Latest / Hip-Hop Now Podcast / Best Albums of 2025!
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Coming up on this week's episode of hip Hop Now Podcast,
- 0:05Speaker 1: it's the best hip hop albums of twenty twenty five
- 0:12Speaker 1: my list, Let's do it.
- 0:17Speaker 2: Welcome to jip Hop Now Podcast. If you from the future,
- 0:23Speaker 2: you over the studio. It's your asside podcast, So disrespectful.
- 0:30Speaker 1: Leg leg hip hop is say to stay.
- 0:35Speaker 2: Let's get rapul to the business. What up, y'all? I
- 0:38Speaker 2: am your host.
- 0:38Speaker 1: Vegas and Best's hip Hop Now Podcasts a podcast specifically
- 0:43Speaker 1: designed to keep you caught up on all things hip
- 0:46Speaker 1: hop music and culture that happened throughout the week, but
- 0:49Speaker 1: that happened throughout the year. This is our annual best
- 0:53Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five show. First and foremost, big shout
- 0:57Speaker 1: out to the supporters, the members of this channel right
- 1:01Speaker 1: here on YouTube hip Hop Now Pod. If you would
- 1:05Speaker 1: like to become a member, I'm not adding you know,
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- 1:19Speaker 1: money because you enjoy it, because you want to have
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- 1:29Speaker 1: a say in the production, so to speak. All proceeds
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- 1:38Speaker 1: whereas it's overhead the QR code and donate that way,
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- 1:48Speaker 1: chats and emojis and all that kind of stuff. So
- 1:52Speaker 1: if you would like to learn more about that on YouTube,
- 1:55Speaker 1: visit the link in the description of this episode. Big
- 2:00Speaker 1: shouts everybody who subscribed here on YouTube, also in audio
- 2:03Speaker 1: for on the Apple Podcasts and Spotify and iHeart But
- 2:09Speaker 1: if you watched my last episode, I did a review
- 2:12Speaker 1: of Legend has Its Series right. The seven albums we
- 2:16Speaker 1: got coming out of Mass Appeal Records, Slick Rick, Daylight, Soul, Mob,
- 2:21Speaker 1: Deep Nas, Big al Am, I Forgetting Somebody, ray kuon
- 2:26Speaker 1: ghost Face all released new albums, brand new albums under
- 2:30Speaker 1: Mass Appeal, and me and a homie IC broke it
- 2:33Speaker 1: all down for you. Okay, we broke it down, so
- 2:38Speaker 1: check out that episode. But announced during that episode if
- 2:41Speaker 1: you don't know, the goal for this podcast was to
- 2:45Speaker 1: reach twenty five thousand subs subscribers right here on YouTube,
- 2:53Speaker 1: and we hit that goal. So I just want to
- 2:56Speaker 1: thank all the people who supported, whether you were subscribed
- 3:03Speaker 1: from the beginning or you were number twenty thousand or
- 3:08Speaker 1: you're left, you're unsubscribed, but then you came back as
- 3:10Speaker 1: you was like, man, nah, what Vegas be doing is rare.
- 3:14Speaker 1: Whoever you are, we appreciate you, and we're just gonna
- 3:19Speaker 1: keep going into twenty twenty six because obviously we're going
- 3:22Speaker 1: to raise the ball with content and produce more content,
- 3:26Speaker 1: and some of that was done this year, but now
- 3:32Speaker 1: is the time to get in the thing you clicked
- 3:34Speaker 1: on this video for, and that's my best hip hop
- 3:38Speaker 1: album slash projects for the year twenty twenty five. If
- 3:43Speaker 1: you're new to my best of series, essentially throughout the year,
- 3:52Speaker 1: starting in January obviously, and sometimes you know something releasing
- 3:57Speaker 1: late December, maybe that's factored in before the most part,
- 4:03Speaker 1: my best of goes from January of the new year
- 4:07Speaker 1: to about the halfway point of December of that same year,
- 4:10Speaker 1: and then I just cut it off, like whatever the
- 4:12Speaker 1: major release that was left that I wanted to consider drops,
- 4:17Speaker 1: that's it. If you drop on Christmas Day, there's a
- 4:21Speaker 1: good chance I may not even remember next year or
- 4:24Speaker 1: even included because I already forgot. But you know, I'm
- 4:29Speaker 1: listening to a lot of music throughout the year, and
- 4:32Speaker 1: it's not everything a lot of people think I'm listening
- 4:35Speaker 1: to everything, but it's not. Maybe it feels like everything
- 4:37Speaker 1: to you, but for the podcast, it's necessary for me
- 4:40Speaker 1: to listen to, you know, what everybody's talking about, you
- 4:45Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, whether that be a major release
- 4:48Speaker 1: or a popular underground release or just a favorite of
- 4:52Speaker 1: mine who's dropping new music. So that's what I do
- 4:56Speaker 1: throughout the year, and on my Instagram you can get
- 4:58Speaker 1: a good idea of what I'm I'm listening to because
- 5:00Speaker 1: I will always post. But here on the channel, you know,
- 5:04Speaker 1: we highlight some of the best albums of each month,
- 5:08Speaker 1: which is a series that started in twenty twenty five,
- 5:15Speaker 1: and then I just kind of break it down to
- 5:20Speaker 1: what were those songs? I mean those songs, what were
- 5:23Speaker 1: those albums you know that I thought were the best?
