This is the 4th full-length album from New York emcee NEMS. Coming up in the battle rap circuit, he would go on to have a brief stint with Psycho+Logical-Records in the late 2000’s before dropping the debut Prezident’s Day under Creative Juices Music back in 2010. This was followed up almost 9 years later when he & JAZZSOON teamed up for the damn near flawless Gorilla Monsoon, but the follow-up Congo received more mixed results despite it’s highlights like “Wow” & “Cousins”. But after signing a joint deal with Paul Rosenberg’s very own Goliath Records alongside distribution from Virgin Music earlier this summer, NEMS is returning to have Scram Jones fully produce Rise of the Silverback.
After the “Ascenscion” intro, the first song “Pussy” is a gully boom bap opener directed at all the bitch boys out there whereas the title track featuring Sheek Louch works in some Godzilla-esque horns as well as these kicks & snares talking about putting bullets in your mouth. “Drip” goes for a more cavernously shrilling boom bap route boasting how he got exactly that just before “Blicky” shifts gears into orchestral-trap turf paying ode to the heat.
“Demon” featuring Gunplay has a more chaotic loop with some hi-hats talking about not giving a fuck & quite possibly the most repetitive hook on the LP, but then “Don’t Ever Disrespect Me” featuring Ghostface Killah finds the 2 returning to the boom bap cautioning to never go against them. “Keep On” blends some pianos, kicks & snares looking to always move forward no matter what by telling his story leading into “Hold That” turning back into trap territory getting raunchy lyrically. Probably the weakest track on the entire album in my opinion with all respect to the Fuck Ya Lyfe General.
To begin the last leg of the album, “Gorilla on Your Back” weaves a boom bap instrumental with a gospel choir sample into the fold calling out your dreams being gone because you kept chasing dragons while “No Face” featuring Fat Joe keeps the organs, kicks & snares in tact talking about keeping it litty. The penultimate track “Dirt” featuring Peedi Crakk sees the pair hop on top of a flute-tinged trap beat declaring to be dirty dickheads & NEMS ties everything up aptly by firing “Missiles” over an eerie boom bap instrumental.
Considering NEMS’ popularity on TikTok almost reaching 1M followers on top of Eminem’s manager giving him a record deal & having Scram Jones produce his major label debut, my expectations into it were EXTREMELY high. Lo & behold: Rise of the Silverback is up there with Gorilla Monsoon for his finest body of work to day. Scram’s production balances boom bap & trap in a way I felt Congo lacked, the feature performances are more consistent & the Coney Island emcee doesn’t miss a step with the pen.
This is the sophomore full-length solo album from Atlanta, Georgia rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Quavo. Rising to prominence in 2013 as 1/3 of the Migos with his nephew Takeoff & Offset, he would also form the duo Huncho Jack in late 2016 with Travis Scott & drop their only album thus far Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho to mixed reception. However with the 5 year anniversary of him becoming the first Migo to branch out on his own with a solo debut in the form of Quavo Huncho, he’s dedicating Rocket Power to his fallen Unc & Phew cohort Takeoff following his tragic murder few weeks after the release of their only album Only Built for Infinity Links last fall.
“Fueled Up” is an atmospheric trap opener produced by Kenny Beats & Murda Beatz declaring that it’s all love as he goes back to his old ways whereas “Patty Cake” by Unc & Phew finds the duo over some horns & hi-hats provided by DJ Dureltalking about being heavyweights as opposed to lightweights. “Mama Told Me” follows this up in the form of a synth/string trap hybrid discussing everything his late mother Edna Parker told him throughout his life just before “Who wit Me” comes through with a more vigorous atmosphere thanks to BNYX of Working on Dying & his brother BEAUTIFULMVN wanting to know exactly who’s on his side here.
After the “Narkedo Speaks” interlude, “Hold Me” hooks up a solemn loop & hi-hats so Huncho can plead to everyone in his life who’s no longer here with him to keep him strong leading into “Where Can I Start?” gives off a more mystic trap groove talking about looking up & getting to the guap. “Wall to Wall” goes into more futuristic turf instrumentally discussing a lil bitch who think she can be bought, but then “Turn Yo Clic Up” featuring Future was a mediocre choice of a single largely due to the cut-rate beat.
