The Curious Case of Drake: In Defense of “Honestly, Nevermind”

July 20, 2022 by Luke Modugno in Read

Before the release of the Toronto-native’s seventh studio album Honestly, Nevermind, Drake’s career was in a peculiar place.

A talent tailor-made for rap music stardom, Drizzy has been the most famous act in contemporary hip-hop for the past ten years. While being a consistent force in the sphere of rap and one of the most prominent artists in the world regardless of the constraint of genre, Drake has chronically struggled to identify, locate and pursue a singular musical style or concept. That’s not to say Drake hasn’t produced moments of brilliance throughout his tenured and prestigious career. However, to call records like Views, More Life, and even Nothing Was The Same sonically focused would simply be incorrect.

Plagued with multifaceted talent, Drake has watered down his sound on a multitude of occasions to simply serve his wide target audience. Drake’s 2021 effort Certified Lover Boy was an amalgamation of the issue. Seldomly honing in on visceral trap bangers like “Knife Talk” with 21 Savage, rarely revisiting the silky R&B production and warm Drake vocals on “Love All,” and abandoning the streaks of afrobeat influence on “Fountains,” Drizzy has continually shown he isn’t willing to fully commit to a singular, specific sonic theme and what it has to offer.

Sure, it’d a valid claim to say Drake has had his artistic growth stunted by this unwillingness, however, why change? Drake is by far the most commercially successful rapper of this generation, sitting in second place on the highest selling rappers of all time. Utilizing a few genres attracts more fans than concentrating on attempting to master just one.

However, Drake clearly doesn’t tend to think that way. Drake’s 2022 record Honestly, Nevermind is a bold declaration of a divergence from a formula. A nearly hour long dance record featuring a lone distinctly overt rap song, Honestly, Nevermind is obviously not your average Drake album. Ironically enough, that’s what makes it a special landmark in his career.

While he’s present on every song, Honestly, Nevermind features by far the least amount of Drake’s voice out of his whole discography. At times, Drake’s contributions are drawn back to the point of a short hook before the production leads the way for the rest of the track, characteristic of traditional house music structure.

Behind the boards, Honestly, Nevermind is a fully-fledged exploration of house music and a historical appreciation and homage to the sporadic frequency in which Drake chose to work with dancehall and house on previous records. While tracks like “Massive,” “A Keeper” and “Calling My Name” marry Drake’s inherent capacity for optimal song structure and vocal delivery talents with bouncy house production gorgeously, Drake’s latest entry has some of his most catastrophically poor songs to date.

“Currents” characterized by a bed-squeaking sample is essentially laughable and production akin to infomercial ambient background music on “Down Hill,” Honestly, Nevermind will likely be remembered for its highest highs and its lowest lows.

Still, the music itself isn’t what makes Honestly, Nevermind a commendable piece of music. This record shows a dedication to forward-thinking art, one that wasn’t always evident on Drake’s previous records. Honestly, Nevermind is simultaneously an astronomical risk and an artistic flex.

Deviating from the usual mixed bag of genres, vocal ranges and production choices that define nearly the entirety of Drake’s catalog, Drizzy has finally dedicated the proper amount of time, care and attention to detail his knack for creating dancehall music deserves. Although Honestly, Nevermind reminds us that this genre is evidently not Drake’s strong suit, it’s far more artistically compelling than his previous unwavering dedication to creating TikTok anthems (“Too Sexy,” “Toosie Slide”). No, Honestly, Nevermind is not the best house record of all time. Would it rank in the top ten of afrobeat albums released in this year alone? Probably not. Despite that, is it an impressive effort by an artist who has clearly shown his artistic forte is that of mainstream rap music, not house? Of course it is.

Drake’s vicious flow and stone cold delivery has shown he would be capable of making a darker, experimental trap record that would be phenomenal. Considering portions of Take Care are home to some of the most iconic R&B records of the 2010’s, a fully fledged project dedicated to showcasing Drake’s exceptional singing voice would hold great potential. Following the shedding of the sonic shackles that have encased Drake’s career since Views, all of these records are now a reasonable possibility.

In other words, when people think Drake is going right, he has religiously gone right. Honestly, Nevermind feels like the first time that Drake is going left instead of right. Whatever sonic direction Drake chooses to pursue will certainly be met with a spot in Billboard Hot 100 no matter the circumstance. Using the privilege of that guaranteed commercial success to create music with apparent direction is far more intriguing than creating the fifth remix of Views. Now, all we can hope is that Drizzy chooses to continue being intriguing.

Luke Modugno is the editor-in-chief.

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From Fashion to Live Shows, “Whole Lotta Red’s” Early Influence on Rap

July 17, 2022 by Guest User in Classic Reviews, Read

by Quintin Hollomand

When thinking about the most influential hip hop albums in history, it’s easy and deserving to acknowledge albums like 808s and Heartbreaks by Kanye, or Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest, but what is harder, is to acknowledge the more recent work that is arguably just as influential, if not more.

It’s hard to imagine an album that has had such a forward thinking and culture shocking grip on the rap community than Whole Lotta Red by Playboi Carti. Since its release at the very end of 2020, Whole Lotta Red has proven to be one of those albums that changes the course of hip hop forever. From its early rejection by many fans and critics, to its ripple effect still almost 2 years later, Playboi Carti has implemented new approaches to hip hop aesthetics, rollouts, and live performances that have solidified him and this album as the bar for future projects. I’m going to be talking about his process of making this album, what happened in the rap community upon its release, and the amazing influence it has had on hip hop since 2020.

Less than a year after Carti’s prior album, Die Lit released, he mentioned his new project set to come out titled, Whole Lotta Red. As Carti wrapped up his Neon tour and many festival performances, the rap community had Carti in somewhat of a spotlight. His music was already known for being subject to leaks and snippets, but what would come in the next year and a half would alter the progress of his album and change the course of what he eventually put out. 2019, 2020, and 2021 were filled with Playboi Carti leaks left and right. Songs like Bouldercrest, Skeletons, No Lie, and Molly amongst countless others flooded SoundCloud and Youtube. The infamous Pissy Pamper leak would top the Spotify charts as an unofficial release by a fan, and crowds would sing the lyrics to unreleased songs at his shows word for word. This was the WLR v1 era. These songs were all very reminiscent of Die Lit, with many of these leaks being produced by Pi’erre Bourne. At this point, this was what fans wanted and hoped Carti released, but the more songs leaked, the more apparent it became that these would never make the official project.

Next came the WLR v2 era with more commercial sounding songs like SRT ft Lil Uzi Vert, Movie Time, and Act a Fool. These were audibly different than v1 and the Die Lit era, and we now knew Carti’s sound was changing.

