HARDY – “COUNTRY! COUNTRY!” review

HARDY is a 34 year old singer/songwriter from Philadelphia, Mississippi notable for his first couple EPs This Ole’ Boy & Where to Find Me along with the Hixtape trilogy until his debut album A Rock marked a decline in quality. The Mockingbird & the Crow and the Mercury/Republic Records debut Quit!! have gone on to become the worst bro-country & alternative rock of this decade, making appearances for the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE since the beginning of 2023 when he had a segment with former WWE United States Champion & NXT North American Champion Solo Sikoa. They even made the terrible Morgan Wallen cut “red” off The Mockingbird & the Crow the official theme for WWE’s final Tribute to the Troops show, knowing his 4th LP would go back to his stylistic roots.

The title track begins by singing about making the whole country as redneck as him if the ball were in his courts whereas “Favorite Country Song” decently pays homage to some of his artistic influences. “Bro Country” featuring ERNEST observes the new group out in Nashville bringing a whole different sound when the titular subgenre hasn’t been all great while “Luckiest Man Alive” sings about thanking God for his good fortune.

“Car That Drove You Away” topically gets on some corny breakup vibes wishing to forget of the fool he’s feeling like just before “Girl with a Gun” sings about not wanting to cheat on any woman who loves her firearms. “Buck on the Wall” recalls looking at a deer his grandfather killed back in 1979 & wanting to do one since he can’t anymore while “I’d Go Crazy Too” sings about a woman who’s been through Hell yet it’s pure heaven in between her & him.

Nearing the end of COUNTRY! COUNTRY!’s first half, “Take the Country & Run” recalls playing Hank Williams on the guitar with the view of the L.A. lights from a penthouse suite while “Goodbye” singing about wanting to drink beer with someone he’s in love with on a Paris, France rooftop. “Bedrooms in the Sky” featuring Stephen Wilson Jr. finds the 2 starting the other leg with a duet assuring country music will always come back around while “Bottomland” sings about being a country boy wanting to be buried with his grandfather’s rifle in his hand.

“Who Don’t” suggests that anyone who isn’t as country has him should sit in the truck because this ain’t for them when in reality, there are much better country artists to listen to than today’s mainstream names with the exception of Jelly Roll. “Country in Me” on the other hand sings about knowing where he’s going at this certain point in his life wanting George Jones to be played at his funeral while “Gun to My Head” promises that he won’t ever give up this way of life.

Meanwhile on “Keep It Country”, we have HARDY reflecting of him essentially making a livin’ writin’ of making music for his musical audience & that’s fine if his style of the genre isn’t my thing prior to “Y’all Need Jesus” wines about User53109 calling him fat or no album in his genre today being better than The Mockingbird & the Crow when I can name Tony Martinez’ debut Everywhere West from last summer as one of many examples.

“Dog Years” sings that he’s had the best life he could’ve asked for while “We’re All Gonna Die” fittingly starts the final moments of the LP by reminding us all that our deaths are inevitable & that we gotta live the best way we can because of it. “Everybody Does” finishes up COUNTRY! COUNTRY!by singing about everyone having their differences from political parties to their own lifestyles.

Thankfully he’s not related to the current 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champions & inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz, but COUNTRY! COUNTRY! for a full-length in this genre is nowhere near as exciting as Wednesday’s 6th album Bleeds that recently came out last Friday & more so maintaining an equal level of deficiency as the 2-disc I’m the Problem from HARDY’s labelmate Morgan Wallen earlier this spring & who can forget F-1,000,000,000,000 by Post Malone last summer? If you want some new country that’s good, listen to the new Jehry Robinson album Hella Highwater.

