Aug 11, 2020 not my fav of theirs, but most accessible one. don’t wanna hit you with a 2 hour long album
Aug 11, 2020 @joeyp363 #7: Hopsin - Raw [100/10] Apparently Hip-Hop was born 47 years ago today. 13 years after, a more important event happened: Marcus Jamal Hopsin was born. The messiah, the apotheosis of talent, excellence, bravado, creativity. Once I saw him in that 10 second cameo as a movie extra in Max Keeble's Big Move, I knew he was destined for greatness. That greatness took form of this album, multiple years after being stranded in Ruthless, who properly didn't harness his staggering potential. Raw...is breath-taking. Not a single time does Hopsin take even a single breath as he makes Sumerian tablets & Hindu sanskrits look like nursery rhymes. Future, Thug & the rest of those wannabe rappers can NEVER ever equate to what Hopsin performs on the mic. It's astonishing, I...can't really describe what I feel when I heard him dismantle Eazy-E's wife and every mainstream rapper on Sag My Pants. Yes. Spoiler For the record I did listen to this album in full , I'll never disrespect my man Joeyp like that.
Aug 11, 2020 @OwI #8: FKA Twigs - Magdalene [8.8/10] Twigs was another artist I discovered thanks to those aforementioned Plug.DJ sessions. Her discography up to this point is spotless, even that feels like I'm selling it short. LP1 and the rest of her EPs are essential listens to any fan of R&B or Avant-garde pop, think of if Massive Attack/Portishead had delicate Aaliyah vocals on each track. She's a multi-talented artist that truly appreciates this craft, her music videos are pretty much a trip to this abrasive, twisted dimension of unfiltered ingenuity. I had high expectations when this dropped last year, luckily she conjured her witchcraft once more and pushed the envelope once more. Her music has always had this uncured scar, on Magdalene she continues to open those wounds all the more, it makes the listen all the more compelling whenever these artists expose their vulnerabilities all the more. The production remains as sparse and haunting as it's always been, Twigs has a great ear for finding the aesthetic that best fits her vision. I think it's Twigs best album so far, everything we heard from LP1 is turned to another notch on here, heck it arguably was the best album of last year. Thanks Owi for making me listen to this for the 100th time again!
Aug 11, 2020 Still in touch with a fair few of them, we should definitely unlock that portal and rediscover the magic again
Aug 11, 2020 @Ordinary Joel #9: Lianne La Havas - Liane La Havas [8.2/10] Guys, Ordinary Joel's ear for Neo-Soul & Jazz is second to none! Prior hand to this recommendation, I haven't heard any of her music before so this was one h--- of an introduction. It's dawned on me at this point that, there really is no way of failing when you make any form of soul music. Every...single...one has either been great or at worst decent. I guess we're just soulful guys like Hov would say. This self-titled journey immediately reminded me of an even more mellowed out version of what Ari Lennox did on her last album. There was definitely more emphasis on the instrumentation rather than her lyrics, which is where I drew the same Ari comparisons from as I saw a lot of similar narratives they're conveying. Whereas Ari dived deeper into her psyche, I liked that Lianne sort of just laid back and kicker her feet up and let the music magic carpet her away. She killed the In Rainbows track cover, I had flashbacks of Sade at times and overall this was a pleasant experience, so once again thanks for sliding this in my direction old friend!
Aug 11, 2020 Too right. It'd have to be a monumental flop for a soul project to fail Glad you enjoyed the album! Admittedly sometimes LLH's music can feel a bit samey and situate itself into the background, but I found the whole atmosphere on this new album much more cohesive and intimate. The Sade shoutout is very apt, as is the comparison to her contemporary in Ari. I'll think of another suggestion soon enough, but I'm loving your write ups brudda!
Aug 11, 2020 lmao nice review ma man ur rly good at this! I'm always in for reading someone eloquently dickriding twigs incredible piece of work
Aug 12, 2020 Tech N9ne- Everready. Arguable one of the greatest albums of all time. Curious to hear your thoughts.
Aug 12, 2020 @Rick James #10: Classified - Classified [6.7/10] I actually recognized this album, mostly since Classified has worked with people I'm familiar with like Saukrates, Kardinal Official and.... that fool Madchild of all people lol. Funny thing about Canadian rappers is that they actually embrace the cheesiness of doing mainstream songs, the singles on here sounded so much like something I'd have expected from Gym Class Heroes and the such. Truthfully, I don't think this album was for me. I can appreciate some of the fascinating production cues, Classified isn't too shabby behind the mic, but it's the direction of the album that unfortunately didn't sit well with me. It's a bit frenzied, uneven actually, some albums are able to sort of contain that chaos in a bubble to their advantage. Unfortunately it wasn't the case here, felt more like a combination of songs (albeit some great ones at it) than a cohesive project in a sense. Nevertheless I appreciate you for recommending this, I can see the appeal, but I don't think it was ever meant for me.
