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Joey badass Westside boogie Conway. The Machine and Logic are all dropping albums on friday. Who gets the first listen, this might be controversial, but I'm going on the Westside boogie. Everything's for sale is no lie. One of my favorite albums of all time. It's a really amazing album in one of the best in recent memory. So I can't wait to hear what he does for the follow up boogie singles have been really fire, He's been really quiet prepping and waiting for this moment. I have a feeling it's going to really shine. Next up, I'm gonna listen to Joey Badass besides having a great name, Joey's last album was Fire. He really hasn't missed yet on the following project. And the fact that he's going back to the 1999 sound, His best sound is a really good sign. I expect him to get back in his bag head high was great and the fact that he's moving away from the Revenge and the Light pack, it's all great news. He's heading towards the right direction. Listen, I love Conway, but after that, I'm going with Logic simply because I'm really interested to hear how the new album sounds. I was hesitant about Logic putting out music after a good send off, but the singles he's been releasing have been really good. So I'm looking forward to it. Lastly, Conway and Big Ghost. They're a great duo. I love what they did in 2021 with if it bleeds, I'm expecting another great project here, I just listen to it last because we've already heard from Conway this year. I want to see what the rest are up to. But that being said, don't be surprised if this is the best release of the night. So between Joey boogie Conway and logic, who gets a first listen? In your opinion? I think all could be really, really solid. I'm looking forward to it.
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what's the best produced hip hop album of all time In a good place to choose from here. Some that don't crack my top five but are amazing R. J. Dilla Donuts O Matic pinata produced by mad lib, mad villainy food by MF Doom. Just so many good ones. Um I'll get right into it though. My number one, the one I think that is just like a step above the rest 2001 by dr dre this album still to this day just sounds unlike anything I've ever heard. It's so cohesive. There are so many different instruments and sounds that go into this thing that just very make it just this like holistic masterpiece. It's just, it blows my mind that it came out in 1999 and not today. Um so many iconic beats and that thing to another one from dr dre. Doggy style, you could have put Get Richard trying on you, you could have put the Eminem show, but Doggy style I think is the next best one and you know, we've got to give credit to Daz Dellinger too for what he did on this thing, but doggy style again, just revolutionary production. My beautiful dark, twisted fantasy by Kanye West. I think this is your best produced album, not his absolute best because I prefer his rapping on something like late registration but twisted fantasy is just very, very different and grand and it's this like opera type moment that's just big um model sold by new Jabez and lastly the blueprint, jay Z produced Kanye West. Um all five of these bring different sounds, but I think they encapsulate my favorite, Top five produce hip hop albums. What are yours?
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making a case for CLB and Punk. Listen, a lot of people thought these were two of the most disappointing albums last year because they were by celebrated artists and they were not what people were hoping for. Many thought ClB was too safe and punk was too slow. Both of them are now almost a year old and their aging beautifully. So here's my case for both of them. Listen, CLB is definitely safe, there's no way around it. But it's Drake doing what Drake does best. It's a little bit, take care, a little bit of views, a little bit. Nothing was the same. It is far and away better than the scorpion and I think people just wanted him to go in a brand new direction for this, which he didn't. So they're disappointed. What sticks out to me most on this album is the sequencing. Starting out with Champagne poetry, one of the best intros of last year and then proceeding into bobby's home and the album ending on the remorse. These are all just really good, brilliant artistic choices. The themes, even though they looked at it as corny when you put them together with the haircut and the terrible album cover are actually really good and the themes just like scream classic Drake. I definitely was underwhelmed when I first heard this album, but the replay value is really solid and I think Drake got one with this top five Jersey for sure. Punk on the other hand was an album I loved on first listen. Yeah, I feel like I have to consistently fight for it to get some recognition. Sure, thug was coming off his best album, so much fun. So literally anything would have been worse or step down. But I really like what he did on this thing. He toned down the Bangers, which is what turned a lot of people off. But he crafted a very sensitive, smooth and slow album that is really able to show off Doug's vocals. You've got tracks on here that essentially just an acoustic guitar with his voice, which is a massive risk. But it pays off Both. These albums are really good and over hated. What are your thoughts on them?
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what were some highly anticipated albums that lived up to the hype with the recent release of Kendrick's mr morale and the big steppers. You've got me thinking whether or not an artist will ever live up to expectations when the hype is so big. So it made me think back to some albums where I do think they did live up to expectations. So firstly coloring book by Chance, the rapper Chance was killing in 2016, he was coming off acid rap, which by many was considered a classic and he had that hype of the life of Pablo, his connection to Kanye just everything was pointing towards this album being really, really solid. All eyes were set on him, expectations are really high and he delivered he outperformed expectations. This mixtape album, whatever you wanna call it, is great Better than acid rap, I don't care, it's a great project. And the only reason it's Tarnished is because I think the big day next up we got circles by Mac Miller Mack tragically passed away when he was making some of the best music of his life, Coming off Swimming, which I think is his best album circles was very highly anticipated. And you could tell that his team was gonna handle this posthumous album very well and they did thankfully, really, really great album, very sad, very well done, definitely met expectations. Lastly Donde feel like a lot of Kanye albums are very controversial and people have mixed feelings on them. But I feel like the release of Donda was aside from the Maryland Manson Bs like very well received this album just showed a new side to you, and I think it's one of his best albums in years, so definitely lived up to the hype. What are some other albums that met your expectations?
