• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 8.25/10

7 is Lil Nas X’s first commercial EP, following his first-ever mixtape, Nasarati, and his October 31st EP.

Going into this EP I felt like this was going to be the project that Nas X had to release that was either going to make or break him in the music industry and popular opinion. I think this EP was released at the perfect time to attempt to keep his name in the conversation, and I absolutely feel like he delivered well above what anyone was expecting. 

_

As an artist it has to be hard to follow up a mega hit like Old Town Road and not have people breathe down your neck about how you’re a one hit wonder before you even have a chance to release an EP or album. I do have to say that if you’re expecting a pure rap project, this is absolutely not the EP for you. On this EP Nas X incorporates many genres and sounds including rock, grunge, country, trap, a bit of jazz, and pop. His topics vary a bit, but there’s definitely a focus on addressing his haters and people that want to see him fall after his breakup success. This is most heavily talked about on Bring U Down which I think perfectly summarizes the culture of hating on success and having nothing better to do but try and tear someone down. 

_

Due to the variety of sounds across the album I feel like there’s at least one song on here that everyone can enjoy, but if you’re a fan of multiple genres like I am then this project really stands out. For his first EP I think he far surpassed everyone’s expectations. All in all this EP makes me excited to see what he will put out in the future since it seems like he’s still in a phase of finding his sound, but I think this EP is enough to shut up those that doubted him before and it’s hard to argue he isn’t a successful artist after this. 

_

I think his versatility and different styles will take him far in music, in my mind the only thing that’s left for people not to like it the amount of different styles and will complain that it’s not a rap album or something like that. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Rodeo (ft. Cardi B)
2. Bring U Down
3. F9mily (You & Me)
4. Old Town Road – Remix (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus)
5. Old Town Road
6. Panini
7. C7osure (You Like)
8. Kick It

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

1. Rodeo (ft. Cardi B)
2. Bring U Down
3. F9mily (You & Me)

Old Town Road Remix kicks off with a remix of Nas X’s iconic mega hit Old Town Road. The remix currently sits at 380 million streams on Spotify while the original sits at 332 million streams. This remix that adds Billy Ray Cyrus was made in efforts to put it back on the country billboard charts after it was removed which is an interesting fun fact. There was a pretty big controversy when this song first came out if it was considered country, rap, or both. Putting Billy Ray on the remix solidified it as country enough for Billboard and it was put back. 

Panini is a song where Nas X talks about how he blew up and somewhat misses his underground fans. He thought that they wanted to see him blow up but now that he has it feels like they wanted to keep him as their secret. I liked the nirvana interpolation on the chorus which shows the range of inspiration he draws from. This song ended up being his second big hit and charted immediately, but not nearly as big as Old Town Road. 

F9mily (You & Me) is a song that has clear rock influences which made for a very catchy song. In this song he talks about fixing the family and this isn’t really a rap song. At the end of pride month Nas X encouraged people to listen to this closer for a deeper meaning and thus outed himself as either gay or bi. I sure didn’t pick up on this at any point listening to this song, but I’m glad he can be himself freely. 

Kick It is the next song and largely talks about snippets and the Billboard controversy. He also talks about people saying he’ll fall off and people that just want to see him fail. I loved this song at the initial release since it really was annoying seeing all the comments about how he was a one hit wonder before they gave him a chance to drop an EP/album. This is a very catchy song that utilizes more of a low key sound. 

Rodeo starts off with a surf guitar influenced loop and brings back the country trap sound. This is my personal favorite song on the album and I’m surprised it didn’t do better. A lot of people seemed to dislike the Cardi verse but I personally didn’t mind. The topic is about how he can’t do everything for this girl otherwise she won’t know how to do anything for herself. This track is one of the harder cuts and has a very catchy refrain which I loved. 

Bring U Down has major grunge vibes and inspirations which shows another facet to his music. The topic is about people trying to ruin his career doing anything from digging up past social media posts to calling him a one hit wonder. This song perfectly reflects how people really only hate him because of his success and he really claps back on this track. The rock heavy guitar solo at the end of the song is one of my favorite aspects of this song and elevates it for me for sure. 

C7osure (You Like) switches the vibes a bit as he talks about how his lover is holding him back. This song features a gently piano with a hard backing beat and thumping drums. In this song Nas X sings on the verse which have it a more pop sound to it which was interesting it. 

Old Town Road is the final song on this EP and is the mega hit that shot him straight to stardom. This song sat at 332 million Spotify streams as of June 21st 2019, the day this EP released. I truly think this song is going to be a pop culture icon piece that stands the test of time. I don’t think it’ll always be the most popular song or sound, but the amount of influence it had and popularity surely makes it one of the least forgettable and most memorable songs I’ve heard in my lifetime. The short simplistic lyrics make it easy to remember and the catchy production makes it a fun song to play if it hasn’t already been ruined by being played to death for you. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 8.75/10

ye is Kanye West’s eighth solo studio album. The seven-song album was premiered on June 1, 2018, at an exclusive listening party hosted in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

I know I just did a Kanye review, but I’m short on time for today so I had to find a shorter album for the second review. At just under 24 minutes this album feels very good, and really captures a moment in time for Kanye West and what was going on in his life.

–

 On this album we hear all about his struggles with mental health as well as his struggles with the media and his portrayal. You have everything from emotionally raw songs like I Thought About Killing You where he talks about suicidal thoughts and contemplating ending his life, and you also have more ballad style songs like Wouldn’t Leave and No Mistakes where Kanye assures his wife Kim that he’s not going anywhere despite all of these struggles.

–

 I loved the touching moment of the closing track Violent Crimes where we hear about how his perspective on women changed after he had daughters which was a very nice album closer. My personal favorite track is the opening song I Thought About Killing You though, if not for the very different production, but for the like “just say it out loud to see how it feels”. This line snapped me back to my previous relationship where I remember saying regrettable things afterward in a sense just to see how it felt and I still feel bad about them to this day. I get emotional just thinking about it and this line gives me chills to how personally relatable it felt. 

–

Having been depressed for a better part of a year earlier in my life, I found a lot of moments on this album to be very relatable. All in all at 7 songs my only issue with this album is that it’s too short and I truly crave more from it, but at this busy time in his life it’s understandable why it’s on the shorter side. 

Personal Ranking:

1. I Thought About Killing You
2. Violent Crimes
3. Ghost Town (ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR)
4. Yikes
5. No Mistakes 
6. All Mine
7. Wouldn’t Leave (ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist

1. I Thought About Killing You
2. Violent Crimes
3. Ghost Town (ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR)

I Thought About Killing You starts with a spoken word intro where he talks about himself, and how he thought about killing himself. This song is pretty emotionally raw and human as there’s no bright side to this song, just his dark thoughts. I line “just say it out loud to see how it feels” was particularly powerful to me as it’s relatable for me and I’m sure a lot of people. Sometimes you say something out loud just to see how it feels, and sometimes it feels good, and other times it will haunt you. I can remember times in my life where it both felt good, and other times that I still regret it to this day. 

Yikes has a sort of hallucinating and dark vibes to it. Kanye talks about how he has bipolar disorder which feels like a continuation of the intro in a sense. This song is pretty catchy and continues the introspective look into Kanye’s life. 

All Mine has church organs intro and talks about infidelity. It has a high pitched chorus and a pretty minimalist production to it. He talks about a bunch of different celebrities who have cheated on their partners in this song and talks about why the motives could’ve been. He notes that since these people are rich often they stayed together, but you better believe if you’re not rich then your partner will leave you. 

Wouldn’t Leave is almost the polar opposite of all mine and brings vibe up a slightly. In this song he talks about how he would never leave Kim in this more melodic song. He also talks about his social statement which have gotten him in a lot of trouble in the past, and about how he knows he’s crazy. I’d say this song is pretty central to the album since the main topic is about how crazy Kanye’s life has gotten and this album is a sort of explanation of what’s been going on in his life. 

No Mistakes talks primarily about financial and mental issues he had. I remember it was a pretty big thing when Kanye came out and said he was in debt despite being so successful and supposedly having a lot of money. This song has a pretty big production and a certain vibe that makes it feel like an outro track despite it being near the middle of the album. 

