In essence, the live set is a dive into Weeknd's discography of classics with beautiful transitions between every track. The added Mike Dean synths/SHM remixes on Dawn FM play perfectly with Abel's raw vocal abilities - especially the guitar on Less Than Zero.

Tory Lanez' attempt at making generic 80's r&b and failing miserably. This album stands no chance against contemporaries that are pushing the boundaries of synthpop and reinventing the genre; half of the tracks have shameless instrumental rips from classic tracks.

Everyone's gotta start somewhere with their musical journey. With XXXTentacion's first available single, this song has left a considerable impact on the SoundCloud era of music. The soul sample provides a background for X's melancholy lyricism and introspective commentary. However, I'll probably never revisit this except for the memories - the hi-hat mixing is god-awful.

As much as people hate Don Toliver's sound for emulating the psychedelic/spacy vibes of Travis Scott, I enjoyed his use of high-pitched autotune vocals. The beats are pretty nice, overall the album lacks some consistency but the high points definitely outweigh the misses. Lyrically, not too much to comment on, gives off more of a mumble-rap feel than Travis Scott.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Heaven or Hell, After Party, Wasted, Had Enough, No Idea
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: Candy, Company, Can't Feel My ... read more

I dunno. Joji returns with a half-baked project, mainly carried by the pre-released singles (Glimpse of Us and YUKON). His production quality has improved drastically, along with his vocal abilities and storytelling. Overall, definitely was hoping that Joji would experiment a little with his sound, but most of these songs have the same "piano ballad" vibe. We don't need more SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK remakes. Please.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Glimpse of Us, Die For You
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: ... read more

The album cover describes it all. Shiny, loud, harsh, and empty. Watch the Throne is a collaboration album between Jay-Z and Kanye, marking their partnership on Jay-Z's Blueprint albums. I think a lot of people didn't enjoy this album because of what it is: a victory lap after Kanye's positive media image with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. There are a few high points, but not a lot on this album is introspective, innovative, or memorable, either in the direction of instrumentals or lyrics ... read more

Billie Eilish's sophomore album, two years after her initial debut on WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Much more polished than her debut album, with pretty vocals mixed by Finneas - great job! The instrumentals were laid back and lighter compared to her debut, and the album overall has some nice vibes. Some of the instrumentals were a bit questionable and didn't contribute to Billie's vocals much.
However, I did not enjoy the themes in this album a whole lot - it feels a whole lot more ... read more

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Great question, terrible album title. Billie's 2019 debut album features 14 tracks produced by the brother-sister duo. To me, this is basically an XXXTentacion album but a lot more polished. I'll admit, this was quite a change from the "pop" genre of 2019, with an innovative, darker, and distorted tone than most radio releases of that time. Finneas is undoubtedly talented at what he does, creating sinister tones; however, the vocal mixings need ... read more

I think this is my first time experiencing a proper psych-pop album, and I'm impressed! I can't say much about the rest of Tame Impala's discography, but this album stuck out to me. Really enjoyed the concepts on each track - brilliantly executed, especially with the instrumentals. Dreamy vocals layered on top of heavy, crashing basslines, piercing strings, and clean synths - this exudes a vintage 80's/90's vibe, especially with the vocal effects. Overall, this album is definitely a ... read more

I've been putting off Donda for months at this point and finally decided to finish it once and for all. This is Kanye's first major album since The Life of Pablo, dedicating 24 tracks to the memory of his mother.

Going into Donda, I did not expect to hear gospel-inspired tracks; though I didn't have the greatest listening experience from JESUS IS KING, Donda struck out with much better production and a focus on structure - Christian hip-hop? The use of censoring (I'm guessing not for artistic ... read more

I COUNT MONEYYY
Still have no idea how Cole Bennett got Yeat on Minions trailer, but somehow it's good? I don't even know how to analyze Yeat, it really isn't that deep. We live in a society.

Following the release of The Lo-Fis, a collection of old demos and instrumentals, Lacy gives us a look into his upcoming album Gemini Rights. The first half of the song feels heavily inspired by Apollo XXI, with a repeating refrain over really clean, somber instrumentals and production. Towards the end, the melody switch was a bit strange, with a weird sample in my opinion. However, the lyrics tied the song together and gave a message set in heartbreaking reality...looking forward to what Lacy ... read more

Steve Lacy's debut EP, showing off some of his past singles and a few new tracks. A nice collection of instrumental beats, all of which were made on GarageBand, huge props! His vocal range is suited for his sound, but the production could have been better - at times, it becomes apparent that Lacy's tracks need more polishing (and hopefully studio mixing as well). Overall, a nice introduction to Lacy's work; no tracklist for this one, give it a listen!

Really nice debut mixtape from PinkPantheress, an up-and-coming SoundCloud artist making "bedroom pop" r&b tracks. This collection features impressive vocal performances over dreamy instrumentals. With captivating synth lines and clean drum backings, this short and sweet collection features the best of Pantheress's work - hope to see more in the future. No tracklist, every track brings something different from her sound, and I don't think it's fair to judge an 18-minute mixtape by ... read more

Yeah, this one isn't that great but it has a few bops. The Weeknd tries to become an r&b rockstar but fails with a pretty inconsistent tracklist, especially in the second half (until the outro). Be honest, what stands out besides Starboy, Die For You, and I Feel It Coming? I don't know, this one just didn't hit as hard as his other albums, both vocally and instrumentally. Overall, it's alright, but probably the worst work out of Abel's discography.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Starboy, Rockin', ... read more

This is probably X's most cohesive album, the rest of his works are a lot more bloated and longer than they should be. I enjoyed this album quite a bit - sampling vocals from Shiloh Dynasty, XXXTentacion creates a lofi "emo rap" album addressing his personal toxic relationship, past trauma, and pain in his life. After watching the recent Hulu documentary, I felt that X was transitioning to a different approach in life and getting past his violent ways. He was looking for a change, and ... read more

Frank Ocean's debut album (not including his mixtape, Nostalgia Ultra). Comparing this to Blonde, Channel Orange is a lot better structured and more cohesive than the collection on Blonde, and much more consistent. Frank Ocean shows his meticulousness in the instrumentals of each track, including a beat switch in Pyramids timed at the middle of the album. Memorable lines talking about love, wealth, and lust span throughout the 17 tracks, bringing out a different mood every time. Overall, I did ... read more

I feel this album is pretty comparable to Nas's early works with Illmatic and It Was Written - Ms. Lauryn Hill's debut album coming off of her time in the Fugees. Boasting powerful vocal performances, Lauryn Hill's incredible songwriting and rap flow shines bright over classic hip-hop backing instrumentals (not to mention sampling a bird?). Telling the story of her fame, love, and struggles in a white American society, Ms. Hill made a great impact on the future of hip-hop with this release, ... read more

Frank Ocean had very high expectations coming into this album - with the success of critically acclaimed Channel Orange, critics were eager to see what would come next to his discography. And he didn't disappoint.

Blonde is probably the most emotionally impactful album I've listened to. If After Hours is the soundtrack to a mental breakdown, Blonde is what caused it. Stirring intense emotions, Frank Ocean uses calming instrumentals to back his heart-wrenching lyricism, full of raw sadness. ... read more

Coming off of Yeezus, this is pretty nice - Kanye doesn't give a shit about the media again. Not as inspirational as MBDTF, but it's pretty close! This has some of Kanye's greatest hits, and with good reason. The tracks have stunning instrumentals, and Kanye covers topics of his past controversies, the media, religion, and fame. Overall, the production is decent, but could probably use a little bit more work.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Ultralight Beam, Father Stretch My Hands, I Love Kanye, Waves, FML, ... read more