SCARING THE HOES – JPEGMAFIA & DANNY BROWN
Released: March 23, 2023
Genre: Hip-Hop, Hyper-Pop
Runtime: 36 minutes
There are always artists you want to join forces and create your dream collab album, some artists you never would’ve thought would collab or could even see the two artists coming together. My thoughts were exactly that when I heard that producer/rapper JPEGMAFIA (Peggy) and rapper Danny Brown were making a joint project together.
I’ll be honest, I’m not too familiar with their sounds individually, I’ve listened to a few singles or features from them but nothing substantial. Immediately I was bombarded with a booming electric blend of trap and hyper pop fused together to make a sound that sounds unholy but actually mixes surprisingly well together. If you can’t get past that sound, or most importantly Danny Brown high pitched nasally vocals then you’ll have a hard time with STH.
The chemistry between Peggy and Danny is tight, unique flows and bars to get us entertained however it feels as though Danny Brown is a feature on the record and it doesn’t seem too 50/50. Which is a shame because despite Danny having a loud and bombastic sound, the man’s writing is pretty solid.
A bleak and vague review but I don’t have any strong feelings towards the record. It’s a surprisingly good blend of hip-hop and hyper pop, overall it’s pretty good but you’re also not missing out on much.
5/10
ON TOP OF THE COVERS – T-PAIN
Released: March 17, 2023
Genre: Pop
Runtime: 32 minutes
If you’re anywhere on the internet, you’ve probably seen clips of this one floating around. But Hip-Hop/RnB legend T-Pain is back… but without his famous autotune. T-Pain in the 2000–2010s was everywhere, popularising autotune in the music industry and according to Usher “killed music”.
Now if you’ve seen T-Pain’s Tiny Desk concert or the show ‘The Masked Singer’, you’d know that T-Pain is actually an incredibly naturally talented singer. A talent he puts on full display here with an album full of covers of popular songs and his personal favourites. From Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’, to Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ and the main gobstopper of it all is his cover of Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’. An incredible display of vocal range and control throughout the whole record is outstanding.
Now with a cover record I obviously can’t judge the song writing, but the overall passion and love T-Pain has for these records comes out like a blistering fire in the night. So much care to put his own edge on the track without trampling on the original artist and their song. It’s a fun bundle of covers that is no doubt going to surprise you.
6/10
