The AzChike Interview: Los Angeles, Fashion, and Pushing the Boundaries

“LA is everything. I'm from 86th and Figueroa, I went to Domingues high, I'm really a native and I love this city.”

By Miles Hagan

The rise of AzChike has officially begun. The trailblazing rapper is already popping in his Los Angeles (his hometown) it's just a matter of time until the rest of the world catches on. Chike has steadily gained a fan base over his time in the spotlight since 2015. The LA party scene is very familiar with his substantial talent due to his early hits such as “Licked Up” and “The Shit” frequently gracing functions of all sizes in SoCal. He has gained a reputation of bringing enormous amounts of energy to every performance he is apart of, and every track he hops on. Chike seems to be attempting to do things his way, and by his own rules. His sound and style both in and outside of the rap game are completely himself and never compromise.

I feel like a lot of AzChike’s appeal can really be seen when he is performing. Before this interview, I had the pleasure of seeing him and 1TakeJay perform at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles. The moment Chike took the stage the energy shifted and the crowd was his. Even after his performance, he might have been the most hype person on the stage for 1TakeJay’s set. His authenticity and energy will continue to attract fans and serve him very well throughout the remainder of his career. My conversation with AzChike, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below:

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Miles Hagan, StereoVision (MH): How much does it mean for you to be able to perform in your hometown?

AzChike (AZ): That shit means everything. It's the best shows on the tour every time we go out. I spend the most money on clothes for the LA show too I come to show love and show up.

MH: How important is the city of LA to you?

AZ: LA is everything. I grew up all over LA I’m really a native. I'm from 86th and Figueroa, I went to Domingues high, I'm really a native and I love this city. That the sound right there, I don't really do anything else. I tried more conscious and trap, but that LA sound is what really helped me blow up. I mixed everything in from bars, to flow, to strategies. LA is everything.

MH: How do you feel about being a trendsetter both in fashion and in your music? 

AZ: I don't really expect it in music, because I just try to snap in the studio every time. With clothes, I’m just blessed to be able to do things like spend 2000 dollars on a scarf. I take it pretty seriously. 

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MH: How would you describe AZCult and who are the members? 

AZ: AzSwaye, AzBroll, and AzPorter. We have extensions that definitely help us outside, but it's really just family. We a cult, if you wanna join show blood for real. Show blood and show drip and that's really it. 

MH: From your earlier post today you are in Album mode, what can we expect from the new music? 

AZ: I'm just having fun giving you the vibes, and turning up. I intentionally did just fun shit right now, so y’all wouldn’t expect the melodies and the vibey shit that’s coming. I love that you love it, because then that gives me more room to do things, and show I’m versatile. I really just wanna have fun on my first project.

MH: Anything else to say to the fans?

AZ: Just have fun and never think too hard. Just work for what you want and believe in yourself. You don't have to be a rapper or a part of these big shows, just be the best at whatever it is you choose to do.

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The 1TakeJay Interview: The 1TakeBoys, Machine Works, and His Upcoming Album "Goat"

“Still to this day there hasn’t been a moment when it’s occurred to me that this is my career, it’s more just me and the homies having fun”

By Spencer Lobdell

Photo by Jeff Yumi

Los Angeles’s El Rey Theater was hot, sweaty, and packed with locals the night I went to see red-hot LA rapper 1TakeJay in concert. While I tried to enjoy my backstage view of the openers, my mind was occupied with one pressing question: Where is 1TakeJay? Every minute that passed I became less sure that our interview would happen until I almost relinquished myself to GA. At that moment I got a text from his manager saying he had arrived and quickly ran up a flight of stairs and pulled open the door to the green room. The room was packed and as I entered, every attendee looked at me and wondered who I was and what I was doing interrupting their pre-concert turn up. That is, every attendee besides 1TakeJay who smiled at me and called me over. The nerves and stress that plagued the previous hour instantly eluded me and we began to calmly chat about Jay’s high school football career.

" Stream it here - https://soundcloud.com/onetakeboys/1takejay-hello-prod-by-lowthegreat " 1TakeJay Instagram: @1take.jay SoundCloud: @OneTakeBoyz " WavvyFM Submit your music or contact us: wavvyfm@gmail.com Instagram: @WavvyFM Twitter: @WavvyFM ★ WavvyFM is not affiliated with any artist or label. No video is monetized by WavvyFM.

1TakeJay was born and raised in Compton California. Through his high school years he was a football star but frequently changed schools before suffering a career ending injury. Growing up, Jay frequently listened to jerkin’ music, a style that is deeply rooted in Los Angeles culture. This musical influence is apparent in Jay’s music and his club trap certainly feels like a natural evolution for LA jerk rap.

Jay quickly exploded onto the rap scene in the fall of 2018 with his viral hit “Hello” which sampled Apple’s “Marimba” ringtone in the instrumental. Fans were instantly drawn to 1Take’s unique delivery and was frequently described as “Blueface but he can rap”. He followed up the smash hit with his debut mixtape Wait Hol Up which showcased impressive features from other LA all-stars such as AzChike and Kalan.FrFr while simultaneously introducing us to other members of the 1TakeBoys like 1TakeQuan and 1TakeTeezy. The tapes lead single “Arco” quickly became Jay’s signature song and another viral hit. This summer, 1Take dropped his latest smash “Drip Walking” which we can only expect to be the focus track off his upcoming album.

Ever since Jay’s first record, Los Angeles has known he was hot and has rocked with him every step of the way. While I loved turning up to his music the past year, I wasn’t sold on 1Take’s longevity as an artist until I watched his enthralling live performance where he almost brought the El Rey Theater to the ground. My conversation with 1TakeJay, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below:

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Photo by Jeff Yumi

Spencer Lobdell, StereoVision (SL): I read that you had a pretty impressive football career throughout high school and even had multiple Division 1 offer. Can tell me a little about 1TakeJay the football star?

1TakeJay (1TJ): Well I played QB in high school but that was honestly just because we didn’t have anyone else. I really liked playing cornerback - that’s what I always thought I was the best at. I was thinking about going to play in college but I got hurt and that was that.

SL: When did you start rapping and how did that come about?

1TJ: I probably started in 2014. The homie 1TakeTeezy had the studio and the whole crew would make songs all the time. One day they just kept telling me “get on, get on” so I hoped on the track and from that point on I was fuckin’ with it. Still to this day there hasn’t been a moment when it’s occurred to me that this is my career, it’s more just me and the homies having fun.

SL: How did you guys come up with the name 1Take?

1TJ: Low key it came from competition. At first it was just like “let me do this better than the homie” than it turned into “let me do this better than the homie and in less time” and we ended up at 1TakeBoys.

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SL: How does it feel to come up with the people you’ve known your entire life?

1TJ: Honestly shit just feels regular because nothing changed. We still do all the same stuff haha.

SL: What can you tell me about The Machine Works label?

1TJ: Yeah Machine Works is brand new this year shoutout TK and Picaso (The founders of Machine Works). Basically it’s a new record label under Atlantic Records that represents me and AzChike. It’s all the same people I was already working with, they just got an imprint to make it an official thing and to make sure everything stays in house.

SL: DJ Mustard dropped one of the albums of the year this summer with Perfect Ten and you kick the project off with your high energy banger “Intro”. How did your relationship with Mustard begin and did that track feel any different to you than your other hits?

1TJ: I’ve been fucking with Mustard way before we did a song so it was never like “Bro let’s get in the studio” he just sent me the beat one day and asked if I liked it. The instrumental was hard so I did the track and he obviously liked it because he put it on his album. It didn’t feel any different because I was just talking shit. Mustard told me “Don’t even try and make a song, just gas it like Arco” so that’s what I did.

Photo by Jeff Yumi

SL: Since it’s release I’ve been listening to your new EP Over Like October a ton. Is there anything you want your fans to know about the new project?

1TJ: That shit was just a warm up! Honestly I just threw those songs together so my fans could have something to listen to until the album comes out. I’ve got over 100 finished songs so I just picked some I liked but didn’t make the project and dropped them.

SL: What can you tell us about the new album?

1TJ: The album’s done, I just need another month to shoot videos and wrap everything up. Expect it to drop mid-November. It’s 13-tracks long and called Goat.

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Sin, Salvation, and Sacrilege: Jesus Is King Album Review

By Carter Fife

Photo from shoot with GQ

Yeezy season is upon us once again, as last Friday Kanye West finally released his greatly-anticipated ninth solo studio album, Jesus is King. After numerous delays, tracklist changes, leaks, and radio silence from the Chicago rapper, the album finally hit streaming services to mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. 

Initially announced as YANDHI in the Fall of 2018, West’s newest record has gone through a multitude of extreme changes since its earliest inception. When YANDHI failed to release after several missed release dates in September and November, it seemed as if the album was scrapped entirely for reasons outside of fans’ control. In January of 2019, West began arranging exclusive events called ‘Sunday Service’, which featured a mix of church music, sermons, and acoustic gospel interpolations of tracks spanning the past fifteen years of West’s discography. Every Sunday, West would invite a small handful of Hollywood’s elite to witness a relaxed performance by him and an ever-growing choir directed by James White, until he brought the event to Coachella in April. Dressed in faded earth tones and accompanied by artists like DMX, Kid Cudi, and Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye performed at Coachella on top of a large grassy mountain that invoked themes of nature and grace (like YANDHI).

In the months that followed, YANDHI in its entirety leaked online in various forums that made users participate in a “group-buy”, a process that would lead to the well-known leaks of songs like “New Body” and “The Storm”. Despite this, in September West tweeted a new tracklist and a new release date for his ninth album, which had been renamed to Jesus is King. After another failed release date, radio silence and Sunday Service events in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Salt Lake City, and even Kingston Jamaica, Kanye West reappeared to finally release the album coinciding with the release of his newest IMAX film Jesus is King: A Kanye West Film at the end of October. 

Jesus is King clocks in at just-over 27 minutes across the record’s eleven tracks, and features what many outlets are describing as the most dramatic Kanye change yet. While Kanye West has always been a very religion-oriented rapper, this is his first record that is absent of profanity. While some argue that this is the next step in the rapper’s career, it seems much more likely that this album is simply reactive to the past 1-2 years of Kanye’s life. Between West’s mental illness diagnosis and increased presence in “church”, Jesus is King is a love-letter to the force that West attributes his ‘saving’ to: God. In interviews with Zane Lowe and Big Boy, West notes constantly about how he feels like he has been a slave to hip-hop culture, and this record is a catharsis from the person he was a year ago, attending the Pornhub awards and rapping with Lil Pump about sex on the track “I Love It”. Today, West stands liberated from the culture that he has been consistently redefining for the entirety of his career, though whether or not Jesus is King will withstand the test of time is yet to be seen.

The album begins with “Every Hour” featuring the Sunday Service choir. While the track is a beautiful gospel arrangement with bright and powerful piano melodies, it seems to begin out of nowhere, abruptly beginning the album by dropping us into the middle of church. This is a small complaint however, as the track is enjoyable while it’s on, though the chance it will see play at the next party you attend is probably unlikely. The track precedes “Selah”, an ambient and cinematic track with ominous pad harmonies and West both rapping and citing Bible verses. The citations paired with West’s line “If you woke don’t wake up” may roll eyes, but this track has a very strong emotional register that persists throughout the album as a whole. There is a religious message here that wasn’t present on the version of Selah that leaked online weeks prior, one that is almost critical of the fans and culture that he perceives as limiting to his own growth. 

Though there is a seed of truth in this observation, West is trying to send a well-intentioned personal message using a comically poor universal metaphor of religion. This is not the first time he has fallen victim to putting his foot in his mouth like this, as he has been guilty of this exact sentiment numerous times whether it arises from supporting a poor political candidate in order to preach tolerance, or by drawing parallels between the behavioral limitations of the status quo and *actual* slavery. It is important in these instances that we go beyond the initial shock of these poorly phrased statements in order to extract a deeper message for several reasons, most notably to gain some insight inside West’s commentary that the media may not provide. 

Next on the record is “Follow God”, a formulaic Kanye West banger that synthesizes soul samples and hip-hop percussion. West criticizes his relationship to hip-hop culture with the lines “Only ever seeing me / Only when they needed me ... Searching for a deity / Now you wanna see a freak”, and in doing so provides an interesting look at what it is like to be the person that has been the centerpiece of hip-hop for over a decade. Though this may seem like an exaggeration to the listener, it forces a kind of mindfulness into the relationship between consumer and artist, as the song title perhaps mirrors West’s desire for the consumer to follow God instead of a celebrity. There are a few glaring shortcomings with this track: the tone and delivery of West’s rapping does not deviate too much throughout the track, and the mixing seems to be fairly poor as the 808s and kicks get drowned out by the soul sample. Despite this, “Follow God” is an energetic and fun track that features West doing what he does best.

Very few tracks on the record have received criticism like “Closed On Sunday”, a beautifully composed track whose Achilles heel is found in the pseudo-humorous lyricism. The fated chorus “Closed on Sunday / You my Chick Fil-A” attracted a huge amount of attention during the public listening events held before the album’s release, and though many reduce the song to that one irony, there is something about this track that reads as entirely new. While it could be the dramatic aural profile bestowed upon the song by its haunting gospel choirs, acoustic guitar, and synthesizers, it could also simply be the Jezebel and Chick Fil-A references in tandem. Though West is almost certainly being tongue-in-cheek with this one, it is strange to hear “No more living for the culture / We nobody’s slave” in one moment, and “You my number one / With the lemonade” together. The impressive production features guest efforts from legend Timbaland, and the track ends as quickly as it began with A$AP Bari yelling “Chick Fil-A!”.

The fifth track on Jesus is King is “On God”, a futuristic and sleek track produced by none other than Pi’erre Bourne. The song features rapid arpeggiated synths and chiptune melodies existing in harmony alongside sparse percussion and West’s rapping, as he begins the track by rapping "‘How you get so much favor on your side?’ / ‘Accept Him as your Lord and Savior’ I replied”. The track is a fairly straightforward, and though West’s verses feature clever one liners, like “Follow God” the flow rarely features any variation.

