Every time I do one of these lists, I mention that rap feels more splintered than ever, but, right now, it really does. One thing I miss is casually sitting around with friends, breaking down why a rapper said that or what in the world they were thinking when they rapped over that beat. It still happens, sometimes, but mostly everyone is off on their own musical journey, sending each other recommendations every now and then.
Good thing I have a column on Pitchfork to do my rambling. A place to talk about the ridiculousness of Protect’s LA Fitness rap, to get a kick out of 504icygrl’s classic New Orleans bounce, to say that Babyfxce E might be the nicest out. (He is in his bag, for real.) Something different for me this year is that I’ve really been a lyrics guy, which hasn’t always been the case with me. Sometimes I’m more into tapes that capture a mood or ones that are full of beats that rewire my brain. But, at the moment, the tapes I like most have lyrics that stick with me because they’re funny or relatable, and the artists who do it best are the lines who can make lines that you’ve heard a million times completely their own. Every mixtape listed here has lyrics that grab me, and, for better or worse, they exist outside of the general rap conversation.
Sorry to kick off this list with music from the streamerverse, but I have to live my truth. Well, Protect isn’t a streamer himself, but he does have one in his corner in the form of BruceDropEmOff, a popular reactor who is currently on a social media hiatus except for cryptic outfit pics. (Send the flood!) Whatever! Protect, from the land of wings and Josh Allen QB scrambles we call Buffalo, has a cool mixtape called Ball Hog for Life that is kind of like a concept fantasy album about the life of a popular rapper: a mostly problem-free utopia of sex, getting faded (no beer!), and being swaggy. With a sound that falls somewhere between the Pi’erre Bourne 2.o wave of tdf’s Culture and the debauchery of Ken Carson, Protect’s twist is his dedication to describing the competition of internet rap with pickup basketball metaphors. From what I can catch, he’s a defensive gym rat with a reliable jumper, basically the rap game Alex Caruso. So it’s not just a tape for the streamers but also the hoopers!
4TheWinn will give you more unsolicited financial advice than your friend who got really into crypto over the winter. Nearly every track on Winnito is fully loaded with advice on running your own off-the-books empire (“If you bought a bag and only profit half, trappin’ isn’t for you”) and motivation done with the West Coast’s signature linguistic sauce (“Need my bread with a green spread, avocado sandwich”). He’s more dedicated to the get-money lifestyle than Jayson Tatum is to the step-back three. But what really makes Winnito essential Northern California rap is the bangin’ beats, which sort of meet in the middle between the brute force of Stockton drill and the dirty-ass funk grooves you would expect to hear on mid-career tapes from Bay Area legends like Mac Dre and JT the Bigga Figga.
