Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender:  McKinley Dixon is a Virginia rapper who has spent this decade rising higher and higher as a critical darling of hip-hop. That began in 2021 with his album For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her , which I liked a lot. That trek continued onto 2023's Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?  which I was equally fond of. I got the chance to interview McKinley at the end of 2023, and he sounded like someone who knew their work wasn't done yet. which is why I was so excited to hear from him again. On Magic, Alive! , he delivered everything I could ask for and more.  After a short intro, the album begins with its lead single “Sugar Water,” whose jazzy instrumental with wandering sax lines and bouncy piano kick-starts the record immediately. McKinley pops up three times on the song, and he's pretty much flawless with each and every appearance. Guest rapper Quelle Chris can't nearly match that energy, and as a result, the vibrant instrumental kind of floods him out, wh...

Every year it just seems like there are WAY more rap albums than I can listen to and review. I've had rapid fire reviews for rap collaborations, trap albums, conscious rap, abstract hip hop and even one that was just for Griselda. Yet there are still mountains of rap albums I want to cover. I'm taking on these four in an attempt to make a dent in that pile with some of the most pressing of the available choices.  The Color Blu(e)  - Blu After having not heard much about Blu in quite a while he has entered an incredibly prolific and acclaimed stretch across the past few years. His last two collaborative records have both been fan favorites and the latter, last year's Miles  was one of my favorite rap records of the year and one of the smartest rap albums I've ever heard. So I was excited going into this concept album because it's clear how talented Blu is and if anybody could stretch a concept album about a single color to nearly 45 minutes it's him. While I do h...

Your Old Droog is a New York rapper who was once suspected of being a pseudonym of Nas, but has since established himself as one of the most acclaimed and prolific rappers in the rap underground. He kicked off 2021 with a pair of collaborative albums with Tha God Fahim and is keeping his pace up with one of his most fleshed out and thematically conceptual projects he's released in years in Time . Review By Lav: Droog is a fun artist to watch and one of my favorite voices in underground hip hop. He released a trio of studio albums in 2019 highlighted by the excellent Transportation  and followed it up with a busy back half of 2020 and early 2021 which resulted in 3 more projects. I was excited to see Droog returning to solo work, especially with what seemed like one of his most fleshed out and thematically connected projects in a few years. Time  totally lived up to my hype and delivers not only on Droog's classic formula of creative beat choices and lowkey delivery, but also s...