CHROMAKOPIA, released on Oct. 28, is Tyler, the Creator’s most authentic album yet, following 2023’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale. Typically, Tyler adopts a new “character” for each album cycle, such as Igor for his 2019 album of the same name, or Wolf Haley on his[Read More…]
Tag: rap
‘NO THANK YOU’ poignantly hits back at the music industry
Something felt off amidst the accolades lavished upon Little Simz following her 2021 Mercury Prize-winning record Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. Be it by awarding her Best New Artist at the Brit Awards in 2022, despite having just released her fourth album in a decade-plus career, or through the postponement[Read More…]
Saba’s ‘Few Good Things’ is a musical scrapbook
Four years after the release of his second studio album, the pain-ridden CARE FOR ME, Chicago-based rapper Saba has returned with Few Good Things, released on Feb. 4. This new project takes a refreshing step away from the despair of its predecessor, with Saba reflecting upon what he loves and[Read More…]
Grappling with my love for misogynistic rap
On the train home a few weeks ago, I was about to pop on my headphones and listen to Kendrick Lamar when I overheard a conversation between two young white girls discussing their music taste. “I don’t understand how you can listen to rap,” one of the girls said. “All[Read More…]
Anonymuz’s ‘Before the Night is Over’ is full of bangers
As of now, Isaiah Joseph, who records under the name Anonymuz, lives up to his chosen moniker. Though his projects have been gaining popularity as of late, the mainstream rap community has continued to overlook his unmatched talent. His newest project, a brief but sonically substantial EP Before the Night[Read More…]
First Impressions: ‘1992 Deluxe’ – Princess Nokia
Keira Seidenberg: While Princess Nokia (Destiny Frasqueri) is often thought to bring a feminist edge to the generally male dominated hip hop genre, 1992 Deluxe (2017) is not an album solely dedicated to deconstructing gender-based social stratification. In “Tomboy” and “Saggy Denim,” where Nokia tackles issues of femininity and gender stereotypes,[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: Drake wins the game of egos
In Dr. Dre’s 1993 tripartite diss track called “Fuck Wit Dre Day,” Dre delivered the ethos of rap beef: “You fucked with me, now it’s a must that I fuck with you.” Diss tracks historically do not get radio play—partially because of their violent content, and partially because rappers focus[Read More…]
Album Review: Atrocity Exhibition – Danny Brown
Danny Brown doesn’t make albums for the faint-of-heart. Throughout his career, Brown has pushed the limits of what one can say on a mainstream rap release, as well as the genre’s sonic boundaries. As he shifts rapidly between coked-out rampages, stoned relaxation, explicit sexual descriptions,[Read More…]
Album Review: Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight – Travis Scott
Houston rapper Travis Scott has followed up his 2015 debut studio album Rodeo, with the highly anticipated sophomore album Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight (BTSM). MC and producer Travis Scott originally burst into the limelight as Kanye West’s wunderkind, earning himself production credits in West’s 2013 album Yeezus. Scott[Read More…]
Album Review: Documentary 2 – The Game
2015 has, thus far, been a ridiculously good year for hip-hop. Almost every current popular artist—looking at you, Kanye—has put out some kind of project within the past 10 months, and there is still more to come. There has been such a flood of stellar music that projects like Kendrick[Read More…]
