February was slightly more fruitful than January, but also came with more disappointments… Offset, AJ Tracey, and Lil Pump all released debut album this month, all three failing to impress me, especially considering how long these projects have been hyped. Gunna, 38 Spesh, and another posthumous Sean Price record all ended up being ultimately boring. Worst of all, the Czarface and Ghostface Killah collab album was lowkey garbage, something that I didn’t see coming and leaves me the most disappointed. Despite this, the month managed to crank out some quality.
-----------------------------------------------
Higher Brothers - Five Stars
Chief among the quality is Five Stars, the second album by Chinese hip-hop group Higher Brothers. I totally understand the hesitation here; how does Chinese hip-hop *work*? The answer being that it works with energy, flow, amazing beats, and killer features (besides Soulja Boys dumb ass). It’s not 100% in Chinese, for they often insert English phrases, and in comparison to their previous work sounds more seamless and less awkward. It’s difficult to compare because there’s quite a few different sounds on the album: Ski Mask-esque tracks, MadeinTYO-like lighterhearted tracks, there’s even some sweet melodic tracks on here that despite being well out of their comfort zone they manage to pull off. If you like trap, and are looking for something different, do not miss this.
Here’s the Spotify link to listen to Five Stars:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3lnH9OOzXwxd8SlYOuJfyK
----------------------------------------------
Wiz Khalifa & Curren$y - 2009
Next is 2009, a collaborative project from Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y. This is the sequel to How Fly, a mixtape from almost ten years ago, when both artists were way closer to their primes than they are now. These two are a natural pair, both in subject matter and rap styles, with Wiz bringing the energy and Spitta flexing his smooth and nasal flow. Spitta releases more projects than even I can keep up with, and sounds relatively the same as he has on his last dozen projects, but this is easily the best Wiz Khalifa has sounded in five years. A very rare project that manages, for the most part, to capture a spark that started a decade ago.
Here’s the Spotify link to listen to 2009:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hQB8QbHEwmGlZ4CPcB0l9
-------------------------------------------
Ariana Grande - thank u, next
thank u, next, Ariana Grande’s latest project, piqued my interest with it’s darker, more mature direction than her previous efforts. I thought her album last year, Sweetener, was as vapid as it was boring, but this album really seeks to inject some life into her music, tackling issues and topics that touch on real substance. Compositionally the album is catchy; melodically I believe Ariana hits it out of the park and carries some attitude I haven’t seen from her up till now.
Here’s the Spotify link to listen to thank u, next:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2fYhqwDWXjbpjaIJPEfKFw
-----------------------------------------
And there's February for you! Looking forward to March I don't see too many mainstream releases, but the underground looks promising. With that being said what have you guys been listening to? Anything coming up soon that has you excited?