By: Beverly Stinson

‘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.

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Song #1: World Eater

Warnings: violence, guns

World eater visualizer

World eater lyrics

“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.

YMMS music video (Contains flashing lights)

YMMS lyrics

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’. 

Definitely a favorite. 10/10

Song #3: Worms 

Warnings: profanity, bones breaking?

Worms music video (Might have suggestive scenes?)

Worms lyrics 

“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

Song #4: Super Soaker

Warnings: sexual language

Super soaker visualiser

Super soaker lyrics

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

Song #5: Don’t Look At It 

Warnings: sexual language 

Dont look at it visualizer

Dont look at it lyrics

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.

But anyway, my overall rating is a 7.5/10

Song #6: Cheerleader

Warnings: violence, sexual content?, profanity

Cheerleader music video

Cheerleader lyrics

“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

Song #7: Moonlight Magic

Warnings: suggestive language

Moonlight magic visualizer

Moonlight magic lyrics

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

Miss nectarine visualizer

Miss nectarine lyrics

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

Song #9: Chokehold Cherry Python

Warnings: violence

Chokehold cherry python visualiser

Chokehold cherry python lyrics

“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

Song #10: Weedkiller

Warnings: profanity, violence

Weedkiller music video

Weedkiller lyrics

“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

Song #11: Want it all

Warnings: Suggestive language?

Want it all visualizer

Want it all lyrics

“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

Song #12: Possession Of A Weapon

Warnings: sexual language

POAW music video

POAW lyrics

“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

Song #13: Dying Star

Dying star visualizer 

Dying star lyrics

“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

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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.

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That’s all I have. It was a lot, but I love giving my opinion on my favorite things like this. 

Thank you for reading 

• Beverly

By: Ricky Perez Cardoza

‘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.

By: Judah Gregory

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.

By: Ricky Perez Cardoza

‘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”.

By: Oak Berg

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

IT RELEASED AT 5 AM 10/6/23

By: Judah Gregory

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.

By: Ricky Perez Cardoza

‘UTOPIA’ by Travis Scott is a Rap album released this year, and is the highest-selling album of 2023, breaking records of weekly sales in the world. ‘UTOPIA’s’ starting track “HYAENA” is one of the best intros for an album we’ve had in a long time. We get a very industrial sound after the great sample at the start where Travis raps on this raging beat through the whole song with an amazing flow and flow switches. The main sample of this track is from: the Chronicle grime “Career Cats Get Tiger Suits”.

We then go onto the next track titled “THANK GOD”. This track is where Travis talks about people calling him a “satanist” for past events, Thanking god for his life, and proving to everyone that he is a Christian. That’s the first part of the song. In the second half, we get a great transition with amazing vocals by Travis to bring back some of the effects ‘ASTROWORLD’ had back in 2018, and this is where the rapping picks back up with him going off on how he isn’t stressed or pressured into what the people might think about his new sound.

The next track “MODERN JAM” (feat. Teezo Touchdown) is exactly what it’s named, a very modern jam with very questionable lyrics and a very bumpy beat that Travis still raps nicely on. The real star on this song is Teezo Touchdown when he starts singing, sounding almost like Freddie Mercury (fun fact: this song uses a scrapped beat from Kanye West from 2013).

Now the track “MY EYES” is easily one of Travis’s best songs. It starts slow with a more chill beat. This part of the song is great even with a vocal feature from Sampha, but what most people talk about is the amazing transition into his next beat where he goes all out in his rapping and storytelling. He references his ex Kylie Jenner, he talks about his Astroworld accident as well, saying how he would jump off the stage to save a kid and how he replays those nights when 7 people died at his concert.

“GOD’S COUNTRY” is the next track where Travis uses another beat/song by Kanye West originally. This song like “THANK GOD” references the Bible and also talks about his loyalty to God, and is also one of the shorter songs on the album.

The next song “SIRENS” is where the hype comes back with a perfect rapping performance from Travis on a beat around the sample from a Zambian artist: Amanza-nsunka Lwendo with added hard-hitting bass and drums to add to the already amazing instrumental. We even get some of the best synths on the album by Mike Dean. The real hype in this song is at the end when we hear Drake talking about his utopia.

“MELTDOWN” (feat. Drake) is easily the most hyped-up song on the album mostly because of the almost ‘Star Wars’-type beat and Drake delivering as usual. Most people compare this song to “SICKO MODE” because of how similar and great both songs are. Both Drake and Travis delivered some of the best bars of the whole album in this song making it one of the best. The hype built up to this song is levels above anyone right now.

Once again Travis showed us that he is easily one of the most versatile rappers in the game by going a different route on the song “FE!N” (feat. Playboi Carti) this song is all about rage. There is no storytelling, little bars, and mostly consists of mumble rap for the entire song. What makes this song so different from the rest is its beat focusing on synths and pure raging drums and 808s.

