US Top 10 Albums For The Week Ending May 31st, 2018

1 – Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes – B-

2  – beerbongs & bentleys – Post Malone – A-

3 – Daytona – Pusha T – B+

4 – Testing – A$AP Rocky – A-

5  – Invasion Of Privacy – Cardi B – A

6  – Love Yourself: Tear – BTS –  B+

7 –  Harder Than Ever – Lil Baby – B

8 – Goodbye And Good Riddance – Juice WRLD -0 B+

9 – The Greatest Showman  – Motion Picture Cast Recording – C-

10  –  KOD – J. Cole – B+

Comment:  Seven out of ten of these albums are rap (not even hip hop), and all seven are good or better. This feels more and more like a golden age of rap, which is managing something exceedingly difficult: it is a pop form that is intermingingly with serious artistic skills. Watching several new rap stars over a long weekend, it is clear that on stage rappers play to the hits while on stage they play with the multi tracks to build unique soundscapes over unique beats. Meanwhile, Shawn was so good at Gov Ball I’ll have to reconsider the album.