Wow. Just had to get that out of the way at the beginning here, it’ll make more sense by the end. Anyway, most fans will remember at least two things for certain. The classic, four-part, Mood Muzik series that trademarked Budden’s style which was rooted in his tenacity to create soul-baring music that revealed more about life than most artists can experience by the time their ‘greatest hits’ lands on the shelves — and then there was the incredibly underwhelming No Love Lost in 2013. Occupying opposite sides of the quality spectrum, these projects seemed to represent two different artists. One, an honest, intelligent craftsman of the english vernacular and the other, a byproduct of a saturated industry built on expectations.
It’s hard to nail down exactly where Raury is headed musically. His inaugural offering, 2014’s Indigo Child, stood as an artful project drawn with a muddied paintbrush creating pictures out of the fury, ambition, and hope that pairs with being an African-American youth by default. Raury’s music is unapologetically black, which may sound discernible but is clearly a controversial statement. Much of Raury’s criticism upon his introduction to music was that he was sonically amiable and geared to succeed as some sort of industry plant or synthetic pop machine, reaching at the fact that he’s a black kid from Stone Mountain, GA, but he dresses like he’s a hippie, caucasian dude with a guitar posted up at your nearest boardwalk. In other words, white music critics were complaining about how Raury’s music was too easy for white people to like.
A lot of young artists play to their strengths, but being young artists they don’t have a firm grasp on their own identity yet, so their strengths resemble that of their influences. Finding an untraveled musical path in today’s saturated market is no easy task. The likes of indie-pop, synthpop and alternative R&B artists have hit a point of cultural dominance. So it would make sense that their footsteps would linger, leaving traces of their sound and style in the music of aspiring artists.
Enter Kacy Hill, GOOD Music’s newest signee. It is quickly apparent why Kanye signed her after only hearing ‘Experience’, a single song. The talent is there, lyrics beautifully sung in an airy legato that seemingly evaporate into the instrumentals they glide over. Somewhere in close proximity to James Blake, Ellie Goulding and The Weeknd you will find Hill’s spectrum of sound. At least the sound of her EP, Bloo.
While the synthesized electronic elements dominate the general architecture, there are enough organic elements to notice. Being that the project is her first real introduction into the big leagues, it’s skimpy five-song, 20 minute length bears a lot of weight. An interesting decision to note right away is that the last two tracks on the project are producer remixes of the first two. So really we only have three new tracks to help acquaint ourselves with Hill.
The first, ‘Foreign Fields’ represents her almost immediate transition into her new lifestyle thanks to the likes of Kanye West and company. It combines separated piano notes and an almost static-like electronic element that graduate to a charged-up chorus, then dies back down into her ethereal vocals and it works wonders. On ‘Arm’s Length’, Hill releases some dormant energy as she channels a distanced relationship. Piano notes hit like a hammer and are backed by a drum and synth. The chorus is empowering and reflects something that those with ears for radio music will definitely recognize; not to put it into the category of radio music, but it would definitely thrive in that environment. Then a song written in a similar vein, ‘Shades Of Blue’, that moves from its familiar electronic elements via the room-filling bashing of drums.
As I mentioned before, the final two tracks are remixes and don’t really give us any more of an insight into Hill other than maybe her own musical interests. The Stockholm-based producer, Young Gud’s remix of ‘Foreign Fields’ is good, yet not much more than we have come to expect from mainstay producers like Avicii or Zedd. Ending the album on an unfortunate low note, the remix of ‘Arm’s length’ is almost completely void of Hill’s vocals and producer Bodhi’s remix is more generically representative of low-level dance pop than it should be, given its great source material which turns out to be much more interesting. Ultimately, we are given the briefest glimpse of material from an artist who clearly has the talent, both in singing and writing, to carry a project longer and more ambitious. Hopefully, her debut album is wider in scope and the remixes are left to the YouTube channels. But for now, we are given at least three, very telling tracks that show signs of someone who could be the next big artist.
Alternative rapper and Ventura, CA native Kyle has returned with his sophomore album Smyle; the follow up to his 2013 debut album Beautiful Loser. Now, will this new album live up to the standards set by his first one, led by it’s singles like ‘Keep It Real’ and ‘Fruit Snacks & Cups of Patron’? I have no idea, because before yesterday, I had no idea who this guy is. Coming into this album, with no particular expectations, I was curious if Smyle would be a fun and up-beat project that could live up to its name.
