Albums of the Last Five Months

So, it's been a little bit since I did one of these posts, and I just know that somebody somewhere was just dying to read a new one. Instead of running down all the albums I've listened to over the past five months or so, I'm going to highlight a few albums that really stood out to me during that time.

The first, and probably the best, is Big K.R.I.T.'s K.R.I.T. Wuz Here. I guess it's technically a mixtape, but there's minimal annoying DJ yelling, and all the tracks are album quality, in terms of lyrics and production, if not mastering (the levels are pretty low). There are plenty of other blogs that go for in depth reviewing the album, but to me it sounds a lot like vintage mid-90s Dirty South rap, before everything got too crunk. That's not to say that this is a throwback album, or doesn't sound fresh for 2010, just that it's got a more classic sound with less trendy, more introspective lyrics. According to K.R.I.T.'s wikipedia page, he was recently signed to Def Jam. I'm eagerly awaiting a major label album with some better engineering and hopefully a big enough budget to clear all his samples. Here are a few of my favorite tracks from K.R.I.T. Wuz Here: "Return of Forever" (featuring Big Sant), "Hometown Hero", "Glass House" (featuring Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa), "Moon & Stars" (featuring Devin the Dude). Okay, there really isn't a bad song on this album. Go download it here, and thank me later. Oh, he kinda looks like Tracy Morgan too.

The second album that was on heavy rotation for me over the last several months is Trunk Muzik by Yelawolf, a white and Cherokee rapper from Alabama (Big K.R.I.T. is from Mississippi, by the way). I had seen posts on various hip hop blogs about Yelawolf, but he kinda looks like Travis Barker and I didn't really want to listen to Travis Barker rap. But then known associate told me that Trunk Muzik was actually pretty good, so I decided to download it and find out for myself. Lo and behold, it was pretty good - I think I ended up becoming more of a fan than known associate, probably because my 98 Volvo's stereo bumps a little harder than his 96 RAV4. I think this album, which, like Wuz Here, is technically more of a mixtape, is definitely made for the car. Trunk Muzik built up quite a buzz for Yelawolf, who I believe shares the same management as Outkast's Big Boi, and is featured on a song on Big Boi's latest album; and Yelawolf signed with Interscope earlier this year. This is the title track, and here a couple other standout tracks. Download the album/mixtape here.

The third album that I've played the shit out of is Die Antwoord's $O$. You can read about Die Antwoord here. I'm getting a little lazy, so here are some links to some of my favorite songs from the album. They seem to be a love 'em or hate 'em type of group, so approach with caution. I personally love them, but my girlfriend hates them. This song is hilarious to me, but it's not on $O$. I don't really like this song, but the video is worth watching. Ok, that's it.