Track Fiction

It’s a big shame that people know SZA from her guest appearance on Rihanna’s “Consideration”, instead of the various contributions she’s made within the TDE camp or her EP “Z”. Those obsessed with SZA’s debut are those who didn’t really know the power of SZA’s artistry. However at the same time previous fans of SZA will be as surprised and obsessed with Ctrl for its incredible sounds and lyricism. I think this album is loved so much by people (beautiful black girls especially) because the lyrics speak to them and represent various situations they have found themselves in. Ctrl plays its part in explaining contemporary relationships and the emotions, that encompass these occurrences. I mean “Real Niggas don’t deserve pussy” I know so many girls were like:

This angle has guaranteed SZA commercial success and a cult following especially amongst the people that resonated with the contents of this album. It is important to remember that this album is a collection of SZA’s experiences and the music is represented in a way in which people can relate. If you’ve listened to SZA’s first project “Z” you would know that there was a variety of sounds. CTRL however doesn’t have this much variety. Not to say that all the songs sound the same, but there is an ongoing neo-soul, contemporary R&B sound going on. As a result of this the music on this album has much more direction and sense and the ongoing topic of love and relationships makes this one of the best pieces of work of this year so far. The intro “Supermodel” has a beautiful guitar instrumental and drum kit beat which sets the tone and mood for the music on the album. In comparison to “Z” which ranged from electropop sounds, to even indie rock. The music on this album is practically a live album, the instruments are so raw and evident which gives the album a much purer sound, the lack of studio influence for example auto-tune (or excessive use of) allows us to hear SZA’s vocals in its purest form. “Doves in the Wind” is an exclamation of sound and lyricism. The spacey instrumental and Kendrick’s appearance makes this one of the most interesting songs on this album. “Love Galore” (a fan favourite” which features Travis Scott (which I think is one of his best guest appearances on a song) has a sombre instrumental with typical R&B styled beat which you will recognise as you hear it. 

Everything about this album is just right and is perfect for a debut album. SZA has turned contemporary R&B into something that is enjoyable and relatable. The lyrics are so simple but so coherent which is something I don’t think a lot of artists have captured. For example the song “Garden (Say it Like Dat)”, takes the emotion of self-doubt and all the sweet nothings that are said within a relationship and turns this into a ballad of things in which I’m sure many woman feel, the sensitivity aspect of this song and other songs on the album is what has encouraged so many people to quote lyrics and follow it with “I felt that one”. Which I suppose when looking at the grand scheme of things is what music is really about. I can’t really fault this album, I love how all the songs flow with each other and how easy it is to resonate with SZA’s Lyrics. I look forward to hearing more from her.

Favourite Tracks: 

Love Galore

Doves In the Wind

Drew Barrymore

Prom

The Weekend 

Go Gina

Garden (Say It Like Dat)

Calvin Harris’ music at the very best is mediocre. However, his ability to get post-disco at the stage in which he has is a quality that must be admired. The post-disco sound in which he has pioneered has taken the U.K. by storm and has also had success in the U.S. His new album I believe is his attempt to appeal more to the current stage of music and deviate from his overly-predictable production style.

If I am honest the only thing that attracted me to Calvin Harris’ album was the feature list. I saw Schoolboy Q, Frank Ocean, Migos etc. and obviously this wasn’t a DJ Khaled ting. So I was intrigued to how these artists would sound on this style of music. From first hearing of the album, the features did not do bad at all. The music sounds as if Calvin Harris sat down the artists and actually told them what to do and how to go about using their styles to make the music. I mean Frank Ocean is usually found on mellow to sad tracks and his style of lyricism isn’t really one you’d find on a disco album. Nevertheless on the opening track “Slide” his style and vocals compliment the song quite well creating a fantastic opening to the album. Now hearing this I was anticipating the rest of the album to be a similar flavour and I must say Calvin Harris executed this nicely. The rest of the music on the album flows seamlessly. I feel this is the peak of his production and despite the very generic feature list, it works so well with the music, that Calvin Harris has to be recognised as a pioneer of this sound. People like Kaytranada must pay some homage to him. A song like “Feels” is one of the highlights on the album featuring Pharrell and Katy Perry which is a great combination. I feel like Pharrell had an influence on the production easily one of the highlights of this album for its danceable groove it really captures the disco/funk sounds quite well. The song “Rollin” easily has one of the best if not the best basslines of the album and Future and Khalid’s vocals work fantastically on the instrumental.

