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November 2019 New Music

November 30, 2019

I always hear people complaining about how bad music is nowadays and they couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, there is more quality music flooding the industry than ever before. It’s impossible to listen to it all, but… I try to. I give everything a chance and at the end of every month I’ll post everything I listened to and how much, what my favorite album was, what the other must have albums are, and what songs I added to my 2019 Bangers Playlist.

Stop complaining and take some guidance!

Because some albums come out later in the month and I don’t get much of a chance to listen to them before making my post, I’ve decided to make my new music posts containing all albums I’ve listened to over the last two months.

November Notes: Midway through the month, a great hip-hop Twitter account I follow – @HipHopNumbers – started a countdown of his top 15 albums of the decade and I spent a good portion of my month either relistening to those albums or giving a few I skipped past another chance (I’m looking at you IGOR). It’s a list I have a good amount of agreement with, so I’ll put it at the end of this post. Also, if you’re on Twitter, you should give this account a follow. He does all sorts of statistical analysis of pretty much any relevant hip-hop release and I’ve found his work to be very entertaining.

Also, check out my 2019 Albums page. I added rankings for D Smoke, Danny Brown, Emeli Sande, Raphael Saadiq, and Emotional Oranges… and one of them is an Album of the Year contender.

* indicates albums I added in October

HEAVY ROTATION (heard whole album many times)

*D Smoke – Inglewood High
*Danny Brown – uknowwhatimsayin?
*Emeli Sande – REAL LIFE (added in October, released in September)
Griselda – Wwcd
*Silas – 1998 (added in October, released in August)
Tyler, The Creator – IGOR (added in November, released in May)

SOLID ROTATION (heard whole album at least twice)

03 Greedo & Kenny Beats – Netflix & Deal
Brother Ali – Secrets & Escapes
Emotional Oranges – The Juice, Vol. II
Gang Starr – One of the Best Yet
*Kanye West – JESUS IS KING
Michael Kiwanuka – KIWANUKA

COURTESY ROTATION (heard whole album)

Action Bronson & The Alchemist – Lamb Over Rice
Apollo Brown – Sincerely, Detroit (added in November, released in October)
Beck – Hyperspace
BENNY THE BUTCHER – The Plugs I Met (added in November, released in June)
Bishop Briggs – CHAMPION
Earl Sweatshirt – FEET OF CLAY
FKA twigs – MAGDALENE
*G-Eazy – Scary Nights
IDK – Is He Real? (added in November, released in September)
Kota the Friend – Foto (added in November, released in May)
Lana Del Ray – Norman F*****g Rockwell (added in November, released in August)
Larry June – Product of the Dope Game
Rod Wave – Ghetto Gospel
Salaam Remi & Joell Ortiz – BoxTalk – EP
Smoke DZA & BENNY THE BUTCHER – Statue of Limitations – EP (added in November, released in October)
*Summer Walker – Over It
*Tobe Nwigwe – THREE ORIGINALS (added in October, released in March)
Trippie Redd – A Love Letter to You 4
Various Artists – Queen & Slim Soundtrack
*Wale – Wow… That’s Crazy

SKIM ROTATION (haven’t heard whole album)

*Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
CRIMEAPPLE – Viridi Panem
Dave East – Survival
*Flawless Real Talk – 24Flaw7 (added in October, not sure when released)
Jacquees – King of R&B
Kembe X – I Was Depressed Until I Made This (added in November, released in October)
Tory Lanez – Chixtape 5
*Tuxedo – Tuxedo III (added in October, released in July)
YNW Melly – Melly vs. Melvin

Out of Rotation (removed from my current playlist)

TOO NEW/NO LOVE (zero listens)

Fabolous – Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever
Jvck James – DETOUR – EP (added in November, released in October)
Smoke DZa & Curren$y – Prestige Worldwide
The Game – Born 2 Rap

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Griselda – Wwcd

I was having a tough time coming up with a truly standout album from the November releases, but then Griselda dropped a genuine banger at the buzzer. Normally, I don’t get around to listening to last minute album drops before making this post, but I must have listened to this album five times in a row the day after it dropped. Let me note something real quick: historically, I have not been a giant Griselda fan. They have tons of content and I’ve listened to a decent amount of it, but I’ve never thought of them as the second coming of Wu Tang like their biggest fans seem to think they are. However, I hadn’t ever listened to BENNY THE BUTCHER before this month and I’m definitely a fan of his and the more I listen to Conway the Machine, the more I like him. Westside Gunn is my least favorite in the group and he’s also the guy I’ve had the most exposure to, which could explain why I was lukewarm on the collective as a whole before this album dropped.

