Milk Crate’s Top 10 Rap Albums of 2022
Graphic by Lily Hartenstein
By Parker Bennett
Although it’s an arbitrary and pretentious metric, there are few things that are more fun than a Top 10 list. For music fans, the month of December is synonymous with a deluge of takes on which albums released that year made the cut for personal Top 10 rankings. Sometimes, it can turn into a heated topic of debate, and there are really no album of the year (AOTY) discussions more passionate than those within the hip-hop community. All across Twitter threads, Youtube comments, and Rate Your Music message boards, the conversations around a given year’s hip-hop output is never not ripe for discussion. This is my contribution to 2022 hip-hop AOTY discussion, and while it’s just as superfluous as every other Top 10 on the topic, it was a lot of fun to make.
Honorable Mentions
Cheat Codes - Black Thought & Danger Mouse
Favorite Song: “Belize (feat. MF DOOM)”
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers - Kendrick Lamar
Favorite Song: “Father Time (feat. Sampha)”
Tana Talk 4 - Benny the Butcher
Favorite Song: “Weekend in the Perrys (feat. Boldy James)”
Mr. Ten08 - Boldy James & Futurewave
Favorite Song: “Disco Fever”
Melt My Eyez See Your Future - Denzel Curry
Favorite Song: “X-Wing”
10. It’s Almost Dry - Pusha T
For years, detractors of Pusha T have levied the same complaint against the Virginia rap legend: “He only raps about selling coke.” It’s Almost Dry seems to look those disparagers in the eye and simply retort, “So what?” Yes, Push’s 5th studio album is still almost entirely about the drug trade, but there’s also no one on Earth who can make the dope game as entertaining, engrossing, and relatable as the 45 year-old rapper can.
Entirely produced by Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, It’s Almost Dry sounds like a further maturation of the Kanye-produced sounds Push brought to the forefront on his 2018 album Daytona. Chopped up vocal samples and pitched up piano chords mark the majority of the Kanye produced tracks on the album, and Pharrell’s characteristic synth stabs and off-kilter percussion go toe-to-toe with Kanye’s bangers. Every song here feels like a snapshot of Push’s best musical qualities, with a noticeable emphasis on hooks that makes every track feel memorable after just one listen. Additionally, Push’s lyrics are their most catchy and quotable (“Richard Pryor’s flames gave birth to pipe dreams”), and the feature list is a short order receipt of certifiable legends.
Despite a few rocky moments in its latter half (“Scrape it Off”), It’s Almost Dry is a top-to-bottom masterclass in hip-hop excellence. Many aspects of the album stick faithfully to the Pusha T formula, but equal portions felt like a left-field,borderline experimental sonic journey for the rapper, such as the unsettling ambience of “Just So You Remember”. The result is another phenomenal project from Push and further solidification of just how far he’s come and how well he can rap circles around almost anyone in the game right now.
Favorite Song: “Neck & Wrist (feat. Jay-Z & Pharrell Williams)”
9. As Above, So Below - Sampa the Great
One of the beautiful phenomena that has spawned from the Internet-era of music listening is the sudden and unrestricted access to music from all across the globe. While hip-hop is undeniably an American-born art-form, its influence over the past few decades has transcended cultural and geographical borders and has led to a slew of talented global rap artists being able to rise to prominence within their own national scenes as well as on a more international scale. Over here in the U.S, U.K. rappers tend to reach our radars the most often, but the international rap scene is chock full of talented voices that simply aren’t getting the exposure they deserve. Case in point: Sampa the Great.
Born in Zambia and based in Australia, Sampa the Great is an artist who deserves probably ten times the recognition she’s currently receiving. For the past few years, she’s dropped two solid albums, dozens of singles, and several incredible features. She’s proven herself to be incredibly versatile, with the ability to switch from R&B vocals to breakneck rap bars at the drop of a hat, and her music has always shown an uncompromising commitment to her African heritage in both style and content. As Above, So Below embodies all of these things, but refines everything about her sound into a gorgeous, tightly produced package that has been sorely underrepresented in this year’s best rap album discourse.
