album review: '90059' by jay rock

I think I've talked before that a good rap posse often has people falling into specific roles, to add variety or cater to different audiences - and for Top Dawg Entertainment, filling out that roster is surprisingly easy. Kendrick Lamar is the leader, Schoolboy Q is the gangsta, Ab-Soul is the weird one, Isaiah Rashad is the more laid-back fun-loving one, and SZA is the girl/pseudo-spiritual one. 

And this leaves Jay Rock, the California MC I've always been inclined to brand as the bruiser, the former Blood gang member who will drop ruthlessly hard bars to cater to a tougher rap audience. You could argue that he shares the most in common with Schoolboy Q, but Jay Rock always struck me as harder. Combined with the gruff intensity of his delivery, it's no surprise that he managed to snag a major label deal with Warner Bros off of a slew of high-powered mixtapes - a deal that went precisely nowhere. He eventually wound up signing with Tech N9ne's imprint Strange Music to finally release his debut album Follow Me Home. And while the album was far from bad, it was the sort of record that showed the signs of many delays and revisions, especially in the disjointed midsection and the inclusion of the one 'hit' he had at the end of the album 'All My Life (In The Ghetto)' with Lil Wayne & will.i.am. Far from bad - with solid West Coast-flavoured production and Jay Rock's aggressively potent bars, it's still a good record - but it lacked the cohesion and power that would later characterize TDE's later releases throughout the next few years.

And yet across every guest appearance on those TDE records, Jay Rock was spitting his ass off, showing real lyrical improvement in terms of his bars and punchlines and the hype for his sophomore release was palpable... and yet it kept getting pushed back or delayed indefinitely. After an exit from Strange Music last year, singles finally began trickling out at the beginning of June and we all had reason to believe that Jay Rock was going to deliver, but I admit I was a bit skeptical, if only because the extended recording process and delays might have led to the same lack of cohesion. But now it's finally here: does 90059 deliver?

video review: 'untold stories' by elvya

Well, this was a hard one to review - not that it was difficult to like, but not an easy record to understand or come to a coherent opinion on, it was definitely on the weirder side.

Next up... whoo boy, busy week. Jay Rock, Brett Eldredge, Metric, and (of course) Lana Del Rey. Strap in, folks, it's going to get messy!

album review: 'untold stories' by elvya

So I occasionally get requests to review albums, but I also occasionally get bands or new acts that will outright send over their new records for me to cover. And for the most part, I try to get a chance to listen through all of it, but between my existing backlog and all the preparation I do for listening to more established artists, I just run out of time to cover everything, even if I like what I see. Plus, considering I do a lot of lyrical analysis, it can be a little infuriating when there's no lyric sheet or additional details provided beyond just the songs, especially if the mixing is poor and the lyrics are unclear.

So when I got the email about Elvya, I wasn't initially planning to do much until I caught some choice details. Full name Elvya Dulcimer, her music was reportedly more in the vein of Celtic folk that was on the cinematic side with this being her debut... with narration from Arjen Lucassen, the mastermind behind Ayreon. And if I know anything about Arjen, even though he didn't produce this and I didn't precisely love The Gentle Storm that he did with Anneke Van Giersbergen earlier this year, he's got an eye for quality. On top of that, former Within Temptation and current Kingfisher Sky member Ivar De Graaf was handling guitars and drums, so I have every reason to believe this could be something special. So I decided to check out her debut Untold Stories: how is it?

video review: 'the book of souls' by iron maiden

I'm currently manning the barricade against the onslaught of comments... but then again, I'm honestly not sure how this'll be received, most metal fans tend to be more reasonable these days.

Next up... well, that Jay Rock album looks tempting, but I might not have time to get to it until Saturday. We'll see, so stay tuned!

album review: 'the book of souls' by iron maiden

I've said before that it's hard to talk about legends. It's even harder to talk about acts that were responsible for pioneering sounds and styles within an entire genre of music. And when that band has over thirty storied years of history and discography to examine, it can be an exhausting task going through all of the albums just to get the appropriate context. 