I was pretty shocked when I heard these dudes signed with Shady Records and you have to give Eminem some credit because Shady now has two huge wins this year (Boogie being the other). This album is 13 tracks deep but only ten of them are actual songs. However, all ten songs are pretty damn good and even the non-songs have a vibe to them. This album has only been out a few days and I’ve already added two tracks to my Bangerz Playlist and I expect more to be added in the future. I don’t think this is an Album of the Year contender like I’ve been reading from some people, but it’s undeniably good from top to bottom and has no real weak spots. The thing about Griselda, in my opinion, is that they make good songs and execute above average in all the key areas of making rap music, but I don’t really think anything about them is exceptional. Still, I give Wwcd a very strong recommendation and it’s probably the best new album I listened to in November.

2019 Bangerz Playlist Additions – Follow me on Apple Music @DarkKnight1717 to add my playlists

BENNY THE BUTCHER ft. Black Thought, “Crowns for Kings”
BENNY THE BUTCHER ft. Pusha T, “18 Wheeler”
Brother Ali, “Father Figures”
Danny Brown, “Combat”
D Smoke, “Lil’ Red”
D Smoke, “Honey Jack”
EARTHGANG & Tiana Major9, “Collide”
Emeli Sande, “Honest”
Emeli Sande, “Human”
Emotional Oranges, “Not Worth It”
Gang Starr ft. J.Cole, “Family and Loyalty”
Gang Starr ft. Group Home and Royce da 5’9″, “What’s Real”
Griselda, “Cruiser Weight Coke”
Griselda, “Freddie HotSpot”
Kota the Friend, “Foto”
Larry June, “Something Gotta Change”
Michael Kiwanuka, “Rolling”
Raphael Saadiq, “This World is Drunk”
Raphael Saadiq ft. Rob Bacon, “Something Keeps Calling Me”
Raphael Saadiq, “Rikers Island”
Tyler, The Creator, “IGOR’S THEME”
Wale ft. 6LACK, “Expectations”

@HipHopNumbers Top 15 Albums of the Decade:

15. Rapsody – Eve
14. Joey Badass – ALL AMERIKKAN BADASS
13. Lupe Fiasco – Tetsou & Youth
12. Jay Rock – 90059
11. Mac Miller – Swimming
10. Pusha T – DAYTONA
9. Kid Cudi – Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’
8. Tyler, The Creator – IGOR
7. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris
6. Mac Miller – Watching Movies With the Sound Off
5. Kid Cudi & Kanye West – Kids See Ghosts
4. Isaiah Rashad – The Sun’s Tirade
3. Kendrick Lamar – Good Kidd M.A.D.D. City
2. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
1. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly

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August 2019 (and July 2019) New Music

September 4, 2019

I always hear people complaining about how bad music is nowadays and they couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, there is more quality music flooding the industry than ever before. It’s impossible to listen to it all, but… I try to. I give everything a chance and at the end of every month I’ll post everything I listened to and how much, what my favorite album was, what the other must have albums are, and what songs I added to my 2019 Bangers Playlist.

Stop complaining and take some guidance!

Because some albums come out later in the month and I don’t get much of a chance to listen to them before making my post, I’ve decided to make my new music posts containing all albums I’ve listened to over the last two months. New albums for this month will have the artist’s name in bold.

Also, check out my 2019 Albums page to see where I have rated any albums I’ve formed a solid opinion on.

HEAVY ROTATION (heard whole album many times)

BJ the Chicago Kid – 1123
Dreamville – Revenge of the Dreamers 3
Little Brother – May the Lord Watch
Rapsody – Eve
SiR – Chasing Summer
YBN Cordae – The Lost Boy

SOLID ROTATION (heard whole album at least twice)

Bas – Spilled Milk 1 EP
Blood Orange – Angel’s Pulse
Chance the Rapper – The Big Day
Devin the Dude – Still Rollin’ Up: Somethin’ to Ride With
DJ Muggs & CRIMEAPPLE – Medallo
Ed Sheeran – No.6 Collaborations
Maxo Kream – Brandon Banks
Nas – The Lost Tapes 2
Rick Ross – Port of Miami 2

COURTESY ROTATION (heard whole album)

38 Spesh – A Bullet for Every Heathen
Big K.R.I.T. – K.R.I.T. IZ HERE
Black Milk – DiVE
BROCKHAMPTON – GINGER
Jidenna – 85 to Africa
Joell Ortiz – Monday
Missy Elliott – ICONOLOGY EP
NF – The Search
Obie Trice – The Fifth
Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains
Scarlet Parke – Flight Risk
Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Thank Me
Obie Trice – The Fifth

SKIM ROTATION (haven’t heard whole album)

