Slayr Steals the Spotlight

In recent years, the quantity of new high-quality albums feels sadly lackluster. The quality remains, as there have always been a handful of albums I‘m blown away by or obsessed with; however, it’s rarely more than five. Even though I was too young to appreciate 2018 as a year in music, just scrolling through all the albums that released that year is mind blowing, featuring standouts like DAYTONA and Astroworld, just to name a few.

However, this year has already proven to be surprisngly strong for mainstream music. The underground has clearly carried “good music” this decade, but the mainstream has been releasing quality records.

For example, Don Toliver’s OCTANE featured some super fun club tracks, like “Body.” A$AP ROCKY finally released again, with an entertaining release in the psych-rap subgenre that has been somewhat dormant in his absence. I honestly never thought he would release it, and I’m pleasantly surprised that it’s a solid all around record. My favorite track is “STAY HERE 4 LIFE,” featuring Brent Faiyaz, who’s also released his album “ICON” this winter. I’m a big fan of his work, and even if it doesn’t really stack, it’s still a smooth and solid listen. Baby Keem slid on Ca$ino, and I’m genuinely impressed by how good his rapping is — and how awkward Kendrick Lamar sounds now in comparison. Keem sounds super comfortable on each track, and doesn’t try to do anything crazy because he’s got his mic control down pat. Lastly, I have really been enjoying The Romantic. Bruno Mars isn’t reinventing the wheel, but it’s a great collection of pop tracks.

My favorite release of the year so far came from the underground – slayr did it again. In November, I was obsessed with his breakout album Half Blood for its innovative mix of rage and digicore mixed with great rapping, and this past weekend at the time of writing, the deluxe released. Since then, I’ve been obsessed. I found him at 75 thousand monthly listeners, which has developed into a sort of bias towards him, but the music is truly incredible. The almost 25 minutes of run time feels like an hour in the best way, with so much packed into a small package. The instrumentals leaned more into rage, and slayr commands such control of the noisy beats, and his flows are continuing to improve.

As the year continues, the release schedule doesn’t lighten up. Within the next few months, we could see albums from James Blake, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, Jessie Ware, Noah Kahan, American Football, The Lemon Twigs, and Kacey Musgraves. I can only hope that the year continues to be such a gift of new music, but I know I’ll be respinning these albums for a long time to come.