Category: Hip Hop

I never really got my head around why Christian rap is a thing. Perusing CD liner notes back in the day, I saw every rapper was thankful to God, whether they were Christian, Muslim, or whatever Kanye West is. The beautiful part of rap is the freedom to rhyme about whatever you want, but focusing on one religion, particularly when it comes to citing one book, just felt so restrictive. “Sober Minded”, a nod to Boogie Down Productions’ “Criminal Minded“, is purposefully designed to be the lyrical antithesis of hardcore Hip-Hop, while retaining the musical aesthetic. In that sense, it’s a successful venture if you can stomach the verses littered with Bible references.

Houston’s Lecrae once said, “Christian is my faith, not my genre,” to distance himself from the limitations the label can impose, but it’s the execution that ultimately determines where the artist lands. Andy Mineo is another artist I have enjoyed albums from, and here we have Braille, who I’m mostly familiar with from his excellent run of albums released in the mid-2000s. Many of the references to Christianity on those records were surface-level and digestible – the ultimate sin for many rap fans is being hit over the head with Bible quotes. Maybe I’m an idiot, but growing up on a diet of underground Hip-Hop in the 2000s, it wasn’t obvious that Braille was Christian rap. He just made dope music. “Shades of Grey” and “The IV Edition” still slam hard today and probably deserve more recognition. Now a grey-haired father, he returned in 2024 after a decade away and “Sober Minded” with mentee and fellow Christian, Young Paul, caught my attention earlier this year.

The two get reflective on “Ol Heads”, which foregoes the expected nostalgic look back at their earlier years, instead touching on how becoming a man has highlighted how we can, and should be, leaving a better legacy for the next generation.

Young Paul:
“I looked up to crews like Dipset and The Lox
In my hood with the gang fit fresh from the block
Wreckless juveniles, kids left with no pops
Bumpin’ music glorifyin’ blicks, that they cook rocks
I want to do better as a man for them kids
Than what we heard from Fif’, Jim, Cam, Hova and Kiss
I’ma rhyme about how beef left us in a ditch
And how to give up childish ways, teach love and forgive”

Young Paul possesses a haggard, gruff voice more befitting menacing mobster rap – it’s not far off of Flee Lord or Eto. In that sense, it’s refreshing to hear someone push back against that negative narrative in the same style, because it proves you can make hard-edged, head nod Hip-Hop with a more positive message. “Itchy” is a dope track calling out this obsession with negativity, with YP stating “they turn away from truth and choose myths”, which is fair, but also hugely ironic if you’re listening as an atheist. “Free Sons” has a dope YP verse and highlights the need for spirituality in the streets without feeling heavy-handed, or at least feels more digestible to anyone familiar with more conventional street rap.

It’s such a solid record musically even if you can’t get with the Christ raps, you’ve got some nice Inspectah Deck cuts on “Thief”, which is probably my favorite track.

I think there is still an opportunity to push this Christian rap further. Killah Priest was good at combining religious imagery with more grounded street tales, and what Braille and Young Paul have achieved here isn’t far from this. The songs all work and I enjoy most of the tracks, but some are let down by a religious rant to close out the beat. It’s an unwelcome reminder that the listener is being talked down to. The last few songs on “Sober Minded” remind me why I liked Braille’s earlier output. He knows how to craft catchy Hip-Hop that retains a sentimental purity. With Young Paul, he’s got a strong ally with a voice that lends their work a grimier edge, and there should, and probably will be, a market for traditional Hip-Hop that possesses a positive outlook. I just don’t know if promoting Christianity will ever be to everyone’s taste.

Today I’ll be taking a look at Polyvinyl Records and a selection of the special edition releases they sent to us for review. As always with these reviews, no advance screening of the article of accompanying video was provided, and no compensation exchanged hands. All of the items you see were sent to us as a promotional courtesy with no promise other than “I’ll check out your product for the site.”

