Sheck Wes – “MUDBOY” review

Sheck Wes is a 20 year old rapper from Harlem, New York who started out in 2009 as a member of the MillYorkers at the age of 11. He eventually signed a joint deal with Travis Scott’s Interscope Records imprint Cactus Jack Records & Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music at the beginning of the year but now with him being on the verge to head out with Travis on the upcoming ASTROWORLD tour next month, he’s decided to drop his full-length debut.

The album begins with “Mindfucker”, where Sheck sends a message to his haters over some prominent hi-hats. The next song “Live Sheck Wes” talks about roaches in the crib over an eerie trap beat while the track “Gmail” brags about his skill level over a futuristic trap beat . The song “Wanted” gets confrontational over an instrumental with a sinister atmosphere to it while the track “Chippi Chippi” talks about his new lifestyle over a spacey beat.

The song “Never Lost” reflects on his rough past over a moody WondaGurl instrumental while the track “WESPN” laughs off at how his doubters became his believers over a spacey beat. The song Kyrie” sees Sheck comparing himself to the Boston Celtics player Kyrie Irving over a beat with some chilling bells & while it is cool, the track “Mo Bamba” takes it to a whole new level as Sheck talks about all these labels contacting him & intelligently comparing it to how his childhood friend & Orlando Magic player Mohamed Bamba was being targeted by universities when they were in highly school over a grimy trap beat with some keyboards.

The “Burn Slow” interlude is way much less of an interlude & more of an atmospheric brag while the track “Jiggy On the Shits” recalls roaming the streets at the age of 10 over another spacey beat. The song “Fuck Everyone” angrily talks about his arrival to the hip hop scene over a looped sample of a MacBook Pro start up sound & while the penultimate track “Danimals” does vent about an ex, the hook is awkward & the beat is generic as Hell. The album does end on a high note though with “Vetements Socks”, where Sheck gets introspective over a meditative yet blissful beat.

As a whole, this was a pretty solid debut. Some of the beats could’ve been better & I do appreciate Sheck Wes for holding it all on his own, but I wish we got at least just 1 Travis Scott verse on here. All that aside, this is a great beginning for the rising NY star. BITCH!

Score: 3.5/5

MGK – “Binge” review

MGK is a 27 year old rapper from Cleveland, Ohio who signed to Bad Boy Entertainment at the beginning of the decade. However, his style never really stuck with me. His 2012 debut Lace Up was just ok, but General Admission & bloom was one of the worst albums of last year. However, he’s returning with his 2nd EP just a week after Eminem ripped him apart with “Killshot”.

Things begin with “LONG TIME COMING”, which is a 1-minute cringed auto-crooner. The next track “LOCO” gets braggadocious over some heavy bass & a generic hook while the song “G.T.S. (Going Thru Shit)” sees MGK is a melodramatic story about what’s on his mind over a bland banger beat. The track “RAP DEVIL” is a corny & basic diss towards Eminem that’s carried by a solid Ronny J instrumental while the song “NYLON” is another boring brag over a nondescript beat.

The track “LATELY” talks about an ex, but his attempt at getting melodic just comes off as annoying. The song “SIGNS” with 24hrs sees the 2 talking about a bad bitch over a spacey trap beat while the penultimate track “GET THE BROOM” is the best track on the EP period. MGK’s sounds very animated & the Honorable C.N.O.T.E. production suits him perfectly as well. The EP then finishes with “LIVEFASTDIEYOUNG”, where he tells us he doesn’t give a fuck over a murky trap beat.

This should’ve been called Cringe because while it is slightly better than MGK’s last 2 albums, it’s still pretty bad. There are a few actual compelling moments compared to his last 2 albums, but the beats are mostly generic & MGK’s basic does nothing for me.

Score: 1/5

Eminem – “KAMIKAZƎ” review

It’s been merely 8 months since the critically panned RƎVIVAL was released but earlier this weekend out of nowhere, Detroit hip hop icon Eminem is returning with his 10th full-length album.

