• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression for EP: 4.75/10

Overall Rating and Impression for Thbk: 5/10

A lot of you have been asking me to review some lesser known people and projects, so to celebrate hitting 1,000 followers I decided now’s a good time to do a review like that. @Papithbk’s manager reaches out to me and asked for me to review his music so that’s what I did. I listened to both his recent project EP and to his 2018 project Thbk. Most of the songs on both felt like snippets to me as they often featured a single verse and often fell close to the two minute mark. I can definitely see inspirations from X in his music as some of the instrumentals have a similar production style to Jocelyn Flores, but he still manages to be different and his own. I feel like there’s a lot of potential to grow as an artist and find out who he is musically, but for now both of these projects just fell a bit flat for me since I was left wanting more. His flows, pacing, rhyme scheme, and technical ability are all there, I just think he needs to develop a bit more and put a little more into each track. There were a few tracks in Thbk that stood out to me, but a lot of them I found to by similar in content, and almost repetitive after a certain point. I really do think he has potential to capitalize on that he’s missing out on, but I do look forward to see how he grows in the future. A lot of the slower pacing just isn’t my style, I found myself enjoying the more energetic tracks personally. Since his music deals a lot with heartbreak and trust issues, it makes sense that the music shouldn’t be energetic, so at the end of the day I really can’t knock him for it as that’s not his particular style. I think if you like X you’d really enjoy Papi’s music, but for me it’s just a little too underdeveloped at this time for me to fully enjoy. 

Personal Ranking (EP):

1. Blue and Yellow (Freestyle)
2. Proud
3. Peeping
4. Sad Nibba Hours
5. Where Did You Go?
6. XO
7. Savage Mode

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Blue and Yellow (Freestyle)

Where Did You Go? starts off the EP with a relaxed production that is found stylistically across a lot of the EP. The second verse is more of a breakdown which I enjoyed, and talks about people being fake. Sonically the instrumental cuts out to put emphasis on his words at the end which I also liked. 

Sad Nibba Hours sounds similar in production style to Jocelyn Flores, the influence by X can be heard across the EP. This sound is acoustic and distance paired with harder flows about heartbreak. I’m not too sure why the track is titled Sad Nibba Hours instead of Sad Nigga Hours, but that’s just a minute derail. 

Blue and Yellow (Freestyle) is a Freestyle that explains cover of the album which is blue and yellow squares. Papi says that it’s “blue for emotional yellow for litty” which makes sense as a lot of the songs are emotional, but this freestyle shows the fun and turn up side. 

Savage Mode reminds me of Sicko Mode from the title, but really is nothing like it. This song has a deep bass and a flow on the second verse that I found more enjoyable, but this song still falls overall flat for me. It reminded of the potential I think he has, but on songs that feel like snippets it’s like it’s not being reached. 

Peeping is a song about his broken heart that had more punchlines that I liked. I’m not sure why, but I consistently like the flow and pacing that’s being used in the second verses of songs. This could be a coincidence, I’m not sure if stylistically something is being done that I’m not catching on to that’s making them stick out. 

XO delves into his failed relationship and trust issues. I feel like again this track held potential but it really feels short and like there was more to explore and go into. I can understand wanting to have replay value by making them short, but that really isn’t what I’m into personally. 

Proud is the final song on EP and features a single longer verse. He talks about how he gave his all in his relationship and goes further about his ex and failed relationship. He sad he just wants her to be proud of him and what he put into the relationship and his efforts of trying to make it work. I thought this was one of the better songs on the EP. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 5/10

Personal Ranking (Thbk):

1. Lonely Nights 
2. MJ
3. Ijwytk
4. You Feel Me
5. Lost Effort
6. Hard It All Can Be
7. Talk To Me
8. AMV
9. WHY AM I Waiting
10. Fakes
11. Love Is A Drug
12. Midnight In My Mind
13. Losing Interest
14. Caution and Ease
15. I Guess You Moved On
16. He Could Never Do Better Than Me

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• MJ
• Ijwytk

Inwytk is the opening track and stand for I just want you to know. This song is about a girl and how he just wants her to know how much he appreciates her. I really liked the instrumental and wished the rest of the EP had more vibes like this. This felt like one of the more full tracks all around. 

Midnight In My Mind is a more chilled out song about being cheated on and touched on substance abuse. 

Losing Interest is about losing interest in a girl but he still says the he he’d do anything for her. It seems more like girl is losing interest in him than than anything. The style of the sample sound shows clear influences by X as you get a Jocelyn Flores style beat. 

Love Is A Drug is the next song which I liked the flow overall. It has a longer verse than what some songs had, but the song is still tragically short. This makes me think he has potential but just isn’t capitalizing on it. 

I Guess You Moved On features a piano and somewhat more energetic production. This song sits just over a minute and has a single verse. 

Caution and Ease is about his trust issues and largely about having regret for loving a girl. Trust issues and having a broken heart is central to this EP and Papis general vibe. 

MJ samples Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean but includes a harder bass. I found this song one of the most enjoyable on the project and thought it had a good variety of punchlines. I liked the faster flow and the Keaton Jones punchline had me laughing. The bass feels a little muddy but overall the two verse song feels good. This is definitely the most energetic song on the project. 

Talk To Me is a little more energetic than the majority of songs and has another fast flow. But it again tragically short and leaves me feeling like it’s a snippet and unfinished. 

AMV has a little more complex production and is about girl not loving him back anymore. This song had more ad libs than most which made it feel more experimental which was interesting. 

He Could Never Do Better Than Me has a reversed audio intro and sample but also felt like it was missing a backing bass. It’s very simple production wise and about how his exes new man couldn’t do better than him. This is another example of wha feels like an unfinished song. 

Lonely Nights shows more of his X influences and is more depressing than most songs. This song is about pain and lonely nights and features two verses which is somewhat rare. 

Hard It All Can Be is the next song and features rain in mix which I liked sonically and has a rhyme scheme I enjoyed. This song is about being absolutely miserable and felt like it was going somewhere but again felt lacking overall which left me disappointed.

Lost Effort- two and a half minutes making it a longer song, 30 second intro instrumental, faster flow, staying focused, 30 second interlude, two verses although they’re brief, 30 second outro, which means there’s only around a minute or so of him actually rapping 

You Feel Me is pretty exclusively about trust issues. I liked the flow on this song and the mindset we got a look into including his insecurities. 

Fakes has a similar central theme of most songs and is about his both girls are fake and how guys are fake too. He talks about how people make up fake stories but how he only talks about what’s real which I don’t doubt. 

WHY AM I Waiting is the final song on the album where he hear about how he still wants this girl that doesn’t think about him. This song again just reminded me of the potential I don’t think he’s capitalizing on since it’s a very brief song and verse. It didn’t particularly feel like an ending to the project as any song could’ve felt like the ending. 

Overall Rating and Impression: 6.25/10

• 

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This album was first announced on X’s Periscopewhen he was released on probation in March. He also addressed it in his interview with 103.5 The Beat. On July 30th, X announced the release date on his Instagram story,which was August 25th.

I really struggle with how to rate this album for a few reasons. Since it’s only 22 minutes across 11 tracks, the album is tragically short and feels largely unfinished. However, I feel like he wasn’t going for a super developed and masterfully producer album but was going for raw emotion about what he’s going through as said on the intro. In this way I feel like he really hit his target as a lot of the songs did feel very emotional and came across as emotionally raw and very relatable on a human level. I feel like in order to truly love this album you’d have to be depressed yourself, as I can see a time in my life where I would’ve enjoyed this more. However at this time I’m left being able to relate to the music fairly loosely, but still enjoyed it. Part of me wants to rate it lower since it feels unfinished and scant, but another part of me understands where he’s coming from and why he made this project. I personally liked it more than other projects that I rated as a 6 overall, so I find myself going with a 6.25 at this time. It’s not bad, but I can’t help but feel like somethings missing. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Orlando
2. Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares
3. Revenge 
4. Fuck Love (feat. Trippie Redd)
5. Jocelyn Flores
6. Carry On
7. Save Me
8. Dead Inside (Interlude)
9. Depression & Obsession
10. Ayala (Outro)
11. The Explanation

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares
• Revenge

The Explanation is the introduction and a  spoken word explanation for what the album is about. He says that the listener is literally entering his mind and that he values expectance and loyalty over money. I have to say that this feels very real and heartfelt, it almost sounds like he’s on the verge of breaking down when speaking. 

