Passion of the Weiss's Best Albums of 2017

“I feel weird,” repeats Stephen Bruner on “Captain Stupido”. That’s encouraging because the leftfield moments have always lent his jazz/funk/soft-rock fusions singular charm—even here when he meows through “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)”. By those standards, the melancholy “Walk On By”, with its pensive verse from Kendrick Lamar, and “Show You the Way”—co-starring soft-rock icons Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins—feel irresistibly straightforward, but their velvet melodies are as beguiling as Bruner’s falsetto harmonies.

With the first song of his 2014 masterpiece, Dark Comedy, Open Mike Eagle reintroduced himself by defining his style: “I’m bad at sarcasm so I work in absurdity.” On that album, Mike deconstructed our overstimulated and over-surveilled society with ease and caustic wit. But what do you do when the world warps and bends into a shape so absurd that it can no longer be exaggerated? Brick Body Kids Still Daydream is a searingly political record for systolic political times. It chronicles the life cycle of the Robert Taylor Homes, a housing project on the South side of Chicago that was demolished completely ten years ago. Families that had lived under the same roof for three generations were forced to scatter, condemned by bureaucrats and faceless cranes and public indifference. Mike Eagle brings the Robert Taylor Homes back to life--literally, with arms and eyes and a head like the dome of a stadium--and fights until the last brick is made to crumble. As always, Mike slips in and out of various grey areas; on the opener “legendary iron hood,” he raps, “you think it's all good, but it's really a gradient.” The nostalgia (“95 radios”) is a little bit painful, the triumph (“hymnal”) comes through painstaking, incremental work. Everything needs to be earned, even the radio signals that are picked up through tinfoil wrapped on children's hands. The thesis becomes fully formed on “brick body complex,” where the hook is a towering statement of identity: “Don't call me ‘nigga,’ or ‘rapper,’ my motherfucking name is Michael Eagle.” But this is not a departure from the man-as-building conceit--the flesh and blood and brick and mortar are inextricable. In case there was any ambiguity about the political and cultural forces that lead to the Robert Taylor Homes’ eventual destruction, Brick Body Kids Still Daydream ends with perhaps the most powerful song of Mike Eagle’s catalog to date. “my auntie’s building” is a tour de force. “They say America fights fair,” he raps. “But they won't demolish your timeshare.” This is the point: the decay and eventual destruction of public housing--and of the physical lives of Black Americans generally--has been normalized in a way that should be grotesquely absurd. “They blew up my auntie’s building / Put out her great-grandchildren / Who else in America deserves to have that feeling? / Where else in America will they blow up your village?” Production comes courtesy of Exile, Toy Light, Andrew Broder, Illingsworth, DJ Nobody, Kenny Segal, Caleb Stone, Lo-Phi, Elos, and Has-Lo, who produces and guests on “95 radios.” “hymnal” also features a superb turn from Sammus, who maintains the same rhyme scheme throughout her defiant verse. As grave as the album’s stakes are, it's still anchored by Mike Eagle’s irrepressible sense of humor. (His live comedy show, The New Negroes, is upcoming via Comedy Central.) “no selling” is a hilarious take on practiced indifference, and “TLDR” bridges the economic gap with withering wit: “If you was rich and ‘bout to be broke, I can coach you / ‘Cause I can show you how to kill a roach with a boat shoe.” Eagle has earned rave reviews in Pitchfork, the LA Weekly, and wherever brilliant, avant-garde rap is appreciated. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream is his most overtly political work to date, and puts to use all the dazzling technical skills he's perfected over more than a decade at the forefront of rap’s underground. In chaotic and increasingly fractured times, it has a few crucial things to bring to your attention.

