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Overall Rating and Impression: 9.5/10

Care for Me is the second studio album by Chicago rapper Saba. It was released on April 5, 2018, by Saba Pivot, LLC., and received mass critical acclaim from music critics and audiences alike.

Coming into this album I was told by a few people that this was the only album to make them cry and I shrugged it off like “yeah okay, sure”, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t emotional myself by the end of this album. Saba has phenomenal story telling skills where he lays it all out over somewhat lo-fi, sometimes jazzy productions where we hear all about his life growing up, the problems in his city, and the tragic story of his cousin John Walt. I loved Saba’s flow, style, delivery, cadence, voice, really everything about him. The tracks are very relaxing and are immersive as you’re transported into the streets of Chicago and Saba’s memories through his lyricism. For me the best part of the album is the back stretch, mainly the last two songs that are coupled to show his relationship with Walt. PROM / KING shows how his relationship changed and evolved with Walt from earlier in the album and ends with a cliffhanger where you don’t know where Walt has gone, but if you were paying attention to earlier tracks you know that he passed away from a stabbing which is revealed in full on the final track HEAVEN ALL AROUND ME where he raps from Walt’s perspective as he’s laying on the ground dying. However the entire album felt very good, emotional, and powerful from all aspects. There’s not many things to fault this album on, I think it did everything it intended to do and more in a powerful and relatable way. 

Personal Ranking:

1. PROM / KING
2. HEAVEN ALL AROUND ME
3. CALLIGRAPHY
4. GREY
5. BUSY / SIRENS (ft. theMIND)
6. FIGHTER (ft. KAINA)
7. LOGOUT (ft. Chance The Rapper)
8. LIFE
9. SMILE
10. BROKEN GIRLS

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• PROM / KING
• HEAVEN ALL AROUND ME
• CALLIGRAPHY

BUSY/SIRENS starts off the album with a a very low key production where we hear about him being alone, depression, and how the skies are grey. This song is rather melancholy and sets up the theme of racial injustice and gang violence. 

BROKEN GIRLS features a sort of out of tune guitar and talks about how he likes to go after broken girls. It seems he has a lot of toxic relationships in his life. The bit about going after broken girls may be due to a lack of self confidence as he touches on in the final song on the album.

LIFE has a more intense and creeping bass line as he talks about just trying to live his life. He also talks about family problems in this song and how unstable that aspect of his life has been. The post chorus is darker thematically as it’s about life not meaning anything. The chorus is one of the harder parts on the album as the general vibe is more chilled out and relaxed. 

CALLIGRAPHY has a soft piano and a very beautiful production. In this song he talks about using his words as art much like calligraphy is the art of handwriting. He says that he doesn’t want sympathy and that writing this songs it just a way to get his feelings out.

FIGHTER has some interesting distorted sounds in the mix as he talks about a fight in the first verse. He says he fucks someone up in a fight and then gets fucked himself. The dude that fucked him up ends up helping him out in the second verse as he’s getting jumped. He says that he doesn’t want to fight though but it’s such a part of the culture he’s surrounded by that it’s hard to escape. The outro spirals and distorts down into a beat switch and ends the track with a distorted low voice sample. 

SMILE is a song where he reminisces on his childhood and how he’s been smiling through pain. The first verse flow reminds me of Chance The Rapper on this song that is brighter than a lot of the other songs on this album. 

LOGOUT is a commentary on social media that’s features one of his faster flows. He teams up with Chance The Rapper To talks about how people are dependent and reliant on social media for validation. I really liked the trumpet in the back of the mix and the melancholy verse from Chance.

GREY is a song about the music industry and all the different waves it goes through. Saba thinks that the best songs don’t get put out because they’re not the most popular which is an interesting take on how the industry just wants hits and not songs that necessarily mean something. There’s a switch up into a jazz beat with a trumpet into the third verse that Saba then goes over with a harder flow and talks about how everything is grey which has been a somewhat central theme to the album. 

PROM/KING sets up the final song on the album and Ks about his friend/cousin Walter. Saba gets a prom date that Walt arranged for him and we hear a lot of details about this prom night over very descriptive verses. He ends up almost getting jumped by his prom dates brother who threatens Saba that if he does anything bad to his sister that he’ll fuck him up. The second verse talks all about Walters life and things he did with Walter such as an open mic night where Walt makes sure he gets on the mic despite getting skipped which really shows how he wanted to help Saba achieve his dreams. In the  second half of the in second verse Saba gets a call from Walt about getting shot at as the track turns very frantic and gets very intense. The next morning he leaves to search for Walter as his mother calls Saba asking if he’s seen him, but we know he was stabbed and died from the very first song on the album where he notes that Jesus died for our sins, but Walter died for a coat. 

HEAVEN ALL AROUND ME ha a very bleak instrumental and is told from the perspective of Walter. He knows he’s dying as he’s laying on the ground after being stabbed. This song has a very sad and emotional, but still beautifully tragic production. It really feels like the climax to this story of Saba’s and Walters life that we’ve been following throughout as we get snippets of their lives. This song and the previous work very well together and incorporate very vivid imagery and colorful story telling. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 6.5/10

I’m somewhat disappointed with this project but think it has a few redeeming qualities that would merit another listen, or at least would merit a first listen from others to at least check it out. The first track stands out by far to me and I really wish he stuck with this style as I fear a lot of the other tracks put him in a sea of mumble/auto tune rappers that he could be far above. I was disappointed to see him take the auto tune route after the first song as it makes him feel generic when he does have a different message for the most part. He talks a bit about luxury and living a lavish life, but his main focus is on his city and the terrible senseless violence there that he wishes people could escape since he sees the potential in them that they’re wasting on pointless gang related shit. There were around 5 tracks on here that I would call solid, but a lot of the rest just felt underwhelming and average but not unlistenable. The production isn’t the best, a lot of the times it feels rather bare or redundant as we hear strangely mixed 808s on piano centric beats that just don’t do enough justice. I liked that he has a clearer voice, but I really think he could do without the auto tune. If he scrapped the auto tune and upped the production value of his songs, I could see vast improvement in his music that would elevate him. For his first studio album this isn’t bad, but there’s definitely some room for improvement in my eyes but that’s just my personal take. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Lost Files
2. Deep Wounds
3. A King’s Nightmare
4. Last Strike
5. Pop Out Again (ft. Lil Baby & Gunna)
6. Pop Out (ft. Lil Tjay)
7. Battle Cry
8. Chosen 1
9. BST
10. Finer Things
11. Picture This
12. Through da Storm
13. Effortless 
14. Dyin’ Breed

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Lost Files
• Deep Wounds

Lost Files starts off the album with what I think is by far the best song in the project and a song which I wish a lot of the others were like. It has a darker piano sample and a harder flow to it. He talks about his childhood, making it success wise instead of staying trapped in gang life and dies all of this with a fast, relentless flow. I also noticed that sometimes he feels a bit off beat which is present across the album but isn’t a major distraction. 