- 5:27Speaker 1: Some stick with you because they're dope and that's what
- 5:31Speaker 1: I'm listening to, or I like it a lot and
- 5:33Speaker 1: that's what I'm listening to. And then there's some albums
- 5:35Speaker 1: that are great. And obviously I'm not listening to all
- 5:39Speaker 1: these things at all times, but everything that appears on
- 5:41Speaker 1: this show today has gotten some serious burn around the
- 5:46Speaker 1: time it dropped, and a lot of them are still
- 5:49Speaker 1: in my rotation. Right, So if you don't know, let's
- 5:55Speaker 1: just say this real quick. I have a top five,
- 6:01Speaker 1: of course I do, but I like to start with
- 6:05Speaker 1: ten albums that I think weren't that didn't make my
- 6:10Speaker 1: top five. But they are ten of the best albums
- 6:15Speaker 1: you can listen to that came out in twenty twenty five, right,
- 6:19Speaker 1: So they didn't make the top five, but they're kind
- 6:22Speaker 1: of like the ten honorable mentions. And when I say
- 6:26Speaker 1: there was a this is a good year for hip hop,
- 6:27Speaker 1: because there was a lot of music that I couldn't
- 6:31Speaker 1: include because I had to. I had to deliberate and
- 6:36Speaker 1: go through it again. And one thing that I do
- 6:39Speaker 1: just so you know, like, for example, if an album
- 6:42Speaker 1: dropped in January, you know a lot of these albums,
- 6:47Speaker 1: not a lot of these albums. Every album on this
- 6:49Speaker 1: list I have revisited in the month of December. From
- 6:54Speaker 1: the future, come on, dog get your ass out of here.
- 6:58Speaker 2: Man.
- 6:58Speaker 1: You already know what the list look like. But that
- 7:02Speaker 1: means I've heard these albums recently. My feelings haven't changed.
- 7:09Speaker 1: Whatever fell out of my list fell out, whatever into
- 7:14Speaker 1: that list is here now. And so without further ado,
- 7:20Speaker 1: let's get busy same all right, So starting with my
- 7:28Speaker 1: ten honorable mentioned albums, and again these are all recommendations
- 7:32Speaker 1: for albums that I think just check out because they
- 7:35Speaker 1: were some of the best albums of twenty twenty five.
- 7:38Speaker 1: Started with Lloyd Banks AO and I mean AO N
- 7:43Speaker 1: I'm Wild Today.
- 7:45Speaker 2: Three.
- 7:46Speaker 1: Despite my mistakes, he dropped a Halloween havoc album. I
- 7:52Speaker 1: don't care about that one. This is the one, y'all.
- 7:55Speaker 1: This has been on my list since it dropped. Very
- 7:58Speaker 1: dope album from Lloyd Banks. Bars Beats guest appearances of Flawless,
- 8:05Speaker 1: A very good album and it's it's really just bars.
- 8:08Speaker 1: So if you know Lloyd Banks and you know what
- 8:11Speaker 1: he brings to the table lyrically, then you won't be surprised.
- 8:15Speaker 1: But if you like it, you'll love this. A brand
- 8:20Speaker 1: new release Shaye Noir Loved the Genius Desired Crowns A
- 8:26Speaker 1: big shout out to Shane Noirre's album with the other
- 8:29Speaker 1: guys I forget the name, but that was here. But
- 8:33Speaker 1: this collaboration with Love the Genius is, like I said
- 8:37Speaker 1: at my November release, like Rundown. If you only know
- 8:44Speaker 1: Rhapsody as somebody who spits today Shaye Noir and Love
- 8:49Speaker 1: the Genius Desired Crowns Okay Beats a dope songs are hot,
- 8:56Speaker 1: both the ladies getting busy on the record. I mean,
- 9:00Speaker 1: what more could you ask for next up? An album
- 9:04Speaker 1: that this might be just a personal but I also
- 9:07Speaker 1: feel it's kind of slept on Dave East and Young
- 9:10Speaker 1: Chris Fine Dining when I tell you, I was bumping
- 9:14Speaker 1: this joint every day when it dropped, and I.
