MY MUSIC OF 2016

While Rolling Stone magazine chose to give their album of the year to what felt more like a moment-in-the-year than an album, we do things differently round here: we just go with the music and not the following (no disrespect to Beyonce’s Lemonade, I hear it’s still a popular drink…).

WE GOT IT FROM HERE… THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE – A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

Rather than go out on a swansong and leave us yearning for nostalgia, A Tribe decides to go out on a peak after an 18-year absence. You won’t hear fans saying, “Oh, we prefer their earlier work.” This is up there with their first 3 certified classics and even though the two that came after that didn’t get as much respect, it’s all been leading to this. Ain’t no tears here, just respect for one of the greatest groups that ever touched a mic!

ANTI – RIHANNA

Rihanna sure surprised people with this album. For fans of the songstress, this album left some distressed as she skipped the usual bubble gum sexed-up songs and tried being as some have said, “an artist”. For those who don’t usually pay Rihanna any attention beyond her singles, this was their album. Every R&B artist seems to have that one album, where they sonically change sound, even if not completely. Rihanna just ticked the box with this one!

THE LIFE OF PABLO - KANYE WEST

''We on a ultralight beam, we on a ultralight beam! This is a God tale! This is a God tale... this is everything!''

Honourable Mentions:

UNTITLED UNMASTERED – Kendrick Lamar

Lamar kicked off the year by dropping this gem in February. It had in my opinion songs that should’ve been on To Pimp A Butterfly, but were left out on the cutting room floor for whatever reason.

4 YOUR EYEZ ONLY – J. COLE

Jermaine does his Beyonce and drops his latest album with no announcement, but an itunes pop up. 4 Your Eyez Only probably isn’t going to attract any new fans. For those who complain that Cole is boring (who are those people?), he is on his continuous musing and rambling, for those who have nothing to complain about a little Cole every now and then, this reaffirms his place in the holy trinity of today’s generation of rappers alongside Kendrick and Drake. Besides, the album’s for our eyes only!

THE END OF A TRIBE: A LOOK AT A TRIBE CALLED QUEST’S LAST ALBUM

Sentiments aside, I don’t think you’ll hear an album as good and relevant this year as A Tribe Called Quest’s We Got It From Here… Thank You For Your Service. The album dropped in the aftermath of the American election where Trump turned out to be the winner and the lyrics of songs like We The People seem to predict the wave of hate that came with the man’s campaign and eventual ascent to the presidency. Lyrics like, “All you Black folks, you must go/ All you Mexicans, you must go/ And all you poor folks, you must go/ Muslims and Gays/ Boy we hate your ways/” speak to the hate rhetoric spewed during this last American election.

The album is also the last featuring Phife Dawg who died early this year and during the process of completing the album (the crew pay tribute to him on Lost Somebody). While I take my hip hop influence from everywhere, Tribe’s first three albums had an impact on what music could sound like for me and not to mention the rhyme patterns of rappers like Phife and Tip played a part in teaching one how to put lines together.

Their final album here is a great farewell as it features everyone that has been a Tribe member aside from the main trio of Phife, Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. There’s occasional members Jarobi White and Consequence and of course honourary member, Busta Rhymes all over the album.

There are the great guest features ranging from Jack White to the legendary Elton John (on one track for that matter) to the usual rap drop-ins from Andre 3000 of Outkast to Kendrick Lamar among others. There’s the introduction of new voices like soul singer Abbey Smith alongside veterans like Marsha Ambriousa on Melatonin.

It is a sometimes politically charged album with songs like the aforementioned We The People and Moving Backwards, the latter which at some point tackles the recent surge of police brutality against people of colour, “Police killing niggas everywhere, maybe we should get some guns too.”

Mention must be made of the prophecies of some Phife’s lines, on Conrad Tokyo it seems like the deceased rapper peeked into the future as he mentions Trump and the SNL hilarity that eventually followed his win.

The only thing missing from this album is a production credit from core member Ali Shaheed Muhammad who was allegedly busy working on the Luke Cage soundtrack, hence the entire production of the album is largely handled and overseen by Q-Tip. One can’t help but think of all the members, perhaps Tip wanted the reunion more than anyone and he wouldn’t be wrong for it.

The album ends with Donald, a reference (and tribute) to one of Phife’s alter egos, ending out a true hip hop legacy. The truth is they don’t make rap albums like these anymore, making it the more special. You on point y’all?