#it’s my standout fav from her new album

[ladybeug]

Number 17!

Solar Power by Lorde! 🌞

[puphoods]

lush... puberty 2... bury me at makeout creek... retired from sad... be the cowboy... laurel hell... IN that order !

[sweeneytoddblog]

Some First Preview Thoughts

Fun fact, this is my 300th post. I can’t believe we are finally at the point where I am talking about a Broadway revival on this blog. Truly blessed.

Obviously I won’t be able to comment on a lot of things about the show since I only had audio, but I can tell you what I personally think about the voices so far:

First things first, there are SO MANY ACCENTS GOING ON. Does anyone remember that revival of Annie where everyone had a very distinct New York accent? It’s like that. EVERY character: Johanna, Lucy, and especially Mrs. Lovett and Beadle Bamford, has picked a (different) British dialect and is going for it 100%. Unfortunately Jordan Fisher (Anthony) really struggles in this area; he slips in and out of accents a lot.

And I might as well say this now, Jordan Fisher is not my fav. I mean he’s fine; his tone is nice and he does get some laughs, but he just doesn’t seem to have the power vocally. He kind of sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest of the cast.

Gaten Matarazzo likewise does not have an *amazing* voice imo (although “Not While I’m Around” is very nicely done) but even just listening to him you can tell he brings a lot of energy to the table and that he plays the character very well. Which is all I really require from Toby!

Lucy really plays up the “miserable” and “pitiful” in her performance. There are some productions where Lucy is a little sassier. Her voice came across to me as more fearful and also less “crazy” than Lucy is usually played as well. No Beggar Woman’s Lullaby, but there is a short instrumental break after she enters the barbershop - a hint at her identity without being too overt.

Speaking of cuts, there is also no Mea Culpa. I have always found this to be an awkward and uncomfortable song for all parties involved, but I have to say, I found myself wishing it had been included. This Judge Turpin feels more like a one-dimensional villain without it, and his stage time was cut down as well. Jamie Jackson does a decent job but doesn’t seem to shine in any areas. It makes you wonder what he would have done with the song.

However, John Rapson (Beadle Bamford) is a delight! I was not wrong in that prediction. He plays the Beadle as this very posh, insufferable guy, and his dialect was one that did not bother me. Judging by the laughs he got from the audience it also seems he was very funny. AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, FULL VERSION OF PARLOR SONGS IS THERE. That never happens anymore so I was thrilled!

Pirelli is also good but his voice is not as operatic as it usually is. I believe he’s also the Sweeney understudy and I have a hard time imagining him in that role. 

Maria Bilbao (Johanna) is vocally a standout! A lot of productions struggle with finding a Johanna who can both sound youthful and hit the notes properly. She definitely had the range and the power. It sounded to me though that she played the character more as just a sad girl, kind of like how Lucy was. “Kiss Me” did not really get any laughs and I don’t know if it the couple just lacked chemistry or if they didn’t know how to lean into the humor of their roles. 

Ensemble and orchestra were both top notch. I heard a few instrumentals during transitions that sounded brand new to me, which was highly enjoyable. Can’t wait for that aspect of the cast album in particular!

Annaleigh Ashford has a GORGEOUS voice but often masks the “prettiness” of it with her British accent (I was expecting this as I remember her talking about it in interviews.) Which is good! You really only hear the prettiness in slower songs like “My Friends” or “Not While I’m Around.” I am no expert on British accents though so I am curious what the English will have to say about it (I don’t believe anyone in the cast is English?) She also got a lot of laughs from the audience. I feel like there’s not much I can say about her because I didn’t actually see her, but she definitely delivers as Mrs. Lovett from what I heard.

Josh Groban...what a guy. When I first heard him sing I didn’t realize at first it was him; his voice takes on a much darker tone than he normally does. I did kind of wonder about him and those low notes, but I didn’t notice any problems with reaching them. His speaking voice too is just very low compared to his normal voice? Again, I feel like I can’t comment too much because I couldn’t see his acting interpretation, but vocally, he’s my favorite voice in the cast. Maybe he’ll be a different Sweeney than is typical, but that’s okay too. I’m so excited to actually see him once those bootlegs hit. 

DISCLAIMER FOR EVERYTHING:

I know I only heard the first PREVIEW and a lot could change, so take any of my criticisms in stride. There are many detailed reviews out there now from people who have actually seen the show, so I recommend checking those out! But I am so incredibly grateful to have heard the audio. I promised I wouldn’t share it, but if you message me I can direct you to the right person and then it’s up to them. :) And jsyk there are some audio clips floating around tumblr already!

[allamericansbitch]

Can you maybe (only if you want to) rank Taylor’s albums and maybe also explain why you’d rank them like that?

oh okay ill try

evermore - my beloved, i love how every single song has such a strong identity if that makes sense. like there's this common debate that evermore is the better album but folklore has better songs? i think folklore has a strong identity as an album but the songs dont as much as evermore. every song is so unique and lives in it's own world and i LOVE taylors voice with real instruments and her storytelling is peaked here.

folklore - everything that i said about evermore basically but slightly less. i love the vibes she was able to capture and the whole album paints such a picture- i've always felt like taylor is at her strongest when she's doing something new and this being such a new place for her (genre and writing wise) shows how refreshed she must have felt.

speak now - the most dramatic, messy and honest album in my opinion. its so late teens/early 20s to me in terms of subject matter and i love when she uses some rock influence in her songs and theres so much guitar in this album i love it. also the fact that it's entirely self written insane.

1989 - a modern classic. this also strengthens my theory that taylor is at her strongest when she's doing something new and challenging. i cant believe the first time she tried pop she came out with style, ootw, blank space, etc.... like wtf. the lyrics arent as poetic as one would hope but there still good and very impressive.

fearless - my baby. there's just something so bittersweet about this album and it's so solid. there's not a lot i would cut (from the standard version... vault tracks are different) and its so wholesome and full of whimsy. i love the production on it too, i think it works with her voice so so well and it's aged beautifully.

midnights - okay heres the thing, every criticism ive seen about this album makes sense and i agree but for some reason after seeing it live... idk i like it a lot. there definitely are skips and i get why people were just unimpressed truly... but some of the songs are so insanely catchy and i like the way her voice sounds... cant explain it.

red - i think this album is really good when you're in a certain place in your life or a certain mood, it's not an everyday album for me. i think it has some of her best ballads/slow songs but the upbeat ones lack for me. the best ones are holy ground and state of grace tbh. plus with how long red tv is... it's a bit overwhelming.

debut - she's cute but she could be improved upon and it's her first album so we can cut her some slack, i love iomwiwy, tim mcgraw, picture to burn, should've said no, our song, etc. she has standouts she's nice.

reputation - this is where we go into the negatives outway the positives. this production is way too much for me, like i said her voice sounds it's best with real instruments underneath is to me- so this really fake manufactured production just doesnt work. it also aged sooo badly to me. this album live is a different story tbh but recorded it's just not my fav. when she's performing it live she adds real instruments and im praying that she does that with the rerecording because it helps so much. the only songs i would literally die for her not to change is lwymmd, dress, so it does, and ready for it. i think dont blame me is so overrated and dont understand why people love it.... im sorry. it's so basic to me... we've seen the whole 'your live is my drug' this so often and the production is basic too... i feel like anyone could be singing it.

lover - my god what this album could have been. this has some of her best and some of her worst. my list of complaints is long. i dont like the production- same reasons as reputation, way too fake and clunky. some of the lyrics are.... wild. the setlist is strange, i would cut like 4 songs tbh. i love cruel summer, inthaf, sygb, lover, london boy and false god.

