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Music

Igloofest 2020: 14 years of electric winters

From embracing local hip hop to welcoming new international DJs, the festival slightly reinvents itself this year.

The biggest music festival of the winter enters the new decade, facing past concerns head-on, from diversifying and expanding its programming, to managing gender diversity and sustainability issues.

Montrealers eager to warm up by dancing on the coldest nights of the year will flock to the Quai Jacques-Cartier in the Old Port for the festival’s 14th edition, spanning over nine nights between four weekends, from Jan. 16 to Feb. 8.

This year, Igloofest seems to have found the right balance in its programming, knowing how to please its loyal festival-goers in an ever-changing electronic music landscape.

“We are aware that people’s tastes evolve, and we have always been trying to dig out future trends while pleasing our loyal audience,” said Nicolas Cournoyer, co-founder of Igloofest and Piknic Électronik.

The festival’s aspiration for trendiness might explain why they have dedicated an entire night to hip hop for the first time this year. Along with other so-called “Off-Igloo” events, the night of Jan. 30 will feature local hip hop stars, including rappers Loud and White-B, along with DJ Charlie Shulz.

Closer to Igloofest’s roots, some Montreal favourites are also making their comeback this year. Having just released a very well-received new album, Kaytranada will warm up the Sapporo stage on Feb. 1, along with High Klassified. Kaytranada’s last Igloofest appearance in 2018 broke the attendance record of the festival at that time, likely making his 2020 appearance the most anticipated show at Igloofest this year. Cournoyer said he is very proud to welcome the two DJs once more.

“It was important for us, since the very beginning, to push for Montreal artists to have a platform here,” he said. “Although at first, when we used to be much smaller, we could almost only have Montreal DJs, we still grew in a way that would allow space for emerging local talent.”

With that goal in mind, Cournoyer said that in the early 2010s, the festival decided to build a second stage, dedicated strictly to Montreal artists, that would compensate for the arrival of international DJs. Voyage Funktastique and Cri are among the favourite local stars that had participated in the first editions of Igloofest to come back this year.

Igloofest has diversified itself in many ways — its lineup encompasses many genres, from EDM to house, hip hop to techno, but also with guests from all over the world, and a growing presence of women artists.

Cournoyer said that gender equality is a priority for his festival. “We are flirting with parity in our lineup this year,” he said. “We have been very lucky to find exceptional women artists, such as Nina Kraviz and Charlotte de Witte.” This will be minimal techno DJ de Witte’s second performance in Montreal, following a successful show at Osheaga last summer.

If festival-goers had been complaining about lack of representation of women in music festivals recently, they also raised important questions regarding sustainability. Cournoyer said that Multicolore, the company responsible for Igloofest and Piknic Électronik, will do more this year, as past editions’ efforts might not have been enough to reduce their environmental footprint.

Not only does he claim they will try to compensate for the gas emissions caused by the transportation of their guests by planting hundreds of trees, he says Igloofest will also ban plastic water bottles and will bring reusable cups and straws this year.

Once the festival comes to an end, Montrealers can measure if these efforts have been successful. Until then, they can fight off winter blues by dancing to their favourite DJs.

For more details about the programming, visit https://igloofest.ca/

 

Photos by Youmna El Halabi

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Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Selena Gomez – Rare

Nearly five years after Revival, Selena Gomez releases her new album, Rare.

Nearly five years since her last album, Selena Gomez has finally returned with a new project, Rare; her most personal and introspective album thus far.

Gomez uses extremely powerful lyrics to explain what she’s been through in the past few years. Struggling with her kidney transplant, lupus, and Justin Bieber drama, Gomez shows that she’s back and stronger than ever, and uses deep bass in multiple songs to emphasize it.

When listening to Rare in order, it does exactly what Gomez intended: it tells her story—loud and clear. There’s a good balance of soft songs, like “Cut You Off” and “A Sweeter Place (feat. Kid Cudi),” and fast-paced upbeat songs like “Look At Her Now” and “Let Me Get Me.”

