Bas – “Milky Way” review

Bas is a 31 year old rapper from Paris, France who broke out onto the scene with his 1st mixtape Quarter Water Raised Me in 2011. He eventually signed to J. Coles’s Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records at the beginning of 2014, dropping his debut album Last Winter a couple months after & then following it up in 2016 with what I believe to be his magnum opus: Too High to Riot. Then earlier this month out of the blue, Bas announced that he would be releasing his 3rd full-length album.

Things start off with “Icarus”, where he talks about an ex over a mellow instrumental. The next track “Front Desk” has a very funky instrumental, but Bas’ singing is horrendous & it’s concept is really corny. The song “Tribe” is all about making it over a creative sample of “Zum-Zum” by Edu Lobo & the J. Cole verse is probably my favorite feature on the entire album while the track “Boca Raton” with A$AP Ferg sees the 2 talking about partying in the titular city over Sango’s “Para a Luz”. The song “Barack Obama’s Special” takes a jab at his old racist neighbors over a jazzy boom bap beat from Ron Gilmore while the track “Purge” talks about killing people off from his life & the instrumental on here is just decent. The song “Fragrance” talks about this woman who won’t leave him alone over a smooth instrumental with rattling hi-hats, but Bas’ predominately sung-execution ruins it.

The spoken word “Infiniti” skit leads us into the next song “Infiniti+2”, where Bas tells this woman to get her head right over a spacey trap beat. It’s ok, but I don’t get why these 2 tracks weren’t merged into 1. The track “Sanufa” tells this woman that she knows better over a house instrumental from J. Cole & after the “Great Ones skit, we go into the song “PDA”. Here, Bas is about making up lost times with his girl due to his newfound success over a moody beat & the hook is absolutely God awful. The penultimate track “Designer” gets braggadocious over a settle instrumental & then the album closes with “Spaceships + Rockets”, which is a weird EDM/trap fusion.

For the most part, I found this to be just average. There are quite a few interesting ideas being presented, but Bas’ attempts at being melodic fall flat on it’s face & the romantic themes tend to wear thin after a while.

Score: 2.5/5

King Grubb – “Droopy.” review

Lancashire, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer King Grubb making his full-length studio debut. Known for being a former member the Children of the Damned & currently apart of it’s successor the Cult of the Damned, he would make his solo debut in the summer of 2007 by dropping the Mega Dumb Cheap Shit extended play under his original moniker Flash 4dem & fully produced by Blah Records founder Lee Scott. A little over a decade later, he’s bringing in Nobodies Home to produce Droopy. in it’s entirety.

“No Introduction” made for a perfectly synth-driven boom bap opener referencing my favorite WWE superstar in 7-time world champion, 7-time tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion The Undertaker whereas “Taglietelle Sandwich” take some more greater approach instrumental talking about nobody fucking with his squad. “Didn’t You Know?” takes the hypnotic boom bap route advising for fanboys to get their pom-poms out while “Hot Dogs” featuring Lee Scott trams up for another jab at wack rappers, furthermore applying the latter subject to the 112 second “Blue Green”.

Getting the 3rd quarter started, we have Grubb comparing his life to “Broke Dice” over an unsettlingly gritty boom bap beat leading into “Bad Samaritan” combines more synthesizers with kicks & snares talking about being the opposite of a charitable person going 0 fucks. “Oui Sag” featuring Sniff heads for a cloudier trap direction going harder than the feelings they harbor if money’s involved & after “No Hands” orchestrally talks about time waiting for no man, “Bud Be Good” finishes with a woozy ode to smoking the finest weed.

Making up for the long gap between this & Mega Dumb Cheap Shit, one of Blah Records’ original signings from its inception returns for an album I wound up enjoying as much as the latter as much as people sleep on that extended play now. Nobodies Home’s production here is a bit more experimental compared to Lee’s on the predecessor 11 years earlier & having both MCs of the trio as the only guest appearances seems appropriate, complimenting King Grubb’s wordplay buoyantly.

