Thursday 14 December 2017

The obligatory best rap songs of 2017 post

Question: Who is Will High's least favorite premier league footballer?
Answer: Alex Cannibal Oxlade-Chamberlain!



2017: the year when ya host went from gettin' views with the bloggin' to makin' the news with the bloggin'. The Martorialist: officially the only rap blog to inspire a Mac Dre weed carrier to record a Ludacris dis in 2017.

Had a blast with the bloggin' this year even though I don't understand what's going on in rap anymore: A$AP Folky Malone is bigger than ever; New York rap somehow continues to get worse and worse; the main artists who fall under the umbrella of Soundcloud-rap are almost universally terrible to my ears; mid-tempo trap beats with that same damn drum pattern are a billion times more played out than Kwame's polka dots could ever be; and people are actually spending their time watching videos of Joe Budden and DJ Akademiks argue about music rather than spend their time actually listening to music.

Oh well - at least I heard less Drake songs than any year since 2010 and didn't have the misfortune to stumble on a single KanYe West think-piece all year. And then there were these songs which made all the other bullshit in rap tolerable. As ever, no order of preference, but I'm gonna do things slightly different this post:

Best old songs which were finally released this year:
Camp Lo - Camp Lo (Bust Ya Down)
T-Pain & Lil' Wayne - Listen To Me
MF DOOM & Madlib - Avanlache

Best songs from 2015/early 2016 which blew up this year:
Level & Mouse On Tha Track - I Bet You Won't
Valee - Shell (O.G version)

Best songs of the past year:
OMB Peezy - Lay Down (O.G version)
Quelle Chris - Buddies
70th Street Carlos - Bag It Up
70th Street Carlos & WNC Whop Bezzy - Trell
Creek Boyz - With My Team (O.G version)
French Montana ft. Swae Lee - Unforgettable
Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Complex
Queen Key - My Way or Kung Fu
Baby Soulja ft. Boosie BadAzz - Dirty
Boosie BadAzz - Webbie I Remember
Migos - T-Shirt
Nef The Pharaoh - My Way (Freestyle)
Tay-K - The Race
Rich The Factor ft. The Popper - Aristocrat
SOB X RBE - Humble
Doughboyz Cashout ft. B. Ryan - This Is How We Move It
Rich Homie Quan - Word Of Mouth
Yung Cat - Killa City Party
Count Bass D ft. Snoop Dogg - Too Much Pressure
GoldLink ft. Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy - Crew
Dru Down - My 501's
Poohman ft. Yukmouth, Keak Da Sneak & Dru Down - Cookies & Drank
Street Knowledge - Dru Down Flow
BallGreezy ft. Lil' Dred - Nice & Slow
Kodak Black - Patty Cake
AllStar Lee - The Fresh Prince Of Brick Mile
Lor Choc - Fast Life
Shabazz Palaces ft. Thaddillac - Shine A Light
Ralo - Calm Down Ralo
Roc Marciano - Killing Time
Que Almighty ft. 70th Street Carlos & JMM Larry - Put That On Gang
Ayo & Teo - Lit Right Now
Mozzy - Sleep Walkin'
Maine Musik - Soulja Slim Flow

Best rap song with no rapping:
8 Bit Universe - XO Tour Llif3 (8 Bit Remix)

Best songs featuring British people rapping:
J Hus - Did You See
MoStack - Let It Ring
Sneakbo ft. Giggs - Active

If you're the person who turns this post into a playlist then do it on YouTube. A handful of these songs aren't on Spotify/Apple etc in any form, and I don't cosign those jankey re-recorded versions of Lay Down and With My Team or the extended version of Shell on all the official streaming sites.

Related: the best non-rap songs of 2017 IMO.

47 comments:

Dank said...

Did You See is song of the year

Anonymous said...

Aren't Crime Apple and Lil Eto from New York? They dropped good records this year.

Corolla Club said...

Glad to see Rich Homie on this list, seems like people have really dismissed him as of late. Also awesome to see how far J Hus has come over the last couple years, I loved his album.

d said...

interesting WNC picks, forgot bout that Lor Choc you posted its my shit. I think this is gonna be Lay Down, Put That On Gang & Ding Dong yr for me.

Boosies slowed up a bit though, hope he gets his beats act together but ffs - the Webbie song also suffers from that cloth on cloth mixing process hes been working with since prison. idk what the story is. Not buying the Black ken hype so?

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Black Ken had a few joints, but nothing with much replay value that I'd spend money on.

Realistically, my criteria for this list was: the songs I liked enough to spend money on/hunt the MP3 down/rip the audio of.

L.A said...

Cheers for this

d said...

You feeling Herbo this yr? First time ive been into him solo rly

Neen liking Greedo too

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I can't get with the idea of Herb & Bibby as solo rappers.

I listened to their duo track from Herb's album over the DJ Enuff Freestyle Dipset sample but the way Herbo says G-Herbo sounded like gerbil and it just made me laugh.

Smell Rell said...

Waitin for one of the frenchies or japs to drop a zipfile

Anonymous said...