“Everything We Need” follows, featuring Ant Clemons, Ty Dolla $ign, and even production from Ronny J. Though the track was leaked long ago as “The Storm” which also featured a verse from the late XXXTentacion, this version feels much more coherent. West has an additional verse, the lyrics seem much more consistent, and though Kanye’s vocals come off as a little rough, the track is much more consonant with the theme of Jesus is King. 

The following track, “Water” featuring Ant Clemons, was first debuted at Coachella, and though many fans were worried, it managed to make the final cut of the record. Ant Clemons’ vocals sound amazing, the instrumental and gospel harmonies are beautiful, and the track’s unique vintage feel gives Jesus is King some much-needed variety. For whatever reason, it seems like West and camp decided to squeeze in a new verse last-minute which sits on the track unmixed, poorly written, and monotonous on an otherwise powerful emotional track. West’s begging to Jesus for strength and wealth makes their relationship seem much more toxic and overly dependent, and stands at odds with the message of their mutualistic relationship that is found in so many other moments on the record. Though this new verse is as unwelcome as it is confusing, a CDQ version “Water” was worth the wait.

“God Is” is a bouncy and upbeat track laden with Pharrell-esque 808s and heavy choir usage. There is not too much to note about this song, as West’s line “I know Christ is the fountain that fills my cup” encapsulates the entire theme of praise on this three and a half minute performance. While enjoyable, “God Is” feels like filler because there is not too much on this track that is not able to be found elsewhere, and the timbre of West’s vocals feels rough and poorly-executed. “Hands On” featuring Fred Hammond and Francis and the Lights is similar in this respect because though the track helps provide a window into West’s mind, it does little more than highlight West’s messiah/victim complex. The track features vocoder vocals and lurching synth melodies, both of which serve to convey a dejected and menacing emotional tone. Neither of these two tracks take away from the record, but neither of them contribute too much to Jesus is King either. 

The penultimate track “Use This Gospel” is one of the highlights of the album for many. The song is a handful of random elements: Kanye sings about God on the hook, Clipse reunites with both Pusha T and No Malice delivering great verses, Kenny G has his own saxophone solo, and the instrumental even samples a car chime sound with West’s classic transposed vocoder-esque vocals along with it. Despite this, the track actually comes together pretty well, though the weak link is definitely West’s unmixed hook about gospel music. This track initially leaked as “Chakras / Law of Attraction”, and featured a much stronger hook by Ty Dolla $ign. Though Clipse did not appear on that earlier YANDHI demo, West did have an erratic and hype verse where he yells about “Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto! / We in the game, we in the game!... / Money ain’t real! / Time aint real!”. Though some prefer the older version, the updated vocals during No Malice’s verse were beautiful and the additional drums on the closing moments of the track gave the song a much more enjoyable feel to it. 

The album ends with “Jesus is Lord”, a brass heavy track where Kanye sings about Jesus and how he is lord. At under a minute, it ends quickly, and Jesus is King is over. 

Many of the complaints of this album stem from it feeling ‘unfinished’ (an intentionally vague term that I hate to use), but there is truth to this judgement. Some of the verses are unmixed, and feature weak writing full of religious platitudes and moments that feel dissonant with the album’s coherent message. It seems obvious that this record went through a strong period of rushing to get it finished on time, and because of that many fans are left unsatisfied wishing that they had received YANDHI, and tracks like the leaked “New Body” (featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj) instead. While those criticisms are all valid, it seems apparent as well that many of the negative judgements surrounding this album exist in the realm of comparison and hypotheticals. It does not take a Kanye West apologist to stand back and appreciate the album for what it is, as many of the tracks on this album are still largely enjoyable despite having glaring flaws. Overall, this record marks what could be a strong turning point in Kanye’s career, and though this album will likely receive mixing updates (it has already received one, mere days after its release), many tracks still stand strong and leave many optimistic for what Kanye has in store for the future.

Favorite Tracks:

On God

Everything We Need (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Ant Clemons)

Water (Feat. Ant Clemons)

Rating: 7

Listen to Jesus Is King here:

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Kanye West’s Powerful Sunday Service at The Forum in Los Angeles

By Carter Fife

Last Sunday Kanye West provided Los Angeles with its very own Sunday Service event, the first since the release of his ninth solo studio album Jesus Is King. Hosted by The Forum, the faded gloss of the vermillion floors was obstructed by a multitude of different flora and in its center: a large grassy circular platform surrounded by lush and colorful flowers, all directly underneath a rounded screen. Astounding scenery aside, it was as if the diverse crowd of hypebeasts and older LA natives had accidentally come upon a secret oasis in the middle of Inglewood. 

This event was the first time West had performed many of the tracks off Jesus Is King live, and after following the rocky release schedule over the past year, there seemed to be an air of relief in the venue. Since West announced the release date for his latest project (then called YANDHI) in September 2018, the album went through multiple delays and transformations, many of which were attributed to West not feeling satisfied with the sound or progress of the record. As the year ended, many fans speculated that YANDHI had been scrapped, but feelings of hope began to rise when in January 2019 West began to privately host “Sunday Service” events, where he and a choir would dress in similar white garb and perform soulful gospel tracks for a select audience of the industry’s elite. Many of these tracks were softer and more religious interpolations of West’s previous work, which made these private events a joy for fans to track. After bringing his Sunday Service to Coachella, and a summer full of YANDHI leaks trickling out of the G.O.O.D music camp, West would later announce a tentative release date and tracklist for his new album Jesus Is King in the fall of 2019. 

Despite having Sunday Service / listening session hybrid events in Detroit, Salt Lake City, New York, Chicago, and even Kingston Jamaica, the album failed to arrive when West promised, and fans’ hopes were dashed again. At these events West also premiered portions of Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Film, an IMAX film created at the Roden Crater featuring performances from the Sunday Service choir, which received mixed reviews from attendees. A month later, ticket sales for the IMAX film appeared seemingly out of nowhere, West tweeted a new tracklist and release date for the record along with its new cover art, and as quickly as the promotion started, it ended Friday morning when Jesus is King released on streaming services. 

Sunday’s event was in part a spiritual successor to the events that preceded it: Sunday Service at the forum was part sermon, part Sunday Service choir performance, and part Kanye West show. Merchandise was available for purchase, including a garment that was designed in collaboration with AWGE, and a multitude of expensive garments that made some cry sacrilege. What set this event apart, however, was the sheer cinematic power that West’s performance had on its attendees. This was not a private gathering of Hollywood’s elite witnessing a shotty mess of hardware and plastic chairs, this was a public multimedia event that was West’s first show of the JIK era, complete with elaborate costuming, sound and stage design, guest artists and a setlist that had a little bit for everyone.

To put it lightly: the event did not disappoint.

Surrounded by around 50 performers including vocalists, percussionists, keyboard and brass players, West performed powerful renditions of his newest material, including beginning the event with an incredible performance of ‘Closed On Sunday’. Since Jesus is King’s release, this track has been under a large amount of scrutiny from critics and fans alike for the seemingly vapid hooks about Chick Fil-A and lemonade. While lyrically the humor in the song may be at odds with its other layers, there is no denying that this song has some powerful melodies that are accentuated heavily by the presence of a choir. The harmonic conversations created by West’s impassioned singing juxtaposed against the choir’s haunting aural register made my jaw drop, as before then I had given little attention to this song. 

This was not the only moment that West’s coordination of choir, instruments, and song choice captivated the crowd, as over the course of the two hour performance fans were treated to rare performances of church classics like “How Excellent”, improvised beat sampling by Kanye West, and even a religious themed rendition of Damian Marley’s legendary reggae anthem “Welcome to Jamrock”. This Sunday Service also featured the first live performance of “Saint Pablo”, guest appearances from Francis and the Lights (performing “Take Me To The Light”), and perhaps most notably, an unforgettable reunion of Clipse on “Use This Gospel” which also featured two solos from the legendary Kenny G on his soprano saxophone. 

Clipse and Kenny G join Kanye on stage for an awe-inspiring performance of “Use This Gospel”

Sunday Service at the Forum was visually striking as well, with each member of the choir being draped in bone-colored garments that featured the occasional splash of faded pastel coloring. Women danced in unison with long and beautifully decorated braids underneath a circular screen that projected different colored lights, and even a cloudy sky at various moments in the show. It was refreshing to see a stage that was in many ways an inverse of Kanye West’s stage design on 2016’s Saint Pablo tour. Before, West stood alone on the panopticon stage, hovering above his fans performing to them. On Sunday, West was under his fans performing for them, and aside from his performances of the tracks, there were many moments in the production where West was far from the focal point. Jason White, the service’s choir director, took the spotlight for the majority of the show while West would simply blend in with the performers. 

Whether or not one believes Kanye West to be a ‘true christian’, or a real supporter of the conservative party, or whether or not one boxes West to a caricature of a misguided celebrity plagued by mental illness and a growing distance between himself and reality, there is no denying that this event was powerful. Though the merchandise was expensive (LA Apparel / Yeezy Blanks cost far more to produce than Gildan Tees), entry to the event was only 15$ a person, as it was clearly designed to be a spectacle for the public to not only consume, but to be a part of as well. Audience participation was encouraged and never before have I been to a show where there had been such a tangible sense of elation both social and spiritual. Between seeing Kanye’s daughter playfully sing while on Kanye’s shoulders, and witnessing the reunion of one of hip-hop’s most powerful duos, Sunday Service at The Forum was an event I will not soon forget.

Listen to Kanye West’s new album Jesus Is King here:

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JPEGMAFIA's “All My Heroes Are Cornballs” is Anything but a Disappointment

By Kaila Cherry

JPEGMAFIA (also known as Peggy) is a man of eclectic tastes. His musical style is a hodgepodge of different genres, themes, and intentions. In 2018, JPEGMAFIA rose from the underbelly of hip hop with his breakout album Veteran, his second studio album following the release of Black Ben Carson in 2016. Veteran makes its presence known with its glitchy beats, biting lyrical content, and Peggy’s range of rap flows and vocal inflections. On tracks like “1539 N. Calvert” and “I Cannnot Fucking Wait Til Morrissey Dies,” he envokes a flow that is cool and effortless, spitting lines like “You talking shit, I'm talking shit, you catch a beat down” and “Pull up on a cracker bumping Lil Peep” with no anxiety, just straight confidence. He does not have to present himself as an aggressor in order to make you believe that he could beat your ass. JPEGMAFIA says it like it is, and if you don’t believe him, then he’ll show you in no uncertain terms. On other tracks, such as “Real Nega” and “Baby I’m Bleeding” JPEGMAFIA’s flow is as fast and erratic as the production under it. Veteran is also a showcase of Peggy’s politics, as he takes jabs at conservative figures such as Kelly Conway and Tomi Larhen, calls out the commodification of rap by privileged white people, and critiques neoliberalism on the track “Libtard Anthem.” 

When Veteran dropped, we did not know how to categorize JPEGMAFIA. Some said he was experimental, some said he was industrial, some said he was lo-fi. What was undeniable to anyone to listen to his work was that JPEGMAFIA was a different breed of rappers. Here was a man playing with sounds, lyrics, flows, and ideas in ways the hip hop community had not seen before. Here was someone with something to say, and we were going to hear it. JPEGMAFIA’s music and persona have an ineffable quality to them that commands our attention. It is hard to turn away from him once you have gotten a glimpse of what he has to offer. That is why when Peggy promoted his newest project over the course of the summer by calling it a “disappointment,” fans were doubtful that this would actually be the case. After the release of two singles and a few videos showing the behind the scenes of the album’s creation, JPEGMAFIA dropped his third LP entitled All My Heroes Are Cornballs on September 13th. 

All My Heroes are Cornballs is a clear diversion from Veteran. While Veteran is very punchy, hard hitting, and contentious, All My Heroes Are Cornballs is mellow, subdued, and self reflective. If one can argue that Veteran was intended to introduce JPEGMAFIA to a larger audience, then one can also contest that All My Heroes Are Cornballs is Peggy’s response to gaining that substantial following, to becoming a “celebrity.” The title serves to this idea by poking fun at the concept of idealization. We tend to put celebrities on a pedestal, believe them to be some kind of superior beings to us due to their talent and status. JPEGMAIFIA does not want to think of those he admires in this way and does not want his fans to do the same to him. In an interview with Billboard, JPEGMAFIA said “The idea of me being an icon or something is a very funny thing, just because of my own weird insecurities....I’ve basically been every version of a rapper you can be. I’ve been the n---a with 50 views on YouTube, I’ve been the n---a with three downloads on Bandcamp, I’ve been that n---a with two fucking plays on SoundCloud for years. That was literally my lifestyle until last year.” This sudden launch into fame and the implications of stardom are the dominant themes that carry throughout the duration of All My Heroes Are Cornballs. 

The project opens with the track “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot.” The song begins with a glitchy instrumental very much in line with his previous albums. A crowd’s cheers are distorted, followed by the voice of a woman that says “You think you know me.” The track then flips on itself, going from eclectic to melodic. Peggy raps on the verses before singing on the hook, a surprise for JPEG fans who are most familiar with his punchy rap style. This singing on the opening track is the precedent for the rest of the album, in which he busts out his vocal chops more than he has ever done on a JPEGMAFIA project. Singing, however, is nothing new for him. If one were to go back into his discography and find the projects he produced several years ago under different pseudonyms, it would become clear that Peggy is taking reference from himself on All My Heroes Are Cornballs and revisiting elements of his artistry that he had temporarily set to wayside. 

JPEGMAFIA subverts expectations on All My Heroes Are Cornballs by playing with the idea of “giving the people what they want.” On the track “Kenan vs Kel,” the first half features JPEGMAFIA spitting over a beat filled with electronic piano and soft guitar riffs. In the second half, the tone switches completely. The beat is intense and overbearing. The guitar blares, the drums make themselves present, and JPEG employs the aggressive vocal style that gained him notoriety in the first place. It is as if Peggy is telling the audience, “I know what you expect of me, and I’ll give it to you, but in the way that I want to.” If you want to hear JPEGMAFIA go berserk, you are going to have to hear him contemplate first. In this way, All Of My Heroes Are Cornballs requires more from the listener than his previous projects did. You are not being asked to simply listen, but to engage with the content on a deeper level. And if you cannot do that, then you can listen to something else. Peggy couldn't care less. 