The album begins “The Ringer”, where he says “fuck you” to everyone who trashed his last album over a gloomy beat. He also takes shots at Lil Yachty, Lil Pump, Lil Xan & Vince Staples. I found the disses at all 3 Lil’s to be pretty funny, but I can’t say the same for the one about Vince. The next song “Greatest” serves as a sequel to “Rap God” with a Mike WiLL-Made It instrumental while the track “Lucky You” with Joyner Lucas sees the 2 talking about being underlooked & overlooked despite their success over a trap beat with some chimes. After the Paul skit, we go into the song “Normal”. Em on here talks about an ex over a instrumental that starts off grimy, but switches into a trap beat with plinky keys. However, the hook & the delivery when the beat switches is trash. After the “Em Calls Paul” skit, we go into the song “Stepping Stone”. Here, Em pretty much confirms that D12 is done over a punchy instrumental. The song “Not Alike” by Bad Meets Ǝvil literally starts off as a parody of “Look Alive” by BlocBoy JB & Drake down to the Tay Keith instrumental, but it does a complete 180 as an original instrumental with a futuristic bass-heavy vibe comes in halfway through the track. I also liked the MGK diss at the halfway point of Em’s verse.

The title track sees Em pretty much calling RƎVIVAL the “FACK” of his albums over a Mike WiLL-Made It instrumental kin to ƎNCORE & while I don’t care for the instrumental or the hook on “Fall”, Eminem responds to his critics very well. I also found the one line at the beginning of the 2nd verse dissing Everyday Struggle creators DJ Akademiks & Joe Budden (the latter of whom was once signed to Shady Records as 1/4 of the now defunct supergroup Slaughterhouse) to be pretty unapologetically lethal. However, the jab at Charlemagne Tha God was just ok & the ones towards both Tyler, The Creator & Earl Sweatshirt were my least favorites on the entire album. It’s not even because he called Tyler a “faggot”, because Eminem has literally calling people that throughout his entire career. It’s because I found it to be unnecessary. However, I did find it interesting that he ends the final verse by taking a jab at Lord Jamar as well as owning up to influencing Hopsin & Logic, both of whom’s latest material has been pretty awful in my personal opinion. The next 2 songs “Nice Guy” & “Good Guy” with Jessie Reyez on both tracks Segway into each other very well sonically & lyrically, as they each talk about a failing relationship. The instrumental on “Nice Guy” has some pretty piano chords during the awkward Melanie Martinez sounding hook, but during the verses it switches into a gritty baseline. As for the beat on “Good Guy”, it has a WAY more classier tone to it. Both of them are just ok, but I just wish they were fused into 1 single track. The album ends oddly with “Venom”, which is commissioned for the upcoming Marvel movie with the same name. It’s a good theme song for it, but the hook is hilariously awful.

To be quite honest, I enjoyed this album quite a bit. A couple of the beats & hooks are weak but for the most part, Eminem manages to come out of the dark with a vengeance. The production is much better than RƎVIVAL’s down to the mixing & Em lights a fire under his ass, both lyrically & delivery-wise.

Score: 3.5/5

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

Juice WRLD – “Too Soon..” review

Juice WRLD is a 19 year old rapper from Chicago, Illinois who started blowing up just recently due to the release of his debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance just last month. I personally thought it was just average, because I feel like he’s pretty much Post Malone making Lil Uzi Vert & Trippie Redd songs. However, he’s now giving us a 2-track EP in the light of the surprising & devastating murder of XXXTENTACION earlier this week.

The first track “legends :(” is a heartwarming tribute to X & even Lil Peep (who passed away last November) over a somber trap beat & the other one “rich & blind :(” is basically a message to everyone who’s recently lost someone over a moody beat.

I still don’t care for Juice WRLD’s recent album admittedly, but I gotta give credit where it’s due. Not just because he sounds less like Post on here, but I think he refines the emo rap style a little bit on here in the terms of lyrics & production. However, I would’ve loved to hear 3 more tracks from it

Score: 3.5/5

Jay Rock – “Redemption” review

With Top Dawg Entertainment’s ongoing Championship Tour wrapping up this weekend, it’s only right for Black Hippy member Jay Rock to deliver his highly anticipated 3rd full-length album.

