One of the best albums of , Rap Or Go To The League finds 2 Chainz balancing his usual ostentatious flexes with rationales for how and why the drug game and rap game feel so closely related and like the only options for accruing wealth in a rigged system. There are nostalgic storytelling tracks like “Statute Of Limitations” and “I’m Not Crazy, Life Is” alongside straight up braggadocio like “2 Dollar Bill” and “Girl’s Best Friend,” but in the end, the unifying factor is that “Sam” always gets his due.–A.W.  With just seven songs, Pusha T delivered the s’ quintessential drug rap album with Daytona. The s were also a time in which black women rappers refused to be relegated to the sidelines. The feud between Remy Ma and Nicki Minaj brought us back to the days where bars were considered to be formidable weapons, Beyoncé proved she can lyrically square up with some of your faves and Cardi brought home a Grammy for simply being herself. Selecting the best hip-hop and R&B albums of the decade is not an easy feat, but it is a vital one. The genre remains the voice of a generation that uses creativity to inspire change and to obfuscate boxes that underrepresented populations are constan. Голосование за лучшие рэп-альбомы десятилетия () Vote for the best rap albums of Decade (). Rules / Правила: Yours Top 20 albums of Decade /// Ваша 20ка лучших альбомов десятилетия.  Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids Q-Unique - Between Heaven & Hell Vinnie Paz - Season Of The Assassin Apathy - Honkey Kong Heavy Metal Kings (Ill Bill & Vinnie Paz) - Heavy Metal Kings Czarface - Czarface Hilltop Hoods - Walking Under Stars Atmosphere - Fishing Blues Banks & Steelz - Anything But Words ScHoolboy Q - Blank Face LP 2Mex - Lospital Killer Mike - R. To Pimp A Butterfly is a timeless genre-blending masterpiece that will forever reside in the highest echelons of the Hip Hop pantheon. Production by the likes of Zo! No little Simz???? Kendrick Lamar - Section.

Open Mike Eagle is a Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based artist who dropped some of the most interesting albums in abstract underground Hip Hop in the s — with his soft spoken-word style, poetic lyrics, and experimental production. He approaches a variety of serious topics with dark and deliciously sarcastic humor — hence the title of the album.

All The Beauty In This Whole Life is another amazing album by Brother Ali — powerful and meaningful grown-up music, a breath of fresh air in a rap-world filled with dumb-ass face-tatted mumblers.

The way especially billy woods paints lyrical pictures is neither straightforward nor easy to decipher. Paraffin is amazingly produced and lyrically incredibly layered — Armand Hammer has something substantial to say for those motivated and intellectually equipped to really listen. Not for everybody, but for those who appreciate abstract, experimental Hip Hop Paraffin is a must-have. Soulful and eclectic, this album almost transcends genre boundaries in its musicality.

Lyrics-wise The Good Fight is more than a worthwhile listen as well — with Oddisee telling us about his experiences as an artist in the music business and life in general. The Good Fight is put together meticulously from start to finish resulting in a remarkable blend of lyrical depth, complexity, beauty, and soul.

The Good Fight is one of those albums that gets better with each spin. The ambient and psychedelic production on Brick Body Kids Still Daydream is more subdued than on past OME efforts, which complements his low-key delivery. Common has dropped quite a few excellent albums in his long career, and this one is up there with the best of them. Meaningful, profound, captivating, intelligent, soulful and lyrical — Black America Again has everything a Hip Hop album needs to have.

Truly great from start to finish, there are no skippable tracks. Damani Nkosi has worked with well-known artists including Dr. Nkosi was born in Inglewood, California. His father chose an African name for him. Thoughtful King is an aptly chosen title for this album — not only because it is a literal translation of his name, but also because of the deep lyrics Damani spits.

Production is flawless, Hip Hop to its core but with neo soul sensibilities as well and giving off vibes of a classic jazz album at the same time — even the album cover is reminiscent of a vintage jazz vinyl.

Slept on by most in , Best Rap Albums Of 2010s 2nd but one of our favorite albums of that year. If you missed out on Thoughtful King for some reason, go check it out now and thank us later. One of the most anticipated albums of delivered on all accounts. This is what happens when an elite lyricist teams up with an elite beatsmith and when everything clicks: 11 songs, all of them strong.

Pete Rock has nothing left to prove but just adds to his legendary status with this album. Beats and bars both of the highest quality and endless replay value mean Hip Hop at its finest.