Score: 1.5/5

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Metro Boomin’ – “A Futuristic Summa” review

St. Louis producer, DJ & record executive Metro Boomin’ finally dropping off his highly anticipated 2nd mixtape. Gaining notoriety in the middle of the previous decade as one of the most in-demand beatsmiths in hip hop today, he’s gone on to produce some of the best trap projects of the decade in their entireties including Future’s 3rd album D.S. 2 (Dirty Sprite 2), Gucci Mane’s 53rd mixtape Droptopwop and the Offset/21 Savage collab tape Without Warning. It was until after Halloween 2018 when he put out his solo debut Not All Heroes Wear Capes & the 2022 sequel Heroes & Villains continued an ongoing trilogy by elevating his production game. A Futuristic Summa was announced earlier this month & we’re finally getting it weeks since the current 2-time World Heavyweight Champion Gunther retired WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion Bill Goldberg at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLI followed by former AEW Women’s World Champion Blake Monroe betraying former 3-time TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace & another former TNA Knockouts World Champion Naomi becoming a 3-time WWE women’s world champion by ending イヨ・スカイ’s 2nd reign as a WWE women’s world champion at Evolution II.

“I Want It All” by J Money after the “Black Migo Forever” intro starts with a decent futuristic swag opener talking about his desire for everything nice whereas “They Wanna Have Fun” by Gucci Mane, Quez & Young Dro co-produced by Zaytoven homages the Cyndi Lauper single “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with Quez’ verse in the middle being my least favorite of the 3. “Butterflies (Right Now)” by Roscoe Dash & Quavo goes for an Atlanta bass vibe so they can talk about doing the crime & time of killing pussy prior to “Take Me Thru Dere” by Quavo & YK Niece inferiorly continuing the themes of lust.

The colorful “Loose Screws” by Shad da God & Skooly blends pop rap & trap with the help of DK Spinz to discuss losing their mind if the baddies they’re seeing move in with them just before the first of 2 Young Dro solo cuts “Stealin’ All the Swag” cloudily talks about wanting his swagger back. “WTF Goin’” combines these pianos & hi-hats shrugging off the haters because they only add flavor to what he’s doing while “Issa Party” by Jose Guapo, Shad da God & Young Dro warmly talks about wanting hoes to hit their line to rock & move with them.

“Clap” has gotta be the most I’ve enjoyed a Waka Flocka Flame song in a minute putting his politics & that corny publicity stunt where he got “jumped” aside while the danceable “Slide” by Young Dro confesses he hasn’t been able to talk the same since meeting this woman he’s addressing. “My Lil Shit” by BunnaB, J Money & Meany throws it back to the ringtone era of late 2000s southern hip hop while “Still Turnt (Forever B$hot)” by Shad da God talks about still being lit to this very day.

J Money, Quavo & Waka Flocka Flame all link up on the synthesizer-woven “Drip BBQ” showing off their sauce as if they’re at a cookout while “I Go” by J Money holds the fort by himself to show off his wealthy possessions. “Make It Make Sense” by Rocko has a darker trap mood to it talking about shit being illogical if it it ain’t making any money while “I Like That” by Waka Flocka Flame & 2 Chainz despite Honorable C.N.O.T.E. producing it wasn’t too bad of a pop rap track.

“Birthday” by Metro Thuggin’ & Skooly uses a bunch of playful metaphors to speak about sex & confidence while “Don’t Stop Dancin’” by Lil Baby & Skooly talks about loving the way their partners dance. “U Deserve” by T.I. & Young Dro throws it back to Grand Hustle Records’ prime in the mid-late 2000s while “Overly Trimm” by Jose Guapo, Quavo, Shad da God, Skooly, Travis Porter & Young Dro made for a mild posse cut.

Future & 21 Savage deliver A Futuristic Summa’s smoothest moment “Partying & Drinking” talking about women who be acting like they’re single when having fun with their friends while “Jerry Curry (Love & Basketball” by Lil Baby & Yung L.A. references TKO Group Holdings co-founder Vince McMahon. The futuristic swag closer “I Need (Where U From)” by J Money, Lil Baby, Roscoe Dash & 2 Chainz sends off the tape with all 4 of them asking the women they’re dating about their sets.

