ALBUM REVIEW: Rustie- Green Language
Electronic music, specifically Trap flavored music, has changed quite a bit since Rustie dropped the sugary rush of his debut album, Glass Swords, in 2011. That album was a sweet and delectable slice of energetic and bombastic, Trappy and Wonky sound. Russell White’s clear vision perfectly encapsulated the direction and tone of that album (as opposed to other artists who have tried similarly sugary EDM*). In the three years since Glass Swords, other artists have came in and changed wonky and trap flavored EDM. TNGHT changed the game with their single EP, mainstream EDM has come in to blur the genre lines beyond recognition, and some of Wonky’s greatest artists have moved away from the genre altogether (Flying Lotus, who stood at the forefront of this genre, seems to be moving into a more jazz influenced sound). Green Language is a perfect touchstone for electronic Trap music and Street Bass in 2014, but that’s not really a good thing.
There are moments where White’s brilliantly bubbly sound is more confident than ever. Raptor, the album’s first standout track, is an absolute explosion of shiny and bright walls of synthesizers. The shimmering synths create massive castles of sound, while the rumbling bass threatens to destroy these structures altogether. A slick vocal sample glides along the waves of sound, while a massive Trap drumbeat constantly shifts the song into multiple gears. The centerpiece of the album is the explosive Attak. Danny Brown gives one of the year’s best Rap performances with his percussive and brutal flow. The beat behind Brown is Trap at its finest, with glitching drum machines battling against a rhythmic drumbeat. It’s an absolutely thrilling track that, sadly, breaks the monotony of an ultimately disappointing album.
Though Rustie’s decision to move into a new direction is admirable, the execution is poorly handled. Whereas Glass Swords was an unrelenting and energetic endeavor, Green Language dozes off into sound landscapes that fail to be interesting. Rustie decides to put the ultimate buzz kill of Tempest immediately following the highly caffeinated chaos of Attak. Half of the album tries to enter these smoother and slower experiments in cloudy noise, creating a choppy sensation that slows down the entire record. It doesn’t help that Rustie uses some of these slogs to introduce rather uninteresting vocalists. Gorgeous Children, the rapper featured on the dreary He Hate Me, somehow makes an already bland beat even drowsier. D Double E’s uninspired performance on Up Down is one of the single most irritating guest verses of the year. The off brand Daft Punk vocals on Redinho represent the only vocal performance that isn’t utterly embarrassing compared to Danny Brown’s insane performance.
Aside from some terrible guests, Green Language’s greatest sin is a lack of energy. Rustie’s high-octane production is far more palatable in fast, Drum & Bass style songs. The ambiance introduced on the intro Workship does not compliment Rustie’s talents as a producer. “Interlude” tracks overwhelm the true standouts here, hurting the flow of the album. His slower and more experimental songs aren’t awful, but they also aren’t remotely interesting. Plenty of EDM artists are trying to find their place in 2014’s hectic and congested scene, but hopefully this isn’t where Rustie chooses to stay. After the excitement found in Glass Swords, Green Language doesn’t encourage anything other than head scratching.
Summary: While Green Language is certainly inoffensive, terrible guests (Save an on-point Danny Brown) and some misfired slow songs kill the vibe of an album produced by one of today’s most energetic producers.
Choice Cuts: Attak, Raptor
Leftovers: Up Down
C
You can stream Attak below. Green Language is out now on Warp.
*Electronic Music probably have beef with generalizations of genre. But come on. Electronic Music is slowly becoming more and more homogenized to the point that it’s pointless to list every single sub genre it’s a part of. There’s a lot of energetic, rhythmic based songs on here, and thus I’m putting it in with the rest of whatever the hell EDM is today. I will not discuss this any further.
