From a few listens I think More Life is 10x better than Views. Too long again but a lot of massive tracks. Feel like it could have done with a few more Drakeless interludes (Skepta’s and Sampha’s are really good) to break things up a bit. Both of Thugger’s features are
I know Drake doesn’t get a lot of love on here but really enjoying this one so far.
Yeah, my criticism should come with the disclaimer that Drake really, really isn’t for me and despite a few decent songs on early releases/mixtapes and a half decent LP in Take Care I think he’s basically been shit the whole way along.
TBH I have a real soft spot for pop Dancehall so lowkey like Shape of You. The YXNG BANE version is much better tho.
When it comes to Drake I have a love/hate vibe. I thinks he’s tediously turgid when he tries to do serious rap (90% of Views sent me to sleep) but I love his pop tunes. So Passionfruit and Blem are great. Love the Giggs features too.
Still really annoys me that he won’t feature any Jamaican artists, despite taking so much from their culture. WHAT’S POPCAAN GOT TO DO FOR A DRAKE FEATURE???
Whats your Justin Bieber emoji??? I must be basic because I love it all. Except the new Katy Perry song
The funny thing is this kind of stuff is actually huge in Jamaica. They don’t necessarily see it as cultural appropriation, just happy that their culture is being repped by the biggest artists in the world. My friend wen’t last year and said Sorry was basically the biggest tune on the island and you’d hear it everywhere.
Gonna be giving Ransom 2 some spins over the weekend, about as star studded as you’d expect (young thug, kendrick, rihanna, future, rae sremmurd, chief keef, gucci mane, YG, etc)
Sort of half-new on both accounts but for lovers of beats:
The Alchemist - Rappers Best Friend 4: Instrumental Series
A collection of beats, some you’ll probably recognise from recent projects, some new. I’ve had these on a lot over the last week, perfect for sunny drives in the car.
Madlib - Bad Neighbour Instrumentals
Instrumental tape from the Bad Neighbour project with MED from 2015 I think? I never really gave that release much attention (might go back to it now) but I enjoyed this whilst at work last week.
the songs that bookend it on the album stand out a little more to me, but its a nice breath on that album for sure. think BlankFace ended up being a top 3 release for me last year