Misc Lists 2024

brain dump of favorite video games, french rappers, rap videos, 03 Greedo songs, things I tried and failed to get into, and the worst written best performances in film.

Okay, I swear I’m moving on from last year after this post. Just wanted a place to dump some random lists I’d been toying with over the year.

Favorite Video Games (first playthrough!):

1. Death Stranding (Director’s Cut) (2019)

2. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (2024)

3. Dragon’s Dogma II (2024)

4. Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) + Phantom Liberty (2023)

5. Firewatch (2016)

Worst Written Best Performances:

1. Demi Moore in The Substance

2. Javier Bardem in Dune 2

3. Lady Gaga in Joker 2

4. Felicity Jones in The Brutalist

5. Florence Pugh in We Live in Time

Favorite French Rappers:

1. Sherifflazone

2. Keeqaid

3. 63OG

Favorite Rap Videos (not ranked!):

1. OsamaSon - “Flxr”

2. LAZER DIM 700 - “Awsum” & “sabatahj” & “Tony dim”

3. Mo Bangaz - “Too Much”

4. Playboi Carti - “2024” & “H00DBYAIR”

5. og.recc- “FUH DAT HO3”

6. Doechii - “Nissan Altima”

7. YT - “Black & Tan (ft. Lancey Foux)”

8. xaviersobased - “softer (cranes)” & “90 Down The Block”

9. Fimiguerrero - “MVP (ft. YT)” & “Ménage À Trois (ft. Sherifflazone)

10. Fimiguerrero & Len - “Excuse My French”

11. Lancey Foux & Fimiguerrero - “Spanish Guitar”

12. Fimiguerrero, Lancey Foux & Len - “Osbatt”

13. 2sdxrt3all - “Ion Gang Bang” & “Mad Rich”

14. Baby Osamaa - “WTF My Heart” & “Pacer Test” & “Why yall call me chunk freestyle ?”

15. 454 - “CIRQUE DU SOLEIL”

16. El Cousteau - “Words2LiveBy (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)”

17. MIKE - “Pieces of a Dream” & “You’re the Only One Watching”

18. zayALLCAPS - “Boy (V)” & “Picklez3”

19. Rio Da Yung OG - “RIO FREE”

20. Rema - “OZEBA”

Favorite 03 Greedo Songs (unranked):

1. “Still Feel Loaded”

2. “Kill Me”

3. “Bless Your Soul”

4. “Good Timing (feat. Skrilla & GrindHard E)”

5. “Lil Drummer (feat. Domingo & MangoFoo)”

6. “Keep Swervin (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)”

7. “Exotic Everything (feat. DoeBoy)”

8. “My Gun (feat. Peezy & Louie Ray)”

9. “Just Kicced In”

10. “PROCEED TO THE ROUTE” (2023)

11. “GLOCC INNA BOOTH” (2023)

12. “REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME” (2023)

13. “ONLY COME OUT IN THA NIGHTTIME” (2023)

14. “Ones”

15. “My Trunk”

16. “Tennis Chains (feat. Rizzo Rizzo)”

17. “Shhh”

18. “Dead To Me”

19. “Missionary (feat. ALLBLACK)”

20. “SkyScrapers”

21. “Nasty Shit”

22. “Ghosted”

23. “Long Live The Ruler” (2023)

24. “Still in Shocc”

25. “R.I.C.O. (feat. Maxo Kream)”

26. “Recess” (2023)

27. “Met You In Traffic pt. 2 (feat. Roy Woods & Wallie The Sensei)”

28. “2 player (feat. Guapo)”

29. “Exorcist”

30. “Maybach SUV”

31. “Leave Some Room For Peezy”

32. “Fine China”

33. “Big Worm & White Lies”

34. “NOVANCLEEF”

35. “END OF THE WORLD (AHHHH)”

36. “COMPANY”

37. “COLD & EMPTY”

38. “FEDS GOT A PLAN”

39. “HELICOPTERS (FEAT. BABYFXCE E)”

40. “RUN YA NUMBERS UP”

Features:

1. Nef The Pharaoh - “Hot Boyz (feat. 03 Greedo, Wallie The Sensei & ShooterGang Kony)”

2. Mach-Hommy - “#RICHAXXHAITIAN (feat. KAYTRANADA & 03 Greedo)”

3. Z Money - “PLEASE BELIEVE ME (feat. 03 Greedo)”

4. Ralfy The Plug - “Nervous Music (feat. 03 Greedo & Desto Dubb)”

5. Shordie Shordie - “Ride With You (feat. 03 Greedo)”

6. X4 - “Big Dog Status (feat. 03 Greedo)”

7. Wallie The Sensei - “TRENCHES (feat. 03 Greedo & Kee Riche$)”

8. ZayBang - “Loose Leaf (feat. 03 Greedo)”

TRY AND FAIL (2024):