Unc & Phew get back together 1 last time on “Back Where It Begins” with Future only handling the hook this time so Wheezy can shoot for a more atmospheric approach behind the boards taking everything back to where it all started for them both in the ATL while “11.11” reflects on the darker nights he’s been having throughout the past 9 months even though the instrumental here is just ok. Pooh Beatz gives “Galaxy” a more piano-driven vibe that I enjoy a bit discussing the feeling you get when you pull up & kill ’em while the cloudy “Disciples” talks about refusing to play with motherfuckers this year.
“Focused” featuring Young Thug finds the 2 jumping on top in these sweet organ harmonies & hi-hats from Buddah Bless refusing to keep their eyes off their bankrolls while “Stain” featuring BabyDrill & Hunxho aims for a more vibrant approach to the beat with one of if not the most repetitive hooks on the album comparing it to Modern Warfare when they hop out the Lambo although both guest verses punch under their weight unlike Huncho.
The song “Not Done Yet” speaks on living out the vision with no regrets & the end being nowhere in sight over a synth-woven trap instrumental while the 2-part title track produced by Murda, BNYX & Dez Wright reminisces on kickin’ doors bright & early thinking about his late nephew. “Greatness” though ends Quavo’s sophomore effort by mixing pop rap & trap with pop reggae interestingly enough explaining how legends are made.
Given everything that’s happened within the Migos camp throughout the last year & a half, I went into Rocket Power expecting it to come from a more genuine place than Quavo Huncho despite it’s share of highlights to this day like “Workin’ Me” & “Rerun”. In the end, that’s exactly what my personal favorite member of the trio delivers. The production’s as tight as it was when we last heard him 5 years ago & you can truly hear how devastated he still is over Takeoff’s untimely murder 9 months later.
Reason is a 33 year old rapper from Carson, California who released a total of 4 mixtapes until signing to Top Dawg Entertainment in the middle of 2018 by reissuing the one that landed him the contract in the first place: There You Have It. However, his official full-length debut album New Beginnings received more mixed reception when it came out the fall where COVID had the whole world shut down. But considering a couple latest singles of his along with the fact that he called in some show on-air a few days ago to vent his frustrations over the ball being dropped promotion-wise & Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith’s son Moosa subsequently called in to get into a heated exchange of words with Reason saying former employee/pgLang co-founder Dave Free regrets even signing him in the first place, I went into the sophomore effort hoping I would like it more than the predecessor.
“Faded off Poor n Riches!” starts off the album with a drumless beat with the sound of a ticking clock talking about getting to share the Ws whereas “Caucasian Estates!” takes the morbid trap route thanks to Vinylz & Allen Ritter ensuring you to relax so he can push your shit to the max. The gospel influences throughout “At It Again” are pretty cool as he triumphantly focuses on winning once more that is until “A Broken Winter Break!” dives into soulful boom bap territory admitting he’s blurry of the 5th.
Moving on from there, “You Betta (Jesus Take the Wheel)” tells y’all to come & take the weight off him with a hazy trap beat just before “Send You 2 the Afterlife!” almost gives me a Memphis rap feel instrumentally with the title saying it all conceptually. “Call Me!“ gives off a more soothing vibe saying he’s way too stressed in here, but then the spacey boom bap-inflicted “Gang Shit!” calling out those who don’t like his image coming & you can hear the genuine frustration in his voice.
“F.T.N.! (Fuck These N***a!)” featuring Baby Tate has a more skeletal trap tone as they deliver a decent pop rap ballad together leading into the booming “Gina! (August Alsina)” dropping braggadocio likening his whip to 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena. “Too Much! (Melly Mel)” follows this up with a bleak jazz rap ballad FNZ cooked up about overthinking while “Bussin! (WB Pt.2) featuring Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate Ray Vaughn who has yet to drop a full-length debut with the label probably because they’re shelving him too finds them over keys & hi-hats co-produced by Boi-1da talking about never being upset with how they living.