The album kicks off with ‘The Force’, which is the intro track and pretty much sets the mood for the entire album as an upbeat ego-trip. While the record itself isn’t sonically bad per se, it’s still an average song with a piano laden melody and a trap beat background. The next track pick this up a bit with, ‘Feels Good.’ In this song, Kyle is having something of a conversational with an unnamed girl. Somehow, he’s able to not only prop the girl up on a pedestal, but he also spends a great deal of time propping himself up to her. From the verses down to the production it sounds laced with some Big Sean influence, which is by no means a bad thing. You’ll definitely have fun with this song.
One of the highlights of the album comes in the form of track 3, dubbed ‘Summertime Soul.’ Any Frank Ocean fan will appreciate this song, as it sounds like the kind of record Frank would sing behind. Kyle’s vocals aren’t necessarily remarkable, but the production and songwriting make this tune infectiously fun. The next track, ‘Don’t Want To Fall In Love’ is…at least conceptually, the exact opposite of the song preceding it. In the previous song, he’s asking for the undivided attention of the object of his affections, but in this one, he’s the object of someone else’s and he doesn’t seem to be want to be. ‘Don’t Fall In Love’ is one of the better efforts on this LP with a dilemma I’m sure we can all relate to at some point in time.
This is the point in the album that album that gets a little rocky. ‘Endless Summer Symphony’ pretty much merges the concepts of the first two songs into one record. Kyle goes on, talking himself up, while also courting a girl at the same time. The weird thing is that I actually enjoy this more than the other two tracks; which basically makes me feel that they both could have been left on the cutting room floor and this one could have been the album opener instead. It sounds good…but in the context of the album is a bit redundant.
Halfway through the LP Kyle begins to address his haters in sort of a tongue in cheek manner on ‘Really? Yeah!’ He knows that he’s that dude but the song itself exudes a corniness that would only have to be made in complete self-awareness. Turns out I was right and during the song he references just how cheesy people will think this song is. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to save it, because not only is the chorus a bit grating but…no…that’s just it. I loathe the chorus…Really, yeah?… Really, no.
The second half of the album is kicked off by an interlude (titled ‘Deepest Part Of Me’) that somewhat gives us a break from Kyle and his antics. The next record though, ‘SuperDuperHero’, I admit, made me feel some type of way. As an avid comic book reader, the references made in this song, poking at some of my favorite heroes was a bit annoying. This song is one I could see doing well on the charts if it were made by a more commercial rapper and would no doubt appeal to a lot of people. Personally, it didn’t appeal to me, though.
Things start to pick up again with ‘All 4 U’, because Kyle switches back to his R&B sound; which I think he does far better than pure rap. This song is perhaps the most straightforward love song on the joint and who doesn’t love them a good love song? Now, I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but I hear a lot of Ryan Leslie/Frank Ocean-Isms in his delivery. Intentional or not…this song is dope.
The next track, ‘Remember Me’, is another solid song that details a breakup that seemed to have been brought forth by an unrequited love and even features Chicago’s Chance The Rapper. The production is somber and Kyle turns off the braggadocios lyrics to deliver one of the best songs on the album. It’s perfect for a back end song.
The album still manages to end things off on a high note, which, with a name like Smyle is imperative. ‘All Alright’ reminds Kyle and us listeners that no matter how bad things get, everything’s still alright. Not exactly a groundbreaking song topic by any means…but it gets the job done. The track closes the album and with it, another chapter in Kyle’s life. Let’s see if he comes back with a third LP with that same optimism.
All-in-all Kyle’s efforts with Smyle are pretty solid. Sure there were a few hiccups throughout the project, but the number of good tracks throughout the album made up for it. With certainty I can say that if Kyle ever becomes as big as his confidence suggests that he is, the whole world will see it too.
