Festive Greetings from This Is Not Happening and welcome to our year-end, 2025 wrap-up episode. As always we split the pod into Part 1 and Part 2.Part 1 features our Top 10 favourite albums of 2025. We use a proprietary algorithm to create our list our collective favourite albums, we're talking nascent data-science excellence! Every year it throws up some surprises as our tastes are so different (and in some ways so similar.Part 2 features a festive Spin It or Bin It. We each bring a candidate for track of the year and ask the age old question 'Spin It or Bin It' … will anyone really bin anyone elses Track of the Year? Probably.To retain the tension, I won't share any spoilers here … other than to share a 40 track playlist of some of our favourite 2025 tracks … here.Whatever you do at this time of year, who ever you do it with … have a good one.Please join us in January where we will go back to the usual format of Album of the Month + Spin It or Bin It.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
Welcome to Episode 38 of This is Not Happening. An Album of the Month Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’. This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’?
This month, we get stuck in Noname’s latest release ‘Sundial’ in Part 1. It’s a short album but there’s a lot to talk about. In Part 2, the Spin it or Bin it theme is ‘New Music’ where we all chose a track released since 1st August 2023 and present it for judgement.
Part 1 | Noname | Sundial
It’s Nolan’s choice this month and he’s chosen the new album from Noname, ‘Sundial’. It’s an interesting, uncompromising album with a challenging cover from an unapologetic, controversial artist. It’s only 30 mins long but packs a big punch and brings a lot to the party!
Check out Noname’s Insta here and her Twitter here
Check out a few opinions on some Noname controversy here
Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | New Tracks
It’s a simple theme this month. New Music. We all chose tracks that have been released since August 1st 2023. We all chose a track that fits the theme then ask the others a simple question ‘spin it or bin it?’
We all chose a 4 track shortlist to chose our track, you can here all 16 tracks on this playlist here.
For the first time in a few years, I’ve struggled to bring a new album to the table from and artists that I have a background with that I want to stand behind. Without naming names, some of who I feel are heavy hitters, have missed the mark over the last few weeks with their new albums. The consequence of this has pushed me into a deep dive into new music, and new artists (at least to me).
The name that kept on coming up was Noname and her latest release ‘Sundail’ that is one of the ‘hot’ names of 2023. In reflection she isn’t completely new to me as previous collaborations with the likes of Chance The Rapper have peppered numerous playlist of mine historically. Upon the release of ‘Sundial’, much was written about her journey to releasing this album and her exhaustion to the realities of being a black artist releasing conscious music. She had previously put new music on hold indefinitely. The guardian sums up her history to date fairly well in this article.
Ahead of doing research on the artist, there’s a lot of value in approaching this album with virgin ears for a listen or two. Few recent albums give you an introduction to what is coming and the artist that is presenting as the first track ‘Black Mirror’. In just over 2 minutes she explains herself better than most of us do in a lifetime. As Kendrick did in the Heart P5 video, this album is as much of a look into the mirror as it is of the world of Noname, which is highlighted by the album cover.
Hip Hop as a genre is vast and ever changing. In what could be argued as it’s most confusing state to date, this album lends us some clarity to modern hip hop. Noname’s razor sharp lyrics hide behind her laidback flow like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Conscious, astute, boldly honest and the ability to say f-you politely. We spoke on the podcast a few episodes ago about hip hop the hip hop albums of the 90’s that all of us admired. Digable Planets, Arrested Development, Spearhead, Tribe Called Quest, etc. If you like these artists; you’ll love Sundial. It could be argued that if you like PE, NWA and Paris you’ll also appreciate this album. It’s hard to pinpoint who she reminds me of. There are definite touch points to Chicagoan’s Common and Change the Rapper whilst hints of Erykah Badu constantly shine through as well.
The album doesn’t come without controversy. The album features a verse from Jay Electronica who’s opinions have polarised many music fans due to his views on many subjects. Noname’s inclusion of Electronica has ruffled a few feathers. She has been un-apologetic for his appearance. As her indifference to her music appealing to white fans. There is little doubt that Noname uses her platform to share her views. I admit that you find a need to be invested into ‘Sundial’, and at times it can be daunting. Rightfully so, the smooth jazz backing won’t be able to hide the thought-provoking lyrics throughout the album.
Do I relate to all of the album? No. This album wasn’t made for me. In fact I’m most likely the last person she made this album for. Does it make me think? Yes. Am I enjoying it? Yes.
I’m still working my way through, but what I love about this album is that she has created a complicated piece of work that sounds great and will provoke thoughts every time anyone listens to it. I’m looking forward to what you’re thinking….
