MIKE and Earl don't really have what it takes to make something interesting for a "collaborative" mixtape. Their two halves make a stretched-thin showcase of sleepy plugg production without presenting a contrast that makes their collaboration necessary.

You love to see the young artist who has potential release a realized body of work like Tiffany Day has done with HALO. This is the perfect logical extension of the BRAT philosophy. Tiff blasts through this album with stellar pacing, electrifying production, and infectious pop hooks. It follows the formula to a tee and executes it so well. HALO leaves you with something to chew on every track, as Tiffany reflects loosely on her identity struggles. She builds an image of a young girl, striving ... read more

Good Kid finally releases a full LP, chock-full of their staple snappy pop hooks and tight riffs. Though I'm definitely left craving more complexity from the band, Can We Hang Out Sometime? retains a whimsical charm that has me returning to it often.

Fcukers didn't quite find their footing for their first studio album, but that certainly doesn't mean they won't continue to develop their sound.

A slog of a trap experience with mostly awful lyricism. The most fascinating thing to be found here is Yeat's oddly placed admiration for 2018 era Kanye. The closest thing we've gotten to a sequel to Kids See Ghosts is Yeat bringing on Kid Cudi to feature on his take on a KSG-style track.

Robyn doesn't bring anything to the table to catch your ears in a sea of other quality elctropop releases.

An epic musical swell of an album is mostly tied down by the way it presents its "on-the-noseness". Raye's writing is often caught up in the need to prove its existence, making the concept a drag, despite most of the production being consistently competent, if not oddball.

Thundercat certainly feels distracted on his junior album Distracted. There's some stand out funky production across the board, but track to track this album feels so meandering, like a hodgepodge of demos and shoeins that lack cohesion. His writing is often not good. She Knows Too Much is a standout song, filled with a nostalgic buzz, tastefully adding some more spunk to Mac Miller posthumous feature list. No More Lies is a 3 year old single, which doesn't feel like it belongs, ... read more

Rage might be going places with this new generation. I think the production could use some work, but Codylee is on the right track.

Slayyyter's electropop dance explosion of a record pulls no punches and certainly doesn't waste a second of its excellent production. The biggest thing keeping me from calling this a great record is the concept. Slayyyter remains true to the album's title, painting a character that I certainly would not want to be friends with. And by the end of the album, I retain that opinion. This "Worst Girl" is static, and while she occasionally seems aware of her hedonistic, ... read more

Kanye does the bare minimum to make an album that doesn't continue tarnishing his reputation. Nevertheless, Kanye's discography does not need to continually be bloated by passable projects. We need Ye to try his best, or to simply not try at all.

I'm really rooting for the tribe. The intention of this record is clearer than most of their contemporaries', and while their lyrics and production still need some sharpening, indie tribe doesn't seem to be backing down from their vision. I hope they continue to work out their strengths as a group.

The much more psychedelic and melodic sister to Black Sabbath's debut, the variety in the band's skill is on full display here, with tracks like Planet Caravan and Rat Salad shaking up the flow of metal anthems that make up the tracklist. The writing is far more directly anti-war, an important body of work for 1970.

Under the setting of a stormy, dark autumn night, Black Sabbath cements its name in the halls of horror. Its vibe feels classy and iconic, tied to the Blues Rock that inspired it and the Heavy Metal that evolved from it.

The 2020-2021 wave of hyperpop was something I thought would never pass, and then it did. Somehow, I felt like I had misjudged a generation, thinking they had potential and seeing nothing come of it. But after a few years, I'm seeing that sound, as well as its artists, mature and shape into something new with the same wild spirit as those angsty post-pandemic teenagers I loved so much. U is realized potential. underscores is me, a perserverer who honed their craft through the growing ... read more

600 Entertainment doesn't put in much work to make their work stand out as a rap collective, but at least BigX is making hip-hop music again.

This sound cooks! It's not enough to carry the record, but the few tracks I took a liking to are really gonna stick.

Some of the most normal-sounding music I've heard from these guys. It comes, it goes.

Samara Cyn is easily one of my favorite rappers working right now. She is brilliant and certainly on the come-up. This is her most diverse and experimental work yet; all I want is more definition from her art. However, this is a great outing.

This was really difficult to lock in with. The album is so sluggish and sleepy that 46 minutes feels like 2 hours. Stepa's death clearly affected the group, and it's great to see Injury Reverse move forward as By Storm with such a reverencial focus on honoring their friend.