Category: Vinyl Recommends
Review: MAVI: ‘Let the Sun Talk’
An undergraduate student at Howard University at the time, Charlotte-born rapper MAVI released his 2019 album Let the Sun Talk just a week after his twentieth birthday. He is considered by many to make abstract hip-hop. It’s a hard-to-define sub-genre but some shared qualities amongst its artists, songs, and projects are pushing sonic boundaries, emphasizing…
Review: UGA MBUS Students: 2023 Spring Releases
As a part of the University of Georgia’s Music Business Certificate Program, I am lucky enough to be classmates with a host of musicians and performers. So here, I want to highlight a few recent releases from my talented classmates. Bea Porges is a singer-songwriter with a penchant for layered, relatable lyrics. Backed by fellow…
Review: Common: “Be”
Be. It’s a simple message, a direct command. And, it also happens to be the title of Chicago rapper Common‘s 2005 album: Be. Common explained the title of his album in a 2005 interview, stating: The album is entitled BE because the hardest thing to do is to be yourself, although many think it’s the easiest it’s…
Review: GROUPLOVE: “Hello, All!”
When the temperature reaches 70 degrees, certain things become non-negotiable for me: every outfit needs to include a pair of shorts, my car windows will be rolled down, and every playlist should contain at least one GROUPLOVE song to set the mood. Thankfully, with the surprise release of their new double single “Hello, All!” off…
Review: Musiq Soulchild & Hit-Boy: ‘Victims and Villains’
Following a six-year hiatus from releasing his own music, Musiq Soulchild returned to the scene in early March 2023. Victims and Villains is a collab album with producer Hit-Boy. This new album comes nearly 23 years after the release of his debut studio album Aijuswanaseing (I just wanna sing), but he still continues his E.E….
Review: Blu & Exile: ‘Below the Heavens’
Below The Heavens is a phrase that immediately strikes one when they read it. Coincidentally, it is the title of the 2007 debut album of Los Angeles rapper-producer duo Blu & Exile. Looking back at Hip Hop in the 2000s, we can place most popular rappers into one of two lanes. Flashy and “hardened” MCs…
Review: Little Simz: ‘NO THANK YOU’
Little Simz closed out 2022 with the release of her fifth studio album NO THANK YOU. Announced just one week before its release, the 50-minute album was subsequently accompanied by a ten-minute short film. Simz, an English rapper born to Nigerian parents, is an independent artist who released her first album in 2013. Now, at…
Review: Samia: ‘Honey’
Samia’s introspective new album, Honey, opens with a delusional, searing confession delivered amidst a somber funeral organ. She parallels SZA’s recent hit, “Kill Bill,” and daydreams about killing an ex’s new lover. In recent interviews, she consistently describes her second LP as ‘pathologically confessional.’ True to her word, the album’s lead single and opening track,…
Year in Review: Our Favorite Albums of 2022—Staff Picks
As lifelong music fans, our lives are soundtracked by the records we listen to. Our seasons change with each new album we find and cling to. Our favorite lyrics are often the flashlight’s glimmer that shine during the darkest of our nights. Here, Vinyl Mag’s staff reflects on their favorite albums of the year. How…
February Fortunes – Who We’re Watching in 2022
Vinyl Mag staff names nine artists that they’re keeping an eye on in this most transcendent year. 1. Nija Nija is well-known in the industry as a songwriter and producer. She’s been writing songs for big-name artists since she was 20 years old. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Summer Walker, Cardi-B, Ariana Grande—the list goes on and on….