Album Reviews – Page 2

Album Review: Faze Miyake – Faze Miyake

February 20, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Electronic, Faze Miyake, Music, Review, Rinse FMLeave a comment

Faze Miyake steps into the spotlight on his self-titled debut album, bringing everything we love about his weekly Rinse FM shows and previous productions into one beautifully crafted body of work. Its woozy bass driven style of beats, twisting and turning from dubstep to grime, make for a chilling and sharp listen. Winter is coming and Faze Miyake will be your soundtrack.

Little Simz is one of the few rappers in the UK who currently could handle the beat on opener ‘The Nest’, its switch up in styles and wonky beat patterns displays Faze Miyake at his very best. Little Simz moves and adapts to the beat, as she impeccably varies her boisterous flow, boasting and flaunting her highly impressive rapping abilities. When second track ‘Burciaga’ kicks in with an equal amount of swirling body shuddering bass lines it’s clear a journey will commence. ‘Ice Cold’ and ‘Below Me’ show the versatility that Miyake offers; on the one hand you’ve got the frosty vocals of Inga Copeland layered over a truly chilling instrumental on ‘Ice Cold’, and then you’ve got the frenetic trap inspired ‘Below Me’, with Chicago rapper Sasha Go Hard featuring on the track. Instrumental song ‘Ocean Drive’ is placed in between the two contrasting styles and provides the perfect transition between the two.

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Album Review: The Underachievers – Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium

February 19, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium, Hip Hop, Music, Review, The UnderachieversLeave a comment

According to many eminent scholars, authors and theorists of the English language, ‘cellar door’ is a phrase which is beautiful pure in terms of its sound – regardless of its meaning. It’s a weird juxtaposition then that the young and gritty rap duo The Underachievers, hailing from the urban outlaying of Flatbush, Brooklyn have decided to name their latest project after it. The frenetic rhymes, hazy and dark beats; that type of hit-you-in-the-face, hundred mile an hour flow. This is a gnarled and darkened beauty, one which someone may revel in a full moon on a clear, warm summer night, or appreciate the beauty of a graffiti-layered backstreet alley. The rhymes are hard hitting, the rappity-rap ganja-toking archaic style of MCing prominent on all tracks.

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Album Review: Ghetts – Rebel With a Cause

February 18, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Ghetts, Hip Hop, Music, Rebel With a Cause, ReviewLeave a comment

It’s been a couple of years since Ghetts has released any material, and when he announced that a new album was on its way last year, everyone knew that he had been cooking up something special, and after listening to the album several times already, it’s safe say that he has successfully produced one of the finest albums ever by a UK MC. In a recent interview with MTV, Ghetts explained what he wants listeners to take away from the album: “the substance – I want them to listen and relate to it, rather than it just be another CD to listen to.”

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Album Review: Rick Ross – Mastermind

February 18, 2017March 2, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Hip Hop, Mastermind, Music, Review, Rick RossLeave a comment

The problem with Rick Ross is that he lacks any star qualities. His flow is good, his lyrical content is good, the beats are good, and that is how the album really plays out – it’s just good. There’s no wow factor where you might listen to a track and immediately have to rewind it and play it again, or a string of lyrical wordplay that makes you sit back and take notice. The album just goes by without any much thought or attention paid to it, like a background soundtrack to a long boring car journey on the M25. Innovation and creativeness isn’t exactly what Ross is about, but in terms of consistency the rapper can take all the plaudits, solidly delivering good album after good album, and Mastermind is no different to previous projects.

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Album Review: Kid Cudi – Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon

February 18, 2017March 2, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Hip Hop, Kid Cudi, Music, Review, Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother MoonLeave a comment

Floating around in space riding a unicycle with no care in the world, looking down at Earth with a beaming smile on my face. This is how Satellite Flight makes you feel. The beautiful synths and atmospheric melodies that play throughout the album are hugely captivating. It is these musical elements combined with Cudi’s iconic hums and distorted singing that really do create the feeling of floating through space on your way to the moon. This encapsulating feeling makes Satellite Flight one of the most intriguing and innovative albums of the 21st century.

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Album Review: ScHoolboy Q – Oxymoron

February 18, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Hip Hop, Music, Oxymoron, Review, ScHoolboy QLeave a comment

Dark, heavy bassed-out beats create the kind of atmosphere that you would expect after a glimpse of his album cover art, but behind this eerie feel and often chaotic flow, lies a deep, intellectual rapper who is ready to take the limelight.

