Info Dump

Drake – Take Care [Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic 2011]

In a conversation that the great critic Ann Powers has with NPR’s Frannie Kelley she mentions something that I had only half been noticing; Aubrey Graham’s perspective comes as a 25 year old upper middle class biracial kid from Canada. “You’re a fucking idiot” you might be thinking, but I had forgotten about his class perspective’s ability to manifest as the neuroticism he displays endlessly. Most of this sounds like he took the regality of his hero Kanye’s fifth album and applies it so he can wax charmingly with lines like “Jealously is just love and hate at the same time” and “I learned working with the negatives could make for better pictures”. Where he falls down constantly is his treatment of women (Rihanna, Nicki, and grandma aside) and especially his ex-girlfriends. Spite ain’t cute, and his public ubiquity as an emotionally stunted figure touches young males and impresses on them. 4.0/5

Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red [AWGE/Interscope 2020]

Maximalist still but much much more abrasive then Die Lit. Jordan Carter’s focus here, more than ever, is his ability to warble, stretch, and crack his voice methodically in an attempt to enthrall. He’s an avatar for ~vibes~ i.e. form over function. The slippy dippy trippy noise IS the substance. A criticism from some has been that his aesthetic shift is disingenuous, but I say who cares? You don’t need to be a student of aesthetics to try to align with them in the smirking way that he does. As he moves to the forefront of this version of pop music it should be noted that the elder statesmen featured are a comfort for sure, but they don’t mesh well enough with his consonant slinging to warrant more than a raised eyebrow. 3.5/5

Navy Blue – Song of Sage: Post Panic! [Freedom Sounds 2020]

A Brooklyn based LA-expat, Sage Elsesser was a skater at first before he linked up with other insular rhyme dense rappers in the underground scene and even featured on Earl’s last two releases. Narratively the focus is the tension between intimate issues and the greater ones BIPOC face in this country, an abbreviation Elsesser claims all parts of. But the litmus test will be whether you can stand how unrelentingly heady (see: stoned as fuck) the presentation is. Spending one’s time in a thought circle going over and over and over things is called rumination and it always breeds brooding despite how much peace is wished upon the ones doing it. 3.4/5

Pavement – Crooked Rain Crooked Rain [Matador 1994]

The follow up to their slackster-piece debut is big on the 70s in both pastiche and parody – you don’t think those AC/DC power chords on the intro are sincere, do you? And there’s definitely filler to work around but the melodic heights shine through, on the singles most of all. 4.0/5

Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel [Partisan 2019]

Part of the current wave of post-punk going on across the pond, these five Joyce fans from Ireland certainly have the tunes and sense to lay claim to the socialist boho lineage they seem to be creeping towards, even if Grian Chatten sounds too boyish half the time. This all makes sense considers how upset they are; “There’s always gonna be tears”; “There ain’t nothing there for me”; “Steady violence”; “I made my baby cry”. All are indicative of adjustments made in the transition from enlightenment to disillusion and back again. 3.8/5