My Favorite Albums

     Sure this is supposed to be an NBA blog. Most of my posts are about the NBA. What the actual fuck am I supposed to write about during the quarantine? God bless all those who actually have to do this for a living; I just write whatever the fuck I want to in the matter of a night (no wonder why everything is so shitty). I'm sure you all know how much I love my music. I'm also sure you can guess many of the albums that will show up on this list. That being said, these are some of my favorite albums I have ever listened to.

Lil Uzi Vert - LUV Is Rage 2

Release Date: August 25, 2017

Favorite Tracks: Two®, Sauce It Up, The Way Life Goes, Malfunction, XO Tour Llif3

Least Favorite Track: Skir Skirr

     This album may be my favorite album of all time; the only thing I can really consider a challenger is Eternal Atake (and I already described in an early post how they cannot be compared, so I won't say that one is better than the other). Two® is a perfect opener to an album and really gets you ready for an experience of a lifetime. It's almost a sequel to 7 AM with Brittany Byrd talking to Uzi in the beginning telling him to wake his ass up. That goes right into a song referencing Jay-Z's album 4:44. Sauce It Up, No Sleep Leak, and The Way Life Goes wrap up what I consider the best string of songs on a single side of a record. With features from The Weeknd and Pharrell, Uzi mainly carries this album by himself. Some people may not count it because it originally appeared on Luv Is Rage 1.5 (which is a soundcloud only project), but XO Tour Llif3 is still arguably his best and most impactful song (Prices, Of Course, and Sanguine Paradise are up there, you'll see more about Prices next). This album was marketed as a sad and somewhat satanic sort of music, and Uzi really delivered with the sad boy melodic feel. I know many people don't like Skir Skirr (and it still is probably my least favorite from the album), I still genuinely enjoy it. There aren't many Uzi songs that I don't enjoy (Sasuke unfortunately was the first where I just couldn't get into it). What I really don't get is the hate for Diamonds All on My Wrist; that shit goes so fucking hard. This is basically a perfect album. Not much more for me to say. 

Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake

Release Date: March 6, 2020

Favorite Tracks: Baby Pluto, Lo Mein, I'm Sorry, Celebration Station, Chrome Heart Tags, Prices, P2

Least Favorite Track: POP

     I think listening to this album for the first time will be the greatest music experience I will ever have (could probably only be surpassed by hearing this album live, fall 2021 can't come soon enough). Working on Dying absolutely nailed all their beats on this album, especially with Baby Pluto and Celebration. Both of the beat drops on these songs really had my soul leave my body and ascend to a whole new dimension. The use of Travis Scott's way back as a sample in Prices is the greatest thing that has ever graced my ears. I can't get over how much I love Brandon Finnesin's producer tag on Celebration Station. Speaking of amazing beats, who could have ever thought that Chief fucking Keef could deliver one of the most beautiful beats on Chrome Heart Tags. On that beat and many others (such as Prices and Bigger Than Life), the choir makes it that much better. I really think Uzi hit it out of the park with this one. POP left me feeling a little weird, but I still generallylike the song. The "Balenci Balenci Balenci" lyric isn't the greatest (it is kinda bad), but I've grown to be ok with it since it's become a meme (along with Strawberry Peels on the deluxe). Usually, I really do not like skits, but I feel like the ones at the end of certain songs really work well to tell the story throughout the album (the one on How To Talk on LUV Is Rage 2 is also a good example and pretty similar). Us Uzi fans were starved and tortured for almost 3 years, but I really think this masterpiece was worth the wait. I'll be making a review article detailing the build up to the release (it's a real doozy) and each song. I could put all of Uzi's projects on here, but I won't this time (you'll see why I'm a hypocrite soon).