Constant snippets and song leaks held the album back to the point where Carti rethought the entire theme and aesthetic of himself and album. This is where we begin to see his semi-feminine and vamp persona come to life. With a rare social media presence and practically no up to date interviews, fans had no idea when to expect WLR other than a vague, ‘in 2020’ statement he made prior. Finally, with hints from DJ Akademiks and other outlets, fans expected the album to come on Christmas of 2020, which it did.

The album was met with mixed feelings from his fans and the rap community. It received actual hate(not to be taken lightly) online and many vowed never to listen to it again. However, many saw this as a new direction that had never been taken before and were open to this new idea. The punk-rock inspired album was something nobody expected to come from Carti. The production was new; his lyrical delivery was new; everything was unapologetically new. It took a few weeks for it to really sink in, but the energy it brought was undeniable.

Production came mainly from F1lthy and Art Dealer, who with along other loopmakers, curated the aggressive synths and distorted drums. A great deal of credit falls on these producers for experimenting with such gritty synths and dark yet happy chord progressions; they provided Carti the opportunity to try new things vocally. The song Stop Breathing is truly in its own subgenre of rap. The compressed/distorted 808, crunched hi hats and snares, paired with lyrics centered on Carti’s involvement in gang life, make one of the most energetic songs of all time; one that few can actually relate to, but all can mosh to. Control provides us with one of the more introspective songs in Carti’s discography. It gives us an emotional break from the aggressiveness of the album.

A year into its release, it had still never been performed due to it being in the midst of COVID-19. However, hype around the Narcissist Tour (which became the King Vamp Tour), began to increase steadily. The constant scrapping of ideas made Playboi Carti that much more in demand, as fans couldn’t even get a good idea on his next move. The King Vamp Tour began, and with it, came countless viral internet moments that showcased just how impactful this album that was at first hated on, really was. At multiple tour dates, inspired by the album’s rager theme, fans rushed security checks and mobbed venue doors. At the Arizona stop, Carti played one song before the speakers blew out, canceling the rest of the show. It was moments like this that turned the album and live performances into more than just music, and into a right of passage for fans. The emphasis on live music is something that this new wave generation of rappers took and made their own.

The influence of Whole Lotta Red can be seen across the landscape of music. Not only did the solidified artists in the industry try their hand at rage inspired beats, but the new buzzing underground also took Whole Lotta Red ideas and made their wave a spin off of Carti and the album. Underground artists like Kankan, sgpwes, heygwapo, ssgkobe, and Yeat can trace a lot of their music ideas back to the blueprint Whole Lotta Red left. The synth leads, distorted 808s, aggressive lyrics, and emphasis on the performability of songs all come back to this album. At live performances these days, artists use the same lines Carti does to hype up crowds; I even heard The Kid Laroi yell, ‘open that sh*t up!’, which I didn’t expect but can respect. Social media has also been altered by Carti’s ideas. It’s now ‘in’ to have a mysterious and minimal Instagram presence. Blurry and poorly lit 0.5 lens photos are now in and here to stay.

The influence that Whole Lotta Red has had on hip hop in the recent two years is undeniable. It played out to be much larger than music and has inspired an entire new generation of artists that borrow from its ideas and themes to make it their own. The drastic acceptance of this album after its initial hate by many is amazing to realize and think about. It’s still very early in the album’s life, but I feel comfortable saying that Whole Lotta Red is one of the most influential hip hop albums in history.

Quintin Hollomand is a contributor.

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How J Dilla's "Donuts" Permanently Reshaped Hip-Hop Production

July 10, 2022 by Luke Modugno in Classic Reviews, Read

by Luke Modugno

Art is fluid, everchanging. Altered by powerful voices and minds, potent creatives seem to always carve out new paths and directions within the artistic bounds of their medium. However, you seldom see a singular composition definitively erase the once unnavigable borders of art and delineate new ones. Circumstance, unmitigated creative fearlessness and a willingness to adapt are required in order to shift the tectonic plates that lie beneath the surface of an art as ancient as music. All of those requirements were met when fabled rap producer J Dilla left the world of art with his groundbreaking beat tape Donuts.

Donuts was born out of circumstance. J Dilla emerged in the late 90’s as a prominent underground producer for local rappers, until breaking through with the notable rap collective Slum Village. Working with acts such as A Tribe Called Quest, Common, The Pharcyde and more, Dilla quickly made a name for himself with the complexity in which he chopped and looped his beats. Dilla’s production wasn’t just unique and ear-catching. There was distinct warmth, vibrance and vivaciousness erridating from the way Dilla’s kicks, drums and loops sat.

Whenever Dilla decided to hop behind the boards, his beats exemplified personification of the human experience. The intimate guitar on “Didn’t Cha Know'' projects the image of a dawn sunrise peeking through a window with the curtains flapping in the wind, especially paired with the silky-smooth vocals of Erykah Badu. The kicks draped over the melancholic vocals of The Pharcyde on “Runnin’' sounds like a comfortingly warm summer night. Uptempo, drawn-back, soulful or bouncy. Dilla was a chameleon that could shape-shift his production style to fit the artist he was working with flawlessly. Dilla didn’t just produce, it was more than that. His dense hip-hop orchestras reverberated with listeners at a deeper level.

It was this boundless talent, along with tragedy, that allowed for the creation of Donuts. In 2005, Dilla was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder known as Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Unfortunately, TTP is extremely deadly, with a fatality rate of 70-80%. Despite at first continuing to tour and work, Dilla was eventually confined to a hospital bed as his symptoms continued to worsen. Understanding his mortality, Dilla brought his MPC3000 and a record player to accompany him in the solidarity of his hospital bed. The goal? Use his ingenious, renaissance-level production skills to create a project that acted as a love-letter to his family, friends, fans and his time spent on Earth.

As friends and family came to visit Dilla, they would contribute to the creation of Donuts, by gifting him new records to chop, loop, manipulate and organize into his cacophonously intricate production style. Being the chronic sampler that Dilla was, his ear became immensely picky.

In a documentary made about the album's creation, Dilla’s mother illustrated just that, “When I took the crate up, and he looked through it, I think out of a whole milk crate full of 45s, I think he might have taken a dozen out of there and set them aside. He said 'you can take that back to the house'. He said 'none of that's good'." Using inspiration and direction from the people he loved most is a wholly tangible and immediate feature of the record, as Dilla cycles between a diverse set of genres and sounds for his samples, demonstrating the crate digging done on his behalf. From 70s soul records to traditional African drums, Donuts sounds what it would feel like if the complete contents of a dusty, out-of-date record store smelted the entirety of its stock into a singular vinyl disc. Borrowing literal milliseconds of various records for miniscule portions of songs off of Donuts, Dilla’s patchwork style blends and pairs endearingly well with the tools his family provided him with.

