Review Roundup: Episode 1 (feat. Lil Yachty, Future & Juice WRLD)

Welcome to the first episode of Review Roundup, where I give my thoughts on what came out this week with brief reviews of all albums, the best single of the week, and the worst single of the week.  Today, we review a brand new album from Lil Yachty and Future's collaboration with Chicago up-and-comer Juice WRLD.  But first, here are my favorite, and least favorite, singles of the week:

Best Single of the Week

Tory Lanez feat. Meek Mill - DrIP DrIp Drip

Tory Lanez's second 2018 project, LoVE mE NOw, is slated to drop next Friday.  This is the third single from the album's tracklist.  Before I get to my thoughts on this single, I just wanna rant about a few minor details about this upcoming album.  First of all, is Tory Lanez really titling his songs following the mocking SpongeBob meme format?  Second, what in the world is with that cover?  I think a rapper doing a Brady Bunch-style cover could be cool, but having the muppet version of yourself on it as opposed to just using different pictures of yourself is just stupid.  However, the single is not as bad as the cover entails.  I was pretty excited about this because Tory and Meek cannot miss as a duo.  This may not be on the level of "Lord Knows" or "Litty," but this song still adds to their winning streak.  I've noticed that Tory Lanez likes to use 3 or 4 different pitches on his voice, and I was thankful to hear that he used the lower-pitched one as opposed to the hit-or-miss high-pitched one.  Tory flows well over the beat and Meek surprisingly doesn't seem out of place given the production style on this track.  My one gripe with this song is the fact that Tory didn't stop the chorus at the end of the pre-chorus but goes on to just say the word "drip" 12 times.  Repetition can be catchy, but this is a prime example of how it can be annoying.  Other than that, this is a good song.

Honorable Mention: Action Bronson - Prince Charming

Worst Single of the Week

Mariah Carey feat. Ty Dolla $ign - The Distance

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  Mariah Carey used to be one of the most talented female singers in pop music.  Since artists like Ariana Grande and Beyonce have blown up, Mariah has been fading into obscurity.  Given performances of her famous Christmas song in this decade, her voice has clearly been declining.  And it's very evident in the fact that she has to use autotune and pitch correction to make her voice sound listenable nowadays.  Trying to revive her current corpse of a career, she's making her 15th (!!!) studio album, titled Caution, which is set to release this November.  She's not off to a good start as her first two singles haven't gained any traction.  To get appeal in the current mainstream, she recruited one of hip hop's biggest feature artists, Ty Dolla $ign, for her third single.  And as expected, this is hot garbage.  The song begins and ends with a cheerleading squad chant, which is a tired trope in pop music.  Her pitch correction-laced vocals over this basic trap type beat show that she's desperate to get back on the charts, and Ty Dolla $ign's phoned in verse didn't help either.  This song reads like a cry for help.

Dishonorable Mention: Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower [From "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"]

This Week's Albums

Lil Yachty - Nuthin' 2 Prove

The polarizing Atlanta crooner's fifth full-length project is basically a similar sound and style to his Lil Boat series.  This cover probably would have been a better fit for his March 2018 release, Lil Boat 2, mostly because he's actually on a boat in this one.  Yachty promoted this album on twitter as a release that includes half the tracklist being rap and the other half being melodic rap, similar to what Drake did with the release of Scorpion.  As one of the (apparently) few people who loved LB2, I was looking forward to this.  I wasn't too excited, however, because it had only been 7 months since his last release and I still had some of the LB2 tracks in my rotation.  While there are more melodic cuts as opposed to his last project, Nuthin' 2 Prove feels like more of the same from Yachty.  Not that I expected anything different since it is Lil Yachty after all, but I thought there would have been more effort to make it sound a little different than LB2.  The cover art even uses the same coloring as that project.  Some of the tracks on the first half such as "Riley from the Boondocks" and "I'm the Mac" sound like rejected tracks from LB2.  And while I appreciate him going back to his roots from the first Boat album, I still think his autotune can sound grating at times, especially when he belts out extended notes. Overall, this felt like more of the same, and while I enjoyed it, I also could have done without it.

Singles

Who Want the Smoke? - feat. Cardi B & Offset [This track is a certified banger.  Offset snapped on his verse]

Best Tracks

Get Dripped - feat. Playboi Carti

Yacht Club - feat. Juice WRLD [Some of Juice WRLD's lines, such as the reference to Drake's hidden child, are pretty funny.]

We Outta Here! - feat. Young Nudy

Everything Good, Everything Right

Worst Track

I'm the Mac

Score: 6/10, slightly worse than LB2.

Future & Juice WRLD Present...WRLD ON DRUGS

I find it very funny that we got two projects that are polar opposites, J. Cole's KOD and this album.  While Cole's April 2018 effort is filled with life lessons and anti-drug messages, WRLD on Drugs is filled with lyrics about, well, being on drugs all the goddamn time.  Future has been working hard this year, as this is the fourth project he's been involved with this year alone.  I wasn't crazy about the other three, nor was I crazy about Juice WRLD's debut project that he released back in May (I gave it a 4).  However, I was interested to see what kind of chemistry Future and Juice WRLD would have.  They surprisingly have great chemistry on here and they play off each other's styles beautifully.  The bulk of the album was produced by Wheezy, who did a stellar job on the beats here.  However, one thing I was surprised about was how much Juice WRLD outperformed Future on a good portion of these tracks.  Even as a huge Future fan, I found myself drawn to Juice's melodies and flows more than Future's throughout this album.  I don't think Future did too bad of a job, but his hooks, melodies, and flows weren't nearly as good as Juice.  The features on this album were hit or miss, with my favorite being from Lil Wayne on "Oxy" and least favorite being Nicki Minaj on "Transformer."  The sound was expected and not very progressive for either Future or Juice WRLD, but they managed to put together a very enjoyable and consistent project with some great bangers.

Singles

Fine China [Juice's worst hook which includes the worst lyrics he's ever written:

"And her last man was a pussy, had a vagina.../...It's her body or nobody, I refuse to compromise / So if she leaves, I'ma kill her, oh, she'll die"

I know he said something after as if he was kidding but this is still a pretty cringe-worthy set of lyrics.]

Best Tracks

Make It Back (Juice WRLD Solo Track) [It's a shame that Future got 3 solo tracks and he only got one, and it's less than 2 minutes.]

7 Am Freestyle

WRLD on Drugs

Ain't Livin' Right - feat. Gunna

Worst Tracks

Fine China

Oxy (Future Solo Track) - feat. Lil Wayne [I loved Wayne's verse but Future straight up ruined this.  What the fuck was he thinking to put on that voice?]

Score: 7/10, definitely better than the Future/Thugger project, that's for damn sure.

This concludes Episode 1.  Episode 2 will be coming sometime next week and might feature a new project from Tory Lanez.

