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Overall Rating and Impression: 9/10

@Rap_Rankers Rating: 8/10

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The Life of Pablo is Kanye West’s 7th studio album. It was originally titled So Help Me God, then SWISH, and briefly WAVES.

Overall I found this album to have a somewhat rocky start, but definitely amped up and provided a great experience once it hit its stride through the end. It’s interesting to note that this album had multiple changes after its until release, it would be interesting to hear an initial release as well as hear the changes as the album evolved, but sadly I wasn’t listening to this when it first came out. 

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For me the first four songs gave this album a pretty strong start and provided the aesthetic and setup the themes for the album well. However for me the stretch of the five songs felt somewhat out of place and didn’t feel like they fit on this album. They’re not bad songs, but they definitely feel more experimental. The experimental aspect of the album was interesting enough and something I love about Kanye is how entertaining his music is to listen to. No two songs sound the same so you’re really getting a unique experience with every track. 

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I think the album really picks up at Waves and that’s where the album finds its groove for me. Everything from there on out feels pretty seamless and extremely enjoyable for me. There’s lots of highlights off of this album that it’s hard for me to just pick 3 I like for my playlist like I usually do, so I broke my rule and picked 4 out since they’re so diverse and different. 

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All in all I really enjoyed this album and the themes of family, love, and trust that we’re the most prevalent on the album. There’s lots of different sounds, vibes, and styles across the album which really showcases Kanye’s production ability which puts him on another level for me. I think the album opened perfectly and closed perfectly, and despite a few rocky songs along the way, it provided for a great listening experience that I’m sure I’ll return to. 

Personal Ranking:

1. No More Parties in LA
2. Ultralight Beam
3. Saint Pablo
4. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1
5. Famous
6. Real Friends
7. Waves
8. Fade
9. FML
10. 30 Hours
11. Wolves
12. Frank’s Track
13. Freestyle 4
14. Pt. 2
15. Facts (Charlie Heat Version)
16. Highlights 
17. Low Lights
18. Feedback
19. I Love Kanye
20. Silver Surfer (Interlude)

Adding to Playlist:

1. No More Parties In LA
2. Ultralight Beam
3. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1
4. Saint Pablo

Ultralight Beam kicks off the album with one of Kanyes best songs in his discography in my opinion. This song is about about his wavering faith in god, and how he’s trying to keep his faith but he’s looking for more. The minimalist production on the verse puts emphasis on the lyrics which I really liked. I absolutely loved the choir on the chorus and how soulful it makes the song. Kelly Price has an excellent verse that gives the song a strong backing soul, but ultimately Chance The Rapper steals the show with one of his reinvest verses in my opinion. This song is both beautiful and legendary and makes for a really great opener. 

Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 is another standout song on this album and another highpoint in Kanye’s discography for me. The intro has a somewhat intense intro and a major build up that leads to a drop into the pre chorus that is very rich and soulful. On the verse in this song Kanye starts by arguing with a girl and gets mad at her for really petty things. However he realizes nothing matters besides waking up with her in the morning which really sweet. This song is pretty short at only two minutes but has great production and stands out still. It also sets up the second part of this song which directly follows. 

Pt 2. continues the previous song with a sped up and even more intense production which lends to it being a lot harder. In this song Kanye talks about how he’s lost his soul ever since going to Hollywood and making it big. This song has a verse from Panda by Desiigner which is really strange, but it would maybe make more sense if that song didn’t come out. I can’t help but wonder why panda is on though. There’s then an abrupt switch in the last 30 seconds which includes a lone auto tuned voice which makes the track all the more strange. 

Famous is a song about what it’s like to be famous and the power than Kanye has to make others famous. This is a harder song with a gritty organ, and includes the infamous lime about making Taylor Swift famous. I assume this is a callback to the MTV VMAs where Kanye famously snatched the mic from Taylor that I’m sure everyone knows about at this point  The chorus is a lot softer and more heartfelt as we hear some singing, which is the followed up by the bridge which is a lot more bouncy which makes for interesting production. If there’s one thing Kanye never disappoints with, it’s the production. 

Feedback starts with feedback loops which Kanye somehow flips into a bit which is really interesting. This is a braggadocios song with four short verses. Some of the highlights include him talking about he’s the ghetto Oprah due to how much he gives back to the people, but instead of giving people gifts like Oprah does he gives out big booty bitches. He also speaks about how he opens his mouth at the wrong time which summarizes pretty well his public perception. Despite his intentions, he seems to have problems with communicating his ideas that often get lost in translation. 

Low Lights features an emotional slow piano and slap synths and is a religious testimony. The vocals are from a woman who talks about how god will make her life better someday despite all of the hard times that she’s going through. You have to wonder if she’s actually talking about God on this song, or if this is referring to Kanye and his ability to change peoples lives as he’s previously expressed. However with songs like Ultralight Beam which are religious, it’s not clear who this is actually a testimony to. 

Highlights brings out the braggadocio in Kanye with aiding about how he’s only making the highlights and only has highlights in his career with no dull moments. This song features heavy auto tune and a chorus with Young Thug. There’s a line in here about how he wants to watch himself have sex with a go pro which is really said nonchalantly but perfectly portrays Kanye’s narcissistic tendencies. “I bet me and Ray J would be friends if we ain’t love the same bitch” made me laugh as well and portrays something interesting with Kanye. The way that these lines are said doesn’t make it clear if these are punchlines that shouldn’t be taken too seriously, or if Kanye actually believes them. This mystery of Kanye is something that really draws me to his music and gives it replay value for me. 

Freestyle 4 starts with high pitched strings or synths and Kanye growling into the mic which gives it a very experimental sound. The topic of this song is about having sex with a prostitute and fucking anywhere and everywhere. It’s pretty well documented that Kanye is a self admitted sex addict and this song really showcases that. This is another strange track but it’s still good and despite the experimental production and strange lyrics it still slaps. The ending is the strangest part of the track as it spirals down and the beat self destructs into sounds that I can’t even begin to describe.  

I Love Kanye is an interlude about how people love the old Kanye and hate the new Kanye. This song is done a cappella and is a satire on how people criticize him. Despite how much people love the old Kanye so much, they’re still infatuated with him. 

Waves is another moment of amazing production and really stands out on the album. This song is about the different relationships in his life and is conveyed over two short verses. Kid Cudi has a humming section which always makes a song lore enjoyable as well. The sentiment that despite what happens he’ll be there in the morning for his lover is expressed similar to how it was in Father Stretch My Hands which starts to give a theme of love and loyalty to the album. 

FML develops the previous themes discussed as Kanye talks about staying faithful to his wife on this song despite temptations in his life. The title which refers to the phrase fuck my life is portrayed in this song by saying how his haters wish he’d fuck his life up and fall. This is one of the more introspective songs on the album and is paired with a low down production to give it an emotional tone. I really enjoyed the chorus from The Weeknd which gives it additional soul and backbone as well. In the outro he speaks on how people think that he’s not good for Kim and shouldn’t be with her, but they’re both solidly committed to each other no matter what anybody has to say about either of them. 

Real Friends is Kanye getting in his bag even more from the previous song as he talks about how he struggles with his family and friends. He says that there’s not many real people left, and that even he himself is the deadbeat cousin and doesn’t remember things like people’s birthdays. He says that he deserves what he gets since he’s always working and not spending enough time with the people that are important in his life. This is a pretty introspective look into his life and a sad track. Perhaps one of the more sad and desperate parts of this song is the part about how paid off a family member 250k not to release a sex tape on an old laptop he gave them. This shows where his trust issues come from in his life and how despite all of the success his accrued for himself, his life is still full of pressure and is nothing short of chaos in his personal life. 

Wolves makes heavy use of auto tune and Kanye talks about how he’s too wild now. While Kanye seemed to be spiraling due to pressures in his life in the previous song, this is Kanye at his lowest as he talks a lot about sadder but very human emotions. You can’t help but feel his pain in this song as he criticizes the way that he loves his life now and how he really hates himself for it. It ends by Kanye pledging his support to Kim despite her past including her sex tape with Ray J, and what she has to put up with the media and with himself. 

Franks Track is an alternate outro to Wolves since it has the same instrumental but didn’t make the cut. The recording seems more raw and unmastered, almost as if recorded through a phone or low quality microphone. I’m not sure why it isn’t on Wolves, but it would’ve made for a really beautiful outro. 

Silver Surfer (Interlude) is a phone call between Max B and French Montana and is pretty funny, I don’t want to attempt to summarize this one and instead urge you to listen to it yourself. 