Throughout the final year of his life, Dilla’s condition worsened considerably. His legs and arms would periodically swell, hindering his ability to work on Donuts. If the pain of using his fingers to operate his MPC became too much to handle, his mother would massage his fingertips, he was simply bent on finishing the record. His sheer determination radiates from each track. From the roaring, vigorous guitar that defines the blood-curdling opener “Workinonit,” spry dance tracks such as “Dilla Says Go” and “Light It,” somber love songs like “Stop”, to signature soul loops on “One for Ghost” and “U-Love,” “Donuts” is a 31-song exhibition in sampling mastery and pushing the boundary of what it means to produce into uncharted territory. This isn’t hyperbole either. Think John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Wolfgang Mozart, this is the company J Dilla stands in with just how innovative projects like Donuts are. Let me explain.

Dilla wasn’t just chopping samples in a way that made your head bop, he was tinkering with and altering our conception of music time. Thanks to the compositional study done by author Dan Charnas in his novel “Dilla Time: The Life and After-Life of J Dilla,” we have a genuine understanding of just how indelible Dilla’s mark on music is. Let’s take a deep-dive into some music theory.

The vast majority of European music counts its rhythm evenly, meaning every beat is of equal length. This is otherwise known as straight time.

Things changed with the introduction of jazz, particularly African-American jazz. Early jazz goliaths such as Louis Armstrong started introducing the concept of beats coming long-short, long-short, which then became known as swing time.

None of that meant anything to J Dilla. With the technological revelation of the MPC, rules like that were nothing more than a musical custom. Thus brought the creation of Dilla Time, fusing both swing and straight time simultaneously. Effectively shredding the shackles of hip-hop producers for eternity, Donuts quite literally reimagined how we view music.

Donuts was officially released on February 7, 2006 to immediate critical acclaim. Sadly, Dilla passed away just three days following the release of the record, unable to revel in the musical feat he had just accomplished. Although Dilla was relatively underground at the time of his passing, the hip-hop world has never glossed over the significance of his work.

“We have to make music and think ‘if Dilla was alive, would he like this?’” said Kanye West in an interview with HYPEBEAST. “It was like he was making Quincy Jones production sessions out of his MPC. His music just felt like drugs.” Frequent collaborator, friend and fellow member of the Mt. Everest of legendary hip-hop producers Madlib has been outspoken in his praise of Dilla. “ “[His production was] like that human feel, and the selections that he chose to sample. Every producer bows down to Dilla whether they like it or not, because everybody took something from him like Coltrane.”

Madlib isn’t wrong. Dilla’s influence reaches well beyond the borders of hip-hop. From modern jazz to R&B, to funk, to lo-fi, Dilla’s bold defiance of musical rules continues to inspire waves upon waves of producers who think outside-the-box. Every off kilter drum, kick or vocal sample that sounds uniquely out-of-place can be traced back to this record and the mind of Dilla. In that way, much like the shape that a donut embodies, Dilla’s impact on hip-hop will be never ending. Rest in Peace Jay Dee.

Luke Modugno is the editor-in-chief of StereoVision.

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A Hip-Hop Landmark: How “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” Created the Next Generation of Rap

July 07, 2022 by Sydney Fluker in Classic Reviews, Read

by Sydney Fluker

It is an extremely cold take to say that The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time. From shattering previous records and making history with its release to the hold it has on hip-hop today, the release of Miseducation is a prominent black line on hip-hop’s historical timeline.

Released on August 25, 1998 by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records, Miseducation was an instant hit. With Lauryn Hill already having fame from her previous group Fugees, Miseducation was the breakout solo album her fans were waiting for. The record was an instant hit, selling almost 425,000 copies in its first week and reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

“[I wanted to] write songs that lyrically move me and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the instrumentation of classic soul," she said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999. "[My engineer and I worked on] a sound that's raw. I like the rawness of you being able to hear the scratch in the vocals. I don't ever want that taken away."

The rawness has been received well. Since its release, Miseducation has sold 20 million copies worldwide according to Sony Music, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. In 2021, it became a certified diamond record by the Recording Industry Association of America, earning Ms. Hill the Guinness World Record for being the first female rapper to reach diamond status.

Miseducation is a glorious combination of neo soul, R&B, hip-hop and reggae. While the story of its creation plays out like a movie (check out this Rolling Stone interview for the full story), it's clear that this record is a Ms. Hill original through and through. Creating her own team after being effectively blacklisted by Fugees partner Wyclef Jean, Ms. Hill blazed her own path in her early twenties, using unknown producers and being pregnant while creating an industry-changing record.

Her relationship with Rohan Marley, the father to her five children, led her to move to Jamaica for a part of the album’s production to find peace of mind. “Forgive Them Father” and “Lost Ones” were made at the Bob Marley Museum on 56 Hope Road, which Ms. Hill references on “Lost Ones.” Both feature singing in patois, the common dialect in Jamaica.

One of the largest influences apparent in Miseducation is the influence of Christianity in her own life. Much of the song “Tell Him” is based on 1 Corinthians 13, while “To Zion” discusses her decision to carry her unborn son based on prayer. Perhaps the most obvious is “Forgive Them Father,” where she invokes Luke 23:34 and confirms her biblical references are intentional.

“Gospel music is music inspired by the gospels,” Hill said in the book “Lauryn Hill: She’s Got That Thing.” “In a huge respect, a lot of this music turned out to be just that. During this album, I turned to the Bible and wrote songs that I drew comfort from.”

Even in “non-religious” tracks, the influence is felt. D’Angelo, whose feature on “Nothing Even Matters” was laid down in the course of an hour, noted the importance of that song in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

“Churches were substituting God in the lyrics [for “Nothing Even Matters”],” D’Angelo said. “Whenever they make a gospel version from a secular song, that’s significant.”

Ms. Hill and Miseducation made history at the 41st GRAMMY Awards, being nominated for 10 GRAMMYs heading into the ceremony and walking out with four. “Doo Wop (That Thing)” won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song, and Miseducation took home Album of The Year and Best R&B Album. She herself won Best New Artist, making her the first female artist to ever win five or more awards at the GRAMMYs in one night. Miseducation was the first hip-hop album to win Album of The Year, making the world respect the art of hip-hop a little bit more.

Ms. Hill has done more than inspire the next generation of music — she’s helped create it. The vulnerability presented on Miseducation opened the door for more emotional records. An unknown John Legend started his career by playing piano on “Everything is Everything” before eventually signing to Kanye West’s GOOD Music, another Ms. Hill inspiree.

