ALBUM REVIEW: Danny Brown- Old
Following up a well received mixtape can be a hard task. Some can do it with flying colors, others can barely get by. A$AP Rocky followed up his mixtape LiveLoveA$AP with a very well done debut album. The Weeknd, however, followed up his brooding and dark mixtape trilogy with the forgettable and misguided Kiss Land. Artists need to be able to maintain the quality of their tapes, but push themselves in some form of new direction. For Danny’s true debut album, I was a bit worried about how it would turn out. There was a lot that could go right, but there was also room for failure. Luckily, Danny did not fail here. In fact, this is not just a great debut, but a great album.
Danny Brown has always been an energetic and passionate MC, and that shows here. On every song, he gives his all to every flow and every line. Whether he’s shouting over crazy synth beats (Which is basically the entire second half of the album) or smoothly rolling over a song like Float On, you can hear the passion in his voice. On xxx he sounded hungry, but on Old he’s looking for seconds.
Despite his drug rap/sex rap routines, he never manages to be uninteresting like most of his contemporaries. It might be his delivery, and it might simply be how he writes his lines, but he doesn’t fall into typical tropes or bland descriptions. Every line is interesting and demands attention, even if he’s crossed the “Disgusting” line (Which, since this is Danny Brown, it should be expected at this point). As an MC, Danny absolutely drives the entire album for 19 breakneck tracks, and it’s absolutely thrilling.
The album does feel a bit dichotomous, with the first half relying on slower, more brooding tracks that either tell Danny’s story or are simply slower tracks. This is the weaker half, but not because of a lack of highlights (On an album that is already overflowing with highlights). Torture’s beat is absolutely heavy and big, and Danny rides it perfectly. It nails the mood that it goes for, and it’s nice to hear Danny on a calmer track. Speaking of which, Lonely manages to be one of the best tracks Danny has ever done, with an absolutely mesmerizing beat that muddies a 70s rock guitar over a nice thumping drum. Danny’s rapping just flows over the beat, and when the vocal samples kick in, the song melts into a gorgeous heart-stopper.
The second half is the party side, and this all feels very typical of Danny, but more refined. Dip, Handstand, Kush Coma, they all are heavy, ignorant, and nasty. But that’s what makes them so great! This is also where Danny shows the most of his rapping prowess, with some absolutely intricate and explosive verses on every song. Even though this part of the album isn’t as interesting or diverse as the first half, it’s easily the most entertaining half.
The production throughout the album is incredibly solid, with not a single bad beat on the whole thing. Paul White (Rising Artist/Recommended Listen!), Skywlkr, and Rustie handle most of the production, and they do a damn good job. Paul White’s ornamental and psychedelic style meshes perfectly with Danny’s smoother and calmer side. Skywlkr’s beats manage to match Danny’s energy and the two bounce off each other to create some cool explosive songs. Rustie, even though his first track on Side B [Dope Song] is underwhelming with its simple beat and weird midi keyboards, manages to live up to his solo work with some really energetic beats. There is other production from Oh No and others that are good as well, and they’re really good as well. Part of what makes Old so great is how well Danny picked producers that he sounds fantastic over.
The only minor gripes I have, save a few sonic points on the record, are with some of the guests. On this album, Danny is clearly an attention hog, and none of the people he brought in really make an impact. Non-rappers like Purity Ring on 25 Bucks and Charli XCX on Float On are serviceable, but they are relatively interchangeable in their parts. The rappers, despite some of their big names, don’t exactly bring any incredibly noticeable verses. Schoolboy Q and A$AP Rocky give rather phoned-in verses on their songs, and Ab-Soul is as always completely uninteresting. The only rapper who really stood out was Freddie Gibbs, and even he had a tough time working against Danny. Oh yeah, and Scufizzer is pretty fun too, but I can’t tell what the hell he’s saying.
However, that is only a small gripe. Danny knows who to work with production wise, and thus he made an incredibly strong album. Danny, who never sounds phoned in or bored, proves that he’s one of the most interesting and commanding MCs in the game today. There’s not a song that’s less than very good on this entire album, and part of that has to do with Danny’s passion and clear love for what he does. When Kendrick Lamar dropped his control verse earlier this year, most people were wondering why people like Meek Mill and Drake were named. But why aren’t more people wondering why Danny Brown wasn’t?
Summary: Danny Brown brings his A-game to Old, with some absolutely great flows, lyrics, and energy. That, mixed with some very strong production, makes one of the best Hip-Hop albums of the year.
