64. Toro Y Moi - “Late (Feat. Kool AD & SAFE)”

Toro Y Moi is on this list a lot, because hey, he’s Toro Y moi, a deity in the pantheon of Chillwave, but this mixtape is Toro Y Moi in a whole new element, a element always hinted at but never fully embraced. And since I’ve already posted two of this tapes songs without saying anything about them, I figured it was time to sing its praises lest you get the wrong impression.

In the spirit of mixtapes this tape is pure Hip-Hop, but it’s more than that because it’s a brand of Chill-hop that’s crafted in Toro Y Moi’s image. Only rather than coming down to Earth in a blaze of glory to display himself to his faithful followers, he stands back, remaining on high speaking through the tongues of his beats, curating and producing an album using others as his mouthpiece. In fact, the man himself only actually emerges here and there, peaking through the veil of fuzz and high hats to whisper sweet godly nothings into our mortal ears, but if you listen closely enough you can feel his presence throughout, an underlying aura emanating from the jams and into your pores.

Its a mixtape that in my esteem outshines the album he dropped in 2015, because where What For? was pleasant to gaze at, shining brightly upon the ears as a gaudy and gilded cathedral, it was religion hijacked by the slick plastic of studio priests. Samantha on the other hand resonated with something deeper. It was perfect without trying to be perfect, embracing the bumps and bruises as something unique, something worthwhile and purely human in its upheaval. It was both the night of fun-laced debauchery and the pain and regret of the hangover. It was all the muddled pieces of modern humanity mashed into art, with all the electronic confusion and chill moments of clarity that made Toro Y Moi so great when he first began his reign. It was Toro Y Moi rebirthed, a new covenant, a return to the heart and soul of what made Toro Y Moi so great to begin with, but without actually repeating the past.