What better way to end off this year’s round of passion blogs than by covering the best songs on my favorite album? As I covered in my last review, To Pimp a Butterfly is Kendrick Lamar’s Magnum Opus. The album touches on a wide range of topics ranging from religion to problems within the black community, and he does it without coming across as preachy or self righteous. Below, I’ll highlight my favorite tracks from the album in no particular order, and do my best to convince you to listen to them.

Alright

Alright was released at such a kairotic moment that you’d swear Kendrick was sitting in the back of Professor Bedell’s class first semester. The song is an anthem of positivity that was released in the wake of the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown police shootings. Owing to its uplifting message, the song quickly became the anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement, and could often be heard at their rallies. Alright is a song that has managed to transcend music and become a cultural touchstone for groups of people all over who feel the weight of oppression.

i

i was the first single released from Butterfly,  and much like Alright, it carries with it a message of brazen positivity. Featuring an up-tempo beat and a unique vocal performance from Kendrick, the theme of i can be summed up in the three words that Kenrick yells at the climax of the song: “I love myself!” Basically, if you ever have a rough day or need a pick-me-up, this is the song for you.

u

While i is the emotional high point of the album, u is unquestionably the low point. The track details Kendrick’s drunken conversation with himself in a hotel room, in which he repeats “Loving you is complicated.” The second half of the track sees Kendrick slip further into debauchery, as you can hear the clanking of bottles and Kendrick’s vocals become sloppy under the influence of alcohol as he rasps “You shoulda felt that black revolver blast long time ago.” This one is a downright uncomfortably listen, but sometimes the most important lessons in life don’t come easy.

King Kunta

King Kunta sees Kendrick at the height of his powers, effortlessly riding a bouncing beat as he likens himself to Kunta Kinte, a mythical slave who tried to escape captivity so many times that his owners cut half of his foot off. This track is packed full of tribal metaphors for power, as Kendrick claims “The Yam is the power that be.” The beat on this track also deserves particular note, and I challenge you to listen to this song without doing something like  this.

Conclusion

There are many more quality songs on Butterfly– I’d say that all of them are worth a listen- but the four above are some of my favorites. Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly is one of the most significant albums of the last decade, regardless of genre. With the release of this album, Kendrick also solidified himself as Hip Hop’s conscience and moral authority, equally as capable of producing a pop hit as crafting a thoughtful, relevant piece of commentary important issues. Almost as significantly, the release of this album turned me into a lifelong plan.

Rating: 10/10

To Pimp A Butterfly is unquestionably my favorite album of all time, so any accusations of bias over this review are fully and completely deserved. I can actually remember the first time that I ever listened to this masterpiece; I was in mowing the lawn in the Summer of 2015. Like pretty much every other Kendrick fan, I had loved of his previous album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, and I was hungry for more of the same thoughtful, but easily consumable music that Kendrick had been producing. However, Kendrick threw a curveball at pretty much the whole world with To Pimp a Butterfly.

Rather than live by the mantra “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” Kendrick decided to completely blow “it” up and reinvent his entire sound. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was a masterpiece in its own right, and in my opinion it created some of the best “bangers” rap music had ever produced as a genre (M.A.A.D City and Backseat Freestyle). Butterfly, though, is much less focused on creating catchy hooks and easily consumable beats. Instead, Butterfly takes a decidedly jazzy tone. There was a live jazz band present in the recording studio throughout the whole album, and its influence is clear on just about every track. That being said, this album is still definitely a hip hop album. Most of the tracks on here feature traditional hip hop snares and tempos. Basically, this album is what would happen if rap music and jazz music had a beautiful baby.

Thematically, Butterfly is one of the most profound albums that I’ve personally ever heard. Kendrick touches on a wide range of topics, ranging from institutional racism, to Christianity, to self love, to problems within the black community, and he does it all with aplomb. The emotional roller coaster on this album is as wide ranging as the topics it covers. The lows of tracks like u stand in stark contrast to anthems like Alright and i, on which Kendrick basically screams “I love myself.” Now, you might be thinking that an album this varied, this topically ambitious is bound to come across messy and cluttered, but Kendrick is one step ahead of you. In a brilliant move, Kendrick weaves a poem throughout the album, which is spoken at the end of many of the songs. On the first track in which the poem is added to the end, Kendrick only says the first few lines. As the album progresses, he adds more and more lines to this poem, so that it unfolds to the listener as they listen. Even more ingeniously, the line that the poem ends on each time always corresponds to the next song on the album in some way, so that the poems almost act as a thematic teaser for the next song. It’s something that you almost have to hear to appreciate, but it really is a stroke of genius.