In the two years since *To Pimp a Butterfly*, we’ve hung on Kendrick Lamar\'s every word—whether he’s destroying rivals on a cameo, performing the #blacklivesmatter anthem *on top of a police car* at the BET Awards, or hanging out with Obama. So when *DAMN.* opens with a seemingly innocuous line—\"So I was taking a walk the other day…”—we\'re all ears. The gunshot that abruptly ends the track is a signal: *DAMN.* is a grab-you-by-the-throat declaration that’s as blunt, complex, and unflinching as the name suggests. If *Butterfly* was jazz-inflected, soul-funk vibrance, *DAMN.* is visceral, spare, and straight to the point, whether he’s boasting about \"royalty inside my DNA” on the trunk-rattling \"DNA.\" or lamenting an anonymous, violent death on the soul-infused “FEAR.” No topic is too big to tackle, and the songs are as bold as their all-caps names: “PRIDE.” “LOYALTY.” “LOVE.” \"LUST.” “GOD.” When he repeats the opening line to close the album, that simple walk has become a profound journey—further proof that no one commands the conversation like Kendrick Lamar.

Released within two weeks of his 2017 self-titled project, *HNDRXX* is a master statement of soulful, sly R&B from the Atlanta rapper. If *FUTURE* echoed the spontaneity and double-time flow of his now-classic mixtapes, the follow-up is stacked with anthems that are calibrated for a massive mainstream audience. Two marquee cameos—The Weeknd and Rihanna—add extra star power, but highlights like “Damage,” “Incredible,” and “Fresh Air” are all about Future’s brilliant mix of brutal honestly and unchecked hedonism.

Planet Mu are very excited to announce Jlin's long awaited second album “Black Origami”. A percussion-led tour de force, it's a creation that seals her reputation as a unique producer with an exceptional ability to make riveting rhythmic music. “Black Origami” is driven by a deep creative thirst which she describes as “this driving feeling that I wanted to do something different, something that challenged me to my core. Black Origami for me, comes from letting go creatively, creating with no boundaries. The simple definition of origami is the art of folding and constructing paper into a beautiful, yet complex design. Composing music for me is like origami, only I'm replacing paper with sound. I chose to title the album "Black Origami" because like "Dark Energy" I still create from the beauty of darkness and blackness. The willingness to go into the hardest places within myself to create for me means that I can touch the Infinity.”  Spirituality and movement are both at the core of “Black Origami”, inspired largely by her ongoing collaborations with Indian dancer/movement artist Avril Stormy Unger whom she met and collaborated with at her debut performance for the Unsound festival – ”There is a fine line between me entertaining a person and my spirituality. Avril, who collaborates with me by means of dance, feels the exact same way. Movement played a great role in Black Origami. The track "Carbon 7" is very inspired by the way Avril moves and dances. Our rhythms are so in sync at times it kind of scares us. When there is something I can't quite figure out when it comes to my production, it’s like she senses it. Her response to me is always "You'll figure it out". Once I figure it out it's like time and space no longer exist.”  Similar time shifting/folding/disrupting effects can be heard throughout the record – especially on “Holy Child” an unlikely collaboration with minimalist legend William Basinski. She also collaborates again with Holly Herndon on “1%”, while Halcyon Veil producer Fawkes' voice is on “Calcination“ and Cape Town rapper Dope Saint Jude provides vocals for “Never Created, Never Destroyed“. Jlin will be touring extensively this year and is currently lining up appearances including Sonar festival. She also has plans to collaborate with acclaimed UK choreographer Wayne McGregor who played her music recently on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs and described her music as “quite rare and so exciting".

Sinatra. Vandross. Thugger. Young Thug gets in touch with his inner crooner on this mixtape, touching on R&B, dancehall, even country. There are sublime music beds and acoustic guitar flourishes (“Me Or Us,” “Family Don\'t Matter”)—he’s clearly having fun accessing new levels of expression as guests like Snoop Dogg, Lil Durk, Future, Millie Go Lightly, and Jacquees serve as able foils.

