Stuff of the Month #6 and #7
The best of October and November
Yes, it has been very long time since either October or November, but the truth is these last three months have been perhaps the busiest time of my life, between work, college exams and personal matters (which I will address further on). But I’m back, kicking off 2025 with some more hits that you may have missed. Take it for what it is (which is a very very late blog post) and I can’t wait to see what happens with this blog in the next year. I feel like I’ve accomplished so much more than I first thought was possible and I know that it’s only up from here. As always, there’s a playlist with every song featured on this list. See you again very soon (I promise).
In Silly We Trust- TisaKorean
Tyler the Creator’s album came out this week and one of the best songs on it (Sticky) sounds like a TisaKorean beat. In fact, it’s nearly too tame to be a TisaKorean beat, proven by this new album of his. Songs like TiGGeR, SiLlY SuRf and even the romantic lOvE LeTtEr (with a great Don Toliver feature) show how TisaKorean can find the pocket in any beat handed to him and run with it. I sent this album to my brother and he replied back with “when the beat fire but tisakorean starts rapping”. He is dumb and stupid. Tisa can go from a hyped up squeal to a growl in an instant, his voice fluctuating like crazy for whatever gets the song even sillier. Also, shoutout to TiaCorine for having probably my favourite feature of the year on MiKeToMlln. She just bounces on the track, cooing and cawing, matching Tisa’s energy (which is very hard to do). Overall, it’s just a tight 20 minutes of some of the most fun rap music around.
All this month I’ve been obsessed with these earwormy hooks, these oddball beats, the personality that runneth over the brim and straight into my veins, making me sillier by the second.
Conglomerate- Lancey Foux, Fimiguerrero, Len
The trifecta aligns as we are delivered a behemoth of an album that will last long into the future of the British rap scene. Each rapper gets a chance to shine, each flexing their muscles over more and more intense and vastly unique beats. I was first worried that I wouldn’t be able to discern any English identity in the songs. My least favourite songs on Fimiguerrero’s last album were songs that I felt strayed too far to the American, Ken Carson-dominated sound (Mandy, Racks Up). So imagine my joy as I hear Len referencing Tempa T on the very first scene
It’s music designed for soccer edits. Music for knee-sliding to. Van Persie diving header. Balotelli’s “WHY ALWAYS ME?” shirt. Payet’s curved free-kick. This album, to put it in the immortal words of Joe Hart, is deceeeeent.
Harvest Sky- oklou ft underscores
I’m annoyed. Yes, this is the second month in a row I’ve included Oklou in my recommendations. But I can’t help it. I have had awful luck where artists I mention release a good if not better song the next month (Chat Pile Funny Man, diegointhedark bleeding grey, YT Prada or Celine to name a few). So I have given up and I present you with this, the best mid-2000s Eurovision rave banger that never was. Oklou’s voice floats magnificently between each eerie synth stab and underscores is a welcome surprise on this too. Her newest album can’t come soon enough. If last year was a brat summer, it’s about to be a “choke enough” Spring.
Paranoia- Izaya Tiji
I miss you. I miss you but I don’t want you here. The opening lines of Izaya Tiji’s return are sobering, a complete reset as the ambient-plugg beat drones in the back. Izaya Tiji is as elusive as ever, active on one his several burner instagram accounts, but once he drops, he cuts through the noise and you realise why he is one of the greats of a new, highly online era of artists. He is at the top of his game when he’s stretching the autotune and stressing each line he raps, until it reaches its breaking point, collapsing under the strain, and the song ends how it started. I miss you. I miss you but I don’t want you here.
Patchmade- YhapoJJ
By far the best rap video of the year. YhapoJJ is so much fun to listen to and just has some of the most fun jerk songs around and it feels like bliss to hear him rap “She smokin’ on a fucking vape, OMG, what’s the flavour?”. It’s a simple joy to see a rapper dress up as a knight and travel through a cardboard forest. Nowadays, where every rap video is superficial, CGI, Lyrical Lemonade gunk (foreshadowing…), this feels like a breath of fresh air.