- 9:18Speaker 2: This wasn't an album that I was anticipating.
- 9:21Speaker 1: This wasn't an album that I said, yo, I definitely
- 9:25Speaker 1: got to check that out.
- 9:26Speaker 2: I just went and listened. Now.
- 9:29Speaker 1: Granted, Davies and Ransom dropped an album at the beginning
- 9:33Speaker 1: of the year called Final the Final Call or Final
- 9:36Speaker 1: Call one of the other, and at first I was
- 9:39Speaker 1: kind of on it because it was like, you know,
- 9:42Speaker 1: both of them were really like what did I say,
- 9:45Speaker 1: like redundant in their rhym flows, right, Like there was
- 9:53Speaker 1: a rhyming like that. But you know what I mean,
- 9:55Speaker 1: very monotone, very predictable. But both of them are the
- 9:59Speaker 1: same in erega, so for some people that could be
- 10:02Speaker 1: a turnoff.
- 10:02Speaker 2: For me, they're nice on the mic, so it was dope,
- 10:06Speaker 2: but this joint where young.
- 10:08Speaker 1: Chris had a lot more energy and the chemistry matched
- 10:11Speaker 1: because Davis can be a very monotone. He is a
- 10:16Speaker 1: monotone rapper, but young Chris has a different type of
- 10:21Speaker 1: flow and approach that to me complicated, the type complicated,
- 10:26Speaker 1: complimented well, complicated for some people complimented each other's flows
- 10:34Speaker 1: and the music and the themes, and it.
- 10:37Speaker 2: Was just a very like dope, fly.
- 10:41Speaker 1: Vibe if you will kind of album, and they got
- 10:44Speaker 1: a lot of burn for me. Ray kwon The Emperor's
- 10:48Speaker 1: New Clothes part of the Mass Appeal Legend has its series.
- 10:55Speaker 1: I am not a fan of all the skits except
- 10:59Speaker 1: for one. But when I tell you, I enjoyed the music,
- 11:04Speaker 1: I just really did the beats, the rhyms.
- 11:08Speaker 2: Ray was on point, you know what I'm saying.
- 11:10Speaker 1: The beats, Election was on point. Ghosts featured, even though
- 11:16Speaker 1: the ghost features I felt like could have been better.
- 11:18Speaker 1: Even but the last record, I think it's called Mac
- 11:22Speaker 1: and Lobster something like that. That's the Ray and ghosts
- 11:26Speaker 1: I expected on the other tracks. But nevertheless, NAS's featured
- 11:31Speaker 1: like everything everything works here and it was a dope
- 11:34Speaker 1: album that during the summertime when they dropped. It was
- 11:40Speaker 1: getting mad burned when I was outside, like getting the
- 11:43Speaker 1: grill ready or whatever. I was just playing that joint
- 11:47Speaker 1: all the time, like even after the food's ready, you chilling.
- 11:51Speaker 1: Was letting that ride but skipping the skits though. So
- 11:55Speaker 1: now his one a guy who had a hell of
- 11:57Speaker 1: a twenty twenty five Jim Jones at the Church Steps.
- 12:03Speaker 1: Now I know, I know, Jim Jones has had probably
- 12:08Speaker 1: the worst pr in hip hop year in a long time, right,
- 12:15Speaker 1: Maybe not as worse as y'all rule had when fifty
- 12:17Speaker 1: cent was just bombing on him back in the early
- 12:20Speaker 1: two thousands, but pretty bad for today's day and age.
- 12:24Speaker 1: From his spats with Cam to getting roasted by the
- 12:29Speaker 1: clips during their run to ending with fifty trying to
- 12:33Speaker 1: buy a fifty percent of the podcasts and kicked.
- 12:36Speaker 2: Them out of the building. But in I believe January
- 12:40Speaker 2: of this year.
- 12:41Speaker 1: When Jim before all of that started, remember he said
- 12:45Speaker 1: he was better than NAS's other kids on like NAS
- 12:47Speaker 1: and everybody's calling my old Wii n.
- 12:49Speaker 2: Like really bad year.
- 12:51Speaker 1: But in January and when I went back and listened,
- 12:57Speaker 1: Jim Jones at the Church Steps was dope. I can't
- 13:01Speaker 1: change my mind, because he's done a bunch of clown
- 13:04Speaker 1: stuff outside of him. I mean, nothing he's done outside
- 13:07Speaker 1: of here is so offensive that I'm gonna say I
- 13:11Speaker 1: didn't like the album anymore.
- 13:13Speaker 2: Some people say that, but they didn't like Jim Jones anyway.
- 13:17Speaker 1: They're just looking for a reason to pile on because
- 13:20Speaker 1: that's what was happening.
