Autumn! is a 24 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Lafayette, Louisiana who made he got his start by dropping 17 EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records following Not Much Left this past fall. He put out his sophomore effort albeit major label debut Antagonist! few months back to positive reception & returned to his plugg roots a month ago with ##B4GC2, but is steadily grinding by putting out his 18th EP.
The intro sets it off with a glistening instrumental talking about being up now whereas “Inside My Head!” takes a more atmospheric route thanks to Goyxrd refusing to let the industry take his soul. “Can We Talk!” goes pluggnb responding to everyone who said he fell off prior to “Golden Child!” confessing about lying that he’s fine when he’s really not over a tranquil instrumental. The song “Jay n Bey!” works in a guitar comparing his love for his partner to that of The Carters while the penultimate track “Should Know Me Better!” spaciously talks about needing to relax after moving too fast & that he’ll always be here in the scene. “Myself!” though is a fun send-off to the EP telling this hoe not to deny that she’s like the rest.
As a sequel to one of the best projects in Autumn!’s ever-growing discography, it certainly lived up to my expectations. Much like the prequel & the predecessor, the actual follow-up itself picks up where things left off with it’s well-crafted pluggnb production that helped blow him up & the subject matter all comes from a unique perspective that he continues to bring to the table. He & Weiland are definitely holding it down for Victor Victor right now.
Drake is a 35 year old rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who skyrocketed to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone. The success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing his hip hop/R&B sides of his music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. However to celebrate his new SiriusXM radio show, Drizzy is surprise-dropping his 7th album.
After the intro, “Falling Back” opens up the album by going full-blown afrobeats with Drake singing about giving his all into a relationship whereas “Texts Go Green” is a more mellower cut produced by the album’s executive producer Black Coffee as he details him moving on from an ex. “Currents” pulls from Jersey club music with a distracting squeaking sound throughout talking about how he feels like he’s tumbling & doing a shitty Abel impression on the hook, but then “A Keeper” asks his old muse why he’d have her stick around over an airy instrumental.
Meanwhile on “Calling My Name”, we have Drizzy returning to dance-pop turf thanks to Gordo asking why it’s hard for him to give this bitch up just before “Sticky” comes through as the best track off the album with the lyrics about knowing tough situations can be & how the drums just hit you in the chest. “Massive” embraces a housier sound singing to his lover about finding them again, but then “Flight’s Booked” incorporates some synths to singing for his chick not to make him wait.
“Overdrive” has a funky ass groove to it with a fresh guitar solo at the end that I both really like admitting that his heart’s racing while “Down Hill” tells his bitch that they’re done & the 40 instrumental has an intriguingly wavy flare of the beat as well as the finger-snaps. The song “Tie That Blinds” throws a nylon guitar in with some prominent drums confessing that he never wants to see his lover leave while the penultimate track “Liability” slathers his vocals in chopped & screwed effects singing about changing for this woman with the hi-hats being mixed louder than the synths. “Jimmy Cooks” with 21 Savage ends the album with a fun 2-parter produced by Vinylz, Tay Keith & Cubeatz describing them throwing a party for their Day 1s remembering Lil Keed & warning this ain’t the WME Group-owned UFC.
I’ve noticed the reception for this has been very polarizing but for it to be a homage to the late Off-White founder Virgil Abloh, I’m honestly on the fence with it. I respect that Drake put his signature pop rap sound in the back-burner in comparison to Certified Lover Boy not elevating it any further so he can mix house & alternative R&B with afrobeats, but the results are extremely hit or miss.
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.
Autumn! is a 23 year old rapper/producer from Lafayette, Louisiana who’s made a name himself in the plugg scene by dropping 15 EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018. But in light of him signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records following the release of his previous EP Not Much Longer last summer, he’s now returning with his long-awaited sophomore album & major label debut after teasing it for so long.
The self-produced title track opens up the album with some rage beats throwing shots at KanKan, SeptembersRich & Yeat whereas “STFU!” works in some Atari-like synths & some heavy bass talking about not wanting to hear shit unless it’s about the money. “STFU! 2” picks up right where it’s predecessor left off calling out those who backstabbed him, but then “I’m Him!” takes a ghostly route asking “Why these n****s keep playing like I ain’t him?”.
