#Jay Conway wiki

[hipvehop]

2023'ün En Sevdiğim 178 Hip Hop Albümü

Geleneksel yıllık liste. İlk 14 albümden sonra sıralamaya pek takılmaya gerek yok. Tamamen kendi sevdiğim albümler, listenin bir iddiası yok. Ne biliyim albüm keşfetmek isteyen olur, ya da geçen sene gözden kaçırdıklarına bakmak isteyen olur vs. onlar için liste işte. Yalnızca İngilizce hip hop albümleri. EP’lere yer vermedim. Ha bir de tam puan verdiğim albüm olmadı bu sene ne yazık ki. AYO:

1 - Tha God Fahim & NicoJP - Chess Moves 2 - WiFiGawd & Soudiere - 36 Chambers of Pressure, Vol. 2 3 - Death at the Derby - Capitano 4 - enkay & New Villain - From the Villain With Love II 5 - Nonazz & LUNAR - Tread Lightly 6 - Flee Lord & Crisis - 2-3 Zone 7 - NODUO - Noduo 8 - J. Arrr - Hoop Dreams 3 9 - Departure - Composition 10 - Apollo Brown & Planet Asia - Sardines 11 - Minus & Jay Influential - Surprise! 12 - Upfront & Badhabitz - Headrush 13 - Waterr & Spanish Ran - The Policy Kings 14 - E Murda & Shots Almigh - Loyalty Makes You Related

15 - Estee Nack x V Don - BRAP! 16 - MIKE, Wiki & The Alchemist - Faith is a Rock 17 - Mach-Hommy & Tha God Fahim - Notorious Dump Legends Volume 2 18 - slowthai - UGLY 19 - Nas - Magic 3 20 - Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions 21 - El Michels Affair & Black Thought - Glorious Game 22 - Conway the Machine & Jae Skeese - Pain Provided Profit 23 - Nas - Magic 2 24 - Chris Crack - Battery Operated Simps 25 - Tesla’s Ghost & Purpose - B.L.O.O.D (Blood Lines of Original Dynasties) 26 - Jay Royale - Criminal Discourse 27 - Larry June & The Alchemist - The Great Escape 28 - Koralle - Insomnia 29 - Postman L - Treasure Chest Pieces 30 - All Hail Y.T. x Observe since ‘98 - ILL Gotten Gains 31 - Tha God Fahim x Oh No the Disrupt - Berserko 32 - Paul Wall & Termanology - Start Finish Repeat 33 - Matt Mars & Bloodblixing - Blxxd Moon 3: Gangsta Edition 34 - Starker x Theravada - Spiridon 35 - Mickey Diamond & Mallori Knox - Nobody Bleeds Like Flair 36 - Vic Spencer & August Fanon - Psychological Cheat Sheet 4 37 - Vega7 the Ronin & Superior - Sleep Is the Cousin 38 - Jehst - Mork Calling Orson 39 - Zotiyac - Pretense 40 - Theravada & zoomo - Waste Management 41 - Times Change - DifferenTimes 42 - Tha God Fahim x Mike Shabb - Dump Gawd Rhyme Pays 43 - Rahiem Supreme x Wino Willy - Snake & Crane Secret 44 - Deniro and RoadsArt - Robbie Deniro 6 45 - Shaykh Hanif & MichaelAngelo - Wilderness of North America 46 - Matt Mars & Deadbent Inc. - Dream Rotation 47 - Substantial - Adultish 48 - Alaska & Steel Tipped Dove - The Structural Dynamics of Flow 49 - Tha God Fahim - Dump Gawd Reloaded 50 - Lloyd Banks - Halloween Havoc IV: The 72nd Hr 51 - MIKE - Burning Desire 52 - Obnoxious - Sic Audio 53 - Tha God Fahim - Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth 54 - Rasheed Chappell & The Arcitype - Sugar Bills 55 - 38 Spesh - Gunsmoke 56 - Papo2oo4 - PAP on P.E.D’s 57 - Funky DL - I am Reuben 58 - Willie the Kid x V Don - Blue Notes 2 59 - Mooch - Green Light 60 - Shabaam Sahdeeq & John Jigg$ - Don’t Feed the Bears 61 - OT the Real & araabMUZIK - ZOMBIE 62 - Realio Sparkzwell & Tone Spliff - Gunz From Italy 63 - Jamal Gasol & VHS - Tales From the Trenches 64 - Lloyd Banks - The Course of the Inevitable 3: Pieces of My Pain 65 - Fliptrix - Mantra No. 9 66 - Estee Nack & Friends - #Mini Mansion Dust Vol. 6 67 - Monday Night & 3waySlim - Good Company 68 - DNTE - Custom Made Killa 69 - A.P. da Overlord - Blockstar Ranger (In the Name of Fire) 70 - Tony Shhnow - Love Streak 71 - Belly - Mumble Rap 2 72 - Joe Sig & Im'peretiv - Rome Was Built In A Day 73 - Snotty - Mi vida loca 74 - Farma - Farma's £10 Bag Vol. 2 75 - HWY 308 & Finn - Ducking Indictments (Deluxe)

76 - billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps 77 - Skyzoo & The Other Guys - The Mind of a Saint 78 - Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips 79 - Anwar HighSign & Giallo Point - Whatever the Case May Be 80 - Eto & Futurewave - Dead Poets 81 - Mickey Diamond - Oroku Saki 82 - Elcamino & TrickyTrippz - Devil’s Due 83 - Rav - Leap 84 - XP the Marxman - Diamante De Las Madres Vol. 2 85 - Rome Streetz - Noise Kandy 5 86 - Monster Florence - Master System 87 - Iceberg Theory & Bloodblixing - Sundae Funnyz Gangsta Edition 88 - Navy Blue - Ways of Knowing 89 - McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? 90 - Solarfive & Custom Made - Paved With Good Intentions 91 - Hellsent & Batsauce - Jimi Floss 92 - $Ha Hef - Shark Tank 93 - Stack Skrilla x Yuno - Bless 94 - Ill Bill - Billy 95 - Goyard ibn Said - Goyard Comin’: Exordium 96 - Napoleon da Legend & D-Styles - Invincibl Rap Mislz 97 - klwn cat & Unruly - Don’t Go Outside 98 - Rigz - Heal In 99 - Speaker Bullies - Art of Disrespect 100 - AcHoodFella & Arkin - The Preview, Pt. 3 101 - Killah Priest - Vedic Vape Room 102 - Kadeem - Who Cyan Hear Must Feel 103 - Meechy Darko - Doses 104 - Paranom - PKNXM 105 - Bobby J From Rockaway & Nef - Radio Days 106 - Will4Prez x Hobgoblin - Bar Barracks 107 - Obijuan - Mangrove Maze 108 - Matt Mars & Deadbent Inc. - Dream Rotation 3 109 - Crimeapple - YDFWC?3 110 - K-Rino - Audio Optics 111 - Travis Scott - UTOPIA 112 - V Knuckles & Phoniks - The Next Chapter 113 - Joey Majors & Eto - Plausible Deniability 114 - Ill Bill - Billmatic 115 - Obijuan - Xaonabo 116 - al.divino & MichaelAngelo - Wile Coyote 117 - Terror Reid - Hot Vodka 2 118 - Kaytraminé - Kaytraminé 119 - ??? & Grubby Pawz - Hood Alchemy 120 - Substance810 & Hobgoblin - Death Waits in the Dark 121 - AKAI SOLO - Only the Strong Remain 122 - Kurt Solid & Bronze Nazareth - The Process 123 - Pawz One & Preed One - Murals & Mayhem 124 - Spook - No Country II: Hell on Wheels (The Ballad of Isom Dart!) 125 - 2 Dolla & Iceberg Theory - Red Butte Redemption 126 - Killer Mike - MICHAEL 127 - G’s Us - What Them Dogs Don’t Know They Know 128 - Airospace - Stairway to Heaven 129 - Mickey Diamond - Gucci Ghost 3 130 - enkay & New Villain - From the Villain With Love III 131 - King Iso - iLLdren 132 - NODUO - Harvest Moon 133 - Elcamino & King Ralph - No Weapon Formed Against Me 134 - XP the Marxman, Phonk P & NugLife - Have a Beautiful Grind 135 - OneShotOnce & Roper Williams - Hatched Caviar 136 - Pawz One - Persona Non Grata 137 - Jamal Gasol x Sandy Solo - Good Chemistry 138 - Night Lovell - I Hope You’re Happy 139 - Slayton Dixon & Bloodblixing - Dirtz 3 Gangsta Edition 140 - BoriRock & Grubby Pawz - Wavy Bullet 141 - AZ - Truth Be Told 142 - FastLife & Red Walrus - Red Line 143 - Mick Jenkins - The Patience 144 - Team Demo - It’s a Demo 145 - Illah Dayz & Bronze Nazareth - Ponch'e 146 - Sauce Heist & K Sluggah - SÅS 147 - Illinformed - Illin for Meds 148 - Tony Shhnow - Shadow Banned 2

149 - Dark Lo & V Don - Charlie Pope 2 150 - Torae & Marco Polo - Midnight Run 151 - Elcamino - They Spit on Jesus 152 - Home Brew - Run It Back 153 - BONES - BasketCase 154 - Dirty Dike - Mattress 155 - Ayo Shamir, J. Arrr & Fabeyon - Ignorant Art 156 - NymLo & Statik Selektah - From the Horse’s Mouth 157 - Styliztik Jones - Classics 158 - Rahiem Supreme & Look Damien! - Brown Alpaca 159 - K-Rino & Trajic - Seven Hour Block 160 - Mic Gutz - Iron Mic 161 - Flu & Phil Gektor - Money 162 - BoriRock - The Zing Who Stole Christmas 163 - WateRR x Machacha - Almighty 164 - Planet Asia & MidaZ the BEAST - And 1 Rap Shit 165 - Wrekonize - The Wrekoning 166 - Estee Nack - Nacksaw Jim Duggan 167 - P-Ro x Onaje Jordan - Storytown Lane 168 - Twisted Insane - The Reaper 169 - Hus Kingpin - Holiday Hus 2: Cocaine Christmas 170 - Ronnie Alpha - Echoes of the Imperium 171 - Bloo Azul & Spanish Ran - Bloo Moon 2 172 - YL - Don't Feed the Pigeons Deluxe 173 - Cookin’ Soul - Whateva Vol. 5 174 - Nnutthowze - Siqnaling the Siqly 175 - Ru$h & Jay NiCE - Famili 5 176 - Wrekonize - 2020 Wreking Crew Freestyles 177 - Mach-Hommy x Thelonious Coltrane - Nonpareil 178 - Talib Kweli & Madlib - Liberation 2 Ekstra: Tyler, the Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale Instrumental hip hop sevenlere de 2023 çıkışlı birkaç albüm önerisi:

1 - Boldy James & Nicholas Craven - Fair Exchange No Robbery (Instrumentals) 2 - Allem Iversom & Dontcry - Chapter Two 3 - MUJO情 & Hakone - Cat Dojo

4 - The Alchemist - The Elephant Man’s Bones Instrumentals 5 - Batsauce - Dispatches From Da Nang 6 - August Fanon - Cool Tings 7 - O.C. - Jewelz (Instrumentals) 8 - DirtyDiggs - DDU008: Hlywtr 9 - DirtyDiggs - DDU024: GOAT

10 - Awon & Soul.Dope.95 - Infinite Wisdom Instrumentals 11 - Aesop Rock & Blockhead - Garbology (Instrumental Version) 12 - Sterling Toles - The Sound of Manger on McNichols 13 - Phoniks - Dreams 14 - Observe since ‘98 - Odd Ones Vol. 2 15 - August Fanon - Black Magix Vol. 23 (Station Identification) 16 - Roper Williams - Back to Blocked 🖤 17 - bcalm & Dontcry - Times We Had 18 - Peanuts - Super Microphonus 19 - El Jazzy Chavo - EXPEDITion 100 Vol. 28: A Signal From the Dark Side 20 - ewonee - Aux Tapes Vol. 6: The Art of the Chase 21 - Graymatter - Danger Room 3 22 - Confidence - Top 5 23 - Thelonious Martin - Polo Sporting Goods Instrumentals 24 - Observe since ‘98 - The Lion’s Share 2: Gold Shillings (Instrumentals) 25 - Im'peretiv - Instrumentals Issue #3 26 - Televangel - Neutral Milc Motel Instrumentals 27 - SoulChef - Rear View (Instrumental) 28 - Casiio & Dontcry - Stories of the Night 29 - The Doppelgangaz - Beats for Brothels, Vol. 6

Screw Mane Flame Ekstraları: Screw Mane Flame - Chillwave Shawty 2003 Screw Mane Flame - Chillwave Shawty 2004 Screw Mane Flame - Chillwave Shawty 2005 Screw Mane Flame - Aquatic Audio Son olarak, 2023 çıkışlı albümlerden-janra fark etmeksizin- favori albüm kapaklarımı derlediğim seri için de sizi burdan alalım.

[therappundit]

***Best of the 1st Half of 2021: ALBUM EDITION ***

...From the better late than never files...

I realize one or two weeks in real world time is the equivalent of two or three years in music consumption time, so there is a better than average chance that most of you have not thought of what the best rap projects are for the first half of 2021 since July 4th weekend...

And full disclosure, I wrote the paragraph above way back in July and then immediately got sidetracked.  Whoops. 😬

Now here we are, summer’s over and A LOT of new music has dropped since 7/1, with plenty more to come!  So perhaps now is a great time to remind folks of some of the fantastic work that dropped in the first half of 2021?  This is more of an act of housekeeping for me, because it helps remind me of great albums that should still be considered new works of art, but per the social media cycle, they unfairly fall into the geriatric bin by year’s end.

