2023’s Spotify Wrapped released on November 29th for its users, continuing the Wednesday release its followed for the past few years. 2023 Wrapped can be viewed on the website, through pop-ups, after opening the app, or in the top menu of the home page next to audiobooks.
Spotify Wrapped looks at a wide range of data from a user’s year of listening, including top artists, songs, and genres listened to and hours spent listening in comparison with other users.
It also summarizes the general results across the world. Taylor Swift was named Spotify’s Global Top Artist–as well as Apple Music’s Artist of the Year. Playlists are available to listen to of the United States’ top songs of 2023, for those interested in exploring the most popular opinions.
After its introductory slide, your top five music genres listened to for the year are displayed as a sandwich. Each sandwich section represents the percentage of time spent listening to the genre. Genre options include, pop, rap, rock, pov:indie, broadway, indie rock, dance pop, and more. Next, you’re given a “sound town.” This is a city in which people have similar taste in music to yours. Your sound towns might be Burlington, Cambridge, Berkeley, or San Luis Obispo.
After this, Spotify reveals your top song of the year, along with the amount of times you played it and the first date of the year you did. This is followed by your top five songs of the year and a playlist containing your top one hundred songs. Afterward, your listening minutes are shown, as well as the amount of days it equates to, how you rank among other users, and top listening day.
Similar to the song pattern, your top artists, and minutes listened to them, are visible almost right before your top five artists and the month of the year. Most artists also have pre-recorded videos for their top fans on Spotify as well, appearing after the third page.
Spotify Wrapped has stayed mostly consistent with its categories each year, and 2023 is no exception. The user is provided with one of twelve listening personalities. Options include: The Replayer, The Specialist, The Adventurer, The Flancubber, The Devotee or Time Traveler.
Most slides within Spotify Wrapped are available for sharing to other apps and saving, and the end has a summary image of the important data, which is what most people use to share it.
Spotify’s Wrapped section includes your wrapped, your top songs 2023, dj: wrapped, your artists messages, 2023 in music, merch, live events, and the ability to create a blend with your friends. Spotify Wrapped is highly anticipated for Spotify users across the world, regardless of whom they listen to, what language they speak, or which type of subscription they have.
*Note: This album and review includes songs with explicit language
The album ‘good kid m.A.A.d city’ is an album released by Kendrick Lamar in 2012, and is considered to be one of the best rap albums of all time. It was only his third album ever. He’s considered one of the best rappers of all time and the album would win Grammys for Best Rap Album, Rap Song, and Rap Performance. The album has 11 tracks in total and I’ll be going over them and what they’re about since each song has a story about Kendrick’s life connected to the album. I’ll be going in depth about that.
“Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter” (The reason the title would call Sherane, Master Splinter’s Daughter, is a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Master Splinter who is a human. Basically calling her a rat for setting him up)
This starts the album off with a skit of men saying a prayer before ominous vocals start to make it feel like something bad is going to happen and gives some suspense. Then the beat changes and Kendrick raps about him being a 17-year-old boy meeting a girl at a house party named Sheraine and how he would try to pursue a relationship with her, with him really just wanting to sleep with her. The beat change from the men praying would make the song sound more calm then ominous when Kendrick raps about it like it’s a change in setting and would go well with this track.
The song would end though with Kendrick going to her house but being greeted by two men in black hoodies, who were her cousins, that would take him out to his van and jump him for not saying where he’s from. Each song in the album would end with a tape recorder of his mom and dad sending voicemails. This would be his mom telling him to avoid Sheraine since she knew they were talking over the summer and that she needed the van he took (cover of the album) back.
“B##ch Don’t Kill My Vibe*
This song would not connect to the story but would have a voicemail at the end. The song would start with a spicy beat and was a song to vibe to via the title. I think Kendrick did that well with him being able to flow on different beats nice, and the song is told from the current day perspective of Kendrick as he didn’t like what the state of rap was and how everyone wanted control him and was killing his vibe.
The voice mail at the end would be one of his friends telling him to get into the car and to grab some CDs for them to freestyle with.
“Backseat Freestyle”
This one would again follow the story of Kendrick again and he would be raping in the perspective of 17-year-old him in the back seat with his friends. That would mean this would be more sloppy and he would be saying crazy things in the song on an 80’s sounding beat, but he would rap about how he had a dream of being big and having what a 17-year-old would want at the time, and him being focused on more materials at the time.
The end of this song didn’t have a voice mail.
“The Art of Peer Pressure”
This song would follow right after “Backseat Freestyle” and Kendrick would rap about him being in the car with all of his friends. The song starts with the chorus of him singing that he was smoking and drinking but then saying that he really was a “sober soul” but he’s with the homies right now, following again with him saying they rush someone quick then laugh about it later but really he’s a peacemaker. Kendrick raps in the song about how he was caught in between two sides in his city with him being Good but being in Compton at the time where he was at. And in the song, he showed it well when he would rap “Rush a anybody quick then we laugh about it” but then say “That’s ironic cause I’ve never been violent until I’m with the homies”. He would actually rap about in the end about how they committed a home invasion not knowing there was a person there and almost getting caught.
The voice mail at the end would be him and his friend actually going over the plan to rob the house and to drop Kendrick to his van to go to Sheraine’s house meaning this happens before he gets jumped by her cousins.
“Money Trees”
At the start of this track Kendrick would focus in more on the home with the start saying “From 9:00 to 5:00 i know it’s vacant ya bish” saying the person works one and also saying “Hit the house lick tell me, is you with it ya bish” here are his friend talking to him and using peer pressure to get to him to do it. One thing I like in this song and in others in this album is that that he will ad-lib some of the story or the lines people would say in the song and it still all sounded nice with it all multiple voices or thoughts in his head talking.
At the end of the song, the voicemail this time would be his mom wondering were he is at and just wanting to get out the house since his dad, at the moment, was intoxicated he would be heard singing in the back ground and was one of the funny skits in this album.
“Poetic Justice”
Now this song would be a reference to Janet Jackson’s ‘Poetic Justice’ and would use some of her vocals in the song. In this song he sings along side Drake about women and their flow together and them being considered 1# and 2# interchangeably. It was going to be a good song no matter what and it flowed nice with Drake’s part being good with the theme of the song since it’s about women.
