Last year, we posted a list of independent hip hop releases of 2020 that we recommend buying on Bandcamp, and if you’re missing any of those, we still recommend them. But as it’s a new year, here’s a list of independent hip hop releases from 2021 that we recommend buying on Bandcamp.

On the first Friday of every month, Bandcamp waives its cut of sales for 24 hours and all profits go to artists and labels, so we recommend buying these on one of Bandcamp’s fundraiser days. But they’re also just great albums that we recommend any day of the year.

Here they are, in no particular order…

Observe Since ’98 – Le Dernier Royaume

Observe Since ’98 hails from Wisconsin but he channels the same kind of gritty, noir-ish, New York boom bap that guys like Roc Marciano and Griselda do. His excellent new album is made up of beats sourced from obscure French records, and it features Jay NiCE, Knowledge the Pirate, MAV, and others.

Lukah – When The Black Hand Touches You

Memphis rapper/producer Lukah’s new album When The Black Hand Touches You favors psychedelic, futuristic production (by Cities Aviv, Hollow Sol, Livin, and Lukah himself), but the rapping is as focused and clear-eyed as can be, and it’s largely a protest album that takes on all kinds of societal injustices. Lukah gave a very in-depth interview to Cvlt Nation which provides a ton of worthy background info on this LP.

YUNGMORPHEUS & ewonee – Thumbing Thru Foliage

LA rapper YUNGMORPHEUS has been building up a reputation as a reliable staple of the rap underground, and a very prolific one too. He already released the very good LP States of Precarity in January, and he released another full-length album, Thumbing Thru Foliage, on March 5 via Bad Taste. States of Precarity was self-produced but this one’s a collaboration with producer ewonee, and ewonee brings a much different vibe to the table, favoring big, clear arrangements compared to States of Precarity‘s hazy psychedelia.

“I consider this album a call to action of sorts,” YUNGMORPHEUS said. “The world is rife with distractions and oppressive tactics but niggas move through it nonetheless ! Respect to ewonee for providing a beautiful backdrop for me to get some much needed shit off my chest. Maneuver through the foliage yall…Power to all black people ! Salute to those who listen.”

MAVI – End of the Earth EP

MAVI’s breakthrough moment came in 2019, when he appeared on Earl Sweatshirt’s Feet of Clay and released his debut project Let The Sun Talk, which featured contributions from Earl and MIKE. His hazy, abstract rap was frequently compared to theirs, but Let The Sun Talk had something unique about it, and MAVI continued to carve out a path of his own on the string of singles he put out in 2020. Now he finally put out his first new project since Let the Sun Talk, the five-song End of the Earth EP, and it finds him continuing down the appealing path he’s been on for the last few years. It’s brief, and like Let The Sun Talk, it gradually draws you in rather than ever jumping out at you, but repeated listens prove to be rewarding and this EP continues to reveal more and more about itself. The production is formless yet focused, pulling from glistening jazz keys and psychedelic atmosphere, but MAVI’s lyrics read like in-depth poetry. (It makes sense that the artwork references Shel Silverstein and that the full name of this EP is “End of the Earth, the poems and compositions of Mavi.”) MAVI’s overall sound will probably still get compared to Earl and Mike, but boiling these songs down to comparisons minimizes how carefully thought-out they are.

Maassai – With The Shifts

Maassai has been establishing herself as one of the most promising and prolific new voices in underground New York rap, with a handful of quality 2020 releases and a slew of notable guest appearances dating back to 2018, and she kicked off 2021 with With The Shifts, which — at nine tracks — is her lengthiest project yet, and one of her strongest. The production (which comes from Laron, Contour, and Nelson Bandela) pulls from freeform jazz and psychedelia, and as an MC, Maassai is equally indebted to stream-of-consciousness poetry and hard-hitting rap. It orbits somewhere between classic Digable Planets and latter-day Earl Sweatshirt, and Maassai’s commanding voice and sharp lyricism makes it stand out from other albums in this realm. When Maassai follows a standout verse from Akai Solo (who tapped Maassai for the intro to his 2019 album with Pink Siifu, Black Sand) on “The Shifts,” her power becomes even clearer.