And We Back

I apologize for the long hiatus.  I've had a lot going on these past few months that has prevented me from getting to work.  There was also the issue about no longer having fun while listening to music and it feeling more like a job than anything.  I was so torn about how I would handle this.  I had two choices:

1) Stop writing reviews or lists entirely
2) Continue writing reviews but find a way to make them more fun

As you can see, I decided to go with the second option.  I'll be back writing reviews, but things will be different this time.  Here's what to expect:

• Yes, I decided to change the name of this website to Review Roundup as opposed to my old title.  I thought that one was a bit long and a little dramatic.  However, I couldn't change the subdomain from timetofacethemusic.blogspot.com for whatever reason.
• There will be no posts other than reviews or monthly lists.  That means no more Hot Take Tuesdays, no more Revisits, and no more failed attempts at making weekly series or random rankings or top 10 lists.  I won't have the time to do different posts every day and I don't want to burn myself out.
• Review posts will be different.  Instead of doing a longer post for one album, we'll do shorter posts to fit multiple.  Whether I choose to listen to one album for every day after release or all of them on the same day is my choice.  My new reviews won't be as in-depth and will be much shorter.  Why?  Because it's more efficient and gets my point across without having to write too much.
• There will no longer be Single Review posts.  However, I won't forgo reviewing singles entirely.  On my weekly review posts, I will have my best single of the week and worst single of the week with a brief review attached to each.
• To add to this, there will be roughly one post per week with the exception of monthly rankings and year-end lists.  Every album will be reviewed in one post no matter how many come out in a week.  1? 2? 5? All of them will be there.  Each review will be a 5-sentence paragraph at the very least and 2 full-length paragraphs at most.  Expect to see these either on Friday, Monday or Tuesday, depending on how long it takes to listen to everything.
• My monthly lists will be the same.  It will include every album that I listened to ranked from worst to best along with the top 10 songs of the month.
• My yearly lists will go as planned and will showcase the following rankings.  You can expect these to come around late December-early January.
• Top 10 Worst Songs of the Year
• Top 10 Worst Albums of the Year
• Top 20 Best Albums of the Year
• Top 100 Songs of the Year

I'm very glad that I'm back doing something that I used to love and finding a way to make it feel fun for as long as possible.  How long this second attempt will last is unknown, but expect this version to stick around for a while.  We'll start with a post featuring reviews of the Lil Yachty and Future/Juice WRLD albums.  Expect that to come later today at the earliest.

End of August 2018 Write-Up

Yes, I'm back.  And I have a few things to say.  First of all, I've had a great time writing reviews and daily posts for this site.  However, I have to prioritize other things and for this reason, I have decided to stop writing reviews.  But I won't be gone completely.  I will still be around to do monthly write-ups, year-end lists, and a couple articles and lists every once in a while.  It's just that the posts that I normally do won't be showing up anymore.

August has been a month filled with promises that couldn't be kept.  Many big names (Mac Miller, YG, Nicki Minaj) dropped projects that just came and went.  Others (Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, Eminem) were able to live up to the hype or at least put out solid albums.  Here are all 10 August releases and the top 10 songs of the month ranked.

Part 1: Every Release Ranked From Worst to Best

10. Mac Miller - Swimming

Release Date: August 3

Rating: 3/10

Swimming was one of the last albums I've reviewed on this site.  If you've seen it, forget everything you read.  This album was awful, but there's a reason why I thought it was okay at first.  I initially thought that Mac seemed more emotional and vulnerable and it seemed like he put together a solid release.  However, when I finished it, I never thought about it or even wanted to listen to it again.  If I listen to an album that I thought was okay and never want to go back to it, was it good?  The answer to that question is no.  Looking back on it, this is probably the most boring album Mac has ever made.  Every song is about a minute too long, the singing is comically mediocre, the production is dreary and lifeless, and it just feels like a whole lot of nothing.  This album is the equivalent to empty calories.  It's 50 minutes of filler and nothing more.

Singles

What's the Use? [Kinda groovy but the hook is the only good part.]

Self Care [The only enjoyable track if we're being honest.]

Small Worlds [The worst of his 3 May singles. I get it in the context of this album but it's still awful.]

Best Tracks [read "Most Tolerable"]

Hurt Feelings

Conversation Pt. 1

2009

Worst Track

Small Worlds

9. YG - Stay Dangerous

Release Date: August 3

Rating: 3 or 4/10 who cares anyway

Man, what the fuck happened to YG?  He was on pace to be one of the best rappers on the west coast.  Still Brazy is an album that will be looked at as a West Coast classic in the coming years.  Compared to Brazy, Dangerous is a shitpile.  It's funny that this album is called Stay Dangerous because this album is anything but dangerous.  Virtually no risks were taken and YG relied more on appealing to the mainstream and bringing back DJ Mustard's stale production.  His raps have even fallen off too as he drops so many questionable bars and even plays duck, duck, goose at one point.  This album was disappointing beyond belief.

Singles

Handgun - feat. A$AP Rocky [aka the Duck, Duck, Goose song]

Suu Whoop [Meh]

Big Bank - feat. 2 Chainz x Big Sean x Nicki Minaj [One of the better tracks on here.]

Best Tracks

Can't Get In Kanada

666 - feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again [The only genuinely great non-single.  I'll elaborate later.]

Too Brazy - feat. Mozzy

Worst Track

Too Cocky

8. Comethazine - Bawskee

Release Date: August 24

Rating: What's the point/10

Seriously, why the fuck did I listen to this?  It's not that it's terrible, it's that it's some of the most generic and forgettable shit I've heard this year.  I previously listed Comethazine on my last daily post, 10 Rappers I Strongly Dislike, because I feel nothing when I listen to him.  I listened to this and still felt nothing.  There's nothing more to say than that.

I'm not bothering with the other sections here.

7. Young Thug & Young Stoner Life Records - Slime Language

Release Date: August 17

Rating: 5/10

If there's anything Young Thug did with this release, it was disappoint.  This is probably the most generic and safe album Young Thug has ever made.  I used to think that Young Thug was one of rap's most unique personalities and ever since JEFFERY, Thugger has just been...well, meh.  On top of having to endure a neutered version of Thug, we also have to endure his YSL friends, who are basically just generic, one-dimensional clones of Young Thug himself.  I forgot about most of this compilation, and it's safe to say that I won't be going back to it.  It's also safe to say that Young Thug has fallen off HARD and probably won't get back to the same level as he used to be.

Best Tracks

Gain Clout

Chanel (Go Get It) - feat. Gunna x Lil Baby

It's a Slime - feat. Lil Uzi Vert

Worst Track

Oh Yeah - feat. HiDoraah [Basically a "Family Don't Matter" retread without the novelty that made that song good in the first place.]

6. Nicki Minaj - Queen

Release Date: August 10

Rating: 5/10

Boy, has Nicki Minaj fallen off a cliff mentally...and musically.  This album may have been a return to rap but it suffers from inconsistency and ego.  It's too long, there's too much filler, and the better cuts can barely save this.  I would also like to point out that Nicki Minaj has gone absolutely crazy.  She has turned to Donald Trump levels of delusion trying to convince people into thinking that her album was number one.  First of all, the numbers don't lie, Travis had the #1 spot when you released this album.  Second of all, you still sold 185K copies.  You should be grateful for those numbers when you're dropping an album for the first time in 4 years.  I used to like Nicki Minaj.  I got into hip-hop through her music, and she still holds a special place in my heart because of it.  But after this whole debacle, I am no longer a fan.

Singles

Rich Sex - feat. Lil Wayne [Boring track that would be even worse without Wayne.]

Bed - feat. Ariana Grande [I have a soft spot for this song.  It's catchy and fun.]

Chun-Li [FOR THE LAST TIME, NICKI, CHUN LI WAS NOT A BAD GUY.]

Best Tracks

Majesty - feat. Eminem x Labrinth

Barbie Dreams

Chun Swae - feat. Swae Lee

LLC

Worst Track

Thought I Knew You - feat. The Weeknd

5. Trippie Redd - Life's a Trip

Release Date: August 10

Score: 6/10

This was the last album I've officially reviewed on this site and I'm gonna say that I treated this release way too harshly.  This wasn't a great album, but I still thought it was pretty good.  Most of the cuts were enjoyable, it felt more consistent, and I felt kind of satisfied when I finished it.  I was expecting more of a shitshow given this album's rollout if we're being honest.  Is there any progression on this album?  Not really.  Did this feel more like a cohesive and consistent project than either Love Letter to You?  Absolutely.  Trippie's singing is still unbearable at points, but there's still some kind of charm about it.  Overall, Life's a Trip was pretty okay.

