WSH's Songs + Albums of the Year 2016

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Larry J. Sanders • Lead Creative, WHATSUITSHIM

So, was this year absolute trash or what?

(That's a rhetorical question. If you disagree with that sentiment, I honestly don't know how you wound up here. But feel free to keep reading. Welcome to WHATSUITSHIM. Enjoy your stay.)

Because the realities of life made, you know, living way more tedious this year than in years past, I tended to use music as a getaway more often than usual. And no song made me happier this year than the latest Travis Scott and Young Thug opus, "pick up the phone."

Travis and Thugger placed last year at #5 for "Drunk." This year, they get the #1 spot. (#1A, technically; "Ultralight Beam gets #1B, and I'll talk about that song in a second.) They don't miss. They can't lose. The instrumental is everything I've come to expect from them. Reverend Quavo is also involved, leading by example by refusing to discriminize. The song just makes me happy. And in a year where happiness just didn't seem sustainable, having this song on-demand for the past 6 months made things just a bit more bearable. Travis said he released "pick up the phone" specifically for the kids; he and I are both '92 babies, but I'm 14 all over again once that beat drops and I hear Thugger’s voice.  And I'm so okay with that.

I'm finding it somewhat bizarre I'm even writing this, considering this time last year I still wasn't sold on Chance the Rapper. I'd spent summer 2015 enamored with the bulk of Surf, the project he'd dropped alongside his good friend and frequent collaborator, Donnie Trumpet, but none of my love for that mixtape was Chance-specific. I won't say I enjoyed it despite Chance, but I definitely didn't enjoy it because of him. Or so I thought.

Larry's Top Albums of 2016

5. Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight • Travis Scott

4. Too High to Riot • Bas

3. The Life of Pablo • Kanye West

2. Anti • Rihanna

1. Coloring Book • Chance the Rapper

Not-so-breaking-news alert: Chancelor Bennett is a very talented musician. And while his first Saturday Night Live performance last December got me intrigued, his second in February pushed me onto the bandwagon. You know, the time he performed "Ultralight Beam" on a stage with Kanye West and Kelly Price and Kirk Franklin and Fonzworth Bentley and outshone them all.

3 months later, Chance the Rapper released the album of the year. My personal affinity for Coloring Book is tied to my own religious background, sure, but way too much focus has been on what Chance represents and not the fact his most recent music has been sonically and lyrically unassailable. He's cheerful without being corny, religious without being preachy, positive while recognizing that this world desperately needs Jesus. He’s the rapper I would’ve been, just wittier and more musically inclined. If Coloring Book was made for nobody else, it was tailor-made for me.

And so, in something of a landslide, Chance the Rapper wins this spot. He’s made me a believer, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

Rhyanna Morgan • Entertainment Critic, WHATSUITSHIM

Full disclosure:  this song is in my top-five despite Kanye’s very deliberately obnoxious and irreverent lyrics.

This is the best song of the year. Consider the sample. Also named "Father Stretch My Hands," Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir are the geniuses behind this track. Kanye’s version actually didn’t require much production at all considering the origins of the song's "sample." Kanye, Rick Rubin, Metro Boomin, and others simply chopped the track into two parts; sped it up; and added an otherworldly bass drop, a sub, and a nice catchy snare in the background. Precisely the reasons for this song being great. Alongside the choir, Cudi and Kelly Price's vocals add polish to the track. I’m not here to analyze Kanye’s lyrics, or try to examine his internal moral conflict between f***ing models or going to church on the same song. I no longer care. What I do care about, however, is Kid Cudi humming to me over a Metro Boomin bass line in conjunction with a soulful youth choir.