SO HERE ARE / WERE MY PICKS FOR THE BEST RAP PROJECTS OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2021* (top 50 + oodles of Honorable Mentions)

[*projects had to be released by June 30th in order to receive consideration]

10. TIME by Your Old Droog

9. Free Dem Boyz by 42 Dugg

8. Unlearning Vol. 1 by Evidence

7. Death and the Magician by DJ Muggs & Rome Streetz

6. With The Shifts by Maassai

5. All The Brilliant Things by Skyzoo

4. Call Me If You Get Lost by Tyler, the Creator

3. Haram by Armand Hammer & The Alchemist

2. Disco! by MIKE

1. Pray For Haiti by Mach-Hommy

***Rest of the Top 50***:

11. Akai Solo & Navy Blue

12. Nappy Nina & J Words

13. Rahiem Supreme x Al.divino

14. Navy Blue - Navy’s Reprise

15. Lloyd Banks - COTI

16. Good Gas x Fki 1st x Band Gang Lonnie Bands

17. Real Late by Peter Rosenberg (and Various Artists)

18. Bruiser Brigade - TV62

19. Mother Nature & Boathouse

20. SIDESHOW

21. Wiki & Nah

22. al.divino x Mr. Rose

23. MAVI

24. Durk & Baby

25. Breeze Brewin

26. Akai, YL & Roper

27. Lil Yachty

28. Sleeper Sinatra

29. J. Cole

30. J Scienide & Kev Brown

31. Lord Apex

32. Ransom

33. Valee & Kiltkarter

34. Pap2oo4

35. Kipp Stone

36. Jay NiCE & Machacha

37. Namir & L’Orange

38. Jim Jones & Harry Fraud

39. Babyface Ray

40. Asun Eastwood

41. Raz Fresco

42. BYAKUGAN! by Estee Nack

43. Young Nudy

44. Pro Zay

45. Hus Kingpin

46. Mfn Melo & squeakPIVOT

47. Teller Bank$

48. Gucci Mane

49. Big Ghost & Conway

50. Tee Grizzley

Honorable Mentions (all belong in my Top 50, but I can only pick 50) - in no particular order:

Curren$y, Rome & Ank, Dolph & Key Glock, WTM Daemoney, La Maquina, Dark Lo & Harry Fraud, Mimz the Magnificent & Dunn - Infinite Lawn, David Bars, RIM, Tedy Andreas, Lou From Paradise, Big YAVO, Wrecking Crew, Lukah, Premrock, Monday Night & Russo Beats, Estee Nack Mini-Mansion, Ayun Bassa & Jacob Rochester, YL, Czarface, Roadrunner Glockboyz, Van Buren Records, Huey Briss, Khrysis, God's kitchen, Foogiano, Uptown XO, CRIMEAPPLE.........

Ty Farris, Medhane, Valee & AYO (Disco), J.U.S., Bruiser Wolf, Anakin & Siifu, Mello Music Bushido compilation, Fat Ray, Kenny Mason, Larry June, Nutty & Los (group projects and solo projects), Duke Deuce, Knowledge the Pirate, 22gz, Moneybagg Yo, Baby Money, Planet Asia, Trapland Pat, Asun Eastwood (2 projects), Don Perrion, Jae Haze, Cee Gee, Fire in little Africa..........

Kai Fortyfive, D Flowers, Saga Asad, Vic Spencer, Four50, Lil Heart, Bvngs, VRN Hayes, Big Jade, Marcellus, LORD JAH-MONTE OGBON, Young Crazy, T.F, NappyNappa, CHASETHEMONEY, Drakeo the Ruler, Ralfy the Plug, Lando Bando, Teejayx6 & Lex Luger, Lil CJ KASINO, Rollin Ajay, Lil Eazzzy, Tafia, Young Stoner compilation, Beneficience, Fmb DZ, K.J., Bronze Nazareth, Agallah, Amani, Graymatter** & Alchemist** (**neither projects had enough songs to warrant consideration).

See also:

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/656020494530854912/best-of-the-1st-half-of-2021-song-edition

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/649527317251670016/best-of-the-1st-quarter

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/638904640503726080/the-best-rap-songs-of-2020-great-songs-that

[rapzips]

NOZ BEST OF 2019

I stopped making these zips cause it takes so much time and also Spotify exists now but Noz is always on point so I stole this and from his Light Sleeper page and repackaged a zip that I found in the comments (by eas). Be sure to check his decade wrap ups on the best of Thugger, Future and Sosa too.

1. Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road” (Young Kio) 2. Polo G f/ Lil Tjay – “Pop Out” (Iceberg Beatz & JD On Tha Track) 3. City Girls – “Act Up” (EarlOnTheBeat) 4. NLE Choppa – “Shotta Flow” (Midas800) 5. NBA Youngboy – “Slime Belief” (Beatmonster Marc) 6. Sada Baby – “Back End” (?) 7. Denzel Curry – “Ricky” (FnZ) 8. Playboi Carti – “Molly/No Stylist” (Pi’erre Bourne) 9. ShooterGang Kony – “Charlie” (?) 10. DaBaby – “Suge” (Pooh Beatz & JetsonMade) 11. Injury Reserve f/ Rico Nasty & Pro Teens – “Jawbreaker” (Melik XYZ, Pro Teens & Injury Reserve) 12. Quando Rondo – “Gun Powder” (Tahj Money) 13. Roddy Ricch – “Down Below” (Scott Storch) 14. Lil Keed f/ YNW Melly & Lil Uzi Vert – “Pull Up” (JetsonMade) 15. Megan the Stallion f/ DaBaby – “Cash Shit” (LilJuMadeDaBeat) 16. Billy Woods – “Checkpoints” (Kenny Segal) 17. Gunna f/ Young Thug – “3 Headed Snake” (Wheezy) 18. Suga Free – “Premium Game” (L-Finguz) 19. Queen Key – “Evil” (Enviyon) 20. Young Thug – “Just How It Is” (Wheezy & Nick Mira) 21. Tree & Vic Spencer – “Easy” (Tree) 22. Flo Milli – Beef (Flomix)” (Ethereal – “Beef“) 23. Maxo Kream – “Meet Again” (Teej & Mike Dean) 24. Lil Tjay – “FN” (MB13 Beatz) 25. Dreamville f/ Young Nudy – “Down Bad” (Pluss) 26. Mavi – “Willpower” (ovrkast) 27. Dee Watkins – “Bad Ass Jit” (Rocktee) 28. G Herbo – “Scratchy & Itchy” (Helluva Beats) 29. Earl Sweatshirt f/ Mach Hommy – “4N” (Earl Sweatshirt & Mach Hommy) 30. Stunna Girl – “Runway” (Helluva) 31. Young Nudy f/ Lil Uzi Vert – “Extendo” (Pi’erre Bourne) 32. Female Mula – “Gats In Ya Face” (Rippa On The Beat) 33. Jim Jones f/ Cam’ron & Fred The Godson – “Pity In The Summer” (Heatmakerz) 34. Mustard f/ 1TakeJay – “Intro” (Mustard) 35. Lil Uzi Vert – “Free Uzi” (DJ L Beats – “Gangway“) 36. Noname – “Song 32” (Phoelix) 37. YNW Melly – “Beat A N***a Block” (Ey3lowbeatz) 38. Teejayx6 – “Swipe Story” (KDen Ju) 39. Xanman – “Pink” (Xanman) 40. Shordie Shordie – “Bitchuary (Betchua)” (YG Beats) 41. Duke Deuce – “Yeh” (Ayoza) 42. BlocBoy JB – “Mercedes” (Dilip & Otxhello) 43. Junglepussy – “I’m In Love” (Ben Bradley & Shy Guy) 44. Lil Gray – “Crash” (Mannyvelli & Johnny Caravaggio) 45. Cash Kidd – “Who Shot You” (?) 46. Shy Glizzy – “Demons” (Supah Mario) 47. Trefuego – “90MH” (Kevin Katana) 48. Peezy – “New Car Smell” (Marc Boomin) 49. Tobe Nwigwe f/ Paul Wall – Juice” (Lanell Grant) 50. Lil Tecca – “Ransom” (Nick Mira & Taz Taylor) 51. Comethazine – “Stand” (N/A) 52. Ruby Yacht – “No Word For Wack” (AlgernonCornelius) 53. BbyMutha f/ Ttbby – Spooky Mutha Mansion” (?) 54. Rod Wave f/ Kevin Gates – “Cuban Links” (Yung Tago, Tre Gilliam & TnTXD) 55. Showbiz & Milano – “Tears” (Showbiz) 56. G-Eazy f/ Young Miami & Juvenile – “Throw Fits” (London On Da Track) 57. DuffleBag Boog – “No Sleep” (Liteease) 58. Tierra Traniece – “Fool Me Once” (Rippa On The Beat) 59. Droop-E f/ Cousin Fik & Stressmatic – “Won’t Fold” (Droop-E) 60. Doja Cat – “Rules” (Dr. Luke, Danielle Alvarez, Salaam Remi & Ben Billions) 61. Tisakorean f/ Huncho Da Rocksta & Kblast – “The Mop” (Mighty Bay) 62. Rahli – “Perc 30” (Yung Glizzy) 63. Allblack f/ Kossiko – “304” (StraightDropVanilla) 64. Mo3 – “2 Nineteen” (Stovall) 65. Nefew – “Blocklife Souljas” (Senzo Luciano) 66. E-40 f/ Scarface – “Watch The Homies” (Proptheproducer) 67. Lil Gotit – “Da Real HoodBabies” (Bankroll Got It) 68. Griselda – “Cruiser Weight Coke” (Beat Butcha & Daringer) 69. UnoTheActivist – “Adam Sandler” (Spiffy Global) 70. Trifln’ – “Huh” (Pay$ean) 71. Future – “Krazy But True” (Distance Decay, Corbin, Frankie Bash & Wheezy) 72. Wiki – “The Act” (Slauson Malone) 73. Chief Keef f/ Lil Pump – “Old Heads and Regretful Hoes” (Zaytoven) 74. AG & Cuns – “Get The Feeling” (Cuns) 75. Longmoneykese – Stickwalk” (?) 76. Rico Nasty – “Sandy” (Kenny Beats) 77. Babyface Ray – “Trill Spill” (?) 78. Homeboy Sandman f/ Kurious & Aesop Rock – “Lookout (Remix)” (Mono En Strereo) 79. Baby Smoove – Losing My Mind” (Michigan Meech) 80. ZaeHD & CEO – “Robotics” (Yvngquan) 81. Rick Ross f/ Gunplay – “Nobody’s Favorite” (Trop) 82. Mach Hommy f/ Tha God Fahim – “Mozambique Drill” (Nicholas Craven) 83. Earthgang – “Bank” (Big Korey & Ant Chambers) 84. Offset f/ J Cole – “How Did I Get Here?” (Metro Boomin & Dre Moon) 85. Danny Brown – “Savage Nomad” (Playa Haze) 86. Bandhunta Izzy – “How to Rob” (PYREXWHIPPA) 87. Conway the Machine – “E.I.F.” (JR Swiftz) 88. FMB DZ f/ DaBoii – “GiveNGO” (Jay Johnson) 89. Baby Fifty – “Spank His Ass” (?) 90. OMB Peezy – “Big Homie” (SephGotTheWaves & Drum Dummie) 91. Gucci Mane f/ Kodak Black – “Big Boy Diamonds” (London On The Track) 92. Pop Smoke – “Welcome To The Party” (808Melo) 93. Kevin Gates – “Walls Talking” (Roark Bailey & Richie Souf) 94. Lil Reese f/ Chief Keef – “BBQ” (Chief Keef) 95. MoneyMarr – “Cable Box” (Earl On The Beat) 96. Baby Keem – “Invented It” (Ambezza, Keanu Beats & Baby Keem) 97. Saweetie – “My Type” (London On Da Track) 98. Nuk – “Experiments” (?) 99. Kool Keith f/ Paul Wall – “Foot Locker” (Psycho Les) 100. Ambjaay – “Uno” (Almighty Quise)

HERE’S THE ZIP

[metanara]

Best Rap, 2019

DJ Mustard feat. Roddy Ricch — Ballin’ 

Pi’erre Bourne — Poof 

Rod Wave — Heart on Ice 

Sauce Walka — Splashtown State of Mind 

Sada Baby — Tien N Yamcha 

Young Thug feat. Gunna — Hot 

King Louie — Tesla 

Cousin Stizz — Beamin’ 

Young Flexico — YahAye! 

MAVI — Bloodbath 

Tyler the Creator — I Think  • Young Nudy & Playboi Carti — Pissy Pamper • Young Dolph & Key Glock — If I Ever  • Rudeboy Ruger — Millions • Little Simz — Selfish • Maxo Kream – Meet Again • Wiki - Eggs • Larry June — Smoothie at Midnight • Sada Baby — Dumbass • Duke Deuce — Yeh • Schoolboy Q — Numb Numb Juice • Chief Keef — Spy Kid • Goldlink feat. Peewee Longway — Got Muscle • Your Old Droog feat. DOOM and Mach Hommy — RST  • Don Toliver — No Idea • Westside Gunn feat. Sauce Walka — Lakers vs. Rockets • Valee — You & Me Both • Z-Money - Fiends Callin’ • Benny the Butcher feat. RJ Payne and Conway — Dirty Harry • Tyler the Creator — Earfquake • Megan Thee Stallion feat. DaBaby — Cash Shit • Slayter feat. G Herbo — COLD AT NIGHT • The Alchemist feat. Schoolboy Q — W.Y.G.D.T.N.S. • Boogie — Silent Ride • Roc Marciano — Saw • Shy Glizzy — Waikiki Flow • Mauley G — For the Gang • Lil Uzi — Free Uzi • YBN Cordae — Thanksgiving • 3ohBlack — All Talk

NLE Choppa — Shotta Flow • Chuck Indigo — Ugly • Rick Ross feat. Gunplay — Nobody’s Favorite • Young M.A. — Big • Grip feat. Mick Jenkins — Finessin’ • Little Brother — Everything • Kenny Beats & 03 Greedo feat. Freddie Gibbs — Disco Shit • Pop Smoke — Dior • Skepta — Bullet from a Gun • Wiki feat. Lil Ugly Mane and Denzel Curry — Grim • Polo G feat. Lil Tjay — Pop Out • Rico Nasty — Time Flies • Lucki — Go Away! • Mike — Goin’ Truuu • Earthgang — Bank • Goldlink feat. Tyler, the Creator and Jay Prince — U Say • Baby Keem — BUSS HER UP • DaBaby — BOP • Dave – Screwface Capital • Lil Tecca — Ransom

Future — Promise U That • Freddie Gibbs feat. Killer Mike and Pusha T — Palmolive • Mozzy feat. Sada Baby — Just My Luck • Earl Sweatshirt feat. Mach-Hommy — 4N • Danny Brown feat. Run the Jewels — 3 Tearz • Boldy James — Mafia • Suga Free — Don’t Be Thinking Wit Cho Dick Boy • Blocboy JB — Mercedes • Doja Cat — Rules • Reason feat. Ab-Soul — Flick It Up • Young Thug feat. J. Cole and Travis Scott — The London • Griselda — Moselle • Reese LAFLARE — No Entertainment • Denzel Curry — Automatic • Teejayx6 — Swipe Story • Young Nudy & Pi’erre Bourne — Long Ride • 2 Chainz feat. Ariana Grande — Rule the World • DOM KENNEDY feat. Jay 305 and The Game — Pharoahs • Mr. Muthafuckin’ Esquire — Pink Champagne • Fivio Foreign & Rich the Kid — Richer Than Ever

Cousin Stizz feat. Smino — Anonymous • Mach-Hommy — Brand Name (“You fake like soy burgers”) • Action Bronson & The Alchemist — Tear Away Shorts • Chuuwee — California/Exit • 22Gz — Sniper Gang Freestyle • Seafood Sam — 96Moesha • Krimelife Ca$$ feat. ABG Neal, Sheff G & Sleepy Hallow — Forrest Gump (Remix) • Yella Beezy feat. Ty Dolla Sign — Ay Ya Ya Ya • Queen Key — Hey • G Herbo — Hunnid Bands • Snoop Dogg feat. YG and Mustard — Blue Face Hunnids • Polo Perks — For Real (Slide on Me) • Ameer Vann — Los Angeles • DUCKWRTH — Crush • AzChike — What Up • Brian Brown — Ghetto’s Hymn • Dee Watkins — Hell Raiser • Duwap Kaine — Flyin’ • Boogie — Live 95 • Lil Uzi Vert — Futsal Shuffle 2020

[mrjohnangulo]

BGG.CON 2018 Recap

by Mary Prasad

Here we are once again for my marathon BGG.CON coverage! This year I'm hoping to fit it all into one part, some of the game publishers I had missed at BGG.CON didn't reply to emails asking for information. So less work for me! Yay! This worked in my favor since my husband and I decided to get our diving certification (plus enriched air and advanced certifications) in between the holidays and into the new year, making things extra crazy. (Don't even get me started on our current tax nightmare and having to change accountants.) BGG.CON 2018 was held November 14-18 at the Hyatt Regency DFW for the last time. It was a little sad as we said goodbye to the wonderful Hyatt staff, who have done such an excellent job over the years.

