2015 was a fantastic year in rap culture. It offered a diverse group of artists, from younger rappers breaking onto the scene to veterans dropping masterpieces. The following list compiles five albums that are all different from each other, but all artistically crafted. Rap music is about personalizing the art and being unique with your method while producing good sounding music at the same time. The following list serves to recognize the best sounding, most special albums that stand out from the rest 2015 had to offer:
To Pimp a Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/to-pimp-a-butterfly/id974187289
In To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar exhibits his extensive knowledge and intelligence as well as his lyrical talent. Each song discusses a different issue and comes together to tell the story of the strife the black race faces. In Wesley’s Theory for example, Lamar expands on the significance of the album title by discussing the common mistake rappers, or butterflies, make when they emerge from their cocoons and become rich, prioritizing products and valuing the monetary aspects of their success instead of using it as an opportunity to remain true their roots and voice the problems of the ghetto.
He’s motivated and proud of his accomplishments as a black man, in contrast to his lyrics in U, a deep, more personal song in which the focus is on his absence as a friend and brother as a result of his fame. He bashes himself and almost provides a sense of self-hatred in this song as if all of his success has made him emotionally detached to his loved ones.
Alright is almost a direct response to U and other problems discussed in his songs, as though Kendrick can counter this pain and aggravation through the consolation of knowing that in the end, no matter the circumstance, everything will be alright.
“Hood politics” is another radio hit in which he provides his outlook on life in the hood and in general from a younger Kendrick’s perspective, before having acquired so much knowledge. His lyric “From Compton to Congress, set trippin’ all around, ain’t nothin new, but a flu of new Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-licans, red state versus a blue state, which one you governin’” is Lamar questioning how different gangs like the Bloods and Crips are from politicians.
Perhaps the most interesting song on the album is The Blacker the Berry, leaving out no negative aspect or perception of the black race. Kendrick highlights the beauty of being black by stating that “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice,” yet he varies the line slightly at the end of the hook, saying “the blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot,” introducing the issue of crime. This song was inspired by the murder of Trayvon Martin, which Kendrick explained outraged him. This album is truly a gem and bound to be a classic, sending one of the most important messages of the year through witty rhymes and sweet beats. Kendrick Lamar is on another level, offering a mix of rap and jazz, and making his listeners nod their heads to the sounds and drop their jaws at the lyrics. To Pimp a Butterfly is undoubtedly the best rap album of 2015.
Fetty Wap – Fetty Wap
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fetty-wap-deluxe/id1039458694
New Jersey based rapper Fetty has bursted onto the scene with his 2015 album, “Fetty Wap.” This rapper wasn’t popular until he gained attention from his song “Trap Queen” which he actually recorded and released in late 2013.
“Fetty Wap” features Monty in the majority of his songs, who is also a New Jersey based rapper. Fetty Wap is also well known for having only one eye due to developing glaucoma as an infant. Growing up with a prosthetic eye, he removed it when he became famous to let kids know it’s okay to be unique and you should never be embarrassed for your imperfections. Although Fetty Wap isn’t filled with messages like To Pimp a Butterfly, a few of Fetty’s songs have an uplifting tone. Rather than endorsing womanizing (like most rappers), Fetty Wap’s debut studio album is a tribute to his girlfriend Alexis Sky. In songs like “Again” and “679” Wap expresses his love for Sky with lyrics like “I want you to be mine baby,” and “Wondering when she’ll be mine.” Wap also credits his mother for raising him and owes all his success to her encouragement to pursue a musical career, despite the high risk of failure. Fetty Wap especially popular to WIS students. “Fetty Wap is an extremely talented rapper,” Romain Hufbauer, an 11th grader at WIS says. “His lyrics and songs are catchy which is a reason why he’s extremely popular.” While Fetty Wap doesn’t seem to have any immediate plans on releasing more music, expect his next song/album to be as successful has songs such as Trap Queen, 679, RTF Island, My Way and Again.
