Cordavision Music Reviews

Might as well review an album called The Family on Thanksgiving. Well, happy Thanksgiving. At least on the day I’m writing this, it’s a happy Thanksgiving. Or a year from this post. It doesn’t matter, though, because it’s typically a time where you sit and argue about whatever comes to mind. There’s also food there too. I have no idea how to segue into the next part of this, so… The Family . BROCKHAMPTON, everyone’s favorite boy band, had slowly been falling apart for a couple years now and, as of today, the group is no more. There’s a lot of history there to unpack, but I’ll let you do that yourself if you want because there’s a *lot* of ground to cover there. Last week, the group’s final album titled The Family dropped. They also dropped a second album with it, TM , and if I’m being honest, there’s not a lot to talk about, other than how underwhelming it was, in my opinion. I have much more to say about The Family , though, so let’s not waste any time and get into it. Right off the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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....

“ Yo Gabba Gabba MCs” is one of the best insults I’ve heard in a while. In my opinion, Quelle Chris is one of the most unique rappers working right now. While I haven’t taken the deep dive into his discography yet, I’ve listened to his most recent albums Guns and his Chris Keys collab Innocent Country 2, and he’s impressed me with both his pen and voice. After some great features on some of my favorite albums from last year, I had to get whatever he was gonna drop next on my radar. We now have that in the form of DEATHFAME , which was mainly produced by Chris himself, with extra production from the aforementioned Chris Keys and even Knxwledge in the mix. Let’s get into DEATHFAME and see how I felt about it. Since I had Guns fresh in my mind, I noticed an interesting connection to one of the final tracks on that project to this one. “WDYM” touches on if he’s gonna leave a legacy or be remembered by anyone. This album is that question being expanded upon, which makes for Chris’s dar...

Honestly, I just can’t believe we made it five years. Do I really need an introduction to this? I’m sure if you’re even in tune with the music world, you know who Kendrick Lamar is. You know how long it’s been since his last album DAMN. , and if you’re curious, that dropped back on April 14, 2017. I was a sophomore in high school and the day this dropped, I finished my sophomore year of college. A lot of my life happened in between the two albums, and among many other rap albums, DAMN. was very instrumental in my music taste today. Actually, Kendrick’s discography in general really helped me get into music the way I am today, so to say that this is a big deal to me is an understatement. You know how much expectations fans have for Kendrick when it comes to his projects. To put it simply, he hasn’t missed for a very long time, there’s little reason to doubt him. The one thing that always fluctuates with him is the sound of the album, and we haven’t gotten anything on that before its re...

Have I said how much he sounds like Kanye before? I feel like I have. IDK has been someone I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while. His album from last year, USEE4YOURSELF , was pretty good and really cemented himself as someone to watch out for in rap right now. I’ve been waiting for whatever he’d drop next, but this project just came out of nowhere. A short album entirely produced by KAYTRANADA, one of my favorite working producers right now titled Simple. should be anything but simple to me. Let’s get into it. Honestly, let me just say this: This is IDK’s best album. Like, there’s no way around it. These are his best lyrics and performances yet in my opinion, and if I may be honest, I thought we were gonna hit this point at least a few years from now. He just sounds super focused on here, and I’m also a fan of the subject material. However, what really puts this over the top is KAYTRANADA’s production, which is detailed and layered and really bolsters IDK’s performance. Even the fe...

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...

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....

Why not continue to be great, you know? For how busy this week is for music, this is by far one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Ever since I saw Armand Hammer live, both Billy Woods and ELUCID have shot up some of my favorite artists working right now. When it comes to Woods specifically, it’s always been interesting to dissect what he’s speaking about in his music. It even began earlier with the announcement of this album, Aethiopes , where I discussed what the cover was with some friends and researched the topic. It sounds a little nerdy, but I think it actually helped me prepare for what kind of project we’re gonna get into with this. Aethiopes is produced entirely by Preservation and the features include ELUCID, El-P, Quelle Chris, Denmark Vassey, and Boldy James, among others. Let’s get into Aethiopes . I’m not gonna sugarcoat this statement, so I’ll just say it: I’m pretty sure I’m not smart enough to get the whole concept of this album just yet. I’ve typically run ...

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...

Zappa? Ocean? Sinatra? Even if I don’t know much about him, I’ve been pretty excited for Fly Anakin’s first big debut album. It may not be his first album, even his first solo album, but this is his major-label debut. The first time I had heard of him was his work with Pink Siifu, especially on the FlySiifu album and the $mokebreak EP, and they’re both pretty good. I’ve been waiting on Frank for a while, and I’m very glad that we have it now. Let’s get into it now. Like most of the songs he’s involved in, I just love Anakin’s voice. His animated voice really breathes life into some already unique production too. Beats from Madlib, Jay Versace, Evidence, DJ Harrison, and more give this a unique identity, and it’s a good plus to see Pink Siifu keep up the collaborations they’ve been doing. It’s also worth mentioning the album cover, which might be my favorite of the year so far. I’m very glad that Frank has lived up to the expectations I’ve had. Fly Anakin deserves your time with one...