Quavo – “Rocket Power” review

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.

Score: 3.5/5

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Travis Scott – “UTOPIA” review

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.

Score: 4/5

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Quavo – “QUAVO HUNCHO” review

Quavo is a 27 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Atlanta, Georgia who rose to prominence in 2013 as 1/3 of the Migos with his nephew Takeoff & his cousin Offset. He also formed the duo Huncho Jack in late 2016 with one of the most creative minds in hip hop today: Travis Scott, dropping their debut album Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho at the very end of last year. He then got back with Takeoff & Offset at the beginning of THIS year to drop the Migos’ 3rd full length album C U L T U R E II, which is easily one of the most disappointing hip hop albums of 2018. However, they aren’t stopping there as Quavo is now the very 1st member of the trio to put out a full-length solo effort.

The album kicks off triumphantly with “BIGGEST ALLEY OOP”, where Quavo talks about his place in hip hop over a 30 Roc instrumental with a chilling flute & some female background vocals. The next track “PASS OUT” with 21 Savage sees the 2 getting boastful over a druggy instrumental, but the post-chorus where Quavo repeats his “skrr” ad-lib constantly is very tedious. The song “HUNCHO DREAMS” is a pretty solid response to “Barbie Dreams” off of Nicki Minaj’s latest album Queen backed with an atmospheric Murda Beatz instrumental while the track “FLIP THE SWITCH” with Drake sees the 2 talking about a bad bitch over a vibrant trap beat from Wheezy. The song “GIVE IT TO ‘EM” gets cold blooded over an eerie piano lead while the track “SHINE” is a club anthem with a spacey Tay Keith instrumental.

The song “WORKIN’ ME” talks about his relationship with his girlfriend Saweetie over an airy instrumental from Murda Beatz while the track “HOW ‘BOUT THAT?” talks about how the Migos are running the trap scene over a nondescript OG Parker instrumental. The song “CHAMPAGNE ROSÉ” with Cardi B is an alcohol anthem over a relaxing woodwind instrumental from Murda Beatz & the Madonna hook was a nice surprise as well. The track “KEEP THAT SHIT” by Unc & Phew is about how they’re rich & your broke over a murky Dun Deal instrumental while the song “FUCK 12” with Offset disses corrupt cops over a gloomy instrumental.

The track “LOSE IT” with Lil Baby is a mediocre tune about how hot this woman is & the song “RERUN” is an obvious & unfortunately structureless Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho leftover with a beautifully spacious WondaGurl instrumental. The track “GO ALL THE WAY” is very repetitive lyrically, but the electronic instrumental that Pharrell brings to the table kinda reminds me of some of the better cuts that he & his Neptunes cohort Chad Hugo produced together on Common’s Universal Mind Control a decade prior. The song “LAMB TALK” is of course Quavo bragging about his lifestyle over an airy beat while the track “BIG BRO” is a more mature cut as he talks about taking this person under his wing over a cloudy beat. However, that one line at the very beginning about Lil Peep was in horribly bad taste. The song “SWING” is an awkward attempt at going dancehall while the penultimate track “BUBBLE GUM” talks about how this chick has it over a generic instrumental. The album ends with “LOST”, where Quavo & KiD CuDi talk about rising above over a settle beat.

I’ve been waiting on a Quavo solo album & overall, it’s pretty solid. There are a small handful of boring & run of the mill joints but outside of that, the production is more consistent than C U L T U R E II‘s & Quavo himself sounds a lot more focused than he did on that album with his charisma shining brighter even on his own.

Score: 3.5/5

Travis Scott – “AstroWorld” review

Almost 2 years after his underappreciated sophomore album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight & with the solid debut album from Huncho Jack at the tail-end of last year, Houston trap mastermind Travis Scott is finally delivering his long-awaited 3rd full-length album.

Things start off with “STARGAZING”, where Travis recalls a drug trip over a Sonny Digital instrumental that starts off atmospheric, but then switches into an eerie trap instrumental. The next song “CAROUSEL” talks about how fly he is over a gritty Hit-Boy instrumental & the Frank Ocean hook is very pretty. The track “SICKO MODE” with Drake sees the 2 talking shit & I like how the Rogét Chahayed, Hit-Boy, Cubeatz, Tay Keith & Mike Dean instrumental constantly switches up while maintaining a dark sound. The song “R.I.P. SCREW” is an atmospheric tribute to the legendary Screwed Up Click leader DJ Screw while the track “STOP TRYING TO BE GOD” advises the listener to stay true to yourself over a cloudy trap beat & the James Blake/KiD CuDi hook is phenomenal. I also love the Stevie Wonder harmonica that pops up occasionally.

