Much love for the classic, nasty, dirty south. A nostalgic and consistent release from a new group that has a great hold on their identity.
Makaveli may be the greatest rapper to spite his own discography, as despite his catalogue lacking consistency in quality, no one can deny that this man *is* Hip Hop.
The Mountain is a great work of worldbuilding and immersion. Jamie and Damon are true artists for shaping their work around the loss of their fathers in 2025. They are true veterans of the art form, exploring the afterlife, death, loss, grief, and the age of information through infinitely polished abstraction and commitment. Gorillaz can do what other bands can't. They can turn an hour-long theatrical epic into a heartfelt odyssey, rather than a cardboard imitation of drama. Keeping ... read more
I'm not even that big on Pink Floyd, but this was pretty great. Also has one of the best album covers ever.
IDLSIDGO may be Earl's best work, it perfectly captures his transition from Odd Future at its peak into his obsession with Abstract production. It's a little bit of everything, a beautifully dark balance.
The Fall Off is Inevitable.
But is The Fall-Off good?
Short answer: Absolutely. This is J. Cole's most enrapturing and investing project on first listen, and is the culmination of everything he's worked to become over the years. As a fan, I'm super satisfied, it's a classic, I'm so happy that one of my favorite rappers went out on such a high note. I love The Fall-Off!
Long Answer:
J. Cole is not the greatest rapper of all time, he's just not. He fulfills a ... read more
Undeniably J. Cole's most impressive lyrical moment in the past 6 years. Cole filled his pen with octane before ripping 99 Build Freestyle. As a fan, I'm elated for the Fall Off even more now. BIRTHDAY BLIZZARD '26, with all its grimy, clever aesthetics, is the final receipt Cole will drop before the arrival of his proclaimed magnum opus.
Heck of a start to 2016! In my opinion, DBD finally cements Rocky as a truly multifaceted Autor, taking the ambition of TESTING and purifying it into a far more impressive and polished project. DBD is like a gallery, no two songs are the same, but nothing sounds negatively out of place. I love that tracks like ROBBERY share a tracklist with AIR FORCE, or PUNK ROCKY. Jazz, Rage, R&B, Cloud Rap, Punk, Trap, and more. Rocky has displayed mainstream eclecticism at its finest, and it's his ... read more
A marked hemorrhage of consistency following Pure Heroine. Lorde explores a lot of unique and alternative sounds across Melodrama, with the highlights encapsulating her affinity for theatre sensibilities and performance, along with tracks that feel like developing symphonies. That's around where the positives end for me, unfortunately. The tracklist is frontloaded with a couple radio hits that exemplify a couple of my least favorite trends the late 2010s brought for Pop; drowned/muffled ... read more
A charming listen as someone who (somehow) hasn't heard any Marley before. Everything is very rich and spacious.
While it can be argued the album should've remained a test, Rocky was already a step above his contemporaries in dignity, risking his slick discography's record to pursue his inspirations.
You could gaslight me into believing this was the full album. Everything I've found to enjoy about MAVI from shadowbox is repeated here, then translated into a more casual, digestible, and exciting mixtape style! Great features from Kenny Mason, and Smino highlight how good MAVI's curation is. Not to mention his collaboration with fellow abstract rappers like Earl and MIKE.
It's a compelling collection of super intelligent theses regarding longsuffering, heartbreak, and hope. This is my first MAVI listen! He's so verbose. He's bringing an ironic flavor of accessibility to Abstract Hip Hop, without foregoing the off-kilter, underwater abstraction of his own project's sound. He has real heart that couldn't be manufactured.
K.R.I.T didn't strike gold; he raised the bar for what even counts as precious metal.
There's nothing like Jazz. It can soothe, it can elate, it can mourn and it can excite. It's one of, if not the most important genre of music as it relates to the modern day. Hip Hop, Soul, R&B, all of these genres either owe origin or at least respects to Jazz. It's an outpouring of the soul, adaptable to any case scenario or feeling, and artists like Davis, Coltrane, Mingus, and more are responsible for some of my first true awakenings to this.
One of, if not the greatest voice in Pop. Lorde is the voice of my childhood, and Pure Heroine makes me feel like I'm 13 again and everything matters.
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