A little background on the label would be helpful for all of us at this point. Darcie and Matt (the founders) launched a similarly named magazine in 1994 called Polyvinyl Press in the greater Chicagoland area. As a marketing and publicity tool, they included a 7″ record with the third issue of the magazine, and thanks to a combination of local friendships and grassroots marketing this soon blossomed from their humble beginnings into a full fledged record label. They’ve been printing vinyl for 30 years now, are still based in Champaign, IL and are 100% independently owned and operated.

I’m not on the ground with the label in Illinois to ask them this, nor have any firsthand contact with the artists who distribute through the label to do it either, but the stated claim on their website is a 50/50 split with every artist on every record sold. Since they’ve got 400+ releases to their belt this may be a “proof is in the pudding” scenario. They’d not be likely to get that much business, let alone repeat business from well known artists like Anamanaguchi, if it weren’t a ethical and respectful arrangement. I’m happy about that fact especially since the music industry often seems to be an endless cesspool of dirty deeds done dirt cheap; today though, we’re specifically talking about Plato III’s “Grown.”

A review of the music itself will come in a separate article. At times I’m forced to report that unique colors and variants are out of print when doing this, but happily that’s not the case with “Grown.” The clear blue vinyl described on the website is exactly what they sent me, though calling it “clear blue” doesn’t actually do it justice. This vinyl print is closer to transparent than a rich dark blue, giving it a color I can best remember from a trip to the Caribbean over 20 years ago. I was astounded at the time how calm, clear and translucent the blue waters of the Bahamas were. You could look straight down and see coral reef through the surface. If I held up a seashell to this record, I could do the same.

I think you’re unlikely to see a print that unique for only $22 (before shipping) anywhere else. That’s really good value given that even standard vinyl prints often go for $25 in basic black, while Record Store Day editions in unique colors often go for $45 or more. The aforementioned Anamanaguchi was also sent to me in this package, and I’m giving high marks in particular to “Endless Fantasy” for the spectacular combination of clear vinyl with color paint splatter blots going all the way to the edge. As it’s a double album it does command a higher price of $35, but if you’re a fan of their pop and chiptune music (famously featured in Scott Pilgrim video games) you’ll get your money’s worth. Thanks again to Polyvinyl Records for sharing this product and opportunity with us.

Exactly three weeks before “KoleXXXion” dropped, DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles put out a short EP called “StOoDiOtYmE.” I wouldn’t blame you for not knowing considering (1.) the album was a much bigger deal and (2.) you’d probably assume anything on the EP wound up on the full length album anyway. Let’s put that theory to the test.

The title track “StOoDiOtYmE” certainly can’t be found anywhere else. Primo laces the former Freddie Foxxx with a solid and effective banger that’s heavy on piano samples, then winds up it’s short run of 2:40 with Primo scratching in samples of Craig G and the Beastie Boys. That would have been a dope chorus had they extended (no pun intended) the song out a bit. Knux isn’t at his most amped up and charged here, but he’s dropping solid bars with his gravelly demeanor. “Never forget – my grime, my hustle/ups and downs, tussles, scuffles/robbed niggaz took duffels – tryin’ to get studio time.”

“Fake” didn’t make the LP either. There may be a pattern here, as a majority of “KoleXXXion” was Premier instrumentals that didn’t get used by the artists they were meant for, so conceivably these songs are originals meant just for Bumpy and nobody else. The song stars with a vow from Knux to never stop talking about fakes in rap; let’s be honest, that is a vow he kept and which most rappers in his lane find to be a familiar refrain. It’s a little bit of a weak vocal performance though, ending on a low note with BK simply saying “bass in your face” over and over again. Thankfully the energy picks up for the next cut, aptly titled “That Preemo Shit.”

