Juicy J - Stay Trippy ALBUM REVIEW

It's so sad yet strange that majority of the media today treats Juicy J as if he debuted last year. This man is a 15+ year veteran and still mixing it up with the young ones today. Most know of Juicy J because of his long time affiliation with Three 6 Mafia. One of the best underground southern rap groups of all time. They were known for their rambunctious and yet dark toned hood music mixed with infectious trunk blasting production. But in recent year the group started to deteriorate. It went from four (2003's Da Unbreakables), to three (2005's Most Known Unknown), to two (2008's Last 2 Walk). Now it seems as thought the group is done. At least for now. Today Juicy J is doing his solo thing as a member of Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang clique. But despite his departure from Three 6 Mafia, he's still the same Juicy J. Here is his third album Stay Trippy. Now because he's with a new squad, I kinda expected things on this album to sound a bit different from his previous two albums. 2002's Chronicles Of The Juice Man and 2009's Hustle Till I Die. Both were during his time with Three 6 Mafia. He's now with newer producers and newer collaborators so going into this I pretty much expected everything but his lyrical content to be changed. Looks like my expectations were met. I thought the album was average. Here's the thing: Those who have been following Juicy J and Three 6 Mafia all these years know that when it comes to their music you do not get lyricism, you do not get creativity, you do not get originality or any of that jazz. That's not who Juicy J is. With that said I had to judge this album based on the purpose that it serves as. The ultimate party album. So if it's on the grounds of "real" hip hop then this is a bad album, but if you're judging it on the quality of entertaining party music, which I did, then this is a good album. Now like I said, this is the perfect bump-in-the-whip/party album. Everyone from stoners, drinkers, street thugs, club hoppers, molly poppers, twerkers and strippers will enjoy every minute of this album. That's essentially all that's being talked about on the album. You do still get that old Three 6 feel of the southern hood/street music and at the same time you get the entertaining party/club music. Courtesy of well known trap rap producers like Mike Will Made-It, Young Chop and Lex Luger all over this album. Before I point out my notable tracks I want to say that while listening to this I didn't try to go in depth listening to these songs. In other words listening closely to lyrics and such trying to break down what's being said like I do with other albums. Simply because again, that isn't who Juicy J is. I listened to it from and entertainment aspect. That said, my notable tracks. I really liked the song "Wax". Might have been my favorite on the album. This is one of many bump-in-the-whip trap beats on here that I found myself enjoying the most. I liked the Freda Payne "I Get High" sample on there too (the same sample Styles P. used for his song "Good Times"). He teamed up with his brother Project Pat on "No Heart No Love". I liked this one because of every song on this album this one really took me back to the good old Three 6 Mafia days. Another dope feature was Yelawolf on the track "Gun Plus A Mask". This is one for the street thugs to piss the neighborhood off as you drive pass. Yelawolf's verse was super dope. The