Lav's Music Corner

Michael  - Killer Mike Run The Jewels rapper Killer Mike has long been a favorite of mine. When I was first really getting into hip-hop his last solo album R.A.P Music  was still pretty fresh in people's minds and the landmark second Run The Jewels album was right around the corner. Pretty quickly his distinct cadence and intensity became familiar to me. In the time I've been reviewing music he has predominately been just that, one half of Run The Jewels. The groups music is often full of personality but with more sledgehammer blow than earnest reflection. So hearing Mike gear up to deliver us the most personal record of his entire career so far got me pretty excited.  One thing that has me pumping the breaks on that hype were underwhelming singles. RUN  and TALK'N THAT SHIT  are both just okay and their intensity has dulled on me since I first heard them last year. I also have mixed feelings about the record's most talked about track so far Scientists & Eng...

Common is a Los Angeles based rapper who was very influential in the world of jazz-centric conscious rap in the late 90's and early 2000's. Albums like Be  and Like Water For Chocolate  are sounds of a specific era in hip hop they are among the best in that era. Common has had a more difficult time recreating that success in more recent years, coming the closest on his last record Black America Again  in 2016 but now that he is back many old school hip hop fans are hoping he has something substantial to say on this new record. Review By Lavender: Common has some great songs, albums and features in his back catalog that are among the best of his era in hip hop. Be is a fantastic record and if you've never heard it before I highly recommend it. Unfortunately since this great record Common has failed to really impress me and even when many were justifiably impressed by his socially conscious 2016 record Black America Again  he was still sounding to me like a rapp...