TranscendNoise

20. Pusha T – It's Almost Dry We might never again receive this kind of production masterpiece. With Kanye West moving further and further away from the charity of his peers with his comments and odd behaviours and his peers failing to help him in any meaningful way, another meeting of Pharrell Williams, West and Pusha T is unlikely. As Williams did at the start of Pusha T’s commercial success with Clipse, West enhanced and reinvigorated Pusha’s career with his production. The rapper never lacked in lyrical prowess, colorfully painting his gangster saga full of cocaine dealing and material excess, but without the production chops of both Williams and West, his best verses would have never hit the same. Splitting the production duties in half and producing “Rock N Roll” together, West and Williams elevate every boast, every grim detail and yearning of Pusha. Running with the motif of painting and chemical processing of cocaine, a great painting starts with the background, priming ...

50. OG Keemo – Geist | Whole Discography OG Keemo´s debut album Geist was released towards the end of 2019 and passed over by my usual reluctance to give German rappers a real chance. Trickling word of mouth made me listen in. Keemo´s music, carried by his partner producer Funkvater Frank makes Geist and all of his previous mixtapes and EPs a must listen, a lesson in the energy and vigor a German rap story can carry without catering to current tendencies of trap-crooning or misshapen attempts of making dancehall. If anything, OG Keemo is the only German rapper you need to know in 2020! Simply for his banging delivery of tales surrounding poverty and racism which revel in depression without diving into sadness. The agency of Keemo in capturing his past, his bravado in taking a stand in today´s gangster rap, are flawless over the Funkvater Frank´s varied production. While other German contemporaries might appeal to easier sentiments or remain functional as hit-makers, everyone with the G...