There aren’t many rappers that have ever been on the same lyrical level as Black Thought, and this project shows that he hasn’t lost a step after 25 years of rapping. He can flex his lyrical prowess like on “State Prisoner” and “Thought vs Everybody”, each of which is just one long verse for about the entire three minutes. Even on those songs that really feel like a stream of consciousness, or even a freestyle, he still manages to provoke the listener to dig deeper into what he’s actually talking about. There are still some more straightforward songs on here though. “We Could Be Good (United)” shows Black Thought meditating on love and dedication to his craft. “Steak Um” with ScHoolboy Q is an empowerment anthem with Black Thought flexing his pen once again with his rhyme schemes, one example being, “Coulda failed, but I’m more compelled, I torch the trails of an Orson Welles, rock jewels big as oyster shells.” “Nature of the Beast” is an introspective track that shows Black Thought taking a more melodic approach to the song. It easily stands out from the rest of the project, but it provides a well-timed break to the extremely fast paced, bar heavy approach that a Black Thought project normally has. While we’re waiting for The Roots' next and final album, I’m glad that Black Thought is deciding to put out these solo projects to remind us how much of a legend he is. And since he said that Streams of Thought Vol. 4 is already done, hopefully we are able to hear it sooner rather than later.
This might be the project that will bring Griselda to the next level. Benny has always been the most accessible out of the collective, but this project brings it to a new level. Even the first line on the first verse of the first song has Benny talking about it, “Last year was ‘bout brandin’, this one about expandin’.” He brought on Hit-Boy to produce the entire project, and they fit together perfectly. There are also some big features on this project that will for sure draw people, including Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Freddie Gibbs, and Rick Ross, but none of them outshine Benny. His one liners and delivery on this project are impeccable. Even though a lot of his lines are his classic subject matter of drug dealing and flexing, he still manages to peel back the layers on his life. He had never talked about his asthma, but on “Where Would I Go”, he talks about being in and out of the hospital for a decade because of his asthma. “Trade It All” shows Benny talking about losing his brother and how that’s affected him, as well as the importance of family in general. “War Paint” has the Griselda crew looking back at how far they’ve come and an extremely personal verse from Conway about meeting Jay-Z and Beyonce and how that helped change his life. Benny and Hit-Boy also keep this project at a tight 12 tracks and under 40 minutes, making it easy to have many listens over and over again. Even though Benny will almost certainly outdo this with his upcoming projects, Burden of Proof is still easily one of the best pure rap albums of 2020!
While the other hip hop projects above might overshadow this one, this is still worthy of many listens. It’s another quiet, hilarious, and extremely emotional project that rivals any in his discography. He still has many comic book references, one being on the opening track when he says “It’s like when Professor X wiped Magneto”. There are some funny moments all over the project as well, including the song “Headass (Idiot Shinji)”, which shows Open Mike Eagle providing an kind of ironic anthem for all the headasses out there. “WTF is Self Care” shows him trying to figure out what actually is self care, and it ends up being everything mostly light hearted things like good lotion to going to wineries. But even in this song, the most standout moment is an extremely personal line where he says, “Yeah, it’s like journaling, writing shit that feels nurturing. I tried it out and found pain I was circling, and started crying so hard I was gurgling.” These personal songs are what really makes this project stand out. The way he says, “It’s October and I’m tired” on “Everything Ends Last Year” is one of the most emotional and cathartic moments in music I’ve heard this year. “The Black Mirror Episode” shows him admitting that a Black Mirror episode caused him and his wife to realize they needed to get a divorce, and he dives into the effect that it had on him. This is a really great project by Open Mike Eagle, and any hip hop fan should not let this project slide past them, even with the other two great hip hop projects I mentioned above.
James Blake decided to come back to dance music with this new EP, and he hasn’t missed a step at all. All the time alone left him missing clubs and dancing, so he decided to return to the sound with this four track project. He was able to mesh his beautiful voice, with these glitzy and smooth club beats. “I Keep Calling” opens the project with a bang, as it contains more energy than anything James has released in a long time. The single and title track to the EP stands out for its catchiness and the way the song transforms into this spellbinding outro with some menacing strings over a dance beat. “Do You Ever” feels like a ballad disguised as a dance song with it’s beautiful hook and gorgeous strings. “Summer of Now” shows James bringing back his glitchy vocals, but its use is a lot more authentic and sparing than his previous songs in the past few years where he used it, “If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead” to be specific. It’s a fantastic little EP that he decided to drop that will for sure hold fans over until his next full length, and will keep people dancing in their living rooms for the foreseeable future.