The beauty of this album is cinematic in scope. The production is gorgeously eclectic; made up of instruments like marimbas, pan flutes, djembes, and electronic drum kits. On every song, Sampa’s presence is ear-catching and distinct, and her ability to switch so seamlessly between different voices, flows, and languages remains impressive for the entirety of the album’s runtime. “Lane”, “IDGAF”, and “Lo Rain” are laid-back moments of incredible beauty, and songs like “Mask On”, “Bona” and “Never Forget” offer hyped-up anthems that are bursting with energy. Altogether, As Above, So Below is an awe-inspiring display of artistic dominance, and a sure sign of the heights Sampa the Great deserves to achieve. If her name wasn’t known to you before, hopefully she’s on your radar now, and if this album didn’t find its way into your rotation this year… you’ve still got a while to run it up.
Favorite Song: “Lo Rain (feat. Mwanje)”
8. Deathfame - Quelle Chris
On track nine of his seventh solo album, Deathfame, Quelle Chris raps, “Every year, an album drop, I’m on top of the Best Ofs/And if I don’t drop, shit, I’m on someone’s album that was.” It’s a particular boast that very few rappers can make with substantial credibility, but Quelle Chris is a definite exception to the rule. Year after year, his album releases are met with critical acclaim and the same resounding question: “How is everyone not talking about this guy??”
Luckily, the past few years have seen Quelle entering much more into the public consciousness of hip-hop fans, and while he has yet to reach any sort of mainstream appeal (who knows if he’d even want to?), he is undoubtedly a well-established name in the underground. Deathfame is an album that directly deals with Quelle’s newfound notoriety, but does so in the sardonic, off-kilter, and delightful manner that only he could.
Quelle’s approach to hip-hop could be seen as somewhat maximalist up until this point, usually emphasizing barrages of instrumentation, jarring samples, and an overall commitment to weirdness. From the gentle opening of “Alive Ain’t Always Living,” however, it’s clear that Deathfame is something slightly different from the MC’s usual style, and the switch-up couldn’t be more refreshing. Quelle’s writing here is as nerdy and memorable as ever (“I stick out like the second toe on a European”), but he’s also toying with a confessionalism that’s somewhat of a new frontier for him in his career. Unlike some of his past albums, Deathfame is not as concerned with an overarching concept or narrative, and this allows Quelle to reveal more intimate ruminations on his career, personal life, and overall impact on the world. It’s a beautiful record, and one that manages to keep a steady pace through even its most downtrodden moments in a way that only an artist as captivating as Quelle Chris could ever pull off.
Favorite Track: “The Sky is Blue Because the Sunset is Red (feat. Moruf & Pink Siifu)”
7. Cocodrillo Turbo - Action Bronson
You might know Action Bronson more for his multitude of non-musical ventures – acting, writing, wrestling, etc. – but fans of his back catalog pretty much know what to expect from the 38 year-old Queens rapper: ludicrous references to all manner of things you’ve never heard of, laugh-out-loud quotables, and Bronson’s trademark brand of renaissance-man machismo. Cocodrillo Turbo embodies all of this, but turns the dial up to eleven in the most awesomely bonkers way imaginable
Serving as the third installment of a loosely animal themed trilogy (along with White Bronco in 2018 and Only For Dolphins in 2020), Cocodrillo Turbo truly sounds like nothing else on the rap market today. It’s a sonic construction of a psychedelic swampland, where the actual music is permeated by bird calls, buzzing insects, and squealing wild pigs. Bronson himself seems to lyrically embody the album’s namesake; spitting cold-blooded bars with a reptilian lethargy that captivates as much as it confuses. All of that gratuitous description aside: it’s just plain fun, and no one seems to be having more fun with this album than Bronson himself.
Across its mere ten tracks, the energy on this album is absolutely infectious. Songs like “Ninety-One” and “Subzero” are pure indulgences in amusement, held down by barrages of simultaneously gut-busting and hard-hitting lyrics. Hearing someone say “Bitch, you know I voted for Obama'” is exactly what I didn’t know I needed to hear this year, but I’m so thankful Bronson and his team came through with that kind of zaniness in spades. Somehow, the album never buckles under its bizarro ambitions, and the whole thing comes together as a delightful experience that only further cements Bronson’s status as a hip-hop tastemaker whose contributions are truly unlike anything else in the modern diatribe.