During the Closing Ceremony, a Hyatt representative was made an honorary geek (games were given to the staff too!) On a more positive note, BGG.CON is moving to a larger space! The 2019 convention will be at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. The exhibit hall will be in one room, rather than two (woo hoo!). The main ballroom will be larger and there will be more hotel rooms available. The hotel will handle about 5,000 attendees but BGG.CON will not max out in the first year due to extra growth issues and logistics. The number of attendees this year was about 3,200. The new location will be closer to Love Field airport. I highly recommend taking advantage of this. It's especially nice for those who like to fly Southwest (like me). We've actually been flying into Love Field the last few years anyway since we discovered it was a lot less expensive for a direct flight, including Lyft to and from the hotel. Also, the airport is smaller — easier and faster to get in and out.

Good thing BGG.CON is moving to a larger space - doubling up doesn't look too fun. Fun Fact: This year's theme was the 1980s. Thanks to the hotel staff, there was 80s music in the lobby and bar plus retro candy and decorations. TeamGeek dressed in theme the first day (as usual) and there were themed T-shirts and posters available for sale. The line this year was similar to last year, averaging less than an hour wait time. (If you waited until the bulk of attendees went through, it was rather short — I think I waited only a few minutes.) Premium badges were available again this year at a flat fee of $400. There were the same number as last year, 150. The benefits were mostly the same except there were no extra games this year. (Last year it was sponsored by CGE.) This option is planned for 2019 but no word on pricing or how many will be made available (although it will be no more than 5% of badges sold). Thank you to [user=CaptainQwyx]Jeff Anderson[/user] for providing stats and some of the other information in this article. Door Prizes Attendees received one item in each group (group/game/company): A/Tokaido 5th Anniversary Collectors Edition/Active Player Network A/Colony/Bézier Games A/Nine Navies War/Decision Games A/Battle Cry of Freedom/Decision Games A/Saint Malo/Ravensburger B/Shop 'n Time/Mercury B/Infamy/Mercury B/Flick 'Em Up/Pretzel Games B/Road Hog: Rule the Road/Ultra PRO B/Flag Dash/Ultra PRO C/RARRR!!!/APE Games C/duck! duck! Go!/APE Games C/Rise to Power/APE Games C/Mini Meteor/Mayday Games C/Mow Money/Mayday Games C/H.I.D.E.: Hidden Identity Dice Espionage/Mayday Games C/Memoarrr!/Stronghold Games D/Nerdy Inventions/Mayday Games D/Twist of Fate/Mayday Games D/Voodoo/Mayday Games D/PUSH/Ravensburger E/Pint Glass/Starling Games Ultimate Geek Sponsors Thank you to the following companies for their ultimate support of BGG.CON: - Active Player Network - http://activeplayernetwork.com - APE Games - http://www.apegames.com - Bezier Games - https://beziergames.com/ - Decision Games - http://decisiongames.com/wpsite/ - Mayday Games - https://www.maydaygames.com/ - Mercury Games - https://www.mercurygames.com - Pretzel Games - http://www.pretzelgames.com/en/ - Ravensburger North America - https://www.ravensburger.us/start/index.html - Starling Games - https://www.starling.games - Stronghold Games - http://strongholdgames.com/ - Tasty Minstrel Games - http://playtmg.com/ Hot Games The following "hot" games were available throughout the convention in a separate area of the main game room: 2 Architects of the West Kingdom 2 Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra 2 Blackout: Hong Kong 2 Carpe Diem 1 Coimbra 1 Concordia: Venus 1 Everdell 1 Forum Trajanum 1 Fuji 2 Gùgōng 1 Key Flow 2 Newton 2 Reykholt 1 The River 1 Root 2 Teotihuacan: City of Gods 1 Treasure Island 2 Underwater Cities 1 Western Legends Game Library 6,443 games were available for check out in the BGG.CON library. Below are the top ten games checked out of the library, preceded by the number of checkouts. There's a full list available as well. This does not include the games that were available throughout the convention in the Hot Games area. Information provided by [user=Aldie]Scott Alden[/user]. 117 Cryptid 104 Everdell 102 Gizmos 90 Azul 89 Villainous 86 Planet 81 Men At Work 80 Coimbra 76 The River 66 Wildlands 66 Wildlands: The Unquiet Dead

Oopsie! Someone bumped the table during (dexterity) game Men at Work. OK, it was me. I said I was sorry! Please still be my friends! Math Trade Okay, this may be the 13th year of the math trade. Last year it was touted as the 10th or possibly the 11th – not really sure what happened to the 12th. Maybe 13 ate it? If you are interested in what games were up for trade or what games people wanted, check out the Math Trade Actual Geeklist or the Hopes and Dreams Request List respectively. Math trades are a super cool way to trade games you no longer play/want for something new to try. If you want to participate, start checking the BGG.CON forum at the beginning of October. There were 297 traded (1010 not traded), with 72 people making at least one trade. Organized by [user=rossum]Mischa D. Krilov[/user]. Virtual Flea Market (VFM) If you have a lot of games to sell, this is an excellent venue for you (especially if you are a far distance from Dallas). List your games ahead of the convention (details here), then bring only those that sold! Time and space was reserved at BGG.CON for participants to meet up. Since the VFM has grown so much, this year 45 minutes were allotted (instead of the typical 30 minutes). There were a few rules everyone was asked to follow to make things go smoothly. Board Game Bazaar (Flea Market) This event fills up with sellers every year so there are plenty of games to barter over. I've gotten some great deals in the past. Below are a few photos of the event, taken during set-up (i.e., before all the craziness started, the hall crowded, and most of the games were sold). If you plan to shop at the Board Game Bazaar, get in line early! It is a long one.

Mystery Meat! Did you take a chance? If you bought one of these, let me know in the comments what it was! I'm very curious (and slightly apprehensive).

Not all the items being sold were games per se, but usually they were game related. Check out these cute meeple bags.

Wow look at the price on this! I'm thinking there may be a sale at our house in the near future. Don't tell my husband. He probably won't miss it, right?

Ooo, candy! Tasty incentives... I think there were games on that table, too.

Spiel-a-thon [user=sconway]Stephen Conway[/user]: "The 10th Spiel-a-thon at BGG.CON was held in Dallas, Texas on November 16, 2018. It was a tremendous success! We had our largest turnout to-date for a Spiel-a-thon in Dallas. AND we raised the most money ever for this location! $3,500 in less than 3 hours. Each Spiel-a-thon is about more than asking people to pry open their wallets, though. The driving force behind every Spiel-a-thon is to demonstrate how play can be a powerful force for good in the world. Don't get me wrong, we welcome your contributions any day, any time. But if you come to a Spiel-a-thon, you come to pay by playing! You play. Then you pay. And The Spiel Foundation uses this money to assemble bundles of games. Each bundle allows more kids and seniors to play. Each game bundle we send out delivers more fun into the world. It's a perfect circle of fun. And that is priceless. Many many thanks to the people who made this event such a success. Thank you to my new Spiel partner Doug Richardson for all his hard work. Thank you to our intrepid staff of volunteers: Francie Broadie Patty Richardson, Marguerite Cottrell, Jay Bartelt, Erin Green, Veronica Worley, Rachel Lee, Ezra Denney, Jeff Ridpath, Beth Heile John Knoerzer and Debbie Ohi." Geek Buzz Every attendee is given a Geek Buzz code with their badge. The Wiki Geek Buzz page has information on how it works. Results are posted on the full leaderboard. Here are the top ten (as of December 31, 2018). 1. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra 2. Western Legends 3. Everdell 4. Architects of the West Kingdom 5. Carpe Diem 6. KeyForge: Call of the Archons 7. Root 8. Teotihuacan: City of Gods 9. Sagrada 10. War Chest Guests Attending BGG.CON for the first time was video game designer and board gamer, Tim Schafer. For example, he directed Grim Fandango, the first LucasArts game to use 3D graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static backgrounds (Wikipedia on Grim Fandango). Returning again this year were game designers [user=mleacock]Matt Leacock[/user], [user=Eric Lang]Eric Lang[/user], and [user=RobDaviau!]Rob Daviau[/user]. There was a Special Guest Panel on Saturday evening where attendees could listen, chat, and possibly ask questions.

Matt Leacock — look how happy he is to see me! Who needs a puppy when you have awesome friends like this? Originally Rich Sommer was scheduled as a guest but he was able to get a new TV gig. Another cool special guest thing was a live playthrough of Gloomhaven's new community campaign, which included Tim Schafer, Gloomhaven's designer [user=Cephalofair]Isaac Childres[/user], [user=CaptainQwyx]Jeff Anderson[/user], and [user=Aldie]Scott Alden[/user]. A live stream was broadcast. Even Isaac Childres was excited: "The first scenario of the new Community-Driven expedition will go live at BGG.CON. So the scenario will be available Wednesday, Nov. 14, and then Thursday night, I will be playing it on a live stream at the con with Jeff Anderson and Scott Alden from BGG, and Tim Schafer (!!!), creator of some of my favorite video games like Monkey Island and Psychonauts." Fun Fact: This was BGG's first live-streamed event from BGG.CON. There is some Q&A with Isaac at the end of the video. Youtube Video TeamGeek A special thank you goes out to the staff of volunteers and workers of TeamGeek! They are a big part of BGG.CON's success.

Events You can find the official BGG.CON Schedule here and the Special Events page here. —AssassinCon AssassinCon, sponsored by Mayday Games, ran in the shadows of BGG.CON. Participants must pre-register before the convention. Players in this meta-game are given a special ribbon to attach to their badges. Each must find their target and have them sign their card (the target is eliminated and this is their trophy); the player then gains their target's card as their next target. Players had to report in to the Mayday Games to record their trophies (ties were broken by earliest trophy time recorded). The player who gained the most trophies by Saturday afternoon became the Master Assassin. Prizes: Master Assassin $100.00 Gift Card to Funagain Games 2nd Place $75.00 Gift Card to Funagain Games 3rd Place $50.00 Gift Card to Funagain Games

Funagain Games Booth in the Exhibit Hall —Catch the Moon

Hosted by Active Player Network. Description from BGG.CON Events page: "Test your balance and stacking skills in the new dexterity game Catch the Moon in an event hosted and sponsored by Active Player Network. Catch the Moon, from Bombyx, is an easy-to-learn game for all ages and skill levels that will have you on the edge of your seat wanting to play over and over to hone your strategy and technique. Event attendees will be taught how to play, and may stay and enjoy for as many plays as they want within the 2-hour block (play time is 20-30 minutes). There will also be a live prize drawing, offering players the chance to leave with a copy of the game!" —Introduction to Board Wargaming and Board Wargamers Meet & Greet The Meet & Greet was hosted by [user=doccummins]Christopher "Doc" Cummins[/user], Publisher at Strategy & Tactics Press and CEO of Decision Games. The purpose was to meet new and returning fellow war-game enthusiasts and discuss games would like to play during the convention including setting up schedules for game play. The Introduction to Board Wargaming sessions were two 20-30 minute presentations, also given by Doc Cummins, on basic concepts and terms of board wargaming. The presentations were followed by demonstrations using enlarged versions of Decision Games' mini-games such as: Germantown, Caesar's War, Eagle Day, Phobos Rising, Vikings Tournaments —Tichu Tournament This year's tournament had 24 teams (48 people). Prizes included Tichu decks for the finalists and badges and guaranteed hotel reservation for winners (reservation does not include the cost of the hotel room).

—PitchCar Tournament Attendees could test their flicking skills as they raced their cars (wooden disks) through a custom designed stunt track. And they meant business – check out that crazy track!

There were forty participants in the tournament. For the preliminary races, they had five unique tracks set up, with eight participants per track. There were three preliminary races, with each player getting to race three of the five tracks. Participants were reshuffled so they ended up playing against different people rather than all three races with the same people. After the three preliminary races, players handed in their scores (i.e. their positions they finished for each of the races added together). The lowest eight scores advanced to the final race, where they tore down the preliminary tracks, and built one mega final track for the finalists. The prize was a big trophy. The hosts for this event were [user=BlueWaldo]Chad DeShon[/user] and [user=chaddyboy_2000]Chad Krizan[/user] (the latter provided this information). —Poker Tournament The Annual Texas Hold'Em Tournament is a staple for BGG.CON. There were about 225 participants this year. Amateurs were encouraged to play; if they showed up early, they could get a rules summary to help them get started. No money was involved but there were great prizes! It was sponsored by Tasty Minstrel Games, which awarded a stack of games to the winner as well as a game to everyone in the final game. BGG also gave the winner a couple badges and a guaranteed hotel reservation to next year's event (reservation does not include the cost of the hotel room). Hosted by [user=CaptainQwyx]Jeff Anderson[/user]. —Treasure Island Treasure Island, a SPIEL '18 release, premiered at BGG.CON as a play-to-win tournament. The tournament was played over two rounds with eleven tables, narrowed down to two tables for the second round. The winner of each of the three tables received a copy of the game (distributed by Asmodee North America). Exhibit Hall —R&R Games Information provided by Frank DiLorenzo, President of R&R Games. Outback was released at SPIEL '18. This is a dice rolling, push-your-luck strategy game where players collect sets of Australian animals to maximize their points. It's super cute too (who doesn't love koalas, platapus, or kangaroos?). This R&R version includes variants as well as an option for team play.

The Table is Lava was released at SPIEL '18. Yep, lava table, card islands, and meeples... throw your card and be sure to attach/touch to another card "island" or you don't get to use the card action. Win by having the most surviving meeples. The Coconuts Edition expansion adds another player, cards, and meeples. Fun Fact: Really more of a clue... Frank says "it wouldn't hurt to know how to use the Wayback Machine." —Game Toppers Information provided by Kevin Burahardsmeier. Game Toppers are portable gaming tops that can convert your home table into a high quality gaming solution. Each Topper has modular parts, such as cup holders, accessory trays, and dice towers. They also sell thematic game mats, Game Topper storage bags (for Topper storage and portability), and Game Totes - insulated totes for game storage and portability. Another Kickstarter is coming Q1 2019 featuring new mats, new accessories, and new topper sizes (they currently have five sizes).