Dyin’ Breed made me realize that I liked the previous songs style more and that I liked him better without auto tune. On this song he talks about how he came from nothing and uses the typical light auto tune style you hear all too often now. 

Through da Storm starts with encouraging words from his little sister who’s proud of him and has a music box style instrumental which is very twinkly. On this song he talks about his expensive taste and how money helps his depression which is contrary to what a lot of people say which is that money doesn’t ease the pain, and he even talks about that himself on this very album. 

Effortless is a piano centric song about how he made it from dark place and now has designer clothes and a lavish lifestyle. He talks about his city a bit and how making music is effortless for him. Ironically I feel like he could put a bit more effort into his music, especially production wise as the beats get repetitive and a bit boring after a while for me, but that’s just my personal opinion. 

Pop Out is a song where he talks about his wealth and lavish lifestyle. Lil Uzi raps about regrets but still talks about street life. Overall while this song isn’t the most lyrical is it one of the catchier songs on this album which counts for something. 

Battle Cry talks about his struggles over a low key beat which is pretty bare. I really didn’t like the 808s used on this song personally, I felt like the production was off here. He talks about how people are fake and how fame changed them but how he’s still the same as he was before fame. Loyalty is a big theme to the album and that’s no different on this song. 

BST has a more emotional piano as we hear more about street life and the hood. He talks about how people don’t show ambition besides selling drugs and how people don’t reach their potential and get trapped in gang life. He talks about how he’s depressed in his mansion now which is contradictory of an earlier song that said money took the pain away. 

Finer Things has a more hopeful piano and is about him trying to get a new life and warning a better life for his family, friends, and everyone that’s where he’s from. Again on this track for me the production feels off. The bass hits too hard and the symbol crashes really just don’t work right and do their job in my opinion. 

Picture This is a song about how he didn’t picture this new lifestyle for himself and again touches on problems in his community where he’s from. I like that he talks about issues like this, but I fear that his style and delivery is often too forgettable to provide the full lasting effect that he’s going for on his songs. 

Chosen 1 is referenced in the previous song about how he’s the chosen one and won’t waste his talent. There’s a guitar this time instead of piano for the instrumental which I appreciated as we hear about people being fake and not loyal. This song is done in a one long verse style which is somewhat similar to the intro track for the album which I like. 

Deep Wounds has a keyboard and synth heavy production where we hear about his friends that died. Despite this he is hopeful and thinks that everything can change and that everyone has potential that they are throwing away. We hear about gang problems and how everyone loses people in senseless gang violence which I thought was a good topic to bring up. Again however I fear he’s doing it in a way that doesn’t stick out so I can only hope that people get his message without discounting him. 

Last Strike is a more aggressive song about people that want handouts. He brings up loyalty again and how he’s still the same but other people changed. He gave them a lot of chances but they blew it and forced him to abandon these people that just want to be around him for the fame. He noted that he knows how it feels to be abandoned and how he doesn’t want to do that to them, but he has no other choice. 

A King’s Nightmare is the final track of the album that isn’t a remix and doesn’t have an auto tuned verse which I really enjoyed as I think his voice is better without it. We hear about gang life, tragedies, and struggles over one long verse which was reminiscent of the introductory track in many ways stylistically. 

Pop Out Again is the actual final track and is a remix of Pop Out. It has the same chorus as Pop Out but adds some additional verses from Lil Baby and Gunna. It’s a decent remix but I’m not a big Lil Baby or Gunna although they do fit his style well so this was a decent remix in my opinion. I could honestly either go with the original or the remix preference wise, I don’t think one really outshines the other and they both have their pluses. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8.25/10

Malibu is the second studio album by Anderson .Paak, released through Steel Wool Entertainment, Art Club, EMPIRE and OBE on January 15, 2016. 

This album is really all over the place instrumentally and sonically which makes this a very interesting album to me. There’s clear R&B, disco, funk, soul, surf music, and tons of influences throughout. I can really go for any of those genres in a certain mood so blending them together makes for a very enjoyable listening experience. A lot of the songs have big, sexy, glistening productions as you hear about Paaks life and his girl. There’s a  general dance vibe throughout which makes this a fun record for dancing obviously, or something to throw on at a party, at the beach, or really anywhere. This album is very summery and something I can see myself coming back to. The outro/intro skits wove the tracks together to make it fairly seamless for a lot of the album where we hear snippets about surfing and Malibu which aligns with the albums title. There were a few songs that kinda took the energy out of the album by slowing it down a bit too much in my opinion, but that also speaks to the versatility and variety of moods present. This takes it down a bit for me but isn’t a glaring problem. All in all it was enjoyable but there were a few tracks that sort of missed for me but still have redeeming qualities, especially in the production. I think everyone should give this album a shot since I feel there’s really something for everybody on here from R&B, to funk, to hip hop. 

Personal Ranking:

1. The Season/Carry Me
2. The Dreamer (ft. Talib Kweli & Timan Family Choir)
3. Put Me Thru
4. Celebrate
5. Am I Wrong (ft. ScHoolboy Q)
6. Heart Don’t Stand A Chance
7. Silicon Valley
8. Without You (ft. Rapsody)
9. Room In Here (ft. The Game & Sonyae)
10. The Waters (ft. BJ The Chicago Kid)
11. The Bird
12. Come Down
13. Parking Lot
14. Your Prime
15. Lite Weight (ft. The Free Nationals Fellowship Choir)
16. Water Fall (Interluuube)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• The Season/Carry Me
• The Dreamer
• Put Me Thru

The Bird kicks off the album by talking about his problems as a child, and his desire to reach the top. Off the bad R&B influences are immediately present in this relaxing vocal and instrumental piece. I really liked the piano and trumpet outro segment which kept the light vibes going for this song. 

