Rapid Review - 7/24/22

Lil Uzi Vert – Red & White: Nice to see Uzi back, he continues his forte with creative, hard-hitting flows over playful beats. His pronoun change was also kind of a surprise, especially for his fanbase but it's fairly admirable in his context. I enjoy FLEX UP, I KNOW, HITTIN MY SHOULDER, and BELIEVE ME. 6-7

Minions: The Rise Of Gru: The movie of the truly despicable, iconoclastic Gru somehow brings together a myriad of renowned, acclaimed artists to contribute songs and covers of jazz influences. 7-8

Rico Nasty – Las Ruinas: With very vaguely punkish and rock influences, Rico infuses them in somewhat cliché but mostly great ways with her aggressive trap style. It gets softer as it progresses, reminding me of Poppy’s musical transition. In lieu of her physical aesthetic changes, it has made this her best project thus far, but far from reaching her potential. A lot of failed, unfitting experiments here. 6-7

Interpol – The Other Side of Make-Believe: The indie legends come back with some absolutely beautiful and glorious piano and guitar instrumentals. Nothing here really disappoints. ~8.

Ken Carson – X: I disagree with most critics; despite its appearance of mimesis, Playboi Carti’s adoption of underground artists marked Carti’s use of their sound, not the contrary. This tiny, neglected context renders most critics’ critiques void… This is an explosive project from an artist with more potential than I ever would have expected. The only internal critique is that of one-dimensionality and filler. Some of the base-driven beats are on par with the ever-growing list of rage-rap classics. 6.5-7.5

Joey Bada$$ - 2000: Despite worries of a more dated sound, I think this project still impresses and shows that Joey still has a place in the rap game. Without departing too far from his original sound, Joey delivers bars that show genuine effort with great features all-around (except Chris Brown) over very diverse, groovy, jazzy beats. 7-8

Kid Cudi – The Boy Who Flew To The Moon, Vol. 1: A nice compilation of some fan favorites in preparation for his festival tour. Was never a big fan but this is a succinct introduction to his music.

Cinemartyr – Opt Out: Completely forgot to review the band that release one of my top albums of 2020, but I will give a full one soon. It sounds extraordinarily promising already, so far, that is…