RHyANNA's Top ALBUMS of 2016

5. Too High to Riot • Bas

4. A Seat at the Table • Solange

3. Blank Face LP • ScHoolboy Q

2. The Divine Feminine • Mac Miller

1. The Sun’s Tirade • Isaiah Rashad

Just listen to it. Then listen to it again...and again. This. Is. My. Favorite. Album. Period. I’m on stan levels with this album. It dropped Labor Day weekend, and it was highly anticipated by me and my boyfriend. I've listened to it literally everyday since it was released. The LP starts with a skit; TDE’s Dave Free practically begging (or demanding) Zay release the work, which immediately resonates if you’re an Isaiah fan. The album rings of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City if you will, in the sense that you’re hearing the story of a young black man growing up, coping, and learning his environment. Each song gives us glimpses into Zay’s conscious as he navigates his youth while discovering himself, and it has resonated deeply with me this year.

On a lighter note, the production is A1 with a mix of pianos, saxes and jazzy undertones over dope bass lines, which is how I prefer my rap and hip-hop. He pulled stellar verses out of Kendrick Lamar on "Wats Wrong" and - my personal favorite - Jay Rock on "Tity & Dolla." My favorite song, however, is "Bday." The most personal song on the album, he discusses his struggles with alcohol, self-medicating, and making it in his city as a young Black youth with his father’s tendencies. The album also features a hook from The Internet's Syd Tha Kyd on "Silkk da Shocka," and a Syd appearance always warms my heart. In all honesty, this album may not be the best album of the year, but it is without a doubt my album of the year.

Philip Lewis • Front Page Editor, The Huffington Post

Though technically not an “album,” the mixtape Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper was my favorite project of 2016. The mixtape was my introduction to the 23-year-old Chicago artist; I was not familiar with his discography prior to the mixtape’s release in May. However, a friend of mine thoroughly enjoyed the music, so I decided to give it a shot. The upbeat tempo, features, gospel choir samples had me listening to the mixtape nearly every morning on the A train heading into Manhattan. As I left New York City and moved back to Washington, D.C., I listened to Coloring Book for most of the drive. In a year that was very much like a whirlwind for me, Chance was a new voice I could appreciate. His music, for me, was therapeutic. Coloring Book was something different from the mainstream at that point in time. It was also the first project in quite some time that I could listen to each single track without skipping one, a phenomenon that has become increasingly rare these days. He definitely gained a fan.

Ayanna A. Sinclair • Music & Entertainment Digital Media Freelancer

*cues initial beat drop*

Putting her own spin on the reggae/dancehall-meets-mainstream music takeover, Rihanna put her Bajan and West Indian roots on display. In one song, she showed the world: "I do this." A hitmaker and true island girl, "Work" was the perfect track. It brought that old nostalgic bashment vibe back to 2016; a vibe that me and my Jamaican roots loved, appreciated and thrived with. I vividly remember saying that I couldn't wait to hear this out at a party. When I did, the feeling was even better than I expected.

It spawned a wave of backyard dancehall parties that lit up the summer. People, old and young, of different backgrounds, races, etc., knew "Work;" probably not all the words, but they were able to catch the feeling that the song evoked. Social media took the bad gyal's song and ran with it, creating endless memes, videos, and gifs. Of course with Drake featured, my summer anthem had the perfect mix of dancehall and hip-hop. Not to mention, all the remixes, Beniton's being my favorite.

Rihanna created a moment. A long lasting one that will continue to be mentioned when talking her discography and legacy.

Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. Hands down, easily one of my favorite albums of the year. Before diving into the music, the title alone piques curiosity and interest. From start to finish, the features, song transitions, the production, is perfection. Birds was released in September, and Travis started off the fourth quarter with straight heat. It's an easy listen straight through. A project full of fun, love, sh*t-talking, and turn-up. It's impossible to pick a favorite album cut, simply because every single track is amazing. Each has its own essence that allows it to stand alone as a banger yet functions just the same when together. It provided such a smooth soundtrack to Q4 of my 2016, and that alone is unforgettable. 