As I’m writing this I’m realizing that it’s already rather long and I need way more than a few hundred words to cover the tracks on this album, so I’ll do part 2 of this review next week. Stay tuned for the best tracks of the album and (totally not obvious) album score!

This was supposed to be it. This was supposed to be The Weeknd’s return to what many consider his peak form. A return to the moody and dark vibes that hung like a smoky haze over his debut series of mixtapes, compiled on Trilogy. It’s not like people thought this without reason, either. Travis Scott was quoted a week or two ago as saying that this Weeknd project was “Like when I first heard him for the first time.” Artistically, all signs pointed to retro Weeknd as well. The album cover for My Dear Melancholy, suggested a dark, cramped aesthetic with Abel’s face only partially in the picture frame, hidden by shadow. Even the title, My Dear Melancholy, pointed towards a dark, emotional album.

As you can probably tell by now, this album is not Trilogy. In fact, it’s not really even an album. Though the brief hype before its release declared it as a new album, it’s actually a 6 song EP. In terms of stylistic comparisons to past Weeknd projects, My Dear Melancholy, is much more Beauty Behind the Madness than Trilogy. The production on this project is far too clean, too perfected to have any of the raw emotion that made Trilogy so powerful. The beats on this project tend to have pop-influenced drum patterns, and are almost all uniformly organized in the traditional chorus-verse song structure. While there is obvious pop influence (How could there not be after Starboy?) this EP is definitely not a pop project. Instead, it exists in its own sort of limbo in between glitzy pop and unrefined R&B. I think that one of my friends put it best when he said that it “was like it was produced by pop producers, who didn’t want to make a pop record.”

None of this is to say that this is a bad record. A few songs on My Dear Melancholy, are legitimately very well put together and performed songs. Some Weeknd fans may be satisfied with Abel’s half turn away from the pop heavy Starboy, while others may be less impressed. Personally, I can’t help but be a little disappointed that Abel didn’t shun his recent pop influence and embrace his roots. After all, this was supposed to be it.

Highlight

Call Out My Name- By far my favorite song on the album, Call Out My Name is both the catchiest and least pop influenced record on the album. I love the way that the heavy drums in this song hit home as Abel belts out “So call out my name.” I also think that the distortion applied to Abel’s voice on the back half of the song gives the track a gritty and unrefined feeling sorely missing from recent projects. Vocally, Abel seems determined to show the power and depth of his voice on this track instead of his signature vocal range, and I think that the track is more emotionally powerful for it.

Lowlight

Hurt You- To me, Hurt You is held back by the pop and non-pop influences on this album not quite matching up. The bassline on this album could have been lifted straight out of Starboy– it’s prominent, driving, and up tempo. In contrast, Abel performs much of this song in falsetto, and the refrain of “I don’t wanna hurt you” doesn’t seem to match the club vibe that the beat has created. The end result is a song that is pulled in two different directions, and consequently, doesn’t really feel like anything.

Conclusion

My Dear Melancholy, is not a bad album. It might actually even be a good album. But one thing is sure, and that is that it is not Trilogy. It seems to me like Abel really was making an effort to hearken back to an early stage in his career, one in which the same mysterious, hazy quality seemed to shroud both his music and identity. But he can’t be that person. Artists can’t erase years of musical influence and life experience, for better or for worse. And so, My Dear Melancholy, feels like an attempt to return to the past, but it’s unmistakably anchored in the present. A noble attempt, but one that ultimately cannot be successful.

