Like all of Wiz Khalifa's recent projects, 'Rolling Papers 2' has it's fair share of noteworthy moments, but that gap between the really good and the really bad is still wide as ever.
One Night Only is a project full of great vibes and catchy hooks but it still lacks much of the depth or out of the box creativity that will be needed to take his career to the next level.
Vince Staples' latest shows full love to west coast hip-hop and although extremely short, it delivers fully on its concept and gives us what would have been some fantastic summertime tunes. Great music nonetheless and a welcome return to his foundations.
A new titan on the UK rap scene, Nemzzz, drops "PTSD," a raw new single that speaks on how he uses his music as catharsis.
Continuing our collaboration with Axcess, we are happy to announce the title to his latest project coming out in 2016!...
BlocBoy JB's album is a safe project that triples down on everything that's gotten him to this point, but it still remains to be seen if he has what it takes to outlast his own dance craze.
Don't Smoke Rock came out of left field, but the unusual pairing between Rock and DZA created some real magic. DZA's unique, dreary flow really complements Rock's incredible samples and production, and their impressive list of features all deliver. Don't sleep on this one.
Rising rapper Kid Coffin is back with a hard-hitting new single titled "BLOODXDRUNK," full of heavy punchlines and knocking bass.
With "INNOV8!," L.A. rapper Nemesis lives up to the title of her single and brings old school rap up to modern times.
Made in 1993, 'CB4' was a consistently funny satire of the hip-hop music and culture of that specific era and likely Chris Rock's best movie he played a lead role in.
Swizz Beatz came with one of the biggest suprises of the fall, an unexpectedly versatile collection of songs that brings out the best of each and every guest feature. He's still got it.
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.
The soundscapes are as gorgeous as anything Kanye's put out in the last 3 years - lush, grim, and just sparse enough to let Pusha T run wild; and run wild he does. It's high-art coke rap and it's about as cinematic as you can get with music.
My general feeling after listening to the Migos' latest was that I heard this all before from them, and much better. Whereas Culture felt fresh and radical in it's trendsetting ways, Culture II feels regressive and safe. This time they're going to have a hard time distinguishing themselves from the many clones they've spawned over the years.
Prolific LA rapper Garrett Zoukis has shared his new single “Too Late,” a rap record driven by dark chords, 808s and bravado.
Tubi's catalog is stacked with just about every overlooked, forgotten, or possibly imaginary film to ever feature a rapper.
The Iceberg is yet another very strong release from Oddisee with some great sounding live instrumental hip-hop with a thoughtful, socially conscious message.
Throughout Western history, music has had a place in daily life - growing its foothold year after year. With the turn of each decade, music has turned as well. Perhaps in an effort to appeal to a developing society... Perhaps as an indicator of that same society's development...
Nerdcore stands as the net result of hip-hop + geek culture, bringing new sounds and perspectives to the table that the music industry may be on the verge of accepting into its mainstream spotlight.
1992 is a refreshing change up from The Game. Almost no features and limited name dropping. Not all the samples are put to proper use, but this may be bar-for-bar his best album in years.
Lil Pump's debut is as unnecessary a project as I predicted. A soulless collection of songs that are meant to be played at high levels. Nothing more, nothing less.
The highly anticipated compilation album, See You Next Year 2, has been released, recorded over 8 days at the famed Shangri-La studio.
"Bless Yo Trap" is a by the numbers 'SoundCloud rap' album that fails to produce anything really worth of note. When the bar of entry into this sub-genre is this low they were always bound to start cannibalizing each others' sound and fan base sooner than later.
Anderson .Paak is an undeniably talented artist but he doesn't always deliver on that potential. 'Oxnard' is a definite step up from his debut but it still can't fully shake that feeling of missing 'something.'