Jocelyn Flores is about his friend who committed suicide, and as we see in later songs is a lot of the inspiration for the album. I really liked the production which felt sad and sonically found interesting the start stop instrumental. X has a very good flow and pacing on this track this paired with a somewhat relaxing acoustic guitar. 

Depression & Obsession agin featured an acoustic guitar and is about a girl, presumably his ex girlfriend. This song is short and only has a single verse that delves into the obsessed with this girl presumably still after a breakup that made him depressed or at least contributed to depression. 

Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares is my favorite song in the album and has my favorite flow. It has a similar instrumental style to Jocelyn Flores and has a short but is verse heavy chorus. This song explores his pain more with his ex with the line “only time I’m feeling pain is when I’m loving”. 

Revenge is backed with an acoustic guitar and is a song dedicated to Jocelyn Flores. On this song X sings on the verse and I very much enjoyed the production. 

Save Me is a song that’s backed heavily by piano, but also has well produced drums and guitar. This song is very scant lyrically, which makes every word feel important. He talks about how he wants to be saved and not die alone presumably from suicide, which is sad in hindsight as he did die alone after being robbed and shot in his car. This song feels very emotionally heavy, as do a lot of the others. 

Dead Inside (Interlude) is a short interlude about being cheated on. It has a beautifully sad and tragic piano that allows the listener to really feel his pain.

Fuck Love has a heavier production than most tracks, and is packed with emotions. This is the only song with a feature on the album which comes from Trippie Redd. It has the same overarching themes that the rest of the album carries about being left alone despite loving this girl, and now having trust issues somewhat. 

Carry On has the same vocal background style to Jocelyn Flores and talks about feels betrayed. Sonically the the style of the vocals sound like they’re on a radio and somewhat distant but then become clear. I thought this was an interesting style and was something I’ve never come across. He talks about how he still loves his ex despite being cheated on, and how he’s still going to carry on with his life despite the depression and frustration this has caused him on this song. 

Orlando has a very dramatic piano which I really enjoyed and is back again by X singing. He talks about how the pain won’t end which makes this song seem especially sad after his death. This is one of the most emotionally heavy songs on this album in my opinion. He talks about what it’ll be like on his last day and how he doesn’t see anything positive with his life. This song has a somewhat simple production that is almost all piano which I found enjoyable. 

Ayala (Outro) is the final sound and one of the more interesting production wise. It has an acoustic guitar in the right ear, piano all around, and an electric guitar in the left. This outro has a very short verse that talks about how much pain his ex caused him and the regrets she’s caused after he’s given her all of his love. 

Overall Rating and Impression: 8.5/10

• 

• 

ZUU is Denzel Curry’s fourth studio album and the follow-up to July 2018’s TA13OO. The twelve-track project spans less than thirty minutes and boasts features from Rick Ross, Kiddo Marv, Sam Sneak, and more.

Knowing that Denzel’s style can be all over the place, I really wasn’t sure what to expect coming into ZUU after his last project Taboo. In this short 29 minute project what we got was 7 songs that went hard, 1 song that was a little more low key, 1 song that went extra hard, and 3 skits. Overall I’m very satisfied with this album and what I got out of it. In ZUU Denzel talks exclusively about Carol City, southern Florida, and his influences on the come up. I feel like I could easily throw any of these songs on at a party and it would fit the vibe. These songs are all our bangers and you can really tell how much fun went into the creation of these songs. I really liked that despite the fun vibe, all of the songs also offer lyrics that aren’t the typical fun party vibe you’d be getting, which is to say simple. The lyrics have depth and meaning to them which I appreciated, which I absolutely expected from Denzel after Taboo and think he delivered well. I think overall this is a really solid album and did exactly what Denzel wanted to do with it, that is out out 12 tracks that show his roots from Carol City and let us get to know him a bit better. 

Personal Ranking:

1. RICKY
2. SPEEDBOAT
3. P.A.T Feat. PlayThatBoiZay
4. ZUU
5. WISH Feat. Kiddo Marv
6. BIRDZ Feat. Rick Ross
7. AUTOMATIC
8. SHAKE 88 Feat. Sam Sneak
9. CAROLMART Feat. Ice Billion Berg
10. BUSHY B INTERLUDE
11. YOO
12. BLACKLAND 66.6

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• RICKY
• SPEEDBOAT
• P.A.T

ZUU is the title track to the album and starts with a somewhat distorted ringing that goes from ear to ear. This track feels more like a serenade at first but has a harder chorus. This song also kicks off the theme of talking about his come up from Carol City. I loved the hook on this song as I did kn most, this song reminds me how well Denzel is at making hooks. While this song is short it certainly goes hard. 

RICKY is a very energetic song about his about dad who is referred to in the title. This song talks about his childhood and a bit about where he came from in Carol City. I thought this song was one of the best all around on the album for it’s hard hitting vocals as well as production. 

WISH is a more chilled and definitely the most relaxed on this hard hitting album. This song has more twinkly synths and again talks about south Florida influences with Kiddo Marv and where they came from. They also talk about their new lifestyle after success. While I really enjoyed this song, I had to place it near the bottom since I liked other songs a lot better. 

BIRDZ is a song that dives into street life, drugs, guns, and everything that comes with it. This song boasts a feature from Florida rapper Rick Ross which marks their first collaboration.

AUTOMATIC talks more about Denzel’s origins and the come up. He goes into money and how it brings out fake people that come around that abandoned him when he wasn’t successful. This is a common theme across Denzel’s music, he seems very loyal to his friends and a lot of his friends seem very loyal to him. 

SPEEDBOAT has a somewhat opera style intro with someone talking about money and power over it that feels ominous and intense. I really enjoyed this production overall and found this to be one of my favorites on the album. This song has a piano heavy instrumental and a very enjoyable chorus. He talks about getting out of the hood, money and the death of XXXTENTACION on this song. 

BUSHY B INTERLUDE is a bit darker and has a more dramatic production in this Interlude where Denzel adopts a new persona, Bushy B. This seems to represent hood Denzel since in this short Interlude he talks exclusively about getting money and women. 

YOO is a short skit that follows the interlude which is two guys talking on the phone about things they need for a party. However one of them is doing almost all of the talking as the dude he’s talking to only replies to everything with “yo”. This skit adds a bit of comic relief and keeps the vibe light and fun for the album. 

CAROLMART talks a lot more about Carol City. The reference to Mortal Kombat and Raiden made me laugh and was nothing short of the nerdier references I’d expect from Denzel. I would’ve been surprised if he didn’t get at least one reference like this on the album. Some of the sounds in chorus remind me a bit of CASH MANIAC off of Taboo which I thought was interesting. 

SHAKE 88 is the second to last song and seems to be more for fun and a little unrelated to the theme as he talks about the dreams he could help a stripper achieve. This song is heavier on chorus and hooks and features shorter verses, but is still a banger. 

BLACKLAND 66.6 is the final skit on the album where there’s two guys sitting in a car and scrolling through radio stations until they up on Blackland 66.6 which is playing SpaceGhostPurp. The song ends and the DJ says the next track is Denzels new song P.A.T which is the final song on the album. I thought this was a great transition and prelude to the final track of ZUU. 

