# Year of the Snitch
**Year of the Snitch** is the sixth studio album by the Sacramento experimental hip-hop group [Death Grips](https://www.edgepedia.org/death-grips), released on June 22, 2018 by Third Worlds and distributed by [Harvest Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvest-records)[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/year-of-the-snitch/1393270388). The 13-track, roughly 37-minute record followed the 2016 album *Bottomless Pit* and the 2017 EP *Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)*[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/year-of-the-snitch/1393270388) • [2](https://joseyrecords.com/products/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch-cd). It features an unusual roster of collaborators: Australian noise artist Lucas Abela, New Zealand film director [Andrew Adamson](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-adamson), and English musician Justin Chancellor, bassist of Tool, all named in the band's March 2018 announcement, alongside the turntablist DJ Swamp, whose production runs through much of the record[3](https://www.discogg.com/death-grips) • [4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / album | Sixth studio album by Death Grips, the Sacramento trio of MC Ride, Zach Hill, and Andy Morin[2](https://joseyrecords.com/products/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch-cd) |
| Release | June 22, 2018; Third Worlds, distributed by Harvest Records[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/year-of-the-snitch/1393270388) |
| Length | 13 songs, 37 minutes (37:13 on Spotify; 37:14 per AllMusic)[5](https://open.spotify.com/album/46eayJPxf1cBWWUqNa2MJJ) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/year-of-the-snitch-mw0003171611) |
| Predecessors | *Bottomless Pit* (2016) and the EP *Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)* (2017)[2](https://joseyrecords.com/products/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch-cd) |
| Collaborators | Lucas Abela, Andrew Adamson, Justin Chancellor, DJ Swamp[3](https://www.discogg.com/death-grips) • [4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic Metascore 69 from 8 critic reviews; user score 8.2 from 133 ratings[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/year-of-the-snitch/death-grips) |
| Pitchfork score | 7.3, reviewed June 28, 2018 by Ian Cohen[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) |
| Context in discography | Pitchfork counted it as Death Grips' 10th release in seven years[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) |
## Announcement and release
Death Grips returned to the studio in late 2017 after touring for *Bottomless Pit*, and through early 2018 teased new material with abstract images and sound clips online[8](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/death-grips-mn0002741208). On March 22, 2018, the band posted a black-and-white image on its official webpage reading "Year of the Snitch - new album coming soon...", and on April 6, 2018 it shared the album artwork[9](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Year_of_the_Snitch). A March 2018 social media post also outlined that the group was working on the new album with Lucas Abela, Andrew Adamson, and [Justin Chancellor](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-chancellor)[3](https://www.discogg.com/death-grips).
The tracklist was announced through a video released on Instagram and other platforms: a screen recording of an iPhone receiving text messages, each one a song title, interspersed with images and the sound of vocalist [MC Ride](https://www.edgepedia.org/mc-ride) screaming[9](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Year_of_the_Snitch). The album leaked on June 21, 2018, one day before its official release[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/), and appeared on physical and digital formats including LP, CD, cassette, and digital download[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/year-of-the-snitch-mw0003171611).
## Music and structure
The album blends hardcore, hip-hop, trance, video-game music, and free jazz; Apple Music's editorial description calls it "lighter but a lot weirder" than the industrial-adjacent *Bottomless Pit*, filled with collisions of unrelated sounds such as the new-age synths of "The Horn Section" and "Linda's in Custody"[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/year-of-the-snitch/1393270388). One reviewer identified a duality between ultra-fast, chaotic electronic music and classic rock influences, with the album cover offering a disturbing take on the Rolling Stones' tongue logo[10](https://musicwithmink.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch-aims-to-please-none-and-perplex-all-even-for-a-death-grips-album/).
Several elements anchor the sound. DJ Swamp, a champion turntablist who once toured with Beck and [Ministry](https://www.edgepedia.org/ministry-band), contributes what Pitchfork called the album's most notable contribution, scattering glitchy distortion and chopped-up vocal samples from track to track[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) • [11](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/). Justin Chancellor played bass on "Disappointed," not all the bass on the album[11](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/), though his contributions are hard to spot without the credits[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) • [14](https://www.zachhillarchive.com/p/group-works.html).
When the album threatens total abstraction, drummer [Zach Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/zach-hill) grounds the sound into something resembling a band playing a song[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/). Opener "Death Grips Is Online" takes its title from a phrase the band had tweeted and retweeted since 2017[11](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/), and pairs mid-1990s drum 'n' bass beats with shoegaze-style guitars[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/). "Black Paint" samples DJ-scratched vocals from *Jenny Death* and, per Rolling Stone, is the record's most visceral track[11](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/year-of-the-snitch/death-grips). "Dilemma" opens with a spoken-word intro from Andrew Adamson, which Pitchfork read as deliberately engineered to generate "Death Grips Worked With the Director of Shrek" headlines[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/). The closing "Disappointed" is driven by a drum beat one reviewer compared to [Van Halen](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-halen)'s "Hot for Teacher" under a repeated "wah wah wah... disappointed" vocal that sounds like it is mocking the listener, ending the album on what that reviewer called a straight-up banger[11](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/).