JPEGMAFIA continues to toy with the preconceived notions of the audience on the tracks “JPEGMAFIA TYPE BEAT,” “Grimy Waifu,” and “BasicBitchTearGas.” Less than a minute long, “JPEGMAFIA TYPE BEAT” is an instrumental interlude that layers samples on top of each other and speeds them up to create something wholly overwhelming to the listener. The beat is an undeniable allusion to the production style of industrial hip hop outfit Death Grips, an act that Peggy is constantly compared to despite them only being similar to a certain extent. For those who say “JPEGMAFIA sounds like Death Grips,” here is JPEGMAFIA purposely invoking their style to poke fun at such comparisons. “Grimy Waifu” is structured as a love song. It is slow and melodic, with JPEGMAFIA rap-singing about the figure in the song taking bullets for him. On the surface, the track is romantic. The romance he has, however, is not with a woman, but with his gun. Inspired by how military general encouraged soldiers to treat their guns like their girl and keep it with them at all times (Yes, JPEGMAFIA is an actual veteran), Peggy takes the concept even further with an entire ode to his rifle. 

Photo Via “Le Guess Who”

On the interlude “BasicBitchTearGas,” JPEGMAFIA covers the classic TLC track “No Scrubs.” Peggy is no stranger to flipping pop songs. Last year he released the one-off track “Millennium Freestyle,” a reinterpretation of the song “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Much earlier in his discography, he also covered Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” in 2013 under the name Devon Hendryx. JPEGMAFIA takes “No Scrubs” from a jaunty pop hit to a haunting R&B slow jam. His version of “No Scrubs” is completely separate from that of the source material, so much so that someone who had not heard the predecessor would not think they were even remotely the same song. JPEG’s singing on the track is impeccable, giving the song an emotional weight it did not have before. When we hear the lyric “A scrub is a guy who thinks he’s fly,” we know what we are expecting to hear. Again, Peggy turns our expectations on our heads, forcing us to adapt to his perspective. 

Thematically, All My Heroes Are Cornballs is JPEGMAFIA’s most vulnerable project to date. With fame comes insecurity, anxiety, and a pressure to preform always. These concepts are explored most explicity on the track “Free The Frail.” In the intro, Peggy sings the lyric “Don’t rely on the strength of my image.” This lines repeats later in the song, incoperating itself into the chorus. In this way, JPEGMAFIA wants his art to speak for itself, no to be conflated with or dependent on his persona in order to reach audiences. In the first verse, Peggy says that he feels “annoyed,” “strange,” “afraid,” and “framed,” he feels as if there are so many eyes on him that failure is not an option. This need to succeed is reinforced by the outro, sung by Helena Deland. The music cuts out and she sings the lines, “Quicksand's too thick to stand (Go on, then)/ Figure out now what it is that you need/I'll step out for a minute to breathe/One set of footsteps in the sand, but I'm not being carried/If it gets out of hand, you can go on without me.” These lyrics indicate that JPEGMAFIA feels as if he is being weighed down but has no one else to place this weight onto. Because of this, he beleives he must he deal with his strife on his own. 

All My Heroes Are Cornballs continues to solidify JPEGMAFIA’s status in the rap scene as revolutionary. His newest project, although different than his previous two studio albums, is refreshing. He gives us themes we had not had to deal with and sounds we had not heard before in his music. His interpretation of stardom is unique to him and it shines on the album. It is a pleasure to see JPEGMAFIA get more in touch with his artistry and to see him explore the conventions that exist within rap just to throw them back in our faces, chopped and screwed, completely distorted from what we thought they would be. One could say JPEGMAFIA is pushing boundries. I would say he is creating his own game with his own rules and his own playing field. JPEGMAFIA has undoubtley made a name for himself. It is no longer up to him, but for other rappers, to step up to the plate. 

Favorite Tracks:

All My Heroes Are Cornballs

Thot Tactics

BasicBitchTearGas

Rating: 9

Listen to All My Heroes Are Cornballs here:

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EARTHGANG Delivers on Their Major-Label Debut “Mirrorland”

By Spencer Lobdell

Atlanta rappers Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot make up the genius rap anomaly and undeniable oddity that is EARTHGANG. The two emcees beautifully contrast each other, frequently drawing comparisons to Outkast due to Johnny Venus’s sharing Andre 3000’s over the top energy and style while Doctur Dot and Big Boy are known to provide insanely abnormal tracks with a more conventional style of rapping. With an established fan base and the strength of J. Cole’s label, Dreamville, the stars aligned for EARTHGANG in 2019 as they dropped their major-label debut Mirrorland leaving fans to decide if it would live up to the lofty expectations that the two creatives bestowed upon themselves through the steady release of high-quality music.

Photo via Colors Studio Twitter

The duo has been slowly gaining traction since their debut EP The Better Party came out in 2010 while the two rap fanatics were attending Hampton University in Virginia, the southern hub where the group met fellow Dreamville signee J.I.D who was attending on a football scholarship. EARTHGANG went on to release a handful of mixtapes and singles leading up to their debut album Shallow Graves For Toys in 2014. Their growing buzz was greatly expedited in 2017 when the duo announced that they would be singing to J. Cole’s label, Dreamville. With an established fan base and the backing of Dreamville, the stars aligned for EARTHGANG in 2019 as they dropped their major-label debut Mirrorland leaving fans to decide if it would live up to the lofty expectations that the two creatives bestowed upon themselves through the steady release of high-quality music.

On September 6th, EARTHGANG released Mirrorland through Dreamville/Interscope Records. The album runs for just under an hour and boasts features from Young Thug, T-Pain, Kehlani, and others.

The album opens in epic fashion with the diverse and intriguing “LaLa Challenge”. The track slowly builds up throughout the entire song, bouncing back and forth between different instrumentation, until it finally climaxes in a loud and pacing outro. While the song certainly won’t get placed on any large playlists due to its deviation in energy and tempo, it is a perfect intro that introduces potential new listeners to the wide array of sounds and styles that EARTHGANG is capable of. 

The second track “UP” is one of three pre-released singles on the album and is easily one of the best cuts on the album. Johnny Venus steals the show on this track delivering an absolutely captivating vocal performance frequently using fascinating inflections to keep listeners hooked for the entirety of the song. With this being said, I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the studio version of “UP” due to how fantastic their “A COLORS SHOW” version of the track is. While the album version is great, it just doesn’t contain the same high-octane energy that the two delivered on “A COLORS SHOW” over a year ago.

The transition between “UP” and the third track “Top Down” is excellent and gracefully leads us into potentially the best trap banger on the project. The hard-hitting yet minimalistic instrumental mixed with EARTHGANG’s tribal sounding background vocals creates a perfect soundscape for Doctur Dot’s best verse on the album where he raps about a conversation with an old flame and how it affected him.

The fifth track “Proud Of U” features Young Thug and is undoubtedly one of my favorite rap songs of 2019. The heartfelt cut showcases the three Atlanta MCs profess their gratitude for the women in their lives that make everything work. The song is incredibly fun and Doctur Dot’s third verse breakdown is maybe my favorite moment on the album. The track was released as a single back in February and despite seven months of frequent listening I have yet to get tired of this song. 

“Blue Moon” is the tenth song on the album and my favorite relaxed bop on the impressive tape. The instrumental features bright horns that give this chill cut a bluesy feel that fits perfectly under the rappers's precise bars about hustling and making their dreams come true.

While Mirrorland was highly anticipated by fans and critics alike, it certainly did not disappoint. Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot both rap exceptionally while throughout the entirety of the project, weaving in stories and references that took me many listens to fully catch. The production on this album is awesome and perfectly fits the duo's fun and unpredictable style.

While all those elements are great, the best part about Mirrorland is its track diversity. Each track is unique to the point where a 55-minute album feels more like 30. This tape contains bangers for parties (“Proud Of U”), mellow songs for smoke seshes (“Blue Moon”), slow jams for time in the bedroom (“Trippin”), and a song for just about any other occasion you can think of. 

With the release of Mirrorland it’s undeniable that EARTHGANG leveled up and while some long-term fans might disagree in terms of the quality of music, in terms of public reception and sales it’s not up for debate. The question is no longer if EARTHGANG will stick but rather what the dynamic duo will do next.

Favorite Tracks:

Top Down

Proud Of U (Feat. Young Thug)

Blue Moon

Rating: 8

Listen to Mirrorland here:

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The PoohBenji Interview: The Hometeam, Spokane Rap, & His Upcoming Debut Project

“There are people that I’m cool with and like to be around, then there are my brothers who I love. Those are the guys that makeup HomeTeam”

By Spencer Lobdell

While August in Spokane is normally known as “Smoke Season,” the sky was clear on August 16th and the 90-degree sun beat down on me as I drove north to conduct an interview I had been anticipating for months. When I arrived at the house that PoohBenji and I had agreed to meet at, I eagerly parked my car and walked to the backyard where Pooh sat, getting his haircut and laughing with all his homies about the prior weekend which was hazy yet undeniably memorable for this specific group of friends. While I sat and waited for Benji’s haircut to finish, I found myself enthralled by the demeanor of the upcoming rapper. Pooh was friendly and easy to talk to, yet extremely confident. He didn’t participate as much as his friends did in the conversation, but when he did speak it was captivating and everything he said drew me in. PoohBenji had the demeanor of a star and before the interview even began, I validated his SoundCloud hit “Legend” where he sings “Bitch it’s a legend in the making”.

Chauncy Ford (PoohBenji) was born in Spokane, Washington but moved around frequently in his youth living in Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon before returning to Spokane in 2015. Moving frequently is never easy for a kid and young PoohBenji found comfort in his mom, his sister, and playing basketball during his nomadic childhood. Upon his return to Spokane, Chauncy attended North Central High School where he continued to play basketball. Benji currently goes to college at Spokane Falls CC and spends the rest of his time working and making music.

PoohBenji began putting music out on SoundCloud around two years ago. The young rapper caught a buzz when he released the infectious party banger “Fuck A Chorus” and began performing at local venues around Spokane. Things really started to take off for the Washington rapper when he moved to a new SoundCloud account (HomeTeam9) and put out songs like “Do The Most” and “Legend” which show off his unique style, a fusion of autotuned melodic rap and precise lyricism comparable to the rap game’s heaviest hitters. This summer Pooh made his Spotify debut with his addicting cut “Change On Me” showing fans that the Washington rapper was here to stay.

Ever since the artist's earliest SoundCloud releases, the common question floating around the Spokane hip-hop scene hasn’t been if PoohBenji will make it, but rather when will PoohBenji make it. While I’ve loved Benji’s music for years, my interactions with Chauncy Ford the person solidified my belief in his inevitable rise. My conversation with PoohBenji, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below:

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Spencer Lobdell, StereoVision (SL): Your early SoundCloud music was released under Benji x HomeTeam while your recent music has been released under HomeTeam9. Who makes up the HomeTeam and what’s their role in your music?

PoohBenji (PB): My cousin JC made it up. We were just up at the house one day when we realized we needed a brand that we could publish all our ideas under. It’s not a rap group though, HomeTeam is really just all my close homies that I’m gonna take with me when I get up. 

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SL: Does the HomeTeam have a definite roster or is it always changing?

PB: There’s a definite roster. There are people that I’m cool with and like to be around, then there are my brothers who I love. Those are the guys that makeup HomeTeam.

SL: Did you always know you wanted to make music or was there a defining moment when it clicked for you that you were gonna rap for a living?

PB: It started for me and my homies Thomas and Troy went over and made our first song in Caden Townsend’s studio. A couple of days after we were over there, I went by myself and recorded a song called “Make It Happen” which started doing numbers on Soundcloud. That was my big song and when I saw the reaction it got I knew I was going to be a rapper.

SL: You and fellow Spokane rapper King Dre frequently go to producer PeeJay for your production needs. When did you link up with him initially and what do you like about the way he works?

PB: I don’t even remember bro, me and PeeJay have made so many songs. It was right after I started making music with Caden though so it must have been right around two years ago. I love everything about the way PeeJay works. He moves fast, gives me really good pieces of advice, and honestly is the guy that helped me find my sound and exposed me to all the different ways I can manipulate my vocals.

SL: Recently on your social media you’ve been teasing a lot of unreleased music and this week you posted what looks like some album art. Should fans be expecting a new project soon?

PB: The art is for my debut project Alpha which is scheduled to come out on September 3rd. It’s going to be shorter, six or seven songs, and is really gonna show a wide variety of sounds people haven’t heard from me before. Every song is different and I already know people are going to be vibing to it.

SL: Who’s on your playlist right now?

PB: I try and listen to everyone who’s hot and just learn what I can from them so basically anyone that’s dropped in the past month I have downloaded right now. My favorites would probably be Drake and NBA Youngboy though. They’re probably the artists I draw the most inspiration from too.

SL: The Spokane hip-hop scene has been on the rise for the last year. How would it feel to be the first rapper to make it out of Spokane and do you feel any kind of responsibility to be that guy for the city?

PB: I mean it would be cool, but I don’t really look at it like that. It doesn’t really matter who’s first because as soon as one of us pops, the whole city’s on.

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SL: What other Spokane rappers besides you and Dre do StereoVision readers need to know about? 

PB: Rondough & Jiah, they aren’t apart of RMG anymore but they have been putting out some crazy stuff lately. And then my boy Trey (Cfn Trezzy) who’s really going up right now. He’s got a couple of songs out right now but the stuff he’s been showing me lately has been insane. Every day he’s getting better and better, he’s going to be a real problem soon.

SL: Lastly, is there anything else you want readers to know about PoohBenji?

PB: Man, I just want to tell everybody to stop sleeping on Spokane Washington. There’s a lot of talent here, and not just rappers. We got insane hoopers, super dope visual artists, and a lot of other really gifted people that the world needs to know about.