MIXTAPE ROUNDUP: Cakes Da Killa, Young Thug (Black Portland), 100s, & Vince Staples
New segment! New segment! I love Hip-Hop mixtapes, but I’ve found that many of them aren’t really able to sustain an entire review of their own. Sure, we get an “Acid Rap” or a Big K.R.I.T. tape every once in a while that NEEDS a fully fleshed review, but a lot of tapes only need a brief write-up, whether I recommend them, and some highlights. This segment will pop up every once in a while, because they’re a bit easier to write, and I can keep more up-to-date on mixtapes.This first segment will cover a couple of older tapes from earlier in the year, in addition to some newer tapes.
100s- IVRY
Fool’s Gold has a tendency to drop some great Hip-Hop mixtapes (Just look at their work with Danny Brown). This slickly produced tape from Berkley rapper 100s is yet another great project from the label. It has a silky and almost cloudy quality to it, but it still sounds entirely distinct. 100s rhymes with a heavy sense of distinction, with his cadence sounding like a sort of pitched-up 2 Chainz. Despite the fact that this is very nearly “Cloud Rap”, it never sounds entirely derivative or bland.
The songs here (somewhat assisted by the breezy 8 track run time) all boost the project up. Thru My Veins is a slippery and smooth track that introduces 100s as an interesting MC. His singing on songs like Fuckin’ Around sounds a bit like Kendrick Lamar’s odd singing, but it’s distinct and different enough to not sound derivative of it. Another welcome element of this fleshed out mixtape is the amazing Prince synth funk that permeates through some of the tracks (especially Different Type of Love). The production all over this tape is so refined and enjoyable that it almost doesn’t feel like a mixtape (a non-problem a lot of Fool’s Gold projects have). Different Type of Love almost sounds like it would have fit perfectly on Andre 3000’s The Love Below. In fact, 3000 is a clear inspiration throughout the entire tape. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
B+
Choice Cuts: Fuckin’ Around, Thru My Veins
Leftovers: Can a N**ga Hit It (The straight-Trap Rap feels a bit out of place)
Black Portland (Young Thug & Bloody Jay)- Black Portland
Love him or hate him, Young Thug is going to blow up pretty soon. Danny Glover and Stoner have both been some of the better Hip-Hop tracks of the past couple of months. Plus, Young Thug has been killing it on nearly every feature. That Low Pros EP was partially saved by those goofy Young Thug features.
Black Portland finds Thug working with Bloody Jay, a rapper who is considerably less interesting. This mixtape featuring the two of them is a bit uneven, mostly because Young Thug is clearly the more interesting rapper of the two. The opener Suck Me Up is a goofy and obnoxious and repetitive song that can’t decide if it wants to be awful or kind of fun. The songs that more clearly give Thug precedence (Like the almost drunk sounding Florida Water) work much better. Thug also incorporates some weird sing-song qualities into his rapping, which is certainly interesting.
Production wise, it’s all pretty typical trap rap. There are beats that stick out a bit more, like the twinkling piano on the bombastic Signs. Really, it’s a mixtape that requires turning off your brain to enjoy it. There are no features, so it’s just Thug and Jay being loud and obnoxious over big, booming, trap rap beats. I love No Fucks, but only because of how damn stupid some of the vocals can get on it. Young Thug clearly wins on this tape (His delivery on 4 Eva Bloody is some of the best original material here), especially considering that Danny Glover is included here. Some of the tape doesn’t work (Paranoia and No Love unfortunately just don’t last), but there’s enough stupid fun on here to make it worthwhile.
B-
Choice Cuts: Danny Glover, 4 Eva Bloody, No Fuck
Leftovers: Paranoia
Cakes Da Killa- Hunger Pangs
Cakes Da Killa’s previous projects have all been confrontational and straight up threatening (and this isn’t me being homophobic. I’m uncomfortable with anyone describing graphic sexual situations in a Hip-Hop song…especially when they’re practically yelling). However, this doesn’t stop Cakes from being one of the most impressive MCs around right now, and this tape is just more proof. On every track here (despite the uneven mixing), Cakes Da Killa sounds like he is assaulting the mic. The SXYLK produced Hunger Pangs track finds Cakes dropping tongue twister after tongue twister, right after the opener where he enters like a demon from a dungeon.
