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Sufjan's soft and endearing vocals, which coexist with these airy, acoustic environments, make for an otherworldly experience, and his lyricism and storytelling are just as emotionally potent. He creates truly flawless atmospheres that you can dwell in your thoughts and be sad in, and things of the sort. Altogether, Carrie & Lowell is a bundle of thematic complexities and raw beauty.

You might be able to notice that there's not much variety sound-wise, and usually that would ... read more

Through gold grills, miahslaw comes through with a highly unique debut album.

Now, this project isn't the most polished. Even so, I love it for various reasons. Something I love about this album is that you can really sense his personality and his soul within this project. I also love the varying sounds every minute. It goes from hard, to chill and heartfelt, to eccentric and experimental. It's also really sample-heavy, which I appreciate. And again, although this project's not ... read more

I can't help but laugh at that Scouse accent

EsDeeKid's debut project, Rebel is a collection of short-and-sweet tracks, all of which featuring production that is largely great. The rapping is enjoyable as well, and his and the features' rapping mix well with the beats. The bars are good too. Rico Ace is an MVP feature though. Dude appeared four times in an album of 11 songs, and went hard every single time.

ok

80/100

WHOSE WORLDDD IS THISSS? IT'S MINE IT'S MINE IT'S MINE

This is my 500th album, so it's about time I finally reviewed Nas's debut Illmatic, one of the most iconic, and poignant, rap albums of all time.

Firstly, I have to say... Nasir deserves all the fame he's garnered over the past few decades. Having paved the way for New York rap, he's had a ton of cultural impact. Even as importantly, the album itself is an artistic masterpiece. Nas maintains skillful ... read more

Son of Spergy is a quiet, thought-provoking, and a truly wonderful experience, as well as it is definitely one of the best R&B/Neo-Soul albums of the year. Mesmerizing music- notably gospel- elements, beautiful performances from Daniel and features alike, and absolutely fantastic individual tracks. Call On Me, Baby Blue, and Touching God were my highlights.

90/100

NEVER ENOUGH is an exceptionally polished third album, containing generally great tracks alongside solid sound diversity. I loved tracks Ocho Rios, Toronto 2014, Do You Like Me?, Always, Disillusioned, and Superpowers.

85/100

CASE STUDY 01 is another batch of great songs, though more simple lyric & theme-wise than we know Daniel can do (though it isn't too bad of a thing.) Daniel's sound is just that excellent, and the sounds that he ventures into are pretty different from what I've heard from him, and they are certainly enjoyable.

A few alright songs, but the majority is great. SUPERPOSITION, LOVE AGAIN, and FRONTAL LOBE MUSIC are some of my favorites.

80/100

Careful! You might... slip!
sorry

Daniel Caesar's debut, Freudian, is all sentimental, empowering, and beautiful. The vocals are warming, the instrumentation is gorgeous, and the storytelling + lyricism are equally as impressive. Thus, these details make what is an essential modern R&B album.

All of these songs are honestly really good, Get You and Best Part being some mainstream bangers. Transform's a nice track as well, and the title track would serve as a perfect outro ... read more

Can't wait for Cincuenta

The creation of Quaranta is probably the most profound step that Danny will take in his career, marking his first album made sober.

With Quaranta, Danny takes a rather subdued direction in his sound. The production isn't flamboyant like you might see on XXX or Old, nor is it chaotic or manic like on Atrocity Exhibition, nor is it electrifying like on the newest release Stardust, nor is it highly experimental like it is with JPEG on the beat. Also, Danny ... read more

1L0v3th1sPr0j3ct!

Stardust goes to show Danny's one of, if not the best, artists in the realm of experimental hip-hop. Danny's transformation as an artist and as an actual person is nothing less than amazing. It's so interesting how his music has always reflected on his life circumstances and lifestyle, from the likes of Atrocity Exhibition vividly portraying a truly dark time of his life, to Stardust marking his sobriety and rebirth.

There are just so many aspects and moments ... read more

Not necessary at all but I don't hate it. I might've enjoyed it but it is pretty lazy for a release by these two. Roaches is the main takeaway from this entire thing.

Drop STH 2

65/100

Tell Me why Tell Me Where to Go wasn't on the album. NO! and HERMANOS are also fire. This is really just a lovable, little extension to one of my favorite albums of all time.

80/100

You could listen to just about any of the songs here and follow the lyrics, and have no clue what he's trying to say. And this did happen to me, and although these songs are full of ignored meanings and analyses, you can still marvel at the fact that it exists.

Aesop Rock's Labor Days contains some truly next-level abstract lyricism and vivid imagery along with some great production and rapping. It's a little mellow for my taste, but he definitely gets more hungry and matured ... read more

Aes' best qualities are present throughout, with great production, lyricism, and rapping. This album is seriously fun to listen to, and it's respectable and chill. What's particularly fun is listening to him rap and tells stories with things that make sense contextually, but still is random.

"I'm looking at the snail, he seems pretty pleasant"

There's a lot to deluge yourself in and the large majority of this project is really great. Though for an abstract ... read more

I have never seen someone so casually rap about their love for their cat.

The Impossible Kid was completely created, rapped, produced, and written by Aesop Rock. In other words, this absolute masterclass of hip-hop was made by this one dude.

I've always heard talk about Aesop Rock, mainly because of his lyrical ability. If you check that one site that shows you many unique words tons of different rappers have used, he's at the very top, with 7,879 total words. And it really shows. ... read more

I like this project. Conductor's production and Rome's rapping are pretty good.

But at some point, Rome needs to leave this sound. The project itself is samey. He really should just take some risks in terms of his sound rather than his excellent rapping being whittled down just for having run-of-the-mill Griselda production. But for now, I still like it. There are also a lot of great tracks on here, so can't hate that much.

75/100

KISS THE RING by Rome Streetz is one of Griselda's most finest, luxurious, and cohesive projects.

"Big boulder for a hundred, stash it in a Benz vent
Cartier glasses rimless, lust for the cash endless"

Though the beats are very clean and conforms with the rapping, it feels a little bit lackluster. The same exact, rather simplistic loop playing throughout the length of each song can be a bit tedious to listen to. BUT!!! When the beat is good, it's really really good, for ... read more

Haven't heard much from yeule, but I thought this album was really pretty and enjoyable with nice production and sweet vocals. Can't really come up with any complaints, maybe just that the potential of some songs were not realised. I really like the title track, Dudu, and Tequila Coma.

75/100

Listen to this w/ good headphones and max volume

caroline 2 is dead-drop ethereal, with some of the most wonderful musical compositions to come out of this year.

The opener, Total euphoria, is a certain standout on this project. Everything that happens in this song is just dumbfounding. The offbeat-triplet-god-knows-what guitar accompanied by these absolutely sweet vocals, then leading up to this bass-heavy and vibrant section. I also really loved Song two and Two rivers down. Though every ... read more

Crooked Wing is quite brilliant in terms of its and overall vibe and atmosphere. It's a pleasant experience, but it likely won't shock you.

75/100