Simple, Funny, Catchy, Inconsistent, but overall an enjoyable album, and a good debut for someone like Zack Fox. I was a huge fan of all the features and singles he dropped before this one, and while I was slightly let down, I enjoyed this a good amount. He experiments with what his songs sound on here more than I expected, but these don't always pan out, and most of his best songs on here are the ones that use the old soul samples like most of his other tracks as opposed to the more ... read more

This is an album of flaws that become not only more than the sum of its parts but is a good portrayal of a man with just as many flaws as his album. This thing should not work by any means. 5-minute beats that barely change, way too long for its own good, a much weaker second half that weighs down the project heavily, mixing that feels unfinished in multiple spots, and yet, this thing struck a chord with me in a way I did not expect at all. It feels like a really great personification of Kanye ... read more

A fun collection of musings about love, and especially love lost. This thing is consistently average, and honestly, that is all it needs to be. Most of the songs on here are catchy and composed well enough to keep your attention, and it is small things that can make this project drag. It is fairly one-note, in composition and writing, and often exceeds the length it should. This project is just consistently average, great to put in in the background for studying and ....ya know... but never ... read more

An outing from Clairo that I was not expecting to enjoy as much as I did. She manages to find real sincerity in a way that I haven't seen from her by stripping everything around her back and succeeding to find beauty and relatability in the small moments. This is one of many albums from the past few years that attempts to go back and find something new from the Joni Mitchell sound and stylings, but this one is very clearly a Clairo album in a way so many are not. It feels very specific to her ... read more

Vince Staples is the comedown from a career of bragging and flexing, coming down from the extremity from albums like Big Fish Theory and FM! and finding Vince more and more sure of just how much he doesn't understand. I think this is easily Vinces best performance as an artist. He shows himself as someone with more layers than many listeners have given him credit for in the past. He doesn't let go of his own self-confidence, he just makes it clear that that's not all there is to him. He sees ... read more

Afro Pessimist is a promising, if inconsistently great, debut from Censored Dialogue. The production on this thing has moments of genius and shines when it is stripped down. The sample loops really work for them and their voice, and I always felt like they were much more in control of these songs vocally and even writing-wise. The songs that are meant to hit harder feel a little rough around the edges and are produced in a way that feels empty compared to the more sample-heavy ones. Past the ... read more

Lots of potential, and I'm excited about the future, but this feels pretty amateurish in spots. I think the guitar-centered sound is often unexplored in a lot of rap right now, and the way they use it is really interesting, but these songs structurally just feel lifeless at times. They last much too long, have too little going on, or are just sound unintentional. What saves this album from being a complete mess is the vocal delivery and fun writing. These guys bring so much energy to these ... read more

Another consistently strong effort from MIKE, who has a special place in not only rap right now but my tastes as an individual. He has consistently dropped albums throughout the years, and I have always been a huge fan of his murky production and almost hidden raps over these beats. This album finds him at a turn in himself and his own artistry. He is attempting to find himself in his own isolation, whether that be self-inflicted or pandemic related, and often times both. While this album is by ... read more

An amalgamation of every Tyler album up to this point, and a victory lap for someone who has had to work for every inch of his career. This thing is just damn fun and is very clearly a relaxing album for Tyler. He has come so far as a musician and conquers so much musical ground on this thing without it feeling disjointed. Tyler made exactly what he wanted to make, and used his talented musical ear to make it work, and that level of artistry is worth hearing every single time. A great summer ... read more

A consistent new effort from Faye Webster that makes subtle changes from her previous efforts (mostly sonically) to push her sound in a new direction, for better and worse. While this change to being seemingly more focused on guitar and vocals than before (which I attribute heavily to the pandemic) does highlight her incredible songwriting talent, it can leave the songs feeling sparse in spots where adding some horns or other colors could make the songs keep their momentum. Past this, This ... read more

Undeniably enjoyable throughout, and a great introduction to the band (for me as a first-time listener), but it does have a glaring pacing issue for me. This album has three specific thirds of quality for me. I find the first four songs really great, diverse, and well performed. Just overall fun and exciting pop music, and the strongest run of songs on the album. The album then takes a dip in quality, with posing in bondage being not nearly as interesting or endearing as the first four songs, ... read more

Took a couple of listens for this to click with me all the way, but this thing is thoroughly enjoyable. The production is probably the strongest point of this whole album. Most of the songs really bounce and slink along in a way that, while is often a short loop, never gets old during listening. Mach-Hommy is as strong as ever on here, and working with Westside Gunn on this really brings him to new, more ambitious heights, with a longer than average (for Mach-Hommy) runtime. I think the first ... read more

Energy in every second, no matter how sparse. This thing is propelled by so many factors. A wealth of ideas, pure unadulterated skill from each member, and a general push at the boundaries of their own abilities and their working genres. A wild, sometimes overwhelming, often gorgeous, and fun in a way you wouldn't expect, album from one of the most exciting outfits in the past couple of years that they have the skill and drive to push themselves and never rest on their laurels. I think this is ... read more

So many great ideas on here, and way more groovy than I was ever expecting. I had never heard Squid before this, but this is a super promising debut from them. They way they use horns all over this album is super cool. The vocalist takes some getting used to, but he varies himself throughout the runtime enough to show his prowess. This is suprisingly fun at times. It has its fair share of darkness and menacing moments, but man this thing can be so fun to listen to. Some of these songs go on a ... read more

A little light on DOOM, but still an enjoyable album. A bit one note, but I would say none of the songs stick out in either direction, positive or negative. CZARFACE does a lot of the heavy lifting on here, but he is consistent throughout. Feels less like a collab album and more of a CZARFACE album with MF DOOM features.

Favorites: A Name To The Face, Jason & The Czargonauts

This is another fairly good album from the band, but it fails to find what made them so convincing and exciting when they started.
GY!BE has always found the beauty in darkness. Their long, winding tracks on their older albums drone on for often 20 minutes, and find their artistic stride in these longer, darker songs, and this album has those tracks, but the album itself doesn't allow for them to stay in that strength. This is their most accessible record in my opinion, which is a good thing ... read more

Fun throughout, and doesn't waste a beat on music that isn't worth its listener's time. This feels like a combination of all of the distinct sounds they have toyed with over the years mashed into one EP that is surprisingly cohesive, even if the run time doesn't leave much time for them to coalesce into anything bigger than itself. Kero Kero Bonito surprise me every time, for better or for worse, and I love that about them. This EP is hopefully proof that another album as strong and ... read more

Another pleasant one from the alchemist. Nothing too special here, nobody giving a career-best, just a batch of fine songs and ​fairly consistent verses. Enjoyable, but too short and scattered to coalesce into anything meaningful.

Favorite Track: Nobles (feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Navy Blue)

A grand artistic statement that has a chance of not being topped this year. Not a moment in the runtime is wasted, and everyone involved is excellent, especially Pharoah Sanders who ties this together with not only every moment he plays but also his musical ear to know when he should lay back and let floating points or the orchestra take point. The first listen is excellent, and there is plenty to enjoy on each listen afterward. Surprising, but very clearly thoughtful. I could gush over this ... read more

Not his best, but I would love to think that this is an in-between project, and his next full length will be a return to the same high quality of Let The Sun Talk

Favorites: Time Travel, Town Crier