The RX

How Saba Found The True Meaning Of Wealth With His New Album, ‘Few Good Things’

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Saba Few Good Things Interview
C.T. Robert

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Things are looking up for Saba. On the Chicago rapper’s last album, Care For Me, he came to grips with the trauma of losing his cousin and Pivot Gang bandmate John Walt to street violence, and in the last two years, he’s seen another member of the crew, Squeak, fall victim as well. So, you’d be forgiven for being surprised that his first new effort in three years, Few Good Things, takes a completely opposite tack compared to its predecessor.

This was intentional, as I learned during a Zoom call with Saba to discuss the new project and all he’s done since Care For Me became a fan favorite. That album, he says, is “so personal that it’s like my fans and people who are fans of that album, they now have an emotional connection to those songs and those lyrics in that time period. So going into this album, there’s something that you have to accept as an artist and that’s that once people develop an emotional connection and it’s not just an objective connection to something, that’ll be your best album regardless of what you do.”

This is why he approached Few Good Things as an “anti-Care For Me.” Creative decisions that would work for one wouldn’t work for another, so Saba had to reverse the formula that made Care For Me such a success – a risky move which he acknowledged, accepting that fans’ reception of the new work could go the other way as well. “Every decision we made on [Care For Me], how do we make the opposite decision on this one while still being original and organic and authentic to who I am? Because Care For Me is such a part of me, but also Few Good Things is a fuller scope of who I am.”

As Saba points out, there were as many years between those two albums as there were between his initial breakout on Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap mixtape and Care For Me. The same level of growth and evolution is evident, as well, although he sticks close to his roots as one of the products of Chicago’s Young Chicago Authors open mics. Those same open mics produced city standouts like Chance, Mick Jenkins, Noname, and the rest of Saba’s Pivot Gang crew Joseph Chilliams, Frsh Waters, MFnMelo, and John Walt. That sound – effortlessly complex, full of heady wordplay and surprising, off-kilter cadences – remains an anchor point for the 13 songs on Few Good Things, while Saba makes an effort to expand the sound beyond the muddled, rainy palette of his prior work.

For instance, on “Fearmonger,” produced by Pivot mainstays Daoud and Daedae, a bright bassline underpins a stripped-down instrumental as Saba meditates on the nature of the near-constant anxiety that comes with growing up at the lower end of the income spectrum – and seeing that course slowly reverse through his own precarious efforts. Not only does the song represent a hard left turn from the introspective material he’s best known for, but he also shared it as the first single from the album as an intentional bid to reset fans’ expectations ahead of time.

“We dropped ‘Fearmonger’ first because it’s the most sonically opposite of the entire Care For Me album,” he explains. “I wanted to scare people, I wanted them to not be sure how they felt about it and that to me is what pushes sonic boundaries, especially in hip-hop.” He offers an even wider perspective, pointing out that, “it’s a lot of monotony, it’s a lot of the same, so I think when I do a record like ‘Fearmonger,’ I want to put that out and push that because there’s an individualistic approach to the conception of that record. So, some fans might hear that and not understand how to listen to it but based on fan-hood and them wanting to like it — because fans want to like the music — some of them will listen until they do like it. And I think that’s how music’s meant to be listened to.”

Putting out a song called “Fearmonger” in the hopes of scaring people out of complacency – and doing so so completely fearlessly – is a bold move, but the rollout for this project is full of them. In addition to the album, Saba has shot a short film, also titled Few Good Things, hoping to capture the spirit of the music. He also betrays next to no apprehension about switching disciplines, instead displaying the same bold confidence with which he talks about juking fans’ expectations.

“I think the cool part of being able to play music, but music specifically that is lyric-based, is that we’re able to use our language to set scenes,” he explains. “We can make our language really visual, and I think that’s one of the elements that make telling personal stories, firsthand, telling things that are valuable to me, I think that’s one of the things that makes it unique. It makes people connect to it, but I think it’s always been, with our writing style, it’s always been really visual.” That skill, he says, is critical to making the leap into a visual medium. “When we started really locking in and working on this album, the director of this film, C.T. Robert, was really close,” he says.

“Every song that got done, he got immediately. We talked. We had full conversations, pretty much every time anything new got added to the mix, where we broke down family stuff. We broke down the lyrics. We broke down everything so that it was really open, in terms of the writing of the film, while also the writing of the album was happening simultaneously.” However, he’s still not sure how he feels about the movie or the album, yet, because they’re not out there in the world where viewers and listeners can consume them – his one concession to the artistic anxiety he’s been able to somehow escape throughout the process.

“I think I’ll experience that the day of the screening, the day it’s public, the day everybody is able to see it,” he says, “because that’s the day that it’s going to feel like, ‘Alright. This is real. This is tangible. We’ve released this.’ I’m so used to having things months and months and months in advance that it almost is imaginary until it’s released. This album, even Few Good Things, it’s been music that has been done for months and months and months. So, to finally be releasing it next week now, it’s just a crazy, crazy, crazy feeling.”

As far as what he wants those fans and consumers to take away from the concept of Few Good Things, he offers a few examples of the things that have become important to him and sustained him through the tough times that aren’t even all that far in the rearview. “One thing that I got from these last couple of years is time,” he observes. “I got a lot of my time back, and in having that time, you’re able to realize how valuable just that is. Just being able to spend your time how you want and not having to make choices based on necessity and survival and all of this other shit, but just how would you spend your day if you could spend your day how you wanted to spend it and that’s what true wealth equates to.”

Few Good Things is out 2/4 via Pivot Gang, LLC. You can pre-save here.

Cordae Wears His Wisdom Well On The Expansive ‘From A Bird’s Eye View’

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Cordae 'From A Bird's Eye View' Review
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz / Atlantic

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

As Cordae promoted From A Bird’s Eye View, a motif that repeated itself throughout his interviews and explanations for the newly released album was growth. In an interview with Billboard, he said, “I actually have to live life and go through some sh*t. Sometimes I have to go through tragedy, and I just transmute that through songs. Every song [on this album] has an exact memory and experience into creating it.”