—Daedalus Productions New expansion boxes are coming to Kickstarter November 2018. Because game boxes aren't Tardis' ... Instead having inserts lift the game box lid, this new larger box allows games to be fit in perfectly while using the original lid. For example, all of Small World, Underground, and expansions will fit in one box, with both lids: one on the bottom (held by friction) and one on the top, so that in the shelf, it just looks like two games. Daedalus will also be offering magnetic lid bit boxes, which will be configurable and customizable with smaller boxes inside. Boxes will be available in both black or white.

—Catan Studio Information provided by Morgan Dontanville, Catan Studio Catan: Rise of the Inkas was released at SPIEL '18 and should be on the shelves of the English-speaking world November 2018. Inkas uses the standard Catan structure and drastically makes changes in the mechanisms to depict the rise and fall of Andean tribes. Each player must play through the rise and decline of three Inkan tribes in order to win. Rise of the Inkas includes three new trade goods, in addition to the five resources, powers added to Longest Trade Route and Most Combat Skills. But the biggest change of all is the ability to build over top of other players' settlements.

Catan Scenario: Crop Trust is an add-on scenario for your base Catan game. Catan worked closely with Crop Trust, an international nonprofit organization who's goal is to protect global food security. They are most famous for their seed vault in the Arctic that safely houses over 4,000 species of seed. The scenario encourages players to be aware of crop diversity and the dangers of monocultures by way of event cards. It also gives new ways to score points through banking crops' seeds into the seed vault. The game can collapse entirely if there is too much of a threat to the food supply. A large portion of the profits and royalties go to supporting the Crop Trust.

Fun Fact: Catan Studios sent a team to Svalbard, home of the northern most civilization in the world as well as the seed vault that houses all of the saved samples for the Crop Trust. While they were there, they played Crop Trust. —CGE Information provided by Justin Sweigart, Director of North American Operations. Trapwords released at SPIEL '18; U.S. release at BGG.CON. This is a dungeon-themed word guessing game where two teams are trying to guess the word their respective team member is trying to get them to guess while avoiding words on a list selected by the opposing team. Teams try to work their way through a dungeon with different rooms. Curses are placed on certain rooms making things more difficult (these affect the first team(s) in the room and only hangs around for one round). The goal is the defeat the boss monster (which moves up when both teams fail). A timer is optional. Through the Ages: Leaders and Wonders (working title) has a planned release of second quarter 2019 (both physical and digital). This expansion for Through the Ages mainly contains more leaders and wonders for each age of the game. Fun Fact: At SPIEL '18, CGE had a very VERY large helium balloon over their booth. It was so big that it took two tanks to fill it. (Photo, copyright CGE.)

—KOSMOS Information provided by Tom Wetzel, Customer Service Representative. Mercado was released at Gen Con 2018. This is a bag draw game where players draw colored coins from a bag and place them around tiles in a display, on their designated player color's side (each tile has all four player colors, one on each side). The tiles represent merchants, objects, and perfume, each of which has a cost in some combination of coins. Merchants give players wild coins or privilege tokens. Privilege tokens give players victory points and/or benefits. Objects give the players victory points and/or effects (may be good or bad, e.g. gain a counterfeit coin in your bag), better than privilege tokens. Perfumes also have beneficial effects. The player who makes a complete circuit on the score board triggers the end game; the player with the most points wins. Ubongo Fun-Size was released December 2018. This is a smaller box (seven inch) game with thinner puzzle card tiles but the number of puzzle cards included is the same as the original Ubongo game (but double-sided) and the pieces are the same size! Game play has been changed to eliminate the die, instead it is a race to finish filling in the puzzle area first (either with three pieces or four pieces, depending on the side played — four pieces being more challenging). First person to finish gets to keep their puzzle card and takes a gem; other players who finish within an allotted time also get to keep their cards. Players play eight rounds (eight cards). Scoring is one point per gem and one per card. The winner is the player with the most points.

Fun Fact: Rüdiger Dorn got his start designing board games early in life when he "got to know the C64-games Donkey Kong and Frogger." Unfortunately he did not have a computer, so he designed his own board game versions of these games. When asked why he decided to design a bag pulling game, he responded "I love the suspense and the feeling of the material in my hand." —AEG Information from Todd Rowland, Alderac Entertainment Group.

War Chest was released at Gen Con 2018. This is an abstract bag-building war game. High quality poker chips, representing players' units, are drawn each turn; they determine what a player can do on their turn. The goal is to control certain spaces on the board (there are not enough for each player). Each game, players draft four of a possible sixteen units, giving the game a lot of variety and strategy options. Space Base: The Emergence of Shy Pluto has a planned release of first quarter 2019. This is a "saga" expansion, as opposed to a legacy one, giving a story line to the game but the game may be reset and replayed. Scientists, in the process of trying to invent warp technology, attracted a planet-eating creature to the players' star system. This expansion takes players through the "adventure" of solving this problem. Fun Fact: About two years ago, for the Thunderstone Quest Kickstarter, the CEO of AEG put a yellow meeple in one of the playtest photos used on the Kickstarter page. There was a note saying "yellow meeple not included." People started asking why the yellow meeple wasn't available. It became a sort of joke over the next couple years. The yellow meeple started showing up in other AEG promotions and advertisements, even sporting anime eyes in the Unicornus Nights advertising. When Thunderstone Quest was released, an actual yellow meeple was included due to its popularity.

—Wattsalpoag Games Information provided by Kris Gould, owner of Wattsalpoag. Echidna Shuffle was released June 2018. This game is basically an echidna traffic jam where players try to deliver their three bugs to their tree stumps. During setup, players place put pick-up markers out on the game board; this is where the bugs will be picked up. An opponent (to player's left) puts a player's corresponding three stumps on the board. The winner is the player who delivers all three of their bugs.

River Explorers (working title) is planned for release in 2019. The object of game is to make the most money by moving a stack of explores with at least one of your own in it up river along a marked path, dropping explorers (one per space) as you move. The owner of an explorer gains money for being dropped at their trading post (one per disk in the stack next to their matching trading post). At the beginning of your turn you put a trading post next to a space then take your turn: placing an explorer on an empty space or moving a stack of explorers. Fun Fact: The sequel to Echidna Shuffle will be called Echidna Candy Store, based on the pun. —Meeple Realty Meeple Realty makes inserts, and now miniatures, for board games.

Meeple Realty - Terraforming Mars miniatures (seen in photo) coming to Kickstarter early 2019. —Stronghold Games Information provided by Stephen Buonocore, President Stronghold Games.

AuZtralia was released in November 2018. Thematic spiritual successor to A Study in Emerald. The Old Ones, after being defeated in England, have taken up residence in Australia. Players must now defeat them while building rail systems and mining resources. Mechanisms include resource management, rail building, and combat versus the Old Ones (semi-cooperative element against the Old Ones). Terraforming Mars: Colonies was out in November 2018. This is the fourth expansion to Terraforming Mars. Players now visit the outer planets' moons and astroids, where players establish colonies and set up trade routes. There is more player interaction via trading and having other players visit your colonies. Fun Fact: Stephen sent me a couple fun facts. Here's one: Sir Percival (see Stephen's cat photo) was the first "Knight of The Stronghold." Stephen might be a little too attached to his pet. For your entertainment, I thought I'd share an excerpt from our Fun Fact conversation:

—Mayday Games Information provided by Ryan Bruns, President Mayday Games. The Golden Sails has a planned release of second quarter 2019. This is a set-collection, card-driven game where players are navel merchants trying to acquire sets of goods to meet demand: spices, gems, weapons, animal, and spells. Bad Doctor was pre-released at Gen Con 2018 and recently released. This is a tile-laying, player action based game where the goal is to treat patients with the hopes of curing them, or at least not letting them die on your turn. If a patient dies on another player's turn or is cured on your turn, any doctor markers you have on the patient come to your score pile. Doctor markers are put on patients through the best use of your two actions per turn. The winner is the first player to collect 8 doctor markers. Fun Fact: Artist Bill Holbrook did the artwork for Bad Doctor. He also does the word's longest running daily web comic: Kevin and Kell.

—Starling Games Information provided by Dan Yarrington, Starling Games and CEO Tabletop Tycoon. Archmage: Ascendant, expansion for Archmage, has a planned release mid-2019. This adds four new modules to the game: Places of Power, New Spells, Prophecies, Cooperative Play (two-player). King's Forge: Masterworks has a planned release of third quarter 2019. This is the fifth expansion for King's Forge. There are four new types of dice: Borealis ("wild"), Aether Ore (metal/magic), Heartwood (wood/gem), Grimstones (chaotic/variable). The game also includes Ambassadors and a new Royal Decree. Fun Fact: Tabletop Tycoon has a town, Tabletop Tycoon Town, where their staff has unique character representations (avatars) that they choose. They have an artist create each representation, which goes into the Tabletop Tycoon Town image on their website. The avatars are also used on their reserved parking spaces and business cards.

—Gamelyn Games Information provided by Nathan Hatfield, Chief Sales Officer. Tiny Epic Zombies was released October 2018. The game features five modes of play: cooperative AI controlled zombie, cooperative with human controlled zombie, competitive with AI controlled zombie, competitive human controlled zombie, and solo. It introduces a whole new set of items for ITEMeeples® (e.g. axe, machetti, chain saw). There are two vehicles (cop car and motorcycle) in which ITEMeeples can ride, allowing them to move further. There are 14 human characters/cards, with zombies on the backs of the cards, for a total of 28 choices. Humans must complete three objectives to win the game; zombies must kill all humans to win. There are different levels of difficulty as well, e.g. one survivor token death ends the game vs. some number of deaths ending the game. Note: players are not eliminated from the game upon token deaths. Game play is under an hour. Tiny Epic Mechs has a planned release of mid-2019. This is an arena combat game, player vs. player, with action programming (e.g. Robo Rally). The ITEMeeples® in this game actually go inside power armors and mech warriors, which sit on the board. When an ITEMeeple moves to it, it may jump inside.

Fun Fact: Every member of the Gamelyn Games team has bungie jumped and sky dived. —Grey Fox Games Information provided by Alex Goldsmith, Grey Fox Games.

City of Gears was released at SPIEL '18. This game originally started as a contest entry for Best Steampunk Game on The Game Crafter, a website for creators to build and sell games. This is a resource management, area control and engine building game where you uncover a lost steampunk city and bring it back to life, using robot workers you deploy from your factory. The game includes 21 unique city tiles, 9 of which you use each game, and 40 different development cogs, each of which grant you a special player power.

Reavers of Midgard is the sequel to the worker placement game Champions of Midgard. It was recently funded on Kickstarter and has an expected release date of second quarter 2019. Reavers of Midgard's core mechanism is single worker placement, with each player getting one action and the rest getting weaker and weaker versions of the same action in turn order. You will send your viking crew to do battle with epic monsters, raid fortified keeps, get boat upgrades from villages, and conquer new lands. Fun Fact: When Reavers of Midgard was initially pitched by J.B. Howell, the game was originally themed to take place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. —Devir Information provided by Adam Growden, Sales Administrator, Devir Games. Silk pre-released at BGG.CON, with the full release first week of December 2018. In Silk you play a giant silk worm farmer in the Akaishi Mountains. You will be using your silk worms, shepherd, mastiff, and building improvements to control areas of the board. Your worms will graze on the grassy tiles to score points. Each player will determine their actions by rolling two dice at the beginning of their turn, showing what actions they can take. The die results can be modified by players spending their victory points to adjust the result up or down. Actions can be anything from scoring points to bumping an opponent's silk worm to the Ookami, a monster who steals any silk worms he comes in contact with (costing the player points). Fun Fact: The designer Luis Ranedo is the singer of Spanish Rock band Madera. Youtube Video

Papua will be releasing alongside Silk the first week of December 2018. In Papua, players compete by sending scientists to different board locations allowing them to: discover new plant and animal cards, increase their number of scientists, gain more actions in a turn, gather food and money to supply their expedition, or collect scientific notebooks recording their findings. Players will score points through discovering new species, recording their findings, and resource accumulation. Sets are collected through a mixture of worker placement and secret bidding. Fun Fact: Papua's title art is based off of an image of the Hewa people. The Hewa were one of the last contacted tribes in Papua, with contact not being made until 1975.

Papua Game Board —Eagle-Gryphon Games Information provided by Jason Grantz, Sales Director. Fleet: The Dice Game was released at the end of 2018. This is a roll-and-write game set in the Fleet universe. Players go fishing by drafting "fish" dice that are used to acquire boats and fishing licenses (special abilities). The object of the game is to gain the most victory points by visiting the market, wharf, and harbor. Players sell fish to gain coins in the market and visit buildings at the wharf for end game victory points or special abilities. The harbor unlocks extra storage, more fishing, and victory points. Escape Plan, by the designer of The Gallerist and Lisboa, has a planned release at Origins 2019. Players are each members of a gang who pulled a bank heist then hid money around the city. Now that it's safe to retrieve the money (freshly laundered of course), they are all suspicious of each other. Each tries to recover the most money from the various businesses where money was stashed. The game takes place over three days (with rounds of 6 to 8 actions). To win, a player must escape the city with the most money.

Fun Fact: Eagle-Gryphon's CEO, Rick Soued, and his wife, Joanne, just spent the last six months traveling all across Europe for their anniversary. —Queen Games Information provided by Ian Kissell, Queen Games. Bastille was released at SPIEL '18; it premiered at BGG.CON in the U.S. This is a light to medium Euro game in which players are trying to gain victory points by acquiring leaders, by completing missions, and through various bonuses. It is a worker placement game where the higher placement (influence number) goes first (or first player in the space if tie). The workers (influence number) may be upgraded through one of the actions. Luxor: the Mummy's Curse, an expansion to Luxor, is expected to be released first quarter 2019. It includes three expansion modules: The Mummy, Pitfalls, and New Treasures. Fun Fact: Queen Games started by selling Carrom boards for about the first ten years. —Surfin' Meeple Information provided by Ian Birdsall, Group Marketing Manager, and Nikki Pontius, Surfin' Meeple. Treasure Island, released at SPIEL '18, premiered at BGG.CON as a play-to-win tournament. Published by Matagot. In Treasure Island, one person plays Long John Silver. The other players are interrogating him to find out where he buried his treasure. Some information is hidden and some is public knowledge. The game includes a dry erase board map of the island, rulers, and templates. Players use the latter two to draw lines along which they move, and circle their dig area. Clues can include the direction to where the treasure is buried.

In Imagineers, published by Maple Games (below), players are building rides in a theme park to attract customers, represented by colored meeples, e.g. blue like water rides, red like thrill rides, yellow like family rides. Each player may also upgrade their own roller coaster (on their personal player mat), for example, by adding a loop to their roller coaster. The object of the game is to gain the most fame. Players use happiness points to gain fame; money is necessary to build new attractions and upgrade roller coasters. You generally get happiness by having visitors ride attractions (any player may do this) and gain money by having visitors use your attractions. The game has an intuitive Mancala style of play.

