10 Alternative Rap Albums that Rocked My Soul, Mane!
Does anyone have a succinct definition of alternative rap?
It’s that one weird song in your playlist that you like to listen to by that random artist when you’re on a run but it’s not exactly like you’ll listen to a whole album of that one weird song.
You may like the song “Sweatpants” but did you listen to because the internet?
Are you eating though?
There are a lot of different takes on alternative rap. To me, it’s rap you hear 1 am when you leave your television on Adult Swim. It’s the type of stuff Anthony Fantano gives a strong 8’s to a light 9’s to. It’s the A24 of rap music. It can get uncomfortably weird sometimes but I like it. I love the genuine expression and the sometimes improvisational takes you can find because these moments sound so honest. It’s unpolished and artfully imperfect but it sounds like someone’s actual thought process. It sounds like art made by a human being.
human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.human being.
a human being.
There’s not always resolution or finality to it but there’s a comfort because life isn’t always so conclusive.
I want to highlight the sonic excursions of alternative rap. Specifically, the ones that made an impression on me.
1. Man on the Moon: End of Day — Kid Cudi
This is where it all started for me. This album was the perfect second act between Kanye’s groundbreaking departure from his backpacker persona, bridging 808s and Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Man on the Moon: The End of Day marks the beginning of this more crooner-based, ever-genre-bending musical journey. I was completely enamored with the record, especially the opening track, “In My Dreams,” featuring the spoken word narrative by Common. When we talk about how to do a narratively driven album I think this album is the standard more so than something like Good Kid Maad City. Man on the Moon set a standard for me in terms of what I could experience with music in general, let alone hip hop.
2. Yeezus — Kanye West
The Death Grips-inspired protest that Kanye made to the industry.
Which specific industry are we talking about? It could be the music industry, the fashion industry, or anything considered commercial. It’s all kind of vague, and it’s just a hodgepodge of punk rock ideas. But boy, does it pull off some outstanding concepts. The opening track is an ultra-intense, in-your-face, and vulgar piece that is interrupted by distorted and hollowed-out samples, very much on the nose with the sample, “It may not be what you want,” which Kanye is saying, “I’m not going to give you what you usually expect from me.” This album is not My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, even though that album, in itself, had a protest of its own with its seven- and eleven-minute songs. It’s a far cry from Late Registration. This album also continues the trend of making incredibly sexual songs that are also brilliant and innovative sonic expressions.
3. Because the Internet — Childish Gambino
I used to love Childish Gambino.
If you don’t recall, because the Internet had one of the most impressive album rollouts of all time. Many artists have tried to replicate it but have never been able to generate the same level of interest, or depth that Gambino achieved.
There were so many interesting, complex, and dynamic twists and turns in the production. It was an exciting listen — no song sounds the same, and elements you hear in one measure never repeat. It expanded my palate for what could be considered rap music.
Also, he touched on topics in a way I hadn’t heard anyone else rap about before — existentialism. Now, these themes are overdone and often executed to a lesser extent, but I think he hit a creative peak with this album. He peaked so much that I think that’s why he stopped rapping and became this otherworldly, funky alternative crooner.
4. Flower Boy — Tyler the Creator
This work marked the beginning of Tyler’s auteur era. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the “Chromakopia” (though he still, for the most part, leans into that), Flower Boy stands out for many reasons. It’s a much more fully realized expression of Tyler’s sensibilities and what he genuinely wants to do in his music. It marks a clear departure from the harshness and horrorcore elements of his previous work.
The album is much gentler and more personal. It gives us a deeper insight into a more fully realized version of Tyler’s personality by letting his guard down and sharing his insecurities. Flower Boy takes those moments and stretches them into a cohesive, thoughtful body of work.
5. Kids See Ghosts
This is a full-circle moment. Kanye paved the way for artists like Kid Cudi, especially when he shifted from his traditional rap persona and ventured into the futuristic, experimental pop/R&B sound of 808s & Heartbreak. Kid Cudi is widely recognized as a significant contributor to that record.
As both artists embarked on their respective creative journeys — breaking barriers, subverting genres, and innovating — it only makes sense that they would eventually come together to make a landmark statement in the alternative rap space, a genre they were both pivotal in cultivating.
Kids See Ghosts is a quick seven-song album, but it’s a compelling piece of work. Interestingly, you might expect an album like this to be a bombastic, epic statement, but instead, it’s minimal and understated. It doesn’t overstay its welcome. In hindsight, I wish we had three more songs to make it a perfect 10-track record, but the record accomplishes with its succinct tracklist something many albums fail to do with 23 songs. Honestly, if Kanye stopped making albums altogether, I’d be content. But since he insists on continuing, they might as well make Kids See Ghosts 2.
6. Atrocity Exhibition — Danny Brown
Interesting story:
One time when I was I think 12 years old I went on a teen youth trip. my youth pastors rented out this nice cabin and so we all went there and it was their goal to just have a fun-filled weekend full of Bible study and what not. They got us all together and they showed us this incredibly explicit and graphic Christian movie. It was an interlocking narrative film about people and their promiscuous excursions. It was a wild movie that was all narrated by the devil. They weren’t holding anything back. It would super impose images of transmitted illnesses. The idea is that the kingdom of Darkness will show you a sin but not show you the consequence of the sin.
