1. Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals – A City Drowned In God’s Black Tears
I have never heard an album go this hard. Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals deserve a lot of credit for smart, unapologetic, fiercely political stances. Too many artists talk a big game when it comes to politics and then choose an anodyne all-is-love stance or try some pathetic anti-woke grifting. This album has the backbone to call a genocide a genocide and does so right from the opening track.
The preaching is clever too. Ennals is surprisingly funny across the album. He uses the weight of the politics to add heft to an already often-punched out flow. He also just stops you cold with lines like “Bambaataa was a pedophile, Russell’s a rapist / So how far can hip-hop really take us?” in “Live at the Chinese Buffet.”
After a while with the album though, it’s the breadth of music here that astonishes. “Sometimes, Papi Chulo” channels Lupe well but has a wonderfully complex beat, something Lupe only managed a handful of times in his career. It’s more modern than a Lupe joint too. The Latin sounds are an interesting wrinkle. “Two Headed Buffalo” could be a strong Neutral Milk Hotel cut. It’s very legitimate indie rock and one of the best songs in the album. “A City Drowning. God’s Black Tears” is powerful metal.
Sometimes across this breadth, the music doesn’t quite match the killer energy of the album as a while. “The Iron Wall” is sometimes musically flat, the flow is flat and disconnected from the beat. The beats are often unexpected though even if they don’t necessarily groove. The same can be said for “Live at the Chinese Buffet”. It’s unfortunate that the most political tracks are the least musical. Even if that’s intentional, it’s not a choice that I agree with. Meanwhile, “BAGGY” is interesting to add and the submerged beat is a good addition but not one of the stronger tracks on the album. Despite some very strong moments though, it’s too slow paced.
Mostly though, they’re a lot of fun. “Everyone I Love Is Depressed” has a great funk and a liveliness that works better with the anti-suicide messaging than the overly serious Kendrick or Logic. “Soft Pack Shorty” is a fun sex rap that finds time to ground itself in material considerations but finds a lot more time to get dirty.
A City Drowned In God’s Black Tears is dizzying and unmissable. There are no rules for talent like this and Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals glory in their ability to do whatever they want.
2. Saba and No I.D. – From the Private Collection of Saba and No I.D.
Cities are bigger than you think. Give a block of land a name and you think that you can abstract it into a single entity. The people of Lisbon are friendly, the food in Rome is great, and so a city of millions of souls boils down to a simple trait. So also can two musicians as disparate as Saba and No I.D. be welded together
The album has a strong Chicago sound. It’s very reminiscent of old-school Kanye or Common. Given how much space No I.D. has to breathe here, it’s no surprise. He runs great beats throughout the album and when he and Saba sync perfectly, as in “Woes of the World,” it’s exceptional.
Interestingly, there’s also a strong strain of Dilla in the album. “Reciprocity” lets No I.D. go deep in his bag and the Dilla comes through strongly in it as in the great “30secchop.” Dilla frequently collaborated with No I.D. but I never understood him as a Chicago sound until this album contextualized him like this.
Chicago doesn’t always work out as well for Saba and No I.D. though. “Acts 1.5” has an interesting beat that Saba wastes. “Westside Bound Pt. 4” feels perfunctory from both of them. “She Called It” tries an early Childish Gambino flow that doesn’t work despite a strong atonal chorus. “Every Painting Has A Price” could have been a filler Chance the Rapper track.
However, they hit more than they miss. “How to Impress God” lets Saba go hard and No I.D. provides the perfect framing for Saba’s choppy work. From the Private Collection may not be the best work from either half but it’s good reason for their hometown to be proud of both of them, as if further reason was necessary.
3. Xang – Watch Over My Body
Watch Over My Body is a dark, viscous sludge. It is at its best when it covers and suffocates you. It is unsurprising then that it is monotonous but perhaps it was avoidable. The punishment of the monotony fits the experience of the album but still caps its quality. There are not enough ideas in here to make the quite good music do more than be another example of how DMV rap is poised to break out but still looking for the final catalyst.
4. Nino Paid – Love Me As I Am
Nino Paid is getting somewhere. Two albums in two years is no small feat and DMV rap is not far from a breakout moment. He has come as far as anyone into working it into something that can explode. Love Me As I Am isn’t all the way there but it’s getting tantalizingly close
Three tracks here highlight DMV rap as DMV rap; “Joey Story”, “Redemption” and “Play This At My Funeral.” If you want a quick taste to see if this is for you, try these three or at least just the last of them. These are cinematic, claustrophobic songs that are served well by Nino Paid’s storytelling and philosophizing. He’s fully engaged in this zone and his breathless rapping is very compelling.
I excerpt from the album because it does have an unfortunate amount of filler for a 5 minute album. “Be Safe” does nothing. “Progress Report” tries a softer beat and gets no energy from it. “Weekend in Paris” flirts with something more sultry but the mixture doesn’t work.
Much more interesting is “Try Me” that takes a pop maneuver that, while not seamless, adds some good variety. His voice is too sunken to really fit the beat and it doesn’t quite find the groove and gets lost against the peppy beat and hook but it nonetheless feels like the blueprint for something more to come.
Love Me As I Am is the same writ large. It’s not quite a full success as an album but it is both a schematic and a promise for great things to come.
5. Drake – $ome $exy $ongs 4U
Despite everything, this album reminds me how talented Drake is. As ever, he wastes it, but the talent is undeniable. Honestly, “CN TOWER” is Drake in great form. The cringe is over-the-top in his lyrics and that always works for him. The groove to “SPIDER-MAN SUPERMAN” that he plays with and denies expertly showcases how skilled a rapper he is.
The album is lazy though. “GIMME A HUG” has the framework of a great song but he doesn’t workshop it enough. He hams too much in “MEET YOUR PADRE.” He’s capable of much more finesse but pandering generates hits and Drake looks for the easiest route. That’s why so much of the album, like “SMALL TOWN FAME” or “DEEPER” is padding.
Overlooked in the memory of the feud is the energy it brought to Drake’s rap after such a long stretch of boredom. It’s a shame that the loss caused him to forget it too.
Top Five Records 