| 2017 |
| Travis Scott and Quavo Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho | 2.5 |
| G-Eazy The Beautiful & Damned | 1.0 |
| Eminem Revival | 1.0 |
| eminem has dropped a lot of awful projects in the last 12 years but this is definitely the bottom of the barrel. i'm not even going to talk about how he seamlessly ruined "zombies" because somehow, tracks like offended and framed managed to be worse than that, featuring some of em's most god awful hooks and beats ever. the poppiest tracks are as corny as you probably expected, with choruses that are completely forgettable. don't even get me started on the rock-influenced beats, tho lmao. but, worst of all... em's performance and lyricism: not good. |
| N.E.R.D. NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES | 3.5 |
| easily their best project since in search of. they finally found the direction they should take as a group by bringing a lot of talented guests who can actually write, making them able to focus on the sounds, which btw are fucking excellent throughout. hopefully, this won't be their last album bc this shit feels like the start of smth. |
| Charli XCX Pop 2 | 3.5 |
| Brockhampton SATURATION III | 4.5 |
| "amazing albums" pole younger doesn't have that lmao but aside from that, this shit is defin their best album to date and a fitting conclusion to this surprising series. the members are playing with each other in way more interesting ways, the sounds keep things cohesive without compromising experimentation, the mixing is better, the flows are improved, the auto tune is only used when needed... everything is improved. amazing year for these guys and i can't wait for the next one! |
| Quality Control Music Control The Streets Volume 1 | 2.5 |
| Big Sean and Metro Boomin Double Or Nothing | 1.0 |
| Kendrick Lamar DAMN. Collector's Edition | 1.0 |
| Miguel War and Leisure | 3.0 |
| Chris Stapleton From A Room: Volume 2 | 4.0 |
| Hopsin No Shame | 1.5 |
| an improvement over pound syndrome. and that's basically it |
| Morrissey Low In High School | 2.0 |
| Tove Lo Blue Lips | 2.0 |
| Jaden Smith Syre | 2.5 |
| flawed af, with all the problems debuts suffer from. overlong, messy, badly writen, he gets carried by the production pretty much all the way and you can clearly see some biting as well (late kanye, anyone). however, the album is also packed with some really memorable moments and like i said, the production makes up for the majority of the mistakes here. i was expecting an awful album but this is not that bad tbh. not even bad. not good either but solid enough for me to care about jaden now. giving this shit a 1 lowkey exposes you as a guy who don't always listen to the albums you give a rating to tho i mean, you can dislike this ofc but in no way the album is awful all the way through. |
| Cyhi The Prynce No Dope On Sundays | 2.0 |
| first three tracks were amazing. i don't know what the hell happened after that for the album to drop so hard in quality, though. almost a decade in the works and this is all we get? a project this inconsistent? not good at all imo |
| Ulver Sic Transit Gloria Mundi | 3.5 |
| Taylor Swift Reputation | 1.5 |
| Evanescence Synthesis | 1.5 |
| Yung Lean Stranger | 3.0 |
| Joji In Tongues | 2.0 |
| Sam Smith The Thrill of It All | 2.5 |
| Willow Smith The 1st | 3.0 |
| 21 Savage, Offset and Metro Boomin Without Warning | 3.5 |
| Weezer Pacific Daydream | 1.5 |
| The Used The Canyon | 2.5 |
| Ty Dolla Sign Beach House 3 | 2.5 |
| Big K.R.I.T. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time | 4.0 |
| Future and Young Thug Super Slimey | 2.0 |
| Wu-Tang Clan The Saga Continues | 2.5 |
| Poppy Poppy.Computer | 1.5 |
| Lil Pump Lil Pump | 3.0 |
| Miley Cyrus Younger Now | 1.0 |
| Kamasi Washington Harmony of Difference | 3.5 |
| Iglooghost Neo Wax Bloom | 4.0 |
| Smokepurpp Deadstar | 3.0 |
| Injury Reserve Drive It Like It's Stolen! | 3.5 |
| Macklemore GEMINI | 1.0 |
| Rapsody Laila's Wisdom | 4.0 |
| Jhene Aiko Trip | 2.5 |
| Open Mike Eagle Brick Body Kids Still Daydream | 3.5 |
| Nothing But Thieves Broken Machine | 3.5 |
| XXXTENTACION 17 | 1.0 |
| Lil Uzi Vert Luv Is Rage 2 | 1.5 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Villains | 3.0 |
| The War On Drugs A Deeper Understanding | 4.0 |
| Tera Melos Trash Generator | 4.0 |
| Daniel Caesar Freudian | 4.0 |
| Brockhampton SATURATION II | 4.5 |
| brockhampton's saturation ii is an improvement on every level over the first entry from this trilogy (especially in terms of lyrics), giving every member of the group a moment to shine. two amazing albums in a really short amount of time, from a group that contains 12 members or so. that's insane, and everyone should start taking them seriously because they might be starting not only something exciting, but most importantly, something truly important for the hip hop genre. 4.5 |
| ASAP Ferg Still Striving | 2.5 |
| Gang of Youths Go Farther in Lightness | 4.0 |
| Brand New Science Fiction | 4.0 |
| Lil Peep Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1 | 1.5 |
| Kesha Rainbow | 3.5 |
| Lana Del Rey Lust For Life | 1.5 |
| lana del rey continues to be one of the most boring, lifeless female artists in the mainstream game with this snoozefest of an album that actually manages to be her worst effort to date thanks to production choices that really don't suit her style at all. avoid this unless you're a lana del rey fan. 1.5 |
| Amine Good For You | 2.5 |
| Tay-K #SantanaWorld | 1.0 |
| Tyler, the Creator Flower Boy | 4.0 |
| this is what the atrocious cherry bomb should've been if ot had been properly mixed and taken more seriously. you still have the odd shit that made tyler who he is nowadays but it never really takes the front seat and allows the more mature moments to stay in equality. the production is amazing this time around and it consistently gives every track what they need, wether it's a banger or a dreamy typa shit. by far his best project to date, and might be even better than his mixtape bastard. 4- |
| Coldplay Kaleidoscope | 2.0 |
| it might trick you into thinking they still have it like in the old days if you let yourself get caught by the feelings of nostalgia, but the truth is that these tracks are still weak compared to their best material. they changed a long throughout the years and there's no way they can go back to what they used to do. 2+ |
| 21 Savage Issa Album | 2.0 |
| 21 savage could've continued to create those cold-blood songs about his struggles in the streets but here, he's bringing a poppier side of him that really doesn't make him stand out. on the contrary, it makes him rather forgettable, and the same can be said about the whole project. 2 |
| Toro Y Moi Boo Boo | 3.0 |
| this album is solely for people who want their chillwave music as simple yet catchy as possible. works extremely well as background music just to chill, much like the visuals that came with it suggest. if you're okay with that, go for it. 3+ |
| Calvin Harris Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1 | 3.0 |
| if all you want is to have fun with music during the summer, you can definitely peep this one out. not every combo here works, but more often than not, they do work and the songs that work are really good. q killed his joint. 3+ |
| Ski Mask The Slump God YouWillRegret | 3.0 |
| Jay-Z 4:44 | 4.0 |
| one of the worst soundoff pages in the history of sputnikmusic yet, considering how people keep giving this album a 1 only because it was released on tidal. what we have here is a really deep look into the life of a hip hop character who quickly started to lose momentum inside the game. however, jay-z seems to be pushing himself as hard as he can to out himself in the spotlight again and quality-wise, he definitely did it on here. brilliantly sampled beats, z's sharpest bars since the black album, great content, short in lenght and straight to the point. the only glaring flaw here is his lack of energy as far the delivery goes. he lacls the spark he once had and some songs simply don't reach their full potential because of that. aside from that, this is definitely his best album in a looong, long while. 4 |
| Denzel Curry 13 | 4.0 |
| when you're making a short ep, you gotta make sure every track is good or it will fall just short of being worth wasting time with it. denzel curry knew that. 4 |
| XXXTENTACION Members Only Vol. 3 | 1.0 |
| DJ Khaled Grateful | 2.5 |
| very uneven. you have some dope tracks as expected but some of the combos just don't work at all and sometimes the artists even contradict each other, like nas and travis scott. plus, what the hell was that chance the rapper track? 2.5+ |
| Vince Staples Big Fish Theory | 3.0 |
| vince staples continues to further push the boundaries of his music style and here, while doing so, he actually pushed some hip hop boundaries as well by bringing a really fresh sound to the table with the help of flume and, especially, sophie. mixing west coast beats with afro rhythms while throwing some minimalistic sounds to the mix to make for a more layered adventure musically, big fish theory's is probably the most ambitious and rewarding project since atrocity exhibition. some people will be thrown off by this sound though, so approach it at your own risk. great concept too. 4+ |
| Algiers The Underside of Power | 4.0 |
| while lyrically, their last album felt more focused and well-writen, on this new project right here, things get wider and bigger and even messier and sparse as a result. the music surrounding it, however, always feels epic, flawless and absolutely commanding and it's hard not to fall in love with the whole experience, even with its shortcomings. 4- |
| Joyner Lucas 508-507-2209 | 1.5 |
| considering how good the tracks that he keeps posting on youtube are, i really thought his project was going to be something fucking amazing. he's good at telling great stories, he often hops on dope prod and his technical skills are great. sadly, what we got here was a 90 minutes long tape with generic beats that almost sound like bad rip offs of iyrtitl's material, uninteresting content, stories that don't deserve to be told for 7 minutes straight, awful hooks and the list goes on and on. really disappointing release. 1.5 |
| Nickelback Feed the Machine | 2.0 |
| the best thing i can say about this album is that it's their best project in years. 2 |
| 2 Chainz Pretty Girls Like Trap Music | 3.5 |
of course, being a 2 chainz album, it's as
messy and inconsistent as expected but one
thing is for sure: it contains some of his
best material to date and honestly, that's
the case for almost every song on here. by
far his best project. 3.5 |
| Young Thug BEAUTIFUL THUGGER GIRLS | 3.5 |
| young thug finally tries something new with his music while keeping things inside his zone and the end result is one of his most consistent and focused projects yet. the harmonies and melodies are memorable, the beats are insanely textured, and while the lyrics are still nothing to csre about, they don't dimished the album's overall quality. 3.5 |
| Lorde Melodrama | 4.0 |
| lorde finally proves people that she is much more than a one-trick-poney by releasing melodrama (not much in the way of melodrama, ironically), a fascinating yet raw look into her messy relationships and what she has learned, or not, from them. lorde is much more mature, not only lyrically but vocally as well and even in terms of taking more risks musically, which more than often pay off. she still has that youth very present here, though, which sometimes lights a little spark in the middle of all the darkness. writer in the dark liability and supercut are easy standouts. 4 |
| SZA Ctrl | 4.0 |
| i wasn't looking forward to this album mainly because her last mixtapes didn't show anything exciting or refreshing thay made her stand out from the competition. her stories weren't interesting and were told in a vague way, the vocals weren't powerful enough to make the songs come to life. however, on her debut album, those issues are completely gone! the songwriting is raw and honest, the vontent is dark and sexual, the production always packs a ounch and do her vocals when needed. only a couple of tracks like "go gina" don't really offer much of anything to the concept of the album. everything else is gold. great debut from sza and a huge progression from her mixtapes to this! 4 |
| Katy Perry Witness | 1.0 |
| katy perry took some risks with this release and i appreciate that. sadly, pretty much every risk that she took failed miserably, mostly thanks to some god awful lyrics and her usual bland vocal performances. bon apetit is one of the worst singles i've ever heard. 1 |
| Brockhampton SATURATION | 4.5 |
| much like injury reserve's floss last year, here comes a mixtape so good, so left field, so refreshing it might just turn you into a stan of the group that created it immediately! this is the perfect mix between hip hop, pop and heavily auto-tuned tracks, with all the songs delivering in quality, both lyrically and instrumentally. in an overall disappointing year for hip hop (some amazing ones but only a few albums were truly great), this project feels even more essential. you might be turned off by the amateurish, youthful sound going on from start to finish but keep in mind these guys met each other on a forum and the rest is history. for now, go listen to it. 4.5 |
| Vic Mensa The Manuscript | 2.0 |
| only one good track here. the other ones are either okay or flat out bad. 2+ |
| alt-J Relaxer | 2.5 |
| i was really excited about this album considering how good the singles were. sadly, the project is only 39 minutes long and the other tracks are really not that good, especially the cover which is horrendous. really disappointed with this, what the hell happened here? 2.5+ |
| Lil Yachty Teenage Emotions | 1.0 |
| lil boat had its moments when yachty embraced his weird, goofy persona and wore it to the maximum. that's rarely present on his new debut, though and he just hasn't the skills necessary to pull other styles well enough for thingd not to crumble. this album is a disaster and i'm not sure if he will be able to get his ass on track, tbh. 1- |
| Bryson Tiller True To Self | 2.0 |
| his first release was generic and by the numbers but it was entertaining and sexy enough to slide as a guilty pleasure. this new project, however, is just too samey and plain boring from start to finish. a waste of time. 2 |
| Death Grips Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) | 3.5 |
| pick this up only if you're eager for more death grips material. it's just a warm up for what's to come next and newcomers probably won't like it nor will have the patience to stick around for too long. it's a bit inconsistent too but all in all, it's still a frenetic, noisy blast to listen to. 3.5 |
| Linkin Park One More Light | 1.0 |
| the streak of awfulness continues with this new album over here and it actually reaches new heights as far as god awfulness goes. not a single track worth listening to here. edm/pop at their most basic, shittiest level. and that's all i have to say, really. 0 |
| blink-182 California (Deluxe Edition) | 1.0 |
| an edition that doesn't have any purpose whatsoever to exist abd further shows why the band's music doesn't work anymore now that we're in 2017. 1 |
| Jlin Black Origami | 3.0 |
| i've listened to better eletronic albums this year. it's an interesting footwork project but it doesn't reinvent the wheel in any way and it's a bit predictable at times. still enjoyable, though. 3 |
| The Mountain Goats Goths | 4.5 |
| the mountain goats have always been one of the most consistent folk bands to ever do it, with lyrical concepts that are simply fastinating and folk music with the usage of guitars to create the perfect tone and mood for the concepts to shine through. on goths, and after countless great albums, they finally crafted a near-perfect one, perhaps one of their best since "sunset tree" but with no guitars whatsoever, which is incredible. it's folk music in its purest form for the most part, which also gives the album a theatrical feeling that fits like a glove, as if we were in a theatre. it's musically ambitious, it's funny, it's sad, it's catchy. amazing! 4.5 |
| XXXTENTACION Revenge | 2.5 |
| i admire his ambition and all but that alone doesn't make for a good project and it shows here. some of the tracks are badly mixed and way too short, as they don't feel like they were fully fleshed out. i see potential but a lot of work needs to be done if he wants to drop a legit banger. this will probably do it for the people in the hype train but that's about it. 2.5 |
| Machine Gun Kelly bloom | 1.0 |
| machine gun kelly tries to do pretty much every genre he doesn't know shit about while incorporating them with a genre he kinda knows about (does he?), and the result is one of this year's most painful albums to listen to this year, regardless of genre. 0 |
| Harry Styles Harry Styles | 3.0 |
| harry styles failed to bring memorable lyrics to the table and he didn't fully create his own identity with this album, wearing his inspirations on his sleeves perhaps a bit too much at times, but... having said that, pretty much every song on here is rock solid, filled with impactful vocals from start to finish, more-than-competent production, catchy melodies and even though the album is jammed with different genres, it doesn't feel like a mess, flows well and, more importantly, it shows styles' versatility. now, there's a loooot of improvement to do but for a debut album, well done! 3+ |
| Logic Everybody | 1.5 |
| logic has been biting kendrick for a while now and sometimes it works to his favor, sometimes it doesn't but one thing was always clear from the get go: logic doesn't know how to paint full, clear pictures of what he's talking about, something that kendrick mastered ever since section 80. however, and for the first time ever, logic was able to create a vivid picture of what he was saying with his most recent album called "everyday". sadly, that's not a compliment at all, as the picture he painted was completely covered with, well, corn. so much corn. plus, does this guy know that there are more than two human races? this album felt too black and white. but yea, one of the worst albums of the year so far and easily his worst. 1.5 |
| Perfume Genius No Shape | 4.0 |
| hadreas continues to get better with each project, with no shape being his best effort to date. it's not just about how he carries the concept with no missteps, but also about how he uses subtelty and you tenderness to unfold each story and how different rythms (or the lack of them during the slower moments) play a huge role at that too. one of the best pop efforts of the year so far. 4+ |