P.A.T features the single hardest flow and instrumental that I think I’ve heard from Denzel besides possible BLACK METAL TERRORIST. It seems Denzel really knows how to end albums with a bang. This track is gritty and talks about his childhood in the city and everything that was going on there. The outro ends with a shoutout to radio station in previous skit as the song ends. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impressions: 7.25/10

Views is Drake’s fourth studio album.

Drake announced on August 6, 2014 that the title of his next album would be Views From The 6. Drake would shorten it to VIEWS closer to the album release to make it less Toronto-centric, because The 6 is a nickname for Toronto, coming from the city’s two major area codes.

While I do like Drake’s style, this album didn’t quite do it for me overall in terms of things that I would like to hear in an album, which really comes down to personal taste. For me this album is a bit too slow as a lot of the songs feature very slow and melodic production and instrumentals which Drake often sings over. This album revolves a lot around who he can trust, his friends and family, and relationships. I liked the way that Drake expressed these emotions and found it a more enjoyable listen than other emotional artists such as Juice WRLD, but that comes down to taste. At an hour and twenty minutes this album is a bit of a long listen and just drones on a bit too much for my taste. However this album only has 20 songs which means that each track isn’t particularly short so I can appreciate that he really worked on each song and they all feel pretty well developed. The tracks often lead into each other by utilizing the sound of wind and background noise which made the album feel fairly seamless throughout. There were a decent amount of songs that I really liked, a bit more that were middle of the road for me, and only a few that I really just wasn’t feeling. I don’t think this album is bad, but I feel like it was fairly average in my eyes. However, I do like Drakes style and think he does have more to offer that I would be interested in checking out. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Hype
2. One Dance
3. Weston Road Flows
4. Too Good
5. Pop Style
6. Hotline Bling
7. Still Here
8. Views
9. Child’s Play
10. U With Me?
11. Fire & Desire
12. 9
13. Grammys
14. With You
15. Controlla
16. Keep The Family Close
17. Faithful
18. Feel No Ways
19. Redemption
20. Summers Over Interlude 

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Hype
• Weston Road Flows
• Pop Style

Keep The Family Close starts the album with sounds of the wind and the city. These sounds end up being used throughout the album as transitions which make the album a little more water tight production wise. This song is all about trust issues with a slow and dramatic instrumental. You can hear whispering in the back at some points which I found interesting, and I also really liked the drums on this song. 

9 starts with a very deep bass, and something I noticed was that the instrumental felt more in my left ear which was distracting and was weird since the vocals seemed balanced. I don’t think this was a problem with my AirPods that I use to listen to music either which is strange. Tho song is about turning his city, the 6, upside down. This song is a little more uptempo with the trap style hi hats and snare than the previous song. 

U With Me? Is a song that’s more about loyalty as we heard on the opening track. I liked like Drakes flow on this track as he talks about feeling like his relationship isn’t really going anywhere. I liked how in the third verse theres a traveling snare from ear to ear as Drake switches to singing and finished the song with a more emotional ending.

Feel No Ways starts with reversed synths with strings which then switches to a bit of a harder beat. It still feels relaxed though as we learn more about his failing relationship and how he wants more in life but the relationship is holding him back.

Hype has one of the harder beats on the album and features a more aggressive flow. Through the song I really liked the twinkling triangle paired with the guitar sonically. This song is about securing his spot at the top and leaving people with no doubts about him, assuring them it’s not all just hype. 

Weston Road Flows has a thumping bass and a looping vocal sample throughout that made for an enjoyable production. This song talks about where he came from as well as his new found success. I thought this was one of the better songs on the 20 track album. 

Redemption is all about questioning his relationship across possible the slowest song on the album. I liked that he took it slow to emphasize the emotion, but this song just really wasn’t doing it for me for some reason. I think you’d have to be in a certain mood to really be able to enjoy the album. Drake talks about how he doesn’t know what to say to fix the relationship at this point which is a sad reality that a lot of people face. 

With You has a more jumpy production and club vibe which makes sense as its rather short verse wise and relies heavily on the chorus since it only actually has two short verses. Thematically this song contrasts Redemption, the previous song. 

Faithful brings the vibe back down a bit, and explores the idea of how he’s faithful while his girl gets it all together. She doesn’t thing Drake is committed but he assures her that she is. Drake seems to be going through a lot of emotions as he previously said his girl was holding him back, but he doesn’t seem to be able to leave this obviously failing relationship. 

Still Here mixes up the vibe and is similar in theme to Hype. Drake assures the listener that he’s still on top. I liked the flow of the second half of the second verse and wished he used that more on the song. I also liked the switch of pacing in the outro. 

Controlla is a little more upbeat and about being committed somewhat similarly to Faithful. At this point he is letting the woman be in control the relationship which is again interesting since earlier he said she was holding him back. I’m not sure why he’d want to give up more power to her at this point, it almost feels defeated. 

One Dance feels more like a throwaway and a fun song that I enjoyed. I really like the hook and piano in the mix, this is a very easy song to listen to as it is pretty simple lyrically and very catchy. Despite being pretty simple, I felt like this song was more my style than the slow singing that is captured in many other songs. 

Grammys brings the vibe back down a bit in this slower track, but it still has a harder instrumental and apretty aggressive flow. I liked the somewhat hypnotic hook from Future, but overall wasn’t the hugest fanof this song. It was pretty middle of the road for me. 

Child’s Play is a little more upbeat and the title refers to buying a new outfit for his girl and how it’s nothing since he has so much money, or child’s play. The girl seems ungrateful though, which she doesn’t try to hide or doesn’t do a good job of hiding it. Drake knows the girl just wants his money and doesn’t want to love him as seen in the line “you don’t wanna fall in love, I know” but he doesn’t care since he just uses her for sex anyway so it’s somewhat of a working relationship, but still terribly broken at the same time as that’s not healthy. 

Pop Style feels a little more lawless and gives a “I don’t give a fuck” style production. This song is about people around him wanting to live the typical crazy rapper life and living lavish everyday of their life. It seems like Drake doesn’t want to do this every night, which makes sense as it seems like he’d rather have a committed relationship as we see in other tracks. I liked the flow and pacing of this song especially, I thought it was one of the more well done songs. 

Too Good nearly brings Drakes relationship arc to a close as he realized he’s doing everything he can in the relationship but it still fails. She’s taking love for granted and he’s getting sick of it and realizes he’s too good to her. We see both sides of the relationship in this song that has more of a dancing and upbeat vibe despite the sadder topic. It seems neither are happy with this relationship, which honestly from an outsider perspective it seemed doomed anyway. 

Summers Over Interlude brings the vibe way down with slow drums and guitar. This is a short Interlude about how his summer loving is over. It looks like this girl was just a summer fling for Drake, which really does make sense in the grand scheme of the album. I feel like there was a way to express all of this in a more concise way than an hour and a half long record, but I liked this as a prelude to the ending nonetheless. 

Fire & Desire is the second to last song and feature a  deep bass in which Drake is questioning his relationship again and his trust issues. Despite coming to the realization that the relationship needs to end and seemingly ending it in the last song, he wants to connect with her still which shows just how attached he was. 

Views had one of my favorite samples used in the intro, and is one of the better songs in my opinion. I loved the transition and the themes that were across the album that are reiterated here which are staying close to friends and family and not worrying about the opposition or enemies. This felt like a satisfying end to the album and a good conclusion. 

Hotline Bling is a bonus track and definitely feels like a throwaway that he wanted to put out but it really didn’t fit on the album. This song is catchy although lyrically simple which is probably the reason it blew up. I liked it, but thought there were definitely better songs on the album. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 9.25/10

The Incredible True Story is Logic’s sophomore studio album, released on November 13, 2015 through Def Jam Recordings and Visionary Music Group.