30 Hours takes the ending of Wolves and amplified in thematically since Kanye is reflecting on a past relationship on this song. The title refers to how he drove 30 hours to see his ex in the past and all that he put into that relationship. However it doesn’t turn out well since the woman in the relationship doesn’t actually love him for him. Bringing out his ego Kanye asserts that she must have to agree that he gave her the best years of her life. This shows a pretty embittered Kanye which is pretty sad. The outro is very relaxed and just helps the beat ride out. This ending is kinda just talking over the beat and Kanye says that this is a bonus track and honestly feels like a logical ending to the album and has a last call sort of vibe. As it crawls on I could see the album ending here but as we can see it doesn’t and still has four more songs. 

No More Parties In LA keep the album going and is one of my favorite songs on the album. In this song Kanye and Kendrick both y’all about their frustrations with rich people, and Kanye specially talks about how he doesn’t want his girl to go to parties in LA since he knows what goes on there. This song has a long lyrical verse from Kendrick to start it off and is the best feature on the album in my opinion. There’s another long verse from Kanye to close it and bring it home which makes it a very impressive song. It has really great production from both Kanye and Madlib which are perhaps two of the best producers I’ve seen. The way the beat continues on and on and how they each ride it so well makes for a lyrical onslaught and barrage of bars on bars. 

Facts (Charlie Heat Version) slows down things a bit and brings back Kanye’s braggadocio. Kanye utilizes the Jumpman flow on this song and gives several nods to Drake as he largely talks about himself and his shoes on this song. This is a pretty hard track but doesn’t have the same entertaining qualities as the rest for me as much, but the punchlines are still funny and the verses are decent. 

Fade changes the vibes yet again and served as the original outro the album before it was changed in the future and Saint Pablo was added on. This is a total club song about how Kanye can feel his love fading away. This song has late night party vibes and a pretty fun production. Combined with the auto tune throughout and basic lyrics, it makes for a pretty interesting track. Post Malone is actually on this song for a bit as well for a brief bridge which is interesting and leads into a climax and drop in the music. This would be a pretty strange outro if this was the last song, so I’m glad he ended up adding another proper closer.  

Saint Pablo is another introspective song about his insecurities. In this song he reveals that despite all of the wealth it appears he has, he’s actually in debt. Adding onto his thoughts earlier about being the ghetto Oprah, he talks about how he still gave people money when he was broke and has trouble saying no to people. This makes more sense for being a ghetto Oprah since he’s giving out money rather than big booty bitches. This song sort of shows how he started out more delusional but slowly grew to accept his problems and understand that he had to change. He also talks about how he’s been going crazy on twitter and talks about the media. This song makes for a very good closer since it makes you feel for Kanye due to how well he describes it all and seems to capture the sentiments that were previously lost in translation and he couldn’t seem to describe to people. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 7.25/10

Bandana is Freddie Gibbs & Madlib’s second collaborative project, released on June 28, 2019

Since this album just dropped today, I thought it was only right to put out a review today and let y’all know my initial thoughts on it. A decent amount of people asked me to review this, and from what I’ve seen it has been generally well received. 

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I liked this album enough, but for me personally there’s just something missing that would otherwise make it stand out. For me the production isn’t anything super special or spectacular, although it was good and featured some interesting aspects and beat switches to keep songs fresh. I did like the lyricism to a certain extent since there are beefy verses with a lot of content. However I don’t feel like what he’s doing with his words is enough for me personally or anything special as well. I’ve heard a fair amount of people say this is AOTY so far, but honestly this album really didn’t invoke any range of emotions from me so for me at least I can’t say this is a contender for AOTY. I think if you’re into older, more 90s style rap then you’ll like this album, but I really don’t see this album having the mass appeal factor that would make it an AOTY contender. 

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A lot of the tracks are smooth and provide something nice to kick back to, and I did find it fairly enjoyable to listen to, so for me this is a light to decent 7 as I feel it’s above average in the general scope of music, but doesn’t push any barriers or do anything interesting to really catch my eye. 

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One line that did catch my eye and ear though was about how vaccines are poison, so I do have to condemn Freddie for being anti vax and being a hypocrite since he apparently sold a variety of drugs but also won’t vaccinate his kids for deadly diseases. So Freddie, I’m sorry, but you’re a fucking idiot man. That doesn’t affect my opinion of his music at all, but it’s still just not quite my style. If this is AOTY for you I’m glad, but it’s just kinda slightly above average for me. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Cataracts 
2. Crime Pays
3. Education (ft. Yasiin Bey & Black Thought)
4. Giannis (ft. Anderson .Paak)
5. Freestyle Shit
6. Half Manne Half Cocaine
7. Flat Tummy Tea
8. Palmolive (ft. Pusha T & Killer Mike)
9. Fake Names
10. Soul Right
11. Gat Damn
12. Massage Seats
13. Situations 
14. Practice
15. Obrigado 

Adding to Playlist:

1. Cataracts 
2. Crime Pays
3. Education (ft. Yasiin Bey & Black Thought)

Obrigado is the first song off of Bandana and is Portuguese for thank you. In this 30 second intro we hear a man speaking broken English that hypes up the album and gets us ready for the album. 

Freestyle Shit is the first true song off of the album and focuses mostly on dope dealing and Freddie’s musical career. This song contains a very smooth, somewhat jazzy production. I’m not really a big fan of including fake vinyl crackling on a track so I found it somewhat distracting or even a bit tacky, but this is still a decent song. 

Half Manne Half Cocaine is split into two halves, with the first half being about sex and riches. Freddie’s voice seems a bit far back in the mix and the fake vinyl crackling is back a bit which I wasn’t a fan of mixing wise. Around halfway through we get a beat switch which ends the Half Manne side of the song and introduces the cocaine side. This beat is more delusional sounding and spiraling. Paired with this is a harder flow where we hear about his life of selling cocaine and other aspects of drug dealing and street life for the rest of the song. 

Crime Pays is one of the smoothest cuts on the album and is upbeat yet still relaxed which gives it some unique vibes. As the title suggests this song is about how crime pays, specifically selling cocaine as we heard about in the last song. I enjoyed the quick flow in the second verse and overall how Freddie rides the beat very well on this song. 

Massage Seats brings the albums vibe down a bit with a very bare beat which puts all of the focus on the vocals. In this song he talks again about selling cocaine in his car with massage seats as the title implies. This is the third song in a row about selling cocaine. This song just wasn’t my style despite the good bars from Freddie. Something just feels off about this one which is an issue I feel throughout the album. The beat just doesn’t go with the vocals and something feels wrong mixing wise. 

Palmolive is one of the few songs on here with a feature, and widely takes shots at Trump to start it off. What we learn in this song is that Freddie Gibbs is anti vax which is pretty stupid and admittedly made me not like this song as much since he’s so incredibly wrong. This continues the three previous songs themes about selling cocaine, and its only right they have Pusha T on here since he always talks about selling cocaine. The fake crackling is back again, the beat is a bit distracting, and the vocals feel mixed wrong again which makes me disappointed as I think this song and album could’ve been more. 

Fake Names takes a break from talking about selling cocaine and instead focuses on street life. This lifestyle is such that he and his homies have to use fake names in order to operate so they don’t get caught. Instead of glorifying a life of crime, he talks about how scarring murder is, and how he’s been through hell which is anything but glorious. There’s a beat switch into the second verse which makes the track a lot lighter since it started as a more creeping style. This is a very Madlib type switch which makes the production interesting. 

Flat Tummy Tea is a lot more uptempo but still dark and grimy. In this song Freddie talks about slavery, social inequalities, and the bad aspects of street life in the first verse. His flow is pretty impressive but I would’ve liked it mixed forward more which is true for a lot of the songs. Similar to the last song there’s a beat switch for the second verse where he talks more about social issues, incarceration, and addiction. 

Situations is a slower jam where he talks about what he represents. In this song he tells a story about a graphic murder, as well as the story of why he is the way he is. The different situations he’s been through in his life are what shaped him and he makes it clear that he doesn’t care what people think about him. Despite what people think he’s focused on doing what makes him happy which is a nice sentiment. 

Giannis is the second song with a feature and includes Anderson .Paak. In this song Freddie starts by talking about how the music industry is fake and his past success. Moving on from this Paak provides a smooth bridge which fits really well with the production. Freddie takes a pays homage to Wayne with a line about how real Gs move in silence like Giannis which I thought was pretty funny and puts a modern spin on the classic line. Paak talks about cocaine on his verse and how it helped him so much in life whether it be paying bills or spending it on luxury. However, it seems that dealing cocaine might have been too dangerous as he notes that he moved to California to deal weed at some point in his life. 

Practice really changes things up with a very slow, ballad style song. In this he talks about his infidelity and inability to stay faithful in his relationship. Beyond this we also hear more about his life of selling and smoking dope. However again instead of glorifying this, he talks about how it fucked him up and left him with regrets. His major regrets however are due to his cheating which he doesn’t glorify either since he feels terrible about it mostly due to having a daughter and not wanting to ruin his family life. 

