Even though it is March, I still wanted to look back at 2016 for rap music, as it was an extremely influential year for rap culture. Here is a list of my favorite rap albums of 2016. 

3001: A Laced Odyssey- The Flatbush Zombies. The Flatbush Zombies are one of my favorite rap groups. I started listening to them in 7th grade, when Palm Trees came out on SoundCloud. Since then, their music has refined immensely. Meechy Darko’s grimy style matched with Juice’s flow and Erick’s producing talent, the FBZ are one of the most talented rap groups in the game. This album was slightly underwhelming; considering the FBZ’s talent, I was expecting a masterpiece. However, I still loved it, and listen to many of the songs (Bounce, This Is It, R.I.P.C.D.) daily. 

99.9%- Kaytranada. Kaytranada is one of the most talented producers in rap music. Even though he doesn’t rap himself, his beats do the talking. This album featured Anderson .Paak, Vic Mensa, and Goldlink.

Don’t Smoke Rock- Smoke DZA. I’ve been listening to Smoke DZA for 3 years now, but only his singles. He has never created an album worth listening to until Don’t Smoke Rock. In this album, DZA features well known artists like Mac Miller, Wale, BJ the Chicago Kid, Rick Ross, and Dom Kennedy. With a stacked featured list like this, DZA had to perform, and he did.

Too High to Riot- Bas. Bas signed with the Dreamville in 2014, and has excelled ever since. With the support of J Cole, Bas delivered an album that displayed hardships of his childhood and the dog-eat-dog nature of the rap game.

Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight- Travis Scott. Travis Scott had the most stacked feature list of any album in 2016, with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Young Thug, The Weeknd, Bryson Tiller, Quavo, 21 Savage, Swizz Beats, and Andre 3000. Scott delivered with a great album.

Run the Jewels 3- Run the Jewels. Run the Jewels is a niche rap group that is relativley unknown. I’ve been listening to them for a year, and got a little tired of the repetition shown on RTJ1 and RTJ2. However RTJ3 was a completely different album. El-P and Killer Mike exceeded expectations.

Eternal Grey- $uicideboy$. When you read this, you may think I’m crazy, but the $uicideboy$ are currently the most underrated rap group. If you look them up on SoundCloud, you can listen to their whole tracklist without skipping a single song. They’re that good. Their consistency, with every album containing at least 8 good songs, makes them my favorite rap group. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for 2017.