I meant to respond to this earlier but forgot
apologies
I guess maybe it being very "traditional" hip-hop has something to do with it... I have an affinity for albums and artists that try new things or experiment around with different sounds, and most of my favorite albums have a variety of sounds going on throughout their runtime. This extends to hip-hop albums I would consider for inclusion in my all-time favorites. For example, Danny Brown's
Atrocity Exhibition is just as impressive from a production standpoint as it is for Danny's performances and writing, the demented and experimental sounds make an amazing off-kilter pairing with Danny's unique and frenzied delivery to make a truly singular experience; it's not just that the beats are great and unorthodox, but that they help put you in the mindset of what Danny is trying to portray throughout the album. Another favorite of mine is Denzel Curry's
TA13OO, and how the production shifts from soft and melodic at the beginning to gradually become more agressive and dark as the album progresses. It provides an engaging experience, like the deeper you go into the album, the more unrelenting it gets.
I think it's clear that as a listener I tend to prioritize how the music sounds above most other factors. I admit to not being great at parsing lyrics, especially on first listen, which is where artists like those in Griselda shine. I just don't necessarily find myself engaged by hip-hop that emphasizes lyrics with the production often just feeling very static. I guess you could say that's a shallow side of my music tastes, that I'm guilty of falling for style over substance a lot of the time.
For all that rambling though, I finally got around to listening to the entirety of The Koreatown Oddity's
Little Dominiques Nosebleed earlier and it has a good chance of popping up on my year-end list. It's got a lot of what I like in a hip-hop record; a rapper with an engaging enough personality to keep you tuned in the whole runtime, interesting production that doesn't get repetitive and a willingness to experiment with song structures and unusual sounds. I don't get all of these things from a lot of hip-hop projects, which makes hip-hop records that totally click with me feel even more special. Maybe it's high standards or maybe I'm just a basic bitch who doesn't know good hip-hop when she hears it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ who can know these things?