Score: 5/10

Rather than do my traditional album review, I decided to switch things up a little bit this week. Everybody knows that March Madness is upon us, the month of the year when everybody goes college basketball crazy- regardless of whether or not they have watched college basketball at any other point this year. What most people don’t know, however, is that Kanye Madness is also upon us. Kanye Madness is the time of the year when fans break out their brackets and judge their favorite Kanye tracks against each other. Tears may be shed and decisions agonized over, but in the end only one song can come out on top. And so I invite you, esteemed reader, to take part in Kanye Madness, whether you are a relative newbie to his music, or a Kanye fanatic. Below I will be highlighting what I think were the most notable parts of my bracket, region by region- let the controversy commence.

North West Quadrant

For me personally, Can’t Tell Me Nothing and Famous  are the strongest songs in this quadrant. Can’t Tell Me Nothing  was definitely given a run for its money in the first round by Amazing, but in the end Can’t Tell Me Nothing wins out for the way in which it fully fully encapsulates what it means to be Kanye. Similarly, Famous came out on top over Love Lockdown because Famous is everything that a Kanye West song is known for- braggadocio, bravado, and a damn good beat. In the end, I had Famous narrowly beating out Can’t Tell Me Nothing to advance to the Final Four from the North West Quadrant.

Donda Quadrant

This region featured several Kanye classics, like Through the Wire, Runaway, Heartless, and School Spirit. Heartless met Runaway in the sweet 16, and I had Heartless advancing in what was somewhat of an upset. Heartless continued its run until it met The Glory, an uplifting soul ballad that has proven that it’s pretty much impossible to be sad while listening to it. In what was a close call, I had The Glory advancing to the Final Four from the Donda Quadrant.

Chicago Quadrant

Perhaps the most star studded of the quadrants, the Chicago Quadrant includes anthems like Gold Digger, Power, and Stronger, as well as some dark horses like Black Skinhead and Gotta Have It. In what was a titanic first round matchup, I picked Gotta Have It over Gold Digger due to the former’s fantastic sample (From a 1998 action film?!) and quality Jay Z feature. Gotta Have It continued its run of good form by getting a win against Power, advancing to a titanic matchup against Stronger. While Gotta Have It is a great song in its own right, it simply can’t stand up to Stronger, which changed the landscape of music by blending the rap and electronic genres.

Saint Quadrant

In comparison to the previous quadrants, the Saint Quadrant is short on headliners, but heavy on dark horses. An early matchup between Gorgeous and Homecoming was a close call for me. Despite a great Coldplay feature on the latter, I went with Gorgeous because of a great Kid Cudi Feature and really cool sampled beat. Dark Fantasy’s matchup with Otis in the Elite 8 was a good contest. While Dark Fantasy might just be Kanye’s strongest opening track to an album, Otis took this one because of a great Jay Z feature and probably my favorite beat ever, featuring an awesome Otis Redding sample. If you can’t tell, I really like sampling.

Final Four

After several hours of music, one annoyed and roommate, and much agonizing, my Final Four consisted of Famous, The Glory, Stronger, and Otis. From here, there would be no easy decisions. Famous and The Glory squared off on the left side of the bracket, and are really a study in contrast. While Famous is Kanye at his most cocky (That line about Taylor Swift captures this bravado pretty well), The Glory features Kanye at the height of his success enjoying being at the top. In the end, I went with The Glory and its positivity.

On the right half of the bracket, Stronger and Otis were pitted against each other. While I love the beat on both of these tracks, they really couldn’t be more different. Stronger is an incredibly well produced fusion of rap and electronic music, and makes brilliant use of a Daft Punk Sample. On the other hand, Otis is much more of a grimy, hard knocking song, with a little more attitude. Because of this extra charisma, I went with Otis to advance to the finals.

Finals

The Glory vs Otis would be no easy matchup to decide. Both songs feature amazing beats, quality lyrics, and tons of replay value. While The Glory’s beat is fantastic, I tend to like that of Otis just a little more- there’s something great about hearing Otis Redding spazz on a beat for three minutes. Otis also has the benefit of a Jay Z feature to help to put it over the top. For those reasons, I made Otis my champion.

