Week 5

18/11/2021

Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak) - An Evening with Silk Sonic

Absolutely stunning record. I am aware that this is not hip-hop, but it just had to be done. Warning: this will be a primarily positive review. There was a lot of hype surrounding this album. All of the singles were fantastic, with 'Leave The Door Open' being a huge hit across the globe. I was slightly disappointed to only be treated to 5 new songs on the album, but Bruno and Anderson really proved the value of quality over quantity. Each track has a purpose and place on this album. Another worry I had was that the tracks may all sound too similar and there wouldn't really be any variation. This was, of course, squashed very early on. There are up-tempo, funky songs like 'Fly As Me' and '777' alongside more soul-focused songs like 'After Last Night'. Then in the middle of these there is 'Put On A Smile'. No word of a lie, this may be the best song I've heard all year (and we've had a lot of very good music so far). It sounds like nothing else on the album. The lyrics are just heart-wrenching and the whole thing, whether it is relatable to you or not, is guaranteed to make you feel emotional in some way. I was honestly losing my mind when I first heard this song. The great thing about this album is that Bruno and Anderson have found a way to make 1970s R&B/Soul sound so fresh and current, whilst also clearly being reminiscent of that era. It's a very unique record (for modern music, it obviously borrows a lot of elements from older music) and is just a pleasure to listen to every time I hear it. I love the key changed they use towards the end in a lot of the songs, and their harmonies just sound so effortless, as if they have been doing this their whole careers. Also, shoutout to Bootsy Collins for this whole idea, what a legend.

Favourite songs: All of em, cmon

Score: 10/10

Kanye West - Donda (Deluxe)

This 'deluxe' version of Kanye's recent album 'Donda' contains a few new songs, as well as a few tweaks to songs already on the album. It's like the guy is installing new software on his music, but what else would you expect from him at this point. The updates don't have a huge effect on me, but I do really like the Tyler, the Creator feature on 'Come to Life'. I actually do think that it adds to the song. Talking specifically about a few of the new songs, 'Life of the Party' featuring Andre 3000 was obviously the main attraction. This song was leaked a few weeks ago and featured a Kanye verse mainly aimed at dissing Drake. This verse has been removed for this version for a much more appropriate verse in the song's context. He delivers a really wise verse, talking about his desire to win due to his childhood and how he feels the consequences of doing so in his current life. It ends in quite an uplifting tone with him trying to instill hope in the listeners. This all comes after a quite astonishing Andre 3000 verse. Andre comes in with a fairly slow flow (for Andre) but spits really gorgeous bars about his own parents. He does this by essentially talking to Kanye's mother and relays his message through this conversation. He's brutally honest about his parents and his upbringing, a lot pf it being really poignant. He doesn't release a lot nowadays, but it's always momentous when he does. 'Up From The Ashes' has a nice, lo-fi instrumental, with Kanye keeping with the theme of God and prayer (as is consistent with a lot of this album). It's not a groundbreaking song, but a pleasant listen. Finally, 'Never Abandon Your Family' is a really tough one to listen to. Kanye is clearly alluding to how his divorce with Kim is affecting his relationship with his family (especially his kids) and how he feels like they think he may be abandoning them, but that this is not true. He sounds really vulnerable here, not really rapping in the song but singing in this fairly high pitch. He executes it well and it plays into the theme of the song pretty perfectly. But, yeah, it's a difficult song to listen to and you really do feel for the guy.

Bando. and Isaiah Rashad - Payday

This is a pretty cool song. The best part of it, in my opinion, is the instrumental. I'm a sucker for a softly sung female vocal sample, and that is what is used here, meshed really well with the guitar chords and fairly standard trap-style beat. I just like the different layers to the beat and how it is different from a standard trap/modern hip-hop beat. The beat-breaks before and in the hook also add another layer which just sounds really good. I haven't listened to Bando.'s music but he raps well with confidence. He doesn't exactly say a lot but sometimes that's fine. It's clear that this is meant to be a fun, snappy single and not much more. Zay's feature adds more of the same energy. He fits on to the song well and just brings the usual Zay vibes (which I'm never going to complain about). This song isn't mind-blowing, but I don't think it's meant to be, and that's okay.