Taking the aesthetics of early 2010s mainstream Atlanta hip hop & putting some modern touches on it, A Futuristic Summa will feel nostalgic to anyone like me who was in middle school when songs like “Lemonade” or “Hard in da Paint” were dominating the airwaves. Metro Boomin’s production easily sticks out as the best part of the whole thing diverting from trap to experiment with futuristic swag, plugg, Atlanta bass & contemporary R&B. However, the guests’ performances are more hit or miss compared to Heroes & Villains.

Score: 3/5

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Morgan Wallen – “I’m the Problem” review

Morgan Wallen is a 32 year old singer/songwriter from Sneedville, Tennessee putting out the full-length debut If I Know Me to mixed reception 4 years after starting out. Republic Records would sign him for the 2-disc major label debut Dangerous, moving over to the Mercury Records subsidiary in the spring of 2023 & releasing 1 Thing at a Time to prominently more negative feedback compared to both of it’s predecessor. It’s been almost 2 months since he controversially stormed off the set of the semicentennial Saturday Night Live owned by the NBC division of the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal originally serving as the host of that week’s episode & his 4th LP has arrived.

The title track was a mediocre contemporary country intro bashing his ex for being Ms. Never Do Wrong when Morgan himself was making racially charged comments at the beginning of 2021 whereas “I Got Better” sings about feeling like who he really is again when that hasn’t really changed. “Superman” named after the Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Entertainment-owned franchise ahead of the DC Universe media franchise & shared universe beginning in a couple months was one of the better singles continuing the contemporary country direction dedicated to his son Indigo until Tate McRae appears for the cheesy country pop duet “What I Want”.

“Just in Case” gets back on the contemporary country vibes describing a situationship that later transformed into something far more captivating when I found it anything but & after an interlude, “Falling Apart” tackles the breakup theme once more singing about selling him & his ex out only for him to justifiably pay the price for it. “Skoal, Chevy & Browning” expresses his desire for somebody simple as those 3 separate things leading into “Eyes are Closed” asking his son what he sees when he sleeps at night.

It’s funny that Morgan asks his own mother what he did wrong on “Kick Myself” after asking him to get help when he’s a documented racist, ignored CDC guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic & got arrested last spring for throwing a chair off the roof of Eric Church’s newly-opened Nashville bar Chief’s while “20 Cigarettes” sings about a girl telling him what her hometown is like. Another highlight would be “TN” expressing his love for the state that made him & “Missing” suggests he might miss the woman he wants missin’ him.

“Where’d That Girl Go?” sings about an ex who he feels has a long way from a bad good riddance wanting to know what happened to the old her while “Genesis” makes a corny comparison of how Jack Daniels & Jim Beam didn’t know him from Adam & Eve regardless of the subject matter revolving around temptation. “Revelation” sings about being a hard one to love since it runs in my blood when he acts like a jackass, but then “#3 & #7” featuring Eric Church himself feels like a cautionary tale centered around drinking & driving.

Spite reveals itself even more on “Kiss Her in Front of You” taking him at a girl that he used to date for walking out on him & making out in front of his new partner as a “fuck you” to his previous one while the trite “If You Were Mine” sings about wanting to lay her down & take his time giving her the pipe. “Don’t We” reaffirms the small-town values, tradition & simplicity even if that way of life isn’t for everyone prior to “Come Back as a Redneck” featuring HARDY teaming up for a horrible bro-country collab.

“Love Somebody” feels ironic since the topic of wanting to find a genuine connection with a woman in a world full of fleeting, shallow relationships appropriating Latin influences while “Dark ‘Til Daylight” finds him singing about feeling composed during the day & his mindset spiraling during the evening. “The Dealer” featuring ERNEST looks back on the days they could’ve folded & finding 1 more card to play while “Leavin’s the Least I Could Do” unloads more melodramatic breakup bullshit onto the table.