Danny Brown is weird. Atrocity exhibition is weird. There’s just no way to get around it, and it’s better to go into this album knowing that. While there are few who would dispute the strangeness of the Detroit-based MC, it’s up for debate whether Danny Brown’s outlandish vocal delivery and musical style is genius or ineptitude. Brown’s vocal delivery in particular divides opinion. His one of a kind intonation draws to mind the yipping of a dog, for better or for worse. This delivery if the first major hurdle when listening to this album- if you don’t like it, you’re going to want to pull your hair out before the first song is over. Odd as the delivery may be, you’ll never find Brown off-beat, and he is capable of maintaining a flow with the best of them.

If his vocal delivery doesn’t immediately turn you off, there’s a chance that the beats on Atrocity Exhibition will- you won’t find a traditional beat on this entire project. Drum beats are erratic, rarely following the traditional “boom-bap” pattern so common in rap. Melodies are often frenetic, pulsing with energy and urgency. Danny Brown opts for very unique instruments on the album as well, with frequent use of horns, string instruments, and some really extraordinary vocal loops. This energy keeps up for almost the entire album, and it honestly sounds as if it was written on a cocaine high (spoiler alert: it was). The beats here do nicely match the subject matter of the album, which is, you guessed it, drug use. Danny Brown’s lyrics, when paired with the energy of his instrumentals, paint a picture of a drug addict spiraling out of control. We are lucky enough to be taken along for the ride. 

Highlights

Really Doe

Really Doe is the lead single off of the album, and is monster of a possy cut. The song is essentially a lyrical sparring session between Danny Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt over an ominous sounding beat. Every MC on this track brings their A game, and there’s quotable lines galore here. Earl Sweatshirt, in particular, pens an exceptional verse. His voice practically drips with menace as he snarls “I’m at your house like/ Why you got your couch on my chucks?”

Lost

Featuring one of the weirdest vocal loops that I’ve heard in a long time, Lost is a really unique listen. The dipping background vocal dovetails with Danny Brown’s high energy delivery to create an effect of total absurdity. Brown brings his best lyrically on this song as well, with “Packing up the bags/ But a n*gga ain’t trippin” being one of my favorites.

Downward Spiral

Downward Spiral  is the lead single on the album, and it’s opening lines “I’m sweating like I’m in a rave/ Been in this room for three days/ Think I’m hearing voices/ Paranoid and think I’m seeing ghosts/ Oh shit” perfectly set the tone for what is to come. The beat on this song works perfectly to set a tone of despondency that mirrors the tone of the lyrics, and one can feel the panic in Danny Brown’s voice as he yelps “I gotta figure it out!”

Lowlights

Ain’t It Funny

Ain’t It Funny is what happens when Danny Brown gets too weird for me.This is a feat indeed, as I tend to like weird rap music. The beat on this song is dominated by a pulsating synthesizer that is reminiscent of the sound of factory production. A horn blares in the background as well, creating the feeling of total chaos. Brown’s lyrical performance is weird as always, but I just can’t get over how overbearing the beat is.

Conclusion

Atrocity Exhibition is an album that divides opinion. Those that can’t get over Danny Brown’s vocal delivery, or the absurdity of the beats on this project, will absolutely hate it. Those that can stomach the vocal delivery, or even enjoy it, will likely find many songs on here that they like. I personally tend to side more with those who like Brown’s unique style and vocal delivery, though there are still tracks on here that even I can’t stomach.

Score: 7/10

Earl Sweatshirt’s sophomore studio album, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside sounds pretty much exactly like you’d expect it to. This album is bleak, both lyrically and instrumentally, which matches my current mood rather well, considering this blog post is a day late. Sonically, this album sounds like it was made in a smoke filled, hazy basement of some kind of ramshackle house. Beats are often plodding, with dark and ominous basslines that add a sinister undercurrent to the tracks. The dark beats are complemented by Earl Sweatshirt’s vocals, which often lag ever so slightly behind the beat and carry an air of being too numb to care about the state of his life. This perceived lack of care is not to say that Sweatshirt somehow approaches this album lazily or without effort. Other than a few tracks, most of the songs on this project are lyrically intricate, and do a good job detailing the depressing mundanity of Earl’s life. Earl’s impressive lyricism makes it so that oftentimes even the most plodding of tracks on this project are worth a listen. At exactly 30 minutes, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside is a short listen with little variation in terms of tone or theme, but what it does, it does rather well.

