Collector's Choice Awards 2022

What's good? I hope everyone out there in the rap world had a great year. I know I did. I had another daughter this year, did some exciting stuff career wise and of course collected lots of vinyl.

I was mostly busy on the Dad front so a lot of my collecting was through online deliveries. I do, however, miss the meditative process of digging through the crates at whatever shop I find myself in across town. I think overall 2022 had some really strong releases. I collected more vinyl this year than I ever have before and packed up a lot of stuff for future Discogs postings. I'm not quite ready to launch all that I plan on selling but it's set aside and for the most part appraised to a decently competitive price.

All throughout the year I made sure to set aside some of my favourite joints from the year. There's a bit of a pattern of dark boom bap leanings. Other stuff is glossier and more accessible. Some topical while some more abstract. Some songs got a decent splash of journalistic coverage and some others I'm happy to put anyone onto. You get it eh? Good. All songs are pretty much number one for me I just ordered them to be in the most playlist friendly pattern. Let's get into it...

DJ Muggs has been pretty prolific these past few years with his high volume business model. With every album he pairs up with great underground voices to compliment their catalog as well as his own. This year he began work on the third installment of his Soul Assassins Collections series. The first one in the late 90's is a very underappreciated classic. I think the second one dropped in the early 2000's I just haven't found it anywhere on vinyl or CD yet. The second single to launch from Volume 3 is my first pick for my list. 

Street Made features Scarface as well as Freddie Gibbs. Freddie has spoken in all kinds of interviews the extent of Faces's influence on his style and this song is great. Both these MCs actually worked together on Freddie's $oul $old $eperately album as well. But I like this beat a little bit more. Muggs laces lumbering drums loops over synth loops and echoing vocal samples. Scarface is as cold blooded as ever spitting about being an old man in a world where most die young. I love his line of "If you a father better raise your son/ If you a mother pray those days don't come." I love a writer who can say so much with just two sentences. His verse gets carried away atop these vocal lines like this song has this beauty to it despite how much evil is being rapped about. Freddie Gibbs enters the song with a punchier flow and similar imagery. That line about rigor mortis setting in and his murder victim stuck in "freeze frame" is pretty hard too. Overall we have Muggs, a producer who's been on the cutting edge for thirty years, Scarface who's influence expands across decades of hardcore hip-hop and the mafioso genre and Freddie Gibbs lending his ever ascending skill level from his current run into a great piece of work.

If you've been following any amount of hip-hop news in the past five years then the meteoric rise of Griselda Records is something you should be up on. Benny The Butcher spent the first half of the 2010's being signed to 38 Spesh under his Trust label. With both these guys having such a rich history of collaborations and contributions to rap in upstate NY, no project from either of these guys is often without them pairing together for a song. Benny finished his four album deal for Empire Distribution with Tana Talk 4.

I could've picked a few different songs here for my list but I think this one highlights what I liked about the album the best. Uncle Bun lands about halfway through the album. Benny and Spesh trade some great punchlines over an excellent Daringer beat. I know some folks weren't too keen on Burden Of Proof because of Hit-Boy and his glossier production but TT4 comes in with the rank efforts from Daringer and Alchemist. Every song is a great return to form. I love this particular song though for it's structure. Daringer weaves haunting string sections and slow light snares. It's one of the slower and darker songs in Benny's catalog but the punchlines and trades are what really landed this one on the list for me. 38 saying he had a "Clip longer than a script from a motion pic" reminds me of how he was also my favourite feature on Benny's first Plugs I Met EP a few years back too. Actually, this time around I like the Daringer productions more than the Alchemist beats on Tana Talk 4. Back in 2018 in the third installment of the series I thought Alchemist had the harder beats. Between this album and a couple others from 2022, there was a lot of Daringer to hear.

Most of this past summer consisted of me rockin to the debut record from C-Lance. From January to June we heard single after single from his debut The Undying Flame. I think I had this entire album in my Spotify top 100 playlist. But to definitively pick only one was a tough choice. My major concern for this record was how well C-Lance was going to coordinate song ideas and structure a cohesive tone and message. I never had doubt that I'd enjoy the beats on this album but, would these combinations of artists result in robust song topics? I think he proves himself to be a pretty solid curator across this record.

