Travis Scott – “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight” review

Just literally 2 days before the 1 year anniversary of his surprisingly solid debut Rodeo, Travis Scott has finally dropped his highly anticipated sophomore album. The album’s opener “the ends” has a grimy beat & while I do enjoy Travi$’ verse at the beginning about how this sole verse might make his label Epic Records drop him, what really makes this track stick out is the vividly told albeit very surprising guest verse from OutKast member André 3000. On the next track “way back”, Travis is reflecting on his pre-fame days & not only do I really love how dreamy the production sounds on here, but I also love how catchy Travis’ vocals are too. On the track “through the late night”, Travi$ hooks up with his idol KiD CuDi to talk about partying & I personally find the chemistry between the 2 on here to be purely AMAZING! The track “outside” is an ode to all of Travis’ ride or die homies & while that’s definitely cool, the non-distinctive production throughout & the boring ass verse from 21 Savage near the end makes this possibly the worst track on the entire album. However, the next track “goosebumps” makes up for it. The song is basically Travis’ & Black Hippy member Kendrick Lamar expressing their love for this woman & while the production has a dark atmosphere to it, it’s without a bit of doubt my favorite track off the entire album. The track “pick up the phone” is about a woman who isn’t showing any loyalty to either Travis’ or Young Thug & Quavo of Migos. While I can totally appreciate the concept of this song & the hard trap beat on this thing, it just comes off really corny to me. The track “lose” is pretty relaxing from the production to even Travis’ singing. However, my only issue with this song is that I feel like he used WAY too much auto-tune on the hook. Personally, I don’t enjoy a whole lot of trap music but I’m not gonna sit here & deny that Travis Scott has been slowly but surely impressing me more & more within the past year or so. Honestly, I was a little worried about how this album would turn out but I was pleasantly surprised to hear that it could very well be better than Rodeo. I definitely can’t wait to hear what this cat has in store in the future

Score: 3.5/5

Prophets of Rage – “The Party’s Over” review

The Prophets of Rage are a political rap metal supergroup composed of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave instrumentalists Brad Wilk, Tom Morello & Tim Commerford as well as Chuck D & DJ Lord of Public Enemy & Cypress Hill frontman B-Real. The band’s inception was announced at the very beginning of June & they’re named after the 15th track off of Public Enemy’s political hip hop masterpiece of a 2nd album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Since then, people have been anticipating them making music together & now here they are with a 5 track EP. The opening track on here Prophets of Rage is a rap metal remix of the Public Enemy track that I previously mentioned, but it has the 1st 2 verses from the original song as well a brand new verse from B-Real. It’s not incredible, but it’s still pretty dope. The title track on here The Party’s Over is the only brand new track on here & it’s absolutely fantastic! To me, this track is just a small taste of what this group can do together if they ever release a full-length album in the future. The other 3 tracks are live renditions of Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine as well as Shut ‘Em Down & Fight the Power by Public Enemy, although the live version of Fight the Power on here has a couple altered lines as well as the hook from No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn by the Beastie Boys. The chemistry on here is great, because Chuck’s political lyrics & militant delivery fit really well over the aggressive rap metal instrumentation while B-Real adds a lot more energy into these tracks. However, my biggest issue with this EP is the lack of original tracks. Not that I have an issue with remixed tracks or live tracks/albums in general, but only 1 original track just isn’t enough for me. This EP’s still definitely worth checking out, but I personally think it could’ve been better

Score: 3/5

Blu – “Titans in the Flesh” review

3 years after their first collaborative EP Gods in the Spirit, famed LA underground MC Blu & Soul Council producer Nottz get back together for a follow-up that is MUCH more consistent than it’s predecessor. You’re still getting the usual conscious lyrics but the production is a lot more soulful, the guest verses aren’t as scattered around on nearly every single track & the mixing is a lot more clearer on here compared to the half-assed mixing on that Bad Neighbor album Blu did with M.E.D. & Madlib last year. And as you may or may not know, Blu has been dealing with some mental issues since the very beginning of the year but I think he’s really taking care of those issues because he sounds really focused & confident throughout this EP. Other than the track To the East sounding like an outdated outtake from the Gods in the Spirit sessions, this is a very solid first step for Blu getting back on track