The rawness of songs like “Vulnerable” adds to the authenticity of the story Gomez is telling, with the use of soft, low vocals and slow beats.

However, 13 songs feels like a lot for this album as they get a little repetitive by the 10th track “Kinda Crazy.” A seven-song album would’ve worked just as well, but since Gomez uses the album to share her feelings, and given it’s been so long since her last project, a 13-track album is perfectly understandable.

Rating: 8/10

Trial Track: Look At Her Now

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Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Mick Jenkins – The Circus

The Circus is Mick Jenkins’ most accessible project since Wave[s]

When a new Mick Jenkins project drops, it’s always expected to be an incredibly dense thematic experience with thoughtful lyricism and wavy beats—most appropriate for a smoking session. The Circus, the newest EP from the Chicago rapper is nothing if not complex, but its short length makes it entirely more digestible and engaging.

While his 2018 album, Pieces of a Man, was solid, it simply hasn’t stood the test of time and has been all but forgotten by anyone outside of his core fan base. At seven songs and under 20 minutes, The Circus takes everything he did so well on his previous projects and compresses it into a brisk EP that highlights Jenkins’ strong rapping and the best instrumentals he’s rapped on since his Wave[s] EP.

The Circus begins with “Same Ol,” with Jenkins rapping about walking into a room where he’s virtually unknown but maintains his confidence. The beat is tight and aggressive, featuring a single synth cord to drive the track home. It’s simple, yet appealing and fits Jenkins’ flows nicely.

The quality of that track is representative of how good the other six songs are as well. Highlights like “The Light” and “Different Scales” are quintessential Mick Jenkins tracks and encapsulate what made Jenkins a highly touted MC to begin with.

The Circus isn’t a reinvention or an innovation in rap music. It’s a step back from Mick Jenkins that allows him to shine his brightest on a tight EP that has barely any cracks in it.

Rating: 8/10

Trial Track: The Light (feat. Earth Gang)

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Music

Billboard has a genre problem

Decade-End Charts: numbers don’t lie, unfortunately

Over the last few weeks, Billboard has been rolling out their Decade-End Charts. While most publications have been publishing articles on which artists they subjectively believe to have owned the decade, Billboard uses factual evidence through numbers and statistics to crown the musicians on their list. While numbers don’t lie, they may be… miscategorized?

Billboard released lists of overall hottest songs, albums, and artists of the decade, regardless of genre. The song of the decade went to “Uptown Funk!” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, while the album of the decade went to Adele for 21. The top artists will only be announced months from now at the Billboard Music Awards.

Other than the overall top lists, Billboard also classically broke down their lists into genres. While we may have known that Billboard has had trouble classifying songs under their appropriate genres since the controversy surrounding Lil Nas X’s smash hit “Old Town Road,” they do not seem to have learned from their mistakes. Specifically, Billboard’s rock and hip hop/R&B lists seem to be raising some questions as to how one classifies genre, especially songs that blend more than one.

When we think of 2010s hip hop and R&B, there must be some pretty obvious winners: Drake, Kanye West, Travis Scott, and Post Malone are just a few of the rappers that have defined the decade and consistently topped the charts. Yet, Billboard affirms that you’d be wrong to assume that any of these artists made the top three hottest hip hop songs of the decade. Instead, that honour goes to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for “Thrift Shop,” Bruno Mars for “That’s What I Like,” and Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell for “Blurred Lines.”

This list is a clear insult to actual hip hop and R&B. After all, these songs are clearly pop songs.

While that used to simply mean “popular music,” pop has definitely become a genre of its own, and Billboard even acknowledges that. We all know what pop music sounds like: the three songs I just listed. Michael Jackson was the King of Pop, not hip hop. And, if he were still releasing music today, Michael Jackson should not be ranked at the top of Billboard’s hip hop charts.

Perhaps the confusion lies in categorizing R&B, pop, and hip hop under the same list. It would make more sense to view Michael Jackson as some form of R&B, but hip hop is a stretch. Or, perhaps the confusion lies in why Billboard seems to classify every black artist as an R&B/hip hop artist, regardless of actual genre.

