Fluorescent Black

During their few years together in the late '90s and early 2000s, Antipop Consortium blazed a trail for forward-thinking rap. The trio of Beans, High Priest, and M. Sayyid (plus the critical help of longtime engineer Earl Blaize) rapped plenty of abstract scientifical madness, but they also had intelligence and hardcore flow to spare (think A Tribe Called Quest plus Marvel Comics). Musically, they were influenced by electronica but they also had the hard-hitting beats necessary for survival in a heavily competitive rap world. (Not for nothing were they on Warp, one of the best places to find experimental hip-hop in the early 2000s.) Of course, it's always a grand proposition when standard-bearers return after a long absence, but no one in rap or experimental techno could have been fully prepared for Fluorescent Black, easily their best record — packed with more highlights than anything they'd released before, but also more cohesive than they'd ever been. With heavy claps on the beat but experimental effects shooting all over the mix, it's just as innovative as fans would expect. And the rapping sounds rejuvenated, with Beans particularly, as Antipop Consortium rap over the best beats they've heard in years (despite a healthy number of projects during the interim). None of this is going to sell enough records to bother Jay-Z, and a track or two veer too close to MF Doom for comfort, but Fluorescent Black is easily one of the best rap records of the year.