Top Ten FOOLish Albums of 2022

Embracing family and tomorrow's hurdles were themes that ran through many of the best album of 2022.

Fully escaping the haze of 2020, artists found solace in the familiar and learned how to control their life and career paths, rather than remaining passengers on the ride. As all creative artists felt the anxiety-ridden squeeze of uncertainty over the past few years, those who expressed the poise and spirit to leave the cozy confines arrived in better and more successful destinations. They probably landed on this list.

So it’s time for the Forces Of Obvious Luck Top Ten Hip-Hop releases of 2022:

(In no particular order - unless you count the alphabet as a particular order.)

Marlon Craft - While We're Here (Homecourt)
Imagine an unlikely protagonist sitting at the end of dimly-lit bar internally wrestling with the inevitable before making the hero's choice to spring into action and save the day. Sure, this probably isn't NYC-born and bred lyricist Marlon Craft's gritty origin story, but 'While We're Here' is the perfect soundtrack for a brooding vigilante as he peers over a high-rise ledge while the city below teeters on the edge of chaos.

Packed with melancholy monologues of persistence and backed by jazzy, moody boom-bap beats, Craft is a realist not afraid to seem vulnerable. Guided by a Warriors-like narrator periodically checking in on the journey, Marlon isn't boppin' his way back to Coney Island to find acceptance and safety. Instead, he is looking up and outward to avoid the pitfalls as they crumble around him, only shielded by reverent, weather-worn wit.

Standout track: “Cool Grey 11s”

Elzhi & Georgia Anne Muldrow - Zhigeist (Nature Sounds)
The science behind the song can be captivating as the end product if you meet the right artists… or they meet each other. Enter Detroit emcee Elzhi and Los Angeles singer/producer Georgia Anne Muldrow, two serial collaborators and soul stars with a knack for taking concepts that sound fine on paper, and elevating the execution. The synergy on 'Zhigeist' was set to blast off immediately from the first count. Cruising seemingly effortlessly from topic to topic with supreme knowledge atop nebulous notes, these grounded daydreamers solved the challenges they set for each other with perfect calculations.

Standout track: "Pros and Cons"

R.A.P. Ferreira - 5 to the Eye with Stars (Ruby Yacht)
“R.A.P. Ferreira will rap forever.”

Good! What a joyous announcement! Amidst taking up Blues guitar and a fresh alias [Crow Billiken], Ferreira’s talent - presented on his terms - cannot be questioned. A father, producer, wordsmith, record label owner, and former record store owner who currently homesteading in Tennessee after respites in Maine and Los Angeles, this is a man who’s genuinely found path to happiness. You can somehow hear him smile across this latest offering of twistedly buoyant tunes.

And this plain showman isn’t espousing flowery poetry for poetry sake, he’s unceasingly “leaking prose by the puddles”. Blood, sweat, tears, and thoughts power this marauder.

Standout track: “fighting back”

Samm Henshaw - Untidy Soul (Dorm Seven)
A son of a reverend, this South London (no, not Motown surprisingly!) Soul dynamo radiates cheerful charm and certainly knows how to own center stage - even on this, his full-length debut. Songs burst with muted garishment and sweeping, orchestral warmth as Henshaw swings from a romantic ballad to a thoughtful monologue for self-improvement. And all of his stories are super buttery with an emotional delivery for every step of any relationship that would make Smokey, Diana, Stevie, and Marvin Gaye proud -- even if he's not actually from Detroit.

Standout track: "Enough"

Homeboy Sandman - Still Champion (Mello Music Group)
Idle hands aren't a problem for Homebody Sandman... stationary feet either. The native New Yorker is a perpetual motion machine, who fully recharged his battery in 2022. Pushing through a personal funk with a few therapeutic records in the past couple years, the funky and fun Sandman is absolutely back and appropriately 'Still a Champion'. Highlighted by Deca's bouncy and spacious melodies, Sandman was given room to spread out and fully serve his visual gumbo fables.