| Chris Stapleton From A Room: Volume 1 | 4.0 |
| this album might be short but pretty much every song here is absolutely high-quality and screams for being repeated over and over again. it doesn't have anything original going for it but it's competently made, and that's what matters. 4+ |
| Wale SHINE | 1.0 |
| wale continues to not focus on what he's actually good at, and the results are obviously mediocre, much like his last couple of albums. his delivery is boring af from start to finish, the beats are a snoozefest, most of the features don't bring the so much needed energy (even travis scott). not a good effort at all and it features some of the worst tracks he has ever done. 1- |
| Gorillaz Humanz | 2.0 |
| my biggest problem with this album is that pretty much every track doesn't feel like a gorillaz one. they lack identity. however, even if they had their identity well defined, the album would have been just average, anyway. the concept is tepid, the lyrics don't really connect that well with each other, the runtime is way too long, some of the guests don't do anything special to justify their presence and even the production feels lazy more often that not. it's sort on standouts as well. it has a couple of good songs, but where are the great ones like we had on previous albums? 2+ |
| Cashmere Cat 9 | 3.0 |
| cashmere shows, once again, a lot of potential. sadly, he also displays lack of confidence in his own skills, as he keeps himself in his confort zone, without ever taking risks. he needs to push the envelope. 3 |
| The Underachievers Renaissance | 3.5 |
| it's not nearly as memorable or consistent as their last two albums and indigoism but what we have here is still a quality project. 3.5 |
| Ryuichi Sakamoto Async | 4.0 |
| sakamoto created a very minimalistic project that is actually focused on everyday life events that most people ignore, considering how vulgar, minimal and on-first-glance banal they seem to be. however, from his perspective, after seeing his life on the line, these little things are huge, important, meaningful, spiritual, powerful. if we choose to disappear from the stressful world we live in and instead immerse and tune in to async, we can see that perspective too, and it's an impressive one to look through. 4 |
| Incubus (USA-CA) 8 | 1.0 |
| pretty much as bland and uninspired as its title. most of the songs here sound like they were recorded by amateurs in their garage. one of the worst returns i've seen in a while. 0+ |
| Dj Quik and Problem Rosecrans Lp | 3.0 |
| it has its moments but it doesn't really show anything quil hasn't done before and better. 3+ |
| Troy Ave Nupac | 1.0 |
| you can tell right away this album will be bad simply because of that awful title. turns out, the project is just as bad as its title suggests. amateurish lyricism (courtesy of troy), predictable beats, sluggish performances. not worth anyone's time. 1 |
| Kendrick Lamar DAMN. | 4.5 |
| I can already see people calling this a sell out move from kendrick due to the more trendier sound that can be found throughout the majority of the album. however, that is a really unfair assumption to make, if you take the time to properly digest the conceptual narrative that unfolds all the 14 tracks on display here. kendrick meditates on various themes like his position in the business, the fears that his status infused on him, the depressive feelings that he dealt and still deals with, coincidencies of the past that literally made it possible for him to be where he's at, and other things like politics, religion, society and the trends, etc. all of these themes show both kendrick's wicked personality and his wicknesses, culminating in an album that lets you know who kendrick really, really is. this is a really personal album and some people won't get that because on a surface level, it seems like a very straight-forward project but that isn't the truth at all. even sonically, the production has an astonishing amount of detail and texture to it, with some sounds only being able to be caught if you use really good headphones. the beat switch-ups are also used to change the characters' different moods/feelings, which is a great touch narratively speaking. it is more than enough to cement him as one of the greatest to ever do it. 4.5 |
| Playboi Carti Playboi Carti | 3.5 |
| i rated this mixtape with a 1 last year. after listening and loving the shit out of die lit, though, i came back to this project and i gotta say, playboi carti is probably on his way to create a new sub-genre of music. what he's doing is, simply put, unlike anything else in the game. and it's great, once you find out what he's really doing. |
| The Chainsmokers Memories...Do Not Open | 1.0 |
| easily the worst project of its kind this decade so far. the tracks here are sooo by-the-numbers, so predictable, so tepid. it only exists so they can keep breaking stupid recorxs in the hot 100. 0 |
| K$upreme Flex Muzik | 1.0 |
| the title of the album is hella misleading. i can't see people flexing to trash like this. god awful. 0 |
| Tech N9ne Dominion | 2.5 |
| while an improvement over his last couple of projects, this is still an overlong album infused with some really average beats and lyricism and his flow, as always, starts to get tedious to listen to after a while. 2.5- |
| Joey Badass ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ | 4.0 |
| joey continues to embrace the old school boom bap style but now, he also brought a more contemporary, melodic sound to the table and surprisingly, things work really well. the content is there (more politically charged), catchy hooks, all the guests fit like a glove, the prod does its job for the most part. i can't say this is a step forward in relation to his previous effort since the first half is a bit too repetitive sonically speaking and the album definitely lacks tracks as amazing as, let's say, paper trails or christ conscious but still, great effort. 4- |
| Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar | 4.5 |
| ulver are known to dwelve into new territory time and time again, unafraid to try new things and risk their consistency to achieve new heights. after getting into ambient music, black metal and many other genres, they now gave a shot to synth pop and, surprisingly, this is one of the best efforts they have ever put out. not only that, it's one of the most impressive albums of its genre in quite a while. fantastic, one of this year's best. 4.5+ |
| Stella Donnelly Thrush Metal | 4.5 |
| Nelly Furtado The Ride | 2.0 |
| most of the tracks are too simple and generic to stick in your mind even after a couple of listens and she simply lacks a distinctive voice that distinguishes herself from the competition. 2+ |
| Kodak Black Painting Pictures | 2.5 |
| surprisingly, this is not total trash. even tho he lacks the charisma and energy to carry an album with 18 tracks without it becoming tedious and the lyrics can sometimes be cringy af, most of them snap. 2.5+ |
| Freddie Gibbs You Only Live 2wice | 3.5 |
| my only gripe with this album is that it's way too short and it's not really up to par with pinata and shadow of a doubt. i know there is more gibbs coming on its way tho and this shit defin keeps you excited for more. this one serves solely for us to know where gibbs was in the past year, where he is now and where he wishes to be in the future. 3.5+ |
| Mike Will Made-It Ransom 2 | 2.0 |
| the most important shit in here had to be the production but surprisingly, it's the weakest link here. 2 |
| Creeper Eternity, In Your Arms | 2.5 |
| this is not a bad debut at all, don't get me wrong, but it's too theatrical for its own good (especially after the first 5/6 tracks), the vocals lack the right energy for these songs to fully work and the lyrics aren't really that memorable either. i don't think this project is as good as some people are making it out to be. 2.5+ |
| Mount Eerie A Crow Looked At Me | 4.0 |
| sonically, there's nothing here that will make you want to comeback to it, and the same thing can obviously be sad about the content of the album, which is devastating and profoundly sad to say the least. however, this isn't the type of album you keep coming back to multiple timea, despite how good it is. it's an experience, it belongs to a moment during life, and you come back to that experience when you feel like tou should. 4 |
| Drake More Life | 2.0 |
| all the problems views had are here, once again. the tracks are all over the place, with generic dancehall tracks appearing right after trap bangers. the trap production is very solid but the same can't be said about the slower songs. the awful struggle bars are once again here to make things cringy. the list of flaws goes on and on. what saves this playlist from being awful are the features, who for the most part do a great job at keeping things exciting. they do outshine drake, though and that's not a good thing. 2+ |
| Pitbull Climate Change | 1.0 |
| somehow, he manages to get worse and worse with each new release. if that's what he's trying to pull off, i applaud him. 0 |
| Rick Ross Rather You Than Me | 3.0 |
| much like most of his projects, it lacks consistency. some tracks are gifted with amazing production (especially the tracks prod by bink), the features help things getting more exciting and there's a bit of content here but more often than not, all you get is rick ross being rick ross. been there, done that. having said that, this is still hid best effort to date since teflon don. 3+ |
| Spoon Hot Thoughts | 4.0 |
| so far the catchiest, most memorable release of the year inside its genre. 4 |
| Remo Drive Greatest Hits | 4.0 |
| the mixing is really rough around the edges but for the most part, this is a great emo revival with catchy melodies, memorable vocals, glorious hooks and relatable lyrics. pretty solid. 4 |
| Wale Before I Shine | 1.5 |
| if this is a hint for what's to come, i'm officially not interested in listening to his upcoming album at all. 1.5 |
| The Shins Heartworms | 2.0 |
| there's nothing here that the band hasn't done in a better way on their previous efforts. feels very deja-vu, especially in an era full of new bands taking this sound to new heights. 2 |
| Zara Larsson So Good | 2.5 |
| it suffers from the same problems other albums of its kind suffer: they feel like a compilation of random pop songs instead of an actual pop album. 2.5 |
| Laura Marling Semper Femina | 3.0 |
| i like the way laura ponders about things from a certain distance here but too often, she distances herself too much to the point feelings and emotions don't flow at all, making this a somehow overly moody, sometimes lifeless experience. some really great moments here and there, though. she just has done better in the past. 3+ |
| Charli XCX Number 1 Angel | 3.0 |
| charli xcx keeps bringing pc music and her hyped vocals to create some of the weirdest mainstream pop music you are likely to hear these days and for the most part, it bangs but bro, the lyrics are awful. it's a really huge minus for me. 3 |
| Your Old Droog Packs | 3.5 |
| definitely a solid effort but it could and should've been way better. the skits brought absolutely nothing to the table and the interlude pales in comparison to the rest of the tracks. these shortcomings create pacing issues that really damage an otherwise great project, full of dirty, nasty and creative beats, bars on top of bars and droog's exceptional mc skills. plus, why no "42"? why no "vigilantes" instead of "help"? why? 3.5- |
| Ed Sheeran ÷ | 1.5 |
| ed sheeran continues to keep himself in the safe zone and what we have here is a tepid, predictable and by-the-numbers pop album that does a terrible job at showing his talents, both as a singer and songwriter. his worst effort to date imo since there's no track here that stands out. 1.5+ |
| Alfa Mist Antiphon | 3.5 |
| Blanck Mass World Eater | 4.0 |
| blanck mass brings a visceral and nasty sound that blends perfectly with some pieces of serene, beautiful production to create one of the most epic releases of the year so far. his best release so far. 4 |
| Lil Uzi Vert Luv Is Rage 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Nav (CAN) NAV | 1.0 |
| pretty much every track sounds the same, showing little to no versatility when it comes to crafting music. that joint with the weeknd is the only standout here, and mostly because of abel. everything else feels like copy & paste. 1- |
| Kingdom Tears In The Club | 2.0 |
| for the most part, the project is filled with uninspired beats that never manage to surprise the listener and the guests don't much to help improve the material here. 2 |
| Stormzy Gang Signs and Prayer | 2.5 |
| most of the bangers on here are dope but they aren't enough to make for the more laid back tracks, which are too sappy and shallow to be remotely interesting. he's not that great of a rapper either, imo. 2.5 |
| Thundercat Drunk | 3.0 |
| very disappointing release. it's good, but not nearly as good as it could've been. technically, this project is brilliant - as expected - but it falls short on the lyrical side of things and the concept isn't that interesting either. some songs don't transition well to the next. idk, i was expecting way more. it's good, but not as good as it needed to be. 3+ |
| Future HNDRXX | 3.0 |
| much like his previous effort, i was enjoying it until i wasn't. at 17 tracks, things start to get stale after a while. however, this r&b side is actually much more interesting than what future showed us last week but quantity doesn't mean quality and once again, the whole package is a bit damaged due to too many tracks. 34 in one week is way too much! i can't ignore that hndrxx is an improvement in relation to all of future's pos-ds2 releases tho, by bringing honest, more introspective songs and a flow that i can actually understand. solid! 3 |
| Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors | 3.5 |
| deeply flawed, overly produced and all over the place and sometimes it can come out as corny but it still makes for a really absorving, sometimes memorable experience, with moments like little bubble - easily the standout track - managing to stay in your head. for all its problems, it also makes up for them for being sweet af. 3.5- |
| $uicideboy$ and Germ DIRTIERNASTIER$UICIDE | 2.5 |
| the strenghts of both sides are lacking here, culminating in a project that too often sounds like it's in auto pilot. 2.5 |
| Soulja Boy Big Soulja | 1.0 |
| another day, another awful soulja boy tape. dreadful. 0 |
| Black Kids Rookie | 1.0 |
| just as atrocious as their 2008 release, if not worse. some of the worst lyrics i've read all year thus far. 0+ |
| Anna Wise The Feminine: Act II | 2.0 |
| anna wise doesn't have a particularly unique voice to stand on her own without good lyrics and more adventurous production. 2 |
| Jidenna The Chief | 3.0 |
| nice mix between nigerian's rhythmic music and contemporary r&b, hip hop and dancehall. it's too all over the place and some tracks are awfully generic (trampoline is terrible) but you know, it has some gems (bambi) and it's a really fun project overall. 3 |
| Future FUTURE | 3.0 |
| for once, i can understand what future is saying. that's the best thing he brought to this tape, an improved delivery. some of the beats are crazy too and the project definitely contains some of future's best tracks to date, like poa and mask off. however, at over 1h with content this repetitive, there's no way you gon listen to this without a lot of pauses throughout. it drags and the quality is more questionable towards the back end of the album. a huge improvement over his last shitty mixtapes, but he needs to keep things short next time. 3- |
| Jens Lekman Life Will See You Now | 3.5 |
| if you're searching for an optimistic, uplifting album celebrating the details in life we often miss, this is for you. the rhythms are very enjoyable. jens lekman continues to perfect his sound, even tho he's not exactly bringing it to new heights. in fact, things get kinda shaky at times, especially production-wise when some sounds simply don't mash well with others. 3.5 |
| Sun Kil Moon Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood | 4.0 |
| if you're down for some incredibly random stories being told over some of the best production to land on an album this year, go ahead and grab this. otherwise, you might want to stay away from it. it's a fuckin treat, though. 4+ |
| Fat Joe & Remy Ma Plata O Plomo | 2.5 |
| the singles were very promising but unfortunetly, they are the best material here. none of the other tracks reach that level of quality and some of them just feel dated af. 2.5 |
| Relient K Truly Madly Deeply EP | 1.5 |
| all three songs feel really, really forced lyrically and everything else feels too familiar to be remotely interesting. 1.5+ |
| Lupe Fiasco DROGAS Light | 1.5 |
| first major contendor for worst album of the year. not even disappointing. worst. the album starts off with a bombastic intro that made me feel like i was in for another treat like t&y but maaan, was i wrong! uninspired beats that are either generic trap shit or too pop-ish, lyrics that are below-average for lupe. i don't know what lupe was trying to create here but wtv it was, not good. 1.5- |
| Aaron Carter Love EP | 1.5 |
| a comeback that no one saw coming and after listening to this, i don't think people wanted it to happen. 1.5- |
| Teen Daze Themes For Dying Earth | 3.0 |
| it may lack replay value and originality but it's still a very serene, calm and beautiful experience that makes us feel like we're in the middle of nature. 3+ |
| Paul White Accelerator | 3.0 |
| it is what it is. both tracks are solid and could've been on atroxity exhibition but neither is better than the tracks off that album. they are what they are, leftovers. worth listening but you won't remember them after a couple of months. 3 |
| SiR Her Too | 3.0 |
| sir is the most recent tde member and i'm glad he is because he definitely shows potential to bring more life into the label. he's not the best singer around but he defin knows how to do a r&b jam. solid. 3+ |
| Strange U LP #4080 | 3.5 |
| Uk hip hop is doing great this year thus far and this lp right here continues the winning streak by bringing some dope ass lo fi, moody tracks. 3.5+ |
| Lowly Heba | 3.5 |
| meticulously crafted, from the melodies to the lyrics. individually, none of these elements are all that fresh but together, they do make for a unique body of work inside the indie pop genre. nice debut! 3.5+ |