Aug 12, 2020 @BIGFOOT #11: Onyx - Shut 'Em Down [8.1/10] As soon as I saw you recommend this, I marked the calendar red since Onyx is such an essential group here in NY. Onyx is peak dusty timbs music, this the type of s--- you listen to when you want to suplex a random pedestrian onto a car windshield for no g.d. reason. This is what the cold-blooded OGs sitting outside on the project benches listen to when it's summertime. If any of you are looking for that brutal, chewing food with your mouth open NY hip-hop, Onyx is for you. I've gone back and forth between their 3 Def Jams albums as far as which is the best. Backdafucup was the one that had the most influence, All We Got Iz Us is even more filthy and then we have this. What Shut 'Em Down has is practically the group at it's commercial zenith: sometimes they eschewed their usual hardcore route for something at times more relaxed (ffs they did a spin of I Believe I Can Fly lmao) but still with a bit of an edge. The record however feels monumental, it's like your witnessing NY '98 at it's apex, all the more with the features this s--- had--Pun on the remix, Rae & m---, DMX, a young 50 Cent even. Overall, this is still a nostalgic look back to what once was, the capital of hip-hop at it's best, with some of the most notorious rappers in Fredro & Sticky Fingaz making some of the grimiest music of its time.
Aug 12, 2020 Can I get a review for Ric Wilson/Terrace Martin's They Call Me Disco pls Thank you in advance Firethony Squadtano
Aug 12, 2020 @Mraczewsky #12: The Anxiety - The Anxiety [7/10] I had a little bit of trepidation heading into this to tell you the truth. Anytime one of Big Willie's kids does music, I pray it finally turns me into a fan or I'll leave facepalming at what I just heard. Jaden in particular has a lot of room for growth, he bites a little too deep into his influences so much that ends up being a generic mimicry instead of finding his own lane for instance. Willow on the other hand, had quietly been building her catalog, truth be told that last album she dropped last year...was a head-scratching experience to say the least. This time around, she decided to go the indie punk route. I almost imagined that someone like XXXTENTACION would have made an album like this at some in his career, which is where I think Willow & Tyler got the inspiration from. She has a long way to go as far as getting her message across, but I do appreciate the intention of what she wanted to portray. The music itself is where it actually surprised me, there were some great drum & guitar work in the back and it gets even a bit lo-fi as you progress later in the album. As a Therapist myself, the chaos from the beginning tracks really captures the nature of what Anxiety does to you in that instance. We've faced a trial as a species with this pandemic, some of us being more effected than others, with exaggerated truths now taking form of anxieties that we most likely have to physically face at some point. But, it's gonna be alright, these are just thought processes that our highly capable brains produce to protect us from harm. Whether or not that was the point Willow & Tyler wanted to get across, it's important that we have this conversation to begin with.
Aug 12, 2020 @awhellno #13: BJ the Chicago Kid: 1123 (Deluxe) [7.5/10] Honestly the rating doesn't really do justice with how I honestly enjoyed listening to this again. I mentioned this when I was listening to the Lianne La Havas record from earlier, when it comes to making Soul music, you seriously just can't go wrong. BJ for sometime has quietly been making b-----r after b-----r; whether he's killing it on a rap hook or he's summoning the Holy Spirit on us. The question has been, why isn't he mentioned with the likes of the other classic R&B kings like Miguel/Ty$/Jeremih? BJ is one h--- of a vocalist, at times he's hitting them John Legend/D'Angelo notes. His pen game is pretty good too, it's when he's at his best when BJ gets experimental and conceptual with love songs. Plus he has the awareness of getting the right guest feature everytime, 1123 got off to a trailblazing start with that Paak collab! The problem lies wherein he unintentionally makes his albums where the sum of it's parts are greater than the whole. These songs themselves are fantastic sitting alone, rather than with each other, it almost feels like a playlist which isn't necessarily a bad thing either. But that's where he falls just shy of the likes of those R&B Kings I mentioned, but lowkey his best songs are some of the best the genre has to offer.