New Music Drops: Quality Music to the Forefront

Ghostface Killah, Ciara, Teyana Taylor, 2 Chainz

Friday, 8/22, must have been a call to action for all artists to drop premium music. My weekend has been filled with so many great albums, and I am still sifting through the projects as I write. I feel like I'm in a garden with all of my favorite flowers; there's so much variety and quality to choose from. Ciara graced us with her eighth studio Album CiCi, and other music lovers and I seem to come to a consensus that this album is excellent. Ciara gave us all the things we enjoy about her distinct sound within R&B, including several R&B dance tracks like 'Dance With Me' ft Tyga, 'Low Key', and 'Winnig' ft Big Freedia. I enjoy a good New Orleans bounce record. CiCi has so many good cuts, and I like this album mucho. I appreciate her consistently giving us R&B dance music. Honestly, I expected nothing less from the dance queen whose moves are like butter.

Teyana Taylor did not disappoint either, releasing her fourth album, 'Escape Room'. This project isn't your typical R&B album where you press play and listen to single after single. Teyana gave us theatre on wax, pairing her songs with creative visuals and poetry dramatizations by Taraji Henson, Jodie Turner, Tasha Smith, Niecey Nash, and many more thespian greats. Escape Room depicts the beginning, highs, lows, the peak, the break-up, and the return to self after experiencing a love that did not turn out to be what was initially expected. I appreciate her vulnerability on the album, and in addition to 'Bed of Roses', I also enjoyed the track 'Back to Life'. Tasha Smith is hilariously entertaining, and she might have made a few points. It was also lovely hearing lil Junie express her sentiments in seeing her mother return to herself, because love can be beautiful when all is well. When it's not, it can have an impact on everything, including the children. Teyana's transparency in allowing her experiences to be her muse made good music and visuals. Art imitating life.

Ghostface Killah's 'Supreme Clientele' has classic East Coast hip hop all over it. Genuine music lovers will appreciate his album. The Lyrics, beats, and aura of the album all scream OG hip hop. I like the way he addresses the generational gaps in one of his skits, referring to the youngins saying "pause' whenever someone says something that is considered strange or "sus". A few of my album faves are 'Zoom', which samples The Commodores, 'Love Me Anymore' featuring Nas, and this track samples Rose Royce. He always does the oldies classics justice. 'Beat Box' featuring Aisha Hall and Ty Boogie is another one I'm feeling too.

2 Chainz, aka Tity Boi, released 'Red Clay' featuring nine tracks of chill beats and some motivating lyrics. Track 9 is my favorite, 'The ATL Experience' featuring Ronald Isley. Mr. Isley's voice is too smooth and coupled with 2 Chainz's cadence makes for a cool, laid-back track—definitely something to cruise to. The album is one of the ones I'm currently listening to, and I still have more to get to before the next round of highly anticipated drops.

Also check out music from Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, Juicy J, and Rapsody featured on Joey Badass' 'Still'. Quality Music is returning to the forefront.