Sampa the Great Soars Aabove Her Whole Industry on ‘As Above, So Below’
On Sampa the Great’s As Above, So Below, she makes music with incredible clarity of purpose and affirms a sense of interconnected self and heritage.
alternative hip-hop
Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop of August 2022
August’s selection of the best hip-hop is an especially strong bunch, featuring long-awaited team-ups, debut masterclasses, and a previously-lost gem.
Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop of June 2022
Following underwhelming releases by the genre’s big hitters, this month’s column dives underground in search of the best hip-hop gems.
Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop of May 2022
An especially strong month in hip-hop saw the release of brilliant albums from, amongst others, Kendrick Lamar, Black Star, 700 Bliss, and Boldy James.
Kendrick Lamar Steps Off the Pedestal on ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’
On Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, renowned rapper Kendrick Lamar observes the strife plaguing his kingdom and consciously abdicates the throne.
Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop of March 2022
This month’s best hip-hop traverses the spectrum with the return of a legendary group, a dreamy jazz-rap collaboration, a UK drill upstart, and industrial rap metal.
10 Years Later, Odd Future’s ‘The OF Tape Vol.2’ Is a Cringeworthy, Captivating Curiosity
Over a decade after Odd Future permanently altered the rap landscape, the group’s gleefully offensive debut shines in certain places and falters in others.
Homeboy Sandman Stays Fly and Authentic on ‘There in Spirit’
Homeboy Sandman represents the hip-hop ethos with a sound that’s not in the contemporary mainstream but not a nostalgic throwback either. He’s pure hip-hop.
Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop of February 2022
Another packed month in hip-hop sees Saba drop a future classic, Cities Aviv create a psychedelic fantasia, and Willow Kayne make a compelling bid for stardom.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2021
The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2021
Hip-hop and myriad mutations of electronic music are the critical contemporary cultural lenses through which we view the creation of new ideas and aesthetics.
Aesop Rock’s Overdue Blockhead Collaboration Is More Forward-Thinking Than Expected
Aesop Rock finally reunites with his longtime producer Blockhead for a hip-hop record less focused on nostalgia and more about depicting our paranoid present.
Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop Albums of August 2021
The ten best hip-hop albums of August 2021 reveal truths about our strange, alarming but often exciting contemporary socio-cultural landscape.