Fun Fact: Chris Leder originally designed Imagineers nearly twenty years ago under the title "CoasterCraft." Fun Fact: Surfing' Meeple got their name from one of the owner's children who loved to surf while living in Californa. —Maple Games Ian Birdsall, Group Marketing Manager. Dragon Boats of the Four Seas is a light euro style game with elements of auction bidding and set collection. Set in a fictional kingdom inspired by Chinese mythology, players take on the roles of leaders of one of the great houses of Zhong-Guo. Over several rounds, players will trade, build farms, and make offerings for the safe passage of their ships to the forgotten lands. Dragon Boats of the Four Seas comes with three-dimensional dragon boats. There are many viable strategies to attain victory. Fun Fact: The original "Four Seas" metaphorically made up the borders of pre-Han dynasty China. —Kolossal Games Ian Birdsall, Group Marketing Manager. Western Legends is available now (reprint also in the works due to demand). It is an open world, sandbox game. Assume the role of historical figures of the American West as you carve out your legend in any number of ways. You can gamble, drive cattle, fight bandits, prospect for gold, rob the bank and become an outlaw, or become a marshal and uphold the law. The possibilities are near endless. Very thematic. Fun Fact: Fans of Western Legends will have the opportunity to Ante Up! this January. Kami-Sama is an intuitive strategy game set in rural Japan during the Edo period. Assume the role of one of twenty Kami with your own unique powers. Use your asymmetrical abilities to place or remove shrines, build patterns to gain favor, draft villagers for bonuses, and work in balance with Nature to become the chief deity of the land. Kami-Sama will be available for retail release in first quarter 2019. Fun Fact: The designers of Kami-Sama hid a number of cute cats among the villages in the game. —Floodgate Games Information provided by Ben Harkins, Owner Floodgate Games. Sagrada: 5&6 Player Expansion was released at Gen Con 2018. This expands the Sagrada base game to five or six players and introduces new private objectives that are position based, shown on each player's card as shaded areas. It also adds a private dice pool: two dice of each color that are rolled only at the beginning of the game; on their turns players must choose one die from their private pool and one from the public draft pool. Bosk has a planned release of late Spring 2019. This is an area control game where players, each as a species of tree, play over four seasons. Spring is when players grow trees, Summer is a scoring round (along the park trails), Autumn is when the leaves fall off the trees - covering certain areas, and in Winter players score for area majority per region in the park. Fun Fact: Bosk was signed by Floodgate Games after Daryl Andrews (co-designer) showed it to them at BGG.CON 2017.

—Indie Boards & Cards Information provided by Nick Little, Vice President of Production and Development. Exodus: Paris Nouveau was released September 2019. This is a social deduction game with hidden teams (hunters and rescuers), set in the Dystopian Universe. This game is a little heavier than The Resistance. It has an auction system to determine the leader each round. There are multiple ways to win depending on which team a player is on. Aeon's End: Legacy has a planned release of end of January 2019. This is the first legacy deck-builder game. It is a cooperative game in which players play as mages trying to fight off a big nemesis boss monster. Players start out as a adept mages. At the end of each chapter (e.g. game) players may upgrade their respective mages by choosing their abilities. At the end of the campaign, players will each have a complete mage that may be played with all other Aeon's End games (i.e. it's a character generator!). Unlike other legacy games, over 80% of the content is repayable outside of the legacy campaign. A reset pack will be available upon release that will allow players to replay the campaign and generate new characters.

Bladius, Aeon's End: Legacy Fun Fact: The designer of Aeon's End: Legacy loves Kpop music. —Infinite Dreams Gaming and Conquest Gaming Warehouse 13: The Board Game will be released first quarter 2019. This is a semi-co-operative (hidden traitor) game where players take on the role of one of the Warehouse agents. The game comes with rules for a fully cooperative variant. Like the television show, the characters go out seeking to retrieve dangerous artifacts: "snag it, bag it, and tag it." Players spend actions to obtain cards, then use the cards to get dice (working the case). Artifacts are retrieved by rolling the right combination on dice to match those on the artifacts. There is a field agent training video available (rules).

Infinite Dreams Gaming has plans to Kickstart an expansion second quarter 2019 featuring H. G. Wells and James MacPhearson as playable characters.

Fun Fact: The designers Michael Aldridge, Russell Rupe, and M. Shawn Smith II, were invited by Eddie McClintock, one of the main actors, to his house to play the game. He played his character, Pete. Eddie also did the voiceover for the Kickstarter video. —BGG Geek Store So many cool things to be found at the BGG Geek Store: promos, games from Asia, apparel, and more!

—Fantasy Flight Games KeyForge: Call of the Archons was released in November 2018. This is a unique deck game by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield. Each starter box contains two starter decks (two different decks but these are the same in each starter box) plus two completely unique decks (across all boxes produced) plus all the components to play the game with two players. The goal of the game is to forge three keys. Each player's decks contains cards from three of the seven available houses. On their turn they may play as many cards as they want (no cost) from only one of the houses. The cards allow players to collect aember, attack their opponent's creatures, etc. Aember is needed to forge keys. A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – Mother of Dragons expansion has a planned release of December 2018. This adds House Targaryen (dragon meeples to control!) and House Arryn, the Iron Bank of Bravos option (loans), and a side board of Essos (check spelling of all this). It also expands play to eight. Fun Fact: The lead developer of KeyForge, Brad Andres, created a character of himself in the game, featuring his image on one of the cards: Quixo the Adventurer (a common house Logos card). —Plaid Hat Games Neon Gods was released November 2018. This is an area control game that takes place in the "futuristic" year of 2009. Each player controls one four brightly colored gangs whose goal it is to rule the city by gaining the most blurp. Players gain blurp by building structures, selling product tokens, and winning fights. Players add cards to their game decks through recruiting, which in turn places more of their own gang figurines on the board. Comanauts has a planned release of December 2018. This is the successor game to Stuffed Fables but geared more towards adults. It has similar game mechanisms and is more streamlined and stepped up a bit. Dr. Strobal has gone into a coma taking with him the knowledge of how to save the world. Players take on the roles of comanauts and venture into his subconscious to try to wake him up in time to prevent the end of the world. —Wyrmwood Gaming Wyrmwood makes beautiful game-related things out of gorgeous woods (like purpleheart, zebrawood, and black walnut): dice towers, dice trays, deck boxes, game tables, and more!

—Z-Man Games Information provided by Beth Erikson, Z-Man Games. The Great City of Rome debuted in Europe at SPIEL '18; the U.S. release is planned for early 2019. Players are trying to rebuild Rome, creating their best plan, by placing cards in a 4x4 grid, to present to the Emperor. The first player (which rotates) places their pawn on an action strip denoting resources. The few resources gained the more choices of city cards the player has, i.e. the strip has five resources (bricks and cogs in various order, over 6 double-sided strips), the further down the player plays on the strip, the more they gain, i.e. they gain all resources from the space they are on and up. The player with the best city plan _ that is, the most points — at the end of the game wins. Narabi previewed at BGG.CON and has a planned release of early 2019. This is a small, quick co-operative card game in which players are trying to organize stones in a garden. The stones are cards, numbered or blank, that must be put in ascending order either clockwise or counterclockwise. Each stone card has a corresponding restriction card associated with it (before the game starts, each stone card will be randomly paired with a restriction card and put in a card sleeve - this provides variability between games). Each player gets a number of cards, depending on the number of players, giving them limited knowledge of their cards (restrictions). The players' cards are in front of them with stone side up so restrictions are hidden. On their turn, players exchange stones, working towards the correct arrangement one move at at time while following the restrictions. Fun Fact: Atha Kaanani, the staff illustrator for Z-Man Games, used his girlfriend's image on the cover of Pandemic: Fall of Rome. Since she's his artistic muse, you may see her featured in his other art as well. —Victory Point Games Information provided by Alan Emrich, Studio Lead. Gem Rush Second Edition was released at BGG.CON. This is a 1 to 7 player, competitive or cooperative, fast playing game through a magical gem mine. Skillful hand management and play are key to scoring. The goal is to get the most points by building out rooms in the mine. The new edition added new magical gems and skill cards for individual player skills. The third printing of the second edition of Nemo's War is due to be released third quarter 2019. This will include two new expansions, Bold and Caring and Dramatis Personae. Bold and Caring includes two new motives: adventure and humanist. Dramatis Personae includes twelve new adventure cards mainly dealing with the crew (old and new). Fun Fact: "A Christmas Miracle" promo card is in production for Nemo's War (set in 1870) in which Captain Nemo invents nascent light bulbs and illuminates them on deck for the assembled crew on Christmas Eve. The author of "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas," Jules Verne, was no fan of Christianity but a big fan of science, thus the card is a scientific nod on a Christian holiday. —And now for something completely different... My friend, Debbie Ohi, and I took a break from all the fun at BGG.CON to do a little shopping at my favorite Japanese "dollar" store, Daiso. Technically, it's a $1.50 store but that doesn't sound as good (and I barely acknowledge the extra $.50 plus tax... although this may have added to my checkout shock). Daiso is located only in a few western states right now, so whenever I visit one I make sure to plan time (and suitcase space) for Daiso. They have the cutest sticky notes! Little polar bears, penguins, colorful pencils, and so many others — it's hard not to buy them all. (They're only a dollar, right?) They also have really smooth paper, comparable to Rhodia writing pads (which are much more expensive). Perfect for pointed pen calligraphy practice.

Below is a photo of our combined haul. Funny how all those dollar items stack up to well over $100 (I'm not saying how much over either, just in case my hubby is reading this... love you baby!).

—Ravensburger Information provided by Mike Mulvihill, Ravensburger. Carpe Diem was released at SPIEL '18. This is being hailed as a good introduction to Stefan Feld games since it's a bit more forgiving. This is a tile placement game in which players are trying to build up their own districts and gain victory points to win the game. Points are generated in various ways, and gained at the end of each of the four rounds and at the end of the game. In a four player game there is a tableau of 12 cards (reduced for fewer players) between which each player, at the end of a round, must place a marker between two cards (the space must be empty; they are not cleared during the game). The two cards score immediately. If a player does not have the resources or configuration in their district to score points, they get -4 points. The influence track determines the order players place their markers. The district, influence track, and resources will score at the end of the game. Impact: Battle of Elements was released December 2018. This works similarly to Strike in which player toss dice into an arena (called a cauldron) trying to get matching symbols. In this version, the first die determines the element power that will be active for that game. For example, if the first die tossed has a lightning symbol on it, the Lightning Storm will be active. This means that whenever there are two or more lightning symbols showing in the cauldron, there will be a lightning storm: all players must quickly throw one of their dice into the cauldron at the same time. The active player then receives all dice that show matching symbols. A player who runs out of dice is knocked out of the game. The last player standing is the winner. Fun Fact: For Halloween, Paula Biemann, Ravensburger's Consumer Marketing Specialist, dressed up as Ursula from their game Villainous. In the photo, she's also holding up the Ursula figure and the Arrogance card (featuring Ursula) from the game.

—WizKids Information provided by Zev Shlasinger, WizKids Games. Magic the Gathering: Heroes of Dominaria Board Game was released at BGG.CON. This is a Euro-style game set in the plane of Dominaria. Players use mana for various actions, such as building manaliths, leylines, confronting the Cabal, and discovering artifacts. Player characters, Planeswalkers, also go on quests to gain victory points. The winner is the player with the most points at the end of games. Bumúntú will be released in January 2019. This is a beautiful tile game where players use animal movement powers to collect tiles in order to gain points in various ways, depending on the animal. There is a favor board that determines the value of each animal at the end of the game. The board can be manipulated by players during the game by collecting specially marked animal tiles. There are a few tiles that are marked with symbols that will allow a player to score them at the end of the game as well. For example, animal tiles with masks on them give more and more points per mask collected. Fun Fact: Almost everyone who worked on Maiden's Quest was female: artist, graphic designer, most playtesters, developer, lead play tester, and editors. —Cryptozoic Entertainment Information provided by Matt Hyra, Lead Board Game Designer. Cult: Choose Your God Wisely was pre-released at BGG.CON and should be in stores now. This is a worker/Priest placement game with a unique take on in-game currency: Followers. Players choose Gods and send their Priests to places in the Eternal City in an attempt to bring their deity victory over the minds and souls of humanity. Followers are gained and sacrificed. Altars are built to the different Gods as they clash in this new take on the genre. Fun Fact: Cult: Choose Your God Wisely can now be played on Tabletopia (a virtual platform for board games co-founded by Agrology), allowing people to check it out before purchasing the physical game. Rick and Morty Rickshank: The Rickdemption Deck-Building Game released at BGG.CON. This is a standalone game that is also fully compatible with the original Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind Deck-Building Game. New features include Access Tokens and Council cards. Access Tokens can be bought, gained, and spent in numerous ways. Many cards reference them in one way or another. They also give you the potential to increase the number of Votes you have when a Council card is played. Each Council card causes a Vote to be taken amongst the players. A Referendum is a Vote amongst the players to decide if they should all perform the listed action, or not. A Sanction is a Vote that players take to decide which player should be punished (with varying effects). Lastly, a Bid is a Vote on who should earn a positive effect. Here, each player Votes only for themselves, and the high bidder earns it. Fun Fact: The infamous Szechuan Sauce card is in the game. Get it before it's gone!

—Bellwether Games Information provided by Dennis Hoyle, Bellwether Games. Coldwater Crown: The Sea is scheduled for release in early 2019. It is the first boxed expansion to Coldwater Crown, the strategic fishing game from designer Brian Suhre. Coldwater Crown: The Sea integrates with the original game by adding a new fishing location (the Sea), five new species of fish, a new type of fishing tackle, punchboard fishing boats, and two variant species challenge tiles. A new Port action in the game allows players to move their fishing boat to "Sea," where they can catch Sea fish (and only Sea fish) with any color of bait. Sea fish are scored according to a special weight scale, with the potential for a lot of points, tempting players to stay "at Sea" longer while forgoing points from the standard fishing challenges.

Mars Open: Tabletop Golf was released in July 2018. It is a dexterity golfing game with a flickable paper "golf ball" that can fly, spin, hook, skip and flop. Players assemble and play-through a course, one hole at a time, from the punchboard obstacles provided in the game. They use standard mini-golf rules with modifications to account for the nuances of flicking a "golf ball" on a table. The rulebook provides diagrams to assemble 54 different holes, including trick-shot holes. Players may also design their own holes.

