First of all, this album is absurd. At least half of the instrumentals are so heavily distorted that they don't feel like music anymore. The vocals are almost entirely spoken or screamed, and they're also so heavily distorted that very little can be understood through listening alone. Taken together, this is an overwhelming and chaotic listening experience that sounds like it came from a new artist when compared to Siifu's prior release, the soulful, jazzy and lo-fi "Ensley."
That ... read more

Duwap Kaine is one of the most promising young voices of the new cloud rap wave. His vocal style is clearly still developing, but even in this adolescent stage it sits somewhere in between rap, singing, and spoken word. His influences appear to come from all over-- on some songs he sounds like LUCKI, on others he appears to emulate Earl Sweatshirt, and the clearest influence is Chief Keef. (All artists who have started making good music at incredibly young ages-- worth thinking about). His ... read more

This album may go down as the year's most underrated trap release. Key Glock has blessed fans with a high-energy, technically tight album that finds him rapping at the top of his game. For the most part, tracks don't need time to build, immediately bringing head-bopping energy with strong beats and ad-libs from Glock. Instrumentally, there's plenty to love. "Word on the Streets" and "Fuck all Dat" incorporate some interesting horns, "1997" features some excellent ... read more

There's really nothing I can say about the album that it hasn't already said for itself. This is some of the most potent poetry Fiona Apple has ever written, all over her wildest instrumentals. Each song is a powerful statement about growth, strength, love, and resistance. Musically endearing and extraordinary; weird, intricate, passionate, and simple all at the same time. A masterpiece.

Pop Smoke's sequel to "Meet the Woo" almost captures the energy of the first mixtape. Pop Smoke's greatest strength is his ability to sound both menacing and effortless-- something very few artists have done successfully and consistently in hip hop. This ability has earned him comparisons to 50 Cent, and he is every bit deserving of these comparisons. The distinctive drill delivery he has pioneered has ignited New York City, and this album will only add more bangers to be played at ... read more

Jay Electronica's first full album was pretty solid, but nowhere near the level some people seemed to expect from him. There was some cool stuff on this album conceptually, which dealt primarily with race and religion. Jay Z was also a highlight on this album, appearing on more than half of the songs and contributing excellent verses as expected. However, the production was definitely a weakness. At times it felt like the production was trying too hard without really saying much-- a lot of ... read more

Revisiting this because I don't think I gave it enough of a chance earlier this year. I'm still underwhelmed, but I think returning after giving it some time was actually a good thing. Some of the better moments stuck out more to me than me first couple listens, and although the production still stands out as being unoriginal, it still has its moments.

I was also more impressed with some of Lil Baby's vocal performances, although I do have some issues with his delivery here and there. He toes ... read more

This was awful. Just soooooo boring. Borderline unlistenable. I was excited for this album because I liked a few tracks off his previous album, but this was incredibly disappointing. A complete slog without a single standout song.

When I saw Young Nudy's new album was close to an hour long without a single feature, I thought it would be a slog. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how good most of this was. Nudy is an eccentric voice in trap music who relies on his individualistic delivery and outrageous lyricism. He has a very good ear for beats, making this album more than just a run of the mill trap release, especially compared to some of the other trap releases this year that have droned sleepily over generic beats ... read more

Boldy James and the Alchemist are a fantastic rapper-producer duo who seem to bring out the best in each other. Boldy James is a strong lyricist and a compelling rapper despite his understated delivery. In fact, his delivery might be his greatest strength, especially when coupled with his vivid storytelling. Throughout the project, James paints pictures of street violence, drugs, paranoia, and heartbreak, rarely departing from his monotone flows that add an element of numbness to his painful ... read more

Not nearly as fully realized as Eternal Atake, but still a super fun mixtape. The features offer a nice change of pace from EA, and some of the contributions are truly spectacular. Young Thug shows up twice, teaming up with Gunna and Uzi on the wildly infectious "Strawberry Peels" and later on "Got the Guap." Chief Keef, Future, and Young Nudy all contribute pretty average verses on their songs, but the mixtape still benefits from their presence. The best feature award goes ... read more

Knxwledge is incredibly underrated in hip hop today and this album is an exhibit of his greatness. The beats are soulful, slightly psychedelic, and well-composed. Knxwledge knows how to choose samples and craft artful compositions around them. Very similar sound and structure to a J Dilla album, but with its own sound. While I think 1988 was a strong showing from Knxwledge, it still felt a little long despite the short actual runtime. Knxwledge could benefit from making some of his tracks even ... read more

Super mediocre. A step above his earlier 2020 release but there's very little being offered on this mixtape after the first few songs. YoungBoy is certainly a better rapper than people give him credit for, but his sound gets old very fast. This project didn't offer any standouts to keep it interesting, and although nothing really sucked, nothing really noteworthy happened either. Definitely needed more features too.

OutKast's debut is genre-bending, infectious, and fully formed. This is far from the best album in the OutKast catalog, but that says so much more about OutKast's later output than this album. The instrumentals are more fully realized than almost any other hip hop album in 1994, with funky basses and guitars adding texture and character to pretty standard drum beats. Andre and Big Boi cruise over every track and establish themselves early on as the tongue-twisting wordsmiths they made their ... read more

I had high expectations and this album met them. Flying Lotus and Thundercat make a formidable duo, perfectly capable of making the music to push the usually funny, sometimes heartbreaking lyrical narrative. Thundercat is one of the most talented musicians in music today and this album is, at its best moments, a flex of his skill. However, Thundercat is not necessarily a top tier vocalist. Usually his music compensates for his limiting falsetto range, adding a level of charm to his ... read more

Jazzy, poetic, funny, sensitive, and complex. The Kenny Segal production is as weird as it is fun. Not an easy or casual listen but worth the effort.

I had never heard of J Hus before this album, but this was fantastic. Colorful, mellow, thoughtful, and relatively concise. Sonically diverse with reggae and drill influences integrated subtly. J Hus can sing and rap confidently and sounds like a seasoned veteran in hip hop. My only quip with this album is that there wasn't a whole lot of variation between tracks, but the overall sound was cohesive and well done. "Deeper than Rap" is a fantastic closer, with other highlights being ... read more

Although Don Toliver rarely departs from a psychedelic sound that has already been done, he executes it well. His voice is unique enough to keep the listener engaged, and we are rewarded with some excellent instrumentals that make this more than a run of the mill trap album.

I had low expectations, and this was worse. DaBaby has very little versatility and this attempt proved that. The album starts off strongly with some help from Quavo and Future, but after the first 3 tracks the album falls on its face. Hopefully DaBaby spends some more time refining his craft between now and his next album. He clearly excels when he's in his comfort zone, so I have no doubt that he has potential. This... wasn't the result he wanted.

I've liked Westside Gunn for a while, but I've always found his sound to be pretty one dimensional. Going into this album, I was nervously hoping for some notable artistic development from him. I don't think he really delivered that, but he did make a pretty exceptional album. The beat selection is a step above his previous work, the features are mostly excellent, and Gunn's rapping is as grimy as ever. The one obvious misstep is French Toast, where Gunn mistakenly chooses to sing ... read more