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...

Still mad that I never got the vinyl release of his last album. Every time I review something that ended up being a surprise release, I always talk about how nice surprise releases are. Even if it’s by an artist you’re not a giant fan of, a surprise drop is always something cool. Memphis rapper Cities Aviv is one I got real excited about. Then again, I was always gonna be excited to see what he did next after his two-hour-long epic MAN PLAYS THE HORN , which is in my top 10 favorite albums of this year. I would’ve never expected there to be a new album so soon given just how large his last project was. Now, we have Working Title for the Album Secret Waters , a damn good surprise release that genuinely caught me off guard. Knowing that this project is only a fraction the length of HORN , does that addictive, hypnotic sound translate into a shorter project? Let’s tread into Secret Waters . What I think stands out here the most is the production, more specifically the sampling done here. ...

Well, it’s time to peel back some layers. billy woods is yet another reason why I changed up my review schedule. If you’ve heard anything by woods, you know that you’re gonna get into more of a deep listening experience. I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but that’s really how it is. woods’s lyrics are cryptic and coded, and the songs themselves are pretty out there and experimental. Listening to a billy woods album usually means that it isn’t a background listen, it’s gotta have your full attention. Earlier this year, woods dropped Aethiopes with Preservation, one of the best albums of the year that I’m still trying to dissect. Every now and then, he drops two projects a year, whether it’s a solo project or an Armand Hammer release with Elucid, and this year’s no different. Entirely produced by Messiah Muzik, Church might be one of woods’s most rich projects yet. Let’s get into it. Like his last album, I’ve given this multiple listens. I’m still diving into the lyrical content and p...

Honestly, this is one of the best album titles I’ve heard in a while. If you don’t know who Domo Genesis is, that’s perfectly fine. He’s a part of the now-dormant Odd Future collective, which jumpstarted the careers of Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, and Earl Sweatshirt. Other members have been coasting along for a while now, but Domo Genesis really caught my eye now. I don’t even know what he’s been doing outside of featuring on Tyler’s last album, but now he has an album entirely produced by Evidence titled Intros, Outros & Interludes , where he goes in a drumless, more abstract direction with his music. Let’s get into how I felt about it. I think the idea of Domo Genesis doing more experimental rap is a great idea. After being in the industry for this long, it’s great to see him make something that’s finally caught my attention. Evidence’s beats are very dusty and match Domo’s cadence well, alongside the great features from Navy Blue and Boldy James. Obviously, I think Domo’s w...

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...

Is it bad to say that I want Moor of this? I’ll see myself out... I’ve spoken about Moor Mother on here before, and I think she’s one of the most important artists working right now. Her last album, Black Encyclopedia of the Air , was one of last year’s best albums and I continue to go back to it every now and then. Now, we have Jazz Codes , which could be seen as a love letter to jazz, and every section of it is written by one of the mystifying artists of this decade so far. Let’s get into what I thought about Jazz Codes . Let me just say right off the bat that, like most of Moor Mother’s records, this isn’t that much of an easy listen. While it’s still very much an abstract rap album to its core, there are many more genres of music at hand here. Multiple subgenres of jazz like spiritual jazz, free jazz, and avant-garde jazz are just as prevalent as abstract and jazz rap. Even the ambient undertones here add more and more layers to this project. Many tracks on here feel uncanny and et...

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 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....

Why is this the most fun album name to say out loud ever? Action Bronson has been an artist that’s only been getting better and better in my eyes. While I really don’t care much for his earlier work, everything since 2018’s White Bronco has caught my eye and ear. His Alchemist-produced EP Lamb Over Rice and his last album Only For Dolphins were the two projects that made me a fan of his, and I’ve honestly just been waiting for him to drop since then. We now have that in the form of Cocodrillo Turbo , with The Alchemist, Conway the Machine, Roc Marciano, Daringer, and more coming along for the ride. Let’s get into how I felt about it. Let’s just get the one thing out of the way, and that’s that the production is incredible here. I adore all of the surf rock samples and the sax solo on the final track is insanity. Bronson himself, though, is sounding the best he’s ever been on here. He sounds hungry and it feels like he genuinely wants to go the extra mile in music for the first time....