Streaking through the UK rap scene like a comet through the night sky, Central Cee is the UK’s most promising rap star. His February mixtape 23 was the latest indication that the lad from Shepherd’s Bush has worldwide mass appeal. Home to hit singles like the slinky “Retail Therapy,” the inspirational “Khabib,” and head-nodding “Straight Back To It,” all of which charted in the UK Top 25, and the worldwide smash “Obsessed With You” (#4 in the UK), 23 is a steely, confident, and fun-loving salvo from a young artist who knows this is just the beginning. Among the tape highlights: “Eurovision,” a border-crossing posse cut which brought together 8 rappers from four countries and fiery verses in French, English, Spanish, and Italian. 23 debuted at #1 on the UK Official Charts, fending off stalwarts like Tears For Fears, and kept selling, landing on the Official Charts’ list of Biggest Albums of 2022 So Far in the UK.

A shrewd slick-talker and an accomplished businessman, Icewear Vezzo is one of the key figures in the red hot Detroit rap scene. Filled with sinister, piano-led production, his mixtape Rich Off Pints 3 acts as a hustler’s handbook, bursting at the seams with handy street lessons for aspiring executives, sneering missives that take aim at fakes, and heartfelt reflections on the hard work it takes to achieve a better life. Continuing the story started by 2021’s Rich Off Pints and Rich Off Pints 2, ROP3 highlights Vezzo’s strength as a songwriter, bringing rock-solid concepts and crisp turns-of-phrase that leave a lasting impression. Welcoming guests like Key Glock, G Herbo, and fellow Detroiter Baby Money, plus 2021 hits “Up The Scoe” ft. Lil Durk and “Know The Difference” ft. Lil Baby, the strength of Rich Off Pints 3 helped Vezzo earn a new record deal with Quality Control Music.

Stylish and substantive, with a supernatural sense of metaphor and a massive vocabulary, Lupe Fiasco is one of his generation’s finest rhymers. Released 16 years into his career, DRILL MUSIC IN ZION is a standout album in his illustrious discography, a focused statement that reflects on the past and paves a way forward, preaching strength through mindfulness and self-sustaining community. The product of a burst of thoughtful spontaneity, Lupe created the new album over a short period, diving into a folder of beats sent by Soundtrakk and emerging with a fully-realized album in just three days (“Sometimes deadlines are lifelines,” says Lupe). The title juxtaposes the street music of his hometown of Chicago–music that emerged as a way of dealing with hellish living conditions–with the biblical promised land, positing that art created out of pain might not be worth the pain itself.

Though it was created quickly, Lupe’s eighth studio album is packed with the twisty narratives and layered meanings that have become Lupe’s trademark, spliced with incisive social commentary and winking observations about the way we live today. Highlights include “NAOMI,” in which Lupe fuses playful political analysis with poignant emotional resonance, and “MS. MURAL,” a textured and deeply felt story-song that continues a series that started on 2014’s Tetsuo & Youth (“Mural”) and continued with his last album, 2017’s DROGAS WAVE (“Mural Jr.”). As usual, Lupe stuns with his verbosity, but one of the album’s most powerful moments occurs when he decides to hold back: on album closer, “ON FAUX NEM,” Lupe spits: “Rappers die too much. That’s it, that’s the verse.”

After steadily building a rabid fanbase over the course of nearly a decade, Chicago rapper LUCKI finally found overdue mainstream recognition in 2022. The vehicle for this recognition was FLAWLESS LIKE ME, the rapper’s most ambitious and expansive full-length to date. Accompanied by carnivalesque, blissful synth melodies that provide a counterpoint to LUCKI’s purr, the fast-rising rapper paints a surreal portrait of his semi-charmed life–LUCKI swerves in his souped-up foreign in one bar, before bemoaning a lost love or wistfully recounting his struggles with drug addiction. For the first time in his career, LUCKI rolls out the red carpet for guest rappers–on “KAPITOL DENIM” ft. Future, LUCKI goes toe-to-toe with Pluto himself, and he trades twisting verses with Babyface Ray in the woozy and hard-hitting “WHITE HOUSE.” The album includes bonus tracks “SUPER URUS” and “Y NOT?,” two fan favorites that fit the expansive vibe of the project.

FLAWLESS LIKE ME was the culmination of a long rise from the underground for the 26-year-old artist. The album debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200 chart, with over 25k sales-equivalent units in its first week.

Pi’erre Bourne has established himself as one of the best producers in the game, but he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s just formidable on the mic as behind the boards. His 2022 album Good Movie is an expansive showcase for his skills with melody, mixing his immersive beats with languid auto-tune and insistently infectious hooks.

