Memo’s Top 50 Albums of 2021

Hello everybody! Happy New Year! It has been a while. School and work kept me very busy this year. It prevented me from writing a lot of blogs this year. With that said, nothing will stop me from telling you all my top 50 albums of the year. Even though no one asked. This year has been an amazing year for music. In my list, I have a mix of the biggest releases and some underground gems. Every album here is great in my opinion. Check out these albums if you haven’t done so already. 

Without further ado here are my top 50 albums of the year for 2021!

50) Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

49) Mach-Hommy – Pray For Haiti

48) CHAI – WINK

47) Chief Keef – 4 NEM

46) J. Cole – The Off-Season

45) Shelley FKA DRAM – Shelley FKA DRAM

44) Boldy James & The Alchemist – Bo Jackson

43) Vince Staples – Vince Staples

42) Olivia Rodrigo – Sour

41) Tony Allen – There Is No End

40) Adele – 30

39) EXUM – Xardinal Coffee

38) Zack Fox – shut the fuck up talking to me

37) IDK – USEE4YOURSELF

36) Kota The Friend & Statik Selektah – To Kill A Sunrise

35) Rejjie Snow – Baw Baw Black Sheep

34) Pink Siifu – GUMBO’!

33) serpentwithfeet – DEACON

32) Bo Burnham – Inside (The Songs)

31) St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home

30) Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee

29) Clairo – Sling

28) Nas – King’s Disease II

27) Conway The Machine – La Maquina

26) Paris Texas – BOY ANONYMOUS

25) Your Old Droog – Time

24) Porter Robinson – Nurture

23) Lil Nas X – MONTERO

22) Blu – The Color Blu(e)

21) CZARFACE & MF DOOM – Super What?

20) James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart 

19) GRIP – I Died For This!?

18) Armand Hammer & The Alchemist – Haram

17) Turnstile- GLOW ON

16) Weezer – OK Human

15) slowthai – TYRON

14) McKinely Dixon – For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her

13) JPEGMAFIA – LP! 

12) Black Country, New Road – For the first time

11) Tyler, the Creator – CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

10) Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth

9) Magdelena Bay – Mercurial World

8) BROCKHAMPTON – ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW ROAD

7) Kanye West – DONDA

6) Injury Reserve – By the Time I Get to Phoenix

5) Backxwash – I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES

4) C. Tangana – El Madrileño

3) Spellling – The Turning Wheel

2) Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

1) Silk Sonic – An Even with Silk Sonic

Let me know what you think?

P.S. Just like last year, I have a Spotify playlist for my top 50 songs of 2021. Check it out! I also started list week on my YouTube channel (FancyMemo), if you are interested.

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Memo’s Monthly Favorites: February 2021

Hello everybody! Happy March! Even though February is the shortest month of the year, this past month was packed with a lot of great music. Especially in the singles department. I added more singles than usual in the honorable mentions, but I did leave two tracks. I did this because Daw has already written two great articles about them. I really recommend reading Daw’s articles on “Gang Signs” by Freddie Gibbs featuring ScHoolboy Q and “So.Incredible.pkg [Robert Glasper Version]” by Denzel Curry, Kenny Beats, Smino, and Robert Glasper. Those two tracks are amazing. Give it a listen. With that being said let’s dive into my monthly favorites.

Song Honorable Mentions:

Cakes Da Killer & Proper Villain – What’s The Word: Let’s start off with some straight-up fire. This hip-house track is very energetic. Cakes Da Killer is coming at you with these speedy flows. I really like how expressive he is when he delivers each bar. Proper Villain kills it on production. It has everything you want from a good hip-house beat. What’s not to love?

Big Freedia – Platinum: This song is by far one of the most fun and entertaining songs I have listened to this month. If it weren’t for the pandemic, I can totally see this song pumping people up at a club. I love how powerful and bold Big Freedia’s voice is. It pairs well with this fast-paced southern hip hop beat. I guarantee this song will have you on your feet, so if you want to have a mini dance party give this song a listen.

Genesis Owusu – Gold Chains: Genesis Owusu is probably my favorite discovery so far this year. This song was so close to becoming my favorite song of the month. This is mostly because of his singing. The chill lowkey production is great, but his voice is incredible. He doesn’t have a crazy singing performance, but everything he says sounds smooth as fuck. Especially when he is melodically rapping. This track is a must-listen.

