“What are your favorite overlooked Chicago hip-hop releases of 2015?” I posted that to Twitter as I listened through my own choices for the year, and the wide range of responses I got reminded me that my question isn’t as simple as it seems. Some folks named projects I’d considered well-loved and thoroughly covered, among them Sicko Mobb’s first mixtape of the year, Super Saiyan Vol. 2, which earned praise from Pitchfork. In the Reader, Gossip Wolf covered Super Saiyan Vol. 2 when it dropped in April, and I previewed Sicko Mobb’s Subterranean performance in May.
Shorty K, Staks Fifth Avenue 2
Shorty K, leader of Jefe Cartel and a member of Sir Michael Rocks’s Toothpick Clique, dropped the first Staks Fifth Avenue mixtape in 2012, but its sequel didn’t come out till March. He displays his versatility throughout Staks Fifth Avenue 2, taking on a coiled-spring flow on the sweltering “Dont Make Me” and a sensual purr on “Exotic Interlude.” Shorty K reprises that tune as “Exotic” on October’s Staks Fifth Avenue 3, which is also worth a spin.
Leor Galil writes about hip-hop every Wednesday.
