It’s only June and the number of albums released this year have been genius and anticipated and some I didn’t care for or listen to. Breaking it down Month by Month, here’s the album releases up until June:
January:
Migos- Culture 2
therapmag.com
Dave East- Paranoia 2
hiphopdx.com
February:
Kendrick Lamar- Black Panther Soundtrack
npr.org
Money Bagg Yo- Heartless 2
genius.com
Nipsey Hussle- Victory Lap
hotnewhiphop.com
March:
Tory Lanez: Memories Don’t Die
hotnewhiphop.com
Jeremih- The Chocolate Box
pitchfork.com
The Weeknd: My Dear Melancholy
albumoftheyear.com
XXXTentacion : ?
April:
Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy
wikipedia
J. Cole- KOD
genius.com
Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer
albumoftheyear.com
May:
Rae Sremmurd- SR3MMlife 3
genius.com
Wale- Self Promotion EP
RAP-UP.COM
ASAP ROCKY- Testing
DJBOOTH.NET
Pusha T- Daytona
PITCHFORK.COM
June:
Kanye West: Ye
pitchfork.com
Kids See Ghosts- Kids See Ghosts (Kanye & Kid Cudi)
I know I’m late buuuuuuuuuuuuut I had to do a review on this Scorpion album.
Of course Pusha T spilled the tea about Drake having a son and Drake admitted it TWICE on the album with NO SHAME.
Drake has two sides of the album, which is equivalent to the days when cassette tapes were in. A side is him rapping and B side is him singing.
djbooth.net
Honestly, it’s a pretty nice album but it no Nothing Was The Same album, but it’s close to the level of Views. He talks briefly about his son in Emotionless, which is one of the best songs on the album and the best song on the A Side, stating “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid.” What really made the song dope besides Drake’s bars was the Mariah Carey Emotions sample throughout the song.
It’s been said that Drake even took a slight jab back at Pusha T in his song 8 Out Of 10, stating he could go harder on him but he won’t and even though he exposed to the world that Drake had a son, he said “Kiss my son on the forehead and kiss your ass goodbye.” To me, he’s dismissing Pusha and Drake even threw in a skit by Plies in the end of song “I can’t argue with you—you mad—-I’m happy, leave me alone—I just want some money, a lot of money. You ain’t nobody.” Welp that’s self-explanatory.
B Side is Drake’s singing side, which I always like more. One of my favorite songs on this side is That’s How You Feel, which was a sample of Nicki rapping a freestyle at a show; and In My Feelings. This damn song has been soooo popular due to the dance that’s been going with it, The Shiggy. Celebs from Lala to Lil Duval have been doing it. Also, Drake talks about his son Adidon in the song March 14, showing that he isn’t ashamed to talk about it but he ain’t gon give us alll the tea. He did open up about how he resented his parents for not making it work but now he has to coparent with a woman, just like his parents did for him. He only seen his son once but he’s supposed to be seeing him soon and hopefully him and the child’s mother can put their differences aside and make it work. Now granted, if Drake’s son mother wasn’t a porn star, he probably would be slightly more open about how they met and what the relationship was like; or even if he was in a semi public relationship with her…but he wasn’t at all. Regardless, he makes good music an just like Chris Brown, he can’t do no wrong!
Again, I liked this album, it was better than More Life. Drake seem to never disappoint.
What are your thoughts on the album? Comment below!
Kanye dropped his 8th album this past Friday and despite his crazy antics, his album is good. From addressing him being bipolar, to dedicating a song to his wife Kim and his daughters North and Chicago. YES, He’s been on some crazy shit lately from saying slavery was a choice to picking Whitney Houston’s drug infused bathroom as the cover art for Pusha T’s album that he produced…BUT, dude does have talent.
The Album Cover
His wife Kim (Kardashian-West) tweeted out that he JUST captured the cover art for his album Ye on the way to the listening party, literally hours before. That’s cray cray. I mean, the album cover really isn’t anything too crazy but the fact that he did it last minute just show his brain is very sporadic lol.
The Tracklist
“I Thought About Killing You”
It isn’t a secret that Kanye has some mental health issues, and specifically he came saying he was bipolar, so the first song on the track is “I Thought About Killing You.” I know….it sounds strange but in that song, some can debate that he was talking to and about his self. It literally says “Today I seriously thought about killing you, i contemplated, premeditated murder–And i think about bout killing myself and I love myself way more than I love you. You only care enough to kill someone you love—Sometimes I think really bad things.” Like I said, He could’ve been talking about someone orrrrrrrrrr he could’ve been talking about himself.
“Yikes”
In this record, he talks about some… yikes shit lol. Pretty much how life can get hectic and specifically his personal life. He referenced Russell Simmons getting #MeToo’ed. Then he talks about himself in third person–“See that’s why I fucks with Ye” and says that his bipolar is his super power, which is a good way to look at it to keep a positive mindset, Dude is something else.
“All Mine”
The title is self explanatory and just women in general, from Tristan (Khloe Kardashian baby daddy) cheating on her. The production on this record is dope AF.
“Wouldn’t Leave”
Kanye addressed the “Slavery Was A Choice” statement and pretty much said he could’ve said worse. All in all, he stands by his statement. BUT on the flip side, he says his wife, Kim Kardashian-West. I like how he speaks of Kim in this song, as annoying as she can be at times, but he stated that she stuck by his side while he was battling his demons, and she could’ve left him but she did and she’s appreciated for that.
“No Mistakes”
Kanye sampled Slick Rick “Hey Young World” in this song, along with having legendary singer Charlie Wilson on the record and even Kid Cudi, whom he has an album coming THIS FRIDAY June 9.
“Ghost Town”
This is probably my second favorite song on the album. Kid Cudi comes back on this record singing the main chorus saying he’s been trying to make you love him but everything he does is not good enough; that’s pretty sad. Then, a young singer by the name of 070 Shake comes in on the outro of the record talking feelings of being a child and doing childish things like putting your hand on a stove knowing it’s hot, but to see if you still bleed or even hurt in general. But she also references being free saying “And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free.” To me, that symbolizes having so many feelings to the point where you have to numb yourself to it and when you’re numb to certain things, it doesn’t bother you anymore. Then, sometimes you have to snap out of the numbness and see if you still have feelings, hence, putting your hand on a stove to see if you still bleed, to see if you still feel pain and have feelings. (kinda deep, I know) lol.
Lastly….
“Violent Crimes”
Long story short, this is dedicated to his daughter and it is absolutely beautiful. The lyrics are clear and self explanatory:
“Don’t grow up in a hurry”
“Niggas is savage, niggas is monster, niggas is pimp, niggas is playas, till niggas have daughter”
“I see women as something to nurture, not something to conquer”
Ye pretty much views women differently after having two daughters. He had Ty Dolla $ign hitting some vocals on the chorus too and brought 070 Shake from track 6 on this records, singing towards the end. I can’t relate but I can definitely tell where he was coming from and I respect him for that.
Overall
I love the album. I haven’t listened to a full Kanye album in a while because he’s been an asshole for a while now and even though this is the worst time to listen to his album but I was curious and I’m glad I listened to it. I STILL don’t agree with his way of thinking and antics but he is a talented artist, without a doubt. I mainly loved the slow melody tracks on this album. Him being bipolar affected his album in a positive way because with him battling his crazy thoughts is what made the album sound so dope.
I give him 4.5 stars…only because of his slavery comments, maybe even 4 stars lol. But I fucks with this Ye album.