2016 has been a strong year for hip hop and R&B, with just about every big name releasing an album, EP, or a mixtape. The last year to evoke this kind of excitement in hip hop and R&B was probably 2013, though 2015 was a strong year as well. With that being said I have decided to give you guys a list of the 10 projects I enjoyed the most this year instead of giving you a year end best of list. But before that here are 10 honorable mention projects that I enjoyed but just didn’t make the final 10.
Drake, Views
YG, Still Brazy
Partynextdoor, P3
NAO, For All We Know
Kamaiyah, A Good Night in the Ghetto
Ty Dolla $ign, Campaign
Bruno Mars, 24K Magic
Travis Scott, Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight
ASAP Mob, Cozy Tapes Vol.1
Lil Uzi Vert, The Perfect LUV Tape
Now here are the 10 projects released this year that I enjoyed the most.
10. Schoolboy Q, Blank Face LP
In a year where TDE delivered great projects from Isaiah Rashad, Ab-Soul, and Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q’s Blank Face LP is the album I find myself going back and listening to the most. Whether it be the menacing conviction he raps with when telling you he’ll get to swinging on his chopper or how even when he was broke he had the sauce, Q manages to keep you entertained throughout the whole album. The album features standout production from Swizz Beats, Sounwave, Metro Boomin, Southside, and Cardo amongst others while also getting features from Kanye West, Vince Staples, E-40, and Jadakiss. And even with these great features, Q more than holds his own and more times than not has the best verse on the songs with the features.
Another reason I found myself enjoying this project so much was how much better Q gets with each project. While he was never a bad rapper, there was a point in time where he was pretty clearly behind Kendrick, Jay Rock, and Ab-Soul in the rapper pecking order. And though he may still not be the best rapper in TDE he’s delivered three straight solid projects and even earned another Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album this year.
9. 2 Chainz, Daniel Son; Necklace Don
There were few rappers who were hotter than 2 Chainz in 2016, and his mixtape Daniel Son; Necklace Don was the project of his that garnered the most attention this year. The mixtape spawned one of the biggest rap records this year, “Big Amount” and showcased Chainz witty delivery and never ending clever punchlines. Tracks like “Get Out the Bed,” “You in Luv wit Her,” with YFN Lucci, and “Chirp” also stood out on the tape and are tracks that I still find myself coming back to almost five months later. If you want to convert somebody to a 2 Chainz fan, this is one of the projects I would recommend you play for them.
8. The Weeknd, Starboy
Coming off the mainstream success of his second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness, Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd, returned with his new album Starboy that hit homeruns on the album rollout and with the product. While the album can be a bit overbearing and ambitious coming in at 18 tracks, it produces some of the best songs of The Weeknd’s already stellar career.
Songs like “Party Monster” display The Weeknd getting back to his usual debauchery singing about drugs and women and the nightlife, while “A Lonely Night” shows him effortlessly sounding like Michael Jackson reincarnated while maintaining his own sound. The true standouts of the album were “Secrets,” “Die For You” and “I Feel It Coming” which will all stand as some of the best songs of The Weeknd’s career when it’s all said and done.
7. Future, Purple Reign
Purple Reign is a mixtape that was released in January of 2016 but it held up throughout the whole year as one of the more enjoyable projects to be released this year. In the years to come when we look back at Future’s crazy run from October of 2014 through the summer of 2016, this project might be the most underrated release of this period. It doesn’t have the same initial impact as Monster or produce a career defining record (“March Madness”) the way 56 Nights did but it’s a strong project none the less.
This mixtape produced one of the best rap songs to release this year with “Perky’s Calling” and was the project that initially introduced us to “Wicked” before it was also released on EVOL a few months later. The project as a whole showed off Future’s braggadocious style as well as his ability to channel emotions on tracks as well and the end result is one of the best mixtape to release this year. With production from Metro Boomin, Southside, Nard and B, and Zaytoven, Future gathered all of the producers he had worked with on his meteoric rise from 2014 to now and delivered arguably the best mixtape of 2016.
6. DVSN, Sept. 5th
The first time most of the world heard DVSN was during an OVO Sound Radio episode hosted by producer Nineteen 85. Nineteen 85 would debut the song “The Line” by DVSN and from that point on my attention was captivated. Daniel Daley and Nineteen 85 form one of the more entertaining R&B acts out right now and Sept. 5th is the full display of the duos ability. Daley’s voice over the wide production range of Nineteen 85 produced one of the best R&B albums of the past five years. Standout tracks such as “The Line,” “Too Deep,” “Hallucinations,” and “Try/Effortless” help show why this duo will be around for the long haul.