Festive Greetings from This Is Not Happening and welcome to our year-end, 2025 wrap-up episode. As always we split the pod into Part 1 and Part 2.Part 1 features our Top 10 favourite albums of 2025. We use a proprietary algorithm to create our list our collective favourite albums, we're talking nascent data-science excellence! Every year it throws up some surprises as our tastes are so different (and in some ways so similar.Part 2 features a festive Spin It or Bin It. We each bring a candidate for track of the year and ask the age old question 'Spin It or Bin It' … will anyone really bin anyone elses Track of the Year? Probably.To retain the tension, I won't share any spoilers here … other than to share a 40 track playlist of some of our favourite 2025 tracks … here.Whatever you do at this time of year, who ever you do it with … have a good one.Please join us in January where we will go back to the usual format of Album of the Month + Spin It or Bin It.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
Welcome to Episode 37 of This is Not Happening. An Album of the Month Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’. This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’? This month, we get pretty emotional about Julie Byrne’s latest album ‘The Greater Wings’ in Part 1. In Part 2, Spin it or Bin it theme is ‘no human sounds’. All will be explained …
Part 1 | Julie Byrne | The Greater Wings
It’s Joey’s choice this month and for the 2nd time in This is Not Happening history he chooses a beautiful album by Julie Byrne. We’re in the indie-folk-ambience hinterlands from a stylist perspective. From an emotional perspective we’re right at the intersection of beauty, grief, loss, hope and reflection. We talk about what this album is, how there’s more than one way to experience it, our favourite tracks and what it means to us.
Another interview with Julie, this time on KEXP Podcasts
Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | ‘No Human Sounds’
This one was way harder than it sounded at first. The theme this month is ‘No Human Sounds’. We started with no vocals, then decided no human sounds at all, then we added that it couldn’t be ‘dance music’. Joey suggested we define ‘dance music’, he got laughed at … then we got into an argument about all of Guys choices being dance music.
We all chose a track that fits the theme then ask the others a simple question ‘spin it or bin it?’
I tend to love 2 types of music (i) really beautiful music (ii) really un-beautiful music. I don’t play in the no-mans land between them and prefer the extremes of the beauty continuum. There is no doubt that Julie Byrne’s ‘The Greater Wings’ sits at the very beautiful end of the beautiful music spectrum.
I have for some time loved the niche, sub-sub-genres of ‘folk music that bleeds into ambience’ and also ‘ambience that bleeds into folk music.’ I would listen to pretty much anything that Grouper or Mutual Benefit recorded. Julie Byrne sits somewhere in this space and occupies a very special place in my heart and my ears for doing so. This is Julie’s 3rd album in a period of 9 years of releasing albums. She’s far from prolific and that’s ok with me. It’s been 6 years since the release of Not Even Happiness which I chose as Album of the Month and introduced you guys too. That album is my calm place. It’s a constant in my life. I ‘use’ that album as much as listen to it, by which I mean that it plays a role in my life more than music. God that sounds wanky but also, it’s true so fuck it.
You won’t get many words into a review for ‘The Greater Wings’ without learning that it was completed in heartbreaking circumstances. In June 2021, Eric Littmann, Bryne’s long time collaborator, friend and I believe former partner passed away. He was 31. Apparently Littmann was as responsible for the beauty of ‘Not even happiness’ as Byrne was, adding production and synth credits to the album. He’s untimely passing came half way through recording ‘On Greater Wings’. It feels like he was a major influence in the creation of the album but also that he influenced the nuance with which the album was completed after his passing.
I read a ‘throw-away’ Instagram post the other day that introduced me to the concept of ‘Glimmers’ and explain them as the opposite of triggers. Its the things that add beauty and peace into your world. The idea being that (as per triggers) the more you look for them, the more you find them. ‘The Greater Wings’ is 39 minutes of glimmers, glimmers born of the most heartbreaking circumstances.
I read about this album before I had the chance to listen to it. I knew the circumstances in which it was recorded and this probably set my initial expectations. But it’s perhaps not what you think it is. At least, not unless you want it to be. I think there are 2 ways to listen to this album. You can allow this album to infuse you with glimmers and with loveliness by allowing yourself to be caught up in its current. You can allow it to pull you along with it. Or, you can make a deliberate, conscious decision to immerse yourself in it. If you do the latter, it can be emotionally overwhelming, it could be the wrong time to listen to this album like this. I do however think that if you chose the first option, you are not missing out on the depth or the importance of this album. I am not suggesting you make it background music. I am not sure it could ever be that. It still radiates beauty and connection … and glimmers.
