Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 5.
20. J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive (Dreamville Records, 2014)
J. Cole always had the tools to be a generational rapper. He started with lyrical skill, and a tendency to be intelligent, if not conscious. This made his early material a hit with the Genius crowd. His hook-writing and ear for melody later garnered him radio attention. Still, his early projects were bogged down by lack of cohesion, too many words, and some high-key cheesy moments. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is where he put it all together. Cole, who's always had a major hand in production, crafted 13 beats that sound like they belonged together. Then he took his great lines, and turned them into great songs. Tracks like "Wet Dreamz" and "'03 Adolescence" are heartfelt coming of age stories, while "Fire Squad" and "No Role Modelz" are poignant reflections on society. 2014 Forest Hills Drive sees Cole step into his rightful place as one of the greatest MCs of our generation.
19. K Camp - K.I.S.S. 4 (FTE/4.27 Music Group, 2017)
As I mentioned in a previous write-up, the 2010's were the decade hip hop and RnB became almost indistinguishable. Crooners like Jeremih and Trey Songz started incorporating hip-hop jargon and swagger over DJ Mustard beats. Rappers like Chance and Kanye started basically singing their verses. This decade was also the dawn of a new breed of artist -- the chameleons, like Dej Loaf, Kid Ink and Tory Lanez, who melded genres seamlessly depending on what the song called for. K Camp is nowhere near the highest-profile of those artists, but his 2017 tape K.I.S.S. 4 is arguably the perfect snapshot of their genre. The tape is overflowing with equal parts RnB sex appeal and hip hop aggression. Camp spins caricature-level tales of tricking, pimping and general fuckboy behaviour over the sensual, party-hungry vibe of MusicMajor's production. The result is a project that could rival a few choice Motown records in terms of bedroom vibe.
18. Teenage Bottlerocket - Freak Out! (Fat Wreck Chords, 2012)
Teenage Bottlerocket's 2009 masterpiece They Came From the Shadows made the Wisconsin band a household name. Their follow-up, 2012's Freak Out!, didn't garner nearly as much attention, but it's arguably just as good. Freak Out! is 13 tracks of the band's trademark Ramones meets Bad Religion pop-punk, meshing speed and gritty guitar tones with crystal-clear production, hook-laden songwriting, and a knack for silliness that makes even the most self-serious punx chuckle. It also spices up the formula, from parts that border on crooning to parts that could actually get hardcore goons swinging in the pit. 30 plus years after Ramones made Ramones-style pop punk formulaic, Freak Out! proves why so many bands lean on this style. When it's done right, there's no better vessel for a great melody than a fast, straightforward pop-punk song.
17. Trapped Under Ice - Big Kiss Goodnight (Reaper Records, 2011)
The fact that Trapped Under Ice's magnum opus has been omitted from every major "Best of the Decade" list goes to show how clueless the music press can be. Big Kiss Goodnight is a consensus classic among hardcore heads for not only the 2010's, but the genre's entire 40 year history. The album was recently voted hardcore's best of the decade by a bunch of rabid hardcore nerds on Axe To Grind's "Mosh Madness", and rightfully so. TUI started out indebted to mid-90's NYHC, but by BKG they were their own juggernaut entirely. The album juggles bouncy groove, bonecrushing heaviness, and infectious melody for 33 minutes of near-perfection. Seeing artists like Turnstile, Power Trip and G.L.O.S.S. on these "best of lists" is great, because any press for hardcore is good press. It's also a head-scratcher, because among hardcore circles, those bands live in the shadow of the almighty TUI.
16. Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights (Bridge 9 Records, 2011)
When Defeater started, they were heavily indebted to the melodic hardcore that dominated their hometown of Boston for the previous decade. They continued to evolve, stepping out of their influences while simultaneously holding a thread to their roots. The most interesting step in that evolution is Empty Days & Sleepless Nights, an album that, on repeat listens, reveals the diverse influences of "the wave" bands Defeater was reluctantly lumped in with. How a band makes arpeggios and cymbal-heavy, "jazzy" drumming sound hard and heavy is beyond me, but Defeater manages it on Empty Days... The album is devastatingly bleak, moody, and unfriendly. Empty Days... came out around the same time as Big Kiss Goodnight, which turned the tide of hardcore away from Boston melody towards something harder. It would be fair, then, to interpret the train-whistle on "White Oak Doors" as the death-knoll of the Bridge Nine sound. An appropriate legacy for an album where death is the inescapable theme.
