Rap is always tricky to decide. The results of each year since 2010 have been pretty odd, especially with Das Racist winning best rap album over Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”. The way we look at things in the rap category tends to vary in strange ways, but in the end it’s what turned the genre on its head or changed the way we listen to hip hop. The nominees this year range from the west coast titanic Kendrick Lamar, to Killer Mike’s claim to legitimacy with “R.A.P. Music”, to Death Grips’ societally-involved aural assaults. These were our heavy hitters this year and each of them had something to say about the genre in its own way. Killer Mike created astoundingly hard southern rap that serves as a solid traditional record and Kendrick Lamar perfected the rap narrative and turns it out as a great success story.
But Death Grips.
“The Money Store” is obviously far from traditional, but that became the most captivating part about Death Grips since “Exmilitary” (which nearly won our Album of the Year in 2011). One of the most endearing parts of “The Money Store” is how well it stands on its own while serving its intriguing purpose as the dark middle chapter of a trilogy of records. Sure, the earlier two runners up are are way easier to understand at face value, but Death Grips’ effort is more realized in terms of digging deeper and I will still implore you to have at least a couple listens of each Death Grips album while reading the lyrics. It’s the most visceral rap experience we’ve had this year, from the fucking bonkers production from Flatlander to the pseudo-psycho mad yelps of MC Ride to Zach Hill’s absurdist drumming and overarching vision for things.
Fermata over Whole Rest 