Song of the Year: BJ the Chicago Kid ft. Kendrick Lamar’s “His Pain” (Listen & Download)

I know I'm rarely serious, but in all seriousness, BJ the Chicago Kid and Kendrick Lamar's "His Pain" is my pick for track of the year. Yeah, I know it's only January, but that's not BJ and Kendrick's fault. We've got a long way to go until December 31st, at which point I may have forgotten about "His Pain", but until then.....

I do have to throw out a full qualifications. First, an unfinished version of "His Pain" did leak months ago as a potential "#Section80" track, but now that it's officially a part of BJ's 'Pineapple Now & Laters" album it's been given the finishing touches. Second, yes, Kendrick's emotionally draining verses, not BJ's closing vocals, are the primary reason this is so profoundly affecting. (You'd be hard pressed to find another rapper who puts this much emotion into their lyrics.)

But debating all of that - the when it leaked, the whose responsible for what - feels like such a fucking waste on a track like "His Pain". Instead let's just press play and enjoy the realest, and best, hip-hop I've heard this year.

(Looking for all of RefinedHype's dope downloads in one place? We got you covered.)