Singles

Taking a Walk [Trippie's XO Tour Llife.  Not that there's anything wrong with it.]

Wish - with Diplo [A vast improvement over the original.]

How You Feel [Boring rock song.]

Dark Knight Dummo - feat. Travis Scott [One of Trippie's best songs.  Such a banger.]

Uka Uka [It's solid.]

Best Tracks

Missing My Idols

Oomp's Revenge

Gore

Worst Track

Underwater FlyZone

4. Amine - ONEPOINTFIVE

Release Date: August 17

Rating: 7/10

Judging from the cover, you might have gone into this expecting some chill music.  You were correct to assume that.  I missed Amine.  He was one of my favorite up-and-comers last year and it's a shame he's probably gonna go down as a one-hit-wonder with "Caroline."  His 2017 album, Good For You, was one of my favorite projects of 2017, and he delivered with some more great music throughout this album.  I'd say it's on the same caliber as his 2017 release as Amine delivers more of what makes him unique from other young rappers.

Best Tracks

Dr. Whoever

Reel It In

DapperDan - feat. G Herbo

Worst Track

STFU2

3. Ariana Grande - Sweetener

Release Date: August 17

Rating: 7/10

It's been a while since we've had a great pop album.  A lot of pop superstars have either been silent or have been delivering some really underwhelming music.  Thankfully, Ariana is not one of them.  The vocal performances throughout this album are better than ever, the production is fantastic, and most of all, it feels like pop perfection in every way.  I'm thankful Ariana's keeping pop music alive.

Singles

The Light Is Coming - feat. Nicki Minaj [The best of the three singles by far.  Pharrell on production can do no wrong.]

God Is a Woman [Gets better with every listen.]

No Tears Left to Cry [Didn't like this one.  Had me worried that she fell off.]

Best Tracks

Blazed - feat. Pharrell Williams

R.E.M

Sweetener

Goodnight N Go

Worst Track

Breathin

2. Eminem - Kamikaze

Release Date: August 31

Rating: 7/10

You have no idea how relieved I was when I heard Eminem's surprise album yesterday morning.  It would have been really hard to top Revival in terms of sheer awfulness and unlistenability, but I was still skeptical given his track record this decade.  Even with his performances on the "Chloraseptic Remix" and "Caterpillar," I still had a reason to think that this would disappoint.  Thank Christ it didn't.  Eminem went back to his roots and lashed out at everyone.  He didn't try to go for broader appeal by recruiting pop singers.  He didn't go to Rick Rubin for yet another awful and tasteless classic rock sample.  He didn't drag the runtime with a bunch of tracks filled to the brim with dad joke-tier bars.  He went back to hip-hop.  That was what the fans wanted and by God, he did it.  I've been skeptical for the past few years based on whether or not Eminem still has it.  This is, without a doubt, the best album that Eminem has released this decade.

Best Tracks

Lucky You - feat. Joyner Lucas

Not Alike - feat. Royce Da 5'9"

Kamikaze

Nice Guy / Good Guy - feat. Jessie Reyez

Worst Track

Normal

1. Travis Scott - Astroworld

Release Date: August 3

Rating: 8/10

You know what?  I'm gonna say it.  Astroworld lived up to the hype.  You wanna know why people didn't think so?  Because they don't know how to keep reasonable expectations.  I've learned in the past that when an artist is following up on a really good album, you should not expect that same caliber, but something close to it.  Travis may not be able to make an album of the same caliber of greatness as Rodeo, but this album is certainly the closest he will get to it at the moment.  I never expected another Rodeo.  What I wanted was a mix between that album's creativity and the broad appeal of Birds.  In that aspect, Travis did a great job with it.  The production sounds amazing and fresh throughout, the atmospheric vibe is still here, and Travis' vocal performance was amazing.  Is this a perfect album?  No, it was a few tracks too long.  Is this the best album of 2018?  Also no.  Is this ONE OF the best albums of 2018?  Absofuckinglutely.

Singles

Butterfly Effect [How did this single make the album and not "Watch?"  At least that song mentioned Astroworld.]

Best Tracks

Stargazing

Sicko Mode - feat. Drake x Swae Lee x Big Hawk

Stop Trying to Be God - feat. Kid Cudi x Philip Bailey x James Blake x Stevie Wonder

Wake Up - feat. The Weeknd

5% Tint

Houstonfornication

Worst Track

Yosemite - feat. Gunna x NAV [RIP quiet NAV memes.  They fixed the audio.]

Part 2: Top 10 Songs

Just warning you, half of this top 10 involves Travis Scott in some capacity.  If you don't like him or Astroworld, you're not gonna like this list.  It's my opinion.  Sorry.

10. Diplo feat. Trippie Redd - Wish [Trippie Mix]

From: Life's a Trip [for the Trippie Mix], California EP [for the original]

Release Date: March 23

"Wish" is a pretty old song at this point, but my criteria when making these monthly lists is that it must be a song that I found this month and it had to have come out in 2018.  Technically, the song that I'm referencing here was finally given CDQ this month on Trippie Redd's debut studio album Life's a Trip.  The Trippie Mix was the leaked version of this song.  The difference between this and the version that made Diplo's California EP is that the Tippie mix included more background vocal effects and the singing sounded more raw and broad.  It's a small difference, but it also has a major impact on the emotions that this song invokes.  For that reason, I think the Trippie Mix of "Wish" blows the original out of the water.

9. Travis Scott - Part Time

From: Travis' Beats 1 show: .WAV Radio [Song available on YouTube and SoundCloud.]

Release Date: August 3

After releasing Astroworld, Travis Scott brought back his .WAV show on Apple Music for the first time in what felt like ages.  After releasing Birds, Travis started this show and had released a few loosies that didn't make the album such as "The Hooch" and "Black Mass."  On his post-Astroworld episode, he released "Houdini," which features a guest appearance from Playboi Carti, "Zoom," which features a guest appearance from Gunna, and this song.  It's only 90 seconds long, but every second is glorious.  The piano loop throughout the track is infectious and catchy and Travis rides it in the best way possible.  I'm sad we didn't get a longer, more finished version of this track.  It would have fit perfectly on the album.

8. Sheck Wes - Chippi Chippi

From: Sheck's upcoming debut project [MUDBOY]

Release Date: April 19

If you haven't heard of Sheck Wes, let me tell you about him.  Sheck Wes is a signee to Travis Scott's label Cactus Jack Records.  He came onto the scene this year with his track "Mo Bamba," which shouts out his childhood friend and current Orlando Magic rookie Mohamed Bamba.  If that song hadn't come out in 2017, I would have put it at #1 on one of these lists because that song is an absolute banger.  What I like about Sheck Wes the most is his pure hype and energy as well as his "BITCH!" ad-lib.  The reason why this song is on here is that just this past week, he released a video for it, which he shot at Hawaii while Travis was making Astroworld.  This song is more of the same from Sheck, which is raw hype and energy over a banging trap beat.  I love it.

7. Amine - Reel It In

From: ONEPOINTFIVE

Release Date: August 15

This was my favorite track from Amine's latest project.  In my opinion, this song is a great example of what makes Amine stand out.  His fun personality oozes into the music as he delivers a great chill song, perfect for a late night drive.

6. Nicki Minaj feat. Swae Lee - Chun Swae

From: Queen

Release Date: August 10

I still have mixed feelings about the album and Nicki Minaj in general, but I can say that I absolutely love this song.  Sure, it's kinda long and didn't need that outro at the end, but it's such an enjoyable tune.  Metro Boomin came out of hiding to make the beat and did a fantastic job here.  Swae Lee stole the show with yet another catchy hook and once again finds a way to make the high-pitched vocals work.  Nicki had some pretty solid verses, too.

