Cordavision Music Reviews

He mentions the best character in Super Smash Bros. on this album. It’s getting a little ridiculous over here. Starting this decade, Nas has been on an insane run. The first two King’s Disease albums are pretty good, with the second one being great, but his last release, Magic , is one of my personal favorites of his since its drop a little less than a year ago. The gel between all of these projects is Hit-Boy, producing every one of the aforementioned albums. Now, they’ve brought King’s Disease III to the table. Not really a lot to make an intro for, so let’s get into it. I definitely don’t agree with this, but apparently there are some people out there that aren’t fans of the Nas/Hit-Boy pairing. So, I’ll counter that with this: I think that this is some of the best beats Nas has ever been over. The funniest thing is that Nas even has said on tracks that you buy my stuff for the lyrics, not the beats. I think that’s a good case for a lot of the middle section of his career, but ev...

The moment I found out that this guy has a song called “I Personally Wouldn’t Revive Queen Elizabeth (Pack Watch)” was when I knew I’d like this guy. Most of this new set of reviews is gonna consist of two things: Whatever I heard in my backlog or a newly-released project that I’m excited about. This one lands as more of a backlog entry, but this dropped this past summer and I only found about it last month. I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but Anthony Fantano’s pretty positive review of this gave me the motivation to finally give this a shot. I pretty much have no idea who Ghais Guevara is, and both the title and cover of this already show something unique with the project. Let’s talk about There Will Be No Super-Slave . Right off the bat, I adore the production on this. It’s grimy and tinged with industrial undertones that really began to stand out as I was hearing the project. Even the wild, frantic samples on the intro track introduce Guevara as a producer in an interesting way. S...

Nas jumpscare. I’m gonna be honest with you guys: Joey Bada$$ has never stood out to me that much. Maybe I was late to that party, but I do like his last studio album, 2015’s All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ . Maybe I was just not in the right mindset for his breakout mixtape 1999 , and his The Light EP from a little while back just came and went. Luckily, his loose single “The Revenge,” which was pretty awful, doesn’t make his new project 2000 , the sequel to the aforementioned mixtape that put him on everyone’s radar. Does this album bring him back to his own standards? Let’s get into it. What I probably like the most about this project is the beat choices. Nearly every beat complimented Joey’s voice and flow pretty well, so it was a very nice combo of the two. I’ve always been critical of his writing, but I really liked it when he got personal like on “Survivors Guilt” and “Eulogy,” which I think were the peaks of this album. Any track with Westside Gunn is also a little bit of a neuron activ...

I mean, we all need a good warm-up every now and then. The fact that I’ve covered him on this site five times should say how I feel about Westside Gunn. I don’t even think he needs a proper introduction at this point. For the past few months, he’s been teasing his next album, Michelle Records , but after attending Fashion Week in Paris, he decided to make a new project titled Peace "FLY" God simply because he wanted to. He was so hyped about this project that he released it without mixing or mastering, which God knows what that means at this point. Either way, let’s get into Peace "FLY" God and see how I felt about it. I don’t really mention mixing and mastering and all that because I try to keep these reviews understandable to the masses; I especially don’t want to come off as pretentious or have a holier-than-thou attitude because I know how it works. However, it has to be mentioned here because it could completely affect how you react to this project. Because o...

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...

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...

The joke of the title and the great cover is a great combo. I’ve covered Your Old Droog before on here, and while I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve heard, I’ve realized something about his discography. It might just be me, but I want him to stay focused on a project and flesh something out. Of course, I love the content he’s been dropping, but it’s just a personal wish of mine. Either way, I’ve been excited for YOD Stewart since I’ve been a fan of his for a couple of years now. Let’s get into it. While YOD is continuing to have great flows and writing, I feel that the best part about this project is the production. It has a more abstract vibe than his last project, the Nicholas Craven-produced YOD Wave , and I personally prefer that kind of production. YOD’s lyrics are more personal here as well and that gives the relatively short project a more intimate experience, at least to me. I also think I’ve realized that I like Droog more when he’s charismatic, and we really don’t get that side ...

I just imagine Boldy James as the main character in a 70s crime movie and it all works. Boldy James has been on an absolutely incredible run. Ever since the beginning of 2020, he’s just been dropping great project after great project after great project. I’ve actually hit a point where I sometimes get messages about how bad my review of Bo Jackson , one of his albums with The Alchemist from last year, was, and after a few relistens, it’s actually grown on me quite a bit. The weakest album of the bunch, at least to me, was Real Bad Boldy , the first album between Boldy James and producer Real Bad Man. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it just didn’t click for me. That’s why I went in with just a tiny bit less hype for Killing Nothing , their second collab album. So, let’s just not waste time and get into Killing Nothing . Let it be known that no matter what the production backing him is, Boldy James always kills it with the bars. I’ve just come to accept that he’ll never have a bad verse....

Keep shining. There are always albums that we don’t think will ever see the light of day. Some may not even exist, but the one inkling of knowing that it’s possibly out there is enough. Dr. Dre’s Detox , a solo André 3000 album, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s second album, the Child Rebel Soldier project with Kanye West, Pharrell, and Lupe Fiasco…I could go on for a while. For the longest time, a second Black Star album was one of those. A duo consisting of legendary rappers Yasiin Bey (f.k.a. Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, their first album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star essentially kicked off their careers and is considered a classic by most hip-hop heads, and I believe that too. Now, 24 years later, Black Star is back with No Fear of Time , entirely produced by the one and only Madlib. How does it stack up? Let’s find out. I’ll start off with Madlib’s beats, and they were much more abstract than I thought they were gonna be. I actually dug the vibe that Madlib was going for with it, but i...

No matter how I was gonna feel about the music, I’ll cop a vinyl release of this because GOOD GOD THAT COVER ART IS GORGEOUS. I’ve always felt like I should like Ransom more than I actually do. I’ve obviously never hated him before because I’ve covered projects of his before and have praised them. I just tend to not go back to them as much as other artists in this lane like Rome Streetz. I’m hoping that this can change soon, mainly because he’s got an album entirely produced by Pete Rock on the way, but I’m waiting for that one album that finally clicks with me. I hope that No Rest For The Wicked is the one that does it. Let’s get into No Rest For The Wicked . Out of what I’ve heard from his work, I feel like this is the most introspective I’ve heard Ransom be recently. He sounds more passionate on this than on anything else I’ve heard him on, and pairing that up with his introspection make up a killer combo. I prefer that to the production on here, which just seems very overdone in s...

Australians are fucking crazy, man. That’s the biggest takeaway I got from this. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard really have it going for them. They’ve been a functioning band for ten years now, and not including live albums, they have twenty studio albums. Twenty. I’m on a trek to listen to all of them right now, and I think I have about seven down. Their third release this year, Omnium Gatherum , is their longest studio effort yet with 80 minutes in length. The Aussies gave us a lot to unpack in this album, so let’s not waste any time and get into Omnium Gatherum . At this point, it’s predictable for King Gizz to be unpredictable, and I’d say that this is one of the most all-over-the-place they’ve released yet. If they were throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck, they did everything and included the wall. The elements of rock, metal, pop, electronic, soul, and even rap just combine to make a smorgasbord of sound. Even one of the band member’s grandmother plays the role of a ...

Okay, I melted my eyes, what’s next? Denzel Curry has been one of the most exciting rappers working right now, mainly because of how consistent he is. His last official album, 2018’s Ta13oo , is one of the best and most complex albums of that year in all of music, and his projects ZUU and UNLOCKED with Kenny Beats showed off more of his creativity. I’ve been very excited about what he’s been cooking, and now we finally have Melt My Eyez See Your Future , the album that Curry himself has described as his true next project after Ta13oo . Let’s not waste any more time and get into it. I just have to say for the sound of this album, I really enjoy the more boom bap approach to the production on most of these songs. It fits Denzel’s voice very well to me, along with the lyrical content he has on this project. I also think that this is his best-produced album out of everything he’s released. The songs flow well within the tracklist, but the true highlight here is Denzel himself. His writin...

Honestly, this cover’s fantastic. Got nothing else for the intro. I feel like I’m going through deja vu while writing this upcoming sentence: Benny the Butcher needs no introduction. I’ve covered enough Griselda releases to know that the label continues to grow stronger and stronger with each release. Benny’s arguably the most popular of the group, with this album’s predecessor Tana Talk 3 being one of the most beloved releases from the label. Now, we have Tana Talk 4 , an album I’ve been anticipating for a while now. It’s entirely produced by Daringer and The Alchemist, along with some Griselda features like Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Stove God Cooks, and Boldy James. Also along for the ride are one of Benny’s frequent collaborators 38 Spesh, and features from J. Cole and Diddy. It’s a star-studded event at this point, so let’s just get into Tana Talk 4 . For the past couple of Benny’s projects, the production has been on the lighter side of things. Sure, Hit-Boy and Harry Fr...

I mean, if God doesn’t make mistakes, why is Suicide Squad (2016) real? Conway the Machine has been an artist that’s been continuing to impress me for the past couple of years now. At this point, it feels like this album here is a culmination of his career so far. The release of Conway’s third studio album, God Don’t Make Mistakes , is a huge stepping-off point in his career. It’s his only release for Eminem’s Shady Records, it’s his first release for his own Drumwork label, and most notably, it’s his final album before his departure from the label that started it all, Griselda Records. He’s been hyping this up for a couple years now, so after a long-ass wait, let’s get into God Don’t Make Mistakes . There’s something interesting about this album that sets it apart from most of Conway’s other projects. At times, he seems a little more vulnerable and personal in his lyrics than he typically is. It’s backed up by some of the best production on any Griselda-adjacent album yet from big na...