There are also complaints to be made about the decade-end rock category, but perhaps that is more an issue of personal taste versus being miscategorized. While notable bands, who have all released new music in the last decade – like the Strokes, the Killers, and the Rolling Stones – are all missing from the list, it is instead Imagine Dragons that holds the top three hottest rock songs of the decade. Who has ever said the words “put on that new Imagine Dragons album?”

If you were worried about the state of rock music before, you’re surely panicking now.

And, if you ever debated who the best rapper alive is, Billboard says it’s Bruno Mars.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Music

How Drake changed the landscape of music in the 2010s

Drake was the artist of the 2010s. Photo by

There is no artist quite like Drake, and that’s why he’s our artist of the decade

 

Five Billboard chart-topping albums, three mixtapes, 100 charted songs, and two high-profile rap battles make for the most ludicrous decade from an artist who began his reign in the late 2000s as Lil Wayne’s protege.

Aubrey Graham, otherwise known to some as Drake, was the biggest hip hop artist of the decade and, if he continues this unprecedented run, could become the biggest of all time. Yes, Eminem is still active, but even the self-proclaimed “rap god” couldn’t keep up with the Toronto-bred giant, especially in the 2010s.

Drake formally introduced himself to the world in 2009 with the release of his explosive mixtape So Far Gone, a project that easily mixed classic Young Money-esque rapping with softer flows and melodies with clear pop-sensibilities.

The combination of singing and rapping has always existed (Phonte, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Andre 3000), but Drake took its popularity and threw it into the stratosphere. His influences aren’t a secret as he has cited Phonte’s rap duo with Big Pooh as Little Brother as a source of inspiration.

“Find Your Love,” a song that features three sung verses and a catchy hook was the driving force behind Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later. The track is clearly not a rap record, nor is it pop. It falls under this weird umbrella of R&B-driven songs sung over a rap beat. This post-Kanye West blueprint of sung rap songs wasn’t new. There’s no Drake without 808s and Heartbreak or Man on the Moon, but the 2010s would certainly look different if he had never become the behemoth he is now.

The groundwork for Thank Me Later developed with Take Care and Nothing Was The Same and later perfected on his fourth studio album, Views. In this case, the word “perfected” doesn’t refer to the quality of his music. Rather, “perfected” means that he found the perfect combination of rap and pop styles to make a crossover hit of an album that sold over 800,000 units and totaled over a million album-equivalent units on the week of its release.

On that album, “One Dance,” “Controlla,” and “Child’s Play” were the quintessential pop-rap songs that helped finalize the shape of rap in the 2010s. Drake’s popularity became unprecedented with his run on Views. Coat-tailing off his legendary 2015 where he released smash-hit surprise mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, his collab-mixtape with Future, What a Time to be Alive, and a feud that essentially buried Meek Mill alive, Drake was unstoppable. Everyone wanted to do Drake numbers. Everyone wanted to be Drake.

After Views, it seemed that melodic rappers had begun to take over in popularity. Future, Post Malone, Juice Wrld, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, XXXTentacion are but a few names that fall under the “melodic rap” umbrella. They sing their verses and hooks, but their lyrics could be rapped if they truly pleased. But singing is where the money is. It’s catchier and easier to sing along to.

It would be wrong to say Drake is the reason for the existence of this new wave of rappers, but it would also be just as wrong to say that he didn’t help popularize the movement for younger rappers who were trying to breakthrough.

Drake’s influence is undeniable.

That’s why he’s the artist of the decade. It doesn’t solely rely on music quality, because if it did, Kendrick Lamar or Future would make better arguments. It also isn’t just a numbers game either, because if it were, a pop artist would likely fare better. In terms of impact, which encompasses a bit of quality and a bit of the numbers side of things, there’s no one quite like Drake. He could jump on any genre or any style and still make a hit. Furthermore, no other rapper could get away with having their son announced by a rapper they’re feuding with on a diss track over a Jay-Z beat. None. That takes power.

Call him a culture-vulture or unoriginal, but the fact that he could make any song a contender for the number one spot on Billboard’s charts is proof that Drake’s too big to fail. 