Score: 4/5

Hermit & the Recluse – “Orpheus vs. The Sirens” review

Hermit & the Recluse is a duo consisting of the renown Brownsville, New York underground MC Ka & former Brothaz Bent producer Animoss. They collaborated together last year on the song “Marksmen” off of Roc Marciano’s 4th album Rosebudd’s Revenge & now a year later, they have come together & have released their debut album out of the blue.

The album starts off with “Sirens”, which gets conscious while referencing numerous names in Greek mythology over an orchestral instrumental. The next track “Fate” talks about how superior he is with a faint organ in the background while the song “Orpheus” talks about “flexing with the God instead with the heathens” over a killer guitar. The song “Atlas” tells the story of a criminal over some prominent keys while the track “Argo” is about the path he’s on over a chilling instrumental.

The song “Golden Fleece” is about growing up in the hood over a settle instrumental with a prominent organ while “The Punishment of Sisyphus” gets insightful over a gloomy beat with an electric guitar. The song “Hades” is about bringing light to the gutter over some keyboards while the penultimate track “Oedipus” talks about his “you can’t relate” because “we ain’t family”’over some horns. The album then finishes with “Companion of Artemis”, where Ka talks about being the hunter or the prey over some laidback guitar passages.

From front to back, this is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. Animoss perfectly provides a Godly feel in his instrumentals & Ka’s lyricism is just as smart as it’s been in the past, but my only real complaint about it is that a few of the tracks are way too short.

Score: 4/5

YSL Records – “Slime Language” review

YSL Records is a record label that was founded in 2016 by Atlanta, Georgia trap superstar Young Thug & is distributed by 300 Entertainment. The label’s biggest signee as of right now is Gunna, who’s been featured all over the place this year. Thugger’s 27th birthday a day prior continues to be celebrated with a compilation showcasing the artists on YSL over a month after former GCW World Champion, GCW World Tag Team Champion, 3-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, PWG World Champion, the inaugural ROH World Champion & 5-time TNA X Division Champion Low-Ki became the new MLW World Heavyweight Champion.

The album begins with “Tsunami”, where Thugger gets sexual over some over a druggy trap beat from Wheezy referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair . The next song with “U Ain’t Slime Enough” with Karlae & Lil Duke sees the 3 shit-talking over a cloudy beat while the track “Gain Clout” talks about how people will do anything for fame nowadays & his speedy flow on here was unexpected yet amazing. The song “Oh Yeah” by HiDoraah has an instrumental kin to Young Thug’s previous mixtape Beautiful Thugger Girls, but her lifeless delivery does absolutely nothing for me.

The song “Audemar” with Tracy T sees the 2 getting braggadocious over a nondescript instrumental, but things do pick up on “Chanel (Go Get It)” as Thugger links up with Gunna & Lil Baby talking about taking their women on a shopping spree over a mellow Wheezy instrumental. The song “Dirty Shoes” sees Thugger & Gunna talking the lavish life over prominent hi-hats & the track “It’s a Slime” with Lil Uzi Vert is a club banger, but it’s not as fun as when they collaborated on “Up” off of the Hear No Evil EP that Young Thug dropped back in April. The song “Scoliosis” with Gunna & Lil Duke is a hilariously raunchy sex tune with a gritty instrumental while I can appreciate the message on “Goin’ Up”, the Lil Keed verse is generic as Hell.

The song “January 1st” is about being flexed out over a decent beat, but the verse from Trap Boy Freddy ruins it. Primarily because he sounds like a pre-pubescent version of Young Thug himself. However, there was a line during the first verse where Thugger disses Russ & I just couldn’t contain myself from laughing. The song “Chains Choking Me” with Gunna pretty much speaks for itself over a druggy beat with an acoustic guitar buried in the mix while the song “STS” with Strick feels like a mediocre Beautiful Thugger Girls leftover. The penultimate track “Expensive” is a decent showcase of Young Thug’s sisters HiDoraah & Dolly White as the 2 talk about getting wild over an instrumental that sounds like it was rejected during the LUV is Rage 2 sessions while the closer “Slimed In” is mostly dominated by Nechie, whose nasal auto-tuned delivery is annoying.