Various Artists - Blue Note Re:Imagined
This project isn’t really full of new songs, but rather a project full of London’s jazz talent’s take on jazz classics. These are some of the most iconic tracks in jazz, including tracks from Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Henderson, and many more. While the project itself is a bit too long at almost 90 minutes, there are still many great tracks on here. Jorja Smith does a fantastic take on St. Germain’s “Rose Rogue” with her beautiful voice and these prominent horns. Ezra Collective provides one of the best songs of the year with their cover of “Footprints” by Wayne Shorter. They make it a bit funkier with Femi Koluso’s perfect drumming, as well as add their classic lyrical approach to jazz. Alfa Mist provides a cover of “Galaxy” by Eddie Henderson that is worthy of the song title. Nubya Garcia continues her run as one of the best jazz newcomers with her fantastic cover of Joe Henderson’s “A Shade of Jade”. For fans of jazz, and especially older jazz, this is a unique showcase of many jazz artists that will be important for the future of jazz.
I was a bit skeptical going into this project, as I’ve never been overly impressed with anything he’s done so far, but this is definitely one of the better R&B debuts I’ve heard this year. He goes through many different genres in these 9 tracks, and all of them go over very well. The slow R&B ballads came out the best, with songs like the funky “Stayback” and its guitar solo halfway through the track. “Want U Around” with Ruel is a beautiful, layered ballad with a prominent bassline and relaxing melodies. He brings on Kali Uchis for “Hey Boy”, and while the song is entertaining, it feels a bit undercooked with its under two minute long runtime. He even sings an entire song in Spanish, “Dos Uno Nueve (219)”, and the combination of his voice and the layered flamenco guitars makes it stand out amongst the rest here. This project isn’t showing that Omar Apollo is the next superstar of 2020 or anything, but it shows that he’s got more than people gave him credit for.
Maria falls in line as another talented up and coming R&B singer with this new EP. As far as I can tell, this is her debut EP and it’s especially good for that reason. The singles “The 1” and especially “Where Does the Love Go” are these smooth R&B tunes that could fit in perfectly to a playlist with all the other higher profile artists out right now. These singles show her at her best so far, but her voice and writing seem like it’s just untapped potential at this point. “Distance” is another one of these love-stricken vibes that soundtracks nighttime drives perfectly. “Salt Water” shows Maria paying homage to her Dominican roots by singing in Spanish for part of the song. The layering on the outro to that song is probably the most beautiful moment on the entire project. Stuck in the Sky isn’t the most unique or best R&B project that you’ll hear this year, but it shows an artist in progress to becoming something bigger and better.
Jean Dawson is full of youthful energy on every track on his debut album, Pixel Bath. He brings the punk energy and mixes it with a myriad of different genres; including rock, hip hop, electronic, dance, alternative, and more. “06 Burst'' is an experimental dance track that would be perfect for raves if they ever come back. Even with the youthful energy of this project, the project still revolves around death and his own mortality. “Clear Bones” shows Jean talking about Mr. Reaper, which pretty obviously represents death. “Starface*” is arguably the most accessible track on this project with its soaring chorus and relatable lyrics. The lone feature on this project is A$AP Rocky, who loans his talents to the guitar heavy “Triple Double”. The fast paced “Power Freaks” is another highlight on the project, and the video really shows how he and A$AP Rocky get along, as both have the same vibe in their videos. Jean Dawson proves that he’s among the best in this genreless type of music, and this being his debut album just makes it that much more impressive.
Bruce Springsteen has been making music for almost 50 years, and he still manages to come through with a quality project. Sonically, this project is nothing new for Bruce. It consists mainly of acoustic rock tunes with a grand sound, as he brought the E Street Band back on this project for the first time in a while. The project sonically sounds like something out of Bruce's glory days in the late 70s and early 80s, which makes sense considering three songs on here were actually written in the 70s. “Janey Needs a Shooter”, one of those three songs, is one of the most sonically interesting songs on here, especially with its almost 7 minute long runtime. The opener to the album, “One Minute You’re Here”, shows Bruce touching on loss and death, the most prominent theme on this album. This project definitely isn’t going to bring Bruce any new fans, but that’s not the purpose of it. It’s here to give fans a personal look into him with a sound that they already love.
I remember these guys randomly DM’ing me to listen to their single back in 2017, and now they’re signed to the popular independent label Deathbomb Arc and dropped their debut project with them! This project shows a completely different side of the group than their debut single, “OK”. Headshots! is full of aggressive bangers over these hard hitting, bass heavy, slightly experimental production. Even the opening full track, “Propaganda”, is full of these fast paced drums and electronic instrumentation. “Protocol” ends the project with a great banger as well! Both rappers in the duo both flow pretty well over the beats and have enough quotables that you’ll come away from the project with multiple lines in your head. Hopefully they just continue to get better and better from here because this is a great place to be officially starting.
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