That’s a funny point for me actually — I prefer to spell it “Primo,” probably because I took four years of Spanish in high school, but I see “Preemo” out there a lot. I’d suggest they’re BOTH right since either one is phonetically correct. In any case we’re three for three on songs that are exclusive to this EP. I’ve always said that Knux matches his energy to the caliber of his production, so the staggered Akai beats that Premier taps out obviously struck a chord. “Raw like Pesci/smooth like Dinero/I’m poppin’ in the hood like the corner store hero.” The boom bap vibes are STRONG on this song and the next joint.

“I’m Bumpy Obama with bars”

It might be fair to call “tAkEiT2tHeToP” a lost classic. “When I was young I had a premonition/that my mission, would be/to body competition.” There are certain Primo beats that make the hair on my neck and arms stand at attention — this is one of them. “Hands up for the culture and everybody true to it/watch what you let people do to it.” James Campbell is ON FIRE on this one, and unlike some of his most famous tracks, he never once has to yell or raise his voice. A lot of people are simps for rap stars with a big vocabulary and lots of super scientifical bars, but you don’t need the biggest words to make the best points and do so with style and panache.

Ending way too soon with “Inspired By Fire,” this EP proves to be wholly its own creation completely separate from a classic “KoleXXXion.” Maybe it’s the fact these were all made-from-scratch tracks with no prior history that resulted in an extended play release. Maybe the relatively short length of the songs (with “Fake” being the longest at 3:11) made them seem lesser compared to the album yet to come. And maybe these were just the leftovers from a long series of studio sessions that still deserved a place in the sun. They can’t top the masterpiece that came out a few weeks later, but “StOoDiOtYmE” is definitely worthy OF your time and shouldn’t be slept on.

“I make good music on drugs, but I swear I don’t need it”

Let us be the judge of that. YFG Fatso has a story to tell before “Sanity Evaded” even begins. Born 2007 in Chicago, the young man was the right age in the right place for the rise of drill music, and it shouldn’t be surprising that he looked up to the likes of Chief Keef and Lil Durk as he sought his own break in rap. In 2023 got that break by signing with Durk’s OTF (Only the Family) and dropping the single “ScarFace,” which took him from an aspiring regional rapper to one with a much bigger reach. Unfortunately Durk’s fame has been both a blessing and a curse.

With his mentor facing trial on a murder-for-hire charge, and that trial expected to start two days after this review, it can hardly come as a surprise that “Sanity Evaded” seems to be creating distance between Durk and Fatso. There’s no mention of OTF when you look at the album — just Fatso himself and Santa Anna Records, a label imprint under Sony Music. Of course there’s no official confirmation that the two have parted ways, but if Fatso wants his career to continue, he can’t go all in with his chips on someone else’s cards hoping they win big. Are there any cameos from Durk on the 16 songs and 44 minutes of this album? No — and I didn’t expect any. Both men have to handle their own business.

“Risk and then we’ll reap, and we don’t sleep
’til all eat, this more than fast money”

Durk’s trial is far from his only concern. Fatso had his first daughter at only 16 years old, and “Ain’t I” makes it clear what he’s thinking about. “I just grind to feed my kid.” The ominous 905 beat (that’s the name of a producer, not a sampler, just so you know) provides all the ammunition this driller needs. Most of the time his vocals are straight up and down, but “P E R C O S E T S” seems aptly named given the heavy AutoTune usage. It’s hard to avoid the fact that the more recreational drugs young rap artists consume, the more comfortable they become with that Tune, as though singing becomes easier than spitting bars. For someone who grew up not being able to sing I felt like the opposite was true.

The affection Fatso has for Chicago is a huge plus on songs like the SarKay laced “Come Home.” Fatso couldn’t wait to get the hell out of Cali in the song, even though he “grew up the bad way” and “didn’t care what my dad say.” It’s understandable given his pops was locked up by Fatso’s own admission. You might wonder why someone making Chicago drill would be so fond of it given the prevalent violence, but as the old saying goes, pressure makes diamonds. If you can survive to make it in rap music you’ve got something to be proud of. Besides between us I think Chicago gets a bad name when the violence endemic to it isn’t exactly unique compared to any large metropolitan area in America.

