The Early Bird: Top New Releases 7-6-18 – 7-12-18 Reviewed

A quiet week for albums though a fair amount of action on the singles front, The big surprise is Future dropping a new mix tape, produced by DJ Swift and shared with Zaytoven. Zaytoven released a different, very good, album Christ Hop album with Lecrae last week. Beastmode 2 is the sequel to his 2015 mixtape, and it is as straight ahead a trap hop Atlanta set of songs as you could hope for culminating in the brutal self assessment “Hate The Real Me” (Grade: B+), I wasn’t crazy about the single “Stay Woke” and knowing that Meek Mill was imprisoned for no good reason isn’t good enough reason to believe that Meek is anything more than average, The EP here Legends Of The Summer, peeks sky high with “Millidelphia” (feat. Swizz Beatz) and the awesome hook:

“Who love the streets? Meek, Meek
Who dropping heat? Meek, Meek
Who locked the city up, pull up in that Bentley truck, rest of them motherfuckers see? Meek
Who dropping shit through the worst? Meek
Who really dropping that fire? Meek
Back on the water, they listen when I speak
Who got the key to the streets? Meek”

Nothing else matches it (Grade: B-). Years & Years sophomore album Palo Santo is really good synth pop with better bets than the 1980s and a terrific lead singer (Grade: B+)

Back to hip hop for the singles, Lil Pump may only be able to do “Gucci Gang” over,  again and again,  and maybe in the grand scheme that is what “Drug Addict” is, but in the greater world of pure entertainment “Drug Addict” is as addictive as mollies (Grade: B+). I am less sold on Lil Yachty’s “Who Want The Smoke,” though, it is fun to hear Offset and Cardi B sharing the track with the terrific baby trapper (Grade: B), Dave East’s “Fresh Prince Of Belaire” featuring a good as ever Rick Ross in the ode to not Will Smith but Luc’s champagne, it is better than the elixir of table service, somewhat minor but Dave East can do no wrong right not (Grade: B). Iggy Azealea is the poster child for racial approbation and not just because she is an Australian woman who raps but also because she does the true undoable, she fucks black basketball players, her new single after a long break, featuring dirty nasty bad boy Tyga, “Kream” is so middlebrow it opens with a “Scarface” quote (Grade: C+) One more, Lary Iver’s “Sola” is Latin pop which sounds just like US trap only in Spanish, most Latin Trap maintains its cultural hegemony but this is trap in a different language (Grade: B)

Fresh Prince Of Belaire – Dave East, Rick Ross – B

Beastmode 2 – Future – B+

Kream – Iggy Azealia, Tyga – C+

Sola – Lary Over – B

Drug Addicts – Lil Pump – B+

Who Want The Smoke – Lil Yachty, Cardi B, Offset – B

Legends Of summer – Meek Mill – B-

Palo Santo – Years & Years – B+