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[CHAIN HANG LOW] This has not been the greatest year for hip-hop. So
many big-event albums have either failed to innovate (Drake's #everythingwasthesame, er, Nothing Was the Same) or were elaborate branding campaigns designed as phone apps (Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail). Yeezus
is a towering achievement and possibly the best record of the year, but
it's more of a goth-hop record than a true rap album. So in comes
Harlem weirdo A$AP Ferg, the Russell Westbrook to A$AP Rocky's
Kevin Durant, to take his turn sitting on the Rap Game Iron Throne (at
least among members of the rap Internet). Ferg's debut, Trap Lord,
is a deeply strange, moody and paranoid record, part Wu-Tang grime and
Bone Thugs bounce, full of odd come-ons and syrup-voiced hooks.
Originally released as a mixtape, Trap Lord has a few missteps,
but it mostly goes hard: "Shabba," the posse cut "Work" and especially
"Hood Pope" rank among the best songs of the year. There's nothing
polite about Trap Lord: Listening to a clean stream on Spotify is like
trying to piece together meaning from a foreign-language sitcom. But who
likes their rap safe and easy?
WWeek 2015