Ghost Town has a more soulful instrumental where he talks about trying to make him love himself. This is in a way opposite to the intro track. In the intro he talks about how he should make it sound like he’s struggling with loving himself instead of being suicidal, but he thinks that’s fake and not how he feels. However that’s exactly what he talks about on this track. The outro is pretty intense as we hear about feeling free and how nothing hurts anymore. This freedom is pretty unsettling since it doesn’t seem positive, but rather like he’s lost it and gone numb to the world. It goes as far as putting his hand on the stove to see if he still bleeds which alluded to self harm. This part really gave me chills and is a very intense song up until the end. 

Violent Crimes is the final song and feels like a good closer as it brings the mood to a nice and neat close. This song is dedicated to his daughters and he talks about how he doesn’t want reality to hit them too fast. He talks about how his perspective on women changed after having daughters which is nice. This shows a lot of growth as a human for Kanye since he’s surely made music that purely objectify women, but now he has a lot more respect. This concludes the album and the synopsis of where Kanye was at before making this album as a human being and not as Kanye West the artist. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 9/10

Channel Orange is the debut studio album by Frank Ocean. It was released on July 10, 2012, by Def Jam Recordings.

After a lot of people were pretty pissed at me after my Blonde review, I knew I had to come back to Frank Ocean and see if I could figure out what I was missing that makes his music so enjoyable for people, and I’m happy to say that channel ORANGE really gave me a super enjoyable experience that I think a lot of people got from Blonde that I just didn’t.

_

 Usually I like a sense of wholeness in albums, but the idea of flipping through channels and each song being its own thing gave this album a sense of direction that I could get behind. I really enjoyed the more upbeat and somewhat more energetic yet still relaxed feel that you get from this album. Frank’s story telling is very vivid on this album and has certain moments where it really shines in tracks such as Pyraminds and Super Rich Kids. I liked how there were recurring themes and somewhat song couplets like Sweet Life and Super Rich Kids where we get moments on development on topics close to Frank, and of course we hear about his unrequited love and past relationships quite a bit but it’s done in a way that I found didn’t get stale and felt new and exciting each time it was brought up. 

_

There were songs that made me unnecessarily emotional such as Forrest Gump since it was told from Jenny’s perspective and the ending of that movie always makes me cry despite Jenny being a general POS to Forrest (go ahead and make fun of me for that). All in all I found a lot of these tracks made me feel something a lot more than Blonde did and I’m not sure why. I may be more responsive to faster paced music than the general slow and sensitive pacing of Blonde, but regardless I’m glad I got that Frank Ocean experience that so many people cherish and enjoy. I can see this being an album that I throw in frequent rotation for the variety of songs and topics that make it engaging and exciting. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Super Rich Kids (ft. Earl Sweatshirt)
2. Sweet Life
3. Bad Religion
4. Pink Matter (ft. André 3000)
5. Thinkin Bout You
6. Pyramids
7. Crack Rock
8. Forrest Gump
9. Monks 
10. Lost
11. Sierra Leone
12. Pilot Jones
13. White (ft. John Mayer)
14. Start
15. Fertilizer 
16. Not Just Money 
17. End

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

1. Super Rich Kids (ft. Earl Sweatshirt)
2. Sweet Life
3. Bad Religion

Start is the 45 second intro to the album where you first hear people laughing, the turning on a TV and finally a PlayStation being turned on. 

Thinkin Bout You is the first true musical song on the album and has some slow strings and synths which set the vibe for the album. The topic is that he’s thinking about his ex lover. He says that he wanted to spend his life with them but they wanted something short term which disappointed him. This song is very emotional as you hear him describe the excitement of a relationship using lots of different imagery. 

Fertilizer is a short Interlude where he briefly sings about how he’ll take all the bullshit his lover is giving him if that’s all they have to give him. Despite the uptempo beat this is pretty sad since he deserves better than that and nobody deserves to only deal with bullshit. 

Sierra Leone is a ballad style song that’s largely about getting a girl pregnant and ends up having daughter. He sings about the pink skies of Sierra Leone which are are a metaphor for pussy. He really paints a picture in this song which I enjoyed. Lots of vivid imagery is always a favorite of mine. 

Sweet Life talks about the effects that wealth has on people. I really liked the uptempo keys in the mix but the overall sad vibe. He talks about how this character stays at the beach or in the Hollywood hills instead of seeing the world. This person is so consumed by their own world and chooses to be ignorant and not experience all the things life has to offer. The chorus adds a lot of energy to the mix and elevated the production for me. When he says sweet life on the chorus it kinda sounds like he’s saying sweet lie which is also interesting to note since their life does seem like a sweet lie due to their blissful ignorance.

Not Just Money is another interlude where a woman is telling him that there’s more to life than money such as happiness. 

Super Rich Kids is setup by Sweet Life and is somewhat a continuation. Frank uses a very melancholy flow over somewhat bittersweet beat again that’s somewhat stomping due to the piano chords. This makes him sound frustrated as he sings about having a superficial life, how his parents aren’t around much, how spoiled he is, how he only has fake friends, and how he’s still searching for real love. Earl Sweatshirt is perfect on this song as well which made for my favorite song on the album and a fantastic collaboration. At the end of the song he ends up up falling off the roof of his house in an apparent suicide. Despite this tragic ending it’s sung in the same way as the rest of the song which makes it feel like it’s just another normal thing that happens which is really sad. There’s no extra emotion, it’s just the same as the rest of his life which makes his life seem pretty meaningless. 

Pilot Jones starts with the sound of flipping through channels on a TV before the deep bass and relaxed beat comes in. This song talks largely about his first love who is a drug dealer. Personally this song wasn’t one of my favorites on the album, but it’s still a very nice song, I just think Frank has a lot more to offer in other songs. 

Crack Rock is a song that talks about someone addicted to crack as alluded to in the title. This song has a slow intro but then turns into a bit more energetic beat yet still relaxed. I really liked the keyboard chords and progressions backing his vocals as he talks about how crack tears his life apart. The bridge is equally as depressing as he talks about crooked cops that let the dealers sell crack for a cut which just enables the addictions of the people they’re supposed to be protecting. 

Pyramids is an almost ten minute long song that tells the story of a black queen, Cleopatra. This song starts with a synth heavy production but switches a bit throughout. This woman dies in the second verse but in both life and death she is well respected which is important to note. I wasn’t entirely sure who he means when he says he killed cleopatra at this point since she committed suicide, but I’d guess that he means we as a society have valued women less and less over time and treated them worse, a very large contrast to how she was treated in the beginning. The song then fast forwards to present time where a girl is called cleopatra and Frank says she’s working at the Pyramid which I think refers to the Luxor in Las Vegas which is a casino. There’s another beat switch here that makes it feel more trap inspired sound but still relaxed. At this point this woman is completely disrespected and neglected. Instead of being worshipped and respected in the past, the modern day Cleopatra is just used by other people. This ten minute song is really interesting and showcases some very good writing. 

Lost is a more rock inspired song where Frank describes a drug supplier and his girl how is a drug mule. The girl feels lost in it all, but goes along with all of this for her boyfriend. This is another interesting song where Frank tells a tragic story over a more uptempo beat. What I really like about this album is how many different stories Frank tells yet how cohesive the album feels. 

White is an instrumental interlude that is very relaxed and brings the vibes down to a crawl after the last song. Like other interludes and the intro, you can hear TV static at the end of this song. 

Monks has a heavy jazz production and brings the vibe up again with this more energetic song. In this song he imagines the crowds he performs to as monks, and he is the Dalai Lama. The topic of this song is a relationship with a groupie who wants her to run away with him. This was another interesting cut as it either shows a look into Franks life, or a very believable look into the life of any given artist. 

Bad Religion features church organs and is frames as a therapy session in a taxi with the driver. He talks about how he doesn’t want a religion that makes him kneel over a very big and full orchestral and piano production. I really loved the chorus of this song which felt heartfelt, and the minor chords really tug at your heart strings. He talks a lot about his unrequited love which brings him to his knees much like the religion he doesn’t want to accept. In a way this love is his religion since he’d be willing to do anything for this person. 