“Lauryn is innovative,” Janelle Monáe told British magazine NME. “She was hip-hop and R&B, but nobody had used [the combination] in the way she did. She created something that we had never tasted before. There was already a Lauryn Hill, there was already an Erykah Badu – but there was not a Janelle Monáe. They inspired me to create my own lane.”

Miseducation is a sample haven for all sorts of genres, but has mainly been used across hip-hop. Kanye West has been open about how Ms. Hill inspired him in his music, using her samples on multiple albums throughout his career and shouting her out in his 2007 song “Champion.” Drake’s chopped-up use of “Ex-Factor” for the chorus on “Nice For What” is one of the most notable samples, but his 2014 “Draft Day” sampled “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” is an equally impressive manner. From PnB Rock to Cardi B, “Ex-Factor” has been sampled over and over since its initial 1998 release.

Fabolous’s “Summertime Shootout” featuring Jazzy samples “Lost Ones” and shouts out Ms. Hill’s time in Fugees with “Heard she in between dudes, just like Lauryn.” J. Cole’s “Can I Holla At Ya” uses Santana’s rift from “To Zion” to talk to his father figures, remixing a Ms. Hill original with an equally emotional track. Ms. Hill has even been shouted out by rappers from other countries, as up-and-coming Portuguese rapper Pete Mcee compares the power of his girl’s lips to the music of Lauryn Hill.

“You use music as your vehicle to reach people you feel need to hear your message,” Monáe said. “That album gave me the fuel I needed to bring out the things that made me unique.”

Sydney Fluker is a staff writer.

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How Outkast's "Aquemini" Fulfilled the Prophecy & Changed Hip-Hop Forever

July 04, 2022 by Spencer Lobdell in Read, Classic Reviews

by Spencer Lobdell

On August 3rd, 1995, hip-hop history was forever altered.

While many hip-hop purists like to refer to the second annual Source awards as the night that hip-hop died, they are overlooking the most important moment of the show that I believe to be the moment when the hip-hop we know and love today was born. While most remember the show for Suge Knight’s not-so-subliminal shots at Diddy during his “Soundtrack of the Year” award speech or Snoop Dogg’s infamous “Y’all don’t love us?!” rant, the most important moment of the night followed the announcement for best new artist. When a little-known hip-hop duo called Outkast was announced as the winner they were met with a chorus of boos as the New York audience lost their mind because hometown hero Method Man didn’t win the award. Amidst the boos, a young Andre 3000 grabbed the mic and silenced the crowd with one of the most iconic acceptance speeches TV has ever witnessed, an acceptance speech that was only six words long: The south has something to say.

This moment is referred to as “Andre’s prophecy” as it came one year before Outkast started what very well might be the best three-album-run in the genre’s history. While ATLiens and Stankonia are classics in their own right, they represent Outkast on both ends of the experimental spectrum and when examining influence it’s important to start at the moment when everything changed. That moment for Outkast (and the entirety of hip-hop) was their 1998 release Aquemini.

The cultural importance of the album goes far beyond the quality of the writing and recording on the project. Aquemini is the most influential album in hip-hop history because it’s the project that liberated the genre and enabled rappers to break free from the restrictive constraints that had previously said what you could and couldn’t do in hip-hop. Aquemini is the moment when successful artists were allowed to transcend the title of “rapper” and step into their full potential as boundless creatives. Aquemini is the album that freed hip-hop.

Although it’s impossible to boil Aquemini’s impact down to one groundbreaking trait, the first that must be mentioned is the group’s willingness to blend a variety of genres without fear of alienating traditional hip-hop fans. While Aquemini is certainly a hip-hop project at its core, Big Boi and Andre effortlessly fuse funk, jazz, gospel, world music, and spoken word into the record introducing a level of genre-bending that had yet to be seen in hip-hop. The album’s second song “Rosa Park” establishes this theme early on by being anchored by a country hoe-down inspired instrumental that’s so southern it even houses a harmonica solo played by a real pastor. The deviations from hip-hop go much further on Aquemini though. From the iconic ska-inspired horns in “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” to Erykah Badu and CeeLo Green versing soulful spoken word over the jazzy “Liberation” instrumental, the duo managed to seamlessly mix sounds throughout the project, somehow making a record for both old-school players AND new-school fools.

It’s easy to see the tremendous impact that Outkast breaking genre rules had on modern hip-hop. This impact is palpable across Kanye West’s entire discography from soulful samples featured on The College Dropout and Late Registration to truly boundless hip-hop housed on 808s and Heartbreaks and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Moving into even more recent examples, without the bold experimentation Outkast employed on Aquemini we would’ve never been lucky enough to see XXXTENTACION push the limits of what a rap album could be on ?, his sophomore album. Finally, the artist where Aquemini’s influence is the most noticeable is none other than Kendrick Lamar who won a Pulitzer Prize for To Pimp a Butterfly, an album with a heavy psychedelic jazz influence that can be clearly traced back to the Southern duo.

One of the most obvious impacts that Outkast had on modern rap was welcoming artists from areas other than California and New York to the party. While there certainly were groups and artists making music outside of the two states, none had reached the mass appeal that Outkast did, a feat that signaled to the average consumer that good music could come from anywhere. Outkast broke the geography of hip-hop allowing new scenes to emerge and have lives of their own. The south became a hotbed for hip-hop after Aquemini resulting in generational talents like Lil Wayne, Killer Mike, and T.I. Years later, a similar renaissance was seen in Chicago with artists like Common, Lupe Fiasco, and Kanye West. While there were certainly great artists from regions outside California/New York before Outkast and the growth of different scenes across the country was inevitable, what the duo did for the south and all other developing regions after must be acknowledged.

Thus far we’ve looked at the impact of Outkast’s instrumentation and regional prowess, but we have yet to discuss potentially the most ground-breaking power the group yielded: The context of their writing. Outkast was the first hip-hop act to leverage their authentic duality as a strength rather than a weakness that needed to be covered up. In 1998, there were specific archetypes that rappers had to fit into to be successful. You could either be A Tribe Called Quest or NWA, De La Soul or Wu-Tang Clan, Talib Kweli or Jay-Z. Andre and Big Boi completely destroyed this idea of a single identity and Aquemini was the album where they truly became the player and poet. Outkast would be the first to tell you that hip-hop was so much more than drugs and guns but then turn around to tell you the importance that both had on the culture.

This duality and authenticity that Outkast pioneered is the reason that hip-hop was able to expand and become the biggest genre in the world. While we love gangsta rap and conscious rap alike, it’s hard for the average person to relate and identify with either sub-genre completely, and if the lines were never blurred both camps would’ve simply gone deeper into their respective niches. Not only was Outkast the first to walk this line, but they were undoubtedly the best at it.