A hard as nails release filled with uncompromising rhymes and a street essence, arguably re-pioneered by Roc Marciano with albums like Marcberg and Reloaded Apollo Brown does what he would be doing for the rest of the decade: creating lush bass-heavy beats for his collaborative artists to shine on. Legendary D. This album is simply excellent — it offers a dose of Hip Hop in its purest form: 16 tracks with nothing but dope beats, scratches, and rhymes.

Diamond D, O. Hard-hitting and grimy a. His remains are melted in vinyl and pressed into a dozen LPs that, when played, resurrect him as the Ghostface Killah, a force for revenge incarnate. Sounds crazy right? Thanks to the narrative thread, the album flows with great cohesion. After winning acclaim with a series of mixtapes and his Hell Can Wait EP , and gaining some notoriety by being dismissive Best Rap Albums Of 2010s Live about 90s Hip Hop in a high profile interview , Compton rapper Vince Staples made a big splash with Summertime 06 , his official full-length debut.

Summertime 06 is one of the most impressive debuts of the decade, the kind of album that needs a few playthroughs to fully appreciate.

Summertime 06 was a big step ahead for Vince Staples since his mixtape days, and it remains his best project to date. This album is straight gutter, street bully rap — few have ever done this better than Sean Price did.

His solo album Known Unknowns is a top 3 album of , and Rome comes close. In he dropped Connected , one the s sleeper classics as half of Foreign Exchange. After these three near-flawless albums in the s, in he released Charity Starts At Home , his long-awaited solo debut. Being You Is Great! All in all, Being You Is Great! Rooted in Southern Hip Hop, the album contains a bass-heavy sound with dense TR driven basslines, live instrumentation, incorporating genres such as funk, soul, rock, dubstep, and electro music.

Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty is a musical extravaganza, and at just over an hour not a minute too long thanks to the pure energy and swag that the album carries.

Dope beats, scratches, lyricism, storytelling — all you could want in a mature Hip Hop album is present here.

Portland, Maine producer Phoniks hooking up with Brooklyn-born Virginia-resident Awon has brought the world a bunch of great Hip Hop — their collaborative debut album Return To The Golden Era arguably is the epitome of their chemistry. This album will satisfy the cravings of all those who dig smooth, jazzy and confident Hip Hop music. Roc Marciano has been one of the most consistent artists of the s, with a string of great albums.

Roc Marciano has been the main player responsible for revitalizing the mafioso subgenre, and this album is the one that re started it all. Roc Marciano is not a copy cat though — with his unorthodox minimalist flow and the atmospheric, gritty lo-fi beats he rhymes over he can be seen as a trend-setter for lots of newcomers who would go and build on this style think Griselda and all their affiliates.

Great album. Just like its predecessor, this album is a near-flawless presentation of authentic Hip Hop — with close to an hour of dope beats, scratches, lyricism, and storytelling. Knowledge Of Self : s mooth, jazzy boom-bap at its finest. Tanks For The Memories is the most slept-on album of You may know Ryu as one-quarter of Styles Of Beyond, a Los Angeles crew who dropped an underground classic in with their debut album Fold.

With work on the boards from West Coast legend Divine Styler, Ryu dropped this gem of an album to little or no fanfare. Ryu brings the boom-bap back — the album is a near-perfect modern interpretation of 90s Hip Hop, using the beat-structures of Hip Hop classics from Gangstarr and Big Daddy Kane on two of the stand-out tracks, sampling Public Enemy on another, and bringing back the Funky Drummer break too — especially people who know their classics will enjoy this album.

Ryu is a great lyricist too, with dope flows and clever wordplay. Ever since he released his classic but underappreciated debut album Word… Life in , O. His collabo with Apollo Brown — Trophies — was one of the best albums of that year and in both and , O. Clever, next-level lyricism and dope beats all the way through — Same Moon Same Sun is on par with O.

High praise, but true enough nevertheless — Same Moon Same Sun is that good. Why did everybody sleep on this near-flawless album? Production duties were taken care of by a wide array of producers, including Mr.

Doris is the excellent debut album from one of the biggest talents out of the Odd Future camp. Directors of Photography is the fifth studio album by Los Angeles trio Dilated Peoples, and their best. Directors of Photography is executed flawlessly — this is matured underground boom-bap at its finest.

The legendary Roots crew can boast one of the most consistent and most impressive catalogs in Hip Hop, ever. Their only disappointing effort is their eleventh album And Then You Shoot Your Cousin , their previous ten albums are all simply excellent. Black Thought is good as ever, bringing out his deepest thoughts and observations. The Rugged Man is an exceptional emcee — better than your favorite rapper.