As an unironic card-holding member of the “love everything brigade,” I don’t really care about demarcating “good” and “bad” art. Some art can be dangerous and we should be vigilant about platforming such works, but outside of that I basically support everyone in the world finding ways to authentically express themselves. And in developing my own tastes, I think it’s important to share what you like and don’t like with others, to interrogate what moves you, or doesn’t, and why. These are a few of the things I tried to get into last year but ultimately couldn’t connect with:

1. Ayra Starr - The Year I Turned 21

   1. I remember liking the debut, but found this to be boring as hell.

2. che - Sayso Says

   1. Maximalism infused with ironic detachment instead of any semblance of sincerity. Feels like the worst of early ‘00s Warped Tour aesthetic, which, to be fair, I was very much heavily invested in when I was 14. I really like some of the earlier stuff I’ve heard from this kid but this turn is not for me.

3. Yhapojj - Happy 21st Birthday Yhap! & P.S. Fuck You

   1. Kid’s got some shit I like but neither of these projects are distinctive or charming or interesting in any way.

4. Blu & Exile - Love (the) Ominous World

   1. It was beautiful to see Blu flood the market last year—and there was plenty I did like—I just think my expectations were too high for this one? Need to run it back.

5. Bear1Boss

   1. I keep trying to get into this kid every few years and I just don’t vibe with it. Feels so forced and disjointed. But I’ve recently been recommended a few older tapes and songs I’d never heard, so I will give them yet another shot in 2025.

6. Baby Kia (2sdxrt3all grew on me)

   1. It’s not that Kia isn’t technically proficient. The possessed way in which he raps is actually mad impressive. It’s just too one-note for me. As I eluded to in the parenthetical, 2sdxrt3all almost made this list as well, but the deeper I dug into his work the more versatility I found, and it helped place the more off-putting stuff in new context. The same can’t be said for Baby Kia just yet.

7. Mavi

   1. I don’t know man, I don’t really find Mavi’s stuff as compelling as others seem to. Feels like a contrived version of what his peers are doing. The pen doesn’t move me.

8. Nettspend

   1. Album is over manufactured empty nonsense. Not bratty enough, not experimental enough, sounds like someone pulling him by the strings to say the exact right thing.

9. Cash Cobain

   1. Hard as a producer though, can’t deny that.

10. Both Yeat albums

    1. No compelling narrative—his biggest source of pathos is other people faking views and streams, as if we’re to believe everything about his carefully curated non-persona is supposed to organic and homegrown. Also, every great rapper gotta have at least one notable verse I can’t think of a single memorable Yeat verse (and I’m a fan!). He doesn’t have good verses—as in, like, bars or rhymes—it’s always been, like, fill-in-the-blank mad-lib type shit, recycling his idols. But he was at least catching interesting pockets and saying shit in a cool way sometimes. Now, he just drowns that shit out with this bombastic production, out of insecurity or lack of confidence or misguided Travis Scott influence idk. When he raps shit like the “big ol’ body” line back on “Outsidë,” or the “salad/carat” rhyme on “THEY TELL MË,” it just feels like AI/cosplay to me. Maybe he got scared off with the reactions to his instrumental experimentation on the 2022 shit. Because now he just refuses to do anything but gesture at the same sort of vague maximalist world building as Travis Scott (ironically, the last person someone like him, who openly idolizes Future and Thug, probably wants to be compared to). His best songs see him at least pushing his delivery and writing tighter and catchier songs, but even they feel identity-less. For some reason though, I loved “Breathe”—I think it scratched the same itch as that viral Russian edm parody.

11. Tyler, The Creator - Chromakopia

    1. Beautiful ass compositions only to scream or (whisper artistically) about absolutely nothing. I still thinking his storytelling raps are better than the rest of his shtick, especially since he refuses to update the rest of his bag.

12. Lil Uzi Ver - Eternal Atake 2

    1. Who is this shit for?

13. Len

    1. He earned some stripes on Conglomerate but the solo stuff just didn’t hit for me (conversely, Fimi is fine on the collab tape but I loved New World Order).

14. Tana - BANA

    1. Empty aping of better work. Nine Vicious is giving me very similar vibes this year.

-sincerely cng