By KEVIN JACOBS
Staff Writer
Welcome all to another school year here at The College of Saint Rose. Hopefully everyone had a good summer. Summer was pretty relaxing for the most part, but as one always knows, the job is never done as I was constantly hit with new release after new release of what was a great summer for music. Many things were amazing. A few things were good. Some things were terrible. But I’m here to give you a quick recap of everything from the end of last semester to our current one.
Mac Demarco – 2 – I caught on to this album very late, as it was released last October. I came across it in May and I was really surprised at how laid back and chill it was. “Freaking out the Neighborhood” is amazing.
Rating: 8/10
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories – One of the first major records released this summer was Random Access Memories. Yet again the titans of house music came through with another amazing record. To keep it real this S*** is funky. A feel good dance record containing debatably one of the catchiest singles this year in “Get Lucky” whether you love it or hate it. Daft Punk hasn’t taken much of a loss yet. Be weary though some of the album can feel a bit repetitive.
Rating: 7.5/10
Travis $cott – Owl Pharaoh – Travis finally released his long awaited debut Owl Pharaoh. The project to me for the most part was pretty different. There’s a hint of trap here and there, some electronic overtones, crazy bass, and a lot of darkness throughout the project. The rapping isn’t his strongest point but his beat crafting is amazing. It really reminds me of Kanye when he started out (because he has always been more known for his beats) and it makes sense that he’s become a sort of protégé to the G.O.O.D. music king. “Uptown” is a great track to creep around to late at night in the whip and in my opinion “Bandz” would’ve suited as a great single to Travis, better then “Upper Echelon” did. Now that $cott is really blowing up due to his contributions to Kanye’s Yeezus and Jay-Z’s Magna Carta it will be interesting to see where dude goes next. Overall it was a decent project but fell just a little bit short in my eyes.
Rating: 6.5/10
Dally Auston – The Wood – Released back in March but again I was sleeping on this project. Kid comes out of Chicago and I believe he’s associated with Chance The Rapper and his Save Money crew. Laid back lyrics with a great flow and impressive beat selection. “W$GTM” is worth a download alone. One of the best songs I’ve heard all summer.
Rating: 8/10
Chade Summerset and N.O.A.H. B. – Rare Options EP – My friend put me on to this instrumental EP by upcoming artists Chade Summerset and N.O.A.H. B. back in the end of May and this thing is a banger. If you’re looking for some innovative instrumentals to spit some bars on, then this is the tape to check out. Also be on the look out for Summerset’s “Red Panda” project releasing soon.
Rating: 9.5/10
Rich Kidd – In My Opinion – Rich Kidd hailing from Canada is gonna be next up. With his sharp lyrics and mostly self produced in my opinion, Rich has a home run. From “Can I get a bom bom” to “Fallout,” Rich Kidd is bringing some serious and much needed flavor to the game. My favorite track on here has got to be “I’d be Lying” that came with a menacing beat from the great up and coming producer in DJ Dahi.
Rating: 8.5/10
J. Cole – Born Sinner – Decent sophomore album from Cole World. Although I liked it in some areas such as “Villuminatti” and “Forbidden Fruit”, I hated it in others like “Power Trip” and “Trouble”. A decent amount of clutter on Born Sinner for me but in some areas I found it to be listenable.
Rating: 6.5/10
Kanye West – Yeezus – To be blank about it, Kanye came through and changed the game again. Whether it is for the better or the worse is up for debate for some fans. I found it to be really good sonically although a lot of the rapping on here is just “meh.” Also if you listen to Yeezus, do it with some good sound equipment. I played it on the amp in my house and it damn near shook the foundation.
Rating: 9.5/10
Mac Miller – Watching Movies with The sound Off – A lot better then I expected it to be, it might be the album that surprised me most this summer. Don’t knock it til you hear it, it’s not the same Mac that you heard on “Blue Slide Park”. A lot more drugged out and trippy as hell, Mac’s got a winner. “Red Dot Music” also got some serious play for me lately. Might be considered unhealthy as to how many times I’ve listened to it.
Rating: 9/10
Migos – YRN – The trio of Migos released one of the catchiest/best mixtapes this year so far with YRN. From “Bando” to the highly infectious “Pronto” Migos where everywhere this summer and for good reason. You may know them most famously due to the song dedicated to high brand clothing that everybody hates to love and loves to hate “Versace”. Which also had a remix done with a crazy verse from Drake. Low key, these guys kind of ran the summer. Definitely the best Trap tape. Catch up.
Rating: 7.5/10
Asher Roth – Greenhouse Effect 2 – I don’t know why but I couldn’t get into this tape at all. I’m a huge fan of the first Greenhouse Effect but I didn’t feel this as much. Lyrically it’s great. Not liking the beats on this one though.
Rating: 4.5/10
Wale – The Gifted – For me Wale always has good songs but you can’t really stand a whole project from him. The same thing happened with The Gifted. Although there are some great songs on here (“Heaven’s Afternoon” being one of them) I just don’t feel the overall project. Some decent tracks here and there though.
