Pusha T – My Name Is My Name (2013) – Review

Review: Pusha T, previously of the duo Clipse (everyone should listen to Hell Hath No Fury) with his brother No Malice, has garnered a ton of anticipation for his major label solo debut My Name Is My Name. Ramping up to this album, Pusha dropped the excellent mixtapes Fear of God and Wraith of Caine in addition to the EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, as well as some strong verses on G.O.O.D. Music’s Cruel Summer.

My Name Is My Name feels different than what fans have come to expect from most current mainstream hip hop. Much like Kanye West’s Yeezus, it is raw, angry, and biting. But unlike Yeezus, Pusha T’s flows and persona feels much more connected to the streets. He is known as the king of the coke-rap, and on My Name Is My Name Pusha spends a lot of time reflecting on his past slinging white. The album plays like testimonial – a man looking back on his past with mixed emotions. However, Pusha also announces himself as a force to be reckoned with in hip hop – and this album backs that up.

Musically, the album has a very dark, almost industrial, tone, which works very well with Pusha’s lyrics and delivery. Kanye West oversees much of the production, giving Pusha T wonderful and fresh beats – and he and the album really benefit. Pharrell Williams also supplies two tracks, one of which (Suicide) sounds like it is a throwback to Pusha’s Clipse sound.

The album is a sparse twelve tracks, but really would have been better and tighter if it were only ten. No Regrets and especially Let Me Love You are fairly weak, with the latter not even fitting the album at all. Also, My Name Is My Name is probably overcrowded with featured guests. However, unlike many recent hip hop albums, a few of the guests actual bring something to the record – namely: Kendrick Lamar, The-Dream, Future, and Rick Ross (though, it is kind of funny that on Hold On Pusha talks about rappers pretending to be hard, cut to: Ross going in on the track - a man whose whole persona is fabricated). It is surprising the Kanye West (though, he does have un-credited vocals on Hold On) and No Malice do not show up on the album with guest verses. Pusha has great chemistry with West (as heard on their multiple G.O.O.D. Music collaborations) and it just seems like a missed opportunity, given all the guests (did we really need verses from Jeezy, 2 Chainz, and/or Big Sean?).

My Name Is My Name is both fantastic and slightly disappointing (which is completely due to the two weaker tracks that could have easily been dropped). But Pusha T has certainly thrown his hat into the conversation for who are best MCs right now. This is a vital album, pulsing with coarse emotion and skill. 4/5

Essential Tracks:

1)      Nosetalgia – Produced by Kanye West and Nottz, featuring Kendrick Lamar

2)      Numbers on the Boards – Produced by Don Cannon and Kanye West

3)      King Push – Produced by Kanye West and Sebastian Sartor

Available on: Digital Download

Jay-Z – Magna Carta… Holy Grail (2013) – Review

Review: Magna Carta… Holy Grail is Jay-Z’s twelfth solo release and his first album since 2011’s collaboration with Kanye West Watch the Throne.

There is a lot to like about the record. Musically, it is lush and interesting – filled with first-class beats from the industry’s top producers (Timbaland and his partner Jroc handle most of the production on the album, but Pharrell, Mike Dean, Swizz Beatz, Mike Will Made It, Travi$ Scott, Hit-Boy, and Boi-1da among others also contribute). Lyrically, Shawn Carter seems somewhat engaged and still has a gifted flow. He mostly focuses on his wealth and the things it affords him (thus disconnecting him from most of his fans), but there are some more reflective moments as well (like the best track on the album Nickels and Dimes or Jay-Z Blue). Also, there are not a ton of features overpowering the album. Rick Ross is the only rapper to be given a proper guest verse, and the other featured artists all bring something to the record. All in all, it is very much a typical Jay-Z album. Not his best work, but a solid outing.

Magna Carta Holy Grail is also significant due to its unusual release. Jay-Z made an exclusive deal with Samsung who bought one million copies to give to their customers for free seventy-two hours before the album’s official release to the public. And, like West’s Yeezus, Carter did not really engage in the typical music industry marketing plan for the release. There were not any prerelease singles (though Holy Grail did sort of serve one) and there was not much build up other than one Samsung commercial and internet buzz. But, in today’s world when you are as big as West or Carter that is all you really need.

