Lost, the leader of 5Sang14, dropped the best and biggest album of his career with Heritage, released at the end of April.
Showing a maturity from the intensity of his personal and professional experiences of recent years, Lost combines an abrasive and bouncy trap formula with lyrics loaded with lived experience, even making a detour through Afrobeats and R&B. A critical and commercial success, it's got longevity, quality writing, and unstoppable hits. The rapper ticks all the boxes to aspire to, and with it claims the title of best rapper of the moment, along with the best Quebec rap album of the year. After a sold out show at MTelus for this year's Francos, the throne is currently his.
Elbow to elbow with Lost, here are a few other exceptional artists that made noise on the Quebec rap scene in the first six months of 2023.
Planet Giza, Ready When You Are
Right now, the trio continues to check off items on their bucket list. Invited to the legendary show Sway In The Morning, Planet Giza are beginning to hit the lofty goals they set for themselves. All thanks to a quality album released to great fanfare that merges R&B and rap in a refreshing way. The project's intricate sequencing and arrangements make it a strong contender for album of the year.
LaF, Chrome
Throughout Chrome, the dynamic and poetic melodies of the group's rappers are superimposed on the progressive musical productions of the beatmakers in a result that is denser and more nuanced than usual. The members of LaF swap their colourful universe for aerial sounds driven by the genius of beatmaking Bjmn.lloyd.
Skiifall, Woiiyoie Vol. 2—Intense City
With his latest in the Woiiyoie Tapes series, the rapper from Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce offers a short but complete follow-up to Vol. 1. Follower of the less is more philosophy, Skiifall had made himself rare on social networks, only coming out of his cave to publish singles or announce collaborations with brands. But after being quiet for a while, he's come back in top form, betting on his usual reggae-dancehall influences infused with pop.
GENERICTM & Seinssucrer, Doute raisonnable
With an extremely productive year 2022, your favourite Quebec rapper's favourite Quebec rapper wanted to slow down for this first half of the year. For Doute Raisonnable, the reins of the project were entrusted to GENERICTM, known for his work as a DJ within the group Andromaïk, active in Quebec at the end of the 1990s. Acting as the sole beatmaker and producer of the album, he creates a universe that is both soulful and textured, infusing a strangely artisanal dimension to what is one of the best-executed projects of Seinsucrer's career. The crackle of the vinyls are left intact and the black and white visual aesthetic of the cover also help to establish the idea of an already timeless work.
Mike Shabb & Nicholas Craven, Shadow Moses
After having teased an LP for several months, the two artists finally came out with an EP of their best songs recorded so far. For the occasion, Mike Shabb has selected the “crème de la crème” of their recorded collaborations. Balancing the gloomy, enigmatic vibe of the songs with lighter interludes, Montreal's two hottest hip-hop artists deliver an EP short enough to encourage replay value.