Tkay Maidza – Kim (with Yung Baby Tate): After releasing my favorite EP of 2020, I became a giant fan of Tkay. So you better believe I am hyped for her upcoming EP. Especially after listening to “Kim”. That shit is crazy. This track is an aggressive, unapologetic, attitude-filled ride. Both Tkay Maidza and Yung Baby Tate sound so badass. They have amazing chemistry. I really love how this song references famous Kim’s including Kim Possible. I genuinely don’t know how someone can hate this song.

Noname – Rainforest: Noname is back with another impressive single. She just continues to amaze me. Her poetic lyricism is packed with a lot, and I mean a lot, of deep content. In the hoof alone she talks about depression, exploitive billionaires, and deforestation. “Because, because a rainforest cries, Everybody dies a little”, is one of my favorite lines I have heard all year. I can’t emphasize enough how well written this song is. Plus the jazzy calm instrumental makes for a perfect backdrop for this song. For crying out loud, NONAME DROP AN ALBUM! I NEED IT!

JID – Skegee: JID really did something special with this track. Like other JID tracks, he goes in a conscious direction. As always his lyrics are well written. What makes this song special in my opinion is what JID actually raps about. He shines a light on the Tuskegee experiments. Before this track, I didn’t know those disgusting and dehumanizing experiments actually happened. I appreciate JID for spreading more awareness to historical moments like these because I for sure did not learn about this in my public high school.

EP Honorable Mentions: 

MAVI – END OF THE EARTH: Although I am not absolutely in love with this EP, I do see its appeal. Mavi shows flashes of potential throughout this entire EP. On the first track, he is rapping with so much emotion. He truly sounds like he in a lot of pain. I love how Mavi raps when the trap drums come through on “METHODS”. His depressing lyricism is on point. I just hope he continues to improve and finds his own sound.

Luna Li – jams EP: There’s no clickbait here. This EP is filled with jams. In this 10 minute and 10 track EP, Luna Li soothes the listener with her talent. It’s crazy how Luna produced every single one of these lushes beats on her own. Every instrument played was done by her. The guitar, bass, violin, keys, and even the fucking harp were all her. What instrument can’t she play? If you want to relax I highly suggest putting this EP on.

Album Honorable Mention:

Luke Banter – Pucker Up: In this album, Luke provides several love-sick, yet upbeat pop tracks that are perfect for this past Valentine’s day. Luke does an impressive job at making catchy hooks. With tracks like “Nelly Bly”, “Pucker Up”, “Allergic”, and “Witchcraft” I can see the potential in what Luke is doing. This album is far from perfect. There are definitely several flaws and duds in the tracklist. With that said I am genuinely excited to see what Luke does moving forward.

Conway The Machine & Big Ghost Ltd – If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed: Man, Conway continues to amaze me. Conway has single-handedly turned me into a bigger Griselda fan. Don’t get me wrong Benny and Westside Gunn are cool, but Conway is on another level. Just like From King to a God, If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed differentiate himself from his contemporaries with his pen game. I absolutely love how badass Conway can be, but he can also be very vulnerable. Big Ghost Ltd kills it with the gritty production. Although this is not my favorite Conway album, I think this album is awesome. Don’t sleep on this album!

slowthai – TYRON: It was a tough choice putting TYRON on the honorable mentions list. Although this isn’t my favorite album of the month, so far this is definitely my favorite hip hop album of the year. Slowthai really impressed me with this album. The reason why I am a fan of slowthai is because of his aggressive bangers. In the first disc, we get those bangers, but the second disc is depressing and moody. Again I love those bangers, but slowthai really shined like he never has before on the second disc. Slowthai proves once again why he is one of the best rappers in the UK.

Favorite Song of The Month:

Kero Kero Bonito – The Princess and the Clock: As mentioned earlier, there were a lot of great singles released this month. It was honestly very hard to choose my favorite song of the month. I ended up picking this song because of how extravagant it is. This song sounds like an evolution of a track from Bonito Generation. It’s cute and upbeat, but they experiment a bit more on the production. This track has several different phases. It can be explosive and crazy, but then turn soothing in a blink of an eye. I am so hyped for the upcoming EP!

