Lav's Music Corner

Freddie Gibbs is an Indiana rapper who has spent the last decade establishing himself as one of the most cutthroat rappers in the genre today. After a series of collaborative records including Pinata  with Madlib and Alfredo  with The Alchemist Freddie is back with his first solo album since 2018's Freddie , Review by Lav: Dishing out praise for Freddie Gibbs is just something I've done on this blog pretty much since I started it. Once he released Fetti  in 2018 it started a run of great records and features that had me sprinting to put out positive reviews of Freddie every few months. After hearing some of the singles from this record I though that streak might be approaching its end. But I shouldn't have doubted Freddie, this album is as solid as ever.  Let's talk about those singles because I'm still not totally sure about them. Too Much  is certainly a song I've flip-flopped on mostly because hearing Freddie's singing on the track doesn't do much for...

Black Thought & Danger Mouse are a pair of veteran producer and even more veteran MC who have had their hands in dozens of classic records respectfully. After teasing a collaboration for years the pair have finally delivered a proper full length record and brought many high profile friends along with them.  Review by Lav: I love these two. From Danger Mouse's versatile and impressive catalog of production which is nearing two decades of work to Black Thought's time with The Roots and his continued success as a soloist. It's through this lens that the title of this record Cheat Codes  starts to make a lot of sense. The level of professionalism in the delivery and creation of these lo-fi and jazz inspired hip hop tracks really is a cheat code and the pair live up to it.  I was pretty sure this was gonna be good based solely on who made it, but the trio of singles certainly helped. No Gold Teeth  left my rotation at some point in the past few months and I don't know...

Raekwon AKA The Chef is a New York rapper and founding member of legendary hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He delivered some of the most exciting and iconic performances in the groups history and since then has found critical success with his Only Built 4 Cuban Linx  pair of records. His most recent solo record was 2017's The Wild  and he made few appearances on the most recent Wu-Tang EP's and records. Review By Lavender: Who isn't excited for more music from The Chef. Even though his last record The Wild  wasn't perfect he proved on numerous tracks that he still had it and to this day is one of the most exciting Wu-Tang members to catch as a feature. Unfortunately The Appetition  is short but very rarely sweet. The opening and closing songs both fall short of the reputation The Chef himself has earned. Solid Gold  comes off as just kind of lazy in almost all parts. The hook is well sung but not at all well written and while Raekwon's performance is a...