NBA Youngboy continues to shield himself from judgement. Over the past year, NBA Youngboy has been blatantly using his domestic abuse allegations to bolster his artistic output. The allegations have become the focal point of many loose tracks, with titles like “Can’t Be Saved” and “My Happiness Took Away For Life”, that paint the 18-year old Baton Rouge native as a conflicted, but ultimately innocent, product of his environment. Until Death Call My Name, his studio debut, offered no redemptive arc for his falling out with ex-girlfriend, Jania, the future mother of his fifth child. Rather, Youngboy used the majority of the runtime to unapologetically justify his violent nature. Having been raised in grim conditions where he’s repeatedly encountered death, his affronts feel preemptive, as if he’s playing out a self-fulfilling prophecy. Youngboy often meditates on his soul before dismissing any potential consequence and on Decided, his latest mixtape, he continues to gleefully displace...

"Room 25" firmly establishes Noname as one of the best rappers alive. A little over a year ago, I saw Noname absolutely kill her set at a summer music festival. Her band was tight, presence charming, and reception surprisingly warm from an audience who didn't seem all that familiar with her. Later that day, Nas performed. As most of the crowd rapped along to "NY State of Mind," I began to overhear a particularly enthusiastic recitation of the hook directly behind me. I turned around, and was face-to-face with Noname and her entire four-piece band, acting like regular-ass people at a festival, dancing and signing and smiling. This wasn't the first artist I'd seen leave the comfort of backstage to mingle with the common folk at a festival— two that stand out off top are Danny Brown walking around and dapping up anyone that approached him, and John C. Reilly watching an indie rock set from a distance— but rather the first who could've passed for your...

6LACK's dullen powers strike harder this time around. I'll begin by saying, I do see a method to his madness; 6LACK is mastering the lexical changes of his voice. The message he leaves behind is interminable. The biggest issue with East Atlanta Love Letter isn't really a problem of subject material, but what lies outside its bracketology. A far more expressive world exists outside the imagined boundaries of 6LACK's sophomore album, much to his detriment. The repetitive strain of 6LACK's "reactionary logic" wears thin as a musical idea; it’s a classic scenario that persists within the specter of "Alt-R&B." A well-meaning individual like 6LACK could very well spend the rest of eternity chasing static energy for no definable reason. Suddenly he'll realize that the clamless shell he picked up on the beachfront does not actually consist of "love." On East Atlanta Love Letter, the frenetic chase almost becomes too difficult to ...

After a turbulent 2017, the historically independent Young Dolph signs his first partnership with Empire Distribution and delivers his fourth studio album. Young Dolph has scoffed at many lucrative record deals throughout his decade-long career, choosing instead to self-release mixtapes and albums under his own label, Paper Route Empire. With the proposed offers nearly doubling in the wake of his highly-publicized beef with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti - one that has resulted in multiple attempts on Dolph’s life - even his most staunch supporters began to accept that the aging rapper would soon bow out of the good indie fight. And yet, “Fuck the 22 million!” was the prominent rallying cry leading up to the release of Dolph’s fourth studio album, Role Model. In lieu of the staggering offers being thrown his way, it seems as if Dolph ultimately settled on a partnership with Empire Distribution, one that allows him greater access to resources while still maintaining his hard-fought...

“On The Rvn,” Young Thug’s latest in a string of relatively minor releases, is his best solo offering of 2018. Recently, Young Thug’s career has existed in an odd limbo of sorts; after 2016’s Jeffery failed to deliver the sales becoming of Thug’s talent, the historically prolific artist became increasingly guarded with his output. On the Rvn, which was supposedly conceptualized earlier this month after a warrant was issued for his arrest in DeKalb County, Georgia, comes on the heels of last month’s compilation tape, Slime Language. Comprised of six tightly-constructed songs, half of which are produced by Thug’s fan-favorite producer, London On Da Track, this EP is being applauded as a return to form. However, this isn’t merely Thug going back to the basics. Rather, it’s a stark reminder of Thug’s versatility and the chameleon-like way in which he embodies and subsequently sheds his influences. Wherelast year’s Beautiful Thugger Girls sat comfortably ahead of the curve, blending ac...

Brockhampton's eclecticism is less jarring, but no less present on "Iridescence." Merlyn Wood's got a line on Iridescence opener "New Orleans" that pretty accurately sums up Brockhampton's approach thus far: "Fuck you and the bubble that you livin' in." A couple years into their discography, the group has expended a good deal of effort actively trying to burst free from conventions, whether those be identity or sound-based. You like alt-rap and hate "pop music"? These quirky rappers are huge Harry Styles and Shawn Mendes fans. You only listen to pop music? Well this "boyband" has quite a few abrasive aggro-rap cuts. You want to mosh to those tracks? Sorry, there's a guitar ballad in between them. You don't usually like white rappers? You might like these ones. You're racist or homophobic? This is the last place you want to be. This refusal to conform is the ethos by which Brockhampton live and die. At th...

Lupe drops his strongest effort since "The Cool," enough to erase our memories of "DROGAS Light." Lupe Fiasco’s DROGAS Wave is not an album you can listen to in a few days. That’s why when reviews for Fiasco’s seventh album started pouring online after just 48 hours, his fans were confused. The Chicago veteran is known for writing some of the densest yet compact verses in the game. A seven-song effort from Lupe may take months to break down. DROGAS Wave is more than three times that length, sitting at a lofty 24 tracks. There are still pieces of this project that are floating above the consciousness of everyone who listened to this album, including me. Some pieces of the puzzle feel obscure, while others stand out and are connected flawlessly. The sprawling album is one of Lupe’s best, although it does have its pitfalls. The basic concept being explained within this album was birthed from Lupe’s obsession with The Cool. Michael Young History played an integr...