By Sevastromo in not-video-games — Jan 9, 2025

Ten Years of Hip-Hop

A Personal Retrospective

Introduction

Ten years ago, I figured out that Hip-Hop was the music genre for me. After years of bouncing around and not really getting into any of the various genres I was exposed to, 2015 changed things. Two albums were the catalyst that pushed me into what is now a decade long deep dive of a singular music genre. First it was Tetsuo & Youth, a cementing of what I had already knew and loved about one of the few Hip-Hop artists I had already gotten into: Lupe Fiasco. Then it was To Pimp a Butterfly, an album that was so foreign yet familiar as a Lupe fan. Kendrick Lamar's album forced me out of my Lupe-centric Hip-Hop worldview and now here we are ten years later. More to come on both of those artists, but that's the gist of where I'm coming from. The idea to put this together came out of the thought that January 20th, 2025 was around the corner, the 10-year anniversary of the aforementioned Tetsuo and Youth. That thought led to the realization that I had really only listened to Hip-Hop for the past ten years. Digesting that fact, I realized that it's not that I don't like other genres of music, but it's more that there's so much to explore in just a single genre. As a relatively young human being I guess this may be the first of potentially a few musical genre deep dives in my lifetime, but who knows, only time will tell.

A Personal Retrospective

This section will catalogue, roughly in chronological order, all the Hip Hop artists I connected with over the years. These artists are ones that I've returned to repeatedly over the years, consistently finding and rediscovering an appreciation for their work. Without further ado and to no surprise, here's the first artist:

Lupe Fiasco's The Cool was the first Hip-Hop album I ever bought. The Cool was the first time I really got into Hip-Hop beyond what was popular at the time. Food & Liquor, The Cool, Lasers, and Food & Liquor Part 2 was probably 75% of my musical diet between 2009ish and 2015. Lupe Fiasco was my entry point to the genre but to my fault and his credit, he's so good that I didn't really branch out much. I look back and find it quite fortunate on my part that I stumbled into the Hip-Hop genre through one of its greats. And it's not like Lupe is totally a household name. He never reached the heights of commercial success or pop-culture status that the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye, Lil Wayne, or Eminem achieved at the time. When I mention to someone Lupe is my favorite artist, I'm usually met with a squint and a "oh yeah, I've heard of that guy." So, when I say he's one of the greats it's not necessarily in the traditional sense. Exhibit A: Why is this track just being randomly dropped on his YouTube channel a couple months ago! It's so good! And there's like fifty more where that came from...

It's been a joy to follow Lupe's career especially post-Atlantic. Whether it's little YouTube singles like this one or albums with off-the-wall concepts it's a blessing to have an artist around with such eclectic taste and breadth of knowledge. And that leads into a huge reason I love Hip-Hop and a reason that Lupe exemplifies perfectly. As the great RZA would say:

Yo, this is true hip-hop you listenin to right here
In the pure form, this ain't no R&B with a wack nigga takin the loop
Be loopin that shit thinkin it's gonna be the sound of the culture
All that player dressin up
On this shit, actin like this some kind of fashion show man
This is hip-hop right here
This is lyrics, MCin
And yo, to y'all niggas who think you going to become an MC overnight
Better snap out that fuckin dream
Man it takes years for this you Cat in the Hat ass rappers
You Dr. Seuss, Mother Goose, simple minded
Word up man

I always think of this line in RZA's accent: "This is hip-hop right here. This is lyrics, MCin" when it comes to Lupe. I've been a Lupe fan for 15ish years and I'm still digesting his lyrics. It'll just be a random Tuesday morning driving into work and I'll out of the blue chuckle to myself because I'll finally understand a lyric. It's the depth and density of the references, the extreme manipulation of the English language, the double/triple meanings, the rhyme schemes, the overarching themes, Lupe's music is everything, it's true Hip-Hop.