Heart Don’t Stand A Chance is about his crazy but loving relationship. This song has a very relaxing singing and rap mixture that I enjoyed and ends with a skit about being trapped under water at the end which sets up the next song. Love and relationships are a central theme across this album and we get more insight into his relationships in the coming songs. 

The Waters is segued straight into from the skit at the end of Heart Don’t Stand A Chance where he talks about the waters of success. Despite the relationship theme present on the album this song is not about girl so it almost feels like an interlude but is still a full length song. 

The Season/Carry Me starts with a very laid back and crackly instrumental. This song ended up being one of my fav sites and features a switch up into the second part of the song with a nice guitar loop and piano beat which is somewhat syncopated. In this song he talks about his beginnings and need for money to achieve his dreams. The second half is longer and overall I liked it a bit a better but the whole song is still one of my favorites. 

Put Me Thru has a funky bass and guitar riff in this song where Paak talks about kinky and painful sex. This song was one of the more raunchy on the album and is one of the shorter cuts, but I still found it to also be one of my favorites as we hear about how infatuated he is with this girl.

Am I Wrong is gone directly into from Put Me Thru and has the theme of using your time wisely. This song has a very dance heavy beat and a ScHoolboy Q feature works surprisingly well despite his gritty style. I also loved the horns at the end of this song and thought it wrapped it up nicely. 

Without You is a more chilled out track that starts with breathy vocals in the intro. He talks about how he’s nothing without his girl and also how he’s used to having short term relationships so it’s not a big deal if she doesn’t make up her mind about him quickly. I enjoyed the verse from Rapsody as we hear from the woman’s perspective and how Paak won’t get away with cheating. Overall I thought this was a nice track. 

Parking Lot has an almost surf guitar loop that gives it a sort of indie sound which was interesting as we see another influence sonically. This song has a strange beat pacing and simple hook which makes for a very light, fun song. 

Lite Weight is gone straight into from the Parking Lot outro and talks about how there’s no need to be afraid which is constantly repeated. This song has the same set of bars and chorus repeated which makes for a groovy dance track that feels like a sort of interlude on the album although it’s not directly called one. 

Room In Here is transitioned straight into from Lite Weight as we hear about Paak pursuing women and how he wants deeper connections with women rather than just fucking them and kicking them to the curb. This song is slowed down a bit from the more upbeat dance cuts that are fairly present on the album. 

Water Fall (Interluuube) is a very sexed production done in a ballad style that’s all about making a girl cum. This is the most raunchy song on the album and outright explicit. The outro is very breathy and panicked as it seems the girl is either cumming or just came. 

Your Prime is about his girl who is young and in her prime. The chorus is slower a bit slower but this song also has a more jumping verse. He says she’s dumb and has a short attention span and won’t be able to get the type of guy she wants for long once she’s out of her prime which is a bit strange and uncharacteristic of his general love centric vibes. This song really didn’t do it for me overall and I think it’s pretty bottom half ranking wise. 

Come Down has a jumping bass line and I liked the guitar licks and loops on this song, but overall I found it to be one of the more basic cuts. It’s a fine song, but I can’t help but feel it’s missing something which leaves me ranking it in the bottom half. 

Silicon Valley is another very slow and sexy track much like the interlude. The title refers to breast implants most likely as we hear more about the intimacy in his relationship and how he wants what’s under her breasts which is her heart. The girl in this case just wants him to fuck him though and even seems a bit annoyed about how emotional he’s being. 

Celebrate talks about things people take for granted and has a driving bass line. He talks about how you should celebrate while you still can and has a more simple piano and guitar loop. This song also has a piano solo and boasts five verses which made for an interpreting and engaging song. 

The Dreamer closes the album by talking about the struggles Paak had when he was younger and the success he has now. He talks about how he wants others to succeed and keep dreaming which makes this track feel triumphant. The production feels really big and full on this closer which makes it feel all the more triumphant. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8/10

Faces is the eleventh mixtape released by Mac Miller, on May 11, 2014, celebrating Mother’s Day.

At nearly 90 minutes, this is the longest mixtape or project that I have listened to at this point. With 24 tracks this is roughly twice the size of what you’d expect from a standard studio album, so I was really expecting this to be a mashup of songs that didn’t quite fit any of his albums and not to hold a coherent theme. This feels somewhat true, but at the same time a great portion of the production weaves tracks together which makes for a listening experience that I found enjoyable and was surprised it didn’t turn into something I felt like I had to sit through. There are different tropes throughout however such as the three biggest moments in your life as seen in the songs Birthday Party, Wedding, and Funeral which are all in a row and was really interesting to see. Largely Mac talks about the different faces of people he thought were his friends, and the different faces of himself as seen through heavy drug abuse from multiple different drugs. A lot of the songs talk about his depression, suicidal thoughts, and all the pain he’s been through in his life up to this point. You can really hear the pain and struggle in his voice in certain tracks which made for a very emotionally raw mixtape. It really feels like an hour and a half of music straight from the part that is mostly straight to the point and doesn’t dance too much around the message. All in all I thought this was a great listen and had a lot of good tracks with hardly a bad track on the 24 song long mixtape. 

24 track project, 

Personal Ranking:

1. Diablo
2. Therapy
3. Grand Finale
4. New Faces v2
5. Friends (feat. ScHoolboy Q)
6. Inside Outside
7. Malibu
8. Funeral
9. Colors and Shapes
10. Happy Birthday
11. It Just Doesn’t Matter
12. Wedding
13. Here are 
14. Rain
15. Angel Dust
16. San Francisco
17. Insomniak
18. Uber
19. Apparition
20. Ave Maria
21. Thumbalina
22. Polo Jeans
23. What Do You Do
24. 55

Inside Outside starts the album off with a  jazz sample which is a central style to the album. Mac talks about how he should’ve died already which is a very sad thought and sadly a prominent theme across the album as we enter the inside of Mac’s head and explore his thoughts on this album that are often suicidal and deal with heavy drug abuse. 

