Cordavision Music Reviews

I’d take this entire project, to be honest. Right from the start of hearing GIVĒON, I knew that he’d be a star. Like most of us, we heard him for the first time on Drake’s quarantine project Dark Lane Demo Tapes, and he honestly floored me right off the bat. After that, it was having a small part (and the best part) on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” and that finally convinced me to check out his other projects. His When It's All Said and Done...Take Time compilation, which combines his two already-released EPs, is honestly fantastic, and ever since then, I’ve been excited for whatever he did next. Give or Take is the debut album, so let’s not waste any time and get into it. The biggest draw to GIVĒON for me is his voice, which is just as great as ever. Underneath that, though, is a genuine maturity that really wasn’t found in his past projects. The toxicity is mostly gone here too, with that being replaced by the way of making things right in the relationship. I don’t know what this ...

Sometimes? Forever? What’s the difference? I’ve always liked Soccer Mommy’s brand of lo-fi, indie rock and what she’s gone for in terms of her content. I like all of her albums, but my personal favorite is 2020’s color theory, mainly because I think that it took her biggest strengths and concentrated it into a project. Now, we have Sometimes, Forever , a new album with a pretty big shake-up behind the scenes. Producing the album in its entirety is Daniel Lopatin, better known as Oneohtrix Point Never, who’s essentially a pioneer in electronic music and has currently found a second wind in his career with film scores and producing nearly the entirety of The Weeknd’s last project, Dawn FM . How does this clash sound? Let’s get into Sometimes, Forever . I still think Soccer Mommy’s writing and vocals are just as good here as in her past projects, and she has a way to capturing sadness into a song that’s unmatched by anyone else in the genre right now. I already think that this is her most...

Look, I bet Zion would be real if it weren’t in Utah. I’m not gonna lie, I have an on-again-off-again relationship with Lupe Fiasco’s music. The nostalgia glasses come on with Food & Liquor and The Cool since I grew up with some of those tracks on the radio, but I’m also in the camp that I don’t think that the infamous Lasers is *that* bad. I even thought that the two DROGAS albums that he dropped were pretty cool. However, my favorite album of his is Tetsuo & Youth , and it’s not that close to me. I’ve been waiting for a hot minute to see what he does next, and we now have that with Drill Music in Zion , which is apparently a sequel to Tetsuo & Youth . The hype is already there for that alone, so does it live up to the hype? Let’s get into Drill Music in Zion . Honestly, this is just a great experience of an album. Also, I say ‘apparently a sequel to Tetsuo & Youth ’ because it is one in concept. I’d actually call it more of a sister album than a direct sequel. I r...

Cuomoville? More like Cumville… I have the humor of a literal child. Earlier this year, prolific band Weezer announced the SZNZ series of EPs, one project released on the first day of the new season. Back in March, we got the spring installment, which was a set of acoustic tracks that, well, felt a lot like springtime. Now, we have the summer DLC of Weezer. How does SZNZ: Summer hold up? Let's get into it. It’s no secret among my group of friends that I think the worst Weezer project is Van Weezer, and in a weird way, I feel like the sound of this is a spiritual successor to that project. I may be a little hypocritical with this, but I actually think this is one of the most I’ve enjoyed a Weezer project so far. Before you go crazy, I’m not that familiar with Weezer’s discography just yet, so this is coming from very limited knowledge. The alternative/surf rock vibe of this album just defines summer perfectly, and the closing track is one of my favorite Weezer songs period now. Li...

I’m just glad that Eminem is promoting at least one of the artists he signed. WESTSIDE BOOGIE has been a rapper I’ve had my eye on for a while now. I’m really just glad that he’s finally dropped an album since it’s been three years since his debut album, EVERYTHING’S FOR SALE . A co-sign from Eminem would be huge for any rapper, but with how haphazardly he treats his label, I was afraid that WESTSIDE BOOGIE would just slip through the cracks. Now, we have his second album, More Black Superheroes . Did it live up to the hype? Let’s get into my thoughts on it. Honestly, I really admire the growth that WESTSIDE BOOGIE’s has had between the two projects he’s released. Both his lyrics and his flow have improved quite a bit and he’s just a joy to hear rap now. His unique voice boosts this as well. Hell, even the features were pretty good too. He got a great feature out of Soulja Boy. Yes, Soulja Boy has one of his best features ever on this project. I even like the idea of using what you hav...