Essential Albums: Food & Liquor, Tetsuo & Youth, Drill Music in Zion

*Honorable Mentions: Fahrenheit Mixtapes, The Cool, Drogas Wave, Samurai*

Some Favorite Tracks:

If Lupe was the match that started the proverbial fuse that sparked my Hip-Hop interest, Kendrick was the TNT at the end of that fuse. In 2015, while doing summer research at the University of Florida in Gainesville, I had a lot of time on my hands and was burning out on my preexisting Hip-Hop music rotation, which, like I said, was mostly Lupe. I was in a local shop and picked up To Pimp a Butterfly on a whim. There were two reasons I did this. One was that I had heard the track King Kunta and was very intrigued, it was a very different tone and vibe than what I was used to. The other was that I had recently seen a video of Lupe endorsing Kendrick live on stage at a concert, so that was all the convincing I really should've needed.

Kendrick is the explosive in my earlier analogy because his art inspired me to further explore the Hip-Hop genre. Up until To Pimp a Butterfly, I was naively assuming Lupe was an exception in the genre, that I was a Lupe fan not a Hip-Hop fan. Boy was I wrong.

Kendrick's latest project, GNX, is a shining example what I love about his work: versatility. Do you want a punchline-heavy, dark and aggressive statement track? Try wacced out murals. What about shades of Tupac in a track centered on the tribulations of the modern musician? Check out reincarnated. How about a sing-songy ballad trading back and forth with SZA? Try luther. Do you want a west-coast banger? Obviously, it's tv off. How about a reflective, story time piece? That would be heart pt. 6. If you're wanting more there's a posse cut on here in which Kendrick props up a bunch of local, lesser-known talent too. That's on the title track gnx. The ridiculous part is that each of these tracks are executed at a 9, 10 or even 11 out of 10 level. The doubly ridiculous part is that the album as a whole is still cohesive too.

So, while there's no one out there doing what Kendrick does. Kendrick does expose you to a wide range of what Hip Hop can be. Kendrick is the best of what Hip-Hop can be. He can have the most cultural impact, he can eviscerate another rapper in the battle of our generation, he can make a critically acclaimed, nerdy, concept album, he can make you laugh, make you cry, make you think, and make you angry all within four minutes on track, and lastly and maybe most importantly he does it with humility and a raw self-awareness.

Essential Albums: Good Kid Maad City, To Pimp a Butterfly, GNX

*Honorable Mentions: Section.80, Damn,* Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers

Some Favorite Tracks:

*solo projects of Mos Def and Talib Kweli included

In 2016 I moved to Pittsburgh. Down the street from our apartment was a shop that sold used CDs, movies, video games, etc. Being both curious about expanding my knowledge of the Hip-Hop genre and stuck in the media format of the early 2000s I started browsing the CD shelves. This shop had a whole Hip-Hop section where pretty much everything from the 90s and early 2000s was less than $5. I can't for the life of me remember the reason I grabbed Black Star, but it probably only cost me $2.

This purchase was a wormhole. Black Star obviously got me into Mos Def and Talib Kweli, which is how I found Common, who reintroduced me to Kanye, The Roots and Jay-Z got mixed in there somehow, it all happened so fast. It helped that all their CDs were super cheap, well except for Jay-Z's and that's one of the reasons I didn't really get into his stuff outside of The Blueprint. Getting back to Black Star though, this is when I started to get a lay of the land. I started seeing familiar faces pop up on features and began to pick up on trademark styles when it came to beats and production. I don't know if this happens much in other genres, but it's cool when you start seeing this web of collaboration.

I can't recommend Black Star and Black on Both Sides enough. Both are thoughtful, street-smart looks into inner city life for African Americans. Mos and Talib put an emphasis on the humanity of the people in their community. It's not a naive look but it's also not gangster rap by exaggerating the illicit underbelly of the culture. They're aware of the culture and want to consider the whole ecosystem. The group Black Star is refreshing, empowering, realistic, and, importantly, fun to listen to. Mos and Talib carry this torch into their solo work. Much of their subsequent work especially in the following five years has clear ties back Black Star. Train of Thought, Quality, and The Ecstatic are some of my favorites and while they're not Black Star projects, there's plenty of crossover in the form of features and shared producers.