The Music has typical post-disco sounds. There is a variety of piano chords, upbeat rhythms and basslines and groovy sounds and effects. I’d expect nothing less of Calvin Harris but at the same time this album is probably the only album I’ve enjoyed from him since his Debut “I Created Disco”. His second album “Ready For The Weekend” annoyed me so much that I probably wouldn’t have listened to this album if it wasn’t for the feature list. But obviously since then Calvin Harris’ music has shifted between disco and pop or a combination of the 2. The music is enjoyable nevertheless and I’m sure it isn’t Calvin Harris’ intention to make an album that changes the equilibrium of disco music, I suppose Daft Punk did that with Random Access Memories a few years back. However, Calvin Harris has bought the best out of these artists in this album and showed their versatility. Young Thug’s verse on Heatstroke is incredible and even though I’m a Young Thug fan I didn’t know that he was this versatile, this song itself is good, the vocals from Ariana Grande and Pharrell work together like magic.

The album is good for what it is and it serves it purpose, but at the end of the day I have heard this type of music from Calvin before. The only difference is that there is direction in the music, whereas in Calvin Harris previous albums there was music to ensure top 40 success.  I suppose there is nothing wrong with that but for me that reduces credibility in terms of the type of artist he is or is aspiring to be. This album is above average at best, it isn’t genre defying and it won’t be the most memorable album in the grander scheme of things. But that doesn’t mean the music can’t be celebrated. You must also commend him on his combination of him being able to make whatever music he likes and still have guaranteed top 40 success. This album encapsulates that but the music is better than the topic 40 crap that he usually makes. As the album is vol.1 I hope this sound is perfected in the next vol.2 if there is one. Now despite how I may feel that this album is mediocre, it is easily Calvin’s best work but I would expect the next edition to be better.

Favourite Tracks

Slide

Heatstroke

Rollin

Feels

Courtesy of my friend’s free Tidal Trail, shout out to him.

The album is being hailed as one of Jay Z’s greats by an overly impressionable twitter. However, there is reason to think that and here are a few reasons why:

This album based on the lyrical matter alone, can be described as Jay-Z’s 808s and Heartbreak or Usher’s Confessions (within reason) in that we get a lot more insight into Jay-Z’s personal life. We hear references to the cheating scandal in which his missus was referring to in her album Lemonade. Even references to Beyoncé possibly having stillborn pregnancies due to his infidelity an extremely personal concept in which the average person wouldn’t reveal. References to his own mother’s sexuality, His children etc. The song “Kill Jay Z” which you can imagine must be something quite deep is the death of his alter ego, in this song you can hear the seriousness in his bars as he recites everything in which he wants to rid his life of. There is also reference to his relationship with Kanye despite that this hasn’t been confirmed but the emotion in Jay Z’s bars as he refers to this seems to say otherwise. This album wasn’t created to prove that “he’s still got it” he has done this numerous times, this album is his own therapy. This is the first album where we see Jay Z at his worst point, the music reflects the situations that he is in or got himself in and it shows that even Jay Z with all his success isn’t immune to feelings. In “4:44” for example, his reiteration of “I’m Sorry” on several topics doesn’t prove his legendary rap skills but despite this you’re still intrigued. Especially as it answers some of the questions about Lemonade. This song when you pay attention to the lyrics is disheartening, there has been so much Jay Z has done wrong and would’ve considered he would get through because of his age and success. The song shows that the Big Shawn Carter is still vulnerable.

