Shatter the Standards

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Milestones: All Eyez On Me by 2Pac
Death Row’s resources gave 2Pac room to go bigger than his peers. His fourth LP pairs blockbuster singles with fear, spite, and self-scrutiny. A triumph…
 • Shatter the Standards and Miles Everette
Milestones: The Score by Fugees
How a flopped debut and one Salaam Remi remix bought the Fugees a second chance. The basement sessions that followed changed hip-hop, and then success…
 • Shatter the Standards and Cierra Marcel
The Lineage of Michael Jackson (R&B Roots)
A young genius studied the masters before becoming one. MJ absorbed Jackie Wilson’s screams, Smokey Robinson’s falsetto, etc. Sixteen albums that shaped…
 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil
Album Review: To Whom This May Concern by Jill Scott
After a decade without a studio album, Jill Scott returns with blunt satire, ancestor worship, and sex instructions in the same breath, even when it…
 • Shatter the Standards and Kendra Oluwaseyi
New Music Drops: February 13, 2026
As new albums and singles get constantly flooded into our radar, look no further than skimming through the release week of February 13th. We know it can…
 • Shatter the Standards
Album Review: November Scorpio by Tiana Major9
On her debut, Tiana Major9 sings about money, God, and bad fights with the same possessive grip, and that honesty is the album’s engine. The penmanship…
 • Shatter the Standards and Imani Raven
Album Review: Icon by Brent Faiyaz
After scrapping Icon the night before release, Faiyaz returned with something tighter and stranger. Raphael Saadiq executive-produces a sealed-off…
 • Shatter the Standards and Sydni Carter-Reed
Album Review: Salvation for the Wicked by Ransom, Boldy James & Nicholas Craven
Three hustlers split a hymnal and find cocaine between the pages. Every prayer on this record is addressed to the scale. Detroit math and Jersey…
 • Shatter the Standards and Quinn Baptiste
EP Spotlight: Table for Two by Lucky Daye
Lucky Daye built his career writing for other singers. Table for Two tests whether that instinct holds when he finally shares the mic.
 • Shatter the Standards and Esther Blake
Wednesday Roundups #136: 23 New Projects You Should Listen to Now
Listen to new releases from Ron Carter & Ricky Dillard, RZA, Puma Blue, Charlotte Day Wilson, RAAHiiM, Aquakultre, Dina Ögon, The Musalini, Rissi…
 • Shatter the Standards
Album Review: Expansions by Zo! & Tall Black Guy
Zo! and Tall Black Guy fill a full-length with Detroit grease and Chapel Hill warmth. Expansions bets workaday optimism weighs as much as heartbreak…
 • Shatter the Standards and Harry Brown
How Deregulation from the Telecommunications Act Stripped Black Music of Power
Thirty years ago, ownership caps vanished. Black stations vanished with them, replaced by playlists built for shareholders, not communities.
 • Blackpolitan and Reginald Marcel
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