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what's your favorite song of the year so far? There have been so many incredible tracks to come out this year and it's been a really good year for music so far. I'll go through some of my favorites, firstly, the best song of the year, in my opinion, is johnny piece caddy. This is obviously biased based on the fact that I'm a huge Benny and cole fan, but I just really think it's unprecedented. You get someone from the underground who's on top of their game, going bar for bar with someone from the mainstream who is also on top of their game. It's a match made in heaven and I can't wait to see more dream villain Griselda collab shout out to the few JD and Conway songs. We already got two Father's time by Kendrick has got to be up there too. This was the best track of mr morale and the big steppers where Kenny really showed he was in his bag. The theme of the song is great, as is the production in the wrapping Sky by Redvale is also in my top five of the year. If you haven't heard this album, learn to swim, you need to, it's easily one of the best of the year. Redvale produced all the songs on here himself and this track is my favorite on the project, His singing works so well with the instrumental and it's a very positive, uplifting track. Next up, we got stressed by Conway, I haven't forgotten about God Don't make mistakes. The album is fire, and this is the best song on that album. This track really hits hard and covers everything from mental health to alcoholism to abuse. It has a huge emotional impact and will definitely be on my top 10 list when the year is up. Lastly, I got surround sound by J. D. 21 Savage and yung baby Tate. This track is so good. I love the use of the Aretha franklin sample the same one as MS Fat booty and everyone murders it. Jay Z's album is one of my most anticipated of the year.
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pour some mainstream rappers that deserve more respect. I got a few names for you firstly, a mean, this man just doesn't miss. He crafted one of the best albums of 2017 and for a long time was just known as the guy who did Caroline, which is crazy because that's not even one of his best songs. I really admire how he is the boundaries pushing artists that still keeps his consistency yet you really don't hear me not being brought up in a lot of conversations today, but he should, He should be brought up in those conversations. Next I'm going to meek mill. Not only does make have an insane mixtape discography, but his albums are usually solid as well and he has probably 2-3 classics under his belt. When you combine everything, Meek is clown only for his social media presence, which is admittedly pretty bad sometimes. But his fire music as well as him being a champion of the community and just doing a ton of community service really should make him respect him more. This next one's gonna be controversial. Big Sean recently, Big Sean was trending around the conversations of the Mount Rushmore of the 20 tens. Listen, Big Sean absolutely deserves to be there. He's got some corny bars here and there, but if you look at his music, it has greatly improved over the years and he's an only rapper right now. He hasn't been afraid to talk about his struggles with mental health and those deeper issues that get brought up in his music make him someone who I just have like the utmost respect for lastly Corday. Listen, I really think he gets hate just because people go into his music expecting Kendrick or J. Cole don't expect to receive God level lyricism or narratives from a 24 year old. I know that's not an excuse, but he even says in his music that he's still figuring it out. He's a Lost Boy. His first album is really good. The second one is good, too. I think he has a ton of potential. Who else is on your list here?
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here's the story of how I just randomly ran into Earl sweatshirt on the street on a regular monday night in Brooklyn, I was just walking around looking for the subway, I was on google maps, looking down at my phone and I walked by this restaurant that's kind of lively. I hear a good amount of noise and some people talking seems like a nice like ambiance. There are three people in line for this restaurant, one guy and two girls and I'm just like walking past them and right as I do, I look up and I make eye contact with the guy and it's none other than Earl sweatshirt EMC behind some rap songs, sick, I don't like it, I don't go outside etcetera etcetera. I just like stopped in my tracks, I was like what the funk, that girl, I adapt him up and I was like, yo, I'm a big fan of your music and he goes, thanks man, I really appreciate it. Then I asked for a pick and he was like, no, not right now, sorry, but he was like really nice about it, very polite. Um so I'm like, no worries, have a good night. And I walked away and I tweeted this out and people said that they have met him before too in other situations and he had the exact same reaction to them. So that made me feel better. Like I think he just is a guy that doesn't like people taking photos of him, which I totally get in respect. But dude, I was so shook, This was not like a meet and greet. Like how I met benny, like I knew that was gonna happen or at least I was there for that specific purpose. This was not like an exclusive event where I met asap rocky. Like this was just completely random, 100% out of the blue occurrence. It was crazy and I feel bad for disturbing his night. But I just realized, I hope he realizes how much his fans mean to him. Anyways, that's the story of how I randomly met Earl sweatshirt.
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what's your favorite track off Mr morale and the Big Steppers? I can't be the only one who's thinking about this album, Nonstop. It's not my favorite Kenny album, but the complexity is so rich and it's got a lot of good things going for it. That being said, let's go through the highlights of the album. We have to start with the intro united in grief, Kendrick really can't miss with intros and again, he hits hard here. He uses a very interesting and almost strange instrumental to back the vulnerable mindset that he's now in with his return. Some other obvious standouts, mother sober, where Kendrick issue details issues of sexual abuse and addiction, We cry together, produced by Alchemists man. That track is almost like a kim part two. It's brilliant in the way it flows from Kendrick to taylor page back and forth and you wouldn't think it would work because it's been done before, but it does work, and it's addicting and entertaining. Next we Got Die Hard. This track is very relatable and low key. I love the blast feature so much and the chill west coast sound works as a perfect and fitting nod to Nipsey hustle. All right, last but not least. I think the best song on the album is Father Time. This track is about Kendrick's relationship with his father, but also goes beyond that to tackle generational masculinity as well as how that affects mental health. This song to me just really feels like the culmination of everything going on in this album in one track. It's got great replay value, smooth production, a great santa feature and, of course, an amazing concept slash theme. So what's your favorite track on Mr, morale in the Big Steppers?