interesting collaborations kept coming on "The Woods". He links with Justin Timberlake for a more subtle song for the ladies. The track was well produced by Timbaland. Now he doesn't get all romancy with the lyrics. He basically breaks down the thug way of dating a girl. I mean a lot of women do like thugs right? Stoners will rejoice on the track "All I Blow Is Loud". The track is cool. I probably would enjoy it more if I too was a stoner. I couldn't help but laugh at his opening line: "smoking gas in a rental/she giving me mental". That's Juicy J for you. The tracks "So Much Money" and "Money A Do It" is for all you hustlers and paper chasers. Something else Juicy J likes to rap about a lot. I like the beat switch up on "Money A Do It" too. Again, just more bump-in-the-whip songs. "Smokin' Rollin'" features Pimp C and was a much more smoother relaxed speaker blaster. Gives you that perfect blend of Memphis crunk and Houston chopped-n-screwed. Now my dislikes. Majority of my gripes for this come from the singles believe it or not. Now "Bandz A Make Her Dance" came out late last year. I actually had totally forgot about this song (thanks in large part to Rihanna's remake of it). My issue with the song? You guessed it...Lil Wayne's verse. Wayne just gets more and more less tolerable with each guest verse I hear from him. Then there's the second single "Bounce It". I honestly can't put my finger on what it is about this song that just rubbed me the wrong way. It may be Trey Songz half sleep hook or Wale's below average verse. The thing about it, these were the two songs targeting the strip clubs and internet twerkers. I personally couldn't see myself getting hype or dancing to it in the club but I could definitely sit back and enjoy watching the ladies dance to it. Speaking of, if you're a stripper/twerker in college then I'm sure you'll get a kick out of the track "Scholarship". What it sounds like to me is Juicy J is rapping about making college girls twerk or strip for scholarship money. Yeah...I didn't agree too much with that. That idea was so bad that I laughed the whole time listening to it. A$AP Rocky's verse makes it somewhat tolerable but man I don't know. It may grow on me. But again, the booty shakers will love it. "Talkin' Bout" features Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa and boy I wished he left both of them off of this track. Just like Lil Wayne, Wiz's guest verses are getting worse and worse (same goes for the song "Smoke A Nigga") and Chris Brown gets on here rapping. I can just barely tolerate him singing let alone rapping. He sounded like he was imitating Kanye West not only in his voice and flow but the arrogance and cockiness. I could really do without that song. Well in conclusion, if your'e looking for "real" hip hop, don't look this way. However, if you looking for that perfect party/club music, then this is the album for you. I give it a final grade of a C+. While there are many rappers in this crunk/party/club division in hip hop, only few are tolerable. Juicy J continues to show these you guys how to really have a good time. No matter if you're in the streets, you whip or the club. We all love (and some prefer) "real" lyrical hip hop but there's a time and place for everything. You gotta also have fun and party in hip hop. That fun and party atmosphere will always be around as long as rappers like Juicy J are hear to get the party started. Stay trippy my friends. End. 

