“Issa Album” sounds too familiar. It’s disappointing to listen to a record that can’t separate itself from the herds of new rappers. Then again, who knows. The volume of trap artists could potentially be important in helping rap evolve its sound.
Perhaps it would be too harsh to say that this album is a waste of time, but I cannot say that it was time well spent in good faith. “Issa Album” is something of a Future knock off. To be just another mumble rapper riding off Future’s coattail’s is inconsequential, but to borrow his signature auto-tune effect and to hold some of the same producers in common (Metro Boomin) makes this album a Future clone. Based off his own heated reaction to other rappers using stage names like his own, one would think 21 Savage has a commitment to originality, unfortunately he seems to be a relentless hypocrite.
This album lacks any truly interesting qualities. Neither the lyrics nor the production are anything to fuss about. Sure, there are several cool beats, such as “7 Minute Freestyle”, but they lack dynamics. In other words, you won’t find any slick beat changes like the ones Kendrick Lamar often pulls off. The lyrics scarcely leave the subjects of wealth, fame, cars, and trapping. They’re boring. When 21 Savage does switch things up just a bit on tracks like “Face Time” and “Special”, he goes uncharacteristically soft and talks about feelings and girl problems the way a bad Drake song might. In fact, his vocal style intentionally emulates that of Drake on those two tracks. Not for a single moment does this feel like an intelligent album, and this is largely the fault of the ceaseless hype track. The “skrrt”’s and the “21 21 21 21”’s get annoying very quickly, although I’m hesitant to say that they take away from the album. Without the excessive hype, 21’s rapping would be as awkward as a sit-com without a laugh track.
A track by track analysis of this album would not be useful to anyone. “Issa Album” is too consistent all the way through for such, and that trait is certainly a liability given its length. Had 21 Savage kept it a track or two shorter it would have felt less of a chore to listen through. The time could have been cut down by trimming the repetitive hooks in songs like “Bank Account” and limiting Metro’s unnecessary watermarks. Frankly, there are too many skilled hip-hop artists to listen to unexceptional stuff like this.
“DAMN.” was not made for the layman. There aren’t as many straight jams compared to “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” and the tracks that do qualify as such aren’t as instantly memorable as “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and its kind. However, this does not lessen the greatness of this album; it just takes time to appreciate. Unlike most popular music, this record focuses on its role as art first, and entertainment second. Unfortunately, its artistic themes take work to understand. Kendrick should not expect the average listener to do a close reading analysis of his lyrics to fully enjoy his music, but “DAMN.’s” popularity shows he can do just that.
Kendrick is still a superb lyricist unrivaled in skill, and so his album’s concepts are explored seamlessly. It discusses the apparent discrimination, or even damnation, towards Black Americans, and a list of emotions and their relationship to the traits of wickedness and weakness. He relates the symbolic curse towards African Americans to the biblical smiting of the Israelites for betraying God. The blindness of white people and the inability of blacks to return from wickedness to weakness are his proposed explanations of the continued plight of Black Americans’ treatment and prejudice by other Americans of different racial backgrounds. In “BLOOD.” he calls attention to the failure of whites to recognize the challenges African Americans face, sampling a shameful FOX news report, and symbolizes this ignorance with a blind woman in his narrative. “DNA.” illuminates the difficulty of abandoning wickedness by simply being being born black, born into what he describes as a “sinful culture”. The power of vicious cycles is further explored in “LUST.”. Specifically, Kendrick argues that people resent change and lust for routine. Even in the face of sudden external changes like the election of Trump, lives on an individual level hardly change, hence the tragedy of the African American struggle. Kendrick stays away from the high levels of braggadocio, common in rap, apart from its satirical use in songs like “HUMBLE.” He balances the volume of such songs depicting wickedness with an equal number dissecting his own weaknesses. The album closes out with “DUCKWORTH.”, which completely illuminates Kendrick’s brilliant ideas. His rapping skill is just as impressive as his detailed concepts. Simply put, he may be the best rapper alive and the album reflects that; there isn’t need to deliberate further.
“DAMN.” has a different style than Kendrick’s previous work. The production is simpler, cleaner, and easier to appreciate than the volume of activity in TPAB. There are trap and pop influences, like the beat in “DNA.”, and multiple featured singers, but they are in good taste. One of my few complaints about the album is regarding its sampling. All the samples are very cool, but are misused in a few places. In “DUCKWORTH.”, the first syllable of the word “darling” is sampled and loudly repeated on the upbeat, competing with Kendrick’s rapping. It is jarring and confusing as to why it was included. Apart from this flaw, and a couple of repetitive hooks like the one in “HUMBLE.”, this album is difficult to criticize. Overall it is an exceptional and original work of art with significant ideas.
