Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

 This is a album I meant to review a long time ago. It gets off to kind of a mid start but it gets better as it goes. The first song, the title track has like a mid track reset that is kinda annoying. " I Ain't Gone Hold Ya" is fire. "MJ Jeezy" is nice too. I really like the menacing feel of "Scarface".  "How Deep" is another great song. The album is very high tempo....with a mixtape vibe courtesy of DJ Drama who is all over this thing. Lyrically Jeezy is pretty solid here. I like the production too. Depth wise it was good too. Overall I'd say its not his best album since 2020 but its decent man.  Lyrics 22 Beats 22 Depth 21 Tilt 22 Verdict 87

This was another Kanye album I wasn't too hype to listen to cause of its bad reputation. I am glad he put it on traditional music services.The album was available on this weird music player thing in 2022 at first. Kanye raps alot about his ex wife Kim Kardashian here. I know he did on Donda 1, but he does it a lot more here. The song "Get Lost" feels empty and is so boring. "Security" has a weird beat...I mean it's too weird for its own good.  I really like "Keep the Flowers", its got a nice beat to it.I liked "Too Easy" as well. "City of God" is arguably the best song....Alicia Keys does a great job, as does Five Foreign. A different version of "530" is here as well. I enjoyed "Pablo" too which features Future and Travis Scott. Ultimately its an average album....but it wasn't that bad overall. However it did fall woefully short of the first Donda which was great. Lyrics 18 Beats 21 Depth 18 Tilt 18 Verdi...

 Drake and 21 Savage get extra disrespectful on this one lol. The album is decent as Drake and well mostly Drake take shots at various women like Ice Spice, Megan thee Stallion ,Serena Williams etc. The two rappers have good chemistry. "Rich Flex" is the perfect album opener. In fact I'd say the first half of this album is great. But the 2nd half is kinda meh. The subject matter just gets kind of tired. The production is decent tho. "Spin Bout U" is another banger. "Circo Loco" is easily one of my favorite tracks due to the Daft Punk sample. Overall I enjoy this album I just think it could of been a tad bit better. The only rap feature is Travis Scott on "Pussy and Millions". We could have used a couple more features I think.  Lyrics 22 Beats 21 Depth 21 Tilt 22 Verdict 86

 Nas returns in late 2022 with KD3 and man is this a great album. One thing to note there's really almost no features. Nas spits fire on tracks with lush production from Hit-Boy. The song "Thun" is a highlight as Nas jokes that the beef with Jay-z still ain't over. With most of these songs Nas just glides over the beats as he sounds as comfortable as ever. He personifies beef on "Beef" which is pretty interesting. "First Time" is good but the subject matter sounds kinda repetitive as I feel like I've heard Nas rap about that a few times before. Overall tho there's just so many great songs. This is arguably the best Nas/Hit-Boy album but I dont really think its better than KD2. For Nas to be rapping this well this late in his career is legendary. Lyrics 24 Beats 24 Depth 23 Tilt 23 Verdict 94

 SZA returns finally with a really great long album. The album gets off to a great start with the title track into, "Kill Bill", "Seek & Destory" and my favorite song "Low" which features Travis Scott. This album features masterful singing and lyrics from SZA. She's in top form here. I felt the production however was a firm step back from Ctrl album. Overall tho there's a lot to like here like "Smoking on my Ex Pack" which features more good rapping from the songstress. The bonus cuts like "I Hate U" and "Shirt" are winners too. Ultimately this is a great album from SZA but you cant help but wonder if she really will retire after this. Let's hope not. Pick this album up if you haven't already. Lyrics 25 Beats 20 Depth 24 Tilt 24 Verdict 93

 The latest offering from Lupe Fiasco is a masterclass in lyricism. Lupe really has a sharp pen, you really have to give his bars some thought. I love the song "AUTOBOTO", its so smooth. He writes from the perspective of a hiphop kiosk salesman on "Kiosk". The production is jazzy and very cohesive; giving Lupe's rapping a great backdrop. There aren't really a whole lot of stand out tracks here like you might find on Food & Liquor album or The Cool....This album is short tho clocking in at just 41 minutes. I mean liked pretty every song.This album just proves Lupe is one of the best to pick up a mic...easily. Lyrics 25 Beats 22 Depth 24 Tilt 23 Verdict 94