5. YG feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again - 666

From: Stay Dangerous

Release Date: August 3

Stay Dangerous may have been a disappointing step down for YG, but I'm at least glad we got this track out of it.  Out of the many songs in the tracklist, the only one that I found myself going back to was this one.  For starters, this was one of the few tracks that weren't produced by DJ Mustard, so it certainly had that advantage.  This track also had one of the few hooks that I thought were catchy.  I was also surprised by YoungBoy Never Broke Again's appearance.  I don't really like him and I still think he's one of the most one-dimensional emcees out there, but he went off on his verse here.  I also used to hate the spoken word outro from Alchemist but it's grown on me quite a bit.  "666" is basically a diamond in the rough and I highly recommend checking this one out.

4. Travis Scott - 5% Tint

From: Astroworld

Release Date: August 3

A lot of people think this is the low point of Astroworld and I have no idea why.  This song is amazing.  FKi 1st killed it on production as he seamlessly combines piano, bass, and trap drums to make one of the catchiest beats on the album.  Travis delivers one of the best hooks on the album and flows incredibly well on this track.  The outro is also really spooky and definitely fits the vibe of the album.

3. Eminem feat. Royce Da 5'9" - Not Alike

From: Kamikaze

Release Date: August 31

This was my personal favorite cut from Em's surprise project.  I could never imagine a reality where Eminem is hopping on a track produced by both Tay Keith and Ronny J, as Eminem usually opts for a different style than them.  I found it really funny how Tay Keith, the producer behind the song Eminem is parodying (Look Alive), was willing to make this beat for Em.  He and Royce still have undeniably great chemistry on this track as they throw shots at the current scene and we even get this diss at Machine Gun Kelly:

"But next time you don't gotta use Tech N9ne / If you wanna come at me with a sub-machine gun / And I'm talkin' to you, but you already know who the fuck you are, Kelly"

2. Travis Scott feat. Drake x Swae Lee x Big Hawk - Sicko Mode

From: Astroworld

Release Date: August 3

This song is an absolute ride all the way through with not one, but TWO beat switches.  It's a fast amusement park ride that feels like it never stops, in a good way of course!  What keeps it from being the best song on the album for me is the fact that they didn't use the first beat (Drake's intro) long enough.  Outside of that, this song is near perfect.  Travis and Drake have great chemistry with each other throughout the track.  I also found Drake's line about using Xanax properly to be a hilarious subversion of expectations.  It's a fun song that goes by too quickly despite its five-minute runtime.  However, it doesn't come close to this next tune...

1. Travis Scott feat. Kid Cudi x Philip Bailey x James Blake x Stevie Wonder - Stop Trying to Be God

From: Astroworld

Release Date: August 3

"Stop Trying to Be God" is, without question, the best song on Astroworld.  There are so many elements to this track that somehow mesh together very well.  Travis' crooning, Cudi's signature hums, Stevie Wonder's harmonica, and James Blake's outro all combine to make one beautiful masterpiece of a song.  It's five minutes of pure beauty that seems too good to be true.  "Stop Trying to Be God" is one of the best songs of 2018 and is a top 5 song in Travis' discography, hands down.

10 Rappers I Strongly Dislike

I listen to a lot of hip-hop just about every day.  I enjoy music from many artists from 90s boom bap to 10s trap, but there are quite a few artists that I just despise.  Here are, in no order, 10 rappers that I strongly dislike.

Lil Xan

Like I said, we're not going in order, but Lil Xan is the worst rapper right now and possibly ever.  I'm convinced that there will never be a rapper worse than this guy and that he will be hip-hop's lowest point in history.  Just about everything when it comes to Xan is awful.  His look, his aesthetic, his voice, and his lyrics are gross.  He's not a fun personality either.  There are many artists in the realm of sadboy rap that can do better.  Imagine calling yourself a Lil Xan fan unironically.  Hell, imagine even doing that ironically.  Fuck Lil Xan.

Songs I Tolerate

Betrayed

Lies - feat. Lil Skies (for Lil Skies)

Wake Up (for Danny Wolf's beat)

Songs I Hate

Everything else

KILLY

Whose bright idea was it to give Sheen Estevez from Jimmy Neutron a rap career?  God, this guy is so annoying.  His voice is awful and, like I said, sounds exactly like Sheen.  It's really the only thing I dislike about him other than the fact that he's also just like every generic trap rapper of the last 3 years.  I normally like unique personalities, but the only unique aspect of KILLY is his annoying voice that makes me want to go deaf.

Songs I Tolerate

Killomonjaro

Songs I Hate

No Sad No Bad

Russ

I mostly hate Russ for his personality and whenever he opens his mouth.  I find his music to be incredibly average at best and refuse to listen to him because he makes himself out to be hot shit even though he isn't.  Lil Xan may be the worst rapper, but he doesn't take nearly as many L's as Russ.  There are many things that he said or did that are either stupid, anger-inducing, or just plain wrong:

• Saying that his idea of romance is "mentally fucking the shit out of her" and going on about saying it's cooler not to give a woman flowers and gifts.  You're just lazy.
• Wearing a T-Shirt that says "How Much Xans and Lean Do You Have to Do Before You Realize You're a Fucking Loser" and delivering an anti-drug message in the most obnoxious and condescending way possible.
• Brags about doing everything by himself at every waking moment thinking we would be more impressed than the first time he said it.
• Saying that producers are responsible for all the wack music these days which is just mind-bogglingly stupid when today's producers work their asses off to fit the sound of other rappers.  Metro Boomin responded by holding up a sign saying "Russ is wack."  Metro Boomin speaks the truth.

Songs I Tolerate

What They Want

Too Many

Songs I Hate

I'm Here

Me You

Comethazine

He's one of those rappers that I wish I liked but I just can't get into.  I don't really know why since he's basically every other SoundCloud rapper thrown together to make one of the most generic rappers in the game.  His voice doesn't even stand out since he sounds a lot like MadeinTYO with some Smokepurpp mixed in.  He checks off every point on the list of SoundCloud rapper stereotypes:

• Brag about your fancy clothing
• Brag about your capability of stealing my hypothetical girlfriend
• Sprinkle a bunch of ad-libs everywhere
• Brag about what kind of drugs you have access to
• Make your songs 1-2 minutes long

Songs I Tolerate

Bands

Stop That Shit

Let It Eat - feat. Ugly God

Songs I Hate

Sticks Out the Window

Piped Up

Oowee

Hopsin

Hopsin is the biggest waste of talent in the history of rap music.  He can spit...and do literally nothing else.  His beat selection is wack, his subject matter is wack, and he cannot make a catchy hook to save his life.  This guy (this FUCKING guy) thinks he's on a level of woke that we can't attain.  All he does is rap about how much today's music sucks and that he's bringing REAL RAP back and sometimes sprinkle in some fake deep stuff that would sound profound to a 14-year-old.  The biggest example would be the infamous "Did the man who invented college go to college" line.  He's so preachy and annoying.  His last album, No Shame, is one of the worst albums I've ever had the displeasure of hearing.  He's basically just like "I'm banned from Australia even though I'm an innocent angel.  It's my whore of an ex-girlfriend's fault that I can't see my child.  Anyway, here's a racist song where I brag about that time I paid to have sex with an Asian masseuse."

Songs I Tolerate

Witch Doctor

One of the Ill Minds (I don't remember which)\

No Words (the one where he parodied Young Thug and it sounded better than his entire discography)

Songs I Hate

Happy Ending

Fly

One of the Ill Minds (Again, there's so many I have no idea which)

Token

White rappers who try way too hard to be like Eminem are the fucking worst.  Every time I listen to this guy rap I want to blow my brains out.  He's the embodiment of the guy who can rap fast but has little to no substance to go along with it.  Don't get me wrong, the guy can spit, but he's not on the level of Eminem in terms of bars even though he desperately wants to be.  Every white guy who thinks he can rap sounds like Token.

Songs I Tolerate

I don't know, the video where he freestyled over the "In My Feelings" beat wasn't too bad.

Songs I Hate

Every fucking one of them.

Lil Dicky

Oh look, it's The Lonely Island but like the unfunny version.  I can't stand Lil Dicky.  He so desperately wants to be taken seriously as a rapper but keeps on putting out the same unfunny drivel.  The worst part is that Lil Dicky is actually VERY talented as a rapper.  During the 2016 XXL Freshman Class promos (where he stuck out like a sore thumb), he had one of the best verses during the cyphers.  There are some songs where he actually demonstrates his talent and then there's the awful stuff like "Freaky Friday."  Back in July, I said that "Freaky Friday" was the worst song of 2018 so far and as of right now that opinion still stands.

Songs I Tolerate

Bruh...

$ave Dat Money - feat. Fetty Wap x Rich Homie Quan

How Can You Sleep? - feat. The Game

Songs I Hate

Almost every track on the godawful I'm Brain EP

Freaky Friday

Any long song on Professional Rapper

G-Eazy

Why would you call yourself G-Eazy?  Why do you also refer to yourself as "Young Gerald" in your songs?  This guy is the embodiment of frat boy rap.  G-Eazy is the most mediocre rapper that I have ever heard.  It's not like he's the worst rapper either, he's just painfully average.  You can only listen to him talk about how he has sexual intercourse with your hypothetical girlfriend so many times before you go insane.

Songs I Tolerate

No Limit - feat. A$AP Rocky x Cardi B

1942 - feat. Yo Gotti x YBN Nahmir

I Mean It - feat. Remo (a guy who sounds like a Future knock-off)

Songs I Hate

Him & I - feat. Halsey

Me, Myself, & I - feat. Bebe Rexha

Don't know which song but the one where he says he's the best white rapper since Eminem

Kodak Black

I have tried many times and every time goes the same.  The problem is that the only thing holding him back for me is his voice as well as his tendency to sprinkle in at least one line that is very off-putting.  There is always at least one or two songs on every album of his that I enjoy, but for the most part I just don't like him.  I want to get into him because his cadence, delivery, and punchlines remind me of Lil Wayne, but his annoying voice and slurred delivery ruin it for me.

Songs I Tolerate

No Flockin

Patty Cake

Roll In Peace - feat. XXXTentacion

Songs I Hate

Vibin In This Bih - feat. Gucci Mane

All of Heartbreak Kodak

NAV

NAV is the definition of generic.  Look at that bowl cut.  That looks terrible.  NAV sounds like a robot who just learned how to feel emotions.  His robotic, monotone voice can cure insomnia.  He looks like DJ Khaled and The Weeknd's lovechild.  He averages roughly 1 or 2 good songs per album and that song is always the one with the slow beat switch at the end.  And to think that I started to like him before Reckless dropped.  I'm an idiot.

Songs I Tolerate

Myself

Up

A$AP Ferg - feat. Lil Uzi Vert (any collab with Lil Uzi really)

Hit

Faith - feat. Quavo

Champion - feat. Travis Scott

Songs I Hate

NAV (the one where he talks about not paying for sneakers)

Just about every other song

REVIEW: Trippie Redd - Life's a Trip

Life's a Trip is Trippie Redd's third full-length project and debut studio album.  These past couple of years have had many ups and downs (mostly downs) for Trippie Redd featuring a few scandals and an appearance on the 2018 XXL Freshman List.  I listened to Trippie's A Love Letter to You series this past Thursday and thought that those projects had their fair share of good tracks, but were also incredibly inconsistent and messy.  To be quite honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this project, especially with the rumors and negative headlines that Trippie has been generating this year.

Well, Trippie's debut album is not as terrible as expected.  It was rumored that this album would be 26 tracks long and thank fucking Christ it isn't.  Instead, we have 14.  I am also glad that Trippie's talentless friends weren't involved either.  No more Chris King or FOREVER ANTi PoP or Cyndee With a C.  Just Trippie and a couple cameos from established artists like Young Thug and Travis Scott.  The production sounds very airy and fits the theme of the album's title and cover.  I'm also thankful that there isn't just one but TWO whole tracks of Trippie spitting his ass off.

Trippie Redd released too many singles for this album.  6 of the 14 tracks were released as singles.  If Trippie were to still release his 26 track album, releasing that many singles would be okay, but only getting 8 tracks of new material just feels empty.  His raspy high notes still sound very grating at times and I take it that he won't get better at singing any time soon.  I also find it very odd how Trippie doesn't focus on his lyrical side enough.  Not every track has to be a "Can You Rap Like Me?" but he should at least put more effort into the words he's belting.  If anything, he should at least stop referring to detractors as poop, turds, or literal shit.  It's bad enough that referencing fecal matter in your raps is never a good idea, but referring to people as such makes you seem pathetic.  Also, there are a few rock tracks and they're all dreary and boring.  It's more listenable than Speeding Bullet 2 Heaven or Rebirth but they still suck regardless.  When will artists learn that rap and rock don't mix?

The cover art looks really cool.  This album is supposed to represent a drug trip and I feel like the art reflects it very well.  It's up there with KOD with the most creative cover art of the year.  I feel like this album would have been so much better if he put these tracks on it:

• TR666 with Swae Lee
• I Kill People with Chief Keef and Tadoe
• Me Likey (Outside of the poopy butt line it's a good song)
• Ghost Busters with XXXTentacion, Quavo, and Ski Mask The Slump God

If Trippie put these tracks on streaming services instead of making them SoundCloud exclusives (aside from Me Likey), I think he'd be in much better shape in terms of music quality and streaming numbers.  Adding on to this, Trippie would be in much better shape in terms of his career if he didn't do stupid shit outside of the booth.  Here's a list of all the easily preventable stuff that Trippie Redd has done this year.

• Beefing with 6ix9ine and looking like an idiot in the process because Tekashi is very good at trolling and making others look stupid.
• Having sex with Bhad Bhabie (a 15-year-old rapper who got famous from her Dr. Phil appearance and shitty memes) after calling 6ix9ine a pedo.
• Pistol whipping a woman the day we found out he made the 2018 XXL Freshman List.  I know it was in defense of his own girlfriend but there are much better ways to settle disputes.
• Skipping the 2018 XXL Freshman Cyphers because "the beat was wack" and looking like an immature brat.

Trippie Redd is a classic example of how not to handle fame and waste opportunities.  He's on pace to fall off within a year and it's because he won't keep his fucking mouth shut and stay out of trouble.  It's a shame because I believe he's one of the most unique personalities in hip-hop right now and is pretty talented.

This album is no different from his earlier work.  There's a fair share of some good tracks that are mixed in with a bunch of other shit.  Trippie may be getting a little better at singing and other little things but it feels more and more like he's stagnating than anything.  His next project needs an incredible overhaul or I'm officially done with him.

Singles

Together [Boring rock song #1]

Taking a Walk [Actually pretty good]

Wish (Trippie Mix) - with Diplo [Blows the original version out of the water.  Who knew that adding vocal effects in the background would be a vast improvement?]

How You Feel [Boring rock song #2]

Dark Knight Dummo - feat. Travis Scott [The best Trippie Redd song.  Don't @ me.]

Uka Uka [Another really good song.]

Best Tracks

Missing My Idols

Bird Shit [Aside from Trippie calling people turds this song is heat.]

BANG!