A$AP Ferg – Floor Seats
Bon Iver – i,i
Curren$y – Hot August Nights
Drake – Care Package
Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee
Snoh Aalegra – Ugh, those feels again
Taylor Swift – Lover
Young Thug – So Much Fun

Out of Rotation (removed from my current playlist)

Berner & Curren$y – Pheno Grigio
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire
The Lion King soundtrack

TOO NEW (zero listens)

Alchemist – Yacht Rock 2
Bun B – Bun B Day – EP
Common – Let Love
Dame D.O.L.L.A. – Big D.O.L.L.A.
Justine Skye – BARE WITH ME – EP
KXNG Crooked – The Weeklys, Vol. 3
Slum Village – The Source
Tool – Fear Inoculum

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Rapsody – Eve – This was released on the 4th Thursday of August, so it hasn’t been around too long and yet I’ve already listened to the whole album three times and most of the first half at least five times and that’s saying something considering I listened to almost no music while I was in L.A. the last week of the month. I didn’t give Rapsody much love her last time around, even though she found her way to a Grammy nomination, but I did enjoy her last album when I did listen to it. Eve immediately grabbed me though. Three of the first five songs have already been added to my Best of 2019 playlist below and I’ve now added almost half the album. I like a lot about what Rapsody is doing here. She has important things to say, the beats are really good, the songs are extremely well written and Rap isn’t a slouch on the mic either. She does get a little overboard with her adlibs at times and it can be a bit of a distraction, but it’s not a dealbreaker for me and doesn’t take away much from my love for this album. I’ve seen people calling this a classic already and, honestly, I’m pretty close to saying the same thing. I enjoy this album top to bottom, as there is no glaring weak spot and plenty of highlights. Rapsody has herself a serious contender for Album of the Year.

2019 Bangerz Playlist Additions

Ari Lennox, “Up Late”
Ari Lennox, “BMO”
Ari Lennox ft. J.Cole, “Shea Butter Baby”
Ari Lennox ft. JID, “Broke”
Ari Lennox, “Whipped Cream”
BJ the Chicago Kid ft. Afrojack, “Reach”
BJ the Chicago Kid, “Can’t Wait”
BJ the Chicago Kid ft. Anderson .Paak, “Feel the Vibe”
Chance the Rapper ft. En Vogue and Ari Lennox, “I Got You (Always and Forever)”
Drake ft. J.Cole, “Jodeci Freestyle”
Dreamville (EARTHGANG, Smino, Saba, J.Cole), “Sacrifices”
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib ft. Pusha T and Killer Mike, “Palmolive”
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib ft. Anderson.Paak, “Giannis”
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, “Practice”
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, “Flat Tummy Tea”
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, “Soul Right”
Marlon Craft, “Family”
Marlon Craft, “Gang S**t”
Maxo Kream, “Brenda”
Rapsody, “Nina”
Rapsody, “Cleo”
Rapsody, “Whoopi”
Rapsody ft. K.Roosevelt, “Maya”
Rapsody ft. SiR & JID, “Iman”
Rapsody ft. J.Cole, “Sojourner”
Rapsody ft. PJ Morton, “Afeni”
Rick Ross ft. Gunplay, “Nobody’s Favorite”
SiR ft. Kendrick Lamar, “Hair Down”
Snoop Dogg, “Focused”
YBN Cordae, “Wintertime”
YBN Cordae ft. Pusha T, “Nightmares Are Real”
YBN Cordae, “Thanksgiving”

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Weekly Music Update – 11/29/2017

November 30, 2017

Since I celebrated Thanksgiving three different times last week, I never got around to posting my Weekly Music Update, so this post includes releases from the last two Fridays.

Also, aside from the one album I’ve been listening to heavily that I’ll mention below, most of my music listening lately has been in preparation for my next Rapper Profile (you can read past profiles for Biggie and DMX by clicking their names).

So who is my next profile going to be?

This guy:

That’s Eminem – in honor of his new album Revival which has been officially announced as coming out on December 15th.

New Releases

CyHi The Prynce – No Dope On Sundays (hip-hop/rap) – This album is fire. I made a preliminary Top 5 of 2017 list last night and this is a strong contender. Great lyrics, great beats… just great rap music.

Fabolous & Jadakiss – Friday On Elm Street (hip-hop/rap) – Both these guys are rappers I’ve always thought of as overrated. I really like Jada’s verse on the opening track when he raps from the perspective of Jason Vorhees (I guess Fab missed the memo – his verse has almost nothing to do with Freddy Krueger), plus the beat is horror movie awesome. The rest of the album is the slightly above average material I’ve grown accustomed to from these guys.