Few, if any emcees can go bar-for-bar with R. The Rugged Man. His technical skill, his incredible flow, his breath control, and his bar-building skills are second to none. Legends Never Die is R. The beats on this album are dope too, Legends Never Die is one of the most entertaining albums of Nice Guy and their last The Ownerz were more than solid albums too.

With such an impeccable catalog, one could question if the risk should be taken releasing a semi-posthumous project which could potentially tarnish the near-perfect legacy. DJ Premier really does justice to the Guru material he was left to work with, One Of The Best Yet feels totally organic — almost as if they were in the studio together during the recording process.

PTSD is an impressive and timely concept piece — dealing with topics such as stress, depression, mental health issues, and the American illusion.

As usual, Pharoahe Monch lyrics are razor-sharp, intricate, complex, and his flow is superior. PTSD has true substance, unlike most of the projects put out by lesser emcees in this era.

The beats could have been better here and there, but as always a Pharoahe Monch album is all about the lyrical content. Few lyricists out there better than the unsung Pharoahe Monch. Skelethon is a more than worthy follow-up to the awesome None Shall Pass and a great lead-up to the even better The Impossible Kid The skits are a bit corny but still work in the narrative. Always pushing genre boundaries, Doomtree is known for incorporating a wide range of musical influences into their work with lyrical complexity and wordplay — both on their group albums and their solo efforts.

Their solo-efforts proof what the Doomtree members can do in their own distinctly different styles. Their group-efforts proof they can blend their different styles into a perfect mix. S, Dessa, Cecil Otter, Sims, and Mike Mictlan can be turned into a cohesive whole — in fact, it could easily turn into a disaster. What has always worked for Doomtree though — and what is perfected on No Kings — is that the crew admiringly succeeds in being complementary.

It helps that the soundscapes provided by Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger are eminently musical, the layered beats and sounds really add to the dense but clever verbiage and the collective fiery energy the Doomtree vocalists bring to the table.

No Kings is a triumph. If you somehow missed out on Doomtree up to now, start here and you will be stocking up their collective and individual catalogs in no time. You may know Chicago emcee Qwel as part of the Typical Cats crew, who had three pretty good albums with Typical Cats , Civil Service , and 3 In addition to his work as a solo artist, Qwel has been releasing projects ever since with producer Maker.

Beautiful Raw is their fourth collaborative album and their best. Qwel is an excellent rapper, one of the best most of you probably have never listened to.

The Iceberg is even more eclectic in its musicality than the two albums mentioned — with live-band instrumentals and non-Hip Hop influences, which makes this album more of an acquired taste than previous Oddisee efforts are. At 16 songs and an hour of playing time, this is a project with substance. Although it would take another year before Kendrick would really blow up with good Kid M.

City , Section. Sonically more straightforwardly Hip Hop than his more eclectic later albums, on Section. The production style on Section. Their collaborative debut was the excellent but slept-on In The Ruff March On Washington is their second album together, and it is another winner. Each of the three Diamond District members has proven himself singly with other projects especially Oddisee , but their group efforts really are something special.

Seven years after Emeritus , which was supposed to be his retirement album, Scarface comes back strong with Deeply Rooted. Where he arguably lost some of his hunger and power on Emeritus , on Deeply Rooted Scarface is as good as he ever was. If this is his last album, he definitely ended his recording career on a high note, and in a better and more befitting way than if Emeritus would have been his last album.

KILLmatic is a album from supergroup Demigodz. KILLmatic : non-stop blood pumping beats and lyrics from beginning to end. Death Grips is a trio from Sacramento, California, that has created a whole separate niche for itself by pushing the boundaries of Hip Hop — their music may be rooted in Hip Hop, but it is blended with noise, industrial, electro, punk rock, and other alternative elements.

The Money Store is in-your-face, visceral, abrasing, and alienating, but layered and thought-provoking at the same time — this is an awe-inspiring ride of exquisitely produced experimentation and raw energy.

Providence, Rhode Island native Sage Francis has put together a pretty impressive set of albums since his official debut album Personal Journals in Copper Gone is his fifth solo album, and one of his best. Inspired by some traumatic events in his life, Copper Gon e is noticeably darker and more personal than Li f e , the album preceding Copper Gone. We Are Renegades is the third studio album from Pharoahe Monch.

