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Album Reviews (December 2019)

January 5, 2020

A good rule of thumb in order for me to rate an album is that I probably need to listen to it at least twice. Possibly the only exception to this rule is when I deem an album unlistenable and can barely (or can’t) even make it through the whole album the first time. Listening to and evaluating music is a pretty fluid process though, so all ratings are subject to change in the future as albums grow on me or I realize I initially overrated them.

When I list the best tracks for each album, I will bold any song I added to my Bangers Playlist, meaning I think it’s one of the standout tracks of the entire year.

I only used this for the last couple of albums I rated, but here’s a scale I came up with for rating each song:
5 – All-Timer
4.5 – Super Banger
4 – Banger
3.5 – Keeper
3 – Cool
2.5 – Decent
2 – Weak
1 – Trash

Kanye West – JESUS IS KING (Gospel/Rap) – A full album devoted to Kanye’s… devotion to his faith? Ugh, no thanks. But we are talking about an all-time great musician here, so I’m obliged to listen and, well, it’s about as (un)enjoyable as I thought it would be. I think I’ve listened to it in entirety 4-5 times as I write this and most of it still doesn’t stick with me. This is the worst project Kanye has ever released. The direction of the album already turns me off, but I was hoping the music would still be good. I’m not a fan. I think I genuinely like two songs on this album.

Best Tracks: “On God” “Selah”

Verdict: No Thanks

Emotional Oranges – The Juice, Vol. II (R&B/Soul) – This is pure feel good music that you could have on in the background of a party and everyone would probably be content about it. The production on this album is pretty high quality and songs like “West Coast Love” and “Not Worth It” are pure fire. This a short little album that bumps the whole way through.

Best Tracks: “West Coast Love” “Not Worth It” “Don’t Be Lazy”

Verdict: Highly Enjoyable

03 Greedo & Kenny Beats – Netflix & Deal (Rap) – I was really impressed by this album. I think there’s maybe one song on here I didn’t really like. Greedo isn’t a super strong rapper, but he’s creative and clearly has a talent for crafting catchy and memorable songs. The production on here is also really well done and I’d be all over it if this duo put out another album together. I basically only listened to this album because of the strong list of guest features – Freddie Gibbs, Vince Staples, Maxo Kream, Buddy – but I’m glad I did. It was a very pleasant surprise. I currently don’t have any songs on my Best of 2019 playlist, but that’s certainly subject to change. I think there are plenty of standouts, but I’m still unsure if any of them are certifiably amazing. This is a strong album with very few weak spots.

Best Tracks: “Disco S**t” feat. Freddie Gibbs “Maria” “Blue People” feat. Vince Staples “Brad Pitt” “Soul Food” feat. Buddy

Verdict: Highly Enjoyable

Brother Ali – Secrets & Escapes (Rap) – Once upon a time, I thought Brother Ali was one of the best rappers in the game. His first few albums all are amazing. If you haven’t listened to Shadows on the Sun, the Champion EP, and The Undisputed Truth, put them on your to do list. That’s a rapper operating at the highest level. Since then, I’ve become progressively less excited about Ali and this latest project is one of his least memorable. Ali usually works with Ant (of Atmosphere) on the boards, but on this album I believe Evidence (of Dilated Peoples) does most of the production and it is an unfortunate departure. I really like Evidence as a rapper, but Ant is a way better producer – at least for Ali’s sound. Ali can still rap at an elite level though and that makes things at least somewhat enjoyable. Still, if I were to introduce someone to Ali’s music I wouldn’t even mention this album.

Best Tracks: “Father Figures” “Red” feat. Evidence

Verdict: Decent

Little Brother – May the Lord Watch (Rap) – Little Brother is a hip-hop collective out of North Carolina that had a run of great albums throughout the 2000s before disbanding in 2010. Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh reunite here on their fifth studio album, but longtime producer 9th Wonder is completely absent from the project. Still, May the Lord Watch manages to sound very cohesive and feels like a proper sequel to Little Brother’s 2005 album The Minstrel Show. Phonte is on my all-time underrated list and he’s still rapping at a nearly elite level here, although I prefer his solo album No News is Good News from last year. There’s nothing flashy here; this is mature grown folk music. There are a lot of good tracks on this album – and no real weak songs – but nothing that really blew my mind either.

Best Tracks: “The Feel,” “Everything,” “Sittin Alone,” All in a Day”

Avg. rating: 3.3/5

Verdict: Recommended

SiR – Chasing Summer (R&B/Soul) – This was the first album that I gave a song-by-song rating for and it was a little disappointing to me. I had listened to this quite a bit already and thought it was pretty good, but there are really only a couple of standout tracks on this. The lead single “Hair Down” has the best hook and beat on the album plus Kendrick Lamar absolutely destroying his verse while completely switching up his flow at least five times while doing so. It also happens to be the first track. “John Redcorn” is the second song and also the second best song on the album. That means that the album peaks very early and never comes close to reaching the heights of the first two songs. I think the album is mostly good though with only a couple songs I thought were merely decent. Worth a listen for sure.