Cataracts is another smooth cut on here where he talks a bit about his Cadillac, guns, and stories from his life in the street. He notes that smoking weed helps his cataracts, but I doubt that Freddie actually has cataracts at his age. I liked the fast flow and the beat switch into the third verse which make the song more engaging and entertaining. 

Gat Damn is a song about how all of his friends are either in prison or dead. This song has a very quiet, laid back beat which places emphasis on the vocals. He talks about how he used to dream about success, but the means he was using to gain success such as selling cocaine isn’t something that he wants to keep up with since it’s proved to be something that out all of his friends in jail and surely would end up happening to him. His half singing flow on the chorus just doesn’t work for me on this song since it’s just not good, but I can appreciate Freddie trying to do something different on this one. 

Education is the final song with features on the album which puts on Mos Def and Black Thought. This song is more soulful and mixes the vocals to be somewhat distorted and brings back the vinyl crackling but not to the extreme effect as previously used. This is one song where I really enjoyed the older style vibes and really liked the flows and delivery that everyone came with. The piano loops throughout add an ominous tone to the song especially when mixed with the breathy choir like vocals in the back. 

Soul Right closes out the album with the epitome of what he’s been talking about on the album really. Throughout he’s been talking about how he’s been struggling his whole life and resorted to selling cocaine. However as we’ve heard, he doesn’t like this lifestyle and wants to get out of it. The theme of this song is asking the lord for repentance and hoping that he’ll get his soul right at the end of the day. This makes for a pretty good closer and wraps up and summarizes a lot of the main themes. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 9/10

SATURATION–sometimes referred to as SATURATION I–is the debut album by all-American boy band BROCKHAMPTON, released on June 9, 2017.

For me this album feels all over the place in the best way possible, and there really wasn’t a single song that I didn’t like. Seeing how big of a group member wise they are, I wasn’t too sure coming in what to expect. I’ve only reviewed one group album before this which was Escape From New York by Beast Coast. I was curious what Brockhampton, a self proclaimed boyband, had to offer. 

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There are many different sounds on this album which make it a somewhat mixed bag, but there were still general themes such as self acceptance, improvement, and change throughout. There’s visceral, aggressive cuts like HEAT, and then there’s more relaxed and what sounds somewhat pop and alt influenced songs like FACE. I enjoy a ton of different music, so I always find it to be a treat when you get so many different sounds on an album since it makes it more engaging and interesting to listen to personally. 

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One of my favorite songs on here has to be BUMP where you have the same aggressive and very in your face style as HEAT, but the chorus is utterly different and is super relaxed and happy. Sonically this track is super interesting to me and hardly something you hear often. The only thing close to this with terms of aggressive verse and soft chorus format would be Black Metal Terrorist by Denzel Curry. Another song that shows their creativity and depth is FAKE. All of their voices are pitched up in this song to show how fake the music industry is as they talk about exactly that. It’s the small creative things on here that really make it enjoyable for me. 

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All in all this album feels very well crafted and put together. It has everything that I enjoy in album sonically, and the experimental, alt, rock, sometimes R&B influences make it all the more interesting to listen to. I feel good about calling this album a 9, and it’s certainly impressive for a debut album. I have high hopes for the other 2 albums in this trilogy, and can’t wait to hear them in the future. 

Personal Ranking:

1. HEAT
2. BUMP
3. STAR
4. FAKE
5. MILK
6. GOLD
7. CASH
8. BANK
9. WASTE
10. TRIP
11. FACE
12. BOYS
13. SWIM
14. SKIT 3
15. SKIT 2
16. SKIT 1
17. 2PAC

Adding to Playlist:

1. HEAT
2. BUMP
3. FAKE

HEAT is the opening track for their debut album and sets an aggressive tone early with a very in your face bass line. This song is full of verses about indulging in a life full of pleasure which includes the likes of having sex with centerfolds. Beyond this the hook also establishes how they don’t like the cops, and is very angry by including bits with pure yelling. With all of this combined you get a more alt feel from the music which sets it apart from a lot of the music you hear nowadays. 

GOLD switches directions from the opener and is a lot more chilled out. This song features Kevin Abstract on the hook who immediately reminded me of Childish Gambino in his voice and delivery. The hook talks about how they keep hold chains on their necks, and overall this song has a really nice and smooth production. This track makes for pretty easy listening and maintains the alt feel with beat selection. 

STAR is another track with a deep backing bass and low synth tones. The topic of this song is all about their desire to be famous and be a star. This song is centered around lyrical flexes about a ton of different stars from actors to athletes. It’s really impressive how many names they use in this and the amount of references they pack in. Not only do they name the celebrities but they also include  something they’re known for in the line in a subtle way which makes every line interesting to listen to. There’s so much going on that it’s impossible to catch it all in one listen so it demand multiple listens. 

BOYS is the most boyband sounding song due to the layering of vocals, yet they establish how they’re not a boy band despite clarifying themselves as one on multiple occasions. The bridge has a interesting poppy ear to ear mix where every syllable is stuttered and places a lot of emphasis on them. To me that’s the most interesting part of the track, but overall this is another enjoyable track and has a very low key and smooth instrumental. 

2PAC is an interlude track that introduces the use of highly pitched vocals. On this shirt song Ameer talks about how he misses the innocence of his childhood. I liked how the pitched vocal connects to him talking about his childhood just as a child’s voice is higher. These little details are what make this project so interesting to listen to. 

SKIT 1 is the first skit on the album where an interview scenario is setup. A question is asked and the response is in Spanish is that he just destroyed a house and you’ll never see him again. This is very ominous, especially since it’s in Spanish and not something you pick up on right away until you look into it unless you speak Spanish. This format will return in the other skits on the album. 

FAKE is a song that calls out the music industry about how they won’t let artists say what they want. In this song all of their voices are distorted and pitched in some way which emphasizes how fake they have to be to get their music published. Building on this, a lot of what they actually say pokes fun at common rap topics which come across as played out and fake. However this ends by them asserting that they won’t sugar coat lyrics regardless. The final verse is one where they do say what they want, but in the back a voice is constantly saying “don’t say that”. I really liked the creativity of this song and think it accurately portrays the music industry in this aspect. 

BANK is a song about how their lives have changed after moving from Houston to California. This song has more tropical vibes due to the wooden and hollow drum beats. Kevin talks about how he’s addicted to writing things that make people scared of him and his crew which is a pretty funny topic for his verse, and overall this yet another smooth track. At this point in the album I was really impressed with the variety of beats that are used on this project and it makes you appreciate the time and effort that went into this project. 

SKIT 2 is the next skit where the question of “who are you?” is posed. In Spanish the man responds “I don’t think anyone will remember be after I kill my self tonight” which is said totally nonchalantly and is rather chilling. 

TRIP answers the question posed in the skit by saying that today they will be whoever they want to be. That gives the song a positive tone about being yourself. This song has a nice, friendly pop style instrumental and includes serenading auto tune at times which makes it very easy to listen to. 

SWIM further shows the beat diversity by using an alt rock ballad style for this song. The topic of this song is focused on their love lives and ultimately accepting the past for what it is and looking forward to the future. They note that the past is perfect even though it was rough which is a positive sentiment and expresses a growth mindset. 

BUMP is a complete 180 from the relaxed alt style of the last song and starts with a deep bass and aggressive style. However, there’s a stark contrast to this style on the refrain where it switches to a much smoother relaxed beat where they sing “when it all ends, at least I’ll have a reason to live”. However it switches back to the aggressive style using a scream to go back into the verse. This song focuses on how reckless they live and this song is pretty crazy production wise and is unlike anything I’ve heard really. The switches make it really unique and the catchy chorus makes it something that you can sing along to. 

CASH slows down the album yet again by introducing an acoustic guitar. The topics tackled in this song are mostly social issues such as homophobia, racism, and violence. Over the course of this song we get four short verses which have a very “me against the world” vibe to it. Society is fucked up and won’t let them be themselves due to standards that they don’t meet. The beat to this song is really infectious and the introduction of a deeper bass on the hook gives you something to nod to and really get into. 

SKIT 3 starts to question their lives in society where the man speaking in Spanish talks about how he doesn’t know your place in the world, doesn’t know who his friends are, and how he feels like he doesn’t belong. 

MILK is setup by the skit and focuses on the topics of changing over time and the acceptance of yourself that is required to move on. The hook features sing song vocals about how he needs to be better at being himself but it’s hard for him. Through all this they end up turning to drug abuse to feel better and less alone. This song kind of has a teen angst vibe but is still widely enjoyable. I liked the outro the most since it’s a pretty emotionally raw spoken word piece about how it feels like your world is falling apart sometimes but you’re right where you need to be. 

FACE slows things down yet again with a really smooth and soothing production. In this song they sing about lost love and pain and how they just wants to love someone. This song gives me mid to late 2000s vibes somewhat and reminds me of summer love in a way since it doesn’t last and is fleeting. Although I have this song towards the middle of my ranking I still really enjoy this song and think the summer vibes it gives are unmatched on this album. 

