Lav's Music Corner

Kae Tempest is a British poet and spoken word singer who has been releasing albums for almost a decade now. Their debut album Everybody Down  in 2014 was a massive critical success and since then they've expanded into writing across numerous mediums and in 2020 came out as nonbinary.  Review By Lav: While I've never been a Kae Tempest super fan I've always been aware of their music and stop in every few years to check out the new albums, which usually have some highlights to be found. This time around I was more interested than usual for a few reasons. Early on in the cycle Kae showed off a huge change in look and era aesthetic that seemed to serve an entirely new artistic vision for themselves. What had me even more excited was how much I liked the crop of singles which came out one after another with interesting features that lived up to my hopes.  Lets cover those first, three of the four tracks released before the record are great. More Pressure  might be the cat...

Five must hear songs that came out this week: 5.  Bloody Future  - Kilo Kish Kilo's second single from her upcoming project is an improvement on all fronts with a shimmering club beat, infectious hook and charming lyrical angle. She continues to be one of the more underrated voices in modern electro pop but always feels like she's on the verge of a breakout with tracks like this.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ihlRO_QeHQ 4.  Life Is Not The Same  - James Blake With contributions from trap mainstays Take A Daytrip as well as Joji on production James Blake delivers another intimate heartbreaker, this time over a slick trap inspired beat. The absolute belter of a hook reminisces on earlier eras of his career but the undeniably slick instrumentation continues to mirror his journey into more popular music styles.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3qRD0mYtPs 3.  More  - Low With their third and shortest teaser yet in lead up to their new record slowc...

Brockhampton are a California via Texas rap group/boy band whose youthful fusion of rap, pop and R&B has become sort of a trademark in the years since their Saturation  trilogy first caught fire in 2017. The last time we heard from the group in 2019 they were exploring a much more somber approach to their sound, but from the singles to this record they projected a return to their idiosyncratic brand of hip hop.  Review By Lav: I've had pretty positive reception to most of what Brockhampton have done. They kicked off their career with Saturation 1 and 2  which scored a 9 and 10 respectively in my reviews and the acclaim returned when Ginger  turned out to be one of my favorite albums of 2019. I was excited to see what the band was going to do next even before I heard the incredible lead single from this album. Now that it's been released in its entirety I'm impressed by both the versatility of the execution on the record, as well as its consistency.  BUZZCUT ...

Ameer Vann is a Los Angeles based rapper and former member of West Coast hip hop collective/boy band Brockhampton, before being forced out of the group as a response to sexual assault allegations in 2018. He has been quiet since then before returning to social media out of the blue and dropping this surprise EP. Review By Lavender: I really had no idea what to expect going into this EP. Ameer delivered on some of the most cold blooded moments across the Saturation trilogy on tracks like Heat  and Boogie . But by the time the trilogy came to a close he had also developed a trademark cadence fans referred to as "The Ameer Flow" which became incredibly tired and was one of the elements that made Saturation III  the weakest of the trilogy as it appears on song after song. Ameer's complete musical silence since December of 2017 did have me worried, but Emmanuel  is proof that he is pretty much picking up right where he left off, for better or for worse. One thing I sh...

Brockhampton is a Los Angeles via Austin, Texas based rap group and self-proclaimed boy band who rose to prominence in 2017 one the back of three universally acclaimed records in the Saturation trilogy. Over the first half of 2018 the band quietly grew their profile while controversially losing one of their most notable members to sexual assault allegations, before dropping their chart topping major label debut iridescence  last year. After marquee member Kevin Abstract dropped his third solo album earlier this year the group geared up for their 6th record in just four years. Review By Lavender: If clout means anything in the digital age I can at least affirm one thing, I've been with Brockhampton since day 1. I reviewed their first mixtape All-American Trash  as well as Kevin Abstract's American Boyfriend  at the end of 2016 and when they hit the ground running in 2017 I was along for the ride. Saturation 1  and Saturation 2  both landed in my top 10 alb...

Kevin Abstract is a Texas rapper and singer who released two albums of his own in the mid 2010's, the second of which American Boyfriend  being met with critical acclaim. But in 2017 Kevin became the main brain behind internet rap collective Brockhampton and piloted the group through a trilogy of acclaimed releases skyrocketing them to relevancy and setting the stage for their 2018 album iridescence  to score a #1 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums chart. This meteoric line of success came faster than anyone could have anticipated and certainly had its speed bumps, many of which Kevin addresses directly for the first time on this project, which is serving as a springboard for more Brockhampton content supposedly coming later this summer.  Review By Lavender: There was really no reason not to be excited for this thing. I fell in love with Kevin's unique blend of styles on 2016's American Boyfriend  and that thankfully led me to be on the ground floor for the Sat...