Meanwhile on “Everything!”, we have Autumn! returning to hypertrap territory declaring himself as a boss just before “Bentley Bentayga!” has a more futuristic flare to it talking about the rich lifestyle. “Bentley Bentayga! 2” is a bombastic follow-up to it’s predecessor asking how many bitches can fit in the titular car leading into the rage-sounding “Etiquette!” admits not knowing shit about protocol.
“Jumpin’!” goes into cloudier yet poppy territory thanks to Internet Money Records’ very own Rio Leyva reflecting on being destined for this music shit while “We Adapted!” returns to a more pluggier sound talking about feeling like a bastard & a pastor. The song “Free Bugga! 3” with Goyxrd is the 3rd tribute that Autumn! has made for his uncle Bugga in prison that’s just has touching as the predecessors while the penultimate track “Talk’s Cheap!” keeps the plugg vibes going talking about moving smarter. “1 Way!” eventually closes out the album with a contemporary R&B ballad addressing an ex.
Coming from someone who got put onto him last summer, I think this is a very impressive major label debut for Autumn! & some of the best work that he’s put out so far. The production is diverse in sound ranging from hypertrap to plugg & I admire that he didn’t go crazy for features to demonstrate his vocal/songwriting talents.
This is the 2nd solo album from Manhattan’s very own SosMula. Coming up as 1/3 of the trio City Morgue alongside fellow emcee ZillaKami & producer Thraxx, they’ve released 2 full-length albums & an EP together up before branching out on their own for a little bit. Sos was the first to step up to the plate last summer by dropping 13 Songs 2 Die 2, which was a bit of a disappointment in my opinion due to the features & production. ZillaKami followed it up a month later with HIS solo debut Dogboy & the duo reunited to drop Bottom of the Barrel the month after that, both of those I found much more tolerable. Nonetheless, I still went into 2 High 2 Die with an open mind as I’m still very much a fan of City Morgue’s work.
“PARTY ON MY BLOCK” opens the album up with a hypertrap banger talking about partying of course whereas “GIMMIE DAT” keeps the rage beats going thanks to F1LTHY of Working on Dying talking about getting slumped as fuck. “HEAD TAP” follows it up with an obnoxious hook going further down the hypertrap rabbit hole spitting gang imagery just before “GET OUT” picks the energy back up with an off-the-wall bone breaker.
Meanwhile on “RICH BOI”, we have Mula over a heavy bass-line to flex his wealth leading into the manic “PULL UP” talking about how he already told us he was a star. “SNAP” returns to rage turf asking where his bands at, but then “BIG GUCCI” has a glitchier aesthetic to it talking about catching a body much like Gucci Mane.
“BIG NARCO” incorporates some crazy synth melodies providing an anthem for the heavy users while “WE SO UP!” energetically boasts his success. “SIERRA LEONE” throws some organs in the mix getting his murder bag while “MOLLY WATER” awkwardly describes getting his head knocked off by a bitch despite the futuristic production.
Following that, “PRESS A BUTTON” with Lil Tracy has to be the biggest mess of a song on the entire album talking about a hoe named Trish while “S.T.I.C.K.” follows it up with an unhinged ode to being strapped. “MAKK BALLA” has a more a rubbery tone to it talking about calling the shots while “MIX N MATCH” fuses some haunting piano melodies saying he can’t shop outside cause he’s too rich.
“YAZUKA 2000” goes into more ghostly turf talking about his body being different while the song “BODY PARTS” is a distorted horrorcore gorefest. The penultimate track “BITE DOWN” talks about getting fucked up off that syrup over a rattling instrumental & “CUTTIN’ SHIT” ends the album with 1 final ode to his shooters.
Now in comparison to Sos’ last album, 2 High 2 Die is definitely more tolerable. I once again appreciate him trying to stray away from the trap metal sound that City Morgue is known for, except this time he got rid of all the redundant features & it’ll be interesting to see him continuing to dabble into hypertrap alongside Kami at some point because it suits him fine here.
Coi Leray is a 24 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Hackensack, New Jersey who started making musical a decade back inspired by father Benzino. Even though I found her debut mixtape Everythingcoz along with her first 2 EPs EC2 & Now or Never to be mediocre, I was curious about her full-length debut over here given that I genuinely liked a couple of the singles she dropped within the last year.