Ariel Pink is one of those artists who doesn’t change their style so much as drill deeper into it with every album. Retreating from the studio sound of his recent breakthroughs into the murk of his early recordings (see 2004’s classic *The Doldrums*), *Dedicated to Bobby Jameson* is a strange, phantasmagoric experience, by turns creepy (“Santa’s in the Closet”), pretty (“Feels Like Heaven”), and something unsettlingly in-between (“Do Yourself a Favor”). As always, Pink loves a weird joke, but the prevailing mood is one of loss—of hearing something fade away in haunting real time.

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Compton duo Problem and DJ Quik embark on a swaggering old-school odyssey on *Rosecrans*, and it’s a journey fueled by plenty of L.A. gangsta boogie: The lazy, luxurious grooves of “Bad Azz” and the title track were made to soundtrack a drive with the top down through the city’s streets on a sunny day. Problem’s gruffer flow is a perfect foil for Quick’s slick rhymes throughout, and the latter shows off his beatmaking chops with the freaky funk and head-bobbin’ grooves of “European Vacation.”

Ty Dolla $ign raises the bar for the third installment of *Beach House*, a mixtape series that old fans hold in very high esteem. The album carries no shortage of the smirk-inducing, club-ready sex talk he broke with, but also ruminates on fame and its pressures, as well as the frailty of new relationships. At 20 tracks, there\'s plenty of room for friends (the guest list is in the double digits), but they\'re not just tossed-off featured verses. The bouncy and subdued “Stare” featuring Pharrell and Wiz Khalifa might just earn a place in each of their canons.

13 nuggets from Gavsborg & Time Cow recorded December 2016 to June 2017. Number 7 in Rolling Stone's Electronic Albums of 2017 Top 20 FACT mag albums of 2017 Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, Vinyl Factory & XLR8R best of the year albums of 2017

An unsparing indictment of everything. A scratched CD-R ode to the crew of the last nuclear submarine. ROME, the new album by ELUCID and billy woods as ARMAND HAMMER, is the sound of rats in the walls, fleeing. Terrifying, hilarious, chaotic, sleek, violent, implacable, ROME is a feast of words, a stylistic demolition derby over-production both layered and spare. Those tracks come courtesy of August Fanon, Messiah Musik, Kenny Segal, JPEGMAFIA, Fresh Kils and High Priest (Antipop), while appearances by Quelle Chris, Mach Hommy, Denmark Vessey and Curly Castro add to an already potent mix. ELUCID and woods are two of the most vital voices in the genre- as distinct as they are complimentary- at the height of their powers. VINYL & CD physical versions will be available on Nov 24, 2017.

On *Painted Ruins*, Grizzly Bear continue to revel in the dynamic between relaxed and urgent. Breathy vocals, arrangements that move from stripped-down and subdued to grand and cathartic—it\'s all there. But they’ve also found a new groove. “Wasted Acres” is bathed in lush, buzzing atmospheres, but its almost loungey swing fits like a worn-in pair of jeans. The intricate drumming that propels “Three Rings” also falls right in the pocket. But those newfound comforts are most apparent in the thrumming bass of the New Wave-kissed “Mourning Sound” and on \"Glass Hillside,” where the band channels Steely Dan’s jazzier moments.

R&B singer Kelela’s deeply personal debut LP does just what it says on the label. Over beats from Jam City, Bok Bok, Kingdom, and Arca—which swerve from warped and aqueous to warm and lush to icy and danceable—Kelela turns her emotions inside out with a sultriness and self-assuredness that few underground artists can muster. She’s tough and forthright, tender and subdued on songs about breakups (“Frontline”), makeups (“Waitin”), and pickups (“LMK”)—and the way she spins from one mode to the next is dizzying in the best way possible.