Final Grade: C+

Big Sean - Hall Of Fame ALBUM REVIEW

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Dizzy Wright - The Golden Age MIXTAPE REVIEW

When you think of west coast hip hop what areas do you think of? Obviously Los Angeles, Compton, Long Beach, Oakland/San Francisco (Bay Area for short), maybe even San Diego. Mostly cities in California right? Well now the west is starting to make noise in other western states besides Cali. Here to put Las Vegas on the hip hop map is Dizzy Wright. Most know of Dizzy through his ties with Hopsin and Funk Volume. This year he got a bit more recognition as he was a member of this year's XXL freshman class. For good reason too. I first caught on to him last year after listening to his debut digital album Smoke Out Conversations. A average to okay album at best. To me he seemed like an artist that will definitely grow well in hip hop and who's music will get better and better with each release. Well now here's the latest one. His sixth mixtape The Golden Age. Like I said I was curious to listen to this tape to see if there was any change or growth from last year and previous years before that. Looks like there is a bit of change. This tape definitely is an upgrade from his last project. Better production, better topics, better lyrics and even better guest features outside of Funk Volume. One unique thing about Dizzy is how versatile his flow is. He gives you many different flows on this tape. He gives you fast paced flows on trap beats, some calm mellow flows on those psychedelic and trippy beats and even some normal lyrical spitting on throwback boom bap styled beats. In short, this tape is basically a mixed bag of everything. There is a track on here for every person to enjoy or to at least relate to. To add to that, unlike his Funk Volume comrades, he has a mainstream sound that should gain him popularity among that audience quick. Well now with that said, some notables tracks. Well first off let me point out one major issue. The length of this mixtape. It was incredibly long. 22 tracks. I know it's just a mixtape and some mixtapes tend to be long but this was killing me. I don't like super long projects like this. He could have easily split this tape in half and made two different mixtapes. Okay now back to the notable tracks. First track that caught my attention was "Welcome Home". It was a song dedicated to his father after he returned home from prison. What I liked the most was the beat and hook. It had this old school boom bap beat with samples from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Summertime". The hook was well done by Arima Ederra as she takes the hook from Janet Jackson's classic hit "That's The Way Love Goes" and makes it more modern. I like that song. He links up with Logic and Pro Era member Kirk Knight for the track "Untouchable". Some dope lyrics we're being dropped here from all three. Yet again another boom bap styled beat with DJ Premier like record scratches on the hook. Kudos to DJ Hoppa for that one. The were a few songs with the trap rap sound that I did enjoy. "Step Yo Game Up" was one of them. This song has this high energy trap styled beat produced by Kato. Definitely the most energized track on the whole tape. While Jarren Benton dropped a crazy verse I wasn't feeling Tory Lanez verse like that. But the song was still dope. Another one was "Bout That Life". Now this one had a more calmer trap styled beat. The song was cool but I kinda wanted more from Hopsin on that track. I didn't like the whole low toned voice thing he was doing. But that still was another cool track. "Progression", "Still Movin" and "Brodee Bro" were also pretty cool songs with the same sound. "The Perspective" is about a topic that I've been waiting for someone to touch on. Thirsty people on the internet. Namely Instagram. He goes on talking about how girls do the most for attention on there and how the fellas feed into it every time. That track had to grow on me a little but it's cool. "Maintain" features Joey Bada$$ and because of that you know it's yet again another boom bap styled track. In fact it sound like the song belongs to Joey more than it does to Dizzy. Dope track though. Now on to my not so notable tracks. "Tellem My Name" could have been something but it was ruined by a terrible hook. Which was nothing but Dizzy spelling out his name over and over. Then the hook lasted so long that there's barely any actual rapping on it. Didn't like it. "B.T.T." (stands for Bounce Them Titties) had a fun and catchy beat, but again, another bad hook. It sounded so awkward that I can't even describe it. Then this song by far had the worst lyrics on the whole album. A waste of a good beat. "Fashion" could have a been a better song. In fact it could grow on me, but the thing is no one on the track really talked about well...fashion. The song features merely average verses from Honey Cocaine and Kid Ink. They didn't make things any better. The song was nothing but them talking about random stuff. Way to stay on topic. Another song that had the potential to be something better was the second track "The Flavor". Funk Volume member SwizZz is featured here and the way that he raps this song should have had way more energy. It was too laid back. Dizzy probably should have solo'ed this one and put SwizZz on a more deserving track like "Step Yo Game Up". Again, my biggest issue overall was the length of this project. Shorter mixtapes next time Dizzy. In closing, I thought this was a slightly, slightly above average mixtape. Definitely better than his last project though. I give it a final grade of a C+. I mentioned before how this mixtape has so many different sounds and styles coming from Dizzy. That kind of presents a problem for me. I like Dizzy Wright and I truly believe he has star potential. But I feel like he still trying to find his hip hop gimmick or identity. I think he's almost there but he just gotta keep exploring sounds until he finds it. I know he will. End.