Kodak Black – Project Baby 2: All Grown Up (hip-hop/rap) – Kodak had a release last year or earlier this year that I was expecting to hate, but actually kind of liked. I have given this zero listens so far though.

Nas – In My Ghetto – EP (hip-hop/rap) – I’m not sure what this is supposed to be or who released it but more than half of these songs were on Lost Tapes, which was released 15 years ago. Nas fans would be better off adding that album to their collection, especially since the mixing on this is really subpar at times. This has already been deleted from my playlist.

Bob Seger – I Knew You When (rock) – Another attempt at branching out with an artist I’ve never listened to. So far I’ve listened to zero songs. LOL.

Jaden Smith – SYRE (hip-hop/rap) – I was going to skip this, but someone recommended it to me. I listened to the first several tracks and while the rapping is solid and the music is fine, I can’t say it really grabbed me. I have not revisited it again.

Talib Kweli – Radio Silence (hip-hop/rap) – There was a time in the early 2000s when I considered Talib a top 20 emcee. His star has faded quite a bit since then. I haven’t listened to this album yet and I was shocked when Talib spent the first weekend of its release arguing nonstop with poker players on Twitter. POKER PLAYERS. Not really sure how or why that happened, but I don’t get how someone that just released a new album could waste so much time and energy arguing and telling people to take showers on a social media app.

Other Notable Releases

Bjork – Utopiar (electronic)

Lil Uzi Vert – Luv Is Rage 2 (hip-hop/rap) – Nope.

T-Pain – Oblivion (hip-hop/rap)

Ratings

Kamaiyah – Before I Wake (hip-hop/rap) – RECOMMENDED

Wu-Tang – The Saga Continues (hip-hop/rap) – TOP NOTCH

Sam Smith – The Thrill of it All (pop) – RECOMMNENDED

Jidenna – Boomerang – EP (hip-hop/rap) – RECOMMENDED

LE$ – The Catalina Wine Mixer (hip-hop/rap) – RECOMMENDED

Brent Faiyaz – Sonder Son (r&b/soul) – VERY GOOD

Dame D.O.L.L.A. – CONFIRMED (hip-hop/rap) – RECOMMENDED

Other Recent Releases

Cam’ron – The Program (hip-hop/rap) – Haven’t listened yet… but I did hear Ma$e destroy Cam’ron last week.

Kalela – Take Me Apart (R&B/soul) – Haven’t really listened to yet.

ELHAE – AURA II (R&B/soul) – Haven’t listened at all.

dvsn – Morning After (r&b/soul) – Pretty close to having a rating for this.

Big K.R.I.T. – 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time (hip-hop/rap) – Can’t really get into this.

Yelawolf – Trial By Fire (hip-hop/rap) – Close to having a rating for this also.

Best of 2017 Playlist Additions

“No Dope On Sundays” featuring Pusha T – CyHi The Prynce, No Dope On Sundays

“Murda” featuring Estelle – CyHi The Prynce, No Dope On Sundays

“Closer” – CyHi The Prynce, No Dope On Sundays

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Weekly Music Update: Kamaiyah, Jidenna, Eminem & Beyonce

November 15, 2017

New Playlist Additions

Kamaiyah – Before I Wake (hip-hop/rap) – Kamaiyah is a double dose of rarity for me: a female rapper that I enjoy and a Bay Area rapper that I enjoy. She gets a lot of great production and has a really smooth vocal style and doesn’t abuse her sexuality. I liked her debut album and after 2-3 listens already, I’m a fan of this one also.

Jidenna – Boomerang – EP (hip-hop/rap) – I’m a fan of Jidenna. I’m a fan of EPs. This is a solid compliment to his LP The Chief released earlier this year – complete with a “Bambi” sequel!

Eminem & Beyonce – “Walk On Water” (hip-hop/rap) – Oh man. It’s becoming less of a secret that Eminem has a new album on the very near horizon and “Walk On Water” is the first song leaked from it… and it’s a disappointment to me. I can appreciate the message – the pressure for an artist to continually come with great content and better their past releases – and I enjoy Beyonce’s singing, but goodness the production is lackluster. Eminem is basically rapping over someone playing a piano and it sounds jarring at times and I have to say is quite a letdown overall. Hopefully not a sign of things to come.

Chris Brown – Heartbreak on a Full Moon (R&B/soul) – I’m not going to lie: 45 Chris Brown songs is quite the chore and not exactly one I’m looking forward to, but my niece recommended this to me and I feel like it’s good form to listen to other people’s recommendations if I want them to listen to mine. I guess I don’t know much about Chris Brown, but I assumed I wasn’t a fan and I’ve mostly enjoyed the songs that I’ve heard from this collection so far.