Everything is nice until at the end the ominous beat starts playing and it brings us back to the moment we’re he would meet up with Sheraine and instead sees her cousins. It starts with Kendrick being interrogated by Sheraine’s cousins after figuring out he’s there for Sheraine they would ask where he’s from and countinue to press him before it ends with them saying to get out of the car or they were going to drag him out.
“Good kKd”
Immediately it starts the song with a loud beat with drums and bass booming in the back. It would foreshadow Kendrick’s headspace at that time with this being after getting jumped and everything going down with him saying “Look inside of my walls and you see I’m having withdrawals,” and in with the line “This is your station baby” making it feel like Kendrick was stuck here and his station was Compton. The beat would drop and he would rap about wanting to become a big rapper and more, getting respect from the streets as he says, “Step on my neck and get blood on your Nike check I don’t mind cause one day you’ll respect the good kid m.a.a.d city,” but he would also rap about the police injustice and the city of Compton killing his innocence. With him also realizing that he won’t ever be able to gain respect of the police as a black man when he says, “I heard them chatter he’s probably young but I know that he’s down,” with Kendrick saying from his perspective again “Step on my neck and get blood on your bullet proof vest I don’t mind I know you’ll never respect the good kid m.a.a.d city”.
At the end of the song, at the time he would say that “The streets were sure to release the worst out of my best”, but him saying that he didn’t mind because he just wanted respect. This would not have a voicemail at the end.
“m.A.A.d city” “If Pirus and Crips all got along they probably gun me down by the end of this song seem like the whole city goes against me”. This song would talk about now with him being in this negative head space and all the way up until now him being friends with some Bloods and Crips, but not claiming he would be caught between with them hearing how he was done by Sheraine’s cousins they would want to help him but he would have to choose eventually becoming a pirus blood(not confirmed but his friend calling each other blood when they talk and him being with bloods when the shooting happens are hinting to it). This song’s beat matches the decision at the moment as in the song he plays back the moment of the men asking him questions with it saying “were you from” but then changing to “where your grandma hung”.
In the second part of the song, before the transition where he’s woken up by a friend saying that it was just a Compton thang, referring to him getting jumped, and then the beat changes. Here it goes back to a more ominous beat, but not the same, as here it seems to be Kendrick giving it off instead of it being Sheraine and her cousins being around. I think how it means at the time he was in the same headspace as them and focused on getting back.
He would end the song with him saying Kendrick aka “Compton’s human sacrifice” with him later saying that all the things that he went through was almost like he was a sacrifice for the city. The end track to this song would be him with his friends after getting jumped passing him a bottle and saying that he’ll be okay.
“Swimming Pools”
“Swimming Pools” would be played as a anthem for clubs with it lyrics about swimming in drinks and partying, but would also talk about Kendrick’s over use of it at the time with the chorus of the song being “Pull up drink hop out drink faded faded” and with him riding around drinking with his friends. He would rap about all the things up until now and finishing the song with “And when I thought I had enough” indicating that something bad was going to happen at the end of the song.
A skit would play, and this would be Kendrick with two other of his friends who would plan to get back for him, but when they go to execute the plan one of them would get shot in the car and pass.
“Sing About Me I’m Dying of Thirst”
This song is a letter and would be after the shooting of one of Kendrick’s friends who he explained passed in his arms while he was trying to comfort him. With the song being in three parts the first from the perspective of the brother of the friend who died. In his part, he would tell Kendrick that ever since his brother passed his plans were vindictive and that everybody was a victim in his eyes. With him set on revenge he would ask that when Kendrick would make it big that he would sing about him, and that he would not be able to change with his part ending in shots.
The second part of the song would not focus of Kendrick but instead a woman’s sister he wrote about named Keisha, and her story in the streets and how her sister now feels like Kendrick was judgmental with the things he was saying, and her feeling like if you can’t fit in her shoes she can’t be talked to. Her part ends with “She’ll never fade away” as she fades away to the next part of the song which would be him. Here he would rap responding to both the people earlier, with him telling his friend that his brother was like one to him and him saying that he wasn’t trying to offend the sister of Keisha but just trying to speak on something bigger than what’s on TV.
And finally, in this song, he would realize that he can’t be in Compton anymore and he had to make it out. With the skit at the end talking about them spinning back on the people, but before they can, they’re stopped by an old lady. This lady would be the one to tell them the prayer that we would hear in the beginning of the album. And with her saying that, this is the start of their REAL life.
“Real”
The last track of this album, and would be a close to this part of the story of Kendrick’s life. Here he would rap about how all of the things that he was doing don’t make him real, and in the song between him rapping his parents would talk to him on a voicemail with his dad first saying that he was sorry about his friend and that anybody can hurt a person and that don’t make you real, and how getting out of where he is may be possible with music, before giving the phone to Kendrick’s mom with her telling him that a man name top Dog came by and had wanted him and his friend Dave to come up, and with her also, to take the music seriously and to spread positivity and to tell his story to the kids in his city with the story ending here.
Overall, this is my favorite rap album of all time and is definitely a 10/10 in my opinion with “Good Kid” being my favorite song of the album.
One of the most talked about albums of this year ‘Let’s Start Here’ by rapper Lil Yachty is considered by a lot of people as either album of the year or at least a contender for it. Lil Yachty, before this album, hadn’t seen success like this before and was never really taken seriously for his music and was entirely focused on rap/trap music. That’s why people were shocked to listen to this experimental, melodic alternate rap album that sounded nothing like Lil Yachty at all.
The first track “The BLACK Seminole” had everyone hooked to hear the rest of this album and might even be one of the best intros to an album we’ve heard this year. The track is the longest on the album at almost 7 minutes. It starts the song off strong with a slow tempo with minimal instruments like synths, slow drums, and eventually a guitar riff/solo that makes the instrumental perfect. Added with the auto-tuned vocals by Lil Yachty, this makes the first part of the song sound amazing.
Added to this, Yachty takes a different approach to this song and does not rap like he’s used to but instead sings about equality and his hard work as an artist. Another thing we’ve never seen before is Yachty having deeper meanings behind his lyrics.
The second part of the song elevates the song into a theatrical experimental song where we have a great explosion in its instruments and vocal performance by singer Justine Skye. She makes this second part of the song sound majestic with its explosive drums, synths, and overall volume of.
