Dreamville vs. TDE: Who Won 2022?

Hip-hop has been a competitive sport since its origin. MCs have always been competing for who can write the most clever bar or who can tell the most intricate story. This competition has had its benefits as it has pushed artists to continue to evolve and move the genre forward. Its competitive nature has also had some negative impact such as the violence that ensued following the East Coast West Coast beef of the 90s where we saw two legendary figures lose their lives due to senseless brutality. In the early 2000s we even saw two artists from the same city get into it when Jay-Z and Nas exchanged famous diss records which resulted in Jay-Z’s mother telling him to apologize after saying he went too far.

Record labels have always been a major contributing force towards the competitive nature of rap. In the 90s there was Bad Boy Records vs. Death Row Records. In the 2000s you had Aftermath Records, Cash Money Records, Roc-A-Fella Records, and No Limit Records to name a few. Although today there are a plethora of well-known labels such as Quality Control in Atlanta, Kanye West’s GOOD Music, and DJ Drama’s Generation Now, there are two that most fans would agree stand out amongst the rest: Dreamville and Top Dawg Entertainment.

Both record labels have had an incredible 2022. Dreamville was founded by J. Cole and his close friend and partner Ibrahim Hamad in 2007. TDE was founded in 2004 by Anthony Tiffith, better known as Punch. Both labels are comprised of extremely talented artists from across the United States who are considered to be at the top of the rap game as they consistently put out top tier music. In this article we will dive into what each record label was able to accomplish in 2022, thus helping us determine who was the true winner of one of the best years in rap’s memory.

Who From Dreamville Dropped?

Although the big man didn’t drop this year (Jermaine Cole), this was a huge year for Dreamville. For this article we are only considering full-length projects and EPs. No singles or features. Although obviously Cole has continued his historic feature run.

J.I.D – The Forever Story

J. Cole said on J.I.D’s 2018 project that “J.I.D’s the closest thing to me.” He was right. J.I.D returns from his four year hiatus with personally one of my favorite projects of the year. J.I.D used the almost one hour runtime to really touch in with his roots, no pun intended (his last name is Route). This album features extreme vocal range, intricate storytelling, and the out of this world wordplay that can always be expected on every release from J.I.D at this point. Standouts for me were “Raydar,” “Just In Time,” and “Bruddanem.”

EARTHGANG – Ghetto Gods

There truly is no one in the rap game like EARTHGANG. The Atlanta duo followed up their critically acclaimed 2019 project Mirrorland with another extremely creative and immersive project. Group member Johnny Venus comes in with his usual wide range of singing vocals and I truly love the writing style of Doctur Dot. The men discuss mental health in the black community at length, a sentiment that can often be an oversight.

Dreamville – D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape

There is truly nothing better than when your favorite artist announces a surprise release. It’s even better when a full record label of talented artists does it, on top of having the famous DJ Drama host the mixtape. The followup to 2019’s Revenge of the Dreamers III is another showcasing of peak skill from the collective. Although the mixtape does not follow a specific narrative, which can be expected from a mixtape, this album featured some amazing cuts. My favorites were “Stick,” “Starting 5,” and “Barry From Simpson.”

Ari Lennox – age/sex/location

The first lady of Dreamville made a major statement in 2022 with an EP (which will be discussed below) and the amazing album pictured above. Ari is always full of soul, and her talents are on full display throughout this terrific tape. “POF” could be the best album intro of 2022. Just an incredible way to start the album. Amazing singles like “Hoodie” and “Pressure” were incredible tastes of what would come on this album. The features absolutely deliver and Ari’s chemistry with Lucky Daye on “Boy Bye” is just chefs kiss perfect.

Bas – [BUMP] Pick Me Up EP

I need Bas to drop the album. I NEED IT! This short EP has held me over in the meantime, though. “The Jackie” was a great summer anthem, and J. Cole and Lil Tjay absolutely deliver. I loved Bas and Ari Lennox’s chemistry on “The Others,” which became one of my favorite songs of the year. This EP was just 12 minutes, but Bas did his thing in the short period of time we had.