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Well 2020 to go down as one of the best years from music ever. After. What felt like a very slow 2020 and another slow 2021, we've gotten some insanely big jobs this year and I think it will continue to get better and it felt like a reawakening after Covid. So here's some artists that have dropped so far Kendrick, Blackstar, I mean already stopped, stopped the tape. You tell someone from last year that we'd be getting a new Kendrick and Blackstar album in the same year. They would be shocked. So already you don't even have to continue. But who else? Jack, Harlow Future gonna push a tea earl sweatshirt, Saba, Denzel, curry ransom Benny, the butcher Conway vince staples cord, a young boy little dark earth gang that is a massive, massive lineup, adding those that we are expecting ASAP, Rocky Joey badass from streets with his griselda debut. J I D Freddie gibbs, possibly nas, possibly J. Cole possibly Uzi, possibly Travis this year is definitely stacking up against 2016 2018. Although I think we need to see those names really deliver for it to be the best 2016 had coloring book. The life of Pablo. We got it from here. Still breezy Jeffrey for your eyes only entitled and mastered etcetera. Drake, coal and Kenny all dropped in the same year if cole and drake dropped again this year and we had that again now, I think it could compete, we've had an insane year so far and if the second half delivers this could go down as one of the best years for music ever. What do you guys think?
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I think the new Kendrick Lamar album is good, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have mixed feelings on it. There's so much to this album. It's so dense that I don't feel like I fully grasp it yet. So this is just me talking through my first reaction after listening several times and it's not an official review at all. I know my opinion will change as time comes. So let's start with the highlights. This is easily his most ambitious album yet. There are no commercial hits and most of it is just raw emotion really works as a therapy session. So he's able to tackle several topics and it never feels all over the place. I really appreciate that he's able to go into a new direction here and discuss new topics that he never talked about before. The features were used sparingly, but they all performed well. My favorite songs, our mothers sober Father Time and we Cry Together. Kendricks range on this album. Instrumentally vocal, mathematically it's incredible. We're going to study this album for a long, long time. Okay, now, for my complaints, I can't help but feel uneasy that Kodak boxes featured so heavily on this album. I still listen to some Kodak songs, but I don't really feel good about Kendrick painting him as this portrait of a troubled but misunderstood person when Kodak has been accused of raping a teenage girl and he pled guilty to assault. It doesn't really sit right with me, lastly, there is no need for Kendra to use the f slur and anti Diaries. Well, I think that queer people should have the number one voice in this discussion. I want to lend my hand and say that I feel like you could have gotten the same message across without using that word. And that was very unnecessary. But in conclusion, I think this album is good. There's a lot of material to it. I just don't know how good it is yet.
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the offseason is top what J. Cole? The offseason was one of my favorite first lessons in recent memory, it felt like the first big drop in a while and the hidden features really made for a fun experience. That being said, how does it fit into the rest of calls discography? Which is very, very consistent. I think it's fair to say that the offseason has one of cole's best rapping performances, may be the best up there with friday night lights in 2014 4 sales drive. The production is really good and different given that the features outside production from coal for the first time in a while, the features are really fired and bring a different kind of energy to this album. It's for those reasons that I think this album is definitely top five, J Cole However, I think what holds this album back from being top three is that there is no strong narrative, like there is on 2014 4 sales dr cole's best or his second best album before your eyes only, I would throw friday night lights at number three because I think his sense of hunger and emotion in that project makes it better than the off season. So next we have the four and five spots. This is where it gets really tight for me. I think Born Center offseason warmup and truly yours too are all on the same level. Maybe even kOT as well. Regardless. I think I'd go Born Center then offseason, that's because Born Center at one point was my favorite album. It aged really well and the themes on the album for a young couple are really relatable and well drawn out. I'm putting off season F five because while it has some of cole's best rapping production, the substance just isn't as strong as it is on some of his earlier projects. I'm still waiting on that for your Eyes Only in Forest Hills, Drive level narrative, Where would you rank the offseason Colds discography?
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does an artist need to change up their subject matter to be great with the recent releases of albums from Future and push et I've seen a lot of discourse around the idea that artists I rap about the same sort of subject matter on every album are not as good as those that change up their subject matter a lot. And my response to this is an artist should never be discounted for playing to their strengths. If someone does something at a really high level, I'm never gonna knock them for it, I'm not gonna take points away from them. Like continuing to focus on the same things, push the T for example, does not change his subject matter often. However, he gets better with each album on a technical level, so he's constantly honing his skills and it doesn't feel repetitive. Also he uses production and so many like pop culture references that are really tuned into the time that it makes it feel really fresh, even if the content is somewhat the same, there are ways in which you can keep the sound alive without making it feel repetitive, expectations are important to. I'm not going to guys like push a T for concept albums because that's just not what they do. It doesn't make the music any worse. However, if Kendrick made like three more albums about say Love and Romance and they all felt like they had the same concepts, then I feel like you can criticize him for that because one of his greatest strengths or his concepts. So in conclusion, I think a change of content is welcome, but it's not necessary.