Pink Matter is another song that uses the color pink to refer to pussy much like Sierra Leone. In this song he talks about his  internal conflict between pleasure, desire, and love. The cello and violin on this song really helped sell the vibe for me and made it a lot more enjoyable. I also loved the guitar leading into André 3000s verse. His voice and style is very different on this song but adds a lot to it stylistically. At the end you can hear Frank mention about grey, purple, pink, and blue matter each representing a different thing which was interesting and descriptive. 

Forrest Gump brings back the church organs as we hear about the familiar story of Forrest Gump written from Jenny’s perspective. As you’d expect there’s lots of references to the movie in this pretty lyrically simple song. He sings about unrequited love largely and about how she ran away from Forrest for most of the movie. It was interesting to hear about it from her perspective since she’s the one that broke his heart and you usually see the story from the eyes of the heartbroken, not the heartbreaker. This song makes me especially sad since Forrest Gump always makes me cry, and I really wish it was longer since it’s a beautiful song. 

End is kind of a strange track that has wavy vocals that feel super distant and echoing. At the end of the song he gets out of his car in the rain where this song is seemingly playing on the radio, and goes inside his house and locks the door. It’s interesting to see both a start and end track to this album which makes it feel whole, and makes you reflect on what you just listened to instead of ending it on just another song. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 6.75/10

Take Care is the sophomore studio album by Toronto, Canada hip hop artist Drake, released on November 15, 2011 through Cash Money Records.

At nearly an hour and a half this album is a beast of a listen. I don’t think that I have a short attention span, but I found myself several times throughout this being somewhat bored. I’m personally not a big fan of slow ballad style singing since frankly the way that Drake executes this puts me to sleep half the time. I really don’t feel the genuine emotion from Drake like I wish I would, and I know so many other people do. I really feel like you’d have to be in your feelings to enjoy the majority of this album and enjoy it to the fullest. 

_

While none of the songs feel underdeveloped, I just find this to be an overwhelming listen and would find it more enjoyable if it were cut down to maybe 14 tracks and kept at a more reasonable single listening length. There is a lot that I like about the album however, but that comes from the more upbeat cuts that feature rapping instead of singing. There’s 8 songs on here with credited features, and a few others without credits so this album is really chalked full of other artists that make this album a lot more listenable to me. 

_

I’m not sure if I’d enjoy this album much if this was an hour and a half of just Drake unfortunately. I really wanted to like this album more than I did after having I suggested a lot, and also having Drake in general suggested a lot but I really can’t see myself personally rating this above a 7 due to my enjoyment of it. I think Drake just isn’t quite my style, or at the least the two Drake albums I’ve reviewed so far just haven’t done it for me. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Lord Knows (ft. Rick Ross)
2. Make Me Proud (ft. Nicki Minaj)
3. Headlines
4. Under Ground Kings
5. Buried Alive (Interlude)(ft. Kendrick Lamar)
6. The Motto (ft. Lil Wayne)
7. HYFR (ft. Lil Wayne)
8. Marvin’s Room
9. We’ll Be Fine (ft. Birdman)
10. Take Care (ft. Rihanna)
11. Cameras
12. Look What You’ve Done
13. The Real Her (ft. Lil Wayne & André 3000)
14. The Ride
15. Over My Dead Body
16. Crew Love (ft. The Weeknd)
17. Practice 
18. Doing It Wrong
19. Shot For Me
20. Good Ones Go (Interlude)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Lord Knows (ft. Rick Ross)
• Make Me Proud (ft. Nicki Minaj)
• Headlines

Over My Dead Body starts the album off with a pretty slow instrumental that sets the vibe and is about how he killed the game. He talks about how nobody will be able won’t be able to take away his position in the rap game and also calls out his haters by flaunting his success and how far he’s come. This track is pretty introspective and makes for a good intro to the album. 

Shots For Me is a  ballad style that is pretty slow and melodic. Honestly this song is  rather boring for me since I’m not a huge fan of slow love songs usually. He talks a bit about how this girl didn’t believe in him and says he changed although Drake claims he didn’t. This song is kind of depressing and overall just isn’t one of my favorites on the album. 

Headlines is a lot more nostalgic for me since I remember when this came out and it was everywhere. This may be why I like this song so much, but I do feel like it stood the test of time well and still slaps pretty hard. In this song he talks about how he’s worthy of a headline due to his domination in the rap game.  The iconic “they know, they know, they know” chorus is also another aspect of this song I love since this is the part everyone would constantly be singing to themselves or repeating. It felt like a pop culture phrase that people always referenced back then. 

Crew Love initially feels like more of a dance cut from the intro since it has choppy symbols and a jumpy beat, but if slows down quickly with The Weeknd’s airy vocals and glitzy piano licks. This song has pretty interesting production since it changes a decent amount which makes it interesting to listen to. I liked the beat better in Drakes verse as he talks about his close knit team. While The Weeknd has a nice voice, it’s just not my style and I find Drakes flow more fitting personally. 

Take Care is the title track off the album and also starts off with more of a dance track or club feel as Rihanna sings over a piano and thumping bass. This song turns out into more of a lowkey dance song that talks about taking care of a lover that was previously burned in a past relationship. This is a really solid collaboration between Drake and Rihanna and I found it more enjoyable due to the energy. A lot of Drake songs can feel a bit lackluster to me so this is a nice cut. 

Marvin’s Room is a song where Drake calls up his ex and vents about his loneliness after getting drunk. This is a very emotionally vulnerable song which makes it a decent song to include on the album. I know a lot of people love this song and say it’s their favorite but I really don’t get that vibe. It might be because I’m not a huge Drake fan but I think it’s more so due to bot really a fan of slow emotional music. It has a time and a place, but there is such a thing as being too slow. This song really just doesn’t stand out to me. 

Buried Alive (Interlude) is done all by Kendrick Lamar which is pretty interesting. He talks about his rise to the top and how he met up with Drake. The main message here is about how they bury themselves alive in fame and the lifestyle of a rapper. This reminds me of Buried Alive by Logic which is about the same thing, but this song is a lot darker. 

Under Ground Kings is gone straight into from Buried Alive and pays tribute to UGK, more specifically Pimp C who was a clear inspiration for Drake. This is especially talked about in the second verse. I enjoyed the production and flow on this song since it’s a bit more energetic and not sleepy. Songs where Drake actually raps and doesn’t sing always seem to jump out at me more. 

We’ll Be Fine is the next song and features a  pretty bare beat until the hook. On this song he talks mostly about letting go of the past. Drake and his friends/girl will be fine as long as they’re 100% with him is the main message. 

Make Me Proud is more pumped up and is a bass heavy song. This song also has a somewhat dance or club vibe where he hear about how he’s proud of a girl for putting up with all the bullshit in her life. I liked Nickis verse as well which made for a good collaboration. 

Lord Knows is a lot more of a fun song for me and I loved the big and full production it has. Drake talks about how he’s really killing for game and doing everything he talks about. This song has a long first verse where he talks about a variety of topics such as not being worried about other people biting his style or flow. His reason for this is that if that happens he only has to be afraid of himself since they can’t possibly do himself better than he does. 

Cameras is much more relaxed and has a glitzy keyboard and guitar far back in the mix. This song is about a girl that only looks like a star on camera and only looks like he’s in love with her on camera. This delves a bit into how fake people can be around him, especially when he assures this girl that it’s not a real relationship they’re in. 

Good Ones Go (Interlude) is the second interlude where he begs his ex to wait for him.  This song is technically part of Cameras as it’s a medley, but in this part he’s singing and it feels entirely different. The main theme of this song is that the good ones go if you wait too long so make the most of the time you have. 

Doing It Wrong is a very low key breakup ballad. This song has a very slow and emotional production. Drake almost starts this song by whispering and keeps this style for most of the song. There’s a harmonica harmonica solo at the end by Stevie Wonder which was a nice addition as the beat rides out for a long time at the end. 

