The Top 10 Boldy James Albums Of 2025 (So Far)
Hip-hop heads love to talk about runs, a well-worn term that defines and describes a quantifiable period in an artist's career where they were at their best. This discussion takes various if related forms: chronologically ranking chunks of Jay-Z or Ye albums on social media, spending countless hours of podcasting time on the best three-project runs for Future or MF DOOM, dedicating considerable space on forums like Reddit to determining whether De La Soul or Outkast had the highest quality full-length streak of all time.
Admittedly, it can be kinda fun to think about rap music this way, especially when online spaces have created communities–tenuous though they may be–where fans and haters alike can gather to converse about these runs. Yet the flaws grow apparent before too long. Realistically, only a relatively small quantity of rappers have had enough support and success in this fickle industry to really be considered for such exercises. As such, these conversations turn tediously repetitive and, in the now time-honored tradition of lazy engagement baiting, predictably circular to the point of being inanely cyclical.
Overrun with predictable takes as interchangeable as batteries and disposable as diapers, they contribute to our collective myopia of superficial hip-hop discourse. Though seemingly innocuous, it nonetheless exists as part of the same shallow pool of fandom-driven zealotry that yields opportunities to explore the genre's contemporary breadth to conduct generally meaningless G.O.A.T. rankings and ceaseless over-analysis of, say, Drake and Kendrick.
As a working music journo/critic who personally and professionally overindulges in what modern parents call screen time, it recently occurred to me that so much of this blather and quippery about runs dwells on rap's past, and at the expense of its rich present. I'm willing to accept that there are possibly corners of the Internet where avid listeners of prolific artists like Youngboy NBA or Curren$y gather to discuss their greatest release stretches. After all, the algorithms that determine what you or I see when we open these apps inevitably silo us from what others encounter or favor.
Even still, there's something at least mildly toxic about basking in the familiar glow of hip-hop nostalgia, something CABBAGES exists as a kind of remedy against. It is, in this spirit, that I offer up the possibility that we are currently, right now, on the verge, or perhaps even in the midst, of Boldy James' best album run.
Some would argue that such a period already passed for the 40-something year old Detroit rapper. (We call those people Alchemist fans.) Since growing in stature off the strength of 2020's The Price Of Tea In China and his concurrent association with Griselda around the Versace Tape, his discography has since become almost unwieldy. Indeed, if it wasn't for the convenient way streaming platforms catalog and track his album releases, I probably would have missed some of James' dozen-plus projects over the last five years. But having heard every single one of these start-to-finish at least once, as well as the bulk of his released features in the same time frame, it's safe to say that there are reasonable pockets where one could make a case for a noteworthy run.
Keep in mind, James has worked with a bunch of producers, including some of the best and most celebrated operating in independent/underground hip-hop today. In addition to Alchemist, with whom he goes back over two decades, he's also put out multiple records with Montreal's Nicholas Craven and Los Angeles' Real Bad Man, respectively. I'd certainly consider the run between 2021's Bo Jackson and 2022's Fair Exchange No Robbery worthy of the manner of debate I'm trying to spark with this little essay.
Tragically, a devastating car accident in early 2023 caused James great injury to both body and artistry, and demonstrably slowed the flow of new music. Once the Craven-helmed Penalty Of Leadership dropped roughly one year later, on January 12, 2024, it became clear that he wasn't about to squander his second chance. That summer, he and Conductor Williams put out Across The Tracks, a ten-track effort that wasn't officially a Griselda release but might as well have been. Then, in late November of that year, came The Bricktionary with Harry Fraud behind the boards and Michigan guests Babyface Ray and Tee Grizzley on the mic. Less than a month later, Hidden In Plain Sight with whothehelliscarlo arrived, boasting features from Conway, Styles P, and ZelooperZ. A reunion with his Indiana Jones producer RichGains, Murder During Drug Traffic emerged right at the start of the new year. Later that month, we got Permanent Ink, recorded in Detroit with Roger Goodman of Royal House.
And just yesterday (227 Day... iykyk), barely a month after his last drop, James returned with his third album of 2025, Token Of Appreciation. Mixed and apparently facilitated by Alchemist, the half-hour long project is co-headlined by Chuck Strangers of Pro Era production fame. With respect to his prior instrumental collaborators, these 11 songs include some of the dopest in his overall catalog, while further bolstering arguments for the erstwhile Beast Coast beatmaker's own ascent. (Incidentally, this marks Strangers' second album in three months, having teamed up with Milc for last December's Affordable Luxuries.)
The sickest part? We already know of at least four more Boldy James projects due this year, including one with Real Bad Man that already has an announced title (Conversational Pieces) and release date (May 2nd). As for the other three, Nicholas Craven recently promised not only a proper follow-up to Penalty Of Leadership, but also a trio album with the rapper Ransom and yet another unnamed record. It stands to reason that, by the end of 2025, there will be even more with other producers added to his catalog. Now that'll be one hell of a run.
Milc & TELEVANGEL, Things To Do In Portland When You're Dead
Ostensibly comprised of tracks that didn't appear on the PNW pair's preceding Neutral Milc Motel and The Fish That Saved Portland, the cinematically-dubbed Things To Do In Portland When You're Dead never comes off as a carelessly assembled set of loosies. After all, this is Milc and TELEVANGEL we're talking about here, two of the titular Oregonian city's downright dopest hip-hop practitioners. Having spent time last year in New York City hobnobbing with/in Jonnyshipes' inner circle, the rapper proudly expounds on effectively breaking the odd stigma of being local on "Bicoastal," which sonically spirals downwards in its final minute. He draws from that experience further for "Rich Porter" and "Shiest Bubz," each named for NYC notables and teeming with referential smirks. That said, the only guest here is Portland representative Slick Devious, who comes to "Green X Box" with alliterative rhymes.
Papo2oo4 & subjxct 5, WINNERTIME 2.0
It should be illegal for anyone from outside of the tri-state area to rap like Papo2oo4. Teamed up once again with his production go-to subjxct 5, he exhibits a genuine Garden State gravitas across the intense and, at times, esoteric WINNERTIME 2.0. His subdued and gruff tone exists on a spectrum somewhere between Lloyd Banks and Pop Smoke, yet his quietly brash approach surpasses such comparisons on cold cuts like "Mr. Kennedy" and "Mercedes & Minks." Laser focused over these enchanting and soul-flecked beats, he speaks corner store truths on the instantly intriguing "Quarter Water" and rattles off his hyperlocal bonafides on the woozy "1010 Wins." Led by a sensational news report about an averted bomb threat in Elizabeth, standout track "Parlays" swiftly betrays its funereal vibes with bar after brutal bar of cocksure boasts and deep-cut disses.
Three new tracks to snack on...
Your Grandparents, "White Flags"
Vincent Blair, "Days Gloomy (feat. Joey Batts)"
HairLine Brothers, "What They're For"