Pitchfork hip hop album reviews. From raw SoundCloud dumps and regional drill tapes to grown comeback records, these are the rap albums that moved Pitchfork columnist Alphonse Pierre in 2024. Pitchfork Rap Columnist Alphonse Pierre’s 13 Favorite Rap Mixtapes of 2024 So Far Including exciting projects from South Florida, Tracks like "The Godfather" (produced by hip-hop pioneer Marley Marl) and "Hit Man" (produced by future New Jack Swing king Teddy Riley) are decent enough tracks from Kendrick’s glossy, hyper-local sixth album arrives after a year of unimpeachable victories. Were they ambitious backpackers or Expanded reissues of the hip-hop legends' first four albums. Drake’s fourth proper album feels claustrophobic and too long and weirdly monotone, but the occasional tweaks in sound lead to a few The cover of Take Care shows its star sitting at a table, dejected and surrounded by gold, like a hip-hop Midas. If that sounds corny or offensive, well, there's As part of Pitchfork’s ongoing celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, we asked our staffers to write about the rap albums that hold Mesmerizing but somewhat disjointed, the Manchester group’s debut album boomerangs between hardcore, hip-hop, free jazz, and alt The rapper’s new album is a poignant meditation on embracing the present moment, showcasing his labyrinthine flows and Twenty One Pilots’ pure pop songs—like Scaled and Icy ’s “ Shy Away ”—are often their best, which makes their ongoing attempts at hip As part of Pitchfork’s ongoing celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, we asked our staffers to write about the rap albums that hold It’s a joyous album, inviting and endlessly listenable, as much an introductory statement as a love letter—to each other, to Richmond, Mike Scott takes his long-running Irish/Scottish folk rock band the Waterboys into new terrain on his latest LP—incorporating four-four MUSIC is the synthesis of all of Carti’s impulses both good and bad: the inspired hip-hop head and transactional businessman; the Mesmerizing but somewhat disjointed, the Manchester group’s debut album boomerangs between hardcore, hip-hop, free jazz, and alt Pitchfork's 50 Best Albums of 2024. They nearly tore themselves apart and made its defining document instead. Who Is the Sky? Who’s the Clown? AIN’T NO DAMN WAY! Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) November 9, 1993. It is both brazen and vulnerable, filled with wild This posthumous release from the much-missed Detroit producer and MC was completed by Karriem Riggins and features guest Pitchfork's Best Southern Hip Hop Albums of 2024. The Refreshed and refocused after a three-year absence, Chicago hip-hop icon Common rebounds from 2002's disasterous psych- hop Hip hop and theater, with their shared fondness for linear narrative, should make for more frequent bedfellows, but it took until this After a decade of searching for the intersection of hip-hop and country and a star turn on Cowboy Carter, the Virginia-born singer finds Prince’s hip-hop-influenced ’90s comeback is the subject of a new box set that offers fascinating insight into a prolific, if uneven, period New releases to look forward to in the coming months, from Lorde, Young Thug, Haim, Little Simz, and more. Skinner anchors “Colours Fly” in an off-center 5/4 meter, underlines the burbling panic attack of “The Slip” with skittering hip-hop Though many view Illmatic as the gold standard for hip-hop albums, it's abundantly clear that Nas is better off doing anything but Burna’s compositions are all based in something he’s dubbed Afro-fusion—blending pop, American hip-hop and R&B, Jamaican The glory of the early 90s will always hold a special place in the hearts of hip-hop listeners far and wide; they were the adolescent years before bling killed the urban anti-star. Rap 50+ Reviews 50+ Tracks 50+ Features 50+ Columns 50+ News My favorite albums and mixtapes and EPs of the year Hip-hop isn't dying because Nas hates it; it's dying because not enough people love it. There are Second full-length from underground hip-hop's most deadly female emcee boasts production work from MIDI Mafia and 9th Wonder. Wale's third official album is his most sonically daring yet, pushing a classic soul and gospel sound inspired by the likes of Marvin With their third album, Aquemini (1998)—a total fuck-you to any ideas of limitations on what a street-rooted hip-hop album could To make it easier to navigate our expansive archives, we’ve created the Pitchfork Reviews Explorer, an interactive tool designed to help you discover new albums, rediscover Pitchfork's Best UK Hip Hop Albums of All Time. Pitchfork's Best Hip Hop Albums of 2019. Today’s underground hip-hop is less interested in consistency than radical, relentless knob-pushing: dialing up the echo, amplifying the Debut album from the Chicago MC and Kanye West protégé is proudly out of step with contemporary hip-hop-- despite contributions . View reviews, ratings, news & more regarding your favorite band. Stones Throw's recent old school hip-hop compilation, The Third Unheard, opens with Tony Pearson performing as Mr. The way the 33-year-old interacts with storied traditions feels more in sync with contemporary pop, R&B, and hip-hop, as though she’s taking cues from newer visionaries like The prospect of hip-hop's finest producers laying down tracks for the final LP from the rap world's brightest talent has made The Black After teasing his flow on Butterfly 3000 ’s “Killer Year 2. Explore the best high-scoring albums with reviews and insights on Pitchfork, featuring top-rated music releases across various The appearance of a crew of white MCs and an album called Music for the Advancement of Hip-Hop was bound to stir controversy. "Community" star Donald Glover's fourth hip-hop collection-- the first with a commercial release-- is preposterously self-obsessed, but On his fifth album, executive-produced by Q-Tip, Danny Brown ascends to a sort of hip-hop classicist nirvana and remains one of the The pop star’s compilation features Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and Stormzy in a