toothbrush

Leellamarz, says goodbye on the eve of his military enlistment with three EPs (just when I'd finally memorised how to spell his name), this EP being the most substantive of the two. Its a wave goodbye to the hardest working rapper in the Korean Hip-hop scene, having dropped over 20 projects in 6 years. Leellamarz pours his "Marznb" soul into this record thats to say its tinged in R&B melodies. Its a record I didnt think I'd spend much time with but like with so many projects of ... read more

This is why I'm on this website, its for albums I miss or write off as not for me, only to be swayed by your reviews. 9/10 y'all are tripping but this right here is that 1/10 for me. This record carries the spirit of Travis Scott's Rodeo and Kanye West's 808's and Heartbreak, building on that sonic world in ways the aforementioned artists didn't quite explore. I'm having fun with this and excited to check out pt.2 though not sure what it is, it is a deluxe album right? This is a behemoth of an ... read more

The pen loves to wander off, "begonias" is worth the price of the trip.

It has Caesars instrumentation with Marleys words, It trades places with Bob Marleys energy for Daniel Ceasar's mood. It has more in common with Tiwa Savage’s version than say Annie Lennox’s version but it very easily sounds like it could have been on one of Caesar’s records making it the best cover of this song. Excited to hear the rest.

Similar to Sade and more recently pinkpantheress where an artist has so ingrained themselves in a sound that they are forever its shape, its colour. Some quote goes along the lines of, make something 100 people love not something a thousand people like, it fits with an artist like Jamiroquai. Apparently the genre is called Acid Jazz here, but to me its just Jamiroquai.

Nobody wants it as much as Skyminhyuk does, reminds me of early Danny Brown. Hearing him and Khundi on the same track is like hearing two different philosophies of rapping go back and forth.

The legacy of "Blonde" can be thoroughly traced here, to influence a stunning voice such as Jooyoung's to finally release his debut album, its been a more than 13 year wait for KR&B fans. The parallels between Frank Ocean and Jooyoung are striking but it shouldn't be a reductive point, either, while Sphere takes cues from the construction of Blonde, being split in two by night, and shaping its songs as memories, it can't be overstated how gorgeously crafted and introspectively ... read more

Okay some quick info because these reviews are hurting my heart:
DPR Live is a hip-hop act. Not K-pop or K-R&B, that isn't like my opinion that's been iterated by DPR Live himself on multiple occasions. (DPR Ian is the R&B artist who used to be in a k-pop group, so maybe y'all were thinking of him).

This is an independent record yes, under the DPR label. It is very common in Korean hip-hop (KHH) as the majority of rap labels in Korea are run by artists "independently" the ... read more

So Dabin takes a step away from DPR, apparently the story goes that he wasn't paid correctly, the numbers weren't adding up prompting him to leave DPR and go solo despite being DPR's flagship artist and one of its founding members.

With that step away, however, it seems he loses the polish that comes with the DPR name despite having most of DPR in the production credit list. "Giggles" is a bit of a mess sadly and not the big solo statement as hoped. It comes off more ... read more

Utterly inessential.

I hope this song is the centrepiece of an upcoming album.

A record that at its start had me re-adjusting my praise for the stellar KR&B records that have been released this year. Paul Blanco has come from the left field to produce the best I've heard in the genre despite releases from Colde, Crush, Sik-K, Thama etc. I remember a former co-worker lauding his Promised Land record, I didn't really see it, this record makes me want to revisit it. I'm still on my first listen here but he has definitely blown past any of my expectations. ... read more

Andre mentioned the wrong Coltrane as influence for this album, this strikes as a rudimentary version of FlyLo’s “Yasuke” record. Rudimentary isn’t a negative thing here because with wind instruments being organic seems key and more powerful, comes off as less disingenuous with fewer buildings of sound built around it. I’m amazed Andre has pulled this off and it really speaks to the spirit of an artist, it’s not always about the medium but the commitment to ... read more

Only rating the 6 track EP.

“The Shoe Fits” is a masterclass on subversion and storytelling, the rest would have made for stellar deep cuts on a drake record, this is probably what he was going for all across scorpion.

His best record in like 6 years, "More Life" is arguably better, which is a low ceiling but damn that ceiling is opulent and filled with a lot of rotting chandeliers of sound. 23 tracks exposes this as a product (worth mentioning when being the biggest "artist" in the world) and a means to surpass MJ on the US singles list as referenced across this album. "8 am in Charlotte" is brilliant and there's a relatively solid 10 album track buried in this monolith of pop ... read more

This album cover is sacrilege and the music attached is an abomination, the grossest child pop music has ever raised.

Loco has finally found his sound since trying to re-establish himself post military enlistment. He is still far away from his prime but this version of him is less commercial, more experimental. Woo's signature is all across this record but his feature on Broken iPhone is easily the worst part of the record. Still, Loco is at least back to creating good music and its so lovely to hear hopefully this recalibration in his sound builds into something seminal.

The TinyDesk performance of this ... read more

Violet Crazy is such a gorgeous record closer. Ian at his best, I was wondering where to go with the MITO storyline and album naming tradition and he has enveloped his struggle with bi-polar into a dissection of the manic highs that it comes with. Brillant concept record that leaves me wanting more.

He’s going Basinski?? on the opener, Okay I’m ready. A little Frank Ocean-y too, I speak this language so far, im fucking with the elements he’s piecing together. His first record blew me away and this is on par to do the same.

A little King Krule too, MGMT production meets Dominic Fike vocals, the worlds he plays with is insane to me rn. He’s taking the most distinct features of amazing artists and collaging them together into his own sound. “Love Letter ... read more