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Q2 Rapup 2015: Putting Up The Good Fight

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HiResDes

Member
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Got It For Cheap

1.

Sample Song
What's Really Good – The fluidity of the beats, flows, and his singing sections are so alluring and hypnotically inducing that you'll keep throwing this album on over and over again once it connects.
2.

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What's Really Good – Future at his most sincere, depressed, and affected. 56 Nights is a wavy ride, a dark night ride out of the slums with your impoverished,existential woes right on your tail.
3.

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What's Really Good – Doppelgangaz are one of the most consistent duos and make hip-hop that is simultaneously revivalist and fresh, on this album they seem to move away from obvious sample based sounds, and rely more heavily on groovy synths to carry the sound.
4.

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What's Really Good – Hard to describe, but think of the album as a bunch of tiny little fractions that somehow add up to a sum greater than their parts, with groovy and sometimes funky samples flipped and altered to great effect
5.

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Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good – Cartier is so talented that he can borrow styles from other rappers at will, but he's at his best when his influences mesh together and form this familiar yet wholly new melting pot of sound.
6.

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What's Really Good – Higher is the Boom Bap Nas sort of put on the map on Life's a Bitch with a less affected narrator who truly understands the harsh realities and that drugs are the only answer.
7.

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What's Really Good – Top Drawer is the perfect album to throw on when you ain't doing shit, sitting back lamping or rolling up a joint for a sesh, it's one of those albums that you can throw on without any sort of afterthought.
8.

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What's Really Good – Chester continues his insulated, cerebral onslaught that is just as meticulously paranoid and shut-in as his best full-lengths only this is all that concentrated into six tracks.
9.

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What's Really Good – While King Louie could never be mistaken for being conscious or astute, the variety here is quite astounding, and I can't think of a better album to throw on after a vice-stricken night.
10.

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Pitchfork Review
Needledrop Review
What's Really Good – You can hear every ounce of Xanax and inebriation in Lucki's voice, which only seems to enhance his vision of the world and clarify it's emptiness and place within the void.
11.

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What's Really Good – Album so full of dust and grime you might feel as you though you need a bath and a session in a confession booth after listening to it
12.

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What's Really Good – If there's any underground mixtape crew that truly deserves to ruling the radio waves it's Audiopush, and that's not really a testament to their message or even their overall but importance, but they just seem so dedicated to making club/radio ready tracks and they seem to be masters of their craft.
13.

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What's Really Good – Every song is on some super hype, fun west-coast shit and it's impossible to not smile and crip walk throughout the twenty track affair.
14.

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What's Really Good – Lavish and luxurious, Casino 2 takes French's wave riding to its deepest depths
15.

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Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good – The sounds Chance is rapping over remind me of the introductory scores from some of my favorite children's films, and although it's undeniable cheesy spots, it's hard not to feel good listening to this bouncy bubblegum rap
 

HiResDes

Member
Good Albums at a Price

1.

Sample Song
Spin
Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good – The magic of KA's style is in its brevity, he doesn't seem to mince words, and there's always this well of emotion hidden in the depths of his seemingly cold voice. Days with Dr Yen Lo features production that matches KA's trepidation on every verse and every suspenseful turn, and the result is a harrowing aural masterpiece.
2.

Sample Song
Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good - Summertime perfectly encapsulates the irony of summer, when it's bright and warm out more violence seems to occur, the heat is a medium for flaring tempers and kindling passions and emotion...Vince has never sounded more passionate and well rounded than on this project, though the subject matter still says within his comfort zone as an artist the lines are challenged on this effort.
3.

Sample Song
Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good – Oddisee's production has always been stellar, but I feel as though his rapping has improved to the point of being completely noteworthy on its own, and the music on this album is so exceedingly uplifting that it just extracts all of the positivity I can muster from the depths of my soul when I listen to it.
4.

Sample Song
What's Really Good – Although the album is purely instrumental the structure and cohesion of this album are so strong and well conceived that it's easy to elicit your own epic out of the fragmented emotive mood pieces within the Israeli Salad.
5.

Sample Song
Consequence of Sound Review
What's Really Good – Although the second EP can't quite match the success and energy of the first, Denzel succeeds in composing an album with two differing soundscapes, which I think actually complement each other, the mystical and surreal nature of Planet Shrooms is only highlighted when contrasted with the ultra hype effort of 32 Zel.
6.

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What's Really Good – When Father said he was trying to get people cooking again on his album he failed to deliver on the those promises, but KeithCharles seems to have picked up his formula, made a few alterations, and chef'd up something fire....Couldn't think of a better album to blare out of the windows on a hot summer weekend.
7.

Sample Song
Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good – While it's not quite as consistent as the previous entries, Pilot Talk 3 definitely proves to be a worthy successor, and some of it's slight experimentation add a bit of texture to the somewhat homogenous strain of dope in which we're accustomed.
8.

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What's Really Good – Featuring production from the legendary beat maker Dilla and Slum Village OG Young RJ, Yes really sounds like a continuation of their heyday sound and the features all perfectly meld into this lovely smooth stew of an album.
9.

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Pitchfork Review
What's Really Good - . It's the perfect soundtrack to drunken nights on the prowl and features the most concentrated display of Thugs strengths on any single project thus far. The mid tempo nature of the songs act as the perfect vehicle for Thug's melodic crooning and add a very much needed contrast to his often overly dramatic rap style. The songs seem to resonate in this netherland of hard and soft, mellow and hype and it makes it seem more well rounded even though it's rather one-note on the whole.
10.

