Tag: music review

Music of the Moment 6

21 Savage and Metro Boomin drop a classic with “Savage Mode II”

April 23 came and went last semester without a 21 Savage concert at Humboldt State University. Thanks to the pandemic, students like myself felt cheated.

The sequel to Savage and Metro Boomin’s 2016 EP “Savage Mode,” delivers and, is worth the six month delay from its initial release date.

Fresh off of receiving the 2020 Grammy for best rap song with “A Lot,” featuring J. Cole, Savage is back with Boomin and unlikely narrator Morgan Freeman, whose alone is enough for anyone to give “Savage Mode II” a listen.

Similar to Savage’s solo albums “Issa Album” and “i am > i was,” “Savage Mode II” was dropped without any promotional singles leading up the release. Instead, they promoted the album with a trailer. Narrated by Freeman, the trailer ends with only a brief snippet of “Many Men.” Referencing the classic 50 Cent track and sampling his original chorus near the end of the song. One of the strongest moments on the album.

One of several narrations from Freeman, starts with speaking to a greatness that can only be accomplished when brilliant minds collide. Track two, “Runnin,” opens with Savage delivering a villainous laugh.

From the first song, Savage has your attention with his signature Slaughter Gang style and the first of many creative, simple and especially catchy hooks. Sticking to a pattern of two verses and a chorus on each song, with occasional intros and outros, Savage never overstays his welcome on a track.

The variety of vibes Savage is able to create on the new project is all made possible by the range Boomin displays on the production end. He boasts his artistic vision on tracks like “Slidin” where Boomin recreates the beat to the original project’s standout record “No Heart.” He does this again on “Said N Done,” recreating the beginning of “10 Freaky Girls” from his own album for the background of the chorus.

Savage provides listeners with a collection of hits catering to a much larger chunk of the mainstream audience than with past projects. Savage does this without compromising the content his fans have come to expect from him.

Don’t get it twisted, “Savage Mode II” is very much a sequel to the project that launched Savage and Boomin into the mainstream. Aside from a few tracks near the end of the album, including “My Dawg” and “No Opp Left Behind,” Savage reflects on his past, the overwhelming majority of Savage’s lyrics revolve around the topics of murder, money and meddling with monogomy.

Regardless of your feelings towards the message of his music, Savage delivered the most enjoyable overall performance of his career. Supported by the most varied and arguably strongest release we’ve received from Boomin, “Savage Mode II” will no doubt go down as a classic.

Saturday, October 10, 2020
Music of the Moment 3

For better or worse, Big Sean is likely gone for good.

After taking a three year hiatus, following luke-warm reception to his 2017 album “I Decided,” and an overwhelmingly negative response to the collaborative album he released later that year with Metro Boomin – ironically titled “Double or Nothing” – Big Sean’s new album “Detroit 2” marks a permanent step away from superstardom.

Sequel to the 2012 mixtape “Detroit,” part two – the album version – delivers a much different experience in almost every regard. Each project boasts features from some of the biggest artists in the game at the time and each project features interludes from three highly respected entertainers, however, the similarities end there.

Previously rapping about fame, fortune and the fast-life, with 2017’s “I Decided.” Sean took his music in a new direction of peace, positivity and personal growth. Doubling down on these new themes in “Detroit 2,” Sean delivers his second solo-album in a row without an undeniable hit-record like “I Don’t Fuck With You” or “Clique.”

Leading up to the release of “Detroit 2,” Sean set the tone releasing “Deep Reverence,” featuring the late Crenshaw king, Nipsey Hussle. On the track, Sean opens up about his overblown beef with Kendrick Lamar, the baby he lost and thoughts of suicide. Sean, only displays this level of vulnerability once more on the song “Lucky Me,” where he speaks to his public break-up with R&B singer and current girlfriend Jhené Aiko and having been diagnosed with heart disease at 19-years-old. These topics are all left at the surface level and unfortunately, we never get to hear directly how Sean feels about any of it – only that he’s gone through it.

After focusing an entire album around the theme of reflection with “I Decided,” Sean captures his life path and what it’s cost him with an effortless delivery, resembling conversation, on the track “Everything That’s Missing.” Along with “Guard Your Heart,” “Full Circle” and “Feed,” in which he focuses on the conflictions within fame. These are the songs where Sean is in his element.

On the flip side of things, time and time again on this project, Sean falls short of a hit-record – lacking the undeniable catchiness factor on the song “Harder Than My Demons,” not giving Post Malone the entire chorus of “Wolves” or letting Travis Scott give up half-way through the hook on “Lithuania.” For someone with as much experience as Sean, it’s as if he’s actively trying to avoid a hit.

Fortunately, Sean saves the best for last, ending the album on an extremely high note, beginning with the song “Don Life,” featuring a strong verse from Lil Wayne and sampling the legendary Michael Jackson’s classic song “Human Nature.”

For the next track, “Friday Night Cypher,” Sean recruits 10 fellow Detroit MCs to rap over eight different beats that mostly cater to each artist. Sean delivers two of his best performances of the album on these songs and the latter is a moment not soon to be forgotten by fans of hip-hop.

With “Detroit 2,” Sean delivers a project more honest and open than anything he’s released before but at the cost of the quality of his music. After three years off, Sean’s musical abilities remain unchanged and his concept of quality has suffered. Most songs are ruined by a bad flow here, a lazy hook, poor arrangements or overproduction that make them hard to listen to outside of the context of the album.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Danny Brown: U Know What I’m Sayin?

uknowhatimsayin¿ stylizes manic energy and strives for greatness

The last time we heard a full-length project from Danny Brown, it was 2016’s spiraling ode to excess and insanity, “Atrocity Exhibition.” The album used off-the-wall production, manic vocal inflections and harrowing subject matter to paint Brown’s life as a descent into chaos.

