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After Hours is the fourth studio album from the alternative R&B star: The Weeknd. The album was released on March 20th, 2020. The cover art of this album features a rather grim and dark portrait of Abel’s face. Being no stranger to reinvention, the pop star shows off his new edgy, 80’s inspired look with the reminiscent afro and solid red suit. The Weeknd has always been known for his dark and moody aesthetic and sound, however this cover art features him at his darkest yet.

The album features 14 songs with a total run time of 46 minutes. The singles that were already out prior to the album’s release were: Heartless, Blinding Lights, and After Hours (single) respectively. From these tracks it was rather difficult to predict what the album would sound like as a whole as each of these tracks differ in a lot of ways. From Heartless’s bass heavy, catchy, and trap  inspired drums to Blinding Light’s 80’s inspired synth tracks and vocal melodies to the title track’s more conventional Weeknd sound listers were confused on what to expect. However there was chatter amongst hardcore XO fans that the artist would continue to explore the 80’s sound that he dabbled in in Starboy and the single Blinding Lights, and their predictions rang true. The Weeknd was clearly inspired by this era to a great extent and these influences stood out particularly in tracks such as: Hardest to Love, In Your Eyes, Save Your Tears, Blinding Lights, and After Hours. He drew from popular drum patterns, melodies, instruments, and vocal melodies to recreate this sound. Overall, I would say that he did this pretty well. The Weeknd has a very distinct voice, which is central to his unique sound as an artist. However, I found that the album was underwhelming and sounded very one-dimensional at times. Being a long time Weeknd listener I expected a more experimental, daring, and inspired album (as this is what initially drew me to his work). What I got was a very polished 80’s synth pop vibe, which was not all that bad but it fell short of my expectations. I did have tracks that I enjoyed though, and these were: Faith, After Hours, and Hardest to Love.

Faith is an ominous, reflective and grandiose track with a meaty bass line, an infectious hook, and effective musical variation. For the most part the track is an upbeat and grand ballad, however it transitions into a bare, ambient, and chilling outro that very well contrasts the bulk of the track’s runtime.

Overall, After Hours was a decent album that boasted The Weeknd’s high budget production. It is by no means a bad album, however it was an underwhelming listen due to it’s one-track-mindedness and lack of experimentation. 6/10.

 

On August 24th 2018, Sudanese-American rapper Bas released his third studio album: Milky Way. The Dreamville artist has consistently offered audiences with a more refined, mature and oftentimes mellow and reflective music that has grew his fan-base dramatically. Growing up in Europe, Bas has a very distinct taste for melody and rhythm that acts a a breath of fresh air in the sometimes repetitive, uninspired, and overly commercial nature of American Hip-hop. The cover art for this album is a scenic picture of the pyramids in Sudan, which is in celebration of his culture and heritage. The cover art features Bas standing in amongst the great structures that dwarf him. This suggests his own journey to rediscover and explore his forgotten roots. It also celebrates Sudan by sharing it with a mainstream audience that may not even be aware of its existence and the fact that it even has pyramids — and more than Egypt, which is quite surprising to everyone I tell it to.

The album starts with a fragmented and ambient introduction that is the track “Icarus”, which features angelic and etherial vocals from his label-mate Ari Lennox. Around the 1:30 mark the drums drop and Bas shows off his penetrating and agile flow and his revered writing pen. Bas’ topic matter throughput this album remains true to the cover art as he explores himself introspectively through romantic relationships, experiences, race, and various themes of identity. The most disappointing part of this album has to be the lack of a consistent narrative. Bas ventures off to different topics and does well at times, but I believe the overall narrative was underwhelming. Aside from this, the album features varied instrumentals that will take the listener from a simple head nod to a full on dance routine very quickly. Bas is often very good at creating strong emotions through his music, which is a testament to his comprehensive understanding of melody, rhythm and flow. My favorite tracks on this album are: Purge, Icarus, and Tribe.

The track Purge is a jolly and groovy one that jumps into a bouncy drum beat and an infectious rapping flow. It is a track that very well represents who Bas is as an artist, from the great and unorthodox sample choice, to the simple but effective melodies, to the bouncy 808s and the tight rap flow.

Late 2019, Drake who is arguably the most celebrated musical artist in mainstream music released a single by the name of “War“. This single was his latest nod to the ever-growing drill and grime music scene in the United Kingdom. Drake has previously expressed his admiration and respect towards the British music scene in collaboration with featured artists such as Skepta, Giggs, and Santan Dave. The track “War” sets an ominous, ethereal and confronting mood with production from the well-renounced British producer “AXL Beats” who has been known for flooding the American Hip-Hop/Rap scene with sounds that express the spirit that is the streets of London.

