Album Reviews

EP Review: 30. (EP) by Queen Naija

Queen Naija enters her thirties with a project that looks back while pivoting forward. Over eight tracks, she deals heartbreak diaries for a balanced…

Oct 26 •

Keziah Amara Reid

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Shatter the Standards

Album Review: Goldfish by Hit-Boy & The Alchemist

Hit-Boy and The Alchemist challenged what a producer‑driven rap album can be. The mixture of liberation, craftsmanship and vulnerability makes it one of…

Oct 25 •

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EP Review: PHOLKS (EP) by Leon Thomas

PHOLKS isn’t as sweeping as Electric Dusk or as immediate as “Mutt,” but that’s the point. It’s an experiment in restraint from an artist who’s spent…

Oct 24 •

Tabia N. Mullings

and

Shatter the Standards

Album Review: The Boy Who Played the Harp by Dave

Dave’s third album trades the high‑stakes bravado of his earlier work for a quieter reckoning. It feels like watching a gifted storyteller learn to sit…

Oct 24 •

Ameenah Laquita

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Shatter the Standards

Album Review: Love?… or Something Like It by Halle

Halle’s debut is ambitious and emotionally honest. The album’s imperfections feel human rather than careless, making this an impressive step for a…

Oct 23 •

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Album Review: Son of Spergy by Daniel Caesar

Son of Spergy is Daniel Caesar’s most candid and conflicted project to date. Its highs are deeply moving, but uneven pacing and over‑reliance in spots…

Oct 23 •

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Album Review: CAOS by Miguel

On CAOS, Miguel honors his eclectic past while carving a new space where vulnerability and swagger coexist. Its willingness to sit with pain and joy…

Oct 23 •

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Album Review: Teal Dreams by Yazmin Lacey

Teal Dreams reimagines freedom not as a grand statement but as a series of small, deliberate gestures. In doing so, Yazmin Lacey continues to carve out…

Oct 21 •

Alexandria Elise

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Shatter the Standards

Album Review: The BPM by Sudan Archives

Sudan Archives has done it again with her third album. The strengths—muscle‑building loops, hybrid production, and a cohesive narrative of…

Oct 19 •

Ameenah Laquita

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Shatter the Standards

Album Review: Tycoon by Ty Dolla $ign

Ty Dolla $ign sounds relaxed and in control, yet the sharpest moments are the ones where his tycoon façade cracks and he lets us see the cost of being…

Oct 18 •

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EP Review: Lucky You (EP) by Isaiah Falls

Isaiah Falls has the presence and the instinct for intimacy. While the songwriting often settles for the first draft of an idea rather than pushing…

Oct 17 •

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Album Review: Who Did the Body by Monaleo

Monaleo shows how trap can hold testimony, how braggadocio can coexist with grief, and how a Houston rapper can turn her own reckoning into a public…

Oct 17 •

Tabia N. Mullings

and

Shatter the Standards

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