Here We Go starts with muted horns and talks about working hard and being the greatest which is very different than the intro track thematically. Across the album we get these splashes of home amidst a more dark and dreary album. He says he’s just a human so his ego is grounded, and that he did it all without a Drake or Jay Z feature and found success by being himself. 

Friends has an ominous intro and a somewhat jazzy instrumental. This song is very low key and talks about not leaving his house and trust issues. There’s a long first verse about drugs and includes a line saying fuck you Kendrick sarcastically which I found a bit funny. This song has three verses and is nearly 7 minutes which makes for one of the lengthier songs on this hour and a half long album. 

Angel Dust is a song about angel dust as you can guess from the title and is a very chilled out track. The chorus says not to be scared since it’s just a little angel dust and it makes you feel free, but the outro however begs the listener not to do angel dust since it can really fuck you up. This is the first drug that Mac explores in depth on this album. 

Malibu is transitioned straight into from Angel Dust and talks more about drug addiction and rehab. He says he looking forward to tomorrow but still has suicidal thoughts. There’s a church organ/keyboard synth mix in the production which also alludes to dying, presumably of an overdose. 

What Do You Do has the same shaky synth from Malibu, but is sped up and pitched. In this song he goes back and forth with Sir Michael Rocks on the verses and talks about his life and what he does which a lot of is fantasy. At the end he says to let me him at the top since he doesn’t want to come down which could allude to both drug use or perhaps his career which touches in similar themes to Power by Kanye West. This song ends with a shaky, wavy piano and reversed audio sample until it spirals down and ends. 

It Just Doesn’t Matter is transitioned straight into from What Do You Do and is about how nothing matters because in the end because everyone dies which is a dark thought. This also has the same organ synth as previous tracks which alludes to death heavily. This is one of the darkest tracks lyrically on the album. 

Therapy is more upbeat and has a deep bass. In this song he’s asking his therapist how it feels to be around him which is a role reversal, but his therapist is actually a girl who he’s asking how it feels to be around him. I really liked the chorus and this song overall and found it to be one of my favorites on the album. 

Polo Jeans is a song where Mac is criticizing critics of this music and talks about doing drugs with his friends. Earl Sweatshirt is featured on this song and raps about being alone much Mac does. 

Happy Birthday is gone straight into from the outro of Polo Jeans. This is a more low key song and describes a birthday party that he feels forced to go to for himself. This song has lots of sparkly synths and bells where he explores his lack of desire and how his friends don’t care about him which brings back the trust issues aspect of the album. This song starts the mid album of trilogy of following a life, this song signaling birth. 

Wedding is the next song where he talks about how he still doesn’t feel in control of his life. I thought this instrumental fit really well as he talks about true love but also how this relationship is failing due to him being a drug addict and not faithful. This signals the second biggest moment in your life besides birth which was the previous song. 

Funeral ends the life motif on this song with a church organ synth that we’ve heard on previous songs which confirms the idea that they represent death. He talks about being trapped in his dreams and how he thinks this is the last day of his life and that he doesn’t think he’ll make it to heaven. This is the third biggest moment in your life which is death, alongside birth and your wedding. 

Diablo has a jazzy but darker piano sample and a harder beat which I loved. Mac talks about how he’s the rap diablo and continues talking about his suicidal thoughts and being stuck in his mind. It seems like he didn’t make it to heaven like he thought he wouldn’t in Funeral and now he’s literally the devil. 

Ave Maria is a song about how drugs aren’t harming him which is contrary to a lot of the other songs which talks about the harm of addiction. He talks about how life is a circle which interestingly enough is also brought up on his final track on Swimming, So It Goes. The outro is a sudden shift about finding a way out which is a bit frantic. 

55 is an instrumental 50 second interlude, produced by Thundercat which feels like a jam session not really structured. This serves as a brief intermission into the rest of the album. 

San Francisco has a quiet and low key intro where he welcomes us to the dark side of his bizarre mind. This song is about taking acid in San Francisco and the instrumental really sounds like he’s tripping which makes it perfect for this song. The line “suppose I’ll die alone from an overdose of some sort” is especially sad in hindsight since this is the unfortunate death which Mac ended up facing. 

Colors and Shapes is one of the saddest tracks on the album about letting him commit suicide if wants to and to not try and stop him. This song is also about doing LSD and how it changes his perception of the world and about him hallucinating. It’s a very chilled out track where he continues to talk about how he wants to forget about life. This song ends with a lengthy instrumental as you’re left to reflect on the very heavy topic which fills the track. 

Insomniak is a harder track where he again talks about being the greatest which is an extreme shift from the previous song. It’s very braggadocios and has a strange production. He talks about how he doesn’t sleep and how when he stays up all night he gets a bit delirious. This song has a Rick Ross feature which was interesting, but I thought it could’ve done without. 

Uber is a song that follows a go go dancer which ultimately leads to his friend finding out she’s unfaithful because she fucked another guy despite saying she was faithful to Mac. This is a very strange song  and I’m not quite sure where it fits in the overall narrative. 

Rain starts off with Vince Staples telling a story about his life and the murder of innocent people. Mac jumps in and talks about how he uses drugs to ease the battle within him and we again get more suicidal imagery. Mac’s pain mixed with rain is pretty sad imagery on this darker song. 

Apparition starts with reversed audio and feels very delusional. He talks about how he did a cannonball off the deep end and how he experiences every feeling except feeling fine. This song is one of the stranger on the album but feels very much in line and in place with the album as a whole. 

Thumbalina is slang where he criticizes his neighbors in the intro where it sounds like he really hates everything about them and his neighbors don’t seem to like him either. I thought this song was a bit out of place as well and didn’t quite fit the narrative of the album but it was interesting to see how much he dislikes them but in Swimming he talks about wanting to connect a bit more with his neighbors who are strangers to him. It seems he got new neighbors between this mixtape and Swimming. 