Score: 4/5

Desiigner – “New English” review

Fresh off the hit single Panda, 2016 XXL Freshman Desiigner hits us with his first full project & it honestly could very well be the worst release I’ve listened to this year. Not just because of the beats & lyrics, but the vocals are just hilariously excruciating. However they do surprise me on Make It Out a little bit because he kinda reminds me of Tyler, The Creator (who I personally am a big fan of). On the track Overnight (which is probably the best track off the whole tape), he talks about how he wants God to help him & how hard he works. I can totally appreciate that. On the track Jet, he & Pusha T get braggadocious & Pusha’s verse on here is ok but Desiigner ruins the track really quickly. I still think Panda’s ok & I’m actually glad he put into this mixtape but other than that, I don’t really think there’s anything else interesting to point out about this thing. All I’m getting here is just a rushed, generic version of DS2 (which I felt was the most overrated album of last year)

Score: 1/5

PRhyme – Self-titled review

PRhyme is a duo comprised of renown New York based producer DJ Premier & the criminally underrated Detroit MC Royce da 5’9″. They’ve collaborated countless times with each other in the past with songs like “Boom” & “Hip Hop”, but now they are officially forming together to drop their self-titled full-length debut.

The album starts off with the title track, where Royce basically tells the audience he’s never falling off over a somewhat mellow boom bap beat. The next song “Dat Sound Good” with Ab-Soul & Mac Miller is filled with charismatic braggadocious bars over a grimy beat with some keys & a guitar while the track “U Looz” is only a minute & a half long, it’s definitely in your face. Especially with the final line of Royce’s verse where he says “this is for the real hip-hop niggas who’ll never ever ask me am I here to replace Guru”. The song “U Should Know” sees Royce putting sense in all the wack rappers out & not only is the Dwele hook on point, but I also love how Preem chops up numerous parts of “True Love” by The Delfonics for the instrumental. Especially with the prominent horns throughout.

The track “Courtesy” compares Royce’s life to both Bumpy Johnson & Nucky Thompson over some explosive drums & a haunting organ while “Wishin'” with Common basically tells us that they wish someone would disrespect them over a killer boom bap/rap rock fused beat. The song “To Me, To You” with Jay Electronica is basically them speaking their minds over a sinister beat while the track “Underground Kings” with Killer Mike & ScHoolboy Q sees all of them talking about the beginnings of their careers to where they are now & the Run-D.M.C. samples throughout are absolutely flawless. The standard edition finishes off with “Microphone Preem” by Slaughterhouse, where the supergroup delivers a sequel to their classic 2009 song “Microphone” that’s just as raw & angry as the original. A year after the album’s original release, they re-released it with 4 new tracks & I’m gonna chop them up right now.

The first bonus track “Golden Era” with Joey Bada$$ gets reminiscent about the titular era of hip hop & the instrumental suits it perfectly. The next bonus track “Wishin’ II” is an equally gritty sequel to the first one except we get a killer verse from Black Thought, who was supposed to be on the original version of that song. The penultimate bonus track “Highs & Lows” with MF DOOM & Phonte vents about people sleeping on them over a guitar/keyboard boom bap beat & then the final bonus track “Mode II” with Logic is a sequel to their song that appeared on the Shady Records curated Southpaw soundtrack, but it didn’t need to be 7 minutes long.

As a whole, this is a modern classic. The chemistry between Royce & Preemo is stronger than ever before, but the standard edition was too short. However, they made up for it by adding on 4 new tracks a year later. And while the features are mostly great, there didn’t need to be one on almost every track. Even on the deluxe version.Regardless, I hope we get another album from the duo in the future

Score: 4.5/5

CZARFACE – “A Fistful of Peril” review

After releasing 2 modern classic hip hop albums in 2013 & last year, Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck & Army of the Pharaohs/Demigodz members 7L & Esoteric are hitting us with another full-length album under the CZARFACE name. Just like last time, the album is entirely produced by the group’s producer 7L& his protégé Spada4 but they’re not blatantly copying what they did on the trio’s last 2 albums.

The album starts off with the track “Electric Level 1”, where we hear a tiny sliver of spoken dialogue & then it transitions to a 1-minute electronic beat that kinda reminds of 7L & Esoteric’s 4th album A New Dope just 10 years before. However, things don’t really kick off until the next track “2 in the Chest” which has a slowed down funky beat as well as killer rhymes & flows from the trio’s 2 MCs Inspectah Deck & Esoteric.