Future - DS2

Release Date: July 17, 2015

Favorite Tracks: Thought It Was a Drought, I Serve the Base, The Percocet & Stripper Joint, F*ck Up Some Commas

Least Favorite Track: Kno The Meaning

     DS2 may be the perfect trap album. Future really pioneered the way for many artists that have made it big today. This album was lead up to by other mixtapes Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights each featuring songs that would eventually appear on DS2 (Fuck Up Some Commas, Real Sisters, and Trap N****s bruh I ain't spelling it out I'm white as fuck). This stream of projects is regarded as some of the best in rap. This really solidified Future's name up there with some of the best. Thought It Was a Drought is a fantastic way to begin a project; he just fucked my bitch in some Gucci flip flops. I Serve the Base is one of my favorite Future tracks with an absolutely dirty and dark instrumental. There really aren't many skips on this album. Probably at least in my top 5 favorite albums. You'll see upcoming that I am a huge fan of Pluto.

Future - HNDRXX

Release Date: February 24, 2017

Favorite Tracks: My Collection, Incredible, Fresh Air, Keep Quiet

Least Favorite Track: I Thank U

     HNDRXX is basically the second side to the album that he released the week before (FUTURE). With many of Future's other studio albums, there are barely any features with just The Weeknd and Rihanna (Coming Out Strong with The Weeknd is a great song, but I'm taking Low Life as a better collab between the two any day). Future made Self-Titled a straight trap album while making this one more of a "melodic" and laid back project to contrast and show how diverse he can be. You will constantly hear me say how Future never misses with intros, and he once again delivers a masterpiece with My Collection, detailing how even if he hits her once, she's still part of his collection. A true misogynistic king. Up until Hallucinating, the project remains very consistent in delivering banger after banger, then it seems to just drop off a little and become somewhat forgettable. Future then ends off the album with a surprise; a 7 and a half minute ballad titled Sorry explaining to his ex Ciara that he is sorry about how the relationship ended. She's now with Russel Wilson and Future isn't the happiest about this. Fantano is a fuck for giving this album a NOT GOOD; it's very good.

Future - The WIZRD

Release Date: January 18, 2019

Favorite Tracks: Never Stop, Crushed Up, F&N, Promise U That, Unicorn Purp, First Off

Least Favorite: Overdose

     Oh boy another Future album; are you tired yet? I could write about this dude all day (no homo). I obviously have to start with yet another amazing intro to the album with Never Stop. The last minute tops off the song with a beautiful instrumental with Future singing in the background. It gives you a feeling of safety almost; it really makes you want to continue to listen. You won't be disappointed listening to this whole album straight through. Although there really aren't too many "standout" songs, this album is just straight consistent, great song after great song after great song. Once again, very few features, but Young Thug, Gunna (whom I usually don't like too much), and Travis Scott really deliver. Never Stop and F&N are two of my favorite Future songs. It's been a little more than a year since this album, which was his last full length one, and I am so ready for his next titled Life Is Good (problem is since he released the titular song, life really has not been good).

Future - Save Me

Release Date: June 7, 2019

Favorite Tracks: XanaX Damage, Please Tell Me, Love Thy Enemies

Least Favorite Track: Extra

     I promise you this is the last Future project I will be talking about. Future talked about how he wanted to do a sequel to HNDRXX (which he should definitely do), and Save Me really feels like it could be just that. For the last time, I will say that XanaX Damage isn't just a fantastic intro, but one of his best songs (here I go again saying "this song is one of his best" I'm saying that too much). The only problem I have with the song is it's wayyyyyy too short, being only a minute and a half long. The misogynistic king is back with the lyric "found out I cheated on her, she'll still feed me grapes" on St. Lucia. Overall, Future once again stays very consistent throughout the 8 songs on this EP with no features. Love Thy Enemies is another song I really think is one of his most underrated, being one of my favorites (at least top 3). In this song, he describes how his past lovers have hurt him. Absolutely criminal how under the radar this EP went. 