R.A.P. Ferreira – Bob’s Son

R.A.P. Ferreira released one of our favorite rap albums of 2020 with Purple Moonlight Pages, and he followed it on New Year’s Day with the new album Bob’s Son, which he produced himself under his scallops hotel moniker. (The album’s full title is bob’s son: R​.​A​.​P. Ferreira in the garden level cafe of the scallops hotel.) The album’s an ode to beat poet Bob Kaufman, and it ends with a reading of Kaufman’s poem “Abomunist Manifesto,” and Ferreira’s own lyrics prove to be as surreal and tongue-twisting as when he’s quoting Kaufman. The album varies from experimental spoken word stuff to straight-up rap songs, and the scallops hotel production makes for a hazy, psychedelic contrast to the warmer, jazzier sounds of Purple Moonlight Pages. That album felt like a milestone in Ferreira’s already-great discography, and this one proves he’s still got plenty more to say.

Tha God Fahim & Your Old Droog – Tha Wolf On Wall St

In December, Your Old Droog released his new album Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition, which was produced/mixed by Tha God Fahim and executive produced by Mach-Hommy, and now Droog and Fahim have dropped a new collaborative album, Tha Wolf On Wall St, with guest appearances by Mach-Hommy on two songs. Fahim handled all of the warm, jazzy production, and the way he and Droog trade verses hearkens right back to the classic boom bap era. Droog and Fahim are both obvious students of that era, but Tha Wolf On Wall St feels a little more intentionally vintage than the rappers’ own recent projects, and it’s fun to hear them tap directly into this stuff. The album feels like a lost mid ’90s gem, and its tight eight-song tracklist leaves you wanting more every time.

Your Old Droog & Tha God Fahim – Tha YOD Fahim

Just three weeks after releasing Tha Wolf On Wall St, Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog returned with another collaborative LP. The two rappers are still taking cues from the same era on this one, and it’s still largely produced by Tha God Fahim, who handled all of Tha Wolf On Wall St‘s beats (plus it has some production by Quelle Chris, Preservation, Nottz, and more), but it’s a noticeably different album. Its predecessor was dark, somber, and deadly; in comparison, this one feels brighter, louder, and more lively. It makes sense that this album has artwork and song titles that are full of basketball references, and its predecessor was named after a Scorcese film full of crime, corruption, hard drugs, and extravagance. These new songs have the same energy as a buzzer shot.

lojii – taurus_EP

Philly rapper lojii follows up last year’s very good lo&behold with a new EP, taurus_EP. It was entirely produced by lo&behold contributor absentavery, who keeps things warm and jazzy which is a perfect fit for lojii’s pensive style. The EP is dedicated to his cat Taurus, who he’s painted with (by LukeMade) on the artwork. “thank u everybody who helped $ave my lil familiar,” lojii writes. “this project is named after her. she made a full recovery. pls accept these loosies as a show of gratitude.

Conway The Machine & Big Ghost Ltd – If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed

Conway The Machine (who seemed to recently shut down rumors that he was leaving Griselda) is gearing up to release his Shady debut God Don’t Make Mistakes this year, but first he reunited with producer Big Ghost Ltd (who helmed last year’s No One Mourns The Wicked EP) for a new 10-song project, If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed. As on their last collab, Big Ghost Ltd blesses Conway with some of the most ominous production he’s ever rapped over, while also finding plenty of time for the kinds of warm, soul sample-fueled beats that exist right at the center of Conway’s comfort zone. Ghost knows exactly how to deliver in both cases, and Conway remains an A+ spitter who still has plenty of detailed stories to tell.

J.U.S – GOD GOKU JAY​-​Z

If you’re unfamiliar with J.U.S, the big selling point of this album is that it heavily features Danny Brown, but once you dive into it, J.U.S (who’s part of Danny’s Bruiser Brigade crew) proves to be a force of his own. Black Noi$e, Skywlkr, Raphy, and a few other producers provide J.U.S with blurry, psychedelic production, and J.U.S’ abstract tongue-twisters make the whole thing even more dizzying. GOD GOKU JAY​-​Z moves more like a series of vignettes than an album of rap songs, and the tracks all flow right into each other, making for a record that’s best consumed as one whole piece. (And it’s a quick listen.) Danny’s guest appearances spice things up, but you’ll leave this album feeling like Danny isn’t the only good thing about Bruiser Brigade.