The album’s title has been of particular note. Asked over and over again about its meaning, Cordae’s answer, that it means taking a step back and putting things into perspective, has shifted and evolved over the course of the month-long rollout as he molds and polishes it in real-time. It’s the same answer that he gave during a special preview stream weeks before the album was released, but more worn-in, like a baseball glove after catching a few hundred pitches.

So too is the familiar-sounding music on the album. In comparison to Cordae’s Grammy-nominated debut album The Lost Boy, these songs are similarly warm and nostalgic, but now they feel weathered and sometimes even a little world-weary. At 24, Cordae’s seen some more things, accomplished some more things, and yes, lost some more things, translating all of that into music that feels much more like himself. On The Lost Boy, he was new to stardom and the music industry, molding the album to represent this shaky footing. On From A Bird’s Eye View, he’s broken through to a new level of comfort, letting him do what he wants to do.

The most obvious difference between the two albums is the lack of jarring tonal shifts as he bids for radio play. Bird’s Eye eschews the commercial bids of “Have Mercy” and “Broke As F*ck” to allow Cordae to focus on the soulful, reminiscent songs he seemed to prefer even as he still bore the YBN moniker that represented allegiance to a stylistic concept he was apparently thinking beyond. The true gems of his debut included reflective ballads like “Thanksgiving” and “Family Matters”; on his latest, he retains those moods on “Momma’s Hood” and “C Carter.”

The latter finds him waxing nostalgic, recalling when “I used to dream about a new Hummer / Back when G.O.O.D. Music dropped Cruel Summer.” He uses this humble imagery to illustrate the difference in his current circumstances, both materially and spiritually. “I wrote this song in LA, I was driving my Benz,” he wonders. However, it hasn’t all been roses. On “Momma’s Hood” he questions, “Why they had to kill my n**** over a few little pounds?” referring to his childhood friend who was murdered just months before he had completed the new album. This was just after he returned from a trip to Africa – something he probably couldn’t have imagined as a teen growing up in Suitland, Maryland. One reality was closer than the other; he’s since experienced both, which has to be one hell of a head trip.

Another similarity between the two albums is the guest appearances. Cordae has a gift for attracting older, established artists with fascinating contrasts to his own style and outlook, but a similar passion for elevated rapping. Replacing standouts like Anderson .Paak, Chance The Rapper, and Pusha T are similarly impressive adherents to the bars-first philosophy that seems to drive Cordae himself: Eminem, Freddie Gibbs, and Lil Wayne all appear here, all seemingly pushed by their host to deliver scintillating verses. Even Em restrains himself, sounding serious, if not revitalized – at the very least, he doesn’t derail the track. This time around, Cordae also surrounds himself with generational contemporaries as well, employing Gunna, Lil Durk, and Roddy Ricch to varying effects. Roddy demonstrates the clearest chemistry with Cordae on “Gifted,” the single being relegated to bonus track status along with Eminem feature “Parables (Remix).”

While Cordae sticks largely to his strengths on this album, letting his guests offer up the variety that removing obvious playlist bids forgoes, it’d be nice to see him stepping out of his comfort zone a little more often. “Gifted” is the clearest standout alongside “Chronicles,” but his priority on showing off his rhyming led him to release “Super” and “Sinister” as singles instead. There’s nothing wrong with either, but neither shows off his star power as obviously as “Chronicles” or sticks emotionally like “C Carter.”

Likewise, as he gains experience, his reliance on bars referencing fellatio is something I would hope he phases out. They’re always jarring in the midst of his rhymes sharing hard-won wisdom or philosophizing on the nature of his come-up (and, not for nothing, they feel especially awkward when considering his relationship with superstar tennis player Naomi Osaka. The lines might not be about her specifically but it’s weird nonetheless. Woman’s a champion athlete and businesswoman who deserves a little more gentlemanly consideration, I say.). But From A Bird’s Eye View is exactly the sort of sophomore album you want from an artist like Cordae… in looking back at his experiences, he’s begun to realize the road map to a bright future.

From A Bird’s Eye View is out now via Atlantic. Stream it here.

On ‘Dawn FM,’ The Weeknd Learns That Even If There’s No Afterlife, He Must Face Tomorrow

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The Weeknd 'Dawn FM' review
The Weeknd/Ralph Ordaz

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

There’s simply creating music and then there’s creating your own world with it. The Weeknd excels at the former by doing the latter. This has been clear since the drug-driven, sex-steered, and lovelorn Trilogy that launched him into the spotlight, to the cinematic and emotional rollercoaster that is After Hours which further cemented his stardom. Dawn FM, his sixth full-length album, is another example of that. It bears a cover that flaunts the singer as a grey-haired old man who may finally be growing tired of the overzealous and carefree lifestyle that proved to be as much of a theme in his own life as it did in his music. If exhaustion hasn’t arrived for The Weeknd, consider the whitened beard as a sign of the wisdom he’s attained for those who operate like him.

Dawn FM is much more than the morning-after companion to After Hours, it’s a project that captures The Weeknd wrestling with his vices and how they affect him and those around him. Dare I say it, but as listeners, we watch the realities of life dawn on the singer and force him to accept what is real and not what he wants. The Weeknd wants to have his cake and eat it too, but unfortunately for his interests, that can’t be the case. The nighttime fun that’s filled with bright lights, drinking beyond reasonable measure, and a drug intake that toes the edge of a cliff, turns out to be a bit duller the following day as the sun and a hangover rise together.

On his sixth album, The Weeknd, more than ever before, sees that diving headfirst into life’s exhilarating thrills doesn’t always satisfy him in the end. The empty feeling he hopes to fill within remains incomplete because deep down, he knows these momentary highs won’t fill the void he wants them to. Nonetheless, he tries, but his attempts see him convincing others to compromise for his ways, rather than meeting them in the middle. On “How Do I Make You Love Me?” he pleads for a lover to enter his psychedelic world in order to understand him better and even gain something of their own for herself. Unfortunately, all that results in is her fascination for residing at the edge of life and death on “Take My Breath” and constantly seeking The Weeknd’s help in bringing her there.