WASTE is the final song on the album and is the curiously the only song that isn’t four letters long. This song definitely has alt rock influences and is a slow jamming ballad. Honestly this is just an alt rock song and I wouldn’t classify it as a rap song since there’s actually no rapping. It’s very calm and relaxing and gives me some Frank Ocean vibes. It makes for a really nice closer and a piece of music that you can close your eyes to and enjoy. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 9.25/10

Blue Slide Park is the debut studio album by Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, released on November 8, 2011, by Rostrum Records.

Apparently this album had pretty mixed and generally poor reception from critics and fans alike when it was first released in 2011, and that honestly shocks me because I found this album to be incredibly enjoyable. I can easily see this being an album that I can return to in the future and enjoy. 

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While it’s not a lyrical masterpiece, there wasn’t a single song on here that wasn’t enjoyable to me. I thought it had a good concept where you start off on English Lane and you’re taken through a geographic music experience as you make your way around town and see what Mac sees. A lot of the songs are very fun and infectious, it almost feels like 2011’s Die Lit if that makes sense because it’s all about having fun and you don’t have to focus on the lyrics too hard. It’s not a grand master work like TPAB, but it’s not trying to be something like that, he’s just trying to have fun with it and I found that it was done very successfully. 

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I think this is an incredible debut album and really shows his versatility within this album itself, and as an artist as a whole. None of the songs sound the same yet there’s a sense of wholeness. It’s very interesting to look back at where he was in 2011 and see how changed all the way up to his final album Swimming. Of course Swimming is a lot more refined, but this was the start of his career and I think shows a more untainted Mac Miller. Lines like “Life’s so good, please enjoy it!” are haunting when compared to some lines off of Faces where he explicitly talks about suicide and how he thinks the final song on that mixtape would be the last song he ever put out.

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 I don’t know if my infatuation with Mac as an artist makes this a higher ranking, but something about him is just so interesting to me and makes me want to dive into his whole discography and really see who Mac Miller is as an artist, and as a person. All in all I don’t know if this album is still poorly received, but I sure hope people can come back to this 2011 debut album and find something as enjoyable off of it as I did. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Under The Weather
2. PA Nights
3. Frick Park Market
4. One Last Thing
5. Diamonds And Gold
6. Smile Back
7. Party On 5th Ave. 
8. Up All Night
9. Missed Calls
10. My Team
11. Of The Soul
12. Blue Slide Park
13. Loitering 
14. Hole In My Pocket
15. English Lane

Adding to Playlist:

1. Under The Weather
2. PA Nights 
3. Frick Park Market

English Lane starts the album by setting the scene. In the arc of the story were taken down an alleyway that leads to blue slide park. We’re walking into the park and can hear children playing. The few lyrics on this song Mac says that he wants to go to blue slide park since it feels like home. This is the perfect opener to the album and I love how the tracks really take you on a geographic journey. In the day, this song would be the morning. 

Blue Slide Park is our first destination where Mac raps over a boom bap beat about his success mostly. This is the start of his career in the limelight and I love the lyricism he comes with as he flows smoothly over a single long verse. He really captures the vibe of what Blue Slide Park is to him here. In the day, this would late morning and where we stay for a decent portion of the day. 

Party On 5th Ave. is the next song where we exit the park and what on down to 5th Ave. The purpose of this song is to bridges the gap between the old and new generation. He does this by taking an older sample with heavy saxophone and flips it into a more modern beta which makes for a very fun song. The point of day in this song would be later afternoon/early evening as we’re taken to a party. 

PA Nights would be the point where it’s late into the party and the night. In this song Mac opens up about emotions he hasn’t touched before. This is one of the deeper tracks where he talks about how he’s thankful for life. Perhaps he’s able to finally talk about this feelings after getting drunk at the party on 5th Ave. This song makes me sad even though it’s a very hopeful track because it shows where his thoughts were, yet we know how it all ended. 

Frick Park Market takes place the morning after the party I assume. The distorted slap synths give a sense of a hangover which would fit well into the narrative. On this song he takes you on an adventure down to Frick Park Market. I think it’s safe to assume that this would take place on a Saturday if the party was on Friday. I really loved this song and thought instrumental is great, his flow is great, and the lyrics are great which make for a super enjoyable song. 

Smile Back is a bit more of an aggressive song where I imagine Mac is back home after going to the market and he’s addressing his haters on social media or the Ellie’s. He really attacks the beat and stands up to the haters on this song and has dominant guitar chords that I loved. Despite all the shit they talk he simply throws his success back in their face and smiles back. 

Under The Weather is perhaps the opposite of smile back since Mac now feels under the weather as he starts to consider his new life. In his own words he was getting more musical on this album and wanted to use a more full sound. The theme of this song is that being famous ain’t shit since you could have the world in the palm of your hand but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t change it. This shows all of the pressure that he feels under, yet he notes that it’s all going to be okay at the end of the day. This song has a very late night vibe so I picture this taking place Saturday night. 

Of The Soul is the next song, and I imagine it takes place on a Sunday due to the title referring to his soul but that’s all speculation. The purpose of this song is to make the listener focus on the album and listening to what he’s saying since he flows over three beefy verses. This words almost feel like a type of confessional which would make sense for taking place on a Sunday. 

My Team is about his coming up with his team and how important they are to him. Since we know all about him, he wants you to come meet his team now. I thought it was nice how he shouts them all out and shows how much he appreciates them. In the course of the day, I’d assume this is still a Sunday and he would be back wherever with his team at some point during the day. 

Up All Night is an absolute party anthem which we could assume takes place on Sunday night and I could see this as showing how despite it’s a Sunday he doesn’t have to worry about Monday since he can now do whatever he wants. Mac plays guitar on this song and notes in an interview that it is supposed to have a Ramones style beat and it really does since it’s a sort of frat rap/rock song. , “Life’s so good, please enjoy it!” Is a heartbreaking line again since we know how his life ended. It really shows his innocence at the start of his career. This is such a fun song and I really would’ve loved to see this live. 

Loitering is the next song and embodies the concept of being in a park after dark and loitering or just chilling. This song definitely late night vibe so we could assume that this is still Sunday night or the very early hours of Monday morning after his party in the previous song. This song is performed using his alter ego Cam Rellim which is his name backwards and contains some funny punchlines. 

Hole In My Pocket is an instrumental, Interlude where Mac notes in an interview that it was originally a song but the sample didn’t get cleared. This song brings back the intro music to reset the scene for the most important part of the album as he puts it. 

Diamonds and Gold begins the most important part of the story in Macs eyes and really ends the geographic journey we’ve been taken on so far. In this song he tells the story of a girl who knows what she wants and doesn’t care what people think about her. It’s a very empowering song which I liked. I absolutely loved the production which is somewhat quiet with the use of various synths and bell sounds that give it a late night vibe. The big point of this song is that she needs to be careful who she lets in to her life since she’ll be successful and they’ll try and prey on her. 

Missed Calls is a conversation between a guy and a girl and focuses on the struggle of their relationship and the pressures that are put on it when you’re following your dreams. This song has a sad and sweet instrumental which embodies the topic perfectly. I really loved the hook and the personal look into what we can assume is his own life at this point in time. He was being launched into stardom and really had to say goodbye to a lot of the old things in his life including certain people. 

Man In The Hat is the beginning of the end which Mac describes as a round of applause at the end of the show. This song tells the story of a man that’s out of touch with this generation, and represents Mac himself. This feels like the logical outro for the album since it’s very triumphant and feels like the credits rolling somewhat. I liked his speedy flow and his display of lyricism and excitement at this point in his career. You can’t help but smile during this song since it’s so happy and you can feel Mac smiling back. 

One Last Thing is the true final song and brings the album to a slower close. The purpose of this song is that at the end of the day he can rap his ass off no matter what people say. He’s leaving it all out on display in this song and wants to go out with a bang. I enjoyed the deep, heavy production as we hear about how he wants to go back home which is what the album represents. It’s a pretty sad but sweet reflection on his life and the concept of this album, but I’m glad it makes you think back on it all and appreciate it. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 5.75/10

TrapStar Turnt PopStar is PnB Rock’s sophomore studio album, following the release of 2017’s Catch These Vibes

Coming into this album I thought this was a cool concept that would be interesting to see explored. I really liked the cover art and the idea that the first 9 songs would be more about trapping and street life, and then the second half would be his life more as a pop star and a more emotional side. 

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This is more or less what the album is, but for me the problem is that it sounds more or less like two songs throughout. One song on the trap star side, and one song on the pop star side. I say this because the songs on each side sound incredibly similar to one another to the point that it distracted me from his topic somewhat. The production on both sides were alright, but the lyricism and flows are pretty basic and I found them to be a bit boring at times. 