Meanwhile, “Rich Mirages!” hazily confesses having the optical illusion of being wealthy while “I Don’t Trust You!” featuring TDE’s latest signing as of me writing this review Doechii finds the pair making a better version of “F.T.N.! (Fuck These N***a!)” with all respect to Baby Tate except they’re tackling mistrust. The song “Family First!” featuring Kalan.FrFr, SiR & Zacari delivers a piano trap ballad dedicated to family while the penultimate track “Porch Steps!” featuring Dirty Dell nocturnally talks about never leaving the hood. “Poster Child!” however wraps everything up with 1 final boom bap cut hungrily declaring he got where he is today in the music industry because of a specific mindset.
A lot of people including myself generally think Reason is one of the more average artists on the TDE roster but after the whole situation with Moosa only a few days ago, it didn’t sit right with me at all as someone who watched the label in it’s prime in high school. That being said: the guy deserves better. He’s at different place emotionally, but the production’s just okay at best & the guests’ performances are hit or miss. As someone who watched the label in its prime back in high school, their downfall has unquestionably become one of the biggest tragedies in hip hop history.
We finally have the sophomore full-length album from Chicago, Illinois emcee, poet & producer Noname in our hands. Emerging as 1/3 of Ghetto Sage, she gained national exposure the summer of 2016 off her debut mixtape Telefone took it to another level couple years later on the debut LP Room 25. But after going on to drop some loosie singles & occasional feature performances since then, Noname’s finally looking to join Little Simz amongst others too in the ranks of shutting up everyone claiming that women in hip hop are one of the biggest if not THE biggest problem with the culture today by returning with Sundial.
“black mirror” is a calmingly smooth opener to the album calling herself a black author Librarian, contrarian & MC whereas “hold me down” goes into spacious boom bap territory talking about kicking out on your for a favor for a certain amount. “balloons” featuring a repulsively antisemitic Jay Electronica speaks on metophorically crying the titular object over a slick backdrop with kicks & snares produced by SABA, but then “boomboom“ goes full-blown jazz rap talking about making a wish.
Meanwhile, “potentially the interlude” charismatically points out that “people said they love but they really love potential with a crescendoing beat that gets more layered as it goes on just before “namesake” blends these synthseziers & jazzy drum patterns explaining that she never needed a man. “beauty supply” tranquilly encourages you to take a trip with here to exactly that leading into “toxic” calling out a man who thrives off toxicity over a mellow boom bap instrumental.
The song “afro futurism” hooks up these pianos with kicks & snares showing her appreciation for the movement while the penultimate track “gospel?” featuring billy woods, $ilkMoney & Stout fuses gospel & boom bap promising the sun will shine. “oblivion” featuring Common is a perfect choice of a closer that comes in the form of a funky hip hop ballad talking their shit without giving a fuck.
Like I said: People love to complain about women in our culture severely lacking musically this day in age but artists like Noname, Simz like I mentioned earlier, Sa-Roc who’s gearing up to drop her Rhymesayers sophomore effort & Che Noir currently prepping Lotus Child further prove otherwise. The jazzy/neo-soul production is exuberantly pleasant to the ear & her conscious lyrics remain profound as they were when she first broke out.
This is the 3rd full-length album from Australian producer Kut One. Emerging within the underground in 2019 off The Icons split EP, he would then go on to drop a debut LP Live Wires during the pandemic & follow it up over a year later in the form of a sequel. It does makes sense for Kut to celebrate by making the Live Wires series into a trilogy celebrating hip hop’s 50th birthday today & 3 weeks after former IWGPタッグチャンピオン, the inaugural 2-time 新日本プロレス強い無差別級タッグチャンピオン & 2-time RPW British Tag Team Champions Aussie Open became the ROH World Tag Team Champions.