The track I ended up picking is a few songs in on Side B of the vinyl. Book Of Life begins with excellent bursts of horn sections and plucky piano keys. C-Lance recruits MURS for the first verse hot off the release of the 7" C-Lance produced for MURS after he fulfilled his tenure at Strange Music. The song succeeds at being an uplifting piece of advice for the listener. Justin Cohen absolutely soars on this chorus reinforcing themes of persistence and hard work. RA The Rugged Man pulls through with some excellent acrobatic flows and syllable schemes as well. I love the different ways each MC attack this beat too. In fact, MURS and RA hadn't worked together prior to this song and it turned out great. Rugged Man takes a more conscious approach teaching the listener to stay weary of government misinformation and the dilution of our third eye and MURS encourages us to not giving up on our goals. All three vocalists are on point in this composition. There's numerous joints on this record I could've picked but this one just brightens my mood and works on a songwriting front especially well.

Scratching a similar itch to what the Griselda boys have done across the 2010's is the catalogs of both Roc Marciano and The Alchemist. NY state has finally returned that classic boom bap sound with lots of acts pushing the envelope of that style forward. Overall I think the collaborative record from Roc and Al, The Elephant Mans Bones is a consistent listen. I wish Alchemist came a bit harder with the drums overall but Marci pens some of his best songs on this record regardless. I was worried that these guys would just cancel each other out with a competition of minimalism. 

That clash of quiet on quiet does happen to an extent on some songs where Marci's delivery lulls me to sleep over an equally quiet beat. Though for the most part Alchemists knack for composing varied and extravagant boom bap and Marci's witty lyricism and spacious line delivery come together in a very impressive way. Especially around the front end of Side B here with Zig Zag Zig. I love the instrumental swell that kicks off the track as the drums tumble in amongst these cascading piano arpeggios. Though some of this record has better song structure than this song I think just the cinematography of this instrumental and Rocs pen game is what made me choose this one. Whether he writes "It's pouring, quarter mill in jewels Flash Gordon/Wrap the foreign, rap like water it's formless" or pretending to have Alzheimer's disease when he's asked to take the stand. I could do with another LP from these guys together there's still room for some experimenting I think.

Though the actual album that this song comes from isn't out as of February 2023, this track dropped on Halloween night as the fourth of five singles. Ill Bill's upcoming album Billy took shape as Bill slowly released each song one at a time. The marketing started over the summer with familiar faces being advertised on the features like Immortal Technique, Sick Jacken, Lord Goat, Nems, Vinnie Paz and Kool G Rap. Oh did I mention that the last two guys are featured on this next song? It's also produced by DJ Muggs in case it didn't sound like a big enough slap already.

Root For The Villain is among the hardest and grimiest picks on this list. Quick runs of piano keys pepper a back drop of tribal chants and an unrelenting drum set. I love Bill's gruesome imagery and syllable schemes. He rhymes apparitions, smack addictions and black syringes as he hops from mafioso topics to cult worshiping and his lengthy verse is perfectly paired with each guest. Kool G Rap paints a wicked picture of drug packaging and extravagant villas. Vinnie Paz is just a madman on the tail end from his hilarious adlibs to the violent descriptions of rampaging with whatever gun he can describe in his rhymes. High quality ignorance that has me desperate for a third installment of Heavy Metal Kings.

The horrorcore continues in my next choice. All four of the artists involved have amassed a lot of great releases in recent years. I was initially trying to lump together however many songs Recognize Ali and Lord Goat had accumulated on anticipation for their upcoming collab album when I stumbled on an entirely different duo. Blizz From Juice had caught my attention on that Final Expenses album from Lord Goat and Stu Bangas and Boob Bronx had rocked on two songs with Vinnie Paz back in 2021. So randomly I noticed these guys had an album together in the works and that album also featured Rec Ali and Lord on it.

These four MCs pull through with a great demonstration of violence on the cut Wrong Way. It's my favourite posse cut of the year. H Dot does a great job on the production with keys and pounding kick drums. It's just one savage verse after the other and the drums have this spectacular breakdown as well. Each guys stands out with their delivery and the album that this song lands on, Motley Crue Phones, has lots of other great tracks too. Blizz and Boob are both from Rochester NY and other guys from the scene like V Don and Eto got production creds here. The album overall kind of went under the radar a bit but it a really solid listen with good chemistry between the two guys. I felt like shouting out this one for the relentless beat and I think the overall crown jewel is Lord Goats verse. If Army Of The Pharaohs isn't going to be musically active anymore then guy like Blizz and Boob fill that space pretty well.

