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The 10 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2018

From Kanye tweets to Drake and Pusha T diss tracks to literary masterpiece "This Is America", 2018 was quite the year for rap. But if we had to boil it all down to just 10 albums, we think these are the cuts that truly rose above and summed up 2018 the best.

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There Is More Musicality to Be Found on 'Dummy Boy' Than Previous 6ix9ine Projects

There are no quotables to be found on 6ix9ine's Dummy Boy; no multisyllabic rhyme schemes, piquant punchlines or elegiac tales of struggle; this is rudimentary rap, to be consumed loudly and disposed of quietly.

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Vince Staples: FM!

Vince Staples isn't going to let his listeners hole up for the winter in 2018, offering party bangers and social commentary in the packed 22 minutes of FM!

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All Play and 'No Paperwork': An Interview with L.A.Z of Clear Soul Forces

"Natural born liberal consumer of music", Jarrel Lowman (aka L.A.Z), talks about his EP, No Paperwork, a mixture of hip-hop, smoking jazz, and calloused-fingered blues.

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Neneh Cherry Teams Up with Four Tet for 'Broken Politics'

Neneh Cherry only emerges when she has something to say, granting an artistic purity to every release. Given these times, Cherry has a lot to say on Broken Politics.

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Petite Noir Values the Interconnection of Art, Music, and Resistance on 'La Maison Noir'

Noirwave purposely intersects the personal, political, and creative to inspire cultural artifacts. Petite Noir's recent endeavor, La Maison Noir, a six-track EP, is equal parts breathtaking and breath-giving.

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Sci-Fi Goes Hi-Fi: 10 Artists' Foray into Hip-Hop Futurism

A host of artists have carved out a niche in the interplanetary margins that now rest in hip-hop culture. Some call it an expansion on Afrofuturist philosophies; others simply a long-time propensity for the science-fiction genre.

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Nixxon Brings Pop Touches to His Trap Sound on "Bizerk" (premiere)

Nixxon's latest album Black Velvet continues in the tradition of heavy, booming trap beats and smoky atmospherics. Hear new single "Bizerk" now.

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alt-J's 'REDUXER' Reinterprets 'RELAXER'

REDUXER is alt-J's fourth full-length release, a collection of reinterpretations of the songs from their successful third album RELAXER.

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Sailing the River Styx with Hip-Hop Shaman milo

milo is an art-house MC who savors the magic of the middle-class, refraining from helipads and bottle service in favor of video games and stewed tomatoes.

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The Larger Cultural Conversation Evoked by Miss Red's 'K.O.' Is of Dire Importance

K.O. is a furious showcase of Miss Red's vocal and lyrical prowess. In the dancehall tradition, she uses the music to reflect on her experiences as a female MC while undertaking larger social and political issues.

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Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Could Have Been a Great Album with a Bit of Editing

There is nothing gratuitous about Lupe Fiasco's message. His subject matter is consistently humane, frequently empowering and always substantial.

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QUARTERTHING Is the Essential Album Joey Purp Has Been Promising Us

Joey Purp's QUARTERTHING is a record of confident experiments, songs that wander into unknown territory with purpose, capturing lightning in a bottle most of the time.

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Noname Comes of Age on 'Room 25', But Not in A Typical Way

Noname's Room 25 sees a brilliant writer finding her outlet, taking in the world around her, and spinning it into her own extraordinary web.

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A Slapdash History of the Hip-hop Megamix

The megamix is a variegated mural, with flashes of color – neon pink, chartreuse, head-gash red – popping off chipped concrete, an amalgamation of flavor so fresh it strains the vision, so vivid it glows.

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Noname Stands Front and Centre of the Movement Redefining the Contours of Rhyme on 'Room 25'

Noname's Room 25 is vintage neo-soul and future rap hand in hand; a soulful sanctuary for those turned off by the austerity of mainstream mumble rap.

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Pop Ten

The 60 Best Songs of 2018

The 70 Best Albums of 2018

The 20 Best Avant-Garde and Experimental Albums of 2018

The 20 Best Americana Albums of 2018

The 20 Best Folk Albums of 2018

Short Stories: The 12 Best Collections of 2018

The Best Metal of 2018

The Best World Music of 2018

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