The Real Her has a star studded cast with both Lil Wayne and Andre 3000 on it. This song has an interesting production where the piano loop pitches down at the end of the note which gives it a spiraling sound. This song is about how Drake connects with people and sees through them easily. To him girls come and go quickly and how none of them seem special to him. On Wayne’s verse he’s talks about just another rapper similar to how the girls are just another girl to Drake which was interesting. 

Look What You’ve Done is a three part tribute to his mother, his grandmother, and his uncle. This song has good story telling which I sniped. Its clear that he has a lot of appreciation for these people despite the ups and downs he has with them. I wish more songs were like this where you get a more vivid story that isn’t over a sleepy, dreary beat. Simply having a slight amount of energy in the delivery makes songs like this more enjoyable for me. 

HYFR stands for hell ya fucking right and has a very synth heavy production. He starts off with a faster flow and does the entire first verse in one breath which is impressive. There’s a few topics in this song but it’s largely about his ex and what he learned, and the stupid questions people ask them. To these questions he always responds hell yeah fucking right as if the answer was obvious, which they are. The questions range from are you high, to if they get nervous which are pretty stupid questions. 

Practice has a pretty scarce and quiet production where Drake talks about how all of this one girls past relationships were just practice for him. This is honestly a pretty boring song for me personally, but it isn’t the on the album since there’s a hint of energy to it. 

The Ride is a lot more upbeat and is another introspective song. I really wish the production was bigger or more grand since that would elevate, I feel like the more simple production held it back a bit. This song has three verses about his life, what he deals with, and where he’s been. At six minutes this song feels a bit long for me for what it is, but I can appreciate the story telling. This ain’t really isn’t for me all in all, but it makes for a reasonable ending to the album. 

The Motto is a bonus track and a lot more fun. The motto in life is YOLO, which naturally makes this song about living your life to the fullest. I liked the more jumpy beat this song had, but Drakes flow is a bit more monotone which makes this track a bit more flat. It’s still a track that stands out for me though personally since it’s not one that put me to sleep or made me bored. 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 8.5/10

Surf Trap is Felly’s first studio album and was released on September 28, 2018.

Overall I found this short 26 song album to be very enjoyable and perfect for a short listen for someone who is looking for new, fun music. These songs aren’t the most lyrical or deep in terms of topics, but I find that it provides a fun vibe for a good, light, easy listening experience. A prime example of when people say the mood outshines the lyrics greatly is Die Lit by Playboi Carti. I feel like Surf Trap does this way better for my personal taste as I’m really not into the party vibe when listening to music alone. This album provides a very summery, beach aesthetic as you get a lot of cuts that aren’t quite dance tracks but have prominent features such as thumping bass lines and catchy guitar riffs and loops. My favorite songs on here are the ones that are more upbeat such as Maple, Miami, and Circus, but also really enjoyed the more lowkey songs on here that are very relaxed and chilled out. This album doesn’t try to be anything it’s not, so I’m glad Felly stuck with a ten song format that spans under half an hour and just provides pure fun and enjoyment. Despite the short length it still felt very well made and had very good production across all of the songs. If you like Kyle’s music and the vibe it gives but don’t like what’s considered cornier lyrics, then I think you’d enjoy Felly as it’s pure good vibes but with a little simpler lyricism and more relaxed vibes. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Maple
2. Miami
3. Circus 
4. Dyin To Tell You
5. Pretty Girl
6. Fallin
7. Ain’t Worried
8. What Am I To Do
9. Reinvention
10. Murda

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Maple
• Miami
• Circus

Dyin To Tell You starts the album off with a dance style beat which really sets the time for the album. He talks about how he’s dying to tell a girl about how she doesn’t need anyone to help her because she can do it all on her own. He’s pretty into this girl but also dislikes the superficial things about her and her attitude which is interesting. It seems like the love he gives and shows her isn’t reciprocated and he just wants her to succeed. 

Miami has sort of delusional/spiraling circus vibe. Felly uses a faster flow on this fun song that’s simply about riding down the highway in Miami. While the topic is pretty simple since it’s about asking a girl down to Miami, I think what makes Fellys music special is the vibe. A lot of the songs are perfect for just chilling out to since they’re entertaining ear candy. 

Pretty Girl is a much more relaxed, ballad style song where he sings about how he’s infatuated with this girl. He goes as far as to say she’s controlling his thoughts and everything he does. Throughout the whole song how talks about how much he needs her in his life which is pretty sweet. It seems like this might be the same girl from the intro track since he talks about how he can’t help her. The general vibe is infatuation but not quite being able to have her or have her he what he wants. 

Circus is the next song, and if Miami sounded like a delusional circus then this song is the father of all circus’s lol. This song had deep bass and lots of bells which makes it somewhat in your face and boastful. It has a very catchy chorus about how he doesn’t give into the negative shit which really puts out the good vibes that his music is all about. 

Maple is a lot more relaxed and features a piano consistently which I loved. The production in general is very good for this song and really stands out to me. He talks about how he got cut off by a girl but she stays in his head despite trying to move on. He wonders what she’s been doing without him and can’t seem to get her out of his head. This song has a happy vibe but honestly a sadder message since she clearly doesn’t want anything to do with him. 

Reinvention feels somewhat like an interlude and is a very mellow and relaxed song. It’s somewhat introspective and reflective as he talks about reinventing himself. In the story arc of the album it seems he’s starting to get over this girl from the previous songs and wants to make himself better for the future. 

Murda has an accordion heavy beat and is about how he’s been murdering the game. I liked the verses but the instrumental turns me off a bit since it’s just not my style. I’ll give him credit for incorporating an accordion though since that’s pretty creative. 

Ain’t Worried is a song about not worried about anything as you can tell from the title. Felly has a very care free attitude which is portrayed well by the beat and is super present in all of his music. I really enjoy relaxed vibe and message in this song since it just feels like summer when you have no worries. 

What Am I To Do is somewhat more of a dance cut although it’s a big slower than a typical dance beat. It has a more jazzy piano where he raps about what to do with all these women he attracts. He doesn’t feel bad when he leaves any given girl for another which is a bit of a dick move, but I don’t think these lyrics are truth. In the theme of the album, it seems he has truly reinvented himself since he’s completely different than how he was when he was with the girl in the first half of the album. 

Fallin is the final song which brings the vibes back up. I loved the keyboard and deep synths in this catchy song where he talks about falling both in the world and falling for a girl. This song gives off perfect summer vibes and specially gives the aesthetic of short term summer loving. It seems at this point he’s reinvented himself, gotten better, and has started a new relationship. This makes for a good closer and really brings the album full circle. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 9/10

Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by Lil Wayne, released June 10, 2008 on Cash Money Records.

Overall I really enjoyed this album and thought that it had some very impressive qualities and also had a little bit of something for everyone. You have anything from ballads on Comfortable, to social commentary on Tie My Hands and DontGetIt, to ridiculous tracks like Pussy Monster, to lyrical wordsmithing on Dr. Carter. This album really has everything and makes it really engaging and entertaining as you never know what you’re in store for with the next song. 

My favorite songs have to be the ones that are more lyrical and show off his skill and creativity in songs such as Dr. Carter where each verse is about a different patient or rapper that’s dying, or rather literally killing the rap game. In the final verse he talks about saving the rap game and breathing new life into it. I found this song to be very engaging and left me wanting more of this side of Wayne throughout. 

While songs like Pussy Monster make him seem more happy go lucky and pretty basic in his focus by saying he’s a pussy monster and needs to eat pussy to survive, you have the complete opposite on the outro track. In this outro you hear a new, deeper side of Wayne where he talks for 7 minutes about social issues in a very well spoken manner. All in all this album is pretty versatile on topics and really showcases all that Lil Wayne is capable of doing and how well he does it all. 