I don't think it's possible for a Black Thought release to dodge an end of the year list for anybody. I mean there's probably some dumbass out there sleeping on this record that's them though. Cheat Codes was finally released in September of last year. Thought and production wizard Danger Mouse had been slowly crafting the idea of a collaboration since back in 2018 under the pseudonym Dangerous Thoughts. The bulk of this album is packed with rich sampling choices from psychedelic and progressive rock from the 60's and 70's atop very detailed drum work. The features across this record are excellent in range too as legends like Raekwon and the late MF DOOM land amongst newer faces like A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, Russ, Joey Bada$$ and Conway The Machine.

Considering the elusiveness of MF DOOM during his lifetime and the fact that this is the first hip-hop record from Danger Mouse since the 2000's, I want to highlight the track Belize. Black Thought delivers a dense and detailed verse as does DOOM. There's other songs on the album that are faster and more visceral than the song I'm highlighting as Cheat Codes feels like a natural evolution from a lot of recent releases from Black Thought. It's more robust and varied than Streams Of Thought parts 1 and 2 and feels like more of a continuation of the third volume in that series. I'm not entirely sure how much posthumous material is out there in the DOOM estate so this could be one of the last DOOM verses ever recorded as well. The production on this song is somber from its slowed horns and acoustic guitar plucking. It's gentle and a pretty good demonstration of all three artists involved.

There's some albums that are just incredible at capturing the landscape and cultural moment of a particular year. I remember the vivid accuracy Run The Jewels brought to 2020 with RTJ4 and what Serial Killers did on Summer Of Sam that year as well. When it comes to albums that incapsulate 2022 for me the choice is clear with Junk's WAKE ME UP WHEN IT'S OVER. Whether you're fed up with directionless millennial culture, exhausted from social media, disgusted from whatever nonsense government policies you had to slug it out through in the thick of the pandemic... this record is pretty spot on. As far as conceptual albums I was really impressed with the cohesion of this whole thing. We have zero features on the vocal side nor do we really need any as Junk hops in and out of all kinds of eras of hip-hop music. I'm hearing influences from Outkast, Lil Wayne, Drake among others.

I want to particularly highlight THERE'S GOTTA BE MORE from around the mid point of the record. Whether he's calling rappers out for wearing foreign clothing brands rather than investing in their own communities or lamenting about the brutal rates that streaming services pay to artists. Production wise it's has more trap leanings than the rest of my list but for the aesthetic of the album, I.R. Evans meets the moment with textured drums and winding hi hats. So much of the overall album has that through line of just being disillusioned with the world around him and seeing Junk take aim at his peers and the greater pursuit of artists to even feed themselves I think was a necessary topic. Especially with the tracks preceding it tackling issues of our current opioid crisis, the comparison culture and need to flex for social media, realizing the power artists have, particular in a genre like hip-hop, it's great to see Junk wary of the responsibility of MCing.

Similar to what we saw towards the end of the 2010's with the Buffalo hip-hop scene garnering international attention the 2020's have been witness to a similar creative explosion out of Richmond, Virginia. The collective Mutant Academy has stood out to me for a few reasons. Whether its the impressive production prowess of Graymatter and Foisey, or any number of great mixtapes and EPs from guys like Big Kahuna OG, Henry LO or their de facto leader Fly Anakin.

My first exposure to any of these guys came from Graymatters production of the Conway tape EIF2: Eat What U Kill and Jaguar On Palisade from Crimeapple that same year. Then who could forget Evidence with his tremendous Graymatter produced single that kicked off his entire album cycle for Unlearning Vol. 1 towards the beginning of Covid. Fly Anakin himself ended up rapping on that album and that had me on the lookout for any music from him. His debut album Frank dropped this past July and I'm choosing to pick the song Black Be The Source off that record. From its chunky drums loops to low and reverbed piano runs from producer DJ Harrison to excellent guest appearances from Pink Siifu and Billz Egypt, this track stuck with me for the rest of the year. Lots of afro-centric lyrics can be heard across the whole album and the production is a feast given the credits from Madlib, Evidence and numerous Mutant Academy members. They way Siifu enters the song is incredible and Anakins dexterous syllable schemes combine with Billz Egypt singing to deliver a great message. These are black artists who know the value their art and humanity has brought not only to current year but the greater conversation of black contributions to American history, something Siifu particularly alludes to in his verse. Sonically I'm just a sucker for seeing numerous vocalists all tackle a beat is vastly different ways. This one really came together.

