Summer 2018 has proven to be the year of music for hip hop fans everywhere. With album drops from big names like Drake, Kanye West, Travis Scott, and many more, this summer has definitely gone down in history.

The summer of music started with a bang in early May with Rae Sremmurd releasing their 3rd studio album, SR3MM. This double album does an excellent job showcasing the versatility of both Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi, while keeping the same high energy as their first project. Playboi Carti also stormed the hip hop scene with his surprise release of his second studio album, Die Lit. Carti delivering the same untraditional, hyperactive, and addictive flow of his last project, Playboi Carti, while experimenting with new beats and producers.  But the month of May didn’t end there. New artist like Lil Baby and Juice WRLD  also dropped their debut albums, Harder Than Ever by Lil Baby and Goodbye and Good Riddance by Juice WRLD, projects that have been critically acclaimed and extremely welcomed in the culture. Long awaited albums from A$AP Rocky and Pusha T also dropped with the releases of Testing from the Lord Pretty Flacko, and Daytona from the kingpin Pusha T. Both projects showed the hip hop big names in a new light with the creative producing and help from Kanye West.

Throughout the month of June, Kanye West would remind the world of his amazing and divergent production skills, producing seven albums for his G.O.O.D Music artists. The month started with the return of Mr.West with his album Ye, where Mr.West explores the beauties and battles of his mental state while delivering a unique listening experience. An experience he would also deliver in his collaborative album Kids See Ghost with frequent collaborator Kid Cudi. Kanye would continue to impress the hip hop community by producing Nas’s 12th studio album, Nasir. TDE veteran Jay Rock would also drop his 5th studio album Redemption, keeping the same raw California flow of his album 90059, while experimenting with the high production and lyricism of other TDE artists. With all the releases in June, Jay Z and Beyonce would also drop their first collaborative album, Everything Is Love. An album that highlights the beauty of complicated love, the reality of relationships, and the honesty within relationships. A great finally in the Lemonade by Beyonce and 4:44 by Jay Z trilogy. Drake would end the month of June by dropping his highly anticipated album Scorpion. The two part, 25 track album would go number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list for 8 weeks straight and continue to hold the same accelerating sounds of his last album Views while discussing the heart felt topic of father hood.  

July would end up being a lowkey month with only a few album releases. With that being said, Wiz Khalifa would drop the long awaited sequel to his project Rolling Papers by dropping Rolling Papers 2, an album that shines a light on Wiz Khalifa life before the fame as well as his life as a successful rapper as well. Tal3oo would become Denzel Curry’s third studio album and according to him, his best project by far. Experimenting with new musical techniques and releasing the album in 3 parts, Tal3oo, stands out as a great project. Rappers G Herbo and Southside would also drop Swervo, an album that delivers raw lyrical talent as well as authentic Chicago street rap as well.

A week before school started back up, Travis Scott would also drop his critically acclaimed, high production, phenomenal album, Astroworld. An album that would debut as number 1, have all song on the Billboard Hot 100, and sell more than 250k first week. Astroworld perfectly blends the amazing production skills of Travis Scott seen in Yeezus, with the excitement of past projects like Owl Pharaoh and Rodeo.