New Faces v2 bring the church organs back in this song about drug and alcohol abuse. This song has a pretty minimalistic instrumental as we hear more about his suicidal thoughts and how he used to be afraid of drugs but now he’s addicted. Drugs have taken over his life at this point and he now sees himself as having a shallow soul. 

Grande Finale is fine straight into from New Faces v2 and has a shredding guitar sample. He thinks it’s his last song before he overdoses and this is his grand finale as an artist which is incredibly tragic and shows what a bad place he was in. He says that’s that the world will be fine without him and seems like he’s trying to go out with a bang on this song. It’s almost solace knowing he was on the road to recovery by the end of his final album, but seeing as he died of an overdose is deeply saddening. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 10/10

This album really was insane, I can see why people praise it so much. From front to back I found this to be a very engaging and enjoyable listen. I really liked how his voice and his message are really the main star of the show when it comes to his music as he always delivers lyrically dense verses that carry a somewhat conversational tone as you hear about all the different things around him, the experiences he’s had, and the picture he wants to paint for you. Although it’s rather conversational, Nas delivers bar after bar relentlessly across this album with long verses that are vivid and captivating. The backing beats have a very distinct New York sounds as we hear often jazzy loops that fit the tone of the songs so perfectly sonically. I was impressed with how well Nas rides the beat in each song, and it was interesting to hear the origins of somewhat common phrases now such as sleep is the cousin of death and calling money dead presidents. I personally liked the first half of the album more and felt like those songs really set the bar high, but the back half also felt very tight and well made. All in all I am very impressed by what this was able to accomplish in 1994, and how well it holds up 25 years later and how fresh and present it still feels. To think he made this record at 19 blows my mind since his style seems so refined and his words feel like true poetry. 

Personal Ranking:

1. The World Is Yours
2. N.Y. State of Mind
3. It Ain’t Hard To Tell
4. Life’s a Bitch
5. Halftime
6. Represent 
7. One Love
8. Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)
9. One Time 4 Your Mind
10. The Genesis

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

1. The World Is Yours
2. It Ain’t Hard To Tell
3. Life’s a Bitch

The Genesis starts off the album and introduced the general theme of Nas writing the rap bible in this spoken word conversation track. 

N.Y. State of Mind features long verses about the state of mind of someone living in New York and the street life there. I really enjoyed the instrumental on this song and immediately noted the impressive lyricism that Nas brings to the table. 

Life’s a Bitch has a chilled out beat and carries the general theme of living your life to the fullest since in the end death is unavoidable and often life’s a bitch. I liked the trumpet solo at the end and the bars on bars that Nas comes with on this song. 

The World is Yours is more uptempo and has a piano sample that I loved. This song is jazzy and the beat is crazy. Nas rides the beat so well on this song and it’s definitely my favorite on the album overall. 

Halftime had an interesting sleigh bell infused instrumental on this song where it feels like the vocals are a bit buried. The purpose of this track is to reflect how the best part of the game is halftime show and Nas is that halftime show and the most exciting in the game. I liked how this song fades out at the end as you’d be flipping the record over at the song that marks halftime for the album itself. 

Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park talks about life as an adolescent and teenager and is very dense lyrically, but then again all the songs feel so dense in that way. Personally this places in the lower half for me but I still found it very engaging and an enjoyable song. 

One Love has a thumping bass as we hear Nas reading letters to different friends in jail. I liked this stylistically as we see a little bit more of a personal take on Nas’s life and relationships. The third verse is very descriptive, I found it a bit more exciting and engaging that other verses but it was overall a sound song. I also liked the xylophone part of the instrumental which made it a bit more interesting to listen to. 

One Time 4 Your Mind has a jazzy beat and is a lot slower than the rest of the songs. I personally didn’t like this slower approach which puts it near the bottom for me, but it was a nice change sonically and stylistically from the rest of the album. 

Represent is more energetic as we h we about Nas and his friends representing New York. I liked the energy brought to this track and it feels so incredibly New York in the 90s and has a certain sound that I just love. There’s lots of shoutouts in the outro to all his friends in New York which was nice. I really loved the production on this track as well and thought it really shined. 

It Ain’t Hard To Tell has a harder bass and is energetic still. I thought the line “I’ll leave your brain stimulated” was perfect since Nas really does provide a very engaging, exciting, and entertaining performance on this album where his lyrical skill and prowess is the main star of the show. Overall this song feels like it goes the extra mile for me and is easily a top three track off the album for me. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 6.5/10

Overall I was somewhat satisfied with this album/mixtape, but also couldn’t help but feel like it was missing something to make it really stand out. I enjoyed the production, but if you’ve read my other reviews you know that I’m not the biggest fan of luxury rap/glam rap/whatever you want to call it where the lyrical content revolves heavily around money, designer clothes, women, sex, the works. I was however surprised how nonchalantly and melodically Lil Uzi uses this style across tracks that feel surprisingly full sonically. A lot of the songs feel full length wise and do contain some lengthy verses, but unfortunately the content of the verses get repetitive over time as the topic really doesn’t change too much across the album which leaves it more to the preference of which instrumental you want to hear Uzi rap/sing about money and designer clothes. The instrumental for Ps and Qs stood out to me since it used an accordion synth which I thought was interesting, but other than that a lot of the songs seem to blur together for me with only a few others that felt like they were their own track. All in all I’d be willing to give Uzi another chance and will listen to this album more as I continue to check out other music to see if it grows on me, but for now this album is just coming across a bit too generic for me, but I do think Uzi has potential to really become a master of this sound and style. 

Personal Ranking:

1. You Was Right
2. Ps & Qs
3. Canadian Goose
4. Money Longer
5. Team Rocket
6. Scott and Ramona
7. Baby Are You Home
8. Hi Roller
9. Grab The Wheel

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• You Was Right
• Ps and Qs
• Canadian Goose

Canadian Goose starts the album off with a synth heavy instrumental as the luxury rap topic is introduced which is present across the album. I was surprised there’s 3 verses on this song since typical luxury rap is very simple and short. 

Hi Roller is about about spending money where Uzi talks about all the luxury brands he buys. I found the production entertaining on this slightly more relaxed song. 