- 13:21Speaker 2: But nevertheless, when I heard.
- 13:23Speaker 1: Joemo, I was like, this song kind of crazy, Jim
- 13:27Speaker 1: flowing on it, and they have a number of songs
- 13:30Speaker 1: like that, so I liked it.
- 13:32Speaker 2: I thought it was one of the better projects of
- 13:34Speaker 2: the year.
- 13:35Speaker 1: If you don't find the sound of Jim Jones, oh,
- 13:39Speaker 1: let's not forget you know, the wave God came Home
- 13:42Speaker 1: Max b and that was another.
- 13:43Speaker 2: L for Jim Jones.
- 13:46Speaker 1: But if you like Jim Jones, let's say if you
- 13:50Speaker 1: most because most cats I know they didn't like everything
- 13:54Speaker 1: Jim Jones did. They kind of came aboard when he
- 13:57Speaker 1: did the What's the Joint ld iblow or something that
- 14:00Speaker 1: couple of years ago, which I believe was one of
- 14:02Speaker 1: my top albums of the year. If you like that
- 14:06Speaker 1: and Jim didn't follow up with anything you like and
- 14:09Speaker 1: you was like, all right, I'm out check at the
- 14:12Speaker 1: church steps. I think you might like it, Nas and
- 14:17Speaker 1: DJ Premier like years now. If you watch my review,
- 14:21Speaker 1: you would probably think, nah, that's not gonna make it,
- 14:24Speaker 1: because you know, Vegas was saying it's about to be
- 14:27Speaker 1: to this, that and the third.
- 14:28Speaker 2: But I also said in conclusion, it's a good album.
- 14:33Speaker 2: There's a lot. There's more that I like about it
- 14:36Speaker 2: than I don't like. It was just I needed.
- 14:40Speaker 1: The production just to be a little bit more as
- 14:44Speaker 1: aggressive as Nas was with his pen from dedications to
- 14:48Speaker 1: the ladies and sons talking about here hip hop junkie,
- 14:52Speaker 1: which is I guess it's like an old to rock
- 14:55Speaker 1: Himn's microphone theend because its kind of the same thing
- 14:59Speaker 1: fars to songs like writers like I love writers. Writers
- 15:05Speaker 1: just feels like old school culture of hip hop, you
- 15:11Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. But it's about the writers, Paul's
- 15:15Speaker 1: tapes like this. There is a number of songs are here.
- 15:17Speaker 1: I like it's time. I like that joint like there's
- 15:22Speaker 1: a lot here to like. And the more I listened,
- 15:25Speaker 1: I never changed my review from you know good to
- 15:29Speaker 1: great or I love it or classic. I still think
- 15:32Speaker 1: it's a good album and I think what Nas is
- 15:35Speaker 1: doing on here is enough. What he's doing on here
- 15:38Speaker 1: lyrically is enough to put it ahead of another album
- 15:43Speaker 1: that didn't make it for me. And I don't feel
- 15:46Speaker 1: like the beats are whack. I just feel like, for
- 15:48Speaker 1: the most part, there were certain tracks where I wanted more,
- 15:52Speaker 1: but nevertheless, NAS and DJ Premier light Year is one
- 15:56Speaker 1: of the best albums of this year.
- 16:00Speaker 2: Now this one would I was. It wasn't on my
- 16:03Speaker 2: radar or anything.
- 16:04Speaker 1: And I don't mean to talk too much about these records,
- 16:07Speaker 1: but I have to give you some context of why
- 16:09Speaker 1: they're there. But while a everything is a lot. I
- 16:15Speaker 1: wasn't gonna listen to this album. I ain't gonna be honest.
- 16:17Speaker 1: I like the single that was on the radio, and
- 16:20Speaker 1: I thought that I felt like I've listened to Walle
- 16:23Speaker 1: albums where I really only liked the single or another single,
- 16:27Speaker 1: and I was like, I'm just not gonna spend time
- 16:29Speaker 1: listening to his album, knowing I really only liked the
- 16:32Speaker 1: radio singles he put out.
- 16:34Speaker 2: And then I keep it moving.
- 16:36Speaker 1: But then I listened and I was like, I skipped
- 16:41Speaker 1: the afrobeat stuff because I'm good dog, Like I've been
- 16:45Speaker 1: dancing all Night to your album Relax, Okay, But the
- 16:49Speaker 1: other records on there, like Belly and like there's some
- 16:52Speaker 1: there's some joints on here. Now, this album from Wila,
- 16:56Speaker 1: it's not your boom Batfest. It's not the Letout Kings.
- 17:00Speaker 1: Don't go in the club to dance with the ladies.
