Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lav:  I was pretty damn excited for this album. From his breakthrough around 2015 leading up to his sophomore album i am > i was , 21 Savage underwent one of the greatest and quickest artistic improvements I've ever witnessed in hip hop. That left me pretty excited for what he's gonna do next. While his output in the years since certainly hasn't been bad, he hasn't continued progressing artistically in the way I had hoped. I was really excited to see him cross paths with Metro Boomin for a second time on 2020's Savage Mode II  but the album didn't really live up to the hype I had for it. On the other hand, I was pretty surprised by just how good his collab album with Drake Her Loss  was in 2022.  That led us to american dream , the long-awaited third solo studio album from Savage. The album dropped with no singles and was only announced just a few days before its release. Without much to set expectations for the record in advance, I'll start the...

Let the listing begin. In the first and smallest year-end list I publish I take a look at the tiny projects that were packed full of good songs. While this list lacks some of the stunning high-end releases of previous years, it's a very deep well full of versatile and compelling projects.  These are my 10 favorite EPs of 2023. Enjoy <3 10. Jlin - Perspective  EP Kicking off the list we have Jlin's pseudo-return to dropping new music with this Pulitzer Prize For Music finalist Perspective . After being originally composed three years ago the material was re-recorded by Jlin and finally made it to the public, which I'm very grateful for. Despite moments that feel undersold relative to her normal textural bliss, there is ton of magnetic and distinctive electronic music present throughout this project. Jlin continues to have a sound that is not only easy to identify but easy to love.  Listen To: Derivative , Paradigm 9. Softcult - See You In The Dark  EP Canadian duo ...

playing w/ fire  EP - redveil Redveil is a Maryland rapper whose music I first became aware of last year when his Learn 2 Swim  album picked up some traction in online hip-hop spaces. I thought this project was decent and flashed some pretty serious potential but nothing about it begged me to cover the record in depth. So this year when Redveil ended up as the lone feature on the biggest underground rap album of the year so far, Danny Brown & Jpegmafia's Scaring The Hoes , it felt like an endorsement too big to ignore and I wanted to be sure to cover his next project. That project is this new EP which runs pretty scant at just 15 minutes across 6 tracks. It was preceded by a pair of singles which when combined with the grand sweeping opener stuck  makes for a dramatic first half of the project. Across this EP redveil is trying to show himself as a versatile talent and lead single giftbag is no exception as he sings the hook in a very Juice WRLD emo-rap flavored demean...

Kali Uchis is a versatile Columbian-American singer whose blends together R&B and pop with classic influences from the worlds of jazz and soul and even splashes of latin music worked in. Her impressive fusion of styles led to her breakout success as a featured artist in the early 2010s and led to her massively acclaimed debut album Isolation  in 2018. In 2021 she scored the biggest hit of her career so far with the tik tok fueled smash telepatia  and is following it up with Red Moon In Venus  the first of two albums she promised for 2023. Review by Lav: It's impossible not to like Kali Uchis. She's a wonderful singer with a blend of styles that has something for everyone and a list of collaborators that includes as much talent as anybody. Even if I wasn't in love with her second album nearly as much as her first it still had some massive highlights and I'm not the least bit surprised that it led her to have a big hit. I had no reason to expect anything but another g...

Kendrick Lamar is a California rapper who spent the 2010's becoming one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful artists in all of music. 2015's To Pimp A Butterfly  was one of the most universally acclaimed albums in decades and the follow-up 2017's Damn.  served to break Kendrick directly into the mainstream. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers  comes 5 years later and was released as a double album with no singles and very little promotional material. Review By Lav: How do I even start a review like this? If you asked me what my favorite album of the 1960's was, the 70's, 80's, 90's, or 00's I could give you an answer but only after an agonizing amount of pouring through my favorite records trying to separate something from the pack. Two and a half years ago when I called Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly  the best album of the 2010's it felt like a formality, the OBVIOUS pick. How do you tackle someone who climbed the mou...

Amine   is a Portland based hip hop artist who first broke out back in 2017 with his hit song Caroline  and a spot on that years XXL freshman list. Since then he has released a debut record in 2017 and a follow-up mixtape in 2018 as well as a number of features. He has effectively managed to keep a foot in both the world of commercial hip hop while managing to be experimental and alternative in his own right, making him one of modern raps most interesting characters.  Review By Lavender: Man was I excited to hear this record. Even before the singles came out and were pretty good I was so interested in Amine's career progression. Ever since his last mixtape featured Rico Nasty and since he's teamed up with Injury Reserve twice for killer songs in Campfire  and Jailbreak The Tesla . This had me anticipating what aspects of experimental rap music he may work into his sound on his next record, and once it was announced my expectations for Limbo  were high. As it tur...

dvsn is the Canadian R&B project spearheaded by vocalist Daniel Daley and producer Ninteen85. The group is signed to Drake affiliate OVO records out of Toronto and first tunred heads in 2016 with their debut record Sept 5th . After a quick 2017 follow-up the duo is back with their longest record yet, sandwiched between two other major OVO releases from Partynextdoor and Drake.  Review By Lavender: I was one of the people interested in dvsn's debut record. Despite the fact that it was definitely flawed and contained some underwhelming songwriting there were things about the group that struck me and I saw them as a pair to watch going forward. The quick turnaround into their second record impressed me even less and going into their longest project yet at 56 minutes and 16 tracks I was hoping they had something more significant in store. Unfortunately Muse  turned out to be packed full of the bands weakest songs yet as they try to stumble through moody R&B instrumentals w...

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is a New York MC who has had a meteoric rise to success starting with a prominent spot on XXL 2017 freshman list. He released his debut record to moderate critical acclaim and commercial success later that year, and followed it up with his sophomore record Hoodie SZN  which spent multiple weeks at #1 in the beginning of last year. Now after a run of singles and feature Boogie is gearing up to release his third album Artist 2.0  a sequel to his debut record. Review By Lavender: I enjoyed Boogie's debut album The Bigger Artist , it didn't blow me away but as far as trap records go I found much more of it interesting than mundane. Unfortunately I could say the exact opposite for the follow-up Hoodie SZN  which came out late in 2018 and underwhelmed me to the point of where I didn't even give it a formal review before my list week. What had me worried coming into the album was the success Boogie found with Hoodie SZA  commercially, and wonde...