Best of the Month is decided by a number of different variables; voter counts from preceding posts, reader reaction ratings, gut feelings, and lots and lots of heated discussions.
Album of the Month
Young Fathers are hip-hop only in the loosest terms of the word. In fact, they’re only any genre in the loosest terms of the words. They are easily one of the most experimental groups in music, dabbling in everything from hip-hop to pop to punk and much more, all while making the resulting sound all their own. Cocoa Sugar is one hell of a journey that takes you all kinds of places, pulling you in with warm, vibrating synths or pushing back with aggressive rhythms and distortion. It’s chock full of emotion that completely had us mesmerized through it’s entirety. We can’t recommend this album enough as one of the most intriguing albums to drop thus far and can easily see it being among our list for best albums of the year.
Runner-ups
Trailer of the Month
Lakeith Stanfield has turned out to be a breakout star on Atlanta and while he’s had a few significant roles in major movies this is his first real starring role in a big time feature film and we can’t wait to see what he can bring as a lead. The trailer for Sorry To Bother You shows off what could be one of the most inventive, visually stunning comedies in some years. In fact, it really reminds a lot of the highly meta comedy of Atlanta, in that it seems to be commenting on society and race in unorthodox and unexpected ways. Not to mention, when’s the last time we got a true Danny Glover sighting? It’s completely over-the-top in all of the right ways and looks ready to make a real impact come this July. If you haven’t seen Stanfield in Atlanta yet we highly suggest you do so and see just why we’re so amped on him as a lead.
Runner-ups
Video of the Month
CZARFACE & MF DOOM are easily two of the most respected underground acts in hip-hop. So hearing these two come together is without a doubt one of the highlights of 2018, and for what they may lack in mainstream recognition they more than make up for in artistry. “Bomb Thrown” is that classic sound we love from traditional hip-hop and the sample definitely sounds like something from a Hannah-Barbera production so it’s only fitting that their music video for the song channels that classic ’80s cartoon feel. The animations from the stop-motion cutouts to the hand drawn segments are all extremely well made and are able to convey a complete story without needing to spell everything out for you. We can only imagine how long it took to actually animate this whole thing but it paid off into one of the coolest music videos of the year so far.
Runner-ups