Sometimes you have things come before you in life that not even your imagination can piece together its perceived quality. Could be good, could be Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it”, is a common expression for supporters of the new, interesting and potentially life-changing. Now, when I came across Phantogram (now one of my favorite electronic groups) on Big Boi’s undeniably experimental 2012 album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, I was gleefully anxious. Meshing genres is nothing new in the realm of sound; but to take two extremely distinct, creative sounds and to unify them, is no small feat. A feat, nonetheless, that they recently attempted to duplicate.
It had been years since we had heard anything from the nameless, genre-less troupe. Then, as if by fortuitous happening, a song by the name of ‘Fell In The Sun’ hit the net via a group named, Big Grams. Realizing shortly after that this name is a lazily simple melding of the two separate stage names, all I could do was hope the music wouldn’t be so uninspired – and for the most part, it succeeds.
The EP takes off with ‘Run for Your Life’, a song that starts things off on a pretty low-key note. A distant snap of drumsticks colliding provides a simple enough rhythm for Big Boi to lay some of his playful Daddy Fat Sacks bars over. When the chorus reveals itself to us through the airy vocals of Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel it sounds like what you’d expect. While both parts sound singularly good, the track lacks some creative cohesion. From here on out though, that problem quickly fades away as the creativity flows into an ever-increasing current.
The second track, “Lights On’, capably eliminates any negatively juxtaposing elements. Especially evident is the highly melodic rapping from Big Boi. By the time we hit the third track, Big Grams has fully surfaced. ‘Fell In The Sun’ simultaneously overlays Sarah’s light vocals with Big Boi’s lyrics. The production is consistent and has enough Atlanta-esque hip-hop elements reformed within Phantogram’s signature psyche-pop style to allow for a seamless integration. Following right behind is a sample-laden production from 9th Wonder on ‘Put It On Her’. Big Boi smoothly puts down some suave bars about his classy demeanor that leaves women clamoring at his feet. The seductive chorus separates Big Boi’s slick utterings from Josh Carter’s, highly electronic attempt at rapping. While Josh’s style would have little chance of carrying the weight of an album by itself, here, I personally like the variation of the verse – and rhythmically, it is on point.
From bouncy, down-to-earth cadences to intergalactic synthesizers, the production spans both genres without ever being spread too thinly. The final two tracks have Big Grams opening the doors to other masters of their respective genres. Run The Jewels two-piece, Killer Mike and El-P make an in-your-face appearance on ‘Born To Shine’, while Skrillex lends a hand on club-suited banger, ‘Drum Machine’. It’s an intense and fitting end to an EP that took two separate musical entities and amalgamated them, forming something entirely new. While this EP came from nowhere and serves us only a 26-minute platter of creativity, all of its moving parts form a concise, unified whole that is almost always unique and works on more levels than it falters. Which leaves me with one question. Was this was a one-time outing or will it be known as the first breaths of a potential super group?
Growing up isn’t always easy and it is now apparent to me how vastly different everyone’s lives can be. Sounding like an electrified, version of 90’s alternative music, Meg Myers’ debut album is an emotionally saturated powerhouse of sound. Sorry is a concise, pouring out of emotions. It discusses what many people consider simple emotions with such daring complexity that it eventually has you looking at every aspect of your psyche from a new angle. Both completely honest and relentlessly brutal, her goal is not to lament the past but to learn from it and grow. Album opener, ‘Motel’ starts off with reinforcing statements regarding Myers’ sadness. She clearly struggles with the more unsavory aspects of her life which is now headed towards stardom. It’s hard not to empathize with her struggle as she belts out, “I wanna love, wanna live, wanna breathe, wanna give, wanna. But it’s hard and it’s dark and were doomed from the start.” A pessimistic naturalist’s sort of interpretation of the world when trying to be optimistic. It is a lot of moving thoughts that all end up coming across as honest.
Myers’ honesty is perhaps her strongest ally (other than her incredible voice), as she is capable of turning her own sadness and sorrow into music that sounds more like a breathe of empowerment than a bath in sorrow. The title track, “Sorry”, is the perfect example of this occurrence as it it maneuvers its way around the subject of an afflicting break-up via its electronic elements and 1000-volt chorus. She has transformed her fears into energy on ‘A Bolt From The Blue’, creating a sound well equipped for mainstream pop-radio – albeit one with dark undertones.