Highlights

Grief- Perhaps the bleakest of the bleak songs on this album, Grief conjures its namesake emotion. This song’s beat is minimal to an extreme, the only elements are a sporadic hi-hat and a sort of low moaning synthesizer that seems impossible to define- it never really ends or begins anywhere. Lyrically, Earl acknowledges that he deserves the depressive state that has come over him (Good grief, I been reaping what I sow), but doesn’t seem to have any plans to change his behavior.

Huey- In contrast to Grief, Huey is probably the most happy sounding track on this album- though that’s not to say that it’s a happy song. It’s beat consists of an old-timey sounding organ that contrasts with Earl’s tired and monotone vocals to create the feeling that this song is an exploration of the banality of everyday life in an ironically positive way. Earl does bring his lyricism on this track with lines like “The wins like lotion, he get ‘em he gon’ rub ‘em in,” which, in true Earl Sweatshirt fashion, is quickly followed by the line “I spent the day drinking and missing my grandmother.”

DNA- DNA is one of the few songs on this album where Earl gets aggressive or even registers any emotion other than self indulgent acceptance of his depressed state. He adopts a sort of nihilistic attitude with lines like “And my pants better be creased on my corpse” and “Tell momma get a gun if I get too popular, I’m just being honest with her.” The beat here lends to the aggressive tone of the song, with a thumping bass progression that just sounds nasty.

Lowlights

Inside- Inside feels like it really didn’t need to be on this album. The production here is largely unremarkable, apart from sounding kinda sad. Lyrically, Earl doesn’t bring anything to keep the listeners attention either, and the result is a slow and unremarkable track that sounds like it was a demo track.

Off Top- Off Top does get credit for having a unique beat, but the beat is also what lets this track down. For once, there’s actually too much going on with a beat on this project. There’s a weird card shuffling effect and an oddly chopped vocal that make the beat all too chaotic. To top it off, I’m pretty sure Tyler the Creator ad-libs for Earl throughout this song, but never actually gets a verse.

Conclusion

I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside is an unapologetically genuine album. In Earl’s case, that genuineness just happens to come in the form of a really depressing album. Still, this project deserves note for being so true to itself. That being said, there is little in the way of variation either sonically or lyrically, and that hampers this albums overall potential. Earl’s lyricism and commitment to achieving a desired effect are still enough to make this album better than average.

Score: 6/10

For many people, Channel Orange was their first introduction to Frank Ocean, and what an introduction it was. Released in 2012, Channel Orange was an album unlike what many people had heard before, being influenced by contemporary R&B, pop music, soul music, and has significant electronic influence as well. Adding intrigue to the album, Frank Ocean was a nearly unknown figure prior to the album’s release. While he had released mixtapes onto the internet, virtually nothing was known of the singers personal life. This was underlined by the face that most people did not know that Ocean was bisexual until they heard Channel Orange, which makes vague allusions to that fact throughout. Despite, or perhaps partly because of, Frank Ocean’s unknown, mysterious persona, the album took off upon release and was quickly critically acclaimed by numerous publications. This critical acclaim was backed by commercial success, and Channel Orange debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, and the album’s highest charting single, “Thinkin Bout You,” peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Thematically, Channel Orange touches on topics ranging from heartbreak, to jaded opulence, to criticisms of religion. While the subject matter of the album is varied, sonically the album works together rather well, and maintains a sort of melancholy, sentimental tone even on its most uptempo beats. Ocean’s vocal performance accompanies the tone of his instrumentals perfectly, and he doesn’t seem to be truly happy even once on this album. That being said, Frank Ocean’s vocal performances on this album are absolutely fantastic, and are certainly the highlight of the record.

Highlights

Thinkin Bout You- Channel Orange’s lead single and most popular song is successful for a reason. Lyrically, Frank Ocean paints a vivid picture of someone experiencing unrequited love. On the chorus he sings “Do you think about me still, Do ya?/ Or do you not think so far ahead/ Cuz I’ve been thinking about forever.” His vocal performance on this track is of particular note. He manages to hit a falsetto tone on the chorus that doesn’t seem like it should be possible, but sounds fantastic.

