Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

 This latest MC album is pretty good. Sure she's beginning to not be as great a singer as she's been....but she's still great. The opener "Mi" is fun and energetic. "Play This Song" features a good Anderson .Paak feature. She straight up raps on "Type Dangerous" but I think it works. I mean let Mariah brag a little bit lol. "Sugar Sweet" with Kehlani is very smooth. Ironically I matched up Mariah and Kehlani in my R&B tournament. Search for that post. Sheneseea also joins the lady on that song. The album's production is good but nothing amazing. I found myself liking most of these songs. I mean at this point Mariah is a legend for sure. The full ranking of Mariah Carey's albums is coming so look out of that. Lyrics 22 Beats 20 Depth 23 Tilt 22 Verdict 87

1)Beyonce’ vs. 4)Alicia Keys:  We’ve come to it, the semifinals! This should be good. The top seed has looked unstoppable easily beating Keri Hilson and Janelle Monae. Alicia Keys beat K. Michelle and Aaliyah. I predict Beyonce will come out on top again. Vocal Ability-  At this point these matchups are hard to call. I think both ladies are great vocally, both with powerful voices. 5-5 Albums- This is tough. Beyonce has some albums that are just better than what’s in Alicia’s discography but Alicia has some great albums under her belt tho. 6-4 Collaboration- It’s kinda hard to say but I’m gonna have to give Alicia the advantage here. Her features seem better to me. For example both were on Eminem’s Revival album and I liked Alicia’s feature more on the respective song. But its somewhat close again. 3-7 Versatility- I feel Beyonce’ is really versatile but then again so is Alicia. Queen B has better fast tempo songs tho that’s for sure. 6-4 Impact- TBH I haven’t listened to all ...

  Bracket A   1)Beyonce’ vs. 9)Janelle Monae : While Queen B had it relatively easy in the first round this round should be a lot more competitive. Janelle is looking for an upset. Vocal Ability- I really feel Beyonce’ is a great singer but Janelle is just as good. 5-5 Albums- This is kinda tough to call but not really. It’s another tie due to Janelle having only classics, and Beyonce’ having classics to match. 5-5 Collaboration-  This round things look better in this category for B. She has had quite a bit more collabos. 7-3 Versatility- Janelle takes this category with a wide array of song styles. B is good here too tho. It’s a reasonable split. 4-6 Impact- This is closer than you might think. Both artists make some truly great music. Issa tie. 5-5 Comm. Success- This is where B tells you to “bow down b**ches” lol. It’s not a good look for Janelle here. 10-0   Beyonce’ wins 36 to 24.  Janelle was more competition for Queen B but ultimately she loses here prett...

Bracket C 2) Mariah Carey vs. 15)Kehlani:  We have a matchup between two very different artists. MC a legend vs. The still up and coming Kehlani. This could be interesting.  Vocal Ability- The Songstress Supreme wins this category but I like Kehlani’s edginess. 7-3 Albums- This is hard to call. All in all Kehlani has some good albums but Mariah has a lot more. I’m going to say what ive heard from Kehlani has been just about on par with the best of MC, plus Kehlani doesn’t have any duds yet. 5-5 Collaboration- This is where things are again hard to call. In her prime MC’s features were much sought after. Kehlani’s features are always pretty good too tho. Both artists are distinctive here. 5-5 Versatility-  Call me crazy but I feel this is where Kehlani really brings it. She seems to be able to craft a lot of different songs, While MC does too maybe not as much…4-6 Impact-  There’s no denying the legendary status of MC which I feel even eclipses what Kehlani has been a...

Mariah Carey's latest album is very good. I've come to expect as much from her in these days. She is a songstress supreme. At this point Mariah knows what works for her and what doesnt. After 2 lengthy (Albeit Great) albums she hits us with this 10 track album. It starts out really rough with "GTFO" but things get smoother after that. "8th Grade" is the best song without a doubt. I love how MC's voice just seems to blend in with these colorful yet not too demanding beats.I liked basically every song here. I gotta say it's good to see MC continue to succeed....that's 3 albums i've given over 9 to in a row now! Lyrics: 24 Beats: 22 Depth: 25 Tilt: 23 Verdict: 94

This was Mariah Carey’s come back album in 2005. The first 3 songs are some of her best. “We Belong Together” is one of my all time favorite songs. There are some other good ones here too…like “One and Only” featuring Twista. “Stay the Night” is compelling, and I like “Say Something” featuring Snoop Dogg. The album has a good mix of new fresh sounds mixed with some of her old sound too. The production is great as is her singing and lyrics.  Verdict: 8.8

The latest Mariah Carey album is really good, but not quite as good as her last effort. The last one was the perfection of that modern R&B sound she had been trying to perfect. This album is like her trying a lot of different sounds, including gospel. The album is well produced as well and MC’s lyrics are on point. Her singing is also really nice. Creatively it’s a great album, but there’s not too much experimenting here. The album is a bit long, but the guest spots are well used. They include Wale, Fabolous, Nas, and Miguel. This is another win for her, and it may be enough to make fans forget about those horrible albums she released in the early 2000s. I give this album a 9/10...its banging like Mariah lol

Mariah has been trying to perfect her new style since 2005, but she seems to have finally done it, after her previous albums disappointment.   The album is really good front to back. Vocally Mariah shows lots of range . I can tell the DREAM wrote most of the songs, and they are very clever. The production is great also. The album holds up well to repeated listens, but some songs sound a tad bit too similar. Minor complaints aside this is the album she should have came out with in 2008. I feel that Eminem was way out of line on his Relapse song. Ultimately this album is known for the song Obsessed instead of it being a great album. So the final score is a 9.5/10 . MC!