Choice Cuts: Dip, Torture, Lonely, Side A [Old]
Leftovers: Red 2 Go
A
Stream Kush Coma below. Old is currently streaming over at Spotify, and is out physically on Tuesday (10/8) on Fool’s Gold
ALBUM REVIEW: A$AP Ferg- Trap Lord
Last year, A$AP Mob dropped a relatively mediocre mixtape. Unlike Odd Future (and, to a lesser degree, pro era), the A$AP mob doesn’t have a whole lot to offer outside of their anointed leader. On that tape, the one guy who stuck out was goofball A$AP Ferg. With a distinctive growl and voice, he made every track he was on at least worth hearing. Now we have his debut, and it’s basically like his verses on that mixtape: not groundbreaking, but damn entertaining.
The title here, Trap Lord, is one of the more perfect titles I’ve heard this year. Every single beat on this album manages to mix ethereal and spacious sounds with trap music flavorings. The opener Let It Go has trap snaps and cracks over ghostly voices that circulate around Ferg’s commanding delivery. Every track here sounds like a super messed up religious ceremony, as if cocaine was being snorted at a funeral. It’s basically the kind of stuff A$AP Rocky did on his last record, but more obvious.
Now, comparisons to A$AP Rocky are inevitable (Look at his name), and they’re pretty easy to draw out. Honestly, Trap Lord sounds like Rocky’s cloud rap with a heavier emphasis on percussion. Hell, I’ll give Trap Lord props for being way more cohesive than Long.Live.A$AP. And then I’ll immediately qualify those props. Sure, A$AP Rocky’s debut was kind of all over the place, but at least each song was interesting and (often) arresting. Trap Lord is really entertaining and full of some great tracks, but it does have points where it begins to lag. After Work drops, the rest of the album feels like it’s just kind of there.
But, as I said, Trap Lord is REALLY entertaining. A$AP Ferg has really mastered his persona and delivery. On several tracks, whether it be with rappers that are clearly more technically able (Schoolboy Q) or tracks where his guests are clearly more interesting personalities (Rocky, Waka Flocka Flame), Ferg surprisingly holds his own. He’s developed a distinctive bark and growl that kind of resembles a faster Trouble or a clear throated DMX. With that over these spacious creepy beats, it’s a winning formula.
While this is a pretty standard debut album, it does the “Debut Album Tropes” pretty well. Many of the guests bring something to the table other than “Hey look, we’re on this record”. I mean, even though Bones Thugs-N-Harmony sound like Looney Tunes on Lord (Which honestly, the whole time I listened to it, sounded like I was watching Space Jam), they manage to keep things entertaining. Most of the guest verses are, at least, serviceable. Even though I wanted a few more tracks sans guests (Where the heck is the original version of Work?), none of the tracks with guests feel like wasted opportunities. Oh yeah, and I like the hooks a lot.
Trap Lord isn’t some groundbreaking Hip-Hop album and it also isn’t a flashy debut. But that’s probably why I like it so much. Ferg made a really entertaining Hip-Hop album in a world where those are few and fare between. It’s not as great as A$AP’s major label debut, but it’s almost as entertaining. It also helps that it took the taste of that A$AP mixtape out of my mouth.
Summary: Trap Lord is really entertaining, with a cohesive and engaging production style that meshes well with Ferg’s distinctive voice and delivery. It’s kind of by-the-numbers, but it hits more than it misses.
Choice Cuts: Work, Hood Pope, Murda Something
Leftovers: Cocaine Castle
B- (3-3.5/5)
Stream the whole project here. Trap Lord is out 8/20 on A$AP Worldwide/ Polo Grounds Music
BEST TRACKS OF 2013 (Thus Far)
So, I’ve already kind-of-sort-of made a “2013 So Far” list, but I still want to do something more. So, since I have ended traditional track reviews, I’ve decided to give you (In alphabetical order) some of my favorite tracks of 2013 so far. No specific numbers or anything, but these are the contenders for the end of the year list (I’ve also avoided listing artists more than once as much as I can. If an artist is likely to get more than 1 spot on the year end list, I do include the other song as an “Honors Mention” (Except for one case))
A$AP Rocky feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, & Big K.R.I.T.- 1 Train
Who had the best verse on this track? Was it A$AP and his awesome “Whaat!” in the background? Was it Kendrick’s growing intensity and gun noises? Was it Joey’s triumphant and ballsy confidence? Was it Yelawolf’s weirdly great verse? Was it Danny Brown and his incredibly memorable lines? Was it Bronson awesomely laid back flow? Or was it K.R.I.T. and his mindbogglingly intricate and fiery flow? The answer? Who cares! Everyone is amazing on the best posse cut in recent memory.