Favorite EP of the Month:

JPEGMAFIA – EP2!: In a short time span, JPEGMAFIA drops another installment of his EP series. Last year, he dropped an EP filled with entertaining experimental mostly rap songs. In this EP he is going into it with a different approach. This EP is darker. It is moodier. Peggy is a lot angrier than he was in EP!. Peggy has been angry in past projects, but he is usually rapping and shouting. In EP2!, he goes into a melodic approach. I wouldn’t even consider this rap. This is an angry experimental R&B project. Even though he is singing, his lyrics is still unapologetically cutthroat. I am not disappointed. 

Favorite Album of the Month:

Black Country, New Road – For the first time: I did not expect to like this album as much as I did. I consider myself a hip-hop fan. Although I do give other genres a chance, hip hop is my bread and butter. This experimental rock album is not something I usually would gravitate to, but I am in love with it. The biggest reason why is because of the production. This album has some of the best production I have listened to in a while. I also really love the dramatic singing performances throughout the album. This album has a lot of great qualities that help keep the listener’s attention. This is good because this album has a risky tracklist. It is only 6 songs with each song spanning from 5 to 10 minutes long. Black Country, New Road does an excellent job at keeping the listener engage even with a funky tracklist. If this album is just the beginning, then I can’t wait to see what they do next!

These are my monthly favorites! Let me know what you have been listening to!

Memo’s Monthly Favorites: January 2021 (Deluxe Edition)

Hello everybody! Happy February! I hope your 2021 has been good so far. So since I didn’t do a monthly favorites for December, this month will be a monthly favorites deluxe edition. I will be covering both December and January music. There is a lot of great music to cover so lets just jump into it.

Songs Honorable Mentions:

Quan – Came Back: Earlier this month I scrolling through Instagram when I stumbled across an ad promoting Came Back from Quan. I don’t usually check out the music in promos, but I’m glad I did this time because this is good. It’s not anything groundbreaking, but I’m loving this guy’s energy. He has a lot of charisma. I love his aggressive flow. His angry yet fun delivery reminds me of Denzel Curry. If you are into Denzel’s music then I highly recommend you check out Came Back. Quan has a lot of potential and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Yung Skrrt – McDonald’s: So this song is kind of stupid, buuuuuuut I love it. It’s exactly what you think it’s about. This song is about McDonald’s. Almost every line ends with Yung Skrrt rhyming Mcdonald’s with McDonald’s. Yung Skrrt is either monotone or he is using a high pitched baby voice. The beat is hard-hitting and distorted. On paper, this song shouldn’t work, but it does. Check out this banger if you dare.

Alice Gas – BALONEY (freestyle): This is for all you Hyperpop fans out there. This is a fucking banger! I like what Alice did with her vocals. I like the robotic vocals during the chorus. I also like the high pitch chipmunk vocals when she gives her verse. It reminds me of 100 gecs. Alice kills it on the vocals, but the beat is even better. It is so bubbly yet it also has an industrial feel to it. I love how the bridge flourishes. The outro is also amazing!

JPEGMAFIA – FIX URSELF!: Peggy blessed us with a ton of singles that turned into an EP last year and it seems like he is going to do it again this year. FIX URSELF! is the second single for Peggy’s upcoming EP. He once again kills it. I love how triumphant the beat is while still sounding like a JPEGMAFIA beat. As always Peggy’s use of autotune sounds amazing. There are several cool vocal passages. Peggy covers a lot of different topics in this one song, but this is by far my favorite line: “I love my baby like Trump loves Putin, in the deepest way”. How can you not love this man?

slowthai – MAZZA (feat. A$AP Rocky): This song was nearly my song of the month. MAZZA is the third single for slowthai’s upcoming album TYRON. It should be released next month and I am excited for it. Especially after the release of this single. MAZZA is a lowkey banger. The beat is perfect for slowthai’s animalistic energy and A$AP Rocky’s smooth feature. I am surprise on how well these two sound together on the same track.

Lice (Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman) – Ask Anyone: On New Years Eve the world found out that one of the most legendary underground MC’s, MF DOOM, passed away on Halloween. This is a huge loss in the world of hip hop. DOOM is responsible of some of my favorite albums of all time. DOOM made a huge impact on not only me, but on a lot of people all over the world. This includes Lice AKA Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman. After hearing about DOOM’s death they made a tribute song for DOOM. They rapped about how much DOOM meant to them while using a MF DOOM beat called Datura Stramonium. If you are a fan of MF DOOM listen to this tribune track.

