Depending on what artist you’re looking at, there are certain limits or ceilings on some of their careers. While they may start out with endless possibilities, some emcees tend to box themselves into a style that fans truly enjoy, but it limits their ability to branch out and try different things. One musician that I think has done a remarkable job at keeping their options open and delivering a myriad of sounds is YSL’s youngest signee Young Kayo. Kayo has been on my radar for a couple of years now, and as time has gone on, he has stretched into various genres that I never predicted. In fact, there have been a few different occasions where I listened to one of his songs that I really enjoyed, but I had to search on Google to see if this was the same artist or if it was someone else who went by the same name. If that doesn’t spell diverse, then I don’t know what will. Kayo has been making plenty of moves throughout his youth, but in order to celebrate his 19th birthday, he decided to surprise fans with a brand-new EP aptly called Nineteen. Although there are only 7 …

It’s honestly hard to think of an artist who has put in as much work as aldn has this year. Notice how I said “as much”, because I really don’t think that anyone has been able to exceed his output whatsoever. I mean, the 21-year-old has released numerous projects, tons of music videos, and he has been on a few tours including his recent debut headlining tour that sold out in major cities all over the country including New York, Chicago, Washington DC, and Boston, amongst other meccas. With so much going on, I feel like it should be impossible to not only make the amount of music that he has but also ensure that everything is as high quality as it is, so for that and plenty of other things, I give him all the props in the entire world. Earlier this month, the Virginia native dropped yet another EP entitled post spring self destruction that boasts 7 songs running just under 19 minutes, and with features like Tom the Mail Man as well as Riovaz, you already know how impeccable this effort was bound to be. When I saw that he dropped a Tommy Kiljoy-directed visual for the …

Although there are so many artists that I could mention who have made a massive impact on me this year, I think the trophy rightfully goes to Destroy Lonely. I know that he has been making waves in the music business for a few years at this point, but I just got hip to him in 2022, and I’ve been making up for lost time ever since. He just has this extremely unique style that is even more captivating thanks to his out-of-the-box flows and one of a kind voice, but the thing that I appreciate most about him is the fact that he is never afraid to push his limits and experiment with something new. At the same time, even these experiments seem to remain in a similar lane to a sound that he has made his own, so even if they’re different or unpredictable, they seem to make perfect sense with the overall aesthetic that he has built for himself. As big of a fan as I am, I somehow completely overlooked the fact that he dropped a deluxe version of his album NO STYLIST entitled NS+ (Ultra) that contributed another 5 songs and just about 13 minutes …

After quite some time deliberating and keeping fans on the edge of their seats, SoFaygo finally dropped off Pink Heartz, his long-awaited and highly anticipated album. This effort boasts 16 songs, some new and some singles that we’ve had the pleasure of listening to before, but regardless, we have about 53 minutes of new music from the Atlanta by way of Grand Rapids emcee, and I couldn’t be more excited. It has already been out for a few weeks, and while I haven’t necessarily listened to it on repeat, I am undeniably thrilled to have it in our hands and listen at our leisure because Faygo never disappoints whatsoever. Oftentimes when I’m listening to a new album, I enjoy all of the sounds and new content, but I find myself overlooking the main theme of particular tracks because of the entire scope of the surrounding album, so I honestly didn’t quite realize the meaning behind “Goin Back”. Thankfully, my eyes were opened to the song’s narrative after Faygo teamed up with Declan Kyle to shoot a music video for the hit track, and I was actually able to appreciate the narrative that the emcee had in mind while bringing this …

Memphis has been a force in the music industry for decades, but it feels like no one in the last 10 years or so has made nearly as large of an impact as Xavier Wulf. The underground icon has been steadily making music for quite some time, and with experience came even better music, so to say he was at the top of his game during any other time than right now is straight banter. Of course, I love all of his music leading up to now, but you can just see how zoned in he is and hear how sharp his words have become throughout the years, and that is once again showcased on Blood Shore Season 3, his recently released project that I simply can’t stop listening to. It’s only right that legends work with other legends, so when I saw him team up with DotComNirvan to shoot a music video for the effort’s cut “First Light”, I wasted no time before tuning in. Nirvan is a sharpshooter with the camera, just like X is on the mic, so the way they were able to bring his love for all things cars, anime, and action together in this …

Sometimes there are releases that I know are going to be so impressive that I have to set aside some time to make sure I can ingest them without any distractions and make sure that I am able to appreciate the music as it was meant to be enjoyed without rushing through it just for the sake of saying I heard it. Smino is someone who always delivers music of the highest quality, and with his natural knack for lyricism, individualistic flows, and all-out silkiness, I know going into his music that I need to omit anything that will take away from just how immaculate the songs are going to be. Due to this, as well as to the dismay of one of my coworkers who has hounded me to listen to Smino’s latest album, I just finally listened to Luv 4 Rent, and I know I am a few weeks late, but it was what I needed to do to fully appreciate everything Smi brought to the table on this one. Luckily, it was worth the delay, but that’s not a surprise, and all 15 songs were indeed unbelievably great, so I’m beyond grateful that I finally got to …

This article is a very special one for me personally. Not that any other articles mean anything less to me, but this one in particular is my 2,000th write-up, so after about 3 years of writing as regularly as I can, here we are. In all honesty, if you include the articles I wrote back in 2016 when I first worked for LL as well as the posts I’ve created during my brief stint as a Lyrical Lemonade intern, I had reached this milestone probably 2 or 3 months ago, but on my main writer’s profile, this is the big 2K. To celebrate this milestone in my writing career, I couldn’t just write about anything that I enjoy, I had to write about one of the homies that I have been blessed to get to know over my years in music, and that honor goes to none other than Lil Xelly. Xelly has been one of the most consistent artists in the underground, both in terms of releasing music as well as someone I personally listen to quite regularly, and while I wasn’t surprised to see another music video out for us to enjoy, I definitely wanted to put this …

One thing I’ve learned throughout the years is that Lil Uzi Vert doesn’t do anything small. He always figures out a way to one-up himself and others, making a spectacle out of even the smallest moments throughout his career, and he has been doing this for over a half-decade since he first entered this industry. I knew he was going to be a star from the moment Lyrical Lemonade brought him to Chicago for the first time back in April of 2016, and even though I had just started listening to a few of his songs literally weeks before that show, I was instantly intrigued and knew that he was going to be a star well beyond where he was at that moment in time. Well, I don’t know if anyone could’ve predicted just how massive he would become, but now that he is one of the biggest staples in hip-hop, no one is ever going to overlook a new release from the Philadelphia phenom simply because you know there is absolutely no reason to. A few days ago, one of the homies had asked if I saw the Gibson Hazard-directed music video for his song “Just Wanna Rock”, and …