That’s an idea that always kind of stuck with me. Atrocity Exhibition is all about drugs, sex, partying, and various vices but that’s just one half of it all. The other side is ever so “sobering.” Which is not a new thing stemming from his first offering XXX. There is a strong emphasis on the downside to these bad habits physically, spiritually, and psychologically. The opening has a line about one time where he was trying to “perform” with two ladies but he is so wrecked on narcotics that he can’t be… “statuesque.” But he tries anyway…
gross.
There is a great deal of existential reflection as he contemplates life choices being a rapper in his 40s. If anybody walks away from this album with the deep desire to want to party and get wasted and do all other types of things I think this is a person who needs some top-tier psychological help. this album is a satirical challenging and brilliant piece. There should be a subgenre of artful debauchery.
this album is like the book of Ecclesiastes. when my son is old enough I might have him listen to this
7. Relax — Das Racist
*Danny is on this album too. His verse is gross.
These were the guys that made that Pizza Hut combination Taco Bell song.
At the time, when Childish Gambino dropped Camp there were many criticisms concerning his commentary on race and socioeconomic issues being articulated in a shallow surface-level way.
black male in short shorts. I’m double-suspect.
That criticism was not found with some of his then internet rap peers like the group Das Racist which consisted of Heems, Kool A.D., and their hype man whose name I don’t remember at this current time. This is the funniest rap album I’ve ever heard. In the opening song, Kool A.D. is sitting at a Starbucks talking to a Caucasian record label exec and the executive is asking him if he likes to get high. This album is just funny. I love how they rap. I love how they kind of don’t care.
It’s political, satirical and it’s snappy. “Rainbow in the Dark” for the longest time was one of my favorite rap songs. Also, I think it could be argued that this may have been a more formal reintroduction into what could have been considered alternative hip hop. My first introduction to them was actually on Conan. They did their song “Michael Jackson” and it was so funky and weird. My brother was just in awe because he was so creeped out.
8. Freeloaders Soundtrack — the Sore Losers
*This mixtape was the first time I heard Kendrick Lamar.
I got put on to this music by way of some of the Christian rappers I was getting into. There was this movement in the early 2010s known as the Brain Gang Movement. You had these mostly Southern rappers claiming the moniker of “brain gang” and this was usually dawned by Progressive Forward Thinking and maybe experimental rappers who were in the south. This also included people like SPZRKT, Elhae, Tunk, Curbside Jones, and some others. The Sore Losers were one of the premier voices in that movement. The group consisted of two members King Brown, the rapper, and Brandon Blue, the producer. This album sounds like you’re in the future but you’re in the future of a desert and whatever utopian society exists you are millions of kilometers away from it — hanging in the slums with the mongrels. He sounded like a normal guy with a lot to say but he was never ever trying to be overly clever and witty.
9. All Day Deshay — Brandun Deshay
For a while, this album became the new College Dropout for me. Brandon Deshay was a producer who broke out on Myspace and became great pen pals with an early Tyler, the Creator. At one point, it even seemed like he was part of the Odd Future collective. However, after a falling out with Tyler, he departed from the group. Honestly, I think it was for the better.
After completing his initial series (Volume 1–3), Deshay released his official solo debut, All Day Deshay. You know how Tyler often combines elements of being a student of Kanye and Pharrell but leans more toward Pharrell’s sensibilities? Imagine the same foundation for Brandon Deshay, but leaning more into Kanye’s world. He sounds like ’04 Kanye West — from the way he raps to his sense of humor and perspective.
It’s a well-put-together and confidently understated project, full of charm and charisma. In my opinion, if things had turned out differently, we might have had a string of straightforward and stellar projects from Brandon. That said, he’s still had an outstanding output in his own right.
10. Everything’s Fine — Jean Grae + Quelle Chris
Sorry, Auntie Jean, for calling your music “alternative.”
I say that because I read an interview with Jean Grae and Quelle Chris, where Jean went on a tirade about how she doesn’t like being labeled as “alternative rap” or “quirky rap.” She made it clear that, for her, it’s just hip-hop — and that’s fair. Jean is an immaculate MC, top-tier in every sense. She’s incredibly stylish and brings so much attitude and flair to her records.
This project was my first proper introduction to her, even though I believe I had heard some of her features before. I was already familiar with Quelle Chris from his previous solo record, Me, Myself and I, which was outstanding. You know that feeling when an album just hits your ear perfectly, hitting every note from beginning to end and making you fall in love with the artist and the sound? That was this project.
It’s the result of their courtship and eventual marriage, blending jazz, boom-bap, and grunge-inspired sounds. There’s also that fun intersection between rap and comedy, with a feature from Hannibal Burress and sound bites from Michael Che and Nick Offerman.