Professional Rapper – Lil Dicky
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/professional-rapper/id1005202711
It can be argued that Lil Dicky is the most unique rapper in the game right now, and that’s why he has earned a spot on this list. The Caucasian, Jewish, Philadelphia-native is in his late twenties, and has just started his rap career. In a culture and genre that isdominated by African-American males rapping about women, drugs, money and ghetto lifestyles, Lil Dicky is an anomaly. Being the solitary middle-class, white, male rapper in the game right now, many fans feel they can associate with his music and understand it more so than the content of many gangster rappers. On Lil Dicky’s debut album “Professional Rapper,” he uses his talent to do what he does best by incorporating humor and his stories into his fast-paced, clever rhymes. The story in the first song on this album, “Professional Rapper,” is a perfect example of how unique Lil Dicky’s situation is, as he applies for a job interview with Snoop Dogg to become a professional rapper, advocating the importance of how special he can be to the rap game. Dicky’s humor and skill level is evident in his ability to playfully poke fun at the conceitedness and careless spending of so many rappers by collaborating with two of rap’s biggest names in Fetty Wap and Rich Homie Quan to contradict this behavior on “$ave Dat Money.” Lil Dicky is nowhere near as popular as the other rappers on this list, but features on this album such as Snoop Dogg, Fetty Wap, Rich Homie Quan, and T-Pain prove his name is being heard and presence is slowly being felt. “Professional Rapper” will not let you down if you are looking for break from today’s generic rap songs and want to hear an impressive combination of humorous content, lyrical ingenuity, and incredible flow.
If You’re Reading This it’s too Late – Drake
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/if-youre-reading-this-its/id966997496
If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably heard drake’s most recent mixtape. “If You’re Reading this it’s too Late“ was undoubtedly one of the most pleasant surprises rap culture experienced this year. Drake is the hottest rapper in the game right now, with every single song of his seeming to top the charts. He is the most intelligent rap artist in terms of producing music that the public loves. Lyrically, Drake can include clever little punchlines and has a flow that justsounds good to anyone listening, but his overall messages tend to be less significant and meaningless. However, Drake is a master at combining this flow with incredible, hard beats, and “If You’re Reading This it’s Too Late” is a prime example of this. “10 Bands”, “Energy”, and “Legend” are three songs that absolutely blew up as soon as the mixtape dropped so unexpectedly, and they both have conceited lyrics over hard beats. However the biggest song with the infamous, most monumental drop of the year in rap is “Know Yourself.” Drake struck gold with this album and gave rap fans just what they wanted, as half the songs on this album were on repeat on the radio as soon as they came out. Yet even the less popular songs like “Star67”, “Preach”, “No Tellin”, “Used To”, and “6 Man” are all songs that will inject you with a burst of energy from the pure sound created from Drake’s smooth voice over their raw beats. This album would be up there for best rap album of the year, but due to the fact that Drake’s party and money focused lyrics frail in comparison to Kendrick’s lyrical insanity, If You’re Reading This it’s too Late does not deserve to be recognized on the same level as To Pimp a Butterfly.
GO:OD AM – Mac Miller
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/go-od-am/id1025255443
Anyone involved in contemporary rap culture has heard of Mac Miller. He’s renowned for his party jams and narcotic-based content in his songs, usually rhyming over hard beats with less focus on the lyrics. GO:OD AM is the opposite. On this album, a new, mature Mac Miller has emerged. He documents his challenge of overcoming his issues withsubstance abuse, yet manages to include a positive tone as well by expressing his gratitude for everything that he has in his life. This carefree, thankful attitude can be heard in the most famous song on the album “The Weekend” featuring Miguel. Miller is successful in having strong, diverse, interesting sounding beats on his songs that are each unique in their own way. Although Mac Miller has changed to a more positive message, his lyrics and flow are nothing special. He can sneak in a clever rhyme here and there, but what drives this album is the beats. The hard beats, such as on “When in Rome,” are pleasant to listen to, but other songs with softer beats that have no lyrics to save them take away from the potential of this album. WIS Junior Leonardo Proaño explained that Mac Miller is one of his favorite rappers because he is more of a fan of “mellow rap as opposed to hype rap.” Mac Miller must be credited for being capable of both, but he doesn’t match clever lyrics to beats to consider him a great rapper. The lack of quality flow makes this album one of the less popular albums of the year, but nonetheless should be recognized for a few of its good songs along with a more positive message from Mac Miller.
By Yoel Selassie and Anthony Mavrogiannis
