While self-exiled in the eerie expanse of upstate New York, the duo of Matter ov Fact and EP recorded the most peculiarly beguiling home state album of 2013. See also: Seven Great Things About Action Bronson’s Blue Chips 2 That Do Not Involve Food There’s tangible glances back to the ’90s at times, not least with the majestic “The Mahdi” channeling Souls of Mischief’s “93 ‘Til Infinity,” but these kids have indigo-tinted eyes that are focused upwards and to the stars.īam Bam Bronsolino and producer Party Supplies are hip-hop’s greatest odd-couple comedy-double-act-in-the-making. The superb Marci Beaucoup will be revealed to the world next week, but before that he unleashed The Pimpire Strikes Back which saw Marcy widening his creative cohorts to include Madlib and Evidence while still proving the appeal of his now inimitable wry flow.Ī top of the year contribution from Flatbush staples Issa Dash and AK, The Underachievers steered the Beast Coast collective in a psychedelic-enhanced direction with Indigoism. Reloaded almost topped last year’s round-up of the best New York City rap albums, and for 2013 the former Flip Mode man dropped two projects. Smartly, he deals with it via a healthy dose of off-kilter funky beats topped with rhymes that brim with a cynical humor. J-Zone’s out-of-retirement album is the sound of a native New Yorker struggling to cope with the stress-heaping bureaucracy of his local USPS on one side and a gaggle of rappers salivating to jump on the fine-art bandwagon on the other. And in the year of Tim Dog’s curious (and unsolved) disappearance, “Curb Ya Dog” resonates as something of an unplanned tribute. Over 16 songs, Prodigy sounds as equal parts mentalist and enlightened as you’d want. Left-coast beat-miner The Alchemist gets a hearty assist here as he holds down top-to-toe production duties on Albert Einstein, but the project’s beating heart is the Mobb Deep man’s gutter-superstar performance. With the “Work” remix the Fergster also crafted a 2013 anthem–although hometown hounds might want to try and replace the now unwelcome Trinidad James’s guest spot with some vocals from Zhiggie.Ī novel in the form of a trilogy of EPs? Or just more advanced-level, back catalogue-referential rap hi-jinks from Jean Grae that will all be fathomed out in years to come? Start forming your own take on the Gotham Down experience by delving into the gifted-child rap acrobatics of “Kill Screen (Steve Wiebe).” For greasy kicks, lead single “Shark Fin Soup” also shouts out Mott Street food spots.Ĭouldn’t get beyond the department store muzak moment of “Fashion Killa” on A$AP Rocky’s $AP? Try the long-playing debut from the Mob’s second-in-line instead, which casts Ferg as the continuation of New York’s mid-’90s street-centric swagger.
Race Music, which was preceded by the freebie mixtape Half Measures, wins with its full-on dirt appeal imagine the heavy mental thoughts and space-thud production of EL-P’s “Nightwork” tryst with the lesser-spotted Sir Menelik and you’re in the subterranean ballpark. The Armand Hammer duo of Billy Woods and Elucid are a gift from the underground. See also: The Ten Best New York City Rap Albums of 2012
Muthafuckin’ eXquire’s canny Kismet, World’s Fair raucous Bastards Of The Party, and EL-P and Killer Mike’s magnificent Run The Jewels jaunt which missed out on inclusion by virtue of the ATLien’s hefty contribution.)
(Obligatory honorable mentions disclaimer: Steel Tipped Dove’s double volume smorgasbord of emcees …And A Whole Bunch Of Motherfuckers Parts 1 & 2, Mr. Consider this round-up a salute to the rap albums that best defined New York this year. The mainstream end of New York City’s 2013 rap output might have seen uptown upstarts A$AP Rocky and French Montana putting numbers on the board, but the city’s most fertile and invigorating offerings came from less glitzy-reaching enclaves.