[wyattvsmusic]

Dave - We’re All Alone In This Together ALBUM REVIEW

At such a young age, Dave set the bar so high for himself with his 2019 debut album PSYCHODRAMA and has continued to dominate the UK Hip Hop scene ever since with amazing features and one-off singles. Anticipation for his new album We’re All Alone In This Together has been very high and now it is finally here and Dave is continuing to build on the incredible potential that he showed on such an amazing first album. Dave really sets the tone for this new album with We’re All Alone. The thing I love the most about this song is how he changes up his flow. I have felt that he has his go-to flow but he has shown that he is capable of doing different flows which he does on this song and it ends up being really good. Straight out the gate, he comes through with an amazing line where he raps “I had dreams of doin' architecture or sittin' through a Harvard lecture / How the fuck I end up bein' Harvey Specter?” and then from there goes into a scheme about Suits. The Gryffindor line was hard too. Dave raps about realizing the effects of his music on others and the position he’s been put in. This is only the intro but easily some of the best rapping he’s ever done. Verdansk is a good song but sounds exactly like his song Titanium. It has lots of good one-liners on this song like “I drop YGs, do it like Kehlani.” Dave always sounds great over drill beats and this Stormzy collab Clash is no exception Stormzy killed it and I love how the beat changes to a more grime-sounding beat in the middle. I did not see In The Fire coming at all. It’s a posse cut featuring Fredo, Meekz Manny, Ghetts and Giggs and it left me speechless. That is one of the best beats I have ever heard in my entire life, it’s so soulful and I loved how the drum patterns change for certain rappers’ verses. The sample is absolutely beautiful and each of the five rappers incorporate bars about fire or use fire as a larger metaphor for hardships in their respective upbringings which is so amazing. Everyone does their thing on it but Ghetts absolutely shelled it. He raps “So accustomed to the fire, I get shivers when I'm naked in the sauna.” Giggs is not always the most consistent but when he really tries he does great things on tracks and that is exactly what he does on this song. Every time he and Dave link up they make fire and he really showed up to rap on this song. I loved that line where he raps “Is this n***a trusty Or Sideshow Bob when he's creepin' on Krusty?”Dave has the last verse and really brings it home with an incredible verse. One standout line from his verse is “I could've been deported / That's the definition of a "Fight-or-flight.” We have not ever heard a posse cut like this in UK rap history so In The Fire is definitely a historic event. It truly is its own moment. The production on Three Rivers reminded me of Black. The song tackles the treatment of immigrants in different time periods over the course of three verses. The first is about Caribbean immigrants in the UK during the 60s, the second is about eastern Europeans in the 90s and the third is about ongoing conflicts in the middle east. I am assuming that the three rivers correspond to each region that is discussed in each verse. He does such a great job on speaking about how immigrants are treated in these three verses in a very precise manor but with great detail. He raps: “And every day the sun rises a little later / That's how it is when your oppressor is your liberator” He was spitting when he said that immigrants are “key workers, but they couldn't even get in the door.” Three Rivers to System was an odd transition but System marks a run of three Jae5-produced afrobeats-style bangers. Nigerian GOAT Wizkid joins Dave on System which is such a vibe and definitely one of the songs of the summer for sure. Wizkid never misses, especially coming off Made In Lagos which has become one of my all-time favorite albums in a very short period of time. I loved that clever line that Dave had about how “She wanna do SMS / Not save my soul, that's spend my savings” but then he quickly switches to talking about how the system is built against him. Lazarus is an instant favorite. This song has a beat so good that I have to wheel it up every time I turn it on. Jae5 deserves an award for this beat. I had never heard of Boj before this song but he did an amazing job on the hook, which is in Yoruba. I don’t understand it but for me, when it comes to enjoying music in different languages it’s all about the delivery and how you use your voice. I really liked Law Of Attraction. This collaboration between Dave and Snoh Aalegra. It’s a good change in vibe and Snoh sounds amazing. The one thing I didn’t like about this song was the line that Dave had where he says “I put your name on a necklace / That's a chain reaction.” That was a little corny. After that song, the album reaches a more subdued level compared to songs like Clash and Lazarus. Both Sides Of A Smile is a collab with James Blake who sounds amazing on the song about the two sides to a failing relationship. It reminds me of Wretch 32’s song His and Hers. I liked how when Dave was rapping from the woman’s point of view, he had a woman rap a portion of it as if she was talking to Dave. Twenty To One is definitely the worst song on the album. I didn’t like the hook at all. It’s not a bad song though. I liked that line about how “A good girl [is] like Pokémon / Easy to see, but hard to catch.” Heart Attack is a heartbreaking song about knife crime in the UK. Dave raps for nine minutes uninterrupted without a hook over a very minimal beat that cuts out for a portion of the song so Dave is just rapping acapella. Describing it is one thing but when you actually listen to it, you’ll understand what I mean. Survivor’s Guilt is a fantastic note to close on as he raps about feeling guilty about celebrating his successes because his friends that he came up with are no longer there to celebrate with him. He also talks about having anxiety as well as ending a relationship with an Albanian woman due to cultural differences. He raps “My ex has got ivory skin / Which is funny 'cause it's really the elephant in the room” as well as this gem: “Rum and Red Bull, it's a culture clash.” Jorja Smith contributes vocals to the song as well. We’re All Alone In This Together definitely differs from PSYCHODRAMA in terms of lyrical content but the albums share some similarities in terms of production which I guess is Dave’s sound. The production is great but both albums have the balance between hard-hitting bangers and afrobeats-style vibes along with long and reflective songs about how he lives in his own psyche. He also talks about relationships as well as more complex political topics as well. These albums are definitely not the same though. He gave so much of himself through the lens of his brother on PSYCHODRAMA whereas on this album he is in a different place of fame and notoriety where he is able to bring light to issues regarding the treatment of black people and immigrants as well as speak about his own mental health which has helped his constantly-growing fanbase. He may feel alone as David but he’s alone in this world together with his fans.

Fav Tracks: We’re All Alone, Clash, In The Fire, System, Lazarus

[skyecrandall]

Playlist Time!

Just sharing a little playlist. So many amazong songs came out today so imma definitely share em and others based on my mood!

First up...

1) September Fades - Ralph

Since September is nearly at its last breath, i guess it is now time to rock this song more!

2) Leave, But Don't Go - Violet Days

Came out today! And it ia such a jam tbh. Violet days are one of my favourite artists and each song they keep dropping sounds better than the last. I stan them so fucking hard!

3) Rise - Mako, The Glitch Mob, The World Alive

I don't really care about League Of Legends tbh. What I care is that one of my fav bands is featuring on it ! (Mako, I love them so fucking much!) What is even more amazing is that Mako contributed in the 2017 song with the lyrics and also featured in the remix! And now they come again for the 2018 version. Im so proud of Mako tbh. That song rocks and I think it will fit right in your alley @alanakusumastan

4) Gimme - Ralph (No youtube link since it just came out)

Yes i know ralph already featured in this playlist but she deserves it tbh. Today she released the album of the year and this is my favourite song of it. It is about havong a sugar daddy. The song also perfectly reflecrs the whole album! It is fun, glamour and retro yet timeless. It makes you feel like a diva yet want to jump from bed and start dancing sillyly. I love this girl.

5) Head Above The Water - Avril Lavigne

I have always wanted to get into Avril bit never got the time before. Since she is making her comeback.i decided to give a listen and oh wow I have really missed a lot. She is amazing but her comeback song is just soooo goood! Also congratulations to her for having been able to fight off the lyme disease!.

6) Kool Aid - Katelyn Tarver

Katelyn Tarver has been someone who ive been trying to get hold of whether i love her or not? And after this song i was sold on her. This song is so chill, yet fun. Gives me Ralph vibes à la Tease or Cereal.

7) Small Victory - Transviolet

I won't recommend listening the song. Instead i would recommend watching the video (click the song name) ! It is so fun and so full of positivity and the song is also so great tbh. Plus i also got an amazing gif from it. I'll only send it to people who dm me. Only @wlwkateomalley knows about that amazing gif tbh.

8) Perspective - Maty Noyes, Hazers

Maty's Ep has been out since a while and it is Amazing. With New Friends, Pornstar and this song as stand outs! Perspective is just so good! And those verses! It is not normal for me to like verses like this one's so much . She outdid herself!

9) P.A.T.T - Against The Current

They also released their album today and its great. Perhaps not as mindblowomg as their first album ( it was my favourite album of 2016) but this is also well done. I don't really see any big standouts so imma post this one simply because of this part of the lyrics " If love is blind, why do we got to be pretty all the time!" . Also P.A.T.T probably stands for Pretty All The Time.

10) Stronger - The Score

I was originally going to put another Ralph song but i decided to give credit to this instead. I'll be honest, after Glory, I was a bit scared for their future as their songs started feeling formulaic, samey and rinse and repeat. But i think they noticed it too and dished out amazing song that gets you pumped up amazingly! Great job! I'm also sure you'll like this one @alanakusumastan

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As you see the song are mostly fun and positiveness and energetic! Thats because summer is coming here and I'm full of positivity right now for once!