The most surprising thing about Fatso might be that he has a spiritual side. ProdbyLeak gives Fatso a soft piano melody to offer prayers to the heavens on “Help Me Jesus,” where he confesses his sins and admits “I do what I want, I’m a savage” even while he obviously wants more. You can hear a choir in the background at times and they try to lead him to the path of enlightenment. “Tears fall out my eyes, why am I around? I got low self-esteem.” Now that’s the kind of brutal honesty listeners can relate to.

So yes — when YFG Fatso says he doesn’t need to be on drugs to make good music on “Sanity Evaded,” I believe him. I’m not even 100 that he needed Durk to get where he is right now. Does he embody a lot of the tropes of the drill genre? By choice. Does he sing more than he needs to? At times. Do I see there’s more to the man than surface level appearances? Definitely. He tries to hide his true self at times through bragging about having an AK in his pants and talking down on his opps, but this is a young man with a daughter to take care of and a lot to live for, and that comes out in his songs even when he’s trying to posture for his audience. Fatso is not my first choice for a rap nom de plume but I think he’ll be alright. Keep your eye on him going forward.

Consisting of Sheisty Khrist and CunninLynguists members Deacon the Villain and Natti, the Off Daze released their ten-track debut (“Couple’s Skate”) in 2018. Though acclaimed in reputable hip-hop circles for its buoyant lyrics and upbeat sound, “Couple’s Skate” largely went under the radar. The inspiration for their second album eight years later had innocent beginnings. All three emcees are from Kentucky and decided to take a nosedive into the musical history of their home state. From New Birth to Midnight Star to Cage the Elephant, their immersion in different eras and genres of Kentucky’s musical scene triggered an evolution for the group. Under a challenge to re-interpret songs from KKKY, the Off Daze released a thirteen-track concept album entitled “These Old Kentucky Roads”. Natti and Deacon are no strangers to applying high concepts to their albums, the group’s sophomore album begins with a late-night drive and radio broadcasting transmissions throughout. The transmissions manifest as the twelve subsequent tracks, tracks which pay homage to their home state but with their own spin. Entirely produced by Deacon the Villain, the music blends live instrumentation and includes several local Kentucky acts like Rob Jackson and Black Coffey.

“Static Signal” is the aforementioned intro with the radio broadcast. The audio is cinematic, complete with elements of pouring rain, a moving vehicle, and a driver searching through radio stations for some road tunes. It ends with “The old Kentucky roads lead everywhere, you found the signal…” and that’s the cue for the music to drop, starting with “Follow Me”. Featuring crooning vocals of Black Coffey, Natti begins the first rapped verse, using his deep south flow filled with wordplay, Kentucky references, and observations. Sheisty Khrist has a greater faculty for multis and comes with them with seemingly no effort: “Mama a fuckin’ saint, daddy a dope fiend/ If mom was a heroine, guess daddy got morphine / And not the Mighty Morphin shot up nightly watchin’ fight endorphins / the night engulfed us / some figured that we might be orphans.” Rob Jackson helms the third verse and laces it with local social commentary.

“No Parking on the Dance Floor” is mood music, danceable mood music with melodic horns, synth keys, and multi-tracked vocals from Deacon. As far as the raps go, it’s a solo track with just Natti. He employs a double-time flow for his verse which consists of spitting game at women on the dance floor in night clubs. “All Your’n” has Deacon on the hook with Natti and Sheisty giving a rapped re-interpretation of the Tyler Childers song of the same name. On “Come a Little Closer”, there’s an almost boom-bap sound to the beat and it also incorporates vocals from a children’s choir for the hook. It’s also noted for being the first time on the album that Deacon grabs the mic. His flow has a church-trained melody that adds to the poignancy of his bars: “If man escaped time, would he escape death? / Or are we all dying because we all take breaths / We closer to apes than we are to our apex.” Deacon goes solo on “Don’t”, largely singing rhymed lyrics of love and connection.