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• 
  StereoVision

  The love is real in Maxo Kream’s (@MAXOKREAM) new WSHH exclusive music video for “Brothers”💎 https://t.co/vhEZkeiZaG

  Apr 15, 2020, 5:59 PM
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  StereoVision

  The Kid Laroi (@thekidlaroi) x Einer Bankz (@EinerBankz) link up over Facetime to bring us an acoustic version of “… https://t.co/c2YQZn9ibl

  Apr 15, 2020, 12:07 PM

On Their Fifth Studio Album “Ginger,” Brockhampton Presents a Sobering Catharsis Cloaked in Clean Production and Memorable Performances

By Owen Tait

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

From the moment boyband BROCKHAMPTON dropped their debut album SATURATION during the summer of 2017, they became notorious for their infectious hooks, bouncy production, and an extremely versatile roster of performers. Online critics showered the album with favorable reviews, and standout singles such as “GOLD” and “STAR” invaded the underground hip-hop scene, giving the boys a diehard fan base instantaneously. 

Despite the success of their first project, the budding crew, led by Houston-native Kevin Abstract, was hardly done for the summer. Just over two months later, they released their second studio album, SATURATION II, which received just as much praise as the first (if not more). Giving their fans no time to breathe, they rounded out the year with the trilogy’s finale, which saw the group diving into pop-rap and experimental territory.

Unfortunately, the recognition that came with releasing three phenomenal projects in the span of six months also brought turmoil to the rising stars. Rapper Ameer Vann was exiled from the group following accusations of sexual assault that surfaced prior to the summer of 2018. Fans and journalists alike were torn on the group’s future, as the young ensemble was clearly shaken; not only had they lost a key member of their group, but they had also lost a close friend. 

Fans’ questions were answered the following fall with iridescence, a complete detour from the catchy, playful melodies that carried the SATURATION trilogy. Elastic leads and percussion were replaced with buzzing synths, aggressive percussion, and elegant strings, and the project dove deeper into each member’s mental health than any outing before it. Iridescence was brutal, bleak, and volatile as ever—characteristics that wouldn’t prepare even the most intense Brockhampton fans for their fifth studio album: GINGER.

Stream 'No Halo'": https://smarturl.it/XNXH Dir. Spencer Ford Prod. Weston Freas + Jon Nunes + Kevin Doan DP: Jake Wolfert Edit & Color: Henock Sileshi Gaffer: Jakob Longcob Grip: Jack Fahey & Jordan Rodriguez Wardrobe: Nick Lenzini & Weston Freas thank you to our cast & crew

The album’s rollout was fairly standard for a Brockhampton project. The boys released four singles, all accompanied by stylized music videos, prior to the August 23rd release date. The first three were oddball combinations of the experimental aspects of iridescence and the melodic production from the SATURATION era. However, the final single “NO HALO,” a sobering investigation on the realities of self-fulfillment, explored a new sound for the group entirely, and was far more telling of what GINGER would entail.

The track features solemn acoustic guitar riffs that layer on top of each other as the song progresses and a plethora of elusive, atmospheric synths; the production is subtle in contrast to their previous singles, but it works in a beautiful way. On the lyrical front, each members dishes out a verse that challenges their respective demons head-on. Joba masterfully confesses his struggles with religion & faith, while Merlyn Wood relays his anxieties about “running out of options.” The track has an aura of uncertainty about it, and the result is soul-stirring.

On August 23rd, BROCKHAMPTON released the entirety of GINGER under RCA Records. At 12 tracks and 44 minutes, one could easily argue that it’s the group’s tightest album yet. Better yet, the album also features performances from a whole new cast of characters—joining frequent collaborator Ryan Beatty are singer-songwriter Deb Never, UK rapper slowthai, and newcomer Victor Roberts, who pours his heart out during a moving anecdote on the album’s closing track.

As stated before, this record is unlike anything BROCKHAMPTON has put out in the past; while iridescence was certainly a darker moment in the group’s discography, GINGER gives listeners a project that is somber from start to finish, save for a handful of funky bangers in the front half of the tracklist. “BOY BYE” sees producers Jabari Manwa, Romil Hemnani, and Kiko Merley returning to their SATURATION era tendencies, arranging ricocheting plucks and buoyant 808s under a series of rapid-fire verses from each member. 

“ST. PERCY,” easily the hardest & most chaotic song on the tracklist, features extremely confident verses from each member featured. Rappers Matt Champion & Dom McClennon flow effortlessly over a super distorted bassline, while Bearface, who typically croons over the more melodic elements of a beat, lands one of his most charismatic verses yet. Finally, Wood closes out the track with a charged, yelpy outro—one of his zaniest performances to date.

Now, aside from these tracks and a couple of mid-tempo cyphers, GINGER is an austere look into the group’s struggles with fame, self-acceptance, and the trust issues they’ve faced since their parting with Ameer Vann. Anything that wasn’t addressed on iridescence finds its way onto this record, and the entire runtime is extremely grounded in reality, as even the highs of the album have their dark sides (I didn’t even bring up the lyrics on “BOY BYE”).

Stream 'If You Pray Right': https://smarturl.it/IYPR Dir. Spencer Ford DP: Adrian Nieto Prod: Jack Fahey Production Design: Wyatt Webb & Nick Lenzini Wardrobe: Nick Lenzini & Weston Freas First AC: Jake Wolfert Grip: Jakob Longcob & Spencer Middleton Steadycam: Thomas Taugher Editor: Spencer Ford Color: Henock Sileshi Thank you to our cast & crew!

For example, “SUGAR” is every bit as sweet as its title would imply, as Ryan Beatty supplies one of the most contagious hooks on the album; however, it’s also a track littered with melancholy references to old memories and relationship insecurities. Beatty’s line “tell me what I’m waiting for” is reminiscent of Joba’s hook on the SATURATION cut “FACE”—a gloomy number in its own right—and Bearface’s refrain “So do you love me?” sounds more like a plea than casual reassuring question.. The track sounds more bittersweet than anything, but you’ll find yourself singing along nonetheless.

The title track strikes a similar chord in that it contains extremely catchy performances, yet also feels forlorn in its lonely synths and timid vocal melodies. Kevin Abstract’s hook references moving on from a crucial relationship with someone you once loved, but acknowledges the feeling of wanting them to have a place in your home despite the heartbreak. Champion delivers his most emotional verse on the project, lamenting “I don’t even love no more, I don’t even trust no more” over a sea of gentle background vocals.

Even more emotional, however, is the climactic track “DEARLY DEPARTED,” which sees four out of the six members of the group reflecting on their betrayal by former member Ameer Vann. Abstract settles into an off-kilter flow for an extremely poetic verse, and Joba’s wailing vocals on the chorus are sure to give most listeners chills, but the pivotal moment on the track stems from an outraged McLennon, who commands full attention in an intense account of the trauma Vann put the group through. It’s one of the many raw, cathartic moments on the album, as members seem to be casting their burdens out left and right. 

Tracks such as “BIG BOY” and “VICTOR ROBERTS” fall under this umbrella, the former featuring a standout verse from Joba, who delves into his experiences with toxic relationships, unstable mental health, and simply wanting to be better. His desperate cries for those around him to “Patch me up, and stitch it / make me better” are absolutely gut-wrenching, and his abandoned vocal delivery only stirs more emotion.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, GINGER is a bleak, downbeat album that carries a similar tone to 2018’s iridescence; however, unlike its experimental predecessor, GINGER is littered with significant, catchy hooks and verses. While not much from iridescence stuck with me like the group’s earlier material, GINGER already has me singing along with the hooks and memorizing lines from verses across the record. Also, the minimalist instrumentals that riddle the project make it easy to latch onto the more subtle melodies and groovy rhythms. It feels as if the band is continuing on a more experimental and intimate path, but their songwriting abilities are returning to peak form as well. 

Stream 'Boy Bye': https://smarturl.it/xBB Dir. Spencer Ford Prod. Jon Nunes, Weston Freas & Kevin Doan DP: Ashlan Grey VFX: Kevin Doan Edit & Color: Henock Sileshi Grip: Jakob Longcob Wardrobe: Nick Lenzini & Weston Freas thank you to our cast & crew!

Additionally, this album brings the best out of members that had previously been underutilized or pushed to the back of the ensemble. Most notably, Bearface shines through on this record like never before; on almost every track here, his versatile vocal capabilities and irresistible refrains provide a serene contrast from the other member’s harder verses. Meanwhile, Matt Champion evolves as a rapper and performer, supplying multifaceted verses and entrancing hooks throughout the project.

Even the members that take more of a backseat on the record are still in peak condition. Merlyn still delivers energetic, hard-hitting verses in his trademark patois, and Joba still acts as the group’s wildcard, switching effortlessly between his gorgeous falsetto on some cuts and an intense spoken delivery on others. Dom is still pens lyrical verses in top condition, and Kevin’s hooks have returned to their former excellence

Overall, GINGER is a phenomenal effort from BROCKHAMPTON. The boyband manages to carry over the experimental tone and themes from iridescence and expand on them, all while fixing any misfires they may have had with that record. The songwriting is brilliant, and each member continues to bring out each other’s strengths; the entire record feels like a crucial statement that the group needed to make, and despite the somber presence that permeates the project, I only have hope that things will improve for the BROCKHAMPTON boys.

Favorite Tracks:

SUGAR (feat. Ryan Beatty)

DEARLY DEPARTED

GINGER

Rating: 9

Listen to GINGER here:

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Ugly God Shows He's More Than Just a Meme on "Bumps & Bruises"

By Kaila Cherry

Ugly God is a true character in every sense of the word. He is an absurd and hilarious presence in the rap game today, completely unafraid of making a fool of himself. Ugly God captured the attention of the public with his breakout single “Water” in 2016. “Water” has the Southern native showcasing his smooth ad rhythmic flow over a beat comprised mainly of a spacey synth riff and repetitive hi hats. His lyrics are quirky but straight to the point. In “Water,” Ugly God tells us that although he may not be the prettiest on the block, he has an immaculate sense of style (drip), lots of money, and enough charisma to attract any girl he wants. Despite some of the tracks more questionable lyrical content, such as the use of the lesbian slur “dyke” and the sexism of the line “Your bitch is my slave,” “Water” became one of the most played songs of that summer, launching Ugly God into rap success and effectively creating himself into an online music meme. 

Since “Water,” Ugly God has gone onto to release an EP entitled The Booty Tape in 2017. Alongside “Water,” The Booty Tape has other songs with a similar level of personality to them such as “Stop Smoking Black and Milds,” “I’m Tryna Fuck,” and his own diss track to himself, “Fuck Ugly God.” If you could not tell from his stage name or song titles, Ugly God has made a name for himself by not taking himself too seriously. He knows he is funny and uses his humor to carry his music. For the most part, the public does not consider Ugly God to be an “artist” as much as he is seen as a joke. For a while, this is exactly what Ugly God wanted to be. But now, the rapper known for wanting to “pull up and fuck on your daughter” has changed directions with the release of his debut album Bumps and Bruises. 

Unlike the vast majority of Ugly God’s previous work, Bumps and Bruises has moments of legitimate introspection and reflection as the rapper navigates the landscape of fame and the pressure he fells to make it. He mentions more than once that he is a college drop out, taking a risk by dedicating himself to music and enjoying the fruits of his labor. Lyrically, the project does not divert much from what he has done before. We know Ugly God has money, we know he lives in luxury, we know he is going to find a way to have sex with all our girlfriends. Although he is an braggadocious as ever, Ugly God’s flow and the production on Bumps and Bruises does a lot to elevate his sound into something more mainstream and refined. The instrumentals are not complicated, sticking to his brand of mellow cloud rap that blew him up in the first. Although they are simple, they are not boring. Tracks like “Back to Basics,” “Right Now,” and “History” are slow and melodic, again leaning on an effortless beat coupled with a vibey synth pattern. Ugly God’s rap flow on these tracks is fairly laid back as well. He utilizes a fairly consistent “AA BB” rhyme scheme to carry him from song to song. 

There are moments on Bumps and Bruises where Ugly God explores a more aggressive style of rap and production. On tracks such as “One Two,” “What's Up” and “Batman,” Ugly God’s flow is quicker, louder, and more confrontational. On the instrumental end, the production is revved up and tense, as if the songs are trying to start a fight with the listener. We see this kind of style being embraced by several rappers within the Soundcloud subgenre today, most notably by the late artist XXXTentacion. Ugly God’s attempt to be tough on Bumps and Bruises are just ok. It is not that he completely misses the mark; songs like “One Two” and “Batman” are fun party songs with just enough energy to sustain themselves. However, they are not entirely believable. With his vocals cracking and strained during some parts of his delivery, I do not feel a sense of intimidation coming from Ugly God. Although I doubt that it was his intention to come off as an authentic gangster, he does not do enough with the sound in order to make it funny or interesting. Because of this, his more “aggressive” tracks come off as awkward instead of hard. 

Overall Bumps & Bruises is an alright project. It is clear that Ugly God no longer wants to just be a meme. Now that he is known within the music world, he is trying to be more professional with his approach to the craft. He has improved his production, his lyrics, and his flow. He is trying out different kinds of sounds and aesthetics, throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Personally, I am most satisfied with Ugly God when he is at his most laid back. When he is not trying to be super outlandish is when he delivers his best performances. Bumps & Bruises is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for Ugly God. Always eclectic and unpredictable, he is surely an artist to keep an eye on.

Thanks Ugly God!

Favorite Tracks

Jaguar

Right Now 

Tell Me How You Feel (Feat. Wintertime) 

Rating: 6 

Listen to Bumps & Bruises here:

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Songs of the Week: August 18th

By Spencer Lobdell

Welcome to “Songs of the Week” a weekly segment where I highlight three of the best new songs released the week prior. To stay up to date on all new music, follow our playlist “Hot 30” on Apple Music and Spotify. “Hot 30” is updated daily to always include the freshest new music. Always 30 songs, hottest always at the top. Stream it here:

A playlist updated weekly by team members at StereoVision with the hottest new rap and hip-hop music. Always 30 songs with the hottest tracks at the top.