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On the first half we hear about typical rapper things like money and women, with little to nothing new to offer from his unique perspective. There’s nothing here for me that makes him standout besides the production which honestly makes the songs for me a lot of the time. The pop star side is equally as cliche and pretty bland to me as we hear about this girl that he’s in love with but of course she’s with someone else and this puts him in a tough spot emotionally. It was somewhat interesting that stylistically the second half has a somewhat different sound where you get more typical pop song productions and the first half you get your typical low down, relaxed, Juice WRLD/A Boogie style beats.

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 All in all no songs really jumped out at me as being particularly innovative, exciting, or all that interesting to listen to due to how respective it felt. I feel like this project was somewhat lazy lyrically, but holds up as somewhat enjoyable at times due to the production. The only time I could really see myself listening to it in full again would be as background music. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Fuck Up The City (ft. Mally Mall & Quavo)
2. Nowadays
3. I Need More
4. I Like Girls (ft. Lil Skies)
5. Stage Fright
6. Now Or Never 2.0
7. Deez Streetz (ft. Lil Durk)
8. Go To Mars (ft. Tee Grizzly)
9. All These Bandz (ft. Tory Lanez)
10. Dreamin’ 
11. Put You On (ft. A Boogie Wit da Hoodie)
12. MIDDLE CHILD (ft. XXXTENTACION)
13. How It Feels
14. ABCD (Friend Zone)
15. My Ex
16. Penny Proud
17. Choosin
18. Swervin’ (ft. Diplo)

Adding to Playlist:

1. Fuck Up The City (ft. Mally Mall & Quavo)
2. Nowadays

Dreamin’- starts the album off with a pretty laid back and synth heavy production where he talks about how his life seems like a dream. Overall this song is a pretty average trap song where his ad libs kinda sound like Travis Scott, his flow can be a bit off at times, and nothing too in depth is discussed besides his lavish life.

I Need More is a song about how he can do better for this girl that he’s chasing than her man can do. What he can do better revolves mainly around his wealth and sexual prowess which isn’t exactly enticing and shows the kind of relationship that he’s looking for. The main idea of this song is that he always needs more in his life which would make sense why he just treats this girl like an object. Besides that this song is pretty smooth and makes for good background music.

Deez Streetz continues the trap side of this album where he talks about street life and social media. His topics here revolve mostly about the stupid things people do for both the street and for social media, but at this point in the album I was getting pretty tired of his auto crooning vocals and thought it was getting a bit repetitive at this point which is disappointing since it’s only the third song. The Lil Durk feature livens things up a bit and gives a nice change of pace, but it’s not an especially impressive feature that saves the track or anything.

Go To Mars is your run of the mill trap song where PnB sings and raps about how he and his friends are going to get so high they might go to mars. At this point we’re four songs deep and he hasn’t really showcased anything particularly interesting or expressive. All we hear about is basic rapper topics such as money, sex, drugs, and cars. I liked the Tee Grizzly verse which made it a bit more interesting, but it just gets boring. I don’t know if he’s trying to expose how boring trap music can be by making this the trapstar side of the album, or if he thinks this is genuinely good. I personally do not see the appeal here.

Penny Proud slows things down slightly and we know hear about his money and success but in a mostly lower pitched auto tune style. We hear a lot more rap cliches in this song which makes it pretty boring. The whole “I have a gun but I’m not a killer, but also don’t tempt me because I’m not afraid to shoot you” is so played out at this point that I can’t help but roll my eyes when I hear it.

MIDDLE CHILD significantly slows down the album yet again as we hear about his childhood and his come up. This track features XXXTENTACION which is an interesting choice since he’s not known for making this style of trap music. Again, however, the auto crooning is pretty repetitive and annoying and hearing X sing in this way isn’t at all compelling.

Fuck Up The City features Quavo who introduces the track by saying that he’s going to pull up and fuck up the city. I thought this was one of the better features on the album and this sounds more like a Quavo song than a PnB song since his verse is first which is an odd choice. Usually you don’t have the guest artist’s verse first to allow you to set the tone for your own song. The reason I think this is the best song on the album might be because it sounds more like a Quavo song which is pretty sad considering this is a PnB album and he should be the main attraction.

Nowadays is another slower song that sort of sets in place some tropical vibes as we hear about how his dad was never home, his mom sold crack, and how he was in and out of shelters as a kid. This is one of the more catchy songs and has decent story telling since the lyrics don’t exclusively revolve around egotistical topics, but they are touched upon and aren’t left out entirely.

Now or Never 2.0 marks the end of the the trapstar part of the album and moves us into the popstar back half. This song is a remix of Now Or Never which is an interesting choice to signal the second half of your album and theme. This song is a tribute to his friend that died which is more touching and we also hear about the loneliness that ensues due to this. This sort of sets up that we’ll be in for more introspective cuts on this side of the album, but that doesn’t exactly end up happening as we’ll see and hear.

Swervin’ is a slow song with shiny synths performed in a ballad style. This song feels pretty formulaic and boring since all he really does is repeat the chorus more than anyone needs to hear and only has one short verse. This is one of the more boring songs on the album and feels entirely one dimensional.

I Like Girls is a song where he talks about the type of girls that he likes. While you probably have an idea of the type of girls he’s into from previous songs, PnB shakes things up and says that he likes girls who like girls. I don’t know why he likes lesbian or bisexual girls, but this is probably just a lust filled fantasy for him and he just wants stereo typically hot girls and it doesn’t matter if they’re into him. Lil Skies fits pretty well on here since he has a similar style but is a little more energetic which is nice. It’s also a brief break from PnB’s voice which is sadly welcomed at this point in the album.

All These Bandz is surpisingly not one of the worst songs on here in my opinion which I thought it might be since it’s of course just all abut money. This song ends up being pretty catchy and places towards the middle for me ranking wise in this sub par album, so it’s not a great or really even a good song in my eyes. It’s a boring played out topic but at least the instrumental is nice.

Put You On is a song where PnB really pours his heart out to this girl and says that he could put you on. This refers to his lifestyle that he wants to share with this girl. He say’s he really loves her and proves it by sending dick pics apparently which we all know is the ultimate form of flattery. This really just shows again how all of his ideas of love are actually just lust. Despite saying how much he wants this girl he also says that she shouldn’t want him because he’s a heartbreaker. I wouldn’t doubt that since he seems to lure girls in by saying he’s interested and then kicks them to the curb after having sex with them which is really shitty.

Stage Fright is another somewhat backwards love song where he sings about how he can sing to 30,000 people but this girl gives him stage fright. This is a pretty basic pop/rap song that gets pretty boring and feels disingenuous and totally dishonest. At the end he has the added vocal snippet of him saying “that shit was hard” which actually made me laugh because this song is utterly soft and the opposite of hard. I’d say that maybe he’s referring to it being hard for him to share his emotions, but based on previous songs this totally isn’t true which makes this song ridiculous.

Choosin is another run of the mill song where the topic revolves around how she’s the one he’s choosing. This really plays into his mentality of having enough girls to choose from that he can have any girl he wants, and really contradicts the last song. He makes it seem like he’s totally comfortable around this girl so there’s no need for him to be nervous. Maybe in a way it works in connection with Stage Fright, but it’s put together in a way that just isn’t compelling and I’m not interested enough to read into it.

My Ex changes topics where instead of talking about all the new girls he wants, he takes a moment to talk about his ex. This is a slower where he sings about how the only thing she wanted from him was sex and money. I’d almost feel bad for him since this is pretty sad if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s been singing about wanting girls for sex and people to share his money with. This is literally what he’s been offering to girls so why is he so upset that that’s what she got from him. This is yet another moment that feels dishonest and just bullshit to appeal to people.

ABCD (Friend Zone) piggy backs on My Ex and his about trust issues that seemingly stem from this relationship. This song has a very short verse and is chorus heavy which makes for a very simple pop song. I guess if he was trying to show the simplicity of both trap and pop songs on this album he nailed it. I don’t know why he’d do that since it makes for a boring album, but that’s the only way I can imagine him thinking this was a good idea to record.

How It Feels is the final song on the album and brings everything to a close. On this closer he sings about how he just wants to love this girl, but she’s messing around and playing games which makes it hard for him. This is another played out topic that isn’t very interesting to listen to at this point. In terms of a closer I guess this song is fine since it’s slower and relaxing, but the auto tuned vocals that have been turning me off for the whole album are in full effect here and end a mediocre album with a pretty mediocre song.

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Overall Rating and Impression: 🍔/10

We Beefin? is a EP released by VML, the creative marketing agency (aka A.O.R., Agent of Record) for the Wendy’s Company, under the creative direction of Six Course Inc. 