Favorite Song: “Estaciones (feat. Hologram)”
6. The Elephant Man’s Bones - Roc Marciano & The Alchemist
In many ways, the entire sound of the current alternative hip-hop underground could be attributed to the influences of Roc Marciano and The Alchemist. The drumless, mafioso grit that has defined some of rap’s best offerings for the past ten years was pioneered by Marciano, and The Alchemist has further refined that style with his modern menagerie of collaborators. Because of this, an album of this rapper/producer pairing feels a bit like a Greatest Hits record before it even starts, and every single track comes across like a testament to each artist’s looming thumbprint on the genres they’ve engineered.
The most refreshing thing about The Elephant Man’s Bones is that despite coming from two of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, it still sounds completely distinct from everything either of them has dropped in the past. The Alchemist challenges Marciano’s usual soul-heavy aesthetics with an emphasis on spacey, electronic production, and Marciano rises to the occasion with some of his most out-of-the-box bars yet (“Everything I said in a rhyme is sex being weaponized”). His trademark muttered nasality is still here in top form, but there’s a hunger in these lyrics that makes every song feel electric.
Track after track, the Elephant Man’s Bones is an understated tour-de-force. “Daddy Kane” offers a disgusting beat from The Alchemist (one of the best in his entire pantheon), with hard-hitting lyrics from both Marciano and Action Bronson to boot. Songs like “The Horns of Abraxas” and “JJ Flash” offer Marciano’s signature brand of smooth criminality, and tracks like “Think Big” and “The Elephant Man’s Bones” allow the MC diverge into more heartfelt introspection. Every time I’ve listened to it, the runtime has flown by, and the world built within the album feels wholly immersive and indicative of something only two of the best minds in hip-hop could ever cook up. Already, this album is proving to be one of the most buzz-worthy records in either of their catalogs, and hopefully it will provide them both further leverage to continue putting out music that simply never fails to deliver.
Favorite Song: “The Elephant Man’s Bones”
5. The Forever Story - JID
Since dropping his incredible debut, The Never Story, in 2017, Atlanta rapper JID’s name has been etched in the recesses of rap fans’ brains in a way that very few newcomers can accomplish. His follow-up, DiCaprio 2 (2018), was just as beloved, and saw him receiving radio airplay and mainstream attention with tracks like “Off Deez” and “151 Rum”. His fans had become avid stans almost across the board, and the comparisons to names like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole were already being thrown around in online debates. All JID had left to do was drop a certifiable classic; an album that could make even his most contrarian haters lay down their Twitter fingers in defeat.
Thus, we received The Forever Story, a spiritual sequel to his debut, and it’s absolutely fantastic. For a whopping 16 tracks, JID unfurls his most well-polished, emotionally impactful, and replayable body of work yet in a manner that many rappers with twice his industry experience could only dream to accomplish. The Forever Story is a collection of expertly constructed hip-hop in its purest form, and every listen to the album feels like an experience to behold.
From the first few bars of “Raydar,” it’s clear that we’re in for a treat with this one. Hearing JID’s rapping feels like watching an Olympian dominate their field; it’s so adept that it scratches a satisfactory itch in your brain by simply witnessing it. His gentle, ASMR-ish delivery is absolutely addictive, and it’s enhanced by his rapid pace, vast vocabulary, and infectious hooks. The album is paced beautifully, finding a perfect balance between hardcore gym anthems, soft love songs, and emotionally bare confessionals. Across the board, one thing remains true: none of it is boring. Even a laid-back track like “Sistanem” that clocks in at close to seven minutes remains deeply engaging on each and every listen, and the closer “2007” keeps you glued to the stereo through its detailed depiction of JID’s career story so far. By the time the album has wrapped up, you’d be forgiven for feeling a connection to JID that almost feels personal, simply because of how effective his intimate storytelling is (see “Crack Sandwich”). The Forever Story pulls the curtain back on one of the most beloved up and comers in rap music today, and finally gives him the coveted “classic” that so few rappers will ever attain in their career.
Favorite Song: “Money”
4. Aethiopes/Church - billy woods
Alright, this one might be cheating. Despite the fact that they were released mere months apart, there really is no reason to pair these two albums together. Each deals with vastly different themes, the production sounds completely distinct, and billy woods probably wants them to be seen as separate products. However, for the sake of my own mental well-being, I simply cannot make myself choose between one of these records to make the cut, so they’re both going to live at Number Four.