- 17:02Speaker 1: They just outside with the homies, just hanging around for
- 17:04Speaker 1: no reason. No, this is an album for people who
- 17:09Speaker 1: deal with relationships. That was just the ladies, relationship with
- 17:13Speaker 1: yourself thoughts, yeah, insecurities, all of it. But the soundtrack
- 17:20Speaker 1: is like a bunch of nineties records like remixed to
- 17:24Speaker 1: be these dope new like hip hop tunes where wile
- 17:30Speaker 1: A doesn't pack it in with his lyrics, Like if
- 17:32Speaker 1: you're listening to his lyrics, he really saying some really
- 17:34Speaker 1: thought provoking things or let's just say relatable.
- 17:38Speaker 2: So I liked it.
- 17:40Speaker 1: I thought it was probably the jam Mother year as
- 17:42Speaker 1: far as if you ready to come down from dudes
- 17:45Speaker 1: you know, shooting at you on certain records, I guess
- 17:48Speaker 1: Pause or you know, Barfest, Technical Liricol, Miracle, Spiritual raps,
- 17:55Speaker 1: and you just kind of want to chill and bop.
- 17:58Speaker 2: Wallet's album is great for Jed God Do Like Ugly
- 18:05Speaker 2: totally surprised me this year.
- 18:08Speaker 1: I've heard of Jed obviously, I've liked the song of
- 18:11Speaker 1: two here and there, but never really was a fan
- 18:14Speaker 1: of any albums.
- 18:16Speaker 2: He stepped his game up on this album.
- 18:18Speaker 1: And what I like about it most is he shows
- 18:22Speaker 1: such a range when it comes to his bars and
- 18:28Speaker 1: music selections and even flows. It's one of those things.
- 18:32Speaker 1: It's one of those albums where there are people who
- 18:35Speaker 1: can rap and then there are people who are just talented,
- 18:38Speaker 1: and Jed is one of them. So now, this one
- 18:44Speaker 1: wasn't my top five early on in the year, but
- 18:48Speaker 1: found its way out, and not for a bad reason.
- 18:50Speaker 1: It was just there were albums I thought were I
- 18:52Speaker 1: liked a little bit better. For this album, you should
- 18:55Speaker 1: check out Saba and no Id from the collection of
- 18:59Speaker 1: Sab and no Id. Very dope album. In a lot
- 19:04Speaker 1: of ways as far as variety, it's the same as
- 19:09Speaker 1: Jid's album. You they're you know, obviously, they're different flows,
- 19:15Speaker 1: they're different types of beats. Nothing is predictable, just really
- 19:20Speaker 1: good songwriting, you know what I mean. And it was
- 19:24Speaker 1: one of the early standouts for me for best of
- 19:27Speaker 1: the year, just because it was a well put toget
- 19:31Speaker 1: put together hip hop album that's safe around your children. Right,
- 19:35Speaker 1: you can listen if you got kids or you let's
- 19:38Speaker 1: just say just you want to.
- 19:39Speaker 2: Play it out loud?
- 19:40Speaker 1: Was you driving or you know, at work or whatever
- 19:44Speaker 1: the case may be, And you don't really have to
- 19:46Speaker 1: feel a shame because you know what's being said. You know,
- 19:50Speaker 1: like it's not sketchy in that way. But no Id
- 19:53Speaker 1: did his thing on a production Saba, who is probably
- 19:57Speaker 1: the first time I really liked the project from him,
- 20:00Speaker 1: So check that out. And lastly, as far as the
- 20:05Speaker 1: ten out of the ten albums that I will suggest,
- 20:08Speaker 1: hold up is it?
- 20:09Speaker 2: Yeah? Another album that.
- 20:14Speaker 1: Once was in my top five but got kind of
- 20:19Speaker 1: bumped down, and that's Ruben Vincent and Knife.
- 20:22Speaker 2: Wonder Welcome Home.
- 20:25Speaker 1: What caught my attention was the what's the name of
- 20:28Speaker 1: the lease single like go get It where Knife wanted
- 20:31Speaker 1: to flip the Albe show a joint and I was
- 20:34Speaker 1: like this beat is nuts, beat nuts, but nah, that's
- 20:40Speaker 1: how I felt when I heard it. I was like, Yo,
- 20:42Speaker 1: this this is all kinds of bops and feelings. And
- 20:48Speaker 1: so I heard another track and I was like, I
- 20:50Speaker 1: need to check this album now and when it dropped,
- 20:53Speaker 1: I was highly impressed of how the album came together
- 20:58Speaker 1: as a concept, playing off the theme of Welcome Home
- 21:02Speaker 1: in different ways, but also following this relationship. And these
- 21:08Speaker 1: are skits that don't get in the way of the music.
