Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

 I gotta admit this might be the best OutKast album. The lyricism is so great here and it’s very well produced also. "Rosa Parks" is simply one of my favorite rap songs of all time. It's infectious. The title track is somber but really good too. "Skew It On The Bar-B" was another highlight. "Da Art of Storytelling', Pt.1 and Pt. 2 are really creative too. I recognize the beat of Pt. 1 was used by J. Cole on his Born Sinner album years later. Big Boi does a great job on "West Savannah". While maybe one of the weaker songs, I kinda liked "Mamacita". It was different. The final 2 songs, "Liberation" and "Chonkyfire" are long but excellent. Overall yeah this album is further proof that Outkast is the best rap duo. This is one of the dirty south's best albums imo.  Lyrics 25 Beats 23 Depth 25 Tilt 25 Verdict 98

 I recently beat Astro Bot for PS5 and oh my god was it a blast to play! The game is a literal love letter to the Sony Playstation brand. Astro Bot is cute little protagonist. He has the ability to punch enemies and objects.  He also has a booster jump which can also be used to beat certain enemies too. In addition you get certain devices that help you such as a rocket boosting dog....or a monkey with extending arms. There's a whole lot more too. As with the PS5 tech demo the game has incredible haptic feedback for all your actions. That PS5 controller is awesome! The game has so many incredible stages. It kinda of reminds me of Kirby and the Forgotten Land in that you are looking for your lost crew mate robots on each stage. You'll go through a stage and find (sometimes very cleverly) hidden crew mates and also these puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces unlock new building on your crash site home planet. Unlike Kirby tho you must find a certain number of robot buddies to take on ...

 This album from Nelly Furtado is like a lost gem to me as I didn't listen to it much over the years. Nelly Furtado partnered with Timbaland for this one and the production is just fantastic. The album gets off to a great start with songs like "Maneater" which is such a banger. Then there's the popular single "Promiscuous" which is a funny concept of a song but catchy as hell. Nelly sings, "Is that the truth or are you talking trash, game MVP like Steve Nash" lol ."In God's Hands" is the slower song but I like the message. "Say It Right" is probably my favorite song here. It's so smooth and unique. "Do It" and "Wait For You" are also amazing. I don't speak Spanish but the 2 Spanish songs "No Hay Iguana" and "Te Busque" weren't bad. Ultimately this is one of the definitive 2000s pop albums.  Lyrics 23 Beats 25 Depth 23 Tilt 25 Verdict 96

  Ciara’s debut has all the qualities that a debut R&B album should have, and that’s a good and a bad thing. Luckily its mostly a good thing. Ciara never really experiments, and plays it safe on the entire album. The album has a good mix of party/uptempo songs like the lead single Goodies and 1 2 Step. Oh with Ludacris is very good and pretty midtempo. And I is an exceptional ballad song. Theres some other good songs to round it out. The album is simple and effective, and a good way to start a career. Lyrics 20 Beats 22 Depth 21 Tilt 22 Verdict 85

  I've seen a lot of NBA finals in my days but this one was weird....The team that lost the Spurs were up in every game by double digits so technically they could of won this series in no more than 5. I think it was a combination of youth and the fact that the Knicks are just a hell of a team this year. Brunson balled out all series despite heavy Spurs defense. Wemby had a tough go of it for 4/5 of the games. The game plan worked. I remember watching game 4 where the Spurs were up almost 30 points and still faltered and let the Knicks win....it was the biggest comeback ever in the finals. Which is truly insane. Well honestly I feel the Spurs will be back soon to the finals and they will be more experienced. The Knicks had far more playoff experience on their roster and it showed. I basically knew in game 5 that once the game was close in the fourth quarter the Knicks were gonna pull it out. So idk about Wemby being the best player in the league but he's at worst the 3rd best (B...

I gotta admit this album really grew on me. At first I didn't think too much of it. The album is short at just 9 songs. The first song "Risk It All" is really smooth and has a nice buildup. The single "I Just Might" is a major highlight. The song is really fun!  "God Was Showing Off" might be my favorite song tho. Basically you have an album of well made smooth hits. Bruno does well lyrically. The production, while a low point, isn't bad at all. I liked most of these songs. "Something Serious" is another banger. Sure maybe the album could have been a little more explosive....but Bruno is clearly taking a note of the Silk Sonic collaboration album he did.  Overall its a good album. Definitely check this one out. Lyrics 23 Beats 19 Depth 22 Tilt 21 Verdict 85

 Drake returns with his much anticipated rap album. For the most part it’s pretty good. He’s rapping better than he did on For All the Dogs. The best songs on this album are the Make Them songs: "Make Them Cry", "Make Them Pay", "Make Them Remember", and "Make Them Know". The songs are pretty similar as Drake spits over laid back production on those set of songs. He takes a lot of shots on this album too...and not just at Kendrick. Lebron James and Jay-Z get fired at too.  The song "Dust" is maybe my favorite song. Once the beat switches its straight fire. "Janice STFU" is pretty catchy too. "Little Birdie" has an ok beat but the heavy autotune on Drake's voice is so bad. Drake spits really well on "Plot Twist" too. 2 Hard 4 The Radio has a nice bounce too. Overall it's good to hear what Drake has been meditating on but you can't help but feel he's really just not over the beef he lost to Ke...