“The Ride-“ is the next song that follows in the formula of the first song with slow tempo drums and has a vocal performance and verse by artist Teezo Touchdown that has great chemistry with Lil Yachty, who himself is vocally perfect on this song. Like the rest of the album, it’s an unpredictable good mess, like the pitch of the electric guitar in the background, and there are so many different sounds on this song even just random futuristic sounds that makes it the good mess that it is.
“Running Out of Time” is a turn on this album where we get a beachy, or summer anthem, for an instrumental sounding like a song produced by Calvin Harris. The song really sounds like a song from Calvin Harris’s album ‘Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1’ but Yachty adds the sounds we keep hearing which are stuff like distorted instruments pitching up or just some futuristic sounds/synths
“pRETTy”. The next song opens up with a great line and this is also where we get Yacthy’s best singing on the album with his auto-tunes distorted and a great feature by artist Foushee that goes perfectly on this song. It’s all about partners and relationships as well as self-love. The song doesn’t have those futuristic sounds but instead has distorted drums as well as background vocals by both Foushee and Lil Yachty.
“:(failure:(“ is more as an interlude where Yachty reflects on his failures and also reflects on how it is to fail. He talks almost like he’s talking to a therapist or even in the position of a therapist giving advice on things that he’s experiencing now like being rich and famous, but also how you should deal with freedom. He gives his own perspective on what failure means to him.
“THE zone~” goes back to those slow-tempo songs. The song elevates this formula higher by keeping it slow the whole time and adding in some great instruments like electric guitar and has Lil Yachty go in more emotionally and vocally perfect once again. This song has way deeper lyrics than the rest of the songs and it makes more sense given the emotion Lil Yachty has behind his singing. One of the most underrated songs on the album that really makes you feel something with the song kinda like the artist Tame Impala.
“WE SAW THE SUN!” is part two of “THE zone~” with the same beat and even having the best transition in the album. It builds off nicely from the previous song, and being also one of the longer tracks at 5:31 of runtime, it fully immerses you into the vibe of this album. Even when mostly just the instrumental with background humming by Lil Yachty, it’s a song that makes you feel great and there is nothing more a song can accomplish than that.
“drive ME crazy!” is the most popular song on the album and it is deserved by the amazing and upbeat feeling this song has from its great instrumental that incorporates a bassist and violinist that elevates the instrumental and makes a difference to the sound altogether. The artist: Diana Gordon takes this song up a level with her phenomenal vocal performance on the song. She brings this great vibe that Lil Yachty mimics in the song, completely having a great first half. The second half is a little Yachty where he goes and raps on the previous instrumental with most of the instruments gone.
“IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!” is the most abstract song on the album beginning with elevator music and transitioning into distorted screams by Lil Yachty, with the instrumental slowly turning into chaos as it gets heavily distorted. 1 minute after this, the real song starts, and is a great explosion of many instruments. This is one of the best songs on the album by far. It has everything great about every song previously and has great transitions within the song that just add to the amazing experimental instrumental. Yachty talks about mental health on this and does it well by singing with straight emotion in the second half of the song. The instrumental stands out because of its use of electric guitar, which instead of being a background instrument, is the loudest in the whole song making it sound super explosive and colorful.
“sAy sOMETHINg” pulls back on the explosiveness of the previous song and it’s all about a relationship of Yachthy’s which makes the song more vibey than immersing. It’s overall a great song but it just doesn’t stand out enough, other than the topic of the song, except at the end of the song where Yachty makes a great transition into more of an R&B song which flows perfectly and is something Lil Yachty should do more of.
“Paint THE sky” starts off super slow with trippy sounds and Yachty with vocals so autotuned and riverbed that they sound super futuristic and echoey. The song then transitions into the main instrument that incorporates the drums we’ve heard previously on many of the songs from the album, and this song takes the same sound we heard at the end of “sAy sOMETHINg” and makes it more fleshed out with Lil Yachty still singing about the same topic of a relationship that didn’t work out.
“sHouLd i B?” is another amazing track that gives us that explosiveness from the track “IVE OFFICIALLY LOST VISION” but pulls back a little on the heavy electric guitar and pulls back a lot in the verses from Yachty where the instrumental becomes more quiet giving emphasis on what Lil Yachty is talking about, which is regular struggles for a lot of people and also talking about how to keep going forward in those moments. By the end of the song, the guitar picks back which makes a great transition into the next track.
“The Alchemist” starts off really upbeat with the very loud guitar and is a mix of Lil Yachty’s part where he’s talking to everyone who doubted him, and how people would kill for the position he’s in, and how he’ll never listen to the hate a lot of people give him. This message translates into the sound of the song where it sounds like it’s meant to bring out that emotion of confidence everyone has and is one of the most upbeat songs on the album. The artist Foushee, whom we’ve seen a lot of, helps on this track to serve as an interlude and outdo on the track. The parts where Foushee is singing the instrumental go a lot more silent and give even more of an effect for Lil Yachty’s parts of the song by having these quiet moments on the song before going back to the loudness and upbeat instrumental.
“REACH THE SUNSHINE” starts off with artist Nick Hakim singing on purely just an acoustic guitar which Lil Yachty does the same, but then completely transitions into an explosion of a lot of different synths which then go away again to just the acoustic guitar. Nick Hakim then has another verse with amazing ad-libs from Lil Yachty and things pick back up after this verse where we get yet again an explosion of instruments. This song serves its purpose as an outro where it doesn’t provide much lyricisms but brings back the fundamentals of the whole album which is explosiveness, synths, and overall emotion in the instrumentals.
The album starts and ends melodically with the ending of the song bringing back sounds from all the previous songs almost like a conclusion summarizing all the paragraphs in an essay. It’s done theatrical and is something Yachty was going for and that is making you feel something with the music, and it’s something he accomplishes well.
‘Let’s Start Here’ by Lil Yachty is a rich immersive and experimental album that is easily one of the best albums from 2023 and one of the more unexpected successes in music, which is talked about in the album by Lil Yachty. The album does what most albums should focus on and it brings out an emotion or feeling from listening. The album is a modern theatrical experience that most people should listen to, especially those who were already fans of Lil Yachty, and can see his change in sound to that of Tyler The Creator on his similar experimental album ‘IGOR’, which even inspired Lil Yachty for the making of this album.