If you’re new to Julie Byrne, her music sits somewhere in that Indie / Folk space. She’s always experimented with Synths and ambience that adds something hauntingly affecting to her music. This album is this x10. It’s 39 minutes, 10 tracks. Every note, sound and feeling is where it is as a deliberate act of placement. Bryne talks about the track sequencing being the result of very specific thinking. She talks about the presentation of tracks being ‘the purest form’ of the music on this album. She also talks about Side A and Side B. If I am honest, I was not convinced that I thought the sequencing was ‘right’ when I first heard it. The title track is a stunning piece of music but I was not sure if it felt right to start the album. However, having lived with this album for weeks, I get it. I totally understand what she means.
One thing you won’t hear on this album is percussion. The closest you get is the percussive thrum of a finger picked guitar. On some tracks this is more definable than others, ‘Portrait of a Clear Day’ being a great example. The piano drives other tracks forward but mostly we’re taking about very calm, ambient, beatless tracks.
Lyrically, this album is stunning. Again, it can be overwhelming, but there is more than one way to read this music and it’s lyrics. I encourage anyone to ‘read’ these lyrics as ‘openly’ as they can do. For me, I get more from them if I do this, to concentrate on the beauty.
I am not going to do a track by track on this one. I don’t think it’s fitting. Every track has a critical place on this album and I love each and every one for that place. The instrumental ‘Summers End’ included. This is a palette cleansing couple of minutes of ambience that closes ‘Side A’ and prepares the listener for ‘Side B’. To follow ‘Summers Glass’ (which Byrne describes as the beating heart of the album) with ‘Summers End’ feels a very natural and rewarding decision. I understand that the title ‘Summers End’ refers to a song that Littmann wrote for Byrne when they first met.
This is so clearly 2023 Top 5 album material for me. This is everything that I love about music. I hope you find something you love in it. I hope it doesn’t overwhelm you, perhaps only when you want it to. It has at times overwhelmed me. It has made me think and question a lot of things.
It has kept me coming back to a single question.
Could anybody ever expect to influence anything as beautiful as this after they pass on?
Welcome to Episode 36 of This is Not Happening. An Album of the Month Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’. This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’? This month, we get stuck right into Creep Show’s ‘Yawning Abyss’ in Part 1 and in Part 2 we play Spin It or Bin It with the theme ‘Super-Producers’.
Part 1 | Album of the Month | Creep Show’s ‘Yawning Abyss’
It’s Guy’s choice this month and he choses a bleak little oddity by Creep Show called Yawning Abyss. Creep Show are a ‘Super Group’ of John Grant, Phil Winter (Tuung), Stephen Mallinder (Caberet Volataire) and Ben ‘Benge’ Edwards (Prolific Producer). This is their 2nd album as a collective and they channel the dark, the dystopian and the hopeless across 9 tracks and 40-ish minutes of music. There are elements of each individuals previous work but there is distinctive sound that the band capture themselves.
What is a Super-Producer? It turns out we all have a different definition, no surprises there I guess! But collectively we kind of agree that a Super-Producer is (i) successful (ii) prolific (iii) has had a significant impact on music (iv) spans numerous artists and perhaps genres.
Sometimes albums fall into your lap and other times you scrape around. In April, Young Fathers was a slam-dunk and is still one of my favourite albums of the year. In late 2022, Hot Chip could be my only choice. Yet in summer 2023, I was caught between a few stools. Albums coming up from Blur (mid-July) and the pop of Girl Ray (early August) fell just outside the window of opportunity. In the end, it came down to two: Yuksek’s sun-drenched Dance O Drome and the leftfield synth nihilism of Creep Show. I love Yuksek, and have done for years, and it’s going to be one of my good times albums of the year, but in all its brilliance, I’m not sure how much we’d have to say about a chuggy, summery disco-pop dance album. So, Creep Show it was.
But Creep who? They weren’t a band I was aware of, but even after my ears were pricked by the involvement of John Grant, on further inspection it became more of a ‘why on earth haven’t I heard of Creep Show before now? The four piece reeks of musical invention, with Grant nestling next to Wrangler, a trio made up of Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder, legendary synth warlock Ben ‘Benge’ Edwards, and Tunng’s Phil Winter. When TINH worlds collide…. And when I gave it a listen it really did tick a lot of my boxes immediately: rich John Grant vocals: check (see Matinee). Synth weirdness: check (try Moneyback). Sparse arrangements: check (The Bellows). Bleak lyrics: check (Bungalow). Jaded worldview: definite check (hi, Wise). It really got its clutches into me from the off, and while I was still trying to decide on the August album, when I woke up one day humming its tracks it was all the indication I needed.