| Jesca Hoop Memories Are Now | 4.5 |
| hoop's powerful songwriting perfectly connects with the subtle, precise and utterly beautiful production to make for one of the best albums of the year so far. 4.5 |
| Big Sean I Decided. | 2.0 |
i really had high hopes for this one. maybe sean was finally going to put out a decent fucking
album after bounce back and moves. i was expecting bangers all the way through without the corny
shit that made him one of the whackest acts in current hip hop. sadly, that's exactly what you're
going to get here. either that or tracks like owe which resemble drake waaay too much. even eminem
was badly implemented here, with him being way over the beat to the point it sounds like a
freestyle (dope rapey verse tho lol). the only legit good track here outside of the singles imo
was the one with migos, sacrifice. that shit was fire, man. why can't he stay in that fuckin lane
instead of being in the cornfield all the time? 2.0 |
| Syd Fin | 2.5 |
| fin doesn't bring anything new to the table and pales in comparison to other offers inside the genre. syd is a decent singer but nothing more than that, the production is often too watered down and with no surprises and the lyrics aren't that memorable either. 2.5 |
| Soen Lykaia | 3.5 |
| even though they have yet to come to a sound of their own and the album doesn't necessarily breath new life into the genre, this is still a technically impressive album, very moody and atmospheric. 3.5 |
| Sampha Process | 4.0 |
| competent vocals, decent writing and subtle yet beautiful production make this debut a pleasant surprise, even if it doesn't do anything particularly original. what it does, it does well, though. sampha keeps things short too, which invites the listener for another listen. 4- |
| The Menzingers After the Party | 4.5 |
| so, who said pop punk was dead? it might be, but the menzingers continue to appear out of nowhere to remember us that a piece of it is still well alive. relatable content (especially if you're in your 20's - like me - or 30's), passionate vocals, catchy melodies and memorable hooks all contribute to a very enjoyable body of work. 4.5 |
| Wiki and Your Old Droog What Happened To Fire? | 3.5 |
| i could've done without parlay but the other tracks are fire, especially vigilantes. nice collab. 3.5 |
| Kirk Knight Black Noise | 3.5 |
| i honestly think knight is a better producer than rapper, and that shows here. nothing groundbreaking but it's very well made nonetheless. 3.5- |
| Riff Raff Aquaberry Aquarius | 1.5 |
| awful collab, especially due to the painfully dull beats. 1.5 |
| Derek Wise Inglorious | 2.5 |
| another atmospheric, expertly produced album similar to jazz cartier's last project, but the lack of interesting content and sub par lyrics hurt the overall quality of what we can find here. could've been way better. 2.5+ |
| Eric Biddines The Local Cafe | 3.0 |
| Eric Biddines shows a lot of potential on this mixtape, with decent lyricism, really well produced tracks that flow well into each other and a certain uniqueness when it comes to his delivery. it's feels a bit too long and his nasal voice sounds weird at times, tho. 3+ |
| Barclay Crenshaw Barclay Crenshaw | 3.5 |
| von-claude created a hipnotic, creative and ultimately beautiful fusion of sounds, ranging from lo-fi house to hip hop, and all works extremely well together, bringing the concept to life. 3.5 |
| Train A Girl A Bottle A Boat | 1.0 |
| the first contender for worst album of the year. one of the most cringy attempts to stay relevant in a while, really. 0+ |
| Matt Martians The Drum Chord Theory | 2.5 |
| while not necessarily a bad project, it plays things extremely safe. what happens is that most of these songs should've been fun to listen to but instead, they keep dragging themselves into one another. 2.5 |
| P.O.S Chill, Dummy | 3.0 |
| it will probably help if you are already a fan. nice ideas all around but the album never reaches to its full potential. most of these beats were interesting but at the same time, they were lacking a punch to make the bars stick out more. plus, lots of short tracks that don't bring anything to the table other than lenght. 3-r |
| Migos Culture | 3.0 |
| while not a bad album at all, everything follows the same migos' formula, which keeps things away from being as memorable as i wanted it too be. too samey, too by the numbers. i like it, but not to the extent i wanted to. 3+ |
| Gabriel Garzon Montano Jardín | 3.5 |
| soulful, subtle and minimalistic but with a certain pop sensibility, gabriel shows tons and tons of potential for what is yet to come from his. 3.5+ |
| Neil Cicierega Mouth Moods | 3.5 |
| the best thing i can say about the album is that as far as meme albums go, this one is so well realized it's actually more than just listenable. it's funny, it sounds good, it wowes from time to time. if you like this type shit, why not giving it a shot? 3.5 |
| AFI AFI (The Blood Album) | 1.5 |
| the muddy production, generic songwriting and indifferent vocals really hurt the overall quality of the album and further proves afi is one of the most overrated bands out there ever. |
| Foxygen Hang | 4.0 |
| luckily, it seems like their last album was simply an experimental mistake rather than what we should expect from the band in the future. with hang, foxygen go back to the sound that put them on the map in the first place, creating more thrilling, dynamic and unpredictable lo-fi indie rock that keeps you engaged the whole way through. very solid comeback! 4- |
| Flume Skin Companion ll | 3.0 |
| a large improvement over the last ep. this one is all over the place, with all the 4 leftover tracks being completely different from each other, but each one of them shows flume's versatility and they certainly have quality. the inclusion of vocals in some of these tracks was pointless tho, especially on the weekend. the vocal changes on depth charge, not so sure about that either. enough and fantastic are indeed fantastic. 3+ |
| Wiley Godfather | 3.5 |
| there's nothing refreshing or even that exciting to find here if you've been a fan of grime for ages but there are still some dope bangers to be found here. just don't expect it to live up to its name. 3.5- |
| David Bowie No Plan | 4.0 |
| the songs here aren't simply middle of the road leftovers jist to make some cash using bowie's name. these are actually pretty good songs that could've been put into blackstar. here, one year after his death, they sound just as good, showing how ahead of us david was. 4 |
| Rich Gang Tha Tour Pt. 2 | 2.5 |
| JID The Never Story | 3.0 |
| good debut album that primarily serves as a window to show off his potential. it's flawed, especially when it comes to the lyrics and his extremely nasal delivery but he does have a nice flow, a decent singing voice and a really good ear for production. not bad at all. 3+ |
| 2016 |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 3 | 4.0 |
| not up there with the other two albums imo it might feature better content but the hooks and the prod aren't so creative this time around. having said that, that's only compared to their previous efforts because on its own, it's pretty much another bombastic, entertaining yet thought provoking album from a duo that continues to try to be amongst the best. 4+ |
| Kid Cudi Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ | 2.5 |
| infinitely better than his project. however, that's the best thing i can say about this album and i'm afraid that's not saying much. only the beats are able to save this from being an otherwise bad album. 2.5 |
| Injury Reserve Floss | 4.5 |
another excellent project by injury reserve. we got a more accessible album this time around, with
some unbelievably catchy hooks, agressive, in-your-face beats and phenomenal sampling all around.
and yet, the project doesn't feel like nothing you've listened before this year, embrassing its
weirdness when needed. seriously, this shit has the best hook game i heard in 2016. 4.5- |
| Tech N9ne The Storm | 1.0 |
| at 32 tracks, you already know half of those will be filler. think again, because every track here sounds like filler. easily his worst project to date. solely for fans and even then, i'm not so sure. 1- |
| Post Malone Stoney | 2.0 |
| some good autotune melodies and all but that alone can't hide the awful lyrics and the overall lack in quality. he doesn't stand out from the competition in any way. 2 |
| CJ Fly Flytrap | 2.0 |
| nothing fly about this tape, it never becomes better than your typical trap shit. his delivery leaves a lot to be desired too. 2 |
| J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only | 2.0 |
not only a huge disappointment but also one of the most disappointing albums released by a big
artist this year, regardless of genre. wether he's stealing a beat from an artist and doing it
no justice at all or doing his awful singing game that had already hurted his last
project, he's once again showing that he's nothing more than a painfully average rapper
with high aspirations. good ideas alone don't take you too far. well, he still went
platinum with no features so, good for him... 2+ |
| Ab-Soul Do What Thou Wilt. | 3.5 |
j. cole will easily outshine soul when it comes to sales but the exact opposite can be said about
the quality of these projects. while far from perfect, mainly because of some boring beats and
not-too-interesting flows, soulo still comes through with some of the most well-written and
thought provoking verses of the year and the overall dark mood fits like a glove. 3.5+ |
| Grace VanderWaal Perfectly Imperfect | 2.0 |
| for her age, she has an undeniable talent to both sing and write but musically, she's still a long way to go if she wants to be remembered by the masses year after year. there are countless voices similar to hers and backed up with much better production. here, all the ballads sound exactly the same. 2+ |
| John Legend Darkness and Light | 2.5 |
| not nearly as good as some of his past releases. this project sees him finally trying to appeal to the masses by injecting some generic, radio-friendly tracks into it and the end result is a mix bag. 2.5 |
| Deadmau5 W:/2016ALBUM/ | 2.5 |
| while there are some amazing tracks thrown into the mix, they never come together as a whole due to their different nature in sound and the project feels too fragmented as a result. 2.5+ |
| The Rolling Stones Blue and Lonesome | 3.0 |
| i applaud them for trying something completely left field for them, especially considering how old the band is, but i don't think the timing of this release was appropriated. we are now in an era that has seen this genre bein taken to new heights. we are in an era known for being experimental, that likes to push the envelope a little further each time... and in the middle of all of that, here they are, doing it for the first time ever and taking no risks with it other than the risk of, indeed, doing it for their first time. it's okay. 3 |
| Childish Gambino "Awaken, My Love!" | 4.0 |
| heavily inspired by the parliament-funkadelic sound, fully embracing funk, soul and rock, childish gambino finally emerged from the conflicted artist he used to be during "camp" and "because the internet" with the phenomenal "awaken, my love", which also shows him awakening and being well aware of his gifts as an artist. amazing year for glover, first with his surprisingly good tv show "atlanta" and now this! 4 |
| Cashmere Cat Wild Love | 3.0 |
| YG Red Friday | 2.5 |
| you don't really need to check this one out just because still brazy was an amazing album. it's more than obvious than he threw some leftovers from that album here and nothing more. you get one political track and 7 other fun tracks that aren't that fun or dope to be worth replaying. 2.5 |
| Flume Skin Companion | 3.0 |
| the sound of it is undeniably beautiful but it has been done before and in a better way. there's nothing fresh here. 3 |
| The Weeknd Starboy | 3.5 |
| if you already embraced the fact that he's been pursuing new sounds for a while now and each album brings a new chapter for him and his music, you are bound to be surprised here. at 18 tracks, things could've gone south rather quickly but in fact, the album starts off on a strong note and ends itself perfectly too. up until the interlude with lana, everything was snapping big time. ironically, stargirl feels completely out of place musically speaking and it's also absolutely undercooked in its creation, fading away when it was getting remotely nteresting. it's a filler. things do pick up again with the excellent sidewalks and the momentum kept going until attention came in. things really got to a low point here, with the track being both too slow and not enough exciting for it to work. with the other two tracks right next to it, things got even worse. nothing without you is easily the most generic track here and the track with future, while decent, ends wirh an awful, pointless verse from him that adds nothing but lenght to an already overlong album. thankfully, the album ends with two fantastic tracks, die for you and the feel-good feel it coming, which opens up things for abel as far as his future goes, both artistically and in real life. the album could and should've been shorter, with those fillers hurting the overall quality of the album, but it still worked for the most part, with the standouts being really huge standouts and saving it from being just a merely decent effort. 3.5+ |
| G Herbo Strictly 4 My Fans | 3.5 |
| g herbo can't do no wrong with this drill shit but like the title implies, you'll only get it if you understand and like this sound. otherwise, stay away. 3.5- |
| Lil Uzi Vert and Gucci Mane 1017 vs. The World | 3.0 |
| i was expecting this to be way worse tbh. they work surprisingly well together, unlike some of the collabs theybdid before, and there are some bangers to be found here. 3- |
| Little Mix Glory Days | 2.5 |
| it is obviously an album targeted to a younger audience and it will probably be successful due to that. it does the. minimum requirements and nothing more, nothing less. 2.5+ |
| DNCE DNCE | 3.0 |
| if you're looking for a fun and straightforward pop album, look no further. while it loses steam during the second half, it's still a very entertaining listen. i wonder why it was released just now. this was clearly meant for the summer. 3 |
| Kevin Abstract American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story | 3.0 |
| 6LACK Free 6LACK | 3.0 |
| he doesn't bring anything particularly new to the table but what he does, he does well. if you like to find new shit inside the trap game, give this nigga a chance. 3.0+ |
| Metallica Hardwired...To Self-Destruct | 3.0 |
while not a bad album at all, it doesn't show
any evolution whatsoever musically speaking.
what you'll get is what they've done
countless other times, and often in a better
way. 3- |
| AK Blessings In The Gray 2 | 3.5 |
| AK brought the sound that made the underachievers such a great hip hop duo and made it his own. lots of bangers, flashy and dynamic beats, great bars all around. if you're a fan of their music, check this solo tape out. 3.5+ |
| Anonymuz Vice City | 3.5 |
| while the songs itself aren't all that original and neither is the concept, everything is done meticulously well and the overall experience is an interesting one to get through, even though it's not particularly memorable. 3.5- |
| Bruno Mars 24K Magic | 4.0 |
| i'm so wowed by this release. i never really enjoyed bruno's early work, mainly because his lyrics were absolutely sappy and cringy af and the production itself was just your typical mainstream ballad bs. here, bruno continues to embrace that funky sound we first heard with the incredible uptown funk and honestly, this sound works 100% in his favor. the lyrics are more well thought out as well and the vocals are simply amazing when they need to be. one of the best pop albums of 2016. 4- |
| Gucci Mane and Future Free Bricks 2: Zone 6 Edition | 2.0 |
| neither brought the heat we came to expect from them and they feel disjointed af for the most part. their first joint was more solid. 2+ |
| Busted Night Driver | 2.0 |
| same old band from the past. if you enjoy their music, you'll probably dig this one. otherwise, just skip it. 2 |
| Sting 57th and 9th | 3.0 |
| it doesn't bring anything we haven't heard from him before but it's still an enjoyable listen you are a fan of sting or the oolice. 3 |
| Z-Ro Legendary | 3.0 |
z-ro celebrates his legacy in the rap game by
dropping another fire tape. 3+ |
| A Tribe Called Quest We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service | 4.0 |
| some tracks feel dated, especially during the middle part of the album, but atcq still returned with some superb and utteely unique songs that instantly resemble their earlier work. they didn't lose a bit of their identity, and that's the most important factor. the first couple of tracks are really good, and for the most part, this is both a welcome return and a good way to say farewell to one of the most prolific hip hop groups ever. 4+ |
| Blackbear Cashmere Noose | 2.0 |
| some of the content is a bit childish and the prod leaves something to be desired, especially in the firdt three tracks. he did better in the past. 2 |
| Bibi Bourelly Free the Real: Pt. 2 | 3.0 |
| mostly like in her previous ep, the music is held back by her childish lyrics. she has a knack for hooks and nice melodies, she has defin potential. last track was dope af, hopefully she will bring more of that later on! 3 |
| oddCouple Liberation | 3.5 |
| nice display of tracks to show his potential as a producer, with some great sampling and string sections. the joey purp and jenkins' assisted tracks are the highlights. 3.5- |
| Fatt Father Veteran's Day | 4.0 |
| one of the hardest boom bap albums i had the pleasure to listen to in quite a while. good storytelling, dope bars all around and fatt father's solid delivery is backed up with some really fiya beats. 4 |
| Belly (CAN) Inzombia | 1.0 |
| belly once again shows his lack of personality, identity and skills and both the beats and the guests don't bring nothing to the table. 1- |
| OG Maco For Scott | 2.0 |
| while not as awful as his last couple of ep's, this is still wat worse than some of his earlier material like breathe and such. 2 |
| Keke Palmer Lauren | 3.0 |
| nice throwback to 90's/early 00's r&b, but she still needs to evolve her vocals if she wants to set herself apart from the competition. still worth checking out, tho. 3+ |
