Welcome back, Campus Times readers! Your favorite music writer has returned. As I did last September, I’ve compiled a list of what I believe to be the essential music releases that came out this summer. Rather than covering every great album I heard these last few months, I’ve narrowed my list to what I believe are the ten best albums released since May. I’ve included a brief explanation of the appeal of each project, along with a track that I find to be a good sampler so you can take a taste of each record and discover what you like. If you’ve been looking for new music to enjoy from a variety of genres, though especially hip-hop since the genre was so well-fed this summer, look no further!
Magic, Alive! — McKinley Dixon
McKinley Dixon brings some of the most lush and jazzy production I’ve ever heard on a rap album with his follow-up to 2023’s “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?”. I think this album is one of the better rap albums this year, even if the rapping itself was terrible — that’s how majestic the beats are. Featuring lovely soul vocals and grand strings and horns, it feels like a rapper performing with a full ensemble rather than one just spitting over beats. It’s truly impressive jazz rap. That being said, Dixon is no slouch behind the mic, either. “Magic, Alive!” pulls together as an absolutely gorgeous record that deserves your time.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Sugar Water (feat. Quelle Chris and Anjimile)
SALVATION LAUGHS IN THE FACE OF A GRIEVING MOTHER — PSYCHO-FRAME
The deathcore genre is one I often find to be stale and ridden with gimmicks, but PSYCHO-FRAME’s debut album immediately cements them as some of the best the genre has to offer. This album is full of relentless riffs, crushing breakdowns, guttural vocals, and high shrieks from beginning to end. If that’s not your style, I wouldn’t bother with this at all, but if you’re into heavier music, this record is a real gem. Really gnarly kickball-sounding snare drum, too.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: ENDLESS AGONAL DEVOTION
Vanisher, Horizon Scraper — Quadeca
One of my personal favorite artists, Quadeca, the singer/songwriter/rapper/producer extraordinaire, released the highly anticipated “Vanisher” album this summer. It is a cinematic journey, combining elements of folk, ambient, singer-songwriter, hip-hop, and art pop to create an emotional, oceanic album that at times feels huge and, at others, intimate and soft. While I think there are a few pacing issues (and some spots of overproduction), the overall experience is incredible; it’s truly an album that works best played front to back. This record really sees Quadeca setting himself in stone as a distinct artist, and I already cannot wait to see how he follows it up.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: MONDAY
God Does Like Ugly — JID
Easily one of the best rappers active right now, JID’s “God Does Like Ugly” stylistically leaps all over the place while still maintaining a consistently great level of quality. From the choir-sampling banger “Glory” to the murky darkness of “Community”, which features both members of Clipse, JID floats over a wide variety of beats. Whether it’s more radio-friendly tracks or the densely-produced, dark songs in which he simply spits like the rent is due, he kills it. If you only know JID from “Surround Sound” or don’t know him at all, you owe it to yourself to give this a listen.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: YouUgly (feat. Westside Gunn)
Guardian — TURQUOISEDEATH
I’m not a huge listener of electronic music, and TURQUOISEDEATH’s genre specialty, drum and bass, lies outside of the electronic music I do listen to. However, I was enticed by this album when I heard the first single and found myself transported into a lush, aquatic soundscape with glittering, ever-changing textures. I’m really surprised at this being one of my favorite releases, since it comes from an artist I hadn’t previously heard of in a genre I don’t tend to favor, but it is some fantastically atmospheric electronic music that I find to be both relaxing and very stimulating, depending on my mood.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Voyager (feat. IX FALL$)
Pirouette — Model/Actriz
One of my favorite bands to emerge in recent years, industrial dance-punk group Model/Actriz follows their electrifying debut record with a more melodic but still equally sinister album. Vocalist Cole Haden sings more than he did on the debut, adding some tonic to the mechanical grooves and tense, spoken-word vocal passages. Impressively, it never takes away from the unique atmosphere this band has become known for. Whether it’s the grimy distortion of “Ring Road” or the sassy, drawling vocals on “Diva”, the band makes every track unique and keeps with their frightening but addictive sound whilst still dipping their toes into new spaces.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Cinderella
Editor’s note: the following album’s title and content might be considered insensitive.
GOLLIW** — Billy Woods
This is perhaps the most depressing rap album I’ve ever heard. Billy Woods’ new record is lyrically hard to stomach and not approachable for casual listeners to the rap genre, but it has layers upon layers of material to appreciate. Woods’ verses consist of intense, detailed laments on such grim subjects as poverty, the bombings of Gaza, and the perpetual racism against Black Americans that makes even day-to-day life a struggle for many. The beats are uneasy and off-kilter, and Woods’ signature blunt flow presses his messages right into your face. You can’t turn away from this, even if you want to. The album portrays real suffering, recorded as some of the most gloomy and unique abstract hip-hop I’ve ever heard.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: BLK ZMBY
Egotrip — John Michel and Anthony James
On the far more approachable and uplifting side of hip-hop, rapper and producer duo John Michel and Anthony James surprised me out of nowhere with their debut record. It feels like a love letter to the beauty of rap; famous soul samples that are recognizable from other rap songs are recontextualized with new beats and bars. There’s a sort of mixtape feeling to this project, a looseness that is really refreshing. The production and rapping are both great, although this is another rap album where the production is more impressive than the rapping.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: TAKE NO MORE
LET GOD SORT EM OUT — Clipse
Anyone who’s remotely into rap has heard about this album, but if it’s somehow slipped by you, here’s your sign to check it out. Legendary rapper duo Clipse consists of brothers Pusha T and Malice, who dropped some of the most cutting-edge and expertly crafted rap albums of the early 2000s. Their long-awaited return is backed by slick production by Pharrell and a murderers’ row of features, including Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, The Creator, and Nas, among others. This is just perfectly-honed, sinister, and stereo-thumping street rap. Anyone who remotely enjoys hip-hop and hasn’t gotten around to this record owes it to themselves to give it a shot.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: So Be It
Racing Mount Pleasant — Racing Mount Pleasant
Perhaps my personal favorite album of this year so far comes from a band I’d never heard of before. Racing Mount Pleasant draws influences from several of their indie contemporaries, such as Bon Iver and Black Country, New Road. Following the traditions of these bands they create grand, nostalgic soundscapes with towering guitars, blissful horns, and wistful vocals. Every song on this album would feel at home alongside the ending of a beautiful film, and while I’ve listened to many projects’ attempts to craft a similar effect, this album truly nails it. It is emotionally potent but not overwhelmingly so, it tells its stories and leaves you feeling satisfied and safe by the end. This record requires some patience to get into, but is all the more rewarding in due time.
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Emily
