Ari Lennox – “Vacancy” review

Ari Lennox is a 34 year old singer/songwriter from Washington, D.C. introducing herself off her debut mixtape 5 Finger Discount & the debut EP Ariography. The latter of which resulted in J. Cole signing her to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records, where she would put out 2 more extended plays Pho & Away Message as well as the debut album Shea Butter Baby. Fulfilling her Dreamville obligations with her sophomore effort age/sex/location, she’s dropping off her 3rd studio LP to begin this new era of her career.

“Mobbin’ in D.C.” begins with this neo-soul intro produced by Elite singing that she’d cut off everybody around her for this guy she’s been talking to whereas the title track combines hip hop soul & contemporary R&B thanks to Jermaine Dupri & BoogzDaBeast wanting her partner to fill this gap in her heart. “Pretzel” goes for a laidback vibe courtesy of both Cardiak & Wu10 singing for her man to flip & fold her in bed just before “Under the Moon” fuses pop soul, neo-soul, doo woo & the Motown sound magnificently sampling “I Only Have Eyes for You” by The Flamingos.

Moving on from there, “High Key” gives off some trap soul undertones yearning to be this guy’s freaky lullaby leading into the contemporary R&B/trap crossover “Twin Flame” asking the person Ari’s with if he loves her the way she does him. JD flips “You’re What I’m All About” by New Birth during “Soft Girl Era” wanting to embrace the youth subculture aesthetics popularized that Ariana Grande popularized until singing about how “Deep Strokes” through her soul gets her high.

“24 Seconds” gets the 2nd half going luxuriously letting her romantic interest know he has that much time left to come get her ass while “Cool Down” heads for a more atmospheric direction instrumentally singing about showing her appreciation for whenever the person she’s been romantically involved with touches her patiently. “Horoscope” packs a bunch of clever zodiac sign wordplay into this tropical 4 & a half minute trap soul cut while “Wake Up” gets back on her bullshit after discovering her man has been seeing another woman behind her back, lying that he was alone when he’s been texting the other hoe.

The song “Company” featuring Buju Banton nears Vacancy’s final moments teaming up experimenting with reggae & R&B expressing a desire for their respective lovers to comfort them while “Dreaming” sings about seeing an ex of hers whenever she has dreams in the evening, wishing she could see him again so they can hold hands sitting on top of a roof & hitting a jacuzzi later. “Hocus Pocus” containing co-production from DJ Camper finishes the album confessing it’s too soon for her to want this man to be hers as much as she does.

I’m very happy Ari Lennox was finally able to get out of her Dreamville deal considering that she was constantly airing out her grievances towards them for shelving her music & Vacancy makes it’s case for being Ari’s greatest body of work yet, making it worth the 34 month gap between this & age/sex/location. The smooth contemporary R&B & neo-soul production feels reminiscent of Shea Butter Baby’s & the constant theme throughout Ari’s career of new beginnings or starting over takes on a whole new meaning of itself.

Score: 3.5/5

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Dreamville Records – “D-Day” review

This is the 4th showcase compilation from Dreamville Records. Founded in 2007 by J. Cole & his manager Ibrahim Hamad, the label has proven itself to be a dominant force in the mainstream hip hop world for the past decade with the Revenge of the Dreamers trilogy even though the last installment was a bit of a disappointment. However after giving a 24 hour notice & with Dreamville Festival returning this weekend, the crew is having DJ Drama host D-Day.

“Stick” by J.I.D, J. Cole & Sheck Wes finds the trio over a triumphant araabMUZIK & Beat Butcha instrumental talking about being strapped whereas the “Ghetto Gods Freestyle” by the EARTHGANG & 2 Chainz goes into a more skeletal direction even though I do enjoy the battle bars. “Lifestyle” by Bas & A$AP Ferg has a lot more meat on the bone thanks to Cole behind the boards with both MCs talking about the lives they live currently leading into the jazzy “Starting 5” by Cozz, Lute & Omen talking about having shooters.

Meanwhile on “Coming Down”, we get a full blown Ari Lennox solo cut asking when her mans is coming over J. Cole & Wu10 sampling Mary J. Bilge’s rendition of ”I’m Goin’ Down” just before “Hair Salon” by Cozz, G Perico & Reason finds the trio over a psychedelic Chuck Inglish beat pondering why anyone would talk shit about them. “Freedom of Speech” by J. Cole goes into chipmunk soul territory with the help of Jake One talking about the energy switching whenever he pops up, but then “Blackberry Sap” is yet another Ari Lennox solo cut that I find to be inferior to “Coming Down”.