Personal Ranking: 

1. Dr. Carter
2. Let The Beat Build
3. Tie My Hands (ft. Robin Thicke)
4. DontGetIt
5. Mr. Carter (ft. Jay Z)
6. A Milli
7. Lollipop (ft. Static Major)
8. Mrs. Officer (ft. Bobby V. & Kidd Kidd)
9. 3 Peat
10. Shoot Me Down (ft. D. Smith)
11. Phone Home
12. You Ain’t Got Nuthin’ (ft. Juelz Santana & Fabulous)
13. Got Money (ft. T-Pain)
14. Comfortable (ft. Babyface)
15. Pussy Monster
16. La La (ft. Brisco & Busta Rhymes)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Dr. Carter 
• Let The Beat Build
• Mr. Carter (ft. Jay Z)
• A Milli

3 Peat starts the album with dramatic strings and makes for a solid intro. In this song his singing on the refrain and then the verse makes me laugh a bit since it’s not the best. This song is a bit braggadocios as he talks about about making 3 great projects over a long verse. I enjoyed the energy of this song and how it sets the tone well. 

Mr. Carter is one of my favorite songs on here and has a very catchy chorus that’s super infectious. He talks about how he’s been hated on for a long time, but now they’re all into him since he’s successful now. This instrumental is just as infectious as the chorus. This song also includes a Jay Z feature which is pretty funny since his last name is also Carter so he could also he referred to as Mr. Carter. This song ends by sayings it’s Wayne’s turn to shine now over Jay. 

A Milli also has a very infectious instrumental. This has to be one of Wayne’s most successful songs, it certainly is one of the most widespread. It has a deep bass and three beefy verses thy make for a very fun song. 

Got Money has synths that make this song feel very 2000s, as well as T-Pain vocals which add to this. I wouldn’t say this song sounds dated, but you can certainly tell when it was made since this style of production huge. He talks about showing money if you got it, and generally talks about flaunting success on this song. 

Comfortable is done in a ballad style which relaxes the vibe a bit with some very shiny strings. He talks about how you shouldn’t take his love for granted and to not get too comfortable in a relationship with him. This song was produced by Kanye which is notable, and have to say that it sounds fantastic. 

Dr. Carter is song about fixing rappers which are symbolized as patients in a hospital. This song has more bare jazz drums and upright bass. This song was very creative lyrically and thoroughly enjoyable. The first patient flatlines and dies as Wayne isn’t able to fix this Rapper. The next patient in the next verse lacks respect for rap game and Wayne also isn’t able to save him sadly despite trying his best to tell him how to change. The third patient is apparently improving but just needs swagger. Wayne showcases his swag filled style on this verse and ends up saving this patient. This third patient ends up being hip hop as a whole. I loved the idea of Wayne saving the rap game and thought it was executed perfectly. 

Phone Home has more of a creepy vibe where Wayne talks about how he’s a Martian, and how he’s phoning home much like ET. The message of this song is the he’s different than everyone else and not your run of the mill rapper. 

Tie My Hands has a relaxed guitar and is a commentary on hurricane Katrina and how it was handled by Bush. It was very interesting hearing him tackle a political and social issue which I think showcases how smart and thoughtful he can be. The idea of this song is that Bush is tying the hands of the citizens that are stranded and can’t rebuild which is very sad. This song has a really great production done by Robin Thicke which really surprised me. 

Mrs. Officer brings the vibe back up and has a more fun chorus than the previous song. Wayne ends up getting arrested but fucking the woman police officer that arrested him. This brings a funny new meaning to the phrase fuck the police on this melodic track.  

Let The Beat Build is a very fun song where the beat continuously builds up until the chorus. He adds a new piece to the mix every few bars when the beat rides a bit and then starts again. This song has long verses that really make it build before it drops at the chorus. I would’ve liked for a little bit more of a dramatic drop, but I still love this song through and through.

Shoot Me Down slows the pace down a lot as Wayne raps over a more lawless and western beat. He talks about how people’s shouldn’t shoot him down when he’s on top of the rap game, but people are constantly gunning for him. In the end he says he’s not even worried about this though since he’s the only one that can shoot him self down. I loved how in your face this message and song is. 

Lollipop is another song that sounds very 2000s due to the synths and beat. I’m not sure how this topped the billboard hot 100 honestly since there’s a lot better songs on here, but this is definitely more of a club song and easy to listen to. It has a great vibe though, and I think it really eclipses a moment in time of why everyone was listening to. 

La La has a very childish sound to it with the baby voice baking vocals and the xylophone. It also slightly deranged and spiraling which was intending. The features were alright on this song, but this track didn’t stand out to me much. 

Pussy Monster has lip smacking sounds are unsettling and is very explicit, fake grandma out of the room for this one. The chorus is ridiculous as he talks about how he has to eat pussy to survive. This song would be utterly embarrassing to listen to with another person, it’s just next level dirty that makes me want to take a shower after listening to it. 

You Ain’t Got Nuthin’ features both Fabulous and Juelz Santana on this more in your face sing. They each get a verse along with Wayne whwre rhe herbal vibe is aggressive and boastful. Out of them all I liked Wayne’s verse the most but it was still a solid effort from everyone. 

DontGetIt is nearly ten minutes and features two talking verses and a spoken word outro. On this outro he talks about mass incarceration of black people and how 1/9 black Americans locked up to start. He talks about the unfairness of how the charges for crack cocaine and regular cocaine differ due to a Reagan era policy and the war on drugs. Crack cocaine is mostly found in the hood and free base is what white People typically buy for context, and the charges for crack cocaine are a lot worse than free base. After this he also goes in depth why he doesn’t respect Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist. This song has a lot deeper thoughts than what you’d expect from Wayne typically. It’s clear he’s not dumb when he speaks on these topics in such depth, but I think people typically see the “Pussy Monster” side of Wayne rather than the socially conscious side. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 6.75/10

Released on March 16th, 2018, ? is XXXTENTACION’s second studio album.

At 18 songs and 38 minutes this album is straying towards what I’ll call SoundCloud syndrome, which is that nearly all the songs feel tragically short and underdeveloped. I understand, or so I’ve been told, that for SoundCloud you want to make short catchy songs to try and achieve high replay value to get more plays. I personally don’t understand the point of that since the number of plays doesn’t define the music, the quality of the music does. But nonetheless I personally feel that a lot of these songs feel undeveloped but is still an improvement from 17 which had even shorter songs.  He says in the intro that this album is more experimental and alternative which feels true as a fair amount of the songs have a sort of alt rock feeling to them. The rest range from folk, to metal, to dance floor cuts which makes this album all over the place. My personal favorite on the album was infinity (888) which is pretty far away from X’s normal sound which only attests to the idea that his music just isn’t for me. Often melodic and sing song style vocals are features on the tracks, and take up a vast more amount of time than rapping or production of verses since the album is largely comprised of chorus’s. I personally would’ve liked more development of ideas, but when you spread a common theme across 18 short tracks, you do get a bit of development although it makes it feel choppy and a bit disconnected for me. All in all I think those that like more emotional, rather vapid, short chorus heavy songs will really enjoy that project, and if that’s your type of music then I’m glad you enjoy it but it’s just not my style. 

Personal Ranking:

1. infinity (888) (ft. Joey Bada$$)
2. NUMB
3. the remedy for a broken heart (why am I so in love)
4. Moonlight
5. Hope
6. changes
7. SAD!
8. Pain = BESTFRIEND (ft. Travis Barker)
9. going down!
10. schizophrenia
11. I don’t even speak spanish lol (ft. Rio Santana, Judah, Carlos Andrez)
12. ALONE, PART 3
13. before I close my eyes 
14. $$$ (ft. Matt OX)
15. love yourself (Interlude)
16. Floor 555
17. SMASH! (ft. PnB Rock)
18. Introduction (instructions)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• infinity (888) (ft. Joey Bada$$)
• NUMB

Introduction (instructions) is a brief description of the album and what to expect, and sets up the idea that we’re entering his mind much like the intro to 17. 

ALONE, PART 3 is produced Marjory with an acoustic guitar majorly in the left ear mix wise. As you could guess from the title, this song is about how he’s alone. This is a pretty central theme to this album and to his music in general. He seems to be rather tortured by any emotions since he notes he’s tired of both hate and love. 

Moonlight is somewhat of a love song bay features his pretty iconic mumble singing. This song is very melodic and very wavy which makes for an enjoyable listen. This is one of his most well known songs to date and it’s clear why so many people like it. It’s a lot more digestible than some of his other music which makes it a pretty large departure from his earlier sounds as an artist. 