Pilot Jones- One of the lesser known tracks on the album, Pilot Jones tells the tale of Frank’s tumultuous relationship with a drug addicted girl. He smartly compares her addictions to substances with his addiction to her (“But I ain’t been touched in a while by the dealer/ And the stoner, with the sweetest kiss I’ve ever known.”) This is also a fantastic song to play in the car; the bass that comes in after the song’s introduction will give the speakers all they can handle.

Pyramids- At 9 minutes and 53 seconds, Pyramids is by far the longest song on Channel Orange, and is likely also its most thematically complex. Part one discusses the abduction and death of Cleopatra, a powerful black woman who ruled over monuments as impressive as the pyramids. In contrast, part two tells the story of a black woman (symbolically named Cleopatra) going off to work at a strip club called “The Pyramid.” Sonically, the song compliments this thematic shift perfectly. Part one of the song features a punchy instrumental that matches the pace of a search for a queen, while part two takes on a much darker, smoother tone that matches the setting of a prostitute waking up in a seedy motel in the morning.

Score: 9/10

Lil Yachty is a striking figure physical figure, with his bright red beaded dreadlocks and rainbow colored grille. Clearly, Yachty is not an artist who takes himself too seriously, and that means that you shouldn’t take him too seriously either. Most listeners will have heard of Lil Yachty by now, likely from his feature on DRAM’s smash hit single “Broccoli” in 2016. “Broccoli”’s signature light hearted tone, featuring flute sampled in the background, is present in much of Lil Yachty’s solo music. Since then, Yachty has released singles like “One Night” and “Minnesota” with much success. Much of Yachty’s music is made first and foremost for entertainment, with message taking a back seat, and his debut album is no exception. Lil Yachty’s “Lil Boat” is a fun and lighthearted project packed full of features and glitzy beats.

Not only is Lil Boat a super catchy and fun album, but an alter ego complex present throughout the album does add some level of complexity to things, however shallow. The album’s opening track “Intro” begins with a narrator introducing both characters in the album. Lil Boat is the first character introduced, who has a temper, as the narrator notes. This means that throughout the album when Lil Boat makes an appearance he is typically rapping and making braggadocious claims. The second character introduced is Lil Yachty, who is the sunnier side of this pairing. Lil Yachty can often be heard crooning and singing with heavy amounts of autotune. These two characters interact throughout the album in often funny ways and add some level of intrigue to the project.

Highlights

Wanna Be US

One of the lead singles for the “Lil Boat” mixtape, “Wanna Be Us” has an infectious sense of positivity. Yachty kicks off the track with “Bitch you know it’s Lil Boat,” so you know you can expect some brash rapping. Lil Yachty boldly proclaims that everybody wants to be like him and featured artist Burberry Perry, and you get the sense that he couldn’t be happier about it. The synth-heavy beat used here helps to add to the sense of positivity and carefree attitude that this song gets across.

Minnesota

“Minnesota” one of Yachty’s most commercially successful records, and upon first listen, it is easy to see why. This song is essentially Yachty talking about how great it is to be rich now, and his excitement and happiness are contagious. The piano looped in the background here really adds to this sense of almost childlike happiness. Features from Young Thug and Quavo lend this song some star power as well and switch up the pace.

Up Next 2

Easily the best technical rap song on the record, “Up Next 2” is not just a good rap song for a Lil Yachty album, but is actually a good rap song, period. Of particular note on this track is a feature by Byou that features several quality one liners. Lines like “Raising bars like bench press,” and “Imma catch a body like a cheerleader” give this song good replay value. The happy go lucky attitude of Byuo’s verse fits in perfectly with Yachty’s overall aesthetic and makes for the best feature of the album.

Lowlight

Out Late

This song is one of the few times on this album that Yachty’s happy-go-lucky attitude comes across as corny as opposed to genuine. Lines like “You my favorite boo” are more cringeworthy than funny. Yachty’s typical fun loving attitude doesn’t come across as well as it normally does because he tries too hard to be serious on this track.

Conclusion

Lil Yachty’s “Lil Boat” is a fun listen. When evaluating this album, I think it’s important to not take yourself too seriously. Yachty is not trying to make a technically groundbreaking project, or comment on ongoing social issues. He is just a 20 year old newly rich rapper who is enjoying living the high life, and this sense of joy is contagious. Personally I had not heard this album in a few months, and when I revisited this album to write this review I was reminded of what a fun listen it is.

