A Few Albums That Meant Something to Me in 2020
From King to A GOD — Conway the Machine
Favorite track: Lemon, Spurs 3, Front Lines, Dough & Damani
Sometimes an album finds you at the right time on your musical journey. For me and From King To A GOD, the timing was perfect.
About two years ago, I made a half-intentional kamizake dive into hip hop, territory previously uncharted in my musical journey. My curiosity piqued first with Kanye West, learning new ways to appreciate music while falling in love with the greatest album of all time. My interests then turned to the modern codeine-drenched bars of Future and the angst of Playboi Carti. However, the rich tradition, lyrical focus and technical mastery of craft found in 90s hip hop loomed large and untouched in my own explorations. Not knowing where to start, I latched onto anything I could understand. I learned about showmanship of Outkast and Fugees, before moving on to the rowdy lyricism of Capone-N-Noreaga, Three 6 Mafia and Wu-Tang Clan. Around the same time this was happening, Conway the Machine of Griselda dropped my favorite record of 2020.
From King to A GOD resonated with me as the culmination of everything I had been recently studying. Without my knowledge of that which came before, I could not have appreciated these 14 tracks as I did. Of course, Conway and the rest of Griselda are the heirs to this lineage (Raekwon literally passed the torch), from the grimy loops to unparalleled lyrical prowess. For me, FKTG was a record that I immediately loved, but still grew on me over time, and represents the culmination of my musical journey at the end of 2020.
HELLBOY — Lil Peep
Favorite track: drive by
In the first weeks of the pandemic, I happened upon Everybody’s Everything and flipped it on the TV without a second thought. I hardly knew anything about Lil Peep except his generation of “Soundcloud rap” was one of the first musical movements that made me feel old. But, with a little contextualization provided by the documentary, I was jumping around my room to “witchblades” 15 minutes later.
As it turns out, nothing about Lil Peep should make me feel old. Not least the fact that his evolved brand of crate-digging pulls heavily from the era in music that raised me (see: Radiohead, the Microphones, the Postal Service, Underoath, etc.).
But, this is not to say that this brand of retromania is my main interest with Peep. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The raw intensity of emotion — lifted equally through lyrical content and vocal delivery — immediately resonated with me. Misunderstood and wildly emotional, discovering Lil Peep reawakened a kid that I didn’t know still lived inside of me. Yes, it is as fucked up as Lil Peep was on that stage in Los Angeles, but it is still real, timely and ultimately based in compassion.
Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip — TLC
Favorite Track: Hat 2 da Back
Modus Vivendi — 070 Shake
Favorite Track: Morrow
The Best Damn Thing — Avril Lavigne
Favorite Track: I Can Do Better