BADBADNOTGOOD & MF DOOM – The Chocolate Conquistadors (From Grand Theft Auto Online: The Cayo Perico Heist): Speaking of DOOM, this song was the last song he released when he was “alive”. This song was made for GTA of all things. Most artist would phone in their music if it is for a movie or a video game. DOOM is different. This song is so fucking good! First of all, DOOM rapping in spanish is a treat to listen to. He doesn’t rap entirely in spanish, but he did at the beginning. DOOM’s delivery is smooth and insane as always. Although I am praising DOOM a lot, BADBADNOTGOOD did their thing. What a beautiful instrumental. The live instrumentation gives this song so much life. The second half of the song is all instrumental. It’s a grand and exciting way to end off this 7 minute beast. Even though I have a feeling we might still get more MF DOOM music, this song wouldn’t be a bad way to end off his discography. 

EP Honorable Mention: 

Kota the Friend – Lyrics to GO, Vol. 2: This is technically an album, but it’s only 15 minutes long so I am going to consider this an EP. If you are a fan of Kota’s music already you’ll enjoy this EP. This EP is just more of what you expect from Kota. Good raps with chill lofi beats. Fun fact! Kota claims that the beats are taken from YouTube. I looked it up and it’s true! He straight up rapped over Kota the Friend type beats. Great vibe music!

Album Honorable Mentions:

Renaissance Mic – The Renaissance Tape: Renaissance Mic deserves to blow up. This album is amazing! I am surprise Renaissance Mic only has 1,000 monthly listeners. This album is a jazz rap album. The instrumentation is phenomenal. Renaissance Mic is rapping about several serious topics. His rapping style reminds me of both Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. If you like either of these two artists you will definitely enjoy Renaissance Mic’s music.

Moor Mother & billy woods – Brass: When I did my top 50 albums of 2020 list I tried my best to wait till the end of the year to release my list so that I don’t miss anything. Well I ended up missing this amazing album. Brass is an eerie rap album made by billy woods and Moor Mother. This is the type of album I personally need to be in a certain mood before jumping into it because it can be pretty intense. Especially since Moor Mothers performance is amazing, but really creepy. Billy woods did his thing. He sounds very heroic throughout this dark album. Impressive collaborative album. It definitely deserved a spot in my top 50.

R.A.P. Ferreira – Bob’s Son: R.A.P. Ferreira really decided to drop heat on the first day of the new year. Bob’s Son is a very chill layback sounding album. Each song has a lofi beat. There are several beautiful moments. R.A.P. Ferreira is once again rapping poetically. I really like how he raps. The way he emphasize certain words is cool to me. The combination of his rhymes and lofi beats give this album a warm feeling to it.

Navy Blue – Song of Sage: Post Panic!: Am I the only one that didn’t know Navy Blue is a professional skateboarder named Sage Elsesser, he does some modeling, and he is an Odd Future affiliate. How did I miss all of this? Well anyway this album slaps, but in a depressing way. Navy Blue’s lyrics are demoralizing. The beats are dusty and lofi with some cool sampling. Navy Blue has helped artists like Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE with production, so if you enjoy their work you’ll definitely enjoy this Navy Blue album.

Your Old Droog – Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition: I really like what Droog did with his album. Droog is an Ukrainian American and in this album he sprinkles in a little bit of his heritage. He does a great job highlighting his heritage in his raps and beats. Speaking of rapping, man this guy can spit. This album is filled with BARS! He has several quotables. Even though Droog is highlighting his heritage, that New Yorker charm is still there.

Favorite Song of the Month:

Brent Faiyaz & DJ Dahi – Gravity (feat. Tyler, The Creator): Man this is amazing! By far my favorite song of the month. This might be my favorite Brent Faiyaz song. This song sounds like it would fit perfectly in flowerboy. In fact, while listening to the song I forgot DJ Dahi produced this song. I thought Tyler did the production for a second. Speaking of Tyler his verse was short, but great. Brent definitely made a larger impact throughout the entire song. Plus Steve Lacey contributed on this song too. I don’t think this song will do amazing on the charts, but to me it sounds like a hit.

Favorite EP of the Month:

Cosmo Pyke – A Piper For Janet: For only having four tracks this EP was able to make a huge splash. First of all the production here is so good. The live jazzy instrumentation gives this EP so much personality. I would love to hear this EP performed live. Cosmo’s soulful singing is just as wonderful. His voice is so powerful yet soothing. If this is the type of music Cosmo would release on an EP, it makes me wonder how good an album worthy song would be.