Final Grade: C+ 

A$AP Ferg - Trap Lord ALBUM REVIEW

Many may not notice it, but in hip hop there is a recurring theme when it comes to hip hop groups. Usually the leader of the group gets his foot in the door first, blows up big then introduces the world to his team. Eventually, people start to recognize not just the group as a whole but each individual member as they do their solo thing. Thanks to the success the leader has gained. A very good example of this is 50 Cent and G-Unit. After 50 blew up big, the rest of the team got notoriety and made names for themselves individually. Now let's look at New York's next big rap group. A$AP Mob. They're lead of course by A$AP Rocky, who now has become a big name in hip hop. He introduced the world to the group last year with the Lord$ Never Worry mixtape.  Now it's time for the members of the clique to shine as individuals. Starting with A$AP Ferg. Other than feature verses on A$AP Rocky's songs and his current hit song "Work", honestly, I haven't really heard a lot from Ferg. But I do know of him. What I also know is that his following of fans is growing by the minute. Much like how things began for A$AP Rocky in 2011. Well now the time has come for Ferg to step out of the groups shadow and do his solo thing. This is his debut album Trap Lord. Like I mentioned before I haven't heard any previous projects from him so I really didn't have any kinds of expectations going into this. I thought the album was average to decent at best. Content wise it's similar to what we're used to hearing from A$AP Rocky but done much more differently. On this album Ferg gives us your typical hood music but with a much more deeper, darker, grittier and menacing feel to it. It feels like the perfect album to play at night in your car riding through the city. Now of course, like many of the A$AP Mob members, he's not so good lyrically. But he can sure paint pictures in your head with what he does say. He's very comparable to various artists. He reminds me of a southern version (even though he's from Harlem) of Schoolboy Q with his dark and violent tales of the hood. His weird voice and oddball-like persona is kinda Chance The Rapper/Danny Brown-ish. Then his dreary and somewhat depressing sounding vocals when he's singing reminds me a lot of Kid Cudi. It seems what Ferg is trying to do is take the hood trap music that's so popular today and turn it into something more deep and introspective. I don't know if he accomplished it fully with this album but it's a definite good start. Now let me get to the stand out tracks. I didn't really have a favorite song on this album so I'll just point out the ones that stood out. The track "Hood Pope" was a pretty cool track. On here he talks about finding his purpose in bleak surroundings. This is one of many songs on here where he delivers those Kid Cudi-like R&B vocals.  "Fuck Out My Face" was a dope track mostly because of the featured artists. B-Real, Onyx and Aston Matthews. All of which had god verses. In fact this song probably wouldn't have been all that if it wasn't for the people featured. Speaking of dope features, there was another one on the track "Lord". It features Bone Thugs-N-Harmony who thankfully brought that song more to life because again, had it had been another solo joint it probably wouldn't be that good. This was also one of my favorite beats on here. That's one thing I can say about Ferg, A$AP Rocky and the whole A$AP Mob is that they have a ear for good production. There's some pretty good beats on here. Not great but good. The last track "Cocaine Castle" maybe the deepest song on the album. This was a meandering ode to the dark side of the drug game. He talks about how everyone becomes involved and becomes addicts. From kids to grandmothers. Exposing the horrors of cocaine dealing. Something Harlem has seen a lot of in the past. "Fergivicious" had this eerie sounding trap beat that is a perfect example of what I said before in it being night time music. His flow meshed with this beat kinda took me back to the old days of Three 6 Mafia. Now on to my dislikes. I tried and tried to force myself to like the track "Shabba" but I just couldn't. Now I don't know if he really has Jamaican in him or not but his Jamaican accent here was bad. Kinda ruined the song for me. Even A$AP Rocky's verse which was bad couldn't do much to save this. I really don't understand why he chose to put "Work (remix)" on here instead of the original but it wasn't a good idea. First of all the placement of the track is bad. It completely slows down the momentum the album had. Then the line up of featured artists on the track wasn't too great either. Asking Schoolboy Q and A$AP Rocky to rap against the likes of French Montana and Trinidad James is like asking Trey Songz to keep and eye on your girlfriend while you're gone for the night. I prefer the original over the remix. Okay now...I seriously don't even know what to make of the track "4:20". I'm seriously on the fence about this. This was by far the weirdest and most bizarre song on the whole album. The track begins with this interlude of what sounds like Ferg and two girls in the middle of a threesome. A very strange threesome. Then the song begins and he's describing the sexual encounter telling the girls what he wants to see them do to each other. It's like he's playing the role of some perverted porn director or something. The song had this strange psychedelic and trippy sound. Again, I'm on the fence with this track. "Dump Dump" would have been a better song had it not been for the lazy, half-assed repetitive hook and y'all know how I feel about repetitive hooks. This is the hook: "I fucked your bitch nigga, I fucked your bitch/she sucked my dick nigga, she sucked my dick". Terrible. Just terrible. It sounds like a hook he stole from Lil B. Then the song was filled with many cringe worthy lines ("that coke make my dick numb she put it all in her glutes", "pop a pill in her asshole, put drugs in these bitches"). In short, this is probably the worst song on the album. Well overall, this was merely and average album. Decent production, poor lyrics but interesting concept which saves it. I give it a final grade of a C. I appreciate that A$AP Ferg is trying to do something different with the hood rap and/or trap rap. As apposed to sounding like other generic radio trap rappers. It's things like this that will keep Ferg and the whole A$AP Mob relevant in hip hop for a long while. However, I'd like to see him expand more with this sound as far as topics and content. But it's only his debut so he'll grow as an artist and do that. Hopefully he will. End.

