2021 Rap Up (Albums 50-26)

2021 has somehow been both the longest and shortest year I have experienced in my life. I suppose I probably say something similar each year, but for the first time, it felt that way while it was happening. Returning to albums that were released in the early part of the year absolutely does not feel like a year ago until you come across one you are so certain that came out in 2020 that you go check just to make sure. It’s been that kind of year. I don’t know what 2022 holds, but I suppose I am ready to find out alongside each of you? If that sounded a bit reluctant, it certainly was. For the sake of this piece, in this place, and kicking off all my year-end pieces, let me retain a little hope. If not for myself, for you. Let’s jump right in.

Admittedly, it took a while for me to get into the swing of listening to rap this year, but once I did, I didn’t turn back. Rather than the top 100 rap albums I used to put together on a yearly basis though, this year’s list sits firmly at 50 records. Maybe the best part about these records is that in all 50 of them I found something to enjoy. In yet another tumultuous year, I hope you found some too. And if not, I hope you find something new from this list:

50. Lil Yachty – Michigan Boat Boy

49. Rx Papi – 100 Miles & Running

48. Ol’ Burger Beats & Vuyo – Dialogue.

47. Drake – Certified Lover Boy

It’s probably not a great sign that the best thing I can say about this record is that it reminded how much I love and want to go listen to other artists. Over his past few projects from Scorpion to Views, I have continued to lament that it feels like Drake is in stasis. He knows his stuff will do numbers, it’s not adventurous, it’s not particularly different, and the whole record can fly by without you registering it as much. All that being said, this isn’t necessarily a bad record. If you like Drake and his recent output, I am certain you will like Certified Lover Boy as well. It has some of that freewheeling Drake on records with no features, it has some of the smooth Drake sound that he honed on Nothing Was the Same and even some of the bite that he put together on If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. If you interpret that to mean this album is a lot, you’d be correct. It clocks in entirely too long at one hour and 26 minutes. You might even be better off finding the tracks you do like and just throwing those in a playlist. That’s what I did, anyway. As mentioned earlier, the features are where Certified Lover Boy really finds its shine, especially from Project Pat, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross. If you don’t want to wade through the length of the record, start there.

46. YG & Mozzy – Kommunity Service

45. Pi’erre Bourne – The Life of Pi’erre 5

44. Saweetie – Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1

43. Kanye West – DONDA

At some point of listening to DONDA’s one hour and 48-minute run time, the album starts to become a chore. It continues a trend of largely self-indulgent work from Kanye, which feels like a particularly peculiar criticism for an album that is dedicated to his mother. But the album from the production to the lyrics veer into self-obsessed bravado that instead of manifesting itself as fun braggadocios rap, it immediately turns into overwrought production and sparsely spiritual lyricism.

For as long as the record is, it almost guarantees some bright spots and there certainly are despite the preceding paragraph. The production is not always overwrought, sometimes they are earworms. The guest features are regularly good, especially from Andre 3000. Ultimately, there is a number of things to enjoy on his record. Most of that just gets overshadowed enormously by Kanye’s ego and self-righteousness.

42. Baby Keem – The Melodic Blue

41. YUNGMORPHEUS & ewonee – Thumbing Thru Foliage

40. Pooh Shiesty – Shiesty Season

39. AJ Tracey – Flu Game

38. DMX – Exodus

DMX’s last hurrah not only celebrates who he was but the sounds that came to define his work. Perhaps the most fun aspect of the record is the collaboration between DMX’s peers (Nas, Jay-Z, and more) and those whom he influenced (all of Griselda on “Hood Blues,” Moneybagg Yo, and more). Whereas many other posthumous records feel like an incorporation of the artist’s work on other production and styles, Exodus feels different. It is other artists jumping on his tracks, playing with a sound that was tailor made (largely courtesy of work from producers like Swizz Beatz) for him. Throughout Exodus, it feels as though the entire record is a homage to the man itself. In that way, it really is beautiful. It never feels like anything other than a DMX record, and that’s the best way his peers could honor his life and his work. Plus, those first three tracks are marvelous from Jay-Z, The LOX, Nas, to Lil Wayne. It’s a masterclass from rap royalty paying homage to a legend.