Pleased to see "This Is How We Move It" getting some shine

Not pleased to see any Kendrick

d said...

I think Im alright w this namechange cos he was a kid rapper + it might be shite but at least its not an insult from the 80s. At the v least that bit on Lil Gangbanging Ass where he sounds like Lil b is p funny.

GGGGGG said...

You need to interview Will High.

Anonymous said...

I was all set with a "Wot, no Tee Grizzley?" comment because First Day Out and No Effort both stuck around for a good while, but thinking about it now, I'm not sure if you even mentioned him on here.

Ray Garraty said...

New Boosie is just lame. It's like he forgot everything he showed us in post-prison albums.

Smell Rell said...

A-Wax really fell off this year

James said...

Here for Joe Budden hate

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Imagine being on your deathbed and realising you'd spent precious time listening to Joe Budden talk.

Jmil843 said...

the dude with the fro in SOB X RBE might be the best rapper i heard this year. i liked SOB X RBE s/t album but all that singing from Young THO alllllmost ruined it.

Yeldarb said...

The 8 Bit remix of the Uzi Vert song is fresh lol

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

It's the definitive version; the Uzi O.G is little more than a glorified reference track.

Top 3 reasons why:
1. It hits the notes more pleasurably
2. It has more thump
3. It wasn't recorded by a guy with a septum piercing

Unknown said...

Nothin from that Young Bleed or C-Bo that dropped this year?

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

There was a Bleed single I saw the video for which was decent.

I vaguely recall a C-Bo song produced by the Mekanix.

Catfish said...

Need a zip

Anonymous said...

glad to see some Roc Marciano on the list. Guess he was the one guy doing NY rap decently to your ears this year? I really like that album

anunderwaterman said...

thoughts on Creek Boyz remix? i thought better than original.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

*Max B voice*

Hated it.

ILX Snitch said...

'Webbie I Remember' is soooooooooo good.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

It's his equivalent of Wayne's I Miss My Dawgs innit.

Definitely hits that Top To The Bottom nostalgic sweet spot.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

...and speaking of Boosie and Wayne, this video is the best music criticism of 2017.

CrowleyHead said...

Any love for the Valee & Z-Money song that dropped not too long ago?

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

It's aiiight.

Pablo Gwan said...

ZMoney song makes more sense with the beat riding out (tape version)

Ezra said...

Thanks for the list, I made a .zip here it is http://www27.zippyshare.com/v/W9JvNWpj/file.html

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

There you go, lads who were gaggin' for a zipfile

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Had Maine Musik's Soulja Slim Flow come out earlier it woulda made this list.

Trel production and no trace of Auto-Tune obviously seals the deal, but him slowing his delivery down is very necessary because that dense flow he does on tracks like Insurance can sometimes sound he's reading from a phone book to me.



D said...

Been listening to Silkk The Shocker a lot lately, Maines flow reminds me of him but I hear ya it gets Xxxtra Sunz Of Mannish.

I'm a sucker for novelty shit n Que using up all of Trels remakes in one song isn't 1/4 the song Put That On Gang is but i predict I'm prob gonna listen to it more.

D said...

Also David drake asked a good question recently bout Soulja slim/big boi maybe having common rap ancestry to have them rapping like that

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Someone needs to procure Trel's Ya Heard Me instrumental and do a proper remake.

I'm thinking Peezy would be the best candidate given how hard he ripped the From What I Was Told beat on Interracial Relations.

CANE said...

Thanks! Great list! Queen Key's Kung Fu is very cool.

+ Best Songs Featuring French People Rapping:

Niska - Réseaux
Jok'air ft. Chich - Squale
Damso - Macarena

(3 is more than enough)

Anonymous said...

Sweet don't think there was a zip last year only stream thought it was the end of an era. Thanks Ezra, your WRC frees were dope as well.

the ghost of fucks given past said...

Took the liberty of spoifying your list: https://open.spotify.com/user/11180051859/playlist/768X2tBPL9QUOAiwFxoqWG?si=Hl_C0s9nRMqMn7mbvkpQEw

Feel free to give me a snappier name for it. Couldn't find all the tracks obviously.

Out of interest, did you hear/fuck with 'No Don' by Lotto Boyz? Up there with Let It Ring for me.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

It's okay. J Hus and MoStack are so much better than all those other guys to me.

Dead wrong said...

LoL just spotted your post re Spotify. I apologise - I'll call it unofficial or summat.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

It's all love as long as the 8 Bit Universe remix of XO Tour Llif3 is on there.

Yohan said...

Excellent list with few surprises on from the current best blog outchea. Appreciated your content a lot the past (few) year(s), the quality is consistently high. Hopefully you can keep up this pace for a long time to come. Thanks a lot for your continued work!

xanax fantasia said...

obviously nothing is touching the GOAT 8 bit remix, xo tour life, but this did remind me of that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaAWsGn5PQ8&t=29s

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I've never heard a Bladee song but I'm 100% confident that it's better than the original.