Fun Fact: During development of Mars Open: Tabletop Golf we conducted innumerable tests of the flight paths of the "golf balls," including distance trials on the floor like the one shown in the photo above. —SolarFlare Games Information provided by Dave Killingsworth, Owner & CEO SolarFlare Games. In late August 2018, SolarFlare released its first licensed game property, ROBOTECH: Force of Arms. It is a 1v1 sci-fi card game of fleet movement, area control, and bluffing, which plays in about 20-30 minutes. Everything you need to play comes in a box that fits conveniently in your bag or backpack. Player involvement and card interaction keep the game fresh so it's fun to play over and over. The game is also available online. Fun Fact: Dave Killingsworth, "ROBOTECH: Force of Arms is based on the 1985 Anime Robotech (The Macross Portion). Since we released ROBOTECH: Force of Arms the fandom has been wildly enthusiastic. We took scenes from the show and had the artists remake them in a modern and high resolution style that people have called 'Art as good as nostalgia remembers.' Since this has been so popular, we are actively working on ROBOTECH: Crisis Point, our early 2019 release (also a 1v1 but with deep strategy) based on the Masters part of the show, followed by ROBOTECH: Invid Invasion late in 2019, which will be a 1-6 player fully cooperative game based on the New Generation. Thus, if you sit and play all 3 games over a 2-3 hour period it will be like you played the show."

—Mercury Games Information by Richard "Doc" Diosi, President of Mercury Games. Rail Pass will be released in mid-2019. It is a co-operative, modular pick-up and deliver game. The game is not quite like other train delivery games because it is timed. Players work together to deliver goods (colored cubes) from their respective cities to other players' cities, all of which are color coded (the cubes and the cities). There are always six cities in play regardless of the player count. Trains are loaded with cubes and passed to adjacent players sitting at the table. Although dexterity is a component, the main mechanism of the game requires loading and unloading trains of different capacities, and crew that can only deliver to an adjacent city before being sent back to their 'home' city. Logistics are a large part of this game. The game has a ten minute timer; players must deliver as many cubes to the correct colored cities as possible. Players score the two cities with the least cubes of their color delivered. Any dropped cubes (ones that may have fallen off trains as they are passed back and forth) are treated as negative points. Big City: 20th Anniversary Jumbo Edition will be releasing in mid-2019. This reprint from the late Franz-Benno Delonge is the original modular city-building board game. It features new larger and detailed miniatures and is played on a colorful set of modular neighborhood boards. Utilizing cards for property ownership, players trade and play cards to place buildings and other structures onto the modular boards, scoring points for adjacency to other certain types of buildings, as well as whether the new building is in the "outskirts" (at the edge of the modular board) or "downtown" (encapsulated by other properties within the modular boards). The playing of the City Hall piece unlocks the ability to place many special buildings. A new redevelopment phase has been added to the original game to promote more property card trades among players. Also, a new expansion has been made for the game using pieces approved by the late Mr. Delonge. Fun Fact: The City Hall piece fashioned for this version of Big City is Toronto's City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square.

Big City Parking Garage, a new piece from the expansion Closing Ceremonies

Lincoln had on the special jersey for Game Night. Be sure to check out the latest episode. This year there was a rather odd thing happening at the prize drawing. Number after number was called with no claim, and some that were claimed turned out to be incorrect (winning tickets are checked) — the games kept coming back. This was the first time in all the years I have been going that this has happened. I'm not saying it was anyone's fault, although it was guest of honor Tim Schafer's first time announcing. Just sayin'.

Tim Schafer, announcing yet another "winner"

Prizes, prizes, and more prizes!

When Jeff Anderson speaks, everyone listens intently: (Front) W. Eric Martin thinking about his next article, (R) Eric Lang falling asleep on his feet, (L) Michelle Alden and Matt Leacock sharing a private joke.

Finally Eric Lang, a.k.a. Bunny Ears, gets a taste of his own medicine. Way to go special guest Tim Schafer! You might even be invited back!

A very full room and one very happy (bordering on crazy?) looking Debbie Ohi (bottom right)

Special custom graphic posters given away Finally... There were many other things going on at BGG.CON that I didn't get to cover. These included: Puzzle Hunt, Battling Tops, Orphans and First-Timers Meetup, Designer/Publisher Speed Dating, UnPub (Proto Alley), the ever popular Game Show (two times!), and more. Hope to see y'all next year!!

Ironically, after yelling at Rodney to put his hands down, it was actually the best photo of the bunch. from BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek http://bit.ly/2FPKFiQ

[mr-ilango]

Top Records for 2017

Side A:

Ghetto J Scienide feat. Kev Brown

Tristate x Oh No "G.T.D." feat. Xiomara

Roc Marciano - Marksmen feat. Ka

Conway The Machine - Spurs ft. B.E.N.N.Y (Produced by Daringer)

BIG SPROXX x ADAM BOMB - LEMME TELL 'EM

Asun Eastwood x Daniel Son - Summer's Fuckin Over (Prod. By Futurewave)

Tha God Fahim - Jesse James Ft Mach Hommy (Prod by A Villa )

DJ Premier - Our Streets feat. A$AP Ferg

MEYHEM LAUREN & DJ MUGGS - Aquatic Violence ft. Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire and Sean Price

Saga & Thelonious Martin - Out There

KRS-One - Show Respect

Heavy Metal Kings - Séance Gone Wrong (Ft. Goretex)

Asun Eastwood - Hollywood Briggs

Recognize Ali X Daniel Son X Lil Eto X Vic Spencer - Shiny Ski Masks (Prod Karnate)

Hus Kingpin - Serotonin High Ft. Milano Constantine & DJ Q Bert

WestSide Gunn X Conway - RIP BOBBY [Prod by The Alchemist & Daringer]

Wu-Tang Clan - People Say ft. Redman

Your Old Droog - "Help" feat. Wiki and Edan

Molecules & Showbiz - Methadone Rap

Nolan The Ninja - Zip (feat. Louie P Newton)

Nowaah The Flood X Ol Man 80zz (Of The Lost Info) - MUDD

MEYHEM LAUREN & DJ MUGGS - Street Religion ft. Roc Marciano

Killah Priest - You Don't Stop feat. Raekwon prod. by 4th Disciple

Justo (prod. by Showbiz) - The Council

Blue Notes - V Don x Willie The Kid

Sean Price "Imperius Rex"

Side B:

Your Old Droog “You The Type"

Cam'ron "Kiss Myself" (Prod. Just Blaze)

Jay Worthy - Miss You ft. Conway

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire - Bebop and Rocksteady (Feat. Meyhem Lauren)

D-Sisive & Arkeologists "Pussyclot"

Crimeapple (feat. Daniel Son & SmooVth) "WHEN YOU GO"

The Alchemist & Budgie - Brother Jedidiah Ft Action Bronson & Big Body Bes

Royce Da 5'9 Ft Slaughterhouse - Chopping Block

Rosati - Crystallizations (Prod. Dirty Diggs)

Milano Constantine - Rasclat Ft. Conway & Big Twins (Prod. DJ Skizz)

J Scienide (Featuring Hassaan Mackey) - Stick Up Kids (produced by Dom Sicily)

David Banner - "Who Want It" Ft. Black Thought & WatchtheDuck

Skyzoo - Bamboo (Produced by Marc Nfinit)

Rapsody "The Pain" (Prod. Nottz)

Conway - St Regis [prod by Daringer]

Smoovth - Piranha Bones (Prod. Big Ghost LTD)

B.E.N.N.Y. Camillia's (prod by Green Lantern)

AZ feat. Raekwon & Prodigy - Save Them (Prod. Buckwild)

Kool G Rap - Mack Lean Feat. Fred the Godson & AG Da Coroner

Lil Wayne - Family Feud feat. Drake (Prod. No I.D.)

Westside Doom "Gorilla Monsoon" (ilango's Bamboo Remix)

Prodigy of Mobb Deep - Mystic

Kendrick Lamar- DUCKWORTH.

Muja Messiah - You Haven't Lived (feat. Roc Marciano)

BLACK THOUGHT - FREESTYLES ON FLEX

[toteredennicht]

Kein Fall für FBI (OT: The Detectives), Fernsehserie, USA, 1959-1962. EA: 16. Oktober 1959 (Folge 1) bis 18. Mai 1962 (Folge 97). EA (BRD): 04.04.1967 bis 24.06.1970, Sender: ZDF. Laufzeit pro Folge ca. 25 Min., ab Staffel 3, Folge 1 (= Folge 68) ca. 60 Min. Bild: s/w. Produktion: Four Star Productions, Bentley-Blackpool, Gramercy Pictures, Hastings, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Regie: Don Medford, Paul Wendkos, Richard Carlson u.a. Drehbuch: Palmer Thompson, Calvin Clements Sr., Louis Pelletier u.a. Musik: Herschel Burke Gilbert. Kamera: Wilfred M. Cline, George E. Diskant, Howard Schwartz u.a. Darsteller: Robert Taylor, Tige Andrews, Russell Thorson u.a. IMDB-Bewertung (für die ganze Serie): 8.0/10

Konzept

Polizeiserie mit Robert Taylor in der Rolle des Captain Matt Holbrook. In einer namentlich nicht genannten Stadt leitet Holbrook ein Team von Kriminalbeamten, das in allen Sparten des Verbrechens ermittelt - sei es Einbruch, Entführung oder ein Tötungsdelikt. Das Schema der Handlung entspricht dem von Dezernat M: 1. Intro mit Kriminalfall, 2. polizeiliche Ermittlung, 3. Aufklärung bzw. Lösung des Falls. Zahlreiche Quellen behaupten, bei der ungenannten Stadt handele es sich um New York. Bei den hier aufgeführten Folgen trifft das zweifellos nicht zu. In Folge 3 zum Beispiel sieht man Vegetation mit Palmbäumen, was zweifellos auf das südliche Kalifornien, aber nicht auf New York zutrifft.

(Robert Taylor)

Von der deutschen Synchronfassung wurden 59 Folgen im ZDF ausgestrahlt. Dabei handelt es sich ausschließlich um Episoden aus dem 25-Minuten-Segment. Folgen der dritten Staffel wurden nicht ins Deutsche übertragen.

Episoden

Heute, am 13.04.2017, habe ich folgende Episoden gesehen (Angabe der Laufzeiten nach der mir vorliegenden DVD-Fassung):

#1. Ein fast perfektver Mord (OT: The Streger Affair), Staffel 1, Folge 1. EA (USA): 16.10.1959, Sender: ABC. EA (BRD): 25.03.1970, Sender: ZDF. Regie: Arnold Laven. Drehbuch: Palmer Thompson. Laufzeit: 24:17 Min. [IMDB] | [CTVA]

Darsteller:

Robert Taylor: Captain Matt Holbrook

Tige Andrews: Det. Lt. Johnny Russo

Lee Farr: Det. Lt. James Conway

Russell Thorson: Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom

Jean Hagen: Alice Streger

Frank Gorshin: Billy McGirth

Johnny Seven: Danny Falto

Ben Wright: Larson Colby

Paul Keast: Alfred Streger u.a.

#2. Ein Schuß zuviel (OT: Shot in the Dark). Staffel 1, Folge 2. EA (USA): 23.10.1959, Sender: ABC. EA (BRD): 01.04.1970, Sender: ZDF. Laufzeit: 24:10 Min. Regie: Arnold Laven. Drehbuch: Christopher Knopf. [IMDB] | [CTVA]

Darsteller:

Robert Taylor: Det. Capt. Matt Holbrook

Tige Andrews: Det. Lt. John Russo

Lee Farr: Det. Lt. Jim Conway

Russell Thorson: Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom

Lin McCarthy: Officer Forbes

George Dunn: Sooky

Bart Bradly (Braverman): Carlos Lavelli u.a.

#3. Der Attentäter (OT: The Hidden Place, alternativ: The Hiding Place). Staffel 1, Folge 3. EA (USA): 30.10.1959, Sender: ABC. EA (BRD): 04.07.1967, Sender: ZDF. Laufzeit: 24:09 Min. Regie: Joseph H. Lewis. Drehbuch: Donald S. Sanford. [IMDB] | [CTVA]

Darsteller:

Robert Taylor: Det. Capt. Matt Holbrook

Tige Andrews: Det. Lt. John Russo

Lee Farr: Det. Lt. Jim Conway

Russell Thorson: Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom

Jay North: Bobby Cooper

Virginia Gregg: Mrs. Cooper

Herb Armstrong: Chadsko u.a.

#4. Auf der Abschußliste: Eddie (OT: Decoy). Staffel 1, Folge 4. EA (USA): 06.11.1959, Sender: ABC. EA (BRD): 27.11.1968, Sender: ZDF. Laufzeit: 24:09 Min. Regie: James Neilson. Drehbuch: Louis Pelletier. [IMDB] | [CTVA]

Darsteller:

Robert Taylor: Det. Capt. Matt Holbrook

Tige Andrews: Det. Lt. John Russo

Lee Farr: Det. Lt. Jim Conway

Russell Thorson: Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom

Bruce Gordon: Eddie Wilson

Gloria Blondell: Mrs. Wilson

Hal Baylor: Ralph

Jack Lambert: Harry Decker

Mari Lynn: Evelyn u.a.

Heimkinoveröffentlichungen

In Deutschland erschienen DVD-Boxen bei Pidax und Filmjuwelen:

Pidax, Titel: Kein Fall für FBI, Vol. 1, 07.10.2011, Box mit 4 DVDs (EAN: 4260158191081); Titel: Kein Fall für FBI, Vol. 2, 02.03.2012, Box mit 4 DVDs (EAN: 4260158191517)

Fernsehjuwelen, Titel: Kein Fall für FBI (Komplettbox), 05.06.2015, Box mit 8 DVDs, dt. Tonspur (EAN: 4042564158694)

Die Pidax-Fassung ist mittlerweile bereits vergriffen und wird beim Hersteller nicht mehr aufgelistet. Mir lag die Ausgabe vom Filmverlag Fernsehjuwelen vor.

Quellen: [IMDB]; [Serien im deutschen Fernsehen]; [OFDB]; [Fernsehserien]; [Wikipedia (en)]; [Classic TV Archive]; [Alive]

[therappundit]

***The Top 5 Rap Verses of 2021***

The Pundit’s  Picks For the ”BEST” (a.k.a. MY Favorite) Rap Verses, From a Year Filled with Great Rap Verses...

In a year filled with “I gotta rewind that!” rap verses from some of the best to ever a hold a microphone, how do you even manage to pick “the best” verses?

The answer will always be some combination of how tightly the verse was written, the quotability, conviction of the MC, content (especially as it ties to a specific moment in time), wordplay, flow, delivery - and of course, personal tastes.