The No I.D. partnership is indispensable. The production on this album is some of the best of Jay Z’s career. Every beat on this body of work is ridiculous. The music is just so well put together and as a result it appears as if Jay Z was going for classic sounding album. The samples are soulful and polished with heavy hitting bass hits. For example, the Fu-Gee-La sample of Moonlight was so perfectly executed with the beat No. I.D. put on it. I feel it is a beat that Nobody’s Smiling era Common would rap on. The “Kill Jay Z” beat is one of my most treasured beats for its unorthodox beat pattern and Jay Z’s rhythm. Lyrically it isn’t thought provoking but the beat makes you more intrigued and Jay Z is spitting out his soul on this song. If Jay Z put the same lyrics on another beat from a different time I probably wouldn’t appreciate the lyrics as much. The Story of O.J. is a more conventional beat with some phenomenal keys and chords, which are even chopped and displaced in different parts of the beat. The tight bass on the song and mood of the song again makes the lyrics more interesting than they actually are. This being said though there are some interesting concepts on this song. “4:44” is a highlight of production on this album. The way the introduction goes into the song and the beat reminds me of the same effect Lost in The World by Kanye has. The beat drops in such a way that makes you replay the song. Executed perfectly

The whole album is composed of 10 songs and around 35 minutes. Short and Sweet but doesn’t take away from the purpose of the album. Jay Z has said what he has needed to say and said it with a focus of having it resonate in the listeners mental capacity. The album does have some negatives however in that this isn’t a masterpiece when it comes to vocal ability. As coherent and enjoyable as the album is it still doesn’t capture the full scope of Jay -Z’s artistry. I also feel like there is a lot more that could have been covered when it came to various aspects of what had gone wrong in recent times. The chronological order of events isn’t really there and even if it is there isn’t anyway of knowing. There isn’t a concept to all the emotions that he is feeling just a collection of songs and emotions. Which isn’t a bad thing but could’ve made the album more coherent. Beyoncé’s Lemonade for example you could hear her go from angriness to sadness to forgiveness as the album progressed.

4:44 is a great album nevertheless, not much and not little at the same time. This album hands down has some of the best music of his career but there could have been more.  I believe it is a taster to a new type of music style from Jay Z and I look forward to hearing what else he has to say.

Favourite Tracks:

Kill Jay Z

The Story of OJ

Smile

4:44

Family Feud

Bam

Moonlight

My Man King Hov gets a 8/10

J Hus – Common Sense

Obviously, man like ‘hussla hailing from East London, London Borough of Newham, I will venture no more into man’s ends before it gets political, dropped his debut studio album. The streets have gone crazy, everyone has been waiting for this one and I’m very happy it’s dropped.

I would say that 2017 has been a breakthrough year so far for U.K artists and music. Stormzy released his debut GSAP earlier this year and it probably wasn’t what everyone was expecting based on how saturated the U.K. music scene is. J Hus on the other hand I would say dropped an album that I have expected but has done it so professionally that he has mastered his own unique style which makes this album exceed expectations. For example, the first track “Common Sense”, features a type of beat Rick Ross would use for his “Luxury Raps”. It’s different from the typical beats that Hus raps to but he makes the beat his own and still raps in his unique style. Afterwards we have the catchy and enjoyable song “Bouff Daddy”. This beat has an afro-swing* type beat and sound and you can’t beat the hook.

I also commend Hus’ versatility on this album. If you’ve been following Hus from “Dem Boy Paigons” you would know that Hus can make bangers. So, tracks like “Friendly” and “Did You See?” aren’t surprises in that department. Songs like “Leave Me” for example is one track that has stuck out to me, the beat, the flow and the hook is 10/10. I mean the “do do do do do” so simple but it works so well on this song. The song “Spirit”, if performed by any other artist I would probably dislike, but the way in which Hus composes himself on this song makes it feel like a vibe. The beat as well as basic as it is still bangs. This album has also shown that Hus has improved and defined his song writing abilities. In comparison to Hus’ mixtape “The 15th Day” back in 2015 he has defined every aspect of his musical abilities. His singing voice I would say is much better than a lot of the American artists that we listen to.

It is important to mention the producer responsible for most of the bangers on this album. Jae5 and Hus make undeniably one of the best partnerships of U.K. music. He is also responsible for the versatility on this album, ranging from trap to afrobeats. Despite him being practically the only producer on the album, every song sounds different which engages me and I’m sure engages other listeners and fans.