Essential Albums: Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, Black on Both Sides

Honorable Mentions: Train of Thought, Quality, The Ecstatic

Some Favorite Tracks:

My high school years were dominated Lupe Fiasco and a confusing mash-up of various genres. In the background, however, Hip-Hop music was fairly prominent in the generic "pop" music realm. Artists like Kanye, Jay-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, and probably some others were known by everyone. Their sounds were recognizable, their hits were played to death, and my interest in any of it was very surface level. For Kanye, the sounds of Graduation, 808s & Heartbreak, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy are infused with that time. There are some real standout tracks from that era, but also a lot of overplayed mediocrity.

Half a decade after high school as I was starting to explore more of the Hip-Hop genre and discovering my taste, a certain name kept popping up, but not in the way I'd have initially expected. It may sound silly to say but Kanye was the first producer I was able recognize. Listening to these late 90s/early 2000s albums from the likes of Jay-Z, Common, Mos Def, Talib, and Scarface to name a few, I kept coming across a familiar sound, a discernable style. Whether it was the whole album or just a single song, Kanye's uniqueness popped out to me. I think he had an incredibly fresh style for the era.

Kanye is an odd entry on this list because his impact on me personally is not really through his rap catalogue. I've had an incredibly loose grasp on what he's done over the past 15 years, with only Kids See Ghosts having any sort of interest to me. I think his first two albums are his best and then after that it's very hit or miss. But Kanye's on list for similar reasons as Kendrick and another later on, he influenced my taste and directed me other music that I then would enjoy. I put a lot of stock in that.

Essential Albums: College Dropout, Late Registration

*Honorable Mentions: Graduation, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kids See Ghosts*

Some Favorite Tracks:

Two 90s Hip-Hop groups standout amongst the rest, OutKast is the first to be mentioned on this list. Two big reasons that is the case are ATLiens and Aquemini. These albums have so much staying power. Where other albums and artist come and go, these two OutKast masterpieces stay in my rotation on a yearly basis. There's always something new to appreciate on repeat visits too. Just in the last couple years the tracks Liberation and 13th Floor/Growing Old have become favorites of mine. These lengthy, sorrowful, Sunday gospel-like ballads contrast what I initially appreciated, which was Andre and Big Boi's silky, back and forth flows. This versatile duo sounds like no one else and in a modern era where prolific duos are even more rare you can't really come close to what OutKast achieved.

Essential Albums: ATLiens, Aquemini

Some Favorite Tracks:

Saturation era Brockhampton was a special time. Unlike a lot of other artists on this list, I haven't really returned much to Brockhampton. The difference as to why they're included on this list is that, at the time, I couldn't stop listening, and that was for close to three years. Brockhampton's energy, variety, and eclecticism were and still are so unique. Song to song you never knew what you were going to get, but you always knew it was going to fit the vibe. Boom-bap, Kayne, emotional interludes, Odd Future, Ol' Dirty Bastard, pop ballads, punchline raps, the inspirations and variety goes on but at the end of the day Brockhampton has their signature sound.

Essential Albums: Saturation, Saturation II, Saturation III

Some Favorite Tracks:

*solo projects WTC members included

Way before Brockhampton there was a different Hip-Hop group with its own eclectic yet cohesive style. Wu Tang Clan's catalog was a slow burn discovery for me. The abrasive, rough around the edges 36 Chambers was my entry point that I liked but didn't entirely get drawn to. It was the solo (not so solo) projects of GZA, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killa that brought me totally on board. What took me a second to realize is that a solo WTC project isn't really that solo. Especially early on, RZA was always producing and often there would be a WTC sidekick on nearly every track with other members hopping in on once in a while. These solo projects let me home in on members that I enjoy and actually learn their voices, styles, and flows. When I eventually jumped back into a full-blown WTC project, I was much more prepared, and the production value was also a lot higher. Wu Tang Forever is probably my favorite WTC project. It has it all. Everyone feels like they're on every track, RZA absolutely dominates with production that is equal measures of epic, cold, and grimy, and it's a damn double disc CD! Sheesh. If anyone asks what a Hip-Hop group should sound like, point them this way. If anyone asks what 90s gangster rap sounds like, point them this way. If anyone asks what Hip-Hop is, point them this way.