“DELRESTO (ECHOES)” (feat. Beyoncé) is the next song. It almost sounds like a scrapped song from Beyonce’s recent album ‘Renaissance’ and given that it’s Beyoncé with Travis Scott it’s honestly an unexpected collab for most people. Travis gets outshined by Beyoncé on this track and I feel like he could’ve done more with this song. One of the only moments on the album where it should’ve been focused on making a radio hit instead of what we got because, overall, there aren’t any shining moments on the song.

The next track “I KNOW?” This is where we pick back up in the rapping and has easily one of the best flows on the album with honestly one of the more simple beats on the album compared to others. It’s overall a more underrated song on the album.

“TOPIA TWINS” (feat. Rob 49 & 21 Savage) another great hit on this album and a very unexpected feature from Rob 49 that no one expected to be on this album. Also, probably the least family-friendly song on the album mostly because of the 21 Savage influence. This song is so good with all 3 artists delivering their amazing verses, with Travis in the chorus, it’s just a perfect song once again.

“CIRCUS MAXIMUS” (feat. The Weekend & Swae Lee) is one of those songs where Travis shows us again that he isn’t just the auto-tune guy. He gives a track with great synths and drums that sound familiar to a song from Kanye West called: “Black Skinhead”. It’s also on this song where we get the best Weekend performance we’ve seen in a long time, and on the album. It’s also named after the movie Travis directed called ‘CIRCUS MAXIMUS’ released the same as the album.

The next track is called “PARASAIL” (feat. Yung Lean & Dave Chappelle) and it acts more like an interlude on this album not providing much from all artists on it.

“SKITZO” (feat. Young Thug) is the longest song on the album being 6 minutes long. It’s a song that has 4 different beat switches with a great feature from Young Thug on the first third of the song. This part of the song is more hard-hitting and trap. Midway through the song, we get our first beat switch where Travis is the only one rapping and goes off referencing his failed love once again. A minute later we get a whole different song where once again Travis gives us an amazing rapping performance throughout the whole part. The final beat switch comes and goes fast with Travis saying how he’s loyal and has Ye (Kanye West) over Biden because of Kanye running for president back in 2020. He says this because of the crazy influence he’s had on this album that most people can tell. Even having Kanye samples, and full songs on the album, it’s safe to say that without Kanye West we wouldn’t have the ‘UTOPIA’ that we got.

“LOST FOREVER” (feat. Westside Gunn) is the song that made everyone hyped for this album when it first leaked and was even performed by Travis before ‘UTOPIA’ dropped. It’s a song that got everyone hooked because it is the first song where we get the “utopia” sound that everyone wanted. It’s the song that also had the best Travis Scott verse on the album. What people didn’t expect is the dark and hard-hitting beat switch right after the end of Travis’s verse and that’s where we get the great Westside Gunn verse that everyone thought would get cut on the final version.

“LOOOVE” (feat. Kid Cudi) is the reunion of THE SCOTTS and it was one of the more hated songs on the album when it was first released. Not sure why it was like that but the song is kind of another modern jam with both SCOTTS giving great verses on the most experimental beat on the album (fun fact: there was a snippet of this song back in 2013 a decade ago).

The next song on the album is “K-POP” (feat. Bad Bunny & The Weekend) and it’s easily the most hated by everyone. Personally, I think it’s a great song. The only thing really bad about it is just The Weekend feature which is surprising, but it’s just the lyrics are really weird, but it’s overall a song that I never hated.

Now “TELEKINESIS” (feat. SZA & Future) is another song that was also originally a Kanye West song again, and it’s like a very futuristic sound that makes you levitate, and has a great Travis Scott vocal performance. Future is also just an obvious choice for a feature on this type of song; he gives us great bars and just flows on the beat the whole verse. When the album was first released it had hidden features and this is really important because the faces on everyone when we first heard SZA’s voice on this song is easily one of the most memorable moments this year for music. She delivers some of the most emotional singing we’ve had from and is easily the best feature on the whole album. It’s honestly beautiful.

Finally, after 18 amazing tracks we are on the last one called “TIL FURTHER NOTICE” (feat. James Blake & 21 Savage) we get production from the famous Metro Boomin and vocals from James Blake. It’s already a great song but with the added 21 Savage verse he just flows on the beat perfectly. The real star is of course Travis Scott where he shines on this beat and gives us a great verse, with people even saying it’s the best on the whole album. It’s one of the best endings to a great album and contrasts perfectly with the intro.

In the end, Travis Scott’s ‘UTOPIA’ works as a way to show us how he can be versatile in his sound. It is a longer album with 19 tracks, and most people thought it wouldn’t be good because of its length, but it shows that making a long album isn’t bad because imagine this album being shorter; we wouldn’t have gotten the 5 years of music that we should’ve gotten from him. He shows on this album that he doesn’t follow the norm and doesn’t let the public tell him what to do, and he bounces back from tragedies like the Astroworld concert. Most people compare it to his equivalent of ‘Yeezus’ by Kanye West, not only because of the heavy influence it has on ‘UTOPIA’, but also because of how it serves the same purpose by showing that he can change his sound and experiment and still come out with a classic album even if it’s different than what they usually put out.