mooklife

Azizi Gibson – The Last

Synthy underground hip-hop.

BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah – Sour Soul

Modern jazz ensemble collaborating with hip-hop legend.

The Black Market – VLME 1

Laid back and jazzy instrumental hip-hop.

Boldy James – Trapper’s Alley 2 Risk vs Reward

East Coast gangster rap.

Bones & Dylan Ross – SongsThatRemindYouOfHome

Dark, trappy, alternative hip-hop.

Cakes Da Killa – #IMF

Gay rap bangers.

Cannibal Ox – Blade of Ronin

East Coast boom bap.

Chris Travis – Live From The East 2015

Lo-fi trap vibes.

Clear Soul Forces – Cheat Codes EP

Boom bap.

Dawn Richard – Blackheart

Intricate neo soul / RnB.

The Doppelgangaz – Rhyme Over Beats

Jazzy instrumental hip-hop.

EarthGang – Torba

Underground hip-hop.

Esbe – Bloomsday

Smooth trip hop.

Fashawn – The Ecology

West Coast hip-hop.

The Four Owls – Natural Order

UK boom bap.

Future – Beast Mode

Smooth auto-tuned hip-hop.

Future Brown – Future Brown

Futuristic grime / hip-hop.

FWUK Trax Eight

UK footwork / jungle label sampler.

Gucci Mane – Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Trap.

Buy here, here and here

Heems – Eat Pray Thug

Alternative hip-hop.

Hodgy Beats – Dena Tape 2

High energy hip-hop.

Homeboy Sandman – Tour Tape

Alternative hip-hop.

This album was only available on cassette tapes sold on Homeboy Sandman’s recent tour so you’ll have to do some digging to find it.

Infinite Livez vs Stade – Trans Europe Excess

Bizarre UK hip-hop.

John Robinson – We The Prolific

Underground hip-hop.

Johnny Rain – 11

Electronic RnB.

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

Jazzy hip-hop.

Kenn Starr – Square One

Boom bap.

Kiings – WWYDF

RnB infused bass music.

Knxwledge – Hexual Sealings Prt.8

Jazzy RnB remixes.

Knxwledge – WT.PRT.7.5

Jazzy hip-hop remixes.

Lil Scrappy – Merlo’s Way

Trap.

Lofty305 X DJ Complex – Haitian Silk

Psychedelic hip-hop.

Lxury – Into the Everywhere

Crazy electro vibes

DJ Madd – R&F Unlimited EP

Footwork.

Mark Battles & Dizzy Wright – Lost In Reality

Hip-Hop.

MC Eiht – Compton 2 Vienna Vol. 1

West Coast gangsta rap.

Memory Man – Broadcast One

Gritty jazz sample based hip-hop.

Nacho Picasso & Blue Sky Black Death – Stoned and Dethroned

Spacey hip-hop.

Buy Here

Nell – The Screw Tape

Gangster raps over DJ Screw tracks.

Nneka – My Fairy Tales

Reggae infused soul.

OG Maco – 15 EP

Alternative trap.

Open Mike Eagle – A Special Episode Of

“Art Rap”.

Pharoahe Monch – Lost In Translation

Smooth hip-hop.

Phony Ppl – Yesterday’s Tomorrow

Jazzy RnB / hip-hop.

ProtoType – Lost Boy

Electronic RnB.

Ratking – 700 Fill

Underground hip-hop.

Raw Poetic & K-Def – Coll Convos in Quantum Speech

Smooth boom bap.

Rome Fortune X OG Maco – Yep EP

Alternative trap.

SD – Life of a Savage 4

Chicago drill.

Sinitus Tempo & The Regiment – S.O.U.L. Sound of us Living

Boom bap.

Skizzy Mars – The Red Balloon Project

RnB / hip-hop.

Slim Thug – Hogg Life The Beginning

Pimped out Southern hip-hop.

Substantial and The Other Guys – The Past

Boom bap.

THEEsatisfaction – EarthEE

Experimental hip-hop.

Theory Hazit – Fall Of The Light Bearer

Underground hip-hop.

Toro Y Moi – What For?

Chillwave.

Traxman – Tek x Tar Vol. 5

Footwork.

Tree – Trap Genius

Trap.

Zion I – The Sun Moon and Stars EP

West Coast boom bap.

Yeti (ZGRA) – Hip-Hop Collection VI

Bizarre instrumental hip-hop.

Young L – Final Fantasy

Strange trap vibes.

Yung Simmie – Yung Smokey

Smoked out trap.

ZeBaDee – The Way Forward

Scottish hip-hop.

Listen on Youtube

Click here for part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14 and part 15.

Defenders Of Style & Tha Office – Defenders Of Style vs Tha Office

Two Leeds crews clashing and making boom bap style hip-hop that actually stands out from the overcrowded UK scene.

Dels – Petals Have Fallen

Sounds like Ghostpoet but slightly less melancholy. Interesting UK hip-hop.

Diamond District – March On Washington and Redux Edition

The trio of Oddisee, Uptown XO and yU are back, years after In The Ruff with another exceptional LP. Some of the best boom bap style beats I’ve heard in years perfectly complement the expert flows and thoughtful lyrics. A redux version of the album with remixes from a variety of big name producers was released later in the year and is as good as the original, although it is a little less cohesive.

Buy the original here and the Redux Edition here

Dizzy Wright – State Of Mind

Sturdy collection of club friendly hip-hop tracks.

Epidemic & Tantu – The Soulution

Buttery soul beats lend themselves perfectly to Epidemic’s soothing raps.

Fashawn & Alchemist – FASH-ionably late

Fashawn has been a solid rapper for a while now and although he’s had some good releases I’ve never been blown away by his output. This tape is different, and it’s pretty obvious why. Alchemist has been on another level recently, making some of the best beats of the year and he really brings it here. Fashawn fits with the beats perfectly too and I’d love to hear a proper album from these two.