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Imma tag @kadencantarella since we have similar music taste and @lovethemarshalltwins since Sam is the only member of the Neutral Squad that wasn't tagged it 😂

[adrianalxander]

Reputation

So I decided to review all of her albums! I really enjoyed Reputation whole-heartedly, I must say. So here we go!

Highest score: 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

1. ...Ready For It? // 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

Let me tell you, RFI DID NOT COME TO PLAY. What an opener for an album. I remember when I first heard this song, they played a snippet before it was released on some college football commercial and I just about fell out of my seat. I wasn’t the biggest fan of LWYMMD so hearing this was music to my ears! Still one of my favs off this album, no doubt. Pretty sure she’s talking about the beginning stages of the relationship she’s in now who she pretty much wrote a whole album for. Good for you Tay, good for you.

2. End Game // 🐍🐍🐍

So who would of ever thought we’d see Future on a Taylor Swift track? I was dumbfounded and curious all at the same time. Ed, a previous collaborator was a nice contribution but Future still sounds a little off. All together, this song is alright. I was never turning the volume up in excitement when it came on the radio and when it pops up on my shuffle, sometimes I do skip it. It’s a neat experiment but just okay for me. Lyrically, she’s just talking about being someone’s number one biotch, okay? She’s wants to be your A-team (an Ed reference which I thought was cute), we know who she’s talking about!

3. I Did Something Bad // 🐍🐍🐍🐍

This shit goes hard! My mouth nearly dropped to the floor on my first listen. Such a cool song, so different for her. Reputation was definitely her most darkest but daring album in her discography and this song is a prime example of that. She’s pretty much saying look, I mess up but it feels kinda good. I kind of like being the bad girl, alright KANYE!? just kidding. It could be about him, or about an ex-Lover. Who knows, bomb ass song though.

4. Don’t Blame Me // 🐍🐍🐍

Yet another unexpected club banger track from Taylor, this time she’s saying look, your love has me doing crazy things, it’s not my fault! Damn! It’s a pretty sweet song! My huge issue is this song resembles so much of Hoziers “Take Me To Church” instrumentals, that’s all I really think about when I hear this song, which sucks because I’ve always wanted to love it more. It’s still good, just some of the originality gets lost with every listen.

5. Delicate // 🐍🐍🐍🐍

Delicate was the first song on my first initial listen, that i vibed to the most. I really enjoy this song and how easy breezy it is. Taylor sounds smooth and collected and we can’t help but pay attention to the lyrics. Another song that sounds like the beginning of her relationship that she’s still in. She’s talking about how much she likes this guy and how he must really like her, considering all the negative attention she was getting from the press. It’s a chill song and still something I listen to everytime it comes on.

6. Look What You Made Me Do // 🐍🐍

Holy crap, this music video was dope. It was when badass Taylor came into the picture and we were all shocked and living for it at the same time. She is confronting all her haters, chanting how much she doesn’t like them and yea, she messed up but ya’ll did too. Where’s your ownership, huh? HA. Even though I did enjoy this side of her, the song was underwhelming for a first single. It’s funny because it’s rare that I actually liked any of her first singles. This was another disappointing start sonically , the lyrical content is juicy but still falls a little flat for me.

7. So It Goes... // 🐍🐍🐍🐍

Let me tell you, this track grew on me big time. When I first heard it, definitely was one of my least favorites, but now I jam out to it. It’s sexual, it’s fun, talking about scratching her mans back, Tay whattttt? I really like this song, time was on its side for sure.

8. Gorgeous // 🐍🐍🐍

When I found out Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lovely’s baby was the sweet little voice that started this number, I thought it was so cute! Put a little extra lovin’ in the song! The song is pretty straight forward, she thinks this mans hot when she’s already with someone else. Bad bad Taylor, she definitely was using that title for every reason in the book. Overall, it’s a simple cute song. Not a favorite, but I listen to it.

9. Getaway Car // 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

Hands down, favorite track on the album. I love love love this song so much, I lose my breath everytime it comes on. And for so many reasons too. The production and just everytime she works with Jack Antonoff, it’s pure gold. And the lyrical content man! She’s pretty much talking about a relationship that started out in jeapordy. They met when one of them was still seeing someone and she’s pretty much saying, look, this started out wrong and there will never be a happy ending for us so I have to chuck the dueces, okay!? Ugh and the last 30 seconds of the song have me going with that build up. Taylor did that with this song.

10. King of My Heart // 🐍🐍🐍🐍

Really love this song sonically! It’s the underdog of the album for sure and the lyrical content is pretty cute. Again, must be about the boyfriend she’s with now, cause he was really making her feel those butterflies in this song! Nothing really much to say, a very solid track.

11. Dancing With Our Hands Tied // 🐍🐍🐍

So this was one of those songs I started skipping in the beginning...until I started to really fall in love with the bridge. The song is actually quite beautiful, just not a huge fan of the production. But it definitely grew on me. The song is quite sad, talking about a relationship that will never work. She stripped this song down in her set on the tour, I liked it much better live.

12. Dress // 🐍

There’s always one on every Taylor album except 1989, that I dislike, and this track is it. Never connected with this song and I don’t know why. It’s definitely her most frisky song, basically talking about getting freaky with her lover. But I don’t know, nothing in this song works for me. Skip it all the time.

13. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things //

🐍🐍🐍🐍

Woooowiiee! The first lingo we here from the most prominent diss track on the whole album. I enjoy the lyrics so much in this one. It’s fun, the production is all over the place and in the best way possible. Definitely a hand delivered diss to Kanye and Kim and she doesn’t give an F! Love this one!

14. Call It What You Want // 🐍🐍🐍🐍

In my opinion, the best ballad on the album, this is also I think the most beautiful song on the album as well. It’s very stripped and her voice is the most significant instrument in its entirety. She’s talking about how she stepped up and found herself someone who gets her, who accepts her for her past and realized all the shit she went through to finally be with someone like him. It’s raw for this album, but a standout for sure.

15. New Years Day // 🐍🐍

I never really understood why this is the closing track let alone on the album. It doesn’t sonically fit on here at all. Lyrically, the song is nice. To me, she’s talking about a relationship that is just beginning and how she has hopes for their future. It’s cute in some ways, but I felt like this was something that could’ve been out on Red.

Ultimately, Reputation killed the game. It’s a solid record and stands out from Taylor’s discography as her most experimental one to date! We like dark Taylor!!

[magnetic-force-of-a-may]

Now I See Daylight: Lover is Taylor Swift’s Brightest Glow-Up

I wrote a ~2,000 word review of Lover. I’m so proud of you @taylorswift buddy, and as someone who majored in literature, I always like to close-read and write about the art I appreciate. and I love love lover, and I hope you’ll like my review (skip to the last paragraph if it’s too long hehe). <3 @taylornation   The musical event of my year transpired last night when Taylor Swift released her hotly anticipated 7th studio album, Lover. It’s Taylor’s 13th year in the game, my 11th year as a Swiftie, and we’ve both never been better. After dancing/crying/listening to Lover since last night, I’m finally ready to write my review of this triumphant, exuberant pop masterpiece.

It’s been a whirlwind past few months, from five holes in the fence to the star-studded, not-without-controversy YNTCD to the gorgeous title track that is “Lover.” As always, Taylor and her team have orchestrated a business-savvy album roll-out, complete with an elaborate, year-long, Easter Egg hunt. There is always much speculation about a Taylor Swift album, and a marketing campaign structured around clues is a smart way of creating the speculation, shifting listeners’ attention somewhere productive; in this case, re-watching the “ME!” music video over and over to catch all the eggs and amp up the video’s views. But to hear Lover in its entirety at the end of an Easter Egg journey is ultimately rewarding and intimate. “I am an architect, I’m drawing up the plans,” sings Taylor in “I Think He Knows.” The Lover era confirms her skills as a powerful architect; she builds speculation, constructs masterful bridges (she really went to “bridge city” with many songs on this album), and shows no signs of stopping.

The opening track, “I Forgot You Existed,” is an understated earworm that essentially bids the reputation era (and the Kimye drama of 2016) adieu. “It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference,” Taylor shrugs. Vocally, the song has a colloquial quality; throughout, Taylor speaks, laughs, even trails off. It’s the equivalent of the throat-clearing that launched Track 1 of reputation, “Ready For It.” The first and essentially last song about “drama” on Lover, “I Forgot You Existed” clears the path for the 17 raw, emotional tracks to come.

