Quick Hits, Vol. 312 (J.I.D., Early James, Larry June, High Tension)

J.I.D. - The Forever Story.  This dude is awesome.  I have no clue why he doesn't get more love, but I think his flow is perfect.  On "Dance Now," you really get some of the weird and wacky-ness of his flow, as he does like five different voices/styles over a great beat.  It's like the way Kendrick does those weird voices too, and I dig it.  Sometimes, it makes identifying his guests difficult, since he's doing these other voices...  I love the bit when he says he's not a "two stepper, man," makes me want to shimmy and shake every time he says it.  My one beef with the album is its length.  So many rappers just don't know how to keep it tight, so you've got an hour long album that feels longer, because the beats morph so often in the middle of tracks.  That being said, I'm not sure what I would cut - maybe some of the singing ballad type tunes, but those work here as well.  "Surround Sound" uses that same singing sample that was in "Ms. Fat Booty" years ago, which is fun, and a super good beat.  And 21 Savage does a good verse in there too. That is actually the top streamer, at a shockingly high 116.2 million streams.

That is definitely one thing that makes this disc so good - the beats are super solid.  I'd bump that anytime.  Not sure why the song had to transition into that new beat and final verse - just end the dang thing at that static noise and make a separate song that has that new beat and verse?  Weird.   Also, EARTHGANG are dope.  But he does the song-switchup over and over on this album, and it just makes it confusing.  Like, "Can't Make U Change" is a laid back track with a cool groove and a good hook, but then three minutes in it shifts to a totally different tempo and beat.  Just make that a new song?  Whatever, I dig this album overall.  Nice to have some new rap that I enjoy.

Early James - Strange Time to Be Alive.  This dude was on the poster for ACL last year, and I dug his laid back soul/blue/rock/southern sound.  He's yet another of the Dan Auerbach-produced dudes who tap in to a really great vein of historically great rock and roll tropes.  The opener, "Racing to a Red Light," combines some smoky vocals with a little standup bass, moody organs, and lazy-day groove.  I figured that one might be the top track, because it rules, but instead it is "Real Low Down Lonesome," from in the middle of the album.  642k streams.

This one has a Charley Crockett vibe to it, as he is in my mind these days.  The lady there is Sierra Ferrell, and she's got a cool vibe to her voice as well, like a brassy power that feels like it was left behind years ago.  The title track is a little more loud, but also a very true song.  The whole disc has that sort of relaxed throwback vibe, and it is really pleasant to listen to.

Larry June - Spaceships on the Blade.  Another find because of Austin City Limits Fest, I think June was one of the best rappers on the bill last year.  And this album has some good bars, but overall its just bloated to a state of being boring.  20 freaking songs?  C'mon man.  And yeah, some of those are spoken interlude type things, but still it's just too much.  The top track is "Corte Madera, CA," with just over six million streams.

Great beat, just a laid-back smooth groove.  But the lyrics are meh, just a rack of bragging bars that never gets beyond how cool his cars and jewelry are.  Which is too bad, because at his best he sounds like classic Too $hort doing new things.  This just isn't it.  I want to like this disc, but I won't keep it around.

High Tension - Death Beat.  I know, you are looking at the artists in this Quick Hits set and thinking that I've gone way underground or something.  I can't recall how this got into my queue, but it is way too hard for my liking.  The music itself jams, but the vocals are unpleasant.  In the opening track, I have no clue what she's even screaming, just that it sucks.  Meanwhile, the guitars, drums, bass onslaught is righteous.  If she would just shut up, or sing in a better tone, this could be some good stuff.  Top track is "High Risk High Rewards," with 203k streams.

I really like that little "oooh" when the music is kicking in at the start.  And then she starts shredding her vocal cords all over the place and I'm out.  That music is rad.  She sounds kind of like my least favorite Queens of the Stone Age song, "Six Shooter" from Songs for the Deaf.  if they could just get her to sing instead of screech, or bring in Taylor Swift or something, this would rule.  As it is, I am glad to remove it from my Q.