003: 2022 In Review
Everything I worked on, plus what I enjoyed reading and listening to this year.
Lists, lists lists… they’re the most annoying part of the end of the year—but as music journalists, we have to do them. So before I log off until 2023, as promised, I wanted to round up highlights from what’s been the most active and rewarding year of my journalistic career.
Let’s get into it.
Everything I Worked On
The Denzel Curry cover story: One of the most gifted rappers of my generation, Denzel Curry gave one of the most insightful, personal interviews I’ve had in my career. We spoke about his beginnings with RVIDXR KLVN, the making of Melt My Eyez See Your Future (which hit #1 vinyl on Billboard days after we met), how martial arts has been instrumental to his self development, and more. He’s also a blast to hang out with—I shadowed him for 14 hours, from attending ComicCon to going bowling at 1am, and there wasn’t a single dull moment. It was definitely my work highlight of the year. Read the HUCK Magazine cover story here, and buy a print copy here.
Building out BRICK Digital: Editorial Director Sam Butler and I sat down in the summer and made a commitment to keep the energy going while we sort out Issue 11, due Spring 2023. This was actually sparked when my interview with Tony Shhnow needed a last minute home, and from there we’ve built something we’re really proud of. In addition to publishing new interviews and archives from the print mag, we started the Record and Tape Exchange, a series where we had artists curate a playlist of the music that shaped their lives. We’re completely independent, so I worked on a lot of the content this year, but we did have guest contributors (something I want more of in 2023) like Greg Gaffney who did a two-for-one on Surf Gang, found here and here.
Here’s everything I worked on for the blog:
Yung Mal: Homecoming - A heartfelt interview. Being able to give Mal a voice in his first interview since getting out of jail in January reminded me why I do the work in the first place.
Highway: On His Own Terms - Highway’s the next best artist to come out of Seattle. A true talent and a pleasure to speak with.
Tony Shhnow: Atlanta Bravery - Tony was my top artist on Spotify Wrapped, and rightfully so—he’s probably the most talented guy to come out of Atlanta’s underground since KEY!
Record & Tape Exchange 005: Deem Spencer
Record & Tape Exchange 003: bLAck pARty
Record & Tape Exchange 002: Van Buren Records
Record & Tape Exchange 001: ZelooperZ
To conclude this section, I want to give a special shoutout to RCA’s Genesis Garcia (friend) and Sam Hadelman (friend and sometimes enemy) of Dark PR—you guys are the biggest reasons why the BRICK blog had access to such a great roster of artists.
Contributing to a book for the first time: World-renowned Belgian photographer Stig de Block (friend of the magazine) reached out to me to work on the texts for his photography book BACK TO BACK: FROM BACKYARD TO BOULEVARD, which documents the lowrider scene in Los Angeles. I couldn’t be more grateful—his project really pushed me out of my comfort zone, and gave me the opportunity to do something different with my journalism. Support Stig by buying a copy here.
Twelve Rap Projects That Stood Out
The one word I would use to characterize 2022 in music is burnout: There’s a lot of music I simply wasn’t able to get to. With that consideration, this roundup is purely based on what I enjoyed listening to this year, and is in no particular order.
My 2022 Top 12
Reflexions by Tony Shhnow
Highway by Highway
Anyways, Life’s Great… by GloRilla
Melt My Eyez See Your Future by Denzel Curry
TRACKBURNERS VOL 1 by Khris P
FACE by Babyface Ray
MUTHALEFIC3NT by bbymutha
2 SLIZZY 2 SEXY by Cash Cobain and Chow Lee
Mama’s Man EP by KEY!
PRE5L by Key Glock
AT LEAST WE TRIED by Surf Gang
BEAR1BOSS by BEAR1BOSS
Two late-2021 releases that count towards this year (in my book):
4NEM by Chief Keef
Keep it Playa by Saucy Santana
And two super late-2022 releases, worth your consideration:
VACABULAREE by Valee
TEENRAVE by Matt Ox
Ten Stories Worth Reading This Year
Finals, Passion of the Weiss, and No Bells continue to be my favorite blogs, first and foremost. But this year was packed with great music journalism across the board, and it was hard to narrow things down. These are the most memorable things I read this year, in no particular order (and this list is by no means exhaustive!):
The Voice of New York Is Drill, Vulture
Welcome to the Next Generation of Club Rap by Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork
Smino’s Family Bonds Run Deep by Tirhakah Love, Vulture
Stizz, Shhnow, pizza and the pursuit of happiness by Abe Beam, No Bells
Touraj Shabankhani Was the Iranian Poet of Heartbreak by Jimmy Trash, Bandcamp Daily
Hip-Hop Didn’t Kill Takeoff by Tayln Washington-Harmon, Refinery29
Ethel Cain: Portrait of a Lady on Fire by Michelle Kim, CRACK
Babyface Ray Meets Babyface by Grant Rinder, Interview Magazine
Sylvester Made Us Feel Mighty Real by Clarissa Brooks, Vinyl Me, Please
A Letter to Drakeo by Rosecrans Vic, Passion of the Weiss
And the 10th, which isn’t music related but arguably my favorite 2022 read:
It’s Time to Admit Seattle is a Style Capital by Andrew Matson, Esquire
With BRICK 11 on the horizon, I think 2023 will be a good one. See you there!
Good stuff, Atoosa! Looking forward to more in ‘23.