For our first Musicphiles podcast of 2018 we have our very first guest on! Aspiring drummer/artist Jaron Lamar Davis stops by to talk about his upcoming eclectic alternative electric jazz hip-hop album called My View Through the Lense of Music and the process of creating his first album. As well as giving us a trained musician's point of view on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly and the increase of jazz, blues, and funk influences in hip-hop and 'urban' music in general. Then he joins us in listing our most anticipated albums (confirmed and rumored) of 2018.
Check out some of this weeks most talked about and interesting music videos from Imagine Dragons, J. Cole, Future, Ed Sheeran, Big Sean, and much more.
We talk about the recently announced Grammy nominations and place our bets on who will be the big winners of the night. We also discuss and rate the latest albums from J. Cole (4 Your Eyez Only), Ab-Soul (Do What Thou Wilt.), KiD CuDi (Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin'), The Weeknd (Starboy), A Tribe Called Quest (We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service), and more.
Check out some of this weeks most talked about and interesting music videos from J. Cole, Coldplay, Ab-Soul, and more.
Stars
Lute delivered a really well executed project full of those relatable every man raps and earnest music now synonymous with J. Cole's label Dreamville. However, I'm still not convinced that Lute has enough charisma and personality as a rapper to really leave a mark on music.
December was full of great moments for the culture. We had some highly anticipated and unexpected videos and albums from artists like J. Cole, Chris Brown, Childish Gambino, and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def). We also got some great trailers for Alien Covenant, Dunkirk, War for the Planet of the Apes, and more. We've highlighted some of the best drops over the month and now we're ready to crown the best album, movie trailer, and music video for the month of December.
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.
Choice: mankinds' single greatest, and most squandered gift. There is no greater ability a person has in this world than to choose. Millions have died for it, fought over it, and sought after it; this very country was founded in the name of it, and yet, in times where this gift is more available then ever, it seems to go to waste. To those who have it, it's become nothing, and to those who don't have it, it's everything.
The choices you make don't define who you are, but they definitely show a lot about your character. It's strange really, our fears of not having a choice have somehow turned into our fears of having to make a choice...
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