So in a year filled with stand-out verses from Lil Wayne, billy woods & E L U C I D (either solo or together as Armand Hammer), MIKE, Mavi, Skyzoo, Ransom, AZ, Your Old Droog, Willie The Kid, Conway The Machine, Earl Sweatshirt, Boldy James, Maxo Kream, Lil Durk, Roc Marciano, Little Simz, Peezy, 42 Dugg, Che Noir, Wiki, Fivio Foreign, Benny The Butcher, Lil Baby, Westside Gunn, Rio Da Young OG, EST Gee, Navy Blue, Stove God Cook$, Babytron, Jay NiCE, LAURYN FREAKIN’ HILL (!?), Mach-Hommy, Nicki Minaj, Polo G, Sleep Sinatra, Evidence, SHIRT, Raz Fresco, Jay Electronica, Jadakiss, P4K, Curren$y, Lute, Babyface Ray, Monday Night, The Opioid Era, Rigz, Semiratruth, Peezy, every damn member of Bruiser Brigade, Freddie Gibbs, Stik Figa, Fly Anakin, Tyler the Creator, Sauce Walka, Teller Bank$, Pros Ap, Namir Blade, Bizzy Banks, Valee, Nappy Nina, Lord Apex, Lloyd Banks, Sideshow, AKAI SOLO, BandGang Lonnie Bands, Defcee, Breeze Brewin, maassai, Ty Farris, Kipp Stone and Dark Lo....how can anyone choose just 5???

The answer:  you remember this is ultimately a meaningless list, I’m a busy man with a family, and at the end of the day this is just an excuse to celebrate a mere glimpse at my favorite music of 2021!

These five songs came to mind because they each possess some form of “ex-factor”.  Amidst the weekly tidal waves of new music over the course of the year, these five songs featured not just great artists rapping on a great song with great lyricism, but they each hit me with a bar - or even series of bars - that changed my course of thought for the day.  This is not at all about the funniest punchlines or most clever metaphors, it’s deeper than that...it’s what separates a MC that happens to be an above average skilled rapper or writer, from a flat-out ARTIST.

With that all being said, here are my choices for the Best Rap Verses of 2021...

5. “Sunbeam” by Chester Watson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlxvoTNpPFI

(1997 was quietly one of the best projects of 2021, thanks to the quiet brilliance of Chester Watson.  You wouldn’t be able to guess that he is primarily based in an uptempo party town like Miami when listening to 1997′s gentle and gorgeous opening song, “Sunbeam”.  The poetic skills he showcases within this verse elevates the song to ear-grasping levels...and the sad honesty behind quotes like “once uttered words can run faster than horses,” should firmly place “Sunbeam” into song of the year conversations.)

Sunbeams create rainbows in the smoke I was up early, outside, it was cold And these last few days been rainy with a cloak of clouds When overhead, make the city seem remote Gold in the flesh, so I'm so picturesque Ballerina, it control pirouettes Feel the dosage effects, see my soul silhouette in the distance See my soul silhouette If you listen, then you just might grow and progress I just do it, asked Nike can they cut the cheque 'Cause cuz' fluent, feel the sunbeams on my chest Either that, or it's just steam from the fresh pre-roll That I tucked somewhere in the vest MM...FOOD, I feel like I eat beats for breakfast Move smart, a negative plus a negative's negative Can't be reckless, we all know the streets is treacherous People gon' switch up, that's to be expected Yeah, that's to be expected I don't need the friendships just to be respected Yeah, disrespect is out of the question Always take precautions, no second guessin' I Love Ugly garms are to guard the chains on my neck with Lose for wisdom, I cannot make exception Vibin' under sunbeams and reflection Wavy when your wife is your best friend Visualize, like, that's the life I could mesh with And remember to always tell her she's gorgeous Once uttered words can run faster than horses Yeah, so you can't be indifferent Two Balancias is good as he is wicked Smokin' spliffs on the edge of existence Watch the smoke spin in the air like a kick-flip People look at my hair, it's addictive Then they say I don't belong there, I'm a misfit Brown skin is just a characteristic A racist's heart blacker than me and all of my kin mixed Some friends stayed, some friends went Some things changed, some things didn't Still get compared to The Weeknd Felt like a Starboy when that sunbeam hit.

4. “Let It Roll Interlude” by IAMNOBODI feat. Phonte & BeMyFiasco [Phonte’s verse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcG-NAR9KTk

(If anyone has the lyrics to this verse, please feel free to share!  Full disclosure, I know less than nothing about IAMNOBODI or BeMyFiasco, but maaaaaan who is better than Phonte at cramming content into a short verse?  From old school MC braggadocio to tackling middle-aged life during a quarantine to the Little Brother reunion, Phonte is able to tastefully add color to a background without blinding you with the details. Like any gifted artist, he knows that the music goes farther without having to be too on-the-nose with every rhyme.  He always says just enough, and with just enough flare, to let you know exactly what his message is and that not many can match him as a MC or a song writer.  While I would bet money that this verse will not getting any end of year recognition on any other site, it doesn’t make it any less special to me....I mean, “they spit with ‘Karen’ struggle, I spit with Sheila E’s(ease)”, that’s incredible!)

3.  “Fuck You Know About Me” by DJ Muggs & Rome Streetz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa8E8DVi-Tc

(Like many of the artists on this list, you can choose just about any one of their verses from 2021 and crown it the best verse of the year.  Straight up, Rome Streetz is my favorite MC at the moment and has the largest amount of *great* verses in 2021, and it is NOT close.  As a feature artist he is one of the hardest working and most potent, but he is equally skilled at pulling off great full length albums.  This joint off of Rome and Muggs’ fantastic Death And The Magician really nails exactly what makes him a generational MC.  Rome’s style is a perfect blend old & new school because his content could neatly fit into the early or mid-90′s New York scene, but his writing skills are so clearly of this era.  A writer’s writer trapped inside a true knuckled-up New York shit talker, on first listen his aggressive demeanor can mislead you into thinking that he’s just another throwback MC, but once you realize that he doesn’t even need a full bar to be a true standout in this game, you can really begin to appreciate how special he is.  “Live from where they give a dealer more time than a rapist” and “it’s hard when you learn a real lesson from a fake friend” both sound like they could be credited to legendary quotes from Biggie, JAY-Z, or Nas, and while it may not be fair to compare them, as far as I’m concerned we have not seen the ceiling for Rome Streetz yet and he has first ballot hall of famer written all over him.)

I really only want the 'fetti, fuck being famous Too many worried 'bout what another n*gga's name is My main concern is freein' my dogs out the cages Live from where they give a dealer more time than a rapist The system racist, that ain't no new revelation Crazy how mistakes gave me the best education From the start, lots of ends was the destination Road to riches, need a Rolls Royce and a 'rari racin A pocket with a dead face paper placed in It's hard when you learn a real lesson from a fake friend Watch the reptiles, they blend with the same skin Only so long a coward can front like a brave man Stupid n*ggas gonna spend eleven if they make ten Try to block the god, I'm a home invader, I break in No brake, all gas pedal, ping pongin' memories of how I made a big boulder out my last pebble Rebel, foldin' bread like a pretzel Can't skip steps, scrap, I excelled at every level Send a coin, get the tracking and hope the package get through Everything you do in your life is a chess move.

2. “With All My Heart” by Ka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-jihUW-hvg

(Ka’s name will be dropped into these conversations virtually in any year that he drops a new album.  A Martyr’s Reward is another diamond in the crown of his elite discography, that can somehow managed to go relatively unnoticed by many, while being worshipped as royalty by a fanbase that continues to grow with each release.  Honestly, you can pick any one of his verses off of A Martyr’s Reward and dub it one of the best verses of the year, because Ka’s pen remains unparalleled.  He manages to weave double-entendres together in a way that never feels forced, so even if you don’t pick up on it, the rhyme still makes perfect sense within the theme of the song - and that may not sound all that impressive, but I assure you that it makes him a unicorn in rap music, very few ever achieve that level of nuanced editing without sounding corny or redundant.  I had to select “With All My Heart” as my pick for best verse off of the album....because if you know anything about Ka’s firefighter background - and the petty backlash from a certain NYC-based garbage rag that tried to frame Ka as a hypocrite - it makes the 9/11 reference at the end of his verse unique, and historically powerful...)

Gruеsome me; used to bе if we had rift, you felt the wrath Now I'm too sophist', still don't miss with shooting gift to help your path On your road to triumph, you know the science, I dealt in math These God sessions answer hard lessons; brethren seldom ask My misses gave butterfly kisses, she know I felt the lash The land is tense, I stand for sense, never knelt for cash Solid vow, I got it now, bow to who held it last Was done well and young fell if he dispel the past They tried to hush me cause gave dusty a smarter new glisten From a priceless mold, I might be old but I harvest nutrition You know the beast controls, so peace to those Gods that do listen If you scout them, each album imparts a new mission From child was already handling, images very damaging On corners politicking, police break us up like gerrymandering Once learned the land was never ran, never ran again No lessons clandestine all these ancestors I'm channeling Billion good deeds, eclipsed by a moment of weakness Got my yield in the field, you was at home in the bleachers From a savage site, had to fight just for owning some sneakers Where every link is grim its sink or swim, we got thrown to the deepest You ain't living premier if you living in fear No verdicts, not guilty since block filthy, no innocence here Since seared by sin, all I ever been is sincere If you hear I'm on the premises, every premise severe Though my rank capped at captain, I did it admirably Cause of my race, took hits from the start, it never staggered me Knew I was black back then, so at ten I had tenacity No tracks are vacuous, my pact is to do it masterfully When them planes crashed, Ka did his task in the catastrophe I dug and I held when them towers fell, how dare you try to hassle me? 

1.  “Life Of The Party” by Kanye West feat. Andre 3000 [Andre’s verse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YNL5DCRNec

(Too easy of a pick for #1?  Far from a simple verse but the second we all heard Andre 3000′s - unofficial, at the time - verse off of Kanye West’s DONDA album, clearly this was destined to hit the best verse of the year lists on most mainstream sites.  Yes, it’s a slam dunk to slurp up any new material from the elusive, magical flute toting Outkast member...but I’m really not that guy, I have all the respect in the world for Outkast but personally I don’t keep their stuff in my regular rotation, I’m sorry but it’s just not my typical vibe!  Managing to overshadow the whiny “beef” that was Ye vs. Drake in 2021, as well as the out of control media freight train that is Kanye West in general, Dre’s verse on “Life Of The Party” is not just one of the best verses of 2021, I think it is one of the greatest rap verses that I have ever heard.  

Seriously.  Forget you know anything about Andre 3000, and just focus on the messages in this verse, the performance, and the poetry he wields on this joint...he manages to turn an ode to someone else’s mother into a deep AF, personal exploration of his relationship with his own deceased mother and father, his childhood and his flaws, his changing perspectives as a young man that is rapidly getting older, someone that has all the fame and riches in the world but can still say something like “Miss Donda, you see my mama, tell her I’m lost” - and Andre aside, don’ even get me started on the section with DMX and his daughter closing out the song - and NO SHUT UP I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING.  In my opinion, Andre gave us audio gold with this one, and it’s a no-brainer selection for the best rap verse of 2021.)

You run into my mama, please tell her I said, "Say something" I'm startin' to believe ain't no such thing as Heaven's trumpets No after-over, this is it, done If there's a Heaven, you would think they'd let ya speak to your son Maybe she has in the form of a baby's laugh I heard passing by in a stroller remindin' me, "Hey, keep rolling" I don't know, maybe she has with a prick of a blade of grass I've been layin' on way too long, got me itchy Got up and roamed a lil' more Miss Donda, you see my mama, tell her I'm lost You see, she'd always light a cigarette, we talk, I would cough Exaggeratin' a lil' bit so she get the point Tryna get her to stop smokin', I would leave and fire up a ***** 'Til I quit, started back up again, twenty years later All that time, y'all thought a ***** was high, thought I was crazy My mom, she ain't cut no corners Got me back on track, I don't miss her overstepping But do miss her showin' Seven civilian life **** Ah, Miss Donda, you see my mama, whisper her this: The real reason I was geeked to go to church Must confess, when y'all grown-ups would be in Bible study That girl helping me with my homework? Her and I were **** So pure and ****, so spirit spinning and dirty So on, so on, and so on, we hoped that no one heard us Sh-sh, ah, ah And to this day, I think her mama knew but let us explore Miss Donda, you see my father, please, ask him why he never married Always smiled, but was he happy inside? Because I carried my mother's name, did he carry shame with him? I'm sure she did it out of spite, 'twas her decision at birth Shit, she probably was hurt, ah, poor baby Two young people with different views, a lot for a young lady No coincidence, they both passed away from heart conditions There's a dissidence at play, dad and mom do hard division Three Thou', poster child for big d*ck n*ggas raised by their mothers I'm supposed to smile as if God knew that I would be troubled Keeps me around, for what? I don't know But I do know that it's crucial, that we do so, pronto I don't know how much long though...

As always, thank you for checking out my stuff. 🙏

Next stop: my picks for the best rap albums of 2021...stay tuned!

[therappundit]

***Best of the 1st Quarter***

Over three months into 2021 and we are still living with so many of the challenges that carried over from 2020. Yes, even with a light gradually glowing more visible from the end of the tunnel, COVID still looms large over all of our lives, and many of the broader issues facing our world (racism, violence, sexism) will likely remain glaring problems that impact our days for the foreseeable future.

But as I have stated many times in the past, with great adversity comes great art, and the first quarter of the new year has already brought us quality music in abundance. With the year still so young we may not have even conceived who or what will impact rap music the most in 2021, but I can say with confidence that the projects below would represent some of the best that the genre has to offer in any given year. 

My picks for the best projects & songs released in Q1 of 2021 (1/1 - 3/31) are....