Essential Albums: Liquid Swords, Ironman, Wu-Tang Forever

*Honorable Mentions: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Only Built for Cuban Links*

Some Favorite Tracks:

I initially decided to limit the "Essential Albums" section. I thought that I could more often than not wholeheartedly recommend only two or three projects for any one of my favorite artists, and then I arrived at MF DOOM. I knew right away there was no chance I'd arbitrarily limit myself to three DOOM albums, so here we have six, they're all dope as hell.

Madvilliany was the first DOOM project I got into, but it wasn't right away. I recall listening through the album multiple times and thinking it was bland, boring, and ultimately not very noteworthy and then something clicked. I think my brain was just befuddled by DOOM's tone and flow initially. DOOM raps with this droning monotony but when you actually pay attention there's a lot going on. I've always found his writing and delivery to be playing with your expectations as a rap fan. DOOM goes against the flow, finding his own flow, intentionally turning what should be slam dunk punchlines into goofy, tongue-in-cheek missteps. You don't notice these things right away but repeat listens reveal so much.

Another huge factor that pulled me deeper into DOOM's discography was the production and structure of his tracks. One thing I don't miss about 2000s rap was that predictable song structure that got incredibly played: rap verse - hook - rap verse - hook - featured rap verse - hook. What DOOM was doing in the 2000s with his monotonous delivery and the lo-fi, jazzy, or instrumentation-heavy beats was incredibly influential. I see that DNA all over a bunch of 2020s Hip-Hop that I love. I'm talking about all of The Alchemist's collaborations, KA, indie Lupe, Mach-Hommy, Boldy James, the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, I love a good hook here and there, but it's hard to beat DOOM rapping for three minutes straight...

Essential Albums: Operation: Doomsday, Vaudeville Villain, Take Me to Your Leader, Mm.. Food, Madvillainy, The Mouse & The Mask

Some Favorite Tracks:

When I moved out of Pittsburgh and consequently away from that used CDs shop, I found myself at a bit of a crossroads. Initially, I actually took advantage of the commute to my new job and the six disc CD player in my dad's old Prius and poured over all the 90s and 00s Hip-Hop CDs I had all over again. But due to the lack of a local used CD shop, my rotation grew stagnant. Quite literally too, because at one point my Aquemini CD got stuck in the player and was the only album that would play. I considered my options and being that it was 2019, music streaming was a really cheap and accessible answer. I guess it was time to stop living in the past.

Freddie Gibbs is on this list with the next entrant because they were my first successful finds on music streaming. It sounds silly but being stuck in the past as a CD enjoyer, created a bit of a learning curve for discovering new music via streaming. My first Freddie Gibbs album, Pinata, however, pointed me in the right direction. Outside of Kendrick and Brockhampton, I was fairly illiterate when it came to any kind of contemporary Hip-Hop. Pinata, aside from being a five-star album, was really important because it led me to Alfredo, which was really important because it led me to The Alchemist. More to come on him. But as for Freddie, I can't recommend Pinata enough. It's not an Alchemist collaboration, but it is produced entirely by the legend Madlib and the pair fit together so nicely. Freddie's droning/monotonous yet energetic style plays perfectly with Madlib's lighter, instrumental and sample heavy flourishes.

