Maggie Rogers - Notes From The Archive: Recordings 2011-2016
Maggie Rogers’ profile has only risen since she released her debut album at the beginning of 2019, and it was about time to capitalize on it. Instead of having new music ready, this is a collection of older material she had from right before she blew up, to her debut project she made in high school. Much of the music is folk inspired and shows the roots that led to her poppier 2019 album. “New Song” with Del Water Gap, a solo artist that she was originally in a duo with, is easily my favorite song on here. The way her and Holden’s voices play off each other is gorgeous and the song builds perfectly throughout the six minute runtime. The first section of the album is another highlight, as it’s her shoegaze EP she made while in college. For context, the album is separated into four different sections and there’s a deluxe version with commentary from Maggie explaining where she was while making each section. It adds on another almost half an hour, but the context is more than worth it. This isn’t the first project from Maggie someone should hear, but it’s a fascinating listen for people that want more music from Maggie.
Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red
This album was being hyped up by Carti for years, to the point where many people thought that it would never come. This could also be due to the fact that he had dozens of songs leak in full over the past couple years, including his biggest song yet. A song he was featured on, “Pissy Pamper”, leaked in early 2019 and was topping charts on Spotify with random people uploading it before it was taken down. It became so popular that it was called Song of the Summer and ranked on best songs of the year lists by publications. This led to a change of sound and the more punk-inspired Whole Lotta Red that we got on Christmas day. Even the cover is based on the 70s punk magazine Slash. Unfortunately, the project as a whole comes through as something that will be more influential than actually great. There are some towering tracks on here like the third track “Stop Breathing”, a barely mixed, hard hitting banger where Carti’s straining his voice to the max. “M3tamorphosis” with Kid Cudi shows Carti rapping over Cudi’s legendary hums, and although it’s a bit long, the chorus makes it memorable and entertaining. Whole Lotta Red is a love or hate album that will likely help influence the direction of trap music for the next few years.
Eminem - Music to Be Murdered By: Side B
Eminem has decided to return with another side to Music to Be Murdered By, the project that he released at the beginning of 2020. Even though I thought the first one was decent, this side is definitely worse. Some people will chalk it up to just messing around and having fun, but a lot of these lines are frankly embarrassing to be coming from arguably the greatest rapper of all time. “You heard of Kris Kristofferson? Well, I’m Piss Pissedofferson” and “But I’m up like your feet on a recliner, and I think I’m about to go out on a limb like a tree climber” are just two of the almost uncountable cringy lines. It’s not all terrible though, one positive being that Eminem’s technical ability is still there, for the most part. Eminem’s beats on here are also some of the top he’s ever made, although he hasn’t quite learned how to progress a beat throughout the song, that only happens when another producer makes the beat, like on the single “Gnat” produced by D.A. Got That Dope. Overall though, this project is lackluster for someone held up in the regard someone like Eminem is.
Lil Wayne - No Ceilings 3: Side B
Unlike Eminem’s, this side did come out better than the original. He’s still nowhere near his peak, and this is far from his best stuff of 2020, it’s still solid all the way through. Everything about this side is better than the original. Instead of riding the same pockets as the original, he was bringing in some fresh flows to these already popular songs. Songs like “Sum 2 Prove”, “Baggin”, and “Low Down” show Wayne delivering relentless flows on songs that didn’t originally have that many flows. The beats hit harder than the ones on the original as well. The project is shorter and more cohesive than the first one, mainly because there’s not 3 songs by his kids on this side. There are still a few problems on here, his overuse of autotune being a big one, but it’s still a good project for people that are big Wayne fans.
Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales
It took six years, but Jazmine Sullivan finally returned with this new EP, Heaux Tales. This project is a concept record, with a skit between most of the songs that provides context to the subject matter of the upcoming song. For example, “Lost Ones” sounds like a normal breakup song from the perspective of the person in the wrong. But with the skit before the track, we learn it’s actually from the perspective of her friend who was in a lesbian relationship who cheated on her partner and is now asking for remorse. It just makes an already beautiful song just that much more heartbreaking. She brings on three musical features and each one blends in perfectly. Her and Ari Lennox have incredible chemistry on the R&B version of “WAP” called “On It”. Anderson Paak never misses with anything, and his feature on “Price Tags” is another example of his soulful voice making everything better. H.E.R makes her way onto the final track on both the guitar and vocals. They may not have as much vocal chemistry as Ari did, but this one feels more like a passing-of-the-torch than any other feature on here. The beginning of the year normally starts out a bit slow, but Jazmine already brought what will likely be one of the better R&B projects of the year.
Griselda & BSF - Conflicted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Griselda is always making music, but this is their first time making a movie and of course, it has to have a soundtrack. It’s less of a Griselda project, and more of them grabbing everyone associated with them for an extra song or feature. Even though there’s plenty of other artists, the best songs on here usually have the Griselda artists themselves. “3:30 in Houston” is Benny the Butcher reflecting on being shot in a Walmart in Houston a few months ago. After his previous project was produced fully by Hit-Boy, and even though it’s my favorite project by him, it’s great to hear Benny back over some Daringer production. The Griselda posse cut with Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher, and Armani Caesar is another highlight that shows how talented this crew is. “Nerve of You” may not be 100 seconds long, but Armani still manages to make it memorable and catchy. Dave East makes his way over a Billie Eilish sample that’s flipped into a banger on “Welcome Home DMX”. Every artist that I was previously familiar with has better material than this project, but it’s an interesting showcase for people just starting to get into this sound.
