My Favorite Projects Of 2018
J. Cole-KOD: KOD is one of J. Cole’s absolute best albums if not his best. An album that dives into different social issues spanning artist willing to sell their soul to the pervasive use of drugs by both the artist and the consumers. Given the amount of music romanticizing drugs and damaged it’s caused it’s good to have that counterbalanced by albums like this.
Pusha T- Daytona: Daytona may be Pusha’s best LP to date, it’s dark brooding and indeed him. Pusha T shows that while experimentation is excellent, the if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it model can still work wonders for those willing to perfect what they do best.
Jay Rock- Redemption: 2018 was Jay Rock’s turn as the lead man in the TDE camp. His previous effort 90059 was by all accounts an excellent LP that went underappreciated, but with Redemption Jay Rock takes it up a notch both in gritty storytelling and delivery.
Royce Da 5'9- Book Of Ryan: Royce Da 5'9 releases his most personal LP to date touching on his alcoholism, mental health, and addiction in his family. It’s a cathartic album packed with content that’s only by Royce being one of raps best wordsmiths.
Meek Mill- Championships: This is easily my favorite Meek Mill album. The album finally sees Meek finally reaching the potential I’d always thought he could. He’s rapping with his usual energy and passion and at the same time applying a weary sense of wisdom about the toll of street life and the corruption of the criminal justice system.
Noname- Room 25: Noname isn’t the loudest of MC’s, but she does have a strong, quirky and witty personality that comes through in her music. She’s poignant and poetic, and the music she raps over is just the jazzy/lush canvas she needed. A great LP that gets better with time.
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris- Everything’s Fine: Jean Grae & Quelle Chris deliver a sharply satirical album about the daily facade people use to get through day to day and just people’s general ability to only see and attack things on a surface level.
Aphex Twin- Collapse EP: Aphex Twin to my ears has been on a nice run since he released Syro in 2014, but Collapse EP may be his best project since. Each track is layered with sounds both pretty and jagged, and best of all compositionally they all go places that at least feel improvised. Great work from Richard D. James.
Kidaudra-Pluto IRD: Up until this point Kidaudra’d been crafting her own iteration of dream/synth pop to great effect but Pluto IRD is more of a dark experimental techno type of work, primarily influenced by the birth of her first born and a move to a more remote area in upstate NY. It’s a great album, layered, adventurous and heartfelt. Loved this album.
Dirty Projectors- Lamp Lit Prose: Lamp Lit Prose is the best album from Dirty Projectors in nearly a decade(Bitte Orca ‘09). All the tracks are lively and full of energy, and it’s another LP that keeps you on your toes track to track and even within tracks. It was nice to hear David Longstreth back in great form.
Black Panther: The Album: Curated by Kendrick Lamar and featuring great artists like Vince Staples, SZA, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Reason and the like it’s one of the better movie soundtracks you’ll hear. It’s also plays something like a TDE compilation LP with some guest which kept me going back to it throughout the year.
MGMT- Little Dark Age: As much affection, I’ve had for MGMT’s debut LP back in '07 they’ve never quite captured my imagination with subsequent albums. Little Dark Age, however, has come to closest. A mixture of catchy synth-pop and dreamy psychedelia they’re well known to make in a short 10 track LP.
Hinds- I Don’t Run: While I enjoyed their 2016 effort Leave Me Alone, their 2018 project was higher energy and more infectious project. It was also sharper lyrically as well, so I definitely enjoyed this one.
Dream Wife- Dream Wife: Bringing a mix of punk and alt-rock at times Dream Wife is pure youthful exuberance, they pack each song with a punch, and though they’re a little young as songwriters I think they brought fun energy that covers anything that’s lacking.
Phryme- Phryme 2: DJ Premier and Royce Da 5'9 on Phryme 2 brought back a traditional east coast sound but one that still sounded up to date as they spoke to the divide between the older and younger generation and bridging those gaps.
Tone Chop & Frost Gamble- One: This album is straight boom bap beats and hard rhymes. Tone Chops style is just measured and mature, and you can hear his passion for the culture of hip-hop whether he’s talking relationship issues or loss in his life you can discern his authenticity in the songs.
Cupcakke- Ephorize: Cupcakke is brash, charismatic and just has a great mic presence, and though she’s most known for raunchy sex raps she also showed versatility on tracks like “Crayon,” “Self Interview” an “Total” where she gets more introspective and speaks to LGBTQ issues as well.
Freddie Gibbs- Freddie Gibbs: Freddie Gibbs just knows how to make intelligent street music. His self titled EP is short and lyrically nice is perfect when you need to scratch that itch.
Tierra Whack- Whack World: Philadelphia MC and singer Tierra Whack released one of the most interesting EP’s this year, issuing 15 tracks and each being a minute long she was able to showcase her versatility as a rapper and vocalist. Not to mention an eccentric magnetic personality.
Flatbush Zombies-Vacation In Hell: Flatbush Zombies come with great camaraderie, flows and bring an energy that’s often overlooked but one I enjoyed through the past year.