Last week we were unable to add another installment to the Track of the Day Tuesday segment, so this week we have three songs that you need to check out! Also, for the first time in months, a Track of the Day Tuesday post will feature exclusively hip hop artists, so this is an extremely significant week for the segment! Of course, all of the tracks mentioned will be attached below so don’t forget to give them a listen!
The first song you need to listen to today is Kyle’s “iSpy”, which is a collaboration between Kyle himself and Lil Yachty. Kyle is a rapper who I’ve followed on and off for the last few years and it’s nice to finally see him receive mainstream attention. With the single “iSpy” recently going Platinum (Music Canada) and being a top 5 selling track on US charts, it’s clear that Yachty and Kyle were meant to work together in a very similar way to how D.R.A.M. and Yachty were also destined to make a hit song together as well. The track starts out with a feel good dialogue between Kyle and Lil Yachty, as the entire music video features the two rappers as cartoon characters moving through different scenarios on a fictitious beach. It only takes a few seconds of Lil Yachty acting for any viewer to realize that the Atlanta based rapper needs to have his own cartoon show. His dialogue, interaction with Kyle, and humorous and light hearted acting skills clearly shows that Lil Yachty has a natural talent as a cartoon voice actor, and I personally think a show about the rapper himself would be an instant classic (especially after seeing the great reaction Adult Swim’s “Mike Tyson Mysteries” has had since it’s launch). The two rappers work together really well in this opening dialogue, as it becomes a perfect transition into Kyle’s first verse when the song opens. Overall, this isn’t the most sophisticated or meaningful song you’ll ever hear, but it is without a doubt an extremely fun song to listen to regularly. Yachty and Kyle’s ability to make a happy, fun song that is addictive to say the least clearly showcases what these two artists are best at. In fact, the two of them did so well with “iSpy” that I’ve come to the conclusion that D.R.A.M, Lil Yachty, and Kyle all have to write an album together. Not only were the three of them destined to work together, but a full length album, or even a mixtape, from these prominent artists could possibly result in one of the best hip hop albums of the year. Needless to say, this collaboration absolutely needs to happen.
Next up is Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO TOUR Llif3”. Lil Uzi Vert is an artist that, up until the release of this single, I had mixed opinions on. Some of his tracks are very catchy and feature a solid song structure, but his recently released commercially successful mixtapes, like “The Perfect LUV Tape” and “Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World”, are projects that I can only listen to for 15-20 min before I start to get annoyed with Lil Uzi Vert’s signature sound. Not to mention that there are even some tracks that I find to be just terrible overall. However, “XO TOUR Llif3” is nothing like anything we’ve heard from Lil Uzi Vert so far. For starters, he’s abandoned overusing the word “Yeah”, which is a promising sign. Also, the beat, produced by TM88, is actually one that is somber and breaks away from his traditional upbeat, EDM inspired beats. Lastly, and what I think is the most significant aspect of this new release from Lil Uzi Vert, the lyricism heard is actually very deep, personal, and above all well written. The song basically depicts a past relationship Lil Uzi Vert was in, how it ended poorly, and how his dependency on narcotics greatly affected his life at the time. The lyricism is specific enough that the listener can understand what the song is generally about, yet it is still vague, allowing interpretation of the lyrics to change per person and also exemplifying Lil Uzi Vert’s progress as a lyricist himself. His use of primarily sung vocals allows the listener to actually hear the pain in Lil Uzi Vert’s voice through verses and choruses as he discusses this troubling time in his life, which is something fans of Lil Uzi Vert haven’t heard until now. Personally, I really enjoy how Lil Uzi Vert wrote the chorus to “XO TOUR Llif3”. Keeping the lyricism and perspective very vague has caused different interpretations of the meaning of the chorus to surface and it has personally left me anxious to hear the true meaning to the lines heard in the track. This is without a doubt Lil Uzi Vert’s greatest song he has ever released and I hope he has more tracks similar to “XO TOUR Llif3” coming out soon.
Lastly, I want to talk about another hip hop artist who I have found through Youtube. Khalid is an El Paso based R&B/Hip Hop artist who recently made significant waves with his successful debut album “American Teen”. The album is full of successful singles like “Saved” and “Coaster”, but the track you’ve probably heard by now is “Location”. “Location” features a chill, full sounding beat that perfectly compliments Khalid’s phenomenal tone and singing. I’m actually not too found of the lyricism heard on “Location”. It’s not bad, but the verses could have definitely been rewritten to better explain the situation with the girl Khalid mentions throughout the song without being too straight forward. However, this is definitely a minor suggestion as the lyrics are fine as the way they are now. Khalid has a ton of potential and I would consider him and 6lack to be the future of modern R&B. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to his tracks before, or if you’ve put off watching the “Location” music video after seeing it recommended on Youtube for awhile now, then you without a doubt need to give it a listen today.
Thanks again to everyone who has kept up to date with the Track of the Day Tuesday segment! This segment is absolutely my favorite segment to write about for Erik’s Album Reviews and it’s great to see such a positive, continued response from viewers across the globe. If you haven’t yet, check out some of our older Track of the Day Tuesday installments and let us know who you think should be featured on next week’s Track of the Day Tuesday post!
Let’s get something out of the way: I hate The Weeknd. His whiney ass voice doesn’t work with his cool guy lyrics and it makes him sound like a twat. When I listen to his music I can’t help but imagine a 12-year-old prepubescent boy bragging about his vagina loosening abilities. His act isn’t very convincing whether it is genuine or not, and has reached a new level of annoying on “Starboy”. Fame has undoubtedly gotten to his head. The way he pronounces some words, and his offensive vibrato consistently distract from his music, but maybe it’s just because he’s Canadian. He isn’t all that original either. The Weeknd’s musical influences are easily apparent. A handful of his songs unapologetically resemble the style of his idol, Michael Jackson. Even his name is unoriginal. There was already another Canadian musical artist by the name of The Weekend in 1998. The Weeknd only adapted his stage name when copyright infringement became a worry. However, as much as I dislike this artist, it is difficult to deny that “Starboy” is a decent album.
“Starboy” doesn’t shine all the way through. There aren’t any truly bad songs, but it is certainly too long. The Weekend secured several big name features to keep things interesting, yet there are still plenty of dull moments on the album. The only feature that falls flat on its face is the one I had the highest expectations for, that of Kendrick Lamar in “Sidewalks”. His what should’ve been a solid verse is immediately derailed by the choppy line “Say, say, say” repeated five times. The end of the verse’s flow is thankfully unmolested. It looks like The Weeknd called in some favors for the production job too. “Starboy’s” production boasts a long list of contributors including Daft Punk, and it has a gorgeous crystalline sound to show for it. There are plenty of dank beats and contagious rhythms on “Starboy”. “Rockin’” pulses with energy and “A Lonely Night” has a dapper swing reminiscent of something you would find on a Michael Jackson album.
The Weeknd may admit to his affinity for the king of pop, but he has another strong likeness to a successful artist. “Six Feet Under”, “Party Monster”, and “Reminder” could be covers of Drake songs. Being compared to two influential artists would normally be a complement, but The Weeknd doesn’t seem to have a method of his own. While it leans heavily on the work of others, this album is not redundant. It does not hold up the expected clichés we have come to expect from pop music, and yes this is a pop album not R&B. Instead it breathes new and formidable life into a copy and paste genre. While he didn’t quite knock it out of the park, “Starboy” is a reminder that the Weeknd is a force in the pop genre and will be for a long time.
One of my favorite rappers, Young Thug, has made some headlines in his most recent releases. The Atlanta based rapper has released 2 new music videos in 2017 and his latest commercial mixtape, “JEFFERY”, is finally on vinyl! The two music videos for the tracks “Wyclef Jean” and his latest single “Safe” have both become extremely successful video representations of these great Young Thug tracks, but both have made headlines for completely different reasons.
Back in January, the release of the “Wyclef Jean” music video instantly became a trending topic. The song itself is fantastic, and “JEFFERY” is without a doubt my favorite mixtape in Thug’s discography, but how the video was filmed and the story behind it made this music video release so significant. Throughout the entire video, the director, or as he describes it “co-director”, Ryan Staake, includes notes about how the video was filmed. Apparently Young Thug had a ton of abstract and odd ideas for the music video, and some of these ideas did make it into the music video, but the major problem of the short film was that Young Thug never appeared in the music video. Despite stating that he wanted to be in multiple shots and co-direct the entire video with Ryan, he arrived to the shoot hours late, even though he had been contacted by the film staff and his label, and he never once got out of his car. However, even though Thug was extremely hard to work with, and essentially completely omitted from his own music video, the shots Ryan did get and his editing and commentary are extremely entertaining. In fact, I guarantee that even if the music video was filmed as originally planned, I would still enjoy this version more. It’s unfortunate that Young Thug was disrespectful to the people working on his own music video, but the final product from this unexpected turn of events has become truly iconic.
Young Thug’s latest music video, “Safe”, was released last Thursday, and unfortunately, it does not include a crazy back story like the one for “Wyclef Jean”. The shots throughout the film are very simple and aren’t really anything too memorable, but what is prominent is the song itself. “Safe” has yet to be released on any platform besides this music video on Youtube and serves as the first release of new music from Young Thug in 2017. The song itself has easily become my favorite track from Young Thug. The more material Thug releases, the more he truly discovers what his sound is. His voice and delivery in his tracks continues to keep getting better and extremely unique and distinct. Also, the quality of his beats continues to progress in a positive way, with each new release surpassing the other in quality of vocal performance and instrumental composition. “Safe” features more of a laid back, near ambient, electronic beat that perfectly fits Young Thug style. The captivating beat intertwines with Thug’s personal lyricism and delivery in a phenomenal way that I hope is present in the rest of Young Thug’s releases this year.
Finally, the extremely successful commercial mixtape, “JEFFERY”, is now available on vinyl for this first time ever! Before this release, only “Barter 6”, Thug’s 2015 mixtape, was the only release of his available on vinyl. “JEFFERY” has been pressed on standard vinyl, which can be purchased below, and on a Blue/White Marbled variant that appears to be completely sold out at the moment. If you collect vinyl as avidly as I do, “JEFFERY” is a record you absolutely have to pick up. Being one of the best Rap releases of 2016, “JEFFERY” is a must have for any fan of modern trap music. Copies are already selling fast so pick up a copy now!
When “Safe” is released on other platforms we’ll be sure to be the first ones to let you know! Also, stay tuned for any other release Young Thug has in store for 2017. We also have more reviews of recently released hip hop projects that are due out this week and next so don’t forget to check back in to see what albums and mixtapes we review next!
For those who visit Erik’s Album Reviews regularly, you will know that the staff has been very busy for the last two weeks. Because of this we unfortunately missed the last two “The Thursday Ten” segments. However, last week we announced that in order to make up for this lack of album ratings, we will give 20 album ratings for this week’s installment rather than the usual 10! This week’s post features various releases over multiple genres covering everything from Black Metal to EDM. Even though twice as many releases are feature in this installment, the rules to “The Thursday Ten” haven’t changed, and of course, we encourage you to check out every album listed on any of the major music streaming platforms. Let us know what you think of the ratings, which albums you want us to rate next, and don’t forget to check out the previous installment to “The Thursday Ten”. Here is this week’s post:
Skeletonwitch – The Apothic Gloom EP: 8/10
The Acacia Strain, Thy Art Is Murder, and Fit For An Autopsy – The Depression Sessions: 9/10
In continued promotion of his latest project, “Atrocity Exhibition”, Danny Brown has released a lyric video for one of the initial singles, “Really Doe”, which features verses from Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt, and also features both a verse and a chorus from Kendrick Lamar. This track, which is one of my favorites off this experimental release, has quickly seen widespread, positive feedback from fans, so it is only fitting that one of the most successful songs would also get a lyric video.
The lyric video features a rough, altered mashup VHS quality videos of each rapper performing, crowd shots, and various street shots, often running simultaneously, with the lyrics scrolling up in red text. The video is extremely dark, experimental, and visually odd in a compelling way, and completely embodies the theme and sound of “Atrocity Exhibition”. Even though I still think the music video for “Pneumonia” is still the best visual project associated with Danny Brown’s fourth studio album, it is obvious that this lyric video is the best, or at least one of the best, video representations of the record. The eeriness of this distorted video is directly related to the warped artwork for “Atrocity Exhibition”, and in my opinion, makes watching this lyric video essential in order to truly understand the underlying theme of dark and odd experimentation seen on this project.
I have gotten extremely behind on album reviews, but I promise the review for “Atrocity Exhibition” will be out soon! I can almost guarantee that this will be the greatest rap album released this year and will definitely be in the top 10 for the Albums of the Year list. I highly suggest anyone reading this to watch this unique lyric video and check out the rest of the latest Danny Brown record. My previous review of the “Pneumonia” music video is also posted below and be sure to check out the album review of “Atrocity Exhibition”, which should be out next week!
