2014: A Year Of Hip Hop Emotions

Image Credit: XXLMag.com

by: Ashe Samuels

This week we are here to look upon the landscape of hip hop in 2014.  I will preface the following with a brief explanation of my tastes in hip hop. As someone who grew up in NJ (I started listening in 1996 when I was 12) I have a strong affinity for boom bap. I am real big on shit having lyrics, not just a beat and some dude who's stuck on the same thought. I am a huge battle rap fan. I tend to be a snob when it comes to hip hop but fuck it I...love....this....shit. This causes an emotional roller coaster especially because the last two years, it seems as if it is thriving while being killed.  Ill let you think about that. With all that said, I'm going to let you see what my emotions on the music. and everything around it.

Run the Jewels makes me happy as hell. In the past two years, Killer Mike and El-P have served up a one two combo of fuckin haymakers with RTJ 1&2. Dope beats, ridiculous bars, and some of the most tripped out production you've ever heard out of New York, playing these back to back gets me high as fuck without touchin a thing.

Lyricism as a whole resurgance is also a truely beautiful occurance. Eminem and Shady Records decided to make November their bitch. The cypher had everyone talking who was had the best verse, besides Em.  2013 started the whole occurance where Em seemingly decided bar out on the world. The MMLP2 was hit or miss but when he did decide to just go in, (asshole and Rap God most notably) it was like watching an old grandmaster go all ninja on a class full of students half his age, and win. The cypher was a 6 minute quasi-freestyle that was everything in Em we could've asked for. Royce, Ortiz, Crooked, Budden and Yelawolf all had great verses, with Royce and Ortiz battling for a close second. The new material on the album was full of play that back worthy cuts. It's an album full of great bars, quality production and the strongest roster in the game. Even Big Sean was good in his guest spot on Detroit vs. Everybody, and I really, really don't like Big Sean. 

Image Credit: AllHipHop.com

The year started out strong with a quality release for Pusha T, and two a heavyweight release from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. Gangsta Gibbs is a monster and Madlib is an underground legend on the boards. Pinata is backpack gangsta rap at its finest. Evidence and Alchemist decided to remind hip hop heads why they fucked with them in the first place on Lord Steppington, with the two sharing both the mic and the boards. Atmosphere did the same on Southsiders. Pharoah Monch dropped PTSD which was the deepest album of the year. TDE continued to release dope artists with Ab Souls first major release, which we'll touch on later. Then there was Onyx and #Wakedafucup, but more on that later too. Big Krit dropped Cadillatca, which can only be described as trill soul. Skyzoo and Torae gave us Barrel Bros. A modern age Duck Down style NY classic. The Roots proved why they transcend all genres while still keeping it hip hop "And Then They Shoot Your Cousin." Mixtapes gave us the beast that is King Los dropping his first post Bad Boy effort which showed why he didn't work with Diddy. He is not a single factory, King Los is a fucking MC in every sense. Zero Gravity II has some of the sickest bars on anything released this year. Jon Connor showed why he earned his Aftermath contract on his Kanye West inspired tape. Connor used classic Kanye tracks to create current interpretations. De La came back. We got a taste of Glass House with Slaughterhouse laying out the House rules. Grafh paid tribute to classic hip hop and showed a return to form on 88 Crack Era. It was actually a good year for releases that had content which brought a smile to my jaded, cynical face.

In southern New Jersey and Philadelphia there is a classic hip hop station, it is perhaps the greatest modern format on terrestrial radio. Nothing past around 05 and you can usually get about 7 or 8 quality cuts in a row. Pro Era are a group of rappers who weren't even fetuses when Illmatic dropped, yet make classic NY hip hop. Onyx teamed with a group of European producers who go by Snowgoons to make a boom bap banger of an album. Fredro Starr and Keith Murray made headlines with their battle that was cancelled due to the fuckery of the promoter. De La Soul dropped a mixtape, and Q Tip and Busta gave Midnight Marauders a tribute. DJ Premier decided to mark his territory this year. Ill Bill paid homage on a World Premier complete with a Primo boom bap monster. Prhyme is hip hops version of when Rage Against the Machine grabbed Cornell and formed Audioslave. He also is saying an album with Loaded Lux is in the works. The Lox brought the Trinity to the masses.  

Battle rap getting into mainstream hip hop makes me filled with glee no musical. Was Total Slaughter lacking in execution?  Yes, but who gives a shit. Raps biggest label gave you a battle rap reality show and national ppv. That is a win. As is Loaded Lux doin records with Styles and Cam, Tsu Surf with Joe Budden, !Mayday¡ (Featuring GT Vet and Freestyle champ Wrekonize) with Murs, so on and so forth. The guy who created Holo Tupac bought in and now we have Dizaster vs Cassidy. Joe Budden got roasted by Hollow. Ab Soul ended his LP with a battle vs Daylyt.

2014 brought us Run the Jewels, some great albums, the return of lyricism and legends, and the mixing of mainstream rappers into battle rap. However, it seems it also tried to die a tragic public death on a massive scale. Part two to come, 2014 The Tragic Suicide Note of Hip Hop.