Summer 16 has been one of the best times for music in a while, as many high profile artists decided to release albums. Although it may be a good problem, a lot of other great projects flew under the radar these past few months without getting the recognition they deserve. It’s all good though, I’m here for you with 6 albums that are too dope to keep sleeping on any longer. Check them out below!
Late Nights Europe – Jeremih
Jeremih dropped this out of nowhere this summer, with pretty much no promotion behind it. I was skeptical this could have just been throwaways from his last album in December, but this project was straight fire. Jeremih really expanded his sound on this one and it turned out great. He also got some notable features on this from Lil Herb, who provided a classic verse, The Game who surprisingly didn’t rap about all the Kardashians he’s slept with, & Ty Dolla $ign. All of this combined for a fire mixtape, my hope is this ages as well as the original late nights mixtape did. Listen here.
Favorite Tracks: Czech Republic, The Crib, Belgium (Get Down), Literally Every Track
For All We Know – NAO
I thank the music gods that compel me to go to music festivals every year to discover new music. This year at Pitchfork I started off my day by seeing NAO and it turned out to be one of my favorite performances of the fest. A few weeks later she decided to drop her first solo project and it did not disappoint. NAO’s vocal range is seriously ridiculous and her song writing skills are on point too, which all comes together to make a great album. Listen Here
Favorite Tracks: Happy, Bad Blood, Get To Know Ya, Inhale Exhale
Genesis – Domo Genesis
It kind of got me upset how much people are sleeping on this project by favorite rapper out of Odd Future. I think this might be his best project and also has some of my favorite songs of the year on it too. He also solidifies on this that he is much more than a “stoner” rapper with deep tracks such as Questions and Coming Back. Along with this, he even shows he can make hits like the song Dapper featuring the legend Anderson Paak. All in all, this is one of my favorite albums of 2016. Listen here
Favorite Tracks: Dapper, Faded in the Moment, All Night, Coming Back
The Sun’s Tirade – Isaiah Rashad
After a two year hiatus, one of TDE’s most underrated rapper dropped a solid sophomore project this summer. With the release of Travis Scott’s surprise album arriving on the same day, this one flew under the radar a little bit. Don’t let that fool you though, as Rashad comes back as hungry as ever with some of his best songs ever and standout features by his label partners Kendrick & Jay Rock. Listen Here.
Favorite Tracks: Wat’s Wrong, Park, 4r Da Squaw, Free Lunch
I Told You – Tory Lanez
Sometimes luck is not on your side when you drop an album and that was certainly the case with the release of Tory Lanez debut album. Unfortunately, this dropped the same day as Frank Ocean’s Blond, so you know what everybody was focused on on that day. Despite the timing, this album is everything I wanted from Tory Lanez project. As an added bonus it also has NO FEATURES?!? (S/o J cole fans) I just hope Tory goes platinum too because he also deserves it. Listen Here.
Favorite Tracks: Guns & Roses, Flex, Cold Hard Love, To D.R.E.A.M.
Lil Durk 2x – Lil Durk
Lil Durk dropped this at the end of July around when the snapchat legend DJ Khaled released his project, so its possible this could have slid under the radar. Despite that, Durk delivered, with one of my favorite projects from him and it also came with some serious hits on it. Overall this is one of the best albums out of Chicago in 2016 and has been in rotation ever since. Listen here.
Favorite Tracks: She Just Wanna, Money Talk, Set It Off, My Beyonce
