Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

 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...

 This is a very highly anticipated album and man does it live up to the hype. It's a double album while the first disc has Cole returning to his hometown the Ville after dropping 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The 2nd disc is him 10 years after that and his newer viewpoints. The album starts with "Two Six" which is a banger. Cole displays a lot of clever flows here. "Safety" is rapped from the perspective of one of J. Cole's friend's from the Ville. It might be somewhat controversial as Cole describes someone who is obviously gay and he almost calls him the f word. I will get into more songs ....but honestly this album is so dope I'm thinking of doing a track by track review of this album. I haven't done a T-b-T review in a long time! "Run a Train" features an interesting Future feature on the hook.....it grew on me. Basically this album is very experimental as Cole sings in different ways on some tracks and for the most part it works....Rapp...

 This is my list. All these albums are relatively 98-100 rated. I do have some personal bias here. If you don't see an album you think should have made the list just comment. Honorable Mentions Nas-Stillmatic Jay Z- Reasonable Doubt The Notorious B.I.G.- Life After Death Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Ice Cube- Amerikka’s Most Wanted Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp A Butterfly  Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP 2 10) Outkast-Stankonia- This was the album really propelled Outkast to superstardom. Sure it’s a little weird at points but it really is an impressive album from Big Boi and Andre 3000. The production is really solid. I love the first song “Gasoline Dreams”. “Ms. Jackson” is one of those all-time great rap songs. You also have “So Fresh, So Clean” and the super hype “B.O.B.” There some other good songs too like “We Luv Deez Hoez” and “I’ll Call Before I Come”. It feels good to have a dirty south album on this list. Underrated Track Pick: Gasoline Dreams. 9) 2Pac- Me Against the...

1.       Kanye West-Graduation -Coming in at number one we have Kanye’s 3 rd  album. Sure it’s not his best or flashiest but damnit I love it so much. Listening to this album just gives me so much joy honestly. “Champion” is a great song, then there’s a fan favorite pick “I Wonder”. I do think the lyrically dense “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” is the best track. Who could forget the smooth “Flashing Lights”. It really amazing that Kanye was able to create another great soundscape that sounded very different than College Dropout and Late Registration. Honestly this album isn’t my favorite by leaps and bounds over the top 10; but its certainly still my favorite rap album. 2.       Ludacris-Word of Mouf- Coming in at number 2 is Ludacris. I think this album is his best while others may say Release Therapy or Chicken & Beer. Fun fact this was the first album I ever bought. Sure there’s some filler…but this album has a lot of Ludacris’s bes...

 This latest Doja Cat album is good....but I think I prefer her old style more. Lets get into it. This is her longest album I think..and for the most part the album is pretty well spaced out with hits. The singles are great and really grew on me....especially "Paint the Town Red". Doja spits well on "Demons" too. Its an awesome song honestly. Doja spits pretty well on this album. This album has a much darker and more hostile tone than her previous work. "Agora Hills" tho is a great love song that could of went on her older albums. The production sounds pretty consistent although I dont think its as good as Planet Her's production. Depth wise the album is good too. The final song "WYM Freestyle" is kinda redundant but its not a bad song. Ultimately tho this was a good album and im interested to see what sound Doja goes for next time around. Lyrics- 23 Beats-22 Depth-22 Tilt-23 Verdict 90

Travis Scott's latest album was surprisingly good to me. Yes I think its better than Astroworld.(Not by much tho). For one he's actually saying stuff more in his lyrics....and the production is great as usual. The guests spots are well used here like Drake on "Meltdown" or SZA and Future on "Telekinesis". I just really  find this one easier to get threw then Astroworld. I won't say its his best album...but man this was quite the way to bounce back after all the drama in 2021.   Lyrics 20 Beats 24 Depth 23 Tilt 22 Verdict 89

30) Rick Ross (7.7) Essential Album: Teflon Don Starting off the list is Ricky Rossay. Ross has great delivery and a lot of good albums. He scores really high in the versatility category. Ross’s pen game has definitely gotten better from when he debuted in 2006 with Port of Miami. Ross’s biggest flaws were his storytelling and impact. Otherwise solid MC.     29) Young Jeezy (7.8) Essential Album: The Recession Another dirty south MC. Jeezy is one of my favorite rappers. He has a lot of good albums with no real duds. He does have the best ad libs in the game. His collaboration and versatility are high. He really brings the heat on his features. Storytelling and Impact weren’t that high but hey; hes tied with the next rapper.   28) Nicki Minaj (7.8) EA: The Pinkprint Arguably the most dominant female rapper of all time. Nicki really shines when features on others tracks. She usually steals the show like on Kanye West’s “Monster” song. She’s also really versatile; able to...