TOBi’s back again with a new project, this time a smaller one with less conceptual tracks. Instead, Elements Vol. 1 just showcases him writing lots of quality songs in a bunch of different genres and styles. “Made Me Everything” shows a more uplifting hip hop style track with these victorious horns. “Family Matters” is the trap inspired banger on the project, but he still manages to make this dark genre feel light. “Faces” is another highlight on the project and features contributions from Sango and Wax Roof. It fits the accessible sing-songy, upbeat R&B/funk sound that has gotten extremely popular over the past few years. “Shine” shows TOBi taking a more introspective and slower approach with this song. It’s similar in vein to the standout track from his last project, “City Blues”. Elements Vol. 1 fits in perfectly with the rest of the people that are making this type of music, like Buddy and Guapdad 4000, and shows that TOBi can hang with the best of them.
I’ve been meaning to check out Xavier Omar for a while, as he’s been featured with some of my favorite artists over the past few years, including Noname and Saba. He dropped a new project last month, and I’m really glad that I got around to listening to this. He dabbles in quite a few different genres that come together in this R&B centered project. He raps on here, belts out those R&B vocals, and brings in some electronic elements too. Xavier gets personal on “Bon Iverre”, talking about how what he would do with all his money if he was rich, only to realize in the chorus that pain doesn’t care if you’re rich or not. “Something Changed” is one of the best smooth R&B ballads on the project and features a gread mid paced beat that helps move the song along. He brings on Mereba for the final track and she absolutely kills it! The song is a really calming and great closer in general, but Mereba helps bring it to the next level. The project isn’t that adventurous or different sounding than a lot of contemporary R&B, but it’s another quality R&B project for fans of that sound.
No one quite sounds like Oneohtrix Point Never. He’s got this electronic ambient, but somehow still extremely cinematic sound to his projects. His vocals are always dressed in layers of effects that make them almost intelligible. “Long Way Home” is a great example of what he sounds like. The vocals are extremely electronic, but there are still plenty of strings that sound straight out of a movie. The song also transitions multiple times into this electronic landscape of sound. He even brings on The Weeknd to lend his vocals on “No Nightmares”. The Weeknd only contributes one line to the song that’s repeated over and over again, but it’s helpful to be able to understand some vocals on the song. Regardless, the song is still a beautiful, electronic layered ballad. “The Weather Channel” is a six minute odyssey that sounds like three different songs put together, but they all somehow come together to make this maximalist track work. The fact that he’s got such a unique and different sound is going to leave people divided on this project. Personally, I still enjoy the production he did on The Weeknd’s and Moses Sumney’s projects more, but this is still one of the most unique and inventive projects of 2020.
Deante Hitchcock released almost an entire new project for this deluxe version, and while it doesn’t live up to the original, there are still some really good songs on here. “Kenny G” is a quality banger that as the title alludes to, features a small saxophone sample. He also brings on Kenny Mason and Reason for the tracks “How Does It Feel” and “Weighing Me Down” respectively. The former is a melodic banger with some autotune, and the latter, a cinematic track on the social injustices going on in the country with lengthy versus from each of them. He even brings on Guapdad 4000 on the smooth and melodic “Deja Vu”. “Reflections” is also a nice litter interlude as well. Although I did enjoy the deluxe version, I thought the structure was weird, as it’s now a two-disc project with the original and deluxe mixed together. I kinda wish it was just a deluxe disc at the end, but either way, there’s still tons of great new tracks on here for fans of hip hop to appreciate.
It’s kind of weird listening to a soundtrack to a comedy television show, but Marcus and Tom do pretty well with this. The reason it works so well is because Marcus’s music tends to encapsulate the feeling of London, even when he’s not singing. The acoustic guitar chords and melodies resemble so much of Mumford and Sons normal music. The only song with vocals is the title track and theme to the show itself. If we want to get picky, the songwriting is a bit scant and plain, but the chorus really pops through and makes it memorable. The rest of the project just blends together, with most of them just being acoustic guitar riffs and piano melodies. A couple of the songs toward the back of the project start to add drums and extend them past the two minute mark, but the project overall feels a lot more like a mood setting piece of music than something to be taken in and analyzed.
JPEGMAFIA has been releasing his singles all throughout the year, and he put them into an EP for Bandcamp friday. So now that they’re technically a project, might as well talk about them because they’re worthy of listening for any hip hop fan. “BALD!” shows Peggy going back to the sound of his 2018 album, Veteran, as it’s still an experimental banger, but it’s pretty straightforward as well. He even brings on Denzel Curry for a remix to the song in the middle of the project. “COVERED IN MONEY!” is this extremely weird banger filled with random noises before it transitions into an auto tuned outro, and I can’t forget the “A Change is Gonna Come” cover for the first few seconds of the track. “BODYGUARD!” is a deceptively beautiful ballad for someone that makes music the genre of JPEGMAFIA. “CUTIE PIE!” has a phenomenal bassline and Peggy flowing flawlessly over it. These singles show that Peggy is still on the top of his game when it comes to making innovative, unique hip hop that pushes the genre into places it’s never been before.
I first heard of Sirens of Lesbos from JID and Christo, as Christo especially would talk about them all the time. After seeing both of them were involved with this new album, I knew I had to check it out. This project combines a seemingly infinite amount of genres including soul, R&B, funk, disco, hip hop, and more! An obvious highlight is “Like Some Dream” featuring both JID and Christo. JID starts off the track with a personal verse on loss, before the rest of the track revolves around a harmonious chorus and what sounds like some sort of stringed instrument taking the lead instead of a lot more vocals. It’s a beautiful and downtrodden song, but that doesn’t mean that’s all Sirens of Lesbos accomplishes on here. “Pala” is an upbeat and accessible track with these fast paced drums that drive the entire song. “Cobra” features a great bassline and an immediately catchy chorus. “How Many Miles” is a bit slower, but still manages to encapsulate this lighthearted feeling that everything might be ok, even if the lyrics aren’t the most positive. It’s a quality debut album for the group, and hopefully they can continue to refine their sound going forward!
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