James Blake- Retrograde
This is a perfect James Blake song: Short and sweet, subtle and huge, beautiful and haunting, and freakin’ catchy. The humming, the loud drone of synths, the intoxicating bass hits and hand claps, and Blake’s most powerful vocals yet made this highlight of an Album of the Year contender one of the best tracks of the year.
CZARFACE (Aka Inspectah Deck & Esoteric)- Air ‘Em Out
The chorus? Fire. The verses? Even more fire. All I can say.
Daft Punk feat. Paul Williams- Touch
Yeah, the tracks with Pharell and Panda Bear are great, but this 8 minute masterpiece is my highlight from the mostly-good Random Access Memories. Dissonant robot voices, a disco funk breakdown, more robot voices, a children’s choir, and an oddly emotional ending verse from the dude that wrote Rainbow Connection? It should work, but it does. With flying colors.
Disclosure- Latch & White Noise
These are two songs from the pretty great debut album from Disclosure. I love Latch since it is a great pop song with an explosive chorus and a great utilization of subtly awesome synths (And I have a voice crush on Sam Smith. Dude can belt). I love White Noise because there are some wild House music ideas combined the smooth vocals of Aluna Francis. Both are from the same album. Both explore different ideas. Both are awesome.
Foals- Late Night
So yeah, I didn’t review Foals’ new album, mainly because it fell under the “Good but not that great” category. However (and maybe because of Nabil’s intoxicating, NSFW music video for the track), Late Night really stood out. The song grows in a rather unorthodox way, and the intensity of the vocals just explodes. Plus, it’s really smooth and subtle. It’s a stunning track that really grew on me, and that’s why I include it here.
Frightened Rabbit- Nitrous Gas
Frightened Rabbit are great at fist-pumping anthems of despair and loneliness. And they’re pretty great at it. But they’ve yet to have a truly subdued song that explores the misery of their lyrics that’s been truly affective (Poke came close, but). The bleak lyrics on Nitrous Gas are some of the most mind-numbingly sad things I’ve ever heard, and the vocals hear are so gorgeously sad and yearning that it’s almost impossible to not be affected by the song in some way.
Majical Cloudz- Childhood’s End
So, this is probably the most depressing song of the year. The lyrics are so bluntly sad, but that’s what makes this song so great. The words becoming more and more painful and dreary, as strings swell and the vocals slowly fill with a great sense of sadness and tremor. Majical Cloudz has a ton of potential, and part of it has to do with how fantastic this song is.
Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu- Q.U.E.E.N.
Yeah, I’m super psyched for her album. Just like her last project, this is a Prince-style ride through different genres that is thrilling every step of the way. She delivers some great vocals, there are some wildly awesome ideas (Oh my god, that Jazzy interlude right after Badu gets me every damn time). Plus, there are some absolutely great lyrical ideas here (“I’m tired of Marvin askin’ me what’s goin’ on” is such a fantastic and true line).
The National- Sea of Love
There’s a lot of stuff I loved about Trouble Will Find Me, but not a lot of individual songs really stuck out on that album. The one anthem, Sea of Love, is a really great example of how great the band is at doing anthems. It’s a simple arrangement, the guitars chug along the whole time, and the intense climax is one of my favorite music moments of this year. Honorable mention: Fireproof is beautiful, and Don’t Swallow the Cap is too.
Pusha T- Numbers on the Boards
So, yeah, we’re all excited for Yeezus, but how about Pusha T’s new album? His fiery flow? His awesomely egotistical lyrics? THAT HORRIFYING BEAT!?!?! Yeah, Pusha may be an old dog, but he clearly knows some tricks. A lot of tricks.
Savages- She Will
Just shut up and listen to this and punch something
Justin Timberlake- Let the Groove Get In
There was a lot of great stuff going on on The 20/20 Experience, but one of my favorite moments was the wild and bassy Let the Groove Get In. The strings, the percussion, that brain-worm of a chorus. Something this wild and loud shouldn’t last 7 minutes without losing steam, but this track somehow does it.