Grime is to the U.K. what rap is to the U.S. and it is exciting to see it being appreciated in American culture. Like rap, grime has transcended music as it exists as an entire culture inspiring everything from: language, politics, film, and fashion. It has its own pulse which was initially in-sync with that of American culture until it grew its own two legs.

The track War is just the latest installment in Drake’s adaptation of this foreign music genre with earlier tracks such as Behind Bars (freestyle), and No Long Talk (ft. Giggs). Being such a big artist, anything that he choses to indulge in will receive a major look from a mainstream audience and the growth in popularity of this genre can be partially credited to him and his endeavors. This is not to discredit the grime artists such as: Skepta, Stormzy, Santan Dave, Octavian and many more who have remained authentic to the integrity of their culture and sound over multiple years. However it is tough for a genre such as grime to become popular in the U.S. especially because of the variance in English accents and the lack of acknowledgment towards British culture.

Film is an integral part of how people who are not a part of a particular culture perceive said culture. In American film, Britain is portrayed as a place where everyone is white, posh, and proper and eat crumpets. It is not a culture that is seen to have the complexities that are present in American culture with variances in socio-economic classes, races, ethnicities, etc. Therefore it is a tough sell to for British rappers to be respected on the same playing field as American rappers. However, this is why Drake should be celebrated for reaching out and endorsing it because if he respects it then why shouldn’t your average American rap fan?

 

F*ck the World is the American singer and producer: Brent Faiyaz‘s second studio album. Brent is a breath of fresh air in the very redundant and uninspired modern contemporary R&B scene. He revives 90’s R&B with a modern twist, not only with his much but with his style and overall vibe. The cover art of this album is representative of this aesthetic as you see Brent sitting down in front of an all white studio set, wearing classic Chuck Taylor’s and blue denim jeans. This cover art both screams 90’s but doesn’t seem out-of-place in the year 2020.

 

The album is commenced with a glorious refrain from the song “Skyline”, where Brent passionately sings “do you know what makes this world go ’round?” It sets the album off to a chill, moody, and somewhat introspective start that I believe to be an accurate depiction of the album’s entirety. The album’s main topical themes are romantic relationships, introspection, and the topics that Brent indulges significantly affect the vibe at any given point in time. The album is relatively short at 10 tracks and 26 minutes of total runtime. This happens to be the biggest downfall of this album, given that Brent doesn’t release music very frequently I was expecting something more substantive. Another flaw of this album is that the songs are not always fully developed, oftentimes I felt like I was listening to a concept or a blueprint of a song rather than a finished product. Brent’s vocal ability shines throughout and is the high point of the often skeletal and underdeveloped tracks. This is not to say that there aren’t any interesting tracks on this album such as: Rehab (winter in Paris), Bluffin’, Clouded, and Been Away. However, given Brent’s talent level I definitely expected a much more well-rounded album altogether.

The track “Rehab (Winter in Paris)” happens to be my favorite track on the album due to the stripped back yet moody and striking instrumental and topic matter. Throughout this song Brent addresses his relationship with a woman who he admits to be addicted to whilst she is addicted to drugs. Brent’s vocal riffs reflect the state of mind that he is in whilst being in this toxic relationship.

 

“Bluffin'” is one of the few tracks that contains a trap inspired drum pattern. The contrast of this rhythmic drum pattern and the melodic and spacious vocals by Brent make a track that is very well balanced and complete. The gorgeous, rumbling bass of the song really makes the track as it provides it with a strong foundation that allows Brent’s varied and sometimes unpredictable vocals to have more context.

Although I was underwhelmed by the album overall I thoroughly enjoyed a handful of the tracks, this isn’t Brent’s best work but it is on par with what he has released in the past. 6/10.

 

“The Divine Feminine” is the late Pittsburgh native Mac Miller’s 7th studio album. The cover art to this album features a very light and soothing pink back drop with what appears to be a woman behind an abstracted mirror. The mirror artistically covers the woman’s face, whist showing a heavenly image of the sky and clouds in a circular silhouette. Straight off the bat this album cover comes off very different from his usual work. Prior to this point in his career, the topics that Mac Miller focused his material around were: drugs, emotions, thoughts, and introspective material in general.

