December 19, 2009
The Best Rap Albums of 2009: Part 1
THIS WEEK IN HIP HOP
In terms of rap music, 2009 has been both utterly depressing and magnificently awe-inspiring. Through the years, music has slowly become more and more diverse but also more and more fragmented. That fact has never felt more palpable than now. Think about it: in 2019, what will we think of 2009? A decade from now, what song from 2009 will we be able to say “Now THAT was our song”? What song will come on the radio unexpectedly in 2019 (if we still even have radios by then) and unite us all in head-nodding, booty-shaking, lyric-mouthing merriment? It’s a scary thought to think that 2009 might not have contributed anything more to the collective hip-hop canon (if we still even have that by 2019) than Drake’s “Best I Ever Had.”
On the other hand, this fragmentation has led to a ton of really great music. Since we aren’t buying records en masse anymore, most artists kind of stopped giving a fuck about scoring radio hits and have taken rap into bold new territories. DJ Quik busted out the world music crates. Mos Def crafted a cohesive album with approximately one and a half hooks altogether. Gucci Mane came up with 1,000 synonyms for his jewelry. Ghostface Killah formally legitimated the art of “Rap & Bullshit.” Some kids from LA revived hyphy while doing the Running Man backwards in bright skinny jeans. Fuck, even Soulja Boy started experimenting with backpack rap. Yes, God exists. And he’s got his swag turned on.
But before we jump into this “Best Of” list, an editorial note: this is one moonlighting critic’s personal taste in rap, which carries with it plenty of limitations. Not the least of which is time and energy. Try as I might, it takes special circumstances for any one person to really keep up with rap. This is not at all a definitive list. It’s merely a jumping off point to share good music with you. Actually, I’m hoping fellow Jezebel Music rap head, Matt, tells me I’m completely full of shit and then clues me in on everything I missed. And I hope you do the same for me too. (For “The Best Rap Albums of 2009: Part 2,” go here.)
10. Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana | My Face Can’t Be Felt
Lil Wayne fans have been hailing the No Ceilings mixtape as Weezy’s triumphant return to rapping form after a year or so of coasting on the superstardom afforded from Tha Carter III. And yeah, he has come back to snapping some pretty good punchlines. But I think his greater strength is in the raw emotion and truth he spills out from time to time. To date, two of the most memorable musical moments of Lil Wayne’s career have been the pained, pleading, nearly-crying hooks to Playaz Circle’s “Duffle Bag Boy” and The Game’s “My Life.” My Face Can’t Be Felt contains more of these vulnerable moments, including the heartbreaking “How Can Something” in which Lil Wayne confesses in great writerly detail the pain of love lost and what that’s meant for the child that’s left in between the two estranged lovers.
The Flaming Lips Are Covering Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon On New Year’s Eve in Oklahoma City…Guests Expected to Appear at the Show: The Flaming Lips’ Families, and NBA Star Kevin Durant, Possibly the Only Current Residents of Oklahoma City [Pitchfork]
Stream First Track From Ted Leo’s Upcoming LP The Brutalist Bricks, “Even Heroes Have to Die,” Which Features a 15-Second “Oh-Oh” Breakdown; Bricks Due Out March 9, Just in Time to Influence All Kinds of Spring Teenage Love/Angst [Brooklyn Vegan]
Stream a Bunch of Tracks From Dubbed-Out San Francisco Electroheads oOoOO Which Are Equal in Overall Hotness, and Kind of Sounds the Way the Now Defunct Misshapes Parties Looked [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch (Washed Up?) Jam Band Phish Cover (Washed Up?) Indie Band TV on the Radio’s “Golden Age;” Feel Confused, then Slightly Outraged, then Wonder How Anyone Could Feel Anything But Indifferent Curiosity Towards This [Spin]
Stream New RJD2 Track, “Games You Can Win,” Which, Sadly, Sucks as Much as Anything RJ Has Done Over the Last Couple Years – Oversaturated, Boring Electropop; The Colossus is Released January 19, and Hopefully Will Be Better Than This Pile [Pitchfork]
Stream New Spoon Single, “Written in Reverse,” Which is Officially Released Tomorrow. The Song Is Super Bluesy, Frustatingly Faux British, and Actually Pretty Good (I Have Never Said this of a Spoon Song; Transference Released January 19 [NPR]
Watch Libertines/Babyshambles Frontman Pete Doherty Accidentally Sing the Nazi-era German National Anthem, Which, As I Don’t Speak German, Is Not Nearly as Funny as It Should Be [NME]
Blur Frontman Damon Albarn Announces New Gorillaz Album Plastic Beach, Which Will Feature Contributions From Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed (?), Mos Def (!) and, Most Excitedly, Bobby Womack; Elsewhere, If You Want to Feel At All Sexy Today, Click that Bobby Womack Link [Spin]
