Sup y’all! I’m sitting in a chair, blogging. That chair is in North Carolina, which is sick because North Carolina is sick. I haven’t posted a lot on my cool blog lately because I’ve had other shit to do—namely, I’ve been working on this one long ass article and driving across the country with my college roommate and compulsively googling foods that my dog can/cannot eat on my phone—but now I’m stationary, and according to my Benghazi Twitter Acrostic of the Day calendar the year is half over, so I thought I would tell you about the music that I listened to and thought was good.

Before I start, a disclaimer: I spent approximately zero time this year listening to Chance the Rapper, Radiohead, Anohni, James Blake, Car Seat Headrest, or Zayn Malik. I will get around to them I promise, maybe. This list is by no means comprehensive and if you can think of some shit that I didn’t include on this that I might enjoy, please hmu up on Twitter and tell me what to listen to.

SINGLES:

Lil Yachty – “Minnesota”

When Yachty first dropped I didn’t like him, and this should have been my first sign that I am getting old as fuck. Now that I like this song, I am officially young again.

Buck – “Faces”

My college roommate Nolan showed me this song on our drive from Los Angeles to North Carolina, and we ended up listening to it about a billion times in the car. Buck is an openly gay bro-country singer, and as long as he keeps making songs as good as “Faces,” he is going to be famous as fuck.

Pinegrove – “Old Friends”

Yet another song my old college roommate Nolan showed me on our cross-country journey. Pinegrove is not more bro-country, but they capture the same small-town existential angst that Buck taps into. Instead, “Old Friends” lands at the intersection of pop-punk and alt-country, minus the annoying bits of each. Somewhere Ryan Adams is listening to this and trying to invent a time machine so he can go back and write this song instead of these guys kinda like a hipster version of Biff and the sports scores in Back to the Future II.

Kvelertak – “1985”

Imagen Holdsteady but kvlt.

Curren$y/Alchemist – “Vibrations”

The entirety of Curren$y and Alchemist’s Carrolton Heist is incredible, but this one really takes the cake for me. Curren$y makes unassailable rap music for adults. You cannot fuck with him, especially when he takes a New Orleans classic (Juvie’s “Ha”) and rewires it to embody smoky N.O. jazz.

Classixx f. T-Pain – “Whatever I Want”

I never stopped loving T-Pain.

Kevin Gates – “2 Phones”

Truly an anthem for our times.

Future – “Perkys Calling”

Not sure if this is ;( or :”) but we’re definitely dealing with mixed emojis here.

White Lung – “Kiss Me When I Bleed”

There’s something about this track captures the ineffable spirit of survival in the face of fuckshit.

Jackie Chain – “123 Points”

I wrote a bazillion word profile of Jackie Chain because he is an interesting person and makes really great country rap tunes and more people should listen to his music always.

Denzel Curry – “ULT”

Denzel’s Imperial is to Memphis-influenced militant Miami hell-rap as Fugazi’s Repeater  is to hardcore, which makes “ULT” whatever song from Repeater is most like “ULT.” That metaphor realllllllly fell apart there, sorry. Let’s say “ULT” is like “Turnover,” if only so I can get the fuck out of this blurb and onto the next blurb.

Diarrhea Planet – “Headband”

Ambitious stoners who make rock turn in a slab of genuine stoner rock, as sublime as any nug Kyuss ever dropped.

Spark Master Tape – “Tenkkeys”

This song is good.

Lil Uzi Vert – “Money Longer”

This song is also good.

ALBUMS

Pictureplane – Technomancer
I’ve always had a soft spot for Pictureplane, and his cyber-sexual technopunk makes more sense now than ever before.

Lil Ugly Mane – Oblivion Access
Anybody who raps, “Your third eye’s just a fuckin’ hole in your head” is A-OK in my book. Lil Ugly Mane has threatened that this is his last album, and if it’s true, at least dude went out on a high note.

Aesop Rock – The Impossible Kid
I didn’t put these albums in order but this might actually be my favorite album of the year. The underground-rap version of Jay’s The Black Album, minus the retirement talk, plus an issue of the LRB.

YFN Lucci – Wish Me Well 2
Probably my second-favorite album of the year? YFN Lucci man, fuckin’ a.

DJ Burn One and the Five Points Bakery – Thousandfold
The ATL country-rap stalwart made a yoga album with his band. This is basically everything I could ask an ambient record to be—challenging and full of texture when I want to tune in, unobtrusive when I don’t.

OK that’s five albums, that’s good enough, I have other shit to do bye.