Bass guitar skills rear their head on the threatening sound of ‘Desire’, which is a rock-influenced uncomfortable yet sexy journey into Myers’ sexuality. From this point, the instrumentation on the project succumbs to a quicksand-like hold. Drums and guitars comprise the more generic makeup of the latter half of the emotional outing. While it all sounds good and perhaps better fits the subject matter covered, it represses the lively energy contained in the first half beneath slowly articulated guitars and violins. There are moments, ‘Lemon Eyes’ and ‘Make A Shadow’, that provide the same adrenaline potent build-up and choruses that Myers is fitted to command.
The album’s content isn’t by any means edgy in its meaning. Infact, its meaning is so easily relatable that it can become uncomfortably edgy in its honesty. Relationship and break-ups have been commonplace among song topics for as long as any person can remember. The beauty isn’t in the details – rather, it lies within the vagueness of her pen downed emotions. Instead of detailing what happened in her relationships, she places almost all of the emphasis on her brokenness and turns it into her freedom by the time the last eerie, scratching second of ‘Feather’ rolls out from your speaker.
It’s official: In the year 2015, the concept of the mixtape is officially dead. The entire EP/LP/mixtape distinction has become so goddamn ambiguous and loosely attributed to a vast amount of projects to the point of no return, and with the release of their collaborative “mixtape” that was sold on iTunes and featured on streaming services, hip-hop megastars Future and Drake have provided the final nail in the coffin as they are projected to sell 500,000 copies of What A Time To Be Alive in their first week. Yes, their “mixtape” just sold more copies in it’s first week than Kanye and Jay Z’s polished, much publicized, artful collaboration “album”, Watch The Throne. Ye and Hov had a-list guests such as Beyoncé and Frank Ocean, and had a legion of the world’s greatest producers at hand to pitch in. They also had Ricardo Tisci, the creative director for Givenchy, design the album’s luxe and innovative art and packaging. Future and Drake, on the other hand, threw together eleven tracks in six days with beats almost entirely from Metro Boomin. Also, the cover art for the project is literally a cropped Shutterstock image.
No, we’re not making that up. But the truth is, this is the first time in hip-hop history that the two undisputed hottest rappers of the time have joined forces to materialize a project in the middle of both of their own respective hot-streaks. Future is coming off a legendary run with some of the most high-octane mixtapes we’ve ever heard and an incredible album effort just months ago with DS2. In the red corner, Drake is coming off his own scorching mixtape and highly-successful mini-tour with If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late—a project that many critics and fans credit with being the most potent, dense, and interesting offering Drizzy has ever released. Although the accolades were seemingly already written with just the announcement of the project, the real question remains: What A Time To Be Alive might have been a commercial cash-grab and a creative lay-up, but is it good?
The first thing you hear as you press play on What A Time is not Drake nor Future. Instead, it’sa fade-in of one of the most distinct producer tags of 2015—Young Thug incoherently saying, “Metro Boomin’ want some mo’, n*gga” as these cheap, FL Studio synths begin to buzz in a trance, introducing the abrasive introduction, ‘Digital Dash’. Before you know it, the beat unexpectedly drops and Future is running with the baton. He mumbles and stumbles with a familiar flow before building his verse into a more articulate result, one that is reflective and sobering, ironically about his vices and drug use. “When I was sleepin’ on the floor you shoulda seen how they treat me/I pour the Actavis and pop pills so I can fight the demons” he says, all before Drake cuts in to add his own grit and structure. It’s right off the rip that you realize Drake might be adding his own flavours, but all in all, he’s playing Future’s game. With context, you will realize that this tape was recorded in a matter of days in Atlanta, over beats by Future’s in-house producers. There’s one 40 beat that serves as the intro. There’s absolutely no sense of Toronto within this project. Instead, Drake uses his bars all over this tape to exercise escapism, and adapt to his surroundings.