SAD! is perhaps his most iconic song and of all things samples a BMW seatbelt sound alert sound. This has to be one of the strangest inspirational sounds I’ve heard on any song, but it works really well since it’s just a synth tone. This song is largely about letting go of feelings and his depression. Again he notes how it’s torture being in love. There’s an interesting banjo piece at the end before going into the final chorus as well which is just another section of sounds I found interesting. 

the remedy for a broken heart (why am I so in love) sounds a bit more like a lot of the songs on 17 stylistically. This song sounds somewhat like Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares due to the flow which is a faster and a bit mumbly. In this song he questions why he’s so in love after his heart was broken, and how he can’t find the remedy for a broken heart. I was hoping he’d come up with a remedy in this song after seeing the title, but it’s equally as powerful to say there isn’t a remedy. 

Floor 555 is a lot more gritty, loud, and muddy. At points in this song he is yelling which is reminiscent of music earlier in his career. This song stands out a lot in the course of this album since nothing else is this scathing and angry. This song is pure raw emotion. 

NUMB is infinitely lighter lighter and more melodic than the last song as we hear X singing. He talks about how he’s numb to the pain of life in this song that is all chorus and no verse. This song has a very emotional production and vibe with clear alt rock influences. Despite the lack of verses, this song still stands out to me as one of the better tracks. I feel like the production made this track very tight and impactful even without a lot of lyrics. 

infinity (888) is a collaboration between X and Joey Badass. I love Joey so naturally I loved his verse on this collab track. This song has a more 90s and easy coast feel. It doesn’t quite feel like an X beat but he still makes it work well which I found interesting. Honestly to me this sounds like a Joey Badass song that features X instead of the other way around. 

going down! has a minor key piano production which gives it a somewhat delusional and spiraling sound. He talks about sex in this song which is what the title refers to. I thought the song would be about going down emotionally but it seems like it’s about sucking dick. His flow on the verse reminds me largely of Ski Mask The Slump God, and I’m 99% sure this is what inspired it since it’s such a unique style. 

Pain = BESTFRIEND is another acoustic track where he talks about being lost in regret and how pain will always be his friend. This song is very lyrically scarce and relies on the instrumental more. The chorus is more of a screamo/metal which made it very interesting to listen to since the rest of the song is so soothing and relaxed. I really liked the drums on this song as well since they’re live drums and not produced using a program. 

$$$ is a song about money and women. Matt OX sings on this song and honestly has really annoying vocals. This song reminds me how much I hate this specific trap style and topic. It’s boring and played out and sadly detracted from my liking of this album. There’s a lot of different styles on the album which I appreciate, but it feels less whole and tight when tracks like this are included. 

love yourself (Interlude) is a pretty basic interlude where X just says to love yourself in this brief skit. 

SMASH! sounds like a Gunna style beat which isn’t my favorite style personally. X plays with auto tune on this track and talks about how he fucked a girl and then moved on promptly after. This really doesn’t sound like X’s style but it’s interesting to see him experimenting. However, this really just doesn’t work for me. 

I don’t even speak spanish lol is a song that features a lot of sexually explicit lyrics in Spanish and is a lot more upbeat than most of the songs on the album. It doesn’t really feel like it fits here but feels more like a non album type single. I’m not sure why he included this on the album, it adds to my thoughts that this album is somewhat of a jumbled mess. 

changes is a lot more downbeat, relaxed, and sad than the previous song. This song has a very scarce piano melody backing it that is accompanied by dramatic building strings that cut in and out at times. This song feels more emotional to me than a lot of the other songs which is due more to the production than the lyrics which are rather simplistic. 

Hope is a big change thematically from the dreary message from the rest of the album. This song is dedicated to those that lost their lives in the Parkland shooting as he says in the beginning which is nice. In this song he he wants to die which almost feels disrespectful to those that lost their lives though, but at the same time he says that there’s hope for the rest of us.

schizophrenia is a track where the beat feels very scattered and kind of demented. In the intro he whispers about voices in your head while there’s intense building drums that turn the beat into a more alt rock style. In this song he talks about his fight against himself in his mind which is a central theme. This song also has a screaming outro where he repeats “don’t give up” which was intense. This really personifies the strong emotions he felt and the different voices in his head. 

before I close my eyes is the closing track and is very scarce lyrically and very straight to the point. He talks about how he he hopes it’s not too late for him and that he can still find peace emotionally over a low key guitar sample. Seeing as this is the last song on his last album, this is pretty sad looking back. It really is a shame that he was murdered, but there’s also a lot of personal politics outside of his music that make him seem like he really wasn’t the best human being. However, it’s always a shame to lose a talented artist like X regardless. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 9/10

Graduation is the third studio album from Chicago rapper Kanye West. The album was inspired by stadium tours, indie rock and house-music and was a huge departure from the sound Ye had used on his first two studio albums The College Dropoutand Late Registrationwhich featured samples and inspirations from soul and orchestral music.

Graduation boasts a lot of timeless tracks that I think makes it still enjoyable and easy to listen to in 2019, 12 years after its initial release. There’s only a few songs on here that I feel didn’t live up to Kanye’s full potential, but looking back in time this was somewhat of a transition period for Kanye so it’s understandable that he was trying to define his sound, or rather give himself an undefined sound that allows him to do more with his music. The production and style of this album really brings be back to the late 2000s/early 2010s where this sound was really popping and becoming popular. It’s interesting to look back and see which songs were able to transcend time and age a bit better than others. I liked the concept that this album is Kanye’s graduation into the rap game and hear about his new found life of fame and success, albeit a little disheartening on songs such as The Glory where we hear that he only became a rapper for the fame and glory which adds to the ego hallmark that is Kanye West. The only song that was a bit off putting for me was Drunk and Hot Girls which almost feels a little predatory as he’s annoyed that they’re drunk, but he ignores that because they’re  hot and almost seem like easier targets for him to go after. The song ends with him getting a girl pregnant after a one night stand and saying now he has to be with her forever which is almost redeeming since at least he’d stick around hypothetically, but that song was just a bit off for me. All in all I liked the overall production and style and think that this album has aged pretty well. It’s pretty borderline 9 for me personally taste wise and feel like I go for an 8.75, but the fact that half the tracks feel like classics at this point in time I can’t in good conscious rate this below a 9. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Good Life (ft. T-Pain)
2. Stronger
3. Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)
4. Can’t Tell Me Nothing
5. Good Morning 
6. Big Brother
7. Homecoming (ft. Chris Martin)
8. The Glory
9. I Wonder
10. Everything I Am (ft. DJ Premier)
11. Champion 
12. Barry Bonds (ft. Lil Wayne)
13. Drunk and Hot Girls (ft. Mos Def)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Good Life (ft. T-Pain)
• Stronger
• Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)

Good Morning starts off the album with Kanye waking up on graduation day. This song is pretty relaxed and introduced the concept that Ye is graduating into the world of rap as he looks back at how far he’s come. 

Champion is a very happy and slightly jazzy song that contains a repeated line about knowing you’re a champion. This song is very empowering and upbeat which makes for a very fun listen. 

Stronger has a very thumping bass line and feels very late 2000s production wise. This is one of Kanye’s most popular songs, especially from the earlier part of his career. I’d be surprised if the majority of people haven’t heard this song or at least heard the chorus. This song is easily one of my favorites off the album and it’s clear how it became so popular. It fits a lot of moods and can be played almost anywhere from your car to the club. He lets the beat breathe for the last minute which makes it even more as a dance track as your focus on the beat. 

I Wonder is an uplifting and somewhat soulful cut where he talks about how he’s waiting his whole life for this opportunity. Kanye uses a somewhat stuttery flow where he pauses on most syllables for parts of the verse which make it interesting to listen to. The title refers to wondering if you know what it’s like to see your dreams come true. 

Good Life is another absolutely iconic Kanye song and as soon as I heard those synths I was brought right back to the late 2000s where this sound and song were everywhere. T-Pain fits perfectly on this track as they talk about living the good life after getting success and fame. I think that this song would make a good album closer but it makes sense thematically that Kanye would be living his good life after he just graduated. In terms of the concept we’re now past the graduation and Kanye is all smiles as he’s found success. 