And you all want to know something funny? I'm currently doing this with at least three other acts as we speak, and not all of them are metal. It's a monumental exercise, especially when you realize these acts have so much material, good and bad, that it can feel like you're retracing history to listen through record after record. It's daunting but rewarding, and nowhere has this reward been more pleasing and pronounced than going through Iron Maiden's discography. I don't even need to bother with introductions for this British heavy metal act, mostly because said introductions would be painfully inadequate. These guys were responsible for some seminal metal albums, with their 80s output widely considered their best - and for good reason, because I can count a good four of those records as excellent and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son as a downright classic.

And then the 90s happened. The 90s were not kind to Iron Maiden, as they went through turbulence, line-up changes and a succession of records that ranged from okay but boring to outright mediocre. It wouldn't be until the mid-2000s that Iron Maiden could pull together quality again, becoming a six-piece act and putting together respectable records like the unmastered, live-show inspired A Matter Of Life And Death or the pretty solid but questionably produced The Final Frontier. And it's been five years since a new Iron Maiden album and when the rave reviews starting pouring in, I was definitely interested, but a little skeptical, especially considering it was their first double album spanning over ninety minutes. But hey, this is Iron Maiden, they've blown my mind before - sixteen albums into their career, can they do it again?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 19, 2015 (VIDEO)

I'm fairly certain this might be the longest episode of Billboard BREAKDOWN to date, and that's saying something. Here's betting the next one will be big too as so many of those album tracks from Beauty Behind The Madness drop out.

Next up, let's go metal and talk Iron Maiden - stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 19, 2015

You know, there are some weeks where I wonder why I even bother doing my album reviews, instead just focusing on Billboard BREAKDOWN, because in the case of certain records, nearly every song from it is going to land on the charts at some point, so why should I bother? And this week, not only do we have one of those cases, we also have a song from a previous case of it returning high to the charts. And yet, none of those have ended up being the biggest story of this week, mostly we have a new #1, the first of his career and one riding the wave of a tearful VMAs performance to take the very top. And folks, time to dust off those old pitchforks: Justin Bieber is back, and he's bigger than ever.

video review: 'rodeo' by travi$ scott

Well, that's killing two birds with one stone for you! If you don't get it, watch to the end, you'll see.

Okay, next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN for real and then Iron Maiden - stay tuned!

album review: 'rodeo' by travi$ scott

I wasn't going to do this review.

See, one of the big positives about Billboard BREAKDOWN for me is that I can get a few weeks or months warning about albums coming down the pipe that might not be to my preferences based off of lead-off singles. And sure, it's far from an exact science, but more often than not, if I'm hearing your lead-off single and it's over seven minutes of decently produced but completely empty luxury rap with Future and 2 Chainz, I'm not inclined to look up your debut album.

And that's where I thought it would end with me and Travi$ Scott, Houston producer-turned-'rapper' affiliated with Kanye West and T.I.. He became known for his oppressive dark and bleak production, which I could appreciate, but I keep going back to the old adage I have with luxury rap: if the beats are so dark and dreary where it's clear nobody's having any fun, why in the Nine Hells would I? And it wasn't as if Travi$ Scott was a rapper worth caring about - this isn't A$AP Rocky, where you could at least expect some competently structured flows - on a technical level, Travi$ Scott just wasn't impressing me.

And when I took a look at the credits for this upcoming album, I didn't know what to think. Sure, he had some respectable names, but he only had a couple production credits - in other words, it looked like he was de-emphasizing the talents that made him famous for those that wouldn't help him stand out in a lineup. On top of that, his features list immediately struck me as questionable. I already mentioned Future and 2 Chainz, but Quavo from Migos? Young Thug and Justin Bieber? Chief Keef and Swae Lee from Rae Sremmurd? But I thought, 'Okay, maybe with him stepping away from the production boards, it might not be as cavernous and dreary'... even though the lead-off single and the album's running time of over an hour did not inspire confidence. But hey, I'm willing to try new things, so how was the Rodeo?

video review: 'heartbreaker of the year' by whitney rose

Man, I wish I could have gotten this album review out earlier, but this weekend was just... yeah, not productive at all.

Next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN - stay tuned!

album review: 'heartbreaker of the year' by whitney rose

So when I did my Special Comment highlighting some gems on the Canadian Hot 100, I got a few comments saying that, 'Well, you were cherry-picking - there is obviously quality here but you easily could have highlighted bad Canadian music and chose not to'. And I have a confession: as much as I'm a proud supporter of Canadian music and even Canadian country, we got our duds out here. We even have our version of bro-country out here, mostly pushed by Dallas Smith, formerly the frontman of post-grunge group Default and now has been working with Joey Moi on trying - and mostly failing - to be a cross between Florida Georgia Line and Jake Owen.

