Hip Hop Monthly

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 ...

  24/02/22 Hello all, I am aware that it has been a while. There has not been a ton of new releases, but I have listened to a few albums (old and new) over the last few weeks in the hip-hop/R&B genre. More regular updates will come, but for now... SiR - Chasing Summer I had been meaning to check out this album for so long, and I am very glad that it finally happened. I will admit that I had heard 'Hair Down' and 'You Can't Save Me' long before I listened to this project in full. But these two songs set a high precedent for the album, with the former being a great chill summery track, constituting of a strong Kendrick verse. And the latter is genuinely one of my favourite songs of all time, so we had a decent start even before tapping in. I will say this, the album lives up to its title perfectly. I listened to this on a train in midwinter, and I was definitely left 'chasing summer' as that is precisely the vibe that it exerts. It feels like walking down ...

10/02/22 Saba - Few Good Things Pretty much everything Saba has released in his catalogue thus far has been of the highest standard. Care For Me was a masterpiece and is not an easy album to follow. However, Saba delivers a very valiant effort with this project. The instrumentals, for the most part, match the calming and laid-back vibe that Saba has always executed to perfection. It really feels like this should have been released in the summer. Relaxing outside in the sunshine would have been a perfect setting for listening to this album. But, the fact that all these feelings can be created in the depth of winter is really a credit to Saba and the rest of Pivot Gang. There are also a couple of songs ('Survivor's Guilt' and 'Stop That') that have a more hard-hitting, 'banger' style. These songs are still great, whilst not necessarily fitting within the vibe of the album. Saba's rapping is still maintained at his usual, very high, level throughout this re...

14/01/22 The Weeknd - Dawn FM I cannot express how excited I was to listen to this album. 'After Hours' was fantastic and as the second installment in this new 'trilogy', I was expecting no different from Dawn FM. It definitely delivered. This whole cinematic universe Abel is creating, alongside the music video, really does feel like a moment in current music. I love the concept of the eerie and purgatorial radio station, which is perfectly executed by Jim Carrey (who would've thought?). And the music, wow. Abel touched on the 80s dance-pop theme in After Hours, but he really takes it to another level here. There are some proper funky songs, like Sacrifice and Best Friends, coupled with some more introspective and emotional tracks, like Starry Eyes and Less Than Zero. All of them, however, have this synthwave production that never seems to be out of place. A lot of the songs do sound like you should be dancing and just vibing to, but some of the lyrics are quite dar...

24/12/21 Boldy James & The Alchemist - Super Techmo Bo I know it's been a while, but I'm back with a review of yet another Boldy James x Alchemist record. These two have found success in the recent past with Alchemist's laid-back, deep-cutting beats meshing seamlessly with Boldy's smooth and nonchalant flow. This album is no different; it really is a very effective recipe for success. These Alchemist beats just get under your skin in a different way to anyone else's production. The sampling with a variety of instruments matches perfectly with the low bpm drum beats (or lack of). You can just allow them to take you away. This coupled with Boldy's leisurely flow is just a whole vibe and very easy to listen to. However, whilst it is very easy to drift away to the music, I would highly recommend really paying attention to the lyrics. Boldy, in typical Griselda fashion, harshly raps about his days on the streets and the constituent emotional strain. A lot of the ...

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 hear...

5/11/2021 Mick Jenkins – Elephant In The Room This was a really enjoyable listen. I’ve been meaning to get more into Mick Jenkins’ music, and I feel like this was a good place to start (after hearing Water(s) already). Mick comes straight out of the gate on this record with crazy rhyme schemes and hard-hitting bars in the first song. This intro track hit me like a damn freight train; not what I expected at all but something I definitely enjoyed. The album relaxes and seems to grow into itself from the next track forward. The vibes on this record are immaculate. It’s filled with chilled, smooth, lo-fi beats which are intersected with Mick’s sharp delivery and bar-heavy lyricism. ‘Scottie Pippen’ fits perfectly with this vibe, allowing me to enjoy it even more than when I heard it as a single last week. I could honestly listen to this kind of rap all day. Chilled vibes and great lyrics are basically exactly what I want in a hip-hop track. It’s not all just clever wordplay and clever ...