Death & The Magician by Rome Streetz & DJ Muggs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r2AYxN20ZI

Haram by Armand Hammer

https://armandhammer.bandcamp.com/track/falling-out-the-sky-featuring-earl-sweatshirt

Double Down by Nappy Nina & JWords

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Z0PBThw0M

End of the Earth by Mavi

https://soundcloud.com/mavi704/sets/end-of-the-earth

With The Shifts by Maassai

https://maassai.bandcamp.com/track/the-shifts-feat-akai-solo

SOUL TRAP by Tree

https://mctreeg.bandcamp.com/track/nothing-like-the-sun-feat-roc-marciano

The Fraud Department by Jim Jones & Harry Fraud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuvDOsGnHPY

If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed by Conway the Machine & Big Ghost LTD.

https://bigghostlimited.bandcamp.com/track/kill-all-rats-ft-ransom-rome-streetz

Hindsight by Breez Brewin & Juggaknots

https://juggaknots.bandcamp.com/track/mentore-ft-dj-spinna

A Stream of Consciousness by Jay NiCE & Machacha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79Xex1G6Gc

$mokebreak EP / FlySiifu’s (Deluxe) by Fly Anakin & Pink Siifu

https://ronee.bandcamp.com/track/oatmeal-feat-chuck-strangers-prod-chuck-strangers

Prophecy Is My Present by Asun Eastwood & TheTwinning

https://twinning.bandcamp.com/track/underrated-feat-don-smith-family-gang-black

taurus_EP by lojii

https://lojii.bandcamp.com/album/taurus-ep

Portishus by Hus Kingpin

https://www.stereogum.com/2113831/stream-hus-kingpins-portishead-inspired-album-portishus/music/

Stray From The Pack by Kev Brown & J Scienide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjS6oTZTTeM

Call Me G.T. by G.T.

https://soundcloud.com/officialgtmusic/chasing-cash

phantom of paradise. by Remy Banks

https://remybanks.bandcamp.com/track/triboro-feat-exquire-wiki-scratches-by-a-trak

Krazy Man by Drego

https://soundcloud.com/tr4620-bandgang/drego-dis-dat?in=tr4620-bandgang/sets/drego-krazy-man

100 Miles & Walk’in by Rx Papi

https://soundcloud.com/rxpapi/sets/100-miles-walkin

Drench Em (Deluxe) by 26AR

https://soundcloud.com/user-565572130/sets/drench-em-deluxe

SEVENTY​​-​​FIFTH & AMSTERDAM SIDE B LOST IN NYC by jaH-Monte Ogbon

https://kingcallis.bandcamp.com/album/seventy-fifth-amsterdam-side-b-lost-in-nyc

GOD GOKU JAY-Z by J.U.S

https://bruiserbrigaderecords.bandcamp.com/track/brown-noise-ft-danny-brown-prod-black-noi-e

1997 by Chester Watson

https://chesterwatson.bandcamp.com/album/1997

Amongst Wolves by SmooVth & Giallo Point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WXUKV5-EHc

Collection Agency by Curren$y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9zobjG2jbs

Dope Game Stupid by Bruiser Wolf

https://bruiserbrigaderecords.bandcamp.com/album/dope-game-stupid

PANAGNL4E, VOL. 3 by Los & Nutty

https://soundcloud.com/ssradioo/sets/los-x-nutty-panagnl4e-vol-3

XENOPHON by THERAVADA

https://its2000.bandcamp.com/track/terminal-window-ft-marlo-demore-prod-theravada

UNLOCKED 1.5 by Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9hvQGWskUA

Thumbing Thru Foliage by YUNGMORPHEUS & ewonee

https://yungmorpheus.bandcamp.com/track/table-for-one-feat-obijuan

Rammellzee by DJ Muggs & Flee Lord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpfHIS2z-D8

Seismograph by SKUNKZ

https://franksvinylrecords.bandcamp.com/album/seismograph

Tha YOD Fahim by Your Old Droog & Tha God Fahim

https://yourolddroog.bandcamp.com/track/slam-dunk-contest-ft-pharaohe-monch

Nino Green by Kaimbr & Sean Born

https://ninogreen7.bandcamp.com/album/nino-green

Psychological Cheat Sheet part 2 by Vic Spencer & August Fanon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvDKP8Mm44w

Heist New York by Heist Life (Ty Da Dale, Sauce Heist & Baby Maine)

https://heistlife.bandcamp.com/releases

Next Question Please (LP) by jaH-Monte Ogbon

https://kingcallis.bandcamp.com/album/next-question-please-lp

XL Middleton & Delmar Xavier VII by XL Middleton

https://soundcloud.com/xlmiddleton/sets/xl-middleton-delmar-xavier

***SONGS***:

Scary Hours 2 by Drake

https://soundcloud.com/octobersveryown/sets/scary-hours-2-1

“Let It Roll Interlude” by IAMNOBODI feat. Phonte & BeMyFiasco 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVA1hXEnwnE

“Furious Styles” - Illa Styles feat. Nickelus F

https://illastyles.bandcamp.com/track/furious-styles-ft-nickelus-f

“Break Soul” by 7xvethegenius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfMyCL8aD34

“DARTGUNZ” by Chuck Strangers

https://soundcloud.com/chuckstrangers/dartgunz-produced-by-samiyam

“Faygo Baby” by Kipp Stone & Chuck Strangers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHCDGh5aM7o

“Last Man Standing” - Smoke DZA, Nym Lo, Numbers, Cory Gunz & 183rd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmhWtjbMcGc

“10″ - by Drakeo the Ruler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIRJoQFyS6c

“Last Day Out” by Rio Da Yung OG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB51CUUod1w

“What It Feels Like” - Nipsey Hussle feat. JAY-Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12e4v-XlCmk

“Glory” - Tek feat. Rome Streetz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj9QK-NbnO8

“Gunz ‘n Razerz” - Planet Asia & DirtyDiggs feat. Rome Streetz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c80oGyl7rf8

"CLOUDZ” - Mother Nature feat. Sir Michael Rocks

https://soundcloud.com/mothernaturebarz/cloudz

“Overall” by Benny the Butcher & Harry Fraud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnFQ5v7I29U

“Real Niggas Don’t Rap” - by Babyface Ray

https://soundcloud.com/miababyfaceray/real-niggas-dont-rap

“American Terrorist” by RXKNephew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nignmGXUr24

“Marcus Smart” - Peter Rosenberg feat. Flee Lord & Stove God Cook$

https://soundcloud.com/peterrosenberg-music/marcus-smart

“Gordon Ramsay Freestyle” by Remble

https://soundcloud.com/remble2/gordon-ramsay-freestyle-prod-by-laudiano

“Gang Signs” - Freddie Gibbs feat. ScHoolboy Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WnXMMOkubA

“Trophy Wife” - Vel the Wonder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05FxkM9PrY

“TV Boy” - Westside Gunn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3zdZ8v_DvM

Honorable Mention: Felecia Sun by Rim, Duke Nukem by Duke Deuce, #MINIMANSIONDUST VOL. 5 by Estee Nack & Friends, Ree Louis by Henny L.O., Nino Green by Kaimbr & Sean Born, A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism by Pharoahe Monch, Block Work by ElCamino, Santa Barbara by Fat Ray, LordMobb Vol. 1 by Flee Lord & LordMobb, Shiesty Season by Pooh Shiesty, LVNDR by Codenine, YDFWC? by Crimeapple, Dum and Dummer 2 by Young Dolph & Key Glock, bob's son: R​.​A​.​P. Ferreira in the garden level cafe of the scallops hotel by R.A.P. Ferreira

[therappundit]

October 2017 - *PlayLi$t of the Month*

October is typically my favorite month of the year. My wife and I both have birthdays in Oct., autumn is easily the most perfect season, and if there is a holiday cooler than Halloween, I haven’t heard of it. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons this month has been one of the toughest that I can remember in my life. Thankfully, music has always been there for me in my time of emotional need. The last few weeks have yielded some solid releases from bigger names in hip-hop (Gucci Mane, the Wu-Tang Clan), as well as a celebration of some of hip-hop’s more diverse rising talents (Earth Gang, IDK, Lute, Rapsody). The selections I made below stood out as some of my personal favorites that I’ve been enjoying this month, so press play and escape with me as we kick-off hoodie season with my October PlayLi$t...

1. “Gorilla Monsoon” - Westside Gunn & DOOM (WESTSIDEDOOM)

https://soundcloud.com/user-5212897/westsidedoom-gorilla-monsoon

(Griselda owns the first two spots on this month’s list, which is to be expected given that this is the spookiest month of the year. The first of two WESTSIDEDOOM cuts - that we know of - and everything from the Daringer instrumental, to the voice of WSG to the arrival of some new DOOM just screams Halloween, and I love it. Extra special bonus points to Daringer for flipping a sample from the original Night of the Living Dead on this one...soooo classic.)

2. “Spurs 2” - Conway feat. Benny

https://soundcloud.com/user-5212897/spurs-2-feat-benny-prod-by

(Conway & DJ Green Lantern’s More Steroids just dropped, and it’s already my pick for the best project of 2017′s fourth quarter. The Machine & Benny The Butcher both provide top notch bars, but it’s Benny that steals the spotlight with a scintillating verse, casually dropping one of my favorite lines of the year with “they come and ask for H like it’s Wheel Of Fortune”. This is menace music in all its’ glory, in the tradition of music from rap legends like the Wu, Boot Camp and Mobb Deep.)

3. “Schoolcraft” - Nolan The Ninja

https://soundcloud.com/nolantheninja-1/schoolcraft

(I sure hope Detroit is proud of Nolan The Ninja. While he has consistently dropped dope hip-hop in the tradition of dusty 90′s boom bap, Nolan really stepped up on his new album, YEN. Everything from his bars, to his storytelling, to his production choices, they were all top notch on this project. Like the Griselda boys, he breathes fresh life into a classic sound, and with “Schoolcraft” his aesthetic bottles the nostalgia and spirit of hip-hop very well.)

4. “Maryland Ass Ni**a” - IDK feat. Swizz Beatz

https://soundcloud.com/jayidk1/maryland-ass-nigga-with-swizz-beatz?in=jayidk1/sets/iwasverybad-soundtrack

(This new IWASVERYBAD project from IDK is legit. The Maryland MC - formally known as Jay IDK, before he shortened it - showcases a ton of skills on this thoughtful project. While his storytelling skills may be his most potent weapon of choice, this cut just erupts with attitude, plus his flow is so crazy...factor in this hard beat and catchy hook, and it became an easy standout for me.)

5. “Bipolar” - G Herbo

https://soundcloud.com/gherbo/bipolar

(With his major label debut, Humble Beast, the young spitter from Chicago wanted this to be his own version of Reasonable Doubt. While that is probably not a realistic expectation, the album does successfully put his gifts on full display. Herbo is not a cookie cutter product from the drill era, he is a young MC with real perspective, capable of being a mouthpiece for his community and a representation of the Windy City’s surplus of diverse talent. “Bipolar” is my favorite track from Herbo’s album right now because of how skillfully he switches up his delivery, and sounds so honest and hungry throughout.)

6. “Fresh” - Chuck Strangers & The Alchemist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltakk6HipzY

(Alchemist’s chemistry with Chuck Strangers is superb on this one - and like a lot of Al’s recent work, with “Fresh” we get two dope beats for the price of one! I mistakenly thought of Chuck as a producer first and MC second, but that wasn’t fair of me. As it turns out he is that rare producer on the mic that excels at both, so if you have been sleeping on this talent from out the Pro Era clique, it is time for you to wake up.)

7. “Juggin” - Lute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdUgSxNS8VM

(If you missed the release of Lute’s West 1996, Pt. 2, you need to rectify that immediately. One of the most soulful releases I have heard in a while, Lute has a story to tell and he raps with the wisdom of a much older man. A lot of good MCs can drop bars, but surprisingly few can actually craft songs. Well, consider Lute one of those select few. Far from just a J.Cole co-sign, Lute blew me away with this project, and I will be sure to keep it in rotation for some time because it is straight up good music.)

8. “Chrome (Like Ooh)” - Rapsody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT--wzif8fs

(Rapsody really delivered with Laila’s Wisdom. So many gems on this album, arguably her finest work, but what I love about “Chrome” is that it puts her talents on display as both a skilled MC and song writer. Comparisons to Kendrick are warranted, considering that they are two of the best at balancing those skill sets. Never to be referred to as a “great female MC”, Rapsody is quite simply one of the best MCs out there today, so folks make sure you keep the North Carolina representative’s name in all conversations when it comes to ranking the top 10 best in the game right now.)

9. “Bleach” - DrxQuinnx feat. Jay Lyn Gatz

https://soundcloud.com/drxquinnx/bleach-ft-jaylyn-gatz-prod-by?in=drxquinnx/sets/richard-pryor

(How DrxQuinnx isn’t as respected in the underground as Knxwledge is a surprise to me. A master of cut up dusty loops and samples, the Chicago producer/MC should be considered one of the best rising artists in the underground right now. His Richard Pryor tape is great hip-hop that you can nod your head to from front to back, and it’s the first tape he has released that made me really take notice of how good he is as a rapper - not just on the boards. I’ll be keeping “Bleach”, “Cocaine & Switchblades” with Vic Spencer, “Moves” and “Shteef” in rotation for the foreseeable future, thank you very much.)

10. “New Freezer” - Rich The Kid feat. Kendrick Lamar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLKYz1r23Lo

(One of the most unexpected Kendrick verses to come along in a while, this Rich The Kid collab is not really saying much...but it really works for me! Kendrick sounds like he is having a good time on this one, dropping one of his “99% crazy flow, 1% lyrical” verses, and in spite of Rich’s limits as a MC, I really dig his hook work on this one.)

*Honorable Mention - Bonus Cut*

“RIP Bobby” - Westside Gunn & Conway

https://soundcloud.com/user-5212897/westsidegunn-x-conway-rip-bobby

(I love how whenever a legend in the wrestling business passes away, I can count on the Griselda gang to bless us with a dope dedication track. Featuring a vocal sample from one of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan’s many classic rants - and production from BOTH Daringer & Alchemist - the Buffalo brothers go back and forth over two soulful backdrops. The lyrics might not have anything to do with the life of Bobby Heenan, but it sure captures the slick vibe of the greatest manager in WWE history. Enjoy, humanoids!)

“Black Fountains of Youth” - Cashus King (Co$$)

https://soundcloud.com/cashusking/black-fountains-of-youth

(s/o to the artist formally known as Co$$, I love this one. Cashus King has a great time rattling off a long list of clever rhymes proclaiming how great he his at...well, dropping all types of clever rhymes! Capturing the fun of classic tracks like Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigga The Gambler’s “Broken Language” without sounding dated, I hope this means we have more fun records like this one to come from the underrated veteran.)

“St. Regis” - Conway

https://soundcloud.com/user-5212897/st-regis-prod-by-daringer?in=user-5212897/sets/conway-and-dj-green-lantern-more-steroids

(Truth be told, I could have put 4 or 5 different Conway tracks from More Steroids on here. I selected “St. Regis” because it really sounded like Conway connected with Daringer’s soulful loop on this one, so much so that he even commented on it at the end of the track. With more projects slated to drop in the not too distant future, Griselda Records continues to make big moves to close out 2017.)

Still In Heavy Rotation:

4:44 by JAY-Z

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/jay-z-4-44-upcoming-album-new-mixtape.117283.html

Rosebudd’s Revenge by Roc Marciano

http://onsmash.com/music/roc-marciano-rosebudds-revenge-album-stream/

[ICYMI: Last month’s list below]

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/165327239321/september-2017-playli-t-of-the-month

[mr-ilango]

Top Albums 2017

Roc Marciano “Rosebudd’s Revenge”

 Asun Eastwood “Hollywood Brigs”

J Scienide “The Actual Heat”

Hus Kingpin & Big Ghost LTD “Cocaine Beach”

Rapsody “Laila’s Wisdom”

Oh No & Tri-State “3 Dimensional Prescriptions”

Conway “Reject on Steroids” / “More Steroids”

Daniel Son & Gaillo Point “Remo Gatti”

Jay Worthy “Fantasy Island EP”

Kendrick Lamar “Damn”

 Almost made it ....

Smoovth & Giallo Point “Medellin”

Jay-Z “4:44”

Adam Bomb “Live From Larstown”

The God Fahim “Dump Goat”

Willie The Kid “Deutsche Marks”

Wiki “No Mountains in Manhattan”

Your Old Droog “Packs”

Milano “The Way We Were”

Sean Rosati “Bobby Womack Dreams”

Killah Priest & 4th Disciple “Don’t Sit on the Speakers”

Heavy Metal Kings “Black God/White Deveil”

Planet Asia “Dirty Planet” / “Anchovies”

Al.Divino “Dump Gawd” (Both Versions)