A Niggaz With Latitude reunion occurs on “Higher” with just Deacon and Sheisty, the latter even refers to it as part three to their 2010 track “Ascension”. Lyrically, it’s made of a verse from Sheisty and background vocals from Deacon. This combo continues on “Cheers 2 U”, with rapped bars from both men and Sheisty hilariously boasting “every time I hit it from the back, call GEICO”. The soulful “It’s Been a Long Time” has several vocals interspersed throughout the song. Some are sampled, some are live such as Goldblooded’s singing. The song functions as something of duet between Goldblooded and Natti, highlighting the ups and downs of an intense relationship:

“Good Day (Dawn)” is comprised of airy vocals and music. Deacon has a verse and handles the hook with positive lyrics full of optimism and free of drama. “Good Day (Dusk)” is solely Natti, spitting rapid fire bars of violent acts that create a contrasting dichotomy with the previous track. “Remember to Breathe” is a “buddy” song, filled with late night sexual rendezvous energy in both the music and the lyrics. Last up is “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Part 2”, consisting of all three Off Daze members. Natti and Sheisty are trading tag-teaming bars while Deacon lends his voice to the hook. “These Old Kentucky Roads” ends with a concluding radio broadcast and the DJ signing off. For a long time, Deacon the Villain has been an underrated producer, but he knows how to meld head-nodding sampled beats with live instruments and vocals for a palatable sound. If hip-hop were to have sub-section for “adult contemporary”, this album would fall under that header. Eight years ago, I thought the Off Daze was a one-shot side project. Clearly, I was wrong considering all that’s led to the advent of this album, an album that serves as a love letter to both the Off Daze’s home and, pun intended, the unsung music of their native Bluegrass State.

My YouTube algorithm spat up a fascinating video the other day. I realise this makes me sound like an old man, but hey, you’re reading a review about the South Central Cartel. You’re probably old too. Anyway, there was this Australian fan of West Coast gangster rap who was visiting Compton and South Central Los Angeles to see the childhood homes of Eazy-E and Kendrick Lamar, as well as where they filmed Friday and Boyz N Da Hood. It’s not quite regular tourist spots – L.A. does actually offer Hip-Hop tours – but the energy in the video reminded me of the disconnect that can exist between black communities and white rap fans. For many listeners, the violent environments that 90s rappers put on the map were many miles away from the safer white neighbourhoods, particularly ones abroad. This YouTuber didn’t talk to any locals to ask how the area has changed, or to hear from people who actually lived through the 1990s in places like Rosecrans. Instead, he stayed in an Uber and treated it like a safari, rolling up to people’s homes to slowly roll the window down and point “that’s where Kendrick grew up. Ain’t that amazing? Okay, next stop driver!”. More bafflingly, he was rocking an NY Yankees cap throughout. It was just bizarre. Turns out, this is a poverty porn peddler who documented swanky holiday resorts and has since pivoted to being a Tupac-centric channel, and huzzah, his views have skyrocketed.

As uncomfortable as this video was, it highlights that most people are only familiar with (and interested in) a handful of rappers from Los Angeles when it had a rich network of artists stretching beyond just Dre and Snoop. South Central Cartel were one of these crews, who found success with 1992’s “South Central Madness“, which was almost called a classic by our elder statesman Matt Jost back in 2005. The follow-up, “N Gatz We Truss” (1994) made it up to #32 in the Billboard 200. It feels off calling them underground in that sense, because they were very much a thing, even collaborating with household names like Ice-T and 2Pac. Truth be told, I wasn’t overly familiar myself, mostly knowing them because two of their members are named Prodeje and Havoc, which still feels uncanny that Mobb Deep also happened to have those names around the same time. L.V., the vocalist on Coolio’s monster hit “Gangsta’s Paradise”, is also a member of the South Central Cartel.