Cam’ron – The Program (hip-hop/rap) – Literally just added this to my playlist as I was typing this post. Can’t say I’m checking for Cam’ron, but he’s always had talent and is probably worth giving a shot.

Other Notable Releases

Wiz Khalifa – Laugh Now, Fly Later (hip-hop/rap) – This dude sucks now.

Too $hort – Hella Disrespectful: Bay Area Mixtape (hip-hop/rap) – Remember what I said about Bay Area rappers. I liked Too $hort when I was 12. Vocally and lyrically, I really think he’s one of the worst rappers ever.

Angel Olsen – Phases (alternative)

Recent Albums Update

Sam Smith – The Thrill of it All (pop) – Definitely a good album that I can listen to all the way through.

Kalela – Take Me Apart (R&B/soul) – Haven’t really listened to yet.

ELHAE – AURA II (R&B/soul) – Haven’t listened at all.

LE$ – The Catalina Wine Mixer (hip-hop/rap) – A surprise release that I wasn’t initially aware of, but LE$ has been one of my favorite hip-hop artists over the past year and his work ethic is extraordinary: this is his fifth release in the last 18 months and last year’s Tecnnoviolet was a top 5 rap album of 2016 for me. Considering the volume of music LE$ is putting out, the consistency of the quality is extremely impressive. If this dude isn’t on your radar, he should be. I wouldn’t say he’s elite lyrically or vocally, but the guy knows how to make good rap music.

Brent Faiyaz – Sonder Son (r&b/soul) – My goodness this is fire. I played a 16 hour poker session yesterday and I kept finding myself coming back to this album and “Stay Down” in particular. I must have listened to that song over ten times yesterday. “Talk 2 U” is another highlight and both of those songs sound like immediate classics. This whole album is good though. I’m pretty close to giving this a final rating and it will definitely be a strong one.

dvsn – Morning After (r&b/soul) – I gave this a less than favorable first impression and I have to say this album has grown on me tremendously. I’m still figuring out how I feel about the album as a whole, but it’s a strong R&B release and I can say this much with certainty: “Claim” is a classic!

Big K.R.I.T. – 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time (hip-hop/rap) – Haven’t really given this a dedicated listen yet. As of now, I can’t say any songs have stood out to me.

Yelawolf – Trial By Fire (hip-hop/rap) – Yelawolf is a good rapper. He knows his niche, executes well, and has plenty of substance and authenticity. I heard two songs this past week that really stood out to me: “True To Yourself” and “Keeps Me Alive” – both added to my Best Songs of 2017 playlist.

H.E.R. – H.E.R. (r&B/soul) – Still haven’t given this a full listen, but I’ve liked basically every song that has come up on random so far.

Hustle Gang – We Want Smoke (hip-hop/rap) – Finally got the delete. Just no interest.

Wu-Tang – The Saga Continues (hip-hop/rap) – From last week: “I’ve listened to the first half of the album four times and the second half twice, so I’m still getting a feel for some of it. I know this much: Method Man absolutely destroys over multiple appearances. He not only sounds completely rejuvenated, but as good as he ever has – so many quotables from Meth: “Mayday! Mayday! But no charge, I’m nutty with the bars/ that’s a Payday, so bruh (sober), this ain’t even a bar, this is AA.” The production is also a massive highlight. I stopped giving albums numbered ratings, but I can say this much: this Wu-Tang album is inching up my Very Good category and getting consideration for Top Notch, which puts it in Albums of the Year territory.” Not much to add. I still can’t get over how much Method Man crushes this album.

Beck – True Colors (alternative) – Deleted. Not for me.

Dame D.O.L.L.A. – CONFIRMED (hip-hop/rap) – Another album I gave a less than favorable first impression that has grown on me a little. Dame seems to be more entertaining to me in smaller doses.

Best of 2017 Playlist Additions

“True To Yourself” – Yelawolf, Trial By Fire

“Keeps Me Alive” – Yelawolf, Trial By Fire

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Weekly Music Update: Sam Smith, Kalela, ELHAE, LE$

November 7, 2017

New Playlist Additions

Sam Smith – The Thrill of it All (pop) – I’m not familiar with this guy’s catalog at all, but he seemed to be the most prominent release of this past week, so I added his album to my playlist and I must say I’m impressed. I’ve already listened to this a couple of times all the way through and that says a lot. Very easy on the ears.

Kalela – Take Me Apart (R&B/soul) – I think this came out a week or two ago and I just added it last night after reading some promising comments online.

ELHAE – AURA II (R&B/soul) – Same as Kalela.

