National News
Chance the Rapper
2015 has seen some incredible albums drop from the game’s top artists, and to much critical acclaim. Everyone from Kendrick, Wale, and J. Cole to Young Thug, Drake, and Lupe Fiasco have all released some of their best work to date along with a slew of others. I say that to say this: May just saw the best two hip-hop releases of the year with A$AP Rocky’s At Long Last A$AP and Chance the Rapper’s Surf album with Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment. To me, they were both the best top to bottom listens of the year so far, and it’s not really close, save for Kendrick. I think what Chance is doing is on another level and will expound upon that further at a later point, but what Rocky did with this ALLA album is pretty special.
Considering the year that Rocky had with his rise in stardom followed by his friend/mentor and huge part of what made the A$AP Mob tick, A$AP Yams, dying early in the year, it’s impressive that he was able to capture so much of that in the album while progressing his sound at a natural rate. If you recall, Rocky’s early stuff was praised for not being regionally stereotypical and instead sounding like the wave that Houston birthed with the chopped-and-screwed movement. He followed that up by falling into the trap that most artists do for their debut studio album: chasing hits. He got them, but strayed away from what made A$AP’s sound so special and unique. Rocky returned to form with tons of psychedelic influence and classic rock inspiration littered throughout in accompaniment with his roots. It’s a must-listen, with standouts including “Canal St.,” “L$D” (which Snoh Aalegra does a great cover of), the Future assisted “Fine Whine,” “Excuse Me,” and “Wavybone,” which features Juicy J and UGK (yes, Pimp C. too).
Another album that dropped last month, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s Bush, is a truly enjoyable listen designed to ride out for the summer. Standouts include “Peaches & Cream”, “Edibles” featuring T.I., and “I’m Ya Dogg” featuring Rick Ross and Kendrick Lamar. Uncle Snoop is not someone I thought I’d look forward to vibing out to in 2015, but here we are. The album’s copious amounts of Charlie Wilson, who refuses to lose a step and often steals the track, comes as a pleasant surprise. One of the more dope mixtapes to drop this month was Towkio’s .Wav Theory. It has features from Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa with some very upbeat production and vibes all the way around. If you’re looking for someone new to give a few spins, I recommend this.
Compared to the first few months of the year, there wasn’t much other pertinent news to drop in May. Kanye West received an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Kendrick Lamar received the 35th Generational Icon Award from the California State Senate. Tons of negativity gets highlighted in hip-hop, and many of these positive moments can get glossed over, but it’s great to see the leaders of the genre get noticed for their excellence outside of music. In an unfortunate bit of news that came from the month of May, it appears as though Odd Future has broken up. There weren’t strong signs of togetherness the past year as it was, but it’s still a sad thing to see a group that is responsible for many of the DIY artists today fall out. Their solo careers have been strong for the most part, so I doubt it will hurt the main three (Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean, and Earl) too much. It will be interesting to see how it’s reflected in their music.
Read on for a recap of local and underground hip-hop