So what do you get? It’s just the right mix of sleaze, perfectly pitched arrangements and an intriguing blend of obtuse lyrics, with sonic obliqueness that just seems to hang together. And given its members, you can hear real craftsmanship underneath the headline-grabbing songs. It’s also worth noting Yawning Abyss is their second album. The first – Dynamite – came out 5 years ago, and is distinctly more wonky than this. It’s definitely worth a listen just to see the pathway between the two, as while hardly a soft sonic experience, Yawning Abyss is certainly more approachable.
The band came together off the back of a night celebrating 40 years of Rough Trade at the Barbican, where artists new and old performed (Hot Chip and Scritti Politti were also on the bill) and while Grant and Mallinder already knew each other, it all evolved from that night. There’s a nice alchemy across the four too, with Grant not just committing vocals – and Mallinder accompanies him in the arrangements too – but also keyboards, with drums, bass, and synths across Winter and Benge, all concocted by the latter’s array of vintage gear at his Memetune Studio in Cornwall. But it takes more than just warm 80s synths and drum machines to make good music but – in Benge’s words in an interview around their debut, “you turn on some of these things they kind of put out half a track before you manage to turn it off again [laughs] and then you refine it and add bits or take stuff out” – there’s a nice unstructured element to how the music can come together. But make no mistake, this album is no ramshackle affair. It’s tighter than a new violin string, with lush layers that envelop and a committed ability to fuck up Grant’s voice as much as possible. Because, while it’s a loose lineage to his (in my opinion) brilliant solo albums Pale Green Ghosts (made with Icelandic dance-poppers Gus Gus, and one I brought to this pre-pod blog back in 2013) and Grey Tickles And Black Pressure, melding Grant’s silken voice with electronica, this is a notable step further away from that.
There is a concerted effort to break up the richness in his distinctive vocals, a wish to remove any smoothness that may have sounded too ‘right’ over some of the slick, gossamer-thin percussion and melodies and warm synth notes and it’s something that marks out the album as sounding a good stride away from just a John Grant solo project with some cool musicians behind him. It’s also helpful that Wrangler are already a fully-formed outfit, and you can hear that in the quality of the arrangements that sound so well-honed. Take Moneyback as an example. This dystopian paen to fraud, lies and pyramid schemes roughs up the vocals, distorts the perfection. Matinee almost fires a gun through them, vocoded and then stuttered into sections, and it’s a clever gambit, as it adds them as further melody and rhythm, and shows there’s much more scope to music when you are willing to mess with the normal (something we also found pleasing in less extreme ways in EBTG’s Fuse when Tracey Thorn’s voice was also manipulated).
Is it a concept album? Perhaps, perhaps not. But its loosely-formed focus on a near-present world where the darkness is embraced (try the title track’s jaunty “Come jump with me into the maw of the big, yawning abyss / Don’t be silly now, you know you’ve always wanted this”) is just another means to give a wide pallet of material to work with. Its world is much more Back To The Future 2 meets Black Mirror than the cool futurism of Blade Runner. There’s a bit of joy to the embracing of the underbelly or society’s less alluring landscapes. Grant and Mallinder both sound like they’re having a hell of a time living in it too.
It’s a neatly-boxed 9 tracks and 41 minutes. And doesn’t really take any missteps. Away from the more sleek tracks, and away from the rest of the album, Yahtzee could grate, but it’s actually one of my favourite tracks on the album, where all the motifs are taken to extremes, Grant’s vocals smashed to bits with distortion and effects, as he chirps about playing ‘peeknuckle’ (whatever that is) while “I loosen your buckle” and Yahtzee “while the Nazi’s tear our nation apart”. Cheery! The only part that feels slightly self-indulgent is the six minutes of Steak Diane, which while it’s really listenable low-slung sleaze, perhaps could be half its length, but it also slips by each time when I listen to it, and the reprise of the Bellows turns around into the opening track and we go again. In Joey’s words ‘I find I’m into my second listen so easily’.
I’m interested to see what the rest of the gang make of it. I’m fully into ‘singing it when I wake up’ territory, and that is always the sign of an album that’s got its hooks into me. Its crept up on me without me putting up a fight, and I now really enjoy coming back to it, even as it fights with Blur, Yuksek, Julie Byrne and the rest. I can see bits of it really clicking with each of you (bleakness, edgy synths, hi Joey, strange pop perhaps David, the dancier stuff with Nolan) but I’m not sure if you’ll feel the same as I do. But isn’t that the joy of this all? All hail Creep Show!