- 21:14Speaker 1: They actually compliment what you're hearing, so you don't mind them, right,
- 21:19Speaker 1: because it is put together in that way where it's
- 21:22Speaker 1: so good that you feel like you're skipping a part
- 21:27Speaker 1: of a movie, a scene in a movie, and then
- 21:30Speaker 1: trying to pick it up when the action happens later
- 21:32Speaker 1: you don't know.
- 21:33Speaker 2: Why they're fighting. You gotta go back.
- 21:35Speaker 1: That's how I felt with this album, like you just
- 21:37Speaker 1: put it on, you just let it ride. And Ruben Vincent,
- 21:42Speaker 1: his pen game is dope as a songwriter, because sometimes
- 21:48Speaker 1: you could be a bar king and you can be
- 21:50Speaker 1: boring as hell, like you really can right, like it
- 21:55Speaker 1: could be overwhelming, like you could be saying so many
- 21:57Speaker 1: things that after awhile.
- 21:59Speaker 2: He just like what he said, what is this about?
- 22:01Speaker 2: What will be doing?
- 22:03Speaker 1: Ruben Vincent did his thing with the writing on this album,
- 22:06Speaker 1: and obviously knife one that came through also on the production.
- 22:10Speaker 2: But now, Ladies and Gentlemen.
- 22:13Speaker 1: My top five in no order, Westside gunn twelve. When
- 22:23Speaker 1: I tell y'all, I ran this album into the ground.
- 22:29Speaker 1: One of the things about my best of lists that
- 22:33Speaker 1: I had to do, like a couple of years ago
- 22:36Speaker 1: and be strict about, is say, if artists drops multiple projects,
- 22:42Speaker 1: I have to pick one. If I feel like one
- 22:45Speaker 1: is one or two are the best? Could be in
- 22:49Speaker 1: the best of lists, And there were. There was Heels
- 22:55Speaker 1: Have Eyes Too that I really liked, but twelve dropped
- 23:00Speaker 1: earlier in the year featuring Stove God Cooks Heavy. This
- 23:07Speaker 1: album is Westside gun st Nac and Stove God Cooks.
- 23:13Speaker 1: It might as well be a group album. That's how
- 23:15Speaker 1: it sounds. You get a lot of Stove got in here,
- 23:18Speaker 1: you get a lot of Stnac.
- 23:19Speaker 2: Now.
- 23:20Speaker 1: When I reviewed it, Stnac would like the zombie groaning
- 23:25Speaker 1: on a couple of tracks. I'm not a fan. I
- 23:28Speaker 1: don't care if that's some street code like yo in
- 23:30Speaker 1: the streets over here they do, I don't care. Get
- 23:34Speaker 1: it off the record because it sounds crazy, Okay. I
- 23:39Speaker 1: didn't get excited to be like, oh that's that, that's that? No,
- 23:43Speaker 1: why is what am I listening to? But guess what
- 23:46Speaker 1: it never gotten a way of me and joining this album.
- 23:49Speaker 1: So Westside Gun dropped about four or five projects, and
- 23:54Speaker 1: I think this was hands down the best one.
- 23:57Speaker 2: So check that out. Westside Gun twelve.
- 24:00Speaker 1: Next up Alchemists and Freddy Gibbs Alfredo two.
- 24:06Speaker 2: Listen. When I reviewed this album, I knew I liked.
- 24:11Speaker 1: It better than the first Alfredo because the first Alfredo
- 24:15Speaker 1: I felt like Freddy Gibbs was doing this thing, but
- 24:19Speaker 1: the beats were lacking. In my opinion, they were lacking
- 24:22Speaker 1: behind him. So that doesn't mean the beats a whack.
- 24:25Speaker 1: That just means there should have been different beats. Alfredo two, though,
- 24:30Speaker 1: is where the chemistry really shines and Freddy Gibbs as
- 24:36Speaker 1: dope as always. My favorite song is nineteen ninety five.
- 24:39Speaker 1: I just loved that record. Alchemist came through on the
- 24:43Speaker 1: production and it's just a very dope album. So if
- 24:47Speaker 1: you like Freddy Gibbs or you never heard of Freddy Gibbs,
- 24:51Speaker 1: there's albums I could point you to, But if you
- 24:54Speaker 1: started with Alfredo two, I wouldn't even be mad because
- 24:58Speaker 1: it's just a very dope album.
- 25:00Speaker 2: And it was after a while, you.
- 25:02Speaker 1: Know, listening over and over and over, it just was
- 25:05Speaker 1: clear this was going to be one of my best
- 25:07Speaker 1: of the year, Like I had to bump something out
- 25:10Speaker 1: just to get it in there, to be honest. Next up,
- 25:14Speaker 1: Bob Deep Infinite. Listen, Man, this joint dropped around homecoming season.