The album begins with “The Bloodiest,” where he reflects about growing up in Watts an eerie beat from Boi-1da, Allen Ritter & Jake One. The next track “For What It’s Worth” talks about murdering someone as well as having sex with this woman even though he knows that she ain’t right over a smooth beat from Sounwave while the song “Knock It Off” is a warning to everyone who’s trying to be him over a laidback trap beat. However, the flow doesn’t really do anything for me on this one. The track “ES Tales” talks about going back to the projects over a sinister beat while the song “Rotation 112th” grittily talks about gang life & the trap beat on here suits it pretty while. The track “Tap Out” is of course a sex tune with a generic beat & a decent Jeremih hook while the song “OSOM” with J. Cole & SiR tells the listeners that they’re living life like he’s runnin’ out of time over a gloomy trap beat.

The track “King’s Dead” originally appeared in the Black Panther soundtrack earlier this year & I’m actually upset they kept Future’s verse on there & removed Kendrick Lamar’s. On the other hand: the song “Troopers” brags about his crew, but the Cardo production sounds vaguely similar to his instrumental on “THat Part” off of ScHoolboy Q’s last album Blank Face LP. The track “Broke+-“ is of course about money over a somber instrumental while the song “Wow” makes up for “King’s Dead” by flawlessly displaying the chemistry between Jay & Kendrick over a bouncy woodwind-infused trap beat from Hit-Boy. The title track lyrically reminds me of “Start from Scratch” by The Game over a beautiful piano instrumental & the SZA hook is very pretty. The closer “WIN” has a triumphant trap beat & I do like the delivery, but it sounds half-written & the hook is very tedious. Also as much as I love Kendrick, his constant adlibs on this joint are too much.

I already knew going into this that it was pretty much gonna be Jay Rock’s DAMN. & while it’s not bad, it could’ve been much better. He sounds a lot more energetic on here than he was on his last 2 albums & the content is mostly on par as well, but a lot of these trappy instrumentals are hit or miss with me to be quite honest.

Score: 3/5

Playboi Carti – “Die Lit” review

Playboi Carti is a 21 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & model from Atlanta, Georgia who released out 3 mixtapes & an EP under the original Sir Cartier moniker until becoming an affiliate of the A$AP Mob & signing to Interscope Records for an eponymous 4th mixtape to high acclaim although it took a while to click for me personally. Either way, his full-length debut studio album almost entirely produced by Pi’erre Bourne had my anticipation & wanted to give it a fair listen.

Things start off with “Long Time”, where Carti talks about how he hasn’t had shit in forever & that it took that long to get where he’s at now over a chilled out video gamey beat from Art Dealer. The next song “R.I.P.” is about sex over a bass-heavy instrumental from Pi’erre (who produced all but 5 tracks on here) but interestingly, he brushes off the mumble rap wave several times during the final verse. The track “Lean 4 Real” with Skepta talks about the titular drug over an eerie instrumental & the song “Old Money” gets braggadocious over a bouncy yet atmospheric Pi’erre beat.

The track “++* love hurts **+” with Travi$ Scott sees the 2 comparing themselves to rockstars over a down-tuned instrumental while the song “Shoota” does have an upbeat trap instrumental from Maaly Raw & the Lil Uzi Vert feature is just ok, Carti’s verse was way too short. The track “Right Now” featuring a verse from Pi’erre Bourne near the end is a spacey strip club anthem & the song “Poke It Out” with Nicki Minaj gets back on the braggadocious tip over an Atari-esque beat.

The track “Home (KOD)” is about a loyal bitch over a wavy beat while the song “Fell in Luv” with Bryson Tiller is a moody love tune. The track “Foreign” gets braggadocious over some crazy synths & the song “Pull Up” gets confrontational over a murky yet bouncy beat. The track “Mileage” with Chief Keef gets sexually playful over a dreamy bass-heavy beat, but the hook is annoying.

