The Best Albums of 2018 So Far

     By Amari Young

Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

                                

                The year is yet to be over, and new music is still dropping. The time we live in is an era led by playlists. Whether you have Apple Music and listen to their curated playlists, or let YouTube’s discovery be your guide, the idea of listening through an entire album in one sitting becomes more unusual by the hour. Having the availability of thousands of great songs available at your fingertips, sitting through anything that’s not up to par can feel like a mistake. Over the last few months, there have been a substantial amount of records that have made an impact to the culture.

                  This article will focus on the top artists, best new albums, and the music industry. It will also dive more into detail explaining my top five best albums of 2018 so far. Topics will include technology, deal making, and general industry trends. If this interests you, this is the first category to check out to stay on top of what’s happening. It features critics for artists’ albums, also counting down the best songs from the track.

                  In his latest attempt, the late rapper Mac Miller dropped his highly anticipated fifth studio album “Swimming” on Aug. 3, 2018. In September, he passed away from an apparent drug overdose, but the music he created lives on. The death of Mac affected everyone who has been touched by his music. After a high-profile breakup with Ariana Grande, he slipped into this black hole. He lost a muse, relationship and a collaborator.  

                  In 2016, his effort with “The Divine Feminine” was closely recorded with Grande. It was represented as a love letter to the woman he’d do anything for.  He went from “you and me against the world” to just “me against the world.” As much as Mac tried to persuade himself that it was almost as good, on his warm but wounded fifth album, “Swimming”, he knew it wasn’t. It takes a certain type of artist to be as vulnerable and authentic as Mac Miller was on this album. For more information about his album click here http://www.macmillerswebsite.com/ 

                    “Whatever head space produced ‘Swimming’, it captures this perfectly” according to Chase McMullen at Metacritic.com. On Swimming, he made frequent references to keeping his head above water…or not. “Got my head underwater, but I ain’t in the shower, and I ain’t getting baptized.” It was clearer why the self-described “chill dude” became a prominent existence on the top 10 of Billboard’s albums chart despite never landing a major radio hit.

                   The Weeknd struck a few nerves releasing “My Dear Melancholy,” his first since 2016’s overly slick “Starboy,” which had moments that were guided by a stronger vision. “My Dear Melancholy” was slight with a collection of six songs. Wearing his emotions on his sleeve is what the Canadian singer does best, and without a doubt he came to a jumping-off point for uncovering a more profound texture in his sound. For more information about his album click here https://open.spotify.com/album/3N88bRVAwQrtKqSV0UgU69

                  “My Dear Melancholy surprisingly provides the clearest, most engaging example yet of the Weeknd's angst. It's the sound of a man kneeling at love's altar still in search of an elusive healing,” Reported Rolling Stone Magazine. With lyrics like “You ain’t steady, you look ready to take it all the way, if you let me take you down on me,” you can tell he’s passionate for his desires but at the same time lonely. It’s no surprise that this album is in my top list.

                      Drake’s fifth studio album “Scorpion” debuted at the top of the charts with his heavy hitter single “God’s Plan.” Although it received mixed reviews from many critics, it is still a contender in my best albums of 2018 so far. Aside from being a Drake fan, many of its 25 tracks are built around standard-issue Drake themes. Mostly the themes consist of heartbreak, hardships, revenge and his newfound feelings towards his son.  Click here for more information https://drakeofficial.com/ 

        Scorpion invites us to pretend that becoming a dad hasn’t been one of Drake’s foremost concerns for the last decade. He makes the disclosure for the first time on the stunning “Emotionless,” cruising along an instantly familiar Mariah Carey sample: “I wasn’t hidin’ my kid from the world, I was hidin’ the world from my kid.” This album is about losing and coming to the realization that missteps do happen in life and how you must push forward to become the best you can be. For his truthfulness, I commend Drake.

                   “Astroworld,” the latest project from Houston native rapper Travis Scott, dominated on first -week streams, which comes as no surprise. This album is by far his most collective his sound has been. Each song flows well together. This is one of those albums that you can listen to without skipping a beat. “Astroworld” comes nearly two years after his previous attempt Birds in “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight,” which is also another critical acclaim piece of material. He writes, “Sins controllin’ me, yeah Angels, halos over me, I need blessings and my peace.”

                      It’s obvious to point out that he was struggling with his inner demons and dealing with reality during the process of the album.  To hear more of this album click https://www.amazon.com/ASTROWORLD-Travis-Scott/dp/B07FZ99HXL 

                        Pop singer Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album “Sweetener” was met with critical acclaim, being named best album on multiple lists, including mine.  What makes this album more special than any other project she put out is that she had a lot to deal with over the past year: from the bombing in Manchester last year, to the death of her ex Mac Miller, to an abrupt ending of an engagement.

                  Other than the fact that she is a brave woman, her talent comes undefeated. She starts the album singing the lyrics, “When raindrops fell from the sky, the day you left me, an angel cried.” It sets the tone of the rest of the album, especially since the first track is only 30 seconds. It’s a brilliant masterpiece. For more about her album, visit https://www.arianagrande.com/ 

                     In this industry, we play a large role by constantly combing through daily data, more specifically the digital side. This includes information on streaming music vitals, including the latest on subscriber counts, royalties, and Wall Street valuations. LayLowRecords is based in the United States, and our audience is largely U.S.-based. We also cover worldwide happenings, including international artists and albums.  And since the web is global, so by default, the music industry is as well.

                  For more information, check out www.pitchfork.com.  LayLowRecords discusses our thoughts and insights about how we feel towards new music and upcoming artists. So, we ask you this simple question. What is one of your favorite albums of 2018 so far? 

                                                              

                                                                               

Skateboarding Style 101

By Andrew Tidwell

            I would like to start this blog off by paying respect to one of the greats of skateboarding. Dylan Rieder died on October 12, 2016 from Leukemia. He was one of the greatest to ever ride a board. An influence to skaters on and off the board who pushed skateboarding to a new degree of style. Which brings me to the reason I’m writing this. When you hear style, often times you think of fashion choice, but in the world of skateboarding, style is more than just the clothes one wears. The world of skateboarding consists of more than 11 million enthusiasts, and an important part of the skateboarding world is style.

            When it comes to skateboarding, the style a skater has when on a board can either make one keep watching or turning off a video. (I will be referring a lot to things called skate parts, which is a compilation of tricks that a skater will put into his or her video.) There are more than a few styles that skaters have, and you can honestly generalize a lot of the styles into categories. For the most part, everyone in the community has their own style and way they ride the board. Style in skateboarding comes down to a few things, like the pop, flick and catch of the board. These things have a lot to do with how a skater looks when he or she is riding away from the trick. 

A perfect example of someone who makes the pop, flick and catch look too good is Dylan Rieder. He had an insane height on his tricks when he would pop up from flat ground. You could tell that his tricks were being flicked right, and he had enough time to catch the board for a smooth landing. 

Popping the board is an important part to almost all tricks, as the pop is the initial part of any trick. (Popping the board refers to either the tail or nose of the board hitting the ground to initialize a trick.) Popping is important because a person will need to pop enough to make it where they want to be. This can be risky business. Take a stair for example. If you don’t have enough pop, you might end up eating one of the stairs. Popping too much can be a problem as well. If you pop too much, you most likely will make it to the target area, but the higher up you go, the more impact you take. This can be pretty risky to those knees. You can still land the trick with too much pop, but you will need to make sure to bend those knees. (This is a common joke in the community, but bending the knees can help take pressure off the skater.) 

The flick in my opinion is the least important part. It is very important though because a bad flick can end up hurting someone. But a phrase in the skateboarding world is mobbed. Simply meaning, you definitely shouldn’t have landed that. Honestly though, when the flick is performed properly, it will add a different look to a trick. 

The catch is an important part for a few reasons. One reason is obvious. If you don’t catch the trick, then it doesn’t count. But if you catch it too late, the odds of making the trick go down. This is because, when the board is caught, your body needs time to adjust to it while in the air. If caught too late, then it makes it hard to finish the trick when landing.

            At this point in the blog, I will be talking about the styles in skateboarding. When talking about clean styles of skateboarding I always think of Shane O’Neill. His style is so technical and precise, it is almost like he is a robot. (This is also a joke in the skateboarding world. O’Neill’s style is so precise, it is like a robot.) Here is Shane O’Neill demonstrating his craft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1sjuey25ug

Another skateboarder, nicknamed The Boss, is Andrew Reynolds. For two decades he has held it down as one of the best. And in the community, he is known to have one of the best frontside, and backside flips. (A frontside flip is a kickflip 180 with your body going out, while a backside flip is a kickflip 180 with your body turning in.) Here is Andrew Reynolds’ video part from the Emerica Stay Gold video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_8kCdhhBtg

 The final skateboarder I will talk about was known as “Christ” around the skateboarding community. Christian Hosoi was considered a “skateboarding god” during his time in the ‘70s to the ‘90s. He had it all: long flowing hair, fashion, speed, style and an abundance of tricks. He was smooth with all his tricks, and at the time, winning many competitions. One of the reasons why he was called the “Christ of skateboarding” is because of his trick the Christ Air. Here is Christian Hosoi in his video part from 1989 Speed Freaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovrV8BH2vhA

            Skateboarding is a large community in this world and is always being pushed to the next level. Styles are only getting better. And again R.I.P. to Dylan Rieder and all of the other skateboarders who died and died young. Age 28 was too young, and Rieