Uzi just keeps moving the music forward. There’s just so much in Eternal Atake, so much cleverness, so much fire and so much that’s unexpected. Uzi’s new album is urgent, energetic and unmissable.
Firstly, he just goes so hard in this. He puts so much pace on “Homecoming” that the song steams with sweat. It’s relentless and tireless. “POP” is frenetic and “You Better Move” is almost punishing and yet the two only serve as a launchpad for “Homecoming.” Even then though, they have highlights of their own. His chant of Balenci’ is breathtaking in “POP.” It holds a white-hot intensity for so long that it puts you in a lather just to listen to it.
“You Better Move” has a yelped shout-out to Yu-Gi-Oh! that just sticks. This is the other thing about the album. Uzi is just really likeable. I love the random call-outs. I love the space themes. Uzi has that charisma.
Above all though, he just has the ear for music. He puts together sounds fearlessly and pulls in the most unexpected sounds with impeccable smoothness. This is showcased by his going back to his break-out “XO Tour Llif3” with “P2.” This could have gone very poorly, but he manages it cleanly and his take on “That Way” actually works well. His crooning is maybe a little grating, but the sound is just so clever that it’s more than forgivable.
He’s got such versatility here. His crooning works, I love his hard raps and he’s fantastic in the more traditional songs like “Futsal Shuffle 2020.” He traps excellently in “Secure The Bag” where his hook of “This is a game” is sublime. He yelps perfectly against the sublime Asian-inflected trap beat of “Pieces.” He changes flow fluidly in “Bigger Than Life.”
This album feels like the bebop of the trap world. It’s challenging and demands your focus, but it has so many rewards for your attention. It’s deeply textured and there’s so much to provoke thought in the details here. His yelps, his ad-libs, the pauses in his raps all can catch you by surprise. It’s all just so clever.
This is an excellent album and if it only had a truly stand-out single, this would be a masterpiece. As is, it’s merely fantastic and something that you should definitely listen to.
I had a blast with Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow. First of all, rap always gets short shrift in reality music shows and so it’s really nice to see one of these shows focus on the genre. Chance and Cardi were great hosts and two out of three isn’t bad. Some of the guests were great. The show was a lot of fun. Above all though, some of the rap was excellent.
The show had one major structural flaw though. The show just didn’t run long enough. In something like Masterchef Australia, the show just goes on for so long that contestants really get a chance to develop over the course of the show. Rhythm + Flow, despite a little mentorship, never really gave its contestants the same space. The ones who looked best at the beginning looked best at the end and from the first moment that you saw him, D Smoke looked better than the rest.
Releasing an album like this puts him up against professionals though. He’s no longer competing against amateurs on TV. So, does Black Habits hold up in the real world? Mostly yes, but maybe also a little no.
Firstly, when Smoke goes hard, he goes hard. “Gaspar Yanga” is really very strong and it plays to all of his strengths. His bilingualism is good, his calling out Inglewood is good, Snoop is naturally good. It just lets Smoke stretch as a rapper though. His flow is such a strength and this song really shows off his skills.
Similarly, “No Commas” is a standout. Going hard just works for him. I do however feel the political interjections are a little tame, as I did through the album. I want him to really take his politics to the next level.
D Smoke’s natural comparison point is Kendrick. His flow, his style, just everything about him feels like early Kendrick, but Kendrick’s raps are conscious in a way that no one else is. Especially after To Pimp A Butterfly, it was clear that Kendrick just thinks differently and, in the same way, D Smoke needs to find a unique space for himself. Black Habits just isn’t memorable in the way that top rap albums achieve in spades, and this is much of the difference.
Additionally, some of the music here, while interesting explorations, are just not him at his best. It’s impressive that he has the ability to drop slow cuts like “Seasons Pass” or “Real Body” but it’s just not what he should be doing. “Fly” works well by having Smoke rap hard against a slow beat and hook, but when he slows down himself, it’s fine, it’s definitely not terrible, but he’s just better than it.
This is a good album overall though. We could see Smoke’s talent from the moment he came on TV and this album shows it. I want something with more individuality from him though. Smoke’s personality came through strong in the show and when he figures out how to fully integrate that with his music, there’s no doubt that it’s going to be special. For now though, Black Habits should by on your rotation and D Smoke someone you should watch out for.
I feel like I’ve been waiting for the breakout British rap album for a while. J Hus’ afroswing music is a compelling choice. His blend of genres is incredibly smooth and very, very listenable.
There’s absolutely nothing to object to with Big Conspiracy. Everything flows effortlessly. In this though, is my issue with the album. There’s nothing that memorable either. The whole thing moves too easily and, while extremely pleasant, it leaves nothing that sticks.
There are places where it flirts with greatness though. He’s good at his horniest in “Reckless”, great at his most introspective in “Deeper Than Rap” and simply excellent in the absolute standout “Must Be”. The sax is infinite fun, the storytelling is on point and the song is catchy as hell. It’s just that the album as a whole just does nothing transcendent. Even the politics, whic could have been the source of some choppiness, mostly stays submerged.
This is still the kind of album that it’s impossible to come away disappointed with. This is very good music and an extremely fun listen. J Hus’ ability to meld together so much into his music is incredible even hours in and there’s always something more to see in here. It might not be the masterpiece I’m waiting for, but it’s still an album well worth taking the time for.
I was really excited with the first couple of listens of this album. Like everyone else with a tape player and a bedroom in the early 00s, Eminem formed a big part of my youth, and like with everyone else, he’s mostly disappointed me since.
This album has the seeds of change in it. Em goes hard here. The clever lines and the top-tier flow are a given. He’s long established himself as unparalleled in technique. It has just come off as empty of late. There are plenty of technical rappers, but technique in itself isn’t enough to make music to be listened to.
Here, there are some interesting ideas. Going so technical over a Juice WRLD chorus in “Godzilla” is a lot of fun and his flow in “Unaccomodating” is intriguing. “Stepdad” showcases his strength in storytelling, even if the chorus, and honestly the material, almost drags it into farce. Anderson .Paak is always fun and plays well against Em.
The problem is just that the album feel meaningless again. Where the pure skill was once a vehicle, now it’s a crutch. He used to be relaxed with it. He would use it where it helped the song. Now, it just forced in.
There’s also just no real single or even anything really memorable. He’s got jokes, he’s got flow, but he just doesn’t have any meaning behind it. Where any of his first three albums would be an instant classic now, even with the dated references and the poorly-aged skits, I’m going to forget this one completely in a month.
There was a lot of music in 2019 that caught my ear, but surprisingly for me, when it came to putting together a list, things came together quite easily. There are just some albums in particular that I want you to hear.
5. Ariana Grande – thank u, next
This album is my choice for the biggest surprise of the year. For someone as big, as established and as much of a star as Ariana Grande to take so large a step forward is startling but that is just what she did.
Key to this is the title track. “thank u, next” could have easily come off poorly, but she handles it with a grace and maturity that really mark the growth that we see here. Her voice was always strong, but here it’s sincere as well and that lets her keep a powerful song fully under control.
For all of the headlines of that centerpiece, the rest of the album is just chock-full of ideas and well-executed ones at that. She’s kittenish in “make up” and sneering in “bloodline”, fun in “NASA” and imperial in “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored.” The music goes from hard to soft and back again and does it with flair. Her voice is nothing short of stellar.
Ariana has done a lot over her career to reinvent pop, but this is the album that guns for the top. It’s fun, it’s exciting and it looks effortless doing so, just like Ariana Grande herself.
From a no-caps album, now we pick up a full caps one and the difference is clear. Where Ariana was free-flowing and so honest, this album is clearly the product of immense thought, but is no less sincere for that.
Jamilia Woods takes a panorama of black excellence and uses it as a lens through which to examine current events and herself and makes spectacular music in the process.
It’s just such a smart album. There are some arrestingly clever lines here. I love the starkness of “Are you mad? / Yes, I’m mad” and the cleverness with which it is twisted in the magnificent “BASQUIAT.” It’s even preceded by the equally noteworthy “MUDDY,” which has a beautifully dirty blues-rock riff reminiscent of its namesake.
LEGACY! LEGACY! does a lot and does it all with awe-inspiring levels of quality and an astonishing coherence as well. This is an unquestionably ambitious album and one that pulls off that ambition dazzlingly.
Continuing the theme of all-caps records, we have Tyler, the Creator with IGOR. With 2017’s Flower Boy, it seemed like Tyler had found his voice and IGOR continues that clarity. He has matured and that maturity has brought focus to his always prodigious talent.
The uniqueness that defined him is as strong as ever, but he’s somehow more versatile now as well. He can go hard in “NEW MAGIC WAND” or soft in “GONE GONE / THANK YOU” with equal ease and he’s still able to drop thought-provoking beats and unexpected sounds in at every point.
This is the best version of Tyler, the Creator that we could have hoped for and the realization of all of his promise. This is scintillating, singular music and quite easily one of the best albums of the year.
There are some Kanye albums, like Yeezus or MBDTF where you know that they will be the album of the year as soon as they come out. JESUS IS KING isn’t that kind of album. I would have been shocked to see it place this high when I reviewed it.
And yet, on coming back to it, it’s just better than the other albums on this list. Listening to “Closed On Sunday” after a while, it just hits you that this is really strong music. It’s no surprise that going back to gospel would work well for Kanye, but to his credit, he’s done a lot more than just the gospel beats of his early work or even the heavy gospel of “Ultralight Beam.”
He committed here to the idea of Christian music. This is not the most sophisticated take on religion, but it is honest and personal and true and so manages more real commentary than any amount of sophistry. Talking about fighting with his father or the quickness of Christian disdain for who he is are topics that many would avoid, but that’s not what a Kanye album does.
It’s in the music that the most interesting ideas emerge though. The choir playing against hard bars in “Use This Gospel” and then the following Kenny G solo that goes back into the beat is the kind of thing that you would just never see anywhere else. The military-grade choir in “Selah” is undeniable. Even in terms of rapping, Kanye has taken a step forward. Something like “Follow God” showcases things that he just could not do before.
JESUS IS KING is a new stage in Kanye’s career and while it may not be as immediately promising as his first set of albums or as groundbreaking as 808s or Yeezus, it’s still fascinating music and some of the best of the year.
With MAGDALENE, one finds oneself immediately reaching for superlatives. Gorgeous, intricate, a masterpiece all come to mind and are all apt. There’s just so much of note here.
First of all, the production is stellar. There are just so many small details here. There are little sounds everywhere, little evocative fragments that build out a cathedral for her voice to fill. It’s ethereal as always, but so very strong. There’s an intensity here that almost scalds as it enervates.
FKA Twigs was always one of those talented artists, one of those who seems an effortless polyglot in musical languages and even in dance. She does so many things so well, it just feels unfair when it all comes together this well. This is the greatest work yet of an extraordinary artist and a comfortable pick for the album of this year.
This is undoubtedly the catchiest album that I’ve heard all year. Burna Boy just has that ear for it that you cannot replicate. This is an album that puts you in undeniable motion.
The combination of African sounds and the Nigerian patois that run through it mix cleanly with the just-as-prominent modern pop and rap sounds to make something at once of the future and deeply connected to its roots.
In particular, “Anybody” and “Wetin Man Go Do” pull all of the pieces together perfectly. It’s a sound that’s excitingly novel in all that it brings to the table and again, it’s just very catchy.
It’s a fun album. “Killin Dem” is compulsive and “Omo” is infectious. This is, more than anything, the reason to try it out. “Secret” has the kind of chorus that sticks in your ears long after you’ve pressed pause.