Standout track: "Fresh Air Fund"

Isatta Sheriff & Koralle - Eat The Kiwi Skin (Melting Pot)
The fully edible skin of a kiwi is the fruit's best and most nutritious part, according to London emcee, writer, label head, and radio host Isatta Sheriff. But you gotta digest the rough texture to appreciate its benefits. Some just don't want to put in that effort to discover the oft-discarded deliciousness. Hey, feels like a wonderful concept for an album!

Contrasting the soft embrace of her opulent melodies with hard edge targets, Isatta floats across dreamy piano Jazz to make numerous heavy points. Speaking of the laid back palette, Italian musician Koralle guides the project and instantly finds kinetic chemistry with the veteran rapper. Hopefully, this EP breaks ground on a long partnership because Isatta surely has a lot of solvent thoughts to beautifully paint with the bright colors Koralle can provide.

Standout track: “Window Thoughts” (feat. Lex Amor)

Kojey Radical - Reason to Smile (Asylum Records / Atlantic Records UK)
The bold baritone boom of confidence from this ​multidisciplinary fist-gen Brit exudes boundary-exploring energy. But his is a voice never satisfied- even after a triumphant victory.

Paying tribute to his mother's persistence as a Ghanaian immigrant, 'Reason to Smile' is a complex case in using the past to take on the future with gusto. Wide and deep organic grooves set the tone and accentuate the mood for the man who found his way as an illustrator and spoken word poet before becoming an essential UK Hip-Hop voice.

Standout track: "Reason to Smile" (feat. Tiana Major9)

Little Simz - NO THANK YOU (Forever Living Originals)
She came to grips with the lady in the mirror last year. This time, she came out faithfully swinging against the strife in society with a controlled candor. With creative partners Inflo and Cleo Soul in toe, Simz soars even higher: more brazen, yet incredibly profound.

Standout track: "Silhouette" (feat. Cleo Soul)

Pan Amsterdam & Damu the Fudgemunk - EAT (Def Pressé)
When Pan Amsterdam's musical journey took a left, he turned way left. A disciplined trumpet player and up-and-comer around the NYC Jazz club scene, the artist now known as Pan Am wanted a more freeing outlet. Voilà!

It's an insult to the chef to merely call this album clever or whimsical. Pan Am's secret sauce spontaneously generates a cool strut in anyone who experiences this full-course funk of trumpet and absurd humor. It's hard to describe, but you just walk differently...

'EAT' is filling for all appetites: lyrics-first listeners and beat-heavy heads can equally enjoy the fun and return to the table again and again to taste flourishes their palates never detected before.

Standout track: "Hungry Hippo"

Saba - Few Good Things (Pivot Gang, LLC)
Pristine like an attic preserved in amber...

The overflowing sound design and sequencing made 'Few Good Things' the most visual stimulating album of the year. It sounds like Saba methodically cleaning out his childhood home on the westside of Chicago on a sunny Sunday afternoon to pack up his youth and fully embrace a new chapter. Only stopping to reminisce over a stray photo, this is a contemplative man quietly preparing to unleash his magnum opus. If that's the case, I cannot wait to hear what this self-taught and self-made multi-talent offers us next.

Standout track: "2012" (feat. Day Wave)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Big K.R.I.T. - Digital Roses Don't Die (Multi Alumni / BMG Rights)

Deezie Brown - 5th Wheel Fairytale (5th Wheel Industries)

Da$htone - Futuristic Reminiscin' (Da$htone)

Deca - Smoking Gun (Coalmine Records)

Robert Glasper - Black Radio III (Loma Vista)

Marlowe - Marlowe 3 (Mello Music Group)

Ockham's Blazer - Ockham's Blazer (Fake Four Inc.)

Open Mike Eagle - Component System with the Auto Reverse (Auto Reverse)

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If you enjoy any of these artists, tune into my radio program - Forces Of Obvious Luck Radio - live from KRBX Radio Boise every Thursday from 9:00 - 11:00 PM MT for more powerfully positive Jazzy Hip-Hop Soul just like this.

And in case you missed it, check out my 2021 Top Ten feature.

Final note: All of my friends' albums were disqualified from consideration. Personal bias and whatnot.