Posts By frank_bE
James Blake – Overgrown
James Blake - Overgrown Universal Republic: 2013 James Blake is a ghost. The ghost of a broken hearted romantic from the 1800s that wound up trapped in an iPad. His music occupies this strange space that feels pre-industrial and simultaneously unable…
Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric – Czarface
Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric – Czarface Brick Records: 2013 Yeah, yeah, we know. We hella late. Czarface has already been out six weeks and received a fair share of critical love. There is no excusing this oversight being…
Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell and Angels
Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell and Angels Legacy: 2013 Let’s be clear, even in just reviewing an album, Jimi is one of the most difficult artists to write about for a multitude of reasons. He is one of the most…
Bilal – A Love Surreal
Bilal – A Love Surreal eOne: 2013 Thirteen years ago Bilal crept into the musical landscape with his visceral work on Common’s organic opus Like Water For Chocolate. He provided the hook to lead single the “6th Sense”, and backing…
Big Boi – Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Big Boi - Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors Def Jam: 2012 Many of the greats, if they haven’t fallen off, or been cut short by untimely death, have at least one album that sticks out like the plus-size contestant on America’s…
25 Reasons Why Danny Brown is the MVP of 2012
CHECK!!! The Adderall Admiral has become one of the most fascinating non-mainstream artists of the past few years. Like many young/new rappers, Danny Brown took the post-Hot Boyz Lil’ Wayne template and flooded the Internet with music. But where many just over-saturate the…
Action Bronson & Alchemist – Rare Chandeliers
Action Bronson & Alchemist - Rare Chandeliers Self-released: 2012 The original draft for Rare Chandeliers was being formed around the time I wrote our piece on Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II… While reflecting on that album two things dawned on me: one,…
The Pharcyde’s ‘Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde’ Turns 20
If this piece was about the end of the original Pharcyde’s journey as a group, it would make for a much more dramatic “Behind the Music” story about drugs, fist fights, and collective creativity cut short. Thankfully it’s not because…
Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown – Dice Game
Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown - Dice Game Mello Music Group: 2012 For those of us outside of Detroit, the first time we heard Guilty Simpson rap was on Champion Sound’s “Strapped”. He led the song off sounding like a bear…
Roc Marciano – Reloaded
Roc Marciano - Reloaded Decon: 2012 Street rap is the heart and guts of this rap shit. Even as it continues to occupy a very precarious space in the critical and popular imagination, street rap smirks and stands its ground. Even…