As for “Jack & Jill”, we have Morgan giving his own take on the classic fairytale except they both wind up on 1 in Tennessee while “I Ain’t Comin’ Back” featuring Post Malone gets even more over the top with the heartbreak than I would’ve expected from both of them. “Nothin’ Left” acoustically sings about lonely nights coming his way because of him fucking up another relationship while “Drinking ‘Til It Does” tries drowning in a river full of whiskey.

“Smile” tries & fails at mixing folk with singer/songwriter reflecting on a love that has since grown cold while “Working Man’s Song” tackily sings about how tryin’ to make a livin’ isn’t supposed to feel like dyin’. “Whiskey in Reverse” points out the empty Jack Daniels bottle by his coffee cup doing more damage than it did any good while “Crazy Eyes” admitting that his girl’s eyes have some kinda power over him sleeping for only 10 hours in the span of 3 days.

Finally kicking off the last leg of I’m the Problem, the song “L.A. Night” not to be confused with former 2-time WWE United States Champion, TNA World Champion, TNA World Tag Team Champion, NWA World Tag Team Champion & アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座 L.A. Knight (Yeah!) talks about being a country boy in the middle of the west coast while “Miami” desecrates “Miami, My Amy” by Keith Whitley shamelessly. “Lies Lies Lies” was an average country pop single singing about still being a fool for the same ol’ fibs he falls for & “I’m a Little Crazy” closes by showing some self-awareness.

I personally find it unfortunate that the only country album that Mercury has put out since being revived in 2022 would be Johnny Cash’s most recent posthumous offering Songwriter & the material on there was 3 decades old. Primarily because I’m the Problem feels a lot like 1 Thing at a Time where it’s completely bloated with more misses & hits. He focuses less on country pop than he did on the predecessor favoring a contemporary sound altogether.

Score: 1.5/5

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Post Malone – “F-1,000,000,000,000” review

Here we have the 6th full-length LP from Grapevine, Texas rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Post Malone. Rising to stardom in 2015 with the single “White Iverson”, this resulted in him signing to Republic Records quickly makjng himself home ever since by dropping his last 5 albums & a mixtape. Now even though I’ve never really been the biggest fan of Posty’s work, there’s no denying that he has a decent amount of tracks that I genuinely enjoy like “Congratulations” as well as “rockstar” & who could forget “Sunflower”? Hell I even liked his sophomore effort beerbongs & bentleys, which I maintain is the crown jewel of his discography. Hollywood’s Bleeding rode the emo rap coattails, his Mercury Records debut under it’s revival as a Republic subsidiary 12kt Toothace felt like 1-long song & Austin was mid to the point where Posty finally succumbed to Lil B’s tweet about him going country in 2017 on F-1,000,000,000,000.

“Wrong Ones” featuring Tim McGraw starts by bringing the 2 together over a guitar advising to keep the cold ones coming whereas “Finer Things” featuring Hank Williams Jr. talks enjoying all the finer stuff in life. “I Had Some Help” featuring Morgan Wallen was a patience testing lead single mutating country pop, pop rock & country rock tackling the theme of relationship struggles just before “Pour Me a Drink” featuring Blake Shelton works in some bro-country undertones looking for a buzz.

Dolly Parton saves one of the album’s best features for “Have the Heart” talking about not having it in either one of them to break each others’ hearts leading into the country pop flavored “What Don’t Belong to Me” telling his partner he can’t give her what doesn’t belong to him. “Goes Without Saying” featuring Brad Paisley is a country rock breakup ballad coming to terms with their ex-girlfriends not rekindling the flame, but then “Guy for That” featuring Luke Combs continues the country & rock hybrids talking about being good at breaking hearts.

“Nosedive” featuring Lainey Wilson is this acoustic duet reminding that every thorn has it’s rose while “Losers” featuring Jelly Roll starts the 2nd half of the LP for a legitimately enjoyable tribute to all the outcasts. “Devil I’ve Been” featuring Ernest delivers a contemporary country vibe being fed up with living a life of sin while the southern “Never Love You Again” featuring Sierra Ferrell talks the road not being their friends & the long, lost highway ahead of them.

