The Quarterly Report: The best hip-hop albums of 2009, thus far
The first quarter is typically a more barren season for major rap releases, and 2009's first quarter was no different. With major labels increasingly drawn to the Michael Bay blockbuster model, the indies were there to pick up much of the slack.
Additionally, the perpetual deluge of singles disseminated via blogs ensures that there's more great hip-hop being released now than at any time in the last decade. The challenge is finding it -- here are a few tips.
1. Doom, “Born Like This” (Lex Records)
The skeleton key to “Born Like This,” pictured, lurks in the coda of “That’s That.” With an off-kilter, Biz Markie bellow, Doom declares, “Can it be I’ve stayed away too long? Did you miss these rhymes when I was gone? As you listen to these crazy tracks / Check the stats, and you know where I’m at.”
Indeed, axioms about absence are rarely more apt, as Doom’s redoubled dedication to craft -- after a two-year exile -- imbues “Born Into This” with steroid-inflated statistics. Check the enigmatic lyrics replete with political and personal interpretations, as well as the shadowy graveyard beats from Madlib, J Dilla, Jake One, and Doom. Then there are the voices of Slug (Atmosphere), Ghostface Killah, Chef Raekwon, and Charles Bukowski, floating in and out like disembodied spirits. Even fellow misanthrope Thom Yorke emerges from his London fog to remix “Gazzillion Ear.”
Plagued by the sour aftertaste of an ill-conceived cartoon collaboration (2005's pairing with Danger Mouse on “The Mouse and the Mask”) and accusations of paying impostors to perform in his stead, Doom returns to remind us why he’s amassed one of the decade’s deepest discographies. In a blog age besotted with fast-food rappers, Doom’s successful comeback illustrates the most basic rule of supply and demand.
Valentine's Day is almost here, and as everyone from your bubbe to your Facebook status won't stop reminding you: You are alone. All alone. 