 

This album is my favorite Mac Miller album of all time for more reasons than I can count, from the heavenly instrumentals, to the provocative lyrics and themes, the features, the mood, and many more. The album is composed of 10 tracks and it runs for a total of 52 minutes. The album maintains a relaxed, groovy, melodic, moody, and light mood throughout, which very well presents the overarching theme of the feminine. What might be the best part of this album is its ability to stay focused and concise, not only this but his insight into the topics he explores are very mature and polished. Not one track on the album feels excessive or out-of-place, as they all help create the overarching narrative. I also really appreciated that Mac had a range of features on such a personal album, and to his credit they all brought their own narratives on the topics of their respective tracks, therefore providing a variation in perspective.

Although I genuinely enjoyed all of the tracks from this album, the standout tracks are: God is Fair, Sexy Nasty (ft. Kendrick Lamar), Dang! (ft. Anderson .Paak), and My Favorite Part (ft. Ariana Grande).

God is Fair, Sexy Nasty (ft. Kendrick Lamar) features slow, jazz-inspired and spacey production that is reminiscent of production from his earlier album: “Watching Movies with the Sound Off”. The Kendrick feature does so much for the track as he raps mind-provoking lines and sings catchy melodies in his nasally voice. Mac himself described this track as “a journey [that] goes so many places“.

Dang! (ft. Anderson .Paak) is the most up-beat and light songs on the album. This song is a very personal one as Anderson wrote the chorus for people who passed away in his life, whilst Mac makes the song a romantic love song. Hence the meaning behind the lyrics can be interpreted in two different ways providing a sense of depth.

Lastly, My Favorite Part (ft. Ariana Grande) is a track with a lot of chemistry due to the fact that Ariana and Mac were seeing each other whilst recording the track. The song gives a simple into their relationship, whilst remaining open enough to apply to a more broad context.

Again, this is my favorite album by Mac due to the reasons that I have previously stated. 9/10.

Collection One (2018) is the debut album by the Guyanese-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer: Saint JHN. The cover art of the album is very simple and straightforward. A pink cross is the focal point of the artwork, so one can either infer that the album will feature religious themes. Surely enough when looking into the track list there are two tracks with the word “God” in the tittle.

Collection One consists of 13 songs, and a total run time of 44 minutes. From looking at the names of the tracks on the track list it is difficult to establish an overarching theme as song names range from adult actresses, to flowers and emotions. The first song: “Lust (ft. Janelle Kroll)“, starts off with an angelic and mystifying vocal performance from the only guest feature on the album. The track then builds tension and then moves into a very intense, explosive, and powerful verse from Saint JHN as he raps about the advancement of his career, his lifestyle, and relentless mindset. He sets the energy of the album very high, very early which, is quite unorthodox with albums of a similar style. Throughout this track his New York upbringing becomes very apparent through lines displaying his hustlers mentality such as when he raps that “all [he] f*ckin’ [knows] is the risk, ain’t’ talkin’ money, then they don’t exist.”

This album is quite versatile in terms of production, writing, and tempo, making it a very entertaining listen. The stand out tracks from the album are: Reflex, God Bless the Internet, I Heard You Got Too Lit Last Night, and 3 Below.

The track “Reflex” features a very spacey and ambient pad that is beautifully contrasted with a very grounded and smooth sliding low end. This combination in addition to the rich tone of Saint’s voice is why this track is so great. This is definitely my favorite track from Saint.

“God Bless the Internet” follows “Reflex” on the track listing, and it slows down the tempo a bit leaving room for a more relaxed and comfortable flow from him. He pours his heart out about his relationships, emotional pains, and other life experiences. Saint JHN also shows off some of his clever world play, which sadly is too provocative to be featured on this blog. But, Genius always exists for that.

The song “I Heard You Got Too Lit Last Night” features a very ambient pad which is complimented by a whiney, and retro sounding lead. The best part of this track has to be the infectious chorus that Saint raps. This track is definitely a defining moment for him as an artist as it presents him as an artist quite well.

“3 Below” is a straight banger. It features very skeletal but bouncy production that counterbalances Saint’s very full and rich vocal performance. This was one of his earlier tracks, so it definitely feels more gritty and dirty than some of the other cuts on this album.

Saint JHN’s Collection One, although one dimensional and quite scattered in terms of subject matter is a solid album. It is a unique spin on the current atmosphere of trap music, and shows a wide range of talent. 7/10