After reading this, you will see that I have a wide variety of music taste. I’m rather adamant about these artist’s “musical peak”, and much of the time, believe they’ll never make anything better. Perchance, one day, they’ll prove me otherwise.
Chance the Rapper
Let me start off with the genre I don’t necessarily prefer, but with the artist who swayed my outlook. Coloring Book also known as “Chance 3” was by far, the peak of Chance’s career. What makes his fame much more compelling is the fact he refuses to sign a record deal. Chance the rapper single handedly released one of the best-reviewed albums of the year, ranking #8 on Billboard’s top 200 list. Coloring Book was the first album to chart on Billboard 200 solely on streams. The thing I personally commend about this album is his taste in variety. Chance is a gospel rapper, but touches base on a diversity of features, giving him an array of audience. I applaud Chance for drastically enhance the hip-hop world.
Twenty-One Pilots
I realize I may not have the same opinion as the majority, and although I do admire all four of Twenty-One Pilot’s albums, Vessel is their most rewarding album in my opinion. Granted, this was their first label debut, it was the start of their success. Although Blurryface had been their most successful album, with two songs charting top five in the Billboard Hot 100, Vessel had gotten much buzz in it’s time as well. As of July 2016, 569,000 copies were sold. Personally, my favorite song off this album is “Holding On to You”. This was the first single released from the album on September 11, 2012. This album as a whole is unifying and really expressive towards the type of genre the duo works towards.
Blink-182
As far as my mixed feelings towards Blink-182, I’ve decided to address a time period as their peak, as apposed to a specific album. Through the years 1999-2003, Blink was at their peak. Songs such as “I Miss You” and “All The Small Things” were most successful for them. “I Miss You” hit number one on Billboard’s modern rock tracks and peaked number 42 on their hot 100. As far as their new album, California goes, I wouldn’t refer to it as their peak. In my opinion, replacing the singer in a band results in a completely different style. The issue Blink-182 held is that they attempted to replace the singer, but at the same time, continue with their style they held over a decade ago. Both Tom DeLonge and Matt Skiba are two talented individuals, don’t get me wrong. I still am very fond of California but it is just a bit difficult to replace Tom DeLonge. As far as my completely biased opinion goes, Blink-182 still stands as a key development of “pop punk”.
Lorde
Generally speaking, I think Lorde is a quite under-rated artist. Although she only has one album (remarkably done), she has many singles. Her album Pure Heroine is probably one of my favorite albums in the pop world. She has an alternative/indie twist which really captured my attention. Pure Heroine is lyrically phenomenal, preaching of youth and mainstream culture, it speaks to teens her age. It was also quite successful in the music industry, being nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Along with the exceptional lyrics, the electronica aspect of the album is also noteworthy. It focuses on deep bass and programmed beats. My personal favorite song on this album is “The Love Club”. This song expresses her unique vocals that make the indie in her style appear. Lorde has been speaking of releasing another album this year, but personally, I would be content if she never released another album.