Favorite Album of the Month:

Madlib – Sound Ancestors: MADLIB DOES NOT MISS! Everything he touches turns into gold! If you need further evidence on why people consider this man the GOAT hip hop producer look no further. Teaming with Four Tet, Madlib continues to experiment with his sound. What can I say? These beats are amazing!  I love the sampling Madlib does on this album. I also love all of the vocal snippets sprinkled throughout the entire album. He does a great job at grabbing the listeners attention. There are several mind-blowing moments throughout the album. If you love Madlibs previous work you will definitely enjoy this album. Beautiful album! Give it a listen if you haven’t already.

These are my monthly favorites! Let me know what you have been listening to!

Memo’s Top 50 Albums of The Year

Hello everybody! Happy New Year! So I am going to do something different this month. I usually write an article about my favorite music of the month, but since the shit show we call 2020 just ended I rather rank 50 of my favorite albums from 2020. Starting today on my YouTube channel I will be starting list week. I will be talking about my favorite and least favorite music from 2020. My top 50 albums video is the last video I will be uploading, but I think it would be a good idea to release my list early here on Indie Pong.

Although I think I have a pretty good list I do have a couple disclaimers. First of all, I kind of cheated. This list is called my top 50 albums of the year, but I do have a few EP’s in the list. Also, I know this is an indie music blog, but I do have some mainstream albums in the list. There has been several mainstream albums I enjoyed this year, so I would feel weird not to include them in my list. With that said, I don’t think my list is that bad. I am honestly proud of it. 2020 might be a shitty year, but at least there has been a lot of great albums released in 2020.

Without further ado here is my top 50 albums of the year for 2020!

50) Kota the Friend – EVERYTHING

49) Lady Gaga – Chromatica

48) Joji – Nectar

47) Bad Bunny – YHLQMDLG

46) Rico Nasty – Nightmare Vacation

45) Jme – Grime MC

44) SAULT – Untitled (Black Is)

43) Aminé – Limbo

42) Logic – No Pressure

41) Thundercat – It Is What It Is

40) Nas – King’s Disease

39) 070 Shake – Modus Vivendi

38) 21 Savage & Metro Boomin – Savage Mode II

37) Yves Tumor – Heaven To A Tortured Mind

36) Childish Gambino – 3.15.20

35) Action Bronson – Only For Dolphins

34) Deante’ Hitchcock – BETTER

33) Tame Impala – The Slow Rush

32) Jean Dawson – Pixel Bath

31) Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

30) Blu & Exile – Miles

29) Fionna Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters

28) R.A.P. Ferreira – Purple Moonlight Pages

27) Qualle Chris & Chris Keys – Innocent Country 2

26) Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon III: The Chosen

25) Benny The Butcher – Burden of Proof

24) Oliver Tree – Ugly is Beautiful 

23) Kali Uchis – Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞

22) Black Thought – Streams of Thought, Voll:3 Cane & Able

21) JPEGMAFIA – EP!

20) The Koreatown Oddity – Little Dominiques Nosebleed

19) Conway The Machine – From King To A GOD

18) Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – UNLOCKED

17) James Blake – Before

16) Slauson Malone – Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak)

15) The Weekend – After Hours

14) Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now

13) Poppy – I Disagree

12) 100 gecs – 1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues

11) clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned

10) Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure?

9) Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2

8) Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo

7) Rina Sawayama – Sawayama

6) The Strokes – The New Abnormal

5) Aesop Rock – Spirit World Field Guide

4) Boldy James & Sterling Toles – Manger on McNichols

3) Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

2) Mac Miller – Circles

1) Run The Jewels – RTJ4

Let me know what you think?

p.s. Here is a link to my top 50 songs of the year playlist on Spotify in case you are curious.

Memo’s Monthly Favorites: November 2020

Hello everybody! Happy first day of December! We are one month away from 2020. HALLELUJAH!!! So I am back with another monthly favorites. November was kind of interesting because I was actually struggling with finding some good music. Luckily good music started rolling in around the halfway point. Let’s talk about some of that good music, starting with the honorable mentions.

