Lav's Music Corner

I'm behind on everything so far this year let's face it. But while I try and catchy up on the biggest new records with full reviews I also want to clean up some releases worth getting my thoughts out on. These are three rap records that have turned enough heads so far in 2024.  I've Never Been Here Before  - Erick The Architect I was interested in this project for a few reasons. The first being that James Blake appears in the production credits. which is always a key to my heart. But more importantly, I've enjoyed Flatbush Zombies for a full decade now. Erick himself impressed me quite a bit as a solo artist with his 2021 Future Proof  EP. So even though the singles from this record didn't exactly floor me as a full bunch, I still wanted to give the record a fair shot.  Unfortunately, I was surprised by just how much of this record either glossed over me entirely or even hit sour notes on repeat listens. While much of Erick's topical focus is intact occasionally...

Features are a part of the backbone of collaborative spirit and personality upon which hip hop is sustained. While every year high profile collaborations make their way more and more into other areas of the musical landscape there's nothing like two electric MC's meeting up on a song a dishing out their respective fire one after another. Each year I like to highlight some of the best guests of the year who build and improve upon the songs they're brought onto. Like every year there was an extensive list of great features I heard throughout 2020 and it wasn't easy to assemble into just 10. I even briefly considered extending it to 15 to fit solid contributions from Joey Badass and A$AP Rocky onto the list but ultimately making it into the top 10 is an achievement not worth souring.  10. Conway The Machine on Babies & Fools  by Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist Conway The Machine may not have had the loudest or most acclaimed record among his Griselda contemporaries i...

Gorillaz are a virtual band that at this point really need no introduction. The project is spearheaded musically by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and visually by artist Jamie Hewlett and have been releasing music for almost 2 decades including some of the most essential fusions of indie, electronica and hip hop of the past 20 years. After releasing one of their least conceptual and most straight forward projects with 2018's The Now Now  the band is returning with a collaboration driven project that featured many singles leading up to its release. Review By Lavender: Like most people on Earth I love the music of Gorillaz. Damon Albarn is responsible for some of my favorite albums of the Brit Pop era and his creativity streak continued through one great Gorillaz record after another. Even on projects that lacked the bands usual poise like Humanz  and The Now Now  there were still plenty of great songs in the mix that showed off the bands consistency and creativity. Throughout ...

SiR is a California R&B singer who signed to Top Dawg records in 2017 after scoring features on Top Dawg artists Jay Rock and Isaiah Rashad's records. He released his major label debut album last year with November  which didn't make a ton of noise. For the release of Chasing Summer  SiR signed a joint promotional deal with major label RCA records, who turned SZA's CTRL  into a mega hit, and hopes to follow in her footsteps with his third studio record. Review By Lavender: I was excited for SiR last year given that he was signed to a label that had released Damn , CTRL  and Do What Thou Wilt in the two years before it, but the record turned out to be far too generic for its own good and only really feel its attachment to the label on a few tracks. Since then Top Dawg has hit a bit of a rough patch missing on Jay Rock's Redemption  and missing HARD on Schoolboy Q's Crash Talk and I was worried going into this record. Now that the album is out I can see...

Schoolboy Q is a California rapper, signed to Top Dawg Records and a member of Black Hippy as a result. He first made waves with his independently released Habits & Contradictions  album in 2012 that resulted in his signing to TDE. In 2014 Q released his critically acclaimed major label debut with Oxymoron , an album that saw him rapping with more explosiveness than ever before and hopping on more experimental beats. Two years later Q followed this up with Blank Face LP  his fourth official studio album which was met with mixed reviews and resulted in a dulled level of hype here three years later for Crash Talk . After two misses on the albums first two big singles hopes weren't high for Crash Talk  and given that Top Dawg had a miss last year with Jay Rock's Redemption, Crash Talk  had an uphill battle from the start. Review By Lavender: I have always; against popular opinion, considered Schoolboy Q to be the black sheep of Black Hippy. Given the bri...