Taylor Swift recently came out with a re-recording of her 5th album, ‘1989’. This was an exciting moment both for her fans and herself as it is one step closer to her being able to own and profit off her own music. This is an achievement that she has been working towards for many years, and since she wasn’t previously able to own her music, she decided to re-record her albums and call them (Taylor’s Version).
‘1989’ is one of our favorite overall albums and we were super excited when she announced the release of ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ last summer. The newly recorded album was released on Friday, October 27th, 2023. Not only did Swift record every single one of the tracks from the original album, but she added five new songs that she had written during the era of this album but chose not to release at the time. These five tracks are called: (from the vault).
One of the vault tracks that we both love is called “Slut”. This song, despite the title having a derogatory meaning, has a beautiful melody and almost a nostalgic sound to it. When listening to the new vault tracks for the first time, this one stood out to us because of the smooth and angelic tone of it. Her voice is almost softer this song but it still holds so much emotion which adds to the effect of the song. This song was our favorite out of all the 5 new vault tracks on the album.
Another one of the vault tracks that we really enjoyed was a song called “Is It Over Now?”. This song has more of an upbeat rhythm than the first one, and we really liked the use of different background instruments to pull the lyrics and the song together. This was our second favorite song out of the vault tracks on ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’.
Overall, we think that the album improved from the original album released in 2014, but there were several tracks on the new album that we wished had stayed more similar to the original. One of these tracks is “I Know Places”. We both loved this song from the original album, and when we heard the new Taylor’s Version of it, we thought it used too much auto tune. However, the auto tune was mostly used in the beginning of the song, and the rest of the song gets better as it goes on.
A lot of the songs were even better that we imagined. “Clean” was arguably the best song on the album and we agree that this was the most improved from the original ‘1989’ album. The bass in this song was really defined and once again the instruments in the background added many different factors to the song.
Another song that we think is better now than the original is a song called “You Are In Love”. The high notes in the song “You Are In Love” were really amazing and a big improvement that we noticed from the original song. In the bridge of this song her voice sounds especially strong and we think that her vocal range and skills have generally improved in these past nine years since the original ‘1989’ was released.
After listening to the newly recorded ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ as well as her other re-recorded albums including ‘Speak Now’, ‘Red’, and ‘Fearless’, we think that the majority of the music sounds better than it did before. The background music fits better with her vocals and overall we think that her singing and vocal abilities improved as she got older, and she also got more talented.
‘Weedkiller’ is the third released album by the popular singer Ashnikko. Though it is her 3rd album it is also her debut album. Along with this album she also has the ‘Weedkiller’ tour, which is her second tour.
This album really represents her and her character, the songs really hit deep especially for those who have a lot of anger built up.
I am going give my honest review on (maybe) every song on the album.
NOTE: Before I begin I’d like to give a trigger warning for some explicit lyrics, before each song I will give the exact triggers having to do with the specific song.
“World Eater” is the first song on the album, and it is my fifth favorite song on it. I like to imagine that the song is an attack on the usage of AI, which I heavily encourage with all the talk about AI taking people’s art and even jobs.
I truly believe that no type of AI can make music with this much feeling or lyricism. And she really shows this; she always gives her heart into the music she makes and that’s one of the things I love about her and this album.
I really do love her lyrics, and I feel like it’s better to say that with artists that write their own, because nowadays a lot of people just buy lyrics instead of making their own. It’s something I can applaud her for.
I love this song mainly because of the music choice, with this song and others on the album she really makes it sound sorta dystopian or cyberpunk if that makes sense, I hope she continues with that sort of style on future songs. 7/10
Song #2: You Make Me Sick!
Warnings: profanity, violence, mentions of drug use and sexual acts.
This was the first song released as a single and I cannot express how much I love this song. This was this opening song at her concert at The Fillmore (that I went to), and I’m so happy it was because it’s such a good heart racer. It was the perfect song to start off her concert.
I believe Ash has had very toxic relationships in the past so some of her songs have to do with letting out her emotions from it. I really admire her for being able to write and sing about her trauma.
I’m gonna say this a lot but, she creates songs that I feel are the embodiment of feminine rage and empowerment, she has so many songs that give this vibe, not just in this album but in other albums like ‘Demidevil’ and ‘Hi it’s Me’.
“Worms” is my 4th favorite song on here and I didn’t have that great of a reaction to it at first but after hearing it live it really stuck to me, especially with the worms story that was told before the song was played, which is one of the many stories that she created for the concerts. This song was also the second song released as a single for the album promotion.
I do like this song but I think she could’ve done better with the lyrics for this one. I feel like they’re really basic compared to others. But other than that, I really relate to it, you know seeing how the world is actually burning and wanting to change yourself. It’s something that a lot of people can relate to and I think that’s something important to have in a song.
She’s really real for this one. She mentions the thought of sabotaging yourself and kind of loving it and that’s something a lot of people go through without even knowing it and it’s nice to see it being mentioned because no one talks about it even though a lot of people sabotage themselves; both on purpose and on accident.
Something I really love is that it was slightly inspired by the Nu-metal genre. Metal is my favorite genre of music so I love that she’s sorta dabbling in it.
Like I said though, she could’ve done better with the lyrics especially when you listen to the other songs on the album. 7/10
This one didn’t really get me for a bit, it took me longer to like it for some reason, but now even tho it’s not my top five it’s still a great song. And it’s actually one of her queer representation songs.
I really don’t know what to say, I have a lot of opinions about this song but it’s hard to express them with the subject. I will say that the music is really good, a lot of her songs have enchanting music and I like stuff like that because it gives my brain weird but good feelings.
I do love that she makes queer music and isn’t ashamed to; this song is something that people would listen to and be disgusted with simply because it’s queer. And I’m probably gonna mention this in two other songs because they are also queer/wlw songs. 8.5/10
This is again one of her queer/wlw songs. It’s really sexual, which I would actually like if she had more sentimental queer songs other than just one or a couple, but even so, it’s still a good song.
I don’t really know what else to say about this because I can’t really give commentary on the lyrics. I will say the music is kind of my favorite in this song though.
“Cheerleader” is the sixth song on the album. This song instantly became popular especially with the music video.
It’s definitely an addictive song with both the lyrics and the music; the whole thing gives real creepy vibes.
This song is like hypnotizing and I honestly think that’s the point. The music video for it is very cult-like and it’s actually inspired by the movie ‘Midsommar’ which is a movie about a cult.