Singles Honorable Mentions

Your Old Droog – Pravda: If you’re a fan of lyrical rap check out this posse cut. Your Old Droog got a combination of great underground artists and some legends on this joint. This track has Mach-Hommy, The God Fahim, El-P from Run The Jewels, and Black Thought from the Roots. There was no way this song was going to be bad with this insane line up. Each person has a great verse. I really like the beat as well. It is very chill and classy. Give this track a listen.v

MAVI – SMH: To be honest I am not the biggest MAVI fan, but this single really impressed me. My biggest complaint about MAVI’s music is that he doesn’t differentiate himself from his influences. He usually sounds a lot like Earl Sweatshirt or MIKE, but MAVI switches things up on “SMH”. He sounds very lively. His flows are insane. This man is just rapping his ass off on a soulful beat. I have always been a fan of the beats he raps over. I really hope MAVI can rap like this for an entire project. If he can, then that project will for sure be amazing.

Rina Sawayama – LUCID: So the day after Rina Sawayama got snubbed from a Grammy nomination, she decides to drop a single reminding everybody why she deserves a Grammy. This pop banger has a great danceable beat. I love the bouncy production. I think the lyrics are very cool. Rina lucid dreaming just to see her dream girl is pretty endearing. Although Rina didn’t show off her vocal prowess, her singing is always great. Rina seems to never disappoint. 

Album Honorable Mentions

Ligier Countach – Flying Cars: Indie Pong’s very own George Folz made a collaborative album with Sean Lunch called Flying Cars. This is Ligier Countach’s debut album and it’s honestly pretty good. I am a huge fan of aggressive sounding production. We get plenty of that on this album. This instrumental album is very trippy. I love how loud and abrasive each track is. I know that they are currently working on the next album, so I can’t wait to check it out. Go give this album some love. It is worth checking out!

Goodie Mob – Survival Kit: This album is for anybody who misses late 90’s/early 2000’s southern hip hop. It’s been a minute, but Goodie Mob is finally back. In this album, Goodie Mob reflects on America’s political climate at the moment. They rap about serious issues like racism, police brutality, and social injustice. Of course, they sound very mad on every track. The production has that classic southern hip hop feel. They even got Chuck D from Public Enemy and Outkast on the album. Well Andre 3000 and Big Boi are on different tracks, but at least they are on the same album. This all results in some amazing hip hop music. Don’t sleep on this album.

Kali Uchis – Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios): This might not be my album of the month, but it is most certainly the sexiest album of the month. Hell, it might be the sexiest album of the year. Kali continues to prove how versatile she is by dropping her first mostly spanish album. On this album we not only get some of Kali’s best songs, but we also get to listen to some of her best singing in her career. I really like how diverse the track list is. You might get an alternative R&B song on one track and reggaetón on the next track. She is very talented. I honestly think I am falling in love. This is amazing!

Favorite Song of the Month

System Of A Down – Genocidal Humanoidz: I chose this song as my favorite song of the month mostly because of nostalgia. What can I say, I really love this band. I discovered their music after they broke up, so I never thought I would experience new SOAD music. Luckily that is not the case because they dropped two tracks in hopes to bring awareness to the horrible situation going on in Armenia. Even though I liked their other single, “Protect The Land”, I chose “Genocidal Humanoidz” because they deliver their message in an angrier way. This track sounds like a classic SOAD record. They didn’t lose their touch. If you miss SOAD as much as I have, go enjoy their new singles.

Favorite EP of the Month

JPEGMAFIA – EP!: JPEGMAFIA is one of my favorite experimental rappers at the moment. Peggy has been blessing us all year by dropping several singles. After dropping “LAST DANCE!”, which didn’t end up on the EP for some reason, on streaming services, he decided to turn these singles into a short EP. Each track has weird and kooky production. I really like how diverse each song is. There are some mellow tracks and there are also some aggressive cuts. He could be rapping his ass off on a track and singing his ass off on the next track. This EP is currently only on bandcamp, but every song is on every streaming service. Also, every track has a music video, so there is no excuse to not listen to this EP!

Favorite Album of the Month

Aesop Rock – Spirit World Field Guide: I have already reviewed this album on Indie Pong, so check out my article if you want a more thorough explanation on why I love this album. I will say this, there is a reason why people consider Aesop Rock as one of the best lyricists of all time. This album is lyrically dense. I love this album’s concept. I think especially in 2020 we all need a survival guide. Let me not forget to mention that the production off of this album is out of this world. This album has it all! Great album! I recommend it.

These are my monthly favorites! Let me know what you have been listening to!