Pharoahe Monch has always been an intelligent lyricist and as he grows older, his maturation shows in his choice of subject matter and production. The fact that an emcee like Pharoahe Monch is only heralded by a select group of Hip Hop listeners just goes to show that intelligence and true lyrical skill go far over the heads of most not-thinking Hip Hop consumers — this kind of Hip Hop is just too complicated, too advanced for some to digest.

Those who do have an ear for quality Hip Hop will have this one in their collection though. Los Angeles native ScHoolboy Q released five albums in the s.

It was his major-label debut, and according to himself his most personal up till then. ScHoolboy Q shows his versatility by switching between different topics and styles. What happens when one of the most consistent producers of the s hooks up with one of the best true school emcees of the decade?

You get an amalgamation of the best of what Detroit and New York City Hip Hop has to offer: a smooth, soulful, classic-feeling treasure of an album.

Not a classic like his magnum opus Be , or like Resurrection and Like Water For Chocolate , but close enough. This short and tight track album fires on all cylinders. The production is stellar, and lyrically Pusha T is on point. My goal was to make a project full of those kinds of records. Something you can play from top to bottom while driving with the top down — Summer Classics.

Summer Classics has been a long time coming and the time that went into crafting the album shows. Bobby has something to say and he possesses the pen-game and mic skills to carry an album by himself too. The answer is yes: Bobby J From Rockaway does. Sean Price passed away much too young at 43 in , this is his first posthumous album after the excellent Songs In The Key Of Price mixtape. Where posthumous releases often are incohesive disappointments or even nothing more than blatant cash-grabs, Imperious Rex is a clear exception.

Sean Price always dropped cohesive albums and Bernadette together with the people from Duck Down Music did a great job of putting this project together — it feels it is done in the same spirit Sean Price himself would have done it if he was still alive. Brother Ali is one of the stalwarts of the lost art of conscious Hip Hop.

He has never released a sub-par album, his discography is one of the strongest and most consistent in Hip Hop, and Mourning In America And Dreaming In Color is another jewel in his crown. Czarface is one of the most consistent acts of the s, and they are unperturbed in dropping vintage-sounding East Coast Hip Hop.

Every project they did is strong, Every Hero Needs a Villain is the best of them all. Race Music is one of the three excellent albums released by Armand Hammer this decade. It requires multiple listens to unpack all subtleties and to begin to see through the intricacies of the project, as is always the case with releases from billy woods and ELUCID, be it solo or as Armand Hammer.

The soundscapes are crafted to fit the lyrics — heavy, slow beats laced with off-kilter electronics and synths. Probably not for the uninitiated, but for those who are into this particular brand of Hip Hop, this is pure gold.

Nothing mysterious about PUTS modus operandi — on 12 Step Program they come with another selection of meticulously produced smooth, neo-boom-bap instrumentals to back up their dope vintage flows. This is grown folk Hip Hop done well. But Old is more than just a stepping stone, it proves once again Danny Brown is one the most unique personalities in s Hip Hop. The first half one of the 19 tracks shows us an introspective and more serious Danny Brown who touches upon all kinds of his craziness and personal turmoil, the second half is not much less crazy in subject matter but is a little more lighthearted, consisting more of club bangers.

Lyrically it is more varied and stronger than his LONG. Sonically AT. Fun and clever lyrics and sonically knocking all the way through, This Was Supposed To Be Fun is a must-listen — one of the most entertaining Hip Hop albums released in With Rap Album Two Jonwayne drops a poignant mix of thoughtful deeply personal rhymes — happy and sad — over gentle-sounding lo-fi beats crafted by himself. Rap Album Two is a super smooth listen, a future cult classic without a doubt.

Uncomplicated but hard-hitting bars by a veteran emcee backed up by beats supplied by the likes of Alchemist, DJ Premier and Evidence himself — what more does a Hip Hop head want? Uncut Hip Hop for Hip Hop purists. Good flow and good beats throughout. Cadillactica is the second studio album by Big K. By , Big K. Big K. Cadillactica is an excellent album, one of the best to come out of the South in the first half of the decade.

Tone Spliff is a producer and a DJ — this album is not just produced flawlessly, just about every song has Tone Spliff scratching in carefully selected vocal samples — this emphasis on the DJ gives the whole album even more of that Golden Age vibe we obviously love. This low profile release by Hip Hop veteran O.

A New Dawn is a straight solo album, with no guest appearances at all. Not a problem for O. For some reason though, he has never been able to translate his skills into the creation of an album befitting to his stature as a lethal emcee. His albums up till this one have been decent to good — but never classic.

While Layers is not quite the classic Royce surely has in him either, it is a really good album, his best up to that point in time. One of the reasons is that production on this project is better than on most of his previous albums, making for a more cohesive effort.

Of course, Royce has bars for days and he has something to say too. Smooth and laid-back — Common and company bring that Hip Hop for grown-ups with this dope as f August Greene project.

Mellow lyrical and sonic vibes, albeit with a dark edge — this is an album that needs multiple listens to be fully appreciated. As usual, Phonte delivers. His work has always been of a consistent quality, be it as part of Little Brother or The Foreign Exchange, or as a solo artist.

Production by the likes of Zo! Filled with serious subject matter and unflinching lyrics, backed up by deep and slow head-bobbing beats — this is another gem by Apollo Brown, an excellent album that deserves a lot more attention than it got.

Upon DAMN. But DAMN. Where TPAB was a conscious masterpiece focusing on political and social issues over an amalgamation of 70 years of black music history, and GKMC was a brilliant coming-of-age concept album, the common thematical thread DAMN. Now, all this may sound a tad more negative than it should — it is just meant to serve as a little counterweight to the blind Kenrick praise that seems obligatory these days.

Because of its reduced scope and shaky sonic, lyrical, and thematic cohesiveness, DAMN. On Guns Quelle Chris comes with his usual off-kilter drum patterns and heady wordplay, this time with a unifying theme: the impact of gun violence on American society in particular and the uncertainties of living in modern America in general.

Neither an easy nor an accessible listen, a few years down the road this album may turn out to be a modern classic anyway. Grandeur is another great release from the most consistent producer from the s. Beats by one of the best beatsmiths in the game, and rhymes by a roster of the greatest emcees of this era — quality Hip Hop guaranteed.

Skyzoo and Torae knocked it out the park with this long-awaited collaboration. Both Skyzoo and Torae brought their A-game to the table, as is evident in the quality of bars and hooks. Great beats, great lyrics, and great chemistry make Barrel Brothers a great album.

Detroit emcee Elzhi dropped another top-quality project with Lead Poison. In he continued his streak of excellent releases with Lead Poison , his most personal album to date. On Lead Poison , Elzhi shares his life experiences of a dark period he went through, making for a poignant listen. Lead Poison is not a casual listen, but it is a good one. In his 9-year hiatus, J-Zone did a bunch of other stuff — writing a book and learning who to drum the two of the most relevant for this musical comeback.

Riot was massively slept on when it was released in The musical backdrop is incredibly impressive and the lyrics hit hard. One of the best Hip Hop songs of the s, if not of the best Hip Hop songs ever. Riot is one of the best albums of and one that deserves far more shine than it got. Quality control has never been a priority for Kool Keith.

He has released something like 60 projects since his debut with Ultramagnetic MCs in , and not all of these releases are must-haves, exactly. Because of the large number of Kool Keith releases over the years, people tend to dismiss all of them as trash. Feature Magnetic is another one of those projects that is much better than most people seem to think.

Like most Kool Keith releases, this one was dismissed out of hand upon its release, just because it was yet another Kool Keith release. But the reality is that Feature Magnetic is really really good. Raw beats mostly produced by Kool Keith himself and fun rhymes all the way through.

Kool Keith is in top form with his typical cadences and bizarre stream-of-consciousness lyrical imagery. Another strength of this album is the features: there is a guest rapper on almost every track and all of them gel really well with Kool Keith. Feature Magnetic is Kool Keith at his finest, and his best release of this decade. Hilarious and sobering at the same time, Quelle Chris and Jean Grae succeed in what they presumably set out to do — with dry humor and witty observations they make you THINK.

The chilled-out, left-field instrumentals serve to lend potency to the lyrics that are abstract and subtle here, and straight on the nose there. Skyzoo is one the most consistent emcees of the decade and this release just is another piece of evidence to prove this point.

On Music For My Friends , Skyzoo rhymes about his life growing up and experiences he went through, giving a very nostalgic and personal feel to the whole project. Twelve years after the excellent The Grind Date , and the Anonymous Nobody… continues what De La Soul has always done: putting out quality music, this time pushing boundaries with genre-bending compositions and some very surprising guests.

Like all other billy woods projects, Today I Wrote Nothing has an incredible amount of depth and requires multiple listens to unravel just what exactly woods is meaning to say. That said, the experience is ultimately rewarding — and even if this is not even the best album billy woods has released in the s, it is an essential part of his catalog and it helps cements his status as one of the decades MVPs.

