Sneakin'

The founder of OVO, the pioneer of the sensitive rap phenomena and the King of the indirect sneak diss, Drake, finally dropped some new material. Drizzy announced this week that he will be releasing a playlist in December. A playlist? Not an album, not a mixtape but a playlist - I’m not even sure what the fuck that’s going to be but I’m hyped nevertheless. Along with the announcement, Drake dropped four tracks on us as a teaser. The one that’s currently making the most noise out there is the track Sneakin’ featuring 21 Savage (21 21 21).

The track starts with a jaunty chopped up beat before Drake goes off. As someone who didn’t particularly enjoy Views, it’s good to hear Drake back to his menacing darker flow. With this flow and beat Drizzy’s words actually carry some weight and pack a certain punch which they didn’t on Views, in my opinion. We’re back to the good old Drake where he seems to be taking shots at the industry and other rappers in his track with some great lines. To be fair you knew this track was going to be lit just from the first 5 seconds of the beat and the first bar – “This is all God’s doing man you can’t plan it, But if the Devil’s in the detail then I’m Satanic”. The 21 Savage feature is going to divide opinion – I know a lot of you don’t think he can even rap. But for me 21 work on this track and to be fair he does come through with some decent bars – “Baby I’m a savage I ain’t romantic, when I come around rappers start to panic, and their pockets going under like the Titanic”, a lot of people will call the bars overly simplistic and hate on the flow but I’m fucking with it heavy (21 21 21).

All in all this is a pretty tight track, not going to go down as one of the classics like Started From The Bottom but still tight. The beat is simple but effective and track has some decent bars too. I’m probably more excited by this “playlist” than I was by Views purely because Drake has a tendency to go harder and darker on his mixtapes like If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late as oppose to his more radio friendly albums like Take Care. We’ve heard a lot of Drake’s sensitive side in his music for the last year or so but now it’s time to get back to savage mode (21 21 21).

Drake – Sneakin’ (feat. 21 Savage) – 7.5/10

Goats, Rope Beds and Bad Mornings

Being awoken by the sound of singing birds, opening your eyes to see your partner lying beside you or awakening to the smell of fresh pancakes are all traditionally great ways to start the day. Waking up on a rope bed with an angry goat gnawing on your trousers is a far less pleasant way to start the day I assure you. Nevertheless, in the summer of 2007, this was the situation I found myself in.

Confused, hot and restless, from a sleep interrupted by the sound of gunfire and screams, I slowly awoke in the middle of the vast Pakistani countryside in a small town within the region of Gujrat. My head lulled back on to the edge of the bed and I gazed up towards the sky – I say bed but in reality it was no more than a broken old wooden frame held together by a series of pieces of rope bound together, although the patterns on the rope may have had some aesthetic value, the notion of comfort had clearly not been considered in the design. With no mattress, sheets or pillows, I lay with my head tilted back gazing at the sky above. Blue. Just blue. With a big yellow circle in the middle of it. Not a cloud in sight. Just a big boring sea of fucking blue. Bleary eyed and confused as to why someone had decided to throw a blanket over me during the night, even though the temperature in Pakistan during the summer rarely drops below 32 degrees Celsius, I attempted to kick the half ripped piece of tat off my “bed” but felt a strange pull on my right leg. Naturally, sharing the residence with about 10 other children I knew one of the kids was playing some stupid game. “Ah not now” I mumbled in Urdu whilst closing my eyes. I tried to roll over but again felt the same yank on my trouser leg as I did before – “I’m not in the mood” I grunted slightly more forcefully this time. Once more I pulled my leg away, once more I felt the yank on my trouser leg. I snapped. I jumped straight up and sat bolt upright so I could confront the little shit face to face. As I opened my eyes I roared “I SAID I’M NOT IN THE FU-”. Silence. My eyes were certainly wide open now. There was no cousin at the end of my wood-rope contraption but rather a grey old goat, with a mouth full of my trousers. I find often in moments like this time has a tendency to slow down, the relentless march of the clock slows to a gentle trudge, as if to give you the opportunity to realise how fucked up this moment really is. Shocked, confused and utterly silent I stared blankly into the goat’s eyes, it stared back (whilst still chewing on a mouthful of my trouser leg might I add). My head lolled slightly to the right and then back again whilst maintaining perfect eye contact. I had just woken up in the middle of the remote Pakistani countryside on a bed made of rope with an old grey goat chewing on my trousers. There was only one thing to do in this situation “MUUUUUUUUM HELP A GOATS TRYING TO KILL MEEEE!” admittedly a slight exaggeration but then again I do like a sense of theatre. The goat rather than being frightened by the scream, seemed tired of the old chewing the trouser routine and decided to meander off to find its next garment to ruin. So there I was left in the courtyard of a broken old house in a derelict area of Gujrat. I gazed around my surroundings trying to find some semblance of Western normality in this strange menagerie, around me I saw children chasing chickens around a withered tree, old women sat cleaning clothes over large plastic tubs bickering over village gossip, grizzled men sat smoking on white plastic garden chairs and in the distance I could see a broken toilet with no door and flies circling above.