After all these years, the South Central Cartel returned this year with “West Kept Secret”, a title that hints at their reputation for being underappreciated. The album contains remixes of older songs, mixed in with a couple of new tracks. The Cartel, much like Compton’s Most Wanted, lacked some of the crossover appeal or political commentary that helped N.W.A. broaden their audience beyond the hood and hardcore hip-hop fans. Still, there’s a raw, direct-to-the-point quality to SCC that is difficult to resist and I found many of their beats slam hard while remaining funkier than James Brown’s sweatrag.

For longtime S.C.C. fans, many of these tracks will be familiar, with half of this 8-track LP being remixes of older material. As a newer listener, it’s a perfect introduction and highlights that their newer material fits right in with their older performances. Picking apart who is in the current line-up of South Central Cartel isn’t the easiest task, but what I can deduce is that Havoc (a.k.a. Havoc the Mouthpiece) isn’t a current member and there’s been some back-and-forth recently between Havoc and Prodeje (who is now known as Big Prodeje, as there is also a member called Young Prodeje -also known as Cali Pitts). LV remains a member, although I’m unclear on the other members Havikk The Rhimeson, DJ Gripp and Luva G. There is also DJ Kaos, who also has copycat names (UK dance DJ and a German graffiti artist).

“Be Patient” appears twice, with a superior remix kicking off the record and coming with a video. The cheesy acting might be a bit much for some, but it’s something that was part and parcel of rappers trying to tell a story (which would often end up as skits). The song is reflective of Big Prodeje’s status as an OG:

“From my time in a cell, writin’ rhymes n’ I dwell
On the street tactics gettin’ caught up in the theatrics
With addicts that I served on the block
To enemies I tried blastin’
Gotta live with my eyes open and fasten
Get typed from chicks I don’t remember
While my woman weren’t even writin’
When I called her, we started fightin’
So I’m strugglin’ with the killer in me
Not to flip my damn wig
And turn this tre’ into a ten year bid
Little devils tellin’ me you gotta do what you gotta
But my angels sayin’ Hold On and Keep in Control
He want your soul down
And the whole town thinkin’ I’m just a failure
So I’m goin’ to lay these lifelines like pipelines I tell ya
How the real do, got back my life with my steel fool
And real riders only do what the real do
And my rap partners you won’t see me around
I’m with my Evil Side Gz still puttin’ it down”

Prodeje’s flow sits between the smooth authority of MC Eiht and the tight pocket of King T, and “On the Grind” confirms he’s still an emcee who’s easy on the ear.

The remaining tracks are remixes of their earlier material. From their debut LP we have “Ya Getz Clowned” which contains cleaner recordings of the same verses and some scratching that gives it a bigger, punchier feel. It’s a proper remix, not just slinging on a guest verse. 1994’s “N Gatz We Truss” isn’t on streaming platforms, so getting “Do It SC Style”, “Rollin’ Down the Block” and “Lil’ Knucklehead Trapped Out” is a welcome preview of their most fondly remembered album, and they each have a thick bassline that feel “trapped out”, designed for expensive sound systems to drive slowly to. The “Do It SC Style Remix” is my favorite song on the whole project, boasting a crowd-friendly hook you can chant and the right level of animosity in the instrumental to remind listeners they ain’t playing.