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what is your comfort album? I'm not entirely sure if there's a universal definition for what a comfort album actually is, but for me, comfort albums or projects that I know really well at the back of my hand, which gave me reassurance, a sort of Safety net almost when I listen to them and maybe something that has gotten me through a hard time, such as Swimming by Mac Miller. And so that comfort comes from the reminder, not of the struggle that I went through, but of the relief from that struggle, the light at the end of the Tunnel. Another Comfort album For Me is The Lost Boy by Corday. This album parallels my life because as he was searching for his path and his meaning, so was I I was going through a major life change at the time. And so the relatability in this album gives me that sense of comfort below the Heavens by Blue and Exile is another comfort album for me, simply because it makes me feel good. It's music that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside as well as inspired me Against the World is the last comfort album that I'll talk about because for me, it makes me think and reflect on my situation and current emotions. It forces me to be thoughtful and this sort of reflection is comforting to me and my introspective personality, as I've explained here, there are lots of ways in which albums can be a comfort album, It doesn't have to be simply one sort of vibe or another. I think you get comfort in a variety of different ways. What are your comfort albums? Just a reminder. Follow me on twitter at Gotham hip hop. DM Me, Let's Talk!
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is Jack Harlow the next drake. I've seen everyone and their mother say that Jack Harlow reminds him of drake and while I see the comparison, I just don't think it's true. Listen, I like Jack Harlow, but he just doesn't have the same versatility that drake has and he's just straight up not as good. Well, let's focus on this first point, the versatility, because that's more of an analytical, objective point of view. And rather than me just saying he's not as good. Um listen, Drake has songs like headlines, one dance, look Alive. Like those are three hits. I just pulled out of a hat and those are all three very, very different songs. I don't think Jack Harlow has that range. I think Jack Harlan knows how to make a hit, but I don't see him ever approaching drake level mega star Madness First class, for example, is a huge hit in his breaking records and I like the track. But is it really one of those hits that we're gonna look back in like 5 to 10 years and be like, man, that was a huge moment. I'm not sure. It could just be riding off the wave of Tiktok and not something that we remember further down the line. I thought Jack Carlos latest album, that's what they all say was actually pretty good and he'll be someone that puts out club hits consistently for the next couple of years. But besides just like being fun, I don't think his music reaches the sort of historic pop culture movement slash legitimate greatness that drake's music has in it. So while I understand the comparisons, like they both have this very goofy and vulnerable personality, I don't think this theory holds up when you look at the longevity and overall weight that Jack Harlow's music has in this industry.
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What new music are you most excited for? I'm just gonna go one by one down the list and let you know what I'm most excited for for each of these artists starting with Kendrick and push a T. I don't need to say anything about these guys. Kendrick is one of the greatest artists of all time and push it. He is a legend and he is coming off one of the best albums last decade in Daytona. I'm so excited for both of these guys and I know they're going to deliver young thug, I loved punk but I understand if you didn't that being said, this looks like it's gonna be slime. Season four, Slime season is a classic mixtape series and slime. Season three is one of my favorite thug projects. I know this is gonna be great future. High off life kind of like sneaked up on the radar but it was very well received. I think he's bringing another good album here. Redvale learn to swim drops tonight. I need everyone to go and listen to this. He's amazing. One of my favorite upcoming rappers, Jack Harlow nail tech was hard. First class is breaking records. I'm curious to see what he has up his sleeve for this record. JD JD could drop the best album out of anyone on this list. Yes, I said it. Logic. I think Logic is in a new mind space being a dad and I want to hear how that is translated into the music. Plus the snippets have been pretty decent so far ransom. This is my guy right here. One of the toughest bidders in the game right now, coming off two coupe to grace, this man cannot trap literally anyone ransom. I can't wait to see what he brings on this next project. Westside boogie. I loved his debut album. Let's see what he's got for the sophomore album. Lastly Toby Liew, he dropped a sneaky good project earlier this year, will be dropping at least one more. I can't wait to see what he does. He's so consistent. What are you guys most looking forward to?
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what's the best collab album of all time. There have been countless classics over the years. Watch the throne, what it's time to be alive, Mad villainy and even coupe de Gras most recently, however, I think the collab album, the reign Supreme is Black Star. The fact that we're getting a sequel this year is so damn exciting. Blackstar is everything you'd want in a collab album, great production, great verses and great chemistry between the two leads, most def and talib quality. Even though it was released in 1998, the project still holds up very well today. The topics that these emcees discuss are as relevant as ever. Tracks like thieves in the night Children's story and brown skinned lady make this album last a lifetime. Black star named after the Black Star line, which was a shipping company started by Marcus Garvey with the intention of transporting goods from America under a black owned and operated shipping line Has been working on a new album since 2006. It's a long as time 2019. It was confirmed that the album was still on the way and that it was produced by Mad Lib who has orchestrated several other infamous cloud albums and we'll be dropping this year in 2022. Black Star on his own was an incredible work of art, but it was also very important for bridging the gap between the underground and the mainstream when it dropped as well as dealing with tensions of hip hop after the deaths of Tupac and biggie, but I start for me is the quintessential collab album, What is yours?
