Ayoyoyo how’s it going guys? I’m getting more and more arbitrary with my scores. Hope no one cares, and if you do, my bad. Also did you guys know that Diplo and Major Lazer are the same people? I did not.
M.I.A – Y.A.L.A (stream) dope/10
Idk how much you guys listen to M.I.A but I actually don’t listen to her that much. That being said, her beats are always supa hot fire. YALA means “you always live again” unlike other unnamed rappers who believe that, “you only live once”. Anyway, I think this is pretty dope so consider checking it out!
Childish Gambino – 3005 (stream) CG/10
If you guys like CG you’ll like this song, and if you don’t you won’t. This sounds more like his EP stuff than ROYALTY or Camp. I dug it.
Dom Kennedy – Get Home Safely (stream) 7/10
I thought this album flowed really nicely. Dom Kennedy doesn’t really say that much throughout the album, but it sounds dope. This album really gives off that classic West Coast chill vibe, which I dig a lot.
Blu & Nottz – Gods in Spirit (stream) 7.5/10
Ayo Matt you’re gonna want to check out this one, it’s a new Blu EP!! Truth time: I’ve never listened to Blu before. I know that Blu&Exile did their thing with Below the Heavens… but I’ve never listened to it, so I can’t really compare this to older Blu or Nottz tracks (Nottz the producer for the entire EP). Now that being said, I actually enjoyed this project a lot. It reminded me a lot of Wu-Tang in terms of intensity in the MCs voice. Production wise though, it was much more modern. Overall, if you like aggressive rap styles with substance you’ll def like this EP. It’s short, but to the point and a fast listen. Check out Crooks and Castles for that grimey NY raps with modern production, and God Shit for over the top sound. Def sounds… almost like more traditional MBDTF Kanye esque production… tough to explain.
Madlib – Madlib Medicine Show: The Pill Jar (free dl) 7/10
Madlib is of course a producer probably most famous for his collab with MF DOOM to make Madvillainy. MF DOOM and Madlib both have similar production styles, with analog production styles which result in slightly “aged” sounding music. He is a heavy sampling based producer, think more turntablism rather than Kanye style sample production though. In terms of overall sound I gave this a 7/10 despite liking it more than Dom Kennedy and Blu & Nottz, because I like Madlib’s other work more. The beats are hella funky and fun, but it’s nothing exceptional for Madlib. One of the samples he uses is a recycled sample from his song “America’s Most Blunted” as Madvillain, and that threw me off quite a bit actually. How are you about to reuse one of your most famous samples? Episode XVI has this funky African beat breakdown that I’m hella digging, and Interview #4080 has some dope bars from Karriem Riggins as Supreme Team. Overall if you dig 90s boom bap production, MF DOOM, Madlib/Quasimoto, or other analog based heavy sampling music, you’ll def enjoy this project. Otherwise maybe not so much.
DJ Khaled – Suffering from Success (stream) not feeling it/10
I didn’t want to listen to this actually, so I didn’t. This album features features featuring Future, Ace Hood, Diddy, J Cole, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne, Ricky Rossay (Rick Ross), Meek Mill, and more people. But I mean… eh. Hells Kitchen has a J Cole verse so you guys might wanna check it out… but I mean… it was aight . Lil Wayne had a feature too so I checked it out. The hook goes:
Fuck all you bitches
Fuck all you bitches
Fuck all you bitches
Fuck all you bitches
Fuck all you hoes
Fuck all you hoes
1 million, 2 million, three, fo.
I wasn’t feeling it.
Gucci Mane – Trust God, Fuck 12 (stream/dl) wait isn’t he in jail?/10
I’ve actually listened to a decent amount of Gucci. Granted, he has a million mixtapes, but I mean he has his good shit. Lemonade has a ridiculous beat, and One Minute from his WWIII: Gas mixtape is one of my favorite songs of 2013, but I mean this mixtape/album is really normal. It sounds like all of the filler songs from his other projects.