Something I really like though is the fact that real cheerleaders were hired for the video; a lot of people wouldn’t even think to do that and just get random dancers for it.
The music also gives me Blair Witch vibes but I don’t know why. I do honestly think there are no flaws with this song: I think it’s perfect. I really enjoy the excessive use of violence. 10/10
Okay so, when I first listened to this album, this song was my FAVORITE. I listened to it dozens of times everyday for like 2-3 weeks. As of now it’s not my favorite but I still love it.
The music in this song really adds to the romance of it as it’s a love song but at the same time it has some dark tones to it. The lyrics are some of my favorite she’s ever written literally ever. I believe “Moonlight Magic” is another queer representation song even though it doesn’t really mention genders.
One criticism I have about this song is that it’s really short. Most of the songs on this album are short but this one specifically I feel like should be longer. Still, overall this is such a good song.
I hope it gets more attention because it really deserves it. 9.5/10
Song #8: Miss Nectarine
Warnings: some sexual language? Profanity, homophobia
Okay so, I’m a firm believer that this album, or just Ash in general doesn’t have any bad songs, but this song is the one song that didn’t speak to me as well as the other songs did.
So, this song is supposed to be a wlw song, about two girls learning about their identity and who they like. It mentions them not being safe in their homes because of homophobia and fear of rejection from their families, and this is a big deal for Ashnikko. When I saw her live, before she began the next song, she had this speech. In this speech she talked about how she grew up in a place where being LGBTQ+ wasn’t accepted or taught. So she wasn’t really able to figure out who she was until she was a teenager-adult.
This is actually a very important subject because lots of lesbians or wlw try to force themselves to like men by pretending having relations with a girl is gaining experience for eventual relations with men, and a lot of people don’t actually grow out of this because they never get out of the environment that’s making them believe they have to be with a man.
This is one of her more realistic songs. This may have been a true story but I really don’t know. Even so, she has probably experienced things like this like the “praying the gay away” part, as I’d say most queer people have experienced that.
Like I said, this song didn’t really stick to me more than every other song, but the more I listen to it, the more I like it. 6/10
“Chokehold Cherry Python” is my 3rd favorite song on the album, another one of the sorta violent type, but less violent than the others.
I love the music for this song. It goes from loud to soft and back to loud and I really like it when songs have that feature.
While this song is my third favorite I do think it has 3 flaws. 1 is that it’s a short song. I definitely think it should be longer than 2:19. 2, I wish there were more lyric variations. The last flaw I think this song has is that the lyrics are a little basic. I wish it was more complex or weird like some of the other songs.
But even though I believe it has those flaws, I still really love the song, and I honestly hope she makes similar ones in the future. 8/10
“Weedkiller” is the tenth song on the album. It was the 3rd and last song released as a single. It is one of the more aggressive songs on the album, starting off with the mention of lobotomies.
Ash talks a lot about violence in her songs and part of the reason was mentioned in her song “Panic Attacks in Paradise” which is a calm song but in one of the lyrics she talks about how she wrote some albums to let out aggression. Something I love is when people use music to let out their anger. I feel like aggressive songs have more heart to them.
Something else I love is when she mentions her being a part of nature, not as a human but as plant life or different animals, ect. She really has a natural vibe with a lot of her songs including this one.
I really feel like she’s able to write such strong lyrics, especially when it’s a loud or angry song. Then the music is also kinda machine-like (if that makes sense) and I really like it.
I seriously love this song so much, like I don’t think there’s any flaws in it (even though I think that about most of her songs, especially on this album). I think this is the perfect song to be the header of the album. 10/10
“Want it All” is probably my least favorite on the album. I do really like it but it’s not one of the songs I’ll choose to listen to out of the others.
I honestly don’t have much to say about this song. The lyrics don’t really feel to me like the others except for the chorus. I guess I will say that the lyrics are more thought out like I like them to be.
I do love the music. I honestly like listening to the instrumental more than the actual song.
I don’t really know what would make me like this song more. I think I just have 50/50 feelings about it. I’ll probably grow to love it more though. 6/10
“Possession of a Weapon” was the 4th released single.
This is another one of the songs I don’t like very much and I honestly don’t even know why. It genuinely is a good song and I don’t think it has any flaws.
I do prefer the music over the lyrics though.
One thing I absolutely love about this song is the meaning. It was created after abortion rights were taken away. The line “how dare I have private desires” is to signify women feeling like they can’t have private bodily anatomy.
I love that she speaks on problems like this. It’s part of the reason she’s my favorite singer. I do definitely think I’ll like this song more in the future, just right now it’s not hitting too hard. 6.5/10
“Dying Star” is by far my favorite song not only on ‘Weedkiller’ but it’s my favorite song by Ash.
This song is another queer song and it’s a song that Ash herself said means a lot to her, and I think that’s part of the reason it’s my favorite Also, because both the lyrics and music are amazing.
This song can be seen in two different ways but the way most see it as well as Ashnikko is her or “Aster” fleeing from a planet that is said to be abusive and toxic and arriving on a new planet where it’s perfect and where she’s loved and cared for and Ash or “Aster” is said to be a dying star.
The vocals in this song are some of Ash’s best. It really adds to the emotion and I feel like it makes you feel the hurt she went through when she was young. I really love that this is the longest song on the album at 4:16. It’s great being able to indulge in it for a longer time than the others.
I think this is gonna stay my favorite for a while, understandably so. 100/10
……………………………………………
So, my final overall review of ‘Weedkiller’ is a 10/10. It’s honestly my favorite album ever and I’m happy it is because I was so worried I wasn’t gonna like it.
I stopped listening to Ashnikko for a while but this reminded me of how much I love her and her music.
She definitely has gotten more heartfelt about her songs and I love that because more feeling in songs makes them better. All of the songs have so much emotion in them.
Even though most of the songs were really short I still love pretty much all of them and I’m sure the ones I don’t like as much I’ll get to love them one day.
I think I pretty much said the same things for every song but I kind of have the same opinions about all of them.
I really hope people like this album as much as I do because I really do love it; more than I can explain with words.
……………………………………………
That’s all I have. It was a lot, but I love giving my opinion on my favorite things like this.
‘For All The Dogs’ by Drake is his long-awaited 8th studio album announced in July and released after a couple of push backs on October 6th. It’s one of Drake’s longer albums, coming in at 23 songs and 1 hour and 24 minutes of playtime.
