#what 8 years as a nobody artist does to a mf

[malenjoyer]

this might be a silly question but why don’t you watermark your art?

90% of my life as an artist online, I did not have to worry about being reposted. I try to do it now when I remember

[hotgirlrry]

10 music recommendations you’ve been listening to recently

thank you @wearelikenanana for tagging me in this!! im super excited bc ive been listening to a lot of different artists lately but this was really stressful bc of how many people i listen to.. so yeah!

1. freddie dredd: i knew about him because of edits from the pretty girls on twitter, and then i found out he makes songs because of tik tok, i’m not ashamed to admit it. most if not all of his songs start with samples that works really well into the song and i kinda dig it?? his songs aren’t that long and they’re super catchy filler music but he’s definitely not for everyone lyrics wise so i’ll rec his popular singles 

recs: cha cha, evil fantasy, weather, opaul 

2. joji: i dabbled in the world of filthy frank and then i remembered i wasn’t an edgy 12 year old white boy so i stopped, but i love joji so much. he makes like bedroom r&b-ish type songs, they didn’t feel like professional songs until his newest stuff and i’m perfectly fine with that.

recs: midsummer madness (with 88rising), test drive, run, will he 

3. rina sawayama: i don’t think there’s an artist that i could love more tbh?? all her songs are so different and so good at the same time like i don’t have words to describe how much i love her music fghsnjnsgudihusfg i feel like im 16 again but like waaaay more introspective and grown

recs: cherry, comme des garçons (like the boys), cyber stockholm syndrome, tokyo love hotel 

4. doja cat: queen of homophobia! after moo! i canceled her ass after her whack ass apology but like the other gays didn’t care and like what was the point? she’s talented as hell!! listening her songs makes me feel grown lmao. i love that she can sing and rap, its like getting a feature but you’re never disappointed by the rapper 

recs: casual, won’t bite, juicy, rules 

5. tame impala: everyone and their mother knows tame impala but that’s my mf band dawg. each song kevin parker puts out makes me a better person. i love his voice i love how relatable their songs are like with rina i just feel like im a more introspective high schooler 

recs: love/paranoia, breathe deeper, apocalypse dreams, instant destiny 

6. megan thee stallion: my old roommate is the one that introduced me to meg lowkey by force, lowkey but im not mad i love her. most people are getting tired of her flow but its hers! if it ain’t broke she shouldn’t fix it, also some of her lyrics are really funny 

recs: hit my phone, simon says, big ole freak, diamonds

7. still woozy: the first of white men feel good music (i found him bc of an edit of someone in this list you can prob guess who). besides rina this is probably the most recent artist i’ve gotten into and its a great time, he does that whisper-sing thing that most artists do nowadays but it’s not hard to understand if that makes sense?? but he’s quickly becoming a fave 

recs: lazy, goodie bag, habit, window

8. the driver era: last ever wbotm ross lynch and his brother make the BEST feel good music holy shit. i used to listen to their songs whenever i would go to class (rip) because i felt like nobody could tell me anything, i was in my own world 

recs: a kiss, natural, san francisco, afterglow 

9. wallows: i DON’T watch 13rw, i simply live for summery music made by lanky white men sometimes. their music is such a vibe back when outside was legal i also used to listen to their songs when i walked to class because it puts me in such a good mood 10/10

recs: pictures of girls, OK, these days, scrawny 

10. emotional oranges: i almost forgot about them omg i found them by accident, looking for a starter song for a playlist back when i used spotify and the rest was history. they’re actually an anonymous collective from la with two lead singers that are phenomenal, their music is like the border of bedroom r&b and soul. my crowning achievement was seeing them live for 22 dollars i love them sm 

recs: don’t be lazy, personal, not worth it, west coast love (ive recced so much of them it’s sad) 

i tag: @fireproofs @loverstop @tpwk2019 @h-isforhome @wastelandharry @strawberryhabit @lightsupwithharry @sunflowrmoon @halosboat @toenialls @rosemari (you’re not obligated to and its not just limited to the ppl i tagged!)

[musicsifter-blog]

My Top 5 Albums of 2017 (so far!)

2017 has so far been another stellar period for the music listener. Damn near every major artist has dropped a project and we’re barely 6 months into the year. Despite my lack of uploading anything recently, I have been listening to as much music as I can. Here’s a little list I made about some of my favorite works so far.