As a whole, this is compilation is a mixed bag. Young Thug himself & the production are ok & I can appreciate the fact that Thugger wanted to showcase the talent that he signed to YSL, but a lot of them don’t even stick out. It’s definitely for the hardcore fans.

Score: 2.5/5

Ariana Grande – “sweetener” review

Ariana Grande is a 25 year old singer/songwriter & actress from Boca Raton, Florida who first came to prominence as a part of the Nickelodeon shows Victorious and Sam & Cat. She would eventually focus on a music career after signing to Republic Records although I personally don’t consider myself the biggest fan of her debut Yours Truly or the sophomore effort My Everything & her previous full-length Dangerous Woman. I was however intrigued heading into her 4th studio album considering that one of my top 10 producers Pharrell was involved.

Things start off with “raindrops (an angel cried)”, which is a decent cover of the 4 Seasons song with the same name while “blazed” gets playful over a tropical Pharrell instrumental. “the light is coming” featuring Nicki Minaj is about getting through hard times with Pharrell providing a dance-pop vibe to the beat preceding “R.E.M.” telling us the story of her & Pete Davidson over a spacey Pharrell instrumental, preceding the sex positive “God is a woman”‘ fusing R&B/trap.

The title track is about bringing positive energy over rubbery bass & a piano while the song “successful” is an empowering woman’s anthem over a Pharrell instrumental that sounds like vintage Neptunes. The track “everytime” talks about going back to this terrible boyfriend over an atmospheric beat while the song “breathin’” talks about anxiety over an instrumental I feel like I’ve heard a couple times already. The track “no tears left to cry” is about the Manchester Arena bombings from last year over a the UK garage instrumental.

“borderline” featuring Missy Elliott gets sexual over a fun Pharrell instrumental that suits the tone perfectly & the Missy verse is great, but it should’ve been a little bit longer. The track “better off” talks about her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller over a moody Hit-Boy instrumental & the song “goodnight n go” is a mediocre cover of the Imogen Heap song with the same name. The penultimate track “pete davidson” is a heartwarming tribute to her fiancé with the same name & the closer “get well soon” talks about anxiety once again over a luscious Pharrell instrumental.

I don’t mean to come off disrespectful when I say that everything Ariana Grande’s done musically preceding sweetener simply wasn’t for me & on the contrary, this is easily the most I’ve ever enjoyed her music. The contemporary R&B, dance-pop, alternative R&B & pop soul production to me was done significantly better when either Pharrell & Hit-Boy were behind the boards tackling issues such as healing, optimism, romance, sexual intimacy, unhealthy relationships, anxiety & perseverance.

Score: 3.5/5

Elcamino – “Walking on Water” review

Elcamino is an MC from Buffalo, New York who‘s been blowing up within the past year. He signed to Griselda Records & dropped an EP last November but now, he’s back on the scene with his full-length debut. After the intro, we get into the first song “Ghetto”. Here, Elcamino talks about him being the best over a soulful Nicholas Craven instrumental. The title track speaks on drug dealing over some strings while the song “Friend or Foe” talks about wealth over an instrumental kin to Ghostface Killah’s 1996 solo debut Ironman. The track “Peter in a Porsche” contains more shit-talking over another soulful beat similar to RZA’s production work in the late 90’s & while the song “Communion” does talk about being real, the Elcarnicero feature is just alright.

The track “Coke” pretty much speaks for itself over a haunting beat while the song “Rosemary” gets romantic over a laidback instrumental. The track “Gas Stove” returns to the drug dealing concept over an ominous guitar & the penultimate song “Rayful Bag” with Benny the Butcher gets murderous over a boom bap beat with sinister keyboards. And before things end with the outro, the final song “Shook” with Benny & Meyhem Lauren goes continues the concept of the previous track but in a much grittier fashion.

Overall, this is Elcamino’s best work yet. Even though it’s only 32 minutes long, the production is rawer & El Camino sounds colder than ever before. If you wanna see a rising star on one of the hottest labels out right now, then give this a listen.

Score: 4/5

Nicki Minaj – “Queen” review

In the light of Cardi B’s increasing popularity within the past year, New York rapper/singer & Young Money Entertainment’s First Lady Nicki Minaj is making a comeback with her 4th full-length album & her first since The Pinkprint at the tail end of 2014.