Vampire Weekend- Step
Kind of like how Retrograde was a perfect James Blake song, this is a perfect Vampire Weekend song. It manages to be catchy and whimsical while simultaneously carrying a sense of power and experimentation. The Harpsichord, voice modulation, and the synth choir are nice touches as well. Oh, and this probably the most powerful example of how affective Ezra Koenig (Not related) is as a songwriter. Ya Hey is close behind, though.
The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die- Ultimate Steve
Now, Whenever, If Ever is chock full of some wild tracks. However, if I were to pick a specific track from it, I’d pick Ultimate Steve. It begins with an amazing Godspeed-esque crescendo, leading to a fully loaded and awesomely anthemic chant along, all with a masterful cool down. It’s really hard to imagine that a band this unknown can sound this big.
What are some of your favorite songs of the year so far? Keep in mind my list is not really a full list, so there are probably some songs that I’ve missed.
ALBUM REVIEW: Kid Cudi- Indicud
Indicud has made me sadder that any other album I’ve heard this year.
Kid Cudi was, at one time, an artist that released some really interesting pop music. The dark R&B/Hip-Hop mix that was Man on the Moon: The End of Day was truly captivating. That album was loaded both with hot singles and solid deep cuts. He brought some wildly inventive ideas to mainstream Hip-Hop without veering too far from the genre. Then came the sequel, The Legend of Mr. Rager, which was also good, but not quite as good. Right after that album, the tumble began. He released a rock album last year that had one really good track (Teleport 2 Me, Jamie) and then some really mediocre attempts at rock. Then came some weak and uninteresting singles. Then he dropped out of G.O.O.D. Music earlier this year. And then he released this…whatever this is…
Cudi amps up his “Look how artistic I am” angle more than ever before, beginning with a truly uninteresting instrumental that seques into a sample of a little boy talking about flying or something like that. Unf***wittable is dark and dissonant, but Cudi’s vocals do not match the instrumentation at all. Everything falls flat and nothing ever settles into place. The song’s lyrics are vague, but seem to give off a vibe of “I am on top!”. But the music ultimately says the exact opposite, operating in an uncomfortable realm of minor keys and off-key vocals.
The whole album is a perfect example of “Ambition Gone Wrong”. There are a lot of ideas here that are interesting, but it almost feels like he experiments not for the sake of expression, but simply for the sake of looking cool and different. I mean, come, no one in their right mind would legitimately use Michael Bolton as a guest for anything other than shock factor (And in that case, Cudi was already beat by The Lonely Island, of all people). A lot of it seems to pander to the average Hip-Hop fan by introducing unorthodox concepts, textures, and sounds, even if they’re basically uninspired. Plus, sampling movies like Billy Madison kind of gives Cudi the opposite of “Artistic Credibility” (Unless it’s so unexpected and unwelcome that it becomes incredibly experimental, but I’m not going to bother to get into that) I mean, I love Father John Misty as much as the next guy, but his appearance on the incredibly mediocre Young Lady is nothing but Indie-pandering BS.
Every guest here gets bogged down in Cudi’s pretentious experiments; everyone from the novices HAIM to veteran RZA to the red-hot Kendrick Lamar are swallowed whole by Kid Cudi’s black-hole of sound and ideas. The album sounds like it’s trying to say a lot, but all it’s really saying is “Don’t mess with me, I’m Kid Cudi”. The fact that none of the guests are accommodated at all by the sound just shows how this album feels like Cudi lavishing in his own ego. Cudi can’t let anything but him really take charge, and it’s apparent. There’s evidence of this throughout the album, be it the obnoxious song titles or the extravagant album-length (Which, by the way, is too damn long).
Some of the production here is somewhat interesting, but oftentimes it is overwhelmed by Kid Cudi’s off-key vocals. While on past releases his under-key swoon was endearing and earnest, here it comes across as really fabricated and uninterested. There’s not really a sense of effort felt throughout when it comes to Cudi as a vocalist. At this point, the guy has basically given up on actual rapping, and resorts to his trademark talk-singing on nearly every song. There’s not a real problem with it, since he excels in that manner anyway. But his croon just does not mesh well with this new, dark, and ambient production. The off key vocals make the already dark music off-kilter and uncomfortable, and much of it just feels messy and unorganized. Any semblance of ambition is just drowned out by the senseless noise that litters this album.
