Marcel Friday

Social Media Manager Creative & Social Strategist Journalist

Category: <span>Album Reviews</span>

2 Chainz

ALBUM REVIEW: 2 Chainz – Daniel Son; Necklace Don

by

Updated: December 12, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 8/21/2016
Rating: 2.9/5

For 2 Chainz, the past few years have been spent trying to keep up with the buzz and success that 2011 garnered him with his T.R.U. REALigion mixtape and his 2012 debut album Based on a T.R.U. Story. His sophomore album B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time peaked at #3 on the charts but fell way short of the impact his previous efforts made. After a series of swings and misses including ColleGrove, his joint album with Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz is back with his latest offering Daniel Son; Necklace Don.

As you can imagine by the name of the project, the direction and theme borrow influences from The Karate Kid. The tape opens with an offensive Asian accent complete with live action karate sounds to bring the accompanying, stereotypical artwork full circle. Mr. Hair Weave Killer continues the oriental trend with “Get Out the Bed” as he combines hard hitting bass over a nostalgic, melodic soundbed akin to the 1987 Sega Genesis hit game, Shinobi. 2 Chainz The sounds of robust 808’s and the fawning over his codeine addiction highlight that he is certainly in his element.

Read More
EDM

ALBUM REVIEW: Prodigy – Untitled EDM EP

by

Updated: December 12, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 8/17/2016
Rating: 3.4/5

Prodigy has been delivering his special brand of trendsetting for the better part of 23 years. After a two-year hiatus, the Mobb Deep capo is back and pushing the boundaries on his music to places he has never previously been as his partner Havoc appeases longtime fans alongside The Alchemist. His latest extended player shows the Queensbridge MC painting his brash and braggadocios bars over a canvas of EDM and Dubstep.

The EP opens with “Black Panther,” a scratch-heavy and synth-driven Baauer soundbed. While Prodigy is known for his unorthodox approach to riding the beat, his flow comes off more jarring than usual as he delivers his street tested bars we’ve come to love him for. P holds his own, however, with his patented flavor in lines like, “Thought you getting over but I’m slicing faces open, thought they could get away with murder but the reaper coming/repeat the first two bars describe ‘em to a Tee, I keep my enemies far (get) the fuck away from me”.

Read More
Mafia

ALBUM REVIEW: Fredo Santana – Mafia

by

Updated: December 12, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 8/2/2016
Rating: 2.1/5

In a world where black men are continuing to become hashtags, be it over inner-city turmoil or police brutality, the increasing rise in this generation of rappers glorifying violence remains a conundrum. The modern-day ground zero for what ails the urban community, Chicago, has churned out some of rap’s most notorious trap rappers as of late. Fredo Santana is one of those rappers and as the older cousin of Chief Keef, Fredo takes his brash style of rap to the next level with Fredo Mafia.

Fredo is not the rapper you seek out for content, flexibility, or cleverness. With his ability to ride a beat resting somewhere between Silkk The Shocker and Talib Kweli, Fredo is not the MC you’d wish to listen to for technical ability either. Fredo’s appeal arrives in the form of how he paints the picture of the life he lives and the life of how we’ve come to expect those struggling in the streets of Chicago to live.

Read More
Jacqueees

ALBUM REVIEW: Birdman & Jacquees – Lost At Sea

by

Updated: December 11, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 7/21/2016
Rating: 2.4/5

Recent headlines haven’t been too kind to Birdman. From continued allegations of short-changing Lil Wayne to becoming a punchline after his Breakfast Club interview, the Stunna has been trapped in a revolving door of L’s. In between it all, the Cash Money capo has still been able to keep a pulse of today’s music scene with Young Thug and Rich Gang. And now with his latest protégé Jacquees, Baby is looking to shift the focus back to the music. Unfortunately, for him, rapping is still not his forte.

Lost At Sea opens up with “Wise Words”, an underwhelming, emotive soundbed chocked full of empty rhetoric and lackluster lyrics. Jacquees thoroughly disappoints with lines like “And I’m lost at sea on a yacht and plus my Rollie’s a pool/and then I stack my money longer than you.” 

Read More
Rich The Kid

ALBUM REVIEW: Rich The Kid & Famous Dex – Rich Forever II

by

Updated: December 12, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 6/12/2016
Rating: 2.6/5

Queens born, Atlanta raised MC Rich The Kid represents a new generation of rap in 2016. Signed to a collection of labels including Quality Control, the Lyor Cohen led 300 Entertainment, and his own Rich Forever imprint, Rich’s sound comes from the mold of his QC label-mates Migos. Rich Forever II, with his Rich Forever signee and Chicago MC Famous Dex, is Rich’s 15th mixtape since stepping on the scene in 2013—his 3rd in the past 4 months alone.

Rich Forever II opens with “Plug Callin,” an ode to Rich and Dex’s non-English connect over deep bass and a simple piano riff. Mixing trap rap with finesse, the two offer nothing of lyrical value other than flossing on record with bars like, “I’m rich forever, rock star chain heavy metal/rings on me, been the champ racks on me nigga limp.” The two follow the trend on the next track with the Wiz Khalfia-assisted “2 Times.” Not to ever be outdone on mediocrity, Wiz Khalifa claps back with humdrum delivery and uninspired bars, “Got a new bitch that I met only let me hit two times, kick a bitch right off the futon/I’m getting that bread like a crouton.”