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Alright, I got a ring for you guys today. Bear with me underground and mainstream rap fans should be able to coexist in the same space. What I mean by that is there shouldn't have to be this divide between underground and mainstream. Obviously there are with artists but you don't have to only listen to one or the other. But the reality is there is a divide on social media, of those groups of fans, like they hate each other for some reason, if you say someone like I don't know, Matt Connie is a good rapper, someone in the comments will be like who or they'll say like drake is better, Little Baby is better. It's not a perfect example but this divide is real. It's the same sort of divide as there is between like production heavy artists with like Cardi Cardi Tyler Kanye like you know that type of fan contrast that with the other type of fan that's like more lyrical heavy with like Griselda nas Wayne Lupe. That is another divide is real. And these divides are so stupid and limiting and ignorant. Honestly, I do think it's ignorant to listen to. Only one type of artist. I know I'm over generalizing here but you know the type you if you're involved in social media, you know exactly what I'm talking about and you know that this divide is real just because you like someone that's underground doesn't mean you can't like someone that's super commercial so none of this, Oh underground rap fans don't go outside or mainstream fans don't know, real music, funk that go bump room streets and little baby back to back, listen to whatever you want to listen to, okay, rant over.
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today, I'll be ranking Drake's best albums. His top three are in a league of their own and honestly the order doesn't matter much because they're all great. However for me, it's pretty clearly, number one take care. Number two, nothing was the same. Number three. If you're reading this, it's too late. Take care of just a masterpiece of me. Nothing in Drake's disgorges touching this album and a lot of disguise out there, none of them are touching. Take care. It's that good to me. One of the greatest albums ever made. I'll stand by that after the top three. This is when things get messy. My ranking is a drum roll. Number four Clb. Yes, I said it number five views for those hating. I want you to do something for me. Listen to Certified Lover boy, then listen to views back to back and tell me, tell me it's not at least close because it is the wrong part with each other. And I think ClB is better the hits on cl br better, introspective tracks on cl br better I think people forget that views was universally disliked on release. Give it a few years and now it's beloved. Same exact thing will happen with ClB, I promise you it's already grown on me. A ton. Champagne poetry, Poppy's Home Seven am a bridle path pipe down. You only live twice. This album is fire and yes, it's long. But views is long too, that's just what drake does. He loves getting those streams, putting out long cast albums. So what's your drink discography ranking and where does he fit in the mix?
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Can an artist really fall off after one bad album. My answer is no, and let's discuss using probably the most popular name that comes up in this discussion. Chance, the rapper listen, I feel like I rode the roller coaster of a chance all the way through. I was there relatively early, right when he dropped acid rap and a lot of people still didn't know who he was and I was there all throughout the success later on his career. Like throughout the life of Pablo, he was heavily involved in that album and his verse was very unique and important. I think for that album, I was there through the coloring book success, that was a highly highly acclaimed project. I was there for the other good projects like surf and I was also there for the meltdown when he dropped the big Day and everyone turned on him. But I will say, I think this negative reaction was deserved. And I do think Chance has fallen off, but I don't think it's because of the Big Day exclusively. I think it's because he hasn't done anything memorable since then to win back the haters. So it's not just one album in my opinion, that completely ruins your career. It's what you do after the misstep to like win back those Naysayers. That's where I think is the difference between like falling off and getting back up or like getting back on because I think a lot of the greats have bad albums. Look at Eminem revival is one of the worst albums I've ever heard, but in the traditional sense, he hasn't fallen off because he's still selling millions of units. So that's what you do after the mess up. And so I do think chances falling off, but not exclusively because of one album. What do you guys think?
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Who is going to be the m. v. p. of 2022 when it's all said and done. We've had a great start to the year so far. We've had several good slash great albums drop already. We're not even halfway done with the year. So who's gonna be the Mvp? I have a feeling it's gonna be a really great year overall. Here are my picks. I got one mainstream and one underground pick for you mainstream. I got a little baby. He's supposed to drop his follow up to my turn which is easily one of my favorite albums to drop in the past few years. He's been murdering features and he's been everywhere whether it's on Donde the offseason Clb. He's just on vince staples latest album, Voice of the Heroes is great. He's just really consistent and I think he's cooking up something special for his next solo album which could be on another level from his features which are already good For the underground. I'm gonna go with Rome's streets, here's my m. v. p. of 2021. Just so consistent so much output. He's definitely part of that griselda crowd. I mean he's obviously signing griselda but he's part of that mindset of like pushing out quantity and quality. I think he's also saving up for a big drop which should be his first album under Griselda and I think it's going to be something insane. Some other possible picks. We got pushed A T. He's been killing it lately with his singles. Benny had a really great start to the year, tenants are four might be my album of the year, not positive. Freddie Gibbs is a good pick, and then J. Cole, I think he's only going to be doing features, so not like my absolute topic, but J. Cole is gonna have a great year. So who do you think will be crowned MVP of 2022?
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what is Tyler, the creator's best album, this has been on my mind recently, is he obviously just won another grammy. So it's back to back best rap albums for him for his last two projects and he's one of the most prominent artists of our time. So I think it's an interesting question to come back to every once in a while, so I'm gonna come right out and say that, I think pretty clearly his three best albums are calm if you get lost, Igor and Flower Boy. I think Tyler is one of those few artists where his work consistently gets better over time, it's like a linear increase versus some artists that I think peak and then come back down and then go back up again. But Tyler says not he just gets better over time. So back to the question, what's his best work? And for me it's Flower Boy, I personally think it has his best combination of rapping and singing, whereas Igor definitely leans more into the singing side and that's not a bad thing. Igor is great, it's I think it's the second best album, it's his biggest risk. He absolutely put himself out there, he composed the thing entirely on its own. But to me, Barbara is just much more honed in on what Tyler does best and that's like the rapping over the flowery production and some singing to complement it, but not entirely singing and Call Me If You Get Lost, which is his third best album, my opinion, it's just kind of like a hodgepodge a mix of some of his older work And so to me, it doesn't stand out as much as Flower Boy does in that distinct wrapping, jazzy production sort of aspect. So what do you think? What's his best work?
