Lav's Music Corner

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...

Pop Smoke was a New York drill rapper who was tragically murdered last year, and has since proven to be a force of commercial music. Faith  is Pop Smoke's 2nd posthumous album and likely to be his 2nd #1 album, following last years Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon . Just a few days before the record the tracklist and production credits for the album were revealed, showing off a myriad of talented features.  Review By Lav: It's always difficult to review a posthumous record, since it can often have so little creative input from the artist whose name it's released under. In the recent years, hip hop in particular has frequently been criticized for it's posthumous records which either release recordings that are clearly unfinished and shouldn't be heard by the masses, or packing the songs full of trendy features that the original artist would have never worked with. This record does both, but it isn't quite as bad as it seems like at the outset. The biggest pr...

Lil Yachty is an Atlanta rapper who first emerged in the latter half of the last decade with a unique and fun sound on his Lil Boat Mixtape . Since then he has released an inconsistent series of projects that pivoted completely from his individual sound into something much more commercial. Review By Lav: There have been a couple of times in Yachty's discography that I've really enjoyed his sound. His breakout mixtape is still one of the most idiosyncratic pieces of contemporary trap out there and the sequel is a more commercial leaning hard-hitting affair. Even on last years Lil Boat 3  there were plenty of solid tracks among the bloated 19 song tracklist. Unfortunately everything not in the Lil Boat series has been pretty disappointing from Yachty so far and I was hoping this would break that trend. Yachty collected a bunch of artists from Michigan to feature all across this album and occasionally highlights some excellent unique voices. But unfortunately for the most part thi...

Pop Smoke was an up and coming rapper from New York who became one of the most prominent voices of the cities drill scene off of his hit song Welcome To The Party last year. Pop Smoke was tragically murdered in February of this year, a crime for which arrests were just made this week. Shoot For The Stars  is his posthumous debut album which was unfinished at the time of his death and was completed under the guise of executive producer 50 Cent. The record also attracted some controversy directed at designer Virgil Abloh for his original album cover design, which was changed before the records release.  Review By Lavender: Just typing the words posthumous debut album is something I find difficult, especially in the case of an artist like Pop Smoke who had so much creative and artistic potential ahead of him. While I have never outright loved any of his music he was carving out a unique lane for himself with unmistakable vocals and a thirst to push further beyond the mundane soun...

Madonna is a legendary pop artist who has been releasing hit albums one after another since the early 80's and has amassed a level of commercial success that is almost completely unmatched, but has found less and less critical praise as the years have gone by, including two poorly received albums earlier this decade. Review By Lavender: I absolutely LOVE Madonna and there's no two ways about it. One album after another after another she has released some of the sharpest and most essential pop albums of all time throughout her career. Madonna , Like A Virgin , True Blue , Like A Prayer , Erotica , Ray Of Light  and Confessions On A Dance Floor  all make up a discography that topples nearly every other artist in pop music new and old. While the 2010's haven't been the kindest to pop's golden child I have found myself on the defensive side of both of the albums she's released so far this decade. 2012's MDNA  was met with overwhelming hate upon its re...