The album starts strong with the song “Virginia Beach”. We get the beautiful high-pitched sample from Frank Ocean’s unreleased song “Wiseman”. Drake does what he does best on this song and it’s his vocals/singing that make this song perfect for an intro and sets the tone for most of the album going forward.
“Amen” (feat Teezo Touchdown) is another strong song of the album where we get hard-hitting bass along with piano that makes this song feel classy. This is especially true when Teezo Touchdown starts singing its performance that takes the song up a level. Drake does his rapping but goes a little more lyrical and talks about his connection with god, and has all his bars correlate with praying and things like god.
“Calling For You” (feat. 21 Savage) is a song we all expected in this album. Drake starts with a big switch up in tones from religion to explicit things on a dark synth and hyper hi-hats to go along with the background singing making it one of the best instrumentals from the album. What makes this song 5 minutes long is its unnecessary almost interlude-like section in the middle of the song of just an unknown woman ranting about a broken relationship that transitions to 21 Savage’s feature, that is the highlight of the song, with the same formula for an instrumental like the first part for his section as well.
“Fear Of Heights” is the next song on the album. It starts with a somber song with a laid-back performance from Drake but transitions this low-energy song to a high-energy hype song in just 45 seconds. This is one of Drake’s many attempts at a new style of music and pulls it off with an instrumental that sounds like those of Yeat’s featured later on the album.
“Daylight” is another hype song from Drake but he adapts more of a faster rapping style on this song with hard-hitting bass. It’s a song that most people have heard before. What most people didn’t expect on this song is a feature from his son Adonis freestyling on an old style boom bap beat and going from the topic Drake was rapping about on this song. It’s a little strange having his son on this track.
“First Person Shooter” (feat. J. Cole) Is one of the many Billboard hits on this album. This song has another amazing performance by J. Cole and Drake. They both have great chemistry on this song and it’s a great balance of a song with J. Cole mentioning beef and hinting at his next album in a great lyrical way. Drake brings hype to the song but ultimately gets outshined in this song.
“IDGAF” (feat. Yeat) Is another Billboard hit that starts with these spacey synths with jazz singing and jazz trumpet playing but suddenly switches completely to a different song with one of the best rage beats we’ve heard recently in music. Yeat is made for this song but the same thing can’t be said about Drake who sounds mostly out of place and out of his sound on this song. Yeat carries this song and it sounds more like a Yeat song than a Drake song.
“7969 Santa” is the next song that switches up the vibe from rage to Drake rapping about relationships on a more cloudy instrumental with not as much bass as he typically has on his songs. He also does his usual emotional singing which he always incorporates into his songs. At the end of the song, we have another appearance by Teezo Touchdown where he gives us even more great vocals for the ending of this song and just pure pianos. Snoop Dogg also makes an appearance giving the theme of “dogs”.
“Slime You Out” (feat. SZA) by Drake is the single released before the album’s release and it’s a song that had mixed opinions when it first came out mostly because of its focus on R&B and not what most people expected. It has a great SZA performance where she has great emotion behind her singing.
“Bahamas’ Promises” is a return to the old style from Drake incorporated with dog barking that we also hear throughout the album. It’s a classic from Drake that reminds people of a more modern version of the song “Take Care”. It talks about mixed emotions about a failed relationship and is all done on a great flowing piano beat.
“Tried Our Best” is again another return to an old style for Drake and gives off the vibe of a song from his album ‘Views’. It’s a melodic song from Drake that overall is good but one of the more forgettable songs from the album.
“Screw The World – Interlude” brings back the boom-bap sound we heard from Drake at the end of the song “Daylight”. It’s an interlude that doesn’t do much for a transition but more as a break from the R&B and gives us an old-style boom-bap sound.
“Drew A Picasso’s” is like the other songs just as “Bahamas Promises” and “Tried Our Best” just done more emotionally and overall more boring, whereas Drake brings us more memorable lines in this song. After hearing more or less the same song 3 times in a row it gets more boring and is another example of longer albums having songs like this that feel like they are there just for bloating.
“Members Only” (feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR) is another song people forget about in this album. The song is another R&B song from Drake with a feature from PARTYNEXTDOOR that doesn’t save the singing from Drake and the lyrics are some of the worst on this album.
“What Would Pluto Do” saves this mediocre middle part of this album and references Pluto or AKA Future that should’ve had a spot on this song, that just fits his style, and it’s something Drake still performs great on. It’s a shame we couldn’t get a single Future feature on this album given the duo have made great songs together.
“All The Parties” (feat. Chief Keef) is one of the more disappointing songs on the album. Mostly because it’s R&B again but now with an out-of-place feature from Chief Keef which would be the best opportunity to make a great hype song, especially when the last 8 songs have all been singing and R&B.
“8 A.M. in Charlotte” is a continuation of Drake’s city songs and stands out for its great production from Conductor Williams and was also a song released before the album came out. The song features the best rapping performance on the whole album; the piano and mentions of Drake’s past beefs and current ones is a perfect mix to make Drake go all out on his rapping from a rap-dry second half of the album.
“BBL Love” is a forgettable interlude serving no purpose and is one of the most embarrassing interludes/songs from Drake. Easily, the worst song on the album.
“Gently” (feat. Bad Bunny) has most people confused in the first half where Drake does possibly one of the worst Spanish sections on a song where he says almost cringe-worthy stuff. Gladly, the song switches up quickly to a Spanish form of song called “Dembow” where Drake delivers his part with some of the best flow on a Spanish beat, something people didn’t expect at all. Bad Bunny does his thing on this song and is a great addition because he almost talks like the American version of Drake.
“Rich Baby Daddy” (feat. Sexyy Red & SZA) is one of the best R&B songs on this album mostly because of its fast tempo instrumental but is made worse by the Sexy Red feature that isn’t known for appropriate songs or lyrics. The song is ultimately saved by SZA who shines on a song like this and hopefully makes more songs like this. It’s also unnecessarily long with an almost interlude end part from Drake on this song.
“Another Late Night” (feat. Lil Yachty) gives us the expected collaboration from the 2 best friends and is a good song where you can hear Lil Yachty’s influence on the song. Both of them do well on this song. It’s one the most vibey songs on the album.
