Focus Hip Hop

Music Writing with a Focus on Underground Gems

  • Top 20 Albums of 2023

    Alright, here it is. As always, it should be noted that this is not a list of every good album I heard in 2023. There are a plethora of enjoyable releases that didn’t make it onto this list that are still worth your time and attention. I just didn’t love any of them as much…

  • Top 10 EPs of 2023

    Trappy new year, y’all! Here’s the list of my favorite extended plays from 2023. I didn’t really struggle with finding 10 EPs that I loved enough to put on this list. The hard part was deciding what order to put them in. Anyway, it should be noted that these aren’t the only good EPs that…

  • Album Review | Busta Rhymes – BLOCKBUSTA

    This album was released on November 24th in 2023. Busta Rhymes is one of my favorite rappers of all time, but the reason I put this off for so long is that I knew the album would be bad. I didn’t care for any of the singles I heard from this album at all, and…

  • The Best Songs of November 2023

    Here’s the playlist of my favorite songs from this past November. Shoutout to KILLVONGARD for having my favorite album of the month with Life Is a Masterpiece. I didn’t get a chance to review it, but it’s definitely one of my favorite albums of the year. That shit is fire. Don’t sleep on it. Anyway,…

  • Album Review | Danny Brown – Quaranta

    This album was released on November 17th this year. Danny Brown is one of my favorite rappers of albums all time, so I’m pretty excited to check this out. I had mixed feelings about the two singles I heard, and I wasn’t really into his collaborative album with JPEGMAFIA at all sadly, although I did…

  • Album Review | Bloodblixing – HOW THE BLIX STOLE CHRISTMAS: GANGSTA EDITION

    This album was released on December 24th this year. I was really looking forward to hearing this album because I love the cover art, and there are a lot of features from artists I really fuck with. I knew the mixing would be ass, but I really fuck with Bloodblixing‘s production, so I was still…

  • EP Review | King Author & Haleem – Faternal Order

    This extended play was released on November 7th this year. King Author is an MC with whom I first became familiar through his feature on Bloodblixing’s SODOM & GOMORRAH: GANGSTA EDITION album. I really enjoyed his performance on that project, so I decided that I would keep an eye out for future releases from him.…

  • Album Review | LUNAR – ARCOBALENO

    This album was released on November 4th this year, and it’s fully self produced. This is definitely my favorite album that I’ve heard from LUNAR. The dude is one of the most prolific artists that I know of right now. I feel like he dropped at least once a month this year, whether it was…

  • Don’t Sleep | Grimey L – northside.

    Don’t sleep on this instrumental album from Grimey L. It was released on October 6th this year. I just discovered Grimey L a few days ago through his appearance on the Fat Hippy Records Anniversary Compilation. I enjoyed the track he contributed to that record, so I was interested in checking out his latest release,…

  • Don’t Sleep | Time – Depressed Joy

    Don’t sleep on this new solo album from Time. It was released on November 3rd this year. I’ve been a fan of Time ever since I checked out his music in 2020, and his album with AwareNess as calm. called Things I Learned While Dying in Denver is a top 5 album of 2018 for…

  • The Best Songs of October 2023

    Here’s the playlist of my favorite songs from this past October. Shoutout to Vic Spencer & August Fanon for having my favorite album of the month with Psychological Cheat Sheet 4. I didn’t do a review for it, but it’s really dope. Definitely check that shit out if you haven’t yet. Also, be sure to…

  • Album Review | Various Artists – Fat Hippy Records Anniversary Compilation, Vol. 1

    This compilation was released on October 22nd this year. It was curated by a record store owner in Ohio named Z. Younk, who I became acquainted with through his contributions to albumoftheyear.org. The name of his record store is Fat Hippy Records and I think it’s located in Brookfield, Ohio. All of the proceeds from…