Reviews
Kanye West ‘Yeezus’ | Album Review
“You can’t change anything sitting from your couch.” Despite absurd comparisons between wrestling and rap are, these were words given to fellow Chicago native. CM
Mac Miller ‘Watching Movies with the Sound Off’ | Album Review
Almost two years ago, Mac Miller was re-introduced to the world on a grand stage through the album Blue Slide Park – an album which
J. Cole ‘Born Sinner’ | Album Review
So what happens when you truly step off the sidelines? Is it the glory you've come to expect? or is the struggle just beginning? Two years ago, J. Cole released his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story and more than the album itself, the results are still talked about this day. After multiple push-backs, several false starts, the Roc Nation wheels finally began turning on the project and to everyone's surprise, the result was success. J. Cole, who didn't have the appeal of the likes of Drake or Wiz Khalifa, was supposed to remain an underdog forever, but his debut project proved he could match the success of the aforementioned on skill & support alone. Chart-topping album, certified plaques, Top 10 singles, Grammy nominations, and a worldwide tour to supported his story from the sideline. No longer was he a rookie benched on the sidelines, Cole finally got the all-star credits that he deserved. He spent his entire life trying to create the perfect first album, and he finally accomplished it - but we learn that it wasn't all sunshine & rainbows from the St. Johns alum. He'd achieve success, notoriety, but at what price would it have on his soul? (more...)
Justin Timberlake ‘The 20/20 Experience’ | Album Review
"Don't call it a comeback," says that one guy who has no clue what he's talking about. After lingering in the limelight, appearing everywhere but your radios, Justin Timberlake comes back home to the music world with his first album in nearly 7 years. And despite the drastic landscape change within music, he returns this time around with no intentions to revive "sexy" or even assert his dominance at the top of the pop charts once again - with the newer cast of entertainers like Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Frank Ocean bringing more than formidable competition. The 20/20 Experience veers Timberlake into his own lane, a much more sophisticated lane than his pop peers. It promotes much more mature Justin Timberlake from his teeny bopper 'NSYNC days 15 years ago, and his now almost cliche now solo arrival with Justified from 10 years ago. Even the edgy FutureSex/LoveSounds seems too far back in the past, as he's gussied himself up in contrast to his 2006 days. However, the time off has certainly set expectations high for this forthcoming album. With the world revisiting FutureSex/LoveSounds for the past 7 years people have begun dubbing it a "classic" in 00's pop. It was our first taste of an all Timberlake-Timbaland explosion, an edgy, eclectic opus laced with sexual adventures - the epic, yet standard, departure from the squeaky clean "pop" image. With "My Love", "Love Stoned", and even "Until The End Of Time" burned into our cranium, would the duo be able to deliver again? How would he be able to follow such an act? Well from performances like at Fashion Rocks 2008, where he performed "Ain't Nothing Like The Real" or even months later at The GRAMMYs performing "Let's Stay Together" with Al Green - you can tell beneath the pop exterior, was a soul man fighting to break out. Timberlake lends a different experience on this record, finally breaking us free (even momentarily) from the 6 years of revisiting his first two efforts, and delivering a new kind of classic. The 20/20 Experience ushers in a new era of Justin, and is rightfully one of music's most anticipated releases of the year, (more...)
Rihanna ‘Unapologetic’ | Album Review
Talk That Talk was no where near the top of our albums of the year, but with enough power singles and all right moves - Rihanna managed to maintain her pop dominance and pushed over 1 million sold in October 2012, keeping up with the standard of her other platinum sellers. So with 366 days passing, it's time for something else to hold us over for the next fiscal year - and here comes Unapologetic, a snapshot of Rihanna's life now and essentially the soundtrack to Instagram feed over the past 7 months or so. Unapologetic truly represents Rihanna's recent acts, oversexed photos, kush blowing, middle fingers, shutting down critics, rekindling a rocky, incredibly public relationship - a true rebel if there was ever one. (more...)
Kendrick Lamar ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ | Album Review
First impressions are absolutely everything, and while Kendrick Lamar has shined on the underground stage for a long-time with multiple projects - it's the first major project that can set the stage for your career. 2011's Section.80 played a major part in Kendrick Lamar's development as an artist and propelled him to one of the lead independent acts before he was scooped up by Aftermath and Interscope Records. Kendrick Lamar now accepts the pressures of releasing an album with the world watching, and joined by Dr. Dre, Pharrell, Hit-Boy, Drake, MC Eiht, Mary J. Blige, T-Minus, among others - he feeds off of it to create one of the best albums of the year, good kid, m.A.A.d city. (more...)
Miguel ‘Kaleidoscope Dream’ | Album Review
Miguel quietly entered the music scene in 2010 with his debut single, "All I Want Is You" and ever since then he's quietly held the genre of R&B on his back. Follow-up records like the modern classic, "Sure Thing", "Quickie", "Lotus Flower Bomb" all entered the Hot 100 of Billboard, when no other R&B record could without all the frills, bells, and whistles attached to "crossover". Just as quietly as he entered the game, his debut album quietly entered the charts on a chilly Tuesday in November - with no major buzz behind it. It was the power of those records that would sustain him a 43 week stay on the Albums Chart and eventually lead to 400K albums sold in the US. Fast-forward to 2 years later, and the R&B singer has reached a new level of success and a new plateau in growth as an artist. He released 3 volumes of Art Dealer Chic, and 2 previews of the album in a filling, yet weird 5 course appetizer, for the album release - but now we can finally sample the main course the ambitious sophomore album, Kaleidoscope Dream. (more...)
