Third Time’s a Charm: Too Much Good Music
It’s been a hot summer. Figuratively, pertaining to music, and literally, pertaining to the amount of other people’s sweat I’ve felt this week on the subway. I guess it being the peak of summer, it’s only apt that I offer you some good summer jams. Jay-z may disappoint (after a week of reviewing it, I can get myself to listen to one song. Holy Grail with JT. The rest almost feels like a chore that I’ll probably never do) but don’t fret. He’s not the only one left in the game. Here’s a few gems to hold you over till Drake’s ‘Nothing Was the Same’ hits the shelves in September.
Chance the Rapper – ‘Acid Rap’
This mixtape (it’s really an album) is laid back. Chance has a bit of an eccentric style, but it never hinders the smooth sound of this album. I enjoy the fact that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. The production is on point too. This is your perfect answer for late night music. When you’re done getting wild for the night with A$ap Rocky you can just lean back with a good drink and enjoy the vibe of this album. Might I suggest a Tom Collins and track number 10 ‘Smoke Again’. You’ll get exactly what I’m talking about. Oh I almost forgot, this album is free. What’s going on with free albums this year. More on that on the next album on the list. Get Acid Rap at the link below (I REPEAT IT’S FREE):
MGK – ‘Black Flag’
If you missed MGK’s debut album ‘Lace Up’ then you might’ve missed his song ‘Wild Boy’. Although I’m not sure how you could’ve. It was everywhere. Well he just released a 14 track mixtape. ’Wild Boy’ might still be my favorite song of his, but this mixtape is actually overall better than his debut album. That’s not a knock on his album. That’s more of a credit to this mixtape. If ‘Acid Rap’ is your go to laid back album, this is your go hard album of the summer. On the track ‘Street Dreams’ MGK repeatedly asks, “What I need a shirt for?” I mean that should be the mantra of this heat wave. Cause seriously I’m tired of wearing shirts. Best song on the mixtape is ‘Pe$0′ featuring Pusha T, but a very close second is ‘Raise The Flag’ that samples Florence and the Machine. Much like ‘Acid Rap’, ‘Black Flag’ is free. What’s going on this summer that free albums are surpassing the quality of mass marketed and data mining records by Jay-Z. Yeezus has definitely grown on me a bit more, but still, MGK is giving us 14 tracks for free and its official album quality stuff. And lest not forget Run the Jewels which is still my favorite album of the summer so far. Download ‘Black Flag’ at the link below.
http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/21021/machine-gun-kelly-black-flag.html
Bastille – ‘Haunt’ (EP)
Bastille is another over seas band I stumbled upon when listening to To Kill A King (which I’ll reiterate is damn good). The EP for Bastille is worth checking out. It’s the only thing available in the US right now. If you are internet savvy enough I would say definitely get their full album ‘Bad Blood’. The real gem on the EP is the song its titled after in ‘Haunt’. It’s a damn good song. The EP is available on iTunes. At the very least get the one song ‘Haunt’. It will literally haunt you as it creeps higher and higher in your playlist.
Here’s that track on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqCiypn2ZGA
Hopefully this music will set the tone for a great weekend. If not I always have one last trick up my sleeve. I know this stuff is supposed to hold you over till your boy drizzy Drake is back, but I couldn’t leave you without mentioning his latest song. ’The Motion’ is awesome. If you had any doubts about his album being good, go download ‘The Motion’. As he stated on ’5am in Toronto’ (get this song too if you haven’t already) everything just sounds like Drake featuring Drake.
Download it here:
http://soundcloud.com/octobersveryown/drake-the-motion
*also notable: The J. Cole album is actually very good. It’s been out for a few weeks, but it’s not too late to get into that.