A lot rap music comes out on a regular basis, and particularly with frequent shock releases, it may be onerous to maintain monitor of all of it. So, as a means to assist sustain with all of it, right here’s a roundup of the 5 rap albums from November 2021 that stood out to us most. We additionally most likely nonetheless missed or have not spent sufficient time with some nice November rap albums that are not on this listing. What had been a few of your favorites of final month? Tell us within the feedback, and skim on for the listing (unranked, in no specific order).
Aesop Rock x Blockhead – Garbology
Rhymesayers
Aesop Rock’s basic late ’90s and early 2000s albums like Labor Days, Float, and Appleseed would not have sounded the best way they did with out producer Blockhead, who labored on so a lot of Aesop’s most beloved songs, together with fan favourite singles like “Daylight” and “None Shall Cross.” The final time Blockhead contributed to an Aesop Rock album was 2007’s None Shall Cross, however now the 2 have reunited and so they’ve put out Garbology, the first-ever Aesop Rock album totally produced by Blockhead. Aesop Rock put out loads of nice music all through the 2010s with out Blockhead, however there is a sure chemistry that arises when these two get collectively, and Garbology absolutely recaptures the allure that Aesop Rock’s albums had within the aughts. Blockhead’s beats on Garbology sound as futuristic right this moment as his beats on Labor Days sounded 20 years in the past, and Aesop Rock sounds absolutely impressed. He is delivering the form of surrealistic tongue-twisters that outlined his basic period, and he appears like he is having a hell of a very good time doing it.
Decide up Aesop Rock vinyl, together with new coloration pressings of his ’90s/2000s classics, in our store.
R.A.P. Ferreira – The Gentle Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures
Ruby Yacht
Prolific underground rap nice R.A.P. Ferreira (previously generally known as milo, typically often known as scallops resort) kicked the yr off with the discharge of Bob’s Son on New 12 months’s Day, and now he is acquired one other new album out on Black Friday, The Gentle Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures. In comparison with the often-abstract Bob’s Son, The Gentle Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures feels somewhat extra conventional, with heat manufacturing derived from jazz, soul, and psychedelia, and tight, in-the-pocket rhymes from R.A.P. Ferreira. Nonetheless, “conventional” is relative on this context; R.A.P. Ferreira’s model of hip hop stays experimental and forward-thinking. He makes use of parts of rap’s golden age, however reshapes these sounds into one thing futuristic. And his phrases stay surrealist and stream-of-consciousness, portray vivid photographs in your thoughts and conveying uncooked emotion too.
Your Outdated Droog – Area Bar
Nature Sounds
New York rapper Your Outdated Droog has been very prolific this yr. He already launched two albums with Tha God Fahim and his personal new album TIME, and now he is again together with his fourth full-length of 2021, Area Bar. With manufacturing from 88 Keys, Nicholas Craven, SadhuGold, and Elaquent, it is considered one of Droog’s most psychedelic albums, instrumentally talking, however his rhymes are as clear and centered as ever. As on all of his releases, Droog takes clear affect from ’90s East Coast rappers however he is acquired the knockout punchlines and razor-sharp movement to compete with nearly any of his forebears. The primary half of the album is an onslaught of top-tier Droog bars, whereas the second half brings in some nice visitors. Tha God Fahim exhibits up on two songs, Nickelus F is on one, and probably the most show-stopping visitor appearances come from Lil Ugly Mane and billy woods on album spotlight “Meteor Man.” It is a kind of songs the place everybody concerned is working on the prime of their sport, difficult and inspiring their collaborators at each flip.
Defcee & Messiah Musik – Trapdoor
Backwoodz Studioz
Chicago rapper Defcee is a longtime staple of his house metropolis’s underground rap scene (his 2015 album Damn Near Grown featured collaborations with Saba, Noname, and Joseph Chilliams earlier than these artists blew up), and although he took a while off from music, he is been extra prolific than ever for the previous couple years. He put out the August Fanon-produced EP We Dressed the City with Our Names earlier this yr, and now he teamed up with billy woods’ Backwoodz Studioz for a brand new album, Trapdoor, totally produced by Messiah Musik, who’s labored on a number of albums by billy woods/Armand Hammer, in addition to different Backwoodz releases and tasks by Mach-Hommy, Your Outdated Droog, Quelle Chris, and extra. “His work jogs my memory of what I beloved about RZA’s beats once I first found Wu Tang,” Defcee said of Messiah Musik. “’Dusty loops, heavy bag drums’ to cite billy woods.” Armand Hammer seems on the album, as do ShrapKnel members PremRock and Curly Castro (whose personal new album Little Robert Hutton options Defcee), in addition to Henry Canyons, Convertible Ashley, Joshua Advantage, Freddie Ol Soul, and Alaska. Messiah Musik’s manufacturing type can be very acquainted to Backwoodz followers, and Defcee’s powerful supply suits it completely. Defcee is a rapper that ceaselessly will get referred to as “underrated,” and if you happen to’re nonetheless sleeping on him, get up and take heed to this album.
Treatment – Treatment Meets Wu-Tang
RemedyRoss Music
Staten Island rapper Treatment has been an affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan since showing on the 1998 Wu-Tang Killa Bees compilation The Swarm, and now he has roped in a number of Wu-Tang members/associates (Ghostface Killah, RZA, Methodology Man, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, Masta Killa, Shyheim, Killah Priest, Solomon Childs, Trife Diesel, and StreetLife), plus Griselda’s Conway The Machine, for his first new album in over a decade, Treatment Meets Wu-Tang. It was nearly totally produced by Ghostface/Inspectah Deck collaborator Danny Caiazzo, and it options at the very least one Wu-Tang member on nearly each monitor. Treatment might have a historical past as a supporting forged member, however right here he is the director and the star, and he is additionally given us one thing that just about counts as a brand new Wu-Tang album. From the manufacturing to the rapping, all the pieces sounds prefer it might’ve come straight out of the mid ’90s, and the low-stakes rawness makes it really feel refreshing. And if this occurs to be your introduction to Treatment, it is a plus that he additionally included his signature tune “By no means Once more” (from The Swarm and a number of Treatment solo albums), through which the Jewish rapper tackles Holocaust historical past in an extremely private means, taking inspiration from the real-life experiences his family members had throughout that tragic interval.
Honorable Mentions
Apollo Brown & Stalley – Blacklight
Aminé – TwoPointFive
Killah Priest & Shroom – The Mantra
Joell Ortiz – Autograph
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Previous month-to-month rap album roundups here. For extra hip hop, keep updated with our weekly rap and R&B song roundups, and skim our each day hip hop protection here.
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