Festive Greetings from This Is Not Happening and welcome to our year-end, 2025 wrap-up episode. As always we split the pod into Part 1 and Part 2.Part 1 features our Top 10 favourite albums of 2025. We use a proprietary algorithm to create our list our collective favourite albums, we're talking nascent data-science excellence! Every year it throws up some surprises as our tastes are so different (and in some ways so similar.Part 2 features a festive Spin It or Bin It. We each bring a candidate for track of the year and ask the age old question 'Spin It or Bin It' … will anyone really bin anyone elses Track of the Year? Probably.To retain the tension, I won't share any spoilers here … other than to share a 40 track playlist of some of our favourite 2025 tracks … here.Whatever you do at this time of year, who ever you do it with … have a good one.Please join us in January where we will go back to the usual format of Album of the Month + Spin It or Bin It.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
This month we’re doing things a little differently. In this episode we are celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th Birthday by each choosing our favourite Hip Hop album. We’re not choosing ‘the best’ or ‘the most important’ we’re choosing our personal favourites. We take it in turns to introduce our favourite album and discuss what everyone else thinks.
Listen Here – 16 track playlist, 4 tracks each from our 4 favourite Hip Hop albums.
Nolan’s Favourite Hip Hop Album | ATLiens by Outkast Straight out of the blocks is our resident Hip Hop expert Nolan’s with his selection, Outkast’s 2nd album, 1996’s ATLiens.
You can find an introduction to this album by Nolan on our blog – read it here.
ATLiens 25th Anniversary You Tube page and videos can be found –here.
Joey’s Favourite Hip Hop Album | Buhloone Mind State by De La Soul Choosing a classic TINH album from the past, Joey counters with his favourite, going back 3 years and selecting De La Soul’s 3rd album, release 30 years ago in 1993, Buhloone Mind State.
You can find an introduction to this album by Joey on our blog – read it here.
Have a look here at De La Soul’s You Tube account for videos – here.
David’s Favourite Hip Hop Album | Reachin’ by Digable Planets This one was a real pleasure to be re-introduced too. We’re staying in 1993 with David’s selection Reachin’ by Digable Planets. The ‘most-David’ Hip Hop album evs.
You can find an introduction to this album by David on our blog – read it here.
Watch the video to the track that kicked the whole thing off – here.
Guy’s Favourite Hip Hop Album | Renaissance by Q Tip After some deliberation, Guy chose an album that divided opinions at the time but has aged very well and is a lovely choice by Guy. 2008’s Renaissance by Q Tip.
You can find an introduction to this album by Guy on our blog – read it here.
So, these are our 4 favourite Hip Hop albums of all time. What do you think? Do you know these albums? What are your favourites? Hit us up, let us know.
This month we’re all picking our favourite Hip Hop album to celebrate the genre’s 50th Birthday. We’re NOT picking ‘the best’ or ‘the most hipster’ or the ‘one with the most singles on it’ etc etc. It has to be personal, it has to be ‘our’ and it has to be ‘favourite’. For me, there is not too much debate on my choice. Well, ok, there was a little debate. I too, like David struggled with a Public Enemy album but mine would be Apocalypse ’91 which is almost nobody else’s favourite PE album. But being true, I had to pick Buhloone Mind State.
I bought this, on CD from John Menzies in Aldridge in 1993. I guess that means I was 16 and I guess that means that due to the release date I had just started my A levels. I had barely listened to De La Soul for 5 years. I wasn’t a huge 3 Feet High and Rising fan. It has a place in my heart and in my history but SOOOOOO many skits. Obviously it had a HUGE impact on music, on Hip Hop and on culture in general. It was important. I was mostly listening to Sonic Youth and the Pixies at this stage. I was starting to explore electronica. But something made me buy this album and it has been with me ever since. I wish I could chart the consistency of which I play this album cause I think it would be a surprisingly frequent and regular listen over the past 30 years. Albums have memories attached to them, my memories attached to this album span 30 years!
So what is it? It’s De La Soul’s 3rd album. And its a ‘proper’ album. Its a coherent body of work with productions credits going to Prince Paul and perhaps his best work? (Handsome Boy Modelling School?). The album has recurring musical, lyrical and emotional themes. It’s an exploration of Hip Hop, of music, of De La Soul’s treatment by the music industry. It’s about 3 musician’s growing up.
At first it can sound like a bag of ideas, not all of which are expressed fully formed but in my mind all of the ideas on this album are fully explored, they are just not explored within the confines of one track. Motifs are introduced on one track, carried through to another and finally resolved in yet another. The tracks on this album could only ever appear in the order that they do. There is no debate. Sorry. If you listen to this on shuffle, we need to speak.
It’s got just about everything you could want from any album. It’s introspective (without that introspection every wandering up it’s own arse), it’s genuinely innovative, it’s funny, it’s heart breaking, it’s educational, it’s 48 mins but feels much less. It’s a joy.