15. Xibalba - Hasta La Muerte (Southern Lord, 2012)
Latinos have been integral to the history of hardcore and extreme metal. Agnostic Front, Slayer, Morbid Angel and Madball all feature(d) prominent Latinx members, and no one would ever downplay the importance of those bands. Xibalba carries the tradition, with the added twist of wearing their heritage on their sleeve. From naming their band after the Mayan underworld, to singing a large portion of their songs in Spanish, to tackling race issues in their lyrics, Xibalba have become an example of how great hardcore becomes when it's informed by diverse perspectives. But to pidgeonhole Hasta La Muerte as a great Latinx hardcore album would be a disservice. The album perfectly blends the atmospheric and tonal heaviness of death metal with the groove and dynamics of hardcore. Most "hardcore influenced death metal" falls victim to corniness and riff-salad. Most "death metal influenced hardcore" can't play its instruments. Xibalba doesn't just avoid all the pitfalls on Hasta La Muerte. They go above and beyond. The album is an hour long and doesn't drag once.
14. Drake - Take Care (Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records, 2011)
Take Care didn't prove hip-hop could top the charts. Nor did it prove a rapper could be the biggest artist in the world. The genre had at least a decade of mainstream success by 2011, and it would take Drake five more years of grinding before he could anoint himself as the new king of pop. Take Care didn't prove anything. It did, however, set the stage and pave the way. The album topped the charts in the US, ushered in a new golden age of rap, and catapulted Drake to an international superstardom he would use to break records set by the Beatles and Michael Jackson. The album's seven singles are among the most infectious and innovative pop songs this decade. Its deep cuts are filled with introspective gems, unmatched bravado, and all the talent of a truly great MC. Take Care is a great record in its own right. In context, it shaped this decade's pop landscape more than any other album. Billy Eilish, Lizzo, Post Malone, and of course, Drake himself, owe a great debt to Take Care.
13. Nails - Abandon All Life (Southern Lord, 2013)
If you put a punk, a metal head and a hardcore kid in a room, and ask them to come up with a list of bands they all like, that list would be pretty short. Alongside Motorhead, Black Flag, Slayer, Napalm Death and Converge, would be Nails. That's high praise, considering Nails has never drawn as many kids as those other bands. It speaks volumes to their talent in a world where the internet is diverting our attention in a million different places. Nails released three stellar albums this decade -- none better than Abandon All Life. The album sounds like rage distilled. It's grimy, relentless and miserable. It's also extremely well written -- full of dynamic bursts, dance parts and even a few choruses. That being said, this album is not easy listening. Producer Kurt Ballou has a huge hand the album's bristly timbre, distilling the talent of Southern California's best hardcore musicians into something utterly unapproachable. But those who get it, get it. Abandon All Life speaks volumes to everyone who's modus operandi is anger.
12. ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron (Interscope Records/Top Dawg Entertainment, 2014)
Sure, Young Jeezy made the ad-lib his thing way before the turn of this decade. But the 2010's saw rappers take his idea and run with it. Some ad-libs became catch-phrases. Some were notable for their absurdity. On Oxymoron, ScHooboy Q takes the ad-lib to a whole other level. Through a haze of reverb and delay, Q weaponizes his signature "yahs" and "yaks" to shift song structures, create buildups, and add flavour to verses. The result is the closest hip-hop has ever gotten to a "wall of sound" production style while being accessible. Songs like "Hoover Street" twist and turn while the ad-libs pull multiple parts together. Other songs like "Gangsta" use the ad-libs to provide bounce and propel scream-along parts in the vein of gang vocals. Whether this production style was meticulously crafted, or just the product of some loped-out studio fuckery is a mystery to me. I can only say with confidence that it works.
11. Candy - Good To Feel (Triple-B Records, 2018)
Hardcore is a genre which pays homage like no other. This leads to a codified sound where purists can easily identify a band's lineage. Even hardcore's biggest fans have to admit, rigid dedication to form results in scores of unremarkable bands. The beauty of hardcore is when a band can meld sounds in a new or remarkable way. Candy is one of those bands. They blend obscure Japanese hardcore, crust, and the moodiness of Integrity, into something special. On Good to Feel, the NYC-by-way-of-Richmond-and-Buffalo band find the rare trifecta of speed, heaviness and edge. Candy's sound is undeniably versatile. That they can tour with the melodic Abuse of Power and the crushingly heavy Knocked Loose is a testament to this versatility. It's also a testament to how well-respected Candy is among its peers. That respect is wholeheartedly deserved.
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