Quick Hits, Vol. 124 (D.R.A.M., Emily Wolfe, The Frights, Jeezy)

D.R.A.M. - Big Baby D.R.A.M.  This guy is deliciously weird.  His name stands for Does Real Ass Music.  He sings and raps, but thankfully does it more like Chance and less like Drake, so it comes off as fun and enjoyable and not dreary and pretentious.  His big hit from this album is called "Broccoli," which features the super annoying Lil Yachty, but is actually pretty good.  The track that I have been loving from this is "Cash Machine," which repeatedly uses the sound of a cash machine counting bills, as DRAM sings and raps about how much cooler things have gotten since he got paid. I'm gonna give you "Broccoli" despite my preference just so you can check out the hit - 316 million streams, so this one is a legit hit.

Its like Chance decided to make a dirty track to tuck in among all of the nice gospel tracks on Coloring Book.  Favorite part is the poodle from the cover of the album running through and showing up in the video over and over.  To be honest, my first run through this album was not that exciting, but since then I've liked it more and more on each successive listen.  Although, that really only applies to the good rap tunes on here, and not the more R&B-leaning tunes like "Change my #."  I think I'll keep my favorite tracks into my rap playlist and then keep listening to see if I might keep the whole thing.

Emily Wolfe - Roulette.  You might recall me talking about this gal after my short time at the Sound on Sound Fest this last year.  She hails from Austin and puts together a truly solid rock and roll sound with a strong voice.  Her show was short but awesome.  This disc is also short at 5 songs, but I have liked it enough to just keep it in my Q ever since that concert and keep running through it.

That tune is called "Swoon" and is the second off of this little EP, but it is the most popular with some 976k streams on Spotify.  I like this one quite a bit and will hold on to it.  I hope she puts out a legit album I can jam sometime soon.

The Frights - You Are Going to Hate This.  No, that is not true, I am actually going to like it a lot. This is some raucous, fuzzy, DIY-sounding punk rock that hails from California and kind of rules.  This album sounds a lot like the band of the dude that produced it, FIDLAR, who showed up at ACL last year or the year before.  They almost bring a 50's/60's doo-wop sound to this stuff sometimes, which is kind of a rad mash into the mix.  Here is their most popular track, the title single from the album, which has just over a million streams on Spotify.

I want to be part of that mosh pit.  Wait, who am I kidding.  I bet I'd go down in a heap of old man bits and pieces if I actually went into a mosh pit again.  That shit was all fine and good when I was 15 and made of rubber and had no fear that I could ever be permanently injured. These days, I'd be all careful about my sore knee and asking the kids to watch out for each other and don't hit that girl!!! Mosh pits have passed me by entirely.  But I jumped right on in there back in the good old days of Liberty Lunch, I tell you what.  BACK IN MY DAY!!!  This album is a good time.

Jeezy - Trap or Die 3.  Is it really that hard to come up with a new title for your album?  I bet I could think of 5 new puns using the word "trap" that he could put to use immediately.  Trap Smear.  Trap My Bitch Up.  Trap Crackle Pop.  Don't Worry Be Trappy.  Admiral Ackbar's Favorite Album.  I mean, those 5 took me less than a minute.  Does this guy really need to make 3 albums named Trap or Die? The correct answer is no.  As for the tunes, yawn.  I will give it one thing, this album made the woofer on my desktop speakers thump and rumble for real.  I had to turn down the bass levels just to avoid my office sounding like a '92 Cutlass Supreme driving down Crockett Ave.  He's got a few guest stars on here (Lil Wayne, French Montana, Yo Gotti) but none of those guys save this album from being boring.  The top track, with 8.1 million streams, is "All There," which features someone called Bankroll Fresh. I love that for a rapper name.  Makes me think of the Pillsbury Doughboy being a badass gangsta.

I can't say anything bad about that video now, because little kids acting hard like adults is amazing. That kid repping his hot cheetos is a boss ass little kid.  But the tune is more whatever - not for me. And he has a Chris Brown song, and I've come to hate the Chris Brown songs.  I'm not even that worried about the guy being a scumbag woman-beater, I just don't care to hear him sing anymore generic hooks.  This one can go.