LE$ – The Catalina Wine Mixer (hip-hop/rap) – A surprise release from last week that I wasn’t initially aware of, but LE$ has been one of my favorite hip-hop artists over the past year and his work ethic is extraordinary: this is his fifth release in the last 18 months and last year’s Tecnnoviolet was a top 5 rap album of 2016 for me. Considering the volume of music LE$ is putting out, the consistency of the quality is extremely impressive. If this dude isn’t on your radar, he should be. I wouldn’t say he’s elite lyrically or vocally, but the guy knows how to make good rap music.

Other Notable Releases

21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin – Without Warning (hip-hop/rap)

Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues (pop)

Blake Shelton – Texoma Shore (country)

Kid Rock – Sweet Southern Sugar (rock/country)

Recent Albums Update

Brent Faiyaz – Sonder Son (r&b/soul) – My goodness this is fire. I played a 16 hour poker session yesterday and I kept finding myself coming back to this album and “Stay Down” in particular. I must have listened to that song over ten times yesterday. “Talk 2 U” is another highlight and both of those songs sound like immediate classics. This whole album is good though. I’m pretty close to giving this a final rating and it will definitely be a strong one.

dvsn – Morning After (r&b/soul) – I gave this a less than favorable first impression last week and I have to say this album has grown on me tremendously. I’m still figuring out how I feel about the album as a whole, but it’s a strong R&B release and I can say this much with certainty: “Claim” is a classic!

Snoop Dogg – Make America Crip Again (hip-hop/rap) – The opening track (“M.A.C.A.”) and the closing track (“Fly Away”) are pretty good. Everything in between is trash bin material to me. Rating: Decent

Big K.R.I.T. – 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time (hip-hop/rap) – Haven’t really given this a dedicated listen yet. As of now, I can’t say any songs have stood out to me.

Yelawolf – Trial By Fire (hip-hop/rap) – I’ve listened to this album all the way through once and it was definitely enjoyable. I think Yelawolf is an artist I’d rather have come on randomly in a big playlist as opposed to song after song. “Sabrina” is a highlight and a chilling song where Yelawolf imagines his daugther dying.

H.E.R. – H.E.R. (r&B/soul) – Still haven’t given this a full listen, but I’ve liked basically every song that has come up on random so far.

Hustle Gang – We Want Smoke (hip-hop/rap) – My interest level in this project is pretty low. I’ve heard songs on random but this will probably get deleted before I ever really listen to it.

Wu-Tang – The Saga Continues (hip-hop/rap) – From last week: “I’ve listened to the first half of the album four times and the second half twice, so I’m still getting a feel for some of it. I know this much: Method Man absolutely destroys over multiple appearances. He not only sounds completely rejuvenated, but as good as he ever has – so many quotables from Meth: “Mayday! Mayday! But no charge, I’m nutty with the bars/ that’s a Payday, so bruh (sober), this ain’t even a bar, this is AA.” The production is also a massive highlight. I stopped giving albums numbered ratings, but I can say this much: this Wu-Tang album is inching up my Very Good category and getting consideration for Top Notch, which puts it in Albums of the Year territory.” Not much to add. I still can’t get over how much Method Man crushes this album.

Beck – True Colors (alternative) – I’ve liked the few songs I’ve heard on random, but nothing spectacular.

Dame D.O.L.L.A. – CONFIRMED (hip-hop/rap) – Another album I gave a less than favorable first impression that has grown on me a little. Dame seems to be more entertaining to me in smaller doses.

Best of 2017 Playlist Additions

“Claim” – dvsn, Morning After

“Stay Down” – Brent Faiyaz, Sonder Son

“Talk 2 U” – Brent Faiyaz, Sonder Son

“Pearl Harbor” – Wu-Tang, The Saga Continues

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The Secret Lives Of Pets (2016) and 2017 Album Ratings

May 16, 2017

Added my rating for The Secret Lives Of Pets to the 2016 Movie Ratings page. I gave it a 5.5 which is somewhere between “Watchable” and “Recommended.” It was a cute, charming, and very short (80 minutes) kid’s movie, but make no mistake, kids are the target audience here. It’s not totally unappealing to adults, but it’s not nearly as clever or as funny as the Toy Story movies and it’s pretty obvious this movie wanted to be the pet version of Toy Story.

I have added a number of ratings for recent music releases to my 2017 Albums page and this seems to be the best way to organize them. I’m not really interested in writing full album reviews, but this is an easy way to see what I think the best albums are. I usually have to listen to an album two or three times to know how I really feel about it, so a number of new releases either take a while to get to that point or never do.

Thanks for all the awesome feedback on my DMX and Biggie profiles. The next artist I’m going to highlight is Brother Ali, one of the most overlooked emcees of all-time, fresh off another solid album release this month. I’m heading to Vegas for the WSOP in June and I’m going to try and be distraction free while I’m there, so the Brother Ali update won’t be published until July and it will be unlikely I make any posts while I’m in Vegas at all.