Karriem Riggins - Headnod Suite: I love Karriem Riggins so much. After discovering his 2012 album, “Alone Together,” I’ve been totally hooked. His music knowledge and skill are vividly demonstrated through satisfying, inventive, jazzy, cool as a cucumber hip-hop instrumentals. He’s like a new school J Dilla, and I really mean that. This project was about 5 years in the making and runs about an hour, the best part being that none of it feels rushed, saturated, or out of place. This half decade was not wasted. 25 amazing hip hop instrumentals from what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest musicians of our time. If you’re into artists like MF DOOM, Madlib, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, etc. (like me!) you’ll definitely feel as if the listen was time well spent. 9/10

Brockhampton - Saturation: IT WAS ABOUT TIME BROCKHAMPTON RELEASED A THOROUGHLY GOOD PROJECT! I think of Brockhampton as a newer school Odd Future. A bunch of young, talented musicians like Ameer Vann, Matt Champion, and Kevin Abstract (check out his solo work btw!) getting together with like-minded peers over the internet and making beautiful music. The project is mean and gritty with tracks like Heat, but has a soft side and a lot of genre diversity, focusing on personal issues of the individual members as well as their struggles socially and economically. There’s a shortage of palatable rap groups these days, and I’m glad Brockhampton was able to pull this album out and become a definite standout. 9/10

Ondatropica - Baile Bucanero: If you like music, you’ll like this album. It’s such a creative mish-mash of genres. Latin jazz, electronic music, rock, and even a little hip-hop all make appearances throughout the album’s 15 tracks. It’s fast-paced, catchy, sonically together, and a joy to listen to no matter what you’re doing. It’s not an album you have to sit down and analyze, the music easily speaks for itself. I don’t know how much more I can really elaborate without spoiling it’s individuality, so I’ll leave the rest to the reader. 8/10

SZA - Ctrl: SZA has really started to dig her way into a concrete style on this project. It opens up with a great track, Supermodel, where she vividly captures the grief of being involved in false passion; revenge sex, existential questioning, and testing values of self worth as well as humanity as a whole. These topics continue to be fleshed out and elaborated on throughout the album, helped in part by it’s great features. Stars like Kendrick, Travis Scott, and Isaiah Rashad all make appearances. There aren’t too many features on this album but I think that’s a strong suit. It’s not about them, the album is about SZA. It’s about her experiences, her struggle, and her development. The features do a good job at acknowledging that with their lyrics being very subdued and heavily related to the main theme. Nobody steals the show, and it makes the whole album feel very personal, while at the same time keeping the awesome concept of the feature that we all like to see. A portion of the songwriting isn't all that fleshed out though, which does weigh down this album a bit, leaving a little to be desired in the way of lyricism and complexity. However, it's still an all around solid project and a great beginning to SZA’s new, more defined sound. Can’t wait for more. 8/10

The I.L.Y.s - Bodyguard: Death Grips members Zach Hill and Andy “Flatlander” Morin collaborate once again for a pleasing little album that I consider to be their best yet. It feels much more serious, which I think is a good thing. It doesn’t sound like they’re just doing this for fun, something that I thought really hurt their last albums was the fact that it didn’t sound like they used their full musical ability; it didn’t sound genuine. It does a great job at hearkening back to the days of poppy-punky garage rock, a genre that I have missed ever so dearly. It’s not Death Grips at all, but that doesn’t stop it from being weird, cute, and refreshing. 7/10

H.M. 

Paramore - After Laughter: Niceee

Gucci Mane - Droptopwop:  🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

[therappundit]

September 2017 - *PlayLi$t of the Month*

Summer ‘17 is a wrap, folks. It closed with Mother Nature unleashing a few hurricanes from the south, which is a pretty accurate representation of how angry the world feels in 2017. Apocalyptic weather reports, horrible politics and threats of war from other nations aside...music remains as reliable of an escape weapon as possible, and while hip-hop writers may have differing opinions about whether there was a single song that owned the summer (sorry, “Bodak Yellow” ain’t for me), most would agree that there was a lot of strong releases across the board. Fittingly, I’m closing out the summer with one last extended playlist of my favorite tracks from the past month...

1. “Calisthenics” - Nolan The Ninja feat. Royce Da 5′9

https://soundcloud.com/nolantheninja-1/calisthenics

(Sweeeeeeet. One of Detroit’s finest connects with Detroit’s absolute finest - Team Royce all day - to unleash some razor sharp bars over a cricket-laden, soulful instrumental. This reminds me of the type of underground gems that would premier on The Wake Up Show around the 2:15 AM EST mark back in the day, and anything that channels that vibe will always stay on repeat through these headphones. Cop that new Nolan album when it drops next week.)