“Away From Home” is another song that doesn’t stand out much from the album. Easily one of the most boring songs on the album and very regretful. This song doesn’t give anything at all. No good lyrics. No good instrumental. And not the best rapping performance by Drake. It’s a song most people will forget about.
“Polar Opposites” is the final song in this 23-song-long album and it’s not even a good outro for the album. He should’ve done what he does most of the time and it’s the end of his signature hype we saw on “Honestly Nevermind” & “Her Loss”. This R&B song gets boring after listening to the same style of music for 6 songs in a row.
“For All The Dogs” by Drake is one of his best projects if it kept the style or direction of Drake trying new sounds. He does this in the first half of the album and he does it well. If the album had been just the first half with a couple editions of other songs from the second half it could’ve been easily one of his best new projects in his discography.
The second half of pure R&B music is something that people were complaining about back when he released his album ‘Certified Lover Boy’. It was an album most people found boring and we see the same thing in the second half of this album.
This album brings an end to new music from Drake for a while now and it is safe to say he didn’t disappoint on the album at all and it could’ve been one of his best if he just made the album shorter. This is something we see too much of and is only ever done well by very few artists.
The ‘D.O.A Tape’ was released November 5, 2021 and was created by rapper Kay Flock. This is his first full album released but he has had other singles, freestyles, and eps across the internet. This album gained attention from the song “Is Ya Ready” from his high energy aggressive rapping and the famous TikTok dances that he created. He was one of the best Bronx drill rappers that was coming up in my opinion. This is the track list of songs on the album, what they’re about, and my review of them.
Track 1: Is Ya Ready Now the reason this track would gain so much attention is because of the lyrics being said in the song, because of the disses in it to his blood cousin who is another New York rapper named Dthang GZ. Now this song is overall aggressive and a loud song with the music video that has all of the kids jumping around screaming and dancing making it a high energy track that has an infectious flow to it.
Track 2: Being Honest This track is a tone down from the first track with still a nice sounding beat and still great rapping by Kay. In this track, he raps mainly about women and also moving about New York City the right way and not getting lined up by women basically getting set up.
Track 3: Brotherly Love This track is my favorite of the album and features one of Kay Flocks cousins Dougie B and their close friend B Love. This song is an aggressive track switching in and out of them rapping. Then, at the end of the song, when they go a switch back to back is one of my favorite parts of the song. The person who stole this song for me though is B Love with him rapping about a chain he snatched from another clique.
Track 4: PSA
Now this song would literally be a PSA as this song would get played over New York news in the Bronx for the drill epidemic that they were having. This song would literally spread across the Bronx fast as retaliation from the people dissed in the song would come quickly. But as for the musical side he would rap great and this song would be a hit on the charts.
Track 5: Opp Spotter
“Opp Spotter” is a song about spotting opps. Now, this song features B Love again and has 2 beat changes halfway through the song which kinda through it off for me. But with B Love, I think being the best rapper out of the trio, they have I think carried this song for me with his flow and the verses he delivered.
Track 6: Speed Racing
The 6th track, the song “Speed Racing” talks about Kay spinning on opps in fast cars. This is a fast track with Kay Flock rapping the fastest I’ve heard from him. It also talks about how he would speed race through other rival territories and cause trouble.
Track 7: Tcardi
The final track of the album is “Tcardi.” This would be completely produced by Kay and would feature Dougie B, Justo B, and Lil Skrap who is eight in real life. Now this song would just be everything with him pairing up with his cousin so they have a natural flow. Lil Skrap, who is an eight year old drill rapper, which is crazy to me, actually did great switching on and off with Kay. Hearing him talk about pulling up on opps on playgrounds was funny in the song for me.
Overall, I’d give this album a 9/10. I like it a lot and I hope to see more music from him as he’s locked up for a little bit right now but will get out in 2024.
‘808s and Heartbreak’, Kanye West’s 4th studio album, was released in 2008 and is regarded as one of the most, or the most, influential albums for hip hop ever made.
To start, we’ll get the story of the album out of the way and also its history. This album by Kanye was never planned at all and the original album he was going to release was an album finishing off the now trilogy of his college albums, making it a quadrilogy, and was an album that would’ve sounded like ‘The College Dropout’ and ‘Late Registration’. Things changed for Kanye when his then perfect life went into shambles by him losing his mother.
Donda West was announced dead on November 10, 2007, when she was 58 years old after a post plastic surgery procedure went wrong. She had liposuction, a tummy tuck, and a breast reduction. It was found after her passing that her death was caused by heart failure due to multiple post operative factors. During this time, Kanye also lost his girlfriend at the time, Alexis Phifer, who ended things with him.
Kanye had to stop working on his next album and completely scraped it all together to start working on ‘808s and Heartbreak’. This time Kanye had to completely change his sound from egotistical, narcissistic, bars with sped-up soul samples, and completely hip-hop-focused rap songs, to something that he could portray the emotions he was feeling in a way that would come across as hurt, guilt, and tribute to his mother.
Kanye West then went completely south and gave us his 12-song album that would completely change the way new rappers would make music. Kanye ditches the soul samples and makes original beats with a focus on the heavy-hitting electro and dark 808s with pop singing filtered auto-tune. Also, using mostly pianos and humming from him, to make a melodic feel to the instrumentals was something that people in hip-hop had never seen before.
He also doesn’t rap on this album, or at least not like he did on his other previous albums. He sings throughout most of the album. He shows us emotional singing. It’s one of Kanye’s saddest listens for a lot of people who knew what happened to him. But fans of Kanye West didn’t like this album at the time.
The people who did like him were the kids and teenagers who loved his emotional singing and hard-hitting 808s combined with hip-hop. This is what most people regard as the start of the influence this single album had. By getting attention from the younger generation it would go on to influence any young artists during this time to make music just like this.
The influence wasn’t instant either; it was something that took time and it started to show with the come-up of rappers such as Lil Uzi Vert, Juice Wrld, XXXTENTACION, Trippie Red, Post Malone, Future, Drake, and Kid Cudi. It’s hard to think of these rappers without the influence that 808s has on them. We got tracks like Lil Uzi verts 2018 hit: “XO TOUR LIFE” where we see the hardest influence of ‘808s and Heartbreak’. We see the same in Juice Wrld’s hit “Lucid Dreams”. Lil Uzi Vert and Juice Wrld both regard this album that “saved their life” as one of their favorite albums ever.