Really, this album is more of a statement about Cudi than anything else. Just a few years ago, he was near the top of the G.O.O.D. Music empire. Last year, this guy only appeared once on the label’s summer tape Cruel Summer, and now he’s not on the label at all. Clearly, the guy is unsure of what to do with himself, and is lost artistically. Want some proof? This mess of an album.
Summary: Indicud is an extravagant mess. If anything, it shows Cudi suffering a lack of direction and a surplus of egoism.
Choice Cuts: Solo Dolo Part II, Girls
Leftovers: The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi, Just What I Am, Young Lady, King Wizard, Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)
1/5
Stream Girls below. Indicud is out now on Republic.
ALBUM REVIEW: A$AP Rocky- Long.Live.A$AP
Style over substance.
This is the common complaint I hear about A$AP Rocky. And it’s not hard to prove. The guy relies on his charisma and production, lacking a bit in the lyrics department (And possibly in the flow department). But does any of that matter in the big picture of things? Depends on who you are.
Really, the first thing that sticks out here is that this is really just a glorified version of his star-making mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP from two years ago. The difference is that the production is clearer (Which I think is a good thing), and there are bigger guest stars. The beats are still spacious and cloudy, and A$AP’s lyrics are still ehhh.
I think what’s interesting are the ever so slight differences. The one thing I’d say is that A$AP’s flow has improved quite a bit. While some of his deliver on his original tape was choppy and uninspired, here he uses a wide variety of styles and manages to make most of his delivery work. It’s not the most original delivery on earth, but it’s still a massive improvement. It helps make up for his dopey lyrics, which helps the album quite a bit, too. I mean, you can only hear so much about Dolce…
It really matches A$AP’s classier tendencies better than before. I mean, his braggadocios energy (As cliche as it is) goes well with the giant beats and his love of high fashion. Plus the sky-high space that a lot of these cloud rap beats occupy was iffy on his earlier works, but now they work far better than ever before. I will say that some of the production elements (Especially Rocky’s repetitive voice modulation) get grating after a while. I mean, I don’t know what that deep voice is trying to accomplish, but it gets old after two songs. And it’s on all of the first 4 tracks. I mean, it’s overkill.
I’d go more into lyrics but it’s not really worth it, since if you’re coming to A$AP for lyrics, you’re in the wrong place. I mean, you get some crazy lyrics and flows on 1 Train (I’ll get back to that), but other than that you get some really basic lyrics. It’s never about what A$AP says, but rather how he says it over the beat. And luckily that’s improved, as I said before.
Photo Courtesy of Pitchfork (Taken by Phil Knott)
The song quality here is probably the biggest improvement. While there are some points where things get a bit monotonous (The first 4 tracks are all good, but there’s not a whole lot of variety). But his mixtape was entirely made up of tracks like that. Here, he still has a ton of those tracks, but he throws in a lot of other styles, too. There’s the cypher/banger 1 Train, the Radio track F**kin Problems (Which I unironically adore), and that Skrillex track that’s oddly pretty awesome. While I wish he pursued more when it comes to styles of song, there’s still a lot of growth here.
Also, this album brings in a whole lot of guests, which outside of previous singles are a bit underwhelming. Schoolboy Q is serviceable on PMW (All I Really Need), but not much else. The rappers that I haven’t heard of (OverDoz and Birdy Namnam) are mediocre…and have hideous names to boot, Also, I think Santigold’s hook on Hell is absolutely atrocious. It’s off-key, ugly, boring, repetitive, and doesn’t fit in with the rest of the album. Plus it awkwardly fits over the beat. It ruins the song.
The places where the guests really work are F**kin’ Problems and 1 Train. F**kin’ Problems has that amazing 2 Chainz hook (The guy’s growing on me), a solid Drake verse, and an alright Kendrick verse (Which is fine, because he outdoes himself later). It’s a Hip-Hop extravaganza with a catchy hook, nice production, and keeps all the radio bait tolerable and on 1 song. And then there’s the posse cut 1 Train, and man oh man is that fantastic. Every rapper (Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, and Big K.R.I.T.) drop some of their best verses, and it keeps you at the edge of your seat. It’s like a fully grown version of what Huzzah! (Remix) tried to predict two years ago. Oh, and say what you will, but that Skrillex track is too hype for me not to love it.