“I think this is yours” a young cousin stammered as he passed me a torn shoe – clearly my trouser leg was just the entrée before the main course of a black converse boot. Not even pancakes and bird songs could have saved this morning.

Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight

Rapper, producer, singer, songwriter, fashion icon – Travi$ Scott is the Swiss army knife of the music scene right now. You name it, he’s done it. After a crazy 5 years which involved writing for Kanye West’s Yeezus and producing Rihanna’s Bitch Better Have My Money amongst others, Scott or, as his fans affectionately refer to him, La Flame has quickly become one of the most exciting artists in the world. After the amazing Rodeo last year, there’s been a hell of a lot of pressure on Scott to deliver with his latest work Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight (BITTSM). With very little promo, BITTM snuck up on a lot of people, however, anyone who has heard it will surely agree that it bangs so fucking hard.

The album itself consists of 14 tracks with a very definitive theme. The usual Travis$ Scott subject matter is all there – alcohol, strippers and drugs. But look beyond that and you’ll see a deeper layered meaning behind the tracks. The tracks themselves were lit from start to finish. Every single track an absolute turn up in its own right. But as usual La Flame manages to add so much variety to his work. He takes you from the drug fuelled, dream like haze that his Beibs In The Trap to the inordinately addictive banger Guidance. When it comes to beats Travi$ Scott stepped his shit all the way up with this EP, especially when it comes to tracks like The Ends and Lose. As always Scott pushes boundaries and his rework of the Kid Cudi track Day ‘n’ Nite which he turned into Through The Late Night definitely works and leaves you in a strange, hazey, drug like stupor for 4 blissful minutes. There’s a great array of features including Young Thug, The Weeknd and Kid Cudi, but Kendrick Lamar’s feature on Goosebumps has to be the best. This album is just so fucking lit all the way through but the highlights of the album for me have to be Beibs In The Trap, Through The Late Night and Guidance.

This album has so much to give and I would advise anyone whether they have or haven’t heard of Travi$ Scott to go out and listen to this project. From the production to the flow and the lyrics everything just works so well. I would say though if you are looking for a deep lyrically dense project this probably isn’t for you but if you just want to turn up then look no further. It is because of La Flame’s consistency in producing eye opening bangers that he is without a doubt my favourite artist out there and this project really does prove that he currently has the Midas touch.

Travi$ Scott – Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight – 9/10

The Altar

After a 3 year hiatus Banks finally returned to the music scene with her new project The Altar and frankly I wasn’t expecting much. The album itself has almost trickled out into the world through a series of singles. However, the singles failed to create any sort of buzz about the album and if anything went completely unnoticed by the vast majority of people. So having not heard any of the singles prior to the release of this album and having not heard anyone even mention Banks in about 3 years, I wasn’t expecting much. Having listened to it all the way through I was pleasantly surprised and very happy to have all my preconceptions about this project proven wrong.

The Altar is controlled, addictive and filled with hidden gems. Banks manages to keep the dark, lucid voice which resonated through Goddess and separates her from the other sickly sweet pop acts we are forced to endure on a regular basis on radio. However, with The Altar, Banks displays a far deeper malevolent undertone to her music indicative of a tortured soul. The subject matter is pretty standard with the usual boy-girl break up theme explored as well as a more general indifference to her current situation. I would have like to have heard her explore a few more issues because just a couple of time the 13 tracks began to slightly merge and sound a tad repetitive. However, what I really do like is how Banks takes a number of risks on this project. The track Train wreck immediately pops to mind with its jaunting beat and almost incoherent vocals which just complement each other so well. This album is full of tracks like that, tracks which tear up the previous blueprint of a modern day pop song and display a dark creativity and honesty which is lost in the post-modern music scene. My personal highlights from the album have to be Train Wreck, Mind Games and This Is Not About Us.

