The Alternative's Top 50 Releases of 2017

The L.A. rap collective’s second album of 2017 is a victory lap for their brand of gonzo boasts and unbridled creativity (or, as they put it on “QUEER,” “Spaceship doing donuts/It’s written I’m the POTUS”). Rage and joy go hand-in-hand on songs like “GUMMY,” a tough-as-nails G-funk bruiser, while “JUNKY” is a harrowing tour of the psyche’s dark side. “SWEET,” though, is an effervescent celebration of being at the top of one’s game, with each rapper twisting his voice up “like licorice” over an effortlessly irresistible beat.

On the final installment of their *SATURATION* trilogy, hip-hop “boy band” BROCKHAMPTON are in hyperdrive. *SATURATION III* continues the sprawling narratives of the first two albums, but they saved something big for their last lap. From the manic opener “BOOGIE,” the album crams myriad styles and themes into a dense, brilliant LP—their third in seven months. Between the ominous “LIQUID,” the soulful “BLEACH,” and the aggressively noisy “SISTER / NATION,” the 15-ish members of BROCKHAMPTON—around seven of whom rap—have successfully fused beats, bravado, honesty, meaning, humor, and sheer fun into one hell of an album.