Brian

The best R'n'B and Hip-Hop songs of this year!

Music affects your frame of mind, can make you happy, anxious, and bring about any other emotion. Here's a review of the past 6 months of music!

You all know my usual deal, I like to listen to music while doing something else and depending on how good an album is, I either find myself finishing the task with ease or in the case of We Need to Talk, sitting on my couch with my eyes closed listening to every lyric and getting lost in the story. At only 36 minutes long, the album is definitely a product of the streaming era since the songs are catchy and say a lot in a short time, but end too quickly for my liking. That isn’t on Tayla, the average song length has dropped almost 30 secs since hip-hop was born, so it makes sense that most artist now make shorter songs. Plus, they want you to repeat the track since they’re getting paid for every stream. My listening of that album alone may put Tayla and any future Tayla Jr. through college.

I'm sitting here listening to Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack, dictating this review while playing Spider-Man on my PS4. If you told 12-year-old Brian that

I always have a hard time picking an album to review and this month was no different. I sat with Oxnard by Anderson .Paak for a week, then got hooked up with a copy of Meek’s Championships a day before it was released, only to land on writing about Earl’s new joint. All 3 albums probably reflect different aspects of my taste in music.

Last Day of Summer came just in time to help you through the long nights of winter and I don’t even mean that in a cliché way.

6lack took 14 tracks and managed to express the complexity of love in a way that everyone and anyone could appreciate.

On Bas' latest album Milky Way, each track stands on its own. The rapper's album is strong enough to be consumed in any order.

Your music taste matures in your teen years, which is why it can be difficult for a “Golden Era” kid like me to get trap, drill rap or the idea of a K-pop star turned rap monster.

Much like a certain Canadian rapper, let’s split this into a hip-hop side and an R&B side.

Welcome to the First Family of Hip-Hop, The Carters.

Here we are in 2018 and Pusha T has dropped DAYTONA, and the fans have been rewarded with quality over quantity.

Janelle Monáe isn’t R&B, hip-hop or pop and her album Dirty Computer is structured to tell a story, but manages to be consumable in pieces. Something that not many artists have mastered in the era of streaming music.

This is Phonte's most honest album, with him opening up on his thoughts about life, health, aging, mortality, relevance, motivation, sadness, and leaving his mark. He's a lyrical fighter better than anyone in the game.

When [Kendrick] Lamar was tapped to produce the soundtrack to [Black Panther] the movement, the reaction was amazing, everyone was excited because Lamar is known for his strong work ethic and passion for music.

After his long absence (11 years since The Weatherman LP and 7 years since Cats & Dogs), Evidence is allowing us to get the message that he can come back and still be up to the challenge.