Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Playboi Carti is a rapper who rose rapidly to popularity around 2016 on the back of a few viral hits on his self-titled debut mixtape. That was followed by two records that played with unique sounds in the highly-populated world of trap music and both garnered substantial critical acclaim. 2018's Die Lit remains a personal favorite of mine whose woozy psychedelic beats remain undeniable to this day. That was followed in late 2020 by Whole Lotta Red  which substantially switched up Carti's sound and became highly influential in the worlds of vamp and rage. After several release dates were announced and never followed up on and a series of singles were uploaded to YouTube last year, we've finally arrived at Carti's follow-up. Music , by comparison, is even more all over the place than its predecessor though it delivers a comparable energy. What it doesn't deliver is anywhere near as dramatic a progression in his style or ethos as I was hoping for. ...

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...

All of a sudden there's quite a few EPs to be covered and we're pretty light on new records this week. So let's handle some recent short-form projects from the world of hip hop. RED & WHITE EP - Lil Uzi Vert It's no secret that I've been a pretty big critic of some of Uzi's music in the past but at the very least I can say that one of their most enjoyable projects to date was technically the most recent one not counting his collaboration with Future.  Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World 2  remedied many of the big problems I had with Eternal Atake , namely much stickier hooks and many features that helped make up for some of Uzi's shortcomings as both a rapper and singer. So I was a little suspicious going into this nearly 30 minute EP once I saw that Uzi is handling the entirety of vocal duties by themself. Thankfully both the production and songwriting here are better than on EA and while I think there is still some distance between Uzi and their biggest contem...

Pusha T is a Virginia Beach rapper with a history in the genre that rivals almost anyone. He broke out as a member of Clipse alongside his brother and was a frequent Pharrell collaborator throughout this era. His solo career took on a new life alongside his association with Kanye West and his G.O.O.D Music label and this is where some of his most acclaimed records show up, including his most recent in 2018, Daytona . Review By Lav: If you know me, read this blog often, or follow me on any social media you know how much I love Pusha T. That admiration comes first and foremost from a long running and extremely consistent creative output across his entire career. While I've only gotten to review Pusha T once so far it was a hell of an album and perfectly representative of his consistent execution and unmatched lethal delivery. So I was obviously very excited for what was coming next and after two singles I really enjoyed, wall to wall production from Pharrell and Kanye and some positi...

Tyler, The Creator is a California rapper and multi-medium superstar. After first emerging as the main brain behind the Odd Future hip hop collective Tyler cultivated a brand for himself that included numerous solo albums, TV shows and an imprint into the fashion industry and that's just a start. Since first breaking out Tyler has drastically changed the sound of his music, transitioning from his edgy lo-fi brand of provocative hip hop into the sounds of pop, R&B and soul music starting with 2017's Flower Boy  and expanding even further on 2019's Igor . Review By Lav: Hello! If you're a Tyler, The Creator fan reading this it's probably the first time you've seen one of my reviews since I covered IGOR  in 2019. You most likely bookmarked a tweet about it or followed my account with a burner so that you could periodically send me provocative DMs because I made the unforgivable mistake of calling out the album for the elements of it that failed to translate wit...

Slime Language 2 is the second compilation album from Young Thug's Young Stoner Life Records. It features contributions from many artists on the label, most notably Thug himself and Gunna, while spotlighting a number of young talents and bringing on many high profile guests. The 23 track 75 minute record is an extension well beyond the first Slime Language  and has been one of the most talked about moments in popular rap music this year.  Review By Lav: I've always been known to dish out praise in Young Thug's direction as one of the more unique MC's in the world of trap music. Despite that he isn't without his misses and he tends to release a lot of material, not all of which is great. Slime Language 2  takes that element of Thugger's output as a mission statement rather than a word of warning. This thing is incredibly bloated and even more inconsistent with the quality of songs varying drastically depending on the talent level of the artists involved. One thin...

Future is an Atlanta trap rapper who really needs no introduction at this point. He has been around for almost a decade now and has frequently released commercially successful projects that have heavily influenced the popular psychedelic trap sound. High On Life  is technically Future's 8th album but with a dense catalog of mixtapes and EPs we have had no shortage of music from the man and at 70 minutes long this record is no different.  Review By Lavender: For somebody that has been popular and influential for nearly a decade now it can be kind of difficult to narrow down Future's music to just the good stuff. While there is certainly enough Future tracks for a greatest hits album or two that is just a drop in the ocean of content he has released and with the exception of DS2  those tracks rarely align into a cohesively great record. Just last year Future wowed me with a handful of tracks on his The WZRD  album and even more on his Save Me  EP yet I consider th...

Updated with new music every weekend through September check out the official summer playlist at the link below along with playlists from all the various lists we have made over the years and some thematic song sets for specific vibes all below! Summer Fun  

Here is a quick summary of all the records I reviewed this month. With some major production issues and a lack of true highlights Shadows  is one of the most inconsequential rap albums of the year Review After a long break fro releases under the Caribou moniker Dan Snaith returns with a bright, catchy and relentlessly sweet series of glittery electronic songs that sound so refreshing this year. Review The biggest fault on Changes  is that no part of who Justin is as a person or an artist makes into any of these generic focus-grouped contemporary pop tunes. Review Eternal Atake  may have sounded cool in 2017. But three years past Uzi's peak the record is bloated, behind the times and is filled with songs that sound like nobody involved even tried. Review The Uzi record that did a much better job at living up to expectations was his surprise second release. Filled with great features, much improved beats and a newfound swagger in Uzi's delivery LUV ...

Megan Thee Stallion is a Texas based rapper who blew up last summer with her "Hot Girl Summer" catchphrase and a series of viral hit singles, all coming from her debut mixtape Fever . After popping up for a number of features and contributing to some movie soundtracks over the last few months she surprised announced a new 9 track 24 EP that followed in line with her first two official releases. Review By Lavender: Megan Thee Stallion mostly won me over last year, while I thought her debut mixtape was solid and nothing to incredible she proved to be fantastically consistent. When she finally teamed up with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign to turn her marquee phrase into a song it was one of my favorite singles of the year and went even further to establish herself as one of rap music premiere bad bitches. On Suga  she goes even further to prove that she may be unmatched when it comes to crafting sexually charged bangers, but she also shows some lack of versatility on numer...

Lil Uzi Vert is a Philly born trap rapper who developed a cult like following off the back of his come-up, culminating in his 2017 debut studio record Luv Is Rage 2 . Since then he has been on numerous features and continually delayed the release of his previously announced follow-up. But now Eternal Atake  has arrived a week ahead of schedule, and just as fans were beginning to digest the record Uzi surprised dropped the sequel to one of his most loved mixtapes LUV Vs. The World 2  on the original announced release date for Atake . Review By Lavender: Lil Uzi is one of the artists I have always received a ton of hate for not blindly following. I gave an admittedly tough review to his debut studio record that I still can't really stand to this day. And I've always liked his big singles and marquee features much less than his fans do, with the exception of Shoota  with Playboi Carti. I was always interested in what Uzi would do next and how he would push his sound a...