Score: 7.5/10

Released in 1991, A Tribe Called Quest’s album The Low End Theory is widely regarded as a classic, and for good reason. This album was groundbreaking and genre bending in many ways. For one, it is a rap album that firmly rejected the “ganster rap” tendencies of the time. While Dr. Dre and NWA were releasing violent albums full of aggression and depictions of life in the projects, the group’s MC’s, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, released an album with barely any curse words and little in the way of violence at all. In fact, most of the tracks on here focus on lyrical wordplay rather than trying to convey any kind of cohesive message.

Perhaps most significantly, The Low End Theory also differs from the other rap music of the time sonically. While rap albums of the time focused on up tempo, drum heavy beats, A Tribe Called Quest took a vastly different approach. The Low End Theory is an album heavily influenced by Jazz music, with a laid back vibe. Many of the tracks on this album feature noticeably slow tempos. Trumpets and piano feature heavily on here alongside classic hip hop drums to help keep tempo. The juxtaposition of laid back sounding jazz instruments with snappy and rigid hip hop drums makes for a really interesting listen. There is also a good reason that this album is called “The Low End Theory,” as most of the tracks feature some kind of prominent, buttery smooth and heavy bass line that gives the songs on here a very mellow and smooth feeling. The Low End Theory is what happens when hip hop and jazz get combined in the best possible way.

The album artwork on The Low End Theory is worthy of mention as well. Widely regarded as one of the best album covers in hip hop, it is much more toned down and reserved than many of the album covers of its day. The contrasting red and green of the figure leap off of the black background in the same way that the drums on this album stand out layered on top of the smooth jazz background. I actually liked this album cover so much that I bought the record without even having a record player.

Highlights

Excursions

Excursions is the lead single on The Low End Theory, and starts the record off strong. The looping and heavy bass line of this song make it clear that “Excursions” is a good name for this song, as the bass-line especially conveys a dynamic feeling to the listener. The Jazz influence on this album shines through in this song as well, with trumpet samples cropping up at various intervals within the song.

Buggin’ out

“Buggin’ out” starts with one of the best opening lines of the album (Microphone check one two, what is this/the five foot assassin with the roughneck business), and the wordplay doesn’t let up throughout the song. Lines like “Refuse to compete with bs competition/your name ain’t Special Ed) make this song a rather engaging listen. The instrumental on this song is again worthy of note. The heavy low end on this track is a little more up tempo than on previous tracks, and sets the tone for the song perfectly.

Jazz (We’ve Got)

“Jazz (We’ve Got)” is widely regarded as the quintessential jazz rap song. Probably the most mellow song on this album, this track features a mellow and reverberating piano sample that gives the song a sense of expansiveness and airiness. The jazz influence on this song is also clearly prevalent through the melancholy trumpet sample that is tastefully placed throughout the song. Snappy snare drums successfully lend this song some structure and tempo for Q-Tip and Phife Dawg to rap to without compromising the laid back feeling of the song.

Scenario

Featuring one line that most people probably know from this album (Here we go yo, here we go yo/so what’s so what’s so what’s the scenario), “Scenario” is undoubtedly the most up tempo song on the record. The upbeat and snappy drums complement the up lively vocal performances on this track, and make for a good song to play in the car.

Lowlights

Show Business

“Show Business” one of the other few up tempo tracks on this record, but it comes across much less effectively than “Scenario.” The song details all of the ugly side of show business with all of its pitfalls, and narratively, it does this rather effectively. However, the song is undone by the complicated and hectic sounding beat, as well as the almost corny sounding guitar riffs that come in from time to time.

What?

“What?” is a song with a fairly basic song structure. It essentially consists of a series of statements along the lines of “What is a party if it doesn’t really rock?” and so on and so forth. While occasionally one of these lines is kinda funny (What’s a fat man without food in his gut?), on the whole the song just doesn’t really come off for me and gets far too repetitive.

