Lav's Music Corner

Lil Baby Lil Baby is an Atlanta rapper whose music I've never particularly cared for. I have stuck my neck out twice to at least pay him a little bit of love on a pair of collaborative projects. That included his breakthrough Drip Harder  alongside Gunna in 2018 and his album The Voice Of The Heroes  alongside Lil Durk a few years later. But as far as his own studio albums go I can't say I've enjoyed any of them a bit. Hit completely flavorless style and AI-generated lyricism almost do enough to mask just how unpleasant his voice is to listen to, almost. But on WHAM  he takes a risk or two that pays off, not enough to make the album good but enough to make it marginally more enjoyable than some of his others.  This is gonna be a quick review, because if you've ever heard any Lil Baby music before you already know exactly what most of this album sounds like. Let me bring up some of the highlights though. "Dum, Dumb, And Dumber" has been one of the breakthrough ...

Review by Lav:  I was pretty damn excited for this album. From his breakthrough around 2015 leading up to his sophomore album i am > i was , 21 Savage underwent one of the greatest and quickest artistic improvements I've ever witnessed in hip hop. That left me pretty excited for what he's gonna do next. While his output in the years since certainly hasn't been bad, he hasn't continued progressing artistically in the way I had hoped. I was really excited to see him cross paths with Metro Boomin for a second time on 2020's Savage Mode II  but the album didn't really live up to the hype I had for it. On the other hand, I was pretty surprised by just how good his collab album with Drake Her Loss  was in 2022.  That led us to american dream , the long-awaited third solo studio album from Savage. The album dropped with no singles and was only announced just a few days before its release. Without much to set expectations for the record in advance, I'll start the...

Contemporary hip hop is having the down year of all down years. Until Lil Uzi dropped Pink Tape  it hadn't even had a number-one album at any point in 2023. That's why I largely felt okay putting it on the back burner as none of the records were exactly critical darlings either. Now, before Travis Scott comes along and resets the game later this month I'm taking a look at some of the biggest release of the year so far. Business Is Business  - Young Thug I assumed that this would be like many releases made when an artists is unable to be directly involved in the artistic process for one reason or another. But I've also been a big fan of Thugger in the past and I thought his deep cuts might be at least on par with some of his contemporaries studio material, I was right. This album isn't amazing or anything and it's far from his best but it also still manages to stand above many of his contemporaries despite his incarceration. Firstly, the album's 46-minute run...

King's Disease III  - Nas Unlike the bar on the opening track where Nas says he "doesn't drop often", this is the third album in the KD series in as many years. The combination of Nas and Hit-Boy has been pumping out songs recently and while I thought the first King's Disease  was just okay, the second one really did impress me . So if Nas took another step forward on the third edition it has the potential to be one of his best albums since Illmatic . At the very least Nas pulls off the level of lyrical proficiency you'd expect, as does Hit-Boy with the beats. Even when this record isn't operating at its best it does at least sound good. One of the primary issues I have with the album gets back to the recent over-exposure of Nas as this record sounds extremely familiar. From the beats to the hooks to the subject matter Nas is rapping about there's just a lot here that feels closer to routine. Thankfully, I still find the music here pretty exciting, and...

One day late, sorry, busy weekend. Not wasting any more time.  Enjoy <3 5.  Graveyard Love  - The Mars Volta While it's clear that we won't get the full picture of this new Mars Volta record until it can be digested in its entirety but these singles certainly seem to predict a change of pace. With clearer and hookier melodies, less overwhelming instrumentation and a short runtime it's a fine outing though one that certainly stands out for the band. Listen 4.  RUN  - Killer Mike (Feat. Young Thug) Killer Mike is back with his first solo single since Run The Jewels became america's sweethearts and it features a fellow Atlanta legend in the recently incarcerated Young Thug. For the most part the track is a parade of Mike's accomplishments as a veteran in the hip hop community who has been one of the definitive conscious voices in the genre for over 20 years. Despite its general lack of ambition that song is still an exciting anthem based on the charm and stature...