Songs of the week:

“What’s The Move” by Young Thug (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert)

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Last Friday, Young Thug dropped his new album So Much Fun and after one listen I was ready to call it album of the year. There are about eight songs off So Much Fun that could’ve made today’s Songs of the Week but really there was no choice. “What’s The Move” features Philadelphia superstar Lil Uzi Vert and is one of the most fun songs released this year. In large thanks to producer BL$$D the two emcee’s sounds like they are running around a lush jungle swinging from trees and rapping about their exuberant wealth. This song is timeless and when we reflect on it ten years from now we'll see it for what it truly is, two of the most influential and creative artists of our generation at their very best.

“Drip, drip, no shoestring my sneaker, won’t trip
My jeans is so tight they don’t fit
Still walk around with a stick on my hip
VVS diamonds right behind my lip”

— Lil Uzi Vert "What's The Move"

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“Lethal Weapon” by Nef The Pharaoh (Feat. Slimmy B)

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Bay Area rapper Nef The Pharaoh continued his annual release pattern this week with his new album Mushrooms & Coloring Books dropping on Friday. The sixth song on the album “Lethal Weapon” is an obvious standout and features fellow Vallejo rapper and member of SOB x RBE, Slimmy B. The two bay rappers go back and forth, normally 4 bars at a time, boasting an impressive display of chemistry and wordplay. The funky yet relaxing DTB instrumental creates a perfect climate for the two rappers to absolutely snap and the result is an extremely unique cut that is one of my favorite songs to drop in August.

“I’ma serve the kickback when the Glock click-clack
The dody in my sack awake God from a nap
If it ain’t one in the head, why you ride with the strap?
Started bettin’ on the race, I was tired of running laps”

— Nef The Pharaoh "Lethal Weapon"

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“Jet Lag” by A$AP Ferg

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A$AP Ferg has always been able to effortlessly craft addicting hooks and on his new project Floor Seats Ferg shows no deviation from his previous strength. The most clear example of this would be the project’s second song, “Jet Lag”. On the high-energy bop, Ferg raps about his expensive lifestyle while frequently alluding to his previous hits through clever bars. On “Jet Lag” Ferg also defends his position as one of the game’s best ad-libbers by hitting the end of every bar with one of his patented sounds.

“Made a lot of millions off a plain Jane
Pen and Billy on the track, we do the same thing
Rose gold, pink diamonds in my ring-ring
Got a bitch from Crenshaw and she gang bang”

— A$AP Ferg "Jet Lag"

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Thanks for reading, check back in next week for three new songs of the week. Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter to get notified when we post:

Miami Tycoon Rick Ross Sticks to His Guns on the Ostentatious “Port of Miami 2”

By Owen Tait

Whether you consider yourself an avid fan or not, chances are, if you’ve paid even the slightest attention to the hip-hop scene over the past fifteen years or so, you’ve heard the name Rick Ross tossed around on multiple occasions. The Carol City mogul has been an entrepreneur in the music industry for at least the past decade, founding his label Maybach Music in the final months of the 2000s. Since then, he has collaborated with everyone from Kanye West to Skrillex, and has recently performed guest verses on songs from rising stars and industry frontrunners alike (Denzel Curry and Drake, respectively). Needless to say, he’s a man of many connections.

While I hadn’t listened to his 2017 record Better You Than Me upon its initial release, I went back to see if I could summarize the album’s sound in a few thoughts. Overall, the project contained heavy influences from jazz music, featuring opulent brass instruments, loose percussion, and flashy piano riffs throughout the album’s runtime. Ross’s signature 3-to-8-count flow was prevalent throughout, and the album’s themes ranged from the luxuries of fame to Ross’s stature in Miami’s criminal underground. To describe it in one word, Better You Than Me was ostentatious, and I expected nothing less going into his most recent release.

Considering that Port of Miami 2 released a whole thirteen years after the original, I wondered whether the sequel would be a throwback to Ross’s beginnings in the mid-2000s or progress towards more modern hip-hop trends. In an odd twist of events, the album gave me neither. 

Released under Epic Records and Maybach Music, the long-awaited sequel delivers 15 tracks and 66 minutes of what I would essentially consider to be more of the same from Ross’s previous releases. While this doesn’t necessarily hinder the record’s quality in itself—Ross’s past efforts have been more successful with critics than not—it stops the project from being anything more than “just another Rick Ross album.” As there are many things that work in the album’s favor, there are just as many things that work against it, all of which would be easier to explain upon analyzing the project’s flaws individually.

Luckily, the album kicks off on a high note with the rambunctious anthem “Act a Fool,” which features chopped-up synths, monstrous 808s, and a welcome feature from labelmate Wale. Ross’s confidence shines through on this track better than any other on the record, and while he reserves himself to using the same flow for a majority of the track, his assertive delivery ensures that his bars about general grandeur still pack a massive punch.

The following track “Turnpike Ike” is less admirable, as it features a handful of unbearably painful interludes where an unnamed woman is asked by Ross to remind the listeners of just how rich he is. The dialogue is stilted and completely distracted me from what would’ve otherwise been a mediocre song to begin with—not to mention that the entire concept of said interludes felt outdated and tacky.

In fact, coming off as outdated or tacky is one of the biggest struggles that Port of Miami 2 faces. Many of the sung hooks on the album fall completely flat, whether it’s due to awkward writing or melodies that feel cheap or uncalculated. 

For example, the hook sung by Sam Harvey on “Bogus Charms” has a nice sentiment to it, but the lyrics are extremely generic, and the lone piano/falsetto combination sounds as if it was ripped directly from a rejected Charlie Puth demo. Drake’s verse on the closing track “Gold Roses” is phenomenal, featuring some of his most intricate wordplay since his 2018 single “Diplomatic Immunity;” however, his hook has very little structure in regards to flow, and the tune he sings is an utterly pathetic excuse for a melody. Immensely talented vocalists like Summer Walker, Teyana Taylor, and John Legend also make guest appearances, but the songwriting gives them very little to do. 

The production across the record is also something I’m torn on. On one hand, the instrumentation is lush, monumental, and extravagant—such is the case on the flashy victory lap “BIG TYME,” which features cascading pianos and larger-than-life drum fills. On the other hand, it would’ve sounded better had this album dropped in the early 2010s. It may sound odd, but I feel that the production on most of these tracks would have fared better in another era of hip-hop music. This is especially reinforced by the fact that Ross hasn’t switched up his sound since his previous record; he doesn’t seem to be progressing forward in the same way that other rappers from his generation are.

I could go on about the record’s numerous issues, such as Ross’s famously repetitive flow (he always starts a line on the third beat of one measure and ends it on the fourth beat of the next) or the endless Maybach Music tags he forces into the production, but that would take away from the fact that this project contains some genuinely kickass moments. 

The track “Nobody’s Favorite” is one of the most menacing bits on the tracklist, and Ross sounds colder than ever as his detached inflections drift over sparse church bells and bare-bones percussion. He describes the Grim Reaper wearing a pair of black Dickies and stacking bodies, but as he does so, it’s not too difficult to imagine Ross himself as the Angel of Death. 

The track “Born To Kill” carries the album’s sound into spacier territory: sleek, layered synths build on top of one another as Ross paints a portrait of himself as a crime lord in Miami’s narcotics underground. He’s a cold-blooded figure fueled by adrenaline and notoriety, backed by bars such as “Kilo in the mornin’, skip the cappuccino / Bomb under my car like I was Al Pacino.” Ross also manages to get trap pioneer Jeezy on the cut, and the Carolina veteran delivers a verse full of cheeky quotables in his signature Southern style. 

Ross switches up the pace on “I Still Pray,” an introspective cut that was inspired by the sudden heart attack he suffered in the spring of 2018. On the track, he laments about his own personal greed, the projects of Miami, and those he has lost over the years. It’s an intriguing contrast from the rest of the record’s subject matter, and it sheds a little more vulnerability on Ross than most would expect from him. Ball Greezy delivers one of the better hooks on the project (even if it contradicts the message presented in Ross’s verse), and YFN Lucci steps up with some interesting vocals in his verse.

All in all, Port of Miami 2 is a mixed bag. It certainly has some highlights and a few standout tracks, but your enjoyment of the project as a whole will likely be linked to how much you’ve enjoyed Ross’s work in the past. As someone who has found Ross’s past features entertaining—albeit a bit one-note—I have a similar opinion of this project, and I’m left mostly impartial to it. It’s not terrible by any means, but Ross’s lack of progression from his past records means that there isn’t much here that contributes to the future of luxury rap. Hopefully, Ross will recognize this and step up his game to leave a greater legacy for Miami hip-hop.

Favorite Tracks:

Nobody’s Favorite (feat. Gunplay)

Born To Kill (feat. Jeezy)

I Still Pray (feat. YFN Lucci & Ball Greezy)

Rating: 6

Listen to Port Of Miami 2 here:

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RJMrLA Stays True to His West Coast Roots on His New Album “On God”

By Spencer Lobdell

Since 2013, RJMrLA has been on the fringe of the LA rap scene that birthed artists like Kendrick Lamar, YG, Nipsey Hussle, and many many others. The Los Angeles spitter has flirted with stardom multiple times without ever being able to smash through the wall of mediocracy to capture a smash hit. Due to his reputation in LA, his personal relationships with artists like Mustard, Ty Dolla $ign, and YG, and his innate ability to rap, RJMrLA has maintained relevance in Los Angeles for years. With a string of impressive singles, 2019 is starting to look like the year RJ might finally break out of The City Of Angels and infect the rest of the country with his cool SoCal swagger.

Stream "Apartment": https://EMPIRE.lnk.to/ApartmentYo Official Video by RJmrLA - Apartment (Official Video) © 2019 OMMIO LLC / EMPIRE

The rollout for RJ’s new album On God began in early June with the single “Apartment”, his first release since his 2017 Mustard collab, The Ghetto. Two weeks later he followed up the release with his smooth single “Rat Race”. With his momentum at an all-time high, the LA artist dropped the Young Thug assisted single “Time” which was received warmly and secured some major playlist placements. 

On August 9th, 2019, RJMrLA independently released his album On God. The 20-track album runs for just under an hour and boasts features from Young Thug, ScHoolboy Q, Snoop Dogg, Rich The Kid, and many other A-List artists.

The album opens with an anecdote from RJ where he explains that the phrase “On God” can basically be defined as a step up from the truth. After the first 20 seconds of this album it’s obvious that unquestionable authenticity is a clear theme that RJ wants to portray on this new album. The LA rapper introduces himself on the intro (which hosts the same name as the album) by giving new fans a glimpse into his life and his personal philosophy.

“On One” is the third song on the album and is undeniably smooth and entertaining. The hook is infectious and gives us our first look at RJ’s dangerously contagious defiance as he continuously repeats “I jumped out the bed on one.” ScHoolboy Q continues his hot streak on this track providing us with an excellent collab that I had no idea I even wanted.

No momentum from “On One” is lost as the album quickly flows into the lead single, “Time”, which features Young Thug. “Time” fits perfectly into RJ’s discography with a DJ Swish instrumental that screams West Coast and one of his classic melodic hooks. The chorus in this song is equal parts motivational and honest as RJ raps about how he has no time to waste because he is a visionary, hard worker, and a man of action. This lack of time isn’t all good though, as he lets it be known that it hinders his relationship with his family even though they are the ones he’s working for. I couldn’t help but think of Jamie (Ghost) St. Patrick from Star’s TV show Power when listening to this conflicting hook.

The sixth song on the project is called “Rat Race” and was the second pre-release from On God. “Rat Race” is one of the slickest songs I’ve heard in 2019 and is soaked in suave swagger. This song could make me feel like a big baller when I have eleven dollars in my bank account and that’s all you can ever ask of a track.

The next six songs are all good, but seem to blend together. There are clever quotables scattered throughout all six tracks but at the end of the day, I find them ultimately forgettable.

The album picks back up with one of it’s strongest tracks, “No Face, No Case”. RJ snaps on the first verse and showcases some of the best rapping we’ve ever heard from him. The song is a badass story about RJ hitting licks and getting away with them. There is something so satisfying about hearing the west coast rapper yell at agents over the phone and tell them to “call my laywerrrrrr.”

One of the albums greatest strengths is it’s genius sequencing and the transition from “No Face, No Case” to “Randel Cunningham” is one of the best examples. Where “No Face, No Case” is about hitting the lick and getting away with it, “Randel Cunningham” is about the rest of his years ducking cops and how his criminal record only adds to his ability to pull girls. While I think Rich The Kid sounds somewhat out of place on On God, he delivers a solid verse and I wouldn’t be surprised if his presence on this track grows on me.

“Randel Cunningham” is followed by every weekend’s anthem “Friday Night”. Ty Dolla $ign pulls through for excellent feature (like always) and makes cut this undeniably fun and sexy. 

The album concludes with the inspirational “Growing”. The track features a soothing lo-fi sax that was present on the song that preceded it. On “Growing” RJMrLA reminds us that there is nothing as rewarding as being able to point to clear examples of personal growth and self improvement. I get chills when RJ repeats “I’m slowly reaching the heights that these niggas expected from me” on the hook. It’s a common misconception to believe that popping rappers got lucky with a catchy hit and are now living lives of luxury. Fans often forget that emcees like RJ have been honing their craft in the rap game for nearly ten years, fully expecting to receive the acclaim that they know they deserve. “Growing” is a refreshing perspective and an excellent outro.

RJmrLA Freestyle with Bootleg Kev & DJ Hed STAY CONNECTED!!! ► Listen Live: https://real923la.iheart.com/listen ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/REAL923LA/ ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/real923la ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/real923la/

It’s clear that On God is far from RJMrLA’s first rodeo. He masterfully crafted this album with a clear message and used intentional sequencing and storytelling to hit the mark. Every track perfectly flows into the next making On God flow better than almost any other album I’ve heard this year. Along with the excellent flow of the project, every song is sonically similar leading to the creation of a mini-universe inside this project that can only be described as RJ’s LA. The entire album definitely falls into a common mood making this the perfect album to loop in your car during a day of errands or a relaxed night out.