In a 10-year span, Drake has managed to not only maintain his level of popularity but increase it every year. Granted, his sales after Views dipped, but that was to be expected after streaming services became the go-to for listening to new music.

Despite a fairly quiet 2019 in which he just released a handful of loosies, Drake has announced plans for an album in 2020. This isn’t a shocker but this album will set Drake’s path for the 2020s. It undoubtedly won’t be a flop but if the singles fail to dominate the radio and playlists, then it may be a sign of the times.

Until then, Drake is still very much the biggest artist and is showing no signs of slowing down.

 

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Music Quickspins

Anniversary QUICKSPINS: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin

The catalytic debut to one of the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands, revisited

This week in 1969, Led Zeppelin released their self-titled debut album. The project would go on to set the precedent for the extraordinary work that would emerge from the four-piece English rock band and the three more self-titled albums that would follow. Led Zeppelin has since become one of the most revered rock bands of all time and is the pioneer for much of the sounds that we hear today.

The reception towards the Led Zeppelin LP was not initially met with the high-praise that it received in later years. Rolling Stone initially published a review of the album that saw the band hold a grudge against the magazine for decades, calling head honcho Jimmy Page “a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs.” Revisiting the album, it is impossible to overlook the amount of classics that were a part of the track list. “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” “Dazed and Confused,” and “I Can’t Quit You” are just a few gems that stand the test of time, as does the rest of the album. While it may not be the best in Led Zeppelin’s discography, it’s something pretty close to it.

Rating: 9/10

Timeless Classic: “Your Time Is Gonna Come”

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Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: KAYTRANADA – Bubba Review

 Kaytra’s sophomore album doubles down on what made 99.9% so entrancing

When producers make their own albums, they’re mostly messy. Oftentimes, they’re lacking in cohesiveness or interesting tracks, but mainly, they’re boring. Kaytranada is a modern exception to this.

Bubba, the newest unannounced album from the Montreal native, isn’t a successor to 99.9% by name, but it sure feels like the next logical step. The sounds aren’t quite different from his previous effort, but this record is yet another compilation of dance-ready tracks with solid features and wonderful instrumentals.

Beginning with one of the few tracks to not feature a guest, “DO IT” is an uneventful way to start the album. The beat feels janky at times, but thankfully it’s short enough to be only a blip. The following track, “2 The Music,” is where the party truly starts as Iman Omari’s vocals on the track are soothing and lively.

Mick Jenkins, Kali Uchis, and Masego are the stars of the show. Their respective tracks are fiery and continue to prove that performing alongside a Kaytra beat is a surefire way to make a banger.

Sonically, Kaytra focuses on what he does best, but he also does his best at creating Afrobeats-style instrumentals and executes them with a high degree of success, especially on “Vex Oh” featuring Eight9FLY, GoldLink, and Ari PenSmith.

Bubba, like 99.9%, is a full-length album surpassing the 50-minute mark, but still manages to be entertaining to the very end without any lulls or misfires on the entirety of the tracklist.

The album bears a striking resemblance to his previous effort and there probably would have been bigger payoffs had Kaytra taken a few more risks, but the Montreal producer stuck to his guns and dropped a wonderful dance album to cap off the decade.

Rating: 8.5/10

Trial Track: 10% (feat. Kali Uchis)

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Music

Murda Beatz plans for an even bigger 2020

The Canadian hip hop producer discusses his platinum hits and rising the ranks

Seated backstage in the underground lair that is MTELUS’ green room, following A$AP Ferg’s “Floor Seats” tour stop, Murda Beatz reflects on his childhood exposure to music.

“I grew up on classic rock, hard rock, metal – Metallica,” he said. “That’s what I grew up on. That’s what I got a taste for as a kid. That’s why I wanted to play drums. I wanted to make a band and do all that shit because I had a rock background.”

