Death of the Critic

April 2016

Uncomfortable - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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The label “Christian rapper” carries with it a negative connotation in the rap community. It’s one of the reasons that Andy Mineo chooses to reject it. He wants his lyrics to reach all audiences, not just a Christian one. And coming into his second studio album
Uncomfortable, Mineo looks to shake up the dynamic he has created in his last two albums, Heroes for Sale and Never Land.

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untitled unmastered - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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It’s always a good day when a new album drops. It’s a great day when one drops unexpectedly. And following the early release of
To Pimp A Butterfly last year, Kendrick Lamar continues to surprise with a new album that came out of nowhere and landed in our laps. It’s a good day.

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This Unruly Mess I've Made - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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Sometimes, you can tell a lot about an album before you even start listening to it.
This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ sophomore album instantly conjures up an image of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but that image only lasts as long as it takes to hit play on the first song. As “Light Tunnels” begins, a familiar feeling washes over us. Macklemore is back, with the characteristic production of Lewis by his side.

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The Life of Pablo - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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I never thought that I would say that Kanye West was anything less than the most confident person in the room. No matter what room it was. Or how big it is. While we do get a feeling of insecurity in his music, as he tackles a feeling of not belonging where he is, it is more of a sense that no one will accept him for how great he is, as opposed to him not being great.

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The Incredible True Story - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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Logic’s second studio album shouldn’t sound unfamiliar to fans, or really to anyone who has listened to him before. If anything, he has become more comfortable with his sound, like Drake trying to rap Kendrick Lamar. He still has the technical chops that we’ve seen before, but in this album he is allowed to expand upon them a little more, showing off his speed and production several times throughout the album, which is made more impressive by the fact that he always remains intelligible. His annunciation is great, which is a problem with many speed rappers.

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Slime Season 3 - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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The opinion on Young Thug is divided. He’s not an intellectual rapper, and some hold him in contempt for his sometimes confusing style of rapping, alongside his party anthems. While at the same time, others praise him for putting out fun songs that bump and rock and beat their way through your ears. But you get the impression that Young Thug doesn’t really care about his detractors, as he announced the release date of this album at SXSW in a literal eulogy, as men carried a coffin through the streets emblazoned with the albums name and YSL, the name of his clothing line. This is the final official release after hundreds of his songs were released online, as he reproduced and remade some into the last two Slime Season albums.

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Logic Presents "The Incredible World Tour"

Written by: Tom Blaich

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Saturday evening, Wabash College was visited by a pair of artists, Andy Mineo and Logic, two names probably not mentioned often in the same sentence. Mineo, a Christian rapper out of New York opened the evening, and Logic, who released his second studio album The Incredible True Story in November, closed the show. Labeling the evening as a part of Logic’s “Incredible World Tour”, they aimed to create a party atmosphere in the small gymnasium in the small, 900 student, all male campus in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

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ComfortZone - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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In 2014, Tahj Chandler, better known by his stage name of Saba, released his sophomore effort entitled ComfortZone. He first came to my attention through a feature on Acid Rap, which released the same year, on the song “Everybody’s Something”. He stood alongside Chance and BJ the Chicago Kid with a production by DJ Ozone. I’m an unapologetic fan of Chance, and when I saw that this guy had made a mixtape I figured that I would give it a listen.

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Acid Rap - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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“Here’s a tab of acid for your ear.”


Chancellor Bennett’s second mixtape,
Acid Rap, looked to follow the success of the first, 10 Day, by going so far outside of the mold for what a mixtape should be. It’s so different from 10 Day, and other projects out of Chicago like ComfortZone or Innatape. Taking us through the experience of living in Chicago, Chance the Rapper weaves raps about drugs, violence, love, and family together in one of the more sonically diverse mixtapes that you can get your hands on.

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3001: A Laced Odyssey - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich


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If I had a single criticism about the two previous Flatbush Zombies mixtapes, D.R.U.G.S and BetterOffDEAD, it would be that both albums had felt unfocused. Each of these projects had some amazing tracks that really stood out, but there had been so much other fluff present that really ended up diluting the experience. In making 3001: A Laced Odyssey, Flatbush sought to fix this shortcoming through the combined efforts of Meechy Darko, Erick Arc Elliot, and Zombie Juice.

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