Fat Ray – Santa Barbara

Fat Ray has been a staple of underground Detroit rap since his mid 2000s days as a frequent collaborator of Black Milk, but for such a long-running rapper, he doesn’t have a very vast discography to show for it — he’s done tons of guest verses over the years, but only put out a few of his own projects. Now, as part of Danny Brown’s label Bruiser Brigade’s 2021 takeover (which began in January with J.U.S’ album), he’s returned with Santa Barbara, and it hits as hard as the stuff he was doing over a decade ago. Danny and Black Milk both show up on “Dopeman Heaven” (the former raps on it, the latter produced it), so that song quickly emerged as a standout, but the bulk of the album was produced by Bruiser Brigade affiliate Raphy, who suits Ray’s bold, bassy rhymes as well as Black Milk did when Ray was breaking through.

Dark Time Sunshine – LORE

Underground rap duo Dark Time Sunshine (Seattle rapper Onry Ozzborn and Chicago producer Zavala) are back with their first album in nine years, and it features R.A.P. Ferreira, Homeboy Sandman, Hail Mary Mallon (aka Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, and DJ Big Wiz) and Ceschi. The long gap between albums has left the duo sounding totally refreshed, and if you’re unfamiliar with DTS, the cast of guests on this album should give you a good idea of what to expect. LORE connects the dots between Aesop Rock’s early 2000s alt-rap classics and R.A.P. Ferreira’s current version of left-of-the-dial rap music, and it’s no surprise that both of those greats fit in perfectly here. Read more about the album here.

Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – UNLOCKED 1.5
Loma Vista

Last year, the great Florida rapper Denzel Curry teamed with the great punk-inspired rap producer Kenny Beats for the collaborative mini-album UNLOCKED, which led to us including Denzel on a best-of-the-year list for the third year in a row. Now, he and Kenny have followed it with a semi-sequel, UNLOCKED 1.5. It’s technically a remix album, but it’s not your average remix album. Almost every track was given a pretty drastic makeover by an extremely impressive cast of musicians/producers — including Robert Glasper, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Charlie Heat, Sango, and Jay Versace — and genuinely great new verses were added by Joey Bada$$, Benny the Butcher, Smino, Arlo Parks, and Kenny Mason. The songs are still recognizable as the UNLOCKED songs, but this shows them in a totally different light. It’s a worthy companion to an already-great album, and truly adds something new.

Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin – $mokebreak EP

Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin’s collaborative album Fly Siifu’s was one of our favorite rap albums of 2020, so it’s very cool news that now they’ve got even more music together: a new nine-song EP called $mokebreak due March 19 via Lex Records (which will also be included with the deluxe edition of Fly Siifu’s). It features appearances by Chuck Strangers, YUNGMORPHEUS, MAVI, Zeeloperz, Koncept Jack$on, Fousheé, and others, plus production by iiye, Ohbliv, Ewonee, Black Noi$e, and more, and Black Noi$e produced the awesomely psychedelic closing track “Blame,” which was recently released as the lead single.

Though this one’s not out for a few weeks, you can pre-order it on Bandcamp now.

Koncept Jack​$​on & Ohbliv – JET MagaZINE ’21 Reissue

Ohbliv blesses this album with rich, psychedelic, funk/soul-inspired instrumentals that would make for a great album even without vocals, but Knocept Jack$on’s dizzying rhyme schemes make it even better.

Chris Crack – Might Delete Later

Chris Crack remains ridiculously prolific, and he continues to churn out worthwhile left-of-the-dial rap music. This 15-song project — his Fool’s Gold debut — features Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire, Nickelus F, Lil Keisha, and others.

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* 35 independent hip hop releases of 2020 we recommend buying on Bandcamp

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