Supply: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Kendrick Lamar put the whole thing of the higher Los Angeles space on his again with the observe “Not Like Us” which was largely a diss of Drake and likewise a name for West Coast unity. Main this cost, Kendrick Lamar and a collective of different West Coast Hip-Hop artists are having fun with a resurgence that has put the tradition at massive on discover.
To greatest look at how the West has received in 2024, or a minimum of why we consider they’re poised to take action, one solely must look again to Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” single launched in March from the pair’s WE DON’T TRUST YOU undertaking that began the mudslinging between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, reaching a culture-shifting zenith by the use of Okay-Dot’s explosive “Not Like Us” observe.
The runaway success of “Not Like Us” stays a case examine in timing, affect, and the facility of directedness. There isn’t a thriller in Lamar’s verse, no esoteric strains to parse, or prose that goes over the pinnacle. It’s past clear that Okay-Dot’s Canadian rival was his goal and that his relentless assaults dug into Drake’s character and picture, with some in Hip-Hop crowning Lamar an absolute winner of their feud.
Including to the layers, the video for “Not Like Us” was one other celebration of higher Los Angeles with YG, Dot’s former boss at TDE Anthony “High Dawg” Tiffith, Mustard, and DeMar DeRozan displaying off regional satisfaction by way of their appearances. It has come to the purpose that listening again to the comparatively mild jabs thrown on “Like That,” it stays baffling that the meat reached the heights that it did.
All of this has naturally overshadowed different crowning achievements from West Coast artists, and we’ll do our greatest to look at the yr that was.
Groovy Q
Supply: Billboard / Getty
ScHoolboy Q additionally dropped in March along with his sixth studio album, Blue Lips, an album that we at Hip-Hop Wired reviewed and loved immensely. To this point, no different main Hip-Hop launch has taken as many dangers sonically as Blue Lips and additional cements the legend of ScHoolboy Q as a streetwise however spiritually grounded lyricist. And as a lot because the manufacturing stood out on Blue Lips, the maestro in the course of the maelstrom was all the time Q.
Vince Staples Continues Sturdy Run
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The buoyancy and chaotic vitality of Blue Lips just isn’t overtly current on Vince Staples’ sixth album, Darkish Instances, one other instance of the Lengthy Seashore native’s capacity to discover a reflective thread in even the starkest particulars surrounding his upbringing and rise to fame. Darkish Instances just isn’t an overjoyous album, a minimum of not total. Because the album reveals, Staples constantly presents himself as an artist who isn’t keen on being dissected and even understood. The album is an audio missive of somebody who hopes to exist on their phrases with out the burden of expectations.
T Says He’s The Greatest Out The Metropolis Since Kenny
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Tyler, The Creator —now not simply the gifted, if foul-mouthed, producer-rapper that fronted the sprawling Odd Future crew — is now a veteran act and eight studio albums deep. His newest, Chromakopia, is an audio hodgepodge of all of Tyler’s sounds from rapping, singing, jazz, rock, you identify it, it’s right here. Persevering with a few of his chest-out rapping that appeared on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, T acknowledges Okay-Dot on “Rah Tah Tah,” signaling that the coast is unified. Chromakopia follows an idea that goals at rabid followers, tackles the abortion debate, and bashes the maintenance of fame. Some have topped the file as one of the best to launch this yr.
Soul-O Ho!
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Ab-Soul’s sixth studio album, Soul Burger, was seen as a shock contemplating the staggered launch schedule that TDE sometimes employs. Devoted to his good buddy Doeburger, who handed away in 2021, Soul Burger finds the “Martin Luther King of Carson” paying homage to his buddy and his roots whereas as soon as once more displaying why he could be the strongest lyricist to emerge from the High Dawg Leisure camp.
New Kung Fu Kenny!
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This brings us to the shock launch on Friday (November 22) of Lamar’s newest album, GNX, a physique of labor that appears to be a continuation of the sound examined on “Not Like Us” and options the complete model of “squabble up,” a observe we solely heard as a snippet beforehand. GNX, a minimum of on our first pay attention, doesn’t stick with a theme or sound and can take a while to absorb all of the finer factors. That mentioned, Okay-Dot reveals off his extraordinary talents, and the autobiographical “The Coronary heart Pt. 6” is a spotlight. And sure, there are photographs at Drake, mentions of the Tremendous Bowl, and possibly even a dig at Lil Wayne. You be the decide.
Different standout albums that highlighted the West Coast’s dominance this yr embody the likes of Jay Worthy and DāM FunK’s funky Magic Hour collaborative album, Tha Dogg Pound’s We All We Bought, Larry June’s Doing It For Me, Massive-Hit, Hit-Boy, and The Alchemist’s Black & Whites, and JasonMartin (FKA Downside) and DJ Quik’s Chupacabra.
We additionally bought potent bar work from Planet Asia and his Belief The Chain II EP with 38 Spesh on manufacturing. TiRon and Ayomari revive their well-proven magic on The Adventures of TiRon & Ayomari, Thurz of U-N-I fame dropped the strong Yannick Koffi: In Time, and Oakland wordsmith Informal’s Starbuster EP ought to all be included on this concise roundup.
Regional biases and arguments apart, it is going to be decided over time if the West Coast can maintain its momentum into 2025. But when 2024 is any indication, the West had much more than simply one thing to say. It seems that your entire coast is able to transfer collectively as a cohesive unit, and because the smoke continues to clear, any problem to the respective thrones can be sufficiently met.
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