Denzel Curry - TA13OO

Release Date: July 27, 2018

Favorite Tracks: BLACK BALLOONS, SUMO, SIRENS, CLOUT COBAIN, VENGEANCE

Least Favorite Track: THE BLACKEST BALLOON

     This album actually came out two days after my 20th birthday (do the math to figure out my birthday lmao). I never really heard Denzel before Clout Cobain (had no idea Ultimate was him), but as soon as I heard that song I knew I had to listen to him, and boy does he not disappoint (check out Imperial). This album though... a whole new level. It's a concept album with three different acts: light, gray, and dark. I am still confused how a song like Sumo belongs with songs like Taboo and Black Balloons in the light section. Denzel later went on to say that this album is about his life, discussing such topics as molestation, love, hate, and revenge among many others. This album surged Denzel closer and closer to mainstream. Features from JID, Twelve'len, JPEGMAFIA, and ZillaKami really add to all that Denzel does. Top album from 2018, although Denzel has slowly shied away from the music I listen to constantly. 

B.o.B - The Adventures of Bobby Ray

Release Date: April 27, 2010

Favorite Tracks: Don't Let Me Fall, Ghost In The Machine, Lovelier Than You, 5th Dimension

Least Favorite Track: Airplanes, Pt. II

     Wow, we are really going back with this one. We know how the story of B.o.B ends. A shame someone who had so much potential (regarded as the next Andre 3000 and even had him featured on the song Play The Guitar) just ruined it by going off the deep end and became a flat earther (also his music decreased in quality). Strange Cloud, Underground Luxury, and many of his other mixtapes leading up to the elements project were very solid, but then he took a turn for the worse. This was his first studio album and by god is it SOLID. Classics such as Magic, Nothin' on You, and Airplanes make this album itself a classic. Songs like Lovelier Than You and Letters From Vietnam (which is only available on ITunes) show how he could make some meaningful and beautiful songs. It was hard choosing my least favorite song, but I went with Airplanes, Pt. II because I don't really care for Eminem too much and it's basically a bonus song. 

Trippie Redd - Life's A Trip

Release Date: August 10, 2018

Favorite Tracks: Taking A Walk, Wish, Forever Ever, Dark Knight Dummo, UKA UKA, Gore

Least Favorite Track: Underwater FlyZone

     This was Trippie Redd's first official studio album, and arguably some of his best music he's released. He was able to get some big name features from Travis Scott (whom he toured with for the Astroworld tour), Diplo (produced Wish), and Young Thug. It's a very consistent album with barely any skips. Dark Knight Dummo, Taking A Walk, and Wish are probably some of his most famous songs, but I'd argue that Forever Ever (which has the Young Thug feature) is one of his best to this day. Travis Scott's verse on Dark Knight Dummo is honestly one of my favorite features (you'll see my favorite soon to come). Just take a moment to look at the cover art. It's some of the best I've ever seen and cover art really does give you a first impression. Each time you look at it, you see something new. I know a lot of Trippie fans regard Underwater FlyZone as one of his best, but it's honestly so repetitive and just plain boring. I'd argue it's one of his worst, and Koi (on A Lover Letter To You 4 Deluxe) kind of has a similar vibe, but it's leagues better.

Trippie Redd - A Love Letter To You 3

Release Date: November 9, 2018

Favorite Tracks: Topanga, Love Scars 3, A.L.L.T.Y. 3, I Tried Loving, 1400/999 Freestyle

Least Favorite Track: Camp Fire Tale

     I always go between this and Life's a Trip as his best project. Ever since this released in late 2018, he's been very disappointing. Led by the single Topanga, A Love Letter To You 3 had a lot of potential and did it certainly met my expectations. There aren't exactly too many standout songs on here, but it is just filled with solid song after solid song. Juice WRLD delivers a fantastic feature on 1400/999 Freestyle and introduced how good of a duo Trippie and Juice are. They have a couple other songs together (such as 6 Kiss on A Love Letter To You 4 which I hate the YNW Melly feature on that), but since Juice passed away, we won't be able to see the duo for much longer. I have the same "problem" with Camp Fire Tale as I did Underwater FlyZone (problem is in quotations because this song is much better); it's slow and somewhat boring. Like I said, I still think it's a solid song, but probably the worst on the project. Most of the time, I think this is better than Life's A Trip, but they are both very good projects.