However, getting back to the music, upon further inspection Magna Carta Holy Grail is also kind of disappointing. West, hit or miss, is constantly trying to change and progress music (and specifically hip hop). He is not afraid to create raw music and bare his soul. Meanwhile, Jay-Z has basically just turned in a lazy dose of sameness. Plus, Jay-Z has ascended to such a place personally that what is important to him and what he talks about primarily on the album is superficial and meaningless to most of his audience. Essentially this is yuppie music. It is no longer hip hop for the streets (and probably has not been for a long time now), which is fine – it is just that it seems to now lack heart, ambition, and urgency.

The songs themselves also feel lacking. Personally, I like seven of the tracks. But of those, I still find issues: Holy Grail is basically great thanks in most part to Justin Timberlake (and he also adds a lot to Heaven); Tom Ford succeeds thanks to Timbaland’s fantastic beat; Crown sounds like a track left off Yeezus but is nowhere near as engaging; Beach is Better is great but its playtime is not even a minute, and thus feels incomplete and frustrating – for example. Then there are tracks like La Familia which add nothing other than to give the album as overlong bloated feel.

Overall, I like Magna Carta Holy Grail, but it just sort of feels like Jay-Z phoned it in when other artists are still trying to make amazing music (for better or worse), which leaves me let down. 3/5

Essential Tracks:

1)      Nickels and Dimes – Produced by Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua

2)      Holy Grail – Produced by The Dream, Timbaland and Jroc, featuring Justin Timberlake

3)      Crown – Produced by Travi$ Scott and Mike Dean

Available on: Digital Download

The-Dream – IV Play (2013) – Review

Review: The-Dream is one of the leaders of R&B’s darker/pop sound (influencing artists like The-Weeknd) – an auteur of the genre. His music is explicit, emotional, and wonderfully produced (it is generally much darker and slower than most popular modern R&B). While he has written many of the last decade’s biggest hits, Terius Nash has never enjoyed commercial success as a solo artist (despite his critical acclaim).

IV Play seems like an attempt by Nash to make a more commercially accessible album. It is packed with a lot of guests: Jay-Z, Big Sean, Pusha T, Beyonce, 2 Chainz, Kelly Rowland, and Fabolous, but really only Pusha T adds anything of note (his very brief intro to Pussy is fantastic). The-Dream is at his best when he is battling his own insecurity and melancholy using his great falsetto vocals, but still with a helping of swagger. Love vs. Money had a ton of features, but it is his best album (and I would argue one of modern R&B’s best). It is not so much that these songs are bad, but rather that they just feel like The-Dream is not as ambitious with his music (which is disappointing).

Interesting, and sort of in the face of making a more mainstream album, Nash makes the statement that he is tired of EDM – when it has completely taken over almost every genre (but especially pop and R&B). Musically, the album is filled with more classically styled pop/R&B tracks that move to a slower beat. However, R&B has seen sort of a resurgence of this more soulful sound with artists like Frank Ocean.

Overall, IV Play is a decent album that should work for The-Dream’s fans and those that like pop/R&B, but after strong albums like Love vs. Money and Love King this just feels disappointing (plus, most of the best songs are the deeper cuts and bonus tracks). 3/5

Essential Tracks:

1)      Y’All – Produced by The-Dream

2)      Psycho – Produced by The-Dream

3)      Holy Love – Produced by The-Dream and Los da Mystro

Available on: Digital Download

Music Spotlight – Favorite Music of 2012: Part 4

Kendrick Lamar – Cartoons & Cereal

Cartoons & Cereal features Gunplay, and is a song that Kendrick Lamar released for free online. While Lamar released maybe the best album of 2012 with good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Cartons & Cereal is even better. Producer THC provides the track with a bumping, sonically dark beat. Lamar and Gunplay seem like an odd pairing, but their sort of anti-social personas meld together exceptionally well (Gunplay’s verse is particularly wonderful). It is a wholly satisfying and utterly refreshing track (in a world of overly generic hip hop). Available for download: here

Purity Ring – Obedear

Obedear is off Purity Ring’s debut album Shrines. The Canadian duo of singer Megan James and producer Corin Roddick have created a haunting song with Obedear. James’s voice is manipulated to have a surreal and artificial sound, contrasting innocence and passion. Roddick’s electronic dream synth pop glimmers (and definitely has similarities to Crystal Castles and the Knife). Available for download: here