It’s also pretty dark in places. A repeated notion is the their frustration with constantly being asked to ‘cross over’. ‘Why are N***** always crossing over something huh? I mean what’s the matter huh? They can accept our music as long as they can’t see our faces’. This theme appears through out the album and is a clear reference to the expectations of the industry following the success of 3 Feet and then the critical reception to De La Soul is Dead.
Let’s also hear it for Maceo Parker ‘who be blowin’ the soul out of this horn’.
David has asked if ‘I am I be’ is the best Hip Hop album track of all time. I ask, is it the best Hip Hop track of all time? It is the beautiful, perfect resolution to many of the motifs explored on the album, they all point to this piece of Hip Hop perfection. If you ever find yourself in an argument with a mouth breather about the importance of Hip Hop as a credible art form, just ask them to sit down and listen to this. You might want to share the Posdnous’s first verse lyrics and ask them to reconsider their opinion;
I am Posdnous I be the new generation of slaves Here to make papes to buy a record exec rakes The pile of revenue I create But I guess I don’t get a cut cuz my rent’s a month late Product of a North Carolina cat Who scratched the back of a pretty woman named Hattie Who departed life just a little too soon And didn’t see me grab the Plug Tune fame As we go a little somethin’ like this Look ma, no protection Now I got a daughter named Ayana Monet And I can play the cowboy to rustle in the dough So the scenery is healthy where her eyes lay I am an early bird but the feathers are black So the apples that I catch are usually all worms But it’s a must to decipher one’s queen From a worm who plays groupie and spread around the bad germ I cherish the twilight I maximize, my soul is the right size I watch for the power to run out on the moon (And that’ll be sometime soon) Faker than a fist of kids Speakin’ that they’re black When they’re just niggas trying to be Greek Or some tongues who lied And said “We’ll be natives to the end” Nowadays we don’t even speak I guess we got our own life to live Or is it because we want our own kingdom to rule? Every now and then I step to the now For now I see back then I might have acted like a fool Now I won’t apologize for it This is not a bunch of Brady’s But a bunch of black man’s pride Yet I can safely say I’ve never played a sister by touching where her private parts reside I’ve always walked the right side of the road If I wasn’t making song I wouldn’t be a thug selling drugs But a man with a plan And if I was a rug cleaner Betcha Pos’d have the cleanest rugs I am
How to feel old? Realise that hip-hop turns 50 and that when it was born you weren’t even (quite) alive. But it feels pretty incredible to be celebrating a genre of music so wide and vast that is just as strong as a pop-cultural touchstone, a movement, a social bedrock and so much more. So we had to try and pick something out ourselves to celebrate it all.
It shouldn’t be any surprise to listeners of the podcast that I am not the biggest hip-hop head of the four of us. In fact if Joey, David and Nolan are all dipping for the line, I’m still sauntering around the home straight. But this doesn’t mean I don’t love it: I adore so many cuts from its five decade history. But while everyone else was getting into Nas, Public Enemy, NWA or KRS-One, my nerdy teenage self was, well, into pop music, indie and guitars. Yes, I saw the odd track on Top of the Pops, and the Chart Show, even the safest on Now albums (though White Lines is gloriously on Now 3, which I have on vinyl at home), but like dance music, it wasn’t until I went to university that this really changed. So for one, I was a late starter, and for another point, for a long time I was a singles man. So many bangers, so much great tracks through the late 90s and into the 2000s, but did I even own an album before the new millennium? No, I did not.
Given we are all choosing our favourite hip-hop album for Episode 34 of the podcast, unlike the other four, narrowing it down to even ten, I was struggling to even pick 10 I owned and knew. We’ve reviewed some brilliant, epochal albums on the blog before: Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly is a modern classic, RTJ’s RTJ4 was the first episode of what would end up as the podcast, 3 years and counting. We’ve covered Rapsody, Mac Miller, Skyzoo, Apollo Brown, Little Simz, Gangstarr, N.E.R.D, Loyle Carner, Tribe…. in fact I’d go as far as saying that this blog and podcast single-handedly got me into hip-hop albums so amen to that!
But picking one that came to me via elsewhere, nominated by someone else, never felt right, however much I loved it (Tribe’s glorious comeback We Got It From Here was a flirtation though). So I had to go back to the slim pickings and actually work out what I liked in the end that was truly ‘mine’. There were some great albums, just not many! I loved Jurassic 5’s J5, a 1998 classic that I still play now. But while it was fine, it wasn’t one that would want me reaching for the repeat button. Of course, by the 90s and 2000s, I owned classics like 3 Feet High, It Takes A Nation Of Millions, Midnight Marauders, and I’d got and loved Beastie Boys long players, but I wanted to pick one I was there from the start with, and in the end, with my love of sample-based, Native Tongues-adjacent rap, it could only be Q-Tip’s The Renaissance, from 2008.