The album is front loaded, as the tracks after 1 Train are not much more than alright. But this is still a good debut album. A$AP has improved, adapted his sound well to a new label, and made a good and fun album. It’s nothing deep or thought provoking, but it does that job it goes out to accomplish. And in today’s Hip-Hop world, that’s a lot to ask for. If you were expecting something like another good kid, m.A.A.d. city, you shouldn’t have been. It’s good, and it met my expectations, but it’s nothing incredibly special or revolutionary. It’s just a pretty good radio Hip-Hop album. Especially when it comes to debut albums.
Summary: While it does rely a bit on production and guests, Long.Live.A$AP is still an improvement from his tapes, and it makes for a solid record with some great songs and good production.
Choice Cuts: Long Live A$AP, F**kin’ Problems, 1 Train
3.5/5
Stream the titular song below. Long.Live.A$AP is out now on RCA/ A$AP Worldwide
MIXTAPE REVIEW: A$AP Mob-Lord$ Never Worry
Note: Mixtape Reviews are just Album reviews…of mixtapes. Meh.
A$AP Mob is a Rap collective from Harlem New York. Their most famous member (In fact, their only “Famous” member) is A$AP Rocky, who released a very solid mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP, last November. The reason that tape worked so well was because of A$AP having a certain charisma to his flow (Which helped, since his flow was kind of lazier), and some absolutely amazing production from producers like Clams Casino. His debut album comes out October 31st (Yeah, that’s Halloween…)
Sorry to the fans for this comparison, but Rocky to the A$AP Mob is kind of like Tyler, the Creator to Odd Future. Their sounds are completely different, but the whole “East Coast, West Coast” Rap Collective thing is there. This new tape is kind of meant to show off what this crew has to offer. However, it really doesn’t do that too well. The first problem with this tape is that when it tries to put every member on one track, it doesn’t work well. Full Metal Jacket has most, if not all the members of A$AP on it, but it’s only 2:30 minutes long. So that gives every member about 20 seconds to show off. What should have been done was something like Odd Future’s Oldie, or even Joey Bada$$’s Suspect off his 1999 mixtape. These tracks were long and, in the later’s case, kind of boring, but at least it showed what every member of the team had to offer.
The rest of the tape is just an assortment of A$AP members on tracks with each other. There’s not as much Rocky as one would suspect to be on this tape, which is kind of bad. Many members of A$AP have lazier, slower flows, but none of them are as captivating as Rocky’s. Thus, they just kind of come across as a bit…boring. Some of the flows are a bit more interesting (A$AP Ferg has totally sold me with this tape, and I’d totally download a solo mixtape from him). However, none of the others stick out, really. Harder tracks fall kidn of short, like Coke and White B****es: Chaper 2, where A$AP Ant drops a boring verse that falls flat of the guests, including a as-always-solid Danny Brown and the pretty good Gunplay (Who’s Fat Trel?).
The biggest problem I have with this tape, however, is that the production that was on LiveLoveA$AP just isn’t there. Some beats are weird late 90s underground (Coke and White B****es), while others are on some Waka Flocka Southern Boom style beat (Work), away from that very well done Cloud Rap style from Rocky’s first tape. Not that it makes any of the songs better, but one thing that made LiveLoveA$AP great was its consistent production, and here it’s just all over the place.
Either way, outside of some guests, like on Bath Salt where Flatbush Zombies do a much better job than they did on that “Meh” mixtape earlier this year, the only rappers in the A$AP crew that really stick out are Rocky and Ferg. Even if some of them are OK rappers (Most of them are), none of them have really distinct personalities, or verses. Back to the Odd Future thing, even their worst rappers (Jasper and Taco) are somewhat interesting to listen to. They might be terrible, but they have enough charisma and personality to really make you listen. Odd Future also has at least some kind of defined roles in the crew (Tyler’s the leader, Earls’ kind of right behind, Jasper and Taco are the clowns, Domo is the stoner, etc.). Even if the rappers in A$AP are technically more talented, they’re just too uninteresting, and this tape shows that all too much. If there was more A$AP Rocky, maybe these tracks would have worked better.
There’s nothing musically wrong with this tape, but it’s just for the most part…boring. Not a great first impression for an entire rap collective.
Summary: Lord$ Never Worry falls to the same old problems every Rap Collective tape has, being a bit too boring and not introducing members of the crew well enough. Also, not enough A$AP Rocky.
Choice Cuts- Bath Salt, Purple Kisses, Choppas On Deck
2.5/5
Bath Salt is streaming below. Lord$ Never Worry is available for download now.
Vantage Point Music 