No Poison No Paradise is a great album from an underrated producer and rapper. It can be argued that some of his mixtapes were better than this album, and K. Iz Here — but Live… is a more than a solid album. Marlowe : 38 minutes, 17 tracks, zero filler — this is one of the most underappreciated albums of Apollo Brown is the star of the show here, as it is his production-work that steals the show.

What Gambino did with this album is assuredly parted views; people who will never, under any circumstances enjoy his music are slandering it. Folks who love him dearly were calling it the best thing since seasonings for food. They argued about it because, well, the internet. Drew Blackburn. On July 6, , Philando Castile was killed by Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was later acquitted of the crime despite Facebook video of the incident.

Just over three weeks later, Chicago rapper Fatima Warner, aka Noname, released her gorgeous debut mixtape Telefone , a smooth, jazz-inflected listen packed with heartbreaking social commentary about life as a black woman in America. If you know, you know. Take Care is certainly impressed with itself, but often rightfully so. The year-old artist feels barely in control throughout, holding onto a thin thread of reality as dozens of figures float in and out of the room by way of samples or guest appearances.

Scott and his team somehow maintain focus, connecting to a throughline that allows him to dangle explorations of his personal life, his somewhat dangerous embrace of fame and his often tenuous grip on the real world. On Flower Boy , Tyler ditches his shock jock persona and dark, aggressive sound, instead opting for mellow, sun-soaked beats and lyrics that probe emotional complexities.

Functional hip-hop duos are a rarity. It takes work to balance strong personalities that have a lot to say. Their second album, RTJ2 , was an equally fierce release. Run The Jewels borrows from a range of hip-hop techniques, but they always deliver. You can feel the effort with every syllable, that this music is coming from their very core. For just a moment, I want you to forget about Offset. The Bronx-born entrepreneur first attracted attention after speaking openly about her work as a stripper on social media.

Cardi B does not need a man to make music or do anything else , and heaven help the fellow who tries to stand her way. Considering the unorthodox release, which included music videos for every song and lack of a standard pre-release marketing push, the album was historic, especially considering that, at least initially, it worked, and the sales boomed as they had never boomed previously.

The appearance of her child seems mostly put there for herself, which is all well and good. It is her album—and her choice. The lack of universality to much of it keeps it from being the great album it wants to be, and some of the fascination seems to stem from celebrity culture obsession and speaks to the need to disappear from our own lives and become so wrapped up in the world of the rich and famous.

In the end, the success of the album can be measured by whether things actually change, because a million copies sold should be a million changed attitudes, and that would be something pretty special. Purged of the drug-addled skepticism of Acid Rap and pulsing with the free-wheeling spirit and zeal that bolstered Surf , Coloring Book is a breezy listen: direct and purposeful.

Chance The Rapper feels that he has been blessed with family, friends, talent and opportunity, and few things give him more joy than extolling those blessings. All sorts of arresting, arrhythmic junk clutters their chewiest Best Rap Albums Of 2010s Ed grooves while Q-Tip, Jarobi and the one-of-a-kind Busta Rhymes one-up their own high-anxiety flows in these secretly recorded tracks like the Navy playing war games.

On Summertime , the rapper is all ice-cold edge, inside and out: refined, honed, sharp enough to cut subcutaneously. Here, he was ready to mine deeper bedrock.

And rarely has the sound of an artist scraping bottom been this assured. Acid Rap is Chance and his rawest, realest and scrappiest, not quite yet a Kanye prodigy with a gospel bent. How can you please both your mom and your friends? This is a mixtape that became a classic, and it also served as sort of a foreshadowing of where rap would go in the remaining years of the decade: Noname, Saba and BJ The Chicago Kid all have features on the record, plus appearances by Childish Gambino and Vic Mensa.

Chance has always had a way of bringing talent together. It is Kendrick Lamar condemned and Kendrick Lamar redeemed. It is a meditation—or rather, a series of meditations—of his technical and emotional capabilities. Here he embraces the image, turning himself into messiah and martyr. He finds himself crucified on the very first track—his desire to do good, his outstretched hand to the blind of the world, turned upon him and used to undo him.

But Kendrick Lamar is not Jesus. In highlighting the struggles inherent in his morality, he forces his listeners to consider their own. This is what thoughtful hip-hop is supposed to sound like.

Whiteside Drawer Router Bit Test Knape Vogt Undermount Drawer Slides Ryobi 18v Biscuit Joiner Edition