It’s been like, 8 years since I’ve done this… But I wanted to take a quick break from “Damez” and revisit and revamp my “Kings List” series on my blog. This has honestly been a pretty rough year for me personally, but on the flip side — it’s also been a great year for music, both new releases and old discoveries. Take a look at the songs and albums I fell in love with this year.
Damn, indeed.
Rap phenomenon Kendrick Lamar released his third studio album titled DAMN. on April 14 under Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Following up behind his first two albums, 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly, DAMN. arrives without much promotion.
Arguably modern day hip-hop’s biggest star, Drake just gave his super-loyal fanbase a long-awaited treat by adding a new project to his so-far impressive catalog. More Life was released on March 28, 2017 by OVO Sound, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records. But this isn’t an album. This isn’t an EP, and this isn’t even a mixtape. It’s a “playlist,” or at least that’s what Drake is calling it.
Rap superstar Future is on a roll. First, he announces his eponymous fifth studio album, Future, on February 14, three days before it was released worldwide on February 17. Then, a few days later, on February 22, he announced another album. Now his sixth, HNDRXX was released on Friday, February 24, exactly one week after his previous album.
I’ve been trying for the past few days to think of another time in my life where I can remember feeling this proud of myself… I had been listening to, writing, and literally obsessed with music since I can remember. It was always a dream of mine to create a body of work and to put it out into the universe — something that could never be taken away from it.
When Atlanta-based rap-star group Migos released their ‘Culture’ album on Friday, it gave the city of Atlanta a feeling it hasn’t felt in a while, probably since Future dropped ‘DS2’ back in the summer of 2015. It was, and is, a feeling of pride, triumph, and relief.
So. What have you been listening to lately? 2017 has just kicked into gear (woop!), and while we’re awaiting some new releases, we’re still jamming out to some songs from 2016! Here’s a playlist featuring some of my favorite hip-hop songs from last year, in no particular order.
Yeah, I know, it's just like me to wait until literally the final few hours of the year to actually do this, but what better time than now? As we close out this year, I wanted to reflect a bit. 2013 has been a rather impressive year when it comes to the music that was released. From major comebacks to underground mixtapes to surprise albums, in no particular order, here are a few of my favorite releases this past year. (continued after the jump)
Wow, it seems like forever. I've finally returned to my blog, (I know, 6 months later) with yet another album review. Woop! It's actually an EP, by the way, one that I've been wanting to review for quite some time now. Looks like I've finally gotten around to it. Solange released her first EP and third overall project, entitled 'True', through Terrible Records back in November of last year, and I haven't gotten enough of it yet. Check out my review after the jump.
It's been a minute since I've had the motivation to write. Don't get me wrong, I have the urge almost everyday, but just no motivation. Finally, I had the idea of starting to do album reviews. Why, you ask? Well, a couple of reasons actually: it's good practice (or practice, nonetheless) and it's inspired by my most prevalent passion — music. I chose to kick off my album review posts with Lana Del Rey's major label debut 'Born To Die.'
Check it out after the jump...
A mixture of triumph and anger sparked through my mind on today. Last night I read an open letter published by singer/songwriter Frank Ocean on his Tumblr page. The letter, written back in December, disclosed some very personal details about a past lover, which happened to be of the same sex. Of course, this stirred a media frenzy unlike any other and the responses to such news were quite interesting to read.
Peep my analysis after the jump.
For anyone reading this, I just wanna say thank u. I very randomly had the urge to write this blog post, so here it goes…