2. “Bullet Club” - Conway feat. Lloyd Banks & Benny 

https://massappeal.com/conway-the-machine-bullet-club-lloyd-banks-benny-premiere/

(Only during a month of non-stop heat would a cut like this not own the #1 spot on my list. Consider #’s 1-3 this month a 1a, 1b, 1c situation. To say that G-Unit’s top punchline spitter sounds well at home alongside Conway and Benny over a moody Daringer beat would be a huge understatement. More Griselda + Lloyd Banks combos, please!)

3. “Doomsayer” - DOOM & The Alchemist

https://www.spin.com/2017/08/doom-doomsayer-stream/

(When MF DOOM starts dropping loosies every week, you know it’s a blessed year for hip-hop. DOOM and the mighty ALC connect for a beautifully dark masterpiece of a track.)

4. “JUNKY” - BROCKHAMPTON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AR7SenR2Hc

(WOW. This is what you can call an attention grabbing verse. There may be hotter verses that drop in 2017, but I doubt that there will be one that grabs the spotlight quite like Kevin Abstract stepping up to the plate to counter homophobia. Ameer goes in, too. This might be my favorite track off of SATURATION II, but this whole album is pretty damn impressive.)

5. “383 Myrtle” - Mach-Hommy feat. Billy Woods

https://mach-hommy.bandcamp.com/track/383-myrtle-feat-billy-woods-beats-by-evidence

(Billy Woods and Mach-Hommy drops fire verses over a somber Evidence instrumental, and the result will definitely have you clamoring for more collaborations amongst this trio of talented underground elites. DUMPMEISTER is another jewel in Mach’s crown, as he continues to be one of the freshest rap artists to emerge in the last few years...at least for those able to contribute the $’s to purchase his projects.)

6. “NMIM” - Wiki feat. ACAB & Slicky Boy

https://hypebeast.com/2017/8/wiki-no-mountains-in-manhattan-album-stream

(The former Ratking MC delivered a powerhouse of a NYCentric album with No Mountains in Manhattan. He taps into a subterranean city vibe that I honestly haven’t heard since Company Flow and Cannibal Ox. While those are admittedly some pretty big shoes to fill, I can easily see this album inspiring a lot of Wiki’s peers to step their game up and put their heart and soul into their sound.)

7. “5200” - Maxo Kream

https://soundcloud.com/maxo-kream/5200a-1

(I’ve been waiting for Maxo Kream’s tape all year and it seems like he’s finally revving up the engines for a release in the near future. Maxo just dodged some terrifying conditions in his home of Houtson thanks to the sh*tstorm that was Hurriance Harvey, so obviously any delays in future music releases is completely understandable. Lucky for us, we have this smooth track to tide us over. Maxo’s flow is so potent it’s hard for me to picture him being anything but a household name in this game for years to come.)

8. “Olympian” - A$AP Ferg feat. Dave East

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsrJdy_7YZQ

(Ferg’s been on fire all summer, but this bouncy collaboration with fellow Harlemite Dave East has the making of a sleeper smash hit.)

9. “Hot Pepper” - Action Bronson feat. Meyhem Lauren & Jah Tiger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otRJC960u6g

(Bam Bam’s back! Rather than reinvent the wheel with Blue Chips 7000, Bronson delivered what he does best: hilarious quotables, banging beats, and an off the charts personality. Meyhem’s potent verse makes this one an early standout.)

10. “Red Light” - EarthGang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq_G21yehKs

(EarthGang has been earning a lot of acclaim for their new RAGS EP, even racking up some comparisons to Outkast. While that’s probably not a fair comparison to make, it’s not an outlandish one. These Spillage Village MCs are delivering southern-fried lyricism at a level even Andre & Big Boi would have to appreciate.)

11. “Shteef” - DRXQUINNX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZUnjC9dqc8

(I don’t know too much about the Chi-town rapper/producer, but I know him from working with Denmark Vessey, and that’s a strong enough co-sign for me. This one is just a fly head-nodder that reminds me of the type of gem that would show up on a Black Milk album. This is not good, it’s GREAT hip-hop, and I am really looking forward to DRXQUINNX’s upcoming Richard Pryor project on 9/29.)