Money Longer is about how his life has changed since he became famous and features a deep bass and shiny synths in the mix. This song is chorus heavy but pretty catchy.

Grab The Wheel is a bit more relaxed and has a quieter production. This song is about a girl and how drugs take the wheel with his life. This song almost sounds like it interpolates Money Longer at points in the verse which was interesting, I’m not sure if that’s actually true though. 

You Was Right talks about relationship issues and how he broke a girls heart by cheating on her. This song has a low key production but the snare keeps it going along until the end. 

Baby Are You Home has a darker production and talks more about cheating on his girl and calling an ex/possibly the same girl. It seems like this woman isn’t single at this point though which he doesn’t really see as a problem. This song distorts heavily at the end which shows some emotion on the topic. 

Ps & Qs has an accordion like synth which I thought stood out as he talks about taking someone’s girl and spending money on her which her ex is couldn’t do because he’s either broke or at least has less money than Uzi. 

Team Rocket is a song referencing Pokémon and the physical appearance of him and his girl. I liked the intro synths  and found the lime about paying a hundred fifty for a sandwich somewhat amusing but this track is overall middle of the road for me in the scope of the album. 

Scott and Romona is the final song and references Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I liked the dark synths and low down production on this song. I felt kinda dumb when I only just now realized at this song that the title of the album references the movie. He talks about the typical topics we heard about on the rest of the album about his money and clothes and also more about his girl on this final song. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8.5/10

Dark Sky Paradise is the third studio album by Detroit rapper Big Sean. It was released on February 24, 2015, by Def Jam Recordings and GOOD Music

Overall I really liked this album and thought that all of the tracks felt very thoroughly created and well developed. The production stood out to me on a lot of the tracks in what made for an enjoyable listen from front to back. None of the songs felt like they didn’t belong or were throwaways, but there were a few songs that felt like they needed a bit more oomph or something to make them stand out more. I liked that a lot of the songs were verse heavy and had some lengthy verses packed full of good bars, but at the same time that gives some of them the tendency to be more forgettable but I didn’t see this to be a glaring issue or even a big issue at that. The features felt well placed across the album, I feel like Sean has a voice that can go well with a lot of others which makes it a bit more versatile. I liked the theme of a dark sky and a thunderstorm which was interwoven into the instrumentals and productions across the track, I thought it made for an interesting concept and made the album a bit more tight when doing a straight through listen. All in all I think it was well made and enjoyable, I really enjoyed Big Sean’s style, flow, and delivery across the 12 tracks on the standard version of the record.

Personal Ranking:

1. All Your Fault (ft. Kanye West)
2. I Don’t Fuck With You (ft. E-40)
3. One Man Can Change The World (ft. Kanye West & John Legend)
4. Outro (Dark Sky Paradise)
5. Blessings (ft. Drake)
6. Paradise (Extended)
7. Win Some, Lose Some
8. Dark Sky (Skyscrapers)
9. I Know (ft. Jhene Aiko)
10. Play No Games (ft. Chris Brown & Ty Dolla $ign)
11. Stay Down
12. Deep (ft. Lil Wayne)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• All Your Fault
• I Don’t Fuck With You
• Blessings

Dark Sky (Skyscrapers) starts the album with an introspective look into his relationships. It has a darker production as we hear about him talking about making it and being successful. 

Blessings starts with a low bass and eerie synths. He talks about how he’s blessed after success and again talks about past relationships and friends. I enjoyed the Drake feature and thought this made for an all around good song. 

All Your Fault is my favorite song on the album where I loved the production, the chorus, and the third verse especially with Kanye and Sean going back and forth. I was a bit disappointed there was no Travis verse after teasing his vocals on the hook, but that hardly distracted as I feel this track rose above the rest. 

I Don’t Fuck With You has a slap bass synth that feels very 2000s. This is a harder track and aggressive message about how he doesn’t fuck with certain people. I loved E-40s verse and he beat switch into third verse that brings back intro instrumental. I wish that instrumental was used more in the song but I still felt like this was a great track. 

Play No Games is a song about a relationship where the girl doesn’t see the bigger picture and doesn’t take him serious, hence the title about how she’s playing games with him emotionally. I thought this song was a bit more flat than the rest and places towards the bottom personally, but still isn’t bad. 

Paradise (Extended) has a horn synth and string synth mix and Sean talks about finding paradise. This song has funny punchlines and a harder instrumental that Sean snapped on. 

Win Some, Lose Some starts with a reversed audio snippet intro and then goes into Sean talking about life changing after success. This song is a lot more low key as we hear him questioning if he chose the right path. The outro is a conversation with his dad about how he’s speaking from his heart and that’s why people feel him which I thought was a touching moment on the album. 

Stay Down is a slower song that I liked the production of. He talks about his old friends staying loyal, and uses a faster flow in second verse which worked well with the slower production. The track spirals down at the end as the song closes. 

I Know brings back the deep bass synth and talks about going through some things in relationship. The snare in the chorus ramps song up into the verses which I really enjoyed sonically. I also really liked the final chorus with Jhene’s voice under Sean’s as they work really well together. This vocal layering is also used on the next song. 

Deep is a song where he talks about doubting himself and he transitioned straight into from I Know’s outro. I liked the final hook with Lil Wayne and Sean both on it as their voices harmonize well. I personally liked a lot of the songs a lot better than this one, but it’s still a pretty nice song with a solid Wayne feature. 

One Man Can Change The World is some in a piano ballad style and is about changing the world and hoping that he gets everything he wishes for along the way. He talks about the differences of what he wanted from when he wasn’t big to what he wants now. I liked the Kanye hook as well as the John Legend hook which feels very soulful. This song has a good narrative and the most positive message on the album. I would feel like this is a solid final track if there wasn’t another after it. 

Outro (Dark Sky Paradise) starts with thunder and rain which keeps up the dark Sky motif. I liked the guitar sample and loop that was in the left ear mix wise for the intro in this happier ending to the album. It’s introspective like the intro and features a single verse. I really whited the vibes, and thought the punchline about calling him if you have problems with him where he gives out his actual phone number as the punchline.  

