Originally published December 18, 2020.

Front Seat

This debut weekly column from me is a nod to the Al Lindstrom Year-End roundtables I used to take part in every year. Combat Jack (RIP), B.Dot, Jeff Sledge, Joe La Puma, (sometimes Charlamagne) and I would go at it until we reached a consensus on who the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved and 6th Man was from the past 12 months. That last category was always my favorite because it was open to interpretation, although my take on it was the person who was slated to level up the following 365. 

I figured this was a good way to kick off things because often I’m asked either where I write these days or why I don’t write these days. The short answer is I want to do some different things in different mediums. The longer answer has to do with journalism economics and also, more often than not, I’m asked to write about older music. If you know me well, you know I always say, what I do at 40 is what I did at 14: listen to rap and watch basketball. So I’m still in it with my ears plugged into what’s new new. Also, if you know me or follow me, my thoughts are scattered across too many places: twitter, IG story, text threads or Whatsapp groups. I wanted to centralize things. 

Welcome to Backseat Freestyle. Buckle up!

Back Seat

MVP

Lil Baby (Winner)

Roddy Ricch

DaBaby

Cardi B

Travis Scott

By any measure 2020 was Lil Baby’s year. His My Turn album was one of the year’s best, he got the Rolling Stone cover treatment and an A1 feature in the New York Times. Plus he was highly in-demand as a feature artist and his “Bigger Picture” was the most important record of 2020. His material more than met the moment beyond the reckoning, too; he racked up streams (both on DSPs and TikTok) with heat rocks like “Woah,” tapped into a collective feeling with “Emotionally Scarred” and the deluxe edition of his album upped the ante with “We Paid.” (Also among the many accolades this year he scored, including Grammy snubs [!], was being recognized at Vevo’s Most Watched Artist in the U.S.)

He’s the clearest new artist to ascend toward the throne, as Backseat Freestyle friend (and RapCaviar head honcho) Carl Chery pondered in his essay “How Drake Broke the Mold of the Throne,” where he asked who would compete next for the mantle. And while the aforementioned Drake, along with Kendrick and Cole, were quite this year, Lil Baby’s arrival would have rang out regardless. He’s that tall of a tree, that a forest of superstars would stand next to him not eclipse him. 

Lil Baby has punch as a lyricist and a true talent to modify his flow to evoke his desired emotion on each record (see “Grace,” featuring 42 Dugg). And he’s far from an empty talent; he mines a range of topics to display a full range of who he is as an artist. Combine that with his knack of making each of his guest verses bend songs more toward his sound than the main artist’s and it’s clear it’s Lil Baby’s turn. 

Salute to the Backseat Freestyle MVP of 2020. 

Roddy Ricch and DaBaby form the undercarriage of rap’s new triumvirate, in addition to our MVP. Both showed out the past 365 days. Roddy’s year was last year, but the fumes of his debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, continued to reverberate, meanwhile, he road shotgun on some of the year’s best tracks, from “Rockstar” with DaBaby to the “Lemonade” remix. DaBaby was omnipresent in 2020, following the release of two albums in 2019, the South Carolina rapper kept his foot on the gas with Blame it on Baby. While an early read on the new album was DaBaby lost his flavor trying to respond to criticism that he’s one note (he’s not), through cult of personality he was able to overcome a tepid market to power through with arguably the top song of the year, “Rockstar,” and continues his strong run of features, proving he’s the best teammate in the game.  

Cardi B and Travis didn’t stack up enough recorded inventory to earn serious MVP consideration, however, for the former, she birthed a hell of a moment with the release of “W.A.P.” and the song hasn’t shown any signs of slowing up. We’ll see her and Megan the Stallion perform at the Grammys, surely. And Travis Scott isn’t a businessman, he’s a business, man. He scored a Hot 100 number 1 with “Franchise,” which became his third track to notch the feat in a 365 day span. But he made moves outside the charts with his Fortnite concert re-imagining live business amid the pandemic and his McDonalds partnership and merch proved he could still push product like a corner boy on an empty stomach. 

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Pop Smoke (Winner)

Jack Harlow

Mulatto

Pop Smoke’s murder was as tragic of a loss as any in this year of too many deaths. With a deep baritone and a flow that was as deliberate as a threat (the ones that should scare the shit out of you are delivered calm, not angry), the Brooklyn drill rapper represented New York’s most serious act to elevate the legendary city back to prominence since 50 Cent. Sometimes that flow was stilted, but that was almost part of the appeal. He was still raw. There were clumsy lines and cringeworthy punchlines. However, when it came together it was thrilling. “Christopher Walking” and “Dior” are more than proof he was on the rise to becoming more than a regional star or simply the front man of a emerging sound. Pop possessed it, that something in his cool charisma and magazine page looks. I couldn’t predict where it would go for him and was even on the fence initially when Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon arrived. While I focused on the grabs for superstardom and misses, the growth is hard not to see. And over time the project’s strength stuck with me more than its weaknesses. “Make it Rain” is statement music, forceful in its purpose and as polished as his pop offerings. “Got It On Me” is opening album energy. “The Woo,” “What You Know Bout Love” and especially “For The Night” flex Pop Smoke’s potential and the leap happening sooner rather than later. 