Finally, this examination of influence would be incomplete without mentioning the way Andre’s flow taught the best rappers ever how to spit. Although Biggie had already shown the world how mesmerizing a flow could be by the time Aquemini was released, nobody pushed it further than three stacks. Andre broke every rule of rap resulting in some of the most mind-bending flows hip-hop has ever heard. He seemed to write against the beat instead of with it allowing him to fall into absurd pockets that would pave the way for emcees like MF DOOM, Earl Sweatshirt, and Boldy James.

When speaking about extremely influential works, it’s not rare for an album’s greatest strengths to be the projects that came from it. The most beautiful thing about Aquemini is that well it birthed some of the greatest records in hip-hop history, to this day its greatest strength is not what it became but rather what it is. The record is nearly 25 years old and somehow doesn’t sound dated at all. You can play Aquemini next to any of the great albums to come out in the past decade and it sounds right at home. Outkast is without question one of the most legendary hip-hop acts to ever grace a mic and Aquemini is the project that pushed them to this level. “Even though we got two albums,” Big Boi raps on that album’s “Y’all Scared,” “This one feel like the beginning.”

Spencer Lodbell is the co-founder of StereoVision.

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Considering Beth Gibbons & Eckhart Tolle’s Inclusion on "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers"

July 03, 2022 by Tyler Roland in Read

by Tyler Roland

Now that Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers has been out for over a month, that otherworldly level of hype surrounding its gestation and subsequent birth seems to have subsided enough to look at the record in a more objective fashion. In doing so, I find that there are two genius-level inclusions in its lengthy runtime that deserve more of a light shone upon them.

I am referring to the sporadic samplings of author Eckhart Tolle on certain songs and Beth Gibbons’ voice on what may be the best track of the record, “Mother | Sober.” Though Kodak Black’s contributions – not to mention the chaotic couple’s back-and-forth on “We Cry Together,” achieved with the help of Taylour Paige – received more attention, the aforementioned pair on Lamar’s latest was what stuck with me the most.

My love of trip-hop has led me to the belief that Dummy, Portishead’s 1994 debut album, is one of the greatest ever conceived. This is the group that Beth Gibbons, its vocalist, rose to fame in. The album is a dated listen, sure, but the ethereality of Gibbons’ voice gliding over the muffled, yet punchy instrumentals made for a big impression on me. Gibbons has kept a low public profile in recent years, and Portishead is a project that’s more or less on life support, a time capsule of the ‘90s.

Her inclusion on this record was not some half-assed afterthought. While nothing is with Lamar, her feature surprised me. I tend to enjoy Lamar’s more demanding artistic choices, not least the ten-plus minute journeys of “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst,” and, to a greater extent, “Mortal Man.” While a track of this magnitude was nowhere to be found on Steppers, it should be noted that “Mother | Sober” is the longest piece here at just under seven minutes. Trip-hop, Portishead, and Gibbons all have a bit of a ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ quality to them, so while this track does not reach the heights of “Mortal Man,” it has a similar, challenging feel to it that I crave.

The fact that Gibbons can be heard on this veritable magnum opus of Steppers, then, is telling. It seems to suggest that this track will be an iron-clad moment in time for years to come, much as Dummy is almost thirty years on. Is it the biggest banger of the album? No. In fact, I doubt it will be the one track that most people will remember off of it. So what? For those generous enough to turn a willing ear when it comes on, little else on these two discs will satisfy.

Eckhart Tolle - German Author and Spiritual Teacher.

I found DAMN. to be lacking a bit in pushing the envelope with eccentric ideas and feature selections, which made Tolle’s voice all the more enjoyable upon first listen. Not long ago, I read a book of his, A New Earth – which I finished in a day. Its effects on me were at once profound and fundamental. It’s a “self-help” book, but that’s too cheesy a descriptor – it lifted me up and challenged me to look at the deepest parts of myself. That Lamar laced Tolle’s voice into this body of work is no accident. I remember first hearing this album front to back and suddenly recognizing the sound of Tolle talking about the “pain body,” a topic that A New Earth covers frequently. I perked up in surprise, pleased that this album had a brain of such magnitude complementing its creator’s.

While Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is a fantastic album, part of me doubts that time will be as kind to it as it has been to, say, To Pimp a Butterfly. Sometimes, however, perfection and 100% ass-kicking misses the mark. To have two voices on this album that convey such a vulnerability means more to me, in many ways, than a track that breaks its back to knock me flat out on the pavement, like “King Kunta” for instance. Admitting one’s flaws (and one’s love for that most angelic of comedown siren calls) allows for a special kind of love for Lamar’s newest to blossom as the weeks following its release roll by.

Tyler Roland is a staff writer.

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A Dynamic and Dynastic Duo: How Snoop’s “Doggystyle” Shaped West Coast Rap

June 26, 2022 by Giovanni Recinos in Classic Reviews, Read

by Giovanni Recinos

After The Chronic by Dr. Dre was released on December 15, 1992, Death Row Records took over hip-hop.

It introduced the world to a powerful crew of rappers and performers such as Daz Dillinger and Kurupt (otherwise known as Tha Dogg Pound), Nate Dogg and Lady of Rage. While The Chronic was technically Dr. Dre's project, many of its most memorable moments were attributed to Dre’s trust in his then new and most popular protégé, Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Snoop Dogg would become an instant icon for his refreshing rap style, consisting of smooth flows paired with often violent or rough street themes. After the release of the instant classic that was The Chronic, people highly anticipated the release of Snoop Dogg’s own debut album, Doggystyle.

We will be comparing these two projects often, as Doggystyle is in many ways just a different flavor and portrayal of the same goals as The Chronic. For example, both projects focused on one Death Row member, but both were still flooded with in-house and affiliate features. Both of the projects were overseen and finalized with Dr. Dre as the head producer and both also shared similar controversy for their misogynistic and often graphic crime related lyricism.

Due to the high demand of the project, Doggystyle would eventually be rushed by its distributors and would be released on November 23, 1993. Despite being “rushed” the album within itself is a high feat, including stand out verses from the entire Death Row posse, catchy club bangers and aggressive storytelling of gang lifestyle. In fact, it was such a high feat that for the time it was the fastest selling rap record. Not just for a debut rap record, but for any rap album up until its release.

While The Chronic introduced G-Funk, Snoop Dogg helped it grow and blossom beyond, into further experimentation. The sound of Dr. Dre’s debut was much harsher in production, with often creepier loops and more in-your-face instrumentation, which would pair well with Dr. Dre’s confrontational and straightforward delivery. While Doggystyle had its own spine-chilling moments including the tracks, “Serial Killa” or “Murda Was the Case,” a majority of the album would feel more rhythmic and bouncy to couple with Snoop’s seamless flow.