The immediate next track, “Cruel Summer,” is an absolute pop-bop that immediately takes us to the higher register (Taylor in soprano-mode is sublime). It’s likely the next single (Tay teased the title in the YNTCD video and in a recent Amazon ad). This is the first song on the album that takes us to BRIDGE CITY—Tay practically screams “he looks up, grinning like a devil” in the bridge, and it’s amazing. We get to hear several New Taylor Sounds in this album, and it’s a lovely surprise each time. The trumpet(?) tease that opens “False God” and the way Tay sings “lo-o-o-o-ve” in the chorus prove that it’s all in the details. Structurally, the song staggers the lyrics in the chorus, such that each bleeds into the next (“Religion’s in your lips / Even if it’s a false god.” The religious imagery in Taylor’s past two albums is fascinating). Something similar happens, with even more syncopation (and brass!), in “It’s Nice to Have a Friend,” which is the grown-up, dreamier version of “Mary’s Song.” Speaking of the debut album, the way Taylor sings the bridge of “Cornelia Street” (“Barefoot in the kitchen…”) sounds just like the chorus of “Invisible.” Are these callbacks to her debut album coincidental? Knowing Taylor, likely not.

Indeed, many moments in Lover remind us that the old Taylor is far from dead, as she previously proclaimed in LWYMMD. "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” makes a direct reference to Tay’s song from the Hannah Montana movie (I looove “Crazier”), and in “Daylight” she sings that she used to think of love as being “burning red,” a lyric from “Red.” And Track 12 of Lover, “Soon You’ll Get Better,” is like Track 12 of Fearless, “The Best Day” (one of my all-time favs)—both are songs about Taylor’s mom, Andrea Swift, who is currently battling cancer. “Soon You’ll Get Better” is the album’s #1 tear-jerker, and features Andrea’s favorite band, The Dixie Chicks. It’s the closest thing to country on the album.  

But on Lover, we are undeniably listening to a new Taylor who brings the storytelling traditions of country into the energetic world of pop. This Taylor writes about love from a stronger place of growth and self-confidence. You know that meme that goes, “I’m you but stronger”? That’s Lover to Taylor’s early discography. Tay’s confidence jumps out clearly in ME!, which was the first single Taylor released on 4.26 and honestly still one of my favorite tracks from the album (catch me yelling “HEY, KIDS! SPELLING IS FUN! on tour). I truly love Brendon Urie’s part in that song. Although “ME!”might have a reputation for being a “kids’ bop,” it channels a form of self-awareness that we also get on “Afterglow,” which is about a lover who understands her own flaws: “It’s all me, in my head.” Both “Afterglow” and “ME!” speak to the beauty and possibility of experiencing a storm with someone and recovering together afterwards, be it in the rain or in the light. It’s not just self-awareness that Taylor demonstrates on Lover, but also social awareness—this is the year she finally became vocally political, after all. “YNTCD” was her first LGBTQ anthem. Although some have accused Tay of “queerbaiting” (there’s always some flaw to pick out, isn’t there), the song is truly Taylor’s love letter as an ally to the LGBTQ community. Then there’s “The Man,” which slams the patriarchy by imagining a world in which Taylor is not a woman, but a man. “If I was out flashing my dollars I’d be a bitch, not a baller,” she sings. She also gives Leo Dicaprio a well-deserved roast; while Taylor’s dating life has received extensive scrutiny, tabloids don’t hate on “Leo in Saint-Tropez” the way they lambast Taylor for ‘serial-dating.’ “The Man” also sounds very much like HAIM’s “Forever” (“Dress” on reputation gave me HAIM vibes too). And I’ll forever stan Taylor x HAIM.

In Red, Taylor sings “Stay Stay Stay” to someone who later likely breaks her heart. Interestingly, the song on Lover that sounds like a musical echo to that track is “Paper Rings,” an adrenaline rush of a song about getting married. The song is another perfect 60s bop, and I love all the counting that happens in the song; it lyrically and spiritually channels the “you’re the only one I want” energy from Grease. “I like shiny things,” sings Taylor (we know) “but I’d marry you with paper rings.” And theother elephant-in-the-room song about marriage is of course “Lover,” which has literal wedding vows in its beautiful bridge. Of the three marriage-related songs on this album, “Lover” wins my heart (and it’s Taylor’s favorite song that she’s ever written, I hear). It’s a beautiful ballad that comes straight from the heart. Like the best Taylor Swift songs, it’s personal. We get straight to the time and place, like in “Cornelia Street,” the street on which Taylor used to live. In fact, the song’s melody seems to share the same musical pattern as “Delicate,” and some fans even speculate that the “third floor on the West side” from “Delicate” is on Cornelia Street. Another song is that is very location-specific is “London Boy,” which is a personal favorite for its allusion-heavy lyrics and catchy beat. I know that some Londoners are shaking their heads at the lyrics, but oh well—it’s a cute nod to Taylor’s current boyfriend of three years, Joe Alwyn, who (if you haven’t figured it out by now) is the inspiration behind many of the songs on this album.  Another standout, should-be-a-single track is the aforementioned “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince,” which demonstrates Tay’s exquisite, imaginative storytelling style and mastery of metaphor (“Getaway Car” was the masterful-metaphor song on reputation). I could really write a paper on these lyrics. The Guardian seems to think it’s about living in Trump’s America? It’s a song that, along with “The Archer,” is reminiscent of Lana Del Rey’s dreamy pop (although the latter, while lyrically lovely, has yet to totally grow on me). Taylor has long been outspoken about her love for Lana’s music (they also share a producer: the amazing Jack Antonoff). If this means that Taylor’s music is beginning to take on a slightly indie-rock quality, I’m not complaining. For instance, “Death by a Thousand Cuts” has a slightly Vampire Weekend-quality to it, especially with the freestyle piano tinkling that emerges towards the chorus. But it would be remiss for me to compare Taylor to other artists (although maybe this at least proves that I listen to other music hahahahahah). As she sings in “ME!”, she’s the only one of her(!), and Lover proves this to a T (see what I did there?). From the records it broke even before release day to the pop perfection we’re getting on every track, Lover is bold and brassy, and Taylor knows it.

A few months ago, Taylor wrote in an Elle listicle that she has learned to “step into the daylight and let it go.” That line has indeed revealed itself to be a lyric from the final track of Lover, “Daylight,” a 5-minute long song that beautifully closes the album. “I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you,” sings Taylor to her lover. But she also ends with a monologue: “You are what you love.” For Taylor, to love someone is to also love yourself. And that message of self-love radiates throughout Lover.

Earlier this year, I read an article with the headline, “Sad Taylor Swift is the Best Taylor Swift.” While it’s true that artistic production does often come from places of suffering and heartbreak, Lover steps into the daylight and delivers songs on an album that is wonderfully bright. The album cover, shot by the talented Valheria Rocha, captures the softness and loveliness of this glow. In Lover, Taylor is not our heartbreak princess. And we don’t want her to be, either. She’s braver than “Fearless,” and she’s more than simply “Clean.” I’d like to argue that Taylor is at her best at her brightest, which is to say at her clearest and cleverest. She’s someone who shines, inside and out, in her music and in her life. The illuminating, skin-clearing grace that she delivers on Lover lights up my room. This review is glowing, and so is Lover.

[adeleaccess]

can you do a track by track review of 25? sorry if you've done this before!

i kinda did an initial reactions thing on twitter when it first came out, but it’s fun to do one after a while so sure :)

“hello”: when i first heard this song i truly could not move. when i first heard it and her live, i was bent in half sobbing. second time, i was shaking uncontrollably. anyone that says 25 is safe has not heard its first track; 21 was never serving this. fuck me up adele adkins. 10/10.

“send my love (to your new lover)”: lyrically savage (“baby i’m still rising” is my fav) but otherwise kinda a glorified taylor track. fun live–i prefer the studio style from the later shows—she looked absolutely gorgeous in the mv but it was lazy as hell and kinda killed its chances for song of the summer. 7.5/10.

“i miss you”: a florence-esque sexual awakening of epic proportions. when i first heard it i was about to take my intro psych midterm, ended up getting a 110/100 bc of ha power. this song has singlehandedly corrupted the global youth. that bridge, tho… help pls i’m deceased. 9/10.