Gunna is an Atlanta rapper signed to Young Thug's YSL Records label. He broke out a few years ago on a string of features alongside Young Thug and a successful collaborative album between himself and fellow 2018 up and comer Lil Baby. DS4EVER  is his 3rd proper studio album and comes two years after his first #1 album Wunna  in 2020. Review By Lav: I was late to Gunna. When I first heard him on the back of his affiliation with Young Thug I was so sure that his prescence would be a passing fad that I passed on reviewing some of his early mixtapes. It wasn't until his Lil Baby collab Drip Harder  which spawned the first big hit of his career that I realized I couldn't ignore him forever. The first highlight of my interaction with Gunna's music and his fans was when an intern from his record label called me "an LGBT" on Twitter and used that as an explanation for why I didn't enjoy Drip or Drown 2  which honestly still makes me laugh to this day. Believe it o...

The Extended Play is either a dying breed with too few songs to rack up meaningful streams or it's the only place where you can discover authentically good indie music anymore. Depending on who you ask. The reality of it is while the EP is mostly dead in popular music save for a few artists who could release literally anything and their fans would listen, it is a thriving medium in the underground. Part of me hates doing this list because 10 years from now we will know about some great EPs from artists who will break out in the next few years and this list will look completely different. But for now lets indulge with artists we know are good right now and count down the top 10 EPs of 2021.  10. Lil Mariko  - Lil Mariko Lil Mariko garnered quite a bit of attention with her appearance on Dorian Electra's My Agenda  last year, but she was really just getting started. Her debut EP is a hyperpop meets hip hop meets metal fusion sort of like Poppy but with more rapped verses. A...

We're at that time of year where I try to cover as much as I possibly can before 2021 is out and that starts with some of the albums that have spawned quite a bit of discourse. These are rap records that came out over the past month or so and inspired Instagram rap page admin discussion, profuse memeing and second hand listening experiences outside bumping car windows.  Expensive Pain - Meek Mill Is it just me or was there a lot more discussion about Meek like, two years ago. Obviously during the Drake beef and Dreams Worth More Than Money  era he was quite the headline grabber but even in recent years during his very public battle with the legal system I just saw a lot more people talking about him. This record seems like it's gonna chart pretty well and it certainly attracted the attention of a number of high profile mainstream hip hop artists, but I can't shake the feeling that it's his most culturally inessential album to date. As a pop culture observer that's a...

Drake is the biggest artist on earth, and frankly it really isn't even close. From his streaming dominance, to his radio dominance to his chart dominance across numerous genres Drake has been an absolutely unstoppable force of commercial music for years. After setting numerous Billboard and streaming records with his 2018 record Scorpion  Drake has already started tearing down his previous accomplishments with Certified Lover Boy  in just the records first few days.  Review By Lav: Compared to the general public I've never been one of the massive Drake fans that you most likely know and interact with on Twitter occasionally. But compared to most music critics I've been far more positive on Drake's output, particularly in recent years, than many major outlets. While Views  and Scorpion  are both undeniably bloated there is also no denying the highlights that run throughout. Drake overcame this on his More Life  playlist which featured contributions from a nu...

Every year there are literally dozens and dozens, maybe even hundreds of trap records that either get reccomended to me or hyped up somewhere significant online. While I do cover major releases or records I anticipate being particularly good I wanted to take some time to play catch up with contemporary raps predominate sound, and it probably won't be the last time this year I do.  Trip At Knight  - Trippie Redd Even though I have reviewed Trippie a few times in the past I decided to skip out on his two most recent major releases. Last years Pegasus  was a bloated and very boring project that I didn't review because I didn't really have anything to say about it. He followed it up with the Travis Barker collaboration Neon Shark  which I was hesitant of because of just how often Travis pops up on terrible trap music these days, but I actually thought it turned out decent. Given that it was really just a deluxe release of Pegasus  I never got around to it but Trip A...