The Hip-Hop Stop:
J. Cole
J. Cole represents a new breed of hip hop artists. He’s not a pimp, he doesn’t sell drugs, he’s not a gangsta; he’s a sensitive guy, he talks about what troubles him, he’s leveled and calmed, he’s also featured in Jay Z’s record label. He’s not the lyricist Kendrick Lamar is and he doesn’t have the pop sensibility of Drake either, for me he just gets lost in the middle. Yes, he’s different from every other rapper out there, but that’s just that, I just remember him for praising other rappers (“Let Nas Down”, for example) and being a little bit of a fangirl about it.
He dropped an album out of the blue, what I like to call “pulling out a Beyoncé”, no promotion, no single, and also no collaborations, or no hit single, just him dropping an album. The album is called 2014 Forest Hills Drive and it’s a really down tempo, calmed, quiet and simple, not much there.
Simplicity for J. Cole is great because it doesn’t come across desperate for attention or pretending to have game. Being a back seat album 2014 Forest Hills Drive gives you the opportunity to sit back and listen, but no single comes out of this album, maybe, perhaps, “Fire Squad” being the fastest song in the album but when it comes to lyrics I just don’t think the album screams a clear relevant message. “Fire Squad” is really the only song I would rescue from this album.
What really saddens me about J. Cole’s Beyoncé is that the only previous promotion of the album, a Letterman performance, showed the world a truly vulnerable song that talks about white America and recent racism events in The States. The song is called “Be Free” and it’s not featured in the album or anywhere. This would’ve been one good song for the album but it’s not.
Until The Ribbon Breaks
The first album from Pete Lawrie-Winfield is not intended to be a hip hop album, in fact, it isn’t. A Lesson Unlearnt is intended to be a cinematic record, a visual record, a David Lynch kind of thing, is full of piano, dark beats and incredible production. But what is completely left field and worth listening of this project is the Run The Jewels featured song. That’s why I’m putting this in the hip hop part of the post.
Rae Sremmurd
The tumblr and social media age of artist have made a lot of viral sensations, but songs like “No Flex” and “No Type” were amazing viral sensations late last year. Sremmlife was out this month and the hits and likes of this the song will probably stay far behind the virality of those two songs; still the album showcases a bunch of catchy hooks that impressed me very much. “Come Get Her”, “Throw Sum Mo”, “Safe Sex Pay Checks”, this album is awesome to throw some serious party jams and jump around. The chemistry between Jimmy and Swae Brown (one rapper and one singer) are a refreshing young new voice in hip hop. This guys are very recommended.
Joey Bada$$
B4.DA.$$ is the first great hip hop album of 2015, period.
Death Grips
Jenny Death is the last part of a two-part album of Death Grips, it will also be the last Death Grips album, this is sad and exciting at the same time…and we started the year with an instrumental album Fashion Week and a video of the fantastic and complex song “Inanimate Sensation”, by the sounds of it, this last album will be AWESOME!
Kanye West
Two song have surfaced the web and then brought down. Both with Paul McCartney himself and one of them with Rihanna. It appears that Kanye is going back to his production style of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and I’m loving every second. That’s the only update on that one for now.
Kendrick Lamar
There’s still no news about when will Kendrick Lamar will drop his forthcoming LP, but in december we made a masterful performance of an untitled song in The Colbert Report and it was WONDERFUL!
Subwaywalk 