“Czar Wars” (awesome title) sees Eso & Deck trading lines back & forth with each other, only proving that their chemistry together is still fucking killer! The beat isn’t bad either, the guitar loop throughout is pretty nice & I love the reference to WWE Hall of Famers & former 3-time WWE Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors. The track “Machine, Man & Monster” starts off with a raw verse from Conway & with the bass playing throughout as well as the electric guitar I heard on this track at points, the beat reminds me of something I’d hear from CZARFACE’s previous album Every Hero Needs a Villain but not in a bad way at all.

The next track “Dare Iz a Darkseid” (which is cleverly named after Redman’s classic sophomore album Dare Iz a Darkside) starts off with a hilarious verse from Esoteric followed by a roughly delivered verse from Deck over a hard boom beat beat & I just REALLY love how you can hear how much fun Eso is having while he’s delivering his verse. The track “All in Together Now” (named after the Wu-Tang Clan’s original name for those who don’t know) has THUNDEROUS drums, a nice electro loop & I love the ambition in the 2 MC’s voices as they deliver these braggadocious yet accomplished sounding lines. Following that track, we have the closer “Level Electric 1” which is just a beautiful 1 minute dark ambient sounding piece.

Now I remember Eso making a poston his Instagram back in January of this year hinting that this is the last CZARFACE album & if that really is the case with this album, they went out with a bang! The production 7 & Spada bright to the table is tight while Eso & Deck’s flows are on point as is their lyrics & the chemistry is still near perfect. Despite my only issue with the album being that it’s too short (it only runs at 35 & a half minutes), the 3 were able to come through with an album as equally great as their last 2 albums

Score: 3.5/5

Danny Brown – “Atrocity Exhibition” review

After releasing 2 modern hip hop classics under Fool’s Gold Records in 2011 & 2013, Detroit MC Danny Brown is teaming up with Warp Records to come back with his 4th full-length album. He has also enlisted Paul White, who produced 5 tracks on his previous album Old, to produce 10 of the 15 tracks on this album over here. The album starts off with the track “Downward Spiral”, where Danny’s talking about his drug addiction & depression over an aggressive beat. On the next track “Tell Me What I Don’t Know”, Danny’s basically reminiscing about his days in the streets & I really love how psychedelic the production sounds on here. The track “Rolling Stone” sees Danny talking about living his life like a rock star’s (kinda like the track “Die Like a Rockstar” off Danny’s sophomore effort XXX), but I find the hook from the song’s producer Petite Noir on here to be more haunting & the bass is pretty tight too. The track “Really Doe” sees Danny teaming up with Black Hippy members Kendrick Lamar & Ab-Soul as well as Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt to deliver a posse cut & while every single one of them spit hard verses on here, I’m not gonna sleep on the production by my man Black Milk. The beat he provides has some nice twinkling chimes & some popping drums throughout. The track “Lost” kinda continues where the opener left off & the vocal sample on here fits the vibe perfectly. The track “Ain’t It Funny” sees Danny talking about living live in the fast lane over an awesomely chaotic beat & Danny’s flow on this track is absolutely killer. The tracks “Golddust” & “White Lines” talk about his experiences with cocaine & while I do enjoy both tracks, I prefer “White Lines” because The Alchemist’s production here sounds purely evil in contrast to Paul’s production on “Golddust” sounding post-punk inspired (which is perfectly fitting too, considering the fact that the album’s named after the opening track off of post-punk band Joy Division’s 2nd & final album Closer). The track “Pneumonia” is said to be the only party song on the entire album & while I do enjoy that it does live up to that sonically, the background vocals from ScHoolboy Q fits the entire track like a glove. The track “Dance in the Water” is a sex track with an actually funny ass Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy reference near the end of the 2nd verse & another to former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback. The beat on here has a nice vocal sample & a groovy bassline too. The track “From the Ground” is basically Danny’s rags to riches story over a gloomy beat & Kelela’s vocals on here are just beautiful! Danny’s delivery on here has a pretty serious tone throughout too & I think that’s what makes this track one of my favorites off the entire album. The album’s lead single “When It Rain” has an eerie beat & Danny’s energy on here is just off the chain. The track “Today” sees Danny talking about how his life’s going right now & there’s a reference to “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” by OutKast near the end of the 1st verse that’s actually pretty cool. The beat on here is pretty ominous sounding as well. The track “Get Hi” sees Danny talking about weed over a relaxing beat & while it’s definitely fitting that he got Cypress Hill frontman B-Real on the hook, I kinda wish he had a verse on here. The album’s closer “Hell for It” is a perfect way to end the album because it’s sonically uplifting in contrast to the rest of the album having a dark vibe throughout. While I personally don’t enjoy a vast majority of Iggy Azalea’s music, I feel like it’s becoming cliché for people to diss her but I actually find Danny’s jab at her near the end of the final verse on this track to be pretty humorous. To me, Danny’s just outdoing himself with every single album & I think this could very well be his best work to date. I absolutely love how experimental the production is along with how it fits Danny’s dark lyrics near perfectly. I think this album solidifies Danny as one of the most unique MCs right now & arguably the face of modern Detroit hip hop, because this album just gets crazier & crazier with each & every single listen