Every song on this tape screams Atlanta. There is barely any unorthodox moments, curveballs or occasions that will have you impressed by innovation. Metro is doin’ Metro. Southside is doin’ Southside. Even 40 does 40. Drake and Future do little to step out of their respective boxes too, but they do flaunt their particular artistic quirks from time to time. Slapper ‘Jumpman’ sees the return of Drake’s ‘6 Man’ flow and as much as it’s a stylistic lay-up, the fact is, it’s a sonic slam dunk. Standout “Diamonds Dancing” features Future crooning back to his Honest days, serving as a traditional ballad all until Aubrey comes in and breaks down the song with an almost Take Care-era demeanour. As the drums fade out, Drake is left with a simple chord progression as he moans about a woman that left him to dry as he gets his chance to air her out on the track. “Ungrateful,” he croaks in an almost drunken state, all before my personal favourite: “Your momma be ashamed of you”.
The flows can catch you off guard, though. Future’s slow, leaned out flow is a great juxtaposition next to Drake’s hyperactive delivery on ‘I’m the Plug’, and even on ‘Live From the Gutter’, Drake morphs the track with a flow sounding like just about any other southern rapper, but he beats them at their own game. It might sound unfair, but Drake has the charisma to say what anyone else can say better than they could. Throughout all the controversy of ghost-writers lately and regardless of whether or not Drake gets some help with writing, the truth still stands: It’s not what you say, but how you say it, and Drake will have you beat every single time. Still, Drake is not even the most prominent rapper on this tape. This is definitely more of a welcome addition to Future’s project-streak than Drake’s. As previously mentioned, this project was conceived in Future’s home plate and done at Future’s work pace, and it definitely sounds like it. Future uses his home-court advantage as leverage and burns through the tape with every bar sounding natural and effortless, all while Drizzy rides shotgun.
Drake uses the album’s outro, ’30 for 30 Freestyle’ as his real message to the outside world. He conversationally spits about handling the Meek drama like a champ, still being on top despite actual conspiracies from industry powers to dethrone him, and reflecting through his life and his growth as a person—all over top of gentle, elegant keys with a kick pounding like a heartbeat, courtesy of none other than 40. It’s here where Drake comes down from the escapism of being in Atlanta and playing by Future’s rules for a short amount of time, all while he sobers up on his sonic journey back to the sounds of Toronto. It was during this final piece of the project that I saw What A Time To Be Alive’s true value—not as a polished, cohesive piece of art, but as a gritty, fast-paced journey through the spoils, vices and emotions that a weekend in Atlanta can evoke. So, use this wisely as the current soundtrack to a night on the town, or as music to drive through the city to, but don’t mistake this project for being something that will stand the test of time and be a sonic culture-shift for hip-hop. It will probably have a legacy based off the numbers and the sheer details surrounding the mixtape, and truth be told, this project is definitely more of a moment than a timeless addition in Future and Drake’s respective careers. However, as a soundtrack of right now, what else could you ask for?
Lana Del Rey wastes no time when it comes to releasing new music. Since her 2012 debut, Born To Die, Lana has now released four studio albums in just four years (including Born To Die:The Paradise Edition), a consistency that is rare for today’s pop artists. While Lana instantly gained a cult following after her debut LP, she most recently won over critics last year with Ultraviolence, widely accepted as her best album up until that point. While artists frequently fall victim to the sophomore album curse and slumps throughout their career where they simply run out of fresh ideas for songs, fans were anxious to see if Lana could follow up her critical success from Ultraviolence, just a year later with Honeymoon. Although the Honeymoon may not be quite as beautiful as the wedding that it follows (Ultraviolence), Lana’s new album again proves that she is continuing to grow as an artist, all while delivering her unique sound and consistently great records.
Let’s start off with a little truth: Mac Miller can be credited with the biggest 180° concerning credibility in modern hip-hop history. Not only did he sonically relinquish the fraternity bro-rap sounds of his former years and venture into experimental, drugged out, potent hip-hop, Mac Miller also grew into one of the best producers of the past couple years, working on his own music as well as others. His studio back at his old mansion in the LA area is attributed to the growth and stimulation of the upswing of many rap careers. When Mac wasn’t swinging his own home-runs with his individual projects under different monikers to denote differing genres, he was producing for and collaborating with other people, making incredible moments with guys like Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, and even Future.
