This album has a very nice production aesthetic, reviving mid-20th century musical styles. However, I do not feel like it is a particularly gripping project. The songs are far more subtle than I anticipated from the singles, and there is not a whole lot to grab onto lyrically minus a few clever or funny lines. It serves well as background music, though, as it is quite soft. Overall, I do enjoy this album, but I don't find myself listening as actively as I would like to.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Chloe, ... read more

I really want to like Earl Sweatshirt, but once again he leaves me incredibly bored with an album. 2010 is good at least.

On this album, The Weeknd delivers a project that brings the 80s nostalgia I don't even have as someone born in the 90s. The synth work is absolutely incredible, and you can hear how expensive the album was to make in the strength of its mixing and mastering. It definitely is more consistent sonically than After Hours, though I don't feel the emotion in this album quite as much as most of his prior work. Nonetheless, this album is a great trip down a retro path featuring banger after banger. ... read more

I have to give this more listens to actually catch the lyrics, but off of first listen this sounds absolutely beautiful.

It's finally here, and wow am I impressed. Immediately following the announcement of this album, I was ecstatic to hear the final product. Once "Leave the Door Open" dropped, I needed this album immediately. Unfortunately, this project was delayed for months, leaving many of us fans to wonder if we'd ever be hearing this masterpiece in its entirety. Fortunately, the wait is over and now it is time to experience and process this record as a collective audience.

I don't think it's ... read more

While this isn't necessarily a bad album, I was incredibly underwhelmed. With a title like Punk, I would have expected Young Thug to do something crazy, along the lines of Whole Lotta Red. However, this was very clearly not that. It was very minimalistic to the point of utter boredom for a large amount of the album. The acoustic production is so stripped back that there is often not much to each track. I really want to like this album, but I unfortunately don't see myself returning to it very ... read more

Before I talk about the album itself, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge how great this album rollout was. Lil Nas X drew up so much controversy and played off that criticism to build even more attention and hype for the album, all while making great songs and great visuals.

I'm obviously going to need a few more listens to really solidify my opinion on this project but right now, I think it's a wonderful effort. Lil Nas X has proved with the promotional singles and the full album ... read more

TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN, TOP OF THE MORNIN

This was a very solid debut album from Baby Keem. I had high expectations going into this project because of Keem's previous works, the leadup singles, and just the fact that he shares genetics with a top five rapper of all time. I was not let down by this album. Baby Keem brought such ... read more

Wow... this is a masterpiece. Kanye really took elements from pretty much all of his albums and left us with an album fitting of the legend status that he rightfully deserves. This is very obviously not a cohesive listen but as we saw with TLOP, that is most definitely not a requirement for a great Kanye album. He left us with another record that perfectly illustrates his mental state at the time of release.

Though lyrically this album delves into a variety of subjects and genres, I feel like ... read more

This is definitely not Melodrama, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Is it the best album I've ever heard? Obviously no, but it does have some sweet singer-songwriter cuts that make it a pleasant and refreshing listen. I like how Lorde strayed away from her moodier songs — even though I tend to prefer those — because it was a nice change of pace. While her songwriting or production may not be as strong, this album does have some quality ... read more

I've never been much of a fan of P'ierre's solo work. It feels like he gives his most exciting beats to his collaborators like Playboi Carti and is often left with less captivating production on his own projects. That combined with his more monotone voice and no interesting songwriting to make up for it can make for some incredibly boring music. I definitely have to give him tremendous respect, though, for his skills in production. His work with other artists, especially Carti and Uzi, has made ... read more

Unlike Pop Smoke's Debut Album "Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon," this album does not seem to be crafted with much regard for Pop Smoke's legacy or his artistic vision. A lot of the songs just sound like snippets of Pop Smoke's vocals with mediocre performances from the feature artists. Only a handful of tracks on this project stood out to me as particularly good, while the rest seemed like tacky cash grabs. This album feels similar to what XXXTENTACION's label did following his ... read more

I, like many others, only discovered this album as a result of Fantano giving it a 10 but wow am I glad I did. To put this album into two words: compositional excellence. Every single aspect of the arrangement on this project is utterly stunning. I had only vaguely heard of Spellling's existence prior to this album and had not heard anything from her beforehand, but I am so glad I checked this out. From the beautiful strings suddenly switching to sinister synths on "Queen of Wands" to ... read more

I have never cared for Young Nudy before at all, but this album definitely impressed me. This nightmarish-sounding project features the best performances of Young Nudy's career. His voice is much less grating and more menacing, fitting the production very well. Setting aside Nudy's performance, what really steals the show on this project is the production. The beats and mixing on this album are immaculate. I cannot give enough praise to all of those involved in producing this album. While I do ... read more

Like Culture II minus the few bangers

One of my favorite Tyler albums. This album definitely feels like the culmination of all of his eras, in almost an "After Hours" sense. Tyler combined the grittiness of his earlier works but with the phenomenal lyricism that he's crafted over the last few years. He included tracks with heavy rapping and perfectly balanced them out with sweet soul sounds reminiscent of IGOR and Flower Boy. I love the synth work on this album, especially on "SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO ... read more

I must admit, I had my reservations about this album. For starters, Olivia Rodrigo is undeniably an industry plant, a quality that usually leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Moreover, I — as a 21 year old guy not going through a breakup — am clearly not the target demographic for this album. I also felt very mixed on the singles leading up to the album's release. I was fairly neutral on "driver's license" and never understood the hype around it. I did not like "deja ... read more

One of my favorite R&B projects of all time. Daniel Caesar beautifully blends the genres of R&B, gospel, and a little bit of pop so effortlessly, all while showing off his incredible vocal talents. This is one of the few albums I’ve heard that has absolutely no skips. The album has a perfect cohesion without sounding “samey” and keeps me interested the entire time. I just hope he can return to this form in his next endeavor because Case Study 07 was an absolute ... read more

I've never been much of a J Cole fan. I've never really disliked his music, but I just think a lot of it is similar quality to rappers of much less caliber. Also, the comparisons to Kendrick get me tight because Kendrick is so far clear of him lyrically it's unbelievable. Regardless, I always look forward to new Cole projects, and he usually delivers with at least a few high quality songs.

That being said, this is one of my favorite J Cole projects. I think his production choices were ... read more

There's a decent album within the tracklist but in NO way did this need to be 23 songs.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Ski, Diamonds Dancing, Solid, Came and Saw, Proud of You
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Warrior