Conclusion

The Low End Theory is an album that every fan of hip hop should listen through at some point or another. While the repetitive drum loops and relatively rigid flows employed here will immediately sound antiquated to many listeners, especially those who have only listened to post-2010 hip hop, it is worth giving this album a full listen. The nuance of the instrumentation and excellent chemistry between Q-Tip and Phife Dawg ensure that this album gets better with each listen, and cement The Low End Theory’s place in hip hop’s pantheon of classic albums.

Rating: 9/10

Lupe Fiasco’s career leading up to Tetsuo and Youth was not in a good place. The disaster that was his album Lasers had stopped what was a promising career in its tracks, and his follow up effort to Lasers proved to be similarly lackluster. All of this meant that Lupe’s next release, entitled Tetsuo and Youth had to be good. He didn’t disappoint. Tetsuo and Youth was widely considered Lupe’s best album in years. Tetsuo and Youth received very positive reviews from fans and music critics alike, and set Lupe’s career back on track.

What is perhaps the most impressive thing though, is that this album is good on Lupe’s own terms. Rather than trying to make a radio friendly, generally likeable album, Lupe went full Lupe. Several of the songs on this album pass the 6 minute mark, and content wise, this is a dense album. He packs songs on this album full of clever wordplay (Fourteen broads [Fortinbras] like the king of Norway) that give many of the tracks tons of replay value, and discusses some very heavy topics. That isn’t to say that this album isn’t easy to listen to, though. The instrumentals here are a fantastic blend of ear candy and hip hop, meaning that he doesn’t compromise too much in either direction.

Individual song quality aside, Tetsuo and Youth also forms an excellent conceptual album, with structure provided by its interlude tracks. Titled Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring, these tracks set the tone for the songs that follow them. So for instance, Summer  is followed by the warm sounding Mural, while the violent and hard hitting Chopper follows immediately after Winter. This kind of album structure lends Tetsuo and Youth a welcome sense of cohesiveness that really ties the whole album together.

Best Tracks

Mural

The lead track on Tetsuo and Youth, Mural sets the tone for the album. Clocking in at a meandering 8 minutes and 49 seconds and featuring not a single chorus, Lupe makes it clear that he has come prepared to rap, and rap he does. He covers topics ranging from whether or not we are just computers, to what shape he likes his pancakes cut into (swirls), and does it all without breaking flow or losing the listener’s attention. Thematically, this song is like shooting paintballs at a wall- and the picture turns out beautifully.

Mural is significantly aided by the fantastic beat that provides the backdrop for Lupe’s musings. The beat samples a song called Chanson D’Un Jour D’Hiver, which initially sounds nothing like a hip hop beat. However, the undulating piano progression is sampled excellently in Mural and the almost childlike vocals are tastefully interspersed throughout, giving the song a perfect canvas on which Lupe paints his mural.

Dots and Lines

If you aren’t sure about rap or just aren’t a fan of the genre, Dots and Lines is probably the song on this album that you will like the most. Aside from the odd choice to put banjo solos (??) at the beginning and end of this song, this one is easy listening. In particular, the melodic and sweet sounding chorus will appeal to just about everyone. Fans of rap still have something here for them too, as Lupe doesn’t go light on the wordplay. Lines like “go straight, don’t sign (sine)” give this song lots of replay value.

Madonna (And Other Mothers in the Hood)

This track is a powerful tribute to mothers trying their best to raise children in the dangerous conditions of inner cities. Lupe compares these mothers to the Virgin Mary, and compares the persecution of children by police and gangsters in bad neighborhoods to that of Jesus’ persecution by the Romans. Lupe takes pains to describe the conditions that these children face and that their mothers try to help them overcome (“Put the knives to me… then put it inside of me”). The song ends by completing the comparison between these kids and Jesus, with the subject of the song dying in his mother’s arms with wounds on his hands, much like Jesus’ stigmata that resulted from his crucifixion.

Conclusion

Tetsuo and Youth is my favorite Lupe Fiasco album to date. I didn’t even bother to include a worst tracks section to this review because I wouldn’t say I disliked even my least favorite songs on this project. Lupe manages to balance raw lyricism with catchy songs, all while remaining stylistically unique, and Tetsuo and Youth comes out the better for it.

Score: 8.5/10