Kai Hellberg’s Top Albums of 2017
WTBU DJ Kai Hellberg compiled a list and shared his thoughts on the top 10 albums of 2017.
10. Milo – Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?!
“This the last call for those real MCs,” Milo calls out on his most recent effort, “Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?!,” a piece of abstract hip-hop that re-emphasizes the poetic side of rapping. Ever since the release of MF DOOM and Madlib’s Madvillainy in 2004, there’s been an artistic benchmark for abstract MCs, and Milo is certainly on his way to reaching it. He isn’t being flashy about his monetary gain or romantic success. As he says, “my vocabulary pays my rent,” and with this wildly introspective and enigmatic record, it’s safe to say his landlord will be pleased with Milo’s effort.
Favorite Tracks: “Sorcerer,” “The Young Man Has A Point (Nurture),” “Poet (Black Bean)”
9. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
Speaking of benchmarks, Kendrick Lamar set an almost unsurpassable one for himself with the release of his 2015 magnum opus To Pimp A Butterfly. While I don’t think he quite reached that level with this project, Lamar himself, and even his mother, have said that DAMN. is his best record yet. With the hype of the album kick-started by the release of the off-album single “The Heart Part 4” and his first #1 Billboard hit “HUMBLE.,” this album combines the West Coast-inspired production elements of Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City with the potent story-telling lyrical style of To Pimp A Butterfly.
Favorite Tracks: “PRIDE.,” “ELEMENT.,” “DNA.”
8. BROCKHAMPTON – SATURATION I, II, and III
Artists may bristle at being compared to their predecessors, but I still constantly say that rap fans have been begging for a new Wu-Tang Clan, and BROCKHAMPTON has certainly achieved this status. The group’s SATURATION trio is raunchy and irreverent yet, while at the same time, conscious and all-encompassing. There’s nothing THAT groundbreaking about the SATURATION series, but the importance lies in its deviation from the norm. In a world where trap is king, seeing a pop rap, and occasionally hardcore, collective like BROCKHAMPTON arise is indeed groundbreaking. Each of the boy band’s members has a unique background and each of those are emphatically pronounced throughout this series of albums released this year.
Favorite Tracks: “SWEET,” “HEAT,” “ZIPPER”
7. Rapsody – Laila’s Wisdom
Shortly after Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” made history by becoming the first female rap song since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998 to achieve the #1 spot on Billboard, Rapsody released her sophomore album Laila’s Wisdom–by far my favorite release by a female rapper in 2017. The North Carolina native has been in the game since 2012, but was virtually unknown until her feature on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 track “Complexion.” Since then, she worked to put together a cohesive conscious rap album project with her label, It’s A Wonderful World Music Group, at her fingertips. The final product, Laila’s Wisdom, is a concept album that breathes positivity. She makes it clear that while she’s female, she’s a rapper first and foremost. At her concert in Cambridge, Mass. in December of 2017, she said, “When people ask who Rapsody is, tell them I’m a motherfucking beast.”
Favorite Tracks: “OooWee,” “Power,” “Black and Ugly”
6. Tyler, The Creator – Flower Boy
To give you an idea of how uncharacteristic Tyler, The Creator’s Flower Boy was, I’ll remind you that on previous albums, he rapped about having sexual relations with dolphins. He’s even said that the beat to “Yonkers,” one of his most popular songs, was one which he made as a joke. It’s safe to say that this album was not another effort for Tyler to joke around. He brought out a side of himself that no one had seen before. With lines like “I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004,” and “You can give me some markers and I’ll draw you a closet,” rumors quickly began to spread about Tyler’s sexuality. But this record is far more than just a coming-out letter. He is more pensive and meticulous with his songwriting than he’s ever been, and the musical arrangements on “See You Again” and “Boredom” are so unexpectedly beautiful and different than any of his prior releases. It’s nice to see someone like Tyler, The Creator assert his maturity as both an artist and a human being on this album.
Favorite Tracks: “Boredom,” “I Ain’t Got Time!,” “Foreword”
5. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell Live
Sufjan Stevens’ 2015 album Carrie and Lowell is an ethereal tribute to his mother Carrie who passed away in 2012 to stomach cancer. The soundscapes he created with his masterful guitar picking skills were absolutely gorgeous. But on Carrie and Lowell Live, those tracks are put in an even more elegant light. With an assortment of acoustic and electronic instruments at his fingertips, this live album is a wonderful reimagining of his 2015 classic, even ending with a cover of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.”
Favorite Tracks: “Death With Dignity,” “Vesuvius,” “Blue Bucket of Gold Outro”
4. Various Artists – Mono No Aware
Although this is a compilation record, this fact completely helps this album. Mono No Aware is by far the best ambient record I’ve heard all year, and this is all owed to its variety. Where some ambient records can become monotonous like something by William Basinski, Mono No Aware has so much variation in how each song is textured and it makes for a very captivating release.
Favorite Tracks: “Limerence (Yves Tumor),” “Fr3sh (Kareem Lofty),” “Held (Malibu)”
3. Sampha – Process
What pushes this record up so high on this list is the fact that Sampha proved to the music world that he is not just a “featured artist.” Sure, he owes much to artists like Solange and Drake for adding to his fame and aiding in his come-up. But he’s his own man now, and it’s clear that he knows exactly what he’s doing. His 2016 single “Blood On Me” and later release of “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano” set the tone for what was to be a brilliant ode to anxiety, something that can be crazily embellished by other artists. Sampha’s debut was a fabulous job, and I can’t wait to see what he will release in the future.
Favorite Tracks: “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano,” “Kora Sings,” “Timmy’s Prayer”
2. Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory
A follow-up to his 2015 debut studio album Summertime ‘06, Vince Staples completely changed direction with Big Fish Theory. His other two releases, EPs Hell Can Wait and Primadonna, reflected the crip gang and poppy street-inspired side of Summertime ‘06 which had me worried that the young artist would quickly slip into banality. I was pleasantly proven wrong by this album which features lyrics about coping with fame and UK Garage-inspired production that echoes the work of artists like Burial and Zomby. I’ve never heard something like this in American hip-hop. As for specific highlights, “Yeah Right” is my certified banger of the year, combining the ingenious production of SOPHIE and Flume with a near-flawless Kendrick Lamar feature on the final verse.
Favorite Tracks: “Yeah Right,” “Love Can Be,” “Bagbak”
1. Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me
Here’s the setting: Mount Eerie, a.k.a. Phil Elverum, a.k.a. former lead singer of the Seattle lo-fi indie group the Microphones, has just lost his wife Geneviève Castrée to cancer and is left alone to take care of their infant daughter. Elverum chronicles his efforts to cope with this death in a somber and almost monotonous voice, sprinkling his stories of grief with metaphors to show, not tell, the listener his sadness. To some, his voice and minimal guitar picks could seem lazy. But Elverum is not the type of person to create a bombastic and saccharine tribute to his dead wife. Death, as he says, is a “crushing absurdity” and isn’t something he would, or should, sugarcoat. Instead, Elverum’s A Crow Looked At Me is absent of anything that would drown out his raw expression of melancholy; Elverum restricts the instrumentation to his guitar and his voice. The result is the year’s most sorrowful and captivating album.
Favorite Tracks: “Real Death,” “Soria Moria,” “Ravens”