Oomp's Revenge

Gore

Worst Tracks

How You Feel

Shake It Up

Underwater FlyZone [Boring rock song #3]

Score: 4/10

REVIEW: Nicki Minaj - Queen

Queen is the fourth studio album from Nicki Minaj.  I used to be a huge fan of hers back when I discovered rap music.  I don't know why I specifically liked her the most but I loved her music.  Anyway, these past couple of years have not been kind to Nicki Minaj.  Until last year, Nicki was the most polished and successful female rapper of the 2010s.  More female rappers like Young M.A, Remy Ma, and Cardi B have been coming up and apparently, this was making her mad.  After throwing some shots at Remy Ma, she responded with "Shether," an insanely good diss track that tore Nicki apart.  After that, the beef turned into a shitshow.  Remy Ma tried to go Back to Back releasing another diss and then shat the bed and Nicki barely responded on her 2016 single "No Frauds" with Drake and Lil Wayne.  In 2017, Cardi B was the next to come for Nicki's crown as her single "Bodak Yellow" exploded like an atom bomb, quickly rising to the top of the charts and giving her first number one single before Nicki.  Their beef is mostly just rumors and speculation but it does seem like Nicki is jealous of Cardi's rapid rise to superstardom.  Essentially, this album is supposed to show who the real queen of rap is.

The reason why I loved Nicki Minaj the most is her charisma and confidence, and she brings it at the same level on this release.  There are numerous points during this album where she seems hungry like she's ready to come for just about everyone.  I've always loved Nicki's rap music more than her pop music so I was glad to hear that this album was more rap-focused.  I also appreciated the varied production.  This album doesn't sound like the same type of beats over and over again.

And as expected, this album has its fair share of problems.  Let's start with a complaint that makes me sound like a broken record, which is that this album is TOO. DAMN. LONG.  This album isn't perfect and still wouldn't be without the filler, but it would at least be much better if it wasn't 19 tracks and 66 minutes.  There are a bunch of tracks that run a minute too long and only serve to pad the album's runtime.  On "Thought I Knew You," there's an outro where she references dead presidents for a solid minute.  On "Chun Swae," one of my favorites, she takes a minute to shout out a bunch of people and her fans.  On "Chun-Li," there are many breakdowns that kill the vibe of the song completely.  On Good Form, she has to tack on refrain and a pre-chorus along with the hook.  And then the album ends with her separating the last minute of "Coco Chanel" and calling it the "Inspirations Outro."  Also, this album's rollout was a fucking trainwreck.  She dropped multiple singles at once instead of taking her time along with releasing them on non-Fridays so she doesn't get a full tracking week.  What's even worse is that she flipped this album's release date so much.  First, it was supposed to come out on June 15.  Then it's August 10.  Then she releases a weird letter about her pushing it back to August 17.  No wait, it's August 10 again.  And it's dropping at noon on Friday and now she won't be getting a full tracking week.  If this album flops, that's on her.

I feel like Nicki would be more respected if she focused more on herself outside of the booth rather than on every other female rapper who's ready to "take her crown."  The competition between female rappers is incredibly toxic and it's entirely Nicki's fault.  She instilled this mentality that there can only be one great female rapper.  In a male-driven genre, it would make more sense for female rappers to support each other rather than beef.

"Barbie Dreams" might be one of the funniest songs this year.  It's unbelievable how just about every bar in the first two verses is a shot or joke about someone.  Here are some of the highlights:

"I tried to fuck 50 for a powerful hour / But all that ni**a wanna do is talk Power for hours."

"Drake worth a hundred milli, always buying me shit / But I don't know if the pussy wet or if he cryin' and shit"

"Meek still be in my DM's I be havin' to duck him"

"Man, Uzi is my baby he ain't takin' a L / But he literally when I said 'Go to hell!'"

"Had to cancel DJ Khaled, boy, we ain't speakin' / Ain't no fat ni**a tellin' me what he ain't eatin'"

This album is incredibly inconsistent.  There are some great songs, there are some bad songs, and there's barely any in between.  I consider this to be Nicki's weakest project behind Pink Friday...Roman Reloaded.

Singles
Rich Sex - feat. Lil Wayne [This song would be much worse without Wayne.]
Bed - feat. Ariana Grande [I wrote this song off at first but when I listened to it again it clicked with me.  I have no idea why.]
Chun-Li [Would be an iconic Nicki song if it didn't have so many breaks.]

Best Tracks
Majesty - feat. Eminem x Labrinth [Why is every 2018 Eminem feature so much better than Revival?]
Barbie Dreams
Chun Swae - feat. Swae Lee
LLC
Sir - feat. Future

Worst Tracks
Thought I Knew You - feat. The Weeknd
Nip Tuck
Come See About Me

Score: 5/10

Single Reviews 8/10/2018

Upcoming Post Schedule
Saturday 8/11: Nothing
Sunday 8/12: Nicki Minaj - Queen (Review)
Monday 8/13: Trippie Redd - Life's a Trip (Review)
Tuesday 8/14: Rants & Ramblings
Wednesday 8/15: Nothing
Thursday 8/16: Lil Pump - Lil Pump (Revisit)
Friday 8/17: Single Reviews

August is now in full swing and the rest of the month is looking pretty solid for releases.  This week, Trippie Redd and Nicki Minaj both dropped their latest albums.  Elsewhere, Quavo dropped 3 singles and Gucci Mane appears for the first time in months.

Let's start with Quavo's three singles.  Quavo has had the most solo success of any of the Migos as he has collaborated with practically everyone in the last couple years.  I guess he's now trying to push a solo career which I can't say I'm excited for.  He's easily my least favorite Migo because he's the most one-dimensional of the three.

Quavo - B U B B L E G U M

I don't know what it is about the Migos and S P A C I N G E V E R Y L E T T E R but I guess it provides a nice A E S T H E T I C.  This is one of two songs produced by Buddah Bless and he's easily the highlight of this song.  Quavo's going for a softer tone on here and he predictably fell flat.  His hooks have clearly lost a step although this one isn't bad.  The verses were super weak as most of the lines begin with "Hey, you got it."

Verdict: N O T G O O D

Quavo - L A M B T A L K

Buddah Bless produced this track as well and is also the highlight even though the beat is pretty average.  The hook is laughably weak as he just keeps saying "Lamb Talk" over and over again with no charisma or energy.  The verses at least sound better than on Bubblegum and Quavius flows pretty well.  I think this is much better than Bubblegum but it's still pretty weak.

Verdict: V E R Y B O R I N G

Quavo - W O R K I N M E

This single is produced by Murda Beatz.  By the way, this is the first of three songs on this post produced by him.  Getting back on topic, this is probably the best single of the three, which isn't saying much because this is still pretty average.  The hook and verses at least sound better because there's less repetition.

Verdict: O K A Y A T B E S T

Gucci Mane feat. Lil Pump - Kept Back

I find it pretty funny how Gucci hasn't been active this year despite claiming that he's going independent and dropping a project every other week.  He's promised a collab tape with 1017 signee HoodRich Pablo Juan and a collab tape with Migos and Lil Yachty called Glacier Boyz and he hasn't followed through with them.  This single features Lil Pump, an artist that Gucci was pining to sign last year.  This is also the second of three singles on this post produced by Murda Beatz.  This is one of Murda's better instrumental as it sounds pretty hard.  Gucci's hook is a little long but he does pretty well using a lazy flow.  Lil Pump adds to his current streak of stellar guest verses as he switches flows throughout and brings the energy.  However, Gucci's verse wasn't that great as he keeps using the lazy flow from the hook.  Despite that, I still think this song is pretty enjoyable.

Verdict: Decent banger

J. Cole - Album of the Year Freestyle

The music video for this track premiered on World Star Hip Hop of all places.  The beat he raps over is the iconic Nas song "Oochie Wally" and Cole absolutely slaughters it.  His flows sound amazing and he brings some interesting brag bars.  I love his confidence and this is easily one of Cole's best verses.