I mean, if I saw a whole ass wolf on Wall Street, I’d be out of there. I’ve covered Your Old Droog in the past, especially since he had such a prolific 2021 with dropping four separate projects. Two of them were collaborations with Atlanta rapper Tha God Fahim, Tha YOD Fahim and Tha Wolf on Wall St. . Even if I think Droog’s other albums were better than the first Wall St. installment, I’m still excited about this. I haven’t checked out any of Fahim’s music outside of Wall St., but I’m curious to see if they can keep the momentum of their other albums together. Let’s get into The American Dream . Like the last Wolf , the production is laid-back and eerie, and it’s done mainly by Nicholas Craven, Conductor Williams, Messiah Musik, Fortes, and Znakomi. I personally think the production is the best part of the project, but that doesn’t mean YOD and Fahim weren’t bad. Droog is as fiery as he’s been recently, and I think Fahim also stepped up his game from the first album. The concept from...

You know, 2022 is starting off pretty well so far! Honestly, I had no idea what this project was. I had never heard of the name Daniel Son, but I had heard of Futurewave before because he produced an entire Rome Streetz album last year, Razor’s Edge . Son and Futurewave have worked together before, but this is the first time I’ll be listening to Daniel Son. With some pretty gorgeous cover art, Son Tzu & the Wav.God was one of the first projects I listened to in 2022 during my review break. Let’s not waste any more time and get into it. I gotta admit, like Razor’s Edge , the production was my favorite part of this album. Not to say that Daniel Son was bad at all, I actually liked Son’s lyrics a lot, but his voice was setting me off just a tiny bit. I’ll say that Futurewave’s beats really match Son’s voice and their partnership makes a lot of sense. It’s very possible that I could like Son on his other projects, but the jazzy beats here were definitely the standout aspect of this al...

This album is why I wait to do my album of the year lists officially until 2022. It goes without question that Nas is one of the best to ever do it, and after a little bit of a lull in his discography, he’s had a comeback of sorts. 2018’s NASIR wasn’t all that great, but 2020’s Grammy-winning King’s Disease and its 2021 sequel are great showings that are all aging incredibly well. His new partnership with producer Hit-Boy has been instrumental in the later stages of his career and it’s been pretty great to listen to. On Christmas Eve, we got a surprise release from Nas titled Magic . Once again, it’s entirely produced by Hit-Boy and has a feature from A$AP Rocky, along with scratches and extra production from DJ Premier. Let’s get into Magic , which has been an odd theme so far this week. I don’t remember the last time a rap album made me this mad. Like, how is Nas this good this late in his career? I enjoy that this is short too, only 9 songs and less than a half-hour. It’s almost l...

I wouldn’t be mad if you told me that this had the best feature list of 2021. You wanna know something crazy? I was in the minority on Russ’s last project, the CHOMP EP he put out last year. I honestly think it’s one of the best EPs of 2020 and deserves much more love, even if I loved more of the features on it than Russ himself. It seems like it’ll be more of the same with Chomp 2 , now a full-length album. The features here are stacked and includes Jadakiss, Jay Electronica, Big Sean, Wale, Lloyd Banks, Conway The Machine, Ghostface Killah, Styles P, The Game, Westside Gunn, Papoose, Ransom, and more. It’s pretty nice, so let’s just get right into Chomp 2 . Let me ask you a question. Look at the features above and then look at Russ. Is he carried throughout the entire project? I believe so, and if I’m being totally honest, so would most people. I like Russ as a rapper, he’s cool, so sure, I understand why he’s gotten all of these features. If I’m being totally honest, Russ does show...

By the way, I’m very happy Droog beat the ‘sounds like Nas’ allegations. Your Old Droog is a relatively new name in the rap landscape to me, but with his other three drops from this year, including the incredibly personal TIME , which is one of the best rap albums of this year, I was excited for whatever Droog would drop next. The bar was set incredibly high a couple weeks ago because of the mind-melting single “Meteor Man” with Lil Ugly Mane and billy woods. With Space Bar , can Droog continue his hot streak and close out his stellar 2021 with a bang? Let’s find out. Similar to TIME , this has a loose concept about space. I’d honestly call it an aesthetic more than a concept, but it works in favor of what Droog is going for. With production from SadhuGold, 88 Keys, Nicholas Craven, and Elaquent, it sets an incredible soundscape for this intergalactic journey. His writing is still just as good as always, and even if I do personally prefer TIME , there’s still a cool atmosphere here to ...