While there is nothing inherently wrong with C0FFEE!, it's hard to justify much of its existence outside of being essentially a notebook of ideas never to be fully explored. Especially when you have Saba's collab album with No ID from earlier this year, it is hard to see anything for this project other than slipping into the background. Saba is a versatile artist and he finds ways to fit into so many different sounds on this short project, but none of them ever really feel like ... read more

Chorale is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard in my life - hearing it live was a mind-altering experience. Transcendent.

If there's one thing I need to thank the music gods for in 2025 (outside of all the good music that exists), it is my introduction to Maruja. I'd never heard their name nor their music before I heard their extraordinary contribution to Quadeca's album this year, and it got me so excited for what a full length album would sound like. I've also not heard any of their EP's - I plan to go back and check them all out, but I wanted to allow this to stand on it's own and ... read more

There is something so inexplicable about how Hayden's music consumes me as a listener. Ever since 2022's 'Preacher's Daughter', she has found a way to create these intricate, elaborate pieces of art that contain some of the most stunning, transformative and emotionally resonate songs I've ever heard. It's a rare quality of an artist when they're able to make you relate or feel connected to something so outside of your realm of understanding, something in ... read more

Live Laugh Love adds to Earl's truly impressive catalogue of work - a person at a point in his life where he has grown and lived through so much. Every release brings forth new opportunities for Earl to reflect on where he's been and where he's at: a father, a man, every bit as vulnerable as he's ever been but with a totally different shade of emotion. My initial listen of this album was challenging, and any time an album is stacked with such short songs, I find it hard to ... read more

HYPERYOUTH is Joey Valence & Brae's follow up to the explosive, addictive, remarkably fun to listen to - NO HANDS, an album which I stumbled upon accidentally and was one of last year's best new finds. If anything, HYPERYOUTH promised to dial up the energy and allow JVB to take that next step into bolder sounds, something that walks the line between nostalgic and fresh. NO HANDS wore its influences on its sleeve, and in many ways HYPERYOUTH does the same, those sounds are just ... read more

Westside Gunn returns from his short nap for yet another project, HEELS HAVE EYES 2. In many ways, HHE2 feels like a substantially more realised project than '12', his release from earlier this year. Instrumentally, it feels more alive and dynamic, with a great blend of features that bring out so much of each song. In many cases, it would be fair to say that WSG is outperformed by those featured on the songs: Steve God Cooks on BRIKOLAI VOLKOFF catches a good flow, but it is most ... read more

My biggest feeling about 'Free' is that it just feels so much like Cudi trying to imitate what made his music feel so magical once upon a time. He jumps between a few genres, but never really fully jumping ship into something truly outside his comfort zone. While I don't think this is inherently a bad thing, and it probably makes sense after the pretty underwhelming (to worse) INSANO duology, it doesn't provide a lot of opportunity to me to find 'Free' as anything ... read more

As shown by my top albums, EDEN is a very special artist to me. He has always been a staple of the most formative time of my life, and I've been an avid, day 1 listener since just after End Credits dropped. Vertigo is obviously my favourite, and I think showcases his best writing and curation yet; that said, I think 'no future' is violently underrated in his catalogue, and ICYMI is an album that grows on me more and more every single time I listen to it. From Vertigo, to no ... read more

Has there ever been a hip-hop artist that was instantly, universally erased from the conversations they were apart of harder than Chance the Rapper was? Maybe, and I'm sure there are several I'm forgetting about, but the time that has passed since Colouring Book, The Big Day, and STAR LINE must feel like several lifetimes for Chance. I actually never fully listened to 'TBD' when it released, as I'd heard enough from the intensely circulating music online to know I ... read more

Any album with the task of following one as good as 'The Forever Story' is in for a hell of a challenge - and 'God Does Like Ugly' tackles it with such confidence, bravado, and clinical rapping/storytelling.

