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CORNER
2024 has been a very… intriguing year so far, to say the least. Eclipses, a num ber of tragic deaths, the downfall of a rich billionaire, and a number of hiphop feuds (some spicy, some corny) as I write this, we’ve been fed with a lot of great music to get us through this year so far, as chaotic as it might be. Hiphop, R&B, alternative/rock, pop, it’s been a bit of a blast this first quarter, and there’s so much more to come in these next 8 months. Here are some of the projects so far that have caught my attention though…
playing from album: heavy currently playing: sir, isaiah rashad
v v i r t u a l v i r t u a l words by: Owen aka @o1___mighty (on all social platforms) v i r t u a l ra d oi
SiR’s fourth album HEAVY culminates almost five years of material, stemming from some of the struggles he dealt with in the lengthy period after his highly-acclaimed third album Chasing Summer. Originally announced in late 2022 after the release of 3 singles, the album was put on hold for the entirety of 2023, until the Top Dawg singer returned with the song “No Evil” at the start of this year. The album finally arrived in March, just three weeks after his labelmate ScHoolboy Q released his highly anticipated sixth album Blue Lips, and it was worth the wait! HEAVY delves into certain aspects of
SiR’s life a little bit deeper than before, including his struggles with celebrity, love/infidelity, and his previous alcohol/drug addictions, which all come down to him trying to change for the better.
While it’s not as toxic lyrically as some of the songs on Chasing Suummer, the strong level of quality we love SiR for is still intact. The title track is almost a cry for help over such a relaxing backdrop. “Tryin’
My Hardest” and the Ab-Soul-assisted “I’m Not Perfect” deal with the similar theme of trying to make a relationship work, the former using
the context of arguments and the latter having the awareness that the girl might deserve a better person than him. Anderson .Paak delivers a strong performance on the standout “Poetry in Motion”, which was basically .Paak’s own song. And “Ricky’s Song” was a very heartfelt highlight, giving advice to his nephew on how to navigate through life. HEAVY once again continues my agenda towards SiR having one of the most consistent discographies in R&B right now.
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release date: 16TH FEB 2024
artist name: Sonny Miles
When I first discovered Sonny Miles through his appearance on Reuben Vin cent’s “Look What You Did” and his mu sic video appearance on BeMyFiasco’s “Between the Lines”, I came across a mixtape of his on Bandcamp called Gam ma, an earlier but completely different version of what his debut album of the same name would end up being. It was a project weirdly not on streaming at the time, and some of the songs ended up being slightly reworked for later pro jects (including Catallabs, which has since been removed off streaming, as of this writing).
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After the release of a few maxi-sin gles during 2023, Sonny finally came
through with Gamma - the debut albumin February, which showcases the insane five-year growth from the North Caro lina-based musician, making some of the best music of his rising career so far.
Throughout the album, Sonny knows how to utilise his soulful Southern voice over some smooth backdrops, even when he sometimes gets into a rap-singy ap proach on some of the songs (“Drop”, “Can’t Swipe Away”). “Run Around” fea tures a sped up sample loop which Sonny works into a bit of a nice late night jam. “Over & Over” was one of my favour ite songs from 2023, and sounds even better within the context of the al bum. The bass on that song is still so
GOOD!! “Pour It Up”, originally re leased as a solo song as part of the “Everything” maxi-single in 2023, now features a guest appearance from Kelly Moonstone, who amplifies the song even further into a fully-real ised duet than what initially sound ed like a solo interlude. “Kwiet” ended up being a song I appreciated more, with its remarkable Tweet sam ple chop from Brydecisive, and as a bonus track for the album, actually concludes it so well!
Gamma is an album that is not to be slept on, you can hear all the hard work put into this!
album title: Act Like / In the Sky
In 2023, one of my favourite artists Black Milk finally released his eighth album Everybody Good?, three years after the pandemic initially delayed its planned 2020 release. It was an album that saw the Detroit rapper/producer experiment slightly more with melody and autotune, which finalised into a bit of a hit-or-miss result (When it did succeed though, it REALLY did… “Feelings Don’t Feel” is an example).
Six months later, as Black started to prepare for his European tour (which I had the pleasure of attending… one of my favourite concerts so far this year), he came through with a surprise 2-pack of new music for the fans. Now,
this barely counts as a project, especially not a full-length one like the rest on this list, but both songs on this have been getting me through the first quarter of the year, most especially “In the Sky” - the production on that song, specifically the drums, are insane!
“Act Like” features a hook, as well as production from Brandon Myster, who initially appeared on the Everybody Good? cut “Let Me Know”, and while I like both songs, I definitely feel the chemistry between both Black and Brandon succeeds more here, with a stronger hook and a simplistic but electrifying instrumental. It doesn’t do too much and not too
little, making for a great contrast towards the more striking musicality of the latter track.