Sometimes the beats can overwhelm Cakes volume wise, but his fiery flow keeps him afloat on every track. The guy just doesn’t let up, and keeps up the unrelenting energy on every single track. Cakes just avoids any possible opportunities to dissect his sexuality- despite how clearly and bluntly open he is about it- by spitting hot fire on every single track. He also has an ear for beats that mostly let him shine (I adore the fat beat on Paid & Published, and the vocal samples on Rotation are wonderful). There are a couple of tracks that don’t really work (The mostly rap-free Get 2 Werk doesn’t really work), but for the most part Cakes puts it in full throttle.
B
Choice Cuts: Rotation, It’s Not Ovah
Leftovers: Get 2 Werk
Vince Staples- Shyne Coldchain 2
Vince Staples has made a massive name for himself over the past year through that fantastic feature on Earl’s Hive and through his Twitter account, which is easily one of the most entertaining out there. His nasally voice is distinctive, and he has a smooth way with words that made his verse on Hive such a ground-breaker. Shyne Coldchain 2 is his first project following Hive, and it’s one of the better mixtapes that have been released this year.
It nicely eschews several mixtape tropes to sound more like a cohesive album. Songs like Humble are actually fleshed out songs with clashy and dark production. The dark production throughout the tape does harken back to his days palling around with Odd Future, but it all sounds refined and clean. The thick beat on 45 has a drum machine that wouldn’t be out of place on an Odd future record, but it’s mixed in such a way that the inherent amateur nature of Odd Future’s production doesn’t show. Staples sounds great over these darker beats, and he drops lines that continue his gangster nature with flying colors. Some sound soulful, like Turn and Nate, but all the beats still manage to maintain an inherent darkness that works perfect with Staples’ aesthetic.
The album-like nature of the tape makes it work, and Staples decision to keep things relatively short and focused also makes the tape something to check out. Sure, there are some misfires (I still do not understand the way rappers use Jhene Aiko, because she is consistently used in bland or nonsensical ways), and I do wish that Staples would have used some actual rap features to flesh out the tape.
B
Choice Cuts: Progressive 3, Humble
Leftovers: Oh You Scared
ALBUM REVIEW: Iggy Azalea- The New Classic
Seriously, f**k this album.
No no no…for real. This is…gahhhh.
Let me try to reign it in here. Iggy Azalea was signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label a couple of years back. One of her first videos to go viral was for a song called Pussy…which, yeah. After a couple of years of label fighting, she ended up on Island Records. She was featured on the XXL Freshman list a few years back (Which included Danny Brown, Future, and some less desirable choices (Oh, Macklemore. Oh, Kid Ink)). Listening to The New Classic…well…um…
Why? Why? My distaste for this album isn’t for Azalea’s persona or how she depicts herself, and I certainly don’t discount her as a rapper simply because she’s a very blonde white woman. I discount her because her flow and delivery makes Nicki Minaj sound grounded and subtle. She sounds perpetually drunk and whiny on every track. It might be her accent, and maybe it’s just ignorance on my part. But, I’m pretty sure it’s not ignorance…I’m pretty sure this album is just unrelentingly annoying. It doesn’t help that The New Classic is decidedly the least classic album I’ve ever heard. Her lyrics are just the sprinkles on the shit sundae; the metaphors and wordplay she uses is so banal that it’s almost unbearable. It’s 2014- If you’re still calling your flow “retarded”, you need to reevaluate your lyrics/life.
