Lav's Music Corner

This week featured some familiar faces that have popped up on the best new tracks segment all year, see if they made it again. <3 5.  Ruby Rosery  - A$AP Rocky (feat. J. Cole) So we're officially back in an era where Rocky is releasing music regularly and it's brought us to the reserved, J. Cole-featuring Ruby Rosery . Like Cole's appearance on Metro Boomin & Future's album earlier this year it's a more reserved moment than anticipated and yet his intimacy works well in this format. Both Rocky and Cole are casual but confident and as slick as ever on this memorable crossover.  Listen 4.  I Walk  - Mount Eerie It's been a noticeable few years off for Mount Eerie since Phil Elverum returned to The Microphones with a unique and conceptual project in 2020 that sought to tell the story of how the project evolved with one single album-length track. Now he's back as Mount Eerie with a sonic palette that still exists within the intimate folds his music always...

1. Danny Brown - Best Life Danny Brown steals a slow week for his second #1 of the year just two weeks removed from his first, and with a highly anticipated new album right around the corner. 2. Have A Nice Life - Lords Of Transmission After a lead single that some saw as a misstep the legendary experimental rock band has seen fit to release a second track from their long awaited third record ahead of its release. 3. DIIV - Blankenship After scoring a #1 earlier this year DIIV continues to place strongly as they continue to deliver shoegaze tinged indie rock that sounds as refreshing as their style always has. 4. Gang Starr - Family and Loyalty  (Feat. J. Cole) Almost ten years after MC Guru's death Gang Starr producer DJ Premier is releasing new material under the moniker and recruited J. Cole for a guest verse on the track. 5. Wilco - Everyone Hides Wilco's new era is upon us and with the indie groups legendary pedigree they continue to be in the rotAfter releasi...

Rapsody is a North Carolina rapper who released her debut album in 2012 to an unfortunate lack of critical attention. After signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label she dropped her breakout project Laila's Wisdom in 2017 to critical acclaim, and despite being quiet since then, announced the upcoming release of her third album just days before it inevitably dropped. Review By Lavender: I was introduced to Rapsody a little bit earlier than most given that she resides in my home state of North Carolina and made more than one guest appearance at Raleigh's Hopscotch festival which I frequented. So when I saw her grabbing some much deserved attention with the lead single to her second record Power  which featured Top Dawg darlings Kendrick Lamar and Lance Skiiiwalker, O was excited and happy for her. When the record this track was promoting ultimately got released I was a pretty big fan of it as Rapsody was unrelenting in her individuality and unafraid to be herself. The only m...

Dreamville is a subsidiary group of Interscope records founded by J. Cole that features some up and coming talents like J.I.D, Earthgang and Bas. The label has released two Revenge Of The Dreamers compilations but with a larger roster than ever and a number of young, high profile features III  is the biggest and boldest of the projects to date. Review By Lavender: So it's no secret I haven't exactly been in love with J. Cole's output apart from 2014 Forrest Hills Drive . Despite him hailing from my home state his last two albums have left me underwhelmed for very different reasons. Given that I haven't been head over heels for J.I.D or Earthgang despite enjoying their records I still think this album had a lot of potential. Now that Dreamers  is here it faces the challenges of many albums of its type, the quality of the tracks depends greatly on the quality of the artists involved, and that comes with its own issues. There are a handful of songs here that are d...

1. Ride - Repetition The legendary shoegaze band steals a #1 in what may be the weakest week of 2019 so far. On the back of a great lead single Ride is gearing up to drop their second album of the 2010's 2. Rosalia - Millionaria Rosalia continues building up her namesake in 2019 with a split single calling back to the ever growing popularity of latin pop music on the charts. 3. Post Malone Goodbyes  (Feat. Young Thug) Post Malone is back with what will likely be another nondescript chart topper, but thankfully he has brought along Young Thug this time and hopefully Thugger can give a little bit of life to a track we will all grow to hate quickly. 4. Dreamville - Costa Rica  (Feat. Bas, JID, Guapdad 4000, Reese LAFLARE, Jace, Mez, Smokepurpp, Buddy & Ski Mask The Slump God) Sneaking in before the Friday release of ROTD3 is this massive posse cut that features some Dreamville favorites and some of traps brightest young faces. 5. Cupcakke - Ayesha Cupcakke return...

1. Burial - Claustro Taking the #1 spot with a last minute swipe preventing a second three-peat in the first half of 2019 if Burial who returned to drop a new split single which is his first new material since 2017 and has the electronica community waiting with baited breath. 2. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Giannis (Feat. Anderson .Paak) After dropping what is probably their best single yet and scoring a #1 on this chart Gibbs and Madlib recruit Anderson .Paak for what could have been their third chart topper but get sniped by an artist with some serious pedigree. 3. Free Nationals - Time  (Feat. Kali Uchis & Mac Miller) Anderson .Paak's touring band hits it off with their second single featuring the always indelible Kali Uchis and a surprise feature from the late Mac Miller that was allegedly recorded all the way back in 2017. 4. Dreamville - Down Bad  (Feat. J. Cole, JID, Bas, Earthgang & Young Nudy) The Dreamville sessions earlier this year were one of the...

1. Young Thug -  The London  (feat. J. Cole & Travis Scott) Thugger pulls the number one spot in one of the weakest week for singles in 2019 so far by recruiting big names J Cole and Travis Scott for a contemporary posse cut. 2. Denzel Curry - Speedboat Denzel Curry gets left at the alter once again with a second single and a second #2 spot, made even a little bit worse by landing as a feature at #3. 3. Flying Lotus - Black Balloons Reprise  (feat. Denzel Curry) FlyLo drops a highly anticipated collab just days before the release of his album to secure a very rare release week pedestal spot. 4. Ty Dolla $ign - Purple Emoji  (feat. J. Cole) J. Cole is once again recruited for a feature from Mr. Feature himself Ty Dolla $ign for what could serve as the beginning of a new era for him. 5. Beast Coast - Snow In The Stadium Beast Coast also sneak in one more single just before the release of the supergroups first studio album. 6, Kim Petras - All I Do Is...

Offset is an Atlanta rapper and one third of superstar trap trio Migos. The group blew up over the course of a few viral singles in the mid 2010's and have exploded into one of the most popular acts in the world, and as each member has ventured off into various collaborations and solo projects Offset is the last in line to release a solo album after poorly received projects from Quavo and then Takeoff preceded Father of 4. With only one promotional singles very close to the albums release it is hard to get a read on what exactly to expect from Offset this time around. Review By Lavender: When Migos dropped Culture in early 2017 it felt like the most important album in the entire world. After Childish Gambino shouted out the groups hit Bad & Boujee and it blew up to one of the biggest hits of the year they used the album as a platform to launch a full scale takeover of the music industry. 2017 also included a flurry of features for the trio and more imitators than anybody...