack Harlow, “Tyler Herro” MC Eiht ft.Havoc & Kurupt, “Neighborhood Looks” MC Eiht, “U Kno” MC Eiht, “Lessons” Recognize Ali ft. Planet Asia & Shabaam Sahdeeq, “Elephants in the Room” Sa-Roc, “r(E)volution” Saigon, “Bullets-19” Spillage Village ft. Ant Clemons, “Baptize” Ty Dolla $ign, “Time Will Tell”
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