Shatter the Standards

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Album Review: Of Earth & Wires by Dua Saleh
A grief album built for the dance floor, where the body keeps moving after the mind has already left the room.
2 hrs ago • Shatter the Standards and Jill Wannasa
Album Review: GENESIS FM by BNYX®
A producer who built his reputation moving other people’s bodies makes a debut that only finds a center when the body is the subject.
6 hrs ago • Shatter the Standards and Blaise Freeman
Album Review: Dr*gs R Bad by LUCKI
A Chicago rapper opens his fifth studio album with a spoken definition of heroin nods. Twenty-six songs later he still sounds like he picked up the…
6 hrs ago • Shatter the Standards and Maurice Wren
The Appeal of the Storied Label Loved by Soul Fans the World Over
Based in Jackson, Mississippi, Malaco has delivered timeless songs alongside Dorothy Moore, King Floyd, and others. A label that shifted its menu with…
14 hrs ago • Blackpolitan, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Imani Raven
Album Review: Sow & So by Nappy Nina & Swarvy
Their second LP plays like a small band that has been a rap album the whole time. Nina’s writing has gotten sharper around money and family; Swarvy…
May 17 • Shatter the Standards and Dr. Chong
Album Review: REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE by Genesis Owusu
The Ghanaian-Australian rapper’s third album names every villain by name and dares them to respond. Dann Hume’s production holds it all together with…
May 17 • Shatter the Standards and Phil
Between Helpless, Unbothered, and Overdressed
Giveon knows, Baby Rose knows, and Jaz Karis’s therapist knows. The difference is who says it out loud.
May 17 • Soulpolitan and Keziah Amara Reid
Album Review: Nasalifya (Thank You) by Hil St. Soul
Her sixth album turns down the radio dial and ends in a language her father spoke.
May 16 • Shatter the Standards and Zachary Penn
Album Review: Smile by Nick Grant
The South Carolina rapper’s latest release builds his case for staying outside the trend market, and the album is the strongest argument he has filed…
May 16 • Shatter the Standards and Dai Kurihara
Album Review: EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL DIED EARLY by ANKHLEJOHN & V Don
V Don’s loops run chest-level and will not budge. On the right songs, ANKHLEJOHN’s bars push back, and the pressure pays.
May 15 • Shatter the Standards and Deja L.
Album Review: Elevator Music by Lord Sko & Statik Selektah
Statik Selektah’s apprentice spends his debut LP cataloging the tax of getting noticed. Every Henny pour, dead homie, and missed call comes priced.
May 15 • Shatter the Standards and Reginald Marcel
Album Review: The Last Balloon by Tank and the Bangas
The last installment in the Balloon trilogy puts the writer in front of the singer.
May 15 • Shatter the Standards and Kenya DuRant
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