Apologies to all you readers for the absence of articles over the past few months, I got caught up in the appropriately titled The Year of Hibernation and forgot to come back out into the world and write an article.  The music market is flooded with all these new low-fi artists that, in all honesty, sound like they are just trying too hard.  Where Youth Lagoon really stands above in this crowd is through the simplicity of his music (yes, it’s just one dude).  This album floats you into the dreamy state of mind from the opening notes to the closing notes and it’s a very easy album to listen to from start to finish.

This album was well received when it was released a month or two back and I was intrigued by this artist debut.  I must admit that on my first listen I was confused. I felt the reviews I read painted a different image from what I was actually getting.  When a band is described as ‘low-fi’ I immediately think of No Age, and my brain fills with noise just thinking about it.  With that being said, I wouldn’t say that Youth Lagoon isn’t low-fi, but it’s definitely a different kind; when you listen to this album it clears your head instead of occupying it with noise.

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I can no longer contain my secret identity as a metal head, especially with the upcoming release from the metal giants Mastodon. Over the duration of their career they have changed their sound quite a bit; they started off as ear splitting heavy metal thrash and have moved closer towards stoner metal at this point in their career, which is apparently not a bad thing.

Check out this awesomely hilarious stoner metal video for their song “Curl of the Burl” off their upcoming album The Hunter which comes out September 27.

Enjoy!

This follow up album by the Weeknd has a completely different feel to it than House of Balloons does. Instead of sticking with the dark toned beats and direct to listener lyrics, the Weeknd takes a completely different path. The opening track is a floaty track that sets the tone for the rest of the album. His voice seems distant in this track and the beat has a light feel to it but still almost overpowers the vocals. Listening to this makes you feel like you’re waking up but your dreams are still trying to keep you asleep. The various effects singer Abel Tesfaye uses on this track and throughout the album allow him to transfer you from one setting to another from song to song as if he is dictating your dreams.

When “Life of the Party” comes on after the opening track, it puts you in a much darker setting; like being at a dimly lit party with too many drugs being consumed around you. The beat is heavy and, like some of the beats off his first album, industrial sounding. The pounding and big bass and lack of negative sound really sets the tone for the song. This thrusts you into the title track of the album “Thursday” which is filled with negative sound. The title track feels more like filler than an actual track but it does successfully float you into the true one two punch of the album.

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Before you think I’m out of my mind for comparing the latest albums from these two extremely different MCs, just hear me out.  I would never put Lil Wayne and Game in same group, mostly because I personally believe Lil Wayne is a far superior rapper.  But these are two major releases that came out a week apart and each one is a big release for each rapper’s career. 

Lil Wayne has been on top for a while but with his rock album Rebirth last year and his lack of a real hip hop release since the last Carter installment, his crown has been questioned by many.  The amount of mixtapes he releases is impressive but he has always claimed he saves his best material for his Carter releases so the question we ask is, does Tha Carter IV live up to that standard?

The Game has been struggling (although I’ll admit that The Documentary was a classic) but one album does not prove much.  The sales of Doctor’s Advocate are false advertisement to the Game’s success because everyone was expecting another Documentary but that’s not what we got at all; instead we got a young rapper who thought he could make it on his own without Dr. Dre. I’ve heard of bad decisions but come on, does that sound like a good idea to anyone?  I didn’t think so. Now that he’s back under Dre’s supervision, can the Game prove himself worthy of our attention with the R.E.D. Album?

With Tha Carter IV, Lil Wayne brings back the intro, middle track, and outro style, which was something he did very well on Tha Carter II.  The only problem is he only raps on the intro which leaves two tracks on his album that he does not even appear on.  I like the idea but in actuality it doesn’t quite feel right.  It’s kind of like Game’s star studded tracks, which I don’t mind too much but it is a little over the top (the album features Kendrik Lamar, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Sly, Tyler the Creator, Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross, Beanie Siegel, Young Jeezy, Big Boi, E-40, and on and on).  I love featuring tracks because the rapper featured brings some of his own style to that track but when all you have is featuring tracks you become more of a chameleon than a styled MC.

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In the past two days, two great free downloads have popped up on the internet for your listening pleasure.

First, what I’m most excited about, is The Weeknd’s highly anticipated follow up album called Thursday. Go download this immediately at http://the-weeknd.com/ and your ears will thank me later. If you haven’t already downloaded his first album House of Balloons you should also grab that which is also on his website. Additionally, check out our review of House of Balloons by yours truly.

Secondly, Mississippi’s own Big K.R.I.T. has released a new mixtape titled The King 2: God’s Machine. You can download this mixtape at http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/13591/ big_krit_last_king_2.html . If you haven’t heard of Big K.R.I.T. you need to get in the know and check out his Return of 4Eva album.

We’ll try to get album reviews up as soon as we’re done ballin’ out to these records. In the meantime, enjoy them for yourselves.

I remember when Young Jeezy released Thug Motivation 101, it was the album that submerged me into the world of southern rap. The absurd ad libs and flat out hilarious lyrics delivered expertly changed my whole perspective on what rap I was listening to and what rap I should have been listening to. Needless to say I have been a loyal fan ever since: the good but not great Thug Motivation 102 and the mediocre The Recession that had but a few jams on it. My faith was not shaken that Jeezy would once again rise to the top and after hearing this new single off the upcoming Thug Motivation 103 my faith has been rewarded.

For your listening and viewing pleasure, check out Young Jeezy’s new single “Win” below. Thug Motivation 103: Hustlaz Ambition has a September 20 release date.

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Lil’ Wayne has released a new single off his upcoming album Tha Carter IV, which still has a release date of August 29th (and hopefully that will remain the release date). The track, titled “She Will” features Drake and can be found on the website Weezy Thanx You.

For those of  you who haven’t heard his first single “6 Foot 7 Foot” featuring Cory Gunz you should give it a listen while you watch the awesome video for it below.

Over his career New Orleans rapper Curren$y has gained quite a reputation for his mixtapes, and for a good reason. He started off his career with a mixtape on Young Money (Life at 30,000 Feet) and then left Young Money and went on a spree of releasing seven mixtapes in seven months, a majority of which were solid outings. Add to this his crowd pleasing collaboration with Wiz Khalifa on How Fly in 2009 as well as Smokee Robinson and Return to the Winner's Circle and you've got quite a back catalog of mixtapes.

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Over the past few years Flying Lotus has raised himself, and the Los Angeles electronic scene as a whole, to the top echelons of the music world. He has created a huge following by releasing progressive electronic music that pushes barriers. Recently, Flying Lotus seems to have been keeping busy as he just uploaded a few new tracks to his Soundcloud page. You can listen to the two new tracks after the jump.

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