Every song is bogged down with a nutty and poppy production, and then further ruined with some of the most unbearable hooks. The laser-like sound on Change Your Life is particularly obnoxious, backed by some heavy drums that sound like they’re straight out of a Black Eyed Peas song that was popular back in 2009 (The bridge “I got that good good” “It never goes good…It never goes bad” is particularly obnoxious). Then there’s the acoustic guitars on the absolutely unbearable 100, which are so clean and fake sounding that I can’t even bring myself to analyzing what they do to the rest of the song. Even when Azalea brings guests in, nothing can be saved. T.I. delivers a verse that might have been good on Change Your Life, but it’s so lost in reverberation that you can’t find out its quality. Normally Charli xcx can deliver a great performance and hook (See Danny Brown’s Float On), but her Icona Pop-style chorus makes an already annoying song even more annoying (“WHO DAT, WHO DAT”.)
The New Classic (I seriously cannot get over this title)- on top of all of these, er, unique problems- also has to deal with some classic debut-album troubles. The album cannot decide quite what it wants to be. New Bitch has a beat that sounds almost transcendent and emotional, but it’s about being “the new bitch” (By the way, props to claiming you’re basically someone’s object and also making it clear that you’re a gold digger. That’ll get you points in the Rap Game!). The only beat I’d say really works is on the lead single Work, which has an absolutely explosive bass drop in the chorus. Anywhere else it would probably be generic and derivative, but on The New Classic, it’s a miracle (It’s also the only song that Azalea sounds remotely on point on the mic). Also, what the hell is the beat on Impossible Is Nothing? The songs is already confused enough in whatever ass-backwards message it’s trying to promote…there are like muted trumpets and a toy xylophone and some whining guitar? Also, there’s a harp on Goddess. HOW CAN YOU TRY TO SOUND REMOTELY POWERFUL WITH A CUTESY LITTLE HARP PLAYING BEHIND YOU. YOU THINK IT SOUNDS GOD-LIKE, BUT IT DOESN’T. YOU SOUND LIKE SOME KIND OF LOONEY TUNE. The guitar solo at the end is fine…but it literally sounds like someone walked into the wrong recording studio. The last few tracks of the album (Particularly Black Patra and Fuck Love) has some more Reggae influences (And I’m pretty sure some Diplo work within them), but they’re not enough to save an album this deep in the ditch.
When we asked for more women in Hip-Hop…this… is not what we meant.
Summary: The New Classic is awful. There is literally nothing redeeming or virtually enjoyable or remotely pleasant about this album.
Choice Cuts: Work
Leftovers: Literally everything but Work.
F
You can…actually, no. You can’t stream anything below. It’s not worth it. The New Classic is out now on Island. Sorry.
ALBUM REVIEW: Future- Honest
The past several months have been absolutely gripping. Future’s follow-up to 2012’s world-shaking Pluto was supposed to drop last year, but it experienced constant delays. We’d get a new single every couple of months, but no album was in sight. Major label album that experience such delays can often hurt from the stretch of time. Luckily, Honest doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, Future managed to make this album a more concise and more consistent effort.
The first three tracks alone establish a heavy energy and ferocity that only came out in bursts on Pluto. The way the beat on Look Ahead dissolves into a trap beat is absolutely thrilling, and Future decides to go OFF on this track. The bangers all over this album benefit from Future sounding more energetic than ever; if Pluto was Future making a name for himself, Honest is him maintaining his new-found king-of-the-hill status. Future sounds so unrelentingly furious on tracks like T-Shirt that you don’t know whether to turn up or hide for safety. It’s probably best to assume both. Future’s voice processed through a sea of auto-tune has become one of the most distinctive sounds in Radio Hip-Hop, but it still hasn’t veered into self-parody territory. In fact, Future has used to to expand his sound, creating a sound that’s both innately intense as well as oddly emotive.