The artistic direction of Space Kamp continued to impress me again this year as well. I absolutely loved their sophomore LP Electric Lemonade from 2020 for the way it balanced the aesthetics of hip-hop, rock and reggae thanks to Adlib and Oskees authentic performances and Rob The Vikings consistently colourful and psychedelic instrumentation. Their third album landed in June of this past year and diverted even further from hip-hop and leaned particularly into psychedelia and reggae. I think vocally and melodically Adlib and Oskee are pushing the boundaries even further. This entire album is catchy and full of heart. Whether their celebrating tour life and the open road or soaring above synthesizers for clever weed anthems, this is a diverse record that covers a lot of stylistic bases.

I think this record gets the most exciting the furthest it drifts from hip-hop actually and the cut that I'm plucking from this record really captures that. Fast Times blends guitar strumming and Rob The Vikings tight drum programming. Adlib and Oksee glide through fantastic vocal lines while still maintaining the lyrical anchors of their Rebel Hippies movement and fanbase. I like how they're able to balance the vocal effects without disrupting the tambour of their voices. There's a great use of breakdowns and this chorus will never leave your head.

Chronologically this next choice was the first song I heard this year. Similar to Blizz & Boob from earlier in this list we're going back to Rochester NY for this next choice. Another fantastic rap collective from recent years is Da Cloth. So when it came time for Cloth alumni Rigz to cook up an album with DJ Muggs I was totally sold. Some of Muggs tailored albums don't always result in my favourite production from him but the drums and dark metallic perks throughout this album are excellent.

Late 2021 DJ Muggs took to social media to announce the discovery of hundred of tapes and samples he had lost throughout the 1990's. The Rigz and Muggs album, titled Gold was the first release to feature these retooled time capsule instrumentals. So much of the drums and effects across the album are over twenty years old and these sounds result in some really refreshing styles. Towards the middle chunk of this record on the track Heads On The Wall Rigz trades verses with Rome Streetz over very quick drums and sparse piano melodies. Most of the revivalist movements that mimic 90's production do so with slower beats per minute so to see this one truly encapsulate that era right down to the eighth note cymbals was awesome. Seeing Rome Streetz slice his way through feature after feature in recent years has definitely caught my attention and Rigz cleans up on the back end too with his own smoky delivery and bars. I had a few contenders from this album that just missed this list actually. A strong release from everybody across the whole thing.

As I alluded to earlier with my coverage of Benny and Spesh, the Griselda soundman Daringer had a pretty blow out year. The main thing that excited me about Daringers music this year was his long awaited collaboration with Queens MC Meyhem Lauren. I've been a huge fan of what Daringer does far back as the Conways tape G.O.A.T. in 2017. If you zoom out on the whole Griselda movement much of their meteoric rise was made possible through Daringer tailoring his style of boom bap to each member. The album he produced for Meyhem Lauren definitely scratches that itch for what it felt to be a Griselda fan from 2016-19 when there was just slap after slap from Daringer.

As Conway, Benny and Westside Gunn have all expanded their production team and raised their profiles to major label levels I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the purity of an all Daringer project. Meyhem Lauren has always been a guy on my radar since he kicked off much of the Soul Assassins run with his own Muggs album in 2017. So knowing his capability for chemistry and how much I loved Daringers sound I was ecstatic to see their album Black Vladimir come together this past fall. One of the lead singles Trigger Point Therapy set the bar high and it's remained one of my favourite tracks. Daringer brings very heavy open drums for the first half of the song as Westside Gunn paint pictures of violent prison hits before he hands the mic to Meyhem Lauren. Lauren just takes off with breathless delivery in one of my favourite rap performances this year. There's all kinds of great syllable work and quotables and just when you think the song is wrapping up, Daringer brings in the old beat from Eric B from volume 2 of the the HWH that Meyhem continues to flow over effortlessly. Daringer is in rare form across most of thus record but Meyhem is truly a madman with their pen and this one is a great example.

Following another prolific producer that I've been following for years is Stu Bangas. A definite high water mark of his own catalog would be the year 2020, as he locked in to fund and produce albums for numerous MCs like Mr. Lif, Lord Goat, Nowaah The Flood, Recognize Ali as well as the final installment into his and Blacastans Watson & Holmes album series. As I watched Stu continue to expand his resume I started tapping into RJ Payne and his trails of destruction. Whether its freestyles or a constant stream of mixtapes, RJ Payne is always working and pushing himself. With his If Cocaine Could Talk and Leatherface mixtapes getting bigger and bigger features and bolder themes, when I heard he was adding Stu Bangas to his own catalog I was intrigued to what direction these guys would take.