“FlatBed” is pretty decent 3-minute freestyle over some rubbery bass & keyboards while the song “No Time” with Gunna is about how they can’t vibe with lames over a cloudy Don Cannon beat. “Middle of the Summer” feels more like a Red Coldhearted song since he takes up most of it & “Choppa Won’t Miss” with Young Thug talks about killing everyone over a bouncy accordion beat. The penultimate track “R.I.P. Fredo (Notice Me)” featuring Young Nudy is a dedication to Fredo Santana & the closer “Top” is pretty fun, but it doesn’t sound fully fleshed out.

Aside from a couple redundant tracks, this is a serious contender for best trap album of the year. The cloudy trap production is vibrant (especially Pi’erre’s contributions) & surprisingly more experimental in a sense. Also I will say that Playboi Carti isn’t one of the most lyrical rappers out right now, but he’s always been a very energetic & he has progressed as a performer.

Score: 4/5

J. Cole – “K.O.D.” review

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With his last album 4 Your Eyez Only being delivered at the end of 2016 & then doing a few features since then, North Carolina rapper/producer J. Cole unexpectedly announced a free show in New York this past Monday. It was there that he performed his 5th full-length album in it’s entirety & went on Twitter shortly after the show to announce that it was coming out for everyone else this weekend. After an intro, we go into the title track. Here, Cole gets in your face about people cramping his style as well as responding to the people saying he should have more features over a murky instrumental. The track “Photograph” has a lame topic about trying to hook up with a random girl he found on social media over a guitar/trap beat while the song “The Cut Off” talks about a disloyal woman over a somber beat.

The track “ATM” energetically talks about his fame & wealth over a laidback beat while the song “Motiv8” talks about moving on despite having all these demons over some funky bass. The track “Kevin’s Heart” goes into the point of view of a drug addict over a smooth trap beat, but it’s really corny to me. The song “Brackets” talks about his success over a smooth beat & the track “Once an Addict” talks about his mother’s alcoholism over a settle beat. The song “Friends” is basically him pouring his heart out to a drug-addicted friend of his over a gloomy beat while the penultimate track “Window Pain” talks about everything he wants over an atmospheric instrumental. The album closes with “1985” sees Cole is reflecting on his whole life up until this point over a vibraphone-boom bap beat.

While this is definitely better than Cole’s last album, that’s not really saying much. The production & the concept aren’t too bad, but his singing voice & the hooks ruin it for me. I really had hope that J. Cole would bounce back given his features on the new Jeezy album Pressure & the upcoming Royce da 5’9” album Book of Ryan but at the end of the day, this is just another mixed bag for me

Score: 3/5

Various Artists – “Black Panther: The Album” review

With the Black Panther coming out a week from today, Top Dawg Entertainment is giving us the soundtrack alongside Aftermath Entertainment & Interscope Records. The opener “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar (who curated the whole soundtrack) talks about being a king over a gloomy piano instrumental. However, there’s one point where it gets abrasive. The song “All the Stars” is a spacey love duet with Kendrick & SZA that’s just ok. The track “X” by ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz & Saudi gets celebratory over a decent trap beat while the song “The Ways” by Khalid & Swae Lee is a duet about this attractive woman over a moody trap beat. The track “Opps” by Kendrick, Vince Staples & Yugen Blakrok gets into the mind of criminals over a hip house beat while the song “I Am” by Jorja Smith gets insightful about change & how we aren’t meant to be free over a funk rock beat.

The track “Parademic!” by SOB x RBE is an eerie gangsta rap tune while the song “Bloody Waters” by Ab-Soul vividly talks from the point of view from an organized criminal over a kick-back beat. The track “King’s Dead” starts off with a eerie beat & while Jay Rock’s flow is absolutely deadly, but the Future bridge is so hilariously bad. However, they make up for it during the 2nd half when the beat switches into something more hard hitting & Kendrick comes in with an angry verse filled with references to the film’s antagonist Erik Killmonger.

