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16. Death Grips – No Love Deep Web

You probably know the story behind this, Death Grips’ 2nd album of 2012. They were the most abrasive, unapproachable band signed to a major label. After releasing The Money Store through Epic earlier in the year, they cancelled their tour to work on this album. Epic didn’t want to release it in 2012. So what did Death Grips do? They leaked the album themselves, for free. They actively fought to get dropped from their major label, a label they were extremely luck to get signed with in the first place given that their complex electronic vaguely hip-hop noisy brand of sonic assault is not at all radio material. No Love Deep Web is not as tight or catchy as The Money Store, but it’s also far darker than 2011’s ExMilitary. This album is dripping with pure menace. MC Ride raps so ferociously on opening track “Come Up and Get Me” that he loses his voice but still keeps going. “Artificial Death in the West” slows things down, sounding like a walk through the Vegas strip on codeine. The paranoia and disappointment in this album is palpable. My favorite track is “No Love,” which sounds like you are alone and defenseless and a pack of deranged people are stalking you down to torture and kill you. That’s the kind of intense reaction I had to that track, and it’s these kinds of unique emotional reactions that Death Grips does so, so well.