Listening to songs like “Heartless” and “Street Lights” of ‘808s and Heartbreak’ we can hear the clear influence these songs and the album have on songs like “XO TOUR LIFE” and on rappers as a whole. No other album has ever had an impact on the sound of future generations like ‘808s and Heartbreak’ and that is why most people regard it as “The most influential album ever”.
Drake, the Canadian rapper, is known for his flow. with his blend of rap and R&B. With successful albums in his past and on the way, fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of his highly anticipated new album, “For All the Dogs.” However, this album has faced its delays, being delayed not once but twice. I will explain the reasons behind these delays and the impact it has had on Drake’s fanbase.
The first delay of “For All the Dogs” was surprising to many fans who had been waiting for the album’s release. Initially scheduled for the first week of September, it was pushed back because Drake needed time to perfect it. Drake needed additional time to perfect the album as the primary reason for its delay. This left fans disappointed and sparked curiosity about the quality and direction of the album.
As the new release date approached, it reached its peak. However, just when fans thought they would finally get to hear “For All the Dogs,” another delay was announced. This time, it was due to Drake wanting to finish his tours before releasing the album. Although it was thoughtful, his fanbase was not happy. Drake wanted to wait to promote and tour the album, leading to a second postponement.
These delays have tested the patience of Drake’s huge fanbase. But, they have also generated a sense of anticipation and excitement. The delays have amplified the greatness of album “For All the Dogs” and intensified fans’ desire to hear the finished album. Drake’s ability to maintain his status on top on the music charts, and generate songs even in the face of delays, speaks to his expanding popularity and loyal fans.
Other than the setbacks, the delays may ultimately work in Drake’s favor. They give him more time to refine his musical vision and guarantee that “For All the Dogs” meets the high standards fans have come to expect from him. Drake is known for his insane attention to detail and the quality of his work, and the delays may show his commitment to delivering a top hits album.
The delays of Drake’s new album, “For All the Dogs,” has been a reason of disappointment for fans waiting for its drop date. although, they have also expanded curiosity and excitement around the album. While the reasons behind the delays may be frustrating, they are helping Drake’s dedication to his craft and his desire to create the best possible body of work. As fans slowly await the album’s slow release, they can only hope that “For All the Dogs” will be worth the wait. DROPPING OCTOBER 6TH
Forever story is an album made by rapper JID. This album would be released on August 26, 2022 through Dreamville Interscope Records. This is his fifth album and a reference to his second album ‘The Never Story’. ‘Forever Story’ has 15 tracks but I will only be doing the first 10 because the rest are bonus songs. I will be going over them giving a summary about what they’re about and what I think of them.
Track 1: “Galaxy”
“Galaxy” is the first track of ‘Forever Story’ and was produced by Monte Booker. This song has the same lyrics as the intro to the ‘Never Story’ and follows the same spacey beat and flow even with the same ad libs.
The only change that I think came with the hype of this album is that it would get a skit at the end of it and it wouldn’t be the only skit of the album.
Track 2: “Raydar”
“Raydar” is the second track of the album and would be produced by a lot of people. Now, this song would take a complete change from the first track and would hit you with a loud aggressive beat immediately and an aggressive flow from JID as he would get on the track rapping about black people from their historical background to their modern position in the world now. But he also talked about how he’s trying to find a solution to try to change the status of how different people are seen and be united.
Track 3: “Dance Now”
“Dance Now” would be the third track and would only be produced by Christo and Avid. This song would have a more monotone but still hard beat with different vocals, and the beat changes with the trumpet in between made the song have a different flow and a change that I liked.
This track would also be his second, and my favorite of his singles on the album, and would also have a great chorus to the song.
Track 4: “Crack Sandwich”
“Crack Sandwich” is the fourth track of the album and was produced by Cardiac, Tbhits, Christo, Groove and Nami. “Crack Sandwich” has another pretty aggressive beat but this one is almost a little ominous. As JID raps hard about himself and his six siblings and over the course of the song he shows how good his wordplay is and how he can create it in his music. In the song he talked about how he and his siblings started a brawl in New Orleans and how his parents, who were hard on them, think that they would be proud that they stuck together and that their impulsiveness is what made their connections.
Track 5: “Can’t Punk Me”
This is the fifth song. “Can’t Punk Me” is very high action and has a fast sounding beat being produced by KAYTRANADA & JD Beck. In the song he raps about the experience that the protagonist is going through, and coming from a disadvantaged background had to overcome different things to become a poet, and have success with the chorus of the song being: “(I pulled out the bomb)” which I think is a metaphor for his bold demeanor.
Track 6: “Surround Sound”
This 6th song is widely viewed to be JID’s best single already. But with the remix coming onto this album with 21 Savage and Baby Tate made this song blow up immediately, and with its great beat, and the changes, and then them rapping in between, made it my favorite song on the album.
This song would actually be leaked in 2021 but only a few snippets of it.
Track 7: “Kody Blu 31”
The third to last song, and the seventh song of this album, is “Kody Blu 31”. This song is dedicated to JID’s friend’s son named Kody. He was a football player and wore number 31 but he died at a young age. This song talks about him trying to help Kodys family “keep swinging” or just keeping their head up and moving. The beat on this song is more melodic which fits for the song.
Track 8: “Bruddanem”
This is the eighth song of this album and features Chicago rapper Lil Durk. This song is all about their brothers and their strong relationship with them and saying that they would do anything for each other.
I also have a lot of brothers so this is a song I could make a connection to. This also is just a good song with more of a calm flow to it.
Track 9: “Sistanem”
This is the 9 track and the second to last song I will be talking about. This song is completely dedicated to JID’s sister, who is one of the most influential and important people to him. I like how the song is set up with each verse after the chorus describing the evolution of their relationship. This song has the same beat as “Bruddenem” just inverted, but still sounded just as good as the original.
Track 10: “Can’t Make You Change”
Track ten and the final track I will be talking about is “Can’t Make You Change” and this song was produced by Quincy Jones, Elite, Bass Charity, Christo, and A.J. This song talks about not being able to change people and how hard it is to make people change out of their set ways.
I like how he raps with Ari singing in the back of it and the whole song is nice.
So, I think this is JID’s best album out of the five. Overall, I’d give it a 9/10.
The Official Online Newspaper, Literary Magazine, and Video News of the Highland Park Scots
Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News 