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who is winning the Grammy for best rap album tomorrow night. I should start by saying that the Grammys have historically been a poor vehicle for hip hop recognition and have had bad representation in general, so I never expect them to get it right and they just fundamentally shouldn't matter and they don't matter, but it is fun to talk about. So that's why I even, I'm doing a podcast episode on this and I liked last year they had some good underground choices and this year the choices are good even if they're mainstream and just a reminder that Drake has pulled out of the Grammy. So I don't believe certified Lover Boy can win a Grammy this year. So let's get into these choices. I think either Donda Kanye West or call me if you get lost by Tyler, the creator will win this because both of them have been a favorite of the Grammys in recent years. I know nas one for Katie one last year, but I don't think they would give it to him twice in a row for a sequel album. It just seems odd, especially since last year, it felt like a makeup call for him since he never won a Grammy before. Um and J. Cole, I don't he doesn't have a solo grammy, his only Grammys for a lot by 21 savage. So if they wanted to do a completely out their choice, they would go with the off season. I think it's deserving of a Grammy, but the Grammy just don't like J cole in general, so I would be really surprised if he won. Um Tyler is probably my main pick here because he won in 2019 for Igor. It's not like Nas who won last year and just dropped a similar album, you know, a sequel album. So I think Tyler could win it here. Donna could also win. It's just a bit more out there. Who do you think is winning the Grammy tomorrow night?
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what's the perfect amount of time between albums. If you open up twitter nowadays, Most likely you'll see a viral tweet saying something like when is Kendrick dropping or where is frank ocean because they haven't dropped in a long time? I think there's a separate conversation to be had about whether or not they owe their fan bases anything But getting back on topic. I think the perfect length between albums is 2-3 years as much as I love Griselda dropping like five times a year. I think it's important for artists to space out their content so that audiences have time to digest and sit with their work before moving on to the next one. On the flip side. There are only a few artists that can wait 567 years and not kill the height for their new albums. Those artists are like the a listers like frank ocean Kendrick, Lamar jay Z. Now I came up with an interesting case study here. I don't think it's 100% spot on but I do think it serves its purpose and I think it brings up some interesting ideas. So you look at two changes recent albums in 2017, he dropped pretty girls like trap music, that's fire great project Rapper go to the league in 2019. So two years later. Also really good. Not as good but still good. Then in the next two years from 2020 to 2022 he drops three projects in the same amount of time that he just dropped to and I think you really see a decrease in quality when he speeds up his artistry and makes more albums and less amount of time. So what do you guys think is the perfect length between albums?
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what's your favorite Kanye West era now this says a lot about when you grew up because most likely the era in which you're just like getting into music and learning about the world, that's gonna be your favorite Kanye era but I think you can still look back over the years and make a choice based off of all the different personalities, he has all the different styles of music, like the life of Pablo, very distinct from anything else he's done, he was so loud and like arrogant and outspoken in that time period versus the donde period which is much more personal and it's about heartbreak and divorce and the rest of his career encapsulates this trend of jumping from different uh styles of music, different work, different like emotions that it's invoking out of the audience. So for me the college trilogy is my favorite Kanye West eric cause that's when I think he made his best music and that's not to say he's not making good music nowadays he does but I think he focused more on the bars back then and I just love when Kanye's rapping his ass off, like he was doing that all across late registration college dropout and even graduation, one of my favorite Kanye song is can't tell me nothing because he has bars on that, he's spin and it seems like his focus shifted more to being as experimental with his production as he possibly can, which is good, I think artists should evolve an experiment but I just have a little bit more traditional and I prefer the old year when he spit in talking about the come up and I love his work since then. But my favorite just will always be where he started. What's your favorite Kanye West era?
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what was that thing that made you fall in love with music, whether it's an album or a song or an artist, what was that one piece of music that impacted you so heavily you knew music would be a part of your life for years to come for me. I have a couple of different answers firstly growing up, I was put on to rock music at a young age by my dad. So this meant some classic rock, like Led Zeppelin, some guns and roses and then more punk rock, like Nirvana, red hot chili peppers. And for me, rock music was like the basis for my understanding and appreciation of music. But it wasn't until I hit middle school when I found hip hop that I feel like I truly fell in love with music and developed my own personal relationship with it um outside of my family. So I, I had heard some songs on the radio that I liked, but it wasn't until I've discovered Lupe fiascos, food and liquor that I feel like I truly fell in love with hip hop and music as a whole. This is the first album I remember listening to front to back and I just loved every aspect of it, Lupe is charisma, lyricism and storytelling. It all just formed a connection within me and caused me just to fall in love with the entire art of music in that moment. I believe that art is all about connection and I think this is the first piece of music that really made me feel something I would go on to write essays about this album, and even talking about it now makes me feel nostalgic towards the feelings and the emotions that that album inspired all those years ago. So what was the thing that made you fall in love with music?