The covers for these albums always go hard. I’ve talked about Conway the Machine enough times on here that he doesn’t need any introduction whatsoever. He’s always in contention with Benny the Butcher and Westside Gunn for the best of the main trio from Griselda, and now with his own Drumwork label, he’s set to build a dynasty all his own. For the third time now, he and producer Big Ghost Ltd. have teamed up for another new album after last year’s great IF IT BLEEDS IT CAN BE KILLED . Do the duo make even more bangers on What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed ? Let’s get into it. God dammit, they don’t miss. There’s no other way to put it right now. Conway and Big Ghost might be one of the best rapper-producer duos working right now. Compared to his last big project God Don’t Make Mistakes , the beats on here are much darker and sinister-sounding, which is a personal preference of mine. I have to admit, while I’m a huge fan of Conway, I still have to be honest and give criticism when i...

I mean, I don’t like a good amount of Fantano’s opinions, but it’s not worth strangling him, Bobby. Logic has had a pretty wild redemption arc over the past few years. After dropping easily some of his worst projects in one year, he ‘retired’ with 2020’s No Pressure , a very welcome return to form, in my opinion. After dropping the honestly forgettable Bobby Tarantino III [with admittedly incredible cover art], we now have one of his biggest projects yet, Vinyl Days , which marks the end of an era for Logic. Def Jam has repeatedly messed with his career in the past, and this project is his final release with the label, now making him a completely independent artist. Even though he’s basically dropped a single from this each Friday for at least a few months, I’ve completely avoided everything for this. Is Vinyl Days worth the hype? Let’s get into it. I’m just gonna come in right out of the gate and say this: This might be Logic’s best album, or at least be very close to his best album...

It's kinda crazy that this is so divisive, to be honest. You knew this was coming, right? You know who Drake is, so there’s no reason to give an intro. Drake’s been dropping a project a year since 2015, and that period has had Drake’s highs and lows of his career. Personally, I’ve been wanting a full album of R&B tracks like “Passionfruit” for a very long time, and I hoped for that in last year’s Certified Lover Boy , but even if we didn’t get that, I still didn’t mind it. For once, I seemed to be in the minority on a positive opinion. Now, we have HONESTLY, NEVERMIND , and while I’m hyped for it, we really don’t have a lot of things to go over. It’s a new Drake album. Let’s get into HONESTLY, NEVERMIND . Right off the bat, this has been dividing not just the critics, but the fans. I’ve been seeing both positive and negative responses from quite literally everyone. As I’ve stated above, an R&B album from Drake is best-case scenario for me, and at some point, I figured that ...

The Apple Music animated cover goes hard, not gonna lie. One of the biggest bands in the world, BTS, with adoring fans around the world, and I guess the music I’ve heard of theirs is okay for the most part. I’m relatively newer to the scene, joining in with 2019’s Map of the Soul: Persona EP, which is honestly pretty good. I haven’t heard most of their earlier works, which goes back to Wings. Personally, I think the best project I’ve heard from them is BE , but that’s just me. PROOF is a compilation album. I know, I know, but I honestly figured that this should be a good way to get more into their discography, alongside three new tracks. Let’s get into it. Since it’s a compilation album, this is a two-and-a-half-hour project we have here. Then again, I’m not complaining because I enjoyed what I heard for the most part. It was nice to hear a solo version of “Boy With Luv” that I didn’t know existed since the Halsey-featuring version was one of their first big radio hits in the U.S.. I...

