Rakim proves that he can make music on his own just as well as he could with Eric B.

Fav: The 18th Letter (Always and Forever)
Worst: Stay a While

That 3 song run at the end might be up for debate as one of the best 3 song runs oat.

Fav: Know the Ledge
Worst: Rest Assured

It’s a fun listen and all, but it doesn’t manage to reach the highs that Eric B & Rakim originally did with their first two albums.

Fav: Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em
Worst: Eric B. Made My Day

It’s hard to top such an influential first album, but Follow the Leader gives Paid In Full a run for its money. Pun not intended.

Fav: Follow the Leader
Worst: Just a Beat

What can I really say? It’s an amazing rap album that’s a certified classic.

Fav: I Ain’t No Joke
Worst: Chinese Arithmetic

Most emotional Vince album, no skips for me at all! His best by a mile imo, he shows a more direct side of him when we’ve known him as the modern long beach gangsta rapper from albums like Summertime ‘06. We can see glimpses of his more concise side on songs like 745 from Big Fish Theory, but it feels like he doesn’t go all the way with it as he does here.

By the first song, Black&Blue, your soul has a 100% chance to levitate while listening to something as peak as it is. ... read more

I actually almost cried near the end of this album. Paul McCartney hasn’t really made anything above mid (besides NEW) during this decade and most of the 2010’s, but I guess sometimes you find yourself making amazing music at the age of 83 years old.

The lyrics here really hit close to home here. Especially on the last two tracks, though I found Salesman Saint to be one of the worser tracks due to it being only memorable near the beginning. His stories about his parents, his ... read more

Cloud Rap 17/100

The increase of quality from fakemink’s TBWCT to this is actually really nice to see. The beats aren’t actually there to carry fakemink, and he actually has good rapping and flow throughout the project. I don’t even care for much of fakemink’s music, but I actually really enjoyed my listen here.

Fav: Tell Me What You’re Missing .
Worst: Fire & Ice .

The features kinda brought the project down and the only track I go back to is WHEN SPARKS FLY. It’s still a Vince Staples album, so don’t expect it to be bad or anything else like that.

Fav: WHEN SPARKS FLY
Worst: BANG THAT

Only a couple skips, but was still a fun listen.

Fav: ARE YOU WITH THAT?
Worst: THE APPLE & THE TREE

Cloud Rap 16/100 (?)

Apparently, Cloud Rap is a secondary genre for this album for some fucking reason, but let’s just roll with it. Anyways, how the fuck do you somehow fail to meet bottom of the barrel ass expectations. I didn’t expect mgk to be good, or even mid actually. I knew he would be bad, but he really went all out with the shittyness. He actually coming in clutch for Peggy with the corniest bars from a big artist (how tf did he get there? I have no clue). I normally am a ... read more

Really fun EP. Short & sweet, but also don’t see myself coming back to a lot of these songs often and thought that Axxion should’ve had another Gibbs verse.

Fav: Immigrants
Worst: Axxion

Gritty beats, amazing samples, and some of Diamond’s most hungry verses oat. Diamond easily a top 10 Detroit rapper.

Fav: Peace King
Worst: Polo Jung

Thank you Z. Younk for the recommendation!

I’ve been listening to a lot of J. Dilla recently, so I was pretty excited to hear a story driven instrumental rap album, just to realize that it is pretty messy. The story isn’t really told clearly and pretty confusing and the sampling at times can make the songs feel a little cluttered.

Fav: Out My Window
Worst: So Hip!

Thank you Z. Younk for the recommendation!

The production here is cool, but man Dreadnots’ rapping is so boring here. He’s got some good lyrical moments, but not much.

Fav: Evil’s Wings (Scrape & Bake)
Worst: Less Fuzz More Focus

Funny skits +the whole album just being the 7th track’s title.

Fav: FUN!
Worst: Run the Bands

Love almost every song here, just don’t reay relisten to a lot of these songs on their own, just when it’s with the rest of the album.

Fav: Norf Norf
Worst: Ramona Park Legend, Pt. 1 (ik it’s not really a song but i had too hard of a time picking another one)

So much better than AFD.

Fav: November Rain
Worst: You Ain’t The First

Hopefully this means if we get another Radiohead album, it will at least be really good. Or at least we’ll know EOB’s part will for sure.

Fav: Blue Morpho
Worst: Thin Places

Some songs actually slap on here. Like, Nate is genuinely one of Vince’s best songs oat. I did also feel like I heard the same song 3 different times when I didn’t tho, or in other words, it was very repetitive.

Fav: Nate
Worst: Humble