Then comes the decision to keep his daytime love and his nighttime revel separate, as The Weeknd doubles down on his need to enjoy all the good and bad fruits of the world. “Every time you try to fix me,” he quips over funky house production on “Sacrifice,” “I know you’ll never find that missing piece.” The Weeknd’s self-improvements will always come from within as no outside force has enough power to alter his behavior. Take “Gasoline” for example. On this track, which is carried by dance-pop and EDM production, The Weeknd’s lover is presented as more of a bedside nurse than a romantic companion. They’re tasked with keeping him alive in order for him to repeatedly succumb to his vices. “You spin me ‘round so I can breathe,” he sings, later adding, “I know you won’t let me OD.” It’s also on this record that he admits to being a nihilist, which adequately explains his day-to-day approach. This nonchalance behind his decisions — which is motivated by his irreligious attitude towards the afterlife — doesn’t last forever. The Weeknd quickly learns that even if there’s no afterlife, he will always have to face tomorrow.

As expected, The Weeknd’s flawed lifestyle quickly catches up to him, leaving him to wonder if the chaos of it all is really worth it. The time that he has left to finally do right by his lover reaches zero on “Out Of Time,” leaving him empty-handed and with no one to call his own. Karma, a supreme being of its own, supplies The Weeknd with a taste of his own disloyal medicine on “Is There Someone Else?” and “I Heard You’re Married.” Even when he applies his grey-haired wisdom to his own life to learn from his mistakes, he ends up facing the same roadblocks that he did before. Calm and reminiscent production are at the helm on “Here We Go… Again” with Tyler The Creator as The Weeknd slips into love again. “Life’s a dream / ‘Cause it’s never what it seems,” he croons with a starlit spirit. “But you’d rather love and lost with tears / Then never love at it all.” Just a song later on “Best Friend,” this optimism comes crashing down when The Weeknd’s new love interest ruins their friends-with-benefits agreement by seeking more casual intimacy from the singer.

For a man who was quite against the idea of the afterlife at the beginning of Dawn FM, The Weeknd arrives at a new conclusion with help from Jim Carrey. On “Phantom Regret By Jim,” Carrey suggests that the idea of an afterlife and heaven are something that can be found internally, rather than it being a singular location somewhere in the clouds. “Heaven’s for those who let go of regret,” he says before adding, “You gotta be Heaven to see Heaven.” On Dawn FM, The Weeknd stands firm on his disbelief of the traditional afterlife, but he also loosens his grip on a life filled with revel. He realizes that even when there’s no fear towards what awaits him when he dies, the morning after, just like the afterlife, presents consequences he may not want to face.

Dawn FM is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Gunna Shines When He Branches Out On The Slickly-Executed ‘DS4EVER’

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Gunna DS4EVER Review
Atlantic

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

In my review of Gunna’s last album, 2020’s Wunna, I wrote that he does just enough things right to warrant multiple listens and his inclusion in the debate over the best trap rappers. It has nearly been two years since then, but it has felt longer with a global pandemic, an attempted insurrection, and a half dozen natural disasters that have made finding moments of pure joy imperative to get through the slog. Gunna’s new album DS4EVER has become one of those bright spots for many fans, again showing just enough artistic evolution to shine even in comparison to his last effort.

Don’t expect to hear very much topical material, though. While Gunna has expanded the scope of his philanthropy over the past few years, even earning recognition from his hometown for his community-building efforts, his music remains focused on flaunting the trappings of wealth. He shines the most, though, when he stretches outside the boundaries of his comfort zone. On the illuminating “Livin Wild,” he details a harrowing near-death experience which contrasts sharply with the flexes of the album’s first four tracks.

“I just left the hospital, might need another liver,” he admits. “Kidney failures, I tell you this sh*t couldn’t be no realer.” Gunna’s occasional substance abuse has been no secret but here he both reveals the inherent struggles and defiantly challenges detractors while referring to specific incidents from the past year. “I been getting high inconsistent, but you tryna show me different,” he raps. “Judging me for trying the whippets, I’m tired of the critics.”

Meanwhile, the vulnerable streak continues on the Jon B-sampling “You & Me” featuring Gunna’s maybe-girlfriend Chloe Bailey. A stark departure from his usual attitude toward romance — even elsewhere on this very album — “You & Me” finds Gunna waxing idealistic about the possibility of finding and keeping love. “I get selfish with you, babe, you mine, all mine,” he gushes. “Keep it solid, don’t tell lies / She one thousand with me and the best of all time.” Wisely, though, he keeps the track short, letting the sweetness have its moment before moving on to more pressing concerns.

With Gunna and the rest of his cohorts, you know it’s all about the money. From the opening track “Private Island,” DS4EVER finds Gunna sticking quite firmly to his guns. “Poochie Gown,” “A Lotta Money,” “25K Jacket,” and “Too Easy” — which features Future as well as a remix with frequent Gunna collaborator Roddy Ricch — are the standouts and the likely fan favorites here, containing effervescent boasts and thrilling production from the usual Atlanta trap rap suspects, Metro Boomin, Southside, and Wheezy. Here is where the album departs from the usual formula, however, with each of these producers taking a harder-edged approach to the usual melodic, fuzzy instrumentation they’ve employed on prior projects.

This gives Gunna the opportunity to play with a fresher delivery style. While fans have probably become accustomed to the singsong delivery Gunna has used on standout projects like Lil Baby joint project Drip Harder, Wunna, and 2021’s YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, on DS4EVER, he often fires off a more clipped cadence, biting off the ends of words like Red Vines to emphasize the more forceful beats like “Mop” and “IDK That Bitch” with G Herbo. He even tries his hand at cooking up his own slang like mentor Young Thug on “Pushin P,” which finds Gunna, Future, and Young Thug employing a slurred, foggy take on the old-school in-and-out, pass-the-mic flow.