Best Tracks: “Hair Down” feat. Kendrick Lamar, “John Redcorn,” “Still Blue” feat. Jill Scott, “Mood”

Avg. rating: 3.14/5

Verdict: Recommended

Kemba – Gilda (Rap) – This has to be one of the most overlooked albums of the year, as I have hardly seen anyone talk about it, yet I don’t think this has a single weak song on it, while almost half the songs are certified bangers. It’s a bit of a dark album, with Kemba lamenting, ‘I learned metaphors before I knew what’s a credit score/ I’m sure that’s a bar that’s never been said before/ mail at my door offered me a new credit card/ cause if you poor they’ll make sure you forever poor‘ on “Captain Planet” and it doesn’t get much more bleek than his hook on the somewhat disturbing but absolutely beautiful “Dysfunction”: ‘I’m nothing more than insignificant/ all my hopes and my dreams, all my goals, my achievements, were pure coincidence/ I am but a speck… of dust.‘ Yikes. It’s truly haunting, but I can’t stop listening to it. The album ends on a higher note, with both “Last Year Being Broke” and “Alive” showing signs of optimism. This is a true piece of art and more people should be listening to it.

Best Tracks: “Dysfunction,” “Nobody I Can Trust,” “Exhale” feat. Smino, “Alive” feat. Eric Bellinger

Avg. rating: 3.68/5

Verdict: Must Listen

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December 2019 New Music

January 1, 2020

December Notes: I really expanded my horizons in December and listened to an exorbitant amount of music, adding a number of albums I missed earlier this year, plus some from last year, and even some super old mixtapes from current legends like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Travis Scott. It’s insane how much content I took in last month and you can see how that is reflected in the fact that I added 30+ songs to my 2019 Bangers playlist. I decided to start dropping thoughts on certain album as I give them overall ratings and the way I’m going to do that is in a separate post that will be published in the next few days or so. This way I can listen to albums and write about them as the month progresses while keeping organization on my blog nice and tidy. I always see Young Thug, JPEG MAFIA, Tyler the Creator, etc. on Best of 2019 lists, so I’ve been trying to understand what people see in their music… and something finally happened this month: I became a Young Thug fan. I’ve basically thought of Young Thug as the epitome of the kind of Mumble Rap I don’t like over the last few years, but I guess I finally see the appeal. I listened to his So Much Fun album until I had to admit to myself that it was actually good… and I’ll be damned if it isn’t. Jury is still out on Tyler and JPEG MAFIA. I can see Tyler’s appeal, but I’m not sure if I’m a fan or not. Meanwhile, I wanted to turn the JPEG album off after five songs… and I struggled to get that far.

Here’s what I listened to in December 2019 and how much:

* indicates second month on PRIORITY playlist

HEAVY ROTATION (heard whole album many times)

*BENNY THE BUTCHER – The Plugs I Met (June)
*Griselda – Wwcd
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
KIDS SEE GHOSTS (Kanye West & Kid Cudi) – KIDS SEE GHOSTS (2018)
Roddy Ricch – Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial

STRONG ROTATION (listened to most of album 3-4 times)

*03 Greedo & Kenny Beats – Netflix & Deal
*Apollo Brown – Sincerely, Detroit (October)
Arin Ray – Phases II – EP
Black Pumas – Black Pumas (June)
*Brother Ali – Secrets & Escapes
DaBaby – Baby on Baby (March)
*Emotional Oranges – The Juice, Vol. II
*Gang Starr – One of the Best Yet
JACKBOYS – JACKBOYS
*Kemba – Gilda
*Lana Del Ray – Norman F*****g Rockwell (August)
*Michael Kiwanuka – KIWANUKA
Rich Brian – The Sailor (July)
Tobe Nwigwe – FOURIGINALS (October)
*Tyler, The Creator – IGOR (May)
Young Thug – So Much Fun [Deluxe]

SOLID ROTATION (heard whole album at least twice)

*Earl Sweatshirt – FEET OF CLAY
Fat Joe & Dre – Family Ties
Free Nationals – Free Nationals
*Smoke DZA & BENNY THE BUTCHER – Statue of Limitations – EP (October)

COURTESY ROTATION (heard whole album)

*Action Bronson & The Alchemist – Lamb Over Rice
*Beck – Hyperspace
BENNY THE BUTCHER – Tana Talk 3 (2018)
*Bishop Briggs – CHAMPION
Cam’ron – Purple Haze 2
*CRIMEAPPLE – Viridi Panem
DaBaby – KIRK (September)
*Dave East – Survival
Denzel Curry – ZUU (May)
*Fabolous – Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever
*FKA twigs – MAGDALENE
Flawless Real Talk – Every Second Matters
Harry Styles – Fine Line
*IDK – Is He Real? (September)
KAYTRANADA – BUBBA
*Kembe X – I Was Depressed Until I Made This (October)
Kendrick Lamar – Kendrick Lamar EP (2009)
Kevin Abstract – ARIZONA BABY (April)
*Kota the Friend – Foto (added in November, released in May)
*Larry June – Product of the Dope Game
Polo G – Die a Legend (June)
*Queen & Slim Soundtrack
*Rod Wave – Ghetto Gospel
*Salaam Remi & Joell Ortiz – BoxTalk – EP
*The Game – Born 2 Rap
Travis Scott – Days Before Rodeo (2014)
*Trippie Redd – A Love Letter to You 4
*Various Artists – Queen & Slim Soundtrack