I’m still working my way through Thats What They All Say (“Rendezvous” and “Baxter Avenue'' are early likes, but there’s more reaches than a bad NBA defender), but there’s no denying the monster that “Whats Poppin” is and the debate the remix puts on the table: Who had the best verse? (Weezy, but ask me tomorrow and it’s DaBaby.)

Mulatto set the internet on fire with her XXL freshman freestyle and that was the periodt on a strong year for her with her debut album, Queen of Da Souf.

6th MAN

Lil Durk (Winner)

Flo Milli 

Don Toliver 

Lil Durk has always been talented. Back during my XXL days we tapped him as a Show ‘N Prove, which was an easy decision. His Def Jam debut, Remember My Name, was uneven, at best, but since then (and especially since departing the House that Rick and Russell built), Durk has given us a string of projects that showcase his abilities. This year’s Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 is another strong effort with “All Love” and “Chiraq Demons” among the standouts. 

But what Durk was always missing was a moment and boy did he ever meet it this year with Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later.” I’m curious to see if he takes the polish from that song and utilizes it for himself moving forward. It’s not that Durk doesn’t possess that touch, it’s just never seemed to be an emphasis of his. We’ll see. 

If you look at things a certain way, Flo Milli reminds me of Pop Smoke. She has it, for sure. What I mean is that she’s fully-formed with a POV and you just know what she’s ‘bout. Musically, like Pop, she has flashes when it all comes together and you can see the next 10 years of her career so clearly. Othertimes, though, you can hear that she still needs her 10,000 hours. Ho, why is you here? is full of tracks that tease her potential, like on “Like That Bitch” and “Send The Addy.” Let’s see if 2021 is a leap year for her. 

Don Toliver had a Rookie of the Year 2020 in a lot of ways. Fresh off the release of the Jack Boys album, he started off the year with his debut, Heaven or Hell, and “After Party” was banger with the trappings of a song of the year contender. Maybe he peaked too early in a long ass year? But he wasn’t done. He powered Internet Money’s blazer “Lemonade” (my personal song of the year) and that’s gonna set him up for a monster year. 

MOST IMPROVED 

Royce da 5’9” (Winner)

Here, rather than list folks, I wanna tip my hat both to Royce for his late-stage improvement and acknowledge the wave of 40ish rappers who have been releasing career best work. I still remember how Royce was tabbed to be IT when he first arrived on the scene via Game Recordings. He was special. It didn’t come right away for him, due to business and person reasons. But a pen that sharp doesn’t just get dull. Thankfully he was able to weather his demons and enemies while finding success with Slaughterhouse and PRhyme. When I interviewed him in 2018 (at the 21:24 mark he gets into it), he talked about having gotten to know himself after all these years and using that to chase his own classic. Since then he’s released The Book of Ryan later that same year and The Allegory this year. He may or may not have kicked in the door for this steez (Jay-Z and 4:44 is different, as always the case with Hov. I’m talking about independent acts, who hadn’t chased radio and were able to pivot to success on their terms), but Nickel Nine showed how to do it the right way. And do it again two years later. He keeps getting better. 

Props to Roc Marci’s Mt. Marci, Stove God Cook’s Reasonable Drought, all of Boldy James’ work, and Ka’s Descendants of Cain. 

Trunk (Music)

Here’s five of my favorite albums this year:

Eternal Atake (Lil Uzi Vert)

YHLQMDLG (Bad Bunny)

The Goat (Polo G)

King’s Disease (Nas)

Funeral (Lil Wayne)

And big ups to this Fab 5, no Jalen but they were sharp:

Griselda - What a year. Benny’s last project was better than this years, but he continues to be my standout from the Buffalo bunch. 

Hit-Boy - WHAT A YEAR. His backpack is MCM, but nevertheless he was wearing it this year. 

Alchemist - Quietly rising up the all-time producer ranks. My brother Bonsu Thompson had a good talk with him earlier this year as a part of his Fan of a Friend series. [Watch]

Verzuz - Hard to pick the best among so many memorable moments, but the closing of Ne-Yo vs. Johnta Austin was fun. RZA and DJ Premier and I recorded it on my phone for posterity. Fireworks from Gucci Man and Jeezy, though, sheesh. Swizz and Timbo have a long road of ahead of them with this franchise. 

D-Nice - My brother D-Nice is the nicest guy in hip-hop. Always had a good word to pick me up whenever I ran into him. This year the world got to see it for themselves too.