With all due respect, it's surprising how an elderly duo can rap with such cohesive and well structured flows. Like both my Grandpa's already haphazardly put their words into sentences and these guys are just spitting. For what superficially appears like a joke, Pete & Bas are shockingly genuine. That said, while they carry some tight flows, it's all backed by some mostly pretty mediocre drill beats. They're obviously a unique act but musically aren't doing much special. It feels weird and ... read more

User @kattenbroekcom described the album really well when stating, "Crisis? What Crisis! has a real 'Let's make some songs' feel to it". While eager to do so, I haven't listened to Breakfast In America, the group's most popular work, but I can compare it to the grand, anthemic Crime of the Century. It feels more laid back, reserved, but not effortless. Given the heightened critical acclaim of the 2 albums that follow this one, I can assume it plays more of the role of a stepping ... read more

WHERE WAS THIS CUDI FOR THE REGULAR INSANO??? Okay like, I enjoyed Insano to a degree but didn't find much replay value. I remember Cudi saying he would drop a deluxe to make the whole thing around 40 tracks but I wasn't sure if he would actually follow through. This one immediately had me hooked.

"HUMAN MADE" already feels more like a return-to-form Cudi with a more refined sound and much sweeter vocals. "WIN OR LOSE" has a pretty blatant Depeche Mode sample but it's not ... read more

It's nothing outstanding but a solid release. Honestly this is one of those drops I curiously check out without really knowing the artist, but this one's cool. She has a ton of personality and the sound isn't too linear, making it a pretty interesting, short sweet listen. "Shopper" is a great opener. Well rounded, fun, good production. The next highlight for me was "Shh.." with a really nice instrumental. While it's pretty safe, I still think it's a huge bop and I just love ... read more

Twice sounds in great shape on this EP. I'm not an active follower but I do enjoy a fair share of their music. This one's got really clean, fun production. One of my biggest gripes with a lot of K-Pop is the vastly overdone production but that's not the case here or really with most of Twice's stuff. The first two tracks and "BLOOM" are the strongest in my opinion with great energy and enthusiasm. Good shit. Just great feel good music.

With WOD production, this tape is inevitably well produced and with the main premise just being to make cloud rap bangers, it does the job well. While Bladee does his thing throughout the project, it's Yung Lean who I think really shines, spitting really good, focused, sharp verses on both "Lordship" and "Cherry Bracelets". With almost any Bladee project, there's some material that is too jarring for me to love but I can still write off as alright, namely "Redlight ... read more

So...my introduction to billy woods. Maps was hyped up by a lot of people to be one of the strongest hip hop albums of last year, and I can't say I agree. Not at all. I have nothing against abstract hip-hop as a whole. There's plenty of music from the subgenre that I thouroughly love, enjoy, and return to, but this is doing almost nothing for me. Billy woods has some clever wordplay, but I have no interest in his deadpan, offbeat vocals. The production on the other hand was mostly pretty good, ... read more

The deluxe edition only introduces "Vanity Sick" but it's just as essential and perfect as the rest of the album is. It's eerie and the illustrative aspect is seriously engaging and touching. It works perfectly as a single bonus track, feeling far more special had there been a handful of filler that doesn't add anything. For what I consider to be a 10/10 album, "Vanity Sick" is very much considered in that rating. Only giving it the NR because I don't particularly want a ... read more

Some of the best production I've heard on a Chief Keef project. It takes the hard hitting drill production of previous projects like Back from the Dead and Finally Rich with some more adventurous instrumental choices. Sosa also brings more vocal variety to this one, utilising autotune to switch things up which works really well on "Nice", one of the handful of highlights. The tapes intro by the same name is super hard hitting, way too good to just be an intro I seriously wish this was ... read more

Criminally underrated. I'll be honest, for what seemed like a surface level cash grab EP, this stuff is gas. Compared to projects like BODY BAG MUSIK and Sleez Machine, which are near effortless, Ryder's solid production and Mula's aggression make for a short collection of great Sos songs. He actually sounds eager to make something quality here, and he succeeds. I've always liked Ryder as a producer affiliate of City Morgue so it's cool to see him getting a project with his name on it. Wouldn't ... read more

This could never be the worst on Thriller for me it's just too damn smooth

I can't say I felt as much as I did on What's the Story? But Definitely Maybe is *definitely* a solid project. I'm not sure why it didn't exactly click with me as much. Almost everything essentially sounds the same with some uniqueness here and there, but for a pretty quality sound it isn't much of an issue. A song can sometimes fall short in this formula such as "Up in the Sky" which just sees lacklustre execution.

The riffs are great and the energy is there. Most of the long songs ... read more

Illusions of Grandeur is a pretty introspective mixtape. It's also under 40 minutes, short for a Lil B project but the perfect length, preventing any drastic detours into mounds of filler and directionless music. The production is pretty solid all around. The title track is a solid Clams Casinoesque track that introduces the sought vibe and message with the mixtape. Along with "Live From Da Hood" and "What It Feel Like", these first leg tracks all have great samples with ... read more

We were truly spoiled with this weeks drops.

This album is really a wonderful experience. I'm getting BCNR vibes from this too which is only a good thing from the intensely emotional vocals to the lush, powerful instrumentation. The first song, "Where We've Been", has phenomenal pacing, starting soft and building up into a monstrous dispensing of feelings. The following, "Crimson To Chrome", wastes no time getting to the point, exhibiting the beautifully pained singing and ... read more

At this point I'm not sure what type of Jazz I prefer. When I first indulged in the genre with Miles Davis, I wasn't totally into it for it's more left field nature. It wasn't the type of Jazz I was used to hearing my whole life. With a few more listens, I wanted to try something more accessible, and so when I asked a friend for recommendations, this is one of the one's I was given. And well it's pretty good, but at the same time it isn't as interesting as other projects I've heard. It's ... read more

Even before listening I saw the reviews about the gunshot and it still scared the living hell outta me.

Anyways, this is a really interesting EP. From the really creative production, to the classic slick Vince vocals, to the underlying theme (?) I didn't watch the short film accompanying the project, but there's clearly hints at something deeper here with super depressing, monotone track outros and skits. I bet there'd be more to dig into when it comes to this but at a musical level, it's ... read more

Some pretty good highlights and energy all around but it can get boring at times. The middle of the album was a drag with "Adore Adore Adore" and "Can't Get Enough of It" but really amped things up in the end with tracks like "Literary Mind", "A Wreck (A Mess)", and the title track. I'm a big fan of post-punk but this feels a bit half-baked. The enthusiasm is there but it doesn't have so much to offer musically. I would be intrigued to hear a new release ... read more

While his earliest work painted him to be an Elvis clone, Roy began to find his own individuality on Crying and In Dreams. Taking the time to fully flesh his sound and really make his own, There Is Only One Roy Orbison sees Roy in full form as an artist. The production is beautiful and on point, with Roy being just as in sync on the vocals. While I think he's seen better highs, this album feels like the most whole and consistent in his discography thus far. "Ride Away" is a phenomenal ... read more

It's hard to flop when you've got Joe, Big L, Lord Finesse, Pun, O.C. and Diamond D on your roster.

The deluxe is essentially the same deal, solid sampling, hard hitting beats and decent rapping. "Let's Go" and "Last Man Standing" were the best to me from this batch. Cool to see that an expansion for an album like this actually provided more notable stuff, despite a couple tracks feeling kinda bland.