The Altar picks up where Goddess left us 3 years ago. 3 years on and we see a dark, nuanced and effortlessly addictive new sound - a real breath of fresh air on a stale pop music scene. The Altar may have lacked the hype and buzz of other projects, but make no mistake this project is not to be slept on.

Banks – The Altar – 8/10

I Told You

 “Over-hyped”, “A poor man’s Drake” and “What the fuck is this shit?!” Just a selection of the shall we say mixed reactions when I first played a Tory Lanez track to people. 2 years on and Lanez has finally released his first major album – I Told You. After forcing us to nibble on a selection of mixtape entrees for 3 years, Lanez finally delivers the 28 track main course for us to dig our teeth into. My first reaction to reading “28 tracks” was “Fuck me, this is gonna take all day”, but on closer inspection it becomes apparent there are only 14 tracks on this album. The rest of the album is made up of “skits” and introductions to tracks which Lanez has become known for over the last few years – a pattern running through all of his previous mixtapes. Admittedly after hearing just 3 “skits” I felt the need to skip all the rest, I came to listen to hard hitting bangers, not some bloke jabbering on in pointless stories and monologues.

The “skits” and introductions aside, this album delivers in a big way. The album is full top to bottom with great beats and lyrical flow. Lanez delivers some alternative hip hop mixed in with some slower jams, embracing the new traphouse vibe of the last few years whilst keeping a chill old school feel – it’s good, it’s so so good! It’s hard to really pinpoint one genre for this album, but in truth that is the beauty of this album – it gives so much. Throughout the 14 tracks Lanez switches up his flow and goes from heavy tracks like “I Told You”, which catches you like a haymaker at the start of the album, to chill deeper tracks like “Guns And Roses” which lulls you into a rap fuelled trance. With tracks like “Cold Hard Love” and “Dirty Money”, Lanez showcases his deep soulful vocals before switching it back up and going back to the dark rap he was once famed for. Amazing lyrical flow, soulful vocals and hard hitting beats – this album delivers all the way through and doesn’t slip into any mediocre tracks. In particular the highlights of this album have to be for me “Friends With Benefits”, “Luv” and “To D.R.E.A.M”.

Whether you’re crying over your ex in your bedroom or blasting this out in your car, I promise you this album will not disappoint. There’s been a lot noise being made about Tory Lanez in the last couple of years but if “I Told You” is anything to go by, he is certainly worth all the hype.

Tory Lanez – I Told You – 9/10

There's A Lot Going On

Without a doubt, one of the most underrated projects of the year was Vic Mensa’s There’s A Lot Going On. With his band Kids These Days (which included Joey Purp and Chance the Rapper) breaking up in May 2013, Vic’s had a mixed 3 years post-boy band break up. Releasing an album called ‘Innanetape’, which was so mediocre it might as well have been called 50 shades of beige, it appeared to me that Vic was going to just be a watered down version of his more successful ex-band member Chance The Rapper. Forever, stuck in his shadow and reduced to releasing wallpaper music for inebriated college kids to zone out to. But, time spent working and writing with Kanye West on tracks like All Day has completely changed Vic. Signed to Jay Z’s Rocnation, with a new flow and a swagger to match, Vic appears to have stepped his game all the way up. Gone are the simplistic beats, indicative of someone who’s just bought a Fisher Price My First Piano and learnt two chords, and instead we find hard hitting chopped up beats providing the canvas for some thought provoking and genuinely clever bars. Within the EP Vic tackles subjects such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, addiction, relationships, the shooting of Laquan McDonald and his own troubled past.