“Hollywood Dreams” is a drumless yet euphoric opener talking about doing this music shit for her whereas “Blick Blick” comes through with a pop rap cut with God awful performances from Coi & Nicki Minaj stealing the show. I would much rather listen to that than “Aye Yai Yai” with Yung Bleu though because it’s a cringey, buttery sex ballad. “Mountains” with Fivio Foreign & Young M.A.comes through with some triumphant lyricism over a somewhat psychedelic instrumental just before G Herbo tags along for the futuristic “Thief in the Night” to play Coi’s “sneaky link”.
Meanwhile on “Overthinking”, we have H.E.R. coming into the picture over an acoustic trap beat from BNYX of Working on Dying to help Coi talk about men not listening while “Clingy” almost has a West Coast groove to it with NAV awkwardly playing Coi’s counterpart much like “Thief in the Night”. That being said, “Heartbreak Kid” works in some fresh guitar riffs getting flirtatious & “TWINNEM” almost made my worst singles of 2021 list because it’s pretty much a ripoff of “Best Friend” by Saweetie & Doja Cat. “No More Parties” with Lil Durk on the other hand impressed me with it’s piano instrumental and the topic of going on to do better things.
After the “Be Me” interlude, “Lonely Fans” has a warm feeling with the production as Coi spits off the dome for a minute & a half while “Heart in a Coffin” is a dreary breakup anthem. “Paranoid” with Polo G finds the 2 delivering a twangy trap banger addressing themes of loyalty, mistrust & fame while “Box & Papers” aggressively talks about how “what’s forgiven is never forgotten”.
“Mission Impossible” with Lil Tecca sees the pair talking about their success with Chief Keef cooking up what’s easily the best beat on the album while the song “Too Far” is a touching dedication to her homie Atkins who’s locked up. The song “Mustard’s Interlude” with A Boogie wit da Hoodie has yet another acoustic trap flare to it with them trading the mic with one another very impressively while the penultimate track “Anxiety” is a rubbery display of how 2021 was for her. “BIG PURR (PRRDD)” with Pooh Shiesty ends the album with an ass kicking drill cut.
Yeah, it’s safe to say that Trendsetter is yet another run of the mill pop rap album with slightly more misses than hits. Coi is most certainly talented & most of the features came correct, but the album just feels all over the place as a whole & a lot of the production choices are very questionable in my opinion.
Nigo is a 51 year old fashion designer, DJ, producer & entrepreneur from Maebashi, Japan who famously created one of my favorite clothing lines of all-time: A Bathing Ape. He’s also been involved with the hip hop industry as well, being the DJ for the Teriyaki Boyz ever since their inception. But finally, Nigo has seen fit to host his very own sophomore full-length album with the help of Steven Victor’s very own Republic Records imprint Victor Victor Worldwide.
“Lost & Found” by WANG$AP starts things off with A$AP Rocky on top of a “3 Kings” sample talking about wanting his credit prior to switching up into a sample of “Like a Boss” by Slim Thug for Tyler, The Creator to spit some braggadocio whereas “Arya” by Rocky works in a piano-heavy instrumental shouting out the Game of Thrones character of the same name. “Punch Bowl” by Clipse sees the duo reflecting on their past on top of an atmospheric Neptunes instrumental leading into “Functional Addict” by Gunna & Pharrell taking a funkier route getting sexual.
Meanwhile on “Want It Bad”, we have KiD CuDi on top of an electropop beat talking about how his work is never done just before “Morë Tonight” goes into hip house territory for a fun Teriyaki Boyz reunion. “Paper Plates” by A$AP Ferg continues to flex over a riveting beat, but then “Hear Me Clearly” by Pusha T follows it up with a boom bap banger produced by Kanye West telling everyone who fears him to admit it.
The song “Remember” by Pop Smoke has a dope sample of “Sound of a Woman” by Kiesza to go at anyone who opposes him while the penultimate track “Heavy” by Lil Uzi Vert takes influence from UK Drill with the help of Brandon Finessin’ of Working on Dying talking about repping Moncler hard. “Come On, Let’s Go” by Tyler, The Creator ends the album by telling a bitch the time she’s wasting is on him with the beat giving off heavy summer vibes.