“Get Some” by Change, King Magnetic & Tom Sav is a gritty, piano boom bap opener with the trio telling anyone to bring all the smoke to them whereas “Stay Sucker Free” by Jamal Gasol works in some kicks, snares & strings talking about cutting all the cornballs out of his life. “Good for Nuthin’” by Daniel Son, Estee Nack & Saipher Sozë is an easy highlight for me as we get 3 deadly verses over a synth-laced boom bap instrumental just before “Mount Up” by Guilty Simpson stands out to me as well sending warning shots accompanied by an apocalyptic backdrop attached to more kicks & snares.
The eerie atmosphere throughout “Skip the Nonsense” by The Bad Seed is cool as he obviously encourages to take the high road when it comes to all the bullshit, but then “Never Settle” by Rim of Da Villins delivers another great cut from the sample-heavy beat to the lyrics getting it on his own. “Listen Up” by Pretty Bulli has a gloomier boom bap approach talking about having a couple screws loose leading into the spacious “No Room to Grow” by Craig G tells us that’s how he’s feeling.
“It’s My Word” by Rasheed Chappell begins the final leg of the album with a somber backdrop mixing kicks, snares & occasionally some hi-hats on top of it to talk the facts prior to “Been a Long Time” by Verbz officially tying everything all up with an incredibly pleasant instrumental catching up with everyone telling us how it’s been with him in the last several years up to this point.
There’s no question that Kut One has already cemented himself as one of the underground’s biggest beatsmiths to come out of Australia & whether the Live Wires series will continue on with a 4th installment or we get a new series in general, the latest of the trilogy is on par with the predecessors. The production is sonically diverse grounded in boom bap & a tight list of performers with the highs being noteworthy highs.
K.A.A.N. is a 32 year old MC/producer from Maryland who’s already made himself well established in less than a decade by delivering standouts in his ever-growing discography like the Dem Jointz-produced Black Blood, the Ski Beatz-produced Requiem for a Dream Deferred & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced All Praise is Due & more recently Mission Hillz. But to celebrate hip hop’s 50th birthday, former Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 is being enlisted behind the boards throughout K.A.A.N.’s 23rd album.
After the “Foreword from Soul Brother #1” intro, “The Spark” is truly what gets the album going with it’s organ-laced boom bap instrumental asking how one in this industry gets it all whereas “The Glow Up” goes into more sample-based territory talking about how they done see him blow up. “The Fame” gives off an eerier atmosphere with some kicks & snares worked in explaining that some live & would kill for clout prior to “The Life Imitating The Art” hooks up a crooning loop advising not to be scared of your reflection.
“The Politics” dives into wavy boom bap turf explaining that politicians & magicians are basically the same thing just before “The Image” hops on top of these strings, kicks & snares explaining the way to truly make a name for yourself in hip hop. “The Drugs” psychedelically confesses that he did too much & now he’s fucked up as a result leading into “The Self Hate” somberly airs out everything he dislikes about himself.
Beginning the final leg of the album, “The Cavities” discusses all the stale things in like that he likes to refer to as a cavity in a metaphoric sense with a syrupy, delicate beat while “The Fall Off”’s bluesy guitar passages fit with the subject matter of one artist’s demise in success. Eventually, the title track closes out the album manically gives us a glimpse into how our protagonist’s life unfortunately ends.
I’ve publicly stated numerous times that we were in for one of K.A.A.N.’s best albums to date & that’s exactly what we got here. 7’s cooks up production that provokes the emotions each individual joint offers the cohesively-told concept is so well thought out, really a tragic tale of how the industry can genuinely be sometimes.
This is the 11th full-length album from Chicago, Illinois emcee Novatore. Emerging as a member of the Infamous Crew, he’s also built up an impressive solo career since 2015 by dropping 4 EPs & a collaborative effort with A.M. Early Morning called Kingdom of Criminality on top of the all the previous LPs that he’s dropped along the way. But coming off Living in the End Times only 9 months backs on Veteran’s Day, the Chi-Town lyricist is now cooking up Alchemy & Black Magic.