But we're not going to be talking about bad mainstream Canadian country, but instead diving back into the indie scene, so let's talk about Whitney Rose. Originally from Prince Edward Island on the East Coast, she dropped her self-titled debut album in 2012 - and it might have just been rough timing, because another Canadian vintage-leaning country singer-songwriter also dropped a pretty potent album in 2012, and that was Lindi Ortega's excellent Cigarettes & Truckstops, easily her best work thus far. And it's not hard to make that comparison: both artists brought a certain sultriness, taste for traditional country blended with vintage pop flavours, and gorgeous atmosphere to the table, and Whitney Rose's album definitely was of high calibre. But while I'd definitely argue her writing was a huge plus, her instrumental tones and styles were a little too polished, at least for me: very elegant and potent, but occasionally lacking an edge.

That looked like it might have changed on her sophomore release, Heartbreaker Of The Year, so I gave it a listen: what did I find?

video review: 'start here' by maddie & tae

Glad I finally got to this. Pretty solid album, pretty easy review - in other words, the best kind.

Next up, I'm thinking about Whitney Rose, keep with more country. Stay tuned!

album review: 'start here' by maddie & tae

You know, it's funny, I think that I've said more about the phenomenon that is Maddie & Tae than their actual music itself.

Then again, I don't think I'm alone in that fact. When 'Girl In A Country Song' smashed into the country scene in the second half of 2014, it was seen as the long-awaited backlash to the sputtering phenomenon of bro-country, and even though the girls themselves were rather coy about the issue, it certainly inspired some anger from the bro-country set. After all, according to them, who wouldn't want to be a girl in one of their country songs?

Now I was a lot more sceptical here, and that had to do with the people backing them, albeit circumspectly: Big Machine, run by Scott Borchetta and the label responsible for introducing the world to Taylor Swift. But with Taylor Swift leaving country for pop, Borchetta knew he had to fill the hole in the country market, so why not introduce a country duo who could replace her, also wrote all of their own songs, and had easy marketing as the tide was turning on the bro-country he helped push to market? Play both sides against the middle, and rake in the cash.

This had been my hypothesis about Maddie & Tae last December, when I made my Billboard BREAKDOWN Special Comment about their success in the context of 'God Made Girls', that piece of overproduced junk from RaeLynn that at the time was on the rise. And I had originally seen Maddie & Tae and RaeLynn as two sides of the same coin replacing Taylor Swift - one would be the confrontational group willing to pick the fight, the other would cater to the more demure, more conservative Christian demographic. But a few important things happened since then that changed the script: RaeLynn dropped off the face of the earth; Maddie & Tae released their second single 'Fly' which proved they could reach that softer market; and most interestingly, they started pushing back. They spoke out against the increasingly stiff nature of modern country production and reportedly fought for more of a neotraditional country sound on their debut album. So okay, you've got me interested, how does Start Here turn out?

video review: 'miley cyrus & her dead petz' by miley cyrus

Yeah, I know you guys all like it when I tear a record like this to shreds, but this was not a fun experience. So yeah, it'd be nice to some quality coming down the pipe...

Oh, look, I can talk about Maddie & Tae next! Stay tuned!

album review: 'miley cyrus & her dead petz' by miley cyrus

None of you should be surprised this happened.

Think about it, the signs were all there. From the VMA performance in 2013 that catapulted Miley Cyrus back into the public eye for better or worse to the album Bangerz, a record that was really all over the place to be salvaged beyond a few genuine gems, to the uneasy collaborations with hip-hop artists that created abortions like '23'. For a solid six months on the back half of 2013, Miley was dominant in the cultural conversation, for better or worse, and then it all fizzled out. In my opinion, she crippled her own momentum by releasing 'Adore You' under the delusion that song had any hope of being a hit instead of the near guaranteed smash and genuinely awesome song 'FU'.