I honestly hope the dog’s okay. Admittedly, this is the first time I’m listening to an Elucid project when it drops. I’ve always been a fan of his, but outside of his last solo outing, Dirtee Deacon , I don’t know much of his solo work. Of course, I’m a fan of Armand Hammer, his duo with billy woods, and I’ll always be tuning in to whatever they drop. Now, we have the latest from Elucid, I Told Bessie . Let’s get into how I thought about it. What I think shines here the most is Elucid’s writing. It’s pretty dark yet beautifully haunting and the intricacies of the lyrics are only matched by his Armand Hammer counterpart. His flow on here is pretty out there and unorthodox, and that makes for a pretty surreal listen. The experimental, sample-laden beats are also insanely experimental and grimy, which also shows how in-tune Elucid’s beat selection is throughout. The abstract feeling of the album and the loose concept of tackling his own identity is compelling from that standpoint as well....

Legitimately gorgeous cover art, by the way. It pains me that I’m late to the party when it comes to 070 Shake. Like a good amount of people, the first time I heard her was during Kanye West’s series of mini-albums in 2018, featured on both Pusha T’s DAYTONA and West’s own ye , and being a highlight on both releases. I thought her debut album Modus Vivendi was pretty nice, and I’ve been looking forward to whatever she’d do next. Looking at You Can’t Kill Me , with an oddly bone-chilling cover, I’m pretty excited about this. Let’s get into how I felt about it. We’ll start off with the production first, and even without looking at the credits, I knew Mike Dean had his hands on this. This is definitely a contender for one of the most sonically-beautiful releases of the year so far, mainly because of its very futuristic vibe and how well it blends with Shake’s vocals. Speaking of her vocals, they’re absolutely hypnotic and is the best part of the album to me. They’re very alluring and th...

Every musician’s gotta have that butterfly on the cover moment, yeah? It’s no mistake that Post Malone’s one of the more recognizable voices in mainstream music right now. If I’m being honest, he’s been on a pretty decent streak recently. His last two albums, beerbongs & bentleys and Hollywood’s Bleeding , are some of the best pop-rap albums of the 2010s and most of his hits have aged pretty well over the past couple of years. Even if it’s been oddly silent on the marketing front, we now have his new album Twelve Carat Toothache , a first-world problem if I’ve ever heard one. Because of his track record, I’m actually pretty excited about this, so let’s just get into it. Let me just get the cat out of the bag: This is pretty easily Posty’s worst project, in my opinion. A lot of the songs in here just felt very uninspired and borderline lazy in some cases. However, I won’t say that Posty doesn’t have the range to pull off the pop and rap songs on here because he’s done it in the pas...

Welcome to the first edition of The Gauntlet Run. I’m gonna go through some albums/EPs that I didn’t get the chance to review when they dropped within the past few months! These aren’t going to be too thorough, but hopefully, it’s enough to tide you over on the albums I didn’t check out. 42 Dugg & EST Gee - Last Ones Left It’s pretty easy for me to say that drill really isn’t my favorite kind of rap, but I can definitely see the appeal in Last Ones Left . 42 Dugg and EST Gee have damn good chemistry across the entire project, but I do think it was a little too long for me. I picked and chose my favorites off this, but I’m not really coming back to it. Alison Wonderland - Loner As I’ve stated for a while now, I’ve grown out of my love for EDM, save for a few other projects. I was hoping that Alison Wonderland would change this since I loved her last album, Run , so much, but Loner just didn’t do anything for me. The beats were just kind of okay, and the thing I actually enjoyed the ...

I’m just curious to know how this cover was made. Honestly, this is another scenario where I don’t know a single thing about this artist. However, I do know that UMI has a very good cover of Frank Ocean’s “Self Control,” which I’ll link here . Another thing I noticed from this album, Forest in the City , is that she wrote every song on this project. I’ll have to look and see if this is true for the rest of her projects, but I do like a good R&B album when I find one. So, let’s just get into Forest in the City . I’ll start off with this: I enjoy UMI’s writing the most on this project, mainly because it seems very genuine, and that’s a big piece of getting into R&B when it comes to my taste in the genre. I also think that shows when she sings in Japanese and seamlessly transitions to English, and that’s where the creativity in this shines. I can hear the influences here like Brandy and Erykah Badu, but it doesn’t feel like she’s wearing them on her sleeve and is carving her own p...