To put it simply, Visions is 48 minutes of catchy, energetic electronic fun, and whether it’s the singles “Genesis” and “Oblivion” or serene closing track “Know The Way,” there’s something here for everyone. After the whirlwind year of playing about a million festivals and releasing a stream of ambitious and visually delightful videos, it’s all too easy to forget that Boucher arrived as a scrappy young bedroom pop artist with hooks to spare. While there may be a few hardcore fans able to say, hand-on-heart that they “knew her first,” it’s fair to say that most of the world became aware of Montreal’s Claire Boucher once her third album was released. There’s a reason why Grimes has been so highly regarded this year, and it isn’t just because she resembles a tiny pastel-haired pixie that you’d want to slip inside your pocket. The fact that he’s backed by consistently outstanding production from El-P might help a little, too. Intense and completely real, from his savage portrait of Atlanta in “Big Beast” to his conscious polemic against modern rappers in “Reagan,” Killer Mike delivers his worldview along with his music to the listener in a remarkably straightforward but intellectually stimulating manner. Music, it’s already apparent that the album changes all of that. It’s not that people never believed that Killer Mike could create a great album he just hadn’t released an album that lived up to his potential up until this year.
city and the other was Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Two of the best rap albums of this year came nearly out of nowhere, from artists who well exceeded the popular expectations for them when they released their LPs.
Video: Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”ĩ. Whereas Black Up presented its own vision for the genre beyond limitations, good kid, m.A.A.d city is every bit as daring while coloring inside hip-hop’s lines, reinventing the genre with colors all Lamar’s own. The end result stands as a new plateau for the genre, opposite last year’s runner-up on this same list, Shabazz Palaces’ Black Up. He employs one of the most diverse flows ever, shifting from reclusive (“Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”) to aggressive (“Backseat Freestyle”), from crooner (“Sing About Me”) to boozer (“Swimming Pools”).
But aesthetically, Lamar doesn’t need any help. It helps his cred that he is from Compton, and that the record is graced by the headphone-slinging godfather of gangsta rap, Dr. But not many rappers have been able to uphold the ethos of hip-hop while giving it the facelift it needs. Sure, there are talented rappers who often gain recognition through their prolific (Lil B), nostalgic (Joey Bada$$) or graphic nature (Tyler) and talented producers to give some pretty-good rappers the boost they need. Since gangsta rap’s glory years, hip-hop has been having something of an identity crisis.
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