In comparison to a lot of producer/DJ curated albums these days, I came away from I Know Nigo loving a good portion of what I heard on it & hopefully this is only the beginning for the icon. The guests are all well picked out & I love the diversity of the production ranging from boom bap to hip house & even UK Drill.
This is the highly anticipated 5th album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada singer/songwriter The Weeknd. Rising to stardom in the early 2010s with a trilogy of highly acclaimed mixtapes, he then made his full-length debut in 2013 with Kiss Land which was a decent attempt at symbolizing tour life. The sophomore effort Beauty Behind the Madness proved to be even better as it started to incorporate elements of pop, although Starboy ended up being another mixed bag much like Kiss Land except he embraced a more electropop sound. Abel’s debut EP My Dear Melancholy, though was a solid return to his alternative R&B roots & let’s not forget After Hours going on to becoming the best album of his career thus far in my opinion. Reasons being because of how much he artistically reinvented himself on there combined with the incredible portrayal of promiscuity as well as overindulgence & self-loathing. So given that, to say I was fiending for Dawn FM would be an understatement.
After the titular intro with fucking Jim Carrey playing a radio DJ, the official WWE WrestleMania XL theme song “Gasoline” kicks off the whole thing in a quasi-techno territory talking about wanting to believer there’s more to life whereas the nu-disco tinged “How Do I Make You Love Me?” ponders on what it takes to achieve eternal love. The official WWE Crown Jewel III theme song “Take My Breath” has a bit of a French house influence to it talking about a woman who loves to be on the edge leading into “Sacrifice” samples Denroy Morgan to tell his lover not to be catching feelings out here.
Following the “A Tale by Quincy” interlude, we have Abel in his funk bag for “Out of Time” admitting that he’s been working on himself just before “Here We Go…Again” brings in some bare synths talking about how life’s a dream & Tyler, The Creator’s verse on here actually comes off as half baked. “Best Friends” almost bares a synth-funk quality to it saying he & this woman can’t be close despite loving her, but then “Is There Someone Else?” is a slow jam confronting his lover asking if she’s cheating on him.
“Starry Eyes” sounds a bit similar to “Here We Go…Again” instrumentally excepting he’s singing about wanting to be there for the girl of his dreams & after the “Every Angel is Terrifying” interlude, “Don’t Break My Heart” showing a more vulnerable side saying he can’t take anymore heartbreak with some synthwave vibes.
The track “I Heard You’re Married” with Lil Wayne finds the 2 patronizingly telling married women to leave their men for them over yet another synth-funk beat while the WWE WrestleMania XXXIX theme song “Less Than 0” sounds very peppy sonically despite it’s depressing lyrics. “Phantom Regret” lastly ends the album with a spoken word interlude from Jim Carrey.
After Hours has quickly become The Weeknd’s best full-length album in a lot of people’s eyes including myself & Dawn FM is a great sequel to start the new year. Oneohtrix Point Never helps him dive further into a more synthpop based sound with additional elements of dance-pop, synthwave, contemporary R&B, nu-disco, synth-funk & progressive electronic on top of a neat radio station concept.
This is the 4th full-length album from Baltimore emcee, singer & producer JPEGMAFIA. Breaking out 2016 with the release of his full-length debut Black Ben Carson, it wouldn’t be until the man’s next 2 albums Veteran & All My Heroes are Cornballs where he would reveal himself as one of the most creative minds in hip hop today. He dropped a bunch of singles last year & compiled them onto an 8-track EP but after putting out a follow-up with almost all newly recorded material under Republic Records back in February, he’s celebrating his born day with LP!.
“TRUST!” is a short yet glimmering opener to the album talking about self-love whereas “DIRTY” takes a more cloudier route talking his shit. “NEMO!” has a minimal, glitchy vibe going at those who think they know him leading into “END CREDITS!” sampling “Monomyth” by Animals as Leaders referencing current AEW manager Don Callis.
Meanwhile on “WHAT KIND OF RAPPIN’ IS THIS?”, we have Peggy on top of a lush almost boom bappy instrumental calling out someone biting him just before “THOT’S PRAYER!” almost has a bit of a BROCKHAMPTON influence to it sonically confessing that loneliness is killing him inside. “ARE U HAPPY?” eerily ponders about the people around him & the way his life is going, but then “REBOUND!” works in some horns basically saying bitches ain’t shit.