Pusha T – Exodus 23:1

Exodus 23: 1 features The-Dream, and is a song released by Pusha T for free online (as part of the G.O.O.D. Fridays ramp up to Cruel Summer). Rico Beats provides a dark, hypnotic track that samples Notorious B.I.G.’s What’s Beef (it is a phenomenal beat). Pusha T spits fire (and there is speculation that he is going after YMCMB). Regardless whether this is or is not a diss-track, it is a great rap song. Pusha T asserts himself as the best rapper signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music. Available for download: here

REKS – Straight, No Chaser

Straight, No Chaser features Slaine and is off REKS’s album Straight, No Chaser. Working again with producer Statik Selektah, the Boston MC delivers a classic hip hop track – that actually has real lyrics (and not just throwaway ego strutting). REKS goes line-for-line with Slaine resulting in two great verses. Available for download: here

Rick Ross – Ten Jesus Pieces

Ten Jesus Pieces features Stalley and is off Rick Ross’s album God Forgives, I Don’t. The reflective track finds a laidback/redemptive Ross rapping over a luscious beat from J.U.S.T.I.C.E.  Leauge. While Ross seems to mostly go in on street bangers these days, I like is more soulful tracks a lot – and this is a wonderful example of how well his voice works with a more impassioned beat (Kanye West’s Devil in a New Dress is another). Available for download: here

G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer (2012) – Review

 Review: Kanye West is one of the best know hip hop/pop stars right now – we all know that. He is also one of the great auteurs of modern music, setting the standard for hip hop and determining the next direction the genre will take. Thus, anything he puts out has high expectations (only to be even more hyper-inflated with the brilliance of his recent releases My Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne – or, really his whole discography). Posse albums are never that great. Recently, we have been treated to a forgettable YMCMB album and two decent MMG albums. Even so, we all expected that Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music posse album would be different and incredible. Sadly, it is not incredible, but it is still really good and miles ahead of any other posse album.

So what works? Cruel Summer is for the most part musically excellent. Kanye West’s production team: Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, Jeff Bhasker, Hudson Mohawke, Travi$ Scott, Anthony Kilhoffer, Pop Wansel, and others deliver lush and beautifully produced music, that like much of West’s work has a unique and ambitious sound. It is the best part of the album (and Hit-Boy is probably the real breakout star of the album with great beats on the tracks Clique, Cold and Higher). West himself also has a hand in the production of almost every track (and re-remastered the iTunes release again delaying its arrival). Creatively, the album showcases West’s musical talent. The G.O.O.D. Music crew (Pusha T, Big Sean, Cyhi The Prynce, KiD CuDi, Common, D’banj, John Legend, Malik Yusef, and Teyana Taylor) all have their moments to shine and all provide good work. I would have liked to have seen Q-Tip and Yasiin Bey on there too though (and Mr. Hudson). Maybe they will show up on the next one. The guests are good too (highlighted by Jay-Z, The-Dream, Ghostface Killah, R. Kelly, Raekwon, and Ma$e – 2 Chainz is also on three songs, but I do not get the hype behind him).

So what does not work as well? Lyrically, the album is good but not great, and not on par with the fantastic music. Most of it is just sort of generic pop/hip hop language (money, cars, fashion, women, and opulence). Most of the best verses come from the guests (Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah and Ma$e – though West, Pusha T and Cyhi The Prynce drop some good stuff as well). This is really more of a minor complaint though. The two biggest issues are that the album has a lame ending (with its worst song closing the album) when it should have been something grander and (like with all posse albums) the album does not have a clear voice throughout. The first issue could have been fixed. Even if you just consider Don’t Like a bonus track, Bliss is not a great ending track either (though I do like it). Creepers and Bliss are both good middle of the album type tracks, but with them at the end, it gives the album sort of an underwhelming feeling as it closes (especially with Don’t Like which probably was better left off as just a G.O.O.D. Fridays release). The second is a lot harder to address, as the point of this album is for West to showcase the artists under his label, and thus it is going to have a lot of different competing voices.

