Lorde's "Melodrama" is full to the brim with emotive vocals, catchy choruses and unpredictable production. Although enjoyable, her debut "Pure Heroine" released in 2013 felt rushed, as if most of the songs had been engineered and written without much perspective of the album as a whole. I am pleased to report that no song on "Melodrama" suffers in this way. Pop is a genre that wavers between being annoyingly uninteresting and pushing the boundaries of mainstream ... read more

"END OF THE EARTH" is a refreshing reminder of Mavi's sheer presence on a track. Every word and vocal inflection this man produces is ridiculously well formed which, in the case of the opening and closing tracks, can definitely be a blessing, but other times it can be a bit overwhelming. These songs mostly sound like B-sides from "Let The Sun Talk", which is ironic because most of them are beautifully well made. I'd say the middle three tracks aren't anything too special, ... read more

Black Country, New Road's 2021 debut is fantastically creative. "For the first time" has it all: the abrasive production, the haunting and occasionally humorous vocals; this album even has an instrumental opener! If you can look past the Slint influence I promise this is a very rewarding listen. I expect this to appear on many year-end lists.
85/100
Favourites: "Sunglasses", "Science Fair", "Athens, France", "Opus"

Ghetts new album is surprisingly polished, finally a collection from him that shows his true musical talent. A veteran in the UK grime scene, Ghetts knows he has the respect of those who care to listen and the introspective approach he takes on "Conflict Of Interest" compliments his position perfectly. Despite the odd dodgy hook or uninteresting beat choice, this is a pretty engaging 70 minutes. Can't lie I was expecting much worse.
71/100
Favourites: "Autobiography", ... read more

Trippie Redd has been making moody trap songs for a good few years, releasing a plethora of bloated albums that's mainstream success is questionable. This new album brings a whole new level of drugged angst, teaming up with producer Travis Barker to make Trippie's first punk rock-inspired album. I don't like it. Simple as that. I can appreciate the production, and Trippie's cliched lyrics are ironically quite entertaining, but on the whole, "Neon Shark vs Pegasus" is too focused on ... read more

The soundtrack to "Judas and the Black Messiah" manages to achieve mediocrity despite the tracklist bursting with some of hiphop's most talented artists. Don't get me wrong, this soundtrack has some good songs, but like most 20+ song albums, the filler is undeniably detrimental... oh well the film looks good.
58/100
Favourites: "Plead The .45th", "Somethin' Ain't Right"

JPEGMAFIA's new EP is a little underwhelming although just as ambition as you'd expect. On "EP2!" Peggy is no longer blasting chaotic production choices together with dangerously border line offensive lyricism. Instead, "EP2!" is Peggy taking it slow. There are elements of R&B in this thing which strike me as creative but at the same time.... does this really stand even close to "Veteran" or "...Cornballs"? Respect to Peggy for keeping his fans ... read more

slowthai’s new album is an introspective glance into his general mental health, split into two pretty agreeable sides. “TYRON”s first 7 tracks are stylistically monotone, a nocturnal sound that resembles a slightly less exciting rendition of “Nothing Great About Britain”. The second half is much more appealing in my opinion, the production branches out of generic grime beats and into more colourful and ambitious sounds, slowthai raps about his struggles with his ... read more

Kanye's ode to his newly-found Christianity is more of a stain on his impeccable discography than a push in the right direction. He may have the right idea on a handful of songs, but either ruins it with the execution or refuses to adapt or introduce any new ideas, something Kanye is usually very good at. Of course, I'm glad he's focusing on what he's passionate about, and that shows quite a lot on "Jesus Is King", but for every promising moment there is an equally disappointing lack ... read more

Earl Sweatshirt's "Some Rap Songs" is the artistic peak of cryptic, disturbed hiphop. Lyrically these 25 minutes are harrowing and impactful, sonically the production is hypnotic and the gradual concept this album presents is agonisingly personal. By the end of "Riot!" you will either be speechless or sobbing.
97/100
Favourites: "Azucar", "Ontheway!", "Nowhere2go", "Riot!", "Peanut"

On this EP Dave's lyricism and charismatic ambition is limited by a messy tracklist and stale production (these things are mostly improved on in his debut album "Psychodrama"). Nevertheless, "Game Over" is still a note-worthy edition to Dave's catalogue despite its flaws.
64/100
Favourites: "Attitude", "How I Met My Ex"

Although this new Madlib doesn't bring many new ideas to the instrumental hiphop table, it's still just as concise as you'd expect from one of hiphop's best producers. That being said, the first half is far better than the moderately boring last few tracks, something that limits what had the potential to be a classic. Madlib earns some brownie points anyway.
75/100
Favourites: "Road Of The Lonely Ones", "The Call", "One For Quartabe / Right Now"

Travis Scott fails to recreate the creative mountain that was "Rodeo" and instead resorts to the more general sounds of his peers. From back to front "Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight" is blurry but not in a lo-if, experimental way but in an unappealing laziness that makes the few highlights less impressive and the biggest disappointments even more tedious. As sacred as Travis's sound is; nothing on this album comes close to his best.
51/100
Favourites: "pick up the ... read more

Stella Donnelly's debut album "Beware of the Dogs" showcases great singer/songwriter talent intertwined with modest production and the occasional reference to society's ills, in particular: sexual abuse. It takes some skill to make sex seem both tiresome and addicting and yet Stella's blunt lyrics on "Old Man" and "Boys Will Be Boys" achieves this spectacularly creating a voice of feminine strength and excellence in a masculine world. 80/100
Favourites: "Boys ... read more

Peggy's new single isn't particularly astounding but is still undeniably solid, obviously production still hits, great chorus, only wish Peggy was trying a little harder vocally on this one.

Although the true purpose of Frank Ocean's "Endless" might go against the music industry's conventions, it's power is still remarkable. The atmospheric production wavers somewhere between beautiful and vacuous, Frank's vocals are angelic but for the first time also modest and lyrically (although no "channel ORANGE") still contains enough substance to be as gripping-ever. What strikes me as most intriguing however, is the tone Frank chooses for these 42 minutes. Every song ... read more

"High Off Life" has some great highlights bobbing around in an ocean of mediocrity and poorly structured filler. Of course I wasn't expecting much else after seeing the 21 song track list, but after the success of "Monster" and "DS2", Future really needs a big win if he wants to maintain his status in the increasingly carnivorous genre he helped popularise in the 2010s.
66/100
Favourites: "Too Comfortable", "Trapped In The Sun"

ZUU is Denzel Curry’s ode to his upbringing in Florida, using his newly found respect in the hip hop industry to shine light on the music scene down there. Although I don’t love every track, it’s an exciting listen with many many quotable lyrics and smooth flows. Denzel holds back on his more conceptual lyricism and focuses on his more accessible sounds, creating one of the best feel-good rap albums of 2019.
75/100
Favourites: "RICKY", "WISH", "BUSHY ... read more

Cool song, excited to see if this style will be on her next album or if this just a one-off collaboration. Either way, me gusta.

Playboi Carti's second album "Die Lit" is by far his most consistent and possibly even his most perplexing. Teaming up with producer Pierre Bourne on numerous tracks, Carti's sparse vocals and unique ad-libs are on full show. Fortunately, "Die Lit" is far from a re-hash of Carti's self-titled record in 2017 - in fact these minimalistic trap bangers are probably his best crop of work, despite it's dizzying eccentricities.
72/100
Favourites: "Lean 4 Real", ... read more