Woy's Irrelevant List of His 15 Favorite Projects of 2012

[Rudi]

^:dead:

 

[Woy]

11. Live From The Underground - Big K.R.I.T.
Release Date: June 5
Rate Your Music Score: 3.38 (408 ratings)
Metacritic Score: 78 (24 critics)
Length: 16 tracks (58.1 minutes)

At first, we were supposed to get Live From The Underground on September 27, 2011, which would have had it competing with J. Cole's debut album along with Phonte and 9th Wonder. K.R.I.T. delayed the album to clear some samples and create additional songs (and eventually create 4eva N A Day), then waited till early June to give us one of the most highly-anticipated debuts in recent memory.

Live For The Underground isn't K.R.I.T Wuz Here or Return of 4Eva, and some will look at it as a disappointment, but it's far from that. I think it's just viewed as that because it eventually got lost in the shuffle with albums like Channel Orange and Life Is Good being released the month after.

What Live From The Underground has that the others don't have is the best five song stretch in recent memory. After the album's lone misstep in "Yeah Dats Me" (I'll admit I enjoy that song on occasion), K.R.I.T. casts Devin The Dude once again to provide an infectious hook on "Hydroplaning". And speaking of infectious hooks, one of my favorites comes from the following track "If I Fall", where Melanie Fiona sounds like an absolute dream. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Praying Man" each provide the introspective K.R.I.T. we all love, while the album's closer is a reprise of the title track.

This one-time AOTY candidate slotting outside the top 10 just speaks to the strength of this year in music.

 

 

[Woy]

10. Kaledioscope Dream - Miguel
Release Date: October 2
Rate Your Music Score: 3.49 (408 ratings)
Metacritic Score: 86 (20 critics)
Length: 11 tracks (42.1 minutes)

Miguel looked like your generic R&B artist after his debut album All I Want Is You, which didn't provide a lasting impact and ultimately became forgettable. So it was fair to say expectations were low for Kaledioscope Dream.

However, unlike the debut's title track, "Adorn" blew up as a single both commercially and in quality. I had no intentions of listening to it or the album, but when I saw how much positive feedback they were getting, I decided to give it a listen. And judging by the ranking it was given on my list, I'm more than glad that I did.

This is far more focused than his debut and sounds like a cohesive album rather than a collection of singles. And there's a bunch of different sounds to this album. "Use Me" has a slight rock feel to it, while "Pussy Is Mine" is all acoustic.

I wouldn't go as far to say Miguel's one of my favorites in the R&B genre now, but I will say this is the album that surprised me the most in 2012.

 

 

[Woy]

9. Total Loss - How To Dress Well
Release Date: September 18
Rate Your Music Score: 3.29 (622 ratings)
Metacritic Score: 77 (25 critics)
Length: 11 tracks (42.5 minutes)

Total Loss is an album that goes back and forth between the new drugged-out R&B genre and dream/ambient pop. How To Dress Well's Tom Krell has a falsetto reminiscent of Abel Tesfaye, although it doesn't command the same kind of attention throughout the 11 track album.

"Cold Nites" was the song that sparked my interest in the project (unfortunately, this happened around the same time good kid, m.A.A.d city leaked, so I had to put off my first full listens of this till the freshness of that wore off), but besides that, the big standout has to be "& It Was U". It's the most upbeat of Krell's work and just puts you in a good mood (watch the video below for a quick pick-me-up). The (for lack of a better term, because I don't consider them songs) interludes are very appealing to the ears and are good transition pieces.

Both beautiful and dramatic, Total Loss doesn't have enough absolute highs to place it higher on this list, but the consistency slots it nicely in the top 10. Apparently HTDW's first album Love Remains is supposed to be even better, which makes them/him an act to really look out for in the future.

 

 

[MvP]

Wasn't expecting that album to be on your list. Outside of the two tracks you mentioned I didn't really like it too much. Might need to re-listen.

 

[Matt]

:golfclap:. I been playing this on night drives on the regular.

His stuff from Live at The Waldorf is amazing.

 

[BrntO4Life]

Wow, Woy hopping on that super hip shit with How To Dress Well.

 

[Woy]

Wow, Woy hopping on that super hip shit with How To Dress Well.

:yep: MvP linked me to "Cold Nites" randomly and I liked it enough that it got me to check out the full album on Spotify. Spun it and another album that comes up later on this list a lot during my wait for Kendrick's album.

 

[Woy]

8. R.A.P. Music - Killer Mike
Release Date: May 15
Rate Your Music Score: 3.63 (1775 ratings)
Metacritic Score: 85 (27 critics)
Length: 12 tracks (51.9 minutes)

This album storms out of the gate with one of the best "hype" intros from 2012 in "Big Beast". Killer Mike starts it off right, Bun B and T.I. trade great verses and then Mike gives it a final knockout blow with his final spot. It doesn't get mentioned a lot when someone is asked about their favorite songs from R.A.P. Music, but it's in mine because of the energy it brings and how it sets the tone for the rest of the album.

There really isn't much to say that hasn't been said already about this. Killer Mike is almost always overlooked but consistently churns out good project after good project, and El-P is a great producer. This is my favorite from Mike's discography and its positioning on here isn't an indicator on how good it actually is. With everything that came out in the summer and my internship in Hagerstown, this got lost in the shuffle and finally was put back on when I started this up.

I also think 2012 was an incredible year in music, so being ranked 8th here isn't much of a slap in the face as it suggests. I see the arguments for a top 3 position and won't argue with them.

 

 

[Hasselbeck]

Where's the rest of this list?

The fuck?

:crying:

 

[CCBrink]

#detoxstatus