This album does absolutely everything right for me checks off all the boxes of what I consider great in an album. Logics flows and pacing felt very tight across the entire album, and the production felt very full and carefully crafted. I enjoyed the concept of the new civilization that arose after Earth was destroyed by humans as well as the narrative and journey of the crew. The skits felt very well done and placed perfectly, helping the album along and painting a picture. Each one adds a bit more to the story and by the end I found myself really rooting for these characters in this believable future. The album felt very seamless and had the enjoyable message of doing what you love and not caring whether or not people hate on you along the way. I can understand why people like Logics older music like this over his newer music, but I also think changing and developing your sound is important as an artist. He has for sure changed his style and sound a bit, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing since you can listen to whatever music you want and there’s really not a point to just hating on a certain style or type of music. Overall I personally found this album very enjoyable since I’m a sucker for story telling and carrying themes across an album. In my opinion this surpasses some of the 9 reviews I’ve given to other albums I really enjoyed, but isn’t quite to. 9.5 so this gets a 9.25 from me, this is up there with some of my favorite rap albums so far. 

Personal Ranking:

1. The Incredible True Story 
2. Like Woah
3. Fade Away
4. City of Stars
5. I Am The Greatest
6. Stainless
7. Young Jesus
8. Run It
9. Lord Willin’
10. Never Been
11. Paradise
12. Upgrade
13. Innermission
14. Contact
15. White People – Scene
16. Lucidity – Scene
17. Babel – Scene
18. The Cube – Scene

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Like Woah
• Fade Away
• I Am The Greatest

Contact starts off with sort of jungle drums and an intense cello. This makes for a dramatic introduction to an album. It includes breathy vocals that are then paired with a violin that make for a beautiful production. This sets up the theme and concept for the album as the characters in the album are taking off i space. The characters put on this album as their music as they begin their space exploration. 

Fade Away is all about accepting death and knowing one day you’ll fade away and be gone. In context this track seems pretty boastful and braggadocios since he hasn’t faded away yet and the concept for this album takes place in 2115. I would’ve liked for the skit to be it’s own track since that makes it harder to add to a playlist since and I probably don’t want to hear it every time. It does adds some comic relief to the album as the characters mess with the new ship technology and voices for the ships AI. 

Upgrade references the upgrade to the ships AI in the skit from the previous track but also to upgrading himself success wise. This track is very chilled out instrumental and production wise but still packs a lot of interesting sounds throughout. This song also has a lot of nerdy references to movies, fictional characters and places which I liked. 

White People – Scene is gone right into from Upgrade. This track adds more comic relief from the crews conversation but switches to being more serious when they encounter another ships distress signal. The message is from 2093 which is a number of years before the album is set. The crew is dead as we learn from this message and they decide to not engage it and continue on with their mission. 

Like Woah features a somewhat relaxed guitar and flute intro but quickly gets into a faster flow from Logic. In this song he reflects on how newfound success and the new life of luxury he lives. This song ends with a brief skit where the crew remarks about how they hope they can make it to planet Paradise which is seemingly their mission, and don’t die on the way there like the ship and crew they encountered in the last song. I really enjoy logics flow on this song and think it shines both flow/pacing and production wise. 

Young Jesus has a more 90s feeling which is appropriate since logic yells out “take em back to the 90s!” at the start. On this song he talks about his new way of living and his focus on himself and doing him. I liked stylistically how Logic and Big Lenbo share the third verse and go back and forth, I found that very enjoyable to listen to. 

Innermission is a more chilled out track that is a play on words for being the intermission for the album and also being an introspective track about his inner mission and purpose. He talks about his relationships on this song and his inner feelings, some of the more touching bars are about his friend that’s serving prison time and how easily that could’ve been him if he took a different path. This song has another skit talking to a child about space where they again mention the planet Paradise. 

I Am The Greatest is a very in your face track about being the greatest. The instrumental is hard and so are Logics flows. He directly addresses his haters in this song who discredit everything he does no matter what, but despite this he’s still saying his message is peace and love. Despite that this is a very “fuck you” type track where he simply doesn’t care what his haters think cause he knows he’s the greatest in his mind. 

The Cube – Scene is a skit that adds comic relief as one of the ships crew solves a Rubik’s cube. This is a short scene about how he gets girls with his Rubik’s cube skills. Seemingly he’s solving this cube to pass the time on the mission and this scene gives us a little update on where they are on their mission. 

Lord Willin’ is about hoping he’ll make it and maintain success after all of his hard work and stay on top of the rap game. He talks about where he came from and how far he’s come and the changes he’s made with his life. He talks about his main goals in life which are changing the world for a better on the hook which is a nice message. 

City Of Stars is a song broken up into two main parts and serves as a type of breakup song with hip hop itself which is personified as a woman. I thought this was very clever as it’s not clear at first that he’s talking about hip hop until the second verse. This added a whole new meaning when looking back at the first verse. This song is very chilled out and relaxing, I liked the second half more where Logic raps instead of singing but still found this track very enjoyable overall. I thought it was interesting how the title seemingly is about LA and fame, but also fits in with the theme of space and could serve as a double meaning. 

Stainless is a very energetic song where Logic talks about coming into the rap game and again about where he came from. This second verse features some of Logics fastest flows on the album and feels very seamless and impressive. He also talks about staying ahead of the competition on this song. Sonically I found this song very impressive and loved the production. 

Babel – Scene is a skit that talks about what earth was like in the past and how it got ruined by people. The crew doesn’t understand how life was back in our present time since it’s been ruined for so long. At this point in time there’s only 5 million people left in the universe and the last human was on earth in 2065. This track is very ominous as the crew talks about how if they find Paradise, they’re not sure the same thing won’t happen and that it’ll be destroyed like how the earth was destroyed in this concept. 

Paradise starts by talking about Logics early life and the struggles his faced. He also talks about the music he used to listen to which is really all over the place. The second half of this song is very relaxed as the instrumental slows way down as we now here about Logics current struggles. He talks about how competitive his life has become and questions if what he’s doing is even worth it, especially with the amount of hate that he gets from the people that hate on him, but he knows the hatred only makes his success feel better when he gets it since he’s proving them wrong. 

Never Been is a song about being better than he’s ever been before and how his work has finally began to pay off. He also speaks more on this track about how people are so quick to hate, but he ignores it and now it shouldn’t matter. This features an inspirational second verse that talks about how all it takes to make it is dedication and how it doesn’t matter where you came from.  

Run It is an energetic track about getting success and Logics come up in the rap game. He mentions how he’s starting to run into fake people that are only around him for the money. However he’s not terribly concerned as his only two traits are to “drop hits, get money”. He also uses the phrase run it as symbolizing him running the rap game and how people should pursue their dreams unless they’re about rapping since they won’t stand a chance against him. 

Lucidity – Scene is the final skit that talks about the crew achieving their dreams and wanting something more than what they have from their ship and the new civilization. They discuss how the new laws make it so their only mission is to find paradise and they can’t pursue their own dreams making them somewhat slaves to this utopian, now seeming more dystopian society. 

The Incredible True Story is the final track on the album and is gone straight into from the previous scene. This song sums up the entire album and it’s themes over the course of seven minutes. The idea of doing what makes you happy is central to the album. Theres a spoken word sample at the end that talks about doing what you love instead of doing what people want you to do which I found very inspirational and a great inclusion that ends with the question “what do I desire?”  I especially liked the line about making music like there’s no Grammy since it really shows that he’s making music for him and doing what he loves. This song has an incredibly full sound that I loved. The track ends with the crew finally arriving at planet Paradise which has the same conditions as earth did in the past. The crew discusses Tarantino films and Logic as they land which adds a final bit of comic relief. The doors to the ship open and we hear sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing which the crew has no idea what they are. The album abruptly ends with them asking what the sounds are and the ships AI responding with “life” as the track immediately grows louder and louder and then cuts off in an instant. I found this to be a very satisfying ending to the album, and completes the journey of our characters. 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 8.75/10

Swimming is Mac Miller’s fifth studio album and the follow-up to his 2016 LP, The Divine Feminine. It is also the last album released during his lifetime, as Mac passed away on September 7, 2018. However, there is always a possibility of a posthumous release at some point in the future.