After the “Immortal in Memory” intro, the first song “Rewind” featuring RJ Payne is a gully boom bap opener produced by C-Lance with both wordsmith’s talking about trying to figure this shit whereas “Horses of Instruction” keeps it dusty sonically to point out that he’s been a menace for nearly a decade already. “Suicide Choir” featuring both Ill Bill & Lord Goat of Non Phixion finds the trio over a sample-based boom bap instrumental delivering lyrical annihilation, but then “Death to the False” scathingly attacks every fraudulent person out here.
“Black Magic” gives off an uncanny boom bap atmosphere courtesy of Young Bangas discussing how much he’s elevated from the basement since he started out that is until Lord Goat returns on “Self Destruct” alongside A.M. Early Morning ruggedly talking about sending their goons up to your crib. “Dark World 2023” featuring JakProgresso is essentially a remake of a joint he did 5 years back showing the evolution of his craft just before “The Last Illusion” comes through with a delightful horrorcore/boom bap hybrid that Johnny Slash cooked up.
Moving on to the last couple 6 & a half minutes of the album, “Blood Brothers” featuring Novatore’s brother G-Pap showcases a back-&-forth chemistry between both siblings over a mobster-esque loop as well as kicks & snares declaring that the Infamous has hopefully been reawaken/reunited leading into “Spell Caster” featuring 20 Elbridge tying it all up in the form of both MCs on top of a mystically raw beat comparing themselves to sorcerers with their pens.
I maintain that Novatore’s been continuously outdoing himself in recent memory with each album he delivers, yet Alchemy & Black Magic is the guy’s most consistent solo effort since Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience couple years ago. The traditional production style & gritty lyricism we’ve come to know him for make their way onto here except the performances from the guests are a lot stronger personally.
This is the 7th full-length album from San Gabriel Valley, California emcee Wildcard. Coming up in 2007 off the debut Dark Night of the Soul, he would go on to build up an impressive discography for himself from there whether it be The Odyssey & The War or even his last couple efforts Shadow Work & Change in Cabin Pressure celebrating it’s 1-year anniversary at the end of the month. But given a couple of the singles off Western Promises, I went into it expecting it to be the strongest body of work in his catalog up to this point.
The title track is a rock-infused boom bap opener produced by Johnny Slash talking about being unable to stop this whereas “The Chaser” works in a sample on top of some kicks & snares detailing going from chasing dragons to chasing dreams. “The Rim” ruggedly confesses that he’s been envious of others’ success in the industry before, but then “Pink Diamonds” gives off a Middle Eastern boom bap flare instrumentally mixing insight commentary with humor in a tasteful manner.
“Cali Driver” featuring A-Wax hooks up an organ loop over more kicks & snares so both MCs can hope that the angels save their souls leading into C-Lance cooking up a more grueling sound for “Nightmares” pleading not to make a peep when you die like Freddy Krueger’s victims have. “St. Chris” incorporates a boom bap instrumental with horn sample talking about leaving loved ones at home that is until the crooning “Party for the Dead” says it all & I can definitely see some underground heads having it in their Halloween playlists.
Meanwhile, “The Era” makes it clear what time period he’s from with a sample-laced boom bap beat & clever wordplay just before the spirit-crushing “Place the Blame” getting more introspective on the lyrical side to pop off on all of his struggles personally.“Operator” featuring BARZ! gives me a more mafiosi feeling to the instrumental declaring themselves as exactly that prior to “Bewitched” featuring Savvy Red is a tenser cut talking about how he never meant to make her cry.
The song “Circles” looks back on never thinking that he would be using needles to get a buzz over a twangy boom bap beat from Stu Bangas while the penultimate track “Pick Your Battles” goes into a more piano-driven direction talking about selecting a specific issue of importance to focus on rather than trying to deal with many things at once. “Glass Moon Deluxe” featuring Krayzie Bone wraps up the album on a rap rock note talking about holding the ones they love tightly.