- 25:23Speaker 2: For me.
- 25:24Speaker 1: I was anticipating it big time because I think Infamous
- 25:29Speaker 1: dropped in nineteen ninety five.
- 25:31Speaker 2: I believe when I started my college career, so you.
- 25:37Speaker 1: Know that album was getting a ton of burn, and
- 25:41Speaker 1: Infinite dropping around homecoming felt poetic. Man, When I tell you,
- 25:47Speaker 1: I did not anticipate this album being this good. Like
- 25:52Speaker 1: it was really that good. I could not stop listening.
- 25:55Speaker 1: Every time it ended, I would run it back. Mob
- 25:58Speaker 1: Deep against the World, Prodigy's performance for Somebody, Prodigy's posthumous
- 26:05Speaker 1: performance for Somebody Who's not here. This is the best
- 26:10Speaker 1: posthumous performance I've ever heard. Alchemists and Mob Deep came
- 26:15Speaker 1: together to make this thing happen. Not Mob Deep, well yeah, technically,
- 26:21Speaker 1: but Alchemists and Havoc I think that's what I said.
- 26:24Speaker 1: I don't know came together to make this album and
- 26:29Speaker 1: make sure it was done right and that it felt
- 26:33Speaker 1: like a Mob Deep album. So big noise on this
- 26:36Speaker 1: album Na's coming through in a couple of tracks. Porter
- 26:39Speaker 1: Henny is another dope joint. When I heard taj Mhall,
- 26:44Speaker 1: I was like, man, this is just so.
- 26:47Speaker 2: Queen's Bridge.
- 26:48Speaker 1: Mob Deep, like this is this album is great. I
- 26:53Speaker 1: know for some people this is their number one of
- 26:55Speaker 1: the year, and I am not mad at that because
- 26:59Speaker 1: it was it was just that good. So then you
- 27:02Speaker 1: have it Mob Deep Infinite. Next up Dayla Soul Cabin
- 27:08Speaker 1: in the Sky. When Mass Appeal was, you know, talking
- 27:14Speaker 1: about their rollout and we had got Slick Rick and
- 27:17Speaker 1: we got Ray Kwan and Ghosts and Mob Deep was
- 27:21Speaker 1: on the way, I was wondering. I was like, you
- 27:24Speaker 1: know what, that Dayla Soul might be the surprise of
- 27:29Speaker 1: the bunch because we're getting you know, we got Slick Rick,
- 27:33Speaker 1: but then we got like when we got Ray and
- 27:35Speaker 1: Ghosts and then Mob Deep and Big l it felt
- 27:39Speaker 1: like we got a lot of rappers who rapped within
- 27:41Speaker 1: that same pocket of content, and Dayla Soul was like
- 27:47Speaker 1: different hip hop and there was just something about that
- 27:51Speaker 1: that told me, Yo, the Daylight could be the one
- 27:54Speaker 1: that's crazy and it was man like, I could honestly,
- 28:00Speaker 1: I could see some people calling this a classic in
- 28:02Speaker 1: the future, if not already, because it's so well put together.
- 28:07Speaker 1: Even when there were moments where I'm like, is this
- 28:10Speaker 1: a dance record? It was really just served as a
- 28:15Speaker 1: segue between records, because the minute I start to like, man,
- 28:19Speaker 1: what is this, you know, they'll be like, why are
- 28:23Speaker 1: you turning? Why you turning the music down? They like
- 28:25Speaker 1: cause we got to get back to the program. And
- 28:27Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, go ahead, man, go
- 28:28Speaker 1: ahead and play that for a second or two, you
- 28:31Speaker 1: know whatever, go ahead, But yeah, man, from the from
- 28:35Speaker 1: the raps to the dedication to Dave, to the dope
- 28:40Speaker 1: producers that contributed, from DJ Premier to Pete Rock not
- 28:47Speaker 1: performances from Q Tip and nas Black thought common right
- 28:52Speaker 1: slick records on his album, also pasta news showing that
- 28:58Speaker 1: he could probably hold down them by himself. It's just
- 29:02Speaker 1: a very complete album, clearly one of the best of
- 29:06Speaker 1: the year. If you're the type of hip hop fan
- 29:09Speaker 1: where you don't have as much time to listen to
- 29:13Speaker 1: all this music, listen to Dayla Soult.
- 29:18Speaker 2: That could be your only one. I don't care. Listen
- 29:22Speaker 2: to the Daylaself if you don't like it.
- 29:24Speaker 1: Cool but kind of honestly, all signs point to a
- 29:29Speaker 1: hip hop head should love that album one way or another.