Since 2012, billy woods has seen fit to bless abstract rap fans with greatness at least once a year, gradually building up a catalog of excellent albums that never fail to baffle and amaze. There simply isn’t a writer with a pen as powerful as billy woods’ in hip-hop today, and I’d argue there are only a handful of rappers in history who could ever even dream of being considered a worthy opponent. His writing is not just songwriting, it’s not just poetry; it’s literature. His harsh, barking delivery and rambling rhyme schemes are closer to slam poems than what many might consider rap music, but woods is undeniably rooted in hip-hop. While he’s proven himself to be somewhat versatile as a featured artist and executive producer, woods’ solo music usually sticks to brooding abstractions and aggressively avant-garde aesthetics. Aethiopes and Church are certainly no exception.
Produced entirely by DJ Preservation, Aethiopes is a highly conceptual and darkly produced experience. The beats here are made from haunting kalimbas, screeching horns, and hand-held percussion. The feature list is absolutely stacked, and sees woods going toe-to-toe with the likes of El-P, Elucid, Boldy James, and even Aesop Rock. On the other side of the coin, Church is an LP produced entirely by Messiah Muzik that features far fewer guest appearances than Aethiopes, and whose production consists of acid-jazz distortions and much more accessible melodies. There is no feasible way to begin to even scratch the surface of what these albums deal with thematically, but both remain engrossing and wholly captivating from start to finish. If woods is an artist who is unknown to you, these two albums are an exceptional double feature that will hopefully be enough incentive to dig into his back catalog and discover why he’s the greatest living songwriter on the planet (fight me).
Favorite Song: “Swampwater” (from Church)
3. SICK! - Earl Sweatshirt
2018’s Some Rap Songs wasn’t just a stylistic metamorphosis for L.A. born rapper Earl Sweatshirt, it was an atomic bomb of creativity that blew the hinges off the vault of what abstract hip-hop was beginning to sound like. Borrowing from peers like MIKE, Navy Blue, and Ka, Some Rap Songs was built around rambling lyricism, distorted production, and muddy mixes, and essentially became the blueprint for the majority of abstract releases that followed. After years of experimentation with Odd Future and his own solo work, Some Rap Songs sounded like Earl had found his stylistic home. If that’s the case, then SICK! sounds like the 28 year-old rapper finally getting settled in that home and kicking his musical feet up.
In terms of length, SICK! could be considered an EP – at just 24 minutes – but the complexity of this project lends itself to feeling more in-depth and cohesive than some albums with twice the runtime. The soupy abstractions of Some Rap Songs are here in full effect, but they’ve been refined even further into dollops of addictive creativity that are wholly captivating from start to finish. Lyrically, Earl is at his best. His poeticism is as striking and verbose as ever, but he’s mastered a concise-ness here that truly sounds like the maturation of his free-flowing style. Hooks are few and far between on this project – oftentimes indistinguishable from the verses – but Earl manages to keep you glued to the stereo from the sheer strength of his monotone charisma. This is poetry, in the purest sense, and showcases just how ahead of the curve Earl has always been.
As is the case with most Earl Sweatshirt projects, there’s a looming sense of melancholy across SICK! that permeates even the most up-beat moments of the album. That doesn’t mean, however, that Earl isn’t having a good time. In general, SICK! sounds more upbeat than experimental emo-rap Earl is often associated with. Singles “2010” and “Titanic'' see Earl flexing his muscles on off-kilter trap production, and songs like “Vision” and “Tabula Rasa” are joyful collaborations with some of Earl’s brightest peers. This relative levity makes the overt emotional punches of the album hit all the more hard, such as closer “Fire in the Hole,” which will probably bring more than a few tears to your eye. In my opinion, SICK! is exactly the sun-soaked change of pace that Earl’s career needed, and is the hardest his work has ever been to not play in a constant loop every time I put it on.