| The Chainsmokers Collage | 1.0 |
| as cheap and generic as you can get from this genre. you have listened to this by the numbers shit on the radio over and over again by countless different artists and duos. 1- |
| Bon Jovi This House Is Not for Sale | 1.5 |
| as expected, by the numbers pop rock. for fans only, and even then im not sure. 1.5 |
| Robbie Williams The Heavy Entertainment Show | 1.5 |
| an absolute mess of an album, with no sort of direction whatsoever. feels like a bunch of throwaway tracks all put together in the same cd, and some bad throwaway btw. 1.5- |
| Alicia Keys Here | 2.5 |
| alicia keys continues to try to evolve as an artist on this new album here but sadly, she ended up creating her least interesting album to date. yes, the themes she explores are important but she never gets deep enough to be worth listening to what she's saying and musically, there's nothing to write home about. 2.5 |
| Big Scoob H.O.G. | 3.0 |
| one of strange music's most solid releases in a while. it still comes with a lot of corny songs, just as expected, but it also comes with better than usual prod, some catchy hooks and big scoob does the job most of the time. overal, it's okay! 3 |
| Tinashe Nightride | 3.0 |
| the first couple of tracks are very similar in sound and the lyrics could've been better and more diversified but still, what we got here is a very ethereal, dangerously charming project that shows once again that tinashe has something compelling to offer to today's r&b. 3+ |
| Bones (USA-CA) SoftwareUpdate1.0 | 3.0 |
| slightly better and more fleshed out than his last two efforts. 3+ |
| CZARFACE A Fistful of Peril | 3.5 |
this new album doesn't offer anything new in
relation to their previous tapes but in this
case, more of the same is actually a good
thing. 3.5- |
| Common Black America Again | 3.5 |
| ri didn't really enjoy any album he dropped after the magnificent "be" and i was kinda worried about this release but looks like all he needed was something inspiring to make him want to push the envelope again. without preaching, common goes deep about the most noticeable social issues of nowadays through most of these tracks, bringing a more soulful sound to celebrate the black culture. its appeal is more limited this time around mainly because of that, though. 3.5- |
| Sims More Than Ever | 3.5 |
| dwelving into the experimentation realm once again - now bringing more up-to-date hip hop sounds - without losing accessibility, sims delivers another rock solid album that's worth your attention. 3.5+ |
| Blu and Analogtronics Cheetah in the City | 3.5 |
| along with this french duo, blu creates some of his. most enjoyable and entertaining music in quite a while. his projects had great lyricism but suffered heavily from bad prod and some really awful mixing. none of those problems are here, and while the lyrics aren't that memorable, they are still decent and the beats are A1. 3.5 |
| ASAP Mob Cozy Tapes, Vol. 1: Friends | 2.5 |
| they don't sound as if they are having much fun doing this shit together. so many dope artists and all of them failed to bring their a-game into the mix. disappointing. 2.5 |
| Lloyd Banks Halloween Havoc 3 | 3.0 |
| lloyd banks came through with not one, but two fucking mixtapes in a month. and as always, he delivers a somewhat enjoyable tape if you're a fan of his music. 3 |
| Pussy Riot xxx | 1.0 |
| too gimmicky to be funny and too lame to be fun. 1 |
| James Arthur Back From The Edge | 1.5 |
| james arthur once again proves that he can't rdo much more outside of doing covers. 1.5+ |
| Avenged Sevenfold The Stage | 1.5 |
| atrocious hooks, overly produced tracks, abysmal lyrics as usual, songs that overstay that welcome... there's no sign of growth here, but there are clear signs of them running out of ideas to try and stay as relevant as they once used to be. 1.5 |
| Meek Mill DC4 | 2.0 |
| infinitely worse than his last full lenght project. too much yelling, the beats are extremely repetitive, the features don't add shit to the overall quality of the tape, the hooks aren't catchy. there's no track here like, for example, ambitionz. disappointing, i can now say meek is the biggest L alive. 2- |
| Tove Lo Lady Wood | 2.0 |
| tove lo started her career in a strong way and i was expecting her to delevop her sound into something even more creative but unfortunately, that didn't happen here. she simply dumbed her music down to the point that not only are most of these tracks generic, but they are also boring. 2 |
| Jeezy Trap Or Die 3 | 2.0 |
| painfully average tape. it has some bangers on it but it shows no versatility nor growth and he kinda needs those right now tbh. 2 |
| Empire Of The Sun Two Vines | 2.5 |
| this duo is an interesting one. the visual music they try to create is definitely compelling and unique, but only when it works. when it doesn't - quite often - things get really cringy. plus, i don't know why they sometimes use auto-tune on the vocals, since it doesn't add anything. it does exactly the opposite. weird choices that compromise the quality of the album a lot. like i said, interesting duo but they have yet to create an interesting album. 2.5+ |
| 2 Chainz Hibachi for Lunch | 2.0 |
| i was expecting something different based on that cover but yea, not happening. for people who fucks with 2 chainz, might do it. 2 |
| Saba Bucket List | 3.5 |
| saba's great flow and singing vocals mesh very well with the jazzy, soulful prod of the album and the social commentary also helps elevating the overall quality to new heights. nice debut, i see potential! 3.5- |
| Soulja Boy and Bow Wow Ignorant Shit | 1.5 |
| so, after all those beefs both had with each other... who the fuck told em joining forces would be a good idea? 1.5- |
| Riff Raff Balloween | 2.5 |
| not that bad of a tape, really. riff raff is always at his best when he's silly af, and that's what happens here. those country cuts are awful but and some of the mixing leaves a lot to be desired but for the most part, not that bad. 2.5+ |
| Far East Movement Identity | 1.0 |
| far east movement are back, and without identity. just your middle-of-the-road, by the numbers mainstream pop album that no one gives a fuck. 1- |
| Dame D.O.L.L.A. The Letter O | 2.0 |
| considering he's not a professional rapper, i was expecting something way worse than this. he has some nice instrumentals backing up his decent flow but man, when it comes to the lyrics, you can tell he's better at playing on nba than doing this shit. but yea, could've been worse! 2 |
| Korn The Serenity of Suffering | 2.5 |
| the band continues to do the same instrumental flaws that have been haunting them for years, but i can't deny that some of these tracks are at least catchy, unlike on thwir past 5 or 6 releases. it's an improvement, can't complain much. 2.5+ |
| Paul Wall Houston Oiler | 2.5 |
| for people from houston who fucks with him, i see no problem peeping this one out. 2.5 |
| Eearz Eearz to da Streets, Vol. 2 | 2.5 |
| a slight improvement over the last tape but there are currently better offers than this. 2.5 |
| Joe Budden Rage & The Machine | 2.5 |
| i enjoyed joe budden's previous releases quite a lot but i just don't think he brought anything remotely interesting or fresh with this new tape right here. he doesn't show any improvements, the topics being tackled are the same as always, the beat selection leaves a lot to be desired.. i expected more. not that good and easily his worst tape since no love lost. 2.5+ |
| American Football American Football (LP2) | 3.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Integrity Blues | 3.0 |
| it's nice to see this band getting back on track after so many atrocious albums. they are sounding more creative, energetic, passionate and mature, and the whole album is overall well produced. not a great slbum, but definitely put them in place once more. 3+ |
| Lady Gaga Joanne | 3.0 |
| it's good to see lady gaga trying to go for a different, more complete and mature sound but she can sometimes sound a bit too theatrical and songs like dancing in circles and a-yo just don't match the album's vibe. nice effort, but could and should've been way better. 3+ |
| DRAM Big Baby D.R.A.M. | 3.5 |
| d.r.a.m embraced his goofiness like he should've done but without putting it in the way of the music itself. he actually managed to show how versatile he can be with his voice, which is surprisingly decent, as he easily waves from bangers like the thugga assisted track to r&b jams like "sweet va breeze", without ever leaving the funny side of his music. i was expecting the album to be bad, but it ain't! it's actually a surprisingly confident, positive debut. tracks like cute and wifi weren't needed, though. 3.5+ |
| NxWorries Yes Lawd! | 4.0 |
| really nice blend of hip hop and r&b, much better than their last collaborative effort. there's a good dynamic as far as the sound goes that never allows the project to become boring. anderson paak further solidifies himself as one of the most interesting r&b artists working nowadays. 4- |
| Lance Skiiiwalker Introverted Intuition | 1.5 |
| a very left-field release from tde, and easily the worst album to come out from there too. the vocals are too damn muddy, baffled by the production more often that not. that brings us to another huge problem. lance tried to go for some abstract typa shit with the overall sound, but that decision backfired him. awful transitions from track to track, skits that don't add nothing to the narrative. all in all, a mess of an album. tbh, this sounds more like a bunch of snippets rather than a full lenght album. i came into this album expecting to learn why tde brought him to the team, but now i'm even more confused. oh, and no, he's not jay rock.. 1.5+ |
| Bones (USA-CA) GoodForNothing | 3.0 |
| another somewhat disappointing entry in bones' discography. not only isn't he improving, some of these tracks are not up to par with what we came to expect from him. 3- |
| JoJo Mad Love. | 2.0 |
| the hiatus doesn't seem to help jojo that much. this project sounds like something that could've been dropped 10 years ago, showing a lack of growth. 2+ |
| French Montana MC4 | 3.0 |
| not nearly as bad as i thought it was going to be, considering how terrible montana is as a rapper. however, i enjoyed some of these tracks not because of him, but both due to the fact that most of these beats were really good and, most importantly, the guests did a really good job, especially on that track with jada. 3 |
| Gucci Mane WOPTOBER | 3.0 |
even tho this is a step back in relation to his last album, this shit still slaps. if
you're looking for something to blast on the road, you won't have problems with this.
3 |
| Crying Beyond The Fleeting Gales | 3.5 |
| while not reinventing pop punk in any way, this is still a good representation of what the genre can be when done in the right way. 3.5 |
| Conor Oberst Ruminations | 3.5 |
| if you like the lovely acoustic ballads that conor is known for, you'll certainly love this project. just close your eyes, lay down and spin it. 3.5+ |
| Kero Kero Bonito Bonito Generation | 3.5 |
| while the music is all over the place when it comes to the different types of sounds, the whole album ends up being really, really fun to listen to as a whole. pop paradise here! 3.5+ |
| Westside Boogie Thirst 48, Pt. II | 3.5 |
| dope tape full of bangers from start to finish, anchored by boogie's unique delivery and some really good beats. 3.5 |
| Jeff Rosenstock WORRY. | 4.5 |
| jeff continues to create some of the most relatable songs i have ever heard, singing each one of them from the heart. the album flows extremely well from start to finish. if you like the genre, cop this one out because it's one of the best albums you can find at the moment, really. 4.5 |
| Clarence Clarity SAME | 3.5 |
| this new ep has a really fresh concept that more than makes it worth checking out (especially considering the track itself is pretty good) but after one or two listens, there's. no reason for you to come back to it and listen to the same track over and over again. you can perfectly listen to the version you like the most, though. clarence continues to experiment, and i love that he's creating ep's like this just to further experiment before he drops another killer album like last year's stellar project. 3.5- |
| Dance Gavin Dance Mothership | 1.0 |
| i don't get the 3.9 this album currently has, because to me, this is easily one of the top 10 worst albums of the year. the prod is too clean, the vocals are excrutiating, the lyrics are awful, the intrumentals are all over the place. this album thinks it's going for this mindblowing sound, when in fact it's nothing more than a pretentious pile of shit. 1- |
| Sum 41 13 Voices | 1.5 |
| the only thing that can make you enjoy this thing right here is the nostalgia factor. other than that, all you can expect is everything bad about sum 41 dumbed down to the worst possible thing. not good. 1.5 |
| OneRepublic Oh My My | 1.5 |
| it's shocking to see a mainstream group with so much potential and with a decent collection of tracks released throughout the years creating this huge piece of shit. i can only ask, what happened? 1.5+ |
| Green Day Revolution Radio | 2.5 |
| this is definitely an upgrade over their last couple of albums but man, with lyrics as terrible as the ones you can find here, the upgrade isn't enough to turn it into a good album, no matter how good the other aspects are. average at best. 2.5 |
| The Game 1992 | 3.0 |
| this ain't no the documentary 2.5. much like the documentary 2, this projects feels less like an album and more like a mixtape. it has its good moments but it doesn't feel cohesive, and the concept feels pointless. 3 |
| SiR HER | 3.5 |
| this ep is way more cohesive and overall better than his most recent effort. some really good r&b jams but, it doesn't really set him apart from other artists imo. 3.5- |
| Opeth Sorceress | 2.0 |
| some bands know how to play on their strenghts and age qell, even while experimenting. others, however, start to alowly lose their steam, album after album, and only stop when they hit the bottom of the barrel. that's probably what happened here. 2+ |
| Banks The Altar | 2.5 |
| banks is a really talented pop singer, but she doesn't put enough weight on her tracks to make an impact on the listener. as it stands, this is another boring alternative pop album that overstays its welcome. i don't get the hype, honestly. there are much better pop artists putting way better work out there these days. 2.5 |
| Bon Iver 22, A Million | 3.0 |
| some might say bon iver did an incredible job of creating a completely new and refreshing sound, but in all truth, this is a new sound just for him. there's nothing groundbreaking here, and this style was done in a better way before. decent, but not as good as some are making it out to be. 3+ |
| Dave East Kairi Chanel | 3.0 |
| much like his last project, i like what he's saying on most of this tracks and he's defin a hell of a spitter but i just don't think the beat selection matches his style well, at all. he needs to work in that department. 3- |
| Apollo Brown and Skyzoo The Easy Truth | 3.5 |
| apollo brown comes in with improved drumming and great samples and skyzoo does the job as always. 3.5+ |
| Solange A Seat at the Table | 4.0 |
| grizzlybeard said it all. one of the most interesting r&b releases in a while, easily standing toe to toe with other great albums like blonde, malibu and the color in anything. 4 |
| Danny Brown Atrocity Exhibition | 5.0 |
| with xxx, danny brown let you know how twisted, demented and dark his mind and thoughts are. with atrocity exhibition, danny simply lets you see how his life is/was through his eyes, creating one of the most vivid and intense depictions of depression i've ever heard in my life, no matter the genre. on "ain't it funny", i was actually feeling ready to go in the streets and start stabbing anyone on sight lmao i lost my shit there. that's how crazy that shit was! as one guy said it, only brown could've pulled this off. an album so overwhelming, so over-the-place, so nasty yet so good. and man, danny brown has to have some of the best bars in the game! this is not only the standout project of the year, it's also one of the best albums i heard rhis decade. this guy is arguably one of the best to ever do it. 5 |
| Playboi Carti In Abundance | 3.5 |
| Lil Peep HELLBOY | 1.0 |
one of the worst tapes to come out this year tbh. the lyrics are so corny that it makes
hopsin sound like a poet (he definitely isn't btw) and his vocals never blend well with the
prod, which is awful to begin with. terrible and cringey in all fronts. 0- |
| Lloyd Banks All Or Nothin: Live It Up | 3.0 |
| for fans of lloyd banks, who consider him to be an underrated rapper, this won't disappoint at all. 3+r |
| Shawn Mendes Illuminate | 1.0 |
| shawn mendes simply lacks personality to set himself apart from the competition, with predictable lyrics and vulgar production not helping at all. 1+ |
| Audio Push 90951 | 2.0 |
| making a confident, enjoyable debut that will show people why you deserved one album released in the first place is not easy, and it shows why here. a stumble. 2- |
| How to Dress Well Care | 2.5 |
| i was never a big fan of how to dress well, and this won't convert me into one at all. if you enjoyed the other projects, you'll be okay with this. otherwise, move on. 2.5 |
| Ty Dolla Sign Campaign | 3.5 |
ty dolla focused on what it did best on free tc (the first half was amazing, only ruined
by the second half desired by his label) and the results could hardly be any better for
him. the beats have a lot of texture and layers to them, and ty sounds really good
over them. there are really good bangers like the track with quavo, but more laid back
moments like no justice, r&b, stealing and juice are when he shines, though. however,
the concept wasn't executed in the best way and the lyrics can get repetitive but they
don't ruin the experience at all. 3.5 |
| Mick Jenkins The Healing Component | 4.0 |
| i wasn't really looking forward to this album, even though i really enjoyed the waters but i simply hadn't put much attention into the singles he had dropped prior to this release. i gotta say, i was really impressed by the end result! there aren't many artists tackling the concept of love in the way mick did here, and that's easily the strongest aspect of this album. the concept is wonderfully realized thanks to jenkins' always-on-point lyricism and interesting skits that give another layer to the project (the glitches can become annoying, though). the beats are also fantastic and varied: in one moment, you're listening to a really chill track and after a few minutes, you see yourself listening to a kaytranada assisted jam that's probably the best track this album has to offer (communicate, btw). all in all, extremely good follow-up to the waters that actually plays like a sequel in more ways than one if you pay close attention. 4 |
