Kanye West is loco for The Life of Pablo. He started with So Help Me God, then he moved onto the correct title SWISH, but was later sidetracked into WAVES. This sparked a historically petty Twitter arguement with Wiz Khalifa. Wiz said that “the wave” belonged to Max B, and it turns out Kanye agreed to a certain extent. Taylor Gang and Amber Rose stepped in on the drama. See the images below for the old cover art, tracklist and Khalifa bashing.
The music is good, although Ye is suspiciously vulturistic again on this album. He recruited Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Rihanna, Frank Ocean, Kirk Franklin, Chris Brown, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, Chance The Rapper, Sia, Post Malone, Ty Dolla $ign, Vic Mensa and Future-imitator Desiigner for features.
1. “Ultralight Beam” ft. Chance the Rapper & Kirk Franklin
2. “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” ft. Kid Cudi
3. “Pt. 2” ft. Desiigner
4. “Famous” ft. Rihanna
5. “Feedback”
6. “Low Lights”
7. “Highlights” ft. Young Thug
8. “Freestyle 4” ft. Desiigner
9. “I Love Kanye”
10. “Waves” ft. Chris Brown
11. “FML” ft. The Weeknd
12. “Real Friends” ft. Ty Dolla $ign
13. “Wolves” ft. Frank Ocean & Caroline Shaw
14. “Silver Surfer Intermission”
15. “30 Hours”
16. “No More Parties in LA” ft. Kendrick Lamar
17. “Facts” (Charlie Heat Version)
18. “Fade” ft. Post Malone & Ty Dolla $ign
Allan Kingdom created his own sound for Northern Lights. He brought Hip Hop and Folk together with a nerdy flow and a folksy way of singing, fitting the two seemingly contrasting styles together more beautifully than one would ever expect. Yesterday (January 6, 2016), the emcee went Minnesota weird with his latest album.
The artist was born and raised in a cold, serious environment Up Nort – many miles from the rest of the cities in The Midwest. The St. Paul, Minnesota artist had no choice but to find a new angle, even coming from the more unknown side of the Twin Cities. Minneapolis has had Rhymesayers since the mid-90s but the other half wasn’t popping until Thestand4rd dropped in 2014.
In 2014, Kingdom became part of one of the most talented teams in the country. With Spooky Black, Bobby Raps and Psymun on the team, the group together goes in a more R&B direction than Northern Lights, but they work together on everything. The lows will be the most ominous on one joint and then switch up to the utmost funkiness on faster tracks. The Stand4rd is creative with the drums, beeps and boops. They always grab a bright sample to bring the Soul in the mix out too. The group is on a new wave Hip Hop / Folk fusion.
Allan Kingdom is more into rap. He has a hard Midwest flow with somber undertones – like he’ll be out committing sins to repent them in church the following Sunday. Get turnt to “The Ride” and “Monkey See”. Fade into “Fables” and “Hypocrite” with an open mind. Then play “Northern Lights”, “Disconnect” and “I Feel Ya” a few times back.
The Minnesota artist has his own thing popping and this album shows that. He has a huge range on the project. His flow is smart and his singing is on a new wave. The production is always on sumn weird. Coming from a cold city in The North, Kingdom will bring people together with his brilliant music, regardless of where they’re from.
Madison, Wisconsin raised Trapo dropped his highly anticipated debut tape today (November 11, 2015). According to the artist’s SC, TBBH is “A Short Project About Black Prosperity.”
Trapo has a way of his own. He was raised in a town with many problems yet he’s found a way to rise above and create a sound that only he can maintain. The trap-blues singer has had some issues with alcohol too. I know how that goes… The new wave soul singer has a pain in his voice when he talks the trap talk. He’ll go from verbal assault to deep wailing in a way that makes him seem more sincere than most modern rappers.
Premiered by Pigeons & Planes, the TBBH album was originally set to feature both Allan Kingdom and Max Wonders. The emcee changed up the tracklist last minute, though. He’s mainly using leased beats on TBBH, which makes sense. Trapo needs certain elements in his music – a sound that most producers ain’t on yet. The young’n has a great ear for particular production and I’m sure many producers are cooking up for him at this very moment.
The Mad City rapper recently did some features too, including “Out Here” with 3rd Dimension, “Drug of Choice” with RED & Ra’Shaun, and “Faster” with Max Wonders.
