YG + DJ Mustard

The power in hip-hop has swung back to the west coast. Los Angeles is dominating rap both commercially and critically. Kendrick Lamar kicked off the Compton comeback, followed by his fellow Black Hippie collective member ScHoolboy Q. Now comes YG, an even more gangsta-minded MC. His debut, My Krazy Life, modernizes the G-funk sound for the trap era. The 24-year-old will not dazzle you verbally as Kendrick or Q can—he's more of a raspy Yeezy mumbler—but his verses grow surprisingly deft deeper in the record, once you get past the obligatory twerk single and "My Nigga." Bassy synths are fat, sparse and menacing, but still carry that Cadillac lean of classic Dr. Dre beats. DJ Mustard, who produced most of them, tags along for this tour, too.