G Perico - Free / Welcome to the Land
There aren’t many people making authentic, west coast hip hop anymore and G Perico is one of the people bringing G-funk into the current day. In the first month of 2021, he’s already dropped two different EPs, Free and Welcome to the Land. Both of these are a bit more downtrodden and introspective than his previous stuff, but they also don’t live up to his best projects. They both consist of a similar west coast sound as his previous stuff too, just more cruising material instead of bangers. I do like Welcome to the Land a bit more, especially with songs like “Sunday Night” and “Turn Around”. It’s slightly more upbeat and feels a bit more finished, but Free is still close in terms of quality. Both of them don’t quite return him to his best projects in 2017, but they’re good west coast gangsta rap projects for people missing that sound.
Claudia Q - Ain’t
This is a random project I found scrolling through Bandcamp after the cover drew me in, and it came through as a fantastic piece of bedroom pop. The genres spread much further than that label though. Even the intro track, “Particular Saints”, has these fast paced drums, funky bassline that drive the track along, and a sax that sounds straight out of a Blood Orange song. All of that goes way past the bedroom pop label, and even leads it into this 30 second interlude with some lighthearted rapping, yet another genre. The last three songs held fill out the EP with some mellow, catchy, DIY versions of the sounds above. “Hear Me Out” is an earworm of a song that sounds like something Sault would’ve released. “Who?” leaves the listener wanting more, as it’s only just over a minute and feels like it ends before reaching its full potential. It doesn’t seem like she has any releases, so I’m not sure how likely it is that we’ll get more music from her, but this is still an awesome project that shows loads of promise.
Stream: Bandcamp | Soundcloud
Nyck Caution - Anywhere But Here
Nyck Caution was smart to drop the album in January, capitalizing on the lack of big name hip hop albums that have come out. His connection to the rising hip hop label Pro Era helped this project gain some attention, as well as the features from Joey Badass and Denzel Curry. For fans of these artists and the Pro Era label, they will get some enjoyment out of this album, but I’m not sure this will blow anyone away. He does a lot of different sounds here well, but not great. “Bad Day” with Denzel is a certified banger that will be an incredible song to perform live, assuming concerts come back in the same way as before. The first three songs on the project are introspective, mellow tracks where Nyck shows he can make quality tunes in this style as well. Anywhere But Here isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it’s a quality hip hop album for people that like more conscious, east coast centered hip hop.
J.U.S - God Goku Jay-Z
I had never heard of J.U.S before seeing this project come across my timeline, but being a part of Bruiser Brigade and three Danny Brown features are more than enough to get me to check out a project. Luckily, the project is actually solid and shows that J.U.S has a lot of the things that make up a great rapper. His deep voice cuts through these grimey, sample heavy instrumentals. The production is grimey and fascinating in it’s own right, and not only due to the famous samples like Destiny's Child’s “Say My Name”. He kept the project at a tight 20 minute runtime, perfect for your debut project when you’re still trying to get fans. There’s not much on here that’s awe-inspiring or that’ll blow people away, but it will likely go down as one of the most underrated hip hop projects of 2021.
Stream: Bandcamp
Doc D (Logic) - Planetary Destruction
Logic officially retired with his 2020 return to form, No Pressure. Like most rappers who retire, not many people took him seriously, and it only took him six months to prove everyone right. Although he released it under an alter ego, as well as made it a mixtape that’s not on streaming services, it’s still a project made and produced by him. There are skits and samples throughout the entire thing that tell the story of Doc D, a villain in 2097 who is slowly destroying the universe because his girlfriend broke up with him. The skits come off super corny, but the production is really good throughout. Everything about this is clearly inspired by MF DOOM, one of the greatest rappers of all time who recently passed away, and it comes off both as a tasteful homage and poor copycat. There are some fantastic features from Punch, Ghostface Killah, and Del The Funky Homosapien, but a good amount of the verses on here are just ok. If you’re a Logic fan, this project will surprise and satisfy his absence, but otherwise, I’d recommend just listening to some MF DOOM.
Erick the Architect - Future Proof
Erick the Architect is most known for his group Flatbush Zombies, with whom he raps alongside Zombie Juice and Meechy Darko, as well as does the production for most of their songs. Their style is bringing this dark, psychedelic style of hip hop with the hard hitting and lyrical Beast Coast movement coming out of NYC right now. It seems like each artist is releasing solo projects, as Meechy has also talked about a solo project coming this year, and Erick definitely shows a different side of himself with Future Proof. Erick crafts these meditative, but glistening beats out of some soul samples and piano loops. Almost every song features a singer on the hook, which helps with the accessibility of the project. It’ll lure people in with the bright sonics, but then Erick hits them with lyrics reflecting on his personal life and the current state of America. It’s a project that I think a lot of people will forget about in a few weeks, but will be underrated towards the end of the year when we look at the best EPs in hip hop this year.
Stream: Spotify
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