Score: 4.5/5

Death Grips – “Bottomless Pit’ review

As a huge Death Grips fan, I was a little worried with how they would follow up their previous album The Powers That B (which was one of the most anticipated releases of last year). Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Throughout the trio’s 5th full-length album, they fuse some of the punk influences from Jenny Death (the 2nd disc of The Powers That B, for those who don’t know) with some of the industrial influences from their debut album The Money Store (which is not only their best work, but it’s also one of my favorite albums of this current decade) in an almost perfect way. On the opening track Giving Bad People Good Ideas, Ride discusses the band’s relationship with their fans over some pretty heavy distorted guitars. On Warping, we get an understanding that Ride is a changing person but the beat reminds me of Hustle Bones for some reason (in a good way though). The keys on the hook, however, are beautifully played. On the track Eh, Ride talks about how he feels indifferent on accomplishments over an electronic type-beat. What really blew me away was the track BB Poison, because I really wasn’t expecting Ride to condemn the crazy Internet following they have. On the track Ring a Bell, Ride gets into a detail about a girl. The guitar riffs on here (especially when the hook comes) are extremely intense. Overall, I’d have to say that the trio have really made one of their best releases with this & hopefully they won’t be disbanding anytime soon

Score: 4.5/5

Kendrick Lamar – “To Pimp a Butterfly” review

3 years after his sophomore effort good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Black Hippy member Kendrick Lamar is back with his 3rd full-length album & it is the best thing I’ve listened to in this current decade. The beats are funky/jazz & the lyrics are politically relevant. The album opens with the track Wesley’s Theory, where Kendrick goes from reminiscing about getting signed to being confronted by a personified Uncle Sam over a funky ass beat from Flying Lotus. On Institutionalized, Kendrick goes in about the negatives of wealth. For the first minute the beat on here kinda reminds me of Come & Get it by eLZhi (from J Dilla’s solo debut Welcome 2 Detroit), but then it transitions to hard hitting drums and some beautiful keys. While the track i is a positivity jam, the track u is the exact opposite. The delivery on the first verse of u is menacing but when the 2nd verse kicks in, shit gets real. And I say that because he sounds like he’s gonna burst into tears & you can really hear the raw emotion in his voice on this verse. On Alright, K-Dot assures the listener that even though there’s police brutality going on in recent years, “We gon’ be alright”. On How Much a Dollar Cost, Kendrick tells a tale of being selfish to a crack addict who later reveals himself to be God. On the track Complexion (A Zulu Love), Kendrick & Rapsody both discuss the whole conception of everyone should respect each other despite the color of their skin very vividly. I never really hear people talking about that whole concept & for someone like Kendrick to speak on it just really gives me a lot more respect for the cat. On the track The Blacker the Berry, K-Dot discusses self-hatred induced by the racism African-Americans receive. The album closes with Mortal Man, which is pretty much K-Dot asking his own fans questions such as “Do you believe in me?” or “Can you be immortalized without your life being expired?”. After the 3 verses, we are treated with Kendrick “interviewing” Tupac Shakur & what they talk about together in this fictional interview really ties in with this whole album. Overall, this really is a flawless album from top to bottom & you NEED to hear/have it

Score: 5/5