Overall, I really like the album. Musically, it is just magnificent and wins me over with each listen. In addition to my ‘Essential Tracks’ I also highly regard To the World, Clique, The Morning, Sin City, and The One. Fans of My Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne are going to like this album. 4/5

Essential Tracks:

1)      New God Glow – Kanye West & Pusha T, featuring Ghostface Killah, produced by Kanye West, Boogz & Tapez and Anthony Kilhoffer

2)      Cold – Kanye West, produced by Hit-Boy

3)      Higher – Pusha T, featuring The-Dream, Ma$e and Cocaine 80s, produced by Hit-Boy, Kanye West and Mike Dean

Available on iTunes (best version), CD and Amazon MP3

The-Dream – 1977 Mixtape (2011) – Review

The-Dream – 1977

The-Dream, delaying his new album The Love; IV (Diary of A Madman) for a second time due to label trouble, decided to give his fans a mixtape, that he reportedly made in a week or so. While the album is not mixed as well as his studio albums (which is often the case with mixtapes), it is still a typically good sonic outlay from The-Dream. His style of falsetto singing mixed with heavy synthesizers creates a great unique sound. The album is a little uneven (especially the pointless and not very good song featuring his recent signee Casha, Silly), but when it is good (which is for the most part is) it is just as good as The-Dream’s albums (which is amazing considering he made this so quickly). The three features (not counting Silly which is sung solely by Casha) are all good; I particularly like Pharrell’s work. If anything, 1977 shows just how talented The-Dream is – an album he made in a week is better than most of the other R&B albums to come out this year. I have very high expectations for The Love; IV (Diary of A Madman). This is definitely worth downloading for his fans. 3/5

Editor’s Song Picks:

1)      Wake Me When It’s Over – Produced by The-Dream

2)      Ghetto – Featuring Big Sean, produced by The-Dream

3)      Real – Featuring Pharrell, produced by The-Dream

Available on Digital Download

Beyonce – 4 (2011) – Review

Beyonce – 4

Beyonce’s fourth album, appropriately (or lazily) titled 4, is powerful. It has some fun pop songs for those that still like the more modern R&B sound, but mostly features ballads full of emotion. Beyonce has never sounded so forceful, making her message and lyrics feel paramount, which really draws in the listener. She still has moments in which she lets us in, but really to describe this album in a word: it is commanding. What I like about Beyonce is that with each album her sound changes as she explores new emotions and sonic places, something that is not as typical in the pop music landscape sadly. Her lead single Run the World (Girls) is poppy enough to work in the club, but exudes the power of this album. It is infectious. Beyonce produces a lot of the album herself, but also works with a great group including: The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Ryan Tedder, Switch, Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Babyface, and Shea Taylor. She also writes most of the songs herself, but also worked with The-Dream and Frank Ocean (the song I Miss You sounds like a song that could easily be off his great mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA.). The album (video about the album) should appeal to her fans and yet again change the landscape of pop R&B. 4/5

Editor’s Song Picks:

1)      Party – Featuring Andre 3000, produced by Beyonce Knowles and Kanye West

2)      I Care – Produced by Jeff Bhasker

3)      I Miss You – Produced by Beyonce Knowles and Shea Taylor

Available on CD and Digital Download (MP3)

Big Sean – Finally Famous (2011) – Review

Big Sean – Finally Famous

As a member of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music, Big Sean is able to take advantage of production by No I.D. (who provides most of the sonic work on the album) and features from West, Pusha T and John Legend. The star studded affair also features Chris Brown (whose on the album’s big single My Last), Lupe Fiasco, Roscoe Dash, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Chiddy Bang, The-Dream, and Rick Ross – making for a good mix of big names and current up-and-comers. The album is comprised of both high-living (women, money, possession, boasts) and making it in the hip hop game lyrics, but has a more upbeat and fun style to it which makes it an entertaining listen (especially tracks like Dance (A$$) and Marvin & Chardonnay). Big Sean definitely makes a good case for himself as one of the best new artists in pop hip hop, with his unique (though he does sound like Drake sometimes, or Drake sounds like him) light fun style and funny yet meaningful (at times) lyrics. For fans of pop hip hop his is an album definitely worth checking out. 3/5

Editor’s Song Picks:

1)      High – Featuring Wiz Khalifa & Chiddy Bang, produced by Xaphoon Jones

2)      I Do It – Produced by No I.D. and The Legendary Traxster

3)      100 Keys – Featuring Rick Ross & Pusha T, produced by WrighTrax

Available on CD and Digital Download (MP3)