Although Gunna only takes a few steps into new territory, he executes well enough on the familiar material to justify hanging back from making any big artistic leaps. After all, he knows what his fans want, and he’s been clear from day one that he considers his job delivering on those expectations rather than making big statements — he leaves that work to his increasingly elaborate wardrobe and burgeoning philanthropic efforts. It’d be nice to see him branch out more in the future, but even if he doesn’t, his final Drip Season mixtape offers strong evidence that he’ll at least keep creating the music he’s known for at a high level for a while.

DS4EVER is out now via 300 and Atlantic. Get it here.

Gunna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Roddy Ricch Grows A Lot In A Short Span On The Introspective ‘Live Life Fast’

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roddy ricch live life fast review
Atlantic

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

If there was any knock against Roddy Ricch on his debut album Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, it’s that so much of it sounded like somebody else. He wasn’t shy about wearing his influences on his sleeve. Whether he sounded like Young Thug or he sounded like Lil Wayne, much of Antisocial was the sound of an artist who’d arrived at the highest echelon of rap stardom — thanks in large part to the dominant single “The Box” and his affiliation with Nipsey Hussle on “Racks In The Middle” — still figuring out who he wanted to be.

On his new album, Live Life Fast, not only is he a year removed from his debut and the furor surrounding it but he has also had, like many of us, a year away from the routines of life. He’s had time to contemplate himself, his newfound fame, his role in the world, the effects of the traumas he spent most of that album describing. That sort of self-reflection is rarely afforded to artists of Roddy’s standing and trajectory, and the results are, if nothing else, intriguing to hear.

Admittedly, without having any record as immediately explosive as “The Box” on Live Life Fast, the new project is likely to be a much slower-burning sort of hit, one driven by its multi-layered songwriting and production inspiring repeat listens rather than the massive success of one or two singles that strangle radio and playlists for months on end. He still alternates between that yowling, yelping, strained vocal delivery and the clipped, terse rhythmic one throughout the new album, but he’s got some new things to say.

Time and adversity have a way of shifting your perspective but usually, in hip-hop, we don’t get so much of it all at once. The end result is a more introspective version of Roddy on tracks like “Crash The Party,” on which he rhymes, “The tour life got me in light so I can see / I ain’t never choose this shit, it came to me.” When the song ends on a contemplative recollection of a low point in his life walking through some of the most dangerous hoods in Compton (if you know, you know), he truly conveys the sense of how far he’s come — and how bewildering it can be for someone who once defined his world’s borders by a quartet of freeways.

Here also, rather than aping his influences, he salutes them while striving to distinguish himself as his own unique artist. There are nods to Kanye West’s productions on album intro “LLF” which borrows the hook from Rick Ross’ “Live Fast, Die Young” and the prelude to “Slow It Down,” which brings in Jamie Foxx to reprise his monologue on Kanye’s “Slow Jamz.” Instead of adopting Fivio Foreign’s flow on the New York drill swing “Murda One,” he wrangles the track to his own will, resulting in a better drill track than most New Yorkers have managed in the past two years.

The production here has an expansive, eclectic quality; check out the jazz riffing on “Moved to Miami” with Lil Baby, which lends the gritty content a luxurious sheen. However, Roddy still proves to be adept at coming up with catchy hooks over bouncy, trap-forward stuff as well. On “Don’t I” with frequent collaborator and fellow Thugger student Gunna, Roddy raps some of his cleverest lines, boasting, “Had to put some privacy trees around the villa ’cause I know the nеighbors too nosey,” and dissing “Chatty Patties” on the internet.

All of this growth, of course, bears with it the risk of throwing off fans who perhaps expected more epic production in the vein of “The Box” or Antisocial closer “War Baby,” or lyrics that reflected the itchy, paranoid vibe of the prior album. Instead, they’ll hear Roddy’s thoughts on growing in a relationship, becoming a father, and experiencing real wealth without the penitentiary chances that defined his early output. To those fans, I’d say: Give Roddy’s latest a chance, and it might change your mind as much as its process has apparently changed Roddy.

Live Life Fast is out now via Atlantic. Listen to it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’ Displays High-Class Showmanship Through An Infectious Spectacle

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Silk Sonic Grammys 2021
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Silk Sonic’s origin story dates back to the European leg of Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic Tour. Anderson .Paak served as the opening act for the string of shows and it’s here that Silk Sonic’s funky, free-spirited roots were planted. More than four years later, the tourmates-turned-good-friends delivered what will undoubtedly be one of 2021’s most memorable albums with An Evening With Silk Sonic. This brief, but rich musical experience, is birthed out of a few things: Bruno and .Paak’s trajectory in their careers, the combination of their respective inspirations, and a schedule that was unexpectedly freed up due to the coronavirus pandemic.

An Evening With Silk Sonic is a unique spectacle that Bruno and .Paak were kind enough to release in a format that allows us to infinitely experience this magic. From the very moment that the curtains open and Bootsy Collins’ ethereal voice seeps out, Silk Sonic coasts with no regard for distractions and an incredible display of showmanship. Collins’ multiple appearances on An Evening With Silk Sonic are key as it’s an endorsement that requires both acknowledgment and respect. Bootsy Collins, who rose to fame beside James Brown, stands as one of the front names in funk’s history. That’s on top of inductions to the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as well as being recognized as one of the top bassists of all time.

That’s exactly what makes An Evening With Silk Sonic so special. The idea that a mere collection of jam sessions beautifully produced a body of work created in the glory of greats from the 1970s. “After Last Night,” which supplies help from Thundercat and Bootsy Collins, balances sensual and soulful with funky and yearnful. Bruno and .Paak lay stomach-flat with feet to the sky on cloud nine after an unforgettable experience with the woman of their dreams. “If I still had my phone, I’d call every girl I know / And tell them goodbye,” the duo sings blinded by love. “Cars, clothes, diamonds, and gold / Anything you want, any place you want.” This dramatic account of surefire love after one encounter is soon greeted with an equally-dramatic display of despair and sadness on “Smokin’ Out The Window” after both singers find out their newfound romance is nothing but a sham. That’s exactly how Silk Sonic’s show is supposed to be: exaggerated, hyperbolic, and melodramatic. It’s a quality that .Paak solidifies on that song. “Look here, baby I hope you find whatever it is that you need,” he says. “But I also hope your triflin’ ass is walking ‘round barefoot in these streets!”

