![]() ![]() The highlights: “They Don’t Love It,” “Gang Gang Gang,” and “Blame On Me,” which saw his talent for conceptual songwriting flexed to a degree fans hadn’t seen for nearly two years. Jack Harlow heard the complaints about his last album, Come Home The Kids Miss You, and responded in kind with a 10-song salvo of tracks that saw the Louisville rapper revert to the hungry, intensely-focused artist he was as he freestyled and battle-rapped his way to the top. Throughout, IDK liberally pulls from the canon of Black music - jazz, dance, soul, and hardcore hip-hop - to prove his point: that Black artists are not a monolith. F65 applies a thematic veneer of Formula 1 racing to tie together a sprawling meditation on race (get it?), art, identity, and aspiration, drawing parallels between his drive to be the best and the adversities faced by F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. – A.W.ĭMV rapper IDK keeps getting more innovative, creative, and insightful with each new release. Black Thought remains the (read: THEE) finest bar-for-bar, straight-up rapper in hip-hop to this day and it’s worth honoring that - especially when he possesses the awareness to pair his prodigious talents with production worthy of the finest funk-soul excursions into ’70s Classicism this side of Adrian Younge’s Luke Cage soundtrack. Listen, you can go ahead and call me a stodgy old crank for continuing to value technically superior exercises in formalism in 2023. “I want people to listen to my music and think it’s timeless,” Toliver said of his latest release and while he’s got a ways to go before he realizes this dream, Love Sick constitutes an impressive step in the right direction in tracks like “Honeymoon” and “ Leave This Club.” – Aaron Williams El Michels Affair & Black Thought - Glorious Game Black Thought Travis Scott’s protege takes yet another step into his own on his third studio album, released appropriately just two weeks after Valentine’s Day. And while this heavily compacted list might not have room for every worthwhile release, these albums all share solid claims to being the best hip-hop albums of 2023 so far. Whether they pushed the boundaries of the genre or presented a pristine example of technical craftsmanship, each made an impact, demonstrating the heights the genre can reach - and beyond. Some of them were heavily praised on release, and some flew under the radar, but they all represent hip-hop at its best. ![]() While rap fans await signs of life from some of the most anticipated releases of 2023 such as ASAP Rocky’s Don’t Be Dumb, Cardi B’s second album, Doja Cat’s oft-teased, much-adjusted fourth album, Nicki Minaj’s long-awaited fifth album, and Travis Scott’s comeback Utopia, Uproxx is taking a look back at the albums that have already released that are worth your attention. ![]() While the deluge of new releases shows no signs of slowing anytime soon, the biggest names in rap have yet to drop - but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any new releases worth checking out this year. After 2022 brought new releases from huge names like Drake and Kendrick Lamar and massive breakouts for the likes of JID, Latto, and Mavi, 2023 has been decidedly more low-key through its first six months. ![]()
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