However, Mac Miller’s crowing achievement and his greatest project to date was 2014’s Faces, an eerie yet bizarrely entertaining ride down the tunnels of the famed male ego. This mixtape starts with a hot burn and sizzles to an increasingly depressing, emotive and touching end, content wise bleeding dry the nitty gritty of Mac’s recent journey with drugs, depression, and musical madness. Fast forward to today, and Mac’s got a cash-induced glow about him coming off the heels of a $10 Million deal with Warner Brothers after being the indie-rap mascot for ages, he’s got a girlfriend, a cat, and on the very first song off his brand new album released just days ago, he declares, “I’m not saying that i’m sober, i’m just in a better place.” That place is the universe of GO:OD AM, his second full length studio effort that is his most crisp, lush, and polished record yet.
The title and theme touches on a few things, but mainly alludes to Mac being woke, following what one could assume to be one of the darkest periods of his life. Mac’s message is loud and clear on this one, that he’s awake and he’s ready to put his past behind him. We are lulled into a dream state with one of the prettiest, most serene Tyler, the Creator beats we’ve ever heard and Mac touching his lightest notes on ‘Doors’, which then spears right into the real intro and our first slapper on the record, ‘Brand Name’. It cleverly begins with the sound of an alarm clock, and trembles with a bouncy baseline until Mac unfolds it with bars about happiness, materialism, and his self-made nature.
The precedent for the sonics on this record have already been set—hugely vast, pure, and slamming instrumentals. If you’re searching for the dark, murky, sample heavy instrumentals of his producer-extraordinaire alter ego Larry Fisherman, you’ll be sorely discouraged—Mac doesn’t touch the boards on a single song on this album. Instead, he distances himself from his last group of projects all produced by him by reaching out to worthy replacements like ID Labs, DJ Dahi, FKi, THC and Christian Rich. This adds a refreshing diversity to the record, with softer, floating tracks like ‘ROS’ and ‘Ascension’ being able to seamlessly coexist with bruising bangers like ‘Cut the Check’ assisted by Chief Keef, and ‘When in Rome’. The former sees both Mac and the Chicago-drill legend rhyme with incredible precision and effectiveness, with one of Keef’s most audible, coherent and sensical verses yet.
The album is incredibly sobering and reflective while also playing the role of the major label debut. There is enough accessibility with tracks like a surefire pop favourite ‘Weekend’ with Miguel, and then there’s enough obscurity and bars within the cuts like the very based collaboration ‘Time Flies’ and ‘Two Matches’ with Ab-Soul. Mac is most impressive though when he attempts to incorporate this dichotomy on a single song, with a track like ‘Clubhouse’ being a perfect example. It’s catchy enough and repetitive enough to get stuck in a passerby’s ear, while also being satisfactory from a strictly lyrical perspective. Lead single ‘100 Grandkids’ plays a similar role with a theatrical introduction and a menacing beat switch as it turns into a polished trap banger before it fizzles out. While it’s not a continuation of the emotional vulnerability we were swept off our feet by in Faces or the obscure, drugged out psychedelic sound of Watching Movies, this album appropriately sounds like the hazy, half asleep raps of Mac’s recent projects have woken up with a sobering, caffeinated bounce.
GO:OD AM has a little bit of everything for everyone—it’s bouncy and airy enough to be set next to his bro-rap past, it’s not completely sober enough be removed from his last few psychedelic projects, and it’s refreshing enough to be a mark of progression for young Malcolm. It attacks fame, money and bitches with a rearview mirror outlook rather than being suffocated with his vices, and offers all kinds of variety with delicate ballads, gliding cloud-raps, and hints of Heatmakerz and Dipset charged bangers. Major label Mac is nothing to be afraid of—instead, it’s a pleasant surprise that Mac has been able to master the balance of pop relevancy and hip-hop credibility. This is Mac’s hardest right hook he’s ever thrown, and it’s definitely a knockout. For those still sleeping on Eazy Mac: It’s time to wake up and smell the damn coffee.
Juicy J’s staying power as a solo artist in hip-hop is due to three constants: instrumentals from the most exciting producers in the game, lyrics that never surprise yet masterfully cater to their audience, and a wholly drugged-out persona that ‘90s-born listeners continue to consume. Combined with his awareness to not oversaturate the scene with material (he’s only released 2 mixtapes since 2012), Juice is poised to keep his name as relevant as ever on 100% Juice.
The Early Registration 