Grip dropped the perfect way to describe this project at the end of the first song, Cassius, “This don’t count. This is just me working out.” Each of Grip’s two solo albums have been highly conceptual and world building albums. This is not that. Halo consists of six songs made over two weeks with producer Tu and is proclaimed as a “Quarantine Pack”. It’s whole purpose is for Grip to stay motivated and give the fans something to listen to during this pandemic; and he definitely succeeds in doing that. This project is chalk full of quotable bars and some great sample chopping production. With there being no concept, it makes the personal moments come across extra personal. This is especially evident on the last track, Memories Is 4eva, where Grip talks about losing his grandma and a child. It leaves a lasting impact and ends the project on a high. Grip came through with a great project and very excited to see whatever else he drops from here!
The Strokes really show a return to form on their first full length album in seven years! After seeing the reception to new albums from older rock groups, such as Green Day and Weezer’s newest albums, there was reason to be worried about this one. But those fears were put to rest when they released the lead single, At The Door. It’s a synth lead ballad with some phenomenal and heartfelt vocals from Julien, but more importantly than that, it shows The Strokes aren’t trying to recreate their glory days. At a trim nine tracks, 45 minute run time, the album doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a great return for The Strokes and hopefully they continue to make music on this level.
For fans of: The Voidz, The Killers, Arcade Fire
Jahmed shows he’s one of the best up and coming rappers on this project! The energy stays super high and consistent throughout for the 13 minute run time. He’s got many voices and flows all over this project, and even on the same song. The song LIFTMEUP is a great example of this. His flow and voice changes drastically from the verse to the chorus, to the point where the chorus sounds like a completely different person. ICECOLDBISHOP also provides a great feature verse that complements Jahmed nicely. The beats on here also progressively build and change super smoothly. MAZDA provides a great example, with the beat changing slightly going into the chorus. While he shows he can do this sound and it be great, there’s still lots of genres and styles of songs for him to try out. It’d be a shame if he just stayed in this sound for his entire career because I’m sure he can do so much more. But this is still a great, short project begging to be replayed.
For fans of: IDK, Denzel Curry, ICECOLDBISHOP
Smino decided to drop a surprise mixtape for free on 4/20 consisting of 16 new songs! He said this is just a project he made to help stay inspired during quarantine and give the fans some new fun songs, and that’s exactly what this is. It’s a fun, 40 minute tape consisting of 16 tracks. There are a few remixes of some popular songs, including Savage and Orange Soda, that he absolutely kills. The songs do tend to blend together, but it works with him as his music is best as a vibe. He does try out some more mainstream production, instead of the trademark Monte Booker style he uses on his albums. As good as a lot of the songs on here are, it does feel like a holdover until his album, which he said it is so it’s all good. In a message to his fans, he confirms the official studio album is 100% done. But until he feels ready to put it out, this is going to be in rotation.
For fans of: Monte Booker, Ravyn Lenae, Saba
Westside Gunn and the rest of the Griselda crew reminds me heavily of Wu-Tang Clan back in the 90s. Each group has a lot of people, do a combination of solo and group albums, and both have the same grimy, new york hip hop style. Griselda’s profile has risen lots in the last couple years. This could be because they put out multiple projects every year, each. Westside Gunn has now released seven full length solo projects since 2018, but this one has the biggest names yet. Tyler, the Creator, Joey Bada$$, Wale, and Freddie Gibbs are some of the biggest features he’s had yet, and they all fit really well on their songs. But for as much acclaim as Griselda gets, I haven’t personally loved anything they’ve done, and this project doesn’t change it sadly. The production is really good, but extremely laid back. Westside’s voice is kinda grating at points, which makes it hard to listen to his bars. The ad libs, although fan loved, become annoying quickly. The individual songs also are all over the place. Some are just a verse long, which makes these songs feel more like interludes than actual songs.I definitely still enjoy listening to this, but there’s not much that’s bringing me back to keep listening to it.
For fans of: Wu-Tang Clan, Benny the Butcher, 2000 Eminem
Dababy had one of the biggest rises of any musician in 2019, with help from his top 11 singles, Suge and Bop, as well as the overabundance of high profile features he had. Some of the biggest features were with Dreamville, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Nas X, Chance the Rapper, Camilia Cabello, Post Malone, Lizzo, Future, and more. With Blame it on Baby being his third album in thirteen months, it feels a bit stale this time. He does slightly change things up on here, but not in a successful way. He ends up singing a lot more on here and having more slow songs. Most of it does not work with Sad Shit being the most egregious example. The biggest problem though is that even though some of the songs are decent, they just feel like worse versions of songs he’s already made. It’s to the point where he’s oversaturated himself, just like what happened to Migos a couple years ago in 2018 after their legendary 2017 run. The sound was fresh when it came to the forefront of music, but it got dull just as fast as it came in. So while this isn’t awful by any means, he really needs to take a break and just chill for a couple years and make people want his music more.
For fans of: Lil Baby, Migos, Megan Thee Stallion
Peter Cottentale is most known for his work with Chance the Rapper, with production on every project Chance has put out. He’s arguably the most important producer that helped usher in the gospel and soul inspired hip hop coming out of Chicago. There’s some great gospel inspired hip hop and R&B on here. Problem is, there’s also a lot that’s not that great. There’s a plethora of features on here, ranging from Chance the Rapper to Kirk Franklin to Jamilia Woods to Tobi Lou. There’s also a choir on the majority of the tracks that attempts to bring together the album as a whole, but the amount of featured artists from all over make it feel more like a collection of singles than a cohesive album. But for fans of Chance the Rapper and gospel music, this can definitely be your new favorite album.
For fans of: Chance the Rapper, Kirk Franklin, Daniel Caesar
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