No, Murda Beatz is not the stage name of a drummer for an up-and-coming rock ‘n’ roll band. Instead, Murda Beatz is one of the most successful hip hop producers of our generation, with an extensive catalogue that dates back to the early years of the decade. Most impressive, perhaps, is that the shaggy-haired Canadian from the southern suburbs of Toronto has become a contemporary staple in the Atlanta trap scene and beyond.

“If there’s 20 thousand producers in Toronto and you’re trying to get to Toronto artists, how are you so different than anyone else?” Murda asks. “You have to catch someone’s attention to make you different. So I went to Chicago, got in the drill scene, got my name established in the drill scene – enough to hit up the Migos and be like ‘Yo, I’m Murda Beatz, I work with Chief Keef and these guys’… Until your name holds weight, your credentials are going to hold more weight than your name.”

Murda tells the story of his early days while his thick “MURDA” chain glistens atop his pendant of a chef – a symbol for being the master at cooking beats.

Following his collaborations with Chief Keef, Murda became one of the main producers for Migos, the Atlanta rap trio credited with being some of the early forefathers of the ad lib trap rap that currently dominates the market. The exclusivity and credibility that came from that honour then allowed him to collaborate with other industry chart toppers. In the last two years alone, Murda has been responsible for creating hits like “Butterfly Effect” by Travis Scott, “Nice for What” by Drake, and recently 10x plantinum record “FEFE” by the incarcerated rainbow-haired rapper 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj.

Murda acknowledges that he typically knows when he has a hit on his hands. While that criteria depends on a few factors like the artist and the beat itself, a lot of the magic happens when the song is made live in the studio.

“Most of the Migos stuff is in studio,” he says, “like ‘Pipe It Up,’ ‘Motorsport,’ some new shit we got coming out called ‘GNF (Give No Fucks)’ with Travis and Thug. ‘Butterfly Effect’ was done on FaceTime. ‘FEFE’ was in studio. Most of the special ones come from the studio – most of them. I think it’s just the synergy, you know what I mean? It’s just different. But some stuff, artists might hit me up and like ‘Yo, I got some crazy shit,’ which is not in studio. Then I’m gonna do my own shit, make a call, and say ‘Ey, we got a record.’”

Hip hop producer Murda Beatz discusses his success with the Concordian music editor Jacob Carey following his “Floor Seats” tour stop with A$AP Ferg. Photo by Chris Carpenter (@cb43media).

Murda recalls the time he collaborated with the recently departed Juice WRLD, a Chicago rapper most known for his highly successful track “Lucid Dreams.”

“So me and him, the day before he signed his deal, I hit him up,” Murda says. “I became a fan, you know what I’m saying, me and Cole Bennett, we started talking a few years ago. So I was always on his page, watching his shit, so I saw the ‘All Girls Are the Same’ video, said ‘This kid is fire.’ I was bumping that shit every day. So I found out he was in LA, hit him up, went to the studio, and we made 14 songs in six hours. Crazy. He’s the fastest working man possible on this earth. We made 14 songs in six hours. That shit was crazy. None of them came out, unfortunately, some of them leaked and stuff. Hopefully they might come out in the future, you never know. It’s definitely music that should come out. Everyone would appreciate it, and it’s definitely some of my best music.”

While Murda is in high demand among a wave of both new and already established artists, there are still dream collaborations that he wishes to cross off his bucket list in the near future.

“Definitely like, Rihanna, Beyonce, Bieber, Kanye, [Jay-Z] … Ed Sheeran,” Murda says. “I think me and him in a picture together would break the internet. If we did a music video together – if I was Ed Sheeran and he was Murda Beatz… that’d be crazy. I should definitely hit him up. We’ve talked back and forth. I was supposed to go to his show a few months ago but I just got too busy, but yeah, we got to do some shit. If he was me and I was him in a video, that shit would go crazy.”

Murda Beatz’ success shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

“New songs coming out in 2020. Album in 2020. The years just keep getting bigger and bigger.”

 

Photos by Chris Carpenter (@cb43media)

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Music

The most anticipated albums of 2020

2019 was an excellent year for music – can these 2020 releases top it?