compiled by Max Sebela
Doveman Announces New Album The Conformist Featuring Nico Muhly, Most of The National, Martha Wainwright, and Norah Jones (Sounds Like a Really Crooning Version of “We Are the World”); Released October 20 [Brooklyn Vegan]
Watch BLAKROC, the Black Keys and Mos Def/Raekwon/RZA/[Insert Meaningful MC Here] Supergroup, Perform In the Studio; Sounds Pretty Much Exactly Like What We Were Expecting [Spin]
Stream Really Early Nirvana Live Cut, “Scoff” Off the Upcoming Bleach Reissue; Released November 3 [Pitchfork]
Andrew W.K., After Experiencing Some Kind of Sexual Religious Experience, Cancels Concert Dates With Calder Quartet, As Apparently Sex and Religion Don’t Mix Well (Tell That Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Theresa”) [Idolator]
James Murphy Drops Hint On Facebook About Upcoming LCD Soundsytem LP Possibly Due Out New March ; Elsewhere, Music News Is Really Fucking Slow Today [Pitchfork]
Watch Beach House’s Victoria Legrand Perform New Moon Track “Slow Life” With Grizzly Bear; Get Bored Fast, And Then Imagine How This Song Sounds Anything Like a Vampire/Werewolf Teen Crossover Novel Turned Film [You Ain’t No Picasso]
Stream New Grouper (Moniker of Noise Musician Liz Harris) Tracks, “Vessel” and “Hold the Way” – They Are Really Sad (Which is Good Because It’s Really Cold) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch New Volcano Choir (Bon Iver’s Psych-Side Project) Video For Unmap Highlight “Island, IS” – It’s Pretty Much Nothing But Lights Moving Around…So Uh…It’s a Really Sweet Video [Prefix]
compiled by Max Sebela
Yesss!!! Listen To Big Boi’s New Song With George Clinton and Too $hort. Though Honestly, It’s Not As Crazy As We’d Hope [Prefix]
Getting Bored With Your Buddha Machine? No Worries, Throbbing Gristle Has Made Their Own Version: Helloo Gristleism! [Pitchfork]
Listen To New Best Coast, “Wish He Was You.” You May Be Sick Of These Lo-Fi Beachy Songs, But We Who’re Already Dreading Winter Need This! [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Morrissey To Release B-Sides Album, Tour West Coast [The Tripwire]
Whaaaa? FAC Supports Lily Allen After All. We’ll See What This Means For Our Theory On The Whole Debacle… [Pitchfork]
San Francisco’s Girls New Single Due In November. Watch Them Perform It Here! [Pitchfork]
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers To Release Fatty, Four-Disc Live Anthology [Rolling Stone]
Have You Ever Wondered What The Inside Of Kyp Malone’s Apartment Looks Like? Don’t Worry, We Have Too. You Can Get All the Mundane (and Exciting) Details Here [NY Post]
Hells Yeah. Mos Def Making Punk Documentary [The Tripwire]
Stream All Of Ghostface’s Wizard Of Poetry Here [Prefix]
In More Wizard And Music-Related News, ?uestlove and Friends To Play Free Screening Of Wizard Of Oz in Central Park Next Week [Brooklyn Vegan]
compiled by Erin Sheehy
Weekly Review
Despite the persistent downpour as of late, that antsy, endless-activity feeling of summer is starting to creep its way into the music stratosphere. Though some are promised to come out sooner than others, the number of tours and albums announced this past week alone is staggering – even the old timers are finding their way back into the storm. And talk of summer festivals and concert series, both old and new, has begun to saturate the air. Hopefully soon, the clouds will clear so we can walk away from at least some of them with that sunburn badge of honor and start listening to those new releases by the pool – or perhaps bringing them into the pool. Wet t-shirt contest, anyone?
by Elana Jacobs
Roadtrip, Anyone? Initial Pop Montreal Lineup Announced [Brooklyn Vegan]
Santigold Working on New Album With Pharrell Williams [NME]
Prefuse 73 Organizes Super-Group [Pitchfork]
The White Stripes Making Documentary of Canadian Tour [Rolling Stone]
De La Soul Touring in Celebration of 20 Years of 3 Feet High and Rising [Brooklyn Vegan]
Mos Def’s New Album Available in T-Shirt Format [Pitchfork]
BAM Announces Schedule for Next Wave Festival 2009 [Brooklyn Vegan]
The Ventures’ Bob Bogle Dies [Rolling Stone]
Members of Blur and New Order Team Up to Form Bad Lieutenant [The Tripwire]
Coldplay Off The Hook In Cat Stevens’ Book [The Tripwire]
compiled by Erin Sheehy
More Internet Music Service/Major Music Label News: Sony and eMusic Strike a Deal [NYTimes]
Britain’s Got Talent Star Breaks Down, Enters Clinic [NME]
New York Park Names for Sale [Brooklyn Vegan]
Little Boots the Latest to Preview Album Online [NME]
Wavves Frontman Williams Issues an Apology [Prefix]
Baron Cohen Gets Intimate with Eminem(’s Face) at MTV Awards [Idolator]
Twitterer Posing as Imprisoned Spector [Idolator]
Live Nation Launches “No Service Fee” Wednesdays [Brooklyn Vegan]
Most Def and Talib Kweli Together Again [SPIN]
Pink Criticizes Kanye for Wanting More Fur [NME]
Roadie Claims that Manager Murdered Hendrix [The Tripwire]
compiled by Elana Jacobs