- 29:34Speaker 2: And lastly, you know it. If you saw my Apple replay,
- 29:38Speaker 2: you saw what was happening.
- 29:40Speaker 1: If you follow my ig, it's probably when I buy vinyl,
- 29:45Speaker 1: I say I'm only buying the classics, and typically that
- 29:49Speaker 1: means I'm buying a bunch of old stuff. But I
- 29:52Speaker 1: bought the Clips. Let God sort them out on wax
- 29:56Speaker 1: because I feel like this album is a classic. When
- 30:00Speaker 1: I tell you, out of all the music I listed
- 30:03Speaker 1: here on this list, along with the other albums that
- 30:07Speaker 1: I liked that didn't make this list, the Clips is
- 30:11Speaker 1: the album that every time the Birds don't sing hits,
- 30:17Speaker 1: I'm writ in pocket. I know the lyrics, I know
- 30:20Speaker 1: the album. I just listen from beginning to end. It
- 30:23Speaker 1: all sounds like I'm hearing it for the first time again,
- 30:27Speaker 1: and when it's over, I feel like I want to
- 30:29Speaker 1: run it back. It's a great album on all levels.
- 30:34Speaker 1: Pharrell doesn't get enough props for his production on this album.
- 30:41Speaker 1: The Clips did their damn thing with the bars, with
- 30:45Speaker 1: the annunciations and their flows and the clarity and their flows,
- 30:50Speaker 1: trying to try new styles on different songs. The features
- 30:54Speaker 1: from Kendrick to Talada creator to who else Stove God
- 31:02Speaker 1: like NAS's on here, Like it's just a dope album
- 31:08Speaker 1: for a group that hadn't worked together in making music
- 31:13Speaker 1: in fifteen years to come back.
- 31:17Speaker 2: And arguably to pass some of their prior work.
- 31:23Speaker 1: It's just the best album of the year in my opinion,
- 31:27Speaker 1: you know, And that's the only one I would put
- 31:28Speaker 1: the crown on. But I know on most lists best
- 31:33Speaker 1: of lists for twenty twenty five, it appears somewhere in
- 31:37Speaker 1: their list, and that's fine. But it was a moment
- 31:41Speaker 1: the rollout, Right, everybody just started talking about rollouts all
- 31:45Speaker 1: the time after watching the clips because it felt like
- 31:48Speaker 1: they took the momentum from that, from dropping the album
- 31:52Speaker 1: and having everybody talking about it, and they just gave
- 31:55Speaker 1: them something to talk about each time. Right before you
- 31:59Speaker 1: can say it was old, they got the Tiny Desk performance,
- 32:03Speaker 1: before you can blame you know, they had the Vatican
- 32:05Speaker 1: performing like they just kept going and then boom, here's
- 32:08Speaker 1: a tour and everybody's taking pictures and showing up at
- 32:12Speaker 1: the tour.
- 32:12Speaker 2: And then in the middle of that, you know.
- 32:16Speaker 1: People starting to like other records more so Stove God
- 32:19Speaker 1: starting to get some shine because now everybody loving him, Like, yo,
- 32:23Speaker 1: who is this cat?
- 32:24Speaker 2: Blah blah blah.
- 32:26Speaker 1: Just a dope, very dope year for hip hop. There
- 32:29Speaker 1: were a lot of moments that happened. There were a
- 32:31Speaker 1: lot of albums. There also were a lot of albums
- 32:34Speaker 1: that have been rumored to drop but did not drop
- 32:38Speaker 1: this year. And that's fine because we got more than
- 32:41Speaker 1: enough music. We got the massive Peal Run, you know,
- 32:45Speaker 1: we got some new cats that I mentioned here on
- 32:48Speaker 1: this podcast. We got the ladies teaming up for a
- 32:52Speaker 1: very dope album. Twenty twenty five was a very dope year.
- 32:56Speaker 1: What's in your top five albums of the year? Leave
- 33:00Speaker 1: your comments in your top five list in the comments
- 33:04Speaker 1: section below. Right here on YouTube, you can follow me
- 33:08Speaker 1: on social media at Vegas World i NC check out
- 33:13Speaker 1: the content on the channel. If you love or like
- 33:16Speaker 1: what you're seeing, subscribe. The goal is getting raised to
- 33:22Speaker 1: an amount where I don't have to say. There's a
- 33:24Speaker 1: goal every day, and that's fifty dollars. So whenever we
- 33:28Speaker 1: hit that, we'll talk about it. But for now, support
- 33:32Speaker 1: hip hop, hit the like button, or more.
- 33:35Speaker 2: Importantly, share with people you know. Enjoy this content.
- 33:39Speaker 1: Until next time, Happy holidays, and please know I'm not
- 33:44Speaker 1: a critic, I'm a fan Pace