Kendrick Lamar finally made a return in 2022 and overall it was a very strong year for California hip hop. The year was bittersweet however, as it started off with the absence of Drakeo The Ruler and later in the year we lost Young Slo-Be, just over a month after he dropped one our favorite albums of the year, Southeast. Below you will find our year end awards and a playlist celebrating our favorite tracks of the year.

1 Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

2 J. Stone – The Definition of Sacrifice

3 Young Slo-Be – Southeast

4 DaBoii – Can’t Tame Us

5 Berner – From Seed To Sale

Despite not dropping an album in six years, Kendrick Lamar proved once again who’s king with Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

Hit Boy has been having a good run for years now and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. In 2022 he dropped the third installment of King’s Disease with Nas, Hitgirl with Dreezy and our personal favorite, Bulletproof Soul with Pacman da Gunman. He also contributed quite a bit to The Game’s Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind and made 33 exclusive beats for Madden 23.

YG’s protégé proved that he can indeed hold his own. While he had some big features on his EP, In My Projects, his best efforts on there were done without them.