Still in the Paint- Denzel Curry, LAZER DIM 700, Bktherula
Speaking of Lyrical Lemonade… This is not a recommendation. This is the worst song to come out all year and I needed to share it with people. Point and laugh at this song. Then cry.
Catfished- Crutch
Crutch is a Dublin rapper that I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while, and this is certainly his best song yet. He’s always worn his Detroit influences on his sleeve, but this one takes it to the umpteenth level over a beat fit for a Michigan-style shittalking. The Detroit influence is quite startling at times, and every time he speaks about sipping lean I have to stop and wonder if we even have codeine in Ireland. But I digress. Crutch’s accent is authentic and even soulful, giving everything a playful energy as he raps “OnlyFans hit me up, getting paid to fuck ‘em”. Groovy hook as well. Tick, tick, tick- this checks all the boxes.
Diddy Kong- Jay Eazy
Jay Eazy is the rapper you may have seen on tiktok last year promoting his song by running towards the camera. Here’s a refresher.
Now this should have been where it all ended. I should not have to be here, telling you that the new Jay Eazy song is catchy, fun and instilled with whimsical joy not seen in rap music since Famous Dexter dropped Japan. But here we are. And maybe I’m crazy and this is a horrible song and I’ve been brainrotted enough to think this is good, but, frankly, I do not care. It’s also worth watching the video to witness the worst cutting technique for chicken parmesan. He holds a knife like a toddler.
Belt Boyz- SahBabii
This album just lost out to Conglomerate to be my favourite album of November, but SahBabii really impressed me. Before this album, I had only listened to Barnacles, and was moderately impressed but I never seeked out his other albums. It seems like I’ve made a horrible mistake and I will be sure to rectify it in the future. But for now, this is my favourite song on the album. A hook so addictive that it feels like its been coated in sugar. I’m already envisioning the fit pics I’ll take to this song. And yet, within this song of dreamy fun, SahBabii’s love for his deceased friend DemonChild is what shines through. The croak he hits on the “on God” when he sings “When I lost Demonchild I swear I lost my mind on God” is just so effective and sums up everything that makes this song so impactful. Coming out of a bout of depression to make this beautiful album is a testament to his strength.
Go Deep (Roni Size Mix)- Janet Jackson
Every Christmas, I make mince pies and a yule log. While I’m baking, I’ve found that 90’s house/rave/jungle are the best songs to listen to. As such, I’ve created a Youtube playlist of vinyl rips and bootlegs of these bangers, perfect to bounce around the kitchen to. This song is my crown jewel. Roni Size is already a master of jungle but his prowess is displayed by so easily he comes up with a brand new groove from Janet’s vocals. Seven minutes of funky bliss and I would listen to another seven minutes more. When people make songs that are inspired by 90s dnb, they just completely misinterpret it and assume all it takes are fast breakbeats. But here, the real soul is found by how it paces itself, not burning out in a sprint.
Sublime et Silence- Julien Doré
In November, I travelled to France to attend my grandfather’s funeral. The trip let me really reminisce on my memories of him. One of them is riding in the car as a child, travelling from the port of Roscoff all the way across to the other end of France to the Vosges. By then it would be dark and I would be half asleep in the backseat and this song would start playing on the radio. The synths would kick in, floating halfway between my dreams and reality, and my mum would point at the neon sign of the Thiriet ice-cream factory, which meant we were only twenty minutes away from my grandparents’ house. I haven’t listened to this song since my grandfather’s passing, but sometime I will. The next time I pass that neon sign at night.
And that’s it for the month(s). Thanks again for checking out my blog so far this year and I can’t wait to see what’s next for 2025. Here’s the playlist and as always, if there’s something I introduced you to, let me know. Catch you on the flipside.
Leo