Caught in the Trap: Hip-Hop in 2015
I have a love/hate relationship with album reviews. On one hand I enjoy reading them and consider it a much better waste of time than mindlessly scrolling though my Instagram feed, on the other hand I think album reviews are too opinionated to be held as valid forms of measurement for an albums quality. Because of this I don't think I'm going to necessarily make this a post about who I thought had the best albums of the year, or who totally flunked, however, I'm going to give my very biased opinion on what I believe the state of hip hop to be in 2015.
Even as the trap gods rose out of Atlanta with their fare ranging from Taylor Swift friendly, to hidden cries of help (Future anyone?), this wasn't what I held to be the most interesting sounds of the year. To be honest I find this style of music to be somewhat boring now. As much as I enjoy Thugger at high volume, the repetitiveness leaves me wanting more. Yes, the music itself sounds great to my ears, but I can't enjoy it as much as possible because it provides little in the content category. I 100% understand that many of the artists rapping about living the trap lifestyle are merely providing a window into that portion of America and what they know, however, sometimes I wonder if artists use this as a crutch to produce mediocre music that simply sells. Once you have housewives in middle America singing about baking soda you know you've made it.
What struck me as creative this year was those straying from the made up boundaries of hip hop. Artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Goldlink, and Raury, who weren't afraid to incorporate other genres into their music. This was fresh to me, a certain vibe which wasn't afraid to borrow from the past while sounding very new wave. A return to emotion almost. The popularity of a fairly new genre of music with R&B vocals, grimy lyrics, and pounding beats also reached a new level of success this year. From The Weeknd's love ballad to cocaine, to Bryson Tiller's bedroom tracks, this was almost enough to keep me satisfied without a new PARTYNEXTDOOR EP. Come to think of it, I enjoy these artist's work because its somewhat of a happy medium between top 40 pop fare and rap. Dark but seductive.
Overall, 2015 was a weird time for hip hop. With so many projects being produced in a short period of time it was hard to process each and every piece with enough time to truly hear it. But even with all the mediocrity and misses, the amount of talent was enough to call this year a success. 2016 should be interesting.
Favorite Albums of 2015 in no particular order:
To Pimp A Butterfly- Kendrick Lamar
Summertime '06- Vince Staples
All We Need- Raury
Dark Sky Paradise- Big Sean
Waves- Mick Jenkins
Compton- Dr. Dre
And After That, We Didn't Talk- Goldlink
Ones to watch in 2016...
Tory Lanez
Kevin Abstract
And more.
PS. Check out my interviews tab for some super talented new artists to listen to and follow me on Soundcloud to hear what I'm listening to: https://soundcloud.com/sleeplessinsuburbia!
Even as the trap gods rose out of Atlanta with their fare ranging from Taylor Swift friendly, to hidden cries of help (Future anyone?), this wasn't what I held to be the most interesting sounds of the year. To be honest I find this style of music to be somewhat boring now. As much as I enjoy Thugger at high volume, the repetitiveness leaves me wanting more. Yes, the music itself sounds great to my ears, but I can't enjoy it as much as possible because it provides little in the content category. I 100% understand that many of the artists rapping about living the trap lifestyle are merely providing a window into that portion of America and what they know, however, sometimes I wonder if artists use this as a crutch to produce mediocre music that simply sells. Once you have housewives in middle America singing about baking soda you know you've made it.
What struck me as creative this year was those straying from the made up boundaries of hip hop. Artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Goldlink, and Raury, who weren't afraid to incorporate other genres into their music. This was fresh to me, a certain vibe which wasn't afraid to borrow from the past while sounding very new wave. A return to emotion almost. The popularity of a fairly new genre of music with R&B vocals, grimy lyrics, and pounding beats also reached a new level of success this year. From The Weeknd's love ballad to cocaine, to Bryson Tiller's bedroom tracks, this was almost enough to keep me satisfied without a new PARTYNEXTDOOR EP. Come to think of it, I enjoy these artist's work because its somewhat of a happy medium between top 40 pop fare and rap. Dark but seductive.
Overall, 2015 was a weird time for hip hop. With so many projects being produced in a short period of time it was hard to process each and every piece with enough time to truly hear it. But even with all the mediocrity and misses, the amount of talent was enough to call this year a success. 2016 should be interesting.
Favorite Albums of 2015 in no particular order:
To Pimp A Butterfly- Kendrick Lamar
Summertime '06- Vince Staples
All We Need- Raury
Dark Sky Paradise- Big Sean
Waves- Mick Jenkins
Compton- Dr. Dre
And After That, We Didn't Talk- Goldlink
Ones to watch in 2016...
Tory Lanez
Kevin Abstract
And more.
PS. Check out my interviews tab for some super talented new artists to listen to and follow me on Soundcloud to hear what I'm listening to: https://soundcloud.com/sleeplessinsuburbia!
