It’s time to wrap up this month, along with what the music world brought us over the past few weeks for our growing November playlists. Let’s hit pause and look at the shit that made us either bump on replay or instant skip and pretend our ears weren’t about to bleed.
The Good
A$AP Rocky – Sundress
We all know A$AP loves a good dose psychedelia and old school vibes that come from a full band backing him up, coming as no surprise to hear Tame Impala have their own part in Sundress. Sampling the band’s Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind was a genius idea, as is the way A$AP integrated his own signature style to the track, so we end up with something that doesn’t sound like someone else’s recycled beat over nonsense lyrics. This track just makes sense and works, so, so well.
Anderson .Paak – Oxnard
Paak finally revealed some of the supposed thousands on thousands of tracks he has waiting in his vault to be finalised and released, providing a full bodied, multi-faceted roller coaster. There’s 11 guest rappers on the album, including Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Q-Tip, Pusha T, J.Cole, and Snoop Dogg, who all provide the perfect additions to Paak’s usual electronic funk.
Vic Mensa – Dark Things
Vic is gearing us up for his upcoming album Hooligans with the grisly-themed Dark Things. The music video gives us major Bram Stoker’s Dracula vibes, whereas the track itself delves into the deepest corners of Vic’s mind surrounding love, death, addiction and depression. Bold synths and drumming patterns bring the track together to separate it from being just a boring, sad-boi track that other’s can get into the pattern of creating.
Metro Boomin – Not All Heroes Wear Capes
We all knew Boomin would come back when he called it quits back in April, we just didn’t know he’d come back this hard. We were probably expecting maybe an album or two in collaboration with another big name artist, but instead we were thrown a high-profile album that reminded us why Boomin has become one of the most prevalent names in rap production over the past few years. 10 Freaky Girls featuring 21 Savage is an obvious standout, speaking for itself with its 80’s R&B vibes.
Trippie Redd – A Love Letter To You 3
The main thing we send praise to Trippie for with this album is that it’s evident he’s not chasing big hits. Unlike Life’s A Trip which became recycled and stale quite fast, he’s kept to his true authenticity and emo-rap aesthetic with A Love Letter To You 3. Even though the mildly satanic and hella creepy music video for Topanga weirded us out just a bit, we’re willing to look past it for its auditory splendour.
Vince Staples – FM!
Vince‘s dark humour and provocative side definitely comes out more this time in his third studio album than ever before. The true Vince has come out, showcasing his whole personality unapologetically, as well as his deep love for West Coast music, classic funk and summer vibes. Most tracks display lyrical dissonance really well, with deeper lyrics enveloped in upbeat, smooth beats.
The Let Downs
Jaden Smith – The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story
Although we might not be the biggest fans of Jaden after this album, we’ll give him one thing: He is consistent. SYRE: A Beautiful Confusion was surprising to us, which we enjoyed for a while before things just started to get super fucking weird and equally as drab. SYRE: The Electric Album fell majorly short, now paving the way for A Sunset Tapes which has yet again met our expectations of receiving something that just isn’t quite enjoyable. Lyrics that may go unheard like “all these jets that we rented” quickly followed by “Oh my, ‘nother young black boy dead again.” in the same track conveys a kind of superficiality that turns us off and makes us not-so-beautifully confused as to what Jaden is trying to do.
November truly got us good for music releases, bravo 11 ’18.
Cover image via A$AP Rocky, Jaden Smith & Trippie Redd.