Now with 2019’s “uknowhatimsayin¿,” Brown leaves the coked-up, hyperactive energy of his last project behind and replaces it with motivational tracks focused around striving for your goals and never giving up. Of course, there’s still a healthy dose of bizarre punchlines, drug and sex-related content and enough eclectic beat choices to leave your head spinning after a full listen.

The introductory “Change Up,” lays out the thematic groundwork of the album. Organs, synths and a steady, understated drumbeat flesh out the track as Brown laments, “Up all night, toss and turn when I sleep; Pacing around, drowning sorrows in my drink; Can’t even think, got my mind wrapped up; But I still bite down, clench my teeth, knuckle up.”

Resiliency is a common theme in Brown’s projects, but this album embraces self-reliance and motivation as the central theme of the work. Rather than basking in the highs and lows of overindulgence and addiction like previous works, Brown finds a nice middle ground where he acknowledges the darker moments of his life while committing to forward motion.

The best example of this is on an early single for the project, called “Best Life.” The tracks verses detail Brown’s origin as a dope dealer, but pairs an uplifting chorus about living your best life now, because it’s the only one you’ve got.

This cut is followed in the tracklist by the title song, which has Brown spitting life lessons and motivational advice, with the refrain, “Know what I’m sayin’?” A chorus from Obongjayar and smooth, jazzy drums contribute to the uplifting vibe of this song.

One of the hallmarks of a Danny Brown project is wildly creative wordplay, and this album delivers that in spades. Brown sums up his writing style succinctly on the track “Savage Nomad,” which features looped electric guitar over a thumping beat. “It’s quite simple, I’m mental, all over instrumentals; Detrimental to health, lyrics is quintessential,” Brown spits.

Brown is no stranger to bizarre instrumentals, but the beats on this project deserve special praise. From the spacey, reverbed A$AP Ferg adlibs on “Theme Song” to the hectic basslines of “Negro Spiritual” and the atmospheric, synthed-out breathing on “Belly of the Beast,” the album provides a wide range of vibes and moods that have been lacking from the current rap climate with its affinity for loud, hi-hat-heavy trap production.

Features from Run The Jewels, JPEGMafia, Obongjayar and Blood Orange are sprinkled throughout the album to provide variety. Special praise must be lauded to Killer Mike of RTJ, who comes through with some of his coldest bars to date in the song, “3 Tearz.” “I sip on fine wines, fine dine with dimes and nines; I got an Einstein mind and I still tote iron; I’m a P-I-M-P in my own rhyme; Space-age gorilla pimpin’ out the cage with mine.”

If there’s one thing missing from this new album, it’s the staggering emotional highs and lows felt on “Atrocity Exhibition.” Because this new project is more laid-back, it never reaches these heights. Regardless, “uknowhatimsayin¿” is confirmation of Brown’s place as one of the most creative and consistent rappers working today.

Thursday, October 24, 2019
JPEGMAFIA: All My Heroes Are Cornballs

JPEGMAFIA’s new album is a demented ride through the rappers mind

JPEGMAFIA’s third studio album, “All My Heroes are Cornballs,” was released Sept. 14 and it perfectly embodies the production characteristics that define his music.

JPEGMAFIA is the brainchild of music producer and rapper Barrington Hendricks. Hendricks gained interest in music by learning to sample while he was stationed in Japan with the United States Air Force.

After being honorably discharged in 2016, Hendricks moved to Baltimore, Maryland and began working on producing his first studio album, “Black Ben Carson.” In 2018, he released his critically acclaimed album, “Veteran,” which was a healthy introduction into Hendricks’ twisted, gritty version of postmodern, experimental hip hop.

The entirety of the “All My Heroes are Cornballs” album, from production to rapping, was done by Hendricks. Hendricks has yet to stray away from the things that define his music production. The choppy, industrial sounds that seem to harass your senses in the best possible way. The usual hi-hats, claps and kick sounds found in a generic rap beat are replaced with clicks, static and pre-2000s computer sounds which seem to invade your privacy. The framework for the bass and ASMR-like drum patterns are still prevalent, but this is what sets Hendricks apart from other producers in the genre.

While applying his signature drum patterns, Hendricks adds sounds that have never been used in his beats before. There are softer, inviting motifs connected to every melody behind the drums. They usually consist of a few soft piano keys with audio effects added, a lightly strummed guitar or synths that are reminiscent of ’80s and ’90s video games. The sounds radiate nostalgia, spirituality and a sense of peace which largely contrast the rough, nail-biting sounds of “Veteran.”

These sounds give a more introspective look into what makes Hendricks who he is rather than the persona he gives off in his music. The downside to the project has to do with the lyrics. He changes the flow of his raps on a regular basis but each time they still fall into a generic pattern. The lyrical content rarely strays away from the subjects of fighting internet haters with guns and being better than other artists. Most of the bars consist of Hendricks yelling one of his coined ad-libs. It’s hard to expect any different from a person who is labeled as an internet warrior with a track record of pissing off the alt-right. The lyrics become redundant and feel recycled from past albums.

Hendricks ventures more into singing on this project and surprisingly, it is one of the best things about the album. Some of the stand out tracks on this album are “Jesus Forgive Me I Am A Thot,” “Free The Frail,” “Thot Tactics” and ”BasicBitchTearGas.” He harnesses the energies of 90s R&B and it perfectly ties together the crunchy, psychedelic beats to produce one of his most personal projects.

The production on this album is perfect. The chord progressions, song transitions and signature drum beats are completely on par with the JPEGMAFIA sound. The only thing lacking is lyrical variance, but the singing and melodies make up for it entirely. This can easily be one of the best experimental rap albums of the year.

Friday, September 20, 2019