After the “Redemption Interlude”, we then go into the actual song “Redemption” by Zacari & Babes Wudomo. Here, they get sexual albeit in an underwritten & generic fashion. The following song “Seasons Change” by Mozzy, Sjava & Reason talks about escape the ghetto over a somber yet reggae-infused instrumental. The penultimate track “Big Shot” by Kendrick & Travi$ Scott talks about the celebrity lifestyle & the flute sample that Cardo uses on here is absolutely beautiful. Also, I love how Kendrick reuses the first couple lines from his “New Freezer” verse for the hook. The soundtrack then finishes off with “Pray for Me, where The Weeknd & Kendrick talk about heroes burden over an electropop beat.

While I wouldn’t call this a future classic by any means, this is still a solid soundtrack album. It’s not too overproduced like many soundtrack albums nowadays, it’s well written & most of the performers do their thing

Score: 3.5/5

Eminem – “RƎVIVAL” review

After cleverly promoting it for the past month or so with the fake-drug ads, renown Detroit hip hop superstar Eminem is finally giving fans with his 9th full-length album. The opener “Walk on Water” vents about the struggles he’s had for the best decade or so over a gospel like-piano instrumental from Rick Rubin. The song “Believe” pretty much asks the listeners if they would turn their backs on him over a piano & some awkward snares. The flow is pretty uninteresting as well.

The track “Chloraspetic” gets braggadocious about his rapping prowess over a trap beat from mR. pOrTeR, but the parts where he bites Migos flow is absolutely embarrassing. The song “Untouchable” intelligently talks about racial injustice, but the production on here was just ok & it didn’t need to be 6 minutes long. And on top of that, the “white boy white boy, you’re a rock star” hook is God awful. However, the second half of this is much better than the rap rock-tinged first half. The track “River” talks about a failing relationship over a guitar & after an unnecessary skit preluding the next song “Remind Me”, we get the actual song & it’s sickeningly lovey dovey. Especially with the cheesy “I Love Rock & Roll” sample that’s used throughout a bulk of the track & the corny ass lines like “Your booty is heavy duty like diarrhea” & “you’re smoking like Snoop Dogg”.

After the “Revival” interlude, we then go into the next song “Like Home”. Here, Eminem is dissing Donald Trump over an uplifting instrumental & the Alicia Keys hook is just ok. The track “Bad Husband” is an open apology letter to Em’s ex-wife Kim Mathers over a somber beat & the X Ambasadors hook is mediocre. The track “Tragic Endings” sees Em being pushed around by a manipulative lover over an abrasive beat & while “Framed” goes back to his horrorcore roots with an eerie beat, the hook is annoying.

The song “Nowhere Fast” gets reflective about the younger days over string-induced trap beat & the Kehlani hook doesn’t help at all. The track “Heat” talks about this chick who he thinks is as vile as his RELAPSƎ album from 2009 & the beat is almost the same as “So Far…” off his last album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The song “Offended” takes a jab at all the naysayers & while the verses & the beat aren’t too bad, the interpolation of “The Knife Game Song” is drab. The track “Need Me” feels more like a P!nk song than an Eminem song given that Em only appears at the end & almost as unbearably sappy as “Revenge” off of P!nk’s latest album Beautiful Drama.

The song “In Your Head” talks about his famous alter ego Slim Shady & The Cranberries sample actually works well. The penultimate track “Castle” sees Em writing 3 different letters to his daughter Hailie in 1995, 1996 & 2007 respectively & it’s absolutely touching. The closer “Arose” talks about his overdose in 2008 & his output since then over an ambitious instrumental, but he literally “rewinds it” to the final verse from the previous song “Castle” during the last minute & a half & it ruins the vibe.

Overall, this is Eminem’s worst album yet. He still has it lyrically, but he needs better features. He needs better production. He needs to stop making some tracks drag on longer than they should’ve. I really had hope that this would be a consistently great album, but I‘m gonna have to accept that poppy Eminem is here to stay forever

Score: 1/5