It’s the 4th of July and it’s time to celebrate with good food, good music, and good people. We hope everyone out there has an amazing day and we want to do our part in spreading the love, so from the 4th until the 9th, everything, yes we mean everything, in the shop will be 40% off!
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JoinedJuly 18, 2016
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It’s a good listen (Drake doesn’t put out bad listens), but there’s a whole lot that I like on 'Scorpion' but almost nothing I loved. I don’t think I’ve ever skipped through a Drake project as much as I have here. There’s still quotables for days but you gotta get through a lot of uninspired filler to get to it.
Where as others have typically used these beats to glorify the streets and 'trap' life, Lecrae takes aim at talking about the perils of that lifestyle and advocating for a better and at the least different way. It's not as jarring as you'd expect it to be as he's very subtle in the messaging and the focus is more on the musicality of it all.
Post Traumatic is a commendable effort by Mike Shinoda and certainly a cathartic one for him but the actual music is nowhere near as compelling.
We're back and with special guest and artist/photographer/videographer Sara Meghdari (@szmeghdari). We discuss the difficulties of being a photographer in NYC, her first live public performance, which showed the very private act of covering and putting on her hijab, and recent art shows around the city. We continue with art news such as more interactive art exhibits popping up across the country, scents and smells being incorporated into exhibits and museums as it's own art form and to enhance or change the way we perceive art, and the world's first cryptocurrency art auction taking place. Then we close things out talking about Seasons 2 of 'Westworld' and 'Luke Cage', and the underappreciated 'Queen of the South.'
Phresher's got a nice flow and voice and at times uses it to great effect to really elevate a song, and the production is generally solid throughout, but 'PH' ultimately comes off as feeling like just another collection of nondescript bangers.
'K.T.S.E.' was much more soulful, chilled out, and low key than I would have ever imagined, and while she showed a level of true artistry I never knew she had and Ye's production was generally strong, I went through all 8 tracks still without getting a clear picture of who she was as an artist or a person, and it just didn't make that strong of a statement - despite it being a pleasant listen.
There's not much more that can be said about the tape other than if you love bars and you love the true essence of hip-hop which came from the heart and truly having something to say, then there's no reason you shouldn't be listening to this project as we speak. Black Thought & 9th Wonder are hip-hop to their core and the Vol. 1 implies that he's only just begun coming for his respect.
Check out some of the past weeks' most talked about and interesting music videos from Chris Brown, Florence + The Machine, Halsey, Ariana Grande Pusha T, Sam Smith, and more.
Sonically 'Everything Is Love' is as good as you'd expect from Beyoncé & Jay-Z but I don't think there's anything here that's mind-blowing or different than what we've heard from them before (mostly like throwaways from the 'Lemonade' and '4:44' sessions). 'Everything Is Love' doesn't push either one of them artistically but it answers a lot of questions and lives up to their high musical standards.
On 'Redemption' Jay Rock has clearly pulled out all the stops and it's resulted in his best, most complete project to date and a perfect pairing of his more traditional gangsta rap sensibilities and rap's more modern sounds. This is the definitive Rock album we've been waiting for and it stands tall even among this summer full of giants.
We are back and we are in the full blown midst of Yeezy season. But before we get into the new albums we discuss Drake apparently wanting no more smoke with Pusha T, then we get to 'ye' and 'Kids See Ghosts' and discuss where they stack up to everything Kanye's had a hand in putting out thus far. Specifically if 'ye' is his worst album yet? We give our expectations for the Nas album which had still yet to drop, talk about Jay Rock's best album yet full of bangers, and get hype over Jorja Smith's incredible debut. Check the full episode out above and tell us your thoughts, comments, and questions about the topics in the episode.
It's finally here! Drake's long awaited double-disc LP, 'Scorpion', is here and we give our track-by-track impressions and debate whether it lived up to the hype or not. But before that we talk a little music news with a bunch of lawsuits involving Coachella, Ed Sheeran, and Azealia Banks, and we discuss the recent passings of Joe Jackson and young up and coming Toronto rapper, Smoke Dawg.
If you know Freddie Gibbs then you already know his music is unapologetically hard, and 'Freddie' might be his hardest one yet. It's at the least, his most focused one. Only coming in at 10 tracks, there's not a moment, verse, or instrumental wasted.
Check out some of the past weeks' most talked about and interesting music videos from XXXTENTACION, Migos, Marshmello, Charli XCX, Paramore, Rick Ross, and more.
Everything Chromeo has to offer here is so shallow and devoid of any real soul that not even their varied array of guest features could do much to save it. All this album did was make me want to listen to some real funk.
Apollo Brown definitely coasted on this one and it showed. It'll still make the catalog because I still love a good Apollo Brown beat but 'No Question' is one of his weakest efforts yet.
If I didn't know better and I just heard Allan Kingdom's last two projects together, I would assume that 'Peanut Butter Prince' was the one that came earlier in his career; it's that much of a step back.
'Liberation' certainly feels like a more genuine representation of her true artistic self and there are a lot of moments of interesting forays into different sounds and genres. I would have liked to have heard more sounds in that direction but all in all, this is the most interesting I've found Christina Aguilera in a long time.
Check out some of this past weeks most talked about and interesting film trailers like Creed II, Dumbo, The Nun, The Grinch, Alpha, Welcome to Marwen, Equalizer 2, and more.
We're back and talking about the tragic news of XXXTENTACION's death at the young of 20 and the need for a mentality change in the culture and community at large. Then we touch on Nas' latest Kanye produced project, 'Nasir', and Beyoncé & Jay-Z's long rumored joint album, 'Everything Is Love.' We give our reactions and opinions and discuss if both projects lived up to the immense hype surrounding them.
Nas wastes no time in getting right to the issues as most of the album is about subjects he's been addressing for years even before this newfound 'wokeness' and the production, while done by Ye, still feels very true to Nas stylistically, not overly commercial but with a more substantial bounce and rhythm. After 6 years it still would have been nice to get more than 7 tracks from Nas but even in those 7 songs he's able to say a lot and leave a strong impression regardless.
Check out some of the past weeks' most talked about and interesting music videos from Drake, Jay Rock, Beyoncé & Jay-Z, Logic, Miguel, Chromeo, and more.
Despite 'so sad so sexy' running a bit tired, Lykke Li's voice still sounds fantastic on the somber backdrops and she's still puts out some massive choruses that are perfect for the festival rounds. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking from it.