Swimming is a very bittersweet album. I enjoyed the production on the tracks, and thought Thundercat made an excellent addition on the bass guitar for the tracks he was. Macs vocals are often sad and lonely and offer insights into his struggle with addiction, substance abuse, and relationships. Knowing that this is his final album after his untimely death makes this album all the more emotional and sad. It really seemed from a lot of the lyrics that he was finally starting to turn his life around after addiction and that he had a more hopeful outlook. However, we all know this wasn’t the case as he died of an overdose in September of 2018. It’s a shame that we won’t be able to see where his life could’ve gone, but I am satisfied with this final piece of work he left the world. It seems like Mac went through quite a lot of transitions and changes in his career, so I’m really interested to look at his older music and see where he came from and he was exploring in his music along the way. I really enjoyed this album, but didn’t quite think it reached the 9 threshold that I hold other albums to, but thought I was also above an 8.5 for the way Mac is able to make me feel strong emotions through all of the songs on here. For that reason I’m giving this an 8.75 overall. 

Jazz/funk influences, great production value, cohesive 

Personal Ranking:

1. Self Care
2. Small Worlds 
3. Hurt Feelings
4. So It Goes
5. Come Back To Earth
6. Jet Fuel
7. What’s The Use?
8. 2009
9. Dunno
10. Ladders
11. Perfecto
12. Wings
13. Conversation Pt. 1

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• Self Care
• Small Worlds
• Hurt Feelings

Come Back To Earth opens the album with a chilled out guitar, piano, strings and bass guitar ensemble. This track is very relaxing and has hopeful overtones despite talking about depression being unable to reach out to anybody for help. He talks about how he would do anything to get out of his head and depression, which is one of the main themes of this album. 

Hurt Feelings is about being the same person that he was at the start of his career but also about having his career change over the years. I liked the self harmonies and layered vocals on this song that are also found on many other tracks. This made for a very enjoyable production across the album.  

What’s The Use? is another song featuring Thundercat on the bass which gave it a more soulful and funky vibe. Mac talks about drugs and alcohol on this track and loses the question of “What’s the use?”  I really enjoyed the flow and pacing of this song and the line “it is what it is till it ain’t” which really sums up his state of mind. 

Perfecto talks about his struggles with himself and his inner feelings. Mac says that “if I drown I don’t care” which is a very gloomy outlook on his problems with drinking. He questions if sobriety is worth it which makes this track feel sad and care free and almost detached. The outro is darker and sad where Mac talks about how he wants someone to love him and how people don’t care about what you’re going through until you’re gone which is all too true. 

Self Care is the main theme of the album since Mac talks heavily about his self medication with drugs and alcohol. I enjoyed the ad libs which were done by JID interestingly enough. The song features a beat switch where the track turns doom and gloom and talks about being stuck in oblivion, yet finding peace in this. This somewhat contradicts the theme of swimming from this sea of addiction and feels more likes he’s drowning. 

Wings is about feeling better with his life and shows the peace he’s found in the last track. The chorus is very melodic, but especially sad in retrospect as he clearly wasn’t getting as better as he says. That makes this track one of the more bittersweet songs on the album. 

Ladders shows further insight to Macs depression as he talks about crashing through life and the effects of coming down off drugs. Again this track features Thundercat which made it all the more enjoyable. 

Small Worlds is a slower song that is more introspective and shows more of Made substance abuse, depression and why he thinks it isn’t validated. He brings up the idea that successful people have nothing to be sad or depressed about since they have money, and just got wrong this idea is. The bridge is very relaxed, and verse three changes the pace wit a sad piano breakdown about how he knows he could be gone at any moment due to substance abuse. However Mac chooses to focus on the bigger picture and not the small trivial things in life which adds a hopeful glint to this song. 

Conversation Pt. 1 talks about how he’s just on a completely different plane of existence and beyond everything really. He also talks about how money changes people, but seemingly it hasn’t changed him. I found this track a bit lacking overall and not reaching its full potential but it’s still a nice song. 

Dunno is back to the sad vibes as Max explores his failed relationship and reminisces about what he had. However the track ends with the line “I think we just might be alright” which again shows how his life was turning around and getting better. This again makes this song and album all the more sad due to his passing. 

Jet Fuel is about substance abuse and getting high. Again instead of swimming it seems he’s drowning in substance abuse and just wants to drag high doing his own thing. This song has a beautiful and sad guitar on it, I found this song especially catchy and interesting production wise. 

2009 is a song where Mac is reflecting on his career. It starts off with a beautiful and emotional orchestra and piano that transitions into a solo sad piano. Ok this song he reflects on what he could’ve done differently and the life he could’ve had, but ultimately how he’s fine with the life he chose despite the demons he battles. He notes how he only feels alive with drugs which is a sad reality that many face. 

So It Goes is the final track that utilizes the phrase from Slaughterhouse Five which is written whenever someone dies and is meant to show how mundane life is. This track is rather depressing, especially with the idea that Mac feels like his life is circular and repetitive. The production gets heavier at the end with deeper synths. This song feels very sad knowing it’s the last song to come from Mac. This feels like a strong and tragic ending to the album as well as his life. Rest In Peace Mac Miller 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 9.5/10

Because the Internet is the second studio album from musician and TV star, Childish Gambino, which was inspired by his observations on how technology has changed social interactions.

On my first listen through I felt very confused and felt like I was missing something. The titles to the songs were really throwing me off since it’s titled like a play and divided into acts and scenes. On my initial listen through it felt like the whole album is following someone dissociating and having an existential crisis. And the I found out there’s a screenplay and my mind was blown. The screenplay is incredibly engaging and offers many “a ha” moments for a lot of the songs. When listening to the album I felt like I was missing big pieces of the story, so it was very satisfying to read through the screenplay and listen again to get the full depth. After doing that the album comes off more as a soundtrack to a film that was never made (since it kinda is), which in my mind elevates even further as it sounded great as a stand-alone project. I felt satisfaction at the end of the project but also a distinct emptiness.  He does a very good job at providing introspective insights that constantly made me think. The emotions and feelings this project and screenplay evoke made for a very entertaining experience, this is one of my favorite projects I’ve checked out so far and I highly recommend to everyone that listens to this to also read through the screenplay since it adds so much to it as a whole. 

Personal Ranking: 

1. V. 3005
2. IV. Sweatpants
3. II. Shadows
4. III. Life: The Biggest Troll [Andrew Auernheimer]
5. II. Zealots of Stockholm (Free Information) 
6. I. The Party
7. II. Worldstar
8. I. The Worst Guys
9. I. Pink Toes
10. III. Telegraph Ave. (“Oakland” by Lloyd)
11. II. Earth: The Oldest Computer (The Last Night
12. I. Flight Of The Navigator
13. I. Crawl
14. II. No Exit
15. III. Urn
16. Playing Around Before The Party
17. Dial Up
18. Death By Numbers
19. The Library – Intro

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• 3005
• Sweatpants
• Shadows

The Library – Intro is just an ominous tone and pages being flipped through. I assume this is the pages of the accompanying screenplay being flipped through. 

I. Crawl starts with heavy sweeping synths and is about a girl that he seems to have a thing going on with where she expects him to come crawling back. The production feels ominous especially from the violin and cello in the outro. 