12. “Long Time” - Nino Man

https://soundcloud.com/imninoman/long-time

(Manhattan is making a nice showing this month, eh? Nino has quietly been doing his thing in NYC for a while, but he just recently seemed to master his craft. After co-signs from NY icons like the Lox, “Long Time” feels like the type of tightly woven street single Nino might not have been able to own a few years ago, but for me it confirms that he has really arrived. Looking forward to hearing more from Mr. Brown.)

13. “Triumphant” - BEWARE & Chavis Chandler feat. Payroll Giovanni & Royce Da 5′9

https://www.fakeshoredrive.com/2017/08/premiere-beware-unites-detroit-on-triumphant-featuring-payroll-giovanni-royce-da-59-chavis-chandler.html/

(More Royce? Why the hell not. Producer BEWARE provides the back-drop for three very different Motor City MCs to speak their “Started From The Bottom” bars.)

14. “People Say” - Wu-Tang Clan feat. Redman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI02VfEXQKk

(Sooo I guess the Wu is releasing new music again? Or at least RZA is emptying the vaults? Well whatever brought us this spoonful of soul from the sons of Shaolin and Redman, I’m not complaining. Hot damn, Method Man has really still got it.)

15. “Made For This” - Wiki feat. Ghostface Killah

https://genius.com/Wiki-made-for-this-lyrics

(More from Wiki, as he secures a high profile co-sign from Ghostface. If we can’t seem to get a DOOM and Ghostface Killah project, maybe WikFace is possible? I would happily take a project featuring more joints like this one.)

16. “Tiger Bone” - Planet Asia & Apollo Brown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epsmArWfNvE

(I criticized this Anchovies album when it dropped, simply because I am such a big fan of both Apollo Brown and Planet Asia and I felt that this one didn’t resonate with me as much as previous projects. Well, since then it’s grown on me. A lot. PA delivers, and while the sample usage is not as a fresh as I had hoped, Apollo did his thing as well. The two artists have undeniable chemistry.)

17. “FYBR (First Year Being Rich)” - A$AP Twelvyy, A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ant, A$AP Ferg, Key & Playboi Carti

https://soundcloud.com/asapmob/fybr-first-year-being-rich

(A slight tweak to the original “L.Y.B.B.”, Twelvyy lets the rest of the crew jump on board his original 2016 loosie for a bit of a twist on the original concept. 2017 might not actually be the first year that the Mob can call themselves rich, but if they keep on bringing this level of energy to every track, they may still have their richest years to come.)

18. “B2KK” - Joseph Chilliams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1psXx8QUGY

(I am not 100% sure how Joseph Chilliams came on the scene, whether he is being serious or if he’s just a goofy kid or what, but I will tell you this: he is the most interesting MC to come out of Chicago since Chance The Rapper. You will be hearing a lot from him, I promise you.)

19. “Off The Bench Pt. II” - Westside Parlé

https://soundcloud.com/westsideparle/off-the-bench-ptii

(BX on the rise. Westside Parlé is slowly climbing to the top of the NYC food chain. Press play on this one and you will quickly learn why. The crossover potential is there, plus the guy can straight-up rap.)

20. “Nobody Move” - Lil Eto feat. Agallah & Milano Constantine

https://soundcloud.com/lil-eto/nobody-move-ft-agallah-x-milano-constatine

(Rochester general Lil Eto has gradually been racking up heat, continuing to turn heads towards the upstate New York rap scene. Nothing too heady happening here, just a bunch of hard MCs waxing hard bars over a hard beat...and there’s nothing wrong with that at all, especially when we’re talking about MC’s of this type of cloth.)

*Honorable Mention - Bonus Cut*

“Blowin’ Minds (Skateboard)” - A$AP Rocky, A$AP Nast, A$AP Ant, Chief Keef & Playboi Carti

https://soundcloud.com/asapmob/blowin-minds-skateboard-feat-a

(Call it a guilty pleasure pick, but something about the bubblegum beat and the Keef hook just works for me! This is one of the catchiest joints off of Cozy Tape Vol. 2.)

Still In Heavy Rotation:

4:44 by JAY-Z

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/jay-z-4-44-upcoming-album-new-mixtape.117283.html

Rosebudd’s Revenge by Roc Marciano

http://onsmash.com/music/roc-marciano-rosebudds-revenge-album-stream/

[ICYMI: Last month’s list below]

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/164278148766/august-2017-playli-t-of-the-month