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What's Really Good – Though Bodega could never be mistaken for a lyrical master, his delivery is so gritty and fearsome it never gets lost or feel second fiddle to the often bombastic trap/boom bap beats.
H.M.

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What's Really Good - Deniro Farrar isn't going to switch up his subject matter, once you except that, you can enjoy this project for it is...A tortured gangsta rapper reflecting on the past and pouring out his pain within every verse for temporary catharsis. It's also backed by the ever ethereal and intriguing BSBD.

Near Misses: Vic Spencer & Tree - Victree, Zuse - Da Real Don Dada, Allen Poe - Still Eaten, Skyzoo Music for My Friends, Dizzy Wright - Growing Pains


QUARTER ONE LINK
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Looking forward to the other half of the write up. That Soul Glitch has been mixed in the spin with 06 today. It's been a blessing of good music today. Cheers.
 
Nice, looking forward to some discoveries.

That first dude is Chance as fuck. If this sound is a movement it kinda reminds me of Tribe/Digable Planets, etc. back in the day.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
I only like 1 and 3 and maybe 13, but that's more than I usually like from a selection of this size these days, so thanks for this. I like the idea of this thread - I don't follow the music like I did when I was a kid.
 

HiResDes

Member
I made some mistakes and had some real snubs in the mixtape list after mistaking some free albums for paid ones, which I'm working on fixing right now, but the retail list is done...And though were a shit ton of albums that deserved recognition, ultimately I feel pretty satisfied with it.
 

HiResDes

Member
Alright all revisions are done, completely finished, just need a mod to change the title eventually. HAPPY 4TH OF JULY
 

injurai

Banned
Great write up. I see you Nacho Picasso ‎– Stoned & Dethroned didn't even make you're near misses. Was it not your thing or did it slip your mind? One of my more enjoyed quietly released albums from this year.
 

HiResDes

Member
I was feeling Blunt Raps 2 as much as I wanted though, definitely has some hits though, but a bunch of misses too for me
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Can't recommend Israeli Salad enough. Everyone I've given that album to loves it. Even my mom asked me to put it on her phone before she left for Mexico. She's probably kicking back right now listening to Chatzi and eating tacos.
 
Yeah dope write up Des gonna check out Yen Lo and some other stuff. So glad 2015 is making up for a lackluster 2014 and we've got even more stuff to look forward too.
 
The retail list is ridiculous. Great stuff in Q2.

Gonna check of some of the free tapes I missed.

Thanks Des. Your work does not go unappreciated.

EDIT: Didn't know you were feeling the Doppel EP like that. I'm really liking the evolution in their sound.
 

Dereck

Member
Watson finally dropped the monotone on a couple of tracks on that EP. I personally don't think that type of rapping suits him for longer projects.
 

Kwixotik

Member
Great quarter, been listening to Soul Glitch and Jazz Cartier today. Sidenote, Marauding in Paradise has probably the coolest album art I've seen in a while.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
I'll revisit it especially after seeing the heavy cosigns from you and Toku.

It's Future in his prime. Dark, drugged out, and melancholic all the way through. Full of hooks that get under your skin. It's intoxicating. Like Astronaut Status but better.
 

Exr

Member
Yeah been a good quarter, I'll be sifting over this new stuff for a while. Thanks Des.
 

iavi

Member
Props to the list, as usual. There's a host of amazing shit in there.

Listening through Soul Glitch now.
 

Fjordson

Member
Thank you, Lord Des. What a quarter.

Saw you post about Soul Glitch in GAF-Hop and have been really enjoying it. Going to check out a bunch of the other stuff.

Might start with that Lucki Eck$. Cover is intriguing for some reason lol.
 

Judderman

drawer by drawer
As someone that saw your first thread but didn't do anything with it (TPAB was taking up most of my listening at the time.), thanks for making these threads. Got a lot of new stuff to listen to and I'm going back to your Q1 thread to get what I missed back when that was posted.
 
It's Future in his prime. Dark, drugged out, and melancholic all the way through. Full of hooks that get under your skin. It's intoxicating. Like Astronaut Status but better.

I should prolly revisit this, i listened to it in the background and because of that didn't give it as fair a shake as beast mode. Future Hendrix da gawd.

retail list is stacked with great stuff in this wrap up. I thought i posted in this thread already, but yeah thanks for continuing to do this Des, a lot of shit in here that I have never heard of, always makes for interesting listens. Keep scouring the depths of bandcamp.
 

T Dollarz

Member
That retail list is so damned good. Agree with almost all of it. Guess I'm gonna have to give Barter 6 another shot, yall praise it like crazy.
 

codhand

Member
god's work is what youre doin des, lots of stuff i never got around to and will check

would like to throw in the new LMNO - Bronze Age and the VicTree to the mix, enjoying both of those thoroughly.
 

Guru-Guru

Banned
Thanks OP! Been listening to the same shit over and over lately, and been too lazy to search for some good rap myself.
 

Grzi

Member
06 is one of the best albums of the past few years.

:dap:

It's really special, I can't stop listening to it, I don't think I've heard a better album since GKMC, and it even might better than that one.

Listened to Soul Glitch, it's pretty dope, will check out some more stuff later.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
:dap:

It's really special, I can't stop listening to it, I don't think I've heard a better album since GKMC, and it even might better than that one.

Listened to Soul Glitch, it's pretty dope, will check out some more stuff later.

I feel the same way, but I only started listening to it yesterday, so I'm going to hold off before solidifying that opinion. But I've spun it roughly 5 times in 24 hours. I factually haven't done that since GKMC.
 
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