I know it’s not very topical to review this, but I have plans for the night and wanted to give y’all a little something extra to go with today’s actual review since I can’t fit in two

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Overall I found this this EP to be unironically good, and no joke, had better production than a lot of other music I’ve reviewed. I’m not kidding when I say I’d rather listen to this 5 times straight through than listen to Gucci’s new album Delusions Of Grandeur, or a project like Total Xanarchy by Lil Xan. The song Holding It Down actually has production credited to WondaGurl and Metro Boomin, so that would really explain why the production on all of these songs are colder than a Frosty.

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I’m proud to say this isn’t my first time listening to this EP since it was a big publicity stunt in 2016 where Wendy’s takes shots at other fast food restaurants, specifically McDonalds and Burger King for the most part. The line “why yo ice cream machine always broke” on Rest In Grease had me dead, and honestly the punchlines in all of the songs were pretty decent. Of course a lot of the lines are pretty corny since we’re talking about fast food here, but honestly I don’t know what you’d expect from a Wendy’s EP. 

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All in all I don’t think I can actually rate this since it’s a joke/marketing EP and people would be absolutely pissed if I ranked this above their favorite album or an album they suggested, so I’ll just leave it at a /10 for now and let you takeaway whatever rating you think I’d give it for yourself. Honestly this EP is more creative than a lot of the bullshit you hear about everyday such as cars, clothes, money, women, sex, and drugs so it’s not half bad. Would I recommend listening to this in 2019? Absolutely. Would I add any songs to my playlist? Probably not. I hope this is something that can be looked back on down the line as one of the strangest (and fairly successful considering it garnered millions of streams) PR stunts by a fast food chain one day. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Rest In Grease
2. Twitter Fingers
3. 4 for 4$
4. Holding It Down
5. Clownin

Twitter Fingers starts the album and has an incredibly cold beat. This song is a diss track on other fast food places but no restaurant is make dropped specifically. At this point I knew that while this EP was a joke, it was going to be surprisingly well done. 

Holding It Down is a song about holding the fast food game and specifically goes after Burger King in the second verse which is pretty savage. 

Rest In Grease is a diss track on McDonalds which is made pretty clear this is who it’s about from the line “why yo’ ice cream machine always broke?” despite taking a while to make drop them. This song is pretty funny since that was a total meme for a while, and honestly true. 

Clownin is another direct diss on McDonalds, but this time they don’t name drop them for some reason. Despite this Wendy’s assures then that they should think twice about who they diss. 

4 for 4$ is pretty much just a shameless plug where they talk about the amazing value of their 4 for $4 meal. Honestly getting 4 things for $4 is pretty good and the quality is equal if not better than McDonalds dollar menu so I’d have to agree with the topic of this song. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8.25/10

Voice Memos is Youtube producer/rapper Quadeca’s 2019 album, announced November 10, 2018 at the end of his music video for “Unusual”.

Overall I found this album to be very enjoyable and I’m glad that people recommended this album to me. I’ve seen Quadeca’s videos on YouTube before but haven’t been able to check out this album until now. 

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What I liked most about this album was the diversity of beats, topics, and flows that are talked about and used throughout, yet the overall sense of wholeness the album had. Being titled Voice Memos, I think the concept he was going for here was a collection of songs that are recorded on your phone in the voice memos app so that you can quickly get out your thoughts and return to them later. For me that’s the basic feel the album had since the topics range from braggadocios and in your face with songs like Uh Huh!, but also talk a lot about self doubt and loneliness on songs like The Man On My Left Shoulder and Rowboat. 

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On the intro he says that his songs are bipolar like Kanye and that does seem true as the topics can juxtaposition each other at times as we jump from song to song. It seems like we’re in the rowboat in his mind and going through his thoughts on his position in the rap game and what’s to come. To me my least favorite moment came on Thank You Next which was a more bare bones song with a basic beat and more flat topic, but moments like that were few and far between. Another small thing I didn’t like was the auto time chorus’s at times which gave it a more emo rap feel that I’m personally not into. 

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The highlight of the album for me as definitely the final track where he talks about his different songs and sort of summarizes his main points in a very concise way. I’m a sucker for good closer tracks and I feel like this was done really well and wraps up the album very nicely giving it a sense of wholeness. 

Personal Ranking:

1. These Days
2. The Man On My Left Shoulder
3. Uh Huh!
4. Eyes
5. Red Dot
6. A Dream I Can’t Remember (Interlude)
7. Real Thing
8. War! (ft. Dax)
9. Ego Death
10. Unusual (ft. B. Lou)
11. Imagination 
12. Rowboat (Interlude)
13. Thank You Next (ft. Sad Frosty)

Adding To Playlist:

1. These Days
2. Uh Huh!
3. Eyes

Ego Death kicks off the album with some xylophone type sounds and a pretty relaxed and slow start. In this song he’s talking to his older self and telling himself that he doesn’t need to worry about what people say. He showcases a pretty impressive flow in second verse as we hear about how his ego is his drive and the ways the he’s holding himself back and focused on the wrong things. 

Imagination is a song about imagining success in the past and thinking how great it would be, and reflecting back on that now he has a taste of success. In the past all he wanted was a chance and for people to listen to him, and now it feels good that he’s finally getting some recognition for his hard work. 

A Dream I Can’t Remember (Interlude) is a very slow and dark interlude that has a very deep bass at times. He talks about taking drugs and their effects as well as his broken heart that still beats. I enjoyed the dark vibes and moments of intense and loud production that give the song a big dynamic range. 

Thank You Next sort of has a Lil Pump type beat and a very basic production. This is a very goofy song but showcases some good wordplay. I didn’t personally like the beat style or delivery, but this was clearly just a song meant to be for fun. 

The Man On My Left Shoulder starts with very  low key, almost Jocelyn Flores type vocals but changes up pretty quickly. This is one of the deeper songs as he talks about disconnecting with himself, the bad side of his life, and a very pessimistic view on life from the man or devil in his left shoulder. This song has some really good wordplay, and a beat switch into the second half where we hear from his egos perspective. This song is pretty creative and an interesting listen and really stands out for me on this album. There’s another beat switch into the end of the track where it spirals down a bit and he talks about being stuck in depression. All in all I was very impressed with this song. 

Red Dot features a pretty glitzy keyboard and the topic of social media and the pressure to follow trends. I liked the soulful chords and the beat switch into second half which slows down the song. This switch turns that track more melancholy as he talks about wanting to be popular and having to follow trends to stay popular. He touches on suicidal thoughts at the end about wishing he didn’t wake up which is pretty real and sad. 

Uh Huh! is much more energetic and another song that’s clearly just for fun. This song is pretty braggadocios and reminds me of Eminem flow wise. There’s some cold punchlines in here which makes for a fun, short banger track. This song really shows the battle between the two major sides of him, the more depressed side and the ego controlled side. 

Real Thing is about how he’s the real thing, but features a lot of lyrics that contradict that original thought which further shows the inner battle he faces. He talks a lot about self doubt, and how he works on his music and questions if it’s worth it if he makes it because of the family and friends he has to leave behind to chase his dream. 

War! is a lot darker and has a very in your face vibe. This song returns to the braggadocios side of Quadra, and features Dax which marks one of the few features on the album. Dax fits very well on this song and I was impressed by his flow and delivery. 

Unusual has an acoustic guitar loop which is a bit different than the rest of the songs sonically. He talks about how he’s constantly working, and how he’s unusual in this song. B. Lou is features on this song, but his vocals seemed mixed strangely and need to be crisper in my opinion. His flow reminds me of Lil Baby a bit which I found interesting. 

Rowboat (Interlude) is a very sad Interlude about loneliness and how he never knew it was possible to be this alone. This song shows how he feels alone in his mind and is a reminder that everything isn’t sunshine and daisies as some of the previous more fun songs seem. 

Eyes is a more jazzy that reminds me a bit of Mac Miller in his Faces era as Quadeca talks about his previous lover, and how his life changed fast. This was overall one of my favorite songs on here and I really liked how this song slows down and chills out the album a bit. The introspective lyrics are very engaging and interesting to hear as the album just about rounds out at this point. He talks about how these days something must be on his side which offers some hope in his life, and sets up the final song. 

These Days ends the album with a triumphant song about how these days he’s been feeling free. He talks about how he doesn’t care if his rowboat doesn’t hit the shore which is a nod to the interlude about feeling lonely. He talks about other themes across other songs which makes for a really nice summary and closer. The beat switch into second half which slows it down as we hear about how his new girl fixes his problems, and how he regrets what he said but not how he felt in his precious relationship. I really love this as a conclusion as he assures the listener he’ll be here forever. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 7/10

Shelby is Lil Skies’ debut album, themed around his life and his experiences through it.

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this album since I felt somewhat underwhelmed after finishing it. I think that Skies has a nice voice and flow that makes for interesting to listen to songs, but I feel like he doesn’t utilize it to his fullest. 