The song “NO BYSTANDERS” is a club banger with a psychedelic trap beat & the Waka Flocka sample for the hook is amazing. The track “SKELETONS” is a slow love ballad with a mellow Tame Impala instrumental along with some harmonious background vocals from Pharrell & The Weeknd. The song “WAKE UP” is a tribute to both Kylie Jenner & Bella Hadid over a Ging instrumental with rattling hi-hats & some unexpected acoustic guitar passages. I also love the cloudy instrumental outro during the last 40 seconds. The track “5% TINT” gets braggadocious over some bass & ominous keyboards while the perfectly “NC-17” with 21 Savage gets raunchy over a trap beat from Boi-1da with some prominent chimes. The track “ASTROTHUNDER” vents about needing distance over a spacey beat from Travis himself with co-production from John Mayer, Thundercat & Ging and while the song “YOSEMITE” does about the lavish things in life over a nice acoustic trap beat & the Gunna hook is pretty, but the very short ΠΔV verse at the end is totally redundant.

The track “CAN’T SAY” has an amazing Trae tha Truth sample in the WondaGurl instrumental, but I feel like Don Toliver takes up most of it & his nasal tone does absolutely nothing for me. The song “WHO? WHAT!” feels like an leftover from Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho down to the disappointingly generic instrumental from Cardo, but the song “BUTTERFLY EFFECT” makes up for it as he talks about the famous life over a druggy Murda Beatz instrumental. The penultimate track “HOUSTONFORNICATION” is a tribute to Travis’ hometown of Houston over a murky trap beat & then “COFFEE BEAN” finishes it off with fireworks as Travis reflects on his career up until this point over an unexpected boom bap beat from 1985. The prominently twangy guitar throughout is a nice touch, but the heavy guitar & the string sections that pop up during the last minute are just beautiful.

I’ve been waiting 3 years for this & overall, it’s on the same caliber as Rodeo. The production returns to the experimental sound that was displayed on that album & I love how Travis is rapping a lot more than ever on here. There are a couple lackluster moments but outside of that, it’s just another example of why Travis is the greatest trap rapper of this generation.

Score: 4.5/5

Huncho Jack – “Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho” review

Huncho Jack is a southern hip hop superduo consisting of Migos’ standout member Quavo & the KiD CuDi of trap music, Travis Scott. Both members coming from Atlanta, Georgia & Houston, Texas respectively have shown quite a bit of chemistry with songs like “Oh My Dis Side”, “pick up the phone” & “Portland”. And alas, here we are with their full-length debut merely days away from Christmas.

The album starts off with “Modern Slavery”, where they’re going back & forth about the lavish life & the Otis Redding sample Buddah Bless hooks up is surprising yet cool. The next track “Black & Chinese” talks about their favorite types of women over an abrasive Southside beat & the track “Eye 2 Eye” gets with Takeoff gets celebratory over a druggy instrumental from Murda Beatz.

“Motorcycle Patches” talks about acid with TM88, Supah Mario & Ging making it work as someone who’s not a fan of acid. The track “Huncho Jack” is a prime example of their chemistry over this semi-spacey beat Quavo helped Mike Dean & !llmind make while the song “Saint” flaunts about their success & the bass on here is explosive! The track “Go” talks about the life of a hustler & the flute sample on here is killer!

The song “Dubai Shit” talks about partying in Dubai (obviously) over a druggy beat & I love how Offset is incorporated as he goes back & forth with Quavo during the final verse. The track “St. Laurent Mask” gets into them as dealers & I absolutely love the keys on here. The song “Moon Rock” is an ode to the titular strain of weed & the beat from Vinylz is sinister, yet bass heavy.

“How U Feel” talks about getting fucked up on lean & the sample on here is absolutely beautiful while the penultimate track “Where U From?” vents about living life in the fast lane on top of Cardo & Cubeatz fantastically sampling my favorite Mac DeMarco song: “Chamber of Reflection”. Then album then closes with “Best Man”, where they both get appreciative of their success over another spacey beat from Wheezy. Personally, this was WELL worth the wait. The production slaps & the chemistry between Quavo & Travis is stronger than before.

Score: 3.5/5

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