Top Albums of Summer 2023
Noname drops her third studio album, ‘Sundial’ on August 11th after a 5 year break.
Aux Privileges: ✅
Rating: 8.7/10
It's sad to see summer slowly fleet away, but I've got to give it to summer 2023 for being so generous to my music library. I uncovered some gems from artists I haven't heard from in a minute, a collab album created for an animated masterpiece, and an awaited album from an artist I have been following since his first extended play (EP). These are my top-ranked albums of the summer.
Starting with one of my favorite artists who we haven't heard from in 5 freaking years: Noname!
I was in Trader Joe's frozen aisle when I checked Apple Music and saw that she had dropped her third studio album this weekend and almost shed a tear. I realized how much I missed my girl when the first track started playing.
The album is entitled 'Sundial,' and the cover fits the trend of her past two album covers, which are variations of herself but in different artistic forms.
I was shocked to see that this album cover was the most human-like form of all the covers, and it appears that she was going for a futuristic/aged form of herself with an intergalactic background.
Her flow is poetic and unapologetic (per usual), but I love the samples and beats she chose to rap over on this album. Her choice of instrumentation and overall music production is simplistic and groovy. Listening to it felt like I was transported to a hole-in-wall jazz club in the Bronx with several fire safety regulations being broken with the number of people squished in the space.
Eryn Allen Kane is featured on 'balloons,' which made me ecstatic because Eryn is featured on Reality Check on Noname's first album, which is one of my favorite songs by her.
On her second to last song on the album, she wraps over a gospel song with $ilkMoney, billy woods, and STOUT, the prettiest song on the album.
The other featured artists on the album are Jimetta Rose and Voices of Creation, Jay Electronica, Ayoni, and Common.
I definitely will check out all the featured artists on this album because Noname has introduced me to many artists I now listen to regularly from her previous projects, such as Raury, Xavier Omär, and Rayvn Lenae. Noname's feature choices seem to be based on genre and flow compatibility and not much on popularity which I admire.
She's not choosing people to collaborate with her based on how many billboard hits they have but on how they would fit into her music which is few and far between with many artists nowadays.
No surprise that Noname will forever and always serve us what we deserve, which is why this album is an 8.7/10 and receives its Aux Privileges.
The next album is one that many people have been holding their breath for: Utopia by Travis Scott.
Travis Scott released his fourth studio album on ‘Utopia’ July 28th.
Aux Privileges:❌
Rate: 5.9/10
Now after ASTROWORLD did so well on the charts and even won Best Album of the Year at the BET Awards in 2019, Travis is dominating in streams considering Utopia has spent its first two weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200.
Of the 19 songs on the album, my favorites are 'Hyena,' 'Lost Forever,' and 'TELEKENSIS,' which has already become viral on TikTok because of Sza's verse which has speculation of jabs at Drake.
I'm doing my best to be objective, but this album didn't wow me. There are 19 tracks on the album, and it's over an hour long. I hoped some songs would be "screaming at the top of your lungs" worthy. Especially considering Travis is known for his iconic party songs like 'SICKO MODE.'
and 'goosebumps.'
The production is alright, and the beats will make your head bob, but I've tried to listen to the album three or four times to write this post, but I cannot internalize the lyrics or the songs in general.
'TELEKENSIS' has had the most success out of the other songs because SZA is just about the only person on the entire project executing her verse with conviction. Most people listen to music to feel something and be moved, which is why I can't scroll down my For You Page without seeing someone use a clip of her verse for a video.
Travis Scott is in the pool of artists that make music for people who aren't necessarily interested in lyrics but are coming to him for vibes and unique beats. And the vibes on Utopia don't give Travis' usual party-like, live, reckless feel. I would describe it as an apocalyptic, edgy, dragging tempo-like vibe that would inevitably fall on deaf ears as people would talk over it, so I will not be awarding 'Utopia' its Aux Privileges.
I give the album an overall 5.9/10.
