On Wax: Anderson .Paak, ‘Creed II: The Album’ + More
ON WAX IS A WEEKLY TAKE UPDATING YOU ON THE POCKET OF CULTURE KNOWN AS HIP-HOP. WE BRING YOU EVERYTHING FROM BREAKING NEWS TO ALBUM DROPS, JAIL TIME AND WHO’S BEEFING WITH WHO.
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Anderson .Paak Shows Us Oxnard
After a prolific upbringing, Aftermath’s Anderson .Paak returns with his third solo album, Oxnard. An ode to his hometown, the album mixes his soulful R&B with hard-hitting hip-hop beats. The project was mixed by Dr. Dre, as well as features some of his production and vocals; a rare sight nowadays. The project is also projected by the great features from heavyweights, like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, and OGs, like Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip. His previous effort, Malibu, is a hard milestone to top, yet Anderson keeps his pace on being one of the best. Between his talents as a producer, musician and singer, Anderson .Paak is the all-star the game has needed. Oxnard shows this immensely.
Creed II: The Album
Mike WiLL Made-It has been a household producer for a while. The EarDrummers’ artist shows off his talents as he assembled the soundtrack for Creed II. After TDE’s Black Panther earlier this year, soundtracks have been elevated to art that can live outside of the film. Creed II: The Album lives up to that idea well.
Mike WiLL most definitely crafted a cohesive project that loosely follows the boxing narrative of the film, however, there are some shortcomings. Similar to his Ransom projects, Mike WiLL overloads tracks with artists that don’t need to all be on there. “F.I.G.H.T.,” for example, is overloaded with artists, like Quavo, YG, Trouble, Juicy J and Gucci Mane. Tracks like that leave no room to breath, and don’t give the artists standout verses. Some tracks just fall short—for example, “The Mantra” is easily one of the worst tracks and features Pharrell and Kendrick Lamar. Nonetheless, the project has great some great moments and some solid verses. While it’s not anything amazing, the project has plenty of tracks to be enjoyed.
Tyler, The Creator Scores The Grinch
Creed II wasn’t the only soundtrack that dropped this weekend. After a spew of singles, Tyler, The Creator released an EP of Christmas songs. Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Suess’ The Grinch is a collection of Tyler’s most children friendly tracks. Tyler takes his production talents to make music children and adults can enjoy. The EP has several instrumentals, alongside tracks with Santigold, Ryan Beatty and Jerry Paper. While it’s Christmas music at the core, Tyler puts his unique twist, making it sound different enough to really stand out.
XXXTentacion Lives Through a New Video
Paying tribute to the recently passed XXXTentacion, Lil Pump added Swae Lee to complete the track “Arms Around You.” The video features old footage of X in a collage style, while Swae Lee and Lil Pump appeared to do their verses. The track holds together pretty well without any style really clashing with one another.
MF Doom Drops a Video for the Classic MM…FOOD Track
Hip-hop’s most enigmatic figure, MF Doom, would go on to drop a music video for “One Beer.” A track that if you know Doom’s ability, then you know how hard it is to turn this track off. Getting to the visuals, Doom slices the existence of two eyes and transforms every living organism into cyclops—for some reason the video works so well. The reason a video would be made years after MM..FOOD would drop is a question that only he could answer; either way, we are grateful.
Maxo Kream ‘s Roaches Video
Houston Rapper, Maxo Kream, dropped a video for “Roaches,” a track featured on his first album, Punken, which released earlier this year. If you’ve waited for it, you should not wait to dive in—Maxo delivers up to par, per usual.
Brasstracks Teams Up with Pell
Genre-benders Brasstracks have a new track with NOLA rapper, Pell. A mix of future bass, R&B and hip-hop, “Vibrant” is a fun experimental track that’s sure to get you bouncing. Pell is a marvel on the lively beat, soaring over the live drums and horns. The track is set to be on Brasstracks next project that is also titled Vibrant. Keep an eye out on Brasstracks because after all they did win a grammy for producing Chance The Rapper’s “No Problem.”
Spotlight on IT’S ASHA
Upcoming artist, IT’S ASHA, dropped visuals to her track, “Bloodstone.” With an infectious beat, her voice rides undauntedly, allowing listeners to not only be sucked into the track, but into the visuals as well. Hip-hop is at such an interesting state, especially with the rise of young artists.
Don’t forget to see who might be next up…
Until next time, it’s On Wax.
– Dyllan E. & Hiram