It is hopefully also the sign of Burna Boy’s emergence. This is an album with impressive features. Unfortunately, neither Future nor YG show up that well. Both are just out of place on this and that dissonance is hard to break from. Jorja Smith is excellent though. “Gum Body” has a great verse from her as well as a stand-out chorus and an absolutely wonderful little sax lick in the middle. Similarly, “Secret” has a fantastic chorus and the features help an already great track stand out.
The album does lose pace somewhere around the middle and a few sounds drag for too long, but this is still the most enjoyable album that I’ve heard all year. Also, it has a fascinating aside about colonialism in Nigeria and that kind of thing automatically bumps an album up a rung.
This album is not shy about its strengths. Right from the strong but sincere “Sinners Prayer” and its bluesy groove, you know that you’re getting into something good. By the time you get into the Prince-like “The World Is Drunk” and excellent neo-R&B of “Something Keeps Calling”, there’s no doubt left.
It finishes with fully the same strength. “Glory To The Veins” is the standout track with a dark, pulsating beat and Saadiq shows expert restraint with his voice here. For all of that though, it just grooves. “Rikers Island” moves well and the redux adds some needed profundity in an album which, while very heartfelt, is not quite original in its lyrics.
However, the album itself is just a little muddied. There are great moments in there, like the chorus of “Something Keeps Calling” or the little bit of playful piano in “Glory To The Veins”, but the whole fades a little easily, a fault exacerbated by the weak middle.
It’s still no doubt a very good, if not quite great, album. There are faults, but if you’re looking to see present-day R&B at its best, this is where you should start.
It’s immediately apparent that this is the album after the death of Nick Cave’s son. The melancholy is beautiful and everywhere. It’s much more of an ambient album than is standard for him and, if anything, benefits from the move outside. It does however also suffer a little from what becomes a slightly unvarying sound as a result though.
However, the grief comes through poignantly throughout. In particular, the retelling of the Buddhist parable of the house that knows no death in “Hollywood” is heart-rending. It’s a touching, beautiful album and one that you will not leave unmoved.
Earl Sweatshirt has built a solid pocket of rap for himself. He makes muddy, complex, punishing rap in a way that no one else even really attempts. FEET OF CLAY however may have taken it too far.
His muttered, submerged raps are as awe-inspiring as ever. He puts together sounds and words in a way that’s simultaneously muddy and evocative, like scrying in a swamp. It’s singular and cohesive and often somewhat punishing as a result. He has such complex bars with lyricism as unique as it is skilled.
The punishment was always sort of the point, but this is the one where it feels a little unjustified. The album is just too dense and lacks the reward of a “Chum” or a “Grief” to really pay off the effort. If you’re an Earl Sweatshirt fan, then you already know that you should give this album a couple of spins, but if not, this is not the place to jump in.
FKA Twigs has long made some of the most interesting pop out there, but MAGDALENE is a full step above her earlier work. It’s easily her best album to date and one of the best albums of the year. She’s sharper, she’s more cohesive and this album just bangs.
There are the obvious parts, “holy terrain” works very well with the Future feature. The trap beat plays nicely against her voice and Future is perfectly understated. The heart of the album is in the thousands of little moments. There’s a beautiful vocal fragment to end “mary magdalene” and the pulsations of “fallen alien” are consuming and intense.
The album even works in the much slower “mirrored heart” and it fits expertly. The feedback in it adds a surprising heft and her lyrics are cutting. Coming as this album did, after a major break-up and a major surgery, it could have easily been a sledgehammer of an album, but her restraint makes the moments that reference the turmoil all the more powerful. Her finesse here is astonishing.
There are a few missteps in “home with you” and “daybed”, which just don’t do enough, but there is much more of note, like the beautiful and clever “sad day”. This is an album from an absurdly talented artist at the height of her powers and an album you don’t want to miss.
Top Five Records 