The theatrics behind Silk Sonic’s new album, when taken from the viewpoint of Bruno and .Paak’s respective discographies, is a clash of 24K Magic and Yes Lawd!. The intentional blast to the past intertwines itself with dressed to the nines cockiness on An Evening With Silk Sonic. .Paak leads a ridiculously confident and infectiously good declaration of self-excellence on “Fly As Me,” one that also crowns a lucky woman with a top-notch title of her own. “I’m tryna love, is you gon’ love me back?” .Paak quips on the track. Towards the backend of the album, Silk Sonic gets lost in gambling and the other addicting aspects of Las Vegas on “777.” If you needed any proof that Bruno and .Paak could be the life of the party, “777” is both evidence of that and an enticing invitation to join them in some high-risk/high-reward fun.

A large part of Silk Sonic’s success lives behind the scenes. Critically-acclaimed producers and songwriters James Fauntleroy and D’Mile live within the notes of the album. Fauntleroy co-wrote three of the album’s nine songs while D’Mile co-wrote and co-produced each one in addition to delivering background vocals and contributions to the project’s instrumentation. Furthermore, Babyface’s contribution to “Put On A Smile,” a song dedicated to putting on a front through heartbreak, as well as that from others throughout the album, are notable in their own right. Together, they emphasize Bruno and .Paak’s strive to make An Evening With Silk Sonic as perfect and flawless as possible. The freedom of the album’s jam session contributes to the rawness and true spirit of the project while help from the industry’s best ensure that its rough edges aren’t too sharp.

Long story short, Silk Sonic did it. An Evening With Silk Sonic is fun, charismatic, and ambitious in all the best ways. Sure, the sonics of this project aren’t particularly new, but it’s a change in the wind direction in today’s R&B/soul landscape. And yes, maybe the album could’ve been a bit longer, but according to D’Mile every song Silk Sonic and company created appears on the album, except one. Bruno and .Paak gave us everything that had for their first collaborative effort. Soon enough, fans from all over will be able to spend an evening with Silk Sonic when the duo (hopefully) goes on tour. Once that comes to an end, An Evening With Silk Sonic will be capsuled as a moment in time for years to come. So let’s enjoy the great music and make room for the memories that will arrive with it because An Evening With Silk Sonic won’t be forever.

An Evening With Silk Sonic is out now via Atlantic/Aftermath. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Summer Walker’s ‘Still Over It’ Captures The Regret Of A Love That Crashed And Burned

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Summer Walker 'Still Over It' review
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

The key to fully understanding the position Summer Walker finds herself in on her new album Still Over It is to remember where she left off. Every story has a prologue, and for Summer, that would be “Nobody Else,” the vulnerable confession towards love that closed her debut album Over It. “I want this, I want this to work out so bad / God, I feel it in my chest at night,” she begs on the track. “I want this, I want this, yeah, yeah / Will never fall out of love with you.” As we all know now, Summer’s wishes went unfulfilled, and while this step into love eventually tore her heart apart, it also gave the world what shaped up to be her magnum opus with Still Over It.

Cardi B says it best at the end of “Bitter.” “Put that drama in your music,” the rapper advises Summer while telling her to not “let b*tches… feel like they have a one-up by destroying your moment by telling your business to the world.” For better or for worse, the best way to regain control of a narrative for a successful musician like Summer is to make that best music of your life, and that’s what is present on Still Over It. Through the project’s 20 songs, Summer issues responses to women that interfered with her relationship, onlookers who questioned her decisions without knowing the entire story, and the very man who caused her heartbreak and destroyed the love she hoped would last a lifetime.

On Still Over It, Summer excellently reinforces that despite the whirlpool of controversy, turmoil, and toxicity that her relationship drowned in, her true desire was a love that was offertory rather than transactional. “All I wanted was for you to stay / It’s the bare minimum for me,” she bellows on “Reciprocate.” “I don’t wanna throw it all away / It’s a good thing, it’s a good thing.” It’s this standard reciprocation, which she asks of her partner and fails to receive, that drives her into a pit of sadness and regret. “You should know my mind by now / And it don’t seem to matter how many times I try,” Summer sings on “You Don’t Know Me” in disenchanted spirits. “But I cry, I say it nice / Yell it out loud, write it down, I’m tired.” It’s tracks like these where Summer uses tender production and her best songwriting to cast her pain through a projector to the world, one so big that it allows all the necessary details of her story to exist and roam free for listeners to digest.

As we progress further and further into Summer’s sophomore album, she’s forced to loosen her resistance towards letting go of a love that once made her melt. Through records like “Insane,” “Constant Bullsh*t,” and “Unloyal” with Ari Lennox, Summer almost jumps out of the moving car that is her relationship, but the unknown dangers that await her once she takes that dive delay this long-overdue exit. The man in question is London On Da Track, the father of her first child, and on “Switch A N***a Out” she uses sheer honesty to explain why she stayed beside him much longer than she should have. “’Cause I don’t want nobody, nobody else but you,” she sings, referencing her Over It closer. “And I used to be on my replacin’ sh*t / I would switch a n**** out so damn quick / If he ain’t gettin’ with my sh*t / But it just ain’t like that with you.”

Just like it would for anyone else, Summer reaches her breaking point through the last third of the album. After failed moments to fully shut the door on “Closure,” “Toxic,” and “Screwin,” Summer finally issues the grand closing for a love that she realizes was truly never meant to be. It brings forth some of the most painful and heartbreaking lyrics on the album. “Cause my heart is breakin,’” she bellows on “Broken Promises.” “I’ve been mistaken / You’re not the man I thought you were / And they tried to warn me.” Another example arrives on “Session 33.” “’Cause a house is not a home when no one’s there,” she notes. “So alone, no one’s there / Should I move on since no one’s here? / You know what you got is good, that’s why you refuse to let me walk out your life.”

