10 Best Hip-Hop Albums From The First Half Of 2019

7. Maxo - LIL BIG MAN

Both the title and cover art of 23 year old Los Angeles rapper Maxo's debut album bring to mind the feeling of having one foot in youth and one in adulthood. Maxo attempts to reconcile with this instability and grapple with day-to-day struggles over crackly and warm lo-fi production.

His sound is a throwback to jazzy boom-bap hip hop while not sounding derivative or forced, with a richness and vulnerability that leaves him in a lane all by himself.

If you have time for only one song from this album, make it "Headphones", in which Maxo glides over soulful piano keys, pondering how he wants to spend his day.

It feels like grown-up happiness, earned after coming out the other end of an endless struggle with oneself.

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