| Year of the Snitch | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 22, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 2017–2018 | |||
| Studio | Sunset Sound Recorders [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 37:13 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Producer | Zach Hill, Andy Morin (co) | |||
| Death Grips chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Death Grips studio album chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Year of the Snitch | ||||
| ||||
Year of the Snitch is the sixth studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips,released on June 22,2018,through Third Worlds and Harvest Records.
With the release of Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) ,Death Grips announced they were "working on the new Death Grips album". [4] The band shared via social media that they had been working on the album with new collaborators,including Australian experimental musician Lucas Abela,New Zealand film director Andrew Adamson,and Justin Chancellor,bassist for the progressive rock band Tool. [5] [6] [7]
The band posted a black and white image of text reading "Year of the Snitch - new album coming soon..." on their official webpage on March 22,2018. Death Grips shared the album artwork for Year of the Snitch on April 6,2018. [8] [9] The band's imprint label Third Worlds' website was also updated with this information. [10] [11] [12]
The tracklist for the album was released on April 11,through a video posted to social media and the band's YouTube channel. The video consisted of the track names being sent via SMS to the user of an iPhone through a screen recorder,while short videos played in the foreground. Accompanying the differing ringtones,screamed vocals of the band's frontman MC Ride can be heard,coming from the album's last track,"Disappointed". [13]
Death Grips uploaded a music video for the track "Streaky" on their YouTube channel on May 5,2018,as the album's first single, [14] followed by the track "Black Paint" on May 15, [15] and the music video for the third album single,"Flies",on May 22. [16]
The band posted a short video to Instagram on May 23,featuring DJ Swamp performing on a turntable in a recording studio,with the caption stating that "the majority of Year of the Snitch features [him]". [17]
The fourth single,"Hahaha",was uploaded by the band to their YouTube page on June 7. [18] That same day,the album's release date was announced as June 22. [19] A music video for the track "Dilemma" featuring Andrew Adamson was uploaded on the Death Grips YouTube channel on June 15. [20] A fifth single,"Shitshow",was uploaded to YouTube two days later. [21] Three days later,on June 20,the official video for "Shitshow" was released. It was directed by Zach Hill and Galen Pehrson.
The band has been notorious for their invocation of infamous cult-leader Charles Manson,stemming from their sampling of his voice in their debut mixtape "Exmilitary". Prior to the album's release,the title "Year of the Snitch" was speculated to be a reference to the 69th birthday of Manson Family member-turned-key witness Linda Kasabian. [22] This theory is supported by the album's release date on June 22,one day after Kasabian's birthday,as well as the fourth track "Linda's in Custody",which seems to allude to her role in the Tate-LeBianca murders.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.3/10 [23] |
| Metacritic | 69/100 [24] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [25] |
| Highsnobiety | 4.0/5 [26] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 8/10 [27] |
| MusicOMH | [28] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10 [29] |
| PopMatters | 7/10 [30] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
Year of the Snitch received generally favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic,which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications,the album received an average score of 69 out of 100,based on 8 reviews. [24] In his review for AllMusic,Rob Wacey claimed that "Not one of their releases is the same as another,and with Year of the Snitch,they continue to break boundaries and expectations. The record is another example of true experimentation with their sound along with an uncompromising work ethic and a thirst for originality." [25] Writing for The Line of Best Fit ,Steven Loftin called the band "one of the more exciting bands currently active" and described the album as "pushing every boundary around them". [27] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork called the album "explosive" and "fun as hell",but "lacking in a clear target to give it meaning". [29]
Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone named the song "Black Paint" as his 2018 pick for the magazine's "song of the summer" series. [31]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Death Grips Is Online" |
| 3:32 |
| 2. | "Flies" |
| 2:33 |
| 3. | "Black Paint" |
| 3:49 |
| 4. | "Linda's in Custody" |
| 3:30 |
| 5. | "The Horn Section" |
| 1:32 |
| 6. | "Hahaha" |
| 3:35 |
| 7. | "Shitshow" |
| 1:45 |
| 8. | "Streaky" |
| 2:56 |
| 9. | "Dilemma" |
| 3:54 |
| 10. | "Little Richard" |
| 2:25 |
| 11. | "The Fear" |
| 3:21 |
| 12. | "Outro" |
| 1:02 |
| 13. | "Disappointed" |
| 3:21 |
| Total length: | 37:15 | ||
Notes
Additional personnel
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 [34] | 97 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [35] | 10 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [36] | 16 |
Justice is a French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. They are known for incorporating a strong rock influence into their music and image.
White Denim is an American four-piece rock band from Austin, Texas, United States. Their music is influenced by dub, psychedelic rock, blues, punk rock, progressive rock, soul, jazz, experimental rock with home-based recording, jamming approach, intense looping work and unusual song structures.
Surfer Blood is an American indie rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, currently signed to Kanine Records, formerly signed to Joyful Noise Recordings and Warner Bros. Records. The band currently consists of four members: John Paul Pitts, Tyler Schwarz (drums), Mike McCleary, and Lindsey Mills.
