LATE NIGHT. REVIEWS. FILM. MUSIC. TV.
Chicagoan Joey Purp was the quiet breakout star of 2016 with his debut album iiiDrops. Listen to any track of his and you’re not surprised he used to be in the SaveMoney crew – he has all the writing ability of Chance The Rapper. Quarterthing proves he’s no fluke. It’s not only consistent, but it packs a few sneaky surprises that show Purp is much more than the barking struggle rapper he might’ve seemed at first.
There’s a line on Slime Language that sums up Young Thug’s appeal better than any music nerd essay ever could. On the heavenly “Oh Yeah”, the track floats like a cloud while Thugga buries deep in his verse, his voice rising slightly higher with each bar. And then he squeals, somehow both elegantly and desperately, “send me nudes when I’m on the rooooad”. It’s absurd, douchy, slightly embarrassing and weirdly, weirdly romantic. If you hated him before, you’ll still hate him. But if you love the rapper who once said he would change his name to ‘SEX’, you get a bunch of these gloriously oddball moments.
It’s not hard to see why Travi$ Scott has very quickly become a big deal in hip-hop. Much like his sonic father, Kid Cudi, his songs hover like glowing magnets – you don’t quite know how they work but you can’t look away. It’s why, ten years after Cudi’s debut mixtape, the Lonely Stoner still has a fervent following.
But just like Cudi, Scott isn’t as good as everyone wants him to be. Astroworld is nothing if not fascinating. Its title is actually remarkably accurate; this project sounds like it could soundtrack a stroll through a half-abandoned carnival at midnight on LSD. Scott gives it everything he’s got, stacking a truly gobsmacking amount of talent together across 17 tracks. When it’s great, it’s really fucking impressive. But a lot of the time it just feels like a tease.
Eight years ago, a Jewish-Canadian former child-star released Thank Me Later; a polished, glittering debut rap album with enviable production credits and features from the likes of Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z. The album dominated the annual charts and announced the arrival of rap’s newest star – an 808s and Heartbreaks descendant who made accessible, everyman rap from a not-so-everyman. The music world met Drake.
THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL 