Week 10

27/04/22

Pusha T - It's Almost Dry

I've never been able to listen to a Pusha T album at the time of its release, and my anticipation for this one was through the roof. It certainly did not disappoint. Pusha brings his usual 'coke-rap' lyricism backed with excellent production from Pharrell and Kanye. I mean, how can you go wrong. Both of their signature sounds work perfectly with Pusha sliding over them with ease. He often gets criticized due to him only staying in one lane, but he talks about it so well that it always just seems to work. It's a real testament to someone's rapping when Kanye and Pharrell production does not take centre stage on an album. His cadence and diction is on another level on this project, and he switches up the flow a fair amount. Like on 'Neck and Wrist', Push adopts a very unusual flow with his voice climbing up the scale at the end of his rhyme. It took me a few listens to adapt to this style, but I respect the ambition that Push goes for here. There are some real stand-out tracks on this, with 'Dreamin Of The Past' genuinely being one of the best songs to be released all year. That 'Jealous Guy' sample hit me immediately and keeps hitting on every listen. There are also a few low-key tracks like 'Call My Bluff' which aren't my favourite but work well within the context of the album. 'Scrape It Off' is an interesting track. I actually like what Don Toliver brings, I think he sounds great on the hook at the start. Uzi's verse was alright but I'd be lying if I said that it fit perfectly in the album. Apart from that, the rest of the features were really good. Labrinth sounding all angelic really caught me off guard at the end. If you love this style of rap then you won't hear a better album all year as Pusha really is at the top of his lane in the rap game.

Favourite songs: Brambleton, Dreamin Of The Past, Neck & Wrist, Diet Coke, Rock N Roll, Hear Me Clearly, I Pray For You

Score: 9/10

Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyez See Your Future

Denzel diverges from his usual style on this album, suiting a more laid-back flow over soulful instrumentals. It reminded me of a Saba or Mick Jenkins style, and if you've followed this blog for a while, that is a recipe for success as far as I'm concerned. He isn't entirely cohesive on this front, as there are a couple songs like 'X-Wing' and 'Sanjuro' which are similar to Denzel's older and more intense style. These songs aren't bad at all, but they don't really fit with the most of the other songs in the album, production-wise or lyrically. On lyrics, Denzel goes for a more introspective approach on some of these songs with the theme of 'melting' being employed in a variety of different ways. I really like this approach and feel like he executes it excellently. His verse on 'Ain't No Way' is probably the best verse I've heard from him. BARS is all I can say about that. JID and 6lack kill it as always on that tune. This album feels like it's full of moments and that's what really carries this album for me. There are a few decent songs on here but the good songs are very very good. Memorable. With Denzel taking this different approach, the project had to be memorable, and there a good few songs in the project that satisfy this requirement. This apparently is the first of a trilogy of similar projects, and I am very excited to hear the next two.

Favourite songs: Melt Session #1, Walkin, The Last, Mental, Ain't No Way, Angelz, The Ills

Score: 8/10

redveil - learn 2 swim

This is redveil's follow-up album to his debut project 'Niagara', with this one honestly just being an improvement in every aspect (and Niagara was already a great album). This was a really enjoyable listen from the young rapper. The main thing that stands out is the production. The project has consistent top-tier soul sampling accompanied with redveil's signature 'rough around the edges' production. Like 'Niagara', but better. I do hope we get to hear redveil on a really well-polished album in terms of production, which I assume will happen in the future, as this style sounds really interesting and unique but I don't think that it is sustainable in the industry. redveil adopts his usual laid-back, yet punchy flow and touches on topics like self-worth, taking leaps and dreaming big in his lyrics. These themes work well in the flow of the album, but there is huge room for these topics to really be delved in to, which I don't feel redveil does enough of. He touches on these topics and a few others but doesn't establish a thorough concept. It seems like a cluster of multiple different messages with a similar underlying idea. The theme of all of them is similar but he doesn't do enough to differentiate or grab attention from a particular one. He is very close to something excellent, and with him being so young, I can definitely see it happening soon. There are some real stand-out songs on here which don't necessarily carry the album because the formula on each song is largely the same. Lyrically and production-wise. This isn't a bad thing, more of a testament to redveil's consistency on this project. Honestly, this was just a really enjoayble listen and is a clear showcase of his growth, which I don't see slowing down. I'm excited to follow this guy's career.

Favourite songs: together, diving board, pg baby, shoulder, better, home, working on it

Score: 7.5/10

Buddy - Superghetto

I've been waiting for a new Buddy album for years. His upbeat, yet lyrical style on 'Harlan & Alondra' pulled me in immediately. This album has similar vibes, but not quite the same quality. Or rather, consistency. I love the second half of this album. The first half, not as much. To be fair, 'Wait Too Long' is a great tune and a stand-out from the album as a whole. It would fit perfectly on his last record. Summer vibes with a catchy hook and good rapping is Buddy's forte. Apart from this song, the album wasn't doing a great deal for me. That was until Ari Lennox decided to slap me in the face. The album changes at 'Coolest Things' and take a lyrical turn for the better. This song is about how life can be deceiving and our choices may be more layered than we think. Buddy is great at pulling out these introspective, slower-paced tunes (e.g: Find Me 2) and this is a prime example. One lyric I have to focus on is "I just feel like running away, but everybody want me to stay". This is such an interesting line as as I would have expected the second part of the line to be something like 'because nobody want me to stay' but the dichotomy of wanting to leave but having people who care about you is such a profound and maybe more relatable stance to take. This formula is maintained in the next song and the album closer. In between these songs I was genuinely knocked off my seat. 'Bad News' swerves into a whole other lane. Its upbeat, the beat is funky, but the lyrics are still very real and actually dark as they reflect life in the hood. The lyrics and beat couldn't be any different, and I just love it. If I haven't made it clear enough, this is an album of two halves. If it was all like the second, we could have been in for a classic. However, this not being the case does put the album down a peg, but that does not take away from the fact that a few songs are heavily in my rotation from this project.

Favourite songs: Wait Too Long, Coolest Things, Ain't Fair, Bad News, Superghetto 

Score: 7/10

Bia, J. Cole - LONDON

J. Cole is on another feature run! This time he links up with rapper, Bia over a spacey trap beat to just...talk about London. And it's great. Bia is a very different rapper to Cole but some of her rhyme schemes and one-liners are really clever and she provides a good vibe for the song. It isn't my usual cup of tea, but I honestly like her part on the song. But then Cole comes in and just kills it...again. Bars all round, crazy rhyming, flow switches left and right. Also, he legitimately puts on an English accent for most of his verse. Well, he tries to. It sounds quite amusing in his 'crocs/opp/opportunistic' scheme as he really puts emphasis on the 'o' to try and sound British. I'm not really sure why, I guess to fit in with the theme of the song. It's weird, but somehow he makes it work. There isn't much that Cole can't do at this point. His last year or so has been legendary whilst simultaneously putting his fans (like me) on to smaller yet talented artists (like Bia). This is a cool song from Bia, but Cole is the main attraction here. 

Freddie Gibbs, Rick Ross - Ice Cream

As expected, this new Freddie single is hard af. I don't know if any of these recent singles will be on the album (maybe all of them?) to be honest, but I'm just enjoying them as they come. As I thought from the title, the beat is a slightly screwed version of Raekwon's 'Ice Cream' from OB4CL. That song is a classic, and whilst this new tune from Freddie isn't on that level, it is still a very enjoyable track. Those piano keys just really hit on this version to the point where it's almost too much, but just about maintains a good sound. Freddie isn't that deep in to his lyrical bag on this song, but his delivery is just so emphatic that he could be reading out a shopping list and I'd enjoy it. Rick Ross is a cool extra and it's rare that he delivers a bad feature verse. He fits the song well, but I wouldn't say his feature adds a great deal. He wouldn't be my first choice on a song like this. The song is also very short. Rushed, it seems. Or rather, hard-hitting and immediate in the flow of an album. I can imagine it as a 'Shitsville' kind of choice, but not quite as good. Enjoyable, hard, but not groundbreaking. 

side note: I've changed the name of the blog as it's more representative. One post a month is more realistic and allows them to be longer with more reviews. I may also do some more r&b if any comes out. May is gonna be a mad month btw :))