Music
7 Best Hip-Hop Mixtapes of the Month: April '17
We're on a world tour of standout tapes from April. Join the ride.
Kendrick Lamar's new album "DAMN." was like a vortex for mainstream rap, but that didn't stop the mixtape world from churning out the goods. In fact, the best mixtape of the month, Playboi Carti's anticipated self-titled debut, was released on the same day as "DAMN." and Carti didn't give an inch. Neither did the rest of the artists on this list, which features incredible tapes from locales like London (Section Boyz, Babyfather), Detroit (Tee Grizzley) and Montreal (Lou Phelps). It was a globe-spanning affair this time around.
Check out all 7 of April’s best tapes below.
7. Lou Phelps, "001: Experiments"
Once upon a time, producer Kaytranada was in a group called The Celestics with his younger brother Lou Phelps. Kaytranada has since broken out, but what about Phelps? He's not quite there yet, but "001: Experiments" could be a nice start to a long-deserved upswing. On this economical mixtape, Phelps boasts his spitting dexterity and rhythmic versatility across eight bass-heavy, synth-driven tracks, most of which are produced by none other than Kaytranada himself. If you're looking for a quick preview, the two work their magic best on "Massively Massive Pt 2," an idiosyncratic highlight that finds each artist at their most daring. Guests include Bishop Nehru, CJ Flemings and KALLITECHNIS. Don't miss it.
6. Section Boyz, "Soundcheck"
Section Boyz are back. Following last year's "Attack the Block" tape with Chris Brown, the South London crew hits hard with a dark, moody release called "Soundcheck." The tape arrives after a high-profile co-sign from Drake and, as is tradition these days, the rap world's ears are now perking up to the sounds of these ferocious MCs. While the masterful production dictates the mood — moving swiftly from grime to trap to drill — the six-MC posse finds the shine, showing off their complex rhymes and mic-passing with anxiety-inducing suspense and urgency. It's an invigorating listen that'll keep you on your toes — it might even inspire Drake to incorporate more patois into his repertoire.
5. Tee Grizzley, "My Moment"
Yep, it's his moment alright. After returning from a three-year break, Tee Grizzley immediately surrounded himself with good company, having signed to 300 Entertainment and already hit the road with 21 Savage and Young M.A. But his hunger is still reflected in Tee's debut mixtape, "My Moment," which sees him going a capella right off the bat before spinning harrowing tales from the streets of Detroit with his biting lyricism and unmistakable tenor. While the tape's largely produced by Helluva, we get a couple of cuts from Sonny Digital and a sticky West Coast banger from DJ Mustard. Tee, of course, adapts perfectly to it all, setting himself up for even bigger things.
4. cupcaKKe, "Queen Elizabitch"
The rumors are true: "Queen Elizabitch" is raunchy, sure. But CupcakKe's got more depth than you might think. Cursory listens will have your ears taking note of only the nastiest of her lyrics — for which she is widely known — but listen closely and you'll hear the South Side Chicago rapper tapping into some of the more brutal sides of her experience, including poverty, violence and eating disorders. It's not all gloom though. While she's often toiling around in the darker aesthetics of the rap world ("Author," "Scraps," "Tarzan"), she also muscles her way into the dance-centric, millennial-powered dramatics of mainstream pop ("33rd," "Barcodes," "Biggie Smalls"). It harkens back to March 2017, when Charli XCX invited CupcakKe for a standout feature on a standout track ("Lipgloss"). It might be a minute before CupcakKe matches herself with the right producers to properly leverage her magnetic, larger-than-life personality, but it's only a matter of time.
3. K$upreme, "Flex Muzik"
Lil Yachty's been on the come-up for a minute now and next month will be a good test to see if he can convert that hype into something special with his proper debut, "Teenage Emotions." Now, however, is a good time for members of his Sailing Team crew to step up, which is where K$upreme comes in. Scrappy and lighthearted like Yachty's best tunes, "Flex Muzik" makes no obligatory concessions to the prototypical trap sound, running with the Sailing Team spirit through mumbled bars and laid-back flows alongside features from Kodie Shane, Chief Keef, Duwap Kaine and, of course, Yachty. It's a quick, easy listen, fresh and airy and cobbled together with love. And some people call this divisive!
2. Babyfather, "Cypher"
Dean Blunt mixtapes are often messy and scraped together, and "Cypher" is no different. The mixtape comes from Blunt's Babyfather crew, but it has all the characteristic moments that make any Blunt release a decidedly Blunt-focused project. On "Cypher" — a one-track, 20-minute tape — Babyfather plummets further into the disjointed, late-night fixings that expressed themselves in earlier tapes (and to a lesser degree on their Hyperdub debut), with Blunt only gracing a few fleeting tracks with his stripped-down, simplified flow. So what's on the rest of the tape? Woozy interludes, gun cocks and delicate nylon strings, with samples of Boyz II Men, 112 and even a backward version of Cardi B's "Foreva."
1. Playboi Carti, "Playboi Carti"
Playboi Carti's timing's all off. Not only has the young Atlanta rapper's debut been marked with delays, but when he finally did decide to drop it, it ended up coming out on the same day as Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN." And you know how that story goes. Thankfully, it's Carti's unique sense of timing itself that fuels his self-titled mixtape. On these 15 tracks, he nestles himself in the spacious production courtesy of Metro Boomin, Southside and (mostly) Pierre Bourne, opting to exaggerate the delightfully unpolished, incredibly hypnotic beats with rhymes and flows that go in circles. In fact, Carti's so repetitious on this one it borders on comedy, but his commanding approach and palatable looseness give credence to Lil Uzi Vert's assertion that this release is "the best goddamnn album" he had ever heard. Damn, indeed.