After the Burial is an American progressive metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are currently signed to Sumerian Records and have released five of their six full-length albums through the label. Since their inception in 2004, the band has gone through two vocalist changes, two drummer changes, the departure and death of founding rhythm guitarist Justin Lowe, and the departure of bassist Lerichard Foral. Lead guitarist Trent Hafdahl remains the sole remaining founding member. They are considered key contributors to the development of subgenres such as djent and progressive metalcore.
Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of producers Zach Hill (drums) and Andy Morin (keyboards), and vocalist Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride. Though he is not the group's frontman, Hill has been credited with being the driving creative force behind the project. Drawing from punk rock, electronic, noise, and industrial styles, the band's innovative and often difficult-to-categorize sound has earned critical acclaim and a cult following, while their aggressive performance style and cryptic interactions with their fans and the media have gained widespread notoriety.
The Money Store is the debut studio album by American experimental hip hop trio Death Grips. It is the follow-up to their debut mixtape, Exmilitary. The album was officially released on April 24, 2012, but had been leaked to YouTube on April 14, sold by the band at Coachella on cassette on April 20, and made available on vinyl on April 21 to celebrate Record Store Day. The Money Store was announced alongside the group's second album, No Love Deep Web, which was released later in the year.
Stefan Corbin Burnett, better known by his stage name MC Ride or simply Ride, is an American rapper, songwriter, poet, and visual artist. He is the vocalist of experimental hip hop group Death Grips.
"You (Ha Ha Ha)" is a song by British singer Charli XCX taken from her major label debut studio album, True Romance (2013). It was released as the album's 4th single in February 2013, along with several remixes. A music video for the song was released on YouTube on 10 January 2013.
"Came Back Haunted" is a single by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, from their eighth studio album, Hesitation Marks. It was the band's first single after signing with Columbia Records.
Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album as a free download in 2013 and have since released the follow-up albums Run the Jewels 2 (2014), Run the Jewels 3 (2016), and RTJ4 (2020), all of which have been released for free and received critical acclaim.
Government Plates is the third studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It was released for free download on November 13, 2013. It was also uploaded by the band to multiple file sharing sites, and music videos for every song were uploaded to the band's YouTube page. On January 14, 2014, Government Plates was made available for purchase through iTunes. The album has sold 13,000 copies as of March 2015.
San Fermin is an American indie rock collective, led by Brooklyn-based composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone. Known for combining indie rock, pop, and classical influences into lush compositions, they released their self-titled debut album on Downtown Records in 2013. This was followed by the records Jackrabbit and Belong in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Their fourth album, a double album titled The Cormorant I & II, was released in full in March 2020.
The Powers That B is the fourth studio album, and first double album, by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. The album's first disc, Niggas on the Moon, was released as a free digital download on June 8, 2014. The first disc's instrumentation was performed entirely on a Roland V-Drum kit by drummer Zach Hill and features chopped vocal samples of Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk on every track. The second half, Jenny Death, leaked online on March 19, 2015. It features Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos, and Zach's former Legs on Earth band mate, Julian Imsdahl, on guitar and organ respectively. The double album as a whole was officially released via Harvest Records on March 31, 2015.
American band Death Grips has released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four extended plays (EPs), one mixtape, six non-album singles, 16 album singles, three remixes, one guest appearance and 47 music videos. The band was formed by MC Ride, Zach Hill, and Andy Morin in Sacramento, California, during the winter of 2010.
Bottomless Pit is the fifth studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips, released on May 6, 2016, through Third Worlds and Harvest Records.
The I.L.Y's are an American experimental rock duo from Sacramento, California. They were formed in 2015 as a side project by Death Grips members Zach Hill and Andy Morin. They have released two digital albums through Death Grips' Third Worlds label – I've Always Been Good at True Love in 2015 and Scum with Boundaries in 2016, both of which were released without any prior publicity. The I.L.Y's have never performed live other than as a part of Death Grips. They are currently signed with Castle Face Records, under which they have released their third studio album Bodyguard in 2017.
Crack-Up is the third studio album by American band Fleet Foxes, released on June 16, 2017, by Nonesuch Records. Loosely inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald's essay collection of the same name, it is the follow-up to their 2011 album Helplessness Blues, following the band's three-year hiatus from 2013 to 2016. It is also the band's first release on the Nonesuch label after departing Sub Pop.
Bodyguard is the third studio album by American rock duo The I.L.Y's. The album was released by Castle Face Records on May 16, 2017. It was the band's first album to be released on Castle Face, after two self-released albums, and their first to be pressed on CD and vinyl.
Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) is the third EP by the American experimental hip hop group Death Grips, self-released by the band on May 22, 2017. The piece, a mix of 8 (disputably 7) songs on a single track, has been described as a "barrage of noise".
Beautiful Ruin is an EP by American metalcore band Converge. it was released on June 29, 2018, via Epitaph and Deathwish. It consists of four tracks that were recorded during the sessions for The Dusk in Us. It was produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou and features artwork created by the band's singer Jacob Bannon.