“OG!” speaks on taking the game back on top of a booming beat while “DAM! DAM! DAM!” has a more groovier sound talking about how he has to “keep swimmin’ ’til that muhfuckin’ ship leaves”. Following this is “SICK, NERVOUS & BROKE!” serving as an aggressive trap banger taking shots at his haters whereas “😘” brings in some synths to get romantic.
After the “NICE!” interlude, the penultimate track “BMT!” vibrantly insults his competition & “THE GHOST OF RANKING DREAD!” ends the album on a pillowy yet melodic tone talking about how he can’t keep up with these girls. Then the online version contains 3 bonus cuts from EP! which I still love, but didn’t need to be on here.
Now if you go to the Bandcamp version, there are 3 newly recorded bonus tracks that couldn’t make it onto streaming due to sample clearances. “HAZARD DUTY PAY!” is unquestionably the best hip hop single I’ve heard all year sampling Anita Baker dissing the industry. After that, “GOD DON’T LIKE UGLY” works in a soul sample comparing him to Beyoncé & his competition to Michelle Williams. “💯” terrifically pays homage to the chopped & screwed movement based in Houston just before “Untitled” incorporates some dreary piano chords continuing to challenge anyone to step up to him & wanting to be buried with former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, TNA World Tag Team Champion, WCW World Television Champion, WWE United States Champion, 7-time WCW World Tag Team Champions, 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall additionally referencing former CZW Iron Man Champion, 3-time PWG World Champion, 3-time PWG World Tag Team Champion, ROH World Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion, NXT Champion, WWE Universal Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 3-time WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens.
Peggy is one of the most unpredictable artists in the game right now & I definitely find LP! to be more consistent than EP2! In contrast to the more mainstream sound of that previous project, I’m happy he realized he didn’t need to try to appeal to a radio friendly market that doesn’t exist & returns to his experimental roots. Also, the 3 bonus songs on the “offline” version make it significantly better than the 3 bonus cuts on the “online” version that were already familiar with.
City Morgue is a trio from New York City consisting of ZillaKami & SosMula on the mic as well as honorary 3rd member Thraxx on production. I first caught wind of them due to ZillaKami’s verse on Denzel Curry’s magnum opus TA13OO, but the group’s full-length debut that followed shortly after Hell or High Water completely stopped me in my tracks. Mostly because prior to that album, I never heard anyone fuse trap with metal music in the way that they did. This was followed up with the worthy sequel As Good as Dead & the mediocre Toxic Boogaloo EP but after spending these last couple months branching out solo, they’re returning for their highly anticipated 3rd album.
“Death Cult” is a short yet cutthroat trap metal opener telling their competition to run for the hill leading into Jasiah tagging along for the eerie “Cabin in the Woods” comparing themselves to Jason Voorhees from the famous Friday the 13th franchise. “Conscience” works in a heavy guitar & a rubbery bass-line to talk about clearing their minds whereas the Thraxx-produced “Make It Disappear” viciously get in their murder bag.
Meanwhile on “What’s My Name?”, we get a wailing guitar rhythm & some punchy 808s talking about marching like dogs just before “Everything’s Broken” is a grunge/trap fusion about blowing their brains out. The first SosMula solo cut “OHDEE” has a more chilled out trap vibe speaking on grinding nonstop, but then the first ZillaKami solo cut “Flat Lips” brings in a down-tuned guitar talking about moshing.
The duo reunite for the abrasive “Hot Shells” comparing themselves to Captain Price from Modern Warfare 2 whereas “Mother Lover” advises not to get fucked up on their mothers. The song “X-Mas Balla” has a chugging riff with the help of Powers Pleasant proclaiming themselves as rat killers & reptilians while the penultimate track “Outer Space” by SosMula is just so annoyingly repetitive. However, the closer “Mutt B” by ZillaKami makes up for it by energetically lighting up anyone who steps up to him.
Even though I was underwhelmed by Toxic Boogaloo & 13 Songs 2 Die 2, I did enjoy Dogboy yet still didn’t quite know what to expect from Bottom of the Barrel. Now that we finally got the album, it’s pretty decent. It’s definitely more focused than Toxic Boogaloo was, but play middle ground with their signature trap metal sound rather than expanding on it.
Legends Will Never Die 