Can’t Tell Me Nothing is another iconic song with an iconic instrumental. This is similar to the last song in themes of themes, but it’s a lot more gritty, not happy and upbeat. The idea is that you can’t tell him anything once he has money and success cause he’s made it. Despite chasing money he claims it doesn’t change him and doesn’t make him forget where and what he came from. 

Barry Bonds is a song about making hits like Barry Bonds. This has a bit more of a boom bap feel and is a lot more braggadocios. I honestly just wasn’t feeling this one and felt like the production was a bit lackluster for a Kanye production. 

Drunk and Hot Girls seems to be the part in Kanye’s story arc where he’s still living his life of success but is now seeing a bit of the negatives. He talks about how he goes through too much shit to deal with these drunk and hot girls. This song kinda feels predatory since he’s going after hot girls that are drunk and only puts up with them cause they’re hot. At the end he ends up getting a girl pregnant during a one night stand, but if there’s any upside he says he’ll stay in the kids life. This song also just kind of missed for me and I feel like there were a lot better cuts on the album. 

Flashing Lights starts with glistening strings and feels a lot more Kanye than the previous song. This song is about an about ex girlfriend that he keeps thinking about. This is a very pretty song and has a nice LA aesthetic to it. You really get the vibe that Kanye’s out it LA living his best life but still thinks about his old life. This song also has a somewhat club type backing beat that I think helped make it so successful. 

Everything I Am is a slower cut where he talks about how he made it because of his personality. He notes that everything he’s not made it everything he is. By this he means that by being different and not being what people expected is what makes him so appealing. I’d have to say in 2019 this still feels true since he is very different and sometimes abrasive at first glance, but when you really look at him he is something special. 

The Glory is a lot more upbeat than the last song and features a syncopated string and drum heavy mix. This is also somewhat of a dance cut where he talks about how he did it for the glory and fame. This is a very self centered song and shows the ego side of Kanye. Despite doing it for the glory, Kanye still makes great music so I’ll forgive this lol. 

Homecoming is the second to last song where he talks about coming back to Chicago. He personifies the city as a woman and the children he has with her are the new rappers trying to make music like him. I thought this was very creative and was interesting to listen to. Kanye flat out says this is what he’s talking about at the end of the second verse which kinda ruins the creative wordplay and I don’t think it needed to be explained, but if you missed it while listening this is there for you. 

Big Brother is the final song and is about Jay Z and how changed his life. It’s nice how he shows his admiration for Jay on this track and makes for a nice closer. Although he admires him and what he’s fine for him, he also feels jaded and feels like got overlooked in several occasions. This song feels very honest since it’s not just flattery, but it’s not an attack for things he wish Jay did different either. It’s just very human and real which I really liked. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 1/10

Total Xanarchy is the debut studio album by Lil Xan. It was released on April 4th 2018 through Columbia Records. 

Where do I begin with this review? I was warned that this was a bad album, but I really and truly was not prepared for what I listened to. I really don’t want to bash anyone for their music as I know there’s always someone out there that will like it, but Lil Xans music is almost entirely a dumpster fire with absolutely no redeeming qualities for me. On nearly every track he sounds nearly half asleep, on the verge of death, or perhaps already dead and there’s somehow air escaping his lungs to put out the half assed ab libs. I really regretted listening to this by the third track and absolutely did not want to continue after the fourth, but I did sit down and waste 43:31 of my life on this album for this review. I truly feel like I lost brain cells listening to this, especially on songs like Tick Tock. I thought Vroom Vroom Vroom Vroom by Lil Pump was bad, but it is ten times better than Tick Tock. The feature on some songs almost rescued them, but I honestly feel like Lil Xan ruins his own songs since his flow, delivery, style, everything about what he’s doing sounds god awful to me. Betrayed was actually a pretty decent song and I found it to be one of around 3 listenable songs on here. Color Blind is also a pretty good song, but I’m not even sure it’s his? He isn’t credited first for it on the track so I’m 99% sure this is actually Diplo’s song credit wise and Lil Xan just put it on his album. All in all I really wouldn’t recommend anyone listen to this steaming pile of shit, if you want something that’s bad but amusing I’d suggest Lil Pump since at least his music is fun and upbeat, but Total Xanarchy is just outright bad with no redeeming qualities. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Betrayed
2. Color Blind (ft. Lil Xan? Is this Diplo’s song lmao?)
3. Betrayed (Remix) (ft. Yo Gotti & Rich The Kid)
4. Deceived 
5. Shine Hard (ft. Rae Sremmurd)
6. Moonlight (ft. Charli XCX)
7. Round Here (ft. YG)
8. Far
9. Basically 
10. Who I Am
11. Slingshot
12. Wake Up
13. Saved By The Bell
14. Diamonds
15. The Man(ft. $teven Cannon)
16. Tick Tock (ft. 2 Chainz)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Betrayed 
• Color Blind

Who I Am starts the album off with the message that xans don’t make him who he is. This somewhat surprised me since he name is Lil Xan, and I thought maybe there’d be something redeemable in this message. However, he sounds half asleep or dead and he really does not have good vocals or lyrics. On this song he has a decent flow but the hook sounds really lazy and boring. 

Wake Up features a deep muddy bass as he talks about how he wakes up, throws up, feels like he’s dead. The vocals are mixed poorly and he has really short verses and mostly chorus’s on this song. This song is kinda annoying, and it’s almost an insult to call him repeating “it’s ok” to be considered a chorus. 

Tick Tock is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard where he talks about how he has tick tock? I have no idea what that means, but regardless that’s why he talks about over a muddy distorted bass. I thought Vroom Vroom Vroom was the worst song I heard, but this is ten times worse. 2 Chainz feature is decent but god knows why he agreed to be on this pile of shit song. 

Diamonds feature a pan flute and is somewhat more energetic. It’s still utter shit, song get me wrong, but it’s slightly better than Tick Tock since it’s more energetic but holy shit is it bad. While the pan flute is creative, this song also makes me want to blow my brains out at how annoying it is. 

The Man again has a muddy bass where he talks about how he “fu da bih” and how he’s the man apparently. This song is extremely laughable and terrible. It’s annoying, his vocals are bad, his message is terrible and delivered terribly. 

Saved By The Bell starts with an instrumental that sounded promising, but I had low expectations a coming in at this point. He talks about how he doesn’t like school and feels like it didn’t do anything for him. I can understand where he’s coming from, but maybe if he paid attention in school he wouldn’t sound as brain dead. That’s just my opinion, I know school isn’t for everyone though. I’m glad he somehow got success from his music, despite how much I hate it. 

Moonlight feature an acoustic guitar and is chilled out more than most. He talks about how happiness for his girl is all that matters which is a nice thought. This song has three verses, but it’s still very much not my style nor very enjoyable. At least the message her is positive and isn’t entirely annoying. 

Shine Hard is completely made by Swae Lee since he makes for a semi listenable hook and verse. I liked that a lot of the song isn’t Lil Xan, in fact it really doesn’t sound like it’s his song as all. Lil Xan actually sounded fine on this since he sounded like a feature on his own song and this was more of a Rae Sremmurd song which is entirely odd, but even stranger is that this isn’t the only song on here that doesn’t sound like it’s actually his. 

Round Here is another song where he sounds asleep, or in some cases dead on the ad libs. The YG feature is decent and offers a slightly redeeming factor to the song but Lil Xan is entirely annoying again. I can’t wrap my head around how people can listen to his drugged out voice and style. 

Basically is a song about fame changing everyone around him. Again it’s annoying and his lyrics and ad libs are laughable. 

Deceived is a song about how prescription pills made him a villain. I found this to be one of the few listenable tracks on the album, but still wouldn’t recommend it. 

Betrayed competed the couplet of being deceived, and is by far the most listenable song. He talks about how xans don’t actually make your problems go away which I liked message wise. I think the beat being so nice is what makes this song stand out. He doesn’t sound as entirely dead on this song as he does on a lot which adds to making it listenable. 

Slingshot is  more energetic and stands at a minute and a half. The lyrics are godawful, but that’s not a surprise at this point since every song has godawful lyrics. 

