RudolfAmbroz

A showing of raw potential that I don't think I'll be returning to much after this. The title track is still an incredibly strong opener, though

From Lupe Fiasco, “Samurai”

This is actually my first full-length Lupe project. I’ve always been aware of him, his work with Kanye West early on and the track he made with Aesop Rock a little while back both impressed me a fair bit, but I’ve never sought him out. I’m also not all that familiar with Amy Winehouse, though I did make sure to look into her before writing this review.

Towards the end of her life, Amy Winehouse sent a voicemail to frequent collaborator ... read more

In an environment where "The Best ____ You've Never Heard Of" plays so well in algorithms, it's at least a little surprising that there's been no significant rediscovery of Doomtree these past couple years. This group was lightning in a bottle in the same way Wu-Tang was.

All in all, it's more flawed than I remember from high school but nearly all of it still hits.

A lot of this album feels like...much, I guess I would say. Especially early on. Isle Unto Thyself, Black Rainbows, and White Mirror kind of just pile shit on and end up feeling incredibly confused. Of the clusterfuck tracks I found I liked Murders the most though I couldn't tell you why. Felt a bit more like deliberate escalation, and I guess I appreciated the ideas more as a baseline.

The more restrained tracks range from passable pastiche (Time Machine) to utterly embarrasing (Heaven)