II. Worldstar is a track that mocks world star and people who are trying to make money off filming people fighting. This song features great wordplay and insights into our obsession with social media, one of my favorite instances of this is the net twerk/network play on words. I also like the line “we all big brother now” which shows how much we watch each other.

Dial Up sounds like it has windshield wipers going in the back is an interpolation and a distorted instrumental of The Worst Guys. 

I. The Worst Guys is a relaxed and summery track which makes since because at this point in the screenplay they’re back at the mansion and having a party and hanging out and smoking. 

II. Shadows has a low key guitar heavy instrumental and has a hook that I loved although the tone of the lyrics themselves are sad. The outro feels spiraling and intense and as if his relationship seems to out of control. My initial thoughts here were confirmed by the screenplay where this is essentially what’s going on. 

III. Telegraph Ave. (“Oakland” by Lloyd) is a song where he’s listening to the fictional song “Oakland” in his car. This song is largely about dating culture and the ways we use the internet for this. At this point in the screenplay he’s actually driving to Oakland and singing song on the radio so it makes since the song sounds like it’s coming from a car radio at the start. 

IV. Sweatpants embodies the idea that when you have lots of money you can do whatever you want and still wear sweatpants. This is entirely the attitude given off in the screenplay as his friends are constantly talking about this idea. I liked the reference to Charlie Sheen on the hook and the punchlines throughout this song. 

V. 3005 is about being scared of being alone and scared of what the future may hold which is a main theme of the album. It features a deep bass and talks more on the failing relationship mentioned earlier. He’s uncertain about people around him but just wants to be supported. In the screenplay his love interest noted that he doesn’t trust anyone to which he remarks that he trusts her, but she retorts back that he shouldn’t even trust her. That bit of the screenplay really made this song more vivid in hindsight and really elevated it for me. 

Playing Around Before The Party Starts is just what the title says as he’s playing the piano before a party starts. You can hear a few people in the back as the dramatic song is played on the piano. 

I. The Party features a throbbing bass as the party has started. This song has a lot of name drops, and ultimately ends with him wanting people to get out at the end since he doesn’t even know who they are. This shows the antisocialness the internet has given society. It’s interesting to note that in the screenplay he is quick to kick everyone out and has a mental breakdown and starts breaking things while everyone just films him, circling back to similar themes on the song Worldstar.  

II. No Exit is a dark and very hard track about being alone. This song is very frantic and features distorted vocals and instrumental. After the events of the party he feels more alone than ever, and as we see in the screenplay he attempts suicide. 

Death By Numbers features more distorted vocals and instrumental in this interlude. This title is a reference to his suicide attempt in the screenplay, which I was glad to discover as I was very confused by this track without having read it first. The screenplay makes this album all the better. 

I. Flight Of The Navigator has a sad acoustic guitar which focuses on confusion and sadness. This is a beautiful song, and on my first listen through I realized I was utterly confused where I am story wise, but having read the screenplay and listening again this is the point where his father has died so this track seems to be a reflection on that, and death in general. 

II. Zealots of Stockholm (Free Information)  starts off with ringing bells which I realized were church bells signaling his fathers death after reading the screenplay. This song talks about his relationship with parents and life and death. After having read the screenplay this song makes way, way, way more since. It has a very complex production and a hard beat switch. The switch turns the track way harder than the chilled out intro and talks about the free information which refers to how easy it is to find everything on the internet. The line “is it real cause you’re online?” is repeated many times and is an interesting question. This idea is played with throughout the screenplay as the phrase “Roscoes Wetsuit” is constantly mentioned and nobody seems to know what it means, and that it’s only real because it’s online, there is no actual meaning in the real world. 

III. Urn really only made sense after reading the screenplay since at this point he is dumping his dads ashes from the urn. Sonically this track features singing and is very short and has a sense of loneliness. I would place this higher for context in the screenplay, but objectively just looking at the album I had to place this one low, although it does have a lot of meaning in the grand scheme of the concept of the album and screenplay. 

I. Pink Toes is a a lot more upbeat which makes sense because he’s now found a new love interest and is in the honeymoon phase of this relationship. In this track he’s doing drugs and in the screenplay he’s now become a dealer. 

II. Earth: The Oldest Computer (The Last Night) talks a lot about death and not knowing when you’ll die. The second verse is a lot more upbeat and frantic and talks about how as a society we’re slaves to technology. The line “to be alone is alive” is interesting as it could be a play on words that’s also meant to mean to be alone is a lie. 

III. Life: The Biggest Troll [Andrew Auernheimer] is the final track and feels like a somewhat satisfying conclusion and summary. This makes since because in the screenplay this is the point that the credits are supposed to be rolling. It features a long conversational verse and showcases many different flows and styles. It ends feeling like the the character is dissociative and facing an existential crisis. This left me feeling somewhat empty inside and having to take a moment to take in what I just listened to. This project really made me think and was very mentally engaging and entertaining. After having read the screenplay, the album is completely different in my eyes than when I just listened to it on its own. 

• 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 7.5/10

TESTING is the third studio album by Harlem rapper, A$AP Rocky, following his last album AT.LONG.LAST.A$APreleased in 2015.

In an interview with GQ, A$AP said that this album is really about experimentation with new sounds

Going into this album I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I’ve gotten mixed reviews and recommendations. Some people said it’s terrible, and some people says it’s a really innovative project that they liked. The production on this album is what really stuck out to me overall. Each track get uniquely its own and as if it was trying something different. Some of these things worked well while others didn’t, but I can appreciate being different and making music the way that you want to make it, not the way people tell you that have to make it. There’s a lot of interesting sounds across the album that I haven’t heard being used elsewhere so that was entertaining. I wouldn’t say this is the album for you if you’re looking for something with a consistent style and pacing through and through as it really was all over the place. Despite that it felt strangely whole and I feel like I could put almost any of these tracks on at a party and it would fit the vibe. The title Testing really is accurate as Rocky explores a multitude of production styles as well as vocal styles, going as far as gently singing on the same track where he raps with a harder flow. This is an album I want to revisit in the future to see how it grows on me since there are a lot of interesting and entertaining songs. 

Personal Ranking:

1. Praise The Lord (Da Shine)
2. Changes
3. OG Beeper
4. Fukk Sleep
5. A$AP Forever (Remix)
6. Purity
7. Distorted Records
8. Hun43rd
9. Kids Turn Out Fine
10. Black Tux, White Collar
11. Brotha Man
12. Buck Shots
13. Gunz N Butter
14. Tony Tone
15. CALLDROPS

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist

• Praise The Lord (Da Shine)
• Fukk Sleep
• OG Beeper

Distorted Records is the introductory track to the album and starts with a very deep distorted bass which then turns to different tones. The line “I can feel the bass” is very accurate as the bass was very deep and string. This is the first taste of the interesting and different production style with a lot of strange sounds that is found on many songs. 

A$AP Forever (Remix) is a remix to A$AP Forever that adds T.I. and Kid Cudi to the song. The general theme is loyalty to A$AP Mob, and features a sweeping violin synth that turns into an outro that is much brighter than the darker and sadder instrumental earlier in the song. 

Tony Tone is about not giving a fuck about criticism. I liked the distorted guitar but overall this track fell more flat to me and placed near the bottom of my personal ranking. 

Fukk Sleep is about Rocky’s come up and his success. This song has lots of reverb and shows the extent that’s he’s focused on the music. I found this song to be one of the more enjoyable songs, but also one of the least different from conventional style. 

Praise The Lord (Da Shine) has a distorted flute synth that almost sounds like a train whistle throughout the track, and is all about breaking the law and committing crimes but still being religious. This is my favorite song on the album and feels like an all out banger. 