The influence of Doggystyle would bleed far within hip-hop, starting at Death Row Records. With Snoop Dogg playing a huge part on Tha Dogg Pound’s debut, Dogg Food, by not only making multiple appearances on it, but also through an obvious influence from Doggystyle. Much of this stemming from the fact that Tha Dogg Pound’s, Daz Dillinger played an extremely vital role in producing the backbone for some critical Doggystyle tracks, including the controversial club banger, “Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None).”

2Pac’s classic record, All Eyez On Me, would also be affected by not only Doggystyle, but also by Death Row as a whole. Many of the album's tracks would be produced by Daz Dillinger as well, further pushing this G-Funk sound. The album would carry over much of the catchy Death Row songwriting, which was pioneered by Snoop Dogg especially. Themes on 2Pac’s album often involved sex, partying and a gangster lifestyle, in the same vain as Snoop’s classic. Though it should be mentioned that Snoop’s style would not be praised solely in the West Coast, as artists such as Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Notorious B.I.G. (even despite the beef) would praise their styles.

Beyond the nineties, the influence of Dre and Snoop would not come to an end. While mostly with Dr. Dre to thank in terms of their success, Snoop’s style would bleed into some of the next generation of Dre’s pupils. Artists affected would include Eminem, 50 Cent and The Game. Stylistically, some could argue that some of the most popular hooks in songs like 50 Cent’s, “In Da Club” or The Game’s, “Hate It or Love It,” originate from Snoop’s songwriting ability and ability to blend the sonics of “authenticity” with the ear for “radio friendly hits.”

50 Cent in particular is often credited for having a great amount of Southern influence in his music, which is also true. But Snoop had his own influence on the South. After leaving Death Row Records, Snoop Doggy Dogg would don the shorter and more common, “Snoop Dogg” with his switch to No Limit Records. At No Limit, Snoop would assist during some of the most critical and most popular years of the label. These years would be innovative for the South, with the label playing a huge era of growth for sub-genres that would eventually lead to sounds and genres such as trap. Many of these sub-genres would have great effects on the mainstream, today especially.

Long story short, whether directly or indirectly, Death Row, Snoop and Doggystyle in particular would have a great impact on the hip-hop music of all coasts and on both the mainstream and underground of today.

Giovanni Recinos is a staff writer.

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How Travis Scott Introduced the World to the Rap Rockstar with “Rodeo”

June 23, 2022 by Miles Hagan in Classic Reviews, Read

by Miles Hagan

Before the Nike collaborations, McDonald’s deals, and hit records, Jacques Bermon Webster II was a teenager making beats out of his mother’s home in Houston.

To fully understand Travis Scott’s greatest work to date we must first examine the foundation, the days before Rodeo. After dropping out of college without telling his parents, he would move to New York then LA sleeping on couches and paying for studio time and flights with money he was getting for books and food. His parents would eventually figure out his scheme and cut him off when they popped up at his UT San Antonio dorm that he abandoned months ago. Ambition, confidence, and at this point his back being against the wall is what allowed him to create songs that would eventually get him noticed by the likes of T.I. Soon after he found himself back on a flight to New York City to work on the Cruel Summer Sessions with none other than THE college dropout himself, Kanye West.

From here Travis would go on to release his first two projects, Owl Pharaoh and Days Before Rodeo. He was named a XXL Freshman in 2013 and was recognized by most as Ye’s prodigy. His early music has a dark and muddy southern influence with a wide range of features from Migos and Meek Mill to James Fauntleroy and Bon Iver. His talents as a producer is what originally got the music community interested in him, so production is at the forefront of all of his work. Songs like “Upper Echelon”, “Mamacita”, and “Sloppy Toppy” showcase his acumen for hit making and thumping production, all while being just lyrical enough to not get him crucified by the older hip-hop community. While these are all excellent, a track like “Bad Mood Shit on You” is what was truly an example of the greatness that Travis would deliver only a year later.

What Rodeo created was the rap rockstar. SoFaygo, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Don Toliver as well as many others have been able to add a whole different element to their rap persona because of La Flame. This was the first time in Travis Scott’s career that both the music and the crowds were large enough for his live performances to reach their full potential. It is very fair to say we may never see concerts like this again.

Rap and Hip-Hop culture has always been about being cool. Oftentimes this doesn't mean jumping in mosh pits and walking out of concerts with your clothes dirty, but that is exactly the energy Travis brought back to the genre. Today, almost every rapper is calling for the crowd to open up the pit at their shows. Not only that but this trend has caused artists to make songs that perform better in live settings.

For an artist as talented as Travis Scott was from an early point in his career, especially from a production standpoint, most of their improvement can be done in engineering and curation. That is exactly what this album was for Travis. The sound is still dark and dynamic, but during moments like “Antidote” that creativity and energy becomes anthemic. He is no longer the mysterious outsider but rather the rager we have become so familiar with. Travis had repeatable hooks on Rodeo, so it was much more feasible to play songs like “Nightcrawler” in clubs and parties as well as in the mosh pit. Upon the record's initial release and during its lead up, it felt as if Travis was becoming the voice of the youth. Which is exactly what he speaks about on the opening track. A key to him doing this was Kid Cudi.

As we know it in 2022 Travis has a signature hum on tracks that is almost more recognizable than the one he modeled his after. Back in 2015 was the first time we had heard someone successfully execute such harmonies since Cudi, and he was using a heavy auto tune. Fast Forward to modern day and the majority of young rappers rely on some sort of autotune to achieve a melodic feel to their tracks.

This is the norm. Going back and listening to Rodeo it is interesting how at that time they said Travis was relying more on his autotune than his rapping. In reality these are some of the most innovative and impressive flows and bars in his catalog. On an album filled with features there are no songs when it feels like he is the weak link, and on several occasions he has the superior performance to some household names. This versatility is what allows him to trade verses with The Weeknd on the criminally underrated “Pray 4 Love.”

Rodeo is representative of the peak of what Trap music has been. For years the likes of Future, Gucci Mane, Young Thug and others released projects that told stories of the streets of the South over aggressive base finding flow pockets that most rappers could only dream of, and then even still could never execute. This music dominated their region and every strip club, and is the reason Future claims he is bigger than Jay-Z in the streets. The problem is that that sound had not translated to major critical acclaim or chart topping success.

Days Before Rodeo is where Travis first really showed his ties to the Atlanta Trap scene with features from Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, and Migos. The only difference is this time he brought Justin Beiber to the trenches. On top of continuing with many of those same features on his debut, he also had ATL legend T.I. narrating the project.

What Travis Scott did with Rodeo was take the essence of the more traditional trap sound and couple that with more cinematic elements from Mike Dean and Kanye. The music then elevated to superstar levels when his performances of this era became the stuff of legend. While all Trap in 2022 doesn’t sound like Travis Scott, he showed both artists and listeners all that it could be with unlimited resources. What he did to legitimize the subgenre to critics and the causal consumer can not be overlooked.