Now, if you asked me what my two favourite hip-hop acts were, it would be easy to answer: De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. They were incredible musicians, they went against the grain of so much hardcore and hood/gangsta hip-hop that didn’t really connect with me. But I remember seeing De La and that departure from what I thought hip-hop was, as they played with samples, conscious lyrics and it changed things for me. Tribe were not far behind. But in 2008, Q-Tip, their beating heart, released his second solo album: The Renaissance. I pretty much fell in love with it at the time. Melodies and hooks? Tick. Samples galore: tick. Q-Tip’s distinctive flow all on his own? Yep. Funk? HELL YEAH. And then some perfectly pitched guests – D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, and (even) Norah Jones. BINGO.
That was enough to get me in, but why is it so good? Because whatever others think – and it’s definitely considered a classic – there’s so many reasons to adore this record. For one, it is so optimistic. It arrived after Obama got into the White House – even with a sample of one of his speeches on Shaka – and seemed to evoke so much of what we all hoped would happen (and that really didn’t). Contrast it with the fantastic comeback from Tribe – We Got It From Here in 2016, to see just how far the world had fallen. From the opening bars of Johnny Is Dead, with its cascading guitar chords and that so distinctive flow (‘What good is an ear if a Q-Tip isn’t it it?’, indeed!) breaking into the harmonies in the chorus. It is simply life-affirmingly good. I challenge anyone to listen and not come out of it feeling better.
It just has so much life, energy, positivity and goodness. The bumping Won’t Trade, trading on soul vocals and Gettin’ Up’s sun-drenched vibes (with that great Black Ivory Sample) it just has you nodding and wondering where this album has been all your life. Across 46 minutes (my perfect hip-hop album length, no hour plus stuff, this is just tight and fizzes along) it goes from introspective break-ups (You), funk and soul half-songs (WeFight/WeLove), the Can-sampling ManWomanBoogie’s head-nodding brilliance (giving props to all the great artists along the way), Move’s all-out maximalism sampling the Jackson 5, and slower jams Life Is Better and Believe. Arguably its strongest effect is from the Dance On Glass, (picking up the hypocrisy of the industry, ‘ The people at the label say they want something to repeat / But all my people really want something for the streets’) with its first minute of just pure unaccompanied flow.
For an album that’s 15 years old, it still absolutely pops. There’s so much to enjoy about it, and it’s so musical, some of the tracks almost songs in their own right, even if its’ a guest vocal or sample, and with Tip let loose to do what he wanted. It’s an artist still at their top of their game, and enjoying the freedom of a solo project. It came with a lot of pressure and history, given a decade after his solo debut, Amplified, and label-denied false starts (the jazzy Kamal the Abstract from 2001 was a niche masterpiece for me too), the Renaissance came with a lot of expectation and delivered. It was when Tribe were on hiatus too, so for a creative like Q-Tip, it must’ve been a real release to put something out so good.
Talking about it ten years on, in an interview with the NME, he mused about where he was and what the album meant: “The Renaissance was about dealing with classic colloquialisms about self.…. I wanted the music to have a sound that stood the test of time, it was all about our humanity. It felt like I had re-entered hip hop. At the time I exited, music was vastly different.” In 2008, it was all about Kanye, Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne, a world from Tribe’s heyday. But he delved into not just some of the usual subject matter, but Renaissance was a much more personal album that I’d expected: “You” was hard to go through, but easy to recount. It’s much like going through a break up and telling your boy what happened as therapy. That was to one of my ex-girlfriends, actually.” So it had layers beyond the samples, or the flow. And that’s why I still come back to it.
It’s been a total joy to get back into it. I must have rinsed it 20+ times in the last 6 weeks and I could let it go back round again and again. While I struggle to stick with hip-hop albums, this feels so easy. It has so much of everything I love about the genre in it, and it has an infectious positivity and outlook that seems to be in scant supply 15 years later, with so much of hip-hop on a much darker tip than the time of Tribe and De La (not that they didn’t talk about reality, of course). So it’s a ray of sunshine, a classic artefact of the best of hip-hop, a slice of pre-Trump goodness we could all benefit from a listen to.