CALLDROPS is a more relaxed song and the first taste of the acoustic guitar that is found on a few more songs. It features heavy reverb and distortion and an interlude of a phone call to Kodak Black in jail. Kodak has a verse on this song that is him over the phone in jail which I liked in some ways and didn’t in others. We find at the end of the song that the title refers to a call dropping as the call with Kodak abruptly cuts off. 

Buck Shots starts with gunshots and then sirens in this track about about guns, specifically shotguns that the police have. This is an introduction to the social injustice that the black community faces at the hand of the police, and Rocky isn’t scared to point that out on this track and a few others on this album. 

Gunz N Butter begins with heavily distorted vocals and is about guns, money, and funnily enough religion. Overall I felt like this track was overshadowed by many on this project, but I still enjoyed it. 

Brotha Man has an interesting production that starts with piano in the right ear, and an organ synth in the left. This song is about sticking together, and I thought the production is what shined the most in this track. 

OG Beeper was one of my favorite songs on here, that features some strange reversed audio. The theme is wanting to be a rapper his whole life. I really liked the beat in this song, and liked the flow Rocky used to describe all the things that come with being a rapper and that lifestyle. I think this track is pretty out there production wise, but I think it’s one of those experimental sounds that works very well. 

Kids Turned Out Fine features a syncopated guitar, and as the title would suggest is about how kids will turn out fine in the end. This is a very relaxed track with a heavily distorted outro that I found overall enjoyable. 

Hun43rd is a reference to the street and neighborhood that Rocky grew up in which is 143rd street. He talks about his  influences and life as an adolescent and features a low pitched distorted final verse with a  higher pitched bits. This song had very interesting production that I found middle of the road of whether it worked or not. 

Changes is a sentimental song about how he’s changed and how people think he’s changed. The intro vocals sound exceptionally lonely as the chorus moves from ear to ear. The first verse is also sad and lonely and has Rocky singing and carrying a conversational tone with bits of him just talking and some rapping. There’s a district switch into the second verse that is harder and is pure rapping. There’s a final switch into the third verse that is is back to instrumental from the first verse where Rocky take about his insecurities with his ex and past relationships. I really liked how Rocky played with best switches and singing on this track, and it easily places near the top ranking wise for me. 

Black Tux, White Collar is another track that is social commentary on the police and the black community. This song is short but still has 3 verses, but ends pretty suddenly with strange space age sounds. 

Purity brings the album to a close with Rocky talking about his busy lifestyle. This track is a bit sadder, but Frank Ocean brings the tracks vibe up a bit. This song overall is very relaxed. I liked the introspective view we see here about how it’s hard to find time even for himself. I found this to be a satisfying ending as it ends with a quiet guitar that fades for a moment and the cuts off. 

• 

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Overall Rating and Impression: 9/10

The Marshall Mathers LP is the second major-label studio album by Eminem, released on May 23, 2000, through Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.

I found this album thoroughly entertaining throughout. The general vibe and theme is that Eminem doesn’t give a fuck about the people that criticize him for being over the top, and throws it right back in their face with more obscenities and over the top tracks such as Kim. The rhyme scheme, flow and delivery, and message which Eminem packs into each song is impressive. While some of the tracks seem fairly light production wise, the lyrics really shine and I don’t feel like that detracts from any of the songs. I liked the use of skits throughout the album which I think added a more three dimensional element to the album. While over the top and obscene, the shock rap Eminem employs does often have deeper meaning which make him really interested as an artist. It’s hard to tell whether he’s actually a disturbed individual or a master of sarcasm and frankly I’m fine with either as his story telling is very well executed. I do believe it’s the latter though as Criminal is clearly calling out the media for not picking up on what he’s doing with his music and that he’s not actually a ruthless criminal and killer as the song Kim would lead you to believe. Overall I was very impressed and am glad I checked this album out albeit 19 years after it came out. I think it’s aged very well as nothing seemed particularly dated on it. 

Personal Ranking:

1. The Real Slim Shady
2. Stan
3. Kim
4. The Way I Am
5. Kill You
6. Who Knew
7. I’m Back
8. Drug Ballad
9. Under The Influence
10. Amityville
11. Bitch Please II
12. Remember Me?
13. Ken Kaniff (Skit)
14. Public Service Announcement 2000
15. Paul (Skit)

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist:

• The Real Slim Shady
• The Way I Am
• Kill You

Public Service Announcement 2000 owns the album with a 30 second skit that’s very in your face and very anti censorship. This is the first of a few skits and a solid intro to the album. 

Kill You is the first true song on the album and the title is an allusion to the intro where says he’ll kill you since he’s fed up with your shit. Eminem employs a start stop flow and a slew of alliterations. This track is about murdering someone and even talks about his own death. It’s fairly simple production wise, but I especially enjoyed the eerie faint organ on parts of verses deep in the mix. 

Stan is one of the deeper tracks on this album and starts with heavy rain and vocals that sound like they’re coming from a radio. The theme of this song is about a crazy fan and carries a conversational as Stan is writing letters to his idol Eminem. Stan starts off not caring too much if he gets a reply but progressively gets more angry as the track goes on. I like the ominous instrumental and sad overtones you get from this song. The third verse is the darkest and most intense as Stan is driving drunk with his girlfriend in the trunk and ends with him swerving off a bridge into a river. The fourth verse is Eminem writing back and explaining his busy life, but he obviously doesn’t get the last tape from Stan in the third verse.  However he realizes he heard about it on the news which ends this track with a chilling feeling. This song is very introspective and a less in your face way of criticizing people for taking him and his lyrics so seriously. 

Paul (Skit) is a short skit where Eminem’s lawyer gets a copy of his record and is rather speechless about it. This is a very short skit and moves swiftly into the next song. 

Who Knew is all about people that don’t like his shock rap value and explicit lyrics and think his lyrics influence kids. He claims he didn’t know people would take him so seriously and it’s not his fault if kids imitate what he says he does in songs. 

Steve Berman (Skit) is another short skit about how his label can’t sell his record. This furthers the narrative the Eminem is over the top obscene and it’s a mystery how anybody likes him. It’s shows how the media seems to be obsessed with his personality as they can’t even put his music out. 

The Way I Am feels like a follow up to the skit about how the media won’t leave him alone and are obsessed with him. I like the flow Eminem uses which puts emphasis every third syllable throughout. I also liked the line that criticized how it’s a tragedy when there’s school shootings in middle America happen but not in other places like Detroit where it’s the normal.

The Real Slim Shady feels like the pinnacle and perfect summation of the album. I enjoyed the harpsichord in the mix, the crazy rhyme scheme and wordplay, and the hypnotic hook. On this song Slim Shady is more of a set of ideals and a not giving a fuck. This is my favorite song on the album as I feel it does everything right and is executed very well. 

Remember Me? sounds very 2000s/90s with the bassline and ended up being one of my least favorite songs on the album. I really didn’t like flow RBX used in his verse more than anything. This track does have 6 verses however so it didn’t totally detract from the song for me. Something interesting in this song is that Eminem says he won’t say “fucking” for the next 6 minutes and he actually doesn’t. This little detail was really crazy to include and was crazy to see and hear as a listener. 

I’m Back is fine straight into from the previous track and is back to more shock rap. The last line of verse three is absolutely one of the most obscene things I’ve ever heard in a song where he talks about how he would fuck Jennifer Lopez even if she was his mom and still hit it raw, cum inside her, and have a son that would end up being his brother. 

Marshal Mathers features an acoustic guitar, and more shocking lines. He talks about people copying him, and more about his life and relationships on this song. 

Ken Kaniff (Skit) is the final standalone skit and a diss track for ICP. It features disturbing slurping sounds as Ken Kaniff, a fictional character, gets his dick sucked by members of Insane Clown Posse. The final takeaway from this is about how ICP is sucking Eminem’s dick surrounding all the drama happening at the time of release in 2000. 

