YSL and Quality Control really should’ve kept these two on the bench.
Mudboy is one of the oddest trap rap albums I’ve heard in a while.
I Loved You at Your Darkest is a solid blackened death metal album that’s occasionally marred by Behemoth overextending itself, or treading the water it waded with The Satanist.
Twenty One Pilots take their catchy songwriting, genre blending, and emotional lyricism up a few notches on Trench.
Logic is, as always, well-intentioned and likable on YSIV, but his music remains middle-of-the-road.
Kero Kero Bonito make their Polyvinyl debut with a pretty radical departure from the signature sound cemented on Bonito Generation. Thankfully, Time ‘n’ Place is every bit as good as that album.
Lil Wayne is in rare form on the best parts of his fifth installment of the Carter series, but bogs this album’s full potential down in a number of underwhelming cuts too.
Despite its slightly cumbersome 100-minute runtime and spotty concept, DROGAS Wave is a surprisingly solid addition to this phase of Lupe Fiasco’s career.
JMSN’s new album doesn’t reinvent the soul and R&B wheels, but but does show a deep appreciation for the genres’ aesthetics and has quality production and songwriting in spades.
While it’s certainly pleasant and stands out in the current mainstream music landscape, Hozier’s latest EP doesn’t offer much that indie songwriters and folk artists haven’t done better in the past couple of decades.