The album begins with “Ganja Burns”, where Nicki challenges her competition over an Afro-influenced beat that’s actually pretty cool. The track “Majesty” with Eminem sees the 2 getting playful over a prominently plinky piano & the song “Barbie Dreams” is Nicki’s rendition of the classic Biggie song “Just Saying (Dreams)”, but it doesn’t go over at all even with the reference to WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson. The track “Rich Sex” is pretty much a mediocre sequel to a Future song on his 2015 magnum opus DS2 that actually shares the same name, except that Nicki brought in a pretty solid Lil Wayne verse to give the audience both gender’s takes of the titular topic. The song “Hard White” talks about how she worked hard to get half back over an eerie Boi-1da & !llmind instrumental while the track “Bed” gets seductive over a moody beat & the Ariana Grande hook is pretty as well.

The song “Thought I Knew You” is more of a Weeknd joint since Abel takes up a good chunk of it while the track “Run & Hide” sees Nicki singing about trust over an moody instrumental. The song “Chun Swae” with Swae Lee sees the 2 getting braggadocious over a bass-heavy Metro Boomin’ instrumental while The track “Chun-Li” is arguably her best single in a long time. It sees her going back to her hardcore hip hop roots from the gritty beat to her confrontational bars. The song “LLC” is a supposed diss towards Cardi B over a bouncy trap instrumental while the track “Good Form” is about how bad she is over a Mike WiLL-Made It instrumental with a pretty cool Too $hort sample.

The song “Nip Tuck” talks about giving this person everything over a spacey beat & the “2 Lit 2 Late” interlude is prettily produced, but the auto-tune does nothing & I wish it was a full song. The track “Come See About Me” addresses his ex-boyfriend Meek Mill over a piano-heavy instrumental while the song “Sir” with Future is another braggadocious tune with a gritty instrumental from Metro Boomin’ & Zaytoven.

“Miami” talks about her prowess over a bouncy Murda Beatz instrumental while the final song “Coco Chanel” is a mediocre attempt at reviving the watered down dancehall that Drake provided on VIEWS & More Life. However, I do enjoy the Foxy Brown verse quite a bit. The “Inspirations Outro” is just Nicki shouting out her Caribbean influences for a minute & while it is interesting, it’s not the strongest of notes to end on.

Overall, this was a pretty average album. I truly believe some of Nicki’s best songs are on here & it does sound like she took quite a bit of time working on this, but it’s chocked with a lot of filler.

Score: 2.5/5

Soul Assassins – “Dia del Asesinato” review

The Soul Assassins are a legendary collective founded by one of the most underrated producers in hip hop history: DJ Muggs. They dropped their iconic debut album Chapter I in 1997 & they followed it up in 2000 with the equally solid II. However, they collectively haven’t dropped that much material since then with this being their 4th full-length album & their first since Intermission in 2009.

After the “Santa Muerte” intro, the first song “Day of the Dead by Kool G Rap sees the Genius of Rap getting murderous over a perfectly suiting instrumental. The next track “Assassination Day” by G Rap & MF DOOM sees the 2 lyrical titans getting confrontational over a haunting instrumental while the track “Yacht Party” by Raekwon of course vividly gets mafioso over a luxurious instrumental. The song “Black Snow Beach” by Rae & Meyhem Lauren brags about how better they are than you over some strings while the next 2 songs are solely performed by Mach-Hommy. The first one “Blue Horseshoes” has a decent instrumental, but Mach sounds like he phoned it in.

The other one “Contagion Theory” has a somewhat jazzy instrumental that’s actually beautiful, but it doesn’t sound fully written to me. Things pick up on “Wally Face”, where Hus Kingpin provides some vivid storytelling over a settle beat with an alluring vocal sample for the hook. The song “Duck Sauce” by Eto talks about how this ain’t a game over a boom bap beat with an electric guitar while the track “Niggas is Pussy” by Meyhem Lauren speaks for itself over a heavy guitar. And before things finish with the outro, the final song “Death Wish” by Freddie Gibbs & DOOM displays the 2 spitting battle bars over an eerie beat.

