This is a very special edition of Sound Bite, as I’ll be once again recapping all the biggest musical achievements of this past summer. What makes this edition extra special however, is just how special this summer was for music, specifically hip-hop as a whole.

I could, and still might, write a whole feature piece about “Let God Sort Em Out,” which is arguably one of the best musical projects of the past decade. But I’ll keep it short and sweet for this special edition. The Clipse, a hip-hop duo composed of two brothers, No Malice and Pusha T, reunited after a 15 year hiatus to drop a musical feast of an album with some of the densest, most beautifully crafted lyrics of any project you’ve heard in recent years. Compliment those bars with a phenomenal Pharrell production throughout and you have the recipe for the certified masterpiece that is “Let God Sort Em Out.”

For me, this project has absolutely no misses, and to single out any track as a favorite would be a disservice to the perfection that blesses almost every single bar laid down by the soon to be Grammy winning duo (and you can quote me on that). It’s so rare to listen to a project and be immersed in every single song, every single bar, from beginning to end, but with this 40 minute magnum opus The Clipse has provided an opportunity for keen listeners to do just that. 

Every aspect of this project is meticulously designed to provide a musical experience like no other, and it has been on repeat for me since it dropped at the beginning of summer. If you’ve ignored every other Sound Bite recommendation before, I urge you to at least check this one out, I promise you will not be disappointed.

While I don’t normally talk about tours on Sound Bite, in this very special summer issue I feel like I have to mention NBA YoungBoy’s “MASA” tour, which is making waves in the hip-hop community. The impact this tour has been having is unlike almost anything I’ve seen, outside of the “Eras” tour ironically enough. While his latest album didn’t leave me too impressed, his impact and his fanbase that have been coming out on this tour cannot be understated.

Now to loyal Sound Bite readers you most likely saw this next mention coming. “DON’T TAP THE GLASS” by Tyler, The Creator was the most surprising, and exhilarating release of this summer. While it may not be as nuanced or personal as his last release, “Chromakopia,” “DON’T TAP THE GLASS” is easily one of the most fun projects he has ever released. Basically every track on this thing makes you want to get up and dance, and it once again cements Tyler, The Creator as a staple of the industry right now.

Another stellar album that absolutely blew me away this past summer was “Alfredo 2,” by Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist. Being of course a reunion for the two, having dropped the original “Alfredo” as a collab project a few years back, the duo takes everything they learned from that first project and cranks it to 11 in this melodic, soothing, and lyrically dense record. The production of this project absolutely carried it to the moon for me, with some beats putting me into an almost trancelike state. Couple that with Freddie Gibbs stellar wordplay and you have the recipe for success that is “Alfredo 2.”

While we are on the vein of hip-hop, I’d like to also briefly mention three more projects which I really enjoyed that were released earlier this summer. J.I.D, Earl Sweatshirt and Westside Gunn each dropped their own projects this summer, and I believe all three showed true growth and potential in their releases that have left me very excited for what’s to come in their careers.

“Live Laugh Love” was probably my personal favorite of the three projects, being one of, if not the best album of, Earl Sweatshirts catalog so far. It’s a welcomed entry into his overwhelming dark catalog which preaches exactly what its title promises, with deeper messages woven throughout.

That said, J.I.D’s “God Does Like Ugly” was also a great listen and a fun showcase of his far reaching range as an artist. This late into a career like J.I.D’s it’s easy for an artist to become stagnant from the fans perspective, or at least feel boxed into a certain style of music, but J.I.D had a point to prove when he released this album and I do believe he proved it with style.

Of course last but certainly not least I have to talk about Westside Gunn’s “HEEL’S HAVE EYES 2” which was just a super fun album to listen to. Gunn has been killing it for a few years now, and I still think he is one of the most underrated artists of the current era of hip-hop. “Mandela” and “Prick” were two tracks that stood out the most to me from this project and I overall am just very excited for the future of Gunn’s career as he continues to carve out his own niche in the world of hip-hop.