Category: Reviews
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Frank Ocean – channel Orange | Album Review
The most immediately striking aspect of channel ORANGE upon first listen is how palpably mature an album it is. I know there is a necessity to categorise musicians by genre, but it’s simply impossible to box Frank Ocean in the R&B category with artists like Chris Brown and Trey Songz. While his so-called peers embrace…
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Nas – 'Life Is Good' | Album Review
Oftentimes, the challenge for the established Hip-Hop act is remaining relevant amongst a peer group of hungry young rhymers in their twenties. The greater challenge, however, is proving that his once-revered stamp of authority wasn’t been lost whilst he pursued a career far beyond his expectations. Fortunately for Nasir “Nas” Jones, his aura of an…
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Childish Gambino – 'Royalty' | Mixtape Review
From comedian and actor to internet rap sensation, Donald Glover‘s circle of avid fans and celebrity pals has rapidly expanded since he made the often-precarious transition under his rhyming alter-ego, Childish Gambino. Less than a year since the 30 Rock contributor officially graced the studio for his solid debut album Camp — a project full…
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Chris Brown – 'Fortune' | Album Review
Lining up his comeback this year hasn’t come easy for Chris Brown. Constantly rebuilding his image since the release of his fourth album F.A.M.E., the singer received several award nominations for his efforts and planned to release the sequel just six months afterwards. After a string of setbacks, though, new material from the singer didn’t…
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Dom Kennedy – 'Yellow Album' | Mixtape Review
In what was surely an introspective effort, the Yellow Album gave longtime Dom Kennedy supporters something quite different from the usual summer-released, Westside, Impala-riding music. In contrast to From the Westside with Love II, the Yellow Album utilized more synthesizers. 2011 summer classins like “Grind’n” and “O.P.M.” were replaced by spacey club cuts like “My…
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Maybach Music Group Presents: Self Made 2 | Album Review
Earlier this year, Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg declared Hip-Hop’s current period the “Rick Ross Era.” Whilst many may be hesitant to make such a declaration, 2012 has most certainly been dominated by the Untouchable Maybach Music Group with regards to new material and landmark moments. With a majority of the roster dropping mixtapes, tearing…
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Akala – 'Knowledge Is Power Vol. 1' | Mixtape Review
The last time we had a body of work from London-hailing rapper Akala was in 2010 when he released Doublethink, a sonically experimental album marrying a hip-hop flavour with elements of rock where he firmly set the tone of his musical direction with a careful mix of social commentary and the challenging of mainstream norms…
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Kimbra – 'Vows' | Album Review
At SXSW this past March, bright-eyed and dark haired New Zealand export Kimbra captivated audiences at various shows around the festival — most notably The Spotify House, at which she performed an innovative rendition of her breakout single, “Settle Down.” Despite not adapting the deranged feel from the video, Kimbra incorporated a sampler and loops and…
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Joey Bada$$ – '1999' | Mixtape Review
New York has recently been on an uprise with A$AP Rocky, French Montana and more bringing back the patented, gritty aura which had been lost for some years. But one rapper who has captured the carefree, Central Park skater feel of 90s New York is Brooklyn young gun Joey Bada$$. At only 17 years old,…
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Usher 'Unstaged' at Hammersmith Apollo, London | Live Review
Last night (June 12) a modern-day musical icon, with over a decade of selling out arenas under his belt, graced the stage of a 5,000 capacity theatre in West London’s Hammersmith for an “intimate” show that was, almost inevitably, being beamed out to millions around the world online. On the day that his latest album Looking…