I’ve been wondering when or if the Soul Assassins were ever gonna drop an album again & they came back pretty triumphantly. The performers are outstanding for the most part as is DJ Muggs’ production & the concept about using hip hop against corruption is very well thought out

Score: 4/5

Trippie Redd – “Life’s a Trip” review

Trippie Redd is a 19 year old rapper from Canton, Ohio who blew up last year with the release of his debut mixtape A Love Letter to You. He then followed it up with a mediocre sequel several months later & now that a year has passed, we’re finally getting his full-length debut.

The album begins with “TOGETHER”, where he talks about unity over an acoustic instrumental. The next song “Taking a Walk” sees Trippie contemplating suicide over an organ-heavy Scott Storch instrumental while the track “Wish” originally appeared on Diplo’s latest EP California & it was one of my favorites off it, I don’t see why it was put on this album as well. The song “Missing My Idols” continues to prove how lyrical Trippie can be as he provides a sequel to “Can You Rap Like Me?” albeit with a trap beat & the sample that OZ uses is absolutely beautiful.

The track “Forever Ever” with Young Thug & Reese LaFlare sees the 3 getting romantical over a moody Murda Beatz instrumental. It’s endearing, but the feature from the latter is the weakest on the entire album. The song “Bird Shit” brushes off his haters over a Wheezy instrumental with a twangy guitar & rattling hi-hats while the track “BANG!” gets vulnerable over a mellow trap beat. The song “How You Feel” talks about his girlfriend ALYK$ over a psychedelic rock instrumental while the track “Dark Knight Dummo” with Travi$ Scott sees the 2 getting braggadocious over a gritty Honorable C.N.O.T.E. instrumental.

The song “Uka Uka” talks about how he doesn’t want pressure over a druggy instrumental while the track “Shake It Up” gets raunchy over a moody trap beat. The song “Oomp’s Revenge” is a heartwarming tribute to Trippie’s brother over a soulful instrumental while the penultimate track “GORE” talks about his success over a cloudy trap beat. The album then finishes with “Underwater Flyzone”, where he sings about an ex over a laidback guitar.

I was a little worried about this given the fact that Trippie initially stated that this was gonna be 26 tracks long, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it actually turned out. The production is a lot more refined than it’s been in the past & I feel like Trippie is at his most passionate on here

Score: 3.5/5

Mac Miller – “Swimming” review

In the 2 years since his disappointingly average Divine Feminine, Pittsburgh MC/producer Mac Miller has been laying low since then. However, he’s finally back with his 5th full-length album.

The opener “Come Back to Earth” vents about his mental struggles over a luscious synthesizer & the next song “Hurt Feelings” vents about how things in his life are different over a mellow yet bass-heavy instrumental. The track “What’s the Use?” vents about his addiction flying in a shuttle given to him by Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder & Neuralink founder Elon Musk over a beautiful synth-funk instrumental while the song “Perfecto” talks about depression over a laidback instrumental. The track “Self Care” addresses his breakup with Ariana Grande over a cloudy instrumental while the song “Wings” gets introspective over a settle instrumental. The track “Ladders” is about how he & this unnamed woman are all they have & the synth-funk instrumental on here is absolutely flawless.

The song “Small Worlds” talks about his imperfections over a slow-twangy guitar & the 4-start count at the beginning made me think this was a Neptunes beat at first. The track “Conversation” is an open message to Ariana over a druggy Cardo beat while the song “Dunno” reflects on the good times in his previous relationship over some finger snapping & some Neptunes-like synthesizers while the song “Jet Fuel” is about staying high & existing forever over some groovy guitar work. The penultimate track “2009” is about finding peace over an Eric G instrumental with snapping fingers & keyboards while the closer “So It Goes” ends things perfectly as he gets motivational over some prominent drums & faint synths.

I was hoping for Mac to make a triumphant comeback & at the end of the day, that’s exactly what I got. Sure the execution on a few tracks could’ve been better, but the production is absolutely beautiful & the personal themes are very compelling.

Score: 3.5/5