“West Kept Secret” feels like it could have been a Greatest Hits compilation, with the sprinkling of new songs included as bonuses. The death of Greatest Hits records is one reason why a lot of older artists get overlooked these days, because when I was regularly purchasing CDs, seeing a Run-DMC Greatest Hits or De La Soul Greatest Hits record felt like an essential listening experience for any rap fan. They were stepping stones to then picking up the older albums to hear these songs in their original environment. S.C.C. did have a Greatest Hits record in 2003, but it was a limited release. If you’re curious about the history of L.A. gangster rap, the Cartel have plenty of albums to dive into, and “West Kept Secret” is as good a starting point as any. They may be underappreciated all these years later, so hopefully this record puts a few more people onto them and their legacy. They would probably do numbers online touring wealthy white neighborhoods, or gawking at the gentrification of places in and around South Central, but I respect that they stayed in their lane and built on the respect and admiration they have with core fans. Keep doing it SC Style.

The “$TARFACE” album by Tyga became infamous before I even decided to review it, and I’ll get into the reasons why in just a moment. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to track Tyga’s review scores dating back to his debut LP — after all RapReviews has been with him for his entire career. He made a decent if not overwhelming start with “No Introduction,” scoring 6 out of 10 overall. He rose to a career high 7 with his sophomore album “Careless World.” It’s been downhill ever since. “Hotel California” got a 5. “Bitch I’m the Shit 2” got a 3. There was a brief reversal in 2019 for “Legendary” where he got back to 6 largely due to the album’s production, but “NSFW” returned to the backward slide. Throughout all this the scores for Tyga’s lyrical efforts have been plunging even faster, landing at a miserable 3 out of 10 for last year’s release.

And with that introduction out of the way I’m happy to reveal why “$TARFACE” has been controversial since its release on July 31st. Rather than try to improve his writing process to not make such banal, monotonous tracks, Tyga gave up all pretense of trying and farmed the work out to AI. Initially this was just an accusation levied by reviewers in response to how artificial the music sounded, until Tyga actually admitted it was exactly what he’d done in a defensive interview. In a very small way it’s admirable he decided to tell the truth knowing the backlash he’d get for doing do. That doesn’t mitigate the fact he could have just as easily hired a ghostwriter for the lyrics and a vocal coach for the singing.

What Tyga decided to do here is generously described as a “conceptual album” inspired by the excess of 1980’s greed in the United States, heavily inspired by the motion picture Scarface, which would of course make Tyga the Tony Montana of our story. The stink of being a low rent Tony Montana imitation emanates from “Gave U Racks” before you even hit play, and actually listening to it fills you ears with a pungent malodorous stank that’s hard to shake. A significant part of the problem is that AI models are trained on real people, and Tyga is a terrible lyricist, so the best it can regurgitate are equally awful bars that he’s now singing. “Left me for the better life/I hope you enjoy that bitter life.” It didn’t try to generate a better match than rhyming “life” with “life” because that’s exactly what Tyga would do.

“Affection” screams I’M RICK JAMES BITCH without having any human soul behind it or in it. For all I know the music video could be AI generated too. “Counting chips up on the table, nothing stable/Your golden touch was just a fable.” I long since stopped expecting much from Michael Ray Stevenson but this is low even by his own standards. It’s worse than if his bars were merely trite or simplistic. We’ve graduated to the point they are now completely disposable. All you have to do is cue up the RAM sucking, power hungry generative model of your choice and enter a few prompts. It will regurgitate this slop for you and it will sound just like anything on this album. To create “Powdered Dreams” you just have to say “Make a 1980’s song about cocaine, but have Tyga sing it.” Done.

I’ve previously mentioned that writer Matt Jost and I had a strong debate over whether a “0 out of 10” score was even possible. Drew Millard of Pitchfork was not party to that discussion. He happily and unapologetically gave the album that score and opined “its very existence has made the world a worse place.” The moral, legal and environmental debate about artificial intelligence will rage on long after the fervor about this album dies down, but the precedent it sets has fundamentally altered rap in a way we can’t solve with a finger snap. Who will be next to let a model trained on their work make their music? Snoop Dogg? T.I.? Paul Wall? No one knows. Someone will though. We’re going to have to live with artists who are too caught up in their lifestyle to even bother creating their own art; and quite possibly tour to perform songs they had no part in even creating.