Last Thursday marked the first day of fall, which means time to bust out a hoodie, the blanket scarves, and your favorite pair of Timberlands because it’s about to get a whole lot cooler. A new season means also means a good time to find new music; it’s come time to put away the summer bangers and fill up your library with chilled-out fall vibes. Here’s a list of three hip-hop albums released this year to get you started on finding the best music for mother nature’s serenest season.
Telefone by Noname
Noname is perhaps the least known artist on this list, but what an artist she is. Formerly known as Noname Gypsy, the Chicago rapper had previously impressed on various guest verses, in particular her feature on Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap track “Lost,” but had yet to put out a project. Telefone of course changes that, demonstrating Noname’s standalone chops, reaching to happy highs and mournful lows but all the while maintaining a steady confidence. Her sound is grounded in bright, downtempo nostalgia, sampling anything from light-as-a-falling-autumn-leaf atmospheric beats to church organs, toy xylophones, barbershop quartets. Noname couples this aesthetic with a mellow flow that is part-singing and part-slam poetry, further carried by her head-spinning wordplay and vivid imagery of death, melancholy, childhood, and optimism. Telefone is a great backdrop for airy daydreaming walks through Central Park or wistful rush hour commutes on a crowded 6 train.
Tracks to Check Out: “Casket Pretty,” “Diddy Bop,” “Shadow Man,” “Sunny Duet”
Malibu by Anderson .Paak
If you had to pick an up and coming artist who embodies soul, you would probably have no choice but to pick the one and only Anderson .Paak. Taken under the wing of hip-hop Legend Dr. Dre, the notoriety of .Paak has shot up significantly the last year, manifesting itself in prominent features in the latest releases of Schoolboy Q and Mac Miller, much in part to the unique spectacle of his sophomore effort, Malibu. Paak’s voice is certainly unconventional but all the more enthralling, more suede smooth than silky with a satisfying scratchy timbre, moving fluidly between raps and croons. His vocals are backed with instrumentals that feel more like a live band than studio production, creating this warm, down-to-earth vibe that more belongs in a jazz club more than a rap concert. If you're looking for a chill-day album that speaks to both the broken and the happy heart and leaves them both feeling good, look no further than Malibu.
Tracks to Check Out: “Heart Don’t Stand a Chance,” “Put Me Thru,” “Your Prime,” “Come Down”
The Sun’s Tirade by Isaiah Rashad
Signed to the label holding up the powerhouses of Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q, along with the hype to his phenomenal debut E.P, Cilvia Demo, all but diminished, it’s not a stretch to say Isaiah Rashad had some pressure to realize a great debut album. The Sun’s Tirade, even if it may be a tad too long, definitely lives up to the hype surrounding Rashad. The Chattanooga rapper is definitely right when in “Rope // rosegold” he says “has the music for the vibers.” Over instruments smooth as butter, Rashad’s laid-back, metronomic rapping is almost hypnotic. Throughout rapper constructs this cloudy and hazy aesthetic of sounds that listeners will feel like they’re floating through. The Sun’s Tirade is the album for lounging in a café or looking out the window of a long car ride on rainy days.
Top Tracks: “Free Lunch,” “Wat’s Wrong,” “Park,” “Stuck in the Mud”