Luke Combs joins Posty yet again on the stripped-back “Missin’ You Like This” so they can both cry over exes they still dream of all these years later while “California Sober” featuring Chris Stapleton turns the country pop influences back up telling the story of a woman on the run after stealing some sucker’s money. The contemporary country-inspired “Hide My Gun” featuring Hardy asks their lovers if they would conceal their weapons while “Right About You” goes country rock once more asking if she’d still love him if we were down bad & at home.

“M-E-X-I-C-O” nears the conclusion of F-1,000,000,000,000 pulling from traditional country hangin’ ’round & broken down with a settled downtown girl prior to her diplomatic father giving him a significant amount of money for him to leave the country heading to the continent of South America while “Yours” serves as an acoustic closer paying tribute to his own daughter telling her that she’ll always be his little girl knowing one day a special man will come in her life & they’ll get married.

Starting the Long Bed deluxe run, “Fallin’ in Love” is this tacky country rock cut talking about him falling in love becoming inevitable while “Dead at the Honky Tonk” continues the aesthetics from previously singing about a hole in his heart. “Killed a Man” tries to get in his outlaw bag falling flat on his face while “Ain’t How It Ends” keeps it traditionally country whining to a woman that this can’t be the way their relationship ends.

“Hey Mercedes” throws the rock influences in the picture again asking the titular character what she has planned for tonight while the contemporary country joint “Go to Hell” sings about a love interest making him feel right & being unable to figure out exactly what makes him feel that way about her. “2 Hearts” strips things back telling us what happens when 2 hearts split in 2 while the peppy “Who Needs You?” shrugging off a bitch since he can break himself into 2. The final bonus track “Back to Texas” goes contemporary again for a tribute to the titular state.

7 years after The Based God predicted it, Post Malone has finally gone full-blown Kid Rock making his official country debut like the WWE Hall of Famer himself did resulting in one of the worst albums of this decade just like the new Falling in Reverse album Popular Monster. His takes on contemporary country, country pop, pop rock, country rock & bro-country feels more of a cash-grab as opposed to passionate although some of the guests’ performances either outshine him or match his level of awful. You’re much better off listening to Slumerican Records artist Tony Martinez’ new debut album Everywhere West, Johnny Cash’s latest posthumous effort Songwriter, Beyoncé’s 2nd act of her ongoing trilogy Cowboy Carter or even Willie Nelson’s best late career album The Border instead.

Score: 0.5/5

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Johnny Cash – “Songwriter” review

Johnny Cash was a prolific singer/songwriter, musician & actor from Kingsland, Arkansas who rose to prominence as an icon in country music & for being one of the biggest badasses that has ever roamed God’s green Earth. He put out some of the genre’s most essential music including With His Hot Blue Guitar!, Orange Blossom Special, At Folsom Prison, Man in Black, all 3 albums from The Highwaymen & my personal favorite: the Rick Rubin-produced American Recordings hexalogy. Columbia Records unearthed Out Among the Stars during my junior high of year high school after keeping it in the vaults for 3 decades & now to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of American Recordings a couple months ago, Mercury Records is releasing his 4th posthumous album that he wrote all by himself 31 years ago before American even revitalized his career with new production from Johnny’s only son John Carter Cash.

“Hello Out There” is this magical opener with Johnny singing about planet earth calling whereas “Spotlight” fuses country with country pop & baroque pop encouraging to let him feel like losing her will be alright in the end accompanied by a sick guitar solo before the final verse. “Drive On” later saw the light of day on American Recordings the following year & has been a favorite of mine off that late career masterpiece, but then I Love You Tonight” has more of a laidback country tone to it admitting that it sure has been a party & they’ve been down that road previously.