Juice WRLD - Goodbye and Good Riddance

Release Date: May 23, 2018

Favorite Tracks: All Girls Are The Same, Lucid Dreams, Wasted, Lean Wit Me, I'm Still, Black & White, Candles

Least Favorite Track: Hurt Me

     Man they really fucked up the order of this album on streaming. Armed and Dangerous should not be on the album because it came out a long time after the album and does not fit the theme. I'm okay with Wasted because it does fit the theme. Also cause Uzi. Uzi is the only feature on the whole album and it is one of my favorite features from my favorite artist. All Girls Are The Same, Lucid Dreams, and Wasted are some of his biggest songs and are a great way to start an album (with Lucid Dreams hitting over 1 billion streams a little after he passed). Both Lucid Dreams and Hurt Me are imported from his prior mixtape Juicewrld 999. Hurt Me is far from a bad song, but it just doesn't hit the same as every other song on this album. GB&GR is an embodiment of the new wave of emo rap and I wouldn't be surprised if this album and Juice in general is brought up as influential to other artists and the game in general in the future. Juice honestly sounds a lot different from this album compared to now and I'm not as much of a fan (he wasn't that big when this released, so maybe it was the recording, mixing, or mastering quality he had that just gave it a different feel that I actually very much liked. Don't quote me on this because I know nothing about how music actually works). This is definitely another top 5 album for me and with Righteous being the lead single for the next album, I'm very interested. 

¡MAYDAY! - Future Vintage

Release Date: September 18, 2015

Favorite Tracks: Jettison, Fuel To The Fire, Can't Take It With You, Something In The Air, Into The Night, Antenna, Know It, Against My Better Judgement, The Last Sunrise

Least Favorite Track: One Wing

     This is the first album I bought signed through the Strange Music website and no wonder why I got addicted; this album is fucking good. It's a combination of hip hop, rap, and rock. Know It and Against My Better Judgement really show how they can create songs that have a lot of meaning behind them. It took me nearly a year to actually listen to Into The Night and The Last Sunrise consistently, and they developed into my favorites on the whole album. With features from fellow Strange signees Ces Cru and Stevie Stone along with Tech N9ne himself on Know It and other features, Mayday crafted a marvelous album that started my love for the whole label. Although I have gotten into more mainstream music and distanced myself from Strange, I will always come back to them. Once again this was another album that I found hard to come up with my least favorite song, and I'm not really sure how I came up with One Wing (which has the Ces Cru feature and they kill it), but I can't think of anything else lmao. Overall, a damn near perfect album. Somehow, it's not even my favorite Mayday album.

¡MAYDAY! - Search Party

Release Date: September 8, 2017

Favorite Tracks: Escape Plans, News To Me, Long Night, System, Have Someone, Airplane Mode

Least Favorite Track: Do

     This is my favorite album and it's mainly due to one thing: Have Someone. By god is this a good song. You read earlier that you would hear about my favorite feature of all time, and it is easily JL's verse on Have Someone. JL and Mayday have become my two favorites on Strange and some of my favorite artists to this day. I really hope one day we can get a collab between them just like we had with Mursday (not sure why it didn't make my list, another damn near perfect album that could use a sequel which the people will probably never see unfortunately). Moving on from that one song, it's similar to Future Vintage in how it's a combination of hip hop, rap, and rock, but this one also includes a little bit of reggae. I'm not the biggest fan of reggae (which is majorly why I wasn't the biggest fan of South of 5th. The singles were really good and I mainly just liked Run Up other than them). Another one of their best songs also appears on this album with Airplane Mode. I would constantly play it so much that my dad even became a huge fan of the song. I really do have trouble coming up with my least favorite tracks for many of these albums. Do is a great song, but the rest of the album is just so good that even though Do is amazing, it still comes in as a lower tier song on the project. 