Calling Still Over It Summer’s true villain story might be taking things a bit too far. Even her most ruthless moments, like dragging London and his mother on “4th Baby Mama,” seem well-deserved for a woman who was left to spend her “whole f*cking pregnancy alone.” In a perfect world, the happiness Summer exhibited to close Over It was still supposed to be alive and well on her sophomore project. A true love story and a child to raise with this forever partner should’ve been the narrative for her second album. Things were supposed to be different, but to her disappointment, that was not the case. Summer has grown as a singer, songwriter, and overall artist set on bringing her vision to life. However, until she receives the love she truly deserves, Summer Walker will still be over it.

Still Over It is out now via LVRN/Interscope. Get it here.

Maxo Kream Will Never Buckle Under The ‘Weight Of The World’

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The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

There are only so many people in the world that deal with pressure as Maxo Kream does. Through projects like 2018’s Punken, 2019’s Brandon Banks, and now Weight Of The World, the rapper reveals the causes o these pressures as well as what often pushes him through them. In an interview with Complex’s Andre Gee, he explained how the three albums relate to each other and further his goal of helping fans understand what goes on in his world. “I feel like Brandon Banks coming after Punken allowed my fans to understand Punken more,” he said. “So now, with this one, you’ll understand what’s going on from Brandon Banks, like where I left off.”

Throughout Weight Of The World, Maxo delivers clarity for his previous work, as well as clarity towards his current position and his hopeful future. The album presents a man who must balance the multiple worlds he’s immersed in as a family man, supportive friend, experienced gang member, and rapper, as well as the responsibility that arrives when these worlds collide — intentionally or not. He details the collision of the streets and family through the tragic death of his brother Mmadu, which he details on “Trips,” and his success as a rapper providing a better lifestyle for his family and friends, allowing them to live a life away from danger. His hopeful future is captured on “Mama’s Purse” when he raps, “I was tryna buy her love, but I really made it worse / Put a price tag on her love but can’t afford how much it’s worth.” Behind the tough persona lives a man who yearns to provide greener pastures filled with “greener knots” to his inner circle, even if the cost is more than he ever imagined.

While Brandon Banks covered Maxo’s childhood, growth, and his clashes with both loved ones (his father specifically) and the streets, on Weight Of The World, he’s a well-established man with a family of his own in the making. However, now his conflicts are with those who doubt his legitimacy and commitment to the lifestyle he often raps about. On “They Say,” just three songs into the album, he rhymes, “And they say Maxo a b*tch, they say Maxo a h*e / He got rich and he dipped, don’t come around no more / They say he switched on his clique, yeah, he turned on his bros / And he ain’t pimpin’ a b*tch, he out here trickin’ on h*es.” In response, Maxo sets the record straight with a menacing display of his receipts. “Like we ain’t slang that rock for paper, totin’ scissors,” he quips. “Told you worked n****s ass off so how I owe you n****? / ‘Cross the globe, took you to my shows, done bought poles for n****s.” In Maxo’s eyes, there’s more than enough proof that he’s carried the weight of the world for people, making his doubters’ attempts to rewrite history a sure failure.

To a certain extent, Maxo insists on facing the world’s pressures rather than finding a way to diminish them. It could be because this path, as dangerous and as ruthless as it’s been, has given him everything he wanted in life and more. It’s what allows him to rap this on “Big Persona” with Tyler The Creator: “Eight figure n****, no more section 8 / Moved momma out the hood / We ain’t doin good, b*tch, we doin great.” Even when people in his inner circle beg for him to detach himself from the risks, as his mom and preacher do on “Streets Alone,” Maxo’s only response is to double down.

Maxo Kream is more than deserving of a moment to breathe freely in a world without danger. Unfortunately, it appears that Maxo was born into a world where peril lurks around the corner. For Maxo, acquiescing to these dangers is a lot like running away from your own shadow, and that’s something he will never do. “Never ran from a n****, don’t ask if my legs work,” he says on “11:59.” For more than a half-decade, Maxo Kream has explained the many responsibilities, pains, and traumas that rest on his shoulders; on Weight Of The World, the rapper insists on carrying this weight. The ups and downs of the past years gave him the strength to do so, and hasn’t buckled under this weight before, he certainly won’t now.

Weight Of The World is out now via RCA. Get it here.

Lute Centers Growth And Mental Health On His Gorgeous New Album, ‘Gold Mouf’

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Dreamville

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Over the past year, the pandemic utterly upended any number of artists’ plans, forcing many to push back their projects, change them, or abandon them altogether. The latter almost happened to North Carolinian Dreamville artist Lute, who was in the midst of his rollout for his new album Gold Mouf when quarantines and lockdowns forced the shutdown of most of the music industry.

For Lute, it was also the beginning of a months-long depression that had him questioning his place in the game. Sure, he’s signed to Dreamville, the label project founded by fellow North Carolinian J. Cole and modern equivalent to one of the Big Three rap labels back in the day — you know, Roc-A-Fella, Murder Inc., Ruff Ryders — alongside Top Dawg Entertainment and Quality Control. Dreamville is where emerging superstars like Bas, JID, and Ari Lennox have honed their craft over the past several years.

It’s also where Lute released his own debut album, West1996, back in 2017. But in today’s modern rap landscape, four years is a long time for a new artist to have to wait for a follow-up — even with a standout performance on the Revenge Of The Dreamers III compilation alongside label head J. Cole and another then-burgeoning NC standout, DaBaby. In the meantime, many of his labelmates have released projects and generated buzz for themselves, threatening to turn him into an afterthought of the roster, lost in the wash.

Fortunately, for Lute, Gold Mouf is more than worth it and proves equal to any project from his compatriots, including last year’s Spilligion, which featured Dreamville standouts JID and Earthgang. A vulnerable, confessional, relatable jaunt through the past four years, the project is not just a paean to his personal growth, it’s a beautifully produced, well-sequenced call for us all to check in on our mental health. Songs like “Birdsong” with JID and Chicago rapper Saba unearth lyrical gems from the muck of the past year, while “Changes” featuring BJ The Chicago Kid diagrams survival through myriad struggles.