While the cohesion of this project makes it an incredibly smooth listen, it also puts a ceiling atop the album’s potential. RJ’s lack of deviations and risks makes this album incredibly safe thus eliminating any chance of this being a classic record for anyone. With this being said, I think RJ’s decision to keep the entire album in one mood was a good creative choice and added more than it took away from On God.

Although his name might not carry the same weight as some of his heavy-hitting peers like YG and Ty Dolla $ign, RJMrLA is an essential piece to the Los Angeles rap renaissance and On God is potentially his best work to date. The project is unified, entertaining, groovy, and substance-rich. RJ’s pen game is as sharp as ever giving us many memorable verses and quotable bars. Mr. LA gets the best out of all of his high-level features leaving us with some bangers that hopefully outlive the summer. On God is a very good album and should be bumped by everyone whether or not you reside in The Golden State.

Favorite Tracks:

On One (Feat. ScHoolboy Q)

Time (Feat. Young Thug)

Rat Race

Rating: 7.5

Listen to On God here:

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Songs of the Week: August 11th

By Spencer Lobdell

Welcome to “Songs of the Week” a weekly segment where I highlight three of the best new songs released the week prior. To stay up to date on all new music, follow our playlist “Hot 30” on Apple Music and Spotify. “Hot 30” is updated daily to always include the freshest new music. Always 30 songs, hottest always at the top. Stream it here:

A playlist updated weekly by team members at StereoVision with the hottest new rap and hip-hop music. Always 30 songs with the hottest tracks at the top.

Songs of the Week:

“Hair Down” by SiR (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

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Following in the footsteps of fellow TDE artist SZA, SiR just inked a new deal with RCA records and is celebrating with a new album titled Chasing Summer expected to drop on August 30th. The first single from the Inglewood native was released this week and features Top Dawg’s top dawg, Kendrick Lamar. On “Hair Down” SiR picks up where he left off on 2018’s November with a soulful and moody track that uses beautifully layered vocals to gracefully present us with important messages about self-confidence and expectations. Kendrick is himself on the second verse and enforced the image of the self-conscious superstar numb to their impressive accomplishments. All-in-all, this is an excellent song that should have hip-hop fans everywhere anxiously awaiting Chasing Summer.

“Skeletons in your closet but your past don’t exist
Got a pad on your list, got a pad on your lock
Calabas’ ain’t the move, that’s where everybody live
Plus the mountain is hot, you forgot what you got, ah!”

— Kendrick Lamar "Hair Down"

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“White Lines” by Rick Ross (Feat. DeJ Loaf)

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This week, Rick Ross dropped his highly anticipated album Port Of Miami 2. While the whole album is solid, the vibe that the Miami rapper manages to create on the fifth track “White Lines” is unmatched. The veteran emcee raps about an excellent weed high filled with coked out girls and luxury shopping over a dreamy instrumental. This track is an automatic add to smoke sesh playlists everywhere.

“I flew her here to take her shoppin’
My credit card done got it poppin’
I put that pussy in my pocket
Cartier bracelet and locket
We like to film it, then we watch it
Tell your friend come join the party
You a freak and I’m a prophet
Painted the Chevy doo-doo chocolate”

— Rick Ross "White Lines"

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“SoHo Freestyle” by Pivot Gang (Feat. Kota The Friend)

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Saba’s talented clan “Pivot Gang” dropped two songs this week with “SoHo Freestyle” being the clear winner out of the pair. This track is my favorite posse cut of the year and sounds like everything Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 wanted to be but couldn’t quite achieve. While all four emcee’s snap on their respective verses, Saba and Mfn Melo slightly edge out Kota The Friend and Frsh Waters but it’s very close. All hip-hop fans should find this cut fun and enjoyable encouraging us all to revisit Pivot Gang’s 2019 album, You Can’t Sit With Us.

“I get paid every K, then you hatin’ and shit
Got a care on my head, but this Bape on my fit
Runnin’ laps ‘round the lands, on some Daytona shit
We fight wars with my boys, so I’m takin’ the risk”

— Saba "SoHo Freestyle"

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Thanks for reading, check back in next week for three new songs of the week. Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter to get notified when we post:

Rich The Kid, Famous Dex, & Jay Critch Introduce a New Wave of Artists on Their New Collaborative Mixtape “Rich Forever 4”

By Miles Hagan

Rich Forever 4 is everything that is was supposed to be. We know the collective at this point pretty well at this point. Rich the Kid is coming off of a successful solo project, and Famous Dex and Jay Critch have gained consistent followings on their own. Now the three come together with some newer faces for the latest installment in their Rich Forever series. This time they are joined by a few new voices that are set to help take the collective into the future. 83 Babies, Young Bino, and Airi are very present on this tape and look to help elevate Rich Forever 4.

Most projects like this frequently benefit from the lack of hype around them. If there are a few bangers it’s seen as a success and if it is a flop no one really talks about it. They are trying to make enough noise off a few songs not to fade into obscurity. Rich Forever 4 manages to accomplish that goal. The first 5 songs all hit with “Drip Layer” and “Party Bus” being the main standouts. “Drip Layer” is also our first time hearing 83 babies on the project and they sound vicious on this cut. Settitoff83 has possibly the best chorus on the entire mixtape, and Lil Tony and Yung Boss Tevo carry their weight just fine, each with a very solid verse. 

After the young guns do their thing it's time for the vets to take their place. On the next track “Party Bus”  Dex, Rich, and Jay Critch show that they still know what it takes to make a trap banger. What allows this track along with many others to really be pushed over the top is the excellent beat selection on this project. Everyone in the Rich Forever collective seems to be very aware of what type of beat they all sound best over, and Rich Forever 4 has a surplus of those sounds. The bass is always booming and when the right instrumentation is included it makes for a song anyone can dance to 

This is not a perfect album by any stretch of the imagination. This could have been a stellar very fun 5 track EP if the tape stopped after “Broke as S**t”. Which has one of the best beats on the entire mixtape, and has some very uplifting positive bars from Rich and Jay Critch talking about their come up. Until this point, the beats are still bouncy and the bass hits every time. The lines about money and success are still charming and compelling. The problem eventually becomes the lack of variety presented to us as listeners. This is no better than any of the other Rich Forever projects. 

That being said, that doesn't mean it is worse, there is just no real improvement from any of the members. This circles back to the importance of the three new artists introduced on Rich Forever 4. While they don't add anything in terms of subject matter, it is nice to hear different voices and flows on the second half of the project. There are moments when it picks back up and even gets a little experimental with a song like “Tell Me”. Not the best attempt at a pop song but it is very encouraging to see young rappers like those in 83 Babies try something so far out of their comfort zone. This is the moment where Airi really gets to shine on the project and she shows a lot of the potential she has as a solo act. 

Rich Forever 4 wasn't a surprise nor a disappointment, more so just a collection of songs from a collective that is beginning to find their footing. With all of the pieces they have, the label now really has the potential to take off. Whether it’s one of the older guys or some of the newer additions, someone in Rich Forever has to blow up. The most interesting may be the person who contributed the least to Rich Forever 4. Airi beautiful R&B voice may give her a lot more potential to create mainstream hits than some of the other in their group. She will unlock a sound that could really add an essential layer to all of their music. This feels more like an introduction into what could potentially be the next steps in this groups evolution than a mixtape trying to be great. 

FAVORITE TRACKS:

Drip Layer  (Feat. 83 Babies)

Party Bus

Broke as Shit

Rating: 5

Listen to Rich Forever 4 here:

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Songs of the Week: August 4th

By Spencer Lobdell

Welcome to “Songs of the Week” a weekly segment where I highlight three of the best new songs released the week prior. To stay up to date on all new music, follow our playlist “Hot 30” on Apple Music and Spotify. “Hot 30” is updated daily to always include the freshest new music. Always 30 songs, hottest always at the top. Stream it here:

A playlist updated weekly by team members at StereoVision with the hottest new rap and hip-hop music. Always 30 songs with the hottest tracks at the top.

Songs of the Week:

“GON WIT IT” by Thouxanbanfauni

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For years Atlanta trapper Thouxanbanfauni has been slowly building a cult following of dedicated fans through his unique sound and unmatched consistency. This Friday the emcee released his new mixtape SEEIN COLORS which boast seven ear-rattling tracks with Fauni’s classic layered and distorted sound. While the whole tape is very solid, the fourth song “GON WIT IT” is an easy standout. The instrumental is busy and chaotic, a perfect soundscape for Fauni’s futuristic bars to thrive. He keeps the song interesting by frequently switching his flow and repeating “Gon wit it” on the hook allowing for the thundering instrumental to shine brightly. SEEIN COLORS is another impressive release for Fauni, hopefully, with this tape, he can finally break out of the underground.

“Gotta get this money, fuck decisions and them consequences
I done told these bitches that we need it, all on my lieutenant
I’m talking ‘bout green, getting it, green, getting it, I just get it
I gotta fuck it up, get it right back after I spend it”

— Thouxanbanfauni "GON WIT IT"

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“Pull Up” by Luh Kel

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St. Louis R&B singer Luh Kel has been rising fast ever since the release of his hit song “Wrong” back in early April. Two weeks ago, the talented artist made an appearance on this segment with his excellent collaboration with Bankrol Hayden titled “Brothers”. Luh Kel returns this week with “Pull Up” a sexy bop that could convince most listeners that Kel is the next Chris Brown. It’s undeniable that the young artist’s voice is special and will bring him great success, at this point, it’s just a matter of when Luh Kel will become a household name.

“I like it when we cruisin’
Yeah, niggas be talkin’ but girl you really do it
And you knew it
And you had a nigga before me so now you choosin’ (Ohh)
Ballin’ like LeBron and Kobe so there ain’t no losin’”

— Luh Kel "Pull Up"

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“Die Slow” by Lil Durk (Feat. 21 Savage)

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This week, Chicago emcee Lil Durk released his highly anticipated mixtape Love Songs 4 The Streets 2. The album is full of gritty bars, street stories, catchy melodies, and a-list features. While a number of songs off the new project could’ve been selected for this segment, 21 menacing verse and Durk’s murderous hook gave “Die Slow” an edge over the rest. Durk opens the song with the chorus in which he warns his enemies and brags about his dangerous lifestyle. He closes out his first verse by saying he supplied Chiraq (Chicago) with pistols and, in his words, “without me there ain’t no poles.” Savage comes through for the second verse and reminds everyone that the Atlanta rapper’s steady upward trend didn’t conclude with I Am > I Was but rather continues to this day. The song is terrifying, and that’s why we love it so much.

“Glock in my lap, I’m strapped
Too rich to fist fight, niggas get clapped
Everybody ‘round me paranoid, you might get smoked tryna reach for some dap”

— 21 Savage "Lil Durk"

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Thanks for reading, check back in next week for three new songs of the week. Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter to get notified when we post:

The Yianna Interview: Toxic Relationships, New Music, and Her Dream Hip-Hop Collab

“At its root, the song [Hard Pill to Swallow] is about being infatuated with someone who is struggling with drug addiction and how hard that is.”

By Spencer Lobdell

With just three songs out, singer/songwriter Yianna has amassed over 100,000 streams on Spotify, been placed on major playlists such as Spotify’s “Fresh Finds”, and solidified herself as the next big thing out of New York.

While Yianna’s tastefully powerful and utterly unique voice has always existed, being a platinum-selling pop star is a relatively new dream for the East Coast artist. Growing up in Edison New Jersey, Yianna was always an avid music fan but never sang much growing up due to her shyness. In an act of bravery, independence, and self-belief, Yianna moved herself to Brooklyn when she was 23 to dedicate herself to her craft and pursue music full time.

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On November 9th, 2018, the talented singer dropped her first single “Ordinary Love”. The song performed well and quickly began racking up streams and is currently at 63,000 plays on Spotify. Motivated by her first major taste of success, Yianna returned to the studio to continue doing what she was born to do.

While “Ordinary Love” is certainly a great song, her most recent release “Hard Pill to Swallow” is undoubtedly her most impressive offering to date. Through the verses, Yianna skillfully builds tension as she speaks on a toxic relationship that she knows must end. All tension is released in the beautiful, Billie Eilish-Esque chorus which seems to act as a metaphor for the hard moment when someone realizes they are going to need to let go of someone they love. The song is unbelievable and overly deserving of the 42,000 streams it’s racked up in just two weeks and all the major playlist placements it has already received. 

If you’re anything like me, after hitting play on one Yianna song you’ll be forced to cycle through her three cuts over and over again, but don’t let this deter you from becoming a fan, new music is on the way. The Brooklyn vocalist plans on releasing a new single before the end of August and then beginning her new projects rollout four to five weeks after.

After hearing “Hard Pill to Swallow” it was obvious to me that Yianna is special and her rise to stardom is inevitable. Last week I had the pleasure of chopping it up with the soulful singer talking about everything from toxic relationships to her upcoming project. My conversation with Yianna, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below:

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Spencer Lobdell, StereoVision (SL): Last November you dropped your debut single “Ordinary Love”, how did it feel to finally have music out that you could point people towards?

Yianna (Y): It felt amazing. When I told people I was a singer they always wanted to hear something and it sucked not having anything to play them.

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SL: The song is up to 61,000 plays and that’s only on Spotify. What did you do to get “Ordinary Love” exposure and what methods were the most successful?

Y: Basically, me and my management team just sent it around to a lot of different people. The song ended up getting placed on one official Spotify playlist and a bunch of smaller playlists, that defiantly helped.

SL: saw that UK-based producer Dillistone did a remix of “Ordinary Love”. How did that come about?

Y: It’s funny because I’ve actually listened to his music for years so when a member of my management team said that his friend Dillistone wanted to remix the song I was super excited. His remix defiantly changes the vibe of the song in a cool way, now I have a version of the song for two different settings.