Final Grade: C

Earl Sweatshirt - Doris ALBUM REVIEW

There once was a time where many felt lyricism in hip hop was dead. Due to the fact of the mainstream clubby radio sound becoming so huge. Most thought all it takes is to have a catchy hook with a great beat. In some cases this may be true. But nowadays, in 2013, that's far from the case. A huge crop of new rappers have emerged that already have made lyricism popular again. Showing that it's far from dead. Take Earl Sweatshirt for example. All of the members of Odd Future stand out in their own unique way. But of all of them no one stood out to me more than Earl. I was overly impressed with his brilliant lyrical ability. Mind you, this was in 2010 when I caught on to him. When he only sixteen years old. To be able to spit lyrics like that at such a young age is just completely rare in hip hop today. Lyrical hip hop legends like LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, and Nas to name a few started around that age as well. Earl has the potential to follow in their footsteps. After his successful mixtape titled Earl in 2010 and a couple of Odd Future projects, it's now time for his debut album Doris. Now this was a project that I eagerly anticipated at the top of the year and had high expectations for. It's looks like my expectations were met...slightly. Now I do like the album and found it enjoyable. But there was a lot on this album that I didn't expect. With the exception of two songs he doesn't really go off into any serious subjects on this album. To me it sounds like just Earl straight spitting. Which is cool considering his lyrical complexity. But because of this the album kind of gives off a mixtape feel than an album. Another thing I noticed in regards to the subject matter is that it has took a major turn from what many were used to hearing from him these last three years. Unlike what you would normally expect from Odd Future or any of it's members, a lot of the topics and themes on Doris are more toned down. The topics are mostly about getting stoned, shrugging off career pressures, staring down his least favorite feelings etc. Basically the content overall was much less cartoon-ish. I guess Earl has realized the horror core/shock value content only gets you but so far and decided to go a different route with this debut. Well with this said I'll go ahead and get into my notable tracks. I'll star right off with "Chum" which was the lead single. This was one of two tracks where Earl showed some emotion and serious subject matter. The track is produced by Earl himself (under the name of Randomblackdude) and it has this very chilled piano filled beat. On here he speaks on the pain of his father leaving him with lines like "it's probably been 12 years since my father left/Left me fatherless/and I just used to say 'I hate him' in dishonest jest". Kind of the same relationship Tyler, The Creator talks about that he had with his father. Good song. Then there was the track "Sunday" which to me sounds like he's addressing some unknown female. Perhaps someone from his past. Whoever she is he showing a lot of emotion towards us. Frank Ocean comes in and delivers a decent guest verse rapping (similar to his verse on "She"). Another good song. "Hive" without a doubt is my favorite track on here. Super dope song. It has this distorted deep bass beat that's really dope. But what I was really impressed by was the guest verse by Vince Staples. He took the song to another level. I would have liked to hear Casey Veggies spit a verse too but I guess he was cool on the hook. He had two songs with Tyler, The Creator that I both enjoyed. The first is the second single "Whoa" in which this maybe the one song on here content wise that sounds more like 2010 Earl. Even Tyler says it in the beginning of the song. The beat kinda sounded like retro 90's underground horror core. This song just sounds like riding around in a car with your homies ready to commit all types of killings, robberies and other crimes. The second Tyler assisted song, and probably the better of the two was "Sasquatch". Now unlike "Whoa", Tyler actually spits a verse on this instead of just doing the hook. A dope verse too. On this song Earl to me sounds like he's describing the perfect crime spree while Tyler brings the usual OF comedic shock value lyrics. On "20 Wave Caps" Domo Genesis comes in and delivers another slamming guest verse like he did on Tyler's album. It's honestly because of that why I enjoyed that song. Earl was dope on it too but Domo brought more lyrical energy to it. "Molasses" I thought was real cool. Earl has the lyrical talent fit for a RZA beat and it went together so perfectly. Now things I didn't quite enjoy. In the middle of the album there were two interludes back to back. The first was "523" which was nothing but an instrumental. Pointless in my opinion. Probably was nothing more than an album filler. Right after that was the next interlude "Uncle Al" which had a extremely dope beat but the problem...it's an interlude. Why? This actually had somewhat of a mainstream-ish sound and would have been a favorite for most people had it not been just a one minute skit. The closing track "Knight" just didn't sit well with me for some reason. It had these weird pauses or break downs in between verse which kinda takes away from Earl and Domo's lyrics. Not only that it sounds rushed like they recorded it at the last minute. "Guild" will definitely have to grow on me. On here he and Mac Miller warp and distort their voices to make a trippy, stoner sound that fits Mac Miller's style more. What I didn't like really was the production. The beat just sounded way too flat for me. But I got a feeling it might grow on me. Well in closing, despite the many new routes Earl took with this album, I overall found it very enjoyable. I give it a final grade of a B. As mentioned before, in 2013, lyricism is not dead. What's also proven is age does not determine an artists talent on the mic. Earl Sweatshirt is living proof. Between his sharp lyricism, Tyler The Creator's ever growing popularity and Frank Ocean's notoriety on the R&B side, Odd Future gives you everything. In Earl's case, let's just hope that what I mentioned before actually happens. That he follows in the footsteps of lyrical legends who started young. I think he can. End.