JL - DIBKIS

Release Date: June 30, 2017

Favorite Tracks: Own Thang, Hate Nature, Out Da Hood, Saturday, Risky, Fuck Everything, Done to Me, Elevated

Least Favorite Track: This Time

     I'd also like to bring up how the track Everywhere (the pre-order track) is also fucking amazing. Honestly I think it might be JL's best (although it may be impossible for him to top his verse on Have Someone). With his debut on Strange, JL showed that he can be the best rapper on the label (I believe this, with Mayday being right around there because JL is more of an actual rapper compared to Mayday who are more hip hoppy if you catch my drift). When Own Thang was featured on Tech N9ne's The Storm deluxe, I knew that I was going to love this dude. This album has three Tech N9ne features and is even technically titled "Tech N9ne Presents: DIBKIS" mainly to get him more publicity. I think they did a pretty good job with this album; Out Da Hood has over 1 million streams and the whole album recently hit over 6 million song plays. I was really proud of him because by god does he deserve more recognition. That's why I'm so fucking pissed with Strange now. He delivered a fire EP with The Devil Hates Sundays Chapter 1, and Tech N9ne and Strange literally had no idea that it dropped. Not only that, but he can't even get to 6 digits. That is not a knock on him at all; he is putting out amazing fucking music and from the first couple of chapters The Devil Hates Sundays could be his best album. I don't like how he is being marketed by Strange because they are slobbing on King Iso's knob (not a knock on him either, he's pretty good) and they seem to forget about most others. Strange overall is losing part of their market. But I digress. This album is amazing, JL is amazing, and he deserves better.

Tech N9ne - Special Effects

Release Date: May 4, 2015

Favorite Tracks: Aw Yeah, Lacrimosa, Shroud, Hood Go Crazy, Life Sentences

Least Favorite Track: Worldly Angel

     Future Vintage may have been the first Strange CD I ever bought signed from the website, but this was the first Strange album I ever listened to alongside Murs' Have A Nice Life that came out the week after (another great album that just missed the cut. Too many to write about for one article so maybe I'll write another). Surprisingly, I like this Tech N9ne more than his old stuff. This was a very consistent album with Hood Go Crazy (which features both B.o.B and 2 Chainz) becoming somewhat of a mainstream hit. This was Tech's last album where he got mainstream features (Lil Wayne, B.o.B, 2 Chainz, Eminem), and I really wish he would actually do it again. He got Flatbush Zombies for his last album, but I really think there is so much more out there for him. I was really shocked when, just mere months ago, I learned that it was in fact Joey Cool who was the first feature on Life Sentences. I already loved that song and I never knew that a future Strange Music signee was on that song. I think this is his best and most consistent work and he hasn't really come that close since. 

Bernz - See You On The Other Side

Release Date: July 8, 2016

Favorite Tracks: Outta My Brain, Dancing With The Devil, When It's Gone, Ways, Bed Of Nails, It Don't Go, Call Me In The Morning, Quiet Place, Sunday Sin

Least Favorite Track: Chasing Shadows

     Bernz is one half of Mayday alongside Wrekonize (who appears on Dancing With The Devil). See You On The Other Side was his debut album as a solo artist with Strange Music and it quickly became one of my favorites. Although this came out when I was at my lowest and it's hard to distinguish this album from the time I was going through, I still have to recognize this. Outta My Brain featuring Jarren Benton and Dancing With The Devil with Wrekonize are great examples of how Bernz can rap while songs like Ways and When It's Gone show a softer and more melodic side of his music. Some Strange fans aren't huge fans of Bernz, and I really don't get it. He works great both with Wrekonize as a part of Mayday and can still hold his own by himself (well really better than that, he's really good). Another album on here where I just get mesmerized by the artwork; the colors just blend in perfectly. Bernz also released the first part of his next album Sorry For The Mess (4 years later, almost as bad as Eternal Atake but he didn't tease us). I thought it would be hard to top See You On The Other Side, but the first four songs from the new EP are absolutely fantastic. I'm really excited to see what Bernz, Wrekonize (who just released Pressure Point Meridian 1), and Mayday have upcoming.