Verdict: KOD may not be the year's best album but it's still a pretty solid freestyle.

Don Q x A Boogie Wit da Hoodie feat. 50 Cent x Murda Beatz - Yeah Yeah

I was looking forward to this single because Don and Boogie have great chemistry and bring out the best in each other.  This is the thrid song in this post produced by Murda Beatz and this beat is pretty average.  Don's verse is okay and also a little short.  A Boogie brings some nice melodies on the hook but carries that same energy into his verse, which isn't very interesting.  50's feature wasn't bad and began with some nice melodies.

Verdict: It's okay, nothing special.

No Jumper feat. KILLY x Smooky MarGielaa - Rivals

So this is the first time I will be mentioning No Jumper on this site.  No Jumper is a podcast on YouTube that interviews underground rappers and other personalities.  Adam22 runs the podcast and despite being a major scumbag, he's a good interviewer and businessman.  He formed No Jumper Records and is getting ready to release the No Jumper Album.  This single follows "Hard" which features the currently incarcerated Tay-K and BlocBoy JB.  That song was pretty hard.  On the other hand, this...isn't.  I don't really like the artists on here.  KILLY has an annoying voice and sounds exactly like Sheen Estevez from Jimmy Neutron.  Smooky MarGielaa is hit or miss for me with a lot of misses.  The hook is pretty hard but KILLY's delivery makes it sound horrible because his voice is so grating.  KILLY's verse devolves into repetition about a couple bars in and Smooky does a much better job.  He's been getting better for me since his appearance on A$AP Rocky's latest album, but he cannot save this song.

Verdict: This song sucks.

Best of the Week: J. Cole - Album of the Year Freestyle

Honorable Mention: Gucci Mane feat. Lil Pump - Kept Back

Worst of the Week: No Jumper feat. KILLY x Smooky MarGielaa - Rivals

Dishonorable Mention: Quavo - B U B B L E G U M

REVISIT: Trippie Redd's A Love Letter to You Series

Trippie Redd's career has been filled with ups and downs, both in music quality and outside the booth.  He's been known as a rising star for a while now and is just coming off an appearance on the 2018 XXL Freshman Issue.  In 2017, Trippie made some waves with his two projects titled A Love Letter to You and A Love Letter to You 2.  Since his debut studio album, Life's a Trip, is dropping tomorrow, I decided to go back to these mixtapes.

A Love Letter to You

As of right now, this is currently Trippie's best project and easily the better one in the series.  He shows off some great flows and establishes himself as a solid hookman.  The beats, mostly made by DJ Flippp and 12 Hunna, sound pretty crisp and clean.  Trippie actually showed that he has some solid lyrical prowess on the song "Can You Rap Like Me?"  And while it can be polarizing, I actually think his melodies can be kind of charming.  They sound much better than when I first listened to this anyway.  However, sometimes his melodies can sound annoying and shrieky.  There are also these random appearances from Trippie's friends who almost ruin some of these songs.  It's apparent that a lot of them cannot rap and should not be making music.  When he first released this, people thought that he was a clone of Lil Uzi Vert and I understand.  On this tape, there were points where I could barely tell them apart.  And while he has demonstrated to have some lyrical talent, some of his melodic verses are either too short, too repetitive, or both.  As much as I enjoy a good portion of this project, I think it's very inconsistent.

Singles

Love Scars [One of Trippie's best songs]

Romeo & Juliet [Meh]

No Smoke 1400 BC/Sauce - feat. Pachino [Hard enough to overlook the Pachino feature]
Stoves on 14th - feat. Black Jezzus [Hard enough to overlook the Black Jezuss feature]

Best Tracks

Deeply Scarred - feat. UnoTheActivist

Blade of Woe - feat. Famous Dex

Poles1469 - feat. 6ix9ine

Can You Rap Like Me?

Worst Track

Love Scars Pt. 2 / Rack City - feat. FOREVER ANTi PoP x Chris King

A Love Letter to You 2

This project was actually a downgrade from the predecessor.  I do think that his melodies improved a bit and that he sounds less like Lil Uzi Vert.  Also, Goose the Guru did a nice job on production throughout most of this project.  However, there's still a bunch of flaws.  We have more obscure features that no one wants and somehow they sound worse.  There are still points where the melodies sound grating.  It feels like there's not too much progression from the first tape.  A lot of the problems present in the first Love Letter carried over into the sequel.

Singles

Bust Down [Another one of my favorite Trippie songs]
In Too Deep [Took a few listens but it grew on me]

Woah Woah Woah - feat. Bali Baby [Sampling the Crash Woah meme was a bad idea.  This song aged like milk.]

I Know How to Self Destruct [Basically "Woah Woah Woah" in reverse and it's incredibly repetitive and mindless.  It's not good.]

Best Tracks

Today - feat. UnoTheActivist

Hellboy

Back Back Back

Overdose On L1fe

Worst Tracks

Deadman's Wonderland - feat. FOREVER ANTi PoP

Back of My Mind - feat. Cyndee with a C x Chris King

REVIEW: Travis Scott - Astroworld

Astroworld is the third studio album from Travis Scott.  The amount of hype around this album was ridiculous.  This project was announced long before Birds In the Trap Sing McKnight dropped.  Travis himself said in interviews that this was supposed to be his second album and the reason why it took so long was that he wanted to perfect it.  In my revisit for Rodeo, I said that it pushed the boundaries of trap music and is one of the best albums in that lane of hip-hop.  Since that release, however, Travis Scott's output has been hit or miss.  I liked Birds more than most people, but it's pretty inconsistent and felt like a blur in comparison to Rodeo.  Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, his collaborative project with Quavo, is a project that I found to be okay but also kind of underwhelming.  In my opinion, that album was released about six months too late.  His singles and features have also been hit or miss, with my favorites being "A-Team," "Green & Purple," and features like "Dark Knight Dummo," "Love Galore," and "Prayers Up."  I kept my excitement for this project at a reasonable level and hoped for something at least better than Birds.

Travis has some of the best beat selection in hip-hop and the production on this album is beautiful.  One of my problems with Birds was that Travis didn't rap enough.  Even though I like his moody, autotune laced voice, I always loved when he rapped without it.  Thankfully, there are a few tracks where he brings that style back and it sounds amazing. The features on this album did a phenomenal job too, especially Drake, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and 21 Savage.  For this album, Travis went for an amusement park theme and dedicated this album to the former Houston Six Flags park.  In a way, this album does feel like a theme park ride and was thrilling every minute.

Okay, that last sentence was a bit of an exaggeration.  Not EVERY minute of this album was thrilling.  Like a rollercoaster, there is a portion of this album where the quality goes downhill a little bit.  It's not a significant problem since I did enjoy this album, but it's a few tracks too long.  There were at least three songs that sounded like filler, especially tracks like "Yosemite" and "Who? What!"  I also thought that he didn't utilize some of his features properly.  Kid Cudi's contribution to "Stop Trying to Be God" was his signature hum.  Even though I absolutely love that song, I feel like Kid Cudi could be utilized a bit more.  Sheck Wes, one of Travis' Cactus Jack signees and the artist behind the absolute banger that is "Mo Bamba," is limited to hook duty.  Quavo and Takeoff were limited to 30 total seconds toward the end of "Who? What!"

I said this before on my review of Kanye's last projects but I absolutely hate this trend of not showing features on tracklists.  I get the enjoyment of the mystery but sometimes it's annoying when you recognize a voice but can't recognize the artist's name.  It took me a long time to figure out that Gunna was also featured on "Yosemite."  The fact that Genius tracks down the featured artists is a big reason why I love that website.  I also found it pretty baffling that "Butterfly Effect" made the album but "Watch" didn't.