Drug Ballad features a more jumping bass line and is a ballad to drinking and drugs and the title would suggest. However drugs aren’t terribly romanticizes as he talks about how he knows it’ll catch up to him and the negative sides of addiction, but still he doesn’t regret it. 

Amityville talks about Detroit and all the bad things that happen there, comparing it Amityville. This is one of the more gritty tracks on the album, but doesn’t come close to touching the grit and emotion in Kim. 

Bitch Please II I thought was one of the weaker tracks but is still fun. My favorite verse is from Xzibit, but this track has a lot of features. I found the tracks that limited the features were better than ones like this that cram a bunch of people on it.  

Kim starts off very intense and only gets more intense as the song goes on. It starts with Eminem yelling at his ex wife specially for being cheated on. This is by far the most emotional track on the album and is beyond raw. It shows him going through an array of emotions, including ones that contradict each other such as hating and loving her. By the end it’s clear he’s going to murder Kim and she tries to run. However this is in vane as it ends with him slitting her throat. This song is incredibly violent and over the top and really shows why the media and critics think he’s a bad influence. 

Under The Influence is a lot lighter than the previous track, although anything would be honestly. It’s about how you can suck his dick if you don’t like his music which is fair enough. This is another track loaded with features and includes six verses. 

Criminal is the final song on the album where he starts by saying he’ll actually do everything he talks about in his songs. But it’s clear that he’s not actually a criminal by his satirical tone. This track is calling out people who thing his over the top lyrics mean he actually does these things. This song also includes a skit which is a bank robbery. He says he won’t kill the teller but he ends up shooting her anyway and then thanking her for the money. The line “shit, half the shit I say, I just make it up to make you mad” clearly shows his intent and that this song and a lot of what he says isn’t actually detailing his life. This track ends with a gunshot and feels like a satisfying conclusion to the album. 

• 

• 

Overall Rating and Impression: 7/10

Hoodie SZN is the second studio album by A Boogie wit da Hoodie. It was released on December 21, 2018. Features included 6ix9ine, Nav, Offset, Tyga and Juice Wrld, Queen Naija, among others.

I think I had the wrong expectations coming into this album as it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. At 20 songs it feels like this album was one of those that pushes a lot of things out and hopes they stick since a lot of the songs had the exact same subject matter. This is similar to how I felt about Juice WRLDS album Goodbye and Good Riddance, but I personally like A Boogie’s style better so I found this album more digestible. There were some songs that I really liked, but there were a lot that I found forgettable and repetitive. I liked the tracks that didn’t have features more, and I started to get tired of the same production across each track that didn’t feel innovative. I can’t exactly knock that for him since he isn’t the one producing the beats, but it’s still something I wasn’t a fan of. The deep bass and trap drum beat that was on almost every song makes for good party songs, but this isn’t a go to project if you’re looking for particular depth and development. I can easily see putting on any of these tracks at a party or thrown in a playlist, but this isn’t something I would personally listen to for enjoyment on its own. It’s not my favorite as it’s not quite me, but it makes for easy listening as his melodic vocals grace every track nicely. 

Pairs chilled out deep bass with trap beat

Personal Ranking:

1. Swervin’
2. Startender
3. Demons and Angels
4. Look Back At It
5. Skeezers
6. 4 Min Convo (Favorite Song)
7. Uptown/Bustdown
8. Love Drugs and Sex
9. Savage
10. Come Closer
11. The Reaper
12. Bosses and Workers 
13. Beasty
14. Just Like Me
15. Billie Jean
16. Need a Best Friend
17. Pull Up
18. I Did It
19. Odee
20. Voices In My Head

Standout Tracks/Adding to Playlist: 

• Swervin’
• Startender
• Demons and Angels

Voices In My Head starts off the album with a deep bass and shiny synth instrumental. This track is a bit more braggadocios than a lot of the other songs, and the low down piano chords make it feel intense. 

Beasty features the same dark synths that most of the songs have, and includes more  subtle flexes, and references to street life. The production feels like he’s creeping through the night, especially with the bass that’s is distorted. 

I Did It introduces the main theme of the album which is being emotionless. He talks about being being on top of the rap game and finally getting success, and this one girl makes him feel nervous which he admits is rare. Nonetheless he says he’s still emotionless and disconnected. 

Swervin’ is my favorite track, I liked 6ix9ine’s feature since it felt very different than A Boogies own style. This song is mostly about the street and women which is a central theme, and has an outro with traversing vocals. I thought this song had great production that rose above a lot of the other songs. 

Startender is another standout track with intense and somewhat twinkly chimes/keys and a quicker bass pattern. I especially love Offset’s ad libs and verse, but my favorite verse is from Tyga. The outro could loop the track since it has the same lyrics which I liked from a stylistic standpoint 

Demons and Angels brings the vibe down in a way more chilled out track. He talks about designer clothes and women, and apparently has feelings now which contradicts the rest of the songs. He talks about being addicted to his new lifestyle and insecure about how this girl might only want him for his lifestyle and fame. 

Love Drugs and Sex showcases an angrier flow as well as orchestral sounds. The theme is that he doesn’t want love but just wants drugs and sex. He knows he’s living the fast life and likes to have fun with women but admits he doesn’t want to make them upset when he doesn’t want to love them. The line “fuck love sex, can we have drug sex?” exemplifies this. 

Skeezers features a fastes flow, and shows he’s confused about his lifestyle. This is one of the songs I found more enjoyable for the energy that was put into it. 

Savage has a more twinkly instrumental and shows insight as to why he doesn’t trust women anymore. The line “three niggas at the same time” shows how he’s been cheated on, but he clearly doesn’t haven’t the same standards for himself since he talks about having “three bitches at the same time” himself. 

Come Closer feature an acoustic guitar and is much sadder. It shows two sides of a relationship with Queen Naija exploring the woman’s side. Neither are satisfied and the woman says “don’t make me turn savage” which is a nice callback to the previous song. 

Look Back At It is darker still and about lying women. This song is more emotional as he explores ideas such as trying to stay low key but his popularity making that hard. I enjoyed the sweeping vocals in intro and outro and thought this had more interesting production than a lot of the other songs. 

Just Like Me is again about not trusting women but specially one  that’s just like him and has the same issues. Neither of them want love if this is true, so this would be a pretty shitty relationship if it came to be. 

Bosses and Workers is about being bosses and not workers, spending money, and still about having no feelings. These themes are getting a bit worn out for me at this point. 

Need a Best Friend is about wanting a best friend instead of a lover which I thought was a bit of an interesting insight as he clearly wants companionship. However, this isn’t explored more across the album really which is a shame. 

The Reaper is about telling those talking shit about him or his friends to watch out, and about how he prefers his friends to hoes. This song felt short for whatever reason despite it being the same 3 minute length as nearly every other song. 

Uptown/Bustdown has a sad violin but a harder flow and instrumental. I was feeling a bit exhausted at this point in the album from the repetitive themes, and this one did the same for me as the others did. 

Billie Jean is a short song that’s again about a girl being the same as him and has a dainty piano/scratchy hi hats production that was slightly more interesting than a lot of songs on here.

4 Min Convo (Favorite Song) brings us back to the deep bass and more y’all about not loving a girl. This song covers multiple topics however such as money, the come up and life before fame and is all verse which feels conversational as the title would suggest. 

Odee I can only assume means overdosing and showcases talking about how people are fake which is pretty central to the album as he really doesn’t seem to trust anyone a this point. 

Pull Up is the final song and is about cars, money, women, and how he still doesn’t want commitment. It feels like any song could’ve ended this album and it wouldn’t have mattered. This left me thinking this album would make better background music than something to listen to for enjoyment. All in all this song isn’t bad, but it just reminded me how repetitive this album is.