Miles Hagan is the co-founder of StereoVision.

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Drake // Honestly, Nevermind Reaction x Review

June 17, 2022 by Spencer Lobdell in Watch

Drake surprise drop. Not much else needs to be said. "Honestly, Nevermind" is here!

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Boldy James is strictly business on new album “Killing Nothing”

June 10, 2022 by Sydney Fluker in Reviews, Read

by Sydney Fluker

Boldy James does not waste time.

Six months after dropping “Super Tecmo Bo” with frequent producer The Alchemist, James is back with the full length project “Killing Nothing.” Produced entirely by Los Angeles clothing and production collective Real Bad Man, “Killing Nothing” shows that even after over a decade in the underground game, James is still continuing to rise.

While James’s most notable works come from The Alchemist, “Killing Nothing” is his second project with Real Bad Man after finishing out his four-project run in 2020 with “Real Bad Boldy.”

“Lyrically, a lot of rappers are so caught up in what everything thinks they’re supposed to be doing, that they don’t kill records anymore,” James said on his new record. “I feel like even though I don’t make the biggest energy records, or club records, for girls to shake their ass too, I feel like I got the most consistent flow in the game… There are others who try their hardest, but they ain’t killing nothing or letting nothing die.”

Everything he said can be felt through the record.

Echoing D.J. Premier’s production on “N.Y. State of Mind” on opening track “Water Under the Bridge,” James wastes no time setting up the album for what he’s known for — tight, almost punch-like bars about drug trade. Despite lacking the vocal range found in rappers like Childish Gambino and Drake, James’s monotonous vocals are still notable.

No time is wasted throughout the album — James keeps it short and sweet, ending songs early when the story is told and relying on lyrical flow to deliver his message. Staying true to himself, there are no overly flashy choruses or background beats, making his music feel personal to him and with each song taking the listener on a journey through various successful drug trade experiences.

While there are no outright earworms, some tracks are catchier than what one would expect from a previous James album. “All the Way Out,” one of the two singles from the project, feels more upbeat than a normal Boldy beat, but he holds it down with bars like “Airing shit out only way I know how to vent.” On “Ain’t No Bon Jovi,” James tackles it alone, spitting over the soulful Madlib-esque beat with a smooth flow that’s riddled with hip hop references.

“Medellin” features an unexpectedly catchy chorus and jazzy background instrumentals, with CRIMEAPPLE almost outshining James with his Spanglish feature. “We the Medellín, while these n***** just be medellin,’” will probably get stuck in your head for hours, but the subtle reference to the Medellín Cartel led by famous drug lord Pablo Escobar is a true Boldy move.

On “Cash Transactions,” the chorus is catchy but simple and just about sums up James’s entire discography — “I’ll probably never love this rap shit more than these cash transactions/I got a passion for sellin’ drugs.” James leaves no room for confusion about what he does, owning the good, bad and ugly that comes with drug trade.

The second half of the album brings it back to Boldy, where he goes solo for the final six tracks. Real Bad Man’s diverse production keeps it lively, providing steady beats for Boldy to body alone. Despite not having a ton of records out, Real Bad Man and Boldy James have apparent chemistry that will hopefully return in the future. The mysterious beat on “Sig Sauer” is the perfect background for James to deliver sharp bars about his version of success, with “Amiri denim with the clip hanging/See the strap pokin’ in my Chrome Heart.”

“Killing Nothing” shows the beauty of Boldy James — despite the rate at which he releases mixtapes and albums, nothing ever feels repetitive or reused. Throughout his discography, he holds his own against impressive features and notable producers, building a name for himself as an active rapper addicted to the game. Forever original, James will continue to surprise and thrive in the underground.

favorite tracks:

Medellin (feat. CRIMEAPPLE)

Cash Transactions (feat. Knowledge The Pirate)

Sig Sauer

Sydney Fluker is a staff writer.

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Interviewing Denzel Curry Fans at his Show in LA // StereoVision Concert Vlogs

June 07, 2022 by StereoVision Staff in Watch

Huge shoutout to Denzel's team for bringing us out to the 'Melt My Eyez See Your Future' tour at The Novo in LA, Zel brought the house down and we had a great time talking to fans and watching the show. The Florida artist played new hits like "Walkin" and "Troubles" while also throwing it back to older cuts like "Ultimate" and "ULT"

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Diving Into the Swamp of El “Cocodrillo Turbo” with Action Bronson

May 14, 2022 by Sydney Fluker in Read, Reviews

by Sydney Fluker

Crocodiles, squealing pigs, wrestlers and an out-of-this-world protagonist — what else should we expect from the creative mind of Mr. Baklava?

Action Bronson has established himself as one of the greatest creators of this time, tying together the worlds of food, fragrances, acting, writing and self-improvement. Hailing from Flushing, Queens, the city’s influence on Bronson rings clear through his music as he stays unafraid to take risks and live his truth. Cocodrillo Turbo is the result of Bronson being in a place where he can be himself creatively, bringing to life an action-filled album that still features his classic allusions to all sorts of athletes and New York sports teams.

Summoning a range of producers to execute the mission, Bronson’s experimental Cocodrillo Turbo plays out like a psychedelic cowboy film in audio form. While the background noises set the scene, Bronson’s absurd characters live the story with an unapologetic style that dares to be skipped.

“I love to get experimental,” Bronson said in an interview with Complex. “I feel like I’m known for that. One of my attributes is beat selection and off-kilter rhythms, and being able to flow and fucking finesse anything to make it sound crazy.”

Cocodrillo Turbo is proof that Bronson is a master of his craft, as he makes and then glides over gaudy beats that don’t seem much like beats at all.

Bronson welcomes more features onto this album than its predecessor Only for Dolphins, bringing back Mayhem Lauren and Hologram and welcoming Conway the Machine and Roc Marciano. Yung Mehico of Bronson’s live band “The Special Victims Unit” lends him another killer saxophone piece, helping Bronson sign off the album with “Storm Of The Century.”

The movie-like album starts with a bang as “Hound Dog” focuses on setting the scene for the psychedelic Indiana Jones character Bronson emulates. With more crocodile screams and high-pitched crashes than words, producer Daringer helps set the vibe for what’s to come: a roller coaster of action underscored by a mix of beats ranging from traditional country to Arabian instrumentals.