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May 2017 Entertainment Preview: movies, hip-hop, and T.V. shows!

May 2, 2017

Sorry for posting this a day late, but it took me longer than expected to write.

THEATERS

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5th) – Marvel’s follow-up to their surprise 2014 hit, a film that made my top ten list that year. I’ve managed to avoid pretty much all the promotion for this movie, so everything should be fresh when I see it on Friday. It’s sitting at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, so that’s a good sign, and I have every expectation that this will be another hilarious and entertaining film. The original opened to $94 million and wound up grossing $333 million in the U.S. total. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this open to $150 million and gross over $400 million.

King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword (May 12th) – This movie has some good things going for it: King Arthur and his sword is a good story, Charlie Hunnam should be a star some day, director Guy Ritchie has some pedigree, and the film seems to be cashing in on the popularity of “Game Of Thrones.” Unfortunately, the trailer looked pretty suspect and I have a feeling this movie is going to disappoint, both critically and at the box office. I predict Guardians holds the top stop for the second weekend in a row and King Arthur opens around $22 million with a $70 million total gross.

Snatched (May 12th) – Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn star as a mother/daughter combo that go on an exotic vacation and wind up having an adventure in the jungle. I listened to and enjoyed Schumer’s book as recently as last year, but it seems like she is already wearing out her welcome. Her recent stand up on Netflix was undeniably lackluster and general chatter about her tends to be more negative than positive. Plus the trailer for this movie didn’t look good. This movie has bomb written all over it. Schumer scored a hit with Trainwreck and that movie opened at $30M and grossed $110 domestically. I really expect Snatched to open around $8M and fizzle out around $26 million total. I’m still an Amy Schumer fan, but this is going to be a dud.

Alien: Covenant (May 19th) – Ridley Scott, director of the original Alien in 1979 and its 2012 prequel Prometheus, returns for the prequel sequel (pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve ever typed that!). Rather than try to act like this is something it’s not, the powers that be decided to just come out and directly label it as an entry in the Alien franchise because that makes the most sense when it comes to cash money. Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, xenomorphs? Can I buy my ticket yet? This film should gross better than Prometheus simply because it’s being marketed as an Alien movie. I say $70 million opening weekend and $230 million total gross, the latter of which could approach $300 million if the film is actually really good.

Baywatch (May 25th) – I was never asking for a Baywatch movie, but then I saw the casting of Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, and the decision to make the film an R-rated comedy, and I felt like genius might be at work. I’ve long been calling Baywatch the surprise hit of 2017 and the tone of the trailer – which I only half watched because they spoil so much these days – looks spot on. If they follow the blueprint set forth by the 21 Jump Street movies, this movie should be a big hit. I think it will open somewhat modestly around $40 million and get some legs through word of mouth and gross over $200 million total.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (May 26th) – I remember being surprised by and really liking the first movie, but I can’t count myself as a big fan of this franchise. I’m not even sure if I’ve seen all of the movies to this point, but I don’t remember being too fond of any of the sequels, and the general public’s interest has waned too: the series peaked with Dead Man’s Chest in 2006 at $423 million, but the most recent entry, in 2011, On Stranger Tides grossed a relatively tame $223 million. I haven’t heard anyone talking about this movie, so I’m not sure a six year break has the public craving more Pirates Of The Caribbean. I will be at Disneyland a week before this film’s release, which is kind of cool, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to the movie. I suspect it will open solid around $70 million and probably gross around $260 million domestic.

NETFLIX:

While I didn’t watch either in entirety, A Nightmare On Elm Street and Gremlins were my go to films to fall asleep to in April and both titles are still streaming in May.

I watched three different comedy specials last month. Louis C.K.‘s 2017 Netflix show is hilarious. I also got around to watching the Jo Koy special that shot in Seattle and found it to be very funny. Lastly, I watched Kevin Hart‘s special and he continues to be absurdly overrated. I guess it was watchable… I didn’t turn it off or anything, but the funniest part was in the filmed intro interacting with Don Cheadle. The actual stand up wasn’t anything special.

Last month, my wife and I also completed “American Crime Story: The People Vs O.J. Simpson” and I thought it was excellent. While the case has been beaten to death, this show managed to bring something new to the table by offering perspectives from the various participants, rather than seeing everything through the media’s perspective. I had a hard time adjusting to seeing Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J., but Sarah Paulson was phenomenal as Marcia Clarke, and the guys that played Johnnie Cochrane and Darden also did great jobs. I highly recommend watching this show if you haven’t seen it yet.