“when we were young”: i probably have more mixed feelings on this song than any other in her discography. i adore it live–both the church performance and the shows. it’s so powerful and cinematic. at the same time, the studio production is just…eh? it becomes lifeless. the ‘aged’ recording effect is tacky, and i can’t deal with how badly the high note was buried by the bvs. it has some incredible lyrics, but also some basic lyrics. most of all, i still don’t quite get it 💀is she in the future looking back to now? is she in the now looking back to 19/21 days? is it about her childhood as it was marketed i use marketed loosely, as they scammed us on the video? i just feel like it should’ve been held off for at least her fourth record, if not later. it’s hard to connect with anyone about being old when you’re (at the time) only 27. 8.5/10.

“remedy”: absolutely stunning lyrically, but has always felt severely anticlimactic. you keep waiting for that all-out “WHEN THE PAAAAAIN CUTS YOUUUUU DEEEEP” moment, but it never comes. kinda wish she’d re-recorded it, definitely wish she’d do it live, as i think it would help fix a lot of those energy issues. 6.5/10.

“water under the bridge”: a boP. should’ve followed hello as second single with a big music video. there are a few lines that are eh (”i want you to be my keeper”…?) to me, but overall i like the lyrics, and in general i truly never ever get tired of this song. i could listen to it for hours. it’s a much better pop/upbeat sound for her than that of “sml”. 9/10.

“river lea”: savage, awesome low notes, and criminally underrated. those verses are htg some of the best if not the best she’s ever written. the chorus is too basic and repetitive in comparison. this is a(n alt) sound and writing/prod collab i neeeeed her to revisit, i know it was said she didn’t get much time with danger mouse and i think with some more development would be beyond epic. 8.5/10.

“love in the dark”: i know many people that would sell their soul for this song live, i’m not quite one of them. the strings are beautiful, and it has some of my very favorite lines on the whole album–”i want to live and not just survive” like shiiiiiit–but it’s just too plodding through the verses for me i think, and i wish she’d maybe gone a bit edgier/alternative with the styling to complement “imy” and “rl”. 8/10.

“million years ago”: i like the story she tells with this song (”conjunctivitis crying” lol), i like the lyrics even though it’s kinda an anti-”hg”, i like the studio version, i like when she gets into the last chorus in the shows, but this is a strange case where the song is definitely better at certain shows than others. like in auburn hills, it was on of the best to me, in nashville she was happier and it was a bit sharp and one of the weakest or i’m just crazy idk. 7/10.

“all i ask”: cursed and often seems like a vocal cord hemorrhage waiting to happen. in some ways, i feel like this is an adele song about an adele song. rcmh performance was a slay, though. 5/10.

“sweetest devotion”: the SONG. like running through a field of wildflowers, drinking hot chocolate (not simultaneously). the power is mind-blowing both in the studio and the extended live versions. paul serves again with production. only criticism is that in the beginning she says “i find it funny that you’re the only one i never looked for” and then later “i’ve been looking for you baby, in every face i’ve ever know”… sowhatisthetruth.gif. the fact that you can contrast those to the final sentiment of 21 “nevermind i’ll find someone like you” makes up for the contradiction, though. love a good reference. 10/10.

“can’t let go”: i hope adele knows, i won’t let go of the fact this is not on the standard. her most raw studio performance on a studio track. “lump in my thooAoaaooaoaat” sjsjsjsjjsjsjsj the tears are real. i cannot. i cannot at the fact that most of the owners of 25 do not have this. do they know this is the tea? i would sell my soul to heard this one live. 10/10.

“lay me down”: another sex anthem… queen feeling haself. love the verses, something about the the chorus is soooo grating to me, though, and it suffers from the same repetition issues as “rl”. 5.5/10.

“why do you love me”: not a major standout in her discography, but belonged on the standard, too. i love the vocals here and it feels like it would be so fun live. it’s definitely a feel-good final note in the same way that “sd” is, i.e. you get the same emotional takeaway regardless of which version of the album you’re listening to. 7.5/10.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents Top 40 of 2017 - Honorable Mentions & Things I Highly Dislike

The end of the year is upon us once again and as you already know...it’s time for me to talk about music. I’ve always had a healthy appetite for music...this year I feel like I might have reached a turning point that might shift my tastes a bit. I have worked at a job where music is played out loud by either me or various co-workers for nearly two years. While my year-end list for 2016 wasn’t really affected, I gotta say that my list here, as well as my taste to follow is has taken a solid hit. I’m thoroughly exhausted with hearing “trap rap”. Sure it has it’s moments, and it’s fun in those moments. But a main course in my musical diet? I can’t even. Despite the fact that Bruno Mars topped my list last year, it’ll be a while before I can enjoy his music again because it has been played SO MUCH to the point where my ears have become numb (and he’s still one of my favorite artists currently). I’m definitely going to be digging into some more alternative styles/genres in the future on a regular basis. Listening to music in a community aspect can be interesting sometimes, but at the end of the day, I know what I want to hear (usually), and I know when I need to get back to my go-to’s (it’s not my fault my taste is better than yours).

Honorable Mentions

So before I start getting into the actual list, I wanted to mention some things that missed the list this year, and that I won’t bring back next year (I always keep a two year prior window to make exceptions for things I might’ve missed, or things that took a while to become known enough to make it to my radar). Some of the albums were great, but just didn’t have a standout song that could compete with the other songs I wasn’t willing to nix.

Jay-Z - 4:44

I’m not a fan of Jay-Z. I honestly never really have been, though there are Jay-Z songs that I like. Part of the reason for this is NOT because I believe that he is a member of the “LOOMINATY”. His music usually just doesn’t speak to me, and real substance is eschewed for clever wordplay alone most of the time (which there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not going to make me a fan). However, with this album, Jay keeps it short, sweet, and meaningful. The album is barely over 36 minutes, and yet he covers more lyrical content than the majority of the records he’s released prior. He starts the record killing off his own ego, moves on to talking institutional racism and taking chances on yourself versus taking a check/wasting money. He publicly apologizes for cheating on his wife in the title track, and celebrates family solidarity on the track to follow. I could go on and on. There’s something interesting on just about every track. The production is tasteful and classy. “Legacy” closes the album out strong with him musing about what he’s going to leave behind for his children, as well as him expressing shifts in his religious views towards faith for the first time. It’s one of the best of the year, and it’s worth your time even if you don’t like Jay.

Favs: “Legacy”, “Family Feud”, “The Story of O.J.”.

Lorde - Melodrama

I’ve enjoyed Lorde as a songwriter since she came onto the scene a few years ago. The songs on this album do not stand out as much as her hits from her debut, but this album is easily the better of the two. She’s no longer the young outsider from a suburb of New Zealand. She’s a Grammy Award winning popular artist now. She’s partying, she’s drinking, she’s falling in love, she’s insecure, she’s writing songs about her exes. While this doesn’t sound too much different from whatever Taylor Swift is putting out these days in description, the music is solid. The production is engaging and diverse. The album is a story and snapshot of the “melodrama” in her life, and despite the fact that it’s not extremely deep, I come away from it with a honest and vivid picture.

Favs: “Sober”, “The Louvre”, “Homemade Dynamite”

Anderson Paak - Malibu

This is a record that was buzzed about during Grammy season last year, and I took my sweet time getting to it. For those of you that have a disconnect from rap/hip-hop music for the sake of melody or complex/organic instrumentation, give this album a shot and see if it doesn’t prove you wrong. This guy raps, sings, plays the piano and the drums, and blends a myriad of funk, soul/r&b, and even house music in the midst of it all. He digs into his childhood and what it was like growing up in Southern Cali, and waxes poetic on positivity, love, and dreams. It’s a great album that hasn’t gotten enough shine from an artist who is criminally underrated right now.

Favs: “Am I Wrong”, “Come Down”, “The Dreamer”

Kehlani - SweetSexySavage

Kehlani is another one of those female R&B artists who hasn’t been able to get a piece of the real estate in the genre occupied by Beyonce and/or Rihanna, but who absolutely deserves it. If you like contemporary R&B and you haven’t gotten into her, don’t even think about it and give this a listen. Top to bottom, this a solid debut, and I hope she only continues to grow from here.

Favs: “Distraction”, “CRZY”, “Escape”

Why none of the The Weeknd’s “Starboy” & Drake’s “More Life”? : There are no songs from either one of these albums on my list this year, but that’s not because these aren’t great projects. I’ve given both of these artists plenty of real estate on my lists over the last several years, and I wanted to make way for some new artists this time around (plus these albums didn’t wow or challenge me).