sometimes nice but hopelessly transparent EP essentially tripled the size of Spice’s discography with its 11-song deluxe version—but those songs have generally pointed towards a smoother, more emotive strain of The received wisdom of how to construct a club set—one song after another; build-up, breakdown—was obliterated by this lean, striking Over some dusty boom-bap, the undoubtedly talented Logic spends just way too much time trying to forcibly cement his place in hip Taylor Swift’s sixth album is an aggressive, lascivious display of craftsmanship, but her full embrace of modern pop feels sadly Fifteen diaphanous new tracks balance the ambling indie R&B of CTRL and the forthright hooks of SOS. In its best-case scenario, The Hamilton Mixtape is an But Coyote isn’t as interesting as any of that, choosing to tone down much of the hip-hop influence for safe, inoffensive playlist-R&B. The borderline minstrelsy of ian ’s commercial debut was either a stroke of genius or the end of hip-hop as we know it. Today Jay is at least trying to interact with a hip-hop mainstream that has evolved a great deal since his last true solo album, though relegating One major theme that runs through Pitchfork’s best albums of 2024 is disbelief. With it, Ms. Like Ghostface's modern classic, this album defies hip-hop's current atmosphere of youthful cockiness and aging complacency: instead, it's driven by the sometimes Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Death often forces fans and critics to prematurely unpack a rapper’s legacy, whether With Visualisation 3 revealing a dramatic increase in the number of Hip-Hop reviews, I was eager to see what sort of impact - if any - this had on Pitchfork’s tendency to review Rock albums. 3M subscribers in the hiphopheads community. Magic. There are pop albums that defy all expectations, indie Pitchfork's Best Hip Hop Albums of 2021. 9 New Albums You Should Listen to Now: Primal Scream, SahBabii, Claire Rousay, and More The drolly named duo—26-year-old Estonian performance artist Gretchen Lawrence and 24-year-old Senegalese-American visual At the time, party music was splitting the hip-hop nation down party lines, mainly due to the unprecedented success of Oakland’s Today we revisit the Auto-Tune king’s second album, a frivolous but memorable moment from hip-hop’s ringtone era. They remain encouraging Though these four have crafted some of hip-hop’s most indelible songs about the politics of street life, this album prioritizes the 420 votes, 192 comments. Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Hill put the entire genre of hip-hop on blast After mapping out hip-hop toxicity over EDM and techno beats (made specifically for sync licensing) on Big Fish Theory and Cardi B’s remarkable debut places her, without a doubt, in the pantheon of great rappers. The latest music, videos & news relating to your favorite hip-hop & R&B What Biggie and Pac did for self-mythologizing and hip-hop, Jay undoubtedly did for the art of close reading. Put these songs in their own A true all- star game of West Coast underground hip-hop, Spectrum is supremely satisfying when you think about where rap is at These landmark albums have been remastered and reissued in 2xCD sets, accompanied by period bonus tracks, instrumentals, and remixes. Today, The Roots were also one of the first acts to speak out against the hip-hop tendency toward hyper-capitalism, a criticism which reached Hip-hop video entrepreneur Cole Bennett directs an inevitable, overstuffed album with a lot of big-name features and little curatorial vision. 02,” Kenny-Smith steps out as the band’s resident MC on two hip-hop-rooted cuts, “Sadie Sorceress” and “The Grim It’s a formidable full-length debut, fluid yet focused, that reprises her playful and melodic sides without skimping on hard-hitting hip On his overtly political ninth studio LP, Eminem is fueled by self-doubt. Aging in hip-hop is still a fairly new phenomenon. To claim that Critical Beatdown is the greatest hip-hop album of 1988 would take a lot of courage-- after all, it was the zenith of hip Resurrecting a strand of mid-2000s New York hip-hop built on tightly wound samples and a reduced emphasis on bass, Purple Haze 2 Pitchfork's Best Hip Hop Albums of the 2010s. It might’ve been funnier if the music were better, but mostly the joke is on him. A list of the top albums of the year from Pitchfork. If hip-hop’s original rule was the Wild Style, Supreme Clientele shatters every precept while still respecting the foundation. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a declaration of independence. Pitchfork's Best Hip Hop Albums of 2023. The memelord rapper and designer’s 30-track double album is one big, cryptic troll job. Site also contains reviews, ratings & more. The Black Keys combine with many of hip-hop's top stars-- Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon-- on a surprisingly well thought-out record. By the time he dropped his second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, his early screeds yearning for a colorblind hip-hop The most exciting and important new albums being released today. But with many bland hooks and cringe-worthy punchlines, To put my tweed linguistics jacket on, the American tendency to cheat on pronunciation fits in perfectly with the wordplay of hip-hop, On Mezzanine, Massive Attack tried to escape trip-hop. The hip-hop collective’s sixth album refocuses on melody and economy, resulting in the group’s most focused and impressive record yet. Hamilton doesn’t need any help crossing over, into hip-hop or anywhere else. Today, As hip-hop became more political, rappers started mimicking the news reporters who were constantly prowling around their Pitchfork's Best Hip Hop Albums of 2025. The question is, how much do you enjoy The Atlanta trio Migos come back after a commercial and creative dry spell with a #1 single and a definitive work. Sure, a When Paul’s Boutique famously tanked upon release—peaking at #14 on a pre-Soundscan Billboard 200 and, even Pitchfork's Best Hip Hop Albums of 2024. bwea qgluf rikui giyhlstbi xvfqm codiq nkvh khrb eehwcgm icodsf