| OG Maco Blvk Phil Collins | 1.0 |
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad 1 |
| Usher Hard II Love | 2.0 |
| this is nowhere nearly as good or even remotely interesting as blonde. bland, generic production mixed with the typically lame lyrics you would expect from an usher's album. there's no "climax" to save this project from disgrace this time around. 2 |
| Phantogram Three | 3.0 |
| i have never been a huge fan of phantogram, so it's nice to see them trying to do something else here. most of these tracks opt for a more gigantic, epic sound instead of that generic synth pop sound they used to go for in their previous records. still, there are better offerings out there but it's nice to see them trying to evolve their music nonetheless. 3 |
| Mac Miller The Divine Feminine | 3.0 |
| excellent prodution doesn't completely make up for the lack of interesting lyrics nor the fact that miller gets constantly overshadowed by the beats. a missed opportunity. 3 |
| Robert Glasper Experiment ArtScience | 3.5 |
| compelling fusion between jazz, r&b and autotune-heavy vocals. 3.5+ |
| Touche Amore Stage Four | 4.0 |
| hard to listen to at times but totally worth the trip. 4- |
| $uicideboy$ Eternal Grey | 3.0 |
| it has its moments but i was expecting something more off-the-wall, dark and experimental. they played it safe here. 3+ |
| Of Mice and Men Cold World | 1.0 |
| it's not that their core sound used to be good or anything but this is easily the bottom of the barrel for the band. atrocious vocals, indiferent lyrics and intrumentals that lack any kind of impact make for an album that will probably kill this band for good. 1- |
| M.I.A. AIM | 2.0 |
| everything that made m.i.a.'s first couple of albums so good is nowhere to be found here in this album. pretty much all the tracks feel mundane and bland considering she used to have a really creative mind and while she has almost always something to say, things never really go beyond the surface. another huge 2k16 disappointment. 2 |
| clipping. Splendor and Misery | 3.0 |
| i've been a clipping fan for a while, with clppng being one of my favorite albums this decade, but i just can't get into this album. the concept is great, but it's an issue. it compromises both the rapper's work and the experience musically speaking. it might make up for a nice first listen, but there's nothing here that justifies a second, or multiple listens. there are some good moments, of course, but everything in between those moments become a slog to listen to after a while. 3+ |
| Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree | 4.5 |
| i don't feel like i won't return to this anytime soon for obvious reasobs, but it's also an album that i see myself returning to if i need to. it's dark, haunting, sad and often painful but always sincere and with a light at the end of the tunnel, never melodramatic. 4.5- |
| Travis Scott Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight | 3.5 |
travis scott continues to impress with another dark, moody, creative and highly
enjoyable tape, one that includes an insane features' list, all doing a great job. if you
fucks with rodeo, this will prob go straight to your top 10. if you didn't survive the
rodeo, don't get yourself killed again. btw, amazing way to revive day'n'nite, shit.. 3.5+ |
| Isaiah Rashad The Sun's Tirade | 3.0 |
| i was anticipating this album a lot since cilvia demo was easily one of my projects of 2014. laid back production, amazing bars and isaiah going in out of nowhere on tracks like modest and soliloquy made it a standout of that year. so, my expectations were sky high for this one! did it deliver? eeeh, not all the way through imo. my biggest problem with this new album is that not only didn't he show any improvements in relation to his last project; he actually downgraded in many aspects. first, there a lack of wow moments unlike on the first tape. everything sounds too familiar across the whole thing, to the point that mid-way through i was actually bored of it. the sun's tirade is too mellow for its own good, and unfortunetly, the beats aren't the only thing creating that problem. worse than that is the fact that rashad feels like he's not even trying in most of these tracks, especially in "a lot". it sounds as if he was struggling to say his last words before dying. to make things even worse, the writing is not that good either. most of the time, he doesn't get too deep into the stuff he's tackling. he doesn't allow us to go inside his world in order to know him better. having said that, the album have some really good moments, especially during its first half. the singles were hot, just to begin with, and then we have shit like "wat's wrong" (kendrick delivering an amazing verse) and tity & dolla (once again, the guests doing their job). but these moments are not that great. there are no standout tracks! huge disappointment. 3+ |
| Devin Townsend Project Transcendence | 4.0 |
| an absolute return to form (didn't like epicloud all that much and there were some rflaws on their last double-album) from a band that keeps finding new ways of reinventing their sound, even after so many projects. trasncendence brings some aspects of devin's rolder material to the table, while introducing new elements that make all the rdiference. the solos on this are grander, bigger, more epic than ever, invoking more rmeaning to the lyrics that come before and after them. kudos to the drummer, excellent rwork all and throughout this shit. really, amazing album! 4 |
| G-Unit The Lost Flash Drive | 3.0 |
| if you like this group's work, definitely give this one a listen. it has some bangers. 3- |
| B.o.B AIR | 1.0 |
| further convinces me that he's one of the worst in the game right now. hilariously bad! 0 |
| Prophets of Rage The Party's Over | 1.0 |
| if albums were like games and had pre-alpha releases, this would probably be the end result. 0- |
| De La Soul and the Anonymous Nobody... | 3.0 |
| not a bad album at all, it has some really cool moments but.. 17 tracks? too much for a rconcept like this to work, and the project definitely loses some steam during its second half. could've been better, sometimes less is more. still, worth checking out. 3+ |
| Young Thug JEFFERY | 3.5 |
this is exactly the same shit we been
listening from him for a while now. only this
time, better. nothing has really changed,just
the quality of the overall tracks. some
tracks like pick up the phone and wycleaf
jean are defin dope but still, i hope he
creates something more original next time. it
worked this time around, might not work next
time, much like his last projects. 3.5- |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion: Side B | 4.0 |
| somehow she's keeping the momentum going with this ep full of b-sides from rlast year's satisfying emotions. some of these tracks sound even better than most of rwhat we found on her last project. 4- |
| Vince Staples Prima Donna | 3.5 |
| great concept but unlike in summertime, things don't come together all that well by the end of the project. loving the unorthodox beats for the most part tho, defin complement vince's delivery as well as the topics being tackled here. not everything works but ep's are made for experimenting, though. it's nice to see vince going out of his confort zone to try new things before he creates his next, hopefully great album. 3.5- |
| Britney Spears Glory | 1.5 |
| this might be a new sound for britney but it isn't a new one for the genre, at all. done before, done better. 1.5 |
| Frank Ocean Blonde | 4.5 |
| this is a mature, introspective release that will sound average first listen due to the way it builds things up, but it will also open up like a flower after many repeats. it's an album that sounds like it plays better in the background, but if you bring it to the foreground, you'll find how emotion-heavy and powerful it really is. is it better than channel orange? no. is that what people wanted it to be? no. does it stand on its own as another brilliant piece of work from one of today's most compelling artists? hell fuck yea. 4.5+ |
| Tory Lanez I Told You | 2.5 |
| tory lanez himself said we were about to get an album unlike anything else. mission failed. 2.5- |
| Ka Honor Killed The Samurai | 3.5 |
| ka delivers another dope album with a great concept that is complemented by bars on top of bars and beats that bring the picture he's trying to paint to a whole new level, all in all creating a very immersive project. not without its flaws but definitely worth checking out. 3.5+ |
| PARTYNEXTDOOR PARTYNEXTDOOR 3 (P3) | 2.0 |
| partynextdoor continues to croon in his latest ep. 2- |
| Rae Sremmurd SremmLife 2 | 3.5 |
| if you don't fuck with party music, you came to the wrong place. otherwise, bump this shit as loud as you can. 3.5- |
| DJ Khaled Major Key | 3.0 |
| by embracing his ridiculous, over the top but always hilarious persona, he created his best effor to date. the only listenable one, really. is it good? not exactly, but some of the tracks are great. 3 |
| Lil Uzi Vert The Perfect Luv Tape | 1.0 |
| uzi showing us why he's easily one of nowadays most boring and uncapable rappers. embarassing. 1 |
| Noname Telefone | 4.0 |
| noname has an amazing flow and delivery, putting to shame some male rappers out there tbh. not only that, her lyricism is incredibly on point and the prod make wonders for her style, creating a unique female body work defin worth checking out. 4- |
| Steve Aoki 4OKI | 1.5 |
| Bones (USA-CA) PaidProgramming2 | 3.0 |
| with this being the sequel to the great paidprogramming, i was expecting more but this is bones on auto-pilot. 3 |
| Gucci Mane Everybody Looking | 3.0 |
| Kemba Negus | 3.5 |
| yc brings political and social commentary to the table, getting really deep into those territories and making for a thought provoking experience only compromised by some prod issues. 3.5- |
| Lil Yachty Summer Songs 2 | 2.0 |
| just to show that he can't do much with his persona. he has clear limitations, and what was so appealing about him is starting to wear thin. 2- |
| Clams Casino 32 Levels | 3.0 |
| the tracks that are good are really good, the tracks that aren't really aren't. consistency is something casino needs to work on. 3 |
| Z-Ro Drankin & Drivin' | 3.5 |
| z-ro once again shows that he has perfect knowledge of his strenghts as a rapper and drops another banger. 3.5- |
| Brand New 3 Demos, Reworked | 3.5 |
| Ski Mask The Slump God Slaps For My Drop-Top Mini-Van | 2.5 |
| BADBADNOTGOOD IV | 3.5 |
| another good project but like the third one, there's.no real progression. it's good good but not good great. 3.5- |
| The Avalanches Wildflower | 3.5 |
| it's obviously not the game changer that their last album was, and wildflower overtsays its welcome more than a little bit but the first half is very strong, showing that even after all these years, their identity is still very vivid. while far from a masterpiece, it's definitely worth a listen. 3.5 |
| ScHoolboy Q Blank Face LP | 3.5 |
| schoolboy q has been trying to create a great album for a while now, but he certainly failed to do so every single time he tried. habits and contradictions never really went in after the haunting and dark sacrilegious, while oxymoron lost points with too many boring, uninspired club bangers that didn't have to be there at all. to be honest, this album right here faces many of the same problems the others had, even if this one is a tad better. his label made him put that overtime track as well as the track with candice, which are absolutely horrible tracks that don't even fit in the overal feel of the album. this project is a bit too long too, could've easily been cut out to like 60 minutes. 3.5+ |
| Big K.R.I.T. 12 For 12 | 1.5 |
| Snoop Dogg Coolaid | 1.5 |
| painfully bad from start to finish. he obviously tried to fit in todays' sound as well as to bring back the sound that made him a star in the first place. he completely failed on both fronts. even worse than bush.. 1.5 |
| blink-182 California | 2.0 |
| looks like they're not having fun at all, like when they once did. mid-life crisis at his most boring, i guess. 2 |
| Metronomy Summer 08 | 2.0 |
| Logic Bobby Tarantino | 2.0 |
| Blood Orange Freetown Sound | 3.5 |
| hey still need to focus more as far as the production goes. you can't do an album this long with prod so mellow and wavy that puts you to sleep in no minute. a step up from their previous tape, but it could and should've been way better. 3.5- |
| Desiigner New English | 2.0 |
| there are hints of potential here and there and it's not nearly as bad as i thought it would be but still, he bites too many styles and he never is his own and that ultimately hurts his music a lot. 2 |
| DJ Esco Project E.T.: Esco Terrestrial | 1.5 |
| Riff Raff Peach Panther | 2.0 |
| riff raff's latest offering doesn't come with the sense of humor that we came to expect from him. 2 |
| DJ Shadow The Mountain Will Fall | 2.0 |
| a good example of an artist getting betrayed by his own style. a sound that once put you in the spotlight doesn't necessarily mean that it will forever work in your favor. 2 |
| Corey Feldman Angelic 2 The Core | 1.5 |
| at least you can get some good laughs outta this shit, right? 1.5 |
| Lil Peep teen romance | 1.0 |
| Wale Summer On Sunset | 1.5 |
| here, you'll find some of wale's worst work to date. the beats are so dated and lame it's not even fun to listen to. same goes for the bars. 1.5- |
| The Game Streets of Compton | 2.0 |
| it's the soundtrack to a movie, after all. you just can't expect it to be any good, i guess. 2 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers The Getaway | 3.0 |
| it's your typical red hot chili peppers album: some amazing tracks - especially the singles - mixed with truly boring, outdated and out-of-place ones. still, a step forward in the good direction. 3+ |
| YG Still Brazy | 4.0 |
| i gotta say, i wasn't the biggest my krazy life fan. that album relied too much on dj mustard and it's features to really work and the concept lacked impact. for that reason, i wasn't really expecting much from still brazy but man, not only is this shit good when it comes to its concept, it also bangs! perfect release for the summertime, with all these amazing late-90's west coast, funky typa beats and catchy af hooks. a huge improvement for yg! 4+ |
| clipping. Wriggle | 3.5 |
| while not nearly as inventive and odd as the amazing "clppng", the industrial, noisy, well-textured beats still match davies' impressive flow and delivery, creating an ep that's hella fucking catchy. 3.5 |
| Lil Peep crybaby | 1.5 |
| Nick Jonas Last Year Was Complicated | 2.0 |
| there's no track here that sticks out. not because they are terrible. they're simply as lame and boring as you can get inside the genre. 2 |
| Jon Bellion The Human Condition | 3.0 |
| I don't get why people are saying this album is original. yea, jon bellion is rapping, singing, producing and literally doing everything here but that doesn't necessarily equals good. the album is pretty decent, but that's it. nothing here goes beyond being decent imo. good but not as good as many are making it out to be. he has potential, though. 3 |
| Apathy Handshakes With Snakes | 3.5 |
| Soulja Boy Better Late Than Never | 1.0 |
| Vic Mensa There's Alot Going On | 3.0 |
| he's definitely stepping up his game, can't deny it. lyrically, this is a huge step in relation to his previous work but there's still a lot to cover in this area. he needs to bring more consistency next time around as well. the later tracks aren't that good, especially when compared to the first three which are some of his best tracks to date imo. i see potential. 3+ |
| 600Breezy George Gervin: Ice Man Edition | 1.5 |
| no matter how good you spit, you just can't slide with so many poorly mixed, awfully produced tracks. 1.5 |
| Belly (CAN) Another Day In Paradise | 1.5 |
| Joey Purp iiiDrops | 3.5 |
| as far as newcomers go, this gotta be the standout of the year so far. a knack for hooks, a great ear for beats, nice punchlines throughout the tape and, most importantly, lots of personality. i will be surprised if he doesn't blow up in the upcoming months. 3.5 |
| Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman | 3.5 |
ariana grande combined the best things out of her two first albums and created
"dangerous woman" a much more marute, sexy yet fun project than those two. it's far
from perfect, especially in the lyrical department but the project is still a lot
of fun to go through. 3.5 |
| Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial | 4.0 |
| it's a bit on the lenghty side, which kinda makes the album exhausting to listen to at times but man, all of these tracks are absolute indie rock bliss. toledo rides every track as if he was living every word he's saying. 4+ |
| Die Antwoord Suck On This | 1.5 |
| nobody asked for them to return and here's the answer to why. 1.5- |
| The Underachievers It Happened In Flatbush | 4.0 |
| if you're expecting another evermore, you'll prob end up being disappointed. if all you want is some dope ass bangers, now that's another story. 4- |
| Havoc & The Alchemist The Silent Partner | 3.0 |
dope beats, as expected, but they are begging for more dope mc's to pop up over
them and that, unfortunetly, doesn't happen often enough. 3 |
| Que Lost Dawg | 2.5 |
| Meghan Trainor Thank You | 1.0 |
| this is another confirmation that she's one of pop's lamest female artists to ever exist. trying to emulate britney spears from start to finish really wasn't a good idea. she just can't pull that off. so bad.. 0 |
| Kygo Cloud Nine | 1.0 |
| so by the numbers it hurts. it's not even fun to listen to it during the summer. it's simply boring. 1 |
| Chance the Rapper Coloring Book | 2.5 |
| i don't understand how people can enjoy an album as awfully mixed as this one, especially considering we are in 2016. chance could've done an album about farts and you guys would still be applauding him. besides, the features, for the most part, did a lacklustre job and chance wasn't even doing his best here. not impressed, at all. 2.5+ |
| Payroll Giovanni and Cardo Big Bossin Vol. 1 | 3.0 |
