Tkay proves herself to be one of the most unique and talented voices in hip hop! She’s putting Australian hip hop on the map with this project, which is the second installment in a three project series. She can hop from some of the most aggressive bangers I’ve heard this year like “Grasshopper”, to straight up pop songs like “You Sad”, and even a Missy Elliot inspired record called “Shook”. While she doesn’t bring much different to any sound individually, the overall package of songs that are consistently great, while doing this many different genres and styles is not common. She can chameleon herself to any genre she wants, and hopefully she continues to be unique and push herself even more on her future projects.
Jay Wile came onto my radar a couple years ago with his Frank Ocean-esque song “Numb”. He’s released quite a bit of music since then, including EPs in both 2018 and 2019, and he came back with another EP just a few weeks ago. At only 6 songs and under 20 minutes, it’s a very easy listen. Jay proves himself once again as a good singer who can make some quality songs. The project starts off with a great R&B tune with some Frank-inspired vocal layerings. “Anyway” is another highlight and includes a gorgeous feature from Dallas-based singer Akshara. “Right Soon” is a beautiful ballad that’ll have the listener in their emotions. Almost all of these songs will fit perfectly into a playlist of current R&B music, and Jay’s definitely setting himself up well for the future.
Dominic Fike has had some really great songs in the past couple years, so there was reason to be excited for this album. While there are some highlights on here, it felt more like a demo project than full songs, which is ironic considering his previous project is actually a collection of demos. The uniqueness and insanely catchy choruses of “Phone Numbers” with Kenny Beats and “3 Nights” are nowhere to be found on here. There are still some good songs though, including the “Politics & Violence”, which shows him switching up his vocals drastically a couple times throughout the track. He’s still young enough, talented enough, and has enough variety in his music that he can put out something great with his next album.
I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. After getting heavy co-signs from Tyler the Creator and Janelle Monae, touring with Earl Sweatshirt, and having an album release event hosted on Erykah Badu’s website, I was sure that this was going to blow me away. While it hasn’t done that, it’s clear that this is a really good project and Liv is extremely talented! I don’t know if I’ve ever heard an album like this one. It combines the lo-fi production of Earl Sweatshirt and the NYC sLums collective as a whole, but reimagines it as a soul album instead of a hip hop album. There are a couple songs that I think could bring people to this album, like “About Love at 21”, “She’s My Brand New Crush”, and “I Been Livin”. I definitely think there’s an audience out there for a project like this, but it won’t be easy to lure in new listeners to this sound. I still think this is a really good and unique album that I recommend to anyone that wants to try out a new sound.
After blowing up in 2017 with his hit song “Caroline”, Amine has stayed in hip hop with a couple solid projects, which many one hit wonders can’t say. Limbo helps him solidify his state in hip hop and pop rap as a whole. Now, there’s still not much here that stands out compared to hip hop as a whole, but he does multiple sounds really well. He can make bangers like “Pressure in my Palms” and “Shimmy”, but he can also slow it down and make some emotional music, like the song “Fetus”. The later song also features Injury Reserve, who one of their members recently passed away, which only makes his verse about his daughters even more powerful. There are also some other great features, like J.I.D. and Charlie Wilson on “Roots” and Vince Staples having the best verse on the album on “Pressure in my Palms”. Overall, this is a solid hip hop album that really proves that he’s not just a one hit wonder.
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