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Overall Rating and Impression: 6.25/10

SAVE ME is Future’s debut EP and his second release of 2019, following January’s The WIZRD.

Overall I wasn’t terribly impressed with this EP, but it was still decent in my opinion. At times I found the songs a bit boring, I feel like this definitely falls into the category of mood/party music, or not something that I’d really choose to listen to on my own. I enjoyed the differences in production style across the short 7 track EP, but at times it just wasn’t doing it for me. Futures voice is definitely used more as an instrument instead of pure vocals as well since it’s so heavily auto tuned and sometimes mumbling to the point I have no idea what he’s saying. As of now there’s roughly 3 tracks that I liked, and the rest just fall into a meh category that I feel like I could’ve gone without and personally wasn’t feeling very much. However I found the production somewhat redeeming that took this EP from a 5 or 6 to me up to a bit beyond, but I really can’t see myself rating it beyond that at this time. It may grow on me in the future, but a 7 track EP with around half being forgettable tracks just isn’t doing it for me. I feel like there’s room for me to grow to like Future on other projects potentially, but only time will tell as I check them out at a later date. 

Personal Ranking: 

1. St. Lucia
2. XanaX Damage
3. Please Tell Me
4. Government Official
5. Extra
6. Shotgun
7. Love Thy Enemies

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• St. Lucia
• XanaX Damage

XanaX Damage starts the album off with distorted strings as we hear about a girl. He talks about only wanting her when he’s on substances which makes me wonder if the drug is actually Xanax, or if he’s comparing the girl and the way she makes him feel to Xanax. 

St. Lucia is a bit more up tempo and about his lavish lifestyle. I really don’t have much more to say about this song, although it was the most enjoyable in my eyes on this short EP. 

Please Tell Me features a flute synth as he talks about all the things he wants to buy for a girl and how he wants to share his status and wealth with her. He begs her to let him buy her things on this song which is admittedly different than a lot of other typical tropes and motifs about money and status. 

Shotgun is another song focused on a girl as we hear more about this relationship. It’s fine in a ballad piano style but I found it a pretty follow and bare song which places towards the bottom for me. 

Government Official has a harder flow but still manages to feel low key. This song is about sex and money which is more of what I’d expect from him. This song felt pretty middle of the road for me and wasn’t anything too special or to write home about. 

Extra slows the vibe down and talks about a girl criticizing his lifestyle and why he’s so extra. This sheds a more light on the earlier song where he was begging to spend his money and share his lifestyle with her. It seems she doesn’t want this and he doesn’t seem to understand why not. 

Love Thy Enemies closes the EP with a guitar sample and a single verse. This song is fine in a different style from talking about his money and lifestyle and takes a more vulnerable approach which was somewhat intersecting but still felt very dull to me and was one of my least favorites on here. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8.25/10

After a three year hiatus since his last project,Atrocity Exhibition was announced on July 17th 2016. It was set to be released September 30th, 2016, but it was released early on 27th 

I have mixed feelings about this album, but overall came out with a positive impression. From the first track it feels very experimental as you’re met with a strange production and even stranger vocals. I wasn’t a fan of his higher pitched delivery style at first, but I must say that it grew on me by the end. Overall I liked the back half of the album more, but that may be due to his voice and style growing on me. I liked the rock influences that were present across the album, but there’s also a lot of different styles that he pulls inspiration from which made it an interesting listen. I think this album needs multiple listens to get the full impact since a lot of the songs are very lyrically dense and are packed with meaning which I can appreciate, but with his grimy style this makes for an album that I feel like you’ll either love or hate. For me I’m somewhere in between but leaning towards liking it more than not. I admittedly liked the couple of tracks that used his lower voice that is a more conventional style, but also found myself missing his higher pitched style as well at these points as that’s what makes him stand out. He’s very different than anything I’ve heard so far, so I look forward to checking out more of his music and seeing if it continues to grow on me. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Ain’t It Funny
2. Dance In The Water
3. When It Rain
4. Tell Me What I Don’t Know
5. Hell For It
6. Really Doe (ft. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt)
7. Today
8. From The Ground (ft. Kelela)
9. White Lines
10. Downward Spiral 
11. Rolling Stone (ft. Petite Noir)
12. Get Hi (ft. B-Real)
13. Golddust
14. Pneumonia
15. Lost

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Ain’t It Funny
• Dance In The Water
• When It Rain

Downward Spiral is the intro track to the album and off the bas I wasn’t sure I liked the the first verse flow since his voice is very different, but I for sure did like the drums. This dark track is about spiraling downwards in life and you can hear the clear rock influences which I thought was interesting. 

Tell Me What I Don’t Know talks about his adolescence and has really good story telling and fantastic production. I personally liked this track more once he doesn’t rap in a higher pitched voice but rather a lower pitched more natural voice. 

Rolling Stone is about loneliness in his life as a rockstar. He talks about how he feels empty inside and resolves to self medicate in order to take the pain away which is a very dark and depressing thought. 

Really Doe is more up tempo and has a lot of impressive features from Kendrick, Ab Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt. I liked the bells on this song where he talks about what his life is really like and similar themes across the four verse song. 

Lost has a stuttery instrumental and a really interesting production. His voice is a bit far back in the mix as we hear more about his downward spiral and how he used to sell cocaine before fame to make ends meet. 

Ain’t It Funny has a frantic distorted horns and synth mix where we hear about addiction through his relentless flow and delivery. He talks about how he can’t quit his abuse as he uses it to cope with problems which shows the downward spiral that is central to the album. 

Golddust is more more about substance abuse, specifically cocaine. It has an intense production but I found this in the bottom half of tracks when taking the entire album into consideration as I just felt there were better songs. 

White Lines talks about lines of cocaine specially in this song that is about heavy drug use and hoping he doesn’t overdose. If you weren’t concerned at this point already, I’d be surprised if you weren’t after this song as his life is starting to sound like a living hell. 

Pneumonia is a harder track about money and selling cocaine. It has an interesting instrumental that almost sounds like banging pots and pans. The hook is a lot more tame than the verses which was very interesting to hear. 