Future has also upped the ante with guests on this album. Album highlight Move That Dope is easily one of the best songs of 2014. A goofy Future verse, a snarly and still-on-his-a-game Pusha T, a shockingly smooth Pharrell verse (which may or may not be his best verse ever, and certainly the best thing he’s done in his omnipresence this past year), and- holy shit- Casino’s verse is a scary kind of good. Everyone brings their A-game to the track, creating one of the best posse cuts since that Last Huzzah remix back in 2011. Even though it’s a weirdly underwhelming snippet, Drake’s appearance on the too-brief Never Satisfied brings a nice Drake feature, which seems like something we haven’t heard in forever. Also, Benz Friendz proves that there’s no such thing as a bad André 3000 feature. There are a couple guests here that don’t entirely make work (Wiz Khalifa has no chance of matching Future’s balls-to-the-wall energy on My Momma, which would have been a much better song sans-Khalifa, and Young Scooter is pretty whatever), but the forgettable WTF guests that were all over Pluto (Big Rube?) have been foregone.
What really makes Honest stand out is how Future, a guy who is stereotypically labeled as a hook-guy, can absolutely own on a track by himself. His tumbling delivery on verses whenever he begins to sound tongue-tied is one of the best sounds in the world, and this album is full of it. The unrelenting passion that Future puts into songs like Blood, Sweat, Tears is commanding and utterly fascinating. Whereas a lot of radio-rap guys can begin to sound bored and uninspired on their full-lengths, Future stays on his grind for the entire effort. Future’s delivery doesn’t vary much between his trunk-booming bangers and his smoother tracks, but his admirable passion manages to stay true throughout.
It also doesn’t hurt that the production all over this album is stellar. It’s a lot of trap beats, that’s obvious. But none of them sound overly derivative or generic, like some of the tracks from Pluto. There’s enough southern flair and other styles thrown in to make Honest one of the better produced mainstream rap albums this year. The sprawling nature of Look Ahead’s beat is almost awe-inspiring, nicely backing Future’s mountainous delivery. The subtle rumble of T-Shirt nicely compliments Future’s unrelenting intensity (The same goes for My Momma), while the menacing creep of Mike Will Made It’s Move That Dope beat perfectly matches the menacing in-your-face verses from the rappers. The “Prettier” tracks here, like Honest and I Be U, live and breathe off of the production flourishes. I Won does this in a similar way, meshing some watered down keyboards and drum machine noises to create a moody and dreamy sound.
Future has an ear for great production and songs, and Honest proves that Future is the crown gem of radio rap. There’s not a “bad” track here (At least on the standard edition that I’m reviewing), with the weaker tracks only suffering from weakened guest work or questionable track-length (Looking at that “song” that was Never Satisfied). Honest rides so well on Future’s energy that it’s hard to think of any Hip-Hop album that is comparable. The only recent artist that could possibly compare was Waka Flocka Flame on Flockaveli. It might be blasphemous to call Honest the new Flockaveli, but it’s pretty damn close.
Summary: Honest is a great Radio Rap record, with plenty of great songs, stellar production, and some focused energy from Future working together to craft a thrilling and explosive album.
Choice Cuts: Move That Dope, Benz Friendz, T-Shirt, Look Ahead
Leftovers: Never Satisfied
B+/A-
You can (and should) stream Move That Dope below. Honest is out now on Epic.
ALBUM REVIEW: M.I.A.- Matangi
I’ve listened to a lot of abrasive, challenging music. Contrary to popular belief, I do like some of it. Sometimes abrasiveness can create something truly stunning or even beautiful, despite the fact that it would be expected to have the opposite reaction. However, this “Beautiful Abrasiveness” only works out occasionally. A lot of times, abrasiveness can come across as just that: Abrasive. That’s been my main problem with Maya Arulpragasam, or M.I.A.’s, music. All of her albums sound like a Bollywood soundtrack getting the crap kicked out of it by Hip-Hop and Ihttps://samlovesmusic.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpndustrial music. There have been a few bright moments on these albums (Paper Planes is basically a perfect song), but most of the albums are just confused, tangled up noises.