If you were to ask me what I think is the best hip hop album of all time, after a quick hesitation I would tell you it is Illmatic by Nas. I’ve spent more than 25 years debating this with friends; and this has always been my conclusion. When tasked with choosing my favourite hip hop album it wasn’t as straight forward. Those that read the blog or listen to the pod will have at least a slight inkling to the fact that hip hop is a large part of my music collection and is a key pillar to my musical journey since a young age. I own 100’s of hip hop albums; and I love most of them. Although Nas’ debut album was and still is phenomenal, there are albums that connected with me better when they were released. Deciding which one is my favourite has been a near impossible task. Some albums haven’t dated that well, some albums I’ve loved more with time; but what album has been rock steady since my first listen? What album is timeless? What album still moves me? I widdled the list down to five, but there was one that ticked all the boxes: Outkast – Atliens.
When it comes to Outkast and their fan base, there are layers. The majority discovered the group via Stankonia and Ms. Jackson, some through Aquemini’s ‘Rosa Parks’, less through the forementioned ‘ATlien’s’ and people like me who started the ride in 1994 with their debut album ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmusik’. From the second I heard a teenage Big Bio say ‘time and time again I’ve been thinking about the future’, I’ve been in with two feet. Whilst many of my peers couldn’t get enough of gangster rap, the honest, raw view of Big Boi were on constant rotation in my Walkman. They smoked weed, were navigating life, were backed by delicious beats from the dungeon family, and were custodians to a step change in hip hop.
By 1996 I was fully committed to hip hop. It was my world. Could you argue with a 16 year old me? The genre had been releasing nonstop incredible music since late 1992 (IMO) and it was at a great pace. As the music evolved so did my taste, and hip hop in 96 flaws. The jiggy era was in its infancy and the music was embroiled in a west coast / east coast beef (enter the southern hip hop stage left).
From the first time Much Music’s Rap City played the lead single ‘Elevators’, I think hip hop changed for me. A new bar was set. You will struggle to find 18 bars by Andre 3000 that aren’t special, but his verses on Elevators were elevated; and Big Bio’s may be better. I have always felt that Elevators was their war cry to hip hop. Released in August of 2016, Andre has stated at the now infamous East Coast / West Cost tension riddled award show that ‘the south got somethin’ to say’. Little did we know that a few weeks later Outkast would release an album that would not only change the sound of hip hop.
The album was a giant step from their debut. Big Boi had become a father, Andre had given up smoking and drinking and replaced them with reading. They wanted to make something different, and wouldn’t let anything get in their way. The album as we know it almost never happened. 20 songs didn’t make the cut for Outkast. LaFace records didn’t like Elevators (the group took it to radio, and it blew up). The album cover was initially rejected because the cartoon version of Big Boi didn’t look like him (this was resolved by covering his face with an Atlanta Braves hat. The Universe had its on making sure that ATLiens saw the light of day.
From end to end the album is solid. They start with ‘Two Dope Boys’ and follow with ‘ALTiens’. On first listen I remember thinking they went too soon with two big tracks, but the quality throughout the album is consistent on every track. ‘Wheelz of Steel’, Jazzy Bell’ (which has one of my favourite lines in hip hop from Andre).. and then ‘Elevators’. Seriously!
The grittiness of ‘Ove Da Woods’ is quickly complimented by the opposite in ‘Babylon’. Wailin’ and ‘Mainstream’ again do the same whilst ‘Decatur Pslam’ is a perfect Organized Noise posse track.
Getting lost in Andre’s chorus on ‘Millennium’, the building tension of ‘E.T.’ ….. whilst encasing watertight lyrics and flows. As the end of the album approaches, ‘13th/Growing Old’ lets you loose yourself one last time as the Big Boi sample of ’96 gonna’ be that year’ echo’s though the track. For one last time you try and decide who is the best as the two mc’s trade verses without fault…. They’re both untouchable, reminding you that ‘the south has somethin’ to say’.
I could talk endlessly about each song at length (and over time have to brother Joey), but for the sake of time I think that each song is perfect.
Unlike Illmatic which was introduced to me, I introduced ATlien’s to most of the people I knew. It was a sound soundtrack to many teenage cars with big sound systems in the town I grew up in; and was a gateway to many of my friends into getting into hip hop.
In 2016, on the album’s 20th anniversary, Billboard stated that ATLiens was one of hip hop’s most celebrated opuses. Nearing it’s 30th anniversary the album for me goes from strength to strength as it still sounds fresh and is as relevant as the day it was released. This is why it’s my favourite hip hop album.
Who else were in my top 5? There was no particular order: Jeru The Damaja ‘Wrath Of The Math’, The B.U.M.S. ‘Lyfe’N’Tyme, Gza ‘Liquid Swords’ and Common Sence ‘Resurrection’. Note that this list is subject to change!
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