Best Rap Performance The nominees: “Be Careful” (Cardi B); “Nice for What” (Drake); “Bubblin’” (Anderson .Paak); “King’s Dead” (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future, James Blake); “SICKO MODE” (Travis Scott, Drake, Swae Lee, Big Hawk) As much as I adore Anderson .Paak and his effervescent single, “Bubblin’,” I think it’s safe to say that he will…
Tag: Travis Scott
The Top 40 Albums of 2018
40. Sex & Cigarettes, Toni Braxton The R&B veteran delivered a strong and succinct album in a year full of bloated, overdrawn releases. Her contralto voice and slinky timbre anchor the most explicit and honest soundscape of her career. From the cathartic climax of the title track to the spunky “Foh” and “Deadwood,” Toni maneuvers through…
2019 Grammys Nominations Predictions: Album of the Year
This year all of the General Field categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist) have been expanded from five nominees each to eight. Although more nominees means more records and artists being recognized, this also means predicting these categories become much, much harder. I’ll separate these…
2019 Grammys Nominations Predictions: The Rap Field
Best Rap Album Rap music is far and away the biggest genre in music today. Everyone wants to be a consumer and creator of the culture. With the massive influx of new rappers and veterans stepping up their game to keep up with younger artists, the rap categories at this year’s ceremony will be especially…
The Top 10 Albums of Summer 2018
Requirements: Albums had to have been released between June 1, 2018, and August 31, 2018. #10. YG, Stay Dangerous The Compton (sorry, Bompton) rapper has been putting out killer material for the better part of half a decade. On Stay Dangerous we find a ganster who’s more mature, more seasoned, and less frivolous. YG can flex on…
The Top 20 Songs of the Summer
Making a “Songs of the Summer” list is always tricky. Do you go with the big chart hits, the underrated hidden gems, try to cover every genre, or have a balance of major and indie artists? For this year’s list, I tried to include songs that captured every shade and feeling of the summertime. The…
Who Had the Best Performance at the 2018 VMAs?
The VMAs were especially lackluster this year, but there were still some memorable moments. Here are the best performances of the night: 14. Juice WRLD, “Lucid Dreams” This was kind of awful. Like, really awful. He sounded like drugged, angry toddler. 13. Bazzi, “Beautiful” Bazzi, who performed his breakout single, “Mine,” at the red-carpet…
Album Review: Travis Scott Takes Us to ‘ASTROWORLD’
It has been almost two years since Travis Scott’s last solo album. That record, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, was not only a #1 album but also one of the best hip-hop albums of the ’10s. Understandably, the hype for his next album was at insanely high levels. Between Birds and his most recent record, ASTROWORLD,…
The Black Panther Soundtrack Is The Best Album of the Year
The movie hasn’t hit theatres yet, but the Black Panther soundtrack, curated by Top Dawg Entertainment and Kendrick Lamar, is a masterpiece. The album is at once forward-thinking and retrospective. The themes shift between the comic book world of Wakanda, the mind and emotional conscious of T’Challa/Black Panther, black nationalism, black pride, and swaggering bravado. With…
Album Review: Travis Scott & Quavo, ‘Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho’
In the spirit of Christmas, Travis Scott and Quavo have finally bestowed their highly anticipated collaborative album upon us. The album commences with a soulful Otis Redding sample followed by the hottest streak of rap tracks all year. The first four songs on the album showcase the inimitable chemistry of Travis and Quavo and their…
