Jacob Latimore: Connection – My initial reaction to this album was“ Ooh he’ s cursing.” The young artist isn’ t so young anymore. That’ s the biggest message Jacob Latimore sends with his debut album, Connection. His sensually cocky lyrics, profanity, and crisp mature vocals let us know that the child star is entering manhood. The hard hitting tracks“ Say Less” and“ Advertise It” create a strong introduction and even set the tone for the project. Their heavy bass and piercing high hats, scream a TRAPSOUL influence. In fact, Ayo and Keyz, the producers of Bryson Tiller’ s debut album, produced the third track of the album,“ The Real.” Overall, Jacob delivered some up tempo tracks that could easily complement some saucy choreography. But, he also balanced them with some slower head nodding tracks. Vocally, he seems to block out deeper tones but dabble into falsetto, sustaining notes appropriately an riffing in the right moments. Production wise, the project also seems to have a pop influence on tracks like“ Love Drug” and“ The Real.” This is definitely a cohesive debut album that caters to his heavy female fan base and plays on his strengths as an artist. I would just like to see him showcase what makes him unique.
KW
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Kid Cudi: Passion Pain & Demon Slayin – The Man on The Moon is officially back, but he’ s a little bit creepier than we remembered him being when we were younger. PP & DS is essentially either the end of the MOTM Trilogy or a flat-out reboot of the original Man on The Moon. Cudi has a knack for experimenting and going really far left, even when no one seems to like it( see Speedin Bullet To Heaven), but I find that admirable in Cudder. With that said, he’ s still got more tricks up his sleeve. However, the feeling just isn’ t the same as the original, so I’ d rather him just attempt to create something completely new. However, I do understand the power of Cudi’ s music as I have seen people depend on his debut album to get them through the day, so I can understand why Kid Cudi would subtly reboot the MOTM vibe and content matter. Although, we may have outgrown the“ just get high and be yourself, and you will be alright at the end of the day” message, there is someone who will be touched by PP & DS as millions of people were at the release of Man on The Moon. Passion Pain & Demon Slayin is too easy of a ride for me, but it’ s high points are indeed marvelous. But the highs and lows cannot compare to the fact that this album has the potential to save someone’ s life, and that is where Kid Cudi excels on this album.
JR
John Legend: Darkness & Light – Darkness and Light was a very chill and smooth album. John Legend never disappoints when it comes to making good music. The features that he included brought some excitement and diversity. I liked that the album wasn’ t too long because I find it hard to listen super long R & B albums all the way through. The song amount was just enough. It did sound a little“ pop-ish” as the album moved on to songs like“ Love Me Now”, but I really liked it. These tracks added some lightheartedness to the album which helped it to not be so deep.
AB
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