The 20 Best D.C. Area Albums Of 2021: #5-#1

December 31, 2021 JUKEBOXDC Staff Editorials, Music No Comments  

For those of us who have existed within the D.C. Metropolitan area (not just D.C., but I’m not using that dumb ass term here), we have been able to witness what could be considered a second renaissance in hip hop — artists like Rico Nasty, IDK, and Cordae (yes, he counts) have continued a path made golden by Wale, Shy Glizzy, and Logic. Even better: there are a wealth of talented artists that are currently giving us an idea of what’s to come.

In this editorial, JUKEBOX:DC has created a ranked list of albums that we feel have had the greatest impact this year. This isn’t just about sales or stream — an album’s quality and creativeness are among other factors considered. As you’ll see, these are also albums that we’ve shared at the time of their respective releases — if we’ve missed anything, feel free to let us know so that we can be more on point moving forward.

Without further adieu, step into the rabbit hole below.

PREVIOUSLY: #20-16 — #15-11 — #10-6

#5: No Savage – Life Of A Savage 2 (READ MORE/STREAM)

There should be zero debate at this point — No Savage has skyrocketed to the top of D.C. rap’s echelon in 2021. Solidifying this argument is the success of his latest project Life Of A Savage 2, which sees a couple of assist from fellow rising star NoCap and Glizzy Gang cohort Shy Glizzy. Immediately after its release, No Savage and his supporters made sure to confirm its position on both Apple Music and Billboard’s charts — just imagine what he’s going to accomplish next?

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#4: Premo Rice – The Rice Tape (READ MORE/STREAM)

When it comes to music from this area, we would consider Premo Rice to be an anomaly — despite making music separate from what’s prevalent here, the P.G. County star has managed to maintain a successful career all his own. Case in point: his latest project, The Rice Tape, sees collaborations with Larry June, Akeem Ali, Young Deji, Southside Gauxst, and more. We’re not sure if he sees himself as underrated, but we definitely do — nobody around here is creating classic cuts like this.

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Sorry to be anti-climatic but the top three really shouldn’t be anyone’s surprise. So — with that — we’ll keep it simple for those included: GoldLink, IDK, and (of course) Wale have continued to bless the masses with top tier, against-the-grain type vibes that both solidify their already concrete careers and help those under them that look to push to the forefront with a unique sound all their own. We really don’t feel as if anyone can argue that — ESPECIALLY in regards to Wale, who’s largely responsible for the spotlight on this city to begin with. Detractors can head elsewhere, period. ALSO: Yes, these three albums are the best out this year.

#3: GoldLink – HARAM! (READ MORE/STREAM)

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#2: IDK – USEE4YOURSELF (READ MORE/STREAM)

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#1: Wale – Folarin II (READ MORE/STREAM)

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GoldLink Drops “White Walls,” Sends Shots To Sheck Wes

June 9, 2021 JUKEBOXDC Staff Hip-Hop/Rap, Local, Music, News No Comments  

In addition to the new single, GoldLink decided to let the world know how he feels about Sheck Wes, who his connected to him through his (former?) relationship with Justine Skye.

In better news, he also announced his new album Haram, which will be dropping week. The song, tweets, and artwork/tracklist can all be seen below.

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GoldLink Posts Message About Mac Miller, Gets Heavy Backlash For It

November 27, 2019 JUKEBOXDC Staff News No Comments  

This week, D.C.’s own GoldLink decided to change things up on social media, where he usually drops intermittent concert posts or announcements about upcoming tours or releases — he decided to write a lengthy open letter about the late Mac Miller:

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Mac Miller I’d be lying if I said I was surprised to hear that you died on us. Not because you were necessarily troubled, but because you were special and because of that, you were troubled. At your peak, you were the archetypal rapper all of us wanted to be; which was independent. But also just a kid with really bright eyes about life. I’ll keep it short because I want to continue our conversation for when it’s my time to go. But I think what made you and I special is that we weren’t always on the best terms. So I didn’t always have great things to say about you. When we were on the GO:OD AM tour, I played you my album “and after that we didn’t talk”, and you thought it was absolutely incredible. I released it under the“Soulection” label and the single for my album was called “Unique” ft. Anderson Paak, and that was your favorite song at the time. You loved it so much that you made the entire tour party listen to it, and surprised me with a cake after my set. I always thought you drove yourself insane about your own music. So much that, you would adopt styles as homage to those around you that you loved. That’s where our problem started. Divine Feminine was an actual blueprint of “and after that we didn’t talk”. Your single was called “Dang!” Ft. Anderson Paak…you had Souelction support you on the Divine Feminine tour and when I tried to contact you, about anything at all…you never hit me. A close mutual friend ended up just hittin’ my DJ saying “listen man, we love Link, but we just had to do what we had to do. And Mac said if he needs a verse at anytime, he got him” We are family, you could always call me. Afterwards, we seen each other at Coachella, and you put your head down like an innocent child, but I told you to pick it up and I hugged you like the brother you are to me. You were the first person brave enough to openly say “he’s dope.”, and gave me a platform. That meant more to me than anything else. 3 days before you died, I remember pullin up on you at the crib, walking in the house and seeing the Divine Feminine album plaque on the wall. I was so proud of you and what YOU created for yourself. And I’m forever grateful for that

A post shared by GoldLink (@goldlink) on

What makes this post more striking than anything is the honestly in regards to his rocky relationship with the Pittsburgh artist-producer, apparently based around an accusation that Mac stole his …and after that, we didn’t talk concept for his now-classic Divine Feminine project. The problem is, Mac Miller isn’t here to respond to this, so many of his peers — including Anderson .Paak, who was mentioned — have responded for him:

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GoldLink & IDK to Join Tyler, The Creator, YG, Solange & More at This Year’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival

August 12, 2019 JUKEBOXDC Staff Events, News No Comments  

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tickets on sale friday at noon

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It all goes does at Dodger Stadium November 9th and 10th. Tickets go on sale this Friday (how in the hell are the VIP passes already sold out?!)…more information can be found here.

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