With the first track “Dynasty” the EP begins in typically anarchic style, with the standard hip hop beat replaced by a grand and audacious instrumental acting as a stage upon which Vic showcases his new and improved flow with straight hard bars acting as a warning for listeners about what is to come. The previously mundane rapper of 2013 has been wiped away and instead we hear a new brashness in Vic’s work. Clearly any fears that Yeezus had no influence on Vic, are quickly dismissed. The mood changes immediately and the cock eyed brashness of “Dynasty” is replaced with a much darker and poignant track – “16 shots”. Here Vic discusses the shooting of Laqual McDonald while commentating on American society’s racial issues. Vic’s anger in this track is visceral and takes the track to a whole new level as it forces us to connect with the music and the story behind it on a far more personal level. Again Vic comes hard with his lyrics, my personal favourites being – “I just made me a mil’ but I’m still militant” and the far more shocking “Fuck a black cop too that’s the same fight, You got a badge bitch but you still ain’t white”. All in all, a chilling, thought provoking track and without a doubt one of the highlights of the EP. From there we move onto track 3 “Danger”, here Vic illustrates his lyrical ability on a choppy rap beat. Again the lyrics are strong, the beat is crazy and you can imagine the track would be going off if you were driving at 3am on an empty motorway. Moving on from “Danger” we go to track 4, and in my opinion the highlight of the whole album, “New bae”. The yeezy influences are there for everyone to hear but if anything take this track to new heights. The beat itself is quite simple but with some mad change ups which got me jumping around like a fucking lunatic, the lyrics aren’t the most insightful you’ve ever heard but any guy that’s recently gone through a break up will relate to this track no doubt. And for the first time on the EP we get to hear Vic switching up his flows on 1 track, switching it up from melodic narrative to aggressive verse seamlessly. “New bae” manages to showcase Vic’s vocal range, his new flow, his production skills and is just generally an all-round fucking banger – which I definitely recommend blasting out while you’re driving! From “New bae” we go to track 5 “Liquor Locker”. Again Vic tears up the blueprint that he’s just drawn up from the last track and takes us down a different route where he goes down a more melodic slow guitar route. Easily one of my favourite tracks on the EP due to its hella chilled vibe and very relatable message – any guy that’s taken a call at 2am from someone who’s drunk will relate to this track, or indeed if you’ve been drunk yourself and rung up someone like a drunken mess trying to link at 2am this track is for you. Either way this track is a really good mid EP change up. Not to mention there’s also a brief cameo by TY$ Sign which sends this track all the way up. Track 6 is Shades of Blue, not my favourite track but still solid, decent instrumental with some pretty tight bars which is again very chilled and I guess it could be bumping if you were in the right mood. The EP finishes in a very personal way with track 7 “There’s A Lot Going On”. Here Vic gets very personal detailing pretty much his life story. He often slips into the chaotic narrative, appearing to almost take disgust at his own chequered past littered with addiction and disappointment. Nevertheless the track itself is lyrically tight, the beat stays true and it’s a good way to round off a genuinely very impressive project.

There’s A Lot Going On, is easily in my top 5 records of the year. Vic brings a variety of flows, styles and beats together in one chaotic yet brilliant EP. I particularly enjoyed how Vic doesn’t sound at all watered down and the issues on the EP seem very real and true. There are obvious influences such as Jay Z, Kanye West and even a bit Childish Gambino in there. But, importantly Vic seems to finally be showcasing that talent we all knew he had. All in all a tight project and hopefully a sign of what else is to come from Vic Mensa.

Vic Mensa – There’s A Lot Going On – 9/10

Who Am I?

Hi, I'm Alexander Hunter Green, essentially just a 21 year old bloke with some time on his hands. Having just completed my degree, in something I have frankly no interest in, I find myself unemployed, confused and a little bit bored. Leaving uni the one thing I have come to realise is that I have lived a life that is anything but normal. I only realised this when I saw the looks of shock, fear and occasionally disgust on people's faces when I recited stories of my life. Whether it be, escaping arranged marriages, being cleansed by a witch doctor on the side of a motorway bridge with eggs or hiding in an abandoned school to escape armed men - I seem to constantly find myself in surreal and frankly weird situations. So I thought the best way of finding some sort of sense to this madness was to write down my adventures - in many ways you should think of this less as a blog and more as a therapy session! So with you as my therapist I will spill all the details on some of the strangest stories you're ever likely to hear. Other than being an idiot who finds himself in crazy situations, I am also a man who has a deep passion for both music and food. Whether it be trying out new dishes or listening to new music I am always exploring the world of music and food and will be telling you all about it. I'll also be sharing tales from my journey to become a radio DJ, embarrassing sexual encounters and just awkward everyday stories!