SKIM ROTATION (haven’t heard whole album)

Atmosphere – Whenever
Azizi Gibson – Chimera Act
Injury Reserve – Injury Reserve (May)
J.Cole – Friday Night Lights (2010)
JPEG MAFIA – All My Heroes Are Cornballs (September)
Juice WRLD – Goodbye & Good Riddance (2018)
*Jvck James – DETOUR – EP (October)
Kendrick Lamar – Training Day (2005)
KXNG Crooked & Bronze Nazareth – Gravitas
Lizzo – Cuz I Love You (April)
MAVI – Let The Sun Talk (October)
*Smoke DZa & Curren$y – Prestige Worldwide
Stormzy – Heavy Is The Head
Sunday Service Choir (& Kanye West) – Jesus Is Born
*Tory Lanez – Chixtape 5
XXXTENTACION – Bad Vibes Forever

TOO NEW/NO LOVE (zero listens)

Kendrick Lamar – C4 (2009)

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Roddy Ricch – Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial

I have to admit Roddy Ricch wasn’t even remotely on my radar (despite appearing on Nipsey’s “Racks in the Middle” and Meek’s “Splash Warning”) before this album dropped and his stage name made me think he was probably just going to be run-of-the-mill trap music. But I ended up being shocked by Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. It’s a solid album with multiple standout tracks and “The Box” really sets things off and immediately put me on notice with its incredible instrumentation and Roddy bringing some impressive vocals with a catchy hook. There is plenty more heat, with “Bacc Seat” being a particularly good track, with Roddy and Ty Dolla $ign spitting verses about their sexual conquests over a smooth ass beat. Production on this album is a major strength and Roddy is clearly a solid songwriter that understands how to tailor his lyrics and vocals to the mood of the beat. Roddy isn’t a great lyricist, but he does everything else really well. I rated every song on the album on a scale of 1 to 5 and the 15 songs averaged out to just under 3.5, but there are six tracks on here that I gave a 4+ (certified bangers) and that’s a strong showing for anyone. I’m a big fan of this project and it could have been even better by trimming off a little bit of the fat (especially towards the end), but this is a very solid debut studio album from an artist whose stock is going to rise rapidly.

Highly Enjoyable

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

Apollo Brown ft. Fatt Father, Journalist 103 & Valid, “Oh Lord”
Apollo Brown ft. Clear Soul Forces, “Deception & Woes”
Arin Ray, “A Seat”
Benny the Butcher, “Took the Money to the Plug’s House”
Black Pumas, “Know You Better”
Black Pumas, “OCT 33”
Brent Faiyaz, “Rehab (Winter in Paris)”
Boogie ft. Snoh Aalegra, “Time”
Conway the Machine ft. Westside Gunn & Benny the Butcher
Dave East ft. Ash Leone, “Daddy Knows”
Dreamville (J.Cole & Lute ft. DaBaby), “Under the Sun”
Dreamville (JID, Bas, J.Cole, EARTHGANG & Young Nudy), “Down Bad”
Emotional Oranges, “West Coast Love”
Griselda, “DR BIRDS”
JACKBOYS ft. Don Toliver, “WHAT TO DO?”
Kemba ft. Eric Bellinger, “Alive”
Kemba, “Dysfunction”
Kemba ft. Smino, “Exhale”
Kota the Friend ft. Saba, “Solar Return”
Lana Del Rey, “California”
Maxo Kream, “Meet Again”
Mustard ft. Nipsey Hussle, “Perfect Ten”
Rick Ross ft. Drake, “Gold Roses”
Rod Wave, “Poison”
Roddy Ricch ft. Meek Mill, “Peta”
Roddy Ricch, “The Box”
Roddy Ricch ft. Ty Dolla $ign, “Bacc Seat”
Roddy Ricch, “Roll Dice”
SiR, “John Redcorn”
Wale ft. Jeremih, “On Chill”
Tobe Nwigwe ft. The New Respects, “HELLA BLACK”
Tobe Nwigwe, “IVORY”
Tobe Nwigwe, “I’M DOPE (NPR MUSIC’S TINY DESK CONCERT)”
Travis Scott, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”
Young Thug ft. Future, “Sup Mate”
Young Thug ft. Travis Scott, “Hop Off a Jet”
Young Thug ft. J.Cole & Travis Scott, “The London”
Young Thug ft. Machine Gun Kelly, “Ecstasy”
Vince Staples, 6LACK, & Mereba, “Yo Love”

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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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