Over a decade into the game, Western Promises absolutely lived up to my expectations & I’d recommend it as a fantastic entry to Wildcard’s catalog for anyone who may be new to him. Sonically, it’s his most well-produced & you can hear that he sounds more inspired now that he’s getting older with time passing us all by as fast as it already does by embracing inspiration & exploring his past.
Whitney Peyton is a 29 year old MC from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who rose to prominence in the underground by releasing 3 albums, 2 mixtapes & 4 EPs all independently. She recently signed to Burbank, California powerhouse Suburban Noize Records at the beginning of the decade with my favorite full-length of hers Alpha, going on to leave afterwards to form Alpha Howse & made her debut under the imprint The Audacity only 14 months ago. But now, she’s returning to take us in a trip for her 6th official full-length.
“Leave Me Alone” featuring Enkay47 is a woozy trap opener advising not to bother either one of them since they don’t know who to trust whereas “Make Some Room” gives off more an electronic flare instrumentally getting flirtatious on the lyrical end. “Sometimes” featuring Astray takes the cavernous route so both of them admit they have moments where they just wanna run away, but then “Make Up Ya Mind” featuring Grieves comes through with a more stripped-back approach talking about a relationship where he doesn’t want her to be herself & gets mad when she’s with other guys.
C-Lance’s boom bap production “Climber” might be my favorite beat on the whole album calling out those with no shine who want to climb to the top, but then “Takes One to Know One” delivers the worst feature from Futuristic despite the acoustic trap instrumental & the subject matter of being headcases. “Full Moon” featuring Bag of Tricks Cat works in some heavy synthesizers talking about how something don’t feel right leading into “Get It from My Mom” featuring Reverie paying tribute to their mothers with a trap metal beat from Godsynth.
The song “Into the Fire” draws closer to the end of the album by jumping on top of a moody trap instrumental encouraging everyone that’s listening to live for the moment while the penultimate track “Be Mine” returns to more pop rap turf telling her significant other to take care of themselves & that your heart has to be yours first. “Ring Around the Rosé” is a cloudy closer to tie up Whitney’s 6th album albeit 2nd under her independent imprint by declaring it doesn’t have to be the way it is anymore.
The Audacity although I didn’t enjoy it as much as Alpha still had its highlights & undeniably marked a new chapter in Whitney’s career, but I actually might like Side Effects a tad bit more than the AH debut she put out over a year ago at this point. Only a couple features that under-performed like the predecessor, except the 2 biggest differences are that the production’s better & she has a brand new confidence.
It’s finally arrived: The 4th full-length album from Houston, Texas rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & entrepreneur Travis Scott. Not only was it confirmed by DJ Premier recently that La Flame’s father actually taught Preem how to play drum & bass, but Trav himself up as 1/2 of The Graduate$ until the duo disbanded after he signed a joint deal with T.I. to Grand Hustle Records as a recording artist & with one of my top 10 music producers of all-time Kanye West as a G.O.O.D. Music in-house producer. His debut mixtape Owl Pharaoh that came out my sophomore year had a blatantly heavy KiD CuDi influence which isn’t bad because it was even said that CuDi was Travis’ biggest musical influence & they’ve since formed a superduo called The Scotts. The sophomore tape Days Before Rodeo was where he started coming into his own artistically & the Epic Records distributed full-length debut Rodeo has rightfully become one of the most important trap albums of all-time. Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight followed the next fall to more moderate reception even though the highs like “sweet sweet” & “goosebumps” are very high, but ASTROWORLD came out only a few days after a death in the family & it helped me get through it as Travis would expand on the psychedelic trap sounds of his groundbreaking debut album. This would subsequently be his last body of work to be released under Grand Hustle, as he would go on to form his own Epic imprint Cactus Jack Records. But after years of singles & a crowd crush at the 3rd annual ASTROWORLD Fest that some people still blame him for even though the same security who worked there were the same ones who worked when Dave Chappelle got jumped on stage last year, the H-Town trap trailblazer is taking us to UTOPIA.