Read More
RiFF RAFF

ALBUM REVIEW: RiFF RAFF – Peach Panther

by

Updated: December 11, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on 6/5/2016
Rating: 2.4/5

Houston rap spectacle RiFF RAFF has amassed a cult following over the years with his syrupy flow, and bigger than life high roller lifestyle. His fans literally risk death for a chance to jump on stage just to touch the hem of his shirt. However unexplainable the fanfare he has garnered is, RiFF RAFF continues to capitalize on it with his latest album, Peach Panther.

To the uninitiated and sober, RiFF RAFF is unadulterated static. Listening to his music is about as productive as tying string to cups and trying to make a long distance call to your childhood imaginary friend. His nonsensical simplicity is often insulting to a genre of music that was built on wordplay, metaphors, storytelling, and substance. For the record: Peach Panther offers none of those qualities.

Read More
Anti-Trap Music

ALBUM REVIEW: Horseshoe Gang – Anti-Trap Music

by

Updated: December 12, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 5/29/2016
Rating: 3.5/5

The quartet of Demetrius, Julius, Kenny, and Dice represent the last of a dying breed in Hip-Hop right now: the rap group. One listen to the Horseshoe Gang and you can hear why West Coast luminary KXNG Crooked took them under his wing. With their latest album Anti-Trap Music, they’re looking to show the game that there is something to be said for integrity.

Part of the appeal of West Coast Hip Hop is that it’s brash, in your face and to the point. The Crooked I featured intro shows just that as the first verse opens, “This ain’t trappin’, this is rappin’/if you the captain of the ship then we the Kraken”. Throughout proclamations of “We tryna make harder shit than N.W.A.”, the rap troupe hold their own as they bully the dark, pounding bass with their C.O.B. Leader.

Read More
M1

ALBUM REVIEW: M-1 & Bonnot – Between Me And The World

by

Updated: December 11, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 5/23/2016
Rating: 3.3/5

Inspired by famed black author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, the dead prez’s most outspoken member M-1 grabs his Italian tag team partner and producer for their second album together Between Me and the World. Sitting down with DX in February, M-1 described his process for the album having recording it in Italy at a time where America was dealing with the outcome of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray, “Soon there’s going to be a solution that was the same as it always was. People aren’t going to accept the same old conclusions about how we’re treated here and what justice really means.”

Built on a platform of black power and edutainment that dates back to 1996, Between Me and the World follows the script he and his group member stic.man created two decades ago. That familiarity serves as both comfort for a loyal fan base and as a hindrance for those who look for their artists to grow their style within the current climate. M-1, while always potent and poignant in his message, doesn’t quite hit the mark with the entertainment appeal.

Read More
Sincerely Collins

ALBUM REVIEW: Sincerely Collins – The Legend Of The Phoenix

by

Updated: December 11, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 5/17/2016
Rating: 4/5

“Destiny is a guess; a guess of what you know, what it knows about you and what it knows you would do. But then again, I might be wrong and destiny could be totally in control of you” the 9-year-old whiz kid questioned about the future confidently belts between tracks on Phoenix rapper Sincerely Collins’ latest album, The Legend of the Phoenix. For Sincerely, the parallels of destiny and his current trajectory are laid out for us as he wax poetics his autobiography over 16 beautifully produced tracks.

Opening the album is a news bulletin about a woman, Lisa Dianne Jameson, who left work one evening in 1991 and was never seen again. As listeners unpack the following track “Better Different Intro,” you come to find out that woman is Collins’ mother as he emotionally recalls, “I started from the bottom lost my mama at two, I was just a little shorty but that moment I knew/I was different I was different I ain’t one in the same, I was sad and I was lonely I was hoping for change.”

Read More
Freeway

ALBUM REVIEW: Freeway – Free Will

by

Updated: December 11, 2018

Leave a Comment 

Originally posted on HipHopDX 5/3/2016
Rating: 3.4/5

The diagnosis last fall has yet to slow the State Property Lieutenant General down. With his first solo studio release since 2012’s Diamond in the Ruff, Free aims to re-introduce himself with Free Will.

From the opening track, there’s a noticeable and refreshing change in Freeway’s vocal expression. One knock on Freeway from detractors was that his higher pitched, sing-song delivery wore thin after only a few tracks. Free Will displays a matured and refined flow that a 13-year veteran should have. Sonically, Free Will boasts some of the best and most complete production of Free’s career. S. Frank & Scholito, Pittsburgh mainstay Girl Talk, Tryfe, and L.E.S. & Chemist hold their own at providing a prodigious backdrop for a rap maestro accustomed to having Just Blaze, Jake One, Bink!, and Needlz behind the boards.

Read More

Copyright © 2024 · All Rights Reserved · Marcel Friday

Entertainer by Organic Themes · RSS Feed · Log in