Matangi, M.I.A.’s first record since 2010’s /\/\ /\ Y /\, is just as messy and abrasive as her last couple of albums, but there’s an odd sense of maturity and hunger here. Kala was her breakout, /\/\ /\ Y /\ was the sophomore* slump (A record I absolutely hated), and this is the album that will try to break her out. There are some vicious songs on here that absolutely make it clear that she’s over those /\/\ /\ Y /\ days. Warriors has some great vocal sampling with some sharp synth shots trickled over it, and her vocal delivery on the verses here over the thudding bass makes it one of the most intense tracks on the album. And every once in a while, M.I.A. finds a melody that’s nearly as good as some of the stuff on Kala (Like Bad Girls, one of the best tracks from last year finally seeing the light of day on this album).
But then there are some absolutely annoying tracks, just like every other album of hers. Sure, the lows aren’t as low as they used to be, but there are moments that are absolutely dreadful. The weird Come Walk With Me vacillates from an absolutely hideous melody to weird synth breakdowns that some of the beats on Death Grips’ Exmilitary sound like easy listening. Then there’s the half-baked Atention, which repeats the same idea over and over again and not really going anywhere. There’s some wild synths at the “chorus” that almost make it worthwhile, but the verse is so dreadful that it’s almost not worth it. Production wise, there are some really great ideas throughout here, but some of them are diluted with little ornaments that just do not have to be there (Like…shrill screaming. Please stop.)
But when the production choices are smart, they’re mind blowing. The entire backing of Bad Girls is intricate and very ornamental without overshadowing the monstrous hook and solid verses of that song. The bass drop on Double Bubble Trouble is so heavy and nasty that It’ll probably be a Vine sensation in the coming months, because it’s so damn DIRTY. It’s a moment that would have fit on early Major Lazer projects very well. The sweet bass and production on Y.A.L.A. save the song from its absolutely dreadful hook (even though the song still lasts too long). Oh, and the drone that opens Bring The Noize is pretty sweet, and the way it rips into the heavy, heavy drums is pretty cool.
M.I.A.’s vocals are an acquired taste, and I hate to say I haven’t quite acquired them yet. More often than not, she comes across as a less obnoxious version of Yo-Landi from Die Antwoord (Who have a similar, if less self-serious, sound). Sometimes, it can come across as being rather shrill and unpleasant, and there are moments where that’s clear. M.I.A. can’t really hold a note for more than a couple of seconds without it wavering out of key, but she’s never really been a “Singer”. Her rapping is her strong suit, and luckily there’s more of that on this album that keeps things going along. There are moments where her voice is a bit too much (Boom (Skit)), but luckily the moments here are fleeting (Unlike, well, the entirety of /\/\ /\ Y /\ and a solid half of Kala). This album relies a lot more on crazy production, and the tracks that try to rely on M.I.A. herself show that she’s not much without her production (Lights, a song that doesn’t really go anywhere).
Oddly enough, some of the better moments happen when she isn’t alone. She brings on Canadian Sex-Swoon/Sad-Coke-Dude The Weeknd for two songs that work off surprisingly well. With the more toned down nature of a song like Exodus, M.I.A. really shows her talents (Her Rapping, Her ear for a good hook, a cool beat) alongside a surprisingly ethereal and oddly not-annoying guest spot from The Weeknd. The Weeknd fades into the background, fleshing out the song as more a part than an addition to the whole. This also happens on the (poorly-titled) Sexodus, which similarly uses more conservative production that keeps M.I.A.’s style without sacrificing a good song.
*I’m ignoring Arular since I, personally, don’t see much importance in it to her career.
Summary: Matangi continues to show the hit-and-miss nature of M.I.A.’s music, with some vital tracks mixed in with some absolute messes. Luckily, however, Matangi manages to be M.I.A.’s best album yet, at least from this non-fan’s perspective.
Choice Cuts: Exodus/Sexodus, Bring the Noize, Bad Girls
Leftovers: Lights, Come Walk With Me
C+
Stream Bring The Noize below. Matangi is out tomorrow (11/5) on Interscope.
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
Vantage Point Music 