Run The Jewels 2

Most people remember the "RSD 2014" turquoise vinyl for the hype, but they miss the fact that El-P spent half of this record’s production phase battling a literal power outage in his studio. He tracked the bass synth on "Early" by running a generator from his neighbor’s place. It’s that kind of grimy, improvised urgency that makes RTJ2 feel less like a polished rap record and more like an insurgency. You’ve got a massive section for 2020s rock and a respectable stack of golden-era hip-hop, but this album sits right at the pivot point where the "conscious rap" of the 90s met the industrial nihilism of the 2010s. It’s got more in common with your Fugazi records than it does with most of the mainstream rap from that year. It’s raw, unapologetic, and honestly, it’s the record that proved hip-hop could be as loud as a Metallica show without losing the lyrical bite.

source: the clerk