Following in the footsteps of fellow TDE and Black Hippy member Kendrick Lamar, the album conveys a level of maturity and skill that has the accessibility and mainstream friendliness to propel him to the top. Q hasn’t lost any of his grit and darkness however from previous albums, instead combining this with the vision of Interscope, he has created a commercially viable rap album while still remaining true to his previous style. The tension that is brought about by these two conflicting aspirations works a treat. Whatever messed up compromises Q has had to make, it’s interesting to hear him break through these boundaries as he constantly explodes into different directions and concepts. Like Lamar, Q has been in the game for a while now slowly building a steady fan base and nurturing his style and technique, this all culminating in this album. The already rapturous reception it has received comes as no surprise, the hype around ‘Collard Greens’ and ‘Man of the Year’, both singles off the album released prior to it dropping, had already made the album highly anticipated, and all in all the LA native lives up to all these expectations and more.

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Album Review: J. Cole – Revenge Of The Dreamers

February 17, 2017March 2, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Hip Hop, J Cole, Music, Revenge of the Dreamers, ReviewLeave a comment

Following the announcement that the J. Cole lead label Dreamville had officially signed a partnership with legendary Interscope Records, Cole, also celebrating his 29th birthday on the same day, released a free 11 track mixtape entitled Revenge Of The Dreamers. Boasting a pretty impressive record of two number one albums and a handful of gold and platinum selling singles it is apparent that Cole is eager to use his still-rising status to let others shine. The mixtape introduces Dreamville’s small, but talented roster, including Bas, Omen and K-Quick, with Cole also featuring on tracks and intertwining with freestyles.

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Album Review: Young Fathers – Dead

February 17, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Dead, Hip Hop, Music, Review, Young FathersLeave a comment

What’s this?

A combination of electronic sounds and hard-hitting psychedelic hip-hop, Dead is the debut album from the Edinburgh based trio Young Fathers. A wild mash-up of sonic and lyrical styles, distorted beats and off-key notes, it’s guaranteed this LP will be nothing like you’ve heard before. Drawing heavily from their African background it has a very distinct sound and feel to it, mixing together different genres and bizarre sounds into the melting pot, resulting in an album that will make you stand up and listen.

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Album Review: French Montana – Coke Boys 4

January 28, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Coke Boys 4, French Montana, Hip Hop, Music, ReviewLeave a comment

What’s this?

Off the back of his extremely successful debut album ‘Excuse My French’, American rapper French Montana returns with the mixtape Coke Boys 4 to kick off 2014 with style. The Coke Boys, which is made up of Montana, Chinx, Lil Durk, Flip and Cheeze, release the 4th instalment of the series strongly showcasing the labels talent and skills. On top of these artists, the mixtape also features Diddy, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, Jadakiss and Snoop Dogg.

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Album Review: J. Cole – Born Sinner

January 24, 2017March 3, 2017Posted in Album Reviews, JournalismTagged Album, Born Sinner, Hip Hop, J Cole, Music, Rap, ReviewLeave a comment

Cole returns with his second studio album entitled ‘Born Sinner’ bringing his usual classical hip-hop style and smooth flow. The album was released on June 18th, which just so happened to be the release date for Kanye Wests album ‘Yeezus’, and also Mac Millers new album ‘Watching Movies With The Sound Off.’ Having already reviewed those two albums I can safely say that all three are completely different, in style, lyrical content and also in what audience they are for. ‘Born Sinner’ brings a more linear less experimental hip-hop album to the table, instead focusing on the lyrical content and storytelling side of things, portraying his life in North Carolina and points of views on more traditional beats. The album has a nice relaxed feel about it with Cole having the uncanny ability to paint pictures in your mind, giving off an autobiographical film type of atmosphere. Clever and funny ad-libs (skits) and also freestyles (interludes) feature throughout the album, which breaks up and links the album together really well. In terms of features there’s not too many, and most only feature as a chorus singer, i.e. Miguel, TLC, Amber Coffman, Cole relying on his versatility to keep the album interesting and on point. The only criticism I would have is that the album kind of just stays on the same level and there’s not enough variety in it, but in saying that I think that could just be because there’s no bad tracks on the album, they’re all good. My personal favourites from the album include ‘Power Trip’, ‘Rich Niggaz’ and ‘Let Nas Down.’ The art of story telling and lyricism certainly goes to Cole out of the three and ‘Born Sinner’ is a brilliantly put together piece of work.

9/10

First published: July 4, 2013

Where?: https://willgcollege.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/j-cole-born-sinner-album-review/

June 18th saw three completely different artists go head-to-head, in my opinion ‘Born Sinner’ was the best out of the three, but what’s your opinion, what do you think was the best? The creative and innovative ‘Yeezus’, the classical story telling of ‘Born Sinner’ or the variety and complex lyricism of ‘WMWTSO.’ Let me know your opinion in the comments…