Last year, the ascension of Kendrick Lamar to the pop charts all but confirmed hip-hop as the most thrilling genre to watch. His 2017 record “DAMN.,” was not only Billboard’s number-one highest charting album of the year, but it broke several streaming records.

At one point, Kendrick held nine of the top 10 spaces on the on-demand music streaming chart. Lamar follows in the footsteps of Kanye West as a rapper who dominates both the critical and commercial spheres. Their music takes lyrical and compositional risks that rarely win over a general audience. Yet there’s something in both artists’ passion and vision that has paved the way daring hip-hop, pushing it from the record collections of music nerds into party playlists and blockbuster soundtracks. In this week’s playlist, we collect exciting hip-hop from late 2017 and early 2018 that makes for essential listening. There’s sure to be enough delicious beats and killer bars to last you until summer.

“Opps” by Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples and Yugen Blakrok

It’s doubtful that anything tops “Black Panther” as the most exciting film release of 2018. Aside from being the most politically and aesthetically ambitious Marvel film in recent memory, “Black Panther” comes with a star-studded accompaniment record helmed by King Kendrick himself. Amidst sky-scraping ballads and pavement-pounding bangers, “Opps” manages to shine as the record’s fiercest, most infectious cut. Loaded with a pounding, industrial beat, “Opps” features relentless verses that jack the record’s adrenaline even beyond the car chase it accompanies on screen. “Trapped inside a burning church, Made it out alive, God know my worth,” unleashes Kendrick on the first verse. The rest of the track lives up to the promise, functioning as incredible display of power by a man at the top of his game.

“Cartoons” by CupcakKe

Hip-hop has long stood as a male-dominated arena, but for Chicago femme-fatale rapper CupcakKe this simply grants her the element of surprise. CupcakKe is known for inverting sexual metaphors in hilarious fashion with a technical skill that destroys most of her competition on the airwaves. On her 2018 record “Ephorize,” she often uses this tactic to gut-busting success (“Duck Duck Goose”) but perhaps the album’s most exciting moment comes one track earlier. CupcakKe is a master of the simile, and on “Cartoons,” she spits a new one every second while centering on the topic of animated television shows. Over a driving, metallic beat, CupcakKe makes draws comparisons to Bugs Bunny, Waldo, Spongebob, Tom and Jerry and Smurfs. Each line lands in bizarre, hilarious ways, making “Cartoons” as delightfully entertaining as its subject matter.

“1539 N. Calvert” by Jpegmafia

Rapper, producer Jpegmafia’s 2018 record, “Veteran,” opens with an intoxicating improvement of Playboi Carti’s signature sound. The smooth, jazzy pads on the instrumental blend lusciously with the rapper’s flow, allowing him to maneuver bonkers lines with ease. The track, which proves Jpegmafia can make highly accessible hip-hop with ease, is all the more alluring due to its positioning on the record: the rest of “Veteran” is a broken wasteland of challenging experimentalism. It traffics in abrasive sampling and aggressive flows that are sure to snap to attention even the most adventurous of listeners. In such a way, “1539 N. Calvert” acts as an entrancing trapdoor, one you’ll return to again and again while teetering on the edge of musical madness.

Honorable Mentions:

“Occupied” by Rich Brian

“Roaches” by Maxo Kream

“Heirlooms & Accessories (feat. JillIsBlack)” by Skyzoo

“Ounce of It” by Secret Circle

“10,000 Hours” by Evidence