Meanwhile on “Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?”, we have Johnny over acoustics asking listeners about the titular city in his home state of Arkansas leading into “Well Alright” surprisingly revealing itself back in April as one of the best country singles of the year telling the story of a woman that he met at a laundromat. “She Sang “Sweet Baby James”” goes for a stripped back approach singing about a woman who had a heart full of love prior to “Poor Valley Girl” profoundly paying homage to his late wife June Carter Cash.

The final song “Soldier Boy” kindas has this rockabilly singing about a boy with his backpack saluting all the women out there listening for doing what they have to do, but then the 2 bonus cuts consist of a cover of “Sing It Pretty, Sue” off his 8th album The Sound of Johnny Cash & “Like a Soldier” that also appeared on American Recordings the subsequent year much like “Drive On” did. Funny enough, “Like a Soldier” happens to be up there with “Drive On” as some of the best tracks in Johnny’s vast discography.

Being the first country artist that I can legitimately say I became a fan of, my expectations for Songwriter were it to maintain the caliber of both Willie Nelson & even Beyoncé’s latest full-lengths The Border & Cowboy Carter respectively. Come to find out, I like it more than the latter 2 combined. We get 8 brand new songs that we’ve never heard before, 2 demos & a cover spruced up production-wise by John Carter for a posthumous country/americana/outlaw country offering from his father that clears a lot of the bro-country you hear today.

Score: 4.5/5

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Post Malone – “12kt Toothache” review

Post Malone is a 26 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Grapevine, Texas who rose to stardom in 2015 with the single “White Iverson”. This resulted in him signing to Republic Records, where’s made himself home ever since by dropping a total 3 full-lengths & a mixtape in that span of time. Now even though I’ve never really been the biggest fan of Posty’s work, there’s no denying that he has a decent amount of tracks that I genuinely enjoy like “Congratulations” as well as “rockstar” & who could forget “Sunflower”? Hell I even liked his sophomore effort beerbongs & bentleys, which I maintain is the crown jewel of his discography. It’s been almost 3 years since we last heard from him in the form of Hollywood’s Bleeding, which didn’t resonate to me because I felt like he was just riding the emo rap coattails. That being said, I didn’t know what to expect from this 4th album of his given how long it’s been since he’s put out music.

“Reputation” is a passionate piano ballad produced by longtime collaborator Louis Bell to open up the album with Posty advising the world to save themselves whereas “Cooped Up” with Roddy Ricch has somewhat of a hyphy flare to it & the way they both go on about pullin’ up to a party is just so boring. “Lemon Tree” takes a more acoustic route singing that he’s shit out of luck, but then “Wrapped Around Your Finger” goes full blown dance-pop to whine & cry about missing his ex.

Meanwhile on “I Like You (A Happier Song)”, we have Doja Cat accompanying Post for a moody trap banger with a playful attitude to it leading into the Gunna-assisted counterpart “I Cannot Be (A Sadder Song)” asking what they want them to be over a cloudy instrumental from Taurus. “Insane” obnoxiously describes a bitch that went from classy to nasty over a cavernous beat just before “Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol” comes through as my favorite off the album, as Posty wears his heart on his sleeve about alcoholism & the production is intense.

The Kid Laroi comes into the picture for “Wasting Angels”, which unfortunately wastes a synth-heavy beat for them to spit some unlikeable bars about how crazy their lives are while “Euthanasia” has a more skeletal approach in terms of sound singing that it’s not gonna hurt when he passes. “When I’m Alone” fuses these synths & punky drums only to spill more breakup melodrama while the song “Waiting For a Miracle” is yet another piano ballad about how he stays fucked up. The penultimate track “1 Right Now” is a laughable “Blinding Lights” ripoff which is a shame since The Weeknd carries it & the closer “New Recording 12, Jan 3, 2020” ends the album with an unfinished acoustic demo.

For this to be Posty’s comeback after 3 long years, I can say that I walked away from 12kt Toothache enjoying it even less than Hollywood’s Bleeding. Primarily because it seems like there’s little to no risks being taken as far as the overall sound goes & he sounds mostly uninspired throughout a good portion of the 43 minute run.

Score: 1.5/5