Favorite Song: “Fire in the Hole”
2. God Don’t Make Mistakes - Conway the Machine
At this stage in his career, Conway the Machine has nothing left to prove. He’s already widely regarded as one of the best MCs on the scene today and his prolific string of releases have been consistently met with critical acclaim. Having helped redefine the underground sound alongside his brother Westside Gunn and his cousin Benny the Butcher, Conway founded his own label, Drumwork. All of these accomplishments just make it more impressive that God Don’t Make Mistakes – his 7th album since the start of the 2020s – is an inarguable masterpiece that deserves to be considered his best offering yet.
As a fan of Conway, this album gives the listener everything they could possibly ask for. Gut-bucket crime raps delivered over filthy production? Boom, “Babas” and “Piano Love.” Top tier posse cuts that leave you baffled as to who could possibly have the best verse? Boom, “Tear Gas,” “Drumwork,” and “John Woo Flick.” Moments of heartfelt introspection paired with gorgeous instrumentation? Boom, “Wild Chapters” and “Stressed.” Most enjoyable, however, are the moments where Conway branches out from his usual trappings and dips his toes into uncharted waters. Emotional vulnerability is nothing new for Conway (see his verse on Westside Gunn’s “The Cow”), but the unfiltered honesty on this album is another level of intimate. His versatility here is impressive, managing to go from stank-face-inducing punchlines to tear jerking depictions of trauma and loss. Even in the midst of the eye-catching collaborators featured on this project, Conway manages to steal the show on just about every track and his verses remain impressive, catchy, and impactful.
God Don’t Make Mistakes elevates Conway’s infallible hype to even higher levels of greatness, but the album also serves as a fantastic introduction to anyone unfamiliar with his sound. While his past two releases, From King to a God (2020) and El Maquina (2021), were clear efforts to put Conway’s name into more mainstream conversations, God Don’t Make Mistakes’ decisive commitment to an unwavering artistic vision has done nothing but bolster the album’s success. It’s a wonderful milestone for underground hip-hop as a whole, and a true testament to how beautifully an artist can bare their soul to a listener through nothing but powerful poetry and stellar production.
Favorite Song: “Stressed”
1. Jazz Codes - Moor Mother
Rapper, poet, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Camae Ayewa – known professionally as Moor Mother – has spent the past few years churning out quality project after quality project under a variety of different monikers. Across the board, her work has remained groundbreaking, uncompromising, and utterly enchanting. Still, despite this illustrious track record, Jazz Codes might just be the best album in her lexicon. This is an absolute masterpiece of an album, and one that truly captures an essence of pure artistry that makes being a music fan feel like one of the biggest privileges in the world. In only 43 minutes, Moor Mother unfurls a tapestry of Black musical history centered around her own insights and experiences, all bursting with an undying love for the past that lives within her. Jazz Codes doesn’t just wear its influences on its sleeve, it is what came before it.
The soundscape here is an eclectic collage of dream-like instrumentation; glistening chimes and harp strums, wailing horn melodies, and rustling percussion. The conceptual focus on jazz history is enforced by production that sounds simultaneously cutting edge and ancient. It’s impossible to say what’s sampled or what’s been performed live, but it all lives together on this record in a stunning harmony that Moor Mother curates with impeccable grace. Many tracks on the album serve as homages to various figures in jazz history, such as Woody Shaw, Mary Lou Williams, Joe McPhee, Dizzy Gillespie, Sun Ra, and many more. Their presence feels deeply ingrained into the fabric of the music, and transforms the record into something resembling a living, breathing work of art. Moor Mother’s lyricism is free-flowing and poetic; uninhibited by traditional rhythms and rhyme schemes, where the emotional timbre of her voice is played as dynamically as any other instrument in the mix.
There simply isn’t another album like Jazz Codes, not this year, not ever. While calling the project hip-hop might sound like an insult to its ambition, Moor Mother makes a decisive effort to showcase her rap chops at several points throughout the record (see “RAP JASM”), and the tracklist features a litany of underground MC’s like AKAI SOLO, Fatboi Sharif, and YUNGMORPHEUS. For my money, there simply isn’t an album this year that can compete with Jazz Codes’ conceptual beauty, awe-inspiring execution, and unbridled creativity. Moor Mother is truly one of the most important artists in the underground music scene today, and Jazz Codes will undoubtedly stand the test of time as a landmark example of her brilliance, and a jumping point for even further greatness to occur.
Favorite Song: “MEDITATION RAG (feat. Aquiles Navarro & Alya Al Sultani)”