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who is the best artist to bump in the summer, I feel like every season has its own vibes, The winter is very gritty to me, like I'm throwing on some griselda shit some very hard underground, give me the motivation to get through the shitty weather sort of music and that's very different than summer, where I want some warm, you know, flowers type music, like driving around with the windows down, I want that vibe. So to me, Tyler, the creator is like the most summer esque artist because his music just glows, He starts off his last album with the Sun Beeman and that's just the perfect description of his music. He's awesome hardship but I feel like he's at his best when he's doing some of that, that just you know, warm glowy sort of music that makes you feel good inside and that's what I want during summer. I don't wanna I don't wanna be like thinking about my struggles, thinking about the challenges that I have to go through during summer because I just want to feel good and go outside um who also is good Y. G. I just, I love the energy that Weibring y G brings, like give me those bangers, you're finally outside, you want to go to the club, you don't wanna stay inside all day when the weather's nice, vince staples is a good kind of happy medium, you get the weirdness of Tyler, but you also get a lot of that bouncing that energy from Y. G overall, just say west coast artists are built different for the summer, you know what I mean? Uh Calvin Harris, he's also good, too, because he brings some of the TDM influence is a little different, a little different of the vibe, but it still feels good and you can't go wrong with some drake or some Kanye with that nostalgia. Um So what do you guys think? Who's your favorite artist? A bump in the summer?
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has Eminem heard his legacy in the past five years, I think this is a tough conversation because you've got those people that say he's the absolute goat and then you've got other people that say he's one of the worst rappers of all time? I think the answer actually lies somewhere in the middle. I don't think he's hurt his legacy as bad as some people do, but it definitely has not come untarnished after the past few years. You look at an album like Revival and that made him a laughing stock for a little bit. Obviously he's a legend and I think he's an undisputed legend and what he put out early in his career Slim shady LP Marshall Mathers LP and the Eminem show namely those three albums solidified him as a legend and you can't take that away from him. However, if he continues to put out albums like Revival or some of the trash that's on Kamikaze, I do like some songs on there. I think he will lose respect of his fans and he won't be at a stage where he has all these stands defending him when he puts out a week first here and there. So I really think he needs better direction. He's shown some flashes of brilliance and I do think Going back to 2013 Marshall Mathers LP two, I think that is a really good album and I think he should channel that energy again instead of solely focusing on the technical aspect of rapping, which I think is hurting his ability to put out a cohesive album. So what do you think has the last five years completely damaged Marshall's reputation?
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what's the last Bad album that you listen to? This isn't something I love talking about because it's a little negative, but I do think it helps you to appreciate some of the good albums more when you reflect on some of the trash that's come out in the past few years. And honestly, there hasn't been a lot, there's been a lot of good stuff that's come out recently. Music is in a better place now than ever I think. But there has been some stinkers. Uh some of the worst albums I can think of in recent times Revival, The Big Day, Jesus is King. I think the most recent Bad album I listened to was Faith by Pop Smoke. This album is uninspired. It sounded incomplete, it sounded like the labels were just taking advantage of his likeness for money, which is so sad for his legacy. Like Pop Smoke only put out quality while he was alive. And probably the worst part is the most recent posthumous album before Faith Shoot for the Stars aim for the Moon. This was an amazing album and an amazing send off for him. So the fact that they just like went ahead and threw a bunch of unreleased, like half finished songs together and the features just were totally random. Like they did not feel like they were meant to be on this album did not feel like people he would collaborate with. So the fact that they threw all this together after they had already had a great send off for him is just so disrespectful and it just sounds to me like this is something What happens when you don't have someone like 50 cent behind the scenes, like making sure things go smoothly. What was the last Bad album you listen to?
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What is the best album of the 20 10s? Now, I'll answer this by using my favorite album, I think favorite versus best. That's a very complicated argument. So I'm just gonna go with what I think is my favorite and explain why it has a good case to be the best. So my favorite album, the 20 ten's is 2014 4 sales drive by J. Cole To Me, this is just such a well rounded album and it's the best way to describe this time period. It has great storytelling tracks, it has Bangers as introspective tracks, a great intro. Like what more could you want? I'll throw some other names that I think could be up there. We got drake with Take care Kendrick, Good kid Mad City, YG my Krazy life, Daytona push A T jay Z for 40 for blonde and channel orange frank ocean coloring book, Chance DS two Future of course Dark twisted fantasy and pop. Those are the ones that always come up and then Dark horse, but Dark Sky Paradise with Big Sean, I think also deserves a mention. So these are all great for me but 2014 just encapsulates the time period perfectly. It's that album for me No role models was everywhere you have the wet dreams music video. People were saying platinum without features on ironically there are just very few albums that I think hold the same weight that 2014 did like maybe a good kid teapot twisted fantasy, take care. Those are the only other albums to me that are on the same level. What do you guys think
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here's my review of the batman. So firstly this is the best batman movie, not named The Dark Knight, and that's high praise for me because I love all the Nolan movies, I love some of the animated movies and the key in movies. I'm just a big batman fan in general. So the fact that I think that this is almost the best one could be the best, I'm not positive yet, but that's very high praise for me. This is definitely the best made batman movie, to me, the cinematography, the direction, editing, it's all amazing, but it's a story that drives this, it's a very detective Fincher esque sort of movie, which I think absolutely fits this detective batman story, like we've never seen the world's greatest detective in action, which is so cool to see on the screen for the first time, it really feels like you're solving the mystery alongside the characters, which is awesome, rob Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz absolutely killed the role as do paul, dano and Colin Farrell. This is a near perfect batman film to me, and most movie nerds will absolutely love it. However, I have a couple of gripes and they're very small, firstly we hardly see Bruce wayne, and when we do see Bruce Wayne, rob Pattinson kind of place him as the same character as batman, which is fine, but it just doesn't really make sense. Like to see Bruce Wayne be so quiet and brooding and introspective, like he's supposed to be this billionaire playboy yet, he doesn't really act like it, but whatever, it's not a big deal, secondly, the action is good, but I wanted it to be great and I was hoping for some Arkham style sequences that we didn't get, but that's not what stories trying to do, so I can't really complain. Overall, this is a top tier batman story and one of the best comic book movies ever. You can say top 10 easily right now, what do you guys think?
