This new Alchemist EP isn't quite what I was hoping for, but impressive nonetheless. The production on all 4 songs is fantastic even for The Alchemist's pretty high standards, but I find the featured artists a little tiresome. Earl is great as usual, and I have to give credit to Navy Blue for pulling out all the stops on the opener, but everyone else feels a bit stagnant both vocally and lyrically on this one. Still, "This Things Of Ours" is a worth-while listen for anyone craving a ... read more

AJ Tracey's new album "Flu Game" is a step-up in terms of quality, but still not the best showcase of what the UK hiphop scene can do. Lyrically, "Flu Game" is respectable, most tracks containing a handful of likeable bars and that goes for the features as well. That being said, this album falls short on the production, never attempting anything more ambitious than basic drill drums and dusty melodic synths. Honestly it's a shame, there are some brilliant ideas and flows on ... read more

This is honestly the least impressed by a Conway project I've been in a while, and it's still not even that bad. The production is mostly decent but my criticisms of 'IF IT BLEEDS..." lie mostly in Conway not sounding particularly focused. Maybe I'm just tired of this sound, but apart from the "deez nuts" joke in the intro, it doesn't have much character or individuality in Conway's immense discography. Still a cool album but I don't see myself coming back to ... read more

Despite loving mixtapes like "JEFFERY' and many of Young Thug's features, "Slime Language 2" is a very poor sequel to an already disappointing record. I'll start by saying the fact that there are 23 songs on here is ridiculous, especially when they're all being produced by the same guy, I got up to track 6 before I was bored of his production style. I'd also like to mention that despite being loaded with a hideous amount of features, no one sounds like they are actually trying: ... read more

Arlo Park's debut record "Collapsed In Sunbeams" is certainly impressive, but not exactly revolutionary. All 12 tracks are written with obvious poetic talent, as Arlo laces her poetry into this album every chance she gets. Particularly impressive is the word choice and unpredictable rhymes that leave you hanging on every lyric, something that holds many artists back when attempting this type of singer/songwriter pop. That being said I can't help wishing the production was a little ... read more

Infamous post-rock group Godspeed You! Black Emperor have always been one of the genre's figureheads, and this new album sees a slight return to the spectacular form of their earlier albums. "G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!" is, in effect, the description of a dystopian society, where chaos is seemingly looming, but never close enough to touch. Drenched in reverb, this album brings a sense of dread and confusion, matched in fright by the steady realisation that the dystopian society being ... read more

BROCKHAMPTON's new album "ROADRUNNER..." tackles the group's most poignant subject matter to date, but without the shimmering energy of their past releases, this album falls marginally short on quality. Don't get me wrong, this is a pretty special album, from the crazed opener to the emotional closer; "ROADRUNNER" feels very fleshed out. But the softer, less in your face styles they take on a handful of these tracks lets it down, as the group's strengths tend to lie more in ... read more

The debut record from Australian experimental artist Genesis Owusu is so diverse in its genres, so refined in its sound and so instantaneously likeable that this might be one of the best feel-good albums I've heard in a long time. Owusu moves between neo-soul, conscious hiphop, art rock and synth-pop seemingly every track, intertwining similar concepts and contextual references such as race, depression and uncertainty. Despite some of the less remarkable songs (such as "Centrefold") ... read more

The Weeknd's debut mixtape "House of Balloons" is not just the peak of his discography, but a milestone for modern day music. From the hair-raising opener "High For This" to the transcendent vocals on the closer "The Knowing"; the quality refuses to dip. Single-handedly Abel managed to transform a tired, over-simplified genre into a sinisterly surreal listening experience. Production is immaculate, vocals are angelic (to say the least) and the song-writing matches ... read more

"From Me To You" is Quadeca's attempt at steering away from his bad habitats and inconsistencies, as he embraces an experimental-based album. Although unmistakably a Quadeca record, "From Me To You" has enough quirks and originality to stand out. The song "Sisyphus" is the one of the few tracks in this pretty dense track list that achieves a good balance between unconventionality and sonical value, the rest waver somewhere between poorly constructed and overly ... read more