Things I Highly Dislike

Taylor Swift - Reputation (and pretty much anything from and surrounding the rollout of this thing): 

I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, but she has written songs that I have enjoyed back when she was making country music, and since she transitioned to a pop artist with her previous record 1989. Recently Taylor has embraced a “bad girl” image, and attempted to project a more sexual side in her songs/music videos for this album. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth not because it’s shocking, or because I’m offended, or even because I’m surprised. Honestly, it just doesn’t feel authentic at all. It feels like she’s trying to make a concept album based on a character from “Mean Girls”. Regardless, this is the biggest album of the year already (1.29 million first week), and I will be doing everything to avoid it’s singles like the plague.

(The “End Game” collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Future is alright tho.)

Lil Pump -

 I don’t understand what’s happening to people that they can’t enjoy club bangers that actually have fleshed out hooks, or verses...or even just some variety in production or word choice. Let’s repeat the same two or three words over and over and over because that’s lit! Can this not be the music we turn to for mind numbing fun? Is mind numbing even fun? Can we stop defending this and ask for more from our artists? Even the ones who aren’t lyrically super deep? Admittedly, I’ve ironically played “Gucci Gang” at work at couple of times, and I understand the appeal of someone like Ugly God, who makes a lot of joke/meme rap songs like “Water” that are not meant to be taken seriously. But Lil Pump is not that. 

Seriously...can we just not do this anymore? Can we move on?

Alright, on to the good shit.

[wyattvsmusic]

H.E.R. - Back Of My Mind ALBUM REVIEW

Within such a short amount of time, H.E.R. has done so much. It was only 2017 when she put out her first series of short EPs of R&B vibes under her mysterious pseudonym. These EPs eventually were collected onto a compilation album that was nominated for album of the year that the Grammys. The same goes for her subsequent compilation of her I Used To Know Her EP series that was also nominated for multiple Grammys. H.E.R. has made such an impact with these EPs without technically putting out her actual debut album even though she has quite the catalog and has all kinds of accolades under her belt. I think she is so talented and amazing at what she does but my biggest gripe with her music has been that although it’s great, I was always looking for a bit more variety. I’m not expecting H.E.R. to change her sound entirely with each release and I really don’t want her to either but I just have been wanting her to showcase multiple sides of her talents because we see her on TV performances singing her heart out and absolutely shredding on the guitar but that hasn’t really actually come up on much of her music and I was definitely looking for that on her debut album which seemed promising from the beginning of the rollout for this album which has been quite odd. For an artist that has gained so much in a short span of time and is a huge artist on a major label that is so big without an actual album, the rollout was odd because for a while, H.E.R. was just putting out random loose singles without any promotion. Some of those songs ended up on this album and some on movie soundtracks while the rest are just standalone tracks that are still great. The variety I was looking for was there in those singles and it is here on this album like I wanted (to a degree). Right from the jump, H.E.R. starts singing really well and we finally hear that guitar that she sounds so great over on We Made It. The way she and Ty Dolla $ign’s vocals sound stacked on top of each other on the following track made it an instant favorite. From there, this album goes in a lot of different directions, mainly because it is so long. The length of this album is also the main issue that I have with it. It diminishes its replay value as well as the variety in its standout tracks because a lot of the filler tracks sound very similar. There are a bunch of songs that are still good but not favorites while some others don’t really resonate with me, such as Find A Way with Lil Baby and Slide with YG. Those songs are just not what I want from H.E.R. What I do think is good about this album being so long is that we do get to hear a lot of different sides of H.E.R. like how her compilations are usually sequenced where there are different tones and subjects throughout the tracklist. We see the more hurt side of H.E.R. on songs like Trauma and Cheat Code, which sound so different from each other. Cheat Code is easily one of the best songs on the album. Like I said, there are different kinds of H.E.R. songs and Cheat Code is the kind of H.E.R. I like the most. The same goes for Hold On and Don’t which are two incredible songs that make the last leg of the album the strongest. She doesn’t try many new sounds on this album which I like because she’s so great at what she does but there are some different moments that do work very well such as Bloody Waters with Thundercat. It taps into a different era of R&B that we are used to hearing from H.E.R. as she often leans into this new 2010s/2020s sound that she’s known for. One track that surprised the shit out of me was I Can Have It All with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller because of how great it was. H.E.R. and Bryson have made good songs before but the songs on Khaled’s new album that have H.E.R. on it were really bad so I was expecting more of We Going Crazy but I Can Have It All was amazing. She sings the hook with a certain conviction in her voice that sounds even more powerful when the beat comes in, making it a clear album highlight. Back Of My Mind may be a very long album, which has it’s major weaknesses and a lot of strengths but H.E.R. really did give us a bit of everything that makes her great and while I may not love everything about it, she gave us different parts of herself and her sound which is exactly what I was looking for.

Fav Tracks: We Made It, Back Of My Mind, Bloody Waters, Cheat Code, Hold On, Don’t, I Can Have It All

[wyattvsmusic]

Teyana Taylor - The Album ALBUM REVIEW

Teyana Taylor’s last album, KTSE was the last album in a series of short albums that would be released from the G.O.O.D. Music label in 2018. Teyana’s album in particular, had a very poor rollout. She didn’t even know that the album was coming out and she didn’t like the way it came out. There were entire songs and parts of songs missing from the way she wanted it, she wanted to put more than 8 songs on it. When she started teasing a new album, I was assuming that she would tighten her creative control even more and not let anything be changed out her music, which is exactly the case with her new album. Teyana Taylor is definitely one of my favorite R&B singers and while I did like her last album, I listen to her first album a lot more and I’d say it’s still her best work. Even before listening to this album, you could tell that it was going to be different from KTSE and it sure is. Instead of 8 tracks, there’s a whopping 23. Instead of one producer on the whole album, there are a lot of different producers. There are also a bunch of features on the album instead of just one on the last album. I do like this album a lot and I know I plan on returning to it, but 23 tracks is a problem. It’s actually the only problem I have with this album but it is a big problem because it does impact the replay value and my enjoyment of the album. I feel like with this many songs, she could have just dropped 2 albums. She initially announced a release date for last December which didn’t materialize, but if she trimmed the tracklist down or dropped this as 2 separate albums, I would be more likely to listen to it more often. Teyana dropped a lot of singles before this album, which are all on it. I feel like she could’ve left the ones that dropped last year off like How You Want It? and We Got Love off the album. I usually get annoyed when artists feature their kids on songs but Teyana’s daughter Junie sounded pretty good on Come Back To Me. It’s probably the best I’ve ever heard an artist’s kid sound on a song. Teyana’s husband, NBA player Iman Shumpert raps on the album as well which I wasn’t expecting. His verse was decent. I remember him having a good verse in that BET cypher a while back. It’s a bit weird having Rick Ross opening the entire album but his verse is dope and he matches the beat really well. Teyana sounds amazing on every single song. I love her voice. Come Back To Me was a great opening song and then it went to one of my favorite songs on the album. I love the way she sounds on Wake Up Love. The hook is catchy and fun to sing as well. The production is really dope. I actually love the way a lot of the production on this album makes use of hard 808s to make smooth beats. I was really interested to see what Erykah Badu would do on Lowkey because we haven’t heard new Erykah in a while but she sounded perfect. While Let’s Build isn’t one of my favorites, Quavo surprised the shit out of me on that song. He’s done the autotune sing thing before but he was actually singing in a way that reminded me of PARTYNEXTDOOR. He complimented Teyana really well on that song. Morning with Kehlani was another song that was released as a single last year that I initially felt like it could’ve been left off the album because I didn’t like it that much but the new intro with some extra layers in the production make the song so much better. I wish Missy Elliott rapped on Boomin instead of just doing some singing and some adlibs. Future sounded pretty good on that song too. One thing that Teyana is so good at is making those really sexual R&B songs. There are a bunch of them on this album but 69 was an instant standout. Teyana sounds amazing and I loved all the different things she was doing with her voice on that song. Bongo ByTheWay’s production on that song is fantastic. One of my favorite songs on Teyana’s first album is Put Your Love On which is like Teyana’s take on Reggae. She gives us another one of the Reggae-influenced songs with Bad. I don’t know what Teyana’s cultural background but her patois on the song doesn’t sound forced like a lot of artists who try reggae end up sounding. In addition to Reggae, Teyana links up with Davido on Killa for an Afrobeat-inspired song. Teyana and Davido compliment each other really well. Give Davido’s last album A Good Time a listen if you’re unfamiliar with him. This album is split into sections with each section being a letter of the word Album and parts of the L and B sections are where this album becomes a task to get through. This is not because the songs aren’t good (no bad songs on this album) but because there isn’t enough variety between this stretch of songs. The fact that there’s a lot of variety and good songs throughout this entire album is what makes me want to go back to a 23-song album. I don’t know what the sample on Still is but I love what Wallis Lane and U.N.I. did with it. That song also is one of Teyana’s strongest vocal moments as well. Try Again is a banger and is definitely gonna get a lot of plays from me this summer. The song Made It was a single that came out not too long before The Album dropped but it’s easily one of my favorite songs and it’s one that made me a bit emotional. I recently graduated high school and it wasn’t the way I wanted my senior year to end which was super disappointing. Teyana dropped Made It just in time for my modified graduation and it really made me feel better. I know she says “girl” and the song is definitely geared toward the female graduates but I felt like she was talking to me in that song too. It just made me feel better. It’s a really fun song too and it’s definitely one of the best ways I’ve heard any artists interpolate Back That Azz Up. One thing about Back That Azz Up is that it’s an iconic song and undeniable classic but the way other artists have flipped it into better songs like Drake’s Practice, Big K.R.I.T.’s 1999 and Teyana’s Made It add to how iconic it is even though those songs are better. I really like this album and I love what Teyana did with The Album. My only issue is that it didn’t need to be such a long album which makes listening to it quite exhausting but great album nonetheless.