And then came the rumours leaking out that Miley had gone back into the studio to work and do drugs with Wayne Coyne and later showed up on his Beatles tribute album With A Little Help From My Fwends, so you knew the favour was bound to be returned in full. It became even more evident when Miley severed her ties to Dr. Luke - the same producer who prevented Kesha's collaboration album with The Flaming Lips from getting released - because apparently he hates free festival publicity - amongst more horrid accusations that has seemed to stall Kesha's career indefinitely in lawsuits. And the parallel is important here: sure, both Kesha and Miley worked with Wayne Coyne, but Kesha always had a level of raw tightness and restraint and imagination in her compositions that balanced her ragged instincts against excess. Miley has never had that restraint, considering the massive overcompensation that has come with the burning of her child star image and her appropriation of whatever she can to flesh out an artistic identity.

So fast-forward to the annual craziness that was the VMAs, where Nicki Minaj buried the hatchet with Taylor and Kanye tried to filter through incoherent honesty... and through the entire show, trying to outshine everyone and prove she was still relevant, was Miley Cyrus. It cast her infamous 2013 performance into sharp relief - the shock might have worked twerking against Robin Thicke, but with no momentum, her attempts to throw herself into the drama of Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift or squeal raucously after Kanye's polemic, it reeked of desperation. And then she announced an album from out of nowhere and it made way too much sense - she needed something to boost the hype behind an album with no lead off single, no momentum, and the only shock value coming from the fact it was mainly produced by the Flaming Lips and had Phantogram and Ariel Pink on it! Not only that, it was over ninety minutes long over twenty-three tracks, all the more proof that there had been no restraint in its creation. In other words, I had zero expectations this would be good, but I knew it'd make for something interesting, so I dug into Miley Cyrus And Her Dead Petz - what madness did we find?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 12, 2015 (VIDEO)

And that's that episode. Another not particularly easy shoot, but eh, that happens.

Next up... okay, Miley, I'm prepared for the worst, BRING IT!

video review: 'the expanding flower planet' by deradoorian

So this finally happened. Many thanks to Anthony for giving me a shot on a pretty fascinating record, definitely enjoyed doing this.

Next up... it's Miley, folks. Strap in, this'll get crazy.

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - september 12, 2015

So we're finally getting out of a lurching, generally incoherent summer and into the fall - in other words known as one of the most clustered and panicked times of the year when it comes to the Hot 100. The last hits of the year tend to debut in these weeks in the gamble they'll snag the year-end list, the album release schedule starts to pile up, and things get all the more busy on my end. And that's not counting any major shifts on the chart like we got this week, or the dropping of surprise albums that come right out of nowhere, which we'll be probably talking more about tomorrow.

video review: 'habitual lyrical' by brazy da bo$$

Well, I'm glad I got a chance to cover this. Not a lot to really say - and not the only review dropping soon, but that's a different story...

Anyway, next up is Billboard BREAKDOWN. Stay tuned!

album review: 'habitual lyrical' by brazy da bo$$

So about eight months ago, I covered Alexander The Great III, the newest record from Brazy Da Bo$$, a hip-hop MC from Baltimore that actually conducted himself with some civility when he hit me up to cover the album and, hell, it was the middle of January, what else was I supposed to talk about? And I reviewed the album and it was decent enough, from what I can remember of it, mostly holding up on better-than-average production to compensate for subject matter that didn't really impress or interest me. It was laid back and chill and it did have 'All Dogs Go To Heaven' which showed there was actually some rapping talent and creativity if he had emotionally compelling subject matter... but I'll be honest, I haven't touched Alexander The Great III in months outside of that one song, and I'd struggle to remember any other cut from it.

Fast forward to now, Brazy Da Bo$$ has a new album, and it's titled Habitual Lyrical. This caught me off-guard immediately, mostly because in looking forward to describe this guy, 'lyrical' wasn't really one of them. He wasn't a bad rapper, but his content never struck me as immediately complex or lyrics being the most important element to his music. But on the flip side, he's also from Baltimore, and when I see songs called 'City On Fire (Pray For Baltimore)' and I think back to the nightmare there earlier this year, maybe something inspired him. Of course, he could be sticking with the same regular subject matter, and the fact that his album is around forty minutes for fifteen tracks did raise a little concern for me. But hey, I was curious, and it was either this or Five Finger Death Punch or Disturbed and you couldn't pay me to cover either of those, especially when I have Slayer and Iron Maiden coming down the pipe. So, what does Habitual Lyrical deliver?