For a debut album, this is an amazing attempt, even though this album doesn’t have any concept or thought provoking lyrics. It doesn’t take away from the greatness of this album. There isn’t much I can say against this album. It exhibits Hus’ vocal and spitting abilities. The music on this album is engineered professionally and it is evident that a lot of time has gone into this project. I’m happy that Hus has “taken this music ting” seriously, especially because of all the madnesses that have been happening in ends and the amount of people determined to put an end to his shine. This album may not succeed in terms of commercial appeal but domestically this is one everyone from ends can be proud of.

Favourite Tracks:

Bouff Daddy

Leave Me

Clartin’

Fisherman

Good Time

Spirit

Mash Up

Good Luck Chale

Manaman like Hus gets a: 8/10

Unfortunately in this big big 2017, this retarded J.Cole and Kendrick comparison still exists. In my opinion it never needed to exist, but the timeline thinks differently... BUT DAMN is here to show everyone that Kendrick is one of the best to ever do it.

DAMN is stripped down in comparison to the rest of Kendrick’s Discography but don’t let this phase you. This album has some of the best music that he has produced.

The album starts off with BLOOD, an Uma Thurman Kill Bill type monologue (if you can call it that) which introduces the album. From the instrumental I was intrigued, a bit confused however intrigued nevertheless. The importance of the speech in this intro sets the mood of the album and if you have seen the track listing you will notice that they are all single words either adjectives or nouns which play hand in hand with the lyrical matter of each track

In terms of the music, I believe there is a trend in Kendrick’s sound, for example in GKMC, the music on this was practically Hip-Hop centric. Everything you’d expect from a Hip-Hop album in terms of sound. However, TPAB has a Jazz and “West Coast” G-funk sound. However, Damn is Kendrick’s most sonically powered work to date. The album differs so far from typical Hip-Hop but still encapsulates the genre. Damn prides itself on rock samples, some psychedelic and some alternative but Kendrick doesn’t sway far from the Hip-Hop sound with tracks like DNA and HUMBLE with beats that aren’t as cryptic as the other songs on this album. DAMN also shows the versatility of the producers on the album. MikeWILLMadeIt for example played a pinnacle role in the production of DNA, HUMBLE and XXX and these by far are some of his best beats. The beat switch on DNA had my face screwed beyond recognition. Madlib on DUCKWORTH proves his signature sound is relevant to Hip-Hop and the fact that 9th Wonder contributed to this beat made it all the better the two go hand in hand. PRIDE is probably my favourite song on the album, the psychedelic rock (I’m very fond of this genre) sound and Kendrick’s ability to make his voice match the mood and sound of the track is fantastic. LUST reminds me of something that could have been on Stankonia, the stripped beat but heavy hitting bass is something reminiscent of Organized Noize back in their prime, BADBADNOTGOD did a good job with the instrumental for this song. I think the most exciting song in terms of sound is XXX, it starts of with a soft sample and then a face-screwing beat, then into a N.W.A. F*** da Police type beat, then it transitions into U2’s soft rock. So many styles of music in one song and you’re comparing my man to J. Cole *kmt*. Rihanna must be commended on the track LOYALTY, her flow matches that of Kendrick’s in this track and as usual her vocals sound great. It was nice to hear some sort of rap on her part.

Damn is more striped down in terms of its lyrical matter. You don’t have to think too much about his lyrics and the order of the album in comparison to TPAB and GKMC. One thing that helps is the fact that the titles of the song are purely the focus and content of the song, for example FEAR, Kendrick literally talks about his fears, LUST, Kendrick refrains “LEETTT MEEE PUTT THE HEEEAADD INN” obviously man doesn’t need to explain that.  DAMN is probably the only Kendrick album where you don’t have to listen to it front to back before enjoying it properly and its good to see Kendrick going in this direction. Especially as people are lazy as f***. I mean “If I got to slap a pussy ass nigga, Imma make it look sexy” is most likely to resonate with the whole of twitter instead of the whole of TPAB despite that album being one of the best in Hip-Hop history.  