“Like Wine” by Lute comes through with a dusty boom bap banger full of braggadocio while “Jozi Flows” by Bas & the EARTHGANG works in a flute to talk about being misunderstood. “Barry from Simpson” by J.I.D & 2 Chainz mixes some horns with snares encouraging listeners to get shit done while “Everybody Ain’t Shit” by the EARTHGANG follows it up with a fun “fuck you” anthem.

The song “Ballin’ in Newport” by Omen over a piano instrumental from Ging & !llmind while the “Big Trouble” by Cozz comes through with an impressive freestyle accompanied by samples from Doug E. Fresh, David Porter & The Trammps. The whole thing ends with “Heaven’s EP”, where Cole freestyles over the “Pipe Down” instrumental & killed it harder than Drake did.

Even though I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this compilation, I actually happen to like it more than Revenge of the Dreamers III. The production’s much better, they relied less on features given how inconsistent they were almost 3 years back & the whole roster come through with improved performances too.

Score: 3.5/5

Dreamville Records – “Revenge of the Dreamers III” review

Dreamville Records is a record label founded in 2007 by J. Cole & his manager Ibrahim Hamad. They released their first showcase compilation in 2014 & followed it up at the tail end of 2015. But now with an ever-growing roster, they’re coming through with a 3rd showcase comp that was recorded in only 10 days.

The album opens up with “Under the Sun”, where J. Cole gets with Lute & DaBaby flex over a soulful trap beat. The next song “Down Bad” by Cole, Bas, J.I.D, the EARTHGANG & Young Nudy talk about their origins over a Bomb Squad-inspired instrumental from Pluss while the track “LamboTruck” by Cozz & Reason talk about being underappreciated over a decently relaxing instrumental. The song “Swivel” is a chilled out preview of the EARTHGANG’s upcoming 3rd album Mirrorland while the track “Oh Wow…Swerve” sees Cole talking about his current spot over an atmospheric beat, but then Maxo Kream talks about trapping over a gritty trap beat. The song “Don’t Hit Me Now” by Bas, Buddy, Cozz & Yung Baby Tate spits that gun talk over a mellow beat while the track “Wells Fargo” by Buddy, the EARTHGANG & J.I.D talks about robbing a bank over a vibrant beat.

The song “Sleep Deprived” by Lute, Mez & Omen talks about coming up from nothing over a somewhat funky boom bap beat while the track “Self Love” by Ari Lennox, Baby Rose & Bas is an ode to just that over a mellow beat. The song “Ladies, Ladies, Ladies” by J.I.D & T.I. is basically the modern version of JAY-Z’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” while the track “Costa Rica” by Bas, Buddy, J.I.D, Jace, Mez, Reese LAFLARE, Ski Mask the Slump God & Smokepurpp sees everyone getting boastful over a lavish trap beat. The song “1993” by Buddy, Cole, Cozz, the EARTHGANG, J.I.D & Smino talks about alcohol over a fittingly intoxicating boom bap beat while the track “Remembrandt…Run It Back” sees J.I.D & Cole paying homage to the iconic YoungBloodZ joint “Damn!”, but I also really love how the beat switches from a druggy vibe to something more energetic as soon as Vince Staples starts rapping.

The song “Sunset” by Cole & Young Nudy fire back at those who want smoke over an eerie trap beat from Pyrex Whippa while the track “Got Me” by Ari Lennox, Dreezy, Omen & Ty$ is a decently moody love anthem. The song “Middle Child” is pretty much J. Cole taking a jab at doing a Drake joint while the penultimate track “PTSD” by Mereba, Deante Hitchcock & Omen sees the 3 talking about simply just kicking it over a fitting instrumental. The compilation then finishes with “Sacrifices”, where Cole & the EARTHGANG team up with Smino & SABA to talk about their sacrifices over a funky beat.

I don’t know what else to say beyond that, this was disappointingly mediocre. The production was just decent & while I can appreciate they brought outside features in on this one, but it doesn’t help the fact that there are WAY too many cooks the kitchen.

Score: 2.5/5