Birds further solidified Travis's role as an industry heavyweight. He is not to be overlooked and he is way overdue for his credit. His sound continues to provide inspiration to many. You can hear his influence in a number of records. Travis, aka La Flame, is a trendsetter, and his number-one Billboard charting album displays just that. I thoroughly look forward to any new features, tracks or visuals he blesses us with. I am patiently waiting to yell "beibs in the trap," "sweet sweet," "way back," "goosebumps," and literally every other track at the top of my lungs at the next rodeo.

Kyr Rashad Mack • Professor, Howard University

Kyr's Top Songs of 2016

5. “Sorry” • Beyoncé (Lemonade)

4. “No Problem (feat. 2 Chainz + Lil Wayne)” • Chance the Rapper (Coloring Book)

3. “Needed Me" • Rihanna (Anti)

2. “Drug Dealers Anonymous (feat. JAY Z)” • Pusha T (single-only release)

1. “Just Might Be OK (feat. Big K.R.I.T.)” • Kenneth Whalum (Broken Land)

As an underrated, predominantly underground, and newly independent rapper, Big K.R.I.T. has carved himself quite a place in hip hop since 2010. Fresh off of his exodus from Def Jam, K.R.I.T. has continuously proved to hip hop aficionados that he deserves to be in the conversation of top 5 hip hop artists. While I am in possession of an argument that privileges K.R.I.T. as third of those top hip hop artists right now after Kendrick and Cole, I’ll entertain that conversation at a later date for the sake of discussing this song.

Whalum and K.R.I.T.’s “Might Not Be OK” serves as an antithesis to Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 To Pimp a Butterfly anthem “Alright.” While Lamar’s “Alright” provides hope to the listener for the struggle, strife, trials and tribulations of the life and times of an individual navigating through American culture, K.R.I.T offers a realist’s take on staying balanced and grounded during rough times within our communities. Hard hitting lyrics laced with the major seven chords on a piano (reminiscent of faster paced Nina Simone-inspired “Blood on the Leaves”), K.R.I.T. delivers a powerful and gripping soliloquy of the persistent police brutality on black men, women, and children that is perpetuated through our society.

This song was showcased and ultimately one of the lone highlights of the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards as Big K.R.I.T. performed the acapella version of this song. “Might Not Be OK” is my number one song because it represents an attitude held by a collection of black folks who continue to watch with great horror as our people are subjected to racial injustices and prejudices in America.

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ALBUM: 1992

The Game

Kyr's Top ALBUMS of 2016

5. SEPT 5TH • dvsn

4. Malibu • Anderson .Paak

3. Blank Face LP • ScHoolboy Q

2. Coloring Book • Chance the Rapper

1. 1992 • The Game

1992 is an album amongst the litany of West-Coast hip-hop projects released in 2016, especially from the Game. Fresh off of 2015’s The Documentary 2 and The Documentary 2.5, Jayceon Taylor decided to place his name in the pantheon of great hip-hop artists to release double albums (2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death, and JAY Z’s The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse). He followed that output with an A&E television documentary and mobile gaming application titled, Streets of Compton and Block Wars, respectively. Both feature an accompanying soundtrack of the same title.

1992 is a full length concept LP that encompasses an era of American culture. Thematically, 1992 is a tightly woven narrative of a young, observant black man growing up as a participant in a dynamic and mostly volatile culture of race relations, gang warfare, and culture shocking stories. Although I thought 1992 was lost amongst the fray of projects released and the brief conflicts with Meek Mill and Beanie Sigel (some thought it was a marketing ploy), it stands up amongst the top projects of 2016. I place it at one specifically for its strong narratives that operate within a tradition of cultural memory and nostalgia as well as its street-anthemic production weaving late 1980’s and early-1990’s hip hop and R&B charting singles. This serves as a great addition to The Game’s potent discography and should be held high as a concept album.

Kwamena Amissah • Contributor, twentyfourgifts

Essays, Entertainment, MusicLarry J. SandersSONGS of the YEAR, Larry J. Sanders, Rhyanna Morgan, Philip Lewis, Kyr Rashad Mack, Ayanna Sinclair, Kwamena AmissahComment