My Life Iz A Movie is the first collaboration between these two guys and it's notable for a couple of reasons. For starters, it's an interconnected story about RJ Payne exploring all the boroughs of New York City. Structurally, all the talent for freestyling is applied to these free flowing verses as Payne ditches choruses and features for this Hamilton style narration of his holiday in New York. We get acrobatic syllable schemes as RJ stays on topic and on beat across this very unique and impressive album. I think one of the stand out tracks here has to be TOP DOWN IN HARLEM towards the third act of the record. Stu Bangas dips into his trap bag with snappier snares and funky synth leads. RJ Payne moves from one landmark street in Harlem to the next as he reflects on his come up and relationships with Ice T and the late DJ Kay Slay. So many artists endured the 2000's to gain a following today and RJ Payne looking back at his earliest supporters in the industry over some catchy production. This album as a whole flipped a lot of my expectations for what Stu and Payne would do together.

As I've already alluded to lots in this list, I'm pretty biased towards Griselda records. We could go on forever about Shady Records and their lackluster support of albums that aren't from Eminem or Yelawolf but, if you're relying on the marketing budgets of record labels to turn you onto new music then I can't help you fam. I would love to see guys like Conway The Machine have a larger audience sure, but a small passionate fanbase that will consistently buy your pre order bundles is infinitely more valuable than some fair weather steaming fans. This direct to consumer, limited drop marketing style has been the backbone of Griselda records rise to prominence since the 2010's. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me to see Shady records completely miss this aspect of Westside Gun & Conways fanbase during their tenure under the label. My collection definitely would benefit from having a God Don't Make Mistakes CD and vinyl. Especially with the plethora of great songs on this album.

While Piano Love & John Woo Flick scratched that itch of slow ignorant boom bap that Griselda has crafted to a science by now, the real gem from this album cycle was the third single. Stressed is perhaps Conways most personal and tortured song yet. Similar to tracks like Forever Droppin Tears or his now famous verse on The Cow, there are few artists in the underground that can be as cold blooded as Conway then immediately after, unpack all their trauma and tragedy in such a tasteful and relatable way. Daringer and Beat Butcha provide the musical backdrop of piano keys and cymbal work paired with those excellent swaying drums that we've come to love from the Daringer catalog. Across three fantastic verses Conway laments about escaping poverty and still being surrounded by people who need his financial support. The chorus is excellent but it's in the second and third verses where this track just guts me. Conway delves into the suicide of his cousin and the death of his second born son. The third verse goes into his childhood trauma and liver damage that he needed surgery to repair at only ten months old. Then he cries out for help discussing his struggle with alcoholism and how even after a decade since his near fatal shooting how he still breaks down once in a while at the sight of his own face. Even resilience and survival has such a real mental cost and to see Conway stand out in a genre where such transparency is so rare. I gotta applaud that.

We're going back to Canada for the last song on my list. While Snak The Rippers last record from 2018 impressed me the way it balanced outside features with personal cuts, his latest from this past spring cuts back of features for the most part. Each Snak album has jumped past the previous one in a significant way. 2022's Let It Rip is no exception to this trajectory. The jump in scope comes from the instrumentals end this time as Snak incorporates more guitar balladry (electric and acoustic guitars) as well as much more singing than any previous albums. Matter of facts it's incredible to hear just how well Snaks vocals fit over these great drum breakdowns and soaring electric guitars. 

Despite all the praise I have for the instrumental pallete of the album and how grand it can be, the most impactful song to me was much more stripped back. Little One is gonna close out our list here. The song is an acoustic duet between Snak & Jaclyn Gee recounting their pregnancy journey with their second child. On a songwriting front it delves into horrific doctors visits miscarriage scares. To be a parent is of course to constantly worry and fuss over your duty to protect your children. Not only was it brave for the two of them to put this into song but that bleak war with natures indifference can plague so many expecting parents. To say goodbye before you even say hello is a cruel reality for lots of couples. Comparing that to the last song they wrote about their firstborn and how breezy and exciting that was, you just never know untill you're finally bringing your Little One home. There's great chord progression and vocal chemistry between Snak & Jaclyn and a powerful message.

So that's the jist y'all. I've been absent for a while busy eith life so this list serves as me playing a bit of catch up. I'll crank out a list of my top ten albums from 2023 and do little blurbs about specififc projects too. Forgot how much I liked writing and engaging in rap discussions. Until next time. Peace