1. Megan Thee Stallion - Fever
It's reductive to call Megan Thee Stallion the female Pimp C, but a lot of the appeal is definitely in the way she says gleefully profane shit in a sneering Houston twang that brings him to mind so much. And Fever kind of has a hybrid Houston/Memphis sound, with 4 tracks produced by Juicy J or Project Pat, without sounding too retro '90s southern rap. She's taken pains to call Fever a mixtape when people call it an album, which usually means there's another record with higher profile features around the feature, but I'd love to see more confidence in the strength of this record, it's great and really zeroes in on what she does best, even the R&Bish track "Best You Ever Had" is still really well written and sleazy like "Big Ole Freak," she's just so talented at talking shit. Here's the 2019 albums playlist that I throw all the new albums I listen to into, it's an easy place to find most of these.

2. YG - 4Real 4Real
These days only the biggest of the biggest rappers can get away with making an every album every 2 years and not constantly dropping mixtapes, but YG got into such a good 2 year rhythm that I was surprised to see him come back just 9 months after Stay Dangerous, but he topped that album, it was worth it to get something new this soon. That 1-2 punch of "Hard Bottoms & White Socks" and "Bottle Service" is incredible, really one of the best openings to an album that I've heard in a minute.

3. Pale Spring - Cygnus
Baltimore natives Emily Harper Scott aka Pale Spring and her husband and co-producer Drew Scott have relocated to L.A. lately, but it's cool to see them repping Baltimore with a really impressive record, her full-length debut after two excellent EPs. There's kind of a dark synth pop/trip hop vibe but there's often a really simple unadorned beauty to her voice and acoustic guitar at the center of the mix, in contrast to how these kinds of records often sound like the singer is almost hiding behind moody production and vocal effects.

4. Denzel Curry - ZUU
I always think about how Denzel Curry was in the same XXL Freshmen cypher in 2016 with Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, 21 Savage and Lil Yachty, how even then he was kind of the outlier in that group, and even moreso now that those other four guys have gone on to pretty much define the Soundcloud generation. And that's kind of a shame, because Curry is at least as talented as those guys, much more in some cases, but it feels like he's finding his way. I wasn't totally sure what to make of last year's TA1300, it kind of gave me a Hopsin vibe, but ZUU is a little more straightforward and offers a clearer picture of his talent and his potential, I think "Speedboat" is my favorite but it's cool to hear him hang with Rick Ross on "Birdz."

5. Jamila Woods - LEGACY! LEGACY!
Jamila Woods has an Ivy League degree in African-American studies and every song on LEGACY! LEGACY! is named after a giant of black American art and culture ("BALDWIN," "SUN RA," "BASQUIAT," and so on). But the album doesn't feel like an academic exercise, it sounds like a set of songs where her research on these figures is kind of baked into the perspective, the titles certainly give you something to think about as you listen but it sounds great with or without the larger context.

6. Moneybagg Yo - 43VA HEARTLESS
Moneybagg Yo followed up 2017's Heartless and 2018's 2 Heartless with the new 43VA HEARTLESS, which is the most confusing thing since Chief Keef released the Bang 4 EP before the Bang 3 album. But I feel like Moneybagg Yo is still a little slept on, this is his highest charting album to date and outsold YG the first week, but outside his fanbase I don't know if people have really noticed how popular he is or how talented he is. Not sure if I like this one more than 2 Heartless but it's solid, "No Filter" is one of Tay Keith's best tracks to date.

7. Ari Lennox - Shea Butter Baby
"Whipped Cream" made a bit impression on me as the first Ari Lennox song I heard, and I think it's still be my favorite song on here, but "New Apartment" and "Up Late" are excellent too. She might really be making her own lane of earthy woke pussy poppin' music.

8. Micah E. Wood - Micah E. Wood
I first encountered Micah E. Wood's work as a photographer, taking portraits of the same Baltimore musicians I often write about, but he's also a musician himself. His new album has been growing on me, it's kind of electro pop with a little hip hop in the production but at its core the songs are very emotional and often piano-driven, it really feels like you're getting in this guy's head and hearing some of his innermost thoughts.

9. Superchunk - Acoustic Foolish
I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Superchunk's 1994 album Foolish. It's one of the best albums by one of my favorite bands, but I never agree with the consensus that it's their best, which I think was bolstered the Rumours-like context of the songs being written about the breakup between two members of the band. I just like the albums they made directly before (On The Mouth) and after (Here's Where The Strings Come In) more. That said, it's an ideal record for them to revisit with acoustic re-recordings for its 25th anniversary. For years I've had an acoustic Superchunk playlist of the various demos and acoustic versions of songs they've put on B-sides and stuff over the years, and it's fun to add to that. The vocals are sometimes a little buried on the original album, so it feels like I'm hearing some of these lyrics for the first time, and there's some beautiful unexpected touches like the saxophone on "Saving My Ticket."

10. James Bay - Oh My Messy Mind EP
Electric Light was one of my favorite albums of 2018, but it made virtually no commercial impact. So I'm kinda glad to see that James Bay's label is still interested in his career, and has been sending him out for concerts and TV appearances and releasing a single and an EP with some big name producers and co-writers (Ryan Tedder, Julia Michaels, Joel Little, Dan Wilson, Ariel Rechtshaid, etc.). The result is a little more acoustic and mellow than the album, but it's a good fit for his voice, I wouldn't mind if he keeps going in this direction if it gets him more chart success, "Rescue" is my favorite.

The Worst Album of the Month: Logic - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Logic's never been one of my favorite rappers, but I think he's an interesting and talented guy who's carved out a unique career, and I enjoyed interviewing him a couple years ago on the release date of Everybody, a pretty good album that made him a lot more famous. But listening to his latest album feels a little like watching The Social Network, like you're just watching this nerdy kid who grew up to be a smart, successful guy let his ego get bigger as his grudges and resentments drive him more and more, the whole thing is so bitter and aggrieved about fame and how rap fans see him and how he looks at the women that he got divorced to spend time with. The biggest song on the album is his highly hyped Eminem collaboration, and you can almost see this record as an Eminem album in terms of his complicated relationship with fame, but somehow he doesn't wear it as well, it just feels kind of dull and whiny.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 06, 2019 at 12:53 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.