37. Common – A Beautiful Revolution (Pt. 2)

36. Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – Unlocked 1.5

35. Moneybagg Yo – A Gangsta’s Pain

One of the most interesting parts of this record for me was the broad range of emotions on it. Not all of them come across in the instrumentals (perhaps fortunately or unfortunately) but to his credit, this record feels like Moneybagg baring it all. On “One of Dem Nights,” you could even interpret that sentence literally. The introduction sets the tone for the album, but it’s almost a bit of whiplash with its segue into the first track. It underscores where Moneybagg is coming from on the record, but not where he is headed. Perhaps that is what makes the 22-track record fresh though. There are songs where he raps about jealousy, ones where he raps with humility, others where he does the exact opposite of that. He doesn’t shy away from love, pain, and what he measures to be everything in between. If that comes off as a bit muddled here, it does sometimes come across that way on the record as well. Not without a centering effort from a number of interludes between songs. These interludes buoy the tone of the record, even as it starts to thrash. Vulnerability even starts to crack through the bravado, which does start to feel like a more defined direction as the record unfolds. If this is where Moneybagg is headed, I’ll be interested to see where the ride takes him.

34. CZARFACE & MF DOOM – Super What?

33. Ransom & Rome Streetz – Coup De Grace

32. Nas – King’s Disease II

31. Aesop Rock & Blockhead – Garbology

30. Atmosphere – WORD?

29. J. Cole – The Off-Season

Is this a return to form? For most, that probably seems like a foolish question. J. Cole has been at the top of his game (and truly the top of the game) for quite a while. But as a fan from damn near the beginning, this is the first time in a very long time that it has sounded like he was hungry. There were moments on his last few records that had that feel, but most of it felt complacent. If not complacent then just generally bored. That wasn’t always the case though. No, years ago, we had Cole Summer. J. Cole hadn’t dropped an album in a minute. We were waiting on it. Yearning for it. Instead, he dropped a series of mixtapes. That sounds like a compromise but I can promise you that it wasn’t. You know in movies or shows when you are a die-hard fan of something, writers might sprinkle in little nods and winks to you recognize the longstanding fans? That’s what it felt like during Cole Summer. The winks to the fans of the mixtapes, the people who had been riding since long ago. But for me? Something happened after Cole Summer. Nothing was quite the same. The music certainly wasn’t bad, but it was uninteresting. It was a rapper who felt he was trying way too hard. He had the built in fanbase, what was he doing? I have kept up with him since then, hoping desperately something might change. Well, I got my wish with The Off-Season.

28. Mick Jenkins – Elephant in the Room

Following Mick’s journey since The Water (S) in 2014 has been awesome. That first record was good, he showed a ton of potential, but you just wanted more. He has just honed his craft time and time again. In an era where so many albums feature an artist throwing all the shit at the wall just to see what sticks (resulting in the super fun experience of listening to an hour and a half record…), Jenkins consistently avoids this. He embraces the concept record. He uses the ideas of unified themes to push himself. 2016’s The Healing Component was at times messy and a bit bloated, but sometimes the emotional through line set the stage for projects to come from him afterward. Elephant In The Room plays off his established pattern, he starts to push it in new directions. The concept record starts to push outward and become something. That of course means there are going to be kinks, some songs won’t hit as well as others, but keep listening. You’ll start to hear it all come together.

27. Guilty Simpson & Gensu Dean – EGO

26. Rome Streetz & Futurewave – Razor’s Edge

Rome Streetz is all over this list, so I am abstaining from digging deeper on him until we get till his highest record on the list. You’ll have to wait for that one.

As you can see from the list, there was a lot of variety in this year’s rap music. Trap rap from artists like Pooh Shiesty and Rx Papi, heavily lyrical work from the wordsmith himself, Aesop Rock, boom bap from cats like Rome Streetz, and stuff that falls on the spectrum between all of that. That’s the beauty of rap music. While it might not be as top heavy as The Golden Age back in the 90s when legends were hitting their strides, there’s such a medley of sounds now that when you start looking, you’ll find what you need. I’m just trying to make it easier on you.

Come right back here tomorrow for albums 25-1. Until then, stay safe.