5. Rihanna, Anti
Rihanna has long been known for her huge singles and ability to blend in with a variety of sounds but on her eighth studio album, Anti, she delivers her most complete album to date. Off the strength of her chart topping single “Work” featuring Drake, she comes through with an album that’s equal parts infectious as well as vulnerable. And at times the most honest Rihanna has ever been. “Kiss It Better” will go down as one of the best songs Rihanna has ever made, and considering she has already reached iconic status before her 30th birthday, that is saying a lot. “Needed Me” and “Sex With Me” are unlike any of Rihanna’s typical singles that comes precede them but still you can’t escape them.
It’s the fact that this album is unlike anything Rihanna has ever made that makes it so enjoyable and that diversity of the album makes it one of the best to release this year.
4. Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Uzi Vert vs The World
Philadelphia upstart Lil Uzi Vert has seen his profile grow as much as any new rapper in 2016 and his second mixtape Lil Uzi Vert vs The World was the main cause of his new found stardom. Following the success of his introductory tape Luv is Rage, Uzi returned to deliver a tape that was full of songs that were inescapable at any party or club you found yourself at this year. “Money Longer” was one of the biggest anthems of the year, being streamed over 68 million times on Spotify and becoming a staple at every function you attended this year. No matter where you were at when you heard “It do not matter,” you instantly had to sing along. But then there were tracks such as “Grab The Wheel” that showed Uzi reflecting on his past life before his new found fame and is a bit more introspective than songs he is known for. “Canadian Goose” has Uzi showing off his rapid fire delivery and living up to his name.
Though he isn’t the most deep or lyrical rapper out, Uzi delivered one of the most entertaining projects of the year for me.
3. Solange, A Seat at the Table
There wasn’t a project this year that surprised me more than Solange’s magnificent A Seat at the Table.
“Cranes in the Sky” is the best R&B song to come out this year and is a tale of her doing her best to hide her pain and issues with different vices, but to no avail. “Don’t Touch My Hair” and “F.U.B.U” are also excellent tracks and though the album is long, 21 tracks in total, every song feels necessary and important. An accurate representation of the black female experience, A Seat at the Table is not only one of the best albums to release this year, but is an instant classic and will be remembered as a landmark R&B album.
2. Kanye West, The Life of Pablo
No one album this year represented it’s creator the way The Life of Pablo represented the year Kanye West had. Disjointed at times, questionable, and sometimes downright confusing, the album still produced more highs than lows and those highs are arguably as high as any of Kanye’s illustrious career. “Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1” is a monumental song, and the immediate sounds of “if young Metro don’t trust you im gone shoot you,” followed by Kid Cudi singing beautiful morning will definitely make you sing along. Kanye had some questionable lyrics throughout the album (see FSMHP1 and FML) but there were an abundance of enjoyable moments throughout.
“Ultralight Beam” is one of the best rap songs to release this year and has not only potentially the best verse in rap this year from Chance The Rapper, but maybe the best he has ever spit. Each feature on the album feels necessary and don’t feel out of place and an album that had every chance to be a train wreck was my favorite rap album this year. An album that has “Real Friends,” “No More Parties in LA,” “30 Hours,” “Highlights,” and “Famous” is one that is going to have immense replay value. Though Kanye did everything he could to ruin the little good will he had left in the eye of the public in 2016, he still produced an amazing album.
1. Frank Ocean, Blonde
After four years of anonymity from Frank Ocean he returned in 2016 to release his second studio album Blonde.
With all of the hype that surrounded the album and the myth that had began to become Frank Ocean on social media, there just seemed to be no way that the album could live up to the hype. But Blonde not only lived up to expectations, it exceeded them in some ways. The album touches on everything from sexuality (“Self Control”) to materialism (“Nikes”). The standout track and my favorite song this year is “Nights” which describes Frank’s experiences post Hurricane Katrina in Houston. The track boasts a hook that everybody can relate to some point in their life, whether it be them not being up for small talk or just wanting to experience nirvana without having to die to get there.
In a year full of great releases, Blonde is the album I found myself going back to the most and is my favorite project to be released this year.
Kameron Hay 