“HYAENA” is a self-produced boom bap opener flipping “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic talking about shit being out of control as it is calling the situation we’re in currently to neither be a good one nor unblessed whereas “THANK GOD” gives his thanks to the man upstairs for still being here today & the only 12 he supports being the greatest QB of all-time or 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady over a drumless instrumental with co-production from Ye, BoogzDaBeast, WondaGurl, FNZ & Allen Ritter. “MODERN JAM” featuring Teezo Touchdown speaks on the way the world is now as Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo & Mike Dean sonically draw inspiration from Yeezus a bit that is until “MY EYES” has a dynamically dreamier vibe courtesy of Wheezy & Justin Vernon confessing that his eyes remain closed.
30 Roc & Dez Wright hook up a melodic vocal loop & hi-hats for “GOD’S COUNTRY” talking about how it ain’t up to you no more just before “SIRENS” energetically talks about being too determined & needing refurbishing. “MELTDOWN” featuring Drake is essentially a spiritual successor to “Sicko Mode” with all the instrumental switch-ups from Boi-1da, BNYX of Working on Dying, Tay Keith & Vinylz respectively getting on tea time with my only complaint being Drake’s redundantly corny diss to one of my idols Pharrell. We all know the story of Adidon, but he didn’t have to throw Skateboard under the bus. The secondary WrestleMania XLI official theme song “FE!N” featuring Playboi Carti though makes up for it by going into a synth-heavy realm talking about drug use & Carti’s vocal utilizations throughout are unbelievable.
“DELRESTO (ECHOES)” featuring Beyoncé sounds like it could’ve been on B’s comeback effort Renaissance from last summer as they jump on top of a house beat from Hit-Boy clarifying the only thing they escape for is the echoes themselves, but then “I KNOW?” talks about a girl that really ain’t even his type backed by a nocturnal trap instrumental. “TOPIA TWINS” featuring Rob49 & 21 Savage blends some organs & hi-hats referencing 10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & $7 Productions co-founder The Rock showing off 2 twin bitches hoppin’ off a jetski even though Rob’s contribution doesn’t hold up to La Flame’s or 21’s, but “CIRCUS MAXIMUS” named after his debut film talks about having his final moment on top of synths & heavy drums.
Cactus Slatt gets together for the trippy, 6-minute “SKITZO” once again dabbling with multiple beat-switches pointing out how the bitches they bagged do that there on top of Travis rightfully choosing Kanye over Biden any day while the “PARASAIL” interlude gives off a slower edge promising to eternally fight for everything he loves. “Lost Forever” featuring Westside Gunn was something I was highly anticipating sampling both “f.o.r.e.v.e.r.” by James Blake & “Don’t Be Safe” by Check Senrick thanks to another top 10 producer of mine The Alchemist so Trav can discuss being lost in Utopia on top of West dropping the raw gangsta shit we’ve come to love him for later on.
“LOOOVE” by The Scotts goes into more robotic territory understanding that they’re loved asking if that’s how anyone else is feeling while “K-Pop” featuring Bad Bunny fresh off his WrestleMania XXXIX guest Spanish commentator appearance & The Weeknd is basically a male version of “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, which I actually understand why he chose it as a single even though I’ll most likely never listen to that song again. Really the only skip here. The cloudy penultimate track “TELEKINESIS” featuring Future & SZA finds the trio talking about seeing ahead into what’s to come, but “‘TIL FURTHER NOTICE” featuring James Blake & 21 Savage wraps up Utopia by saying x-rated love is the best kinda love accompanied by a synth-trap hybrid from Metro Boomin’.
ASTROWORLD quickly became my 2nd favorite Trav album for how it expanded on the psychedelics that made his full-length debut amongst the most groundbreaking trap projects to come out within the last decade & it makes me happy to see how much it’s aged well, but UTOPIA easily stands at the #3 spot. It’s refreshing to hear him behind the boards again with him wearing the Ye influences HEAVY as he shows us all experiences where utopian things can exist & you can enjoy yourself & have a good time.
Legends Will Never Die 