10 Best Hip-Hop Songs Of 2017 (So Far)
Ten of the best tracks released by some of rap's finest acts.
2017 has already provided hip hop fans with a massive spectrum of work from all sides of the genre and as the tides of the year turn into the second half, the industry and the genre are in a strong place.
With stand-out songs representing a geo-spread from London to Los Angeles and New York to the Six, there's increasing evidence of hip-hop's global expansion into relatively uncharted territories. And that means more fans, more awareness, more creators.
As another mark of the genre's growth, it continues to have a larger impact on pop culture too. In fact, some of this year's best songs so far have been used in Marvel films, NBA Finals video packages, and highlighted multiple awards shows in performance.
The sheer number of excellent artists in hip-hop have ensured that we have more than enough contenders for the top spot this year, and every MC is just as deserving as the last. And running down their work feels like a tribute to some of the most talented acts in the business.
10. Bones - "TakingOutTheTrash"
Refreshing, witty, and completely devoid of any mainstream symbolism, Bones' armory of versatile genre-dips have been well archived in over 30 mixtapes and albums released frenetically over the past five years.
"TakingOutTheTrash" is a perfect example of his iron-grip on the cloudrap scene, balancing a tightrope act somewhere between decadent vaporwave and haunting trap music.
In classic fashion, Bones takes a walk into the heavier end of the low-fi bass and blasting the listener with an ominously distorted synth that shuffles the beat with banging blasts of percussion.
He also makes a point to that take aim at those that escape the struggles of life by way of drug use, and even compares his work to that of author J.K. Rowling in terms of using idiosyncratic means to achieve his underdog success.
Brashly refusing to accept the norms of rap culture, this song is a representation of an unrepresented aspect of the genre and captures that energy like lightning in a bottle.