There is more music readily available these days than you could possibly listen to. The internet had forever changed the music industry and this change is especially evident in the hip-hop community. Rap has become the first genre of music to embrace a model of music distribution that provides a large quantity of free or cheap music to fans (in the form of mixtapes). As a result of this constant stream of affordable entertainment, keeping tabs on the genre can be almost overwhelming. So I hope this post can serve as a guide to focus your fanship on the best upcoming hip-hop records that are slated for release before the end of the year.
There has already been a lot of great rap music released in 2011. Watch The Throne is already a classic, Curren$y continued to release a steady stream of consistently impressive music, and Big K.R.I.T. is keeping the south alive with records like The Return of 4Eva. However a lot of the best music of the year is still to come:
7) Childish Gambino -- Camp
The only reason that this is ranked in the seventh spot is that there has not been a concrete release date attached it as of yet. I can't wait to hear a solid studio album out of Mr. Glover. The highlights of is EP record continue to blow my mind.
6) The Wonder Years -- 9th Wonder (Sept. 27)
The legen- (wait for it) -dary underground producer looks to continue his reign of dominance with his latest project that is set to feature former collaborators like Murs and Phonte (of Little Brother), legends like Raekwon and Erykah Badu, and young talents like Kendrick Lamar and Tanya Morgan.
5) Radioactive -- Yelawolf (Oct. 25)
Yelawolf has an unquestionable unique flow and above all else is madly in love with hip-hop (listen to his interviews). It remains to be seen whether is major label debut will be dumbed and watered-down for a mainstream audience or if he will stick to the aesthetics of his raw mixtapes.
4) Cole World: The Sideline Story -- J. Cole (Sept. 27)
J. Cole is one of the hyped MC's of the 21st century, this will be his chance to prove himself, and if his Jay-Z collaboration is any indication, this record should be solid.
3) Ambition -- Wale (Nov. 1)
I'm a little worried about Wale, he started off as a creative and socially conscious poet, and now he's signed to Rick Ross' MMG label and his rapping about women a cash a lot more. This is not a knock on Ross, he's justifiably dominated hip-hop radio all year, but he doesn't make timeless music. Wale has the potential to be one of the best lyricists alive, but it's hard to do that when you're rapping over Lex Luger sound-alike beats.
2) Take Care -- Drake (Oct. 4)
Drake is setting himself up to move up to a whole new level with this record. 40's smoked out and faded beats are better than ever, and Drake sounds angry and hungry. Headlines is one of the hottest songs of the year and if you believe Drake, it's not even one of the strongest tracks on the record.
1) Love and Rockets Vol. 1: The Transformation -- Murs and Ski Beatz (Oct. 11)
I threw the wild artwork for this project at the start of this post. While the lyrical quality of Ski's second Karate School project may have fallen slightly, his instrumentals were arguably improved. Hopefully Ski can replicate what he did for Curren$y's career with underground veteran Murs.
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