24kGoldn's second studio album "El Dorado" is a pleasant combination of pop and melodic trap, never stepping too far away from expectations. Of course this track list is littered with filler - uninteresting pop songs that's only quality comes from a catchy hook or a quotable lyric (take the song "Mood" for example). Nevertheless I can't deny that 24kGoldn puts a lot of effort into his delivery, whether this just builds on how derivative his sound is from people like Post ... read more

It is baffling to me that a person can be so unaware of how hilariously narcissistic they are. I'd understand if this song was preaching self-love, that would make sense, but this single exists so Addison Rae can tell everyone that she's self-obsessed to a sickening degree... great.

NF's new mixtape "CLOUDS" sees the Michigan rapper straddle the same subject matter, same flows and same production style as always, but with a little more awareness and a little less angst. I'd say this is a step in the right direction for NF as the beats selected for this project are much more agreeable - it still feels like he's in an Avengers trailer but at least this time there are attempts to bring orchestral sounds into it. I don't want to get into the whole "fast rap is ... read more

Lana Del Ray's music has always been pretty to me, a sort of admirable style of wallpaper pop that was best heard from a distance, but the release of her 2019 record "Norman Fucking Rockwell!" begged to differ, a newer, less tiresome sound that was finally interesting enough to last a whole album. Now 2 years later Lana has dropped what is realistically a B-sides project to "NFR!". "Chemtrails Over the Country Club" is calm and minimal and shows off the best of ... read more

Benny The Butcher releases a sequel to his fantastic 2019 record "The Plugs I Met", only this time production is held solely by Harry Fraud. I'd be lying if I said this album was unpredictable - it's concepts and flows stylistically identical to a lot of Benny's and other Griselda members' discographies, but do I mind? Not so much. Seriously though I would love to see Benny reach out of his comfort zone on an album in the future with some unorthodox production or maybe even a few less ... read more

Kanye's 2016 "The Life of Pablo" isn't his most adventurous or consistent work, and yet my enjoyability of this record is simpler than that. This might be the only Kanye West album that is commercially accepted by the masses as well as critically held to great acclaim, why? Because Kanye is so likeable on these songs. Listen to the silly interludes, the passionate deliveries, the diverse selection of beats and try and tell me you aren't at least marginally impressed by Kanye's ... read more

Denzel Curry and Kenny Beat's "UNLOCKED 1.5" is enjoyable and pretty refined on the whole, but "UNLOCKED" is not exactly an album I was dying to see remixed in the first place. The features on this thing vary from redundant to fine to great, although I wasn't completely blown-away by any of them. The production is where this album really shines, managing to twist Kenny Beat's already brilliant work into more unconventional sounds. Obviously I'd recommend this remix album to ... read more

These 3 songs that Drake just released aren't anything too special, but are at the very least promising.
The beat on "What's Next" does not work with Drake's voice at all but he does sound like he's trying for once.
"Wants and Needs" is a decent collaboration and I really enjoyed the atmosphere this track brings.
And then "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" is stylistically fine but nothing new for Drake or Rick Ross, I respect the idea but it sounds like a B-tech ... read more

Drake has held the attention of the mainstream throughout the 2010s, but "Scorpion" has got to be his greatest success from a financial standpoint, from a critical standpoint... not so much. For anyone who was unaware this album contains 25 songs, 7 or 8 of which are passable rap songs, the rest being the musical embodiment of a stale loaf of bread. You know your album is bloated when the enjoyable songs are actually made worse by the complete ocean of filler Drake surrounds them in. ... read more

JPEGMAFIA's "Veteran" manages to position itself perfectly between being experimentally abrasive and being outright offensive, mocking those that dare to contradict him. Although considered an underground artist at this point, Peggy's ego on this album is astonishing, the sort of flabbergasting arrogance that compliments "Veteran"s explosive production. Honestly besides a few unnecessary tracks, there's not a whole lot to critique, "Veteran" is so bold and ... read more