August 26th
Post Malone
MIXTAPE
Views
Drake
ALBUM
If you forgot about Post Malone since his widely acclaimed "White Iverson," don't beat yourself up about it because he's back with his debut mixtape, August 26th. Post Malone is a strange individual in my opinion because of his approach to music. He was garnering a massive amount of attention with the sound that he had started to build last year with "White Iverson" and "Too Young," but he negates that and heads into a somewhat new direction. More indie-driven than trap driven, August 26th offers a more diverse appeal to his sing-a-long delivery. Even though this mixtape is technically short, it is the perfect length to Post Malone to keep his audience interested. Opening with the age old chant of "they will never understand," Post Malone continues to carve own unique path in the industry, while demonstrating his crossover potential and universal appeal. Highlights of the mixtape include "Hollywood Dreams/Come Down," which transforms a Fleetwood Mac cover into a trap ballad and "Money Made Me Do It," which is dedicated to the late Bankroll Fresh. Many thought that Post Malone had the potential to be a star. August 26th just proves it. RJ
We finally have it. Perhaps the biggest album of the year, Drake's senior album has arrived. Dropping the "From The 6" for a simpler title, Views finds Drake exactly where we thought he was. No surprises anywhere in terms of style, this is Drake in the deepest place of Drake that Drake can go. Drake is a part of his album more so than he ever has been before, almost one with it in fact. However, a lot of people, self-included, seemed to initially be disappointed with that. Maybe it's the 4th time we've seen this movie play out, or maybe we want to see Drake try to wow us again like he did with his previous albums. Everyone had high expectations for Views; I mean, you've seen my wish list for Views months ago. With all that said, I think Views is a great album. Hip Hop? Ehhhhh, I mean it's kinda in there. But his album is genre-less, and that's why it's been number one for the past 6 weeks. Wait. That's kind of creepy since it was supposed to be Views From The 6… Eh, whatever. The fact of the matter is, this album shows a more mature Drake that doesn't waste time trying to get his bars up for 17 tracks in a row. Instead, he sings his way to a beautifully cohesive and feel good album about triumph, loved ones, and faith in others (even though it has the tendency to backfire). While he's baiting you with great melodies that will be in your head all summer, he meticulously places some of the hottest raps of his career. While some say that this may be Drake's last album as the King of Hip-Hop, I think that Drake's just playing his cards right. Views was an easily enjoyable album with excellent transitions and some of the best vocals and songs that I've ever heard from the Toronto Rapper. It's just different, almost cold actually. But according to Drake, that's how it was supposed to feel. RJ
REVIEWS