On album standout “Psane,” Bourne and Don Toliver conjure up a frenetic banger with bright video game synths and layered vocals that set the stage for Bourne’s joyous verses. Highlights like “What I Gotta Do” and “Where You Going” incorporate elements of Jersey/Philly club music into his atmospheric world, while kinetic songs like “Moving Too Fast” ft. Young Nudy and “SossHouse Party” are natural next steps for his candy-coated signature sound. Simple and emphatic, words spill out of the rapper effortlessly: on “Kingdom Hall,” he stacks outlandish metaphor after outlandish metaphor, intoning “Shakes-pi’erre, Romeo & Juliet/She may die for the kid.”

With multiple albums in the books in 2022, including the Juicy J collab Space Age Pimpin’, Pi’erre Bourne is in the midst of a creative renaissance. Pi’erre’s hero’s journey reached a climax with Good Movie, proving that he could conquer all comers with peerless instrumentals and inventive vocals.

When Young Dolph tragically passed last year, he left a hole too big for one person to fill. Luckily, Dolph spent a decade fostering a creative community of folks determined to follow in his footsteps: Paper Route Empire,  a thriving independent record label and video production company with a talented and hungry group of artists eager and equipped to fulfill their mentor’s vast vision.

Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Dolph is tribute to the man and a toast to the future, showcasing the talents of the label’s formidable roster. Spanning 8 tracks, the project features contributions from almost every artist on Paper Route Empire. Jay Fizzle, PRE’s longest-tenured signee, leads the tape with the Ricco Barrino-assisted, gospel-inflected “LLD,” a tribute to the man who he credits with helping his 16 year-old self escape the streets. Kenny Muney offers a plaintive remembrance of his mentor using one of Dolph’s signature phrases on “Role Model,” and Big Moochie Grape defiantly claims his intention to take Paper Route Empire to new heights on “In Dolph We Trust.” On album highlight “Proud,” Key Glock honors his mentor and declares his intentions to keep the mission going: “F*** that humble s***, let’s go, you know I’m spazzin’ out ‘bout mine.”

Long Live Dolph is reflective, but it is also triumphant; 2022 was a banner year for the PRE label, as artists like Key Glock, Kenny Muney, and Big Moochie Grape released accomplished albums of their own. Possessed with an undying fervor that can’t be quenched, PRE won’t stop til their empire stretches from coast to coast.
#LongLiveFlippa #PRE5LIFE

Releasing three full-lengths in what could be considered a relatively light year for the underground stalwart, BONES is beloved by his fans for his consistent excellence, a quality not diluted by his prolific output. Embracing his folk hero status, his AmericanSweetheart album establishes BONES as a blue-collar rock star for the internet era. The versatile artist subsumes a variety of styles into his dark aesthetic, but his lyricism is playful, packing in references to films like Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Rocky IV, and more.

Songs like “Juno” and “7thGenerationBlunts” bear the influences of Memphis trap, but other highlights absorb sounds from hip-hop history: “Playback” is a haunted slice of East Coast boom bap, “Panic Button” finds BONES ripping fast raps atop the “Amen” break, “CoolHandLuke” kicks off with a Pharrell-esque four count, and other songs sneak in references to artists like the St. Lunatics and Pretty Ricky. The album’s more emotional tracks show off BONES’ skill with melody and ability to pack deep feelings into crisp turns of phrase: “I hate that I made you put up with me/Disgrace fits me so comfortably,” he intones on “CutYouLoose.”

With influential fans like A$AP Rocky and Justin Bieber, BONES is well on his way to making the jump from underground king to radio darling. AmericanSweetheart is the proof that he might not need to change his style in the process.

Dro Kenji uses his supernatural sense of melody and precocious pen game to craft emotionally charged bangers. The third and most ambitious of the full-lengths Kenji released in 2022, ANYWHERE BUT HERE is a showcase for the 20-year-old artist’s expressive singing, as he delivers arresting arias that are alternately heartfelt and flex-heavy. The album features appearances from Kenji’s fellow Gen Z rap stars, including Midwxst, NoCap, Ka$hdami, and Mike Dimes on the hard-hitting breakout hit “STEP BACK.” With some of the best pipes in the underground and Internet Money with his back, Kenji looks primed to reach even greater heights in the near future.

Chief Keef’s remarkable rise in 2012 changed the face of rap music forever, igniting a drill movement that has spread worldwide over the past decade. In the immediate aftermath of that fateful year, Sosa retreated inward, sharing the experimental and mind-bending Almighty So mixtape in 2013. Home to fan-favorites like “Blew My High” and “Ape Sh*t,” Almighty So developed a cult following, becoming a go-to pick for discerning fans of the rapper’s massive discography.

Now, riding a new creative high and making money moves as the founder of his own imprint 43B, Keef returns to the recesses of his mind with Almighty So 2, his next mixtape. Home to recent singles like “Racks Stuffed Inna Couch” and the TikTok-viral “Tony Montana Flow,” the upcoming project promises new flows, bombastic instrumentals, and clever phrases that only Sosa could turn. Stay tuned for more updates.

03 Greedo – Free 03
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