The secret sauce is sequencing from yet another North Carolina native: Phonte Coleman of Little Brother and Foreign Exchange, who stepped in and offered to help sequence the album and make it the heartstring-pulling affair that it became in preparation of its delayed release. On a Zoom call with Lute, the rapper details the origins of his Gold Mouf< character; discusses the importance of self-care; and reveals his most wild remembrance of the legendary Revenge sessions.

So I guess, what’s been going on with you in those four years? Because you started out in one place, and now you’re in a different place. How have things changed since West1996?

I mean, honestly, it’s just life. Life changed, and life had been the… Just dealing with shit and anxiety and depression, and just everyday life stuff, bro. But at some point, I had to realize that in order for me to move forward with my life, in order for me to move forward with myself just as a man and as a human being, I got to get control of the things that keep me from blocking my blessings, like my anxiety and depression and stuff.

So just trying to figure out what’s the next step. Once I figured out what it was that I was going through and what I was dealing with, it’s like, “What’s the next step to kind of conquer those things?” And I went through all the steps, to be real with you, every last, even the bad steps. So just living and learning, man. That’s all. That’s all this album is really about is living and learning and holding yourself accountable.

Yes, sir. No, I certainly do hear that all over the album, especially on the joint with BJ and the joint with JID and Saba. Those were very beautiful songs. I want to talk about where this Gold Mouf character comes from because I don’t think that I’ve really been able to find a lot about the origin of it, why this was your-

Well, for me, I’ll put it to you like this. How can I explain it? Have you ever seen Nutty Professor?

Yes, sir.

So Gold Mouf is, to me, what Buddy Love is to Professor Klump. I deal with anxiety and depression and shit like that. So for me, Gold Mouf is like my highest level of confidence. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a mask, but another persona of myself that’s like top tier. And then on Instagram, I’ll be messing around sometimes. I call myself “Big Ugly.” So Big Ugly is like my low self-esteem type sh*t, and Gold Mouf is like me at my highest. So when I feel like my best, I feel like I take on the role of Gold Mouf, kind of like how Clark goes in the booth, and he turns into Superman.

Absolutely. One of the things that, I guess, struck me was this album had a very interesting release, right? Because you started the rollout in March last year (with “Getting Every Dollar“), and I was gearing up. I was like, “Yo.” I was talking to the people like, “Yo, let me get on the phone with Lute.” And then just, nothing happened, because everything shut down.

And that was also the beginning of me going through my depression, so that kind of slowed everything down. The pandemic hit, then I went through my depression. So everything really slowed down for me. And I realized that I was so used to moving that by the time the pandemic hit and it slowed everything down, all my traumas and everything that I was running from, or everything that I didn’t heal from, caught up to me.

It was easy to go through something and be like, “Well, I ain’t got to worry about it right now, because I got to go on tour.” Or, “I ain’t got to worry about that, because I got this show.” Or, “I ain’t going to worry about that, because I got to be at the studio.” But when all that shit shut down and you ain’t got nothing to do, now, you got to figure all that out. And then I lost my cousin during the pandemic, not to COVID though, due to gun violence. And I lost a childhood friend of mine. I almost lost my dad as well.

So a couple of other things happened that kind of set me down in a little spiral, and I just had to pick myself back up. I had to find a way to get back in the game. But for a minute, I was kind of tapped out. I didn’t think I was even going to finish the project. I thought that was just about to be the end for me. “I think I’m done. I think I did what I could. I did the best I could. And now, I think I’m just going to gracefully bow out.” But I felt like that was like me being defeated talking, and I kind of had to get that out of my head and just get my ass back up. I had to get back up. I had to get back in the game.

Well, I’m glad you’re still here, man. I’m glad you stood up because it was worth the wait. One of my parts of the early rollout was when you were doing the “Gold Mouf Chronicles” videos, which I thought were hilarious and very on point with the Wish Sandwich and the Lute Ross ones. What was the origin of this funny thing? In the process of doing it, did it reveal anything about your creative process to you?

I’m a very introverted person. But when you get to know me, I can be a super funny guy. I’m easy to talk to when I’m comfortable and I’m around people that I’m comfortable being around. So the “Gold Mouf Chronicles” was a way just to show my personality outside of my anxiety and me being or seeming very introverted. We felt like that was a good way to showcase my personality.

As far as the actual album is concerned, I know that as a North Carolina native, it meant a lot to you that it was executive produced and sequenced by members of Little Brother.

Oh no, for sure. Well, see Pooh is my manager.

I didn’t know that.

Yeah. Pooh’s my manager, and it was just a blessing for them to put a verse on. Because I chopped it up with Phonte a few times but when it came to album time, it was a blessing that they were able to put a verse on there for me. And the fact that Phonte wanted to sequence it, … If Phonte asks to sequence some shit, hell yeah. I’m not going to say no to that.

It definitely passed the car test.

You know, when Phonte passed it to Pooh, and Pooh gave it to me to listen to, to see what I liked or didn’t like about it, man, I almost shed a tear, because I worked on most of the project out here in LA. But I finished the rest of the half of it back home in Carolina. So when I was out here in LA, we were working in a studio almost every day. I had no idea what I had. I was just going into the studio, venting about the sh*t that I was going through and what I was dealing with. But when Phonte sequenced it, I had no idea. I didn’t even realize that I was building a story the whole time.

And the way he sequenced it, it’s like, “Man, this sh*t is beautiful as hell.” Because the way it’s sequenced is the way my life went. It’s like, I started off very optimistic about shit. Then you go through life, and you start dealing with shit. And then towards the end and coming out of my depression and shit, I realized that I love who I am. I love the person that I am. I love what I’m doing, and I love the direction that I’m going.

People don’t really realize how important sequencing is to how good albums are.

