future - evol

desiigner should call his album love

desiigner should call his album love

i'm going to be blunt this time around. this will be my fourth future review since i started doing these and quite frankly, that's two too many. being prolific is great in some instances and bad in others. on the one hand, this album is full of great beats and future does his job over them in future fashion. on the other, this album is full of great beats and future just does his job over them in future fashion.

what i'm saying here is "did we really need this project?" most of you all will say "of course, are you stupid?", in which i'd respond with a sound "no". i'm glad we have evol, maybach is a great song. however, i'm still playing march madness whenever i need an automatic turn up. where ya at still gets major hype when i'm out at the bar. hell, even move that dope is more relevant than half the tracks on here.

we got a lot of future doing future and that's great. but we also got a lot of tracks that aren't really pushing any new ground. i'm getting bored.

top tracks: maybach, seven rings, lie to me

score: 58

future - purple reign

to be perfectly honest, i don't know if i needed another future project so quickly after his last, i still feel like i don't fully appreciate ds2 for what it is, even though i really enjoy many of the tracks on it. and with that in mind seeing "executive produced by dj esco and metro boomin" on the cover art, i'm left with a feeling of joy and uncertainty. prior to listening, i was certain that i was going to hear some beats that would knock. i was also mildly upset that this would turn out to be a re-hash of territory already dominated.

purple reign is more of the same, there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. depending on the mood, i'm entirely okay with this. he puts on a couple new flows and feelings here and there; perkys calling brings out some turmoil that climaxes on the title track and he even does a great fetty wap impression on the hook for drippin (how u luv dat). these things are different but they're not really pushing any new boundaries; inside the mattress feels like a march madness clone. despite that, it's one of the best tracks here.

on the other hand, esco and boomin, they got it on smash, so why change what isn't really broken?

purple reign chart.png

score: 71

drake and future - what a time to be alive

you can tell a lot about a person through their nicknames sometimes. drake's frequently referred to himself as the 6 God, and the name has stuck. it's a very literal name, implying that he is the highest being of toronto and its surrounding area. future has got a few names outside of his obvious stage name as well, one being the appendage of hendrix to his name. no doubt a reference to jimi hendrix, one of the guitar gods (there's that word again) of yesteryear, a man known for pushing the boundaries of music. two titans in their own right, decided to belittle their competition by joining forces, but too much of a good thing isn't always what we need.

what a time to be alive is nothing but truth, and by that i mean that it is a great thing that two hip hop artists of such caliber can link up so easily and make music that would be desired by fans of both artists. what a time to be alive where a joint project between these artists can be outshined by both of their previous efforts in the year — and no one even cares.

this tape is solid, you really can't say otherwise. however, it's obviously what no one really expected. the chemistry is there but it really hasn't propagated yet. the effort to jive on an artist level is about as thought out as the stock photo that covers the album. still, the songs are infectious, big rings' enormously stupid hook really does get hooked in my mind, the 6/8 timing on plastic bag is phenomenal, and really, i'm the plug. i am. me. i'm the plug.

top 3 + bottom one: plastic bag, i'm the plug, diamonds dancing, jersey

score: 74

five for five: vol. 3

death grips - fashion week

  1. surprisingly catchy, no mc ride still works
  2. some beats are replay worthy, others not at all
  3. the erratic behavior and mysterious atmosphere still reigns supreme
  4. i would love to hear mc ride over these beats
  5. it's a nice respite in their discography
 

score: 64

dr. dre - compton

  1. overblown, larger than life sound but it's not really that hype
  2. anderson .paak is the best thing about this album, kendrick being a close second
  3. dr. dress crisp production is still impressive, but needs better verses on it
  4. i really don't need to listen to this project in full ever again
  5. i might not even listen to most of these songs again
 

score: 62

future - 56 nights

  1. MARCH MADNESS
  2. very concise tape, this is most appreciated
  3. production is nice, future is locked in
  4. never cared about future before this tape at all
  5. still think he's overhyped, but he is very interesting
 

score: 66

future - ds2

  1. the deluxe version tracks should replace the mid section of this album
  2. once again, production is crucial to future's success
  3. i could've embraced more features with an album this long, drake was welcomed
  4. lot of good bumpin tracks, wasn't feeling most of the slow songs
  5. it's surprising how replayable these songs are
 

score: 81

b.o.b - psycadelik thoughtz

  1. pretentious name for a pretentious project, it's not that deep fam
  2. plain jane has got to be the worst rap song i've heard in a minute
  3. some decent tracks/ideas interspersed here and there
  4. very boring psych rock blends though
  5. glad he pushed back towards his older sound, but this is still a miss
 

score: 42