| Masta Ace The Falling Season | 3.5 |
i can't believe no one is talking about this shit.. easily one of the best hip hop
releases this year, man! amazing story, just with a few shortcomings along the way. 3.5- |
| Post Malone August 26th | 3.0 |
| after listening to tracks like white iversion, i had no interest in keep listening to this guy's music. really thought he was another one trick pony but i gotta say, this mixtape turned out to be way better than what i was expecting. he has a great ear for melodies and while the lyrics are often basic, they are fun enough to go along with these cloudy beats that really work with malone's impressive use of autotune. not without its shortcomings, but still not that bad. 3- |
| Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool | 4.5 |
| if you're waiting for something innovative rand unlike anything you've experienced rbefore, chances are this will disappoint ryou. this time around, thom goes for a rmore minimalistic, simple, downright rbeautiful sound that perfectly complement rthe haunting lyrics, creating one of rradiohead's most melodic yet heartbreaking ralbums yet. a must-buy! 4.5- |
| Mike Posner At Night, Alone | 2.5 |
| some decent tracks here and there but everything is completely disposable. 2.5- |
| Bibi Bourelly Free The Real: Part 1 | 3.0 |
| While she definitely has some homework to do, especially when it comes to lyrics, there's lot of potential here. she's still very young so we'll see. i like her confidence. 3+ |
| Kaytranada 99.9% | 3.5 |
| hopefully, this is the project that will put him in the spotlight. the beats are so different from each other, with the celestin often going from funk to jazz, yet 99,9% never feels like a mess of an album. in the end, everything comes together perfectly, creating a very excentric, exciting, vibrant experience worth repeating again and again. excellent! 3.5+ |
| James Blake The Colour in Anything | 4.0 |
| without a doubt a strong contender for album of the year and easily blake's best offer to date. beautiful (my willing heart), melancholic (radio silence), rbizarre (two men down), emotional (choose me) and sometimes deeply heartbreaking (meet you in the maze), it's hard not to instantly fall in love with this. the lyrics are really inspiring and well-writen, james' vocals are immaculate and the production.. wow, the production! buy this! 4 |
| Death Grips Bottomless Pit | 4.5 |
| the most fun you will have with an album this year. what a blast! SPIKES SPIKES SPIKES SPIKES SPIKES SPIKES. 4.5- |
| $uicideboy$ Grey Sheep II | 3.5 |
| Drake Views | 2.5 |
| after the leaked tracks prior to this ralbum's release, i was afraid that we were rgonna get take care part 2. in other rwords, those tracks made me feel like we rwere about to get some dope tracks in the rmiddle of straight bs. i was praying that rviews would prove me wrong. it didn't. rthis exactly what i was expecting it to rbe, probably even worse. most of this rtracks are skippable and not something you rwould go for if you're trying to improve, rto show progression. the first half is reasily the best, wavy and more personal, rand it defin has its good moments, despite rsome really cringy struggle bars. the rsecond half is terrible tho, embrassing rthe side of drake that will never be good. rthe title track is the only redeeming one, rprobably the best track off of this shit, rreminding me of the best moments off riyrtitl. considering the amount of time we rhad to wait for this shit to drop, this rshit didn't deliver all the goods. it's rworth a few spins but nothing more. 2.5+ |
| De La Soul For Your Pain & Suffering | 2.5 |
| Aesop Rock The Impossible Kid | 4.0 |
| easily aes' most accessible offering in a while and, honestly, his best next to labor days and his last album. full of dark, raw, intentionally unpolished and nasty beats and creative, abstract lyricism, he created a very personal tale worth exploring. 4 |
| XXXTENTACION Willy Wonka Was A Child Murderer | 2.5 |
| Anna Wise The Feminine: Act 1 | 2.5 |
| Beyonce Lemonade | 3.5 |
| this is definitely her best album to date. an enhanced version of his last album. it's more mature, more adventurous, more dynamic. sonically, it's quite different from anything she has ever done, and while it may take time to embrace this new side of her, it's all for the best. 3.5+ |
| B.o.B EARTH | 1.0 |
| where are we? in the years b.c.? this shit feels that dated. 1- |
| ASAP Ferg Always Strive and Prosper | 2.0 |
| asap ferg tried to step out of his confort zone, the trap game, to show is full power in terms of versatility. while he managed to pull it off with some impressive flows and energy to spare, the tracks rarely make sense when we try to join them together to create the bigger picture. the message got lost along the way and, worst of all, some of these tracks aren't even good as standalone tracks (world is mine; strive). there are hints of something truly great here (psycho is defin one of his best tracks so far) and the harder tracks still hit (new level, let it bang) but something went really wrong. the middle portion is good but the album truly starts and ends in a rather false note. this is not a bad album, but it's definitely one of the most disappointing ones so far this year. 2- |
| Dj Quik and Problem Rosecrans | 3.0 |
| XXXTENTACION ItWasntEnough | 2.5 |
| Lil Uzi Vert Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World | 1.5 |
| J Dilla The Diary | 2.0 |
| Royce da 5'9 Layers | 3.0 |
| i was expecting way more from royce, especially after the amazing ep he dropped a few weeks ago, but what we got here is still very solid, with great storytelling and lyrical mastery. a bit too commercial for my taste tho. 3+ |
| Sturgill Simpson A Sailor's Guide To Earth | 4.0 |
| easily the best country album i heard since "casualties of cool", even though this one is way more straight forward and, sonically, more country-focused. the lyrics are absolute gold. 4- |
| Krizz Kaliko Go | 2.0 |
| i understand what he's trying to do and he surely have the best of intentions with all these personal themes and all but i just don't think his voice his layered enough to pull most of these tracks off and the intrumentals are often very basic and bland. i'm not feeling the lyrics as well, he never gets too deep inside the topics he tackles. not bad but i just think he left too much to be desired, there's a lot of room for improvement imo. 2+ |
| Sylvan LaCue Far from Familiar | 3.0 |
| nowhere near as good as the amazing searching sylvan. the heart is still there. the ambition is still there. the quality, not so much. the prodution is often sloppy and lame and, apparently, sylvan forgot to bring quest's energy, cleverness and creativity into the scene. it's a solid album, don't get me wrong, but it's also a truly disappointing and unremarkable one. 3- |
| Deftones Gore | 3.5 |
| by no means one of deftones' best albums but incredibly, it still shows progression. how is it possible for a band with almost 30 years to keep evolving? especially considering they never bring the same sound again, they are always renewing themselves but of course, without throwing out their uniqueness. gore is another brilliant creation from one of the most consistent bands ever, regardless of genre. amazing! 3.5+ |
| Dej Loaf All Jokes Aside | 1.0 |
| there's nothing here that shows me that she should be in this business. 1 |
| Gallant Ology | 3.0 |
| gallant shows a lot of talent when it comes to lyrics and his vocals definitely bring those lyrics to life, painting a vivid picture of what's talking about. there are room for improvement and i felt like the project overstayed its welcome a little bit but this was a surprise, to be honest. gallant is in a league of his own, and it will be up to people to decide if he deserves to be in the spotlight. he's good! 3+ |
| TWENTY88 TWENTY88 | 2.0 |
| these two usually have good chemistry together but here, everything feels forced. every track is basic, corny and boring af. it's not as bad as big sean's first two albums but it's still a bad tape. 2- |
| dvsn Sept. 5th | 3.5 |
| the content and lyrics always run around the same idea and it can defin get stale for some people but thanks to passionate, powerful vocals and beautiful melodies, things never get boring and this is one of the most interesting r&b debuts in a while. definitely the best one coming out from ovo imo but they still miss something unique to distance themselves from the other members of the group. the biggest issue ovo is facing right now, actually. 3.5- |
| Terrace Martin Velvet Portraits | 3.5 |
| even though the album is always consistently good, i feel like terrace martin didn't shine on his own album, while other artists like kamasi washington and harrold completely stole the show when they got the opportunity to do so. good album but i feel like martin could've created something way more special than this. 3.5- |
| Japanese Breakfast Psychopomp | 4.0 |
| Weezer The White Album | 4.5 |
| weezer finally decide to go back to the sound that put them on the map in the first place and with that, great results arise. some of these tracks would be a fucking success if they had been released during the 90's, you can't help but smile while listening to this shit. finally, you can replay a weezer album! seriously, it get better with every listen. 4.5+ |
| Brockhampton All-American Trash | 3.0 |
| Royce da 5'9 Tabernacle: Trust The Shooter | 3.5 |
| if this is any indication of what to expect from his next album "layers", then i'm really really excited to listen to it! full of wow moments thanks to amazing punchlines, crazy flows and even emotional stories, this is one of the best mixtapes of the year so far and probably royce's best effort so far along with phryme. really, really good! 3.5 |
| SBTRKT Save Yourself | 1.0 |
| i'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish here, borrowing songs from other artists like the-dream and stuff but i didn't enjoy the idea at all and whatever message they were trying to throw at us didn't land. i'm confused and it seems like i'm not the only one! 1 |
| Currensy Weed & Instrumentals | 2.0 |
| easily the worst thing he dropped in a while. he needs to stick to what makes him a dope rapper. 2 |
| Young Thug Slime Season 3 | 3.0 |
| young thug sticks to his formula. if you like rthugga,you'll enjoy this tape. if you want rsomething new, search anywhere else. 3 |
| Zayn Mind of Mine | 3.0 |
| i really want to like this album. there are some great moments here and there and zayn's vocals never allow boring beats to completely ruin a song. the problem is that he borrowed too many elements from other artists - frank ocean, miguel, usher, nerd, xx and many more - and it lacks the personality needed for a debut album to truly shine. the lyrics and content can run a bit stale towards the end too. i see potential though, so i'm expecting him to drop something way better in a couple of years from now, much like timberlake did. nice debut but not what it should've been.. 2.5 |
| Domo Genesis Genesis | 3.0 |
| this defin a step forward in relation to his last tapes and i see myself playing this during work and shit but domo still lacks the skills necessary to create something truly special like he tried to do here. he doesn't particularly have a distinctive voice, his lyrics are just okay, no direction musically.. it's a decent project if you're okay with the obvious flaws. 3+ |
| Lucki Son Of Sam | 1.0 |
| i can't seem to find out what's so interesting about him. i'm done with him. 0 |
| Gwen Stefani This Is What the Truth Feels Like | 1.5 |
| gwen stefani was never a good artist to begin with and getting older just made things worse. terrible.. 1.5 |
| Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | 2.5 |
| ILOVEMAKONNEN Drink More Water 6 | 3.0 |
| not much in the way of improvement but it has his moments. if you like his music, peep it. 3- |
| Iglooghost Little Grids | 4.0 |
| Soulja Boy Stacks on Deck | 1.0 |
| Flatbush Zombies 3001: A Laced Odyssey | 3.5 |
| here, each of them bring their absolute best to the table and everything comes together in an almost perfect way, even though they're completely different from each other. erick once again proves that he's one of the most talented producers working right now. dope af project from start to finish! 3.5+ |
| Elzhi Lead Poison | 3.5 |
| what this tape lacks in terms of sound, it more than makes up for it with amazing, deeply personal lyricism with a lot of relatable stuff in it. another solid work by one of the most underrated rappers around. 3.5 |
| Lil Yachty Lil Boat | 2.5 |
| i tend to like yacthi when he's a guest, but i just don't think he works when it comes to creating a whole body of work. not that i don't like silly records but he's too indulgent and not funny enough to carry a lp from start to finish. there are some dope tracks bere, but others fall short in comparison. 2.5 |
| Denzel Curry Imperial | 4.0 |
| easily one of the best hip hop projects so far this year. hard-hitting and raw but ralways fun and catchy, there's no reason for you to skip this one. if all you want ris some bangers, grab this! there's still room for improvement tho, and that's a rgood thing. 4 |
| 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne Collegrove | 1.0 |
| i'm done with both. they are at the very bottom of the barrel at this point. 1.5r |
| Bas Too High to Riot | 2.5 |
| i like what he's trying to do here. i just don't think he's the right person to do it. he's not compelling to listen to and i always feel like he's under cole's shadows. 2.5+ |
| Kendrick Lamar untitled unmastered. | 4.0 |
| definitely a very interesting ep to listen to, especially because it feels like an expansion of to pimp a butterfly, but i just can't ignore the fact that some of these tracks feel a bit unpolished and incomplete. kendrick is a perfectionist, so listening to this unmastered ep is a bit weird coming from him.. can't lie! somehow, this ep manages to sound better than most albums released throughout the year. worth a few spins for what it is! 4- |
| Flume Skin | 3.0 |
| the sound he creates is still compelling to listen to but it feels by the numbers instead of feeling like the dynamic, fluid experience that his debut was. 3- |
| Macklemore and Ryan Lewis This Unruly Mess I've Made | 1.5 |
| macklemore tried to create an intentionally messy album to see if people would buy into the idea but the end result just feels like a boring, lazy af mess. terrible in pretty much every front. 1.5+ |
| Charli XCX Vroom Vroom | 3.0 |
| couldn't disagree more with the majority of the scores being given to this ep. people are probably shitting all over the tape because it's from charli xcx, who dropped a very overrated, underwhelming pop album two years ago but now that she joined forces with sophie, things got waaaay more interesting, with all these glitchy, dynamic beats fitting charli's energy perfectly. terribly underrated imo, even if i agree that it never reaches its full potential. 3+ |
| French Montana Wave Gods | 2.0 |
| the ultimate mass destruction of dope ass beats. 2- |
| Yo Gotti The Art of Hustle | 2.5 |
| definitely not what we came to expect from yo gotti, who's capable of doing much more than what he did here. there are no standout tracks, no surprises.. it's just an album to play once. 2.5 |
| BJ the Chicago Kid In My Mind | 3.0 |
| nice mixture of r&b and hip hop and bj definitely carries the album with ease from start to finish but the topics could've been more varied. good, but not essencial. it falls a bit too much into old r&b cliches. 3+ |
| Kirko Bangz Playa Made | 1.0 |
| more of the same but now with even less appeal. 1 |
| Kanye West The Life of Pablo | 2.5 |
| the production is great all across the board but that's not enough to hide the fact that the lyrics are even lazier than the ones from his previous album. aside from tracks like real friends, waves, 30 hours, ultralight beam and no more parties in la, everything feels bland or half-cooked. kanye tried to create the best album ever but something went wrong cause this is easily is worst effort to date. 2.5+ |
| Currensy The Carrollton Heist | 3.0 |
| somehow, these two came together and made things work. it kinda left me wanting more, though. even if i don't see myself returning to this all that often. it's makes for a good listen but it there is room for improvement if they decide to do something else together again. 3+ |
| Soulja Boy Finesse | 1.0 |
| Bones (USA-CA) Useless | 3.5 |
| not as good as his previous effort but it's still makes up for an enjoyable listen for people who follow bones. 3.5- |
| Wiz Khalifa Khalifa | 2.0 |
| doesn't seem to me that he's having fun creating music cause this sounds boring af. 2- |
| Dizzy Wright Wisdom and Good Vibes | 2.0 |
| Young Thug I'm Up | 2.0 |
| much like future, young thug is more worried about the amount of tapes that he's able to drop per year than releasing projects that are actually good to listen to. 4.0/10 |
| Majid Jordan Majid Jordan | 2.5 |
the most okay r&b album you'll ever gon listen to along with bryson tiller's trap
soul. boring. 2.5 |
| Future EVOL | 2.5 |
40 minutes of music that sounds exactly like his other tapes but with even less
appeal. i'm failing to see him evolving. it's worth listening, especially for
future fans, and it defin bangs harder than purple reign but he's slowly showing
he's very one-dimensional and predictable af. he can be creative at times but
dropping tapes back and forth? that's destroying his songcraft skills imo. 2.5+ |
| $uicideboy$ Dark Side of the Clouds | 3.5 |
| Fetty Wap Zoo 16 | 1.5 |
| Jazz Cartier Hotel Paranoia | 3.0 |
| i understand why people like this project, respecially considering that the concept of rthe album works perfectly on paper. rhowever, what i got here was a half-cooked rtape with boring beats, an overly moody ratmosphere and a not-so-convincing mc, reven though he shows versatility. not rfeeling this but he defin has potential. r6.0/10 |
| Meek Mill 4/4 Pt. 2 | 2.0 |
| my favorite part of the ep was dave east's verse tbh. war paint was decent but came out too late. the rest is not that good. 2+ |
| Sia This Is Acting | 2.0 |
| all these lyrics had been written for other artists to create a song out of them but for some reason, that never happened. sia picked up those lyrics and tried to create an album full of outtakes but, unfortunetly, pretty much every single track feels exactly like that: an outtake. sia's powerful vocals aren't enough to bring this project back to life and, all in all, it's a downright disappointing follow-up to 1000 forms of fear. 2- |
