Lav's Music Corner

Conway The Machine is a Buffalo, New York rapper and one third of the acclaimed Griselda records trio alongside Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher. The trio have been incredibly prolific in recent years garnering the attention of both mainstream hip hop and numerous critics with 2020 in particular being big for the label. They've continued releasing prolifically with both Conway and Benny dropping collaborative tapes with producers already before La Maquina  was dropped. Review By Lav: Last year after flirting with the label for years I finally took a deep dive into Griselda and all three of its prime artists and came out pretty satisfied. While they've each had their moments across the past few years as far as 2020 was concerned, I was much more pleased by big albums form Westside and Benny than Conway's From A King To A GOD . I was hoping that Conway would show his talents off more consistently on a new project that would definitively put him in the same high tier as h...

There is more great rap music out there than I can possibly cover in full reviews, or even in rapid fire reviews. With many of the years most talked about releases being hip hop crossovers I decided to once again return to some records I didn't get the chance to review in full to make sure I don't fall behind with plenty more great rap music surely coming in 2021 Haram  - Armand Hammer & The Alchemist Armand Hammer is the New York duo of Billy Woods and Elucid who have spent the last decade releasing some of the most abstract and indulgent rap music around with highlights coming in the form of projects like Paraffin  and Race Music . The Alchemist is a producer with a resume that rivals just about anyone with a number of great collaborative projects in the past few years, most notably the Freddie Gibbs meetup Alfredo . For fans of The Alchemist you'll find these instrumentals mostly recognizable if not a bit more grimey than usual. There are those classic moments of spa...

Megan Thee Stallion is a Houston based rapper who has had as consistent a viral presence across 2020 as just about anyone. It started off with her Tik Tok anthem Savage  which eventually garnered a Beyonce featuring remix and had a Billboard #1 shootout with Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj. Musically she also lent a feature out to one of the most talked about songs of 2020 Cardi B's WAP . Not to mention she made headlines for months after allegedly being shot in the foot by Tory Lanez. She is following up last years Fever  mixtape and this years Suga EP with her studio debut album Good News . Review By Lav: There are few voices in the modern hip hop game as hilarious, charming and overwhelming as Hot Girl Meg. From last years Hot Girl Summer  becoming an anthem before it was even released to her near constant presence across every facet of the music industry and social media one thing is clear, nobody can get enough of Megan. I felt the same way despite coming off pretty mild o...

So Help Me God  - 2 Chainz   I was pretty excited for this record given how much I've enjoyed 2 Chainz in the past even leading up to his record last year which landed on the back half of my albums of the year list. Unfortunately some of the issues I had with the singles leading up to this record lasted onto the project itself, starting with a stacked roster of features that come off really lame more often than not. With the exception of Kevin Gates none of the high profile names end up really showing their best side and a handful of tracks are nearly ruined by bad supporting cast. Pair this with some very average production and the only saving grace the record has is 2 Chainz himself. What makes the record worth hearing is 2 Chainz animated and infectious performances, hilarious lyricism and generally great attitude that's as infectious as always. Even though this isn't the longest record in the world I still wish I had dialed back on the feature overload because some of t...

Run The Jewels is the pairing of Atlanta rapper and Southern hip-hop legend Killer Mike alongside producer/rapper and experimental rap veteran El-P. The pair first linked up on Killer Mike's R.A.P Music  album in 2012 before pairing up under the RTJ moniker the next year. The duo went on to release 3 critically acclaimed hip hop records over the next 4 years highlighted by the transcendent hardcore hip-hop modern classic Run The Jewels 2  in 2014. Review By Lavender: Just like everybody on earth I love Run The Jewels. Killer Mike and EL-P came from very different places but the sound they have crafted together is unique, hard-hitting and politically charged. From some of the most hilarious vile lyrics to the most witty and revolutionary there is no shortage of creativity between the pairing and they have been amazing on one record after another. Even with expectations as high as they are on RTJ4  the duo still manages to go above and beyond as they crafted one of the best...

Lil Wayne is a name that needs no introduction at this point. One of the most influential rappers of the 2000's who continues to release solid material and is coming off of the long awaited Carter V  one of his most acclaimed projects in years. Review By Lavender: I think I'm about as much of a fan of Lil Wayne as everybody else is. His big radio hits and hugely successful mixtapes soundtracked some of my younger years but he still manages to surprise me every once in a while with a record like The Carter V  which had way more great songs than duds. Given that the record had no true singles I didn't know what to expect going into it, but at a daunting 24 tracks and 80 minutes in length the only thing definitive about Funeral  is that absolutely nothing was left off of it. The album actually gets off to a pretty hot start with its first couple tracks. Funeral is the opener and the title track where Wayne opens up with a short sung passage before the heavy beat dro...

2 Chainz aka Tity Boi, aka Tauheed Epps is an Atlanta rapper who blew up in 2012 on the back of his hilarious and timely debut album Based On A T.R.U Story . Finding large scale commercial success with the project led him to release a quick follow-up the next year which became the less successful B.O.A.T.S II Me Time . After some very notable features and a huge gain in name recognition in the industry it all finally led 2 Chainz to release his best album since his debut, 2017's Pretty Girls Like Trap Music . With a sharper and effectively trendy sound 2 Chainz was thrust back into the spotlight and has been there ever sense as a short release cycle and some notable celebrity endorsements helped Rap Or Go To The League become one of the most anticipated releases of 2019 so far. Review By Lavender: 2 Chainz 2012 debut album Based On A T.R.U Story is a flawed album but one of the most hilarious and charming hip hop releases of this entire decade. His personality, hilarious lyr...