2014: The Summer Of Our Discontent?

Is 2014 the weakest summer yet for hip hop, if not music itself?

One discussion dominating our post-rebirth talks is how all of us here at BAMP are trying to think of songs that defined the summer…and could hardly think of any.

Several BAMP staffers weigh in on how they feel about the summer music season:

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Replay:

While I’m distressed that our hiatus went so long, I have to admit – we picked the perfect time NOT to be covering music.  I’m excited for Game’s Year Of The Wolf album – coming in fall.  But other than that, I’m not sure I can even think of a release I’m anticipating highly for the year.  The best hip hop I heard this year, maybe the best music period, came from Dag Savage back in winter.  Since then I’ve had my head in trance and techno recordings years old, looking for awesome samples and freestyle practice opportunities.  And even I’m dumbfounded;  why is 2014 so musically weak?  2013 was a contentious year, but the music was NOT terrible.  The Grammys were practically booed, but the music quality itself remained high.  But 2014?  2014 is looking like one of the weakest musical years of my lifetime.

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Jake Elman:

I think after what was a somewhat lackluster summer in 2013 (Yeezus and Born Sinner were decent, but it was a fairly disappointing output after recent years), there were big expectations for 2014. Those expectations may have partially arisen from the fat YG had released a fairly good album in March, but also because Lil’ Wayne, Slaughterhouse, and others would supposedly be dropping new albums. So much for that, because the summer came and went without any major, spectacular releases.

There were some good projects, including Chris Webby’s June mixtape ‘The Checkup’, but the summer of 2014 was pretty disappointing. Chris Brown had a hit with ‘Loyal’, but there was definitely a sense of weakness from the output this year. When you remember that only two years ago, we had DJ Khaled, 2 Chainz, Slaughterhouse, and G.O.O.D Music putting out top summer releases, it really makes you raise an eyebrow. Hopefully, next summer can be much better.

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Cesar Ortega

It has been a weak summer if I’m  telling y’all my summer song is two songs by LMAO.  It’s good we took a break.  There’s nothing to report!

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That about sums it up.  Is there ANYTHING good from this summer we’re not hearing?  Weigh in!