Overall, I did enjoy this album.  I thought that it was a solid mix of the Rodeo sound and the Birds sound.  I will definitely be playing some tracks on this album for a long time.  My current ranking of Trav's discography goes like this (best to worst):

Rodeo
Astroworld (tie)
Days Before Rodeo (tie)
Birds In the Trap Sing McKnight
Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho
Owl Pharaoh

Singles
Butterfly Effect [It's one of Travis' weaker songs but was better than a good portion of hit songs in 2017 so it's okay.]

Best Tracks
Stargazing
Sicko Mode - feat. Drake x Swae Lee [Drake rapping about the proper way to use Xanax was hilarious]
Stop Trying to Be God - feat. James Blake x Kid Cudi x Philip Bailey x Stevie Wonder [Top 5 Travis song don't @ me]
5% Tint
Houstonfornication

Worst Tracks
Yosemite - feat. Gunna x NAV [Someone tell NAV to speak up please]
Who? What! - feat. Quavo x Takeoff

Score: 7/10

REVIEW: YG - Stay Dangerous

Still Dangerous is the fifth full-length project from YG.  YG is best known for his west coast gangsta rap and also contributed to making blood speak a meme.  He first came on the scene with the single "My Hitta," which features one of DJ Mustard's most iconic beats and one of Rich Homie Quan's best hooks.  His 2016 album, Still Brazy, is one of the best modern west coast albums of all time, so he had a lot to live up to for this release.  I didn't think his singles were any special, but I was looking forward to it regardless because I like YG's music.

I'm gonna be up front: this album is not great.  There aren't too many positive things to say when it comes to this project.  His flow and voice still sound pretty good, with the exception of a few songs like "Handgun" and "Slay."  Even though there weren't many, I enjoyed any non-DJ Mustard production.  Which leads to one of the album's biggest problems...

DJ Mustard's production was terrible.  Back in 2014 when he was the hottest producer, I will admit that I've enjoyed several songs produced by DJ Mustard, including YG's debut album My Krazy Life.  I still think that his songs can be fun in certain settings (mainly parties), but they all sound the same.  When I reviewed "Big Bank" back in May, I said that DJ Mustard is at his best when he's producing for YG.  It's gotten to the point where he's holding YG back more than anything and I enjoyed his production on My Krazy Life much more.  Another thing that bothered me was that many songs on this project end in weird ways, and that isn't a good thing.  On "10 Times," there's random gospel singing at the end that doesn't fit at all.  On "Handgun" and "666," there are long spoken word outros that would have worked better as separate skits or better yet, just don't include them at all.  "Big Bank" ends with these abrupt alarm sounds that sound really annoying.  "Power" ends with this really long bridge about how good this woman is at having sex with YG.  And "Too Brazy" ends with YG saying "ay" a bunch of times.

There are many weak hooks throughout the album that rely too much on repetition and it's not like most of these verses are any better.  YG's lyrical talent has declined significantly and this album has some of his worst verses.  In the first verse of "Handgun," YG starts playing Duck Duck Goose in the middle of it for some arbitrary reason.  Both of his verses on "Slay" are just cringeworthy attempts at trying to sound soft and sexy.  "Deeper Than Rap" has these lyrical gems:

"As I look in the mirror, takin' this fucking selfie" - a terrible way to start a song.  It sounds like he's trying too hard to be deep or parodying people trying too hard to be deep.

"Don't come to me mixin' up stories by DJ Skrillex" - A Skrillex reference?  In 2018?  Why?

All in all, most of these songs are a verse too long.

This album cover is atrocious.  YG is literally just standing there doing nothing while there's a dragon making an "OK" sign in the background.  It would be a lot better if YG wasn't on there.  This album has an all-star guest list and somehow the only ones worth mentioning were 2 Chainz, Mozzy, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again.  Oh, and I also liked this line from Big Sean on "Big Bank":

"I'm rare as affordable health care"

I don't normally praise Big Sean for his lyrical prowess but he can come up with a funny one-liner every now and then.  Overall, I did not like this album.  It was a major step back from Still Brazy and moving away from that sound was a huge mistake.

Singles
Handgun - feat. A$AP Rocky [Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, GOOSE!]
Suu Whoop [Meh song.]
Big Bank - feat. 2 Chainz x Big Sean x Nicki Minaj [Probably the best song on the album if we're being honest...that's kinda unfortunate.]

Best Songs
Can't Get In Kanada
Big Bank
666 - feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Too Brazy - feat. Mozzy

Worst Songs
Handgun
Too Cocky [Why? Why in the absolute fuck did you think referencing "I'm Too Sexy" by RightSaidFred was a good idea?]
Slay - feat. Quavo

Score: 4/10

REVIEW: Mac Miller - Swimming

Before I begin, I wanted to say that I'm going to be using a new review format from this post forward.  I'm not going to divide a bunch of stuff into sections but instead just talk.  The reason why I'm changing things up is to prevent redundancy and to keep things brief and to the point.

Swimming is the seventh full-length project from Mac Miller.  In between the release of The Divine Feminine and mid-2018, Mac Miller has been quiet.  In May, things were about to change.  Mac Miller and Ariana Grande's relationship had come to an end and soon after, Mac was charged with a DUI.  Soon after their breakup, Ariana had announced her engagement with Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson.  She is slated to release her new album 2 weeks later.  As for Mac, he had released 3 singles in late May: Programs, Buttons, and Small Worlds (the only single of the three to make the album).  There was barely any hype or discussion around them because he happened to release them at the same time as Pusha T's "The Story of Addidon."  The other two singles indicated that Mac would go in a more emotional direction.

I consider The Divine Feminine to be Mac Miller's worst project since Blue Slide Park because while it was an interesting project and something different, it could have been executed much better.  One of its biggest downfalls was Mac's singing, which has improved greatly on Swimming.  The production throughout fits the mood of the lyrics very well.  I thought that this album contained some of Mac's best lyrics and storytelling and he conveys his emotions very well.  I liked how it was more personal and reflective in comparison to his other releases.

However, having so many emotionally driven tracks could prevent replay value in the long run.  Albums that are this personal are meant for very rare and specific occasions.  When you're out with friends, no one is going to say, "Dude, let's bump Swimming."  It has a chill vibe, sure, but putting on songs like "Hurt Feelings" or "2009" when you're out having a good time is going to kill that vibe.  They're probably going for something more along the lines of Watching Movies With the Sound Off or KIDS.  I also thought the hooks throughout this album were pretty hit or miss.  Most of the melodic hooks are sung in the same style and some hooks go on for longer than need be.

I personally thought that having no features was actually a pretty good choice.  This is an album where Mac gets personal and reflects on himself and having features wouldn't make sense in this case.  Also, Mac didn't make this album because of his breakup with Ariana Grande.  He was in the process of making Swimming long before that.  Sure, songs like "Self Care" and "Dunno" were made following it and address the situation, but the breakup had little influence on it.  In my opinion, what Ariana Grande did to Mac Miller was very shitty and fans who responded with excitement because they anticipated a sequel to Faces are just as shitty.

To sum things up, this was a very solid album.  The mood stayed consistent without feeling redundant and you could really feel Mac's emotions throughout.  I don't think this is his best album by any means but it was definitely a step above The Divine Feminine and is very close to releases like Watching Movies With the Sound Off and GO:OD AM.

Singles

What's the Use? [Very nice and groovy track]

Self Care [My personal favorite on the tracklist for the hook, production, and beat switch]

Small Worlds [My least favorite of the singles.  It's better in the context of the album but Mac's singing sounds horrible here.]

Best Tracks

Hurt Feelings

Self Care

Wings

Conversation Part 1

2009

Worst Tracks

Small Worlds

Jet Fuel

Score: 7/10