Dance In The Water has lots of energy and has instructions on twerking. He talks about dancing in the water but not getting wet which most likely refers to not facing consequences or being able to avoiding them, most likely through continues drug abuse. 

From The Ground is another track with his lower more natural voice and a low key production. This song feels more experimental as we hear about how he thinks he’s living on borrowed time which shows the mortality he knows he faces but has somehow escaped it despite heavy drug abuse. Again, if you’re still not concerned at this point you should be now, it’s very sad how he knows he’s headed towards an overdose yet can’t seem to stop. 

When It Rain brings some energy back in this frantic and very building song about depression and substance abuse. The track builds more into the second verse as he talks about where he came from and the crime in his city. This song doesn’t seem to quite climax as the instrumental builds and builds which makes it pretty intense throughout. 

Today has a distorted guitar and low key synth production. In this song he talks about death, the hood, and how you never know when it’s your time to go. This song is somewhat more hopeful as he talks about being focused on the present and on today. 

Get Hi is a more relaxed and chilled out song about about weed. I personally liked the Spokane shoutout since I’m 70 miles from there but it’s in now Way central got the song. Instead he talks about getting high to deal with pain although seems pretty temporary and doesn’t last long which causes him to keep doing more and more drugs. The end of the song is very spiraling as it distorts downwards into the ending. 

Hell For It is the final song and has a deep bass and a more hopeful sound. He talks about giving them hell and all that he’s got as he’s trying to escape his demons. He talks about having talent being more important than having sales and how he just wants to make music. He doesn’t care if people don’t like his music, and I thought this was a good closer as the piano marches to the end of the song and drifts away as the song fades out. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8.5/10

The Never Story is J.I.D’s debut studio album, arriving less than three weeks after his signingto J. Cole’s Dreamville Records. The 12-track album boasts features from 6LACK, EARTHGANG, and Mereba. J. Cole himself produced two tracks on the project: “D/vision”and “LAUDER.”

Overall I feel like this album is very solid production wise and lyrically which stood out to me. The songs didn’t feel repetitive and always had an interesting beat which I really appreciated since it makes the songs feel more unique. Something else that’s interesting that I picked up on from this album is that JID has a very different delivery style from a lot of other rappers that makes him almost sound like he’s whispering sometimes but yet his voice is very clear if that makes sense. On this album I really enjoyed the punchlines especially as it felt like there really were no filler bars and that he made every word matter and packed a lot into each song. There were a few times that I audibly laughed from the punchlines which is something I always like. “What you call a chick that don’t suck dick? You don’t” specifically comes to mind for a punchlines that made me laugh since it’s totally not what you’re expecting. There’s a wide array of styles and flows across the album which I enjoyed as well since that makes it more engaging and interesting to listen to. I personally liked DiCaprio 2 a bit better, but for a freshman album this feels really well put together and was an enjoyable listen and experience. Now after listening to both of JIDs studio albums, I’m excited to hear what he comes out with in the future since I think he has a unique style and lots of talent to put to use. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Hereditary 
2. General
3. Hoodbooger
4. NEVER
5. LAUDER
6. Somebody
7. Underwear 
8. EdEddnEddy
9. D/vision (ft. EARTHGANG)
10. Doo Wop
11. All Bad (ft. Mereba)
12. 8701 (ft. 6LACK)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Hereditary
• General
• Hoodbooger

Doo Wop- serves as a sort of prelude as all as the intro to the project. I liked the production which is a bit darker and ominous despite the positive lyrics about everyone being a star. 

General has a very different style than Doo Wop which makes for an interesting transition. In this song JID talks about where he came from for the most part. I really loved the bass guitar and short electric guitar licks that propel the song. This song has very good story telling, especially about his brothers court date and what he figured it was about without really understanding it at the time. 

NEVER is about how JIDs humble beginnings and having nothing. This song has a beat switch into the second verse where the track then gets a lot harder. The line “what do you call a chick that don’t suck dick? You don’t” made me laugh and overall this song as well as others have great punchlines. 

EdEddnEddy talks about his childhood over a more low key production and flow. This is a short song but I still really liked it.

D/vision starts with a low pitched intro and again has punchlines that I thought stood out. I liked the Doctur Dot feature and the Johnny Venus feature as he has a similar style to JID which fits well on this beat.

Hereditary starts with the spoken word sentence “hey we need to talk”. This starts the narrative of a relationship and the problems with it. I loved the piano and full sound this track have which features JID singing. He talks about problems in relationship and uses the line “I can’t save her if she don’t wanna be saved” as a reference to No Role Modelz by J Cole which talks about women that don’t want a committed relationship. JID says that he tried to be faithful in the relationship and make it work but the relationship is a “big fucking waste of time”. This leads him to self medicating to fix the pain. The outro is back to the dialogue where the girl says that he doesn’t make her feel special or make time for her and that he needs to change for her. 

All Bad is about the relationship that was all bad and a waste of time in Hereditary. He goes in depth about how it all the bad things in the relationship and about how they both lie and keep secrets. This is a very slowed down track which features singing and feels like he’s whisper singing/rapping which is interesting. The track speeds up a bit and warps into the outro with the dialogue “you got me extremely fucked up” which keeps the narrative going, although it seems to end here and end the relationship trope. 

Underwear is a  chilled out song with a deep bass and piano. This song talks about how he’s on his mission to get money and success and has a rather catchy chorus which I liked. 

8701 has a  deep bass and a crispy guitar riff. JID talks about keeping a smile when it’s all bad which is a callback to his relationship. I liked the syncopation of the drums, guitar, and vocals as we hear a slightly braggadocios song about how someone’s best shit isn’t better than his worst. 

Hoodbooger has a more hopeful piano sample and is one of the brighter songs on the album. This is one of my favorite productions on the album as we hear about imagining success during his life before success. 

Somebody continues the bright vibes and is the happiest song on the album. This song has positive lyrics about how everyone should be something and not to be nothing. This song feels very care free and has lots of fun keys in the mix. 

LAUDER is the final track and brings us back to the deep bass darker vibes that we heard earlier. He talks about what he wants to achieve in life before fame and after. I loved the flow and the crazy rhyme scheme on this song and thought it made for a good ending track.