Final Grade: B 

K. Michelle - Rebellious Soul ALBUM REVIEW

The women of R&B today (as well as the genre itself) have become so diverse with talent. Especially when it comes to region. In the south, it really shows. Whether it's Beyonce' and Kelly Rowland from Houston, Ciara, Keri Hilson and Monica from Atlanta, Fantasia from North Carolina and so on. Well now Tennessee has their new leading R&B diva in K. Michelle. Though she came into the game in 2010, it really wasn't until this year where she gained huge popularity. Not because of her music but because of her role in the very popular VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Now personally I'm not a fan of that show but she became an instant fan favorite on there because of her looks, her sassy southern attitude and her brash rough around the edges demeanor. The show alone was enough to make her name bigger than that booty of hers. But now on to her as an artist. After a few mixtape releases since 2010, here she finally releases her debut album Rebellious Soul. Now obviously because this is her first album, and because I never heard any of her mixtapes, I can only go off her radio singles as references for this review. Also because of that I really didn't have any kind of expectations for this album. After listening to it I'm impressed. This was a solid debut from K. Michelle. Now you certainly don't have to watch the show to know how she is because it's well displayed throughout this whole album. The album has this very dark, sentimental, passionate and intimate feel to it. At the same time however, her ghetto raunchy side comes out a lot on here with plenty of strong profanity laced tracks and strong sexual content the likes of which a male rapper would make. Not that I have a problem with curse words or sex talk but considering the mood of the album and the fact that is really a soul and R&B album, this is very different. There's nothing on here with a hip hop sound aside from Meek Mill's guest verse. Well now on to some notable tracks. Right off the back, "I Don't Like Me" stood out. Here she speaks of her insecurities and self esteem issues when it comes to men and relationships. With lines like "cause all I can see is that she's prettier than me/damn I wish I had her body". Now you would think someone as attractive as her wouldn't have problems like this but you never know. I loved the soft piano on this track too. Most people don't even know (unless you watch the show religiously) that K. Michelle is a talented pianist and shows off her skills on plenty of songs on the album. Now I can't go any further without mentioning this next track. "Pay My Bills". At first I thought this was gonna be something similar to Destiny's Child "Bills, Bills, Bills". I couldn't have been anymore wrong. I mentioned how her raunchy and ghetto side comes into play a lot and no song showed it more than this. On this song she gets very x-rated with her lyrics. Just look at the hook: "I'ma fuck you like I'm trying to pay bills". Well damn. The whole song is nothing but her basically bragging about her sex game and how she puts it down in the bedroom. Not mad at all. In fact, the male in me enjoyed hearing a bunch of lines like "a lot of time spent on my knees but I damn sure ain't praying". Bottom line, this should definitely be a favorite among all her male fans. Hell maybe females too. "Sometimes" is an emotional ballad about dealing with the heartbreak of a man leaving her and just straight up doing her wrong. But yet she still loves him and wants him back. A very relatable topic I'm sure for most women. While it was a good song, oddly enough, the song itself was not even the highlight. The highlight is what followed right after it. The hidden interlude "Coochie Symphony". Here we go again. This time however she brings some sexual humor as she sings opera style about her lady parts being broke and needing fixing. Saying how she "wants to have fun but it won't cum". It kinda sounds like some freaky yet weird sexual role playing or something. It's very funny but I don't know if placing it after that song was such a good thing. "A Mother's Prayer" is the final track and the most heartfelt one. The song is one big prayer and/or message for her child. Which honestly, unless she's speaking for the general audience, I didn't even know she was a mother. It's a beautiful song. "When I Get A Man" is her speaking from the view of a single woman dreaming of the right man and mentioning everything she would do for him. But at the same time trying to hide the fact that she's alone and unhappy. Again, this is another one most women should relate to. In fact she may have exposed how single women who claim they don't need a man really think. Cool song. My issues with this album are minor. The intro "My Life" was actually okay, but it got derailed by Meek Mill's terrible guest verse. For him to be the only featured artist on the album he really could have did better. To be honest the song really didn't need him but she needed at least one feature so whatever. I didn't like that verse but the song is okay. After the track "Sometimes", the album kinda loses steam. She had two tracks back to back in "Ride Out" and "Hate On Her". Both kinda talk about the same thing. Cheating. But told in two different ways. "Ride Out" she talks about how salty her ex is gonna feel after he sees "ride out" with a new and better man. "Hate On Her" is the other way around as she talks about how she can't even be mad at the new chick he's with because she knows how much of a low life he is. My problem with the two is that I think she could have went the extra mile with this concept. Maybe combining both songs and playing the role of the male and the female in the relationship. Showing both perspectives (think about J. Cole's "Lost One". Similar to that). Both songs were just average to me. Well overall, I really did enjoy this album (for more reasons than one). This was certainly a solid album for a debut. I give it a final grade of a B+. I believe this album is perfectly titled. K. Michelle is indeed a rebel. She's showing that you don't always have to do smooth romantic R&B the old fashioned way. You can bring some attitude, some edginess, some hood, and a bit of nasty. I would say that she's trying to bring change to this genre in that sense but that would be wrong because this is just who she is. It's why she has a strong following of fans now. She keeps it real. That's who she is. A rebellious soul. End.