 Weeknd returns with a really solid 80's sounding album. Well you could say he did that already with After Hours, but this one sounds even better to me. For one there's less filler here. I enjoyed pretty much every song which may be a first for a Weeknd album. "Gasoline" and "Take My Breath" are certified bangers. The production on the album is really flashy yet cohesive. The guest spots are pretty good like Tyler the Creator on "Here We Go...Again". However I felt Lil Wayne wasn't very good on "I Heard You're Married". "Don't Break My Heart" may be the best song. Overall this album is really an improvement to me over After Hours. Even if its not a huge one. Lyrics 24 Beats 23 Depth 24 Tilt 23 Verdict 94

 Beyonce' continues to impress with this latest album. I was originally on the fence on getting cause I heard it was different and it "wansn't for everyone". However this album is just straight fire. The songs are all well produced and the way they sometimes bleed into each other is impressive like "Energy" to "Break My Soul" Speaking of the latter, its a terrific anthem that really grew on me. Queen B herself is really in her bag on this album too. She sings and raps a lot too and its all pretty effective. There aren't really any ballads here but this is one high energy dance album. "Alien Superstar" might be the best song....with its groovy beat. "Cuff It" and "Virgo's Groove" are also really great too. I really liked every song here making it arguably better than her Lemonade album....arguably. I really look forward to the next two installments in her trilogy.  Lyrics 24 Beats 24 Depth 25 Tilt 24 Verdict 97

 I gotta admit I want too high on this album at first, but Ella Mai delivers again. This album features more of her great singing and the lyrics are really good. I gotta admit tho she doesn't seem as feisty as she was in her debut....The production is for sure a tad bitter tho. She again keeps the guest list short. There's just Latto, Roddy Rich, and Lucky Daye. You do hear some narration from Mary J. Blige on certain tracks tho. Overall this album is just as deep as its predecessor. I don't prefer this to the first album but this is a solid album. Lyrics 23 Beats 22 Depth 24 Tilt 23 Verdict 92

 Kehlani is back with another really solid album. The album is short like her previous album and I think that works. This album has a major hit on it, "Wish I Never" which I just can't get enough of. The beat her execution...its just flawless. The song blends into another great song, "Up At Night" which features Justin Bieber.  Kehlani sings really well on this album too. The production seems pretty good on most tracks too.  Overall I liked most of these songs. The replay-ability (tilt) was pretty high too. Ultimately Kehlani has a great discography and her career looks bright in 2022. This is a worthy sequel to her 2020 outing.  Lyrics 24 Beats 22 Depth 24 Tilt 23 Verdict 93

  Logic returns with his first official album after retirement and man it's really exceptional. The album is 30 tracks but quite a few of those are skits and most of the songs aren't very long at all. The album has an old school feel to it...more than any other Logic project I've heard. I gotta talk about those skits....they are kind of redundant with only a couple like Michael Rapport's being good. Most I could do without. The features here are all for the most part really good like Royce da 5'9, AZ, Wiz Khalifa, Action Bronson, The Game, etc..Lyrically Logic spits really well. He sounds so much more focuses than he did on Bobby Tarentino III.  Beat wise the album is good but nothing amazing....but the album did have the sound I think Logic wanted. The album is deep with good replayability (Tilt) which might be surprising for an album with this many tracks.  Lyrics 24 Beats 22 Depth 25 Tilt 24 Verdict 95

  Wow there is a lot to be said about this new album from Kendrick. This is definitely his most introspective album yet. The album is pretty mellow sounding mostly which may put some listeners off. I really like most of these songs on both sides of the album. "N95" is a lyrical assault that we. normally get from him. I really like "Die Hard" too. It's so melodic. I found the addition of Kodak Black to be a little odd but for the most part Kodak actually does well. The song "We Cry Together" is jarring and can make you feel uncomfortable...but if you look past that I think its brilliant in its execution. Kendrick and Taylour Paige go at each other in toxic couples argument. "Purple Hearts" is another highlight with features from Summer Walker and Ghostface Killah.  I found "Crown" to be somewhat boring. The production on the album is good but nothing spectacular. Lyrically Kendrick does well tho, even after five years off he's st...

 I gotta admit that with this album King Push solidifies himself as a top 20 rapper ever. Yes he's that damn good. So how's this album tho? Well the first half is the better half but honestly this album has grown on me. It gets off to a good start with "Brambleton" where he takes a subliminal shot at Drake. "Neck & Wrist" featuring Jay-Z is a really good track. Jay never disappoints. Pusha's Lyrics are really good here on this album. One song I thought could be better was the Kid cudi and Kanye assisted "Rock N Roll". "Diet Coke" and "Call My Bluff" are also dope af. One song that kinda grew on me is "Scrape it Off" featuring Lil Uzi Vert...yeah odd feature choice. The last song featuring his brother is really good too.  Lyrics 24 Beats 23 Depth 23 Tilt 23 Verdict 93