Drake – TBD

As expected, the chart-topping king will return in 2020 after a fairly quiet 2019. Scorpion came and went in 2018 and despite its long run in Billboard’s charts, failed to resonate with most of its listeners. It was too long, too safe, and the number of bad songs outweighed the number of good ones. The year 2020 represents an opportunity to return to form. No longer shadowed by a deadly beef that kept criticisms of the rapper high, Drake can release an album on his terms with his own promotion.

“War,” the first new bit of Drake we’ve seen in a while, borrows elements from Chicago’s drill music and the UK’s grime scene, but ultimately wound up being just another passable moment in his lengthy discography. Let’s just hope the new album is less filler and more killer.

 

Frank Ocean – TBD

The elusive Frank Ocean has been confirmed to headline 2020’s Coachella after releasing two singles (and a few other snippets) in 2019. When Blonde came out, the R&B singer was difficult to track. Now, it seems he’s ready to embrace the fame a little bit more as he’s been sneaking in new songs at various events he’s hosted throughout the year. “In My Room” and “DHL” weren’t as well-received as his previous songs, but perhaps they’ll sound better in the context of the album.

We still have no indication of when the album will drop, but we do know it’s coming (eventually).

 

Tame Impala – The Slow Rush

The Slow Rush will end a five-year drought from the Australian music project, Tame Impala. Backed by a few singles like “Borderline” and “Posthumous Forgiveness,” the fourth studio album from Tame Impala is shaping up to be another strong entry to their already proven discography. Thankfully, the wait is almost over.

 

Rihanna – TBD

Look, this one’s been floating around since Anti dropped, and the hype for Rihanna’s newest album keeps growing as every Instagram post of hers has a wave of comments imploring her to release new music. Anti was stellar and whatever kind of project Rihanna decides to drop, we’ll be accepting it with open arms. Twenty-twenty needs this.

 

Kendrick Lamar – TBD

We all knew this one would be on the list. I mean, it’s been three years since DAMN. and we want more. The Black Panther soundtrack was passable and Lamar’s features continue to be subpar but we can all agree he has yet to release a bad album. His follow-up to the acclaimed 2017 project is expected to be an Album of the Year contender across the board. There is absolutely zero confirmation that an album is on the way this year, but one can only hope.

Lana Del Rey – White Hot Forever (tentative)

Immediately after releasing her best album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey announced she had another project in the works with an expected release in Fall 2020. The tentative title is White Hot Forever but she also stated that it could change. Del Rey reached new heights with NFR and expectations will undoubtedly be sky-high for this new record.

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Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Harry Styles – Fine Line

Harry Styles inches closer to delivering a truly great rock album

With his debut self-titled album from 2017, Harry Styles made it evident that he was fully abandoning his sugary teen-pop image from his One Direction days. As the star of his own show, the British singer-songwriter opted for a sound rooted in classic rock, a genre that is increasingly waning in popularity.

On Fine Line, it seems like his personality as a solo artist is developing even more. Songs like “She” and “To Be So Lonely” offer a different perspective from Styles that would make you jump at the thought that this man was the frontman of the band that made “What Makes You Beautiful.”

The singles are, without a doubt, attempts at cracking Billboard’s Top 40, but they are nothing if not entirely pleasant and fun, especially the trumpet-filled “Watermelon Sugar.” The song is sequenced perfectly as its follow-up “Adore You” is another potential chart-topper.

Styles falters, though, in his attempts to make folk songs. “Cherry” is a slow-paced generic tune that features the same guitar strings that could be found on a Mumford & Sons track (and no, that’s not a compliment). The song’s progression is uneventful and the songwriting is lacklustre, two essential elements when crafting a track like this.

“Falling” is a powerful ballad that never quite reaches the highs of “Sign of the Times” from Styles’ self-titled project, but manages to capture the raw emotion conveyed through his strong voice.

Despite being sold as a rock album, Fine Line often finds itself jumping around from subgenre to subgenre, and that lack of sonic cohesiveness is often what makes the record so disjointed at times. It never quite figures out what it wants to be, and while that doesn’t necessarily ruin the quality of its strongest songs, it makes the album sound like a loosely compiled amalgamation of tracks, rather than a streamlined body of work.