Fav Tracks: Come Back To Me, Wake Up Love, Lowkey, 69, Bad, Try Again, Made It

[wyattvsmusic]

Sa-Roc - The Sharecropper’s Daughter ALBUM REVIEW

This album has been one I have been anticipating for a long time. DC rapper Sa-Roc has been rapping for a very long time and has put out a ton of music in her career so far. In 2013, she put out 5 albums and hadn’t slowed down until she signed with Rhymesayers in 2016. This move made perfect sense to me because she fits right in with the types of lyrical rappers on that label and you can hear that on her show-stealing appearance on Brother Ali’s We Got This. I got to see Sa-Roc on tour with Ali in 2017 and believe it or not, I saw her open up for Rapsody this year before the pandemic. Although she dropped a bunch of singles and the Metamorpheus EP back in 2016, this is the longest Sa-Roc has gone without dropping music and based on all the amazing singles for this album that would come out, it felt like she was taking her time to make her best work that stands out in her extensive catalog. That is exactly what The Sharecropper’s Daughter is. This album has taken me so long to review because it has left me speechless and I have not stopped listening to it since it came out. This is without a doubt the best music that Sa-Roc has ever made and it goes to show that taking your time to craft an album leaves amazing results. It goes without saying that she is an incredible rapper so I’m not going to list every bar that impressed me because that would be me listing the lyrics to every song. One line that I think would sum up Sa-Roc and this album pretty well is “I'm more widely known for my hippocampus than hips and thighs.” This album is 51 minutes long and Sa-Roc uses every minute to make quite the impression, especially for people hearing her for the first time. Her skills are undeniable but one thing that makes this album so special is that the songwriting is better than it has ever been before. The song Hand Of God is a perfect example of that and it definitely is not the only one. One major part of the songs being so good is that the hooks have definitely improved. One of my favorites is the one on Lay It Down. These are without a doubt, the best beats that Sa-Roc has ever rapped over. I know Sol Messiah has been producing for her for a while but he definitely stepped his game up with these beats and gave her a nice variety as well. Something Real was an instant standout not only because of everything Sa-Roc did, but because that beat is just so amazing. That vocal sample that came in during her second verse had my head nodding so hard. I think Sol Messiah did the majority of production although I know Evidence did Deliverance, which is one of the songs where Sa-Roc is able to flex her lyrical ability. There are plenty of bars like that song, the anthemic Goddess Gang, and The Black Renaissance where she goes back and forth with Black Thought, but there is plenty of content as well. r(E)volution is a song about social justice and Forever is a truly beautiful song about self love. This song has been out for a few years but every time the beat switches, I still get the same feeling from that incredible instrumental like I am hearing it for the first time. You get plenty of impressive raps but you get a sense of Sa-Roc has a person, which makes this album stand out so much. Every time I listen to it, I get something new from it because the lyricism is that good and it has plenty of replay value. This really is the masterpiece that Sa-Roc has been working toward and I really think it is damn near perfect. 

Fav Tracks: Rocwell’s America, Something Real, Hand Of God, Deliverance, Lay It Down, Goddess Gang, Forever, Grounded

[wyattvsmusic]

dvsn - A Muse In Her Feelings ALBUM REVIEW

Now that they are 3 albums deep, dvsn is no longer OVO’s best kept secret. Singer Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85 have found a way to carve out their own lane out in a style of R&B that is extremely popular. I loved their 2016 debut album, SEPT. 5TH. That album just sounds like straight sex. The spacious production that Nineteen85 provided for Daniel’s amazing singing voice. He has quite an impressive vocal range. Their second album, Morning After came out in 2017. I didn’t review that one simply because I did not have that much to say about it. It’s a good album but I didn’t like it nearly as much as SEPT. 5TH. Even though it had a much more accessible sound, I did like that it was different though. I really appreciate the way they approached their third album, A Muse In Her Feelings because they could have easily made Morning After Part 2 or SEPT. 5TH Part 2 because that sound works for them but this album is different. AMIHF very much stays true to the dvsn sound but it is different in the production and the content. One thing that I instantly noticed is that there are features on this album. dvsn haven’t had any features or done any so it’s interesting to see them work with other people. OVO labelmate PARTYNEXTDOOR is on Friends and I didn’t even notice him on the song until my second listen. I’m not a very big fan of Jessie Reyez but I guarantee that the line on the hook “She ain't here for games unless they're courtside” will definitely be making people’s Instagram captions. Future appears on No Games and Summer Walker is on the album who I haven’t been a fan of at all but she did a really good job with her feature. Snoh Aalegra appears on the super dope Between Us. I didn’t review Snoh’s most recent album but definitely give it a listen if you haven’t already. There is a lot more variety in the production than usual which I appreciate. They haven’t made a song with a beat like Keep It Going before. SEPT. 5TH was a very sexy and love-oriented album whereas Morning After is a lot more of an in your feelings type of album. A Muse In Her Feelings includes the type of subject matter from both previous albums and gives some new subjects in there. I thought it was super creative how they sequenced the album to make the subject matter of each individual track to tell a story as the album goes along. The tracklist is split into sections so it starts with a breakup and getting over that breakup and by the end of the album, Daley is ready to fall in love again. I liked all the new and different things that they did with this album but there’s a difference between appreciating the album and the actual enjoyment of it. My main issue with each dvsn album has been that songs can sound very similar and that’s still the case with a bunch of songs on this album even though there is a bit more variety on this one than on Morning After. The first 4 songs had me a bit worried about this album because I wasn’t too crazy about those songs but I love the single Miss Me? The instant standout from this album was Dangerous City. That song is easily my favorite on the album and probably one of my favorite dvsn songs in general. Both Daley and Nineteen85 are from Toronto and come from Jamaican backgrounds and this song and the following track, So What contain reggae elements and feature reggae musicians Buju Banton and Popcaan. I love the bounce of the drums on Dangerous City and Daley’s falsetto on the hook. In addition to Buju Banton, Ty Dolla $ign also features on the song and kills it. This is one of the better features that I’ve heard Ty on recently. Some songs on this album are much weaker than others and make them seem like bad songs in comparison to the amazing songs on it and I don’t want to get that twisted because the weaker songs are good songs on their own. Even though this album started out pretty shaky, it finished really strong. Between Us with Snoh was so dope and A Muse made good use out of the Dead Presidents sample. The album closer, ...Again was also an instant standout and definitely a keeper. I love the progression in the production and the hook is so dope. Singer Shantel May stole the show with her feature as well. I don’t like this album as much as SEPT. 5TH but I do respect them doing something different and not making the same album twice. I respect them for using different sounds and it worked out really well. Although this isn’t my favorite of theirs, some of the songs on this album are some of dvsn’s best. I think this album is very good even though I don’t completely love every part of it. 