| Rihanna ANTI | 2.5 |
| this is defin a much more mature album compared to his previous ones but it sees rihanna trying to perform well in a lot of different genres and, as expected, not everything works that well. it's a mix bag. 2.5+ |
| Stalley Saving Yusuf | 2.5 |
| i like the ideas behind the album but stalley completely fails to capitalize on the potentials of those ideas. ideas alone don't make an album good. 2.5 |
| Charlie Puth Nine Track Mind | 1.0 |
| absolutely dreadful. his voice lacks personality and presence but even if he had the right one, this album would've been terrible with all these g-rated, boring tracks. 0+ |
| Rockie Fresh The Night I Went To... | 3.0 |
| the middle section of the album gets a bit stale and almost hurts the album completely but it starts off strong and ends up in equal measure. it's definitely worth checking out if you just want to have some fun. 3+ |
| Currensy The Owners Manual | 2.0 |
| a major letdown after his last two projects, which were way better than this. currensy tried to go for a darker vibe but he completely failed to create anything remotely interesting. not even the beats are that good. 2- |
| Lil Peep Vertigo | 1.5 |
| B.o.B FIRE | 2.0 |
| it's as good as the cover. just as dumb too. 2- |
| Future Purple Reign | 2.5 |
| coming from dirty sprites 2, this was quite disappointing. nothing here grabbed my attention, it's very short on surprises. he's getting too confortable with his style and that is taking the best out of him imo. his past mixtapes were a lot more exciting than this. not working for me! 2.5+ |
| Meek Mill 4/4 | 2.5 |
| meek mill shows that he's still not over all that drake drama and his new beef with 50 is just as dumb. the beats bang hard but everything else is just cringeworthy. 2.5- |
| Lil Peep California Girls | 1.0 |
| Torae Entitled | 3.5 |
| as an introduction to torae's work, untitled defin left a good impression on me. from the content to his vicious flow and nice, varied selection of beats, this is a damn solid tape. 3.5 |
| Anderson .Paak Malibu | 4.0 |
| always truthful to his roots, anderson .paak released an album that solidifies him as one of the most talented r&b artists of this new generation and it will be on many top 15 lists by the end of the year. his last projects were just hints of talent and here, he fully explored his potential. he should've never released this during winter, though. 4- |
| Sadistik Salo Sessions | 1.5 |
| I really hope this isn't the sound that we'll find on his next project. boring and uninspired. 1.5- |
| Ka The Superfly Single | 3.5 |
| The-Dream Genesis | 3.0 |
| going for a darker vibe doesn't always work, especially if you're an artist that don't try different styles all too often. thankfully, things went pretty well here! while the lyrics are nothing to write home about, the atmosphere created around the tracks brings all of them together to create what almost feels like a cinematic experience. probably his best effort to date. 3.0+ |
| Z-Ro Solid | 3.0 |
| z-ro sticks to his old formula and does it more than well. 3 |
| KSI Keep Up (EP) | 1.0 |
| the first contender for worst album of the year. 0- |
| David Bowie Blackstar | 4.5 |
| The album is musically astonishing and would be a great body of work even without bowie's death but thematically, his ultimate faith gave a whole new meaning to this project. a beautiful yet moving and thought provoking way to say goodbye to the world. david was always a step ahead of everyone and everything. that didn't change here. an instant classic! 4.5- |
| OG Maco The Lord of Rage | 2.0 |
| easily one of his worst projects so far. hopefully, his debut album won't sound like this at all. 2- |
| Blackbear Drink Bleach | 2.0 |
| 2015 |
| Kid Ink Summer In The Winter | 1.0 |
| i don't even have to tell you this is the same old song ya know.. 1 |
| Timbaland King Stays King | 2.0 |
| some tracks are pretty decent but others aren't up to par with the sound of nowadays. 2 |
| Busta Rhymes The Return Of The Dragon | 2.5 |
| this isn't the the project that will bring busta back to his times of greatness. 2.5- |
| Ariana Grande Christmas and Chill | 2.0 |
| Sylvan LaCue Evangeline | 3.0 |
| a hint at what sylvan is about to bring this time around, and not a very good one. 3- |
| Lil Ugly Mane Oblivion Access | 3.5 |
| easily the most accessible projects lil rugly mane has dropped so far, even though this is a trippy trip through his unstable, crazy mind. good thing he chose to keep making music.. 3.5 |
| Pusha T King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude | 4.0 |
| if you're expecting pusha t to talk about things that have nothing to do with his drug wealth, you're gonna be disappointed but if you've been on board with him for a while, you're gon love this project for sure! the not so good "my name is my name" wasn't nearly as good as it could've been because it lacked focus and direction. on "darkest before dawn" however, you won't find those completely unecessary fillers anymore. he's dropping bars after bars about his favorite topic, trying to make us believe how nasty and unrelenting is drug life is, two words that very well define this project. well worth the 30 minutes! 4 |
| Wiz Khalifa Cabin Fever 3 | 1.5 |
| more of the same old bs, it's not even fun anymore tbh.. 1.5- |
| Willow Smith Ardipithecus | 1.0 |
| R. Kelly The Buffet | 2.0 |
| August Alsina This Thing Called Life | 3.0 |
| by getting more personal and introspective, august created his best effort to date. nothing out of the ordinary, though. 3 |
| Archy Marshall A New Place 2 Drown | 3.0 |
| from the very smooth instrumentatals to the topics being tackled throughout the tape, almost everything comes together to create a very moody, chilling and relatable experience. it lacks replay value, though. completely! 3+ |
| 50 Cent The Kanan Tape | 3.0 |
| i fucks with body bags, i'm the man and burner on me but other than that, there's nothing too crazy to be found here. way better than his last two tapes, tho! 3+ |
| Stitches For Drug Dealers Only | 1.0 |
| Kid Cudi Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven | 1.0 |
| I get the need for people to make the excuse that this album has nothing to do with hip hop and kid cudi is trying new things here. i get it, i really do! however, that doesn't make the music that is on display here any better. lyrics, production, delivery, concept.. everything is falling flat here! easily one of the worst projects of the year, regardless of genre. 0- |
| Sheek Louch Silverback Gorilla 2 | 1.0 |
| just your typical amateurish project, not worth listening at all. just like the faggot up there said. 0 |
| G-Eazy When It's Dark Out | 1.5 |
| Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams | 1.5 |
| coldplay completely lost their identity with this album.. 3.0/10 |
| B.o.B WATER | 1.5 |
| Rick Ross Black Market | 2.5 |
| Definitely his best work since Teflon Don but that's not saying much, i guess.. Can't shake the feeling that someone else should be spitting dope bars over these beats instead of him! 2.5+ |
| NxWorries Link Up & Suede | 2.5 |
| taking into account the talented artists that we're talking about, this project is quite disappointing. Hopefully, their next project will be way better than what we got here. 2.5+ |
| Christina Milian 4U | 2.5 |
| Currensy Canal Street Confidential | 3.0 |
| coming from pilot talk 3, i was expecting a bit more from this release right here but what we got is still dope af. 3+ |
| Lil Peep Live Forever | 1.0 |
| Fetty Wap For My Fans | 1.5 |
| Bones (USA-CA) HermitOfEastGrandRiver | 3.5 |
| for people who dig bone's music, this is easily one of his best mixtapes so far. it's full of dark and wavy vibes, the hooks are very memorable and, like always, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. 3.5 |
| Pope Francis Wake Up! | 1.0 |
| Chris Brown Before the Party | 1.5 |
| Major Lazer Peace Is The Mission: Extended | 1.5 |
| Yo Gotti CM8 | 3.0 |
| at this point, we're just getting a bunch of filler material. still, these tracks are pretty decent but what he really needs to do is to drop something bigger than this, a full project! 3 |
| SAFE Stay Down | 3.0 |
| there are lots of potential here, he just needs to push the envelope a bit more. 3+ |
| Lil Bibby Free Crack 3 | 4.0 |
| Lil Wayne No Ceilings 2 | 1.5 |
| Rick Ross Renzel Remixes | 1.5 |
| Waka Flocka Flame Flockaveli 1.5 | 3.5 |
| if you understand the nature of waka flocka's music and all this new generation of hip hop, you'll enjoy this mixtape. if not, there's nothing here for you. 3.5- |
| Chris Brown Royalty | 1.5 |
| way worse than his previous album. skip it. 1.5 |
| Foo Fighters Saint Cecilia | 2.5 |
| Tech N9ne Strangeulation Vol. II | 2.0 |
| Big K.R.I.T. All My Life | 2.0 |
| Adele 25 | 3.0 |
| an amazing voice let down by painfully boring and tepid ballads. There are hints of greatness here and there but the overall offering is downright disappointing! 3 |
| ILOVEMAKONNEN ILOVEMAKONNEN2 | 3.0 |
| better than the first entry imo i'm loving the harmonies on the track "forever" and the other tracks are dope too but man, even though his oddity as an artist gives his music a certain appeal, it also makes it tricky to enjoy it at times! i still like what he did on this ep but it certainly isn't for everyone! you gotta understand what he's doing in here, otherwise you're gonna hate this project. 3+ |
| Que I Am Que | 3.5 |
| great selection of beats, catchy hooks and varied flows keep this tape entertaining throughout the 40 minutes. 3.5 |
| Freddie Gibbs Shadow of a Doubt | 4.5 |
| i understand that this album doesn't sound like pinata at all but as far as gangsta rap go, i don't think you will find any other project better than this one in 2015! freddie gibbs just keeps showing how diverse he is as a rapper and how capable he is to appeal to all masses. top 5 material imo! 4.5- |
| Erykah Badu But You Caint Use My Phone | 3.0 |
| I understand what she's trying to do on this mixtape and it's definitely fun to listen to in spots (and that last track, great). However, things don't always work and the end result is far from memorable or consistently entertaining, at least as far as i'm concerned. still, this is a free mixtape, so it's worth giving it a spin! 3 |
| Jeezy Church In These Streets | 2.0 |
| One Direction Made In The A.M. | 2.0 |
| Justin Bieber Purpose | 2.5 |
| Ty Dolla Sign Free TC | 3.5 |
i'm in love with the first part of the project but the second half is nowhere near
as good. i will have the first part on heavy rotation for a while with tracks like la and horses on the stable taking the spotlight but man, this could've been much better! 3.5- |
| Le1f Riot Boi | 3.5 |
| definitely not for everyone but lef1 is so comitted to his way of doing hip hop that you can't help but to enjoy the ride along with him. 3.5- |
| Daniel Caesar Pilgrim's Paradise | 4.0 |
| Nolan the Ninja f-ck the hype. | 3.5 |
| GoldLink And After That, We Didn't Talk | 2.5 |
| he really needs to improve on the singing and lyrics! he's surely talented but he still has a long road to walk if he wants to blow up.. 2.5+ |
| Young Thug Slime Season 2 | 2.5 |
| Lloyd Banks Halloween Havoc 2 | 3.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Make America Psycho Again | 1.0 |
| Logic The Incredible True Story | 2.5 |
| while this is a clear step up in the right direction for logic, it's not a huge one! he's still borrowing heavily from other artists instead of doing something for himself. he really wants to give us a masterpiece and i feel like he has the potential to do that but not if he keeps being someone else instead of himself. 2.5+ |
| Kirk Knight Late Knight Special | 3.0 |
| MED, Blu and Madlib Bad Neighbor | 3.0 |
| Car Seat Headrest Teens of Style | 3.0 |
| Roots Manuva Bleeds | 3.0 |
| Iglooghost Chinese Nü Yr | 4.0 |
| Demi Lovato Confident | 2.5 |
| nothing comes closer to cool for the summer. not that confident after all. 2.5- |
| DJ Khaled I Changed a Lot | 1.0 |
| The Chainsmokers Bouquet | 1.5 |
| 5 Seconds of Summer Sounds Good Feels Good | 2.5 |
| Ransom Soul Killa | 2.5 |
| Chris Rivers Medicated Consumption | 2.5 |
| DRAM Gahdamn! | 3.0 |
| DNCE Swaay | 3.0 |
| Marianas Trench Astoria | 3.5 |
| you can argue that they are borrowing certain chracteristics from other acts but you can't deny that they've come through with their own style and a bunch of amazing pop rock tracks that fit well with each other. very well put together album imo! 3.5- |
| 11:11 11:11 | 3.0 |
| solid r&b efforts but nothing really outstanding imo.. 3- |
| Scru Face Jean Another Night | 3.0 |
| nice beats but he still needs to improve on everything else to make something better than this. 3- |
| Machine Gun Kelly General Admission | 1.5 |
| Raury All We Need | 3.0 |
| i'm pretty sure this guy will drop a great album in a few years from now. he's still very young and has all the time in the world to learn from his mistakes and how to capitalize on his strenghts. 3+ |
| Beach House Thank Your Lucky Stars | 3.0 |
| while it's more interesting than depression cherry, it's still a very disappointing release. not a good year for beach house. less often means more.. 3 |
| Nothing But Thieves Nothing But Thieves | 4.0 |
| The Game The Documentary 2.5 | 4.0 |
| easily the best work he dropped since the documentary, probably even surprassing it in terms of quality. the documentary 2 offered more of a compilation rather than a true album but this shit right here brings a much more compelling listen from beggining to end. gang bang anyway and the guetto are amazing standout tracks! 4 |
| Jadakiss #T5DOA | 1.5 |
| jadakiss' #t5doa is a bad album from start to finish but jada feels so pretentious on all of these songs that it ends up being an awful album. 1.5+ |
| Big K.R.I.T. It's Better This Way | 3.5 |
| another perfect example of why i prefer big krit's mixtapes over his commercial projects. his music comes off with much more energy and personality, especially on the track "86". 3.5 |
| Ty Dolla Sign Airplane Mode | 1.0 |
| Eearz Eearz to da Streets | 2.0 |
| Kelela Hallucinogen | 2.5 |
| she's trying too much to sound like fka twigs. if not, she's still sounding like her. a worse version of her, btw.. 2.5+ |
| The Game The Documentary 2 | 3.0 |
| there are a lot of tracks here that i really like, especially in the first half of the project, but pretty much everything falls flat in the second half. documentary 2 doesn't feel like an album to me.. 3+ |
| Abandoned Mall Arcade Abandoned Mall Arcade | 2.5 |
| Chedda Da Connect Chedda World "The Album" | 1.0 |
| Robb Banks Year of the Savage | 2.5 |
| Kyle Smyle | 2.5 |
| Dave East Hate Me Now | 3.0 |
| Tamar Braxton Calling All Lovers | 3.0 |
| she still has the vocals to deliver a solid effort. 3 |
| Apollo Brown Grandeur | 4.0 |
| apollo brown blessing us once again with insane samples and pretty much every guest does his/her job right. 4- |
| G Herbo Ballin Like I'm Kobe | 3.5 |
| another dope entry on this drill scene but not quite on pair with his two previous releases imo but still dope af! 3.5- |
| Bones (USA-CA) Frayed | 2.0 |
| Run the Jewels Meow the Jewels | 1.0 |
| Disclosure Caracal | 2.5 |
| one of the most disappointing albums of the year. after the excellence that settle was, this really feels like a stab.. there are solid moments but nothing really makes me want to play this again. 2.5+ |
| Fetty Wap Fetty Wap | 2.5 |
| fetty wap has potential but he can't simply copy and paste trap queen and expect things to work. it will work for the masses, though. 2.5 |
| Paul Wall slab god | 2.5 |
| Big Grams Big Grams | 3.0 |
| corny lyrics all over the place and the two acts never come together.. 3 |
| Bryson Tiller T R A P S O U L | 3.0 |
| this guy definitely has potential to become really big but this project is simply too formulaic for me to love it. there's no moment here that wowed me and he's borrowing too many elements from drake. however, it's also a tape hard to dislike. 3+ |
| Blended Babies The Anderson Paak (EP) | 3.0 |
| while not perfect, this ep serves as another way of displaying anderson paak's many talents as an artist. 3 |
| Joe Budden All Love Lost | 3.5 |
| the album is very repetitive and overly sentimental at its core but you can't deny how sincere and personal he's getting on all of these tracks! he's throwing everything at us all at once and many of those things are very relatable. if you like that stuff, this one is a must listen. 3.5- |
| Milo So The Flies Don't Come | 3.5 |
| loving the metaphorical and abstract vibe of this album. by far milo's most interesting work to date but it won't work for everyone, especially for those who like more straight forward hip hop. not his fault, though! 3.5- |
| The Underachievers Evermore: The Art of Duality | 4.0 |
| i enjoyed indigoism and cellar door quite a bit but those projects didn't really wowed me that much and the other tape they had dropped wasn't that good so i couldn't say i was a fan of them. i can say that now! 4- |
| Drake and Future What a Time to Be Alive | 2.5 |
| Lil Peep Lil Peep Part One | 1.0 |
| Lana Del Rey Honeymoon | 2.0 |
| Do Or Die Picture This 2 | 2.0 |
| Charles Hamilton The Black Box | 2.5 |
| it's good to have him here again, healthy and shit but musically, this is not a good comeback at all. 2.5- |
| Blackalicious Imani Vol. 1 | 3.0 |
| the first half of the album is pretty good but then, things start to fall apart out of nowhere. still, it makes for a nice listen but don't expect something like blazing arrow. 3+ |
| Danny Seth Perception | 3.0 |
| lots of potential here but he needs work lyrically. his voice can be annoying at times too and the concept feels forced.. 3- |
| Mac Miller GO:OD AM | 3.5 |
| mac still has that monotone voice but he's bringing more flows, lots of energy and dope bars this time around, quickly making me forget about he's more obvious flaws. i'm not a fan of him yet but this is a damn solid project, easily his best one to date. a tad too long, though! 3.5 |
| Jay Rock 90059 | 3.5 |
| i'm loving some of these tracks, especially the ones from the first half of the album but after all those great singles and amazing guest verses jay rock has been dropping lately, i was expecting something bigger and more epic than this. not his masterpiece but i still enjoy it a lot. 3.5 |
| Little Simz A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons | 3.5 |
| dopest project i heard from a hip hop female artist in a while. even better than rapsody's latest effort imo! this shows that girls can also do conscious rap right.. 3.5- |