“WE IN YEAR 3230 WIT IT,” Vince Staples tweeted of his second album. “THIS THE FUTURE.” In fact, he’s in multiple time zones here. Delivered in his fluent, poetic flow, the lyrical references reach back to 16th-century composer Louis Bourgeois, while “BagBak” captures the stark contrasts of Staples’ present (“I pray for new McLarens/Pray the police don’t come blow me down because of my complexion.”) With trap hi-hats sprayed across ’70s funk basslines (“745”) and Bon Iver fused into UK garage beats (“Crabs in a Bucket”), the future is as bold as it is bright.

No MC represents the fluidity and versatility of UK rap better than Momodou Jallow. While the vivacious “Did You See” cements his position as a captain of London’s Afrobeats scene, he constantly escapes pigeonholing on this magnetic debut. The title track offers sax-topped G-funk, “Leave Me” sets brooding guitar riffs to trap beats, and “Plottin” recalls UK garage’s melodic glory days. Over those sounds, J Hus switches from staccato belligerence and joyful bravado to downbeat reflection without missing a beat—or the chance for a sharp punchline.

Having codified the rhythm of Afrobeat during his many years with the great Fela Kuti, drummer Tony Allen brings an authoritative air to *The Source*, his Blue Note debut. Based in Paris, he recruited the finest of French musicians and built a band with great creative endurance and deep soul. Horns, pumping bass and drums, an electric piano timbre so specific to Afrobeat: *The Source* is a swirl of sounds held together by Allen’s elastic and indefatigable beat.

21 Savage, Migos\' Offset, and Metro Boomin have all worked tirelessly, if only occasionally together, to become some of hip-hop’s most in-demand collaborators. *Without Warning*, an album whose release lives up to its name, is a return to the MCs’ trap-music roots (after having achieved a fair bit of pop appeal). The whole of it is dark and dense with highlights like the admonitory “My Choppa Hates N\*ggas” and “Run Up the Racks,” a song whose muffled keyboard chimes cast an eerie pall over brags of ill-gotten income. The woozy Offset solo outing, “Ric Flair Drip,” is one of the few more jubilant moments.

who told you to think??!!?!?!?! is about boundaries and permissions. the artist creating their own license to ill. what it means to answer a call that never comes. the process of flaw turned idiosyncrasy turned style. that old transmutation spell, the happening as one perfects tricks and in turn masters magic. to set the elenchus upon itself, to begin a poet and end a rapper agency that is what makes the rapper an exceptional artist, beyond a poet. in years gone rappers once focused on getting Free who told you to think??!!?!?!?! is a return to form. -RF

Mount Kimbie’s music isn’t easily classified. Think of it like electronic music made with the casual precision of a bedroom indie band—hooky but abstract. Dialing back some of the dollhouse dubstep of their first two albums, *Love What Survives* continues the duo’s subtle, exploratory streak, from the buzzy fever dreams of “Blue Train Lines” (featuring King Krule) to a pair of gorgeous collaborations with James Blake (“We Go Home Together” and “How We Got By”), which fuse the spaciousness of ambient music with the steady heart of soul.

2 Chainz is a hit maker, but *Pretty Girls Like Trap Music* shows there are deeper ambitions afoot. His production arm is strong—Mike WiLL Made-It, Murda Beatz, and Mike Dean all put in work. He speaks his mind, dissing the government and “mumble-rap” while Nicki Minaj references her Remy Ma beef on “Realize.” Pharrell leaves his platinum imprint on “Bailan.” Then 2 Chainz puts his life story out there on the revelatory “Burglar Bars”—the realest song he’s ever cut.

Lil B goes back to the ‘80s on this 27-track album full of retro West Coast electro-funk grooves. The thumping drums of “Bad Mf” hark back to L.A.’s World Class Wreckin’ Cru, and the throwback minimalist beat of “Hip Hop” provides the bedrock for a wistful ode to a bygone era of rap. But those well-chosen references never overshadow The BasedGod’s distinctive style, with cuts like the swaggering, squelchy “Go Senorita Go” colored by his trademark wacky humor.

