Entering hip-hop veteran status and his popularity somewhat dimmed from his mid-2010s peak, Maybach Music rapper Wale has continued to impress with his technical abilities and assertive, straightforward delivery. Returning with the sequel to a breakout 2012 mixtape, now getting full album treatment, Folarin II is Wale’s seventh studio album, mostly continuing down the same … Continue reading Wale – Folarin II
Month: October 2021
Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters
After her last project was renamed a couple times, delayed a couple times, and briefly abandoned in favour of promoting a joint poetry collection and spoken-word album, the glamorous folk-pop singer-songwriter that is Lana Del Rey has been uncharacteristically following through on her lengthy list of promises and announcements as of late. Releasing her second … Continue reading Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters
Coldplay – Music of the Spheres
It was the best of Martins; it was the worst of Martins. After reaching new levels of lyrical banality with Everyday Life, their worst-selling album to date that somehow picked up an Album of the Year nomination at the Grammys, UK pop-rock titans Coldplay saw fit to recruit pop’s most successful producer – and a … Continue reading Coldplay – Music of the Spheres
Young Thug – Punk
While his influence on the rap game cannot be understated, Young Thug can be so eccentric and off-the-wall with his ideas and vocal inflections at times that he lapses into inconsistency. As he releases his second project of the year, it seems that he saved all of his best ideas for the hard-hitting and undeniably … Continue reading Young Thug – Punk
James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart
One of the music industry’s most sought-after collaborators, both James Blake’s touching and heartfelt folksy ballads and his tendency for experimentation and daringly jumping across genre lines to blend his malleable style with some of today’s biggest innovators have been drawing in more and more fans as his career progresses. Now on his fifth studio … Continue reading James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart
Don Toliver – Life of a DON
A signee to Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Records, psychedelic melodic rapper and singer Don Toliver continues to capitalize on his momentum by releasing his sophomore project only about a year and a half removed from his inconsistent debut, Heaven or Hell. While so many are drawn to Don for his completely distinctive and downright infectious … Continue reading Don Toliver – Life of a DON
Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days
Now having firmly established herself as an artist that you have to look out for at the Grammys every time she releases, Brandi Carlile continues to push on as one of the most celebrated working songwriters of the moment. Taking a break after her critically acclaimed last solo album to join the country supergroup The … Continue reading Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days
Meek Mill – Expensive Pain
After taking an uncharacteristically lengthy three-year break, Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill returns with his fifth studio album – although, not much has changed in the interim. Meek has one of the game’s most reliable and instantly recognizable skillsets in that electrifying and piercing yelp of a vocal delivery, capable of elevating any uptempo trap banger … Continue reading Meek Mill – Expensive Pain
ITZY – Crazy In Love
For the second straight week, a K-pop group outside the leading two of BTS and BLACKPINK with unspeakably massive fanbases has cracked the week’s most popular albums – this time it’s female five-piece ITZY with their official full-length debut, Crazy in Love. While only nine official tracks in length, with instrumental versions of some of … Continue reading ITZY – Crazy In Love
Ben's Beat - Music Reviews 