Boog Brown x Tom Caruana - Boog Brown (Full Album)
Give a listen to Detroit MC Boog Brown’s latest LP
Lil Yachty- Nuthin’ 2 Prove(Album Review)
Nuthin’ 2 Prove is the third full-length effort from Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty. Lil Yachty first burst on the scene in 2016 when he released his self-titled mixtape and another one in Summer Songs 2. That was the year that in my opinion he made his best and catchiest tunes and provided a bright and lighter take on trap music. Since then Yachty’s music has been hit or miss with each project containing a few interesting efforts and some forgettable ones as well. With Nuthin’ 2 Prove Yachty provides yet another hit or miss project but one that I enjoy a little more than his previous album.
Lil Yachty has two persona’s there’s Yachty which is his more melodic and playful side, and there’s Lil Boat which is the more rap heavy side with standard trap leanings. The first half of the project is pretty much all Lil Boat, and it features my least favorite tracks on the album. The very first track on the album “Gimmie My Respect” is a bass-heavy short song that sees Yachty stake his claim as the one who spearheaded the younger generation of rappers it’s an underwhelming, meandering track to start the album with. That’s followed by “Get Dripped” featuring Playboi Carti a track with a bright chippy spiraling beat that sounds made for Playboi Carti as his high pitched vocal matches the texture of the beat nicely. Yachty sounds like he’s trying to fit what he does on there and ultimately it ends up sounding like a Carti song featuring Lil Yachty. “I’m The Mac” is a similarly minimal song where Yachty really doesn’t do much on the verses. I don’t understand some of the production choices early on the project they don’t really push Yachty to rap like he did on tracks like “Up Next 2″, “Dirty Mouth” or “D to The A.” I do enjoy “Yacht Club” featuring Juice World it has more of melodic tone, and I enjoy the humorous trading of bars on the track. “Who Want The Smoke” is probably the peak of the entire project as both Cardi B and Offset have the best verses of the project on that song.
After that point, more of what Yachty is best known for shows up and for me saves the project from being a complete waste aside from a couple songs. I really like the hook and beat on “Everything Good, Everything Right,” and I like his flow on that one. “Next Up” features some of Yachty’s best rapping on the project, and again the chorus is solid. “Nolia” ft Kevin Gates features solid performances from both as they rap about meeting a girl from Magnolia. The second half of the LP is just more tuneful and that for the most part is the Yachty I like.
Nuthin’ 2 Prove is an okay album if you’re into Lil Yachty. It really isn’t too much better or worse than anything else he’s released. I think he can create better, but there’s definitely some solid tracks. He’s older, doesn’t seem quite as exuberant and rambunctious as he did a few years ago, but even then he wasn’t great by any means I just think the production and his disposition made for a funnier listen. Still, I’ll take the tracks that I did enjoy from here and keep tabs on he does next.
Rating: 6.0/10
By: Patrick Griffin II
Kidaudra- Pluto IRD(Album Review)
Kidaudra is an electronic artist based in Upstate NY. She’s been an artist I’ve been watching progress since she released her debut EP, the Unknown EP back in 2012. Since then she’d been steadily delivering ethereal, whimsical synth and electro-pop tunes to get lost in. Her previous album Blue Human(2016) was one I thoroughly enjoyed so I was definitely excited to give her new one Pluto IRD a listen and diving into it, it’s hasn’t disappointed in the slightest.
Where Blue Human was Kidaudra’s a colorful and moody version of dream pop that she’d been building since she’d been putting out music for the public, Pluto IRD is Kidaudra doing her take on more of a lonely techno/house sound. This album is less about lyrics and songs but more about building danceable sounds that just as complex and vast as they’ve always while delivering messages through that. “Hi IRD” starts things off quite nicely with a nice pounding beat, swirling vocals to go along with piano keys as well. It’s a nice groove that progresses and adds nice layers as it moves but never loses its ability to make me want to move. “Liquuid Quantize” has a cold almost snowy sound to me as Kidaudra’s vocals echo off the walls of the track. The piano chords in there are a nice touch as well. She’s done an excellent job with this project of really adding layers to her sound and creating music that just a different experience to sit through.
Pluto IRD is an album inspired by the birth of her first son and the overall experience it was for her. Every track is capturing a particular emotion and state of being she went through having her son. That’s a powerful muse, and I believe it’s why the songs are so creatively inspired. The aforementioned “Hi IRD” speaks toward( I imagine), constantly thinking about her child. “Goom Heo” more personally lyrically seemed to be referencing the idea of learning to admire something or someone without yearning to have that thing to be whole or feel worthy. Kidaudra states the tracks “Pluto” through “Amniotik” are supposed to represent the stages from labor to birth, and those are amongst the best tracks on the album. I love the aura and bounce of “Amniotik” as a steady beat, airy synths and Kizina’s vocals circle around and toward you hear the cries of a baby looped within. I also really enjoy the percussion and laser sounds coming on “Pink Tea” as she croons.
Pluto IRD finds Kidaudra experimenting with sounds and also putting her heart into the music. Her vocals are always emotive and cut through everything that’s going on these songs. For it’s easily her best project, where Blue Human was great it had certain songs that I knew I’d go back to. On this album though, I feel like every song is sharp front to back an that’s it’s cohesive and consistently engaging. I definitely recommend giving her music a listen if you’re into electronic mainly synth and dream pop music.
Rating: 8.5/10
By: Patrick Griffin II