Snoop’s dipping his diamond-encrusted cup into the fountain of youth. The rapper/entrepreneur shows his versatility on *Neva Left*. From classic G-funk to reggae, trap to hyphy to R&B, Snoop is always in the cut—his distinct drawl shapeshifting to whatever style he chooses. The instant club classic “Trash Bags” describes a typical night out with Snoop. For old-school rap fans, he references the Golden Age on “Moment I Feared,” “Big Mouth,” and a lovely cover of Biz Markie’s “Vapors.”

Named for the tattoo that sits between his eyes (“It’s a knife”), 21 Savage’s debut studio album glistens with sinister flows and explicit reveals. *Issa Album* dives deep into the trap side, documenting his come-up, the spoils, temptations, irritations, and self-medication. “Dead People” and “Close My Eyes” paint grimy pictures and rank as some of 21\'s most viscerally affective tracks yet (“I see dead bodies when I close my eyes” goes the hook in the latter). Tempered production by Pierre Bourne, Wheezy, Southside, DJ Mustard, and Metro Boomin allow the ATL rapper the full stage, closing out with a 7-minute freestyle.

As its title suggests (albeit a little backhandedly), *Flower Boy* explores a softer side of Tyler, the Creator. Not that he wasn’t thoughtful before, or that he’s lost his edge now—if anything, the dark wit and internal conflict that made *Goblin* a lightning bolt in 2011 has only gotten richer and more resonant, offset by a sound that cherry-picks from early-\'90s hip-hop and plush, Stevie-style soul (“Garden Shed,” the Frank Ocean-featuring “911 / Mr. Lonely”). “Tell these black kids they can be who they are,” he raps on “Where This Flower Blooms.” “Dye your hair blue, s\*\*t, I’ll do it too.”

Until a late flurry of percussion arrives, doleful guitar and bass are Solána Rowe’s only accompaniment on opener “Supermodel,” a stinging kiss-off to an adulterous ex. It doesn’t prepare you for the inventively abstract production that follows—disembodied voices haunting the airy trap-soul of “Broken Clocks,” “Anything”’s stuttering video-game sonics—but it instantly establishes the emotive power of her rasping, percussive vocal. Whether she’s feeling empowered by her physicality on the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Doves in the Wind” or wrestling with insecurity on “Drew Barrymore,” SZA’s songs impact quickly and deeply.

Rah Zen’s Midnight Satori emerges from beyond time and space, serving as the Boston-based beat-maker's sonic thesis of his journey into the mystical world of lucid dreams and inner visions. Satori, a Japanese word meaning “sudden awakening,” defines the flashes of insight Rah has experienced in his creative process. Rah flips, mangles, and distorts compelling samples over off-kilter drums, creating an ethereal and spiritually engaging soundscape. Heavily sprinkled with vocal clips on dreams, metaphysics and the nature of our reality, Midnight Satori, guides the listener through a series of vignettes. “Lunar Eclipse,” the intense and solemn opening track, tears the soul apart for the subsequent reparation that takes place as Midnight Satori progresses. The record plays like a cosmic escapade, delving into territories both dark and light. The ominous “Nightworks,” and meditative “Soular Eclipse,” slow the pace into a trance-inducing lull; while the colorful, heat-generating single “Tree of Life,” multi-faceted “Mindshift,” and amorous “Astral Love” provide glimmers of impassioned hope and optimism. Full of unpredictable turns and syncopated rhythms, the transcendental “Ways Within” features fellow Boston creative, Wavysight, and Brainfeeder signee/Flying Lotus collaborator, Jeremiah Jae, delivering skillful lyricism on the alchemy of daily inspiration. Corresponding analog visuals, constructed by New Orleans’ based artist, Metasonik, function symbiotically with Rah Zen’s music. The project comes to light via rising Los Angeles record label Dome of Doom. In its totality, Midnight Satori is a multi-media ode to the creative energy manifested in the late hours of the night into early morning, when most are asleep, and the lines between dream and reality become blurred.