As our recent debate over the millennium's best hip-hop mixtapes rages on, it's worth remembering that listeners have been gifted some truly terrific tapes amid one of the most front-loaded years for music in recent memory. While a couple tapes made our Overlooked Records 2016 list so far, many more have flown under the radar for one reason or another: Some simply haven’t had the platform to be unpacked as carefully as they should be, while others have stirred up devoted fans but haven’t gotten the wider praise they deserve (which is commonplace for the shifting medium). All, however, are worthy of a listen if you're a rap fan.
Brockhampton — All-American Trash
Brockhampton is a questionably named, self-described “boy band” led by rapper and singer Kevin Abstract. The collective’s full roster remains a mystery, but among its members are Matt Champion, Ameer Van, Joba, Poofie, and Merlyn Wood, Jabari Manwa, Jon Nunes, and BEAR//FACE. Their debut project, All-American Trash, crams a whirlwind of sounds and stylistic influences into a fun-filled 39 minutes. There are acoustic guitars (“Contacts”), synth-pop elements, traces of R&B, and straight-up rap songs (“Ben Carson”). The highlights emerge when a cut zigzags from one genre to the next or blends them together: On “Michigan,” a solo piano riff gives way to a bass-heavy jam with singsongy verses that tiptoe hip-hop’s borders, and on “Home” trickling keys and hand drums accent submerged guitar riffs as fuzzed-up vocals skim just above the surface.
CupcakKe — Cum Cake
It’d be easy to pigeonhole Elizabeth “CupcakKe” Harris as a (much needed) voice for female-centric sex positivity in rap. Many of her biggest web hits—songs like “Deepthroat,” “Juicy Coochie,” and “Vagina”—have been unapologetically graphic and equally fun. But don’t let the title of her mixtape fool you: Cum Cake is a well-rounded introduction from a skilled writer. It balances songs about love, loss, and hardship with its more explicit tracks to create a full profile of the up-and-coming Chicago rapper. Among the tape’s most harrowing moments is “Pedophile,” which documents how the relationship Harris had at 15 with an older man violated boundary after boundary. CupcakKe’s career thus far may be defined by her ability to turn out great raunchy anthems, but she is capable of so much more.
Famous Dex — #OhMannGoddDamm
Chicago rapper Famous Dex careens through verses with a feral spirit. His rambunctious vocal performances carry his songs, which are all accentuated by explosive ad-libs. One of them became the title for his strongest effort to date, #OhMannGoddDamm. The mixtape is a nonstop barrage of phonetic sounds rapped directly at you. Dex is a shout rapper that relies heavily on energy to keep his tracks moving, and on songs like “Hit Em Wit It” and “Hell Yeaaa” he flings syllables with reckless abandon. Perhaps the greatest proof of his promise is “Kanye,” a song the sizes down his city’s global ambassador so that Dex can spend a day in his shoes.
Jacquees — MOOD
Much of the next generation of R&B singers—guys like PARTYNEXTDOOR, Bryson Tiller, and Tory Lanez—are fixated with the previous generation creating formless replicas of ‘90s neo soul and new jack swing records, merely casting shadows of the genre’s titans. Even when done well, like on dvsn’s September 5th, it still reeks of nostalgia, longing for an era that’s long gone. Enter Jacquees, the latest in a long line of Birdman proteges, who's looking to modernize R&B instead of retreading its glory days. His debut mixtape is indebted to the ’90s, but it feels present. Where others have sought to repackage classic R&B’s essence, he has simply let it mold the shape of his music. MOOD is a fitting title for a mixtape that feels this deeply and articulates its feelings this clearly. These are expertly-crafted love songs for a plugged-in age.
Key! — Before I Scream
Key! has long been essential to Atlanta’s rap outsiders; he’s operated on the fringes of breakout moments for eccentrics like Father, OG Maco, Raury, and iLoveMakonnen. He has a husky voice that usually topples over rap productions, using its weight as an instrument of force. On his latest mixtape—his best in some time—there are plenty of songs that utilize his formidable timbre (like “See No Evil,” rapped alongside Skepta), but he also explores a more Auto-Tune-focused style on standout cuts like “Rain Away” and “New Money,” which repurposes the “new phone, who dis?” meme into a cut off anthem. The central theme seems to be distancing oneself from negative energy wherever possible. “Haters at an all-time fucking high, y’all,” he raps on standout track “Nobody,” and it's a microcosm of the tape’s thesis: do you.
Lucki — Son of Sam
Lucki, formerly Lucki Eck$, has made the transition from drug dealer to drug doer, getting darker and more strung out with each new release. On Son of Sam, he raps as if he’s perpetually groggy from a Xanax bender, penning wandering but colorful descriptions of his highs and what exactly he does to get them. His writing hasn’t missed a beat, but his delivery has grown increasingly sedated and leisurely; he’s slurring his words and repeating himself in verses, mumbling and fumbling through sludgy cadences that drag through warped soundscapes and spinning rooms. It’s hypnotizing listening to him plod through sentences, commentating the ongoing decay of his brain with shrugs and wisecracks.
Nef The Pharaoh & Cardo — Neffy Got Wings
Vallejo rapper Nef the Pharaoh is among the most promising up-and-coming artists in rap with a handful of local hits to his credit. He’s a thoughtful writer, but he sounds like he’s having fun when he raps. On the heels of his 2015 self-titled EP, which was highlighted by the Cash Money homage “Big Tymin,” he released Neffy Got Wings, a collaboration with producer Cardo. The tape is Nef at his most rousing, growing into his own talents as a songwriter and hookman. He has an infectious singsong that slopes subtly in and out of rap cadences. His voice climbs into a nasally whine, bringing levity to many of his punches, and on songs like “Wake Up,” he bounces through verse full thrust in a way that’s reminiscent of hyphy legend Mac Dre. But his big moment is “Michael Jackson,” a moonwalk through astral synths that’s equal part tribute and flex.
Ty Money — Cinco De Money 2
Last year's Cinco De Money was a bleak and distressing look through Ty Money’s life in the Chicago suburb of Harvey, but its darkness resonated thanks to his dense rap style, which often magnified street sequences. The tape’s sequel, Cinco De Money 2, steps out of the shadows, but retains the tightly-pack verses that gave its predecessor so much punch. On songs like “Animal” and “What They Taught Me,” Money's Auto-Tuned raps file perfectly into the grooves of beats from RioMac, the tape’s unsung hero. Cinco De Money 2’s centerpiece is another of RioMac's productions: “How,” a fast-talking opus that runs through rhetorical questions for the small-time rappers surrounding him, making use of his keen observational skills to hurdle barbs from a perch.
Young Dro — Phoenix
Young Dro is an underrated wordsmith who has been in the Atlanta rap game long enough to be deemed a veteran. His new mixtape, Phoenix, houses some of the best rapping he’s done this decade. Take, for example, passages from opener “No Pressure,” which alternates from a slow-rolling flow that pulls at syllables (“Yes sir, I’m sittin’ up in the Tesla / My chopper, I named it Vanessa / You can walk in my house and see that thang on the dresser”) into a blistering double-time. His southern drawls trudges through the varying production from local mavens like Zaytoven and Wheezy. He’s every bit as witty as he’s ever been, just with a greater emphasis on Auto-Tune.