Fav Tracks: Miss Me?, Dangerous City, Greedy, Between Us, ...Again

[wyattvsmusic]

Drake - Certified Lover Boy ALBUM REVIEW

Drake’s album titles are usually interesting but they don’t always make me think too hard about what it’s gonna sound like but when I saw the title last year when it was announced, I definitely was wondering a lot more than usual. I feel like to have such an odd album name, the music should be really good to match it and I was very hopeful going into it because Dark Lane Demo Tapes had some great highlights, I loved the 3-song EP Scary Hours 2 that he put out earlier this year and he’s been on a great feature run this year with standout verses on songs from Nicki Minaj and Migos. That excitement sort of went away though once I saw this album cover and then it made me think about how as much as I love Drake’s music, his albums often come with a solid mix of good and bad songs due to the many different parts of his massive fanbase wanting different styles from him. Now that the album is actually out, I can say that I definitely got an assortment of Drake styles that we usually get on his albums and overall, I think this album is just decent. There is certainly a mix of good and bad like always. I liked the way Drake rapped on Champagne Poetry but the beat was not that great. It sounds like one of those tracks that girls on TikTok play while doing their makeup. Papi’s Home on the other hand had a great beat and I liked the way he rapped on it but I just don’t need Drake singing “Daddy’s home” to me. Girls Wants Girls sounds exactly like Time Flies which sounds exactly like Life Is Good and the line where he says “Yeah, say that you a lesbian, girl, me too” was a headscratcher for sure. Fair Trade was just an okay song. I didn’t love the beat but I liked the sample and the hook. Travis and Drake always make good tracks together so this one was good in that way but it didn’t wow me. These are the songs that had both good and bad qualities but let’s talk about the really bad ones. Nothing on this album was worse than Way 2 Sexy. The beat was bad, the rapping wasn’t good and the whole way too sexy thing is just not something I ever want to hear again. Future and Young Thug didn’t even attempt to save the song. This is the same trio that made D4L last year which was fire so that one was definitely a letdown. I saw somewhere online that this song is the male version of WAP and they could not be more spot on. I really did not like Knife Talk either. Project Pat and 21 Savage are on this song and it sounds like songs that both artists have made a thousand times before. This album has a some bad songs but it’s Drake and he’s very talented so of course there are going to be great songs on here. Love All with JAY-Z was an instant highlight. I love that beat and I like when Drake gets into talking about his very unique lifestyle that he lives as the biggest rapper on the planet and how people turned their back on him. Jay comes through with a great verse with quotable lines like “Best thing I can do is not build with you / When I could destroy you, that takes some fuckin' discipline.” I like those songs where Drake talks about falling for a stripper and TSU is no exception. It’s a bit immature for where he is in his life now but like he says in the song, “This is a story, it came from my life and I'm just recordin' this shit.” Pipe Down was an instant standout; I liked the way he sang and rapped on this one and that first line where he says “Said you belong to the streets but the streets belong to me” is definitely going to be a very popular Instagram caption if it isn’t already. He gets into his No New Friends bag on the hard-hitting No Friends In The Industry which I liked. I loved that beat on Race My Mind. 40 and Monsune did an amazing job with that one and Drake sounded good on it as well. Fountains definitely gave me One Dance vibes but I think it’s definitely better because it doesn’t sound like he’s forcing the afrobeats sound on this one. I’m glad that he got Tems on this one because he’s giving her the shine that he deserves as such a talented artist and it also helps clean up the narrative that Drake is a culture vulture. The best song on this album without a doubt is You Only Live Twice with Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. Not long ago, Complex made a list talking about the best Drake duos and Drake and Rick Ross is easily the best one. If they made a collab album, I’m sure it would be great because they never miss together. Neither do Drake and Lil Wayne, who has also been on an amazing feature run this year. That beat was perfect for all three of them; definitely reminiscent of the YMCMB era. One combination I think is very underrated is Drake and Ty Dolla $ign because their song on Scorpion was one of the best on that album and Get Along better is one of the best songs on this album. The production is phenomenal and is one of the better ballad-style tracks that Drake has ever made. Ty brought the best out in Drake on this song for sure. His singing on this album is great. I loved how he sounded on Fucking Fans. Drake’s immature side shows through but in a different way because he is talking about the time he spent fucking fans from his present day perspective and how that eventually got him a child. I appreciated that because I like when artists tell us where they are in their lives and Drake always does a great job reflecting on his life experiences. I’m glad that Drake and Kid Cudi finally made up and made IMY2 also. This album definitely ends better than it starts as most of the best songs are towards the bottom of the tracklist but overall, this album is a mixed bag. I will definitely return to the songs I love but I do wish Drake would trim the excess off his albums so there wouldn’t be as many skips as there are. 

Fav Tracks: Love All, Pipe Down, No Friends In The Industry, Fountains, Get Along Better, You Only Live Twice, Fucking Fans

[wyattvsmusic]

Westside Gunn - Supreme Blientele ALBUM REVIEW

I’ve expressed my love for Westside Gunn and the whole Griselda Records label in many reviews of mine. There are a lot of rappers that put out numerous projects in one year but only a few of them are really good and the rest are subpar (Smoke DZA). However, there are Westside Gunn and Conway, who put out multiple quality projects out in one year. Westside Gunn’s debut album, Flygod was easily one of the best hip hop albums of 2016. All five installments of his Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series are fantastic, especially HWH4. This new album is Westside Gunn’s proper follow-up to Flygod. This is his second album. It has three titles: Supreme Blientele, Chris Benoit, and GITG which stands for God Is The Greatest. I understand the reason behind having three different titles for the same album but I think the title would’ve been just better off as Chris Benoit. Westside Gunn is a huge fan of wrestling and has used wrestling references in his music a lot. He has songs like Raw Is Flygod, Summerslam ‘88, Bob Backlund, Dudley Boyz, Hall & Nash and Finn Balor, which all are inspired by wrestling. Chris Benoit as a title would make the most sense because Chris Benoit is a wrestler and there are song titles like Dean Malenko, Sabu, and Wrestlemania 20. I understand the Supreme Blientele title, paying homage to Ghostface Killah but God Is The Greatest is mentioned few times. Much like Flygod, Chris Benoit is a fantastic album. It sounds much more focused than a lot of his mixtapes even though his mixtapes are fire. I liked Jadakiss’ verse on Gods Don’t Bleed. I think Westside Gunn sounds best specifically over jazz and soul samples. Dean Malenko and Elizabeth are perfect examples of that. I’ve heard the sample on Brutus on Joey Bada$$’s Enter The Void. I think Lee Bannon made better use of that sample on Enter The Void but Brutus was still very good. Conway had a standout verse. Conway was all over Flygod so I was surprised to see only one Conway verse on this album. Rvd is one of my favorite tracks. Keisha Plum is always great to hear on any song that she’s on. I would love to hear a whole EP of her poems on Daringer beats like Rvd. Brossface Brippler was a perfect beat for Westside Gunn. I have felt that Benny is best when he does features and not his own songs. Busta Rhymes came out of nowhere and delivered one of his best verses in a while. I have never heard of Crimeapple before but he had a very good verse. He was outshined by WSG in my opinion though. I never pictured Elzhi out of all rappers to collab with Gunn but The Steiners was fire. He sounded great but different. Busta sounded a little different too. The song Westside is probably WSG’s best lyrical moment on Chris Benoit. Wrestlemania 20 was probably my favorite track. That 9th Wonder beat is the kind of beat I’d want playing for 6 minutes. It sounded so great. This track caught my attention specifically because it features Anderson .Paak. Westside Gunn, Anderson .Paak and 9th Wonder are all such different artists and that combination is super interesting. The song came out amazing. Anderson’s hook matches well with the beat from 9th and WSG comes in and kills it. I was a little disappointed with the track with Roc Marciano. I don’t think the beat fit WSG or Roc. There were some tracks that I liked that were way too short, especially Sabu. Sabu should’ve been longer. A soulful beat like Amherst Station fit Gunn really well and that track should’ve been longer too. Westside Gunn is not the kind of rapper to change his sound. I think that’s fine. A lot of people would think that a lot of his songs sound the same. A lot of rappers don’t change their sound and become repetitive but Westside Gunn keeps it interesting. He doesn’t change his sound but he expands on it by going over different types of beats without compromising his sound. I think that’s what makes this album so great.

Fav Tracks: Dean Malenko, Rvd, Elizabeth, Brossface Brippler, The Steiners, Westside, Wrestlemania 20