Overall, a nice 2-pack that works as a way to bridge the gap between his recent album and whatever more there might be to come from Black Milk… release date: 30TH JAN 2024
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artist name:
date: april 30, 2024
I just want to start this off by saying that so far this year, “THank God 4 Me” has been one of my most played songs of the year. It’s a song that was really worth the wait after it was initially premiered during TDE producer Kal Banx’s Boiler Room set in August 2023, and it was exciting to officially hear it 7 months later. Now, for the rest of the album:
people around him over a beautiful Mario Luciano/Lauren Santi-assisted composition.
BLUE LIPS is another solid body of work in ScHoolboy Q’s mostly-consistent catalog, coming almost five years after his last album CrasH Talk kinda divided some fans (myself included). From the one-month rollout down to the recent interviews he’s had in promoting this album, you can tell there was a lot of care and intention put into this album and almost every track on it, even the ones where I might’ve been a little critical of the creative choices (justice for Rico Nasty’s full verse on “Pop”).
The album is reckless with its blend of experimental and adventurous production, as well as some slightly unorthodox flows, sprinkled with a few reflecting moments on where Q is at the moment. And when it succeeds, it stands out very well! “Blueslides” sees Q vent about mental health and helping the
“Love Birds” is a bit of a chaotic track, frequently switching from a lovely Thee Sacred Souls sample to a more ominous experimental soundscape for Q and rapper/producer Devin Malik to get their verses off. “Foux” concludes the Druggys wit H*es series on a high note, sonically having the most energy out of the four songs, but lyrically making it clear that both Q & Ab-Soul aren’t exactly the same drug-inducing rappers that they were on the first instalment thirteen years ago.
The lead single “Yeern 101” features a striking soundscape from Cardo, that knows how to build itself up as Q runs through the beat. It’s kinda short but striking enough!
While Q, at the moment, personally ranks this as his best work, I personally still feel it isn’t his best even compared to his past work. However, BLUE LIPS still remains a pretty strong effort, and one of the best albums so far this year, that features Q at a healthier, better and more aware state than ever.
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album title: PARADIGM SHIFT
release date: 12TH APRIL 2024
artist name: Sebastian Mikael
NxWorries - Why Lawd?
The arrival of a sophomore album from the dynamic duo of Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge has been long overdue, since at least 2019/2020. Almost 5 years later, we are finally getting closer to its release on June 14 (or June 7, if you’re getting the physicals). So far, the singles (while being very spread apart) have been very good and the tracklist has even promised us features from Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt and Snoop Dogg, which has fueled my excitement even more..
This last year, I’ve grown to appreciate Sebastian Mikael’s music more, most specifically the deluxe edition of his PHILEO EP, which caught my ear much better than the original EP in 2022.
In April, he returned with a new short but sweet EP PARADIGM SHIFT, and it’s once again another gem in his ever-growing catalogue, showing more progression as an artist in just 11 minutes than ever before. Sebastian’s sound fits right in with the modern day scene of neo soul, alongside contemporaries such as Emmavie (who appears on the standout “Nothing Compares”), Flwr Chyld, Grimm Lynn, India Shawn and Amaria.
While I don’t like to blatantly compare newer artists to their older counterparts, his style at times is definitely reminiscent of D’Angelo and Bilal, and “Nothing Compares” shows that wonderfully. A smooth record with stellar instrumentation from his band Theophonixx, it’s a song that reminds me of certain elements from Black Messiah and 1st Born Second.
The hook is such an earworm, and by the time Emmavie comes in with her verse, it only amplifies the song further! “Yesterday” is another mellow cut, with Theophonixx delivering once again with the jazzier instrumentation, and Sebastian’s voice sounding so smooth over it.
Now... what else am i looking forward to this year?
Hiatus Kaiyote - Love Heart Cheat Code
The Australian future soul band is preparing to release their highly-anticipated album this June (just like NxWorries), and their current two singles so far have set the mood for the album so well. Hiatus has been one of my favourite acts to listen to, with such a consistent discography over the last decade, and this seems like it’s gonna be another one for the books!
JID & Metro BoominJIDTRO*
As producer Metro Boomin is currently having success with the 2-album run he did with Future, I have not forgotten about his upcoming joint album with Atlanta rapper JID, which I’m still praying for to come this year, hopefully with the other music JID has promised on top of that.
Overall, PARADIGM SHIFT is a nice little project that pushes Sebastian’s sound even further than before. Whatever more there is to come from him in the next year or so, I’m ready!