SL: Your growth and progression over just three songs is unbelievable and your newest song “Hard Pill to Swallow” sounds radio-ready. What inspired the new track?

Y: I wrote “Hard Pill to Swallow” the first time I in LA. It was then that I realized that there was someone in my life that I couldn’t keep there and it hurt. At its root, the song is about being infatuated with someone who is struggling with drug addiction and how hard that is. 

SL: You took to Twitter to talk about your upcoming project saying “it’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before.” What can fans expect and what makes it so different? 

Y: I really wanted to strip back the production on this next project. I used a lot more live instruments and was heavily influenced by 90s hip-hop and r&b while recording. I also think that lyrically this is probably the most honest and to-the-point I’ve ever been in my music.

SL: Majority of our readers are avid hip-hop fans. Could you ever see yourself collaborating with rap artists? If yes, who would you most want a verse from and why?

Y: Absolutely. That’s something I definitely look forward to doing in the future. I’m a huge hip-hop fan myself which makes the second part of that question nearly impossible. If I had to pick though, I’d probably say Kanye because who knows what he’d say on my track. Huge wild card. That recording process would be insane as well.

SL: Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

Y: My inspirations come from all over the place. Right now I’m all about the 90’s so I’ve been super inspired by like Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, and Alanis Morissette, but really my inspiration comes from every era of every genre. If it feels good to me, then I’m into it.

SL: Do you have any advice for young artists just starting their musical journey?

Y: Don’t be afraid to do weird things. If it makes you uneasy, then that’s probably good. Take risks. Remember that your career isn’t defined on one song, so if people don’t like one of your tracks, don’t take it to heart. Write and release a new one. But most importantly, never give up. If you want to do this for real, you have to understand that is will be extremely difficult and you gotta stick with it and try to get better every step of the way.

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After a Three Year Hiatus, Chance the Rapper Drops His Highly Anticipated Debut Album "The Big Day"

By Miles Hagan

The big day officially came and went. Fans of Chance the Rapper and general hip hop listeners alike have been patiently waiting for the release of the Chicago native’s debut studio album since he came onto the scene back in 2012. Starting off as a teenager suspended from highschool, he is now seen as one of the biggest influencers in music today. It seems like Chance at this point has this whole life thing figured out. You would be hard-pressed to find any random person on the street who has an issue with who he is as a person. That being said musically he hasn't always been able to hit the mark. Since the release of his previous mixtape Coloring Book, he hasn't been able to really impress with any of the singles he has put out. With this being said, Chano deserved the benefit of the doubt because he has proven to us for three straight mixtapes that he can make great music. He waited patiently to call one of his bodies of work an album and finally seems proud enough with this collection of songs to give it that title. With expectations at an all-time high, the hip-hop community held their breath on July 18th anxiously awaiting the big day.

A sure strength of The Big Day is its sonic quality meaning regardless of how each beat sounds or what Chance is rapping about, everything is mixed and mastered very well. While this may not seem like a huge feat, in an era where artists feel pressured to rush out projects before they are fully ready it is encouraging to see one of the bigger names in the game be so meticulous with his craft. Aside from this though The Big Day leaves the audience asking a lot of questions. Chance still knows how to spit 1000%. Someone doesn't just forget how to rap, and there are moments on The Big Day where Chance shows that he can do something that others simply can’t. 

As he has on every other body of work of his, Chano gives us a compelling opener. It is light-hearted and chance displays his versatility with flows and even his improved singing voice on “All Day Long”. His vocals are one of the most obvious signs of growth for Chance on this album and alow his melodies to hold their own on a lot of the tracks even with features. “We Go High” is one of the best moments on the entire album. Chance gives us a glimpse of the young kid we remember. He talks to us about some of his shortcomings and the things that he is currently struggling with. He sounds introspective and it seems like there might really be something for us to take away here. 

The Big Day’s greatest weakness might be the expectations set before the project came out. Everyone who enjoyed all of Chance’s previous work expected his debut album to be his best release thus far. It has just felt like for years he waited to put the title of “album” on any of his work leading us to believe his first studio record would be near-perfect and ultimately important and a track like “Hot Shower” just doesn’t fit this description. It is too big of a moment for Chance and when he does things like this it shows why people are so worried about his future. Sure the track along with many others like it is very fun (and will be a hit on social media platforms), but this is supposed to be the most important project of his career thus far. There are numerous moments like this littered throughout the project where a lister could be left asking themselves what was the purpose. This is troubling in a time where it seems like the need for conceptual lyrics is at an all-time low. 

Even the title track of the album just seems like a complete mess of a song. On “The Big Day” Chance and Francis and the lights just tell us the only way to survive is to go crazy, which is interesting given how safe the album really was as a whole. He eventually begins to yell for a whole verse attempting to show that he really will “go crazy”, but it is just more confusing than insane. It really just seems as if he was struggling with relevant content on this project, because what is supposed to be the message we get from a track like that.

Another factor that really works against Chance on The Big Day is the project's length. 22 songs is quite a bit, and it is very difficult to come up with 22 cohesive and necessary tracks. So by the time we reach songs like “Get a Bag” and “Slide Around” the project feels like it's dragging. One would think that the feature on each of these songs would help create a switch of pace, but they, like Chance, fail to present us with anything that can't be fully understood at face value on first listen. 

It is important to mention something that all listeners should understand. These artists are regular people. They evolve, change, and grow just as we do. That being said it can be frustrating for them when we as listeners say that we “miss the old them” because no one is the same person they were a year ago. Who knows what Chance's mental state was when he made Acid Rap or 10 Day. Though up to this point those are seen as his best bodies of work he has said himself he was in a much darker place. All music aside, no one can deny that chance is doing well now and has used his platform up to this point to promote a lot of positivity in many different communities. It just so happens that his music seems to be the only thing that suffered in the process. 

With his first two projects, Chance was able to capture what it feels like to be a young adult in this world. Youth is confusing and scary, yet at the same time when we are able to capture those few moments with those, we love it makes it all worth it. We will make mistakes, we will lose people along the way, but it is part of what prepares us for the next steps in our journey. Chance was the voice of the youth because a lot of us could relate to almost everything he was thinking and rapping. All of that is gone. As a listener, I just simply was uninterested in a lot of what Chance was saying. The message was positive which is a great thing that we may need more of in rap music, but that isn’t enough. There was no edge. What was supposed to be the takeaway from this?

Favorite Tracks:

All Day Long (Feat. John Legend)

We Go High

Get A Bag (Feat. Calboy)

Rating: 4

Listen to The Big Day here:

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Ybn Cordae Paints a Self-Portrait on His Cohesive Debut Album “The Lost Boy”

The 21-year-old rapper was called “The Chosen One” and “Savior of Rap” before his debut album was even announced. Now The Lost Boy has finally arrived with hopes of validating the lofty claims.

By Spencer Lobdell

North Carolina rapper YBN Cordae has been making waves ever since he burst onto the scene in May of 2018 when he remixed J. Cole “1985”. His song, titled “Old Niggas”, responded to the veteran spitter by defending his generation of artists while simultaneously showing that his style aligned more with the emcees he was confronting rather than those he was defending.

Cordae impressed us next upon the release of his group collaborative mixtape YBN: The Mixtape. While the groups most famous rapper was the “Rubbing Off The Paint” sensation, YBN Nahmir, the mixtape rebranded the group as a three-headed-monster with Cordae leading the charge. Solo cuts like “Target”, “Alaska”, and “Kung Fu” assured us that Cordae would last for more than fifteen minutes and increased excitement for a solo project.

Cordae’s name continued to rise as he killed one radio freestyle after another, was placed on XXL’s 2019 freshman list, and received cosigns and guest appearances from industry giants like Dr. Dre, J. Cole, Anderson .Paak, and many others. Last April, to the excitement of his fans, the young rapper took to Twitter to announce his debut album as well as a summer tour that would take place prior to the albums releasee. As Cordae’s buzz got larger, so did the expectations for The Lost Boy. Excellent performances at the BET awards and on Jimmy Fallon was the cherry on top and left the entire rap community wondering a common question: “Can YBN Cordae deliver?”

Last Friday, July 26th, the young emcee finally dropped his debut album The Lost Boy. The tape has fifteen songs and runs for 45 minutes. The album was released under Atlantic Records and boasts impressive features from Chance The Rapper, Anderson .Paak, Pusha T, and Meek Mill.

The album opens with the smooth “Wintertime” which sets the tone for what to expect on The Lost Boy: clever bars, impressive flows, reflective lyrics, and soulful sampled instrumentals.

The second song on The Lost Boy is the first single Cordae released off the album, “Have Mercy”. On the upbeat bop, Cordae flexes a plethora of different flows and some of the cleverest bars we’ve heard this year (“Why cry over spilled milk if you still feel I’m the real deal?
/My bitch bad with no ill-will ‘cause she’ll murk a nigga like Kill Bill
/Loose lips sink ships, Cam’ron pink drip, that is my fashion/
I’m not really with the high flashin’, it’s no helpin’ with my braggin’”). This song also seems to act as the thesis for this album. Cordae can feel that his stock is rising and he is going to be very successful, he’s just praying he’s going about it the right way.

Don’t get fooled by the title of the third song, “Sweet Lawd - Skit” is far more than a skit. The one-minute “Have Mercy” gospel reprise is a perfect way to transition from the upbeat hit back to the soothing relaxed rap that is present on the majority of the project.

Cordae wears his influences on his sleeve with Chance The Rapper being one of the most obvious. This is why “Bad Idea” which features Chance feels so at home on this album. The instrumental is simple with a laid-back piano and some nice vocal harmonies leaving plenty of room for Cordae and Chance to spit some sunny Sunday raps. Chance steals the show with his excellent acid-rap reminiscent second verse.

Chance The Rapper’s influence on The Lost Boy might only be overshadowed by an apparent Kanye West influence that makes itself known on the fifth cut “Thanksgiving”. The song sounds like it could’ve made one of Ye’s first two albums and Cordae is so descriptive that you feel like you’re sitting at the table with YBN asking auntie Cordae to pass the honey baked ham.

The sixth track “RNP” is easily one of the most fun moments on the album. Anderson .Paak brings joy everywhere he goes with his iconic voice and infectious vocal inflections and ad-libs. Both emcees sound amazing over the wide-open instrumental crafted by J. Cole and the back and forth on the second verse is undeniably entertaining.

Cordae turns the heat up to 100 for the seventh song “Broke As Fuck”. The North Carolina rapper opens up and speaks on his hardest days, such as the day his grandma died, the day his cousin was shot, and every day in between when he had no money. The announcement that his frequently aforementioned grandma died at 62 is shocking and hard to stomach after hearing how much she meant to Cordae on “Thanksgiving”. The first two minutes of the song showcases Cordae’s impressive flow and lyrics over a high-energy beat. After two-minutes of in-your-face energy, the beat calms down and the song dives into a melancholy interlude that then transitions into a soulful sampled instrumental that is more in-line with the rest of the album. Cordae reminiscing on listening to “No Problems” in the first verse doesn't only speak to the obvious Chance influence but also reminds us of the articulate emcee’s young age.

“Thousand Words” follows and dives into the topic of social media and its pros and cons. Naming a anti-social media song “Thousand Words” is the exact kind of clever song concepts that I was hoping for when I hit play on The Lost Boy. Cordae makes some convincing points about social media and will have most listeners rethinking how they use Instagram.

On “Way Back Home” Cordae showcases his versatility by introducing us to his smooth singing voice that is an excellent contrast to his classic style of rapping. Everything about this song is relaxing and is the kind of track I’d blast when I’m in desperate need of some de-stressing. Ty Dolla $ign pulls up for the second voice and adds to the chill energy of the ninth track.

One of the most impressive things about The Lost Boy is how Cordae was able to get the absolute best out of an elite group of features. While every single A-List emcee Cordae called upon answered and came with heat, Pusha T just might outshine all the other bright lights on this album. His second verse about his come up is laced with classic cocaine bars he’s become known for and drenched in his patented King Push swagger. Both rappers pull back the curtain on the origin of their rap career and how they developed over their younger years rapping.

Cordae spins Kanye West’s “Family Matters” for the following track with the same name and it gets personal. Cordae’s pain is palpable and you can hear how hard it is for him except the fact that these tragic family conflicts and issues are still occurring even though he is now a popping rapper chasing his dreams. 

The second to last song “We Gon Make It” features Meek Mill and is the most powerful song on the album. Meek delivers with a catchy hook and an excellent verse while validating the song's message of social reform and hope simply by rapping on it. From Cordae’s first bar (“I know how it feels in the late night/swimming with the great whites”) his tone and lyrics hold a certain weight and importance to them which is an early sign of greatness. While almost always extremely humble, Cordae isn’t oblivious to his potential greatness either. On the third verse, Cordae says he’s “Savior of this rap shit, the leader of the renaissance” and at this point in the album, it’s hard to argue with him.

YBN Cordae has finally arrived. The Lost Boy is reflective and polished and exactly the kind of debut the young emcee needed to promise longevity in the rap game. While the entire album is strong, the back half is exceptional making The Lost Boy an extremely captivating listen that only gets better over the course of the 45-minute run time.

Cordae is so impressive because even when his intention for a song is streams and radio play (Have Mercy, Broke As Fuck, etc.) he refuses to compromise his message. Every song is substance-rich and Cordae never raps without meaning behind his bars. Whether it’s asking God to lead him on the right path and referencing Mike Tyson as a symbol of resiliency on the radio-friendly “Have Mercy” or telling the most vivid and heartbreaking stories on the rap-caviar-ready “Broke As Fuck”, Cordae refuses to rap without purpose.

Another serious strength of The Lost Boy is its undeniable cohesion. The project flows beautifully and Cordae sticks to themes of coming of age, the importance of family, and a passion for rapping throughout the entire album. While the instrumentals all deviate greatly in tempo and tone, they all seem to co-exist in the same universe and have specific traits that marry them together. Keeping a narrow lens on a specific thesis throughout an entire album is an art form that is all but lost in 2019, so to hear Cordae execute this feat precisely is just another reason to buy in and ante up on the young rapper.