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is streaming a positive or negative thing for music as an art form. I'm going to look at this in two ways, firstly for the consumer, I think it's an overwhelmingly positive tool you have more access to music now more than ever. You don't have to go to the limewire, you don't have to go to YouTube to MP three. You can literally download Spotify for free, listen to any song you want. If I hear a song on the radio, I can instantly download it for free. If you show that to someone 20 years ago that was paying 999 for an album, 99 cents for a song. They would be so amazed by this. Even with the subscription prices for premium services, I think that's still cheaper than the old model. So for the consumer, streaming is great for the artist. However, I think streaming is a negative thing firstly your way underpaid as an artist. It's something crazy like you make five cents for every 100,000 lessons or something insane. You've got artists who care that are starting to realize this and put power back into the artist's hands. You got you a with a stem player, you got jay Z with title like people are realizing this is a major issue. Another angle is that the market is diluted, You've got people putting out so much junk and 25 song albums just to make more money via song, like via streaming. Like they just, some of some of these artists just want streams nowadays and are taking away from their quality. Um, you look at deluxe albums man, the art of the deluxe album has become just like how many songs can I stack on this to make as many streams possible? So it's unfortunate, you know, you've got your positives and negatives as without every situation as a consumer, I'm happy with it. But what do you guys think?
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is the sophomore slump a real thing. So Roddy Rich and Corday both dropped sophomore projects recently and both of which did not meet the expectations set by their very acclaimed debut projects. I don't really blame them for this. I think it's really tough to expect these young artists, both of which who are under 25 to hit Lightning twice in a row, like I I get it if they're veteran and they dropped something that's absolutely horrible. But these guys dropped very solid projects that just weren't as good as their debuts and were met with lots of hate. Some people even said Roddy Rich fell off, which is way too extreme in my opinion. I almost feel like if they dropped worse freshman projects, these sophomore projects would have been way more acclaimed. Imagine if Tyler drops Igor first and then Goblin people would be like what happened to this guy? He fell off hard, which makes sense because you're dropping your some of your best stuff first and then dropping something worse after it. But these guys are so young that I think they need to get cut a little bit more stock than how they are. So is the sophomore slump a real thing? I don't think so. I mean look at Kanye with late registration Nas with it was written dr dre 2001. The list goes on and on. I do not fault these two artists for trying their best putting out albums that were good, not amazing, but still good enough to propelled them to the next level of what they want to do. Um and I think from here on out, they shouldn't have this pressure on their shoulders that they undoubtedly will, because we, as hip hop fans just absolutely shredded them for these projects.
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is Kanye justified in dropping Donde to exclusively on the stem player. So firstly the stem players $200 and a lot of fans when they heard about this were very upset because it felt like an exclusive move by Kanye to only let his fans that could afford the $200 device listen to the album and the way this device works is you can isolate vocals and different instruments on a song by connecting it to your computer and downloading the song onto the device. This was also a bigger issue because when the album dropped, there were only four songs on it. So imagine you paid $200 for this device and you don't even get the full album. Now I get that, I worked with other songs but I think a lot of people bought this in anticipation of Donde to wanting to be able to hear it as soon as it drops, he did drop the full album um today actually so that makes this a little bit better. But in general I would say Kanye was not justified in doing this, but this should in no way be a career ending or cancel a ble offense. I think he has every right to do what he wants. I think he is a very smart guy in terms of capitalism and Making as much money as he can. He's shown that with his very expensive, easy's and so he has every right to do this. I personally just wish he would have dropped the full album when he promised on this device so that if fans spent $200, they wouldn't have had to wait even after the supposed drop date. What do you guys think about this? And I know some people will be streaming this illegally, so not the biggest deal in the world, but we'd love to hear your insights.
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what is the most recent classic album to drop? Now? This is a tough question because everyone's definition of what makes it classic is different. I'm going to use three criteria here firstly, quality, secondly important slash water impact? So if it's an underground album, it has to have made significant waves in the underground for it to be counted. And lastly, has there been enough time? Does the album have enough room to breathe? So some candidates from the past few years that I think could be considered classics symbol by Little Sims, the Lost Boy King's Disease to please excuse me for being antisocial Miles Tana, talk for pray for paris Bandana for 40 for damn. These are all the albums that I think are like, possibly classic level, but Not necessarily there. So, my answer actually for this would be Daytona back in 2018 by pushing 80 now this meets all my criteria easily. Quality. Yes, it's perfect. It from front to back, it is just incredible. The production is hard hitting. The bars are amazing. And speaking of the bars, they're very relevant. So it means that second point of wider impact, social importance. Um they were talking about drake all over this album, which is just in the moment, cultural wise, big and lastly, hasn't been enough time for the album to breathe. It's been almost four years. So I think in my opinion, that's plenty of time for an album to be considered a classic. And I think when you take all these three factors into consideration, Daytona is the most recent album that fits this perfectly and can be considered a classic. What do you guys think, and what makes a classic in your eyes, Do you think any of these other albums?
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