But that’s why I was very, very appreciative that Phonte wanted to sequence the album, because me, I’m the type of person when I drop bodies of work or projects, they tell a story, and that’s on purpose. I don’t want to have an album where you go through, and you’re just shuffling through this sh*t. I want you to listen to it from top to bottom. And sometimes, granted, you just still do, but at least you get the storyline. I want you to feel some sh*t after you listen to my album. I want you to experience something. I want you to have an experience. That’s why I love Kendrick’s albums, because they gave you a little story, and it just makes you experience sh*t.

What’s crazy to me is you have Cozz, you have Saba, you have JID, you have Boogie. On Dreamville you rapped alongside J. Cole and DaBaby. You’re surrounded by massive, massive lyricists. Do you find yourself challenging yourself to push harder when you are around these guys?

I don’t feel pressured at all. Only because I write from experience and being myself. I’m not an artist that writes every day or goes to the studio every day. And I sharpen my pen, but I sharpen my pen by living and experiencing and being present in my life. My inspiration comes from my day-to-day life. I was telling somebody the other day, even when I’m having a bad day, that sh*t sucks, but at the same time, when I really look at it, it’s going to make for a good song later.

I feel like at the end of the day, the only person I’m trying to be better than is myself. I’m trying to grow, I’m trying to learn and figure out all my quirks and stuff like that. So, as far as pressure… It’s definitely a friendly competition.

I think I’ve actually asked everybody, whoever was at the Dreamville Sessions if they have one good story to tell about the Dreamville sessions.

So much sh*t happened in that span. It’s not a blur, but everything is all jumbled in one. But I will say that the most shocking thing that I’ve seen… coming around the corner, looking over, and Chris Bosh is in the corner making beats and they were f*cking fire. The beats were hard.

So, I like to ask everybody, what’s the ideal outcome of your album rollout because I know everybody’s got different expectations and everybody has different gauges for success.

Just everybody being more self-aware about their mental health and taking more self-care and taking more time for themselves to grow and learn and hold themselves accountable so that we can progress and we can move forward. That’s literally all I wanted out of this album.

I was actually nervous to put this album out because I felt so vulnerable and exposed. But I realized when I was making these songs if I could be more vulnerable and more transparent or myself, then if that could help somebody else and also help me, then everything else out of it is just a blessing. That’s my goal, is just to help people be more aware of mental health.

I’ve made mistakes and I’ve held myself accountable on those things too. I’ve done things the wrong way and I also done things the right way. So, just holding myself accountable and just trying to move forward and grow. That’s really the whole synopsis of everything, man, just trying to f*cking grow and progress.

Gold Mouf is out now via Dreamville and Interscope Records. Get it here.

Young Thug Isn’t Quite A ‘Punk’ On His Latest, But Offers Up Some Of His Most Compelling Music Yet

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The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Leave it to Thugger to continue to push the boundaries of what we should expect from him. After the success of his debut album So Much Fun, you’d think he’d lean further into the simple trap aesthetics that worked so well there, but instead, he takes a drastic stylistic departure akin to his “country” experiment Beautiful Thugger Girls on his latest album, Punk. However, despite its name, Punk is surprisingly low on power chords and rushed drumming, focusing instead on atmospheric, mellow production that sounds almost folksy.

It’s always been Thug’s way to make a left when everyone else expects him to make a right. Consider the mush-mouthed, yet irresistible chorus from 2014’s “Lifestyle” or the sartorially challenging cover from 2016’s Jeffery — both prime examples of Thug’s tendency to zig instead of zag while still adhering to a core of solid trap-rap fundamentals. Punk finds him again experimenting with sound and style but remaining as true as ever to his core aesthetic. In fact, it’s arguably the truest he’s ever been to himself — or at least, the most honest.

Starting with the very first song on the album, “Die Slow,” Thug is more revelatory here than he’s ever been. Over soft, poetry-house guitar strumming, Thug reveals childhood traumas, a prescient political outlook, and almost militant defiance toward being categorized, demeaned, or held back by societal expectations. Elsewhere on the album, the contrarian production leans tender, like some of the most emotive R&B ballads of the last ten years or so. “Insure My Wrist” is the most romantic ode to jewelry that hip-hop has produced in at least that span, which would be borderline surprising if Young Thug didn’t have a well-established history of being Young Thug.

“Love You More” also surprises, with its Nate Ruess and Jeff Bhasker appearances — but then again, it doesn’t, because Thug once sampled Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” sparking a years-long friendship that led to glowing assessments of Thugger’s talent from the knighted one himself. It’s also a gracious rumination on a relationship mostly bereft of Thugger’s usual cartoonish depictions of sex (although there is one line that reads as more considerate than jokey). Again, eyebrow-raising were it not from the same gentlemen whose catalog of hits includes “Best Friend,” a deceptively encouraging self-love anthem.

That isn’t to say he doesn’t go at least a little hardcore. While “Rich N**** Shit” with Juice WRLD is relatively far from Dead Kennedys — they’re philosophically opposite, on top of the sonic differences — the two rappers go for broke over a thumping, bass-turned-to-eleven beat with some good, old-fashion chest-thumping braggadocio. Meanwhile, the moody “Day Before” brings things full-circle with another confessional, ukulele-strumming introspective jam featuring Mac Miller. The punk promise here comes from the revelation that the song was literally recorded just one day before Mac’s tragic passing.

Thug brings out the best of his other guests on Punk, as well — particularly J. Cole, who stops just shy of a Thug impression on “Stressed,” a rejuvenated ASAP Rocky on “Livin It Up,” and Doja Cat on “Icy Hot.” While the tracklist feels excessive at times, the runtime comes across smooth, even with the bloat. As to why it’s called Punk, I think it boils down to Thug’s very personality. He’s always been anti-establishment, even as he slowly but surely became the establishment.

This album is his way of shaking himself loose from the tendency to stagnate and calcify as complacency sets in. He isn’t completely successful — perhaps a few more sonic cues from the rock world could have woken up some of the sleepier melodic songs — but the record is unapologetic, one-hundred-percent Thug. What’s more punk than being yourself? Maybe it’s just being willing to redefine exactly what that means, even if it’s just a little bit at a time.

Punk is out now via Atlantic Records and YSL. Get it here.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.