Far is about how far he’s come and how he lost his friends. I sure hope this kid finds some friends and doesn’t slip into super heavy drug abuse. Despite how much I dislike him, the abuse he seems to be slipping into isn’t something I wish on anyone. 

Color Blind has a really nice instrumental and Diplos production makes this song entirely. Again it feels more like Xan is a feature here and it’s a Diplo song. Plot twist, it turns out this is a Diplo song and for some reason it’s on Xanarchy. This song is on the California EP by Diplo and it seems Lil Xan borrowed it for a bonus track which is fine I guess. 

Betrayed (Remix)is a pretty godawful remix of Betrayed. I don’t feel like Rich The Kids high energy fits the beat and feels like something that someone just ripped from somewhere and pasted it over this song. It feels very lazy. This remix is more like a continuation that a remix since the only thing that’s the same is the chorus, even Lil Xans verse is different. I liked on a sense how it’s entirely different, and thought Lil Xans verse was actually an improvement. However, it still fails to bring me any enjoyment. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 8.25/10

Pure Infinity is SwaVay’s debut studio album and his first release under Metro Boomin’s record label, Boominati Worldwide.

Coming into this album I admittedly had lower expectations since I saw that Swavay is a newer artist. I was expecting a less refined sound and for him to perhaps get trapped in a few common pitfalls (in my mind) it seems newer artists make such as making very short songs to try and somehow get more replay value from it. There’s by no means a length I look for in albums, but at 55 minutes and 16 tracks this feels very well thought and very thoroughly done. My expectations were far exceeded and I felt bad for even having these expectations in the first place after finishing the album. Swavay has a very tight sound and really knows how to ride the beat and come with some great delivery. I really enjoyed his often melodic hooks and chorus’s which I think a lot of newer artists struggle with, and also his verses feel very tight and incorporate good wordplay and lyricism. The album boasts pretty impressive production from a number of different producers, but I feel like it was something that really lifted the album as it never felt repetitive or boring at any point. Often when beats become too repetitive or not very creative I find myself sitting through the songs and not enjoying them, but that was never a problem here. His topic is often about past relationships and seemingly the one that got away, but I was surprised how fresh he made this idea feel throughout as you’re treated to a number of different styles, deliveries, instrumentals that kept it interesting. All in all I think everyone should check him out as it seems he’s more underground at the moment but I’m sure he’s due to blow any day now. His music feels refined to a point that its criminal he only has 19k followers on Instagram and 57k monthly listeners on Instagram. 

Personal Ranking:

1. From Her
2. Like We Used To
3. Final Fantasy
4. 2nd Childhood
5. Who We Be
6. One, Two Step
7. For Diamonds
8. On Your Mind
9. 2am
10. Money Glitch
11. CLA 250 (Freestyle)
12. One Thing (ft. Hadi & Jahnai)
13. Audio Games
14. Stargirl
15. Darkskin Chris Brown
16. Watch Them Niggas

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• From Her
• Like We Used To
• Final Fantasy 

Who We Be starts the album off with a more deep down bass, syncopated tambourine and hats style. This song is pretty relaxed and makes for a good intro song to setup the vibe for the album. Immediately I noticed Swavays flow which is really tight. On this song he talks about how people don’t who he is or what he’s really about. They think he should be all hood since that’s where he’s from, but he’s really not all about that life. 

Money Glitch has a  darker twisted instrumental. He talks about how money changes everyone and how money makes the world glitch. I liked how the audio has the static changing sound to symbolize the glitch as the track switches up the instrumental a bit. In this song he the questions value of money and ends the track pretty suddenly which I wasn’t a huge fan of, but I understand how it’s hard to end a track. 

One, Two Step is another relaxed song with some nice layered vocals on chorus which adds a bit of production value. He talks about how he doesn’t want to lose this girl in this somewhat more of a ballad style song. This song feels like it has a more proper ending where the beat rides out instead of just cutting it off which I liked. 

Final Fantasy is another about a girl except it’s a bit more upbeat now. He talks about his fantasies about her as well as trust issues. He uses a more frantic flow on the verses and really snaps on the fourth verse which was exciting and entertaining. The beat switch outro is a little strange and awkward but it was still interesting if nothing else. 

2am is a lot slowed down and we hear more about his life and relationships. This song embodies the things you’d think about at 2 in the morning which sometimes aren’t entirely rational. He plays with auto time a bit on chorus which was interesting. Going with his relationships, we hear about how he’s lost things from chasing his dreams and putting his all into. He notes if he doesn’t make it he has to go back to all the bullshit.  

2nd Childhood has a more 90s feels where he talks about how he’s in his second childhood with his rap career. He wants to start his life over to a certain extent but also noted that it’s important to learn to live with regrets. He also talks a bit about how he feels he wasted his potential earlier in life and wants to turn that all around. 

Like We Used To is one of my favorite songs and includes a  slap bass guitar and a glistening keyboard and guitar mix. He again talks about a about past relationship that felt apart. He sings a bit in this ballad style song which I enjoyed, and I also loved the production and flow on this song. The beat rides out for the last minute in this absolute groove of a track making for a nice ending that you can vibe to. 

From Her is my favorite song and uses an acoustic guitar loop throughout. The layered vocals feel great as we hear about how this girl cheats on him. The twist here is that his girl thinks he’s cheating on her which is kinda fucked since she’s the one that’s actually cheating. The instrumental fits very well on this track and makes for a production that feels very tight. The vocals go back and forth from ear to ear in the outro which gives you the idea that both of them are talking and have the same message which I really loved creatively. 

For Diamonds starts off a bit more distorted and then integrates a thumping bass. We hear about a girl who is in his life just for the money and diamonds. Despite this he says he’ll be a dummy for her and keep feeding into this if she loves him. This shows how he’s totally infatuated with her which is kind of sad since she doesn’t love him back for who he is. 

CLA 250 (Freestyle) is very slowed down and almost crawling. He talks about how he used to fantasize about success and also how he’s not impressed with new rappers. I’d have to agree that I’m not terribly impressed with new school rappers and that Swavay has a style that suits me a lot better than they do. 

On Your Mind also has a syncopated beat that is similar to the intro. He talks about how he’s stuck in love and just wants her to say what’s on her mind since she isn’t open with him anymore. He notes that he can’t even tell if she loves him or hates him. If this is the same girl from other songs, it seems like Swavay was stuck in a pretty toxic relationship. 

One Thing is the only track with features on it from other artists as he talks about the one thing that has him tripping. He says that he could be braggadocios but he won’t since that’s not what’s important. The one thing that has him tripping as alluded to in the title is that he just wants to make this girl happy which is sweet. 

Audio Games has a very choppy and wavy intro instrumental on this song where he talks about how his songs are audio games for a girls. At this point I had really noticed how a lot of the songs are love songs/about a girl/for a girl so the title is pretty creative and accurate I thought. The fact that he’s playing games with this “promiscuous girl” who doesn’t know what she means to him further shows how toxic this relationship is. 

Watch Them Niggas is a song about trust issues and how you need to watch those that are close to you. While this is a nice track, I personally liked the rest of the songs better and think that Swavay is somewhat punching below his weight on this song since I feel like he could really elevate to a level of greatness beyond the simplicity of this song. Despite that, he still comes with a nice flow and provides a relaxing song. 

Darkskin Chris Brown is a song about how he’s jaded after break up. Honestly if this is the relationship ship he’s been talking about the whole album, I’m glad they broke up since it seemed so toxic. He talks about how he thinks she still wants him still despite this breakup. This song is pretty chorus heavy which I wasn’t the biggest fan of since I would’ve liked heavier verses. The beat rides out a little long at the end as well which I feel like is just improved over time as he works on his craft so it’s rather forgivable. 

Stargirl is credited as a bonus track and has a deep bass paired with more jangly guitar mix. This song starts with almost two minutes of singing before the rapping hook comes in with pretty heavy auto tune. He then goes back to singing on hook, which makes this song very different from the rest of the album. I think this was pretty interesting to see creatively since it’s a large departure from his style. The general themes of chasing a girl that makes his world whole is still present which fits in with the rest of the album.