| Young Thug Slime Season | 3.0 |
| dope collection of tracks but young thug as yet to prove that he can carry a project from start to finish. this gets old rather quickly. 3 |
| Bring Me the Horizon That's the Spirit | 2.5 |
| T.I. Da' Nic | 2.5 |
| Kwabs Love + War | 3.0 |
| most of these tracks are simply average at best. not feeling the hype surrounding this release.. 3- |
| HELLFYRE CLUB The Catcher of the Fade | 3.5 |
| four random but dope af tracks from open mike eagle & co. 3.5- |
| OG Maco 10 Moons 2 | 1.5 |
| Nickelus F and Shawn Kemp Trick Dice | 3.5 |
| for those who want more lil ugly mane material, you won't be left disappointed with this compilation of tracks at all. definitely worth peeping it for what it is.. 3.5 |
| K Camp Only Way Is Up | 1.5 |
| Scarface Deeply Rooted | 3.0 |
| i enjoyed the first half quite a bit but then, he started to dwelve into some really corny stuff and things got kinda weird.. 3 |
| The Wonder Years No Closer to Heaven | 3.5 |
| i don't think this is as good as many are saying it is but it's still a solid pop punk album, no doubt. great delivery from the vocalist but i'm not feeling the way some songs are structured! 3.5 |
| Travis Scott Rodeo | 4.0 |
| an album that i feel it's ahead of its time by the fact that people are not yet ready to try to understand this sub genre of hip hop. for those who already get it, this is easily the best project of its kind so far. stunning production values and great harmonies all rover the tracks make this a really great project and a huge step up in the direction from travis scott. 4+ |
| Rick Ross Black Dollar | 2.5 |
| Hit-Boy Zoomin' | 2.5 |
| Young Dro Da Reality Show | 1.0 |
| Miley Cyrus Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz | 1.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco Pharaoh Height | 3.0 |
| for lupe fiasco fans only, i guess. the last track is absolutely flames, though! 3- |
| Halsey Badlands | 1.5 |
| Erick Sermon E.S.P. (Erick Sermon's Perception) | 1.5 |
| can't say many things about this project other than it sounds cheap and boring. 1.5- |
| Crazy Town The Brimstone Sluggers | 2.0 |
| Beach House Depression Cherry | 3.0 |
| i never found myself amused by the songs on display here, to be point of boredom tbh.. 3- |
| The Weeknd Beauty Behind the Madness | 3.5 |
| yeah you might call this a sell out move but as far as sell out moves go, this one worked quite well! it doesn't have the atmosphere that his first three mixtapes had but as a pop album, it doesn't many things right! 3.5+ |
| Tyga Fuk Wat They Talkin Bout | 1.5 |
| Bones (USA-CA) Banshee | 3.5 |
| moody, dark and spacey, banshee is one of bones' most cohesive albums thus far. a highlight on his controversial and rather huge discography. 3.5 |
| Jess Glynne I Cry When I Laugh | 2.0 |
| Method Man The Meth Lab | 2.5 |
| Mick Jenkins Wave[s] | 3.0 |
| heavily flawed but it needed to be this way so he can invest on the things that worked and implement those things on his follow up to the incredible the waters! still, tracks like p's and q's and the alchemy more than make up for the flaws.. 3+ |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion | 4.0 |
| even though this album is far from being perfect, you can't deny how surprising it is to see the girl from call me maybe releasing a project this good and memorable. some of these tracks are really, really good! 4- |
| Cal Chuchesta The New CALassic | 2.5 |
| Young Dirty Bastard Straight Outta Brooklyn | 1.0 |
| B.o.B Psycadelik Thoughtz | 2.0 |
| Yo Gotti The Return Of Cocaine Muzik Pt 2 | 2.0 |
| FKA Twigs M3LL155X | 4.0 |
| if you like trip hop, especially fka twigs, there's no reason for you not to like this. she continues to push the envelope with very successful results. 4- |
| Chevy Woods The 48 Hunnid Project | 1.5 |
| Gangrene You Disgust Me | 2.5 |
| Dr. Dre Compton | 4.0 |
| you either accept the path dr. dre took in terms of his approach to hip hop or you don't. if you're expecting the chronic part 2 or even something remotely similar to 2001, you're going to be disappointing. otherwise, there's no reason for you to dislike this project.. dr. dre brought the best out of everybody and made them spit great bars over dark, moody and agressive beats to create what is easily his most mature, darker album to date. not his best and far from a classic but it's a damn great return from the doctor! 4- |
| Yo Gotti The Return Of Cocaine Muzik | 2.0 |
| Glasses Malone GH2: Life Ain't Nothin But | 1.0 |
| Migos Yung Rich Nation | 2.5 |
| SiR Seven Sundays | 3.0 |
| Lianne La Havas Blood | 4.0 |
| one of the best neo soul releases of the year. i'm loving the lyrics, i'm loving the harmonic vocals, i'm loving the instrumentation, i'm loving everything. only a few missteps here and there (never get enough) don't allow this tape to truly shine! 4- |
| Soulja Boy King Soulja 4 | 1.0 |
| Hopsin Pound Syndrome | 1.0 |
| a great contender for worst album of the year. he acts like he's the grand savior of hip hop when in reality, he's hurting hip hop considerably by dropping awful projects like this. the beat selection here is fucking atrocious and the lyrics are silly, childish and corny af.. hard to believe he's already 30 years old! 1- |
| Dej Loaf #AndSeeThatsTheThing | 1.5 |
| Trae Tha Truth Tha Truth | 2.5 |
| Madchild Silver Tongue Devil | 3.0 |
| i don't really fux with madchild's delivery and the beats are a bit weak at points. 3- |
| L'Orange and Kool Keith Time? Astonishing! | 3.0 |
| i'm enjoying the production on here but everything else is rather forgettable. 3- |
| Gunship Gunship | 3.5 |
| great collection of synthwave music that plays exactly like a soundtrack for those cheesy sci fi movies from the 80's. 3.5 |
| Mustard 10 Summers: The Mixtape Vol. 1 | 1.0 |
| Machine Gun Kelly Fuck It | 2.0 |
| Omen (Hip Hop) Elephant Eyes | 3.0 |
| i like most of the things he's saying and all but there are tracks that are badly mixed and put together, hurting an otherwise good project. 3 |
| Injury Reserve Live From The Dentist Office | 4.0 |
| injury reserve drops one of the most confident and original debut projects of the year with live from the dentist office. definitely looking forward to what they'll to offer us next! ttkv and washed up are such amazing tracks.. 4- |
| Pitbull Dale | 1.0 |
| Future DS2 | 3.0 |
| i like some of these tracks and i wouldn't mind listening to all of them individually but as an album, it leaves much to be desired. still bumps. 3+ |
| Your Old Droog The Nicest | 3.0 |
| they're playing it too safe here, which is interesting considering how different (and great) kinison was! 3- |
| Elaquent Good Karma | 3.0 |
| some really nice instrumentals on display here. 3+ |
| Tame Impala Currents | 3.5 |
| great in certain spots but not constistently good. worth listening to, though.. 3.5- |
| The Chemical Brothers Born in the Echoes | 3.5 |
| Joell Ortiz and IllMind human. | 4.0 |
| joell dropping fire bars on very onorthodox beats. not for everyone but i quite liked it! 4- |
| Public Enemy Man Plans God Laughs | 2.0 |
| Ghostface Killah Twelve Reasons to Die II | 3.0 |
| i love the story and everything but the tracks are so short that i don't see any replay value here to be completely honest! it works until it doesn't.. 3+ |
| Years and Years Communion | 2.5 |
| Tyrese Black Rose | 1.0 |
| Lil Wayne FWA (Free Weezy Album) | 2.5 |
| Refused Freedom | 2.0 |
| Locksmith Lofty Goals | 2.5 |
| Miguel Wildheart | 3.0 |
| while not nearly as good as his previous effort (cheesy lyrics, a few bad hooks), there's still a lot to like on this project. 3+ |
| Vince Staples Summertime '06 | 3.5 |
| one of the best braggadocious hip hop albums to come out this year, even though i prefer the first disk way more than the second one. the second disk isn't clicking with me for some reason.. 3.5+ |
| Meek Mill Dreams Worth More Than Money | 3.0 |
| the production and amount of energy that meek brings to these songs definitely make up for the stale lyrics but fans of his old mixtapes will probably find this somewhat disappointing. 3+ |
| Westside Boogie The Reach | 3.5 |
| Tyga The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty | 1.0 |
| Breaking Benjamin Dark Before Dawn | 2.0 |
| Skyzoo Music For My Friends | 3.5 |
| Kacey Musgraves Pageant Material | 4.0 |
| Thundercat The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam | 3.0 |
| Young Dirty Bastard A Dirty Tomorrow Pt. 2 | 1.0 |
| CZARFACE Every Hero Needs a Villain | 4.0 |
| Adam Lambert The Original High | 2.0 |
| Denzel Curry 32 Zel / Planet Shrooms | 3.5 |
| Muse Drones | 2.0 |
| Troy Ave Major Without a Deal | 1.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon Universal Themes | 2.5 |
| Jamie xx In Colour | 3.5 |
| a fusion between pop and eletronic that works on many, many levels. you can't help but dance to this thing! far from being their best project, though 3.5 |
| Bosco (r&b) Boy Ep | 3.5 |
| not much is known from this artist but this ep right here definitely makes me want to know more about her! 3.5- |
| Algiers Algiers | 4.0 |
| Major Lazer Peace Is The Mission | 1.5 |
| Lucki X | 1.0 |
| Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment Surf | 3.0 |
| some of the songs work, others not really. very hit & miss album but it has a few surprises along the way. 3+ |
| Blueprint (USA-OH, Hip-Hop) King No Crown | 3.0 |
| it's not bad but it's not that good either. not something you want to put on heavy rotation, i guess.. 3- |
| Dizzy Wright The Growing Process | 3.0 |
| Shahmen All in the Circle | 3.0 |
| i love the unique style that they've created and it works for the most part but it definitely gets tiresome and quite repetitive after a while, throwing away the replayability. too one-dimensional for its own good but it's worth a listen. 3+ |
| ASAP Rocky At.Long.Last.A$AP | 3.5 |
| asap rocky got really ambitious with this album and the risks don't always pay off but when they do, this album brings dopiness to a whole new level. when they don't pay off though, things really don't work. 3.5- |
| Kehlani You Should Be Here | 3.0 |
| there's nothing to say about this tape, really. she played it safe and it worked. 3- |
| Nolan the Ninja lo-fi l∞ps. | 3.0 |
| Bones (USA-CA) YouShouldHaveSeenYourFace | 3.5 |
| Twenty One Pilots Blurryface | 3.5 |
| the album is a bit all over the place, at least sonically speaking, but most of these songs are so emotional, so relatable, so uplifting, so gratifying to listen to that i honestly don't care. for people who relate to what they're saying, you'll feel like you're watching them live. 3.5- |
| Snoop Dogg Bush | 2.5 |
| Steve Aoki Neon Future II | 2.5 |
| Blanck Mass Dumb Flesh | 3.0 |
| OG Maco Tax Free | 3.0 |
| let this nigga experiment various sounds before he finds the one that fits him more. he's pretty versatile, you can't deny that! 3 |
| Belly (CAN) Up for Days | 1.0 |
| Oddisee The Good Fight | 3.0 |
| Chris Stapleton Traveller | 4.0 |
| Kamasi Washington The Epic | 4.5 |
| jazz at its most epic! swans have to be kind, kamasi has "the epic".. 4.5 |
| Tech N9ne Special Effects | 2.0 |
| Hiatus Kaiyote Choose Your Weapon | 3.5 |
| Roots Manuva Facety 2:11 | 3.5 |
| Turnover Peripheral Vision | 4.0 |
| despite the somewhat repetitive nature of the album, this is one of the most interesting dream pop albums to be released this year. 4- |
| Charlie Puth Some Type Of Love | 1.0 |
| Lil Ugly Mane Third Side of Tape | 3.5 |
| much like kamasi washington's the epic, this project is not meant to be listened in one sitting. take your time with it. 3.5 |
| Raekwon Fly International Luxurious Art | 1.5 |
| Lunchmoney Lewis Bills EP | 3.0 |
| it's funny. the last track is a bit too indulgent and it hurts an otherwise short but honest tape. 3 |
| Earl Sweatshirt Solace | 4.0 |
| OG Maco OGZAY | 3.0 |
| more experimentation from a guy who's still trying to figure out who he wants to be. 3- |
| Yelawolf Love Story | 1.5 |
| Alesana Confessions | 2.5 |
| L'Orange and Jeremiah Jae The Night Took Us In Like Family | 4.0 |
| this project is constantly unpredictable, which makes for a compelling listen. not for everyone's taste, though. it's more of a grower.. 4- |
| Young Thug Barter 6 | 2.5 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Instant Gratification | 1.0 |
| Shawn Mendes Handwritten | 1.5 |
| The-Dream Crown | 2.5 |
| Tyler, the Creator Cherry Bomb | 1.5 |
| Bones (USA-CA) Powder | 3.0 |
| not quite as good as his latest releases but still pretty solid, even if it feels a bit lazy in spots. 3+ |
| Toro Y Moi What For? | 3.0 |
| The Mountain Goats Beat the Champ | 3.5 |
| Currensy Pilot Talk III | 3.5 |
| not much in the way of substance and that can ruin the experience for you but for everyone that can accept the tape for what it is - it's currensy, after all - you're in for dope after dope track. 3.5 |
| Run the Jewels Blockbuster Night - Part II | 3.5 |
| Three Days Grace Human | 1.0 |
| Wale The Album About Nothing | 1.5 |
| Ludacris Ludaversal | 3.0 |
| if you like luda, you'll feel right at home. it's decent but nothing more than that.. 3 |
| Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell | 4.0 |
| so personal, depressing and downright sad that it might be too unconfortable for some but those aspects are exactly what makes me love this album. you don't see projects like this very often so give it a try! 4- |
| Death Grips The Powers That B | 4.5 |
| The Prodigy The Day Is My Enemy | 3.0 |
| OG Maco I Made This Shit Before U Guessed It | 2.5 |
| Earl Sweatshirt I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside | 4.0 |
| yes, it lacks replay value because of its overly dark mood and earl's lack of energy doesn't help either but some of these tracks are really introspective and it's easy to relate to what he's saying! add that to earl's incredible lyricism and wordplay and you have another good release from him. 4 |
| Future 56 Nights | 3.0 |
| if you enjoyed his last two mixtapes, there's no reason for you not to enjoy this. i found it to be a bit too repetitive for my taste. 3 |
| Death Grips The Powers That B - Part II: Jenny Death | 4.0 |
| Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly | 5.0 |
| the greatest hip hop release of this decade thus far, what a complete album! important topics, deep lyrics, mind blowing production values, great work from the guests.. everything came together to create this amazing piece of art! 5+ |
| Tinashe Amethyst | 2.5 |
| Moonspell Extinct | 3.5 |
| Madonna Rebel Heart | 1.0 |
| Olly Murs Never Been Better | 2.0 |
| Kero Kero Bonito Picture This | 3.0 |
| Freddie Gibbs Pronto | 3.5 |
| freddie gibbs showing his versatility as a rapper. a small taste of we're about to get with the release of shadow of a doubt. 3.5- |
| Blue Colours | 1.0 |
| IshDARR Old Soul, Young Spirit | 2.5 |
| DRAM #1Epic | 3.0 |
| Jeff Rosenstock We Cool? | 4.5 |
| Clarence Clarity No Now | 4.0 |
| one of the best experimental releases of the year as well as one of the more refreshing r&b projects i've heard in a while. not for everyone, though! 4- |
| Kelly Clarkson Piece by Piece | 1.5 |
| Alien Ant Farm Always and Forever | 1.5 |
| Chris Brown and Tyga Fan Of A Fan The Album | 1.5 |
| Big Sean Dark Sky Paradise | 2.5 |
| vast improvement in comparison to his last two tapes but that's not exactly a big thing, i guess. the flaws continue.. 2.5 |
| Ghostface Killah and BADBADNOTGOOD Sour Soul | 3.0 |
| good album but i expected much, much more than this from talents like killah and bbng! like many are saying, goodgoodnotgreat.. 3+ |
| Fashawn The Ecology | 3.0 |
| great first half but the second half is quite boring and totally unecessary imo. he needs to stick to what he does best. 6.7/10 |
| Z-Ro Melting the Crown | 3.0 |
| Fetty Wap Zoo Style | 1.5 |
| OG Maco 15 | 3.5 |
| Blackbear Deadroses | 3.0 |
| Cyhi The Prynce BHP 2: N.A.A.C.P | 3.0 |
| Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late | 3.0 |
| i never really enjoyed a drake album before considering their previous albums often are a bunch of good tracks mixed with pretty awful ones and he tends to get too corny for my taste and while that happens here, it doesn't happen many times and the tracks that are good are reeeeally really good. not without its flaws but easily drake's best release so far! not enough to convert me into a fan of him though! 3+ |
| Cakes Da Killa #IMF | 2.0 |
| Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear | 4.0 |
| Your Old Droog Kinison | 3.5 |
| your old droog showing that he's far from being a nas copycat with this rock influenced hip hop album. 3.5 |
| Soulja Boy Loyalty | 1.0 |
| Zion I The Sun Moon and Stars | 3.0 |
| Open Mike Eagle A Special Episode Of | 3.5 |
| for those who enjoyed the full length project dark comedy. 3.5- |
| G-Unit The Beast Is G-Unit | 3.0 |
| some tracks almost made me believe that this ep was going to be great. others woke me up to reality. 3 |
| Ne-Yo Non-Fiction | 1.5 |
| Jarren Benton Slow Motion EP Vol 1 | 2.5 |
| Fall Out Boy American Beauty/American Psycho | 1.5 |
| Lil Wayne Sorry 4 The Wait 2 | 1.5 |
| Lupe Fiasco Tetsuo and Youth | 4.0 |
| just when i though lupe fiasco was going to disappoint me once again, he comes through with one of the most complex, yet fascinating albums of the year. can't wait to see what he will bring next! 4+ |
| Joey Badass B4.DA.$$ | 4.0 |
| he needs to improve on the hooks and there are a few weak songs towards the end of the album but overall, this is boom bap shit done right! you can't go wrong with joey but i feel like this isn't the best thing he can do. i'm pretty sure he can drop something much stronger than this but only time will tell. for now, this will do it! 4 |
| Jay Prince BeFor Our Time | 3.0 |
| Future Beast Mode | 3.0 |
| DMX Redemption Of The Beast | 1.0 |
| Mark Ronson Uptown Special | 2.5 |
| Benjamin Clementine At Least For Now | 3.0 |
| Meghan Trainor Title | 1.0 |
| Esbe Bloomsday | 3.5 |
| for those who want to go through a chilling, wavy instrumental project just to relax, look no further. the sampling here is brilliant. 3.5+ |
| Rae Sremmurd SremmLife | 1.5 |
| Bones (USA-CA) SoThereWeStood | 2.5 |
| Aesop Rock Cat Food | 3.5 |
| Death Grips Fashion Week | 2.5 |
| Young Dirty Bastard A Dirty Tomorrow | 1.0 |
| Tut Preacher's Son | 4.0 |
| easily the most slept on project of the year, no doubt about that. much like last year's searching sylvan by quest.. loving the live instrumentation and the good vibes of the mixtape. for everyone that enjoyed cilvia demo, don't skip this one! 4- |