Rating: 6/10
PARTYNEXTDOOR – Self Titled Album – New OVO signed artist PARTYNEXTDOOR dropped his debut project back in July and I for one really enjoyed it. Comparisons to the Weeknd and Drake will come to play but I think that for the most part he’s got his own sound. “Right Here” is flames.
Rating: 8/10
Joey Bada$$ – Summer Knights – Joey impressed many including myself with his debut project “1999” last June. This July he dropped his second full length work in Summer Knights. If you know Joey’s music you know that he’s got a real 90’s era sound to his music which is refreshing to hear. He’s still growing in his sound but is proving why he’s one of the best up and comers out of the beast coast with this tape. Check out “LongLiveSteelo” the tribute track to fallen friend Capital Steez. Some soulful s***.
Rating: 7.5/10
Jay Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail – I’m a huge Jay Z fan. He’s one of my favorite rappers. And this album helps to prove why. With most of the production handled by Timbaland we’ve got Hov spitting a lot of raps about his wealth which isn’t surprising since he’s been boasting quite a bit since “Watch The Throne”. A lot of people are going to say the lyricism is off but I for one think Hov is still on the top of his game here. Evidence shows this as with crazy tracks such as “Picasso Baby (especially that last verse, jesus)” F**kwithmeuknowIgotit” which I hear bumping almost everywhere around here, and “Heaven” where Hov just has the stupidest of flows on. He’s the king for a reason.
Rating: 9/10
Portugal The Man – Evil Friends – Portugal The Man get producer DangerMouse to help handle their newest project Evil Friends and the results come out decent. Very catchy album and something chill to bump in the whip. “Creep In a T-Shirt,” “Modern Jesus,” and “Holy Roller” are just some of the good tracks on here. I was really feelin’ this one.
Rating: 8/10
French Montana – Excuse My French – I’ve known about French for a while. Before he blew up with diddy he was a rapper who rapped a lot with now incarcerated rapper Max B (free Max B. by the way). French rapped a bit different back then and with the release of his new album it seems that he’s getting away from the wave that he used to have. I give him props for having Max B on the opener, but the rest of this album just doesn’t work for me. Besides “Paranoid”, “Pop That”, and “Ain’t worried bout Nothin” I think the album is awful. Lot of terrible generic trap beats we’ve been hearing a lot of lately. It’s just bad. I hope French bounces back with his next project.
Rating: 3/10
Earl Sweatshirt – Doris – As a pretty big supporter of Odd Future I’ve been waiting for this album for the better part of three years. Doris is worth it. Earl’s lyricism has really improved and he reminds me in ways as somewhat of a new age MF Doom. “Centurion,” “Knight,” “Burgundy,” and “Sunday” are all great tracks with different types of perspectives that range from violent, sincere, funny, and honest. More evidence that Odd Future still isn’t just hype. Doris proves OF is still a dominant force.
Rating: 9/10
Gucci Mane – World War 3 mixtape series: “Lean”, “Gas”, and “Molly” – Guwop dropped 3 albums worth of material with his new world war 3 series to bring some heat to the streets. “Lean” is probably the best out of the three. If you like Gucci you already know what you’re gonna get with these tapes. Hard Trap rap that includes dumbed down lyrics and ridiculous loud beats. Thank the Trap Lord I’m a Gucci fan.
Rating: 8/10 – Lean
7.5/10 – Gas
5/10 – Molly
King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath The Moon – The crooner from across the way in the UK just released his debut album and it’s amazing. Album is filled with soul and is a really great blues album. “Neptunes Estate” and “Bathed in Grey” are the best tracks on here but you can easily listen to this album from beginning to end which is rare to find these days. Just to smooth.
Rating: 9/10
A$AP Ferg – Trap Lord – As a fan of the A$AP Mob, I was interested in Ferg’s project, but was disappointed in the overall product. There are a few good tracks here. The “Work Remix” is still fire. I’m really feeling “Didn’t wanna do That” and there’s a few other good tracks to. But there was more I didn’t like then what I did like. And I don’t care what anyone says “Shabba” is an awful song.
Rating: 5/10
Big Sean – Hall of Fame – To start off this review I’ve got to put my two cents in about the song that everybody and their mother has been talking about lately regarding Big Sean. And that song is “Control”. This song is about seven minutes long and includes guest appearances by Jay Electronica and Kendrick Lamar. This track is god level to put it lightly. Everyone has a good verse but Kendrick raises the bar by just calling out every up and comer in the rap game with that verse. No I.D. laced the beat crazy as well. Check that out before you listen to the album.
Now to the album. I’m not gonna lie I didn’t know what to expect of this album. I thought Finally Famous was ok and found “Detroit” to be decent. Well, Big Sean has shown some growth with his sophomore LP and I found the results to be pretty good. “Fire” is catchy as hell, “Toyota Music” is straight crazy, and “Nothing is Stopping You” is a great track, especially with it opening the album. The only tracks I wasn’t really feelin’ were “Ashley” and “Milf,” mainly because both songs were kind of weak and didn’t really flow within the overall of the album very well. Big Sean surprised me with Hall of Fame, man. Pretty well done album.
Rating: 8.5/10
That’s all for this week’s edition of Kickin it with KJ.
With some new releases coming up soon I should keep coming with the reviews. Hope you all enjoyed.
Peace.
