Music

Last week, the self-called “best boyband since One Direction,” Brockhampton, announced that they were breaking up. In a post to the group’s Instagram, they announced that all the tour dates they had set were canceled and their upcoming shows at the O2 Academy Brixton in London and Coachella would be their last. It makes the aforementioned One Direction comparison a bit foreboding.

Listening to Gunna is an experience that not everyone will love. His syrupy, smooth, melodic on often hypnotic, or futuristic beats can make a listener feel as if they’re levitating, while some might find it lacking in substance. However, for those that do enjoy Gunna’s music, he has delivered once again with one of, if not, his strongest projects with DS4EVER. The fourth and final installment of the rapper’s Drip Season series of projects, Gunna made sure to go out with a bang for this album.

If Abel Tesfaye, best known as The Weeknd, has proven anything throughout his musical career, it’s that he is a force to be reckoned with. His previous album, After Hours, had critics proclaiming he was at his most prolific. However, with Dawn FM, it’s clear The Weeknd has taken his powers to new heights.

In the few years I’ve been on this earth there are some things that will always get on my nerves. One of these things, and the topic of this article, is the idea that an album selling a high amount must mean that the album is objectively good. I’ve heard plenty of times before, if go into the comment section of a post that is asking if a certain Drake album is better than another rapper’s, you’ll see a legion of Drake fans saying he sold more so ofc Drake’s is better. I’m here to say that line of thinking is completely wrong.

In a deal announced Monday by Warner Chappell Music (Warner’s music publishing subsidiary), it was revealed that David Bowie’s estate had sold his entire songwriting catalog to the company. This includes hits such as “Space Oddity,” “Ziggy Stardust,” and “Let’s Dance.”

It’s the start of the new year and with that, comes excitement for all the new music that might come from your favorite artists. This year is already looking like it might be another great one as this January seems poised to start this year off with a bang. I’m here today to share with you guys some new music worth being excited about for this month from some of the biggest artists in the game right now.

There are certain albums that hit you all at once, but there’s others that sneak up on you. They slowly start to take up your conscience, maybe through certain moments on songs or maybe through a melody that gets stuck in your head. Maybe this happens because after hearing it, you just felt compelled to listen to it again, and then you listen to it another time… and then another time. Then suddenly you realize you absolutely (no pun intended) love this album.

The superstar duo of Nas and Hit-Boy continues to prove that they are a match made in heaven. On Christmas Eve, Nas released a new project called Magic that is once again produced by Hit-Boy. This is the third project that the Queens rap legend and the heavyweight producer have come together for a quality project. The previous two are King’s Disease and King’s Disease II, the former of the two finally got Nas a Grammy Award as it won for Best Rap Album.

The music industry is an ever-changing, ever-evolving machine. It only makes sense that every year, something new comes along that revolutionizes either the way music is made, distributed, or listened to. This year, non-fungible tokens, otherwise known as NFTs, have taken the world by storm, finding their place in every market, and it seems the music industry is next.

As December reaches its end and we begin to wrap up the year that was 2021, it is a nice time to look back on the excellence that we may have encountered throughout the year. One of the best ways to do that is through the age-old tradition of the “year-end list.”

There are plenty of Christmas songs that it seems every musician has covered. I can live with them, but these are five Christmas songs that I don’t think could ever be topped by another artist. You can’t change my mind. 

As we reach the end of 2021, here are some of the best releases from major pop artists this year that made us cry until we danced and danced until we cried. (Not in order).