Essential Albums: Pinata, Alfredo

*Honorable Mentions: Fetti, Bandanna, You Only Die 1nce*

Some Favorite Tracks:

*solo projects included

Armand Hammer was the other Alchemist gateway drug. Haram was the album that blew me away. The dark and creative production of The Alchemist hit's really hard with two guys who always sound like they have a massive chip on their shoulders. billy woods in particular ends his verses with what feels like a verbal knife between the ribs. It's scary too because the guy seems smart and tactical with his word choice. He's not just throwing barbs out there to sound cool. It's like someone really pissed him off and he's stewed on that for a couple months. And now he's coming back with a few bars that pack so much venom that the listener can feel the poison in their veins.

Here's three excerpts from the song Remorseless:

My accountant is a head full of bad memories and sad endings
It's all payment pending
I'm not concerned with generational wealth, that's its own curse
Anything you want on this cursed Earth
Probably better off gettin' it yourself, see what it's worth

The photograph of young Tutankhamun
Spaghetti links tangled like ramen
Everything behind the mask rotten
I tell people I keep it so you not forgotten, but that's cap
I thought pillars of salt, but she too smart for lookin' back

Sweet old ladies poisoning pigeons in the park
For a lark, make mine strychnine, life is a zipline in the dark
Spare me the Hallmark Karl Marx
I was in the Dollar Tree break-room playin' cards with quarters
Stop loss posters on the wall, brick and mortar
I watched the planet from orbit, remorseless

These words put a weight on my chest. The remorse, sorrow, and bitterness is palpable. The pictures painted with just words are so vivid.

I should clarify that Armand Hammer is a Hip-Hop duo consisted of the aforementioned billy woods and E L U C I D. And while I have really enjoyed billy woods' catalogue of solo projects, I haven't even started in on E L U C I D yet. I still have to dig into older Armand Hammer projects for that matter. Part of the reason I haven't got there yet though is my intrigue around Haram's unique sound. I remember asking my cousin in-law: "where do I find more music that sounds like this?" He bluntly responded: "check out The Alchemist." And that's a great segue into the next artist...

Essential Albums: Haram, History Will Absolve Me, Aethiopes

*Honorable Mentions: Hiding Places, Maps, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips*

Some Favorite Tracks:

The 'Essential Albums' and 'Favorite Tracks' sections below only tells part of the story. For those sections I singled out Alchemist-centric projects where he brings in many collaborators and but does all the producing and some of the rapping. The other part of the story which I left out there, are his more direct, one on one collaborations. While probably being more well-known projects, they overlap with stuff in other artist's sections, so I opted to showcase so different stuff here. But it would be remiss of me not to give credit where credit is due. Here is my list of recommended Alchemist-produced projects:

Covert Coup w/ Curren$y
No Idols w/ Domo Genesis
Fetti w/ Freddie Gibbs & Curren$y
Lulu w/ Conway the Machine
Alfredo w/ Freddie Gibbs
The Price of Tea in China w/ Boldy James
Haram w/ Armand Hammer
Bo Jackson w/ Boldy James
Super Tecmo Bo w/ Boldy James
The Elephant Man's Bones w/ Roc Marciano
VOIR DIRE w/ Earl Sweatshirt
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose w/ Oh No & Gangrene

Thanks to the Alchemist I discovered guys like Boldy James, Roc Marciano, Benny the Butcher, Conway, the list goes on. The Alchemist certainly has a group of running mates that fit his style, but he does branch out a lot too. Truth be told, the guy seems to just always be making beats, his prolific track record, especially as of late, shows this. The cool thing is that while he's constantly putting beats out there and he has a certain MO, the Alchemist can still surprise you. He molds really well to different artists while still being recognizably him. Just take his recent Kendrick collaborations for example, We Cry Together and Meet the Grahams. These are two hauntingly stark beats that send the same message as Kendrick's lyrics. Contrast that with some of the tropically infused, light on the ear tracks off Yacht Rock 2, my go to chilling on the beach project. These examples are immediately recognizable as the Alchemist, yet on two separate ends of the tonal spectrum. The dude is a master of his craft.

