Kid Cudi: Passion, Pain and Demon Slayin’

Kid Cudi’s return to the R&B scene is wrought with his signature humming and introspective lyrics. This album is reminiscent of Kid Cudi’s spacey, melodic days from Man on the Moon and other earlier projects rather than the 2015 album, Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven. It’s not uncommon to find oneself dancing to poppy beats overlaid by lyrics about Cudi’s depression and social alienation. The sound echoes that of his prodigy and collaborator Travis Scott in some moments. Standout tracks include By Design featuring Andre 3000, Baptized in Fire featuring Travis Scott and Surfin’ featuring Pharrell Williams.

Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

Travis Scott’s Sophomore album Birds in the Trap Sing Mcknight proves that he’s a force to be reckoned with. There’s a diversity in sound here from the island influenced guidance to the more industrial beat and denser lyricism of goosebumps to the lyrically sparse sdp interlude. Travis Scott also bolsters an impressive guest list including Andre 3000, Cassie, frequent collaborators Quavo and Young Thug and even Kendrick Lamar. Standout tracks include Through the Late Night featuring Travis Scott’s hero Kid Cudi and Pick up the Phone from which title of the project comes from with Quavo rapping “Birds in the Trap sing Brian McKnight”.

untitled.unmastered

Kendrick Lamar further proved his skill with the release of untitled.unmastered, essentially comprised of abandoned songs. However upon first listen it shows to be a true successor of To Pimp a Butterfly with jazz influenced beats and funky lyrics that harken back to a time in Black music far before rap music. Furthermore, Kendrick continues his pattern of dropping socially relevant content using words and beats that an audience can easily party or casually listen to. Standout tracks include Untitled 2 which finds Kendrick emulating Drake’s rap style and Untitled 3 which plays like a soul song from the 70s.

Coloring Book

With Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper takes on one of the hardest tasks in Hip Hop. He seeks to legitimize and introduce mainstream hip hop fans to gospel rap. With Coloring Book, Chance uses his signature ad-libs and laid back rap style to tell a story of redemption and success through God. He manages to do this whilst staying true to his loyal Chicago following and without alienating non believers. Standout tracks include the eerily sad Same Drugs and the upbeat Angels featuring Saba.

Malibu

Anderson. Paak has arrived like an alien on the rap scene with a melodic delivery unseen with most rappers for some time now. His album has not only heavy lyricism but his voice itself is melodic without the tampering of autotune or vocal effects. As an XXL Freshman this year, Anderson. Paak is certainly one to watch out for in the upcoming years.