Rating: 7/10

Trial Track: Watermelon Sugar

 

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Music Quickspins

QUICKSPIN: JACKBOYS & Travis Scott – JACKBOYS

Travis Scott proves his label has more to offer than just himself as their quarterback

JACKBOYS is Travis Scott’s formal introduction of his Cactus Jack label signees to the world, that being Sheck Wes and Don Toliver. While we may have already been acquainted with them through their solo projects, Scott wanted to shed light on the rookies on a collaboration album alongside industry titans like himself, Migos, and Young Thug.

JACKBOYS is an easy-listening 20-minute album, and that’s why it works. A 13 track album may have dragged on the project and allowed for many fillers to make the final cut, yet seven tracks, including an intro, made the work feel tight and complete. While Sheck Wes brings little to the table other than his predictable and overdone ad-libs, Don Toliver’s choruses are easily the most enjoyable parts of the album. This, alongside a feature from Thug, makes for a pleasant listen that, fortunately, was not sacrificed for more throwaway tracks in the streaming era.

The success of this album assures that there will likely be many more to come and that the JACKBOYS aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Keep your ear out for the name “Don Toliver.”

Rating: 8/10

Trial Track: OUT WEST (feat. Young Thug)

 

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Music

CJ Flemings comes back for more

Photo by Laurence BD.

 An interview with the Montreal rap artist following the release of his second studio album, Mascara Tears

CJ Flemings is growing into the best version of himself.

Since the release of the Montreal rapper’s successful debut album, Forever Wanted More in 2017, there was mostly silence from the artist across streaming platforms.

“I held back from releasing a lot of music,” said Flemings. “I still want to put all that music out. I just haven’t gotten to that yet, but hopefully in the near future I can share that with everybody. I was really just working on my craft though. I feel like I didn’t miss with this last project, it’s better than the last one.”

This “last project” is said in reference to Mascara Tears, the long-anticipated, most recent body of work from Flemings. The album was released on Nov. 22, the same day that Flemings opened up for New York rapper Lil Tjay at Corona Theatre. Despite the successful turn out, Flemings sad that he’s still in the midst of planning something special for his own show to celebrate the album’s launch.

CJ Flemings released his second album, Mascara Tears, on November 22, 2019. Photo by Laurence B.D.

Mascara Tears encompasses themes of honesty, love, betrayal, and heartbreak, showing Flemings at his most vulnerable. His drive to go the extra mile may have come from his pairing with Juno-award winning producer, Michael Lantz, who motivated him in the studio.

“I love challenges,” said Flemings. “When someone challenges me I’m more so like ‘Oh damn, you care about this right now.’ So I’m trying to get this, let’s get it right.”

Flemings did a lot of the work on his debut album, Forever Wanted More, alone. Though he decided to change things up on his latest project.

“On Forever Wanted More, I was picking a lot of the beats and I recorded a lot of it, mixed a lot of it myself, and mastered a lot of it myself. I just felt like when going into Mascara Tears, I met Lantz and he was very disciplined about the production and all that, so I dived into the best versions of myself and tried to correct a lot of the mistakes I made and trusted the whole procedure.”

The first song on the album, “Curtains,” was the first song that Flemings and Lantz recorded together after scrapping a previous, unreleased song. “Curtains” begins with a friend telling Flemings that he doesn’t see him anymore and that he’s acting differently. Flemings said he put in that snippet to remind others that there will be times in one’s career when you have to be selfish.

“I felt like I was going towards a direction where I really needed to care about myself,” said Flemings. “[I needed] to put myself in a vulnerable spot to show that there are times where you might feel like there are people who are distant from you, and it’s a problem, but if you’re focused on a goal and that’s what you’re working on, sometimes you just gotta overcome these challenges.”

Now that CJ Flemings has finally accomplished one of his goals with the release of Mascara Tears, one can hope to see more of the young rap artist in Montreal’s glowing hip hop spotlight. 

Photos by Laurence B.D.

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