In a year dominated by one mega musical tour in particular, there were also some pretty good new tunes. John Hayden identifies some of the brightest jewels.
Armand Hammer, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
Dense, claustrophobic, and at-times nihilistic, the sixth LP from East Coast underground rap mavens Armand Hammer was buttressed by remarkable rhymes and astonishing production. Its experimental sheen — sketched out by an array of collaborators before a list of producers shaped and sculpted the duo’s vision — heightened the brooding, visceral atmosphere, and made lines such as: "Think in cursive/ spit jagged fragments/ every word out my mouth drag my people backwards" linger long in the sinews.
Key track: Niggardly (Blocked Call)
Janelle Monae, The Age Of Pleasure.
Whether chronicling the adventures of a fugitive cyborg or presenting soul-stirring explorations of political and sexual autonomy — with a fair few acting plaudits in between — Janelle Monae morphed from off-kilter talent to an artist completely at ease in her own skin on her fourth LP. Where she once flailed wildly between soul, funk, new wave, hip-hop and psychedelia, The Age Of Pleasure was a hazy, sun-dappled celebration of the pleasures of the flesh, with Monae’s lush afrofuturism providing the ideal backdrop for such a utopia.
Key track: Phenomenal
Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
Her debut propelled her to the domain of diaristic pop goliaths, and with GUTS, the Disney channel alum doubled down on the spiky pop punk of Sour while eschewing the heart-on-sleeve vulnerability of her peers with charismatic pop-punk sassiness. The delicate acoustic plucking and opening salvo "I am light as a feather and as stiff as a board" offsets the ferocious irony of All-American Bitch, with the album awash with a similar sense of insouciance. Recklessness has rarely sounded this rip-roaring and radio-friendly.
Key track: All-American Bitch
Killer Mike, Michael
Michael Render’s first solo album since 2012’s R.A.P. Music saw the Atlanta rap veteran — and one half of politically-charged duo Run The Jewels — tone down the fiery polemics in favour of a more autobiographical suite, at turns tender and hard-hitting. Whether ruminating on black masculinity (Run), processing grief (Motherless), or, as on Slummer, dispensing cautionary tales about parenthood in the ’hood, Michael was never cloying, buoyed instead by blistering raps and a galaxy of guests including André 3000, Future and Young Thug.
Key track: Scientists and Engineers
Lil Yachty, Let’s Start Here/André 3000, New Blue Sun
It’s fitting that the year hip-hop celebrated its golden anniversary was bookended by two left-field releases. Lil’ Yachty cast aside his ebullient bubblegum trap sound for sure-footed soul and psychedelia on Let’s Start Here, while New Blue Sun saw reclusive rap icon André 3000 throw caution to the (wood)wind on his electric flute opus. Proof, indeed, of the genre’s restless, maverick spirit.
Key track(s): the BLACK Seminole. (Lil Yachty); That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control ... Sh¥t Was Wild (André 3000)
