Run the Jewels 2
It’d be impossible to create an end-of-year hip-hop playlist and not include Run the Jewels. RTJ2 has been held up as one of the best hip-hop albums of the past decade, and for good reason. El-P and Killer Mike’s partnership has been one of the most fruitful of recent times, with the pair teaming up on the other’s solo albums and together for their albums as a duo, which take the best parts of El-P’s Def Jux backpacker hip-hop and combine it with Killer Mike’s chest-out delivery. There were a few murmurs when they decided to release the album to press on the same day it went to fans, but when itbecame clear it was a point of principle rather than an attempt to protect a less-than-substantial follow-up to their first album.
Rich Gang – Lifestyle, feat Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan
Young Thug and his weird, high-pitched, half-squawked AutoTune delivery was one of the sounds of 2014. He collaborated with Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and notably with Birdman and Rich Homie Quan as Rich Gang. That union, which has produced a couple of decent mixtapes, looks like it could be next evolution in the world of Young Money, as Lil Wayne’s relationship with the label appears to have broken down. Thug is an increasingly divisive, singular and completely idiosyncratic rapper who looks as if he is going to keep pumping out strangely enjoyable rap next year.
Bobby Shmurda – Hot Nigga
The year’s viral success, Hot Nigga, took Bobby Shmurda from relative obscurity to the spotlight, as he became a reference point for all corners of the US entertainment industry. Beyoncé, Jay Z and NFL players all mimiced the Shmoney Dance, taking Shmurda and a beat once meant for Lloyd Banks into the mainstream. Shmurda is adamant the connection between Chicago drill and what he is doing is minimal, but it’s still an unrepentant story of selling crack, making money off of it and then shooting people who stand in the way of that goal.
Cam’ron and A-Trak – Dipshits
Just Blaze and Dipset are a combination that can’t go wrong. Early noughties hip-hop was dominated by that combination and here A-Trak was added to the mix and supplied a brilliant throwback track that didn’t feel out of place in 2014. The video was a riot, too, with electro losers Chromeo rubbing shoulders with Just Blaze and Cat Power.
Vince Staples – Blue Suede
Staples is like a thinking man’s Shmurda. His storytelling can be just as matter-of-fact, but Staples swaps the dependence on lyrics about guns and homicide for hard-hitting tales of everyday life on the bread line. Blue Suede was his most impressive work this year, with a shrieking sound effect offset by rib-ticking bass topped off a flow as eloquent as it is unflinching.