Moving on to Daniel Caesar's third studio album: Never Enough, I will let y'all know right now that he has aux privileges; end of the story. The entire album is a warm hug.
Daniel Caesar dropped his third studio album, ‘Never Enough’ on April 7th.
Aux Privileges:✅
Rate: 8.3/10
Before someone says something about the album coming out in April, I'm still rating it with the summer albums because I have been bumping this all summer, and April is close enough to this summer months, and he hasn't dropped an album in four years, so I'm pressed to say the least.
The song that has me in a chokehold is 'Toronto 2014', which he made with Mustafa the Poet, who's also a Toronto native. But the most popular song on the album, according to the charts, was 'Always,' which is my top three on this album.
I consider Daniel Caesar one of my top male R&B artists, but there have been too many times I bring him up in casual conversation, and people have yet to learn who I'm talking about. I have been listening to him since his first EP, which dropped in 2015, so in that case, I may be delusional about his notoriety.
If this is the first time being introduced to Daniel, the first three songs you should listen to should be 'Japanese Denim,' 'Best Part (feat. H.E.R), and 'Always.'
I like that Daniel Caesar can stick with the same range of topics of love and loss for his projects and still manage to create something new that doesn't feel like something we've heard from him before.
His instrumentation and music production imitate old R&B artists like Luther Vandross and Sam Cooke with a new-aged retro twist.
'Never Enough' is a sweet album for a late, warm summer night on a rooftop and a glass of Target wine. I rate it an 8.3/10.
And last but certainly not least, the nigga that has hitters on standby to clear out his ops, Metro Boomin. For those who don't know, Metro Boomin's producer tag is "If young Metro don't trust you, I'm gon' shoot you," arguably one of the industry's top three most recognizable tags. I remember when his tag blew up after he produced Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 on Kanye West's seventh studio album, Life of Pablo. You know you've made it when everybody is pressed for the part of the song where your producer tag comes in.
Metro Boomin produced the soundtrack for Spiderman Across the Spider-verse this summer.
Aux Privileges: ✅
Rate: 9.2/10
Metro Boomin presents Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse as irrevocably a nearly perfect balance between a soundtrack that remained true to the movie and an album that can be enjoyed regardless of if you watched the movie. The featured artists on the album were: Swae Lee, Lil' Wayne, Offset, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, JID, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, James Blake, NAV, EI8HT, Don Toliver, Wizkid, Coi Leray, A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage, 2 Chainz, & Nas.
The album has such a versatile genre range, and I encourage everybody to listen to it before judging that it was made for a PG superhero movie.
The album starts with 'Annihilate,' which I can no longer listen to for a while because I had it on replay for all of June and July. But no funnies, that song does something to my nervous system!
'Am I Dreaming,' 'Hummingbird,' 'Calling,' 'Self Love,' 'Home,' and 'Nonviolent Communication' are all heartfelt, laid-back songs that I would consider for a chill playlist or a late-night drive type of vibe.
'Silk and Cologne' and 'Link Up' are Latin Pop songs that I rate a 7.5/10 and 8/10, respectively. I would have liked to see Kali Uchis featured in one of the songs because she's had the R&B/Soul and Latin Pop genres in a chokehold for a good five years.
Since the movie's main character, Miles Morales, is an Afro-Latino boy, I'm so pleased to see that the music engineers for this film made sure the soundtrack reflected his culture.
Finally, 'All The Way Live,' 'Danger (Spider),' Givin' Up (Not The One)' and 'Nas Morales" are hip-hop/rap songs that mimic the vibe of Metro's most recent project: HEROES & VILLIANS and ties together the African American side of the main character's heritage.
There are soundbites from the movie in some of the songs that may throw people off who don't care to watch the film or don't like when those cinematic enhancements are added to the soundtracks. Regardless I give this album a 9.2/10 overall and, without a doubt, give it its Aux Privileges.
In Young Metro, We Trust. God Bless.
Listen to the albums: