Kodak Black Essentials

Kodak Black's bluesy frog-croak of a voice recalls the squeaky defiance of a young Lil Wayne, but his outlook might remind you more of Chief Keef's weary fatalism. The teenaged Floridian struggled with the law even as street hits like 2015's “Skrt” and “No Flockin” notched platinum sales, and his most resonant songs—the jailhouse letter “Institution,” the hypnotically focused chant “Tunnel Vision”—navigate the space between his troubled personal life and his meteoric success with surprising tenderness and soul.