There isn’t a lot to say about DAMN. Apart from its fantastic structure, creative beats, amazing lyricism that is so easy to follow and understand. All of which I have grown to love about Kendrick Lamar and even since Section 80, he is still exciting. I personally believe he is in his own lane. DAMN compliments this and he will soon be recognised as one of the best of all time, well that is if he hasn’t been already.

Favourite Tracks:

DNA

ELEMENT

LOYALTY

PRIDE

FEEL

HUMBLE

XXX

FEAR

GOD

You see man like Stormzy yeah, my man is a household name in British music. If you’re from the U.K. you know who Stormzy is. Since “Shut Up” it is obvious that Stormzy has what it takes to be the pioneer in taking British Hip Hop and Grime forward. Gang Signs and Prayers enforces this statement however I want more.

One thing I appreciate is when an album’s title lives up to the tone of the music and Stormzy has accomplished this. This is very clear with the references to gang lifestyle and the Gospel tracks, tracks such as “Bad Boys” and “Return of the Rucksack” have various references to the lifestyle and the other songs such as “Blinded By Your Grace (Parts 1 and 2)” and “100 Bags” have references to God and prayers. This concept alone is good as in British Hip-Hop/Rap or Grime we don’t really have music which expresses emotion, we are much more captivated by the vocal skills of an artist or the beat in which they rap on. The last album to do so was probably Krept & Konan’s The Long Way Home in which various tracks spoke about the come up to stardom and various other things

In terms of the music of the album, I was surprised. This album is much better than I expected it to be. If I’m honest with you I expected an average vocal performance with references to gangs and how growing up in London is hard and I know Stormzy isn’t in the British trap bracket such as 67 or Reekz or EVERYONE IN LONDON, but I expected one or two tracks for commercial appeal.

However, I was granted with great beats and great execution of bars(z). For example, “Cold” with an explosive grime/trap beat with the signature grime trumpets (if you know you know). executed the screwface when I heard the beat and continue to do so every time I hear it. Other songs such as “First Things First”, “Mr. Skeng” and “Big For Your Boots” all have bass heavy beats which epitomises exactly what British Hip-Hop is about. The opposite tracks such as both parts to Blinded By Your Grace and Lay Me Down are where Stormzy’s storytelling abilities come into play. In these songs, we see a personal side to Stormzy which we haven’t seen before. Blinded By Your Grace part 2 for example shows Stormzy’s vocals. They may not be the best, but by any means they are not terrible and MNEK’s vocals back up Stormzy’s in the best way possible.

One thing I would say about the album though is despite how good it is I feel a sense of Cliché. The references to getting his mum out of the hood because of the amount of money he is making now, how he grew up on the roads and how someone close to him has died are all something that I have heard a lot about now. If Stormzy however didn’t execute these themes the way he did, this album would be boring and typical of U.K. artists. For example, in the song “Lay Me Down” we get an insight into Stomzy’s family life, the emotion delivered with his bars is completely heartfelt. The execution of this song is certain to resonate with those who are in a similar situation. It is also important to mention the influence of the Crazy Titch skit. In case you don’t know Crazy Titch is one of the founders of grime, currently serving a life sentence for a murder, he still is important to the development of grime even behind bars. So for some of you who may not understand why this is a part of the album, I felt it was necessary to explain.

Gang Signs and Prayers is a landmark in British Hip-Hop/Rap and grime. Stormzy has shown a side of him that not many people would’ve known before listening to this album. I really enjoy this album but I want to hear more from him because I believe he has a lot to offer.

Final Rating: 7/10

Best Tracks:

Cold

Bad Boys

Blinded By Your Grace Pt.2

First Things First

Mr Skeng

Lupe Fiasco needs no introduction, nor does he need any explanation. However, I’m removing the high status and regard I hold for him since listening to this album, I do this because I’m very disappointed.

