Kairi Chanel stands in stark contrast to the current sound dominating hip-hop. It's a refreshing throwback to a time when what you said mattered and expertly encompasses that traditional NY sound.
Cozy Tapes is everything that's made A$AP so popular in the first place. As a whole, it's their best sounding tape to date as they seem more confident and comfortable than ever. It's really Rocky and friends, with Ferg, Ant, and Nast only getting spots here and there, but it makes for a better flowing album.
The Divine Feminine is hands down my favorite album from Mac Miller. The jazz/soul infused production is phenomenal and creates his most cohesive sound to date. He sounds right at home rapping/singing about love, distance, and intimacy. He may have made a believer out of me.
We Got It From Here is about as close to musical perfection that you can get. Tribe manages to do the nearly impossible of being both nostalgic and modern at the same time. It's an absolute tour de force in all areas: production, lyrics, and guest features. Just wow!
It's been a long road to redemption for Charles Hamilton, but one monkey has been lifted off his back. His long awaited debut, Hamilton, Charles, didn't quite live up to the immense expectations, but it was a solid start. Full of bright, bouncy beats that evoke a feeling of hope and positivity; emotions that carry over to his still strong lyricism. His style and delivery however, you either love it or you hate it.
Do What Thou Wilt. is a step in the right direction for Ab-Soul. It features some of his best production and sharpest lyrics in some time. Even though there are still some baffling contradictions that I guess I'm just not "woke" enough to get.
We had a blast shooting our next video in our PRESENTS series with up and coming hip-hop artist, Axcess and we wanted to share a few shots from the sit down. Be on the look out for the video and article dropping soon.
Much to the ire of "old heads", 2016 was undeniably the rise of "mumble" rap, as more and more artists with little to no actual lyrical ability began to gain significant stature in the culture. But is this a sign of a new, less skilled direction for hip-hop? Or is it just a normal cycle that all genres of music go through?
The New Toronto 2 and Chixtape 4 are the exact follow ups I was looking for. He's a legit dual threat and he does it better than most others out there. I'm convinced; Tory Lanez is the real deal.
My expectations for Run the Jewels 3 were sky high after their first two projects and they delivered in every way possible. It's new age riot music that'll push any system to it's limits and they attack songs with such rage and ferocity that you have no choice but to pay attention. This has cemented them as one of the greatest duos to ever do it and this could easily go down as their magnum opus.
Flytrap was an unexpectedly dope album for me; fusing traditional East hip-hop with modern Southern influences to create some of the best modern East coast hip-hop I've heard in a while. Pro Era just might have their next breakout artist.
We are happy to announce that our friend and frequent collaborator, Axcess is finally dropping his long worked on project, Rebel Against Society. We think it really shows a lot of his growth as an artist and it's some of his best stuff to date as he raps about life, our society, and trying to create change. Give it a listen and download a copy for yourselves!
Dreamchasers 4 has lived up to all the hype leading up to it's release and you can feel the hunger in his voice. It's Meek at his best; getting off vicious bars over hard beats. Instead of getting into more distractions he finally did what he should have been doing all along; letting his music speak for itself.
Rage & the Machine is Buddens' most focused project to date. AraabMUZIK kills the production, with smooth soul sampling and hard drums, giving Joe the appropriate space to lay down his dense, layered lyrics. I gotta give it to Joe, he goes the f*ck in and it's pure concentrated dopeness.
Black America Again is angry, emotional, politically charged music that's unapologetically black. Basically, it's Common back to his roots, toeing the edge of being too heavy.
4 Your Eyez Only takes his recent minimalist approach a step too far. Aside from a few tracks, the production is heavily sedated and lacking anything memorable. If it wasn't for his immense ability to paint vivid pictures with his lyrics, it'd be a tough one to get all the way through .Ultimately, he's one of the most important hip-hop voices of this generation, but he struggled with meshing his message with interesting music.
Stoney is pure style over substance. Full of that "trill pop" sound he basically birthed, with mainly forgettable verses, but big, catchy hooks, and irresistible melodies. It's a solid debut that proves he's more than just "White Iverson."
Check out some of this weeks most talked about and interesting music videos from Future, Rae Sremmurd, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, and more.
Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin' is a very welcome return to form for Kid Cudi. It's full of all those big spacey synths, infectious bounces, atmospheric vibes, and irresistible melodies we've come to expect, while still managing to sound fresh and new. He's come to reclaim his throne as the vibe King.
Filthy America is the LOX's first album in over 15 years, and it sounds like it. They haven't lost a beat with their lyricism, and they still do street raps better than most, but their production did not age nearly as gracefully. The worst part of it all though is that this wouldn't have even been a good album back in their prime. I'm still left pondering about what could've been.
December 99th will undoubtedly infuriate some of his die hard fans, as there's few remnants of what used to be Mos Def. However, as an experimental album there are some very interesting pieces in here that are worth a listen to.
Axcess is an up and coming rapper out of the midwest and he sits down to talk with us about juggling teaching, coaching, and music; whether he'd take a state championship or a sold out concert, and bringing positivity to hip-hop through his music. He also discusses the current state of hip-hop, his influences growing up, and his upcoming mixtape, Rebel Against Society.
The Easy Truth is hip-hop in it's purest form with Apollo Brown taking us through a master class of producing and sampling, and Skyzoo taking each track through a lyrical exercise. It's a beautiful, refreshing album that shows exactly why Apollo Brown is one of my all-time favorites.
Friend of LLF and frequent collaborator, Axcess just released his very dope latest project Rebel Against Society, and to celebrate it's release he put on quite the show at the Reverb Lounge in Omaha, Nebraska. The whole affair was hosted by Doc Beatbox with DJ K-Dub on the boards, and featured guest appearances from Trevor Scott, Houdini, Meraki Skies, Greco, and K3rtis Montano. And we've got some great shots from the night.