Lav's Music Corner

Noname is a Chicago rapper whose blend of political wordplay and reserved demeanor made her a critical darling in the 2010s. Her two studio albums Telefone  and Room 25  were both met with massive acclaim and now her third album Sundial  is arriving 5 years after her previous. Review by Lav: This one took some time. I've been a huge fan of Noname for a long time which makes things complicated for me as a critic. Her relationship with her fans, particularly her white fans, has always been turbulent. That turbulence became even more difficult to process when Noname found herself in quite a bit of controversy for including Jay Electronica on the album, let's go right ahead to there.  balloons  is one of the best songs on this album. Both Noname and Jay Electronica crush their verses and the hook is absolutely wonderful too. The issue, is the content of Jay Elec's verse on both this song and almost all of his performances. His signature anti-semitism is of course on...

Hey Besties, it's time for the list that's usually the most popular among the shorter bunch, almost entirely due to how much buzz anything hip hop related can attract online. Features are still a pretty big deal and they are normally one of the first pieces of promotional material leading to a new album or single. The shortlist this year wasn't as long as in years past but make no mistake, there were literally thousands of featured verses that people out there may consider when making a list like this. I certainly don't claim to have heard every single rap record released this year but I heard a LOT of them, and these were my favorite featured artists who gave memorable performances on someone else's song.  10. 21 Savage on J. Cole's my life A few years ago J. Cole jumped on 21 Savage's song a lot  for a standout feature on what became one of his most acclaimed and well known songs to date. So when it came time for Cole's newest album the pair linked up ...

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...

Kanye West is an artist who really needs no introduction. One of the biggest and most controversial figures in popular music who has maintained a devoted fanbase and commercial success for nearly two decades. After a trio of stadium shows where unfinished versions of his 10th studio album were played to fans, Donda  finally dropped at the ever so unconventional time of 8 am on a Sunday morning.  Review By Lav: Well here it is, the record everyone has been talking about. For the better part of a month the general music community has been caught up in the tailspin of Donda  that Kanye's biggest fans have been toiling in for months if not even years going back to Yandhi . So what are my credentials. While I'm not a Kanye stan who defends his actions regardless of quality or context, I am a big fan of his music with records like College Dropout , My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy  and The Life Of Pablo  being among the best high profile hip hop records of their era....

This week was light on content for a reason, I'm on vacay <3. But I have found the time to catch-up on a few records I've been meaning to talk about and I'll be back soon to cover Torres, Billie Eilish and a bunch of other new releases I'm excited about.  Afro Pessimist  - Censored Dialogue CENSORED Dialogue is a rapper who I first discovered from their absolute tour de force performance on the Backxwash song Terror Packets  from her album earlier this year. I was so impressed with the verse and the directly personal approach through which Censored Dialogue handled trans issues that I wanted to know what else they had done. I was surprised to find an album that was much more conventionally hip hop than Backxwash, with production that could easily be slotted into many contemporary rap albums that have a classic instrumental flare. The lyrical subject matter here is also much more commentary on race and racial politics than trans issues. Neither of these things are a c...

As we round the corner towards the end of the year it's time to start catching up on records that I didn't get a chance to review earlier before it's time to write my end of year lists. In this first set of more concise reviews we will cover a collection of hip hop records from 2020 by artists who made noise in their respective niches. Shrines - Armand Hammer On the newest collaboration from rapper Billy Woods and producer Elucid you really know what you're in for. The beats here work with a jazz rap fundamental but consistently push it into other worlds crafting some harsher and more abstract beats across the album than you may typically hear on a conscious rap project of the like. Billy Woods intoxicating and confrontational voice adds grit to some of the more narrative driven or politically charged moments on the album and guests like R.A.P Ferreira and Earl Sweatshirt make notable appearances. The only major problem I have with the record is Billy's constant sl...

Jay Electronica is a New Orleans based rapper and producer who became one of the first in the rap game to truly blow up just based off of independently released internet singles towards the end of the 2000's. After a decade of loosey singles here and there features and rumors of an oncoming album his debut record is finally here. The album was announced shortly before its release and had very little promotion, which is why many were so surprised to see that this record features just as much Jay-Z as it does Jay Electronica. Review By Lavender: I am in the boat with many other people who have been anticipating this debut record for a long time. It feels like Jay Electronica just let hype build and build for a decade to the point where when his debut finally arrived it would be impossible to live up to the hype. So for the record to come in at under 40 minutes and basically be a collaboration album with Jay-Z there is certainly reason for some long suffering fans to be a littl...