Quick Hits, Vol. 103 (Kevin Gates, The Game, Young Dolph, Margaret Glaspy)

Kevin Gates - Murder for Hire II.  I swear, I feel like I've written about a Kevin Gates album 10 times this year.  I know that is exaggeration, but he sure seems to spin these out frequently, and they all sound pretty much the same.  That being said, the guy has fans - all but two of these songs have been streamed more than 3 million times.  For me, I like the cadence of the guy's raps - tough and rapid.  "Off Da Meter" is the most listened to track on here, with just over 5 million streams.

Nothing too special, and nothing on this album is nearly so good as "White Tan" or "2 Phones."  I'll let this one go.

The Game - Streets of Compton.  Another guy who needs to slow down and stop releasing daily albums, but that being said I really liked the Documentary 2, so I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt.  Funny, because I used to mix up which guy was the Game and which one was 50 Cent, they seemed interchangeable to me, but I'm still digging what the Game is putting down here.  Best track is this one called "Death Row Chain" that is all about the things he would have done, back in the day, to get with Death Row.  Grimy history lesson on Death Row and his growing up.

I dig the classic beats on these tracks - I don't know if Dre is still doing his beats, but these work. That being said nothing on here is worth holding on to.

Young Dolph - King of Memphis.  Ughhhhh, starting to feel like I'm just slogging through tons of mediocre rap music right now.  I keep seeing all of these albums up at the top of the Q of new music, and I've been avoiding them to hear the stuff I really want to hear like the new Chilis or Green Day. Well, its finally time to pay the piper.  This guy, not surprsingly from his album title, is from Memphis.  One thing I respect on this album?  Zero crappy collaborations.  No Juicy J verse.  No 2 Chainz hook.  Just this dude doing his thing.  Crazy thing?  When I just went to look at his profile on Spotify, he has three more albums since this one, which was also released in 2016.  Criminy man.  All three of these dudes need to just take a chill pill and work on creating good music instead of firing out as many as they can as fast as they can.  The most listened to track from this album is called "Fuck It," and has just over 3 million streams.

Word.  Although I will take issue with the way that the man shoots the bird.  Unless you are an eight year old, involving your pointer finger and ring finger as stair steps to the main event is inappropriate. The middle finger needs room to make its statement fully known and completely understood.  Having the two little folded-in-half sidecars just muddles the message and looks weak.  Give all the bird, all the time.  That being said, this is a tough ass song to bang while you are driving around town feeling mini-van tough.  This is not a smart rap song that is going to make you think.  I'll probably add this one to my mix of tough-guy-trash-raps, and let the rest of the album go.

Margaret Glaspy - Emotions and Math.  This album is really great.  I've been listening to it for a while and just haven't wanted to move on and push it to my keeper playlist yet.  Strong, lush voice, alt-rock bluesy guitar tracks, and clever lyrics.  Hits all the right bases.

and even better, the Tiny Desk concert!

"You and I" is that top video up there, which is a biting kiss off tune and ranks second in her list of most listened to tracks from this album.  First place is the album opener, and the first track on the Tiny Desk show up above.  Liking her even more after listening to that concert, she has a growl in her voice that she doesn't use much on the album that comes through pretty frequently in the live show.   Great album - making me re-think the fact that I didn't put it in my top ten for the year.