Lav's Music Corner

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...

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...

All year I've gotten requests to review new albums from Griselda records big three artists Benny the Butcher, Conway The Machine and Westside Gunn. Given the heads that the trio have turned in 2020 I didn't want to let the year slip away without talking about their projects. The difference between these projects can often be slight aside from which MC is taking point, they are all reminiscent of classic hip hop, they all dive into personal history of street life and they all feature Freddie Gibbs. But there's a surprising amount of variance between the Mc's styles that made some of the records far more enjoyable than others.  Westside Gunn - Pray For Paris This is the one Griselda record from this year that I'm already seeing pop up on year end lists from major outlets so I thought I would take it on first. It's easy to see why the record has stuck with people so much since it's release all the way back in April starting with the fantastic instrumentals. A s...