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For 859 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 62% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 33% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 The Iceberg
Lowest review score: 15 Excuse My French
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 697 out of 859
  2. Mixed: 142 out of 859
  3. Negative: 20 out of 859
859 music reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    So Much Fun
    You can’t examine Young Thug’s music too closely or think about it too carefully if you want to enjoy it, because the casual misogyny of throwing around “Pussy” as an insult reminds you he’s not exactly progressive. If you’re looking for bass to shake the concrete and singing so modulated as to nearly be R&B, tracks like “Jumped Out the Window” and “Boy Back” featuring NAV will definitely fit the bill.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Brandon Banks
    There’s a clarity in thought behind his bars that makes him stand out. He’s not content to drink cough syrup, AutoTune his vocals, and make up a bunch of nonsense that makes no damn sense but sounds catchy as hell. In fact if I was actually to pinpoint a shortcoming about Kream it would be that he makes “songs” instead of “singles” and that makes it hard for someone with a solid reputation from mixtapes to break out mainstream.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    SAVE ME [EP]
    The best thing about “Save Me” may be that it’s a very small bite to digest, clocking in at just barely over 20 minutes after the conclusion of “Love Thy Enemies.”
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Lost Tapes II
    He can clearly still spit elite bars, at more or less the same rate he could over twenty years ago. “The Lost Tapes 2” may be marketed as a sequel, but it’s a selection of largely forgettable album cuts that didn’t make Nas’ last few albums.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Malibu Ken
    While there are a few tracks that take left turns, most of the album follows a similar template and sound palette, which leads to a sense of sameness for such a short album. Malibu Ken is an Aesop Rock joint, which means it is worth listening to you until you decipher every pun and metaphor. If it feels less weighty and consequential compared to his solo albums, maybe that is point.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Bandana
    Overall Bandana is certainly a solid album. It was one of 2019’s most anticipated releases and, while it’s not as good as “Pinata”, it’s still a worthy inclusion in any hip-hop fan’s collection.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 35 Critic Score
    7 [EP]
    These are two-minute tracks that largely veer all over the place – cohesion, concept, and artistry go out the window here.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    ZUU
    Even though I said Curry raps more than his peers, I didn’t say he NEVER sings. He flips back and forth between both on tracks like the Rugah Rajh produced “Speedboat,” but the nice thing is that he’s not so heavily medicated and AutoTuned that you can’t follow along with his delivery.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    4REAL 4REAL
    It’s another solid album from an artist who like his late friend can crossover into a lot of areas (and arenas) given the chance.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Rap Or Go To The League
    His artistic ambition still lags behind profit objective and pursuit of happiness, but he also manages to be the kind of wordsmith that doesn’t have to spell everything out for you. But when he does, he gives a fairly balanced overview of the subject, see his thoughts on taxes in “Sam”. There’s still a cunning street edge to Chainz twelve years after “Supply & Demand”.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Cuz I Love You
    Lizzo is kinky and playful too, but the most sexy thing of all is her unlimited confidence in herself. She thinks big, dreams big, and achieves it all on this album.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Death Race for Love
    Juice wants to get in touch with his feelings but then drowns them in a gallon of syrup.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Czarface Meets Ghostface
    This is a worthy addition to the Czarface catalogue that will find frequent rotation in your car stereo, boombox or headphones for the rest of 2019 AND beyond.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Future Hndrxx Presents: The WIZRD
    He can croon and autotune his way through some songs that are easy to ride to while faking it though--he ATL Jacob laced “Rocket Ship,” the Jacob and Jambo co-produced “Stick to the Models,” and the mellow radio friendly “Tricks On Me” from Nineteen85. Future has plenty of swagger and personality, knows all the right producers to take his style and make it sparkle, and has little problem serving his fan base exactly what they want.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Fever
    The album is fun for that amount of time but doesn’t chart a new course for women in rap or rappers as a whole. Not every album needs to or should. “Fever” is our Trina for 2019. She won’t change the world but she will get you to talk about sex, baby.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Some Rap Songs
    This is not an album that thumps, drips, bangs, or whips. This is a young man with a lot of heavy thoughts on his mind, and to his good fortune he happens to be able to express them through rap over beats that sustain his flow. It may not be "boom it in your Jeep" music but that doesn't make it bad--just different. Earl Sweatshirt is different, and in a day where all rappers sound like the same AutoTuned singer, we need more different raps to appreciate.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    DUMMY BOY
    The production on Dummy Boy is amazing. Tay Keith, Scott Storch, Murda Beatz and Ronny J among others lace 6 with some beats that match his "wavy" sound and style perfectly. The tracks are heavy on the bottom and have lots of room for 6 to flex his sing-song melodic flow.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    15 [Mixtape]
    She manages to not get completely steamrolled in her duets with YG and Lil Yachty and even interlocks tightly with Asian Doll on "Affiliated." The problem with the Bhad Bhabie project, of course, was never to teach her how to rap, it was negotiating an acceptable approach to appropriating the cultural codes of rap. And in that regard 15 is the expected embarrassment.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ye
    ye is an average album with some good songs, some bad songs, and some songs that will clearly be spun millions of times. The problem is that "average" has never been good enough for Kanye West nor should it be.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    DAYTONA
    This is the sort of 'really good album' that can precede an all-time classic breakthrough album.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Book of Ryan
    By providing a cinematic narrative throughout, Royce proves that he is more than a one-trick-pony witty lyricist. He's introspective and not afraid of laying down confessional lyrics.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Astroworld
    There's nothing to really get mad at, but there's not much to get excited about either. Scott is just "aight."
    • 75 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Czarface Meets Metal Face
    Yes true believers these villains are definitely up to no good, but they're just the anti-heroes you've been looking for. With beats and rhymes more punishing than Frank Castle, Czarface Meets Metal Face is the hip-hop for everyone who's had it up to here with mumble mouthed singing emcees.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Scorpion
    It's not his greatest work but it's easily one of his most ambitious, which still makes it an album worth celebrating and listening to, though perhaps in smaller doses than an hour and a half at a time.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Understand What Black Is
    The music alone would be enjoyable, the words read on a page with no music would still be profound, but it is in their combination that The Last Poets still continue to create magic into their 70's and beyond. Maybe a little of that magic can rub off and help some melanin-deprived people "Understand What Black Is" but if not at least it's still a pleasure to listen to.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fever
    It is a meticulously crafted album that goes down smooth and leaves you with something to think about.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Ephorize
    After two studio albums and a handful of mixtapes she's reached a level of confidence where she can do a track like "Self Interview" and answer all the questions anybody would want to ask, all while humorously noting that "most people already skipped this song/cause it ain't about sex and killing".
    • 84 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Invasion of Privacy
    Amusing, yes. Revolutionary? Not quite so much. ... Right now she's doing what sells and it's "Bodak Yellow" all day until her 15 minutes fades away.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Culture II
    There's too much material here to sit and listen to straight through in one sitting. Give it time though and Culture II will grow on you.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Autobiography
    At its best--on "We Could Be Free"--"The Autobiography" adds to this reputation. At its worst, the album still sounds very good; aside from a pair of tracks that evince a teenaged boy's understanding of love, sex, and women (both of which--"Homewrecker" and "Gorgeous" -- are musically pleasant enough), there are just two more that rubbed me the wrong way. And that's mostly because they have a sound that is currently on-trend, which me feel old and out-of-touch.
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