Cinematic Kickoff – Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
This summer kicked off with the fantastic collaboration between Metro Boomin and Sony, releasing the soundtrack from and inspired by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Personal favorites of the album include “Givin Up (Not The One) (Don Toliver, 21 Savage, 2 Chainz)”, “Am I Dreaming (Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, Roisee)”, and “All the Way Live (Metro Boomin, Future, Lil Uzi Vert)”. I would give the album a 6.4/10. The soundtrack was truly captivating for the entirety of the movie experience but also has many lows as a stand-alone album. There are great songs that are unheard of in the movie, but this album gets old pretty quickly.
Summer’s Single – “Double Fantasy (The Weeknd ft. Future)”
One of my favorite R&B/Soul songs of 2023 is a single for The Idol: “Double Fantasy” by The Weeknd (#1 artist). “Double Fantasy” is severely underrated as it’s shadowed under the release of the insanely popular single “Popular (with Playboi Carti & Madonna)”. Many label this song as “generic”, but I couldn’t disagree more. The song, with The Weeknd’s vocals, catches a dreamy, mesmerizing, and jazzy feeling with retro synth-pop vibes. Future’s hip-hop and old-school 80’s blended verse is also a nice change in pace and addition to the single.
Album of the Year – UTOPIA (Travis Scott)
After a long wait for fans, Travis Scott released Utopia on July 28th. Hearing this album for the first time in the back of a car on a road trip sent chills down my spine as every single song was a unique, stunning show of Scott’s work. This album went above and beyond, introducing new songs to my all-time favorites list. A few of mine were “MY EYES”, “TOPIA TWINS”, “TELEKINESIS” and “MELTDOWN”. I would give this album an 8.8/10 as it’s something I would come back to over and over again. For 19 tracks, Utopia was incredible. I was already a fan, but this album skyrocketed my interest for Scott’s music as it brought me to explore even more of his projects like Rodeo, BITTSM, and Astroworld.
Other Highlights:
For All the Dogs (Drake) – Album:
With a mix of Rap/R&B, Drake delivered a mediocre track list with a hefty 23 songs. I give For All the Dogs a 5.6/10. There are certainly a fair share of boppin’ bangers like “7969 Santa”, “Fear of Heights”, “FPS (feat. J. Cole)”, and “Daylight”. But the album falls off as it becomes boring and prolonged although still original. 1st half > 2nd half.
SET IT OFF (Offset) – Album:
SET IT OFF is a really great solo trap album with a collection of variety and range of sounds by the black sheep of the Migos, Offset. The record is definitely something I can come back to with the many directions it goes. I really appreciate the fast-paced aspects of many of the tracks including “BROAD DAY (feat. Future), “HOP OUT THE VAN” and “SAY MY GRACE (feat. Travis Scott)”.
I ultimately give this album a 6.0/10 as it’s not too outstanding.
2023 likes: “SORRY NOT SORRY (Tyler, The Creator)”, “Search & Rescue (Drake)”, BUSINESS IS BUSINESS (Young Thug), “Die For You (Remix) (The Weeknd, Ariana Grande)”.
2023 dislikes: “All My Life (feat J.Cole)”, Pink Tape (Lil Uzi Vert), a Gift & a Curse (Gunna).