Final Grade: B+

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines ALBUM REVIEW

While many artists would like to become big right from the get go, it's sometimes better if it takes a minute for it to develop. This goes for both rappers and singers. It took a minute for Robin Thicke, but now he finds himself today at the top tier of popular artists in R&B. Most people don't even know he actually debuted a decade ago in 2003. Then he was kind of under the radar and most just knew him as the son of actor Alan Thicke. It wasn't until 2006 when he blew up like he was supposed to. That year he released his sophomore album The Evolution Of Robin Thicke. A great album. It featured one of if not the biggest slow jam single of the year in "Lost Without U". From that year on it's been smooth sailing. The wait was worth it I suppose. Well now he's back again with his sixth album Blurred Lines. Now unfortunately I've only gotten to hear two of his previous five albums. His sophomore album as I mentioned and his 2009 album Sex Therapy. Both were solid albums. I now think the same about Blurred Lines. I thought it was a solid project. Though I think I would prefer The Evolution Of Robin Thicke and Sex Therapy more than this. The majority of the album has this strong party sound. A lot of pop/techno/dance like beats. Not a lot of slow jams on here. Which is kind of sad because it's only a ten track album. However, the overall production was pretty decent despite the strong genre blending sound. He honestly shouldn't have trouble finding a second single because 95% of this album sounds radio friendly. Anyway, here's some stand out tracks for me. Now first of all it was hard to pick a favorite track because so many of the songs on here sound the same due to the production. It's like you're listening to the same song over and over. But after three listens I'd have to say "4 The Rest Of My Life" would be my stand out track. This was the only slow song on here and really stood out compared to the rest of the tracks. Not that I had a problem with the sound of the rest of the songs but this is the kinda of R&B I like to hear from Robin Thicke. That slow jam crooner side of him. This was a cool late-night-cuddling-with-your-girl type of song. The second track "Take It Easy On Me" had this very fast rhythm techno beat that actually wasn't that bad after a few listens. It sound like that rave party type music which is a weird sound to choose for a R&B album but it was alright. The closing track "The Good Life" was another favorite of mine. It was the only song that he actually talked about something other than women. Talking about many things involving life like overcoming tough obstacles, achieving goals etc. It's a nice song. I liked the 70's funk/disco sound on "Ain't No Hat 4 That". Many of these songs will get people up and dancing and this one is guaranteed to. "Ooo La La" had this really cool and smooth vintage 80's sound that's really missed in music right now. I'm probably too young but older people who grew up in that era would probably reminisce off of this. My issues with this album are nothing serious. The first single "Blurred Lines" is a huge summer hit right now and was cool at first. But now thanks to the radio's constant rotation of it I've kinda gotten sick of it. The song isn't bad I'm just tired of hearing it. "Give It 2 U" is okay but my problem comes with Kendrick Lamar believe it or not. Let's just say he's had better guest verses than this. Whenever Kendrick spits sexually explicit lines it just comes off weird and awkward. On here he says "life can leave a dick loved/now you gettin this dick, love". Just like the "girl-I-know-you-want-this-dick" line from A$AP Rocky's song. In short, he was needed on this song. As a matter of fact, T.I. verse on "Blurred Lines" wasn't too great either and he should have been left off too. On "Get In My Way" I kind of see where he was going but he didn't quite execute the topic. Here he talks about, or tries to talk about not letting things stop him from getting where he wants to be and all that jazz. I felt like he fell short of hitting that topic dead on. Which is strange because "The Good Life" had a similar topic and he nailed that one right on. Well in conclusion I think this was an overall solid project. I give it a final grade of a B. I still believe Robin Thicke is one of R&B's top hit makers today and this album proves it. I'ma continue to be a fan of his music. As long as we got singers like him around, R&B (mainstream and "mid-stream") will never die. The bedroom's will be happy and so will the ladies. Shout out to Paula Patton. End.

Final Grade: B