While perhaps not as fleshed out or daring as TFS (I'll try to go light on the comparisons), GDLU is a bold, streamlined experience that delves into so many sounds that JID has explored in his reasonably short career, acting as a 'BEST OF' musical ... read more

I’ve been listening to ‘Vanisher, Horizon Scraper’ since it released on July 24th, unable to tear myself from it, and it from myself. An album that I went into with maybe too high expectations, mainly due to how insanely good the PR for this album has been by both Quadeca himself, and his fans. Technically, if you exclude 2024’s ‘Scrapyard’ and label it as the loosie-throwaway mixtape it was pitched as, this would be my first official Quadeca album. And aside ... read more

My first time listening to any of Jane’s music, and it somewhat lives up the expectations I had. Loud, chaotic, but pretty masterfully curated experimental music. I definitely enjoyed a lot of this, but it is newer to my tastes and something that I need to spend more time with. There are a few tracks that really stand out, and I think more will grow on me with time, but it’s hard to deny the musical and technical brilliance that is happening on this record.

Fav tracks: ... read more

A sequel to an inevitably classic rap album is difficult to comprehend being worthwhile even attempting in this day and age; but if there was anyone bold enough and consistent enough to try it, it's Freddie Gibbs. Alfredo is one of the best rap albums of the decade by a mile, it is tight, concise, exceptionally produced and rapped, and curated to literal perfection. I honestly didn't know what to expect from a sequel, and mostly just prayed that The Alchemist had his best beats up his ... read more

It's that time of the year again- except it isn't! Because Tyler goes back-to-back from CHROMAKOPIA with this release, DON'T TAP THE GLASS. How can anyone really anticipate a Tyler release, or what it will sound like, is a truly accurate statement, as a dance-centric rap album from Tyler was definitely not my very first thought. That said, Tyler has well and truly proven his versatility when it comes to genre blending and being able to integrate different styles into his own and ... read more

Magic, Alive! is my first listen from McKinley Dixon; having not listened to his beloved release a few years ago, I wasn't sure what to expect, only to be absolutely blessed by some of the most beautiful instrumentals and engaging lyricism this year. There are so many things in this album that stand out as being special, and it all starts with McKinley's performance. He has such electricity in his voice this entire album, jumping from so many pockets and always remaining on track. In ... read more

I haven’t listened to anywhere as much of MIKE’s discography as I want to, and I will continue to make my way through; of what I have heard thus far - Showbiz! may be the most thoroughly enjoyable and consistently diverse record yet. His sampling and production is simply superb on this album, mixing soul samples, chipmunk vocals and many more to create such layered, dense instrumentals. MIKE also has a super engaging performance on majority of this album, and I think he sets himself ... read more

Whatever has happened release-wise for hip-hop so far this year, Let God Sort Em Out has marked a shift; everyone is lining up big releases, and the main stage is filling up after a pretty quiet, underground-lead first half of the year. Pusha T has nothing to prove, nor does Malice, but they're rapping like they got a bone to pick with the world. It's two titans at the top of their game, and what really stands out here (as obvious as it may sound) compared to Pusha's more recent ... read more

I don’t know quite what I expected from a new Justin Bieber album, and that was before I saw it was titled ‘SWAG’. A move toward R&B has always made sense, and there have been flickers of it I’ve enjoyed from him in recent. Sadly, SWAG is as uninteresting and bloated as you might expect, with some moments of good.

Performance wise, JB is quite underwhelming, and that is largely where so much of the album falls flat. The instrumentals aren’t all that varied or ... read more

If JACKBOYS exists as a platform solely to output loosey’s, give a space for him and his mates to fuck around and then just *release them* - sure. If it’s supposed to be anything else, then we have a problem, because this was the most vapid, boring and hollow experiences this year. There is very little on display here from Travis that is even remotely worthwhile. Sonically, performance wise, it’s all so bland and lifeless. I’m not expecting major risks or anything that ... read more