Essential Albums: Yacht Rock, The Alchemist Sandwich, The Genuine Articulate

*Honorable Mentions: Flying High, This Thing of Ours*

Some Favorite Tracks:

First off R.I.P. KA... sucks to just discover his work and then hear of his passing in the same year. Even as a new fan, it's easy to tell that he was one of a kind and I doubt to see his style replicated.

For a while I didn't know I was listening to KA, but sometimes Spotify gets things right is their shuffle play. I was listening to a lot of Mach-Hommy at the time and this song Golden Fleece kept coming up by Hermit and the Recluse. I had no idea who they were, they didn't have much of a Spotify profile, so I kept letting them go by. After a few listens though, what I was hearing couldn't be ignored. I listened to the album Orpheus and was blown away. Nothing is like this in Hip-Hop. Profound, guttural delivery, floaty strings, weird/catchy guitar riffs, plodding keys, frequent flutes, and who else raps about Greek mythology? I still didn't know who KA was though. I listened to Orpheus for a while before digging up that this hermit or possibly recluse was KA which opened up a treasure trove of undiscovered projects.

KA really has a treasure trove of golden projects. I haven't even made it through them all yet. The uniquely infectious production you cannot find anywhere else kept me coming back to his albums to no end. I can't overstate how special KA's instrumentals are, no one I know of raps over beats like these. They feel born from a different millennium, often completely lacking any style that would root it in modern Hip-Hop. This effect compounds with KA's lyrics to create this measured, wisdom-soaked sound, it's like he's quoting his own holy text. His delivery, while leaning into this profoundness, is also tranquil and monotonous, having almost a lullaby-like effect. Honor Killed the Samurai, Orpheus, and Descendants of Cain I've listened to non-stop this year. The honorable mentions I'm just starting to get into and appreciate.

Essential Albums: Honor Killed the Samurai, Orpheus, Descendants of Cain

*Honorable Mentions: The Night's Gambit, A Martyr's Reward, Woeful Studies, Languish Arts, The Thief Next to Jesus*

Some Favorite Tracks:

From drum-less to oh my god he can't stop using drums. From one of the most unique lyricists in style and delivery to a producer who doesn't rap and works with let's just say, not my kind of artists. What am I doing loving Metro-Boomin? 2024 has almost been entirely absorbed by KA and Metro, two diametric artists in the rap game. But how? Well, thanks to Drake making poor decisions, Kendrick fans like me were loving life in 2024. But what really kicked things off? The Metro/Future/Kendrick collab, Like That. My big takeaway from the track however was not the Drake diss, but the ludicrous beat, I'd never heard anything quite like it and knew I needed more.

I had heard of Metro in passing but never nailed down what his sound was until I listened to Heroes & Villains. Listening to this album was an absolute whirlwind because of my unfamiliarity with not only Metro but a lot of his common collaborators. Similar to discovering The Alchemist, Metro has his own distinct ecosystem to be explored, the big problem here though is I'm just not really into these guys. And this is why the instrumentals on the deluxe versions of Metro's albums are a godsend. Not All Heroes Wear Capes instrumentals, in particular, are a fantastic improvement over to version with vocals. Heroes & Villains, I do think improves in the vocals department, enough to where I can listen to it either way. I do think Metro brings out the best in guys like 21 Savage, Future, and Young Thug though as their vocal performances become almost melded with the beat and compliment Metro's energy really well. Just don't expect too much meaning or lyricism to be on display. These albums are really just vibes to me. On that note, Metro is a unique favorite of mine due to my disinterest and/or dislike for the rappers he works with. It's hard to wholeheartedly recommend him, but on the other hand, his beats are THAT good that I can't leave him off this list.

Essential Albums: Not All Heroes Wear Capes, Savage Mode II, Heroes & Villains

Some Favorite Tracks:

Some Other Recommendations

Over the years I've thoroughly enjoyed certain Hip-Hop albums, but didn't fully get immersed in the particular artist. Here's a list of those albums in somewhat of a chronological order.