Ari Lennox – Away Message

This was just a little treat before we got the full Ari Lennox album. This was a great EP from Ari and gave us a little taste of what we would be getting just a few weeks later after this release. I really liked “Gummy” and “Bitter.”

Who From TDE Dropped?

On the other hand, the big man at TDE decided to finally drop after his five year hiatus. His final album on TDE. TDE also boosted its roster with the addition of Long Beach’s Ray Vaughn and Florida’s Doechii. Once again, we are only considering full-length projects and EPs. No singles or features.

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers

The top dawg (pun sadly intended this time) finally returned after his long five year hiatus with his final album on TDE. They truly take their sweet time over there on the West Coast. This was a great album, but it was definitely my least favorite Kendrick project. When you release so many amazing genre-bending albums, it can be hard to live up to fans expectations. Especially when you take as long as Kendrick did with this project. Although this album did not have the replay value of other K. Dot projects, I really loved “Count Me Out,” “Silent Hill,” and “Father Time.” This was an extremely personal and telling album from Kendrick, and another great one to add in his discography,

SZA – S.O.S

The first lady of TDE finally returned after her own five year hiatus with 23 tracks on her long awaited followup to one of the best albums of the entire 2010s, Ctrl. SZA experiments with a number of genres on this project, including a rap song (“Smoking on my Ex Pack”) and a punk rock song (“F2F”). I love SZA’s songwriting throughout this album. She is always honest and true to herself. I love tracks like “SOS,” “Kill Bill,” and “T Shirt,” but I could go on for days about the amazing songs on this project. It is hard for an album to live up to expectations after such a long break between projects, but SZA isn’t just any artist.

Ab-Soul – Herbert

Another TDE artist, another long hiatus. That being said, boy do they make these hiatuses worth it. I thought this was such an incredible and honest album from the top-tier lyricist. Songs like “Do Better” and “Gotta Rap” are just beautiful and emotional and will send shivers down your spine. The album also features bangers that should be on everyones playlists like “FOMF.” The features all deliver. I especially enjoyed Big Sean’s criticism of continued discussions of violence in rap music. Fellow TDE members Lance Skiiiwalker, Punch, SiR, and Zacari also all shine on the album. This may not make many end of the year lists due to how late in the year it was released, but I thought this was terrific.

Doechii – she/her/black bitch EP

The newest member of TDE is another incredible and highly creative artist with such an original flare to her music. I know I said I wasn’t including singles, but I have to mention Doechii’s latest single “Stressed” which she performed on the COLORS show on Youtube. That is in my top ten songs of 2022. This EP right here is short, but it is a great taste of what we may be getting from her first full-length album on TDE. The beats are booming on this one and Doechii’s personality shines bright. “Persuasive” featuring label mate SZA sounds like a hit song that should be blaring out on all pop radio stations. It is such a hypnotic bop.

So, Who Won 2022?

The cute answer: we all did! Yay!

The real answer is a hard one to decide. Especially when the head honcho of Dreamville didn’t drop. There was not a single bad project released by either label this year, but the winner has to go to TDE. Their ability to wait five plus years for three of these projects and deliver under the largest microscope is truly admirable. Although I didn’t love MM&TBS, I can’t deny its vulnerability and beauty. SZA took her time and immediately cemented herself back as the top singer in R&B. Ab-Soul reminded us why he is one of the best lyricists to ever hold a mic. I also truly think they have a future star in Doechii.

That being said, Dreamville did their thing. More labels should be doing collaboration albums like Dreamville. They have made the blueprint on how to create a dedicated fanbase not just around a certain artist, but an entire collective. Now artists such as Smino, Saba, Kenny Mason, and Buddy are thought of as Dreamville-styled artists. J.I.D is at the top of the rap game and will only become greater with future releases. Ari Lennox is the queen of modern soul music. EARTHGANG can always be expected to release the most creative and fun album, and that Bas album is going to wake the industry up once it finally drops.