YBN Cordae’s debut album didn’t come without faults such as the occasional corny bar, but the bad was far overshadowed by the good. One could complain that Cordae is too obvious about his musical influences but I don’t think this is the case. Sonically, he is as Chicago as it gets and totes a heavy Chance/Kanye influence but when this mixes with his North Carolina memories and slight southern drawl it makes for a unique style that I find refreshing and unique from his contemporaries and influences. All-in-all, The Lost Boy is smoothly polished, delivered tastefully, and packed with substance making it one of the stronger releases of 2019. Wherever Cordae chooses to go next, I will happily follow.

Favorite tracks:

RNP (Feat. Anderson .Paak)

Way Back Home (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)

We Gon Make It (Feat. Meek Mill)

Rating: 8

Listen to The Lost Boy here:

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Rich Brian’s Unique Journey to Stardom Becomes His Greatest Strength on His Fascinating New Release, “The Sailor”

By Owen Tait

Indonesian rapper Brian Immanuel, more commonly known as Rich Brian, possesses a success story that is unique to say the least. The young sensation grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, and, as he mentions a few times on his latest record, was home-schooled his entire childhood. In his teenage years, he became very active on social media, taking a strong interest in YouTube and rap music; astonishingly, he used these platforms to teach himself English.

Brian first made waves in 2016 with the release of his first single “Dat $tick,” which went viral on YouTube in the following months, raking in millions of views. The track, which featured monstrous 808 drums, droning plucks, and a deep, monotone vocal performance from Brian himself, was clearly influenced by trap and Chicago drill music. His following singles “Who Dat Be” and “Seventeen” only solidified this sound, and his 2018 debut Amen ventured further into trap territory, boasting nocturnal bangers such as “Chaos” and “Occupied,” as well as features from Offset and fellow 88rising signee Joji. After the release of Amen, which received generally positive reviews, Brian stepped away from recording music (apart from the handful of verses he contributed to the 88rising collaborative project Head in the Clouds).

As someone who has followed Brian’s artistic growth since the days he donned a less graceful name, even I wasn’t ready for the stunning single/music video combination he dropped in late June. “Yellow,” featuring production and additional vocals from New York producer Bēkon, was a haunting, cinematic journey into Rich Brian’s battles with self-doubt, relevancy, and most importantly, the implicit bias many people may hold against his music due to his Indonesian ethnicity. 

The track’s paranoia-consumed hook featured beautiful harmonies sung by Brian himself, a talent that he hadn’t so much as teased in his past efforts. Even more baffling was the fact that he sang his way through the majority of one of his verses as well. Drill and mainstream trap influences from Brian’s early career were replaced with lush soundscapes of elaborate pianos and sweeping strings. A second single titled “Kids” premiered a week prior to the album’s release—I skipped over it as to not spoil too much from the album.

This brings us to the release date. 12 tracks. 44 minutes on the dot. The Sailor was released under 88rising, and the majority of the album’s production was handled by Bēkon, the same producer behind “Yellow.” 

The project wastes no time getting started with the title track. The muffled vocals in the track’s intro quickly break into a chopped sample backed by a boom-bap beat. Brian destroys a cypher-style verse that introduces a plethora of new subjects on his agenda, including a line that references his year-long hiatus: “I haven't dropped a thing in months, so what does that make me?” The song then breaks into an anecdote where Rich Brian relays a fictional encounter with a philosophical young girl. It’s an intriguing story, but it reeks of “BLOOD,” the opening track off of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. 

Luckily, Brian quickly shakes off his transparent influences with “Rapapapa,” a lowkey banger that would fit nicely into any kickback playlist. The hook is playful, and the verses are littered with cheeky bars about Brian’s sexual exploits. The RZA feature that takes up the last leg of the track is phenomenal, as it discusses the importance of cultural identity and perseverance. However, due to the rest of the song’s laid back nature, I feel that this piece would’ve been more impactful if placed at the end of a deeper cut such as “Yellow” or the title track.

“Kids” is a triumphant victory lap about success and believing in yourself. Above vibrant horns and a stadium-caliber boom-bap beat lies Brian’s most electrifying rap performance on the entire album; his flows are precise, every line is captivating, and the bar where he mentions having a “whole country of people proud” is undeniably badass.

“Drive Safe,” a serene ballad about wishing for more time with the people you love, is easily the most heartfelt moment on the project. Brian’s singing and lyrics are at their most vulnerable, and the gentle guitar that accompanies his vocals is heart-warming. Furthermore, the strings that saturate the back end of the track are absolutely stunning.

While some of the songs that permeate the middle of the record leave much to be desired (namely “Confetti” and “Vacant”), the tracklist picks back up with “100 Degrees,” a sudden detour into pop-rap, as well as an easy contender for feel-good song of the summer. Typically, a song this blatantly radio-friendly would get on my nerves, but given that you can physically hear the joy in Brian’s voice on the hook, his genuine happiness becomes contagious. It’s super fun, and it’s super catchy. 

“Curious,” the penultimate song on the record, is certainly a bold moment, as it sees Brian taking a four-minute slot to simply reflect on his life over a lone ukulele and some strings. No hook. Minimal percussion. Against all odds, it works—mainly due to Brian’s candid stream of consciousness from topic to topic. He addresses missing his family, his childhood, his social life, struggling with stardom, and even the habits he had to let go of along the way. The song manages to fulfill the criteria of a character study and a cohesive recollection of Brian’s personal history all in one go, and it made me realize something very special about the project as a whole:

If anything, The Sailor is genuine. Rich Brian’s honesty about adjusting to life & fame in the United States is his greatest strength on this album, and it’s part of the reason it's so satisfying to listen to. He certainly has social confidence (as stated on numerous tracks here), but he also admits to dealing with many insecurities about his importance, how others view him, and living in a new country, topics that many people can relate to. When he raps about inspiring people back home, it isn’t shallow or patronizing. Brian genuinely wants people to be able to do what he has done; “Everyone can make it, don't matter where you from” is only the beginning of his message.

The album does have a few faults, but none of them are consistent enough to drastically affect the album’s quality. A couple of the hooks are lackluster or awkwardly placed into the song structure, such is the case on the aforementioned “Vacant.” There are also a few cringe-worthy bars here and there, but nothing horrible enough to make you pause a track in disbelief. Bēkon’s production on the album is quality across the board, as he creates more extravagant and complex sounds than those present on Brian’s previous outings. The sudden beat switches on “No Worries” and “Slow Down Turbo” had me jumping out of my seat in exhilaration, while the more elegant cuts such as “Where Does The Time Go” would be the perfect backdrop for a breathtaking fireworks show, not to mention that Joji’s soft vocals are a beautiful finish to the album.

Overall, The Sailor is a welcome maturation of Rich Brian’s sound, and his story of success from across the sea is one that I’ll continue to root for. As of now, he’s in clear waters, and if he stays on this course, I can only imagine how much better his work will become.

Favorite Tracks:

Kids

Drive Safe

100 Degrees

Rating: 8

Listen to The Sailor here:

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Blood Orange Masters His Artistry on His Newest Mixtape, “Angel's Pulse”

By Kaila Cherry

Dev Hynes, the man behind Blood Orange

Dev Hynes has truly come into himself as an artist over the past year. Known by most as “Blood Orange,” Hynes has been active in the music scene for fifteen years as a singer, songwriter, and producer. Over the length of his career, Hynes has pushed the conventions of a number of genres. In a single Blood Orange project, one can expect to hear hints of hip hop, R&B, jazz, electronica, soul, funk, pop, and alternative. Hynes blends these influences together with ease, creating tracks and projects that sound perpetually dreamy and fantastical. His voice is soft and husky, lulling the listener into an immediate state of comfort. His lyrics are poetic and personal as they connect to his experience as a queer black man learning to navigate within structures that refuse to acknowledge or validate the multiplicity of his identity. 

Although Blood Orange had several full length albums under his belt, it was not until the release of his fourth studio project Negro Swan in 2018 that Hynes started to see success outside of the scope of the alternative scene. With features from legends such as Puff Daddy and Project Pat and more contemporary artists like A$AP Rocky and Steve Lacy, Negro Swan reached the ears of many listeners who knew nothing about  Blood Orange prior to hearing “Chewing Gum” or “Characol Baby” for the first time. Hynes describes the project as “an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of color.” This concept is reinforced through heavier tracks such as “Take Your Time” and “Dagenham Dream.” Negro Swan demonstrates Hynes’ power as a musician because he is able perfectly convey the complexity of human emotion through every facet of a song, from his artful lyrics to his seamless production.  Dev Hynes does not compromise when it comes to his art. His music does not exist simply for consumption. It exists for the purpose of interaction. 

Nearly a year after the release of Negro Swan, Blood Orange dropped his most recent project entitled Angel’s Pulse. Despite having a fourteen song tracklist and a 32 minute runtime, Hynes classifies Angel’s Pulse as a mixtape. Furthur discussing the context of the project, Hynes frames Angel’s Pulse as an “epolouge” to Negro Swan, an “almost stream-of-consciousness diary entry” of sorts. Angel’s Pulse works as confessional for Hynes as he takes the listener on a journey through his psyche. We as listeners are encouraged to navigate the landscape of love, longing, loss, and grief with Hynes throughout the duration of the tape. 

Dev Hynes opens himself up to us and invites us into his world immediately on Angel’s Pulse with the track “I Wanna C U.” It is a subdued track, only running for a little over a minute before going into the next song. Yet within that minute Hynes’ synthy guitar melody, subdued drum progression and soothing harmonies lodge themselves into the ear and refuse to leave. The track is simple and catchy but it does not lack depth. The single verse in the song describes mental anguish in a physical way, with Hynes’ brain “running” constantly. He overthinks and he ruminates on a great many things, several of which are revealed as the mixtape progresses. On “I Wanna C U,” this rumination takes on the form of repetition with the chorus “I wanna C U/ And keep it in your home.” 

The sentiment of wanting to be seen to find solace within both oneself and others is a theme that is explored throughout the course of Angel’s Pulse. On the track “Dark and Handsome” featuring synth pop artist Toro y Moi is a meditation on loss and how Hynes has chosen to grapple with it. He refers to deaths of his close friends Sam Merhan and Mac Miller that occurred the year before with the lyric “Cryin' for the ones I lost in '18 ('18)” He also sings of using luxury as a means of deflection away from the fragility of his mental state, encapsulated by the lyrics, “I've been known to hide within my own walls (Own walls)/ Jewelry in my ice so that I don't fall (Don't fall)/ Onto higher prices, and escape with (Escape with)/ All my ice intact, but who am I to kid?” Hynes blurs the line between singing and rapping with his quick delivery of the lyrics and the even quicker pace of the percussion that comes in about a third of the way throughout the track. 

The other two hip-hop tracks on Angel’s Pulse are “Gold Teeth” and “Seven Hours Part 1.” With verses from rap veterans Project Pat and Gangsta Boo, one could consider “Gold Teeth” to be abstracted and artistic interpretation of a traditional Three Six Mafia song. The refrain of “Gold Teeth” is taken from the 1999 Project Pat track “We’re Gonna Rumble.” Along with the sample, the song also utilizes the classic TR 808 drum patterns, rattling hi hats, and old school snares associated with the 90s Dirty South sound that Three Six Mafia embodied. Dev Hynes experiments with the form of a Three Six Mafia song by adding a melodic chorus sung by Tinashe and Hynes himself. He adds to the melody through his incorporation of the piano throughout the track. The piano shifts the attention away from the beat and the melody, a largely unconventional move for rap songs today. In contrast, “Seven Hours Part 1” is more overt in its hip hop basis. Performed by BennY RevivaL, “Seven Hours Part 1” draws the listener in with RevivaL’s quick, calculated flow and heavy emphasis on the snare in the instrumental. It is on tracks like these where Hynes takes a backseat vocally and lets his features shine. 

For those whose only exposure to Blood Orange is Negro Swan, the addition of indie pop and electronic tracks such as “Baby Florence (Figure)” and “Happiness” may come as a surprise. But for those who are familiar with Dev Hynes’s discography, these tracks are examples of the diversity of his musical influences and his ability to still draw inspiration for current projects from the ones he has already done. For example, the production and vocal performance on “Baby Florence (Figure)” could easily fit within the R&B and baroque pop sound of his third studio album Freetown Sound (2016). The new wave sound of “Happiness” could slip into the tracklist of Cupid Deluxe (2013). Although Hynes seems to have gotten the best public response towards his most hip hop, soul, and R&B inspired albums, this does not cause him to turn away from adding elements of electronica, pop, alternative, and rock into his music today. The use of these plethora of influences is what give Angel’s Pulse such a refreshing and unique sound unlike anything out right now. 

Left: Cupid Deluxe (2013), Right: Freetown Sound (2016)

The mark of Angel’s Pulse’s genius is seen through my struggle to encapsulate all this mixtape is into a single review. Dev Hynes’ newest project is just as funky as it is self reflexive, just as much as an easy listen as it an artistic text ready for analysis. Angel’s Pulse has so much to offer the listener sonically, lyrically, and thematically. It is a cliche, but this mixtape is one of those projects that you just need to hear for yourself in order to truly get a taste of what Dev Hynes has to offer. For those who liked Negro Swan, you will likely enjoy Angel’s Pulse just as much, if not more. If you liked both Negro Swan and Angel’s Pulse, I reccomend taking a closer look into the Blood Orange discography. There is an entire microcosm within the breadth of his work, a whole world to discover within his music. Angel’s Pulse is just another addition to the ever evolving musical, artistic, and personal sphere that is Dev Hynes. And perhaps with a listen, Angel’s Pulse can become part of your sphere as well. 

Favorite Tracks: 

Benzo

Good For You (feat. Justine Skye) 

Berlin (feat. Porches & Ian Isiah) 

Rating: 9 

Listen to Angel’s Pulse below: 

Angel's Pulse, an album by Blood Orange on Spotify

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