And here’s what is new in May:

Chocolat (May 1st) – One of my favorite films of 2000, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, back when my tastes were more refined than they are now.

Don’t Think Twice (May 1st) – A solid comedy about an improv group dealing with one of their members becoming famous.

Forrest Gump (May 1st) – An all-time classic now available to stream whenever you want.

“Sense8”: Season 2 (May 5th) – Haven’t seen the first season and this series is pretty deep on my list of shows to get around to.

Norm MacDonald: Hitler’s Dog, Gossip, & Trickery (May 9th) – Seems like it’s been a while since we’ve heard from the old “SNL” alum, but I’ll give this a watch.

“Master Of None”: Season 2 (May 12th) – I really enjoyed the first season from comedian Aziz Ansari and I will definitely be watching this.

“Sherlock”: Series 4 (May 15th) – Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are back as Sherlock Holmes and Watson. I’ve seen the first three series, but I will probably rewatch them before getting around to this.

The Place Beyond The Pines (May 16th) – A highly touted film starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper that I didn’t like as much as the critics. I will give this another shot.

“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt“: Season 3 (May 19th) – Still haven’t seen an episode of this yet, but it seems to be well liked.

Inglorious Basterds (May 22nd) – A Tarantino masterpiece that is always worth revisiting.

Southpaw (May 24th) – Haven’t seen this boxing drama starring Jake Gyllenhall yet, but maybe I will watch it now.

War Machine (May 26th) – A Netflix original film about war and starring Brad Pitt? That’s enough for me to be intrigued.

“House Of Cards”: Season 5 (May 30th) – After a disappointing season 3, the show came back strong last year and I’ll be tuning in again.

Doctor Strange (May 30th) – More Benedict Cumberbatch… this time as the mystical Marvel superhero. Funny and entertaining and definitely worth another viewing.

Sarah Silverman: A Speck Of Dust (May 30th) – I haven’t seen a ton of Sarah Silverman stand up, but I’d currently count myself as a fan so I’m interested to see how she does with this special.

MUSIC:

My entire April was spent listening to the new albums by Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar, both of which are highly enjoyable, at worst, and potentially classic, at best. Kendrick continues to keep a stranglehold on the #1 spot in the current hip-hop world with another incredibly strong release and Joey Bada$$ stepped it up a notch, rapping his ass off on a 12 track album where every song is either good or great. I did give The Chainsmokers album a full listen and while I found it to be pretty pleasant the only songs I remember now are “Paris” and “It Won’t Kill Ya.” As suspected, I didn’t get around to listening to much of anything else new, including the surprise release from Wale. When I wasn’t listening to K.dot or Joey, I was listening to The Notorious B.I.G. and DMX (write up coming soon) for my Rapper Profiles series.

Brother Ali – All The Beauty In This Whole Life (May 5th) – Once upon a time Brother Ali was my favorite rapper in the game. This was probably circa 2004 to 2007, on the heels of three consecutive amazing releases. Since then, he’s released a couple of LPs, a couple of EPs, and a number of “loosies,” and while it has all been mostly good, it doesn’t quite compare to the amazing content he was releasing in the mid-2000s. Ali has been mostly absent from the music scene since 2012, so it will be interesting to see what he has to offer in 2017. I have heard one song so far and I really liked it.

Logic – Everybody (May 5th) – Logic has released an album every year since 2014 and all of his stuff has been pretty good, if not spectacular. I didn’t give his last album a ton of play, but he’s still on my list of emcees I’m checking for.

B.O.B. – Ether (May 12th) – I liked the Adventures Of Bobby Ray back in 2010, but I haven’t really been checking for B.O.B. since then. I’ll add this, but it will have to grab me pretty quick to keep it in rotation.

Faith Evans & The Notorious B.I.G. – The King & I (May 19th) – New Biggie content? In 2017? 20 years after he died? The album is supposed to have both well known and unheard B.I.G. verses, but I’d say the chances of this being any good are pretty slim. Still, I’m intrigued enough after looking at the tracklist that I’ll be checking it out.

Snoop Dogg – Neva Left (May 19th) – I really liked Bush and the Snoopzilla album with Dam-Funk, but I didn’t give Coolaid much play, as every song that came up randomly in shuffle was kind of weak. I wouldn’t consider myself much of a Snoop fan these days, but he’s still plenty capable of making good music. I’m not sure what the album cover featuring a picture of a young Snoop from 1992 is supposed to indicate, but I have to admit it’s pretty cool.

Some other notable release dates that I don’t know much about, but will probably add to my library: Harry Styles – Harry Styles (May 12th), Machine Gun Kelly – Bloom (May 12th), Linkin Park – One More Light (May 19th)

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