Chicken or egg question: Is an artist’s character informed through the work he produces, or is it the work produced that is informed by his character? On his sophomore album, Limbo, Portland rapper Aminé explores his identity through talking about his hometown, the largest influences in his life and the experiences…

Lupe Fiasco is known for his avant-garde conceptual albums that explore a wide array of abstract and concrete ideas, presented in a highly accessible format. On his newest EP, HOUSE, he maintains that thoughtful disposition that permeates his catalog. The EP has a structure that’s familiar to his prior works…

Hip-hop superstar Logic announced his retirement from music with the release of his final studio album, No Pressure. Sir Robert Bryson Hall II has faced an array of highs and lows surrounding his releases, ranging from the critically revered Everybody to the universally despised Supermarket. With many critiquing his work as corny for his focus…

Jackson Pollock comes to mind when listening to Telas, the newest release from experimental ambient and house artist Nicolas Jaar. The surreal and scattershot composition of conflicting synthetic and organic sounds is reminiscent of the chaotic and abstract nature of Pollock’s work. Jaar has orchestrated a masterful and complex ambient album.…

London has cultivated a popular and distinct hip-hop scene. Its eventual merge with the city’s underground electronic music scene in the 2000s led to grime, with its choppy rapid-fire lyrical patterns and accelerated tempos. Mike Skinner the creative force behind of The Streets, is one of the best established…

It seems there is no shortage of grim, angry and uneasy music being released in this turbulent time. The new self-titled album by Lamb of God encapsulates the collective anger and despair many currently feel amid the onslaught of crises that are collectively defining 2020 as an objectively awful time to…

You never get a second chance at a first impression, as the saying goes. Artists need to consider whether to focus on displaying their versatility to appeal to a wider audience or to focus their vision for a more concise and esoteric project. There’s not a more fitting description…

It’s unfortunate that Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever released such an exceptional album at such an inconvenient time. With COVID-19 sweeping the world, forcing people to cancel their plans and isolate from each other, Sideways to New Italy serves as another source of escape from the dreary reality in which we…

Duo Killer Mike and El-P have maintained a spotlight in hip-hop since they formed Run The Jewels in 2013. Both started as underground icons who shot to superstardom with their self titled debut. Seven years later and three albums strong, they have continued to set the standard for hardcore, political…

Experimentation is essential for the evolution of an artist’s style to create distinction between each subsequent work and encourage the audience to return and experience the new side of the artist. The catch-22 is that experimentation can often backfire just as much as it can do wonders. On the…