Cocodrillo Turbo weaves in and out of action, moving from gloriously chaotic “Tongpo” to the more reflective “Estaciones.” Bronson’s experimentalism screams through “Tongpo,” one of the two Bronson-produced tracks, as monstrous growls and a whining saxophone highlight Bronson and Conway’s laid back delivery. The two tracks also feature conversational riffs that give “Cocodrillo Turbo” a cinematic feel. Conway matches Bronson’s notorious wittiness in “Tongpo” when he delivers “I feel like Cuomo, I see titties, I'm like, "Let me grab it" (Come here)/Then I said I'm not a pervert, I'm just half Italian (Hahaha)/Aye, why y’all laughin?” before Bronson goes on to interrupt Hologram’s initial delivery in “Estaciones.”

As what feels like the mirror for “C12H16N2” of Cocodrillo Turbo, The Alchemist’s production on “Estaciones” gives a sense of maturity to the album while staying true to the absurdity of the theme. “Estaciones” is the reflective portion before the protagonist begins his true journey, as Bronson opens in third person with “and now coming down the aisle/Accompanied by no-motherfuckin'-body, it's young Bronny.”

El Cocodrillo’s adventure kicks off after “Estaciones”, dropping bars in “Jaws” and “Subzero” over Alchemist beats that feel like video game background music for country and aquatic themed mini-games, respectively. Despite the funkier background, Bronson’s lyrics are more reflective and progressive than previous albums, rapping on Jaws “All my family immigrants/Mixed with cinnamon and allspice” and on Subzero “Easily triggered by old trauma (true), motherfucker/And you know I voted for Obama.”

In “Zambezi,” Bronson and Roc Marciano glide over Stephen Gray’s “Bulldozer,” making use of its heavy percussion and Santana-like guitar to nudge the album to a close. Followed by the upbeat piano of Eddie Floyd’s “Lay Your Loving On Me,” “Ninety One” brings the fun adventures to a close before “Storm Of The Century” wraps up the album with a beautifully tied shiny gold bow. Produced by Daringer and Yung Mehico, El Cocodrillo’s journey comes to an end here, as Bronson delivers confessional-style bars accompanied by Yung Mehico’s incredible saxophone solo.

El Cocodrilo stays consistent throughout the album, maintaining flow and theme over a cacophony of sounds that sometimes shouldn’t work, but does. Cocodrillo Turbo is Bronson at his rawest self — ingenious and electric, holding nothing back in the name of ultimate artistic exploration.

favorite tracks:

Estaciones (feat. Hologram)

Zambezi (feat. Roc Marciano)

Storm Of The Century (feat. Yung Mehico)

Sydney Fluker is a staff writer.

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Continuation of Excellence or Lack of Innovation? “It’s Almost Dry” Review

April 27, 2022 by Asher Ali in Read, Reviews

by Asher Ali

Pusha T’s status as one of the most preeminent figures in “cocaine rap” has been in the work since he went under the moniker of Terrar as one half of the duo Clipse. Layered over beats almost exclusively produced by none other than Pharrell Williams, Terrance Thorton and his brother Gene slang bars like they were on a street corner.

Push then caught the eye of Kanye West, and after signing with GOOD Music label in 2010, Thorton was promoted to company president two years later, and has been guided by Ye’s production and industry insight to a fruitful solo career. Push’s “DAYTONA” in 2018 was an elaborate composition arranged by West that took Push’s sound to new heights far and above what other coke rappers were doing then.

Now, the duality of Push’s past career has conjoined on his newest project “It’s Almost Dry,” featuring six songs produced by Pharrell and six songs produced by West. The two hip hop maestros go toe to toe bringing some of the most solid beats heard this year, but outside of a few of tracks, this album doesn’t advance Push’s sound, much less the sound of contemporary coke rap.

Pharrell immediately kicks it back to the Clipse days with “It’s Almost Dry’s” first track “Brambleton.” A smooth kick drum driven beat comes with Push’s malfeasance bars that cover his young life in Brambleton, Virginia where his mother worked and his adverse feelings toward ex-Clipse manager Anthony Gonzalez, who aired some dirty laundry with Push in a recent interview Gonzalez did with VladTV.

Push immediately jumps onto another, more bombastic Pharrell beat with “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes” where Push paints himself as the “coke game’s Dr. Seuss.”

The first Ye backed track is introduced third on the track list with “Dreamin Of The Past” which is both lifted and brought down by Kanye. The track soars thanks to a well-pulled sample from Donny Hathaway’s “Jealous Guy” that lifts Push’s fluid drug-laced bars to a euphoric plane. As Push’s final verse fades, listeners are bombarded with an unwelcome verse from West, an awkwardly mixed 30 second feature the West rounds out with an uncomfortable line about how his family is currently unsafe.

Ye once again manages to be the greatest advocate and detriment for Push on “Rock N Roll” the alleged final song with Kid Cudi and West. Once again, a beautifully assembled beat on Ye’s end comes with a heinous guest verse from him, this one sounding more like the nonsensical bars that Kanye gave on the first rendition of DONDA 2. Cudi’s hook sounds muffled and over-produced as well, while Push delivers some strong verses about his premiere status at the top of the rap and the drug-dealing game.

At his best on this album, Pusha T is elaborating on the narrative of authenticity, or lack thereof, in a world of glamor and fame. The two singles on the project, “Neck & Wrist” and “Diet Coke” address the lengths that people will go to fabricate a glamorous drug lifestyle in order to avoid actual hardships.

“Neck & Wrist” sees Push and feature Jay-Z spitting over a whining synth and sharp piano key beat while they boast about a lifestyle they live but others pretend to have. HOV’s cutthroat line, “y’all spend real money on fake watches shockingly,” getting to the core of the absurd lengths people will go to construct facades.

“Diet Coke” then expands on why people aspire to have a certain kind of life but aren’t willing to assume the risks.

It seems on the latter portion of this project that Thorton lost motivation to push any boundaries however, which is disappointing when listeners come to expect that from him and his pen constantly. Not only did Push lose interest, but it appears Pharrell did too on “Call My Bluff” which is completely dry of energy and motivation.

“Scrape It Off” is definitely this album’s attempt at a top charting club banger, featuring Don Toliver on the hook and Lil Uzi Vert. Toliver is as reliable as ever giving an ethereal hook, but Uzi phones in his verse and Push doesn’t bring an interesting flow to spice up the track on its back end.

The final three songs on the albums are decent in their own right, but all come off as watered-down versions of more innovative cuts Push had earlier on the album. Even the final track “I Pray For You” doesn’t do much despite a beautiful intro and a Malice feature to rekindle a Clipse cut.

“It’s Almost Dry” comes out strong to show that Push is still among the one of the most elite in the game, but a weak back half of the project doesn’t propel him to the new heights that people wanted to see.

Favorite tracks:

Just So You Remember

Neck & Wrist (feat. JAY-Z & Pharrell Williams)

Dreamin Of The Past (feat. Kanye West)

Asher Ali is a staff writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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