Lupe made a name for himself with his Food and Liquor album and The Cool. The conceptual themes and insights made Lupe’s music more enjoyable and different from the typical “Gangsta” rap in which we listen to all the time. Since those particular albums it’s distressing to say that Lupe has taken a turn for the worst in terms of his music and Drogas Light doesn’t help this either.

To get into this, to be honest I don’t even want to but I wouldn’t be doing the world justice if I didn’t give my opinion. I wouldn’t say this album is trash because nothing is trash (within reason and exploration of different styles of music of course) anyway however I am extremely disappointed. Tetsuo and Youth which was his last album before the release of this one was great, I felt that Lupe found his style of music once again and we therefore would continue to see his music get better… I was wrong.

Anyone who is a Lupe Fiasco fan I believe would agree that Lasers is his worst album. Why am I listening to elements of that album on this one, one that everyone bashed, one that him, HISELF stated was subpar, one that got rated under 60 on Metacritic. WHY AM I HEARING ELEMENTS OF THIS?

My favourite track on this album is the intro, the flipping intro based completely on the explosive bass hits and catchy but stupid refrain. Another song I am fond of is ‘Kill’ the smooth vocals by Ty Dolla $ign and Victoria Monet compliments the soulful type melody which the track sits on, then it’s ruined by some uppity type Chance the Rapper type gospel rubbish. Just when you think that the album could get better something just ruins it.

The reason why the album is so abysmal is due to the boring trap tracks in which was never his style, however I would say the song ‘Chopper’ on his last album was executed correctly this being said the song wouldn’t have had the same effect if the various features weren’t involved. The corny (extremely corny) top-40 type pop tunes that I despite my hatred of the top-40 wouldn’t consider putting there. What is Lupe thinking? He even stated that he left Atlantic based on the lack of creative freedom on his last album, however having left he is doing the work of Lasers despite having full creative freedom????

The last 3 tracks on this album are a complete write-off, for example the song “More Than My Heart” a sweet but disastrously corny song about his mother, fantastic message… Bad execution, Wild Child? The first 5 seconds. No.

I’m just unaware and confused as to why this album is the way it is, his long term producers such as Soundtrakk and B-Sides played a vital part in the album’s production and is still an average to below average to say the least. This review seems extremely negative but this is based completely on the fact that Lupe has delivered much better before and you would believe at this stage of his career that he would’ve learnt from the mistakes of the game and we would grow with him and his music. Anyway hopefully Drogas (upcoming this year) is better than this.

Best Tracks:

Dopamine Lit (Intro)

Kill (feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Victoria Monet) [Until 5:50]

Sampha is one artist who I admire for a number of reasons, but the main one (forgive me for the cliché) is because he is so different. I honestly can’t think of anyone who I could compare his voice to. The rustic melodic stylings of his voice is unique in my opinion.

In terms of production, Sampha doesn’t disappoint and hasn’t ever to be honest, the work he’s done with SBTRKT proved this and his collaborations with the likes of Kanye, Solange and Drake project showed his talents. However when talking about this album it is clear to see the progression from his EP ‘Dual’ even though it is fair to say anyone who listened to this project was definitely captivated by the type of music he produced.

Now we have Process and I believe any fan isn’t disappointed. The album’s various themes, types of sounds and lyrics are fantastic to say the least and I haven’t stopped listening to it since it came out. An example of contrasting themes is the sounds between a track like Blood On Me and (No One Knows Me) Like the Piano. It’s great how Sampha can switch from heavy electronic music to acoustic/sing-songwriter music without it sounding out of place. The versatility throughout this album entices me also. There is always something to keep you interested.

I must praise Sampha’s lyricism also. With each track you can hear the emotion, when listening you can hear the pain, happiness or whatever emotion it is he is portraying. It is evident he put a lot of effort and thought when producing these lyrics. They match the production which was handled entirely by him and with interjections from his co-producer Rodaidh McDonald.

To conclude, the album’s various styles, themes and most importantly his vocal performances are fantastic and completely something I can’t fault, I find it hard to say anything bad about this album and we will find this in the shortlist of best albums of 2017 at the end of the year.

My man gets an 8/10

Highlights: 

Blood On Me

Plastic 100oC

Incomplete Kisses