1: BROCKHAMPTON: SATURATION
If I had to describe this project in one word it would be: exciting. This huge group of rappers, singers, and producers hailing from California all have pretty distinct styles and voices, and when it all comes together, it is truly impressive. This album not only has some of this year's finest singles ("HEAT", "GOLD","STAR"), but it actually shows that Odd Future, despite how defunct they eventually became, were able to leave behind an influence for a group of even more talented individuals to take their place. Also, despite featuring huge shifts in musical style from track to track, the album actually has a really cohesive theme, one of acceptance and self-worth, which I found to be really poignant at a lot of points. This project is easily one of my favorites of the year, and word on Twitter is that they are going to drop another one before the years over. I'll be waiting.
9.5/10
2: Kirin J Callinan: Bravado
I really wanted to do a full review of this album, because it's one of the most interesting and experimentally fun pop albums to come out in a while. I'd say, not since the last Tune Yards LP have I had such a fun time gawking at, and eventually falling in absolute love with an album. Tracks like "S.A.D" and the pop perfection of the title track are counterbalanced with slower moments like "Family Home" or slightly moments like "Down 2 Hang", and it all comes together perfectly. If you're down to be a little weird and get into some more left-field pop music, you'll find no better album this year than Bravado.
9.0/10
3: Jay Z: 4:44
Gotta say, I wasn't expecting to like this album much, but as a Tidal subscriber (don't judge, I like their app a lot), I had the privilege of listening to this album when it first dropped, and honestly, I was kind of blown away at what I was hearing. I was expecting a lot of huge instrumentals with Jay Z's usual braggadocios rhymes about money and possessions, with maybe a slight mention of his infidelity towards his wife Beyonce (because it will bring more attention to the album). But instead, what I ended up getting was easily Jay Z's most introspective album to date. On 4:44, Jay dissects nearly every facet of his life; from his upbringing, to being raised by a mother who had to hide her sexuality, to the aforementioned infidelity. But instead of a coy nod to it, Jay takes the entire length of the title track to essentially gut himself, and it's downright awe-inspiring. It's really refreshing to hear a guy as influential and wealthy as Jay Z bringing himself down to such a personal and human level. Also, No ID absolutely kills the production on nearly every track here, I especially loved the tracks "Smile" "The Story of OJ", and "Marcy Me". Probably this years biggest surprise thus far.
8.7/10
4: Vince Staples: Big Fish Theory
I've been trying for quite a while to be a fan of Vince Staples music, or at least as much of a fan as pretty much everyone on the internet seems to be. I mean, I like his personality, I like his voice, and when he puts effort into it, he has a mighty fine grasp on writing and flow in his rapping. Unfortunately, time and time again, his full length albums and mixtapes have just failed to hold my interest. And while I can easily say that Big Fish Theory is my favorite Vince project thus far, I still am not in love with it. There's just not enough consistency here, and there are a lot of kind of throwaway moments here, especially the interludes and the opening track, all of which feel loose and rather effortless, but not in a good way. However, this album does have my absolute favorite Vince Staples track to date, the utterly superb "Big Fish", and other cuts like "BagBak" and "Yeah Right" are just as good. Still, I ended feeling sort of indifferent towards this album, and while I do like it, it is far from love.
6.8/10
5: Denzel Curry: 13
This is actually an EP, but I like Denzel Curry quite a bit and just wanted to point anyone who hasn't listened to him to yet to this new EP and his last album Imperial. On the subject of 13, Denzel has shown that he might be going in an even more aggressive and experimental direction, and it's one that I'm excited to see come to fruition, because cuts like "Bloodshed" and "Hate Government" are fiery and intense, not to mention Denzel still spits the same fast-pace, fiery flow that made him popular to begin with. In short, this is a solid project that hopefully is a sign of things to come.
7.5/10
6: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Murder Of The Universe
After hearing such positive things about this Australian psyche band, I figured I'd check out the second of a proposed five full length albums planned for 2017 (crazy, right?), and while this album is probably the bands most spotty affair, with a few stale moments here and there, it is still a very listenable project from one of the more exciting acts in rock music to come around in a long time. Sure, I'd most likely recommend the previous two LP's before this one, I'd still say you should definitely give this one a shot too. Solid stuff from a really great band.
7.3/10
7: Lorde: Melodrama
And to finish things off, one of this years most anticipated albums, the latest offering from pop starlet, Lorde. The big question making it's way around the music press leading up to this albums release was will Lorde be able to top her debut album? That album obviously houses Lorde's breakout smash single "Royals" and a lot of people were wondering if she'd just release another album trying to ride that tracks coattails. However, that is not the case at all on Melodrama; in fact, this album sees Lorde taking on such contemporary influences as Taylor Swift, and more old school influences like Kate Bush. The former makes for easily the two worst tracks on the album, the two lead singles "Green Light" and "Perfect Places", while the latter leads to one of the album's best, "Writer In The Dark". And sadly, while I did end up liking this album a fair bit, I still found myself rather let down whenever Lorde decided to play more to her contemporaries, rather than try something new or look to the past. Luckily, her best work just happens to land on this project, tracks like "Homemade Dynamite", "Supercut", and "Liability" are all fantastic. While I didn't love it, it is good to see Lorde at least moving in a less gimmicky direction.
7.7/10
There were a few other projects I could of included here, but I either didn't have strong feelings one way or another, or I just didn't see the need to talk about them here. Still, it feels good to put my feelings on this stuff down for all to enjoy!
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