## Track listing
1. Death Grips Is Online
2. Flies
3. Black Paint
4. Linda's in Custody
5. The Horn Section
6. Hahaha
7. Shitshow
8. Streaky
9. Dilemma
10. [Little Richard](https://www.edgepedia.org/little-richard)
11. The Fear
12. Outro
13. Disappointed[5](https://open.spotify.com/album/46eayJPxf1cBWWUqNa2MJJ)
## Title and lyrical subjects
"Linda's in Custody" refers to [Linda Kasabian](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-kasabian), a [Manson Family](https://www.edgepedia.org/manson-family) member who became a key witness for the group's prosecution, and Kasabian references also appear in "Hahaha"; one reviewer suggested she may be the "Snitch" in question[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/) • [11](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/). Pitchfork's Ian Cohen argued that any Death Grips album should be read with its fans' interpretations in mind, since the project's existence has been an elaboration on deep internet culture[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/).
## Reception
Metacritic assigned the album a Metascore of 69 based on 8 critic reviews, categorized as generally favorable, with 6 positive and 2 mixed; the user score stood at 8.2 from 133 ratings[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/year-of-the-snitch/death-grips). musicOMH scored it 80, calling it "totally alien" and "an exhilarating release that doesn't let up"; AllMusic gave 70, crediting the band with continuing to break boundaries and expectations; PopMatters gave 70, calling it the band's most entertaining and fun release yet, albeit not its best; Rolling Stone gave 60, highlighting "Black Paint" and the closer "Disappointed"; and [The Wire](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wire) gave 50, calling the record a "harrowing Frankenstein" that was "more sardonic than revelatory"[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/year-of-the-snitch/death-grips).
Ian Cohen's Pitchfork review scored it 7.3 and framed the band as now reliable career artists despite their self-sabotaging history, arguing that where earlier stunts landed when Death Grips were close to a mainstream concern, *Year of the Snitch* was "an M-80 blown up in an empty clearing, explosive, fun as hell, but lacking a clear target to give it meaning"[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/).
**Listeners have kept the album in discussion.** Album of The Year user reviews describe it as one of the band's strangest releases, with more abstract production and some of the most challenging songs in their catalog[12](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/grave/album/105688-year-of-the-snitch/). As of the October 2026 Kworb snapshot it had accumulated about 60.8 million Spotify streams, the band's sixth most-streamed album[13](https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/5RADpgYLOuS2ZxDq7ggYYH_albums.html).
## References
1. [Year of the Snitch - Album by Death Grips, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/year-of-the-snitch/1393270388)
2. [Death Grips - Year Of The Snitch (CD), Josey Records](https://joseyrecords.com/products/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch-cd)
3. [Death Grips, Discogg](https://www.discogg.com/death-grips)
4. [Death Grips: Year of the Snitch Album Review, Pitchfork (Ian Cohen, June 28, 2018)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/)
5. [Year Of The Snitch - Album by Death Grips, Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/46eayJPxf1cBWWUqNa2MJJ)
6. [Year of the Snitch Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/year-of-the-snitch-mw0003171611)
7. [Year Of The Snitch by Death Grips Reviews and Tracks, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/year-of-the-snitch/death-grips)
8. [Death Grips Biography, Discography & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/death-grips-mn0002741208)
9. [Year of the Snitch, Death Grips Wiki (Fandom)](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Year_of_the_Snitch)
10. [Review: Death Grips' 'Year of the Snitch' Aims to Please None and Perplex All, Carter Mink (2018)](https://musicwithmink.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/death-grips-year-of-the-snitch-aims-to-please-none-and-perplex-all-even-for-a-death-grips-album/)
11. [Review: Death Grips - Year of the Snitch, Surreal Resolution (July 6, 2018)](https://www.surrealresolution.com/index.php/2018/07/06/review-death-grips-year-of-the-snitch/)
12. [Year of the Snitch review by grave, Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/grave/album/105688-year-of-the-snitch/)
13. [Death Grips - Spotify Top Albums, Kworb](https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/5RADpgYLOuS2ZxDq7ggYYH_albums.html)
14. [zachhillarchive.com](https://www.zachhillarchive.com/p/group-works.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Hip hop albums › Experimental hip hop albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license