Let’s be honest: I am way too old and way too lame to be the target demographic for most of today’s rap. As a result, I don’t end up listening to a lot of it. Not that I seem to be missing too much, based on the current wave of soundalike acts spitting repetitive rhymes that all feature the same yadda-da yadda-da, yadda-da beat. Good thing there are still a few rap acts that aim high enough to catch my interest — like these artists did in 2019:
TINNITIST’S PICK
clipping.
There Existed An Addiction To Blood
WHO ARE THEY? The experimental underground Los Angeles hip-hop trio of rapper Daveed Diggs — better known for his acting roles in everything from Hamilton to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes.
WHAT IS THIS? Their third studio outing in five years is also a deeply creepy, multi-layered concept album inspired both by the horrorcore rap of acts like Geto Boyz and Gravediggaz, and bloody ’70s cult movies like Ganja & Hess.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? On the surface, these skittery beats, ominous basslines, plinky keyboards and gruesome tales could be the soundtrack to an independent horror movie. Dig deeper and it’s impossible not to see that these depictions of looming danger, relentless terror and sudden violent death are also the story of contemporary African-American life.
READ THE FULL REVIEW AND HEAR THE ALBUM HERE
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Beast Coast | Escape From New York
Brockhampton | Ginger
Danny Brown | uknowhatimsayin¿
Dizraeli | The Unmaster
Gang Starr | One Of The Best Yet
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib | Bandana
Hobo Johnson | The Fall of Hobo Johnson
Slowthai | Nothing Great About 
Britain
Snoop Dogg | I Wanna Thank Me
Kate Tempest | The Book of Traps and Lessons
Kanye West | Jesus is King
Wu-Tang Clan | Of Mics and Men (Music From The Showtime Documentary Series)
TO FIND REVIEWS OF THESE ALBUMS, PLEASE USE THE SEARCH WINDOW AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE
