ChloexHalle have created an elevated sound with their spicy sophomore album, giving drop-dead gorgeous looks with celestial vocals all on prolific stage sets designed from their tennis court. The Kids Are Alright dignified their musical knowledge, but Ungodly Hour dignifies how they’ve grown.
Read MoreWhile other artists have rode his wave to widespread notoriety, Uno has largely stayed to himself, releasing a string of respected mixtapes and cementing himself as an underground legend. Given this, to dub the release of his debut studio album 8 “overdue” would be an understatement.
Read MoreWhether it be in the car or your bluetooth stereo device in your bedroom, it’s certain artists in the game right now that hypnotizes your ears when their music starts to play and Maryland’s hometown hero, Brent Faiyaz is one of the defining artists for this generation.
Read MorePainted – Lucky Daye. It’s stupid how much talent saturates this record. The sonics spill out into a lush atmospheric canvas which is splattered with Daye’s melodic and harmonic paint – not a single dull point amongst the entire album, which is outstanding given the current norm of releasing quantity rather than quality.
Read MoreHouston’s Megan Thee Stallion seems to have been destined for a career in music, literally growing up in studios, accompanying her mother during recording sessions. When Megan decided she wanted to begin chasing her dream of being an MC, it was her mother that asked Megan to wait until she was a little bit older to pursue such a career.
Read MoreI am definitely not one for outright hate towards the work of just about any artist. Especially if that artist has spent years refining their craft, taking criticism to the jaw, putting their nose to the grindstone, and focused on earning their spot in the industry.
Read MoreRevenge of the Dreamers III has now been out for a couple weeks, and I have still not stopped listening to most of the tracks. My opinion of this latest installment in the series has definitely made me ponder revisiting the other projects leading up to this one – and I never revisit stuff unless I am that impressed.
Read MoreErase the jazz you’d find splattered all over Injury Reserve’s previous material and highlight the, well highlight a bunch of things. Start by highlighting Parker’s simplistic chaos. Highlight Ritchie’s new developed aptitude as an MC and Grogg’s storytelling that ages like wine. The list could easily go on. Injury Reserve is the dime you’d find digging through a bunch of low-key records without having a single clue of what you were about to experience. Trying to categorize this thing is virtually impossible.
Read MoreWhen it comes to the soundscape of what’s hot and what’s new, it’s a lot of artists who are coming up in different funnels of the rap industry, and with it being a climate where things can crash and burn very easily, you see a lot of these fast rising artists leave as fast as they came. In the young budding star from Philadelphia, Matt Ox’s case he’s been able to create a big splash with a crazy single and visual but during his process of growth he was able to maintain the tide to unleash a big wave with his debut project.
Read MoreBy now, I’m sure just about everybody knows the 2016, off-kilter hit “Caroline,” and it’s homely, yellow-dipped music video with masterfully ham-fisted Tarantino references which compliment the lyrics. Obviously, from the jump, the rapper behind this piece of work is very polarizing. Love him or hate him, however, Aminé burst into the spotlight with a sly tenacity and refreshingly creative positivity. I will admit that while I enjoyed “Caroline” when I first heard it, I was able to recognize how radio-friendly it’s sound truly was, and I knew almost instantly just how overplayed it would be in the near future - yes this is my self-righteous way of proclaiming how much deeper my appreciation of music is than you by saying I found a track that blew up before it was big; and yes this makes me a better person than you.
Read MoreIt’s been a long time since Houston has had someone that they can immediately point to as the lead torchbearer for the city. In the 90’s it was the late, great DJ Screw, in the new millennium, the spotlight shining on the Bayou City was shared between living legends like Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, UGK, and so many others. Now, with the release of his third full-length album, Astroworld, the torch has undoubtedly been passed to Mo City native, Travis Scott.
Read MoreThe mainstream world was first introduced to Young Thug’s protégé, Gunna, on the former’s “Floyd Mayweather,” from the JEFFERY project. Gunna’s third iteration of his Drip mixtape series looks good on paper. Including production credits from names like Metro Boomin’ and Wheezy, and contributions from Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Durk, Lil Yatchy, and of course, Young Thug, it’s hard to debate the star-power of the project.
Read MoreGoodbye and Good Riddance, the first album from 20-year-old Jarod Higgins, better known as Juice WRLD comes after bursting onto the scene behind two solid single releases. The album shows Juice struggling with both relationship and substance abuse issues in an extremely personal way.
Read MoreThe king of adlibs and prince of leaked music, Playboi Carti has released his second full-length album as of May 11. “Made a mil of that mumbling shit...” pretty much sums up the self-awareness of said album. Where some artists would try to distance themselves from the thematic elements that make up the inappropriately named “mumble rap” sub-genre, Carti doubles down and proves the artistic merit to any “old-heads” or doubters of the aforementioned sub-genre.
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