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A big problem I have with a lot of newer albums is that they’re utterly boring. I’m not saying this album was boring since it wasn’t, but sometimes the flows and beats did seem a bit repetitive at times. The production rarely deviated from a deep bass, somewhat lo-fi/“vaporwave-esque” mixed with trap style beat, which I would’ve liked to see be changed more. I think what draws me to certain artists is their versatility both with flows and delivery, but also with different sounds and styles.

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Largely we hear a relatively small amount about his life honestly despite the album being centered around him. It wasn’t as bland as some things I’ve heard that beat a dead horse for an entire album though, just a bit surface level I felt. All of the songs are easy to kick back to and enjoy which is what gets a light borderline 7 for me, but for pure enjoyment this isn’t the type of album I’d personally put on. 

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I could however see a lot of people liking this album, so I do encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already. If you like chilled out music that makes for easy listening and doesn’t require a lot of brain power to process, then this is a good album for you I think. 

Often deep bass, somewhat lo-fi/vapor wave mixed with trap beats 

Personal Ranking:

1. i 
2. Flooded
3. Stop The Madness (ft. Gunna)
4. No Rainy Days
5. Nowadays, Pt. 2 (ft. Landon Cube)
6. Through The Motions
7. When I’m Wasted
8. Name In The Sand
9. Bad Girls (ft. Gucci Mane)
10. Ok 4 Now
11. Highs and Lows
12. Blue Strip
13. Breathe 
14. Mansion

Adding to Playlist:

1. i 
2. Flooded
3. Stop The Madness (ft. Gunna)

i starts the album with one of Skies most popular songs. This song introduced the heavy auto tune, mellow vibes that are present across the whole album. The topics he covers in this song include smoking to escape depression, how he hasn’t been the same since his past relationships, and losing his brother. Overall this song has pretty sad content despite how relaxed it is. 

Bad Girls is a song about how he likes good girls despite what you may think from the title. He notes that bad girls are not meant for him which is pretty much the opposite of what you hear in a lot of rap. He talks about how girls get one chance with him over a pretty catchy beat. This song is mostly chorus and bridge which I’ve come to expect from a lot of heavy auto tune rappers. Gucci’s feature wasn’t bad but isn’t anything special, it’s about what you’d expect from a 2019 Gucci Mane. 

Breathe is a song about how he can’t breathe without the love from a girl which is done with a deep bass trap style production. At this point the album is starting to sound a bit repetitive at just three songs in, and unfortunately this doesn’t really change much. 

Nowadays Pt. 2 is mainly about loyalty and is a bit more upbeat and energetic than previous songs, but all in all in sort of blends in with the rest. This song is the couplet to his hit song Nowadays from his 2017 song Life Of A Dark Rose. I found this song a lot more boring and didn’t capture the same energy and vibe as the first one which made it feel off. 

Flooded continues the upbeat tempo of the previous where Skies talks a lot about money, weed, women, and his takeover over of the rap game. As per typical lyrics, he asserts that he really does what he says in his songs in the format of one longer verse. This song somewhat stood out to me since it’s focused entirely on the verse, but production wise it sounds like the rest of the songs. 

Blue Strips is the next song which I assume is about the blue strips on hundred dollar bills although he doesn’t really elaborate much on the title besides saying he gets checks. One of the more comical likes comes when Skies says that he “get(s) bread like zucchini” as he continue to assert he’s up now, and not next. 

Stop The Madness is a song purely about how he stunts on his enemies. This song somehow stands out to me as well despite the Gunna feature and my general dislike of his music and style. 

“I said I wouldn’t drink tonight, but damnit, I got fucked up” is a pretty relatable like and made me laugh when I heard it, but other than that the content pretty much sticks to how he went from nothing to rich and his flexing. 

Ok 4 Now is a song all about his emotions after having his heart broken and is a pretty bare track. By this point in the album I was starting to get bored of hearing the same flows and delivery across all of these songs, and was starting to feel burned out. 

When I’m Wasted is a song about how Skies doesn’t want to deal with this girl when he’s high or wasted except if it’s about sex. This song further shows how often he gets high to deal with his problems so the topic wasn’t really anything we haven’t heard about on the album. 

Mansion is another braggadocios track about typical rapper things except it’s very annoying and somewhat reminiscent of a Lil Xan song. It sounds pretty lazy to me and is utterly not pleasing to listen to. 

Through The Motions is another song where he about how he came from nothing and how people change what they thought of him after he got famous. This is a pretty repetitive topic, and again nothing new is really introduced here. He’s going through the motions of his career and trying to not get swept up in all of it. 

Highs and Lows is about the highs and lows in life where we hear more about his depression over a more bare beat. This song is one of the few cuts more focused on lyrics where we hear about how he is focused on just being himself over one longer verse. When he focused his topic to one verse the songs seem to come out better in my opinion, otherwise they turn pretty hit or miss for me. 

Name In The Sand is one of the slower songs on here where he talks about how much he needs this girls love and how it’s his drug. This is somewhat similar to Breathe which further shows recycled topics. I like this one more than Breathe since it’s more digestible, but placing it this late on the album runs the possibility of people being so burnt out by the rest of the similar songs that they can’t enjoy it as much. 

No Rainy Days is the final song on this album and is about how there’s no rainy days now that he’s made it which is a happy note to end things on after talking about depression on the rest of the album. He talks about how he’s just trying to have fun in life despite anything that comes his way and how he’s overcame his depression he talks about earlier on the album. This is a decent closer, but I was pretty burned out on my listen at this point. It’s a fine song though and definitely places towards the top for me. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 7.75/10

Must Be Nice is the debut studio album from Bay Area rapper G-Eazy, released in 2012 independently. 

Overall this album is a pretty interesting listen, and is a different style than a lot of the music I have listened to and reviewed so far. G Eazy fuses sort of 50s doo wop influences with more modern pop and hip hop to make for an interesting blend. I can see how a lot of people wouldn’t really be into this kind of music, but I found all of the songs on this album to be a good listen and would say they’re worthwhile checking out if you haven’t done so already. 

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This is the debut album from G Eazy and contains 10 songs, one of which being a bonus, and spanning roughly 30 minutes. While there’s only three songs that don’t have credited features, I’d say that this album still feels very much focused on G Eazy as a few of the features are just for chorus and not full verses.

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 His topic on this album is pretty focused on life after getting fame, or what he wants his life to be as he’s still on the come up, success, and remember thinking how loving this new life must be nice. As he’s emerging into the scene at this moment in time in 2012, he’s unsure about what’s in store since it initially doesn’t seem like it’s everything he wanted, but he still seems very driven to make his life the best he can make it. All in all it’s a pretty light and easy listen, and I feel like this was a good debut album and that he definitely has more to offer. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Lady Killers (ft. Hoodie Allen)
2. Marilyn (ft. Dominique LeJeune)
3. Mad (ft. Devon Baldwin)
4. Plastic Dreams (ft. Johanna Ray)
5. Must Be Nice (ft. Johanna Ray)
6. Breathe
7. Loaded (ft. DJ Carnage)
8. Stay High (ft. Mod Sun)
9. Hello
10. Interlude 

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

1. Lady Killers (ft. Hoodie Allen)
2. Marilyn (ft. Dominique LeJeune)
3. Mad (ft. Devon Baldwin)

Hello starts the album off with pretty different than the rest the rest of the album. We hear a somewhat robotic and pitched voice repeating hello as we’re welcome to the album. G talks about how after all he’s done he’s now able to get into the best clubs, get the best girls, and the best drugs. He’s finally able to start touring and begin his life of success. This song has a pretty instrumental and flow that sets the tone for and topic for the album. 

Plastic Dreams is gone into directly into from Hello with the voice from the intro fading out as this song begins. This song has an instrumental that sounds rather sad but it’s still upbeat with driving backing drums. In this song he’s questioning if he’s going to be happy at the top which really captures the start of an artists career. He knows that he has to make hits to be recognized which puts pressure on him, but he’s very hungry for success and is willing to go after it. He feels like he doesn’t want to be focused on superficial things as well which is referred to in the title. However he’s not sure if he’ll be able to stay away from this life and fall into the typical rapper life. 

Lady Killers is very upbeat and care free which shows another side of G Eazy. You have the self conscious side, but also the fun side as we hear about how he could take your girl if he wanted to and is basically on top of the world. Hoodie Allen is featured here and fits well on the track as he talks about his life of non committal to women and how he’s just having fun in life. 

Mad is another very catchy cut where the backing vocals are almost mixed like a barbershop quartet or a glee club which gives this track a doo wop feel. The topic is pretty simple which is that he drives girls mad with desire, and at the same time he’s going mad for this one girl. This song is very light, bouncy, and fun. It sort of fits into the scheme that you have to make hit songs to be popular, and this feels like a pretty friendly song that could garner a lot of success.  

Interlude is a pure instrumental track that just features church organs and some crackly record sounds in the back. In the scope of the album this could perhaps be signaling another side of G Eazy where he wants to stay grounded and rooted in something more than a life of fame. 

Marilyn is a pretty light and sadder song with an acoustic guitar backing the instrumental which gives it a more indie feel. He talks about how his girlfriend wants to love him but he’s always on tour which makes it difficult. This is a situation where all of this happened at the wrong time and they just can’t work out. This song is pretty sad despite the happy instrumental, as we hear about how he doesn’t want to break her heart but at the same time there’s nothing they can do to fix it at the time. 

Stay High is another song that features somewhat doo wop vocals in mix and is about staying high all day. Along with this he also questions if his girl really loves him which shows the more introspective and self conscious side of him again. In this song he name drops the album and reflects how it must be nice to have this rapper life, but as we’ve seen it scares him at the same time. This captures the overall theme of the album as we explore what a life of fame really means to G Eazy. 

Breathe is a more menacing track where I really loved the scattered piano keys intro and the darker chords. I know he can have more energy in his delivery on this song which is unfortunate since I’ve heard the live version of this song and I like it a lot better. This song shows the side of him where he’s the typical rap star and he reflects on how he’s the mother fucking man and did it independently. This braggadocios song captures fame in his own way which is interesting since it doesn’t come off as the typical perspective. 

Must Be Nice is the title track and closing track to the album. He elaborates about how it must be nice to live the life of a rapper as it was briefly mentioned in Stay High. This song has a kind of sad production which shows how he’s unsure about this new life. In the second verse he talks about his life now that he’s made it and how he’s trying to stay humble despite somewhat blowing up. This is an interesting track to reflect on since we often only see the positives of fame and not the down sides, thus leading us to think of must be a nice life to live. 

Loaded is a bonus track and is more of a dance track. This song has a very different style than the rest of the songs on the album as we hear about how he’s loaded. This is a pretty simple fun song which again shows how you just need hits to be successful. This song doesn’t have any real depth and is just about typical rapper things such as drugs, sex, money, and fame. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 3.5/10

Delusions of Grandeur is Gucci Mane’s fourteenth studio album and the follow-up to his December 2018 project, Evil Genius.

Overall I really didn’t enjoy this album very much. In my opinion almost all of his verses were pretty awful and sounded like they were freestyled since I just can’t imagine someone actually writing down some of these lyrics and thinking they are good. That might be a bit harsh, but I honesty found the only redeeming factors of this album to be a few well produced tracks, and decent features.

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 I didn’t notice it until I looked at my list, but 9/10 of my top 10 songs on here are with features. That may be due to the album having a lot of features, but I think there’s also just something that’s so boring about Gucci on his own. He rarely changes his inflection, and at one point he even borrows his own bars from previous songs. Not borrowing typical bars like “I’m so rich blah blah” but like actual bars. 

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Since I don’t have much to say about this that’s positive, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite lines instead.   “I freestyle, don’t even write” pretty much sums up the album. “Gucci Mane, I’m super rich” sums up the depth of the lyrics. “eat a nigga balls like broccoli” just made me laugh, as well as “she tryna suck my dick and use that shit for evidence” which didn’t even make sense WITH context.

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All in all I honesty don’t think there was a single song on here that I particularly liked so sadly nothings going on my playlist from this at the moment. Seeing as it’s his 14th album I hope this case is that he just has nothing to talk about at this point and that he didn’t somehow get famous from putting out god awful music like this. If you like this album I’m really happy for you, but I can’t see myself returning to this. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Blind (ft. A Boogie Wit da Hoodie)
2. Love Thru The Computer (ft. Justin Bieber)
3. Upgrade (ft. Navé Monjo)
4. Lame (ft. Rick Ross and Wiz Khalifa)
5. Backwards (ft. Meek Mill)
6. Special (ft. Anuel Aa)
7. Proud Of You
8. Outro (Delusions Of Grandeur) (ft. Peewee Longway)
9. ICE (ft. Gunna & Lil Baby)
10. Hands Off (ft. Jeremih)
11. Making Of A Murderer 
12. Look At Me Now
13. Superstar
14. Bussdown
15. Human Chandelier
16. Potential (ft. Lil Uzi Vert & Young Dolph)
17. Us
18. Bottom

Bussdown kicks off the album by talking about he has spent a lot of money and has a lot of cars. This song is pretty monotone and kinda boring which just about summarizes the album for me. He goes as far as to say he dumbs down his lyrics as if we wouldn’t understand them which is ridiculous because they’re so ludicrously bad. 

Backwards is another song about wealth and is more energetic. I honestly have nothing to say about this since it’s just plain generic and bad. 

Special talks about how he doesn’t need anything or anyone to know he’s special. He also boasts about sex and wealth, and talks briefly about being in jail which was mildly entertaining. The third verse is in Spanish for some reason so I have no idea what’s going on there, but it’s probably on par with the rest of this album. 

ICE is a song specifically about flexing his diamonds. Ice is a double entendre in this case about both diamonds and Immigration ICE which almost had potential to be clever but is so dumbed down it goes nowhere. Gunnas verse wasn’t terrible when he spoke up but isn’t anything to write home about.  

Love Thru The Computer is another song where he talks about being in jail. I guess he just wants Skype sex or a cam show or something as the title refers to, and is sort of strange concept that wasn’t really executed on well. I would’ve liked chorus better if Justin didn’t use auto tune on it as well and thought that took away from it. 

Proud Of You is a song about sobriety and life after prison which was interesting and somewhat of a change. This song has a harder bass and includes the line “I freestyle, don’t even write” which is no doubt true since a lot of his bars are straight garbage and would be sad if someone actually wrote them down thinking they were good. 

Bottom has another notable line, “Gucci Mane, I’m super rich” which shows the depth of his lyrics on this song. I liked the piano in the mix however, but this is still a pretty sub par song though. 

Hands Off is a slowed down song about how he can’t keep his hands off a woman. Not much else to say about this one. 

Blind has a more fun production and contains another outstandingly dumb lyric, “she tryna suck my dick and use that shit for evidence”. Even with context this lyric made absolutely no sense and made me laugh. A Boogies verse was alright on this song and made it more listenable for me. 

Superstar is a song about a girl that’s a superstar, and yet again contains a line so egregious it can’t be overlooked. “eat a nigga balls like broccoli” has to be one of the single worst lines of the year so far, it’ll be hard for anyone to top that one. 

Upgrade is a song about how he doesn’t need an upgrade cause this girl is his upgrade which makes this more of a love song. He talks about how he likes her because of her looks which is really shallow, and calls himself a cold hearted gigolo. By his own admission that makes him a male prostitution, I’m not sure he knows what that word means. 

Lame is a song about clout chasers and how they’re lame and need stay in their own lane. He doesn’t want people to talk about him for clout, but I’m not sure how much clout there is to gain from him at this point. I liked Wiz Khalifa’s verse which made it a pretty hard track honestly. Rick Ross makes it even harder and somewhat more enjoyable. The chorus is kinda nasally and annoying from Gucci though which does detract for me. 

Potential is a song about a girl that has potential because of her fat ass and her dick sucking abilities. I absolutely didn’t like this song but it went on to be more of a hit from the album. “First day, fucked her with condom (Huh) Yeah, hey, then I got comfortable, fucked her no condom (Yeah)” is another standout shitty lyric for me in this song. Young Dolphs verse wasn’t bad but wasn’t special either. I liked his flow and energy better than Gucci’s though so that was redeeming. 

Human Chandelier is about how he has so many diamonds he’s a human chandelier. The chorus sounds very whiny and he even borrows a bar about buying a car that’s yellow and it having an umbrella from an earlier song which felt very lazy. The instrumental is the only redeeming factor here for me as this song was otherwise annoying. 

Us is a song about how it’s us over them, how he’s balling and they’re broken the chorus is absolutely terrible and this song is unforgivably bad. 

Look At Me Now features a  flute or panflute and again talks about life after prison and how he turned his life around. 

Making Of A Murderer is the second to last song and in this song he does not tell us how he’s a murderer despite the title. I thought we’d hear more about where he came from but we get the same trash bars as the other songs. We hear about hood life and how his neighbors wouldn’t do shit cause they’ll get capped if they snitch, and how he started off as a burglar. Maybe he should’ve named this one Making Of A Burglar and it would’ve made more sense. 

Outro (Delusions Of Grandeur) is the final song on this pile of shit album where he talks about how he doesn’t think others change the culture which is funny cause he’s not doing anything either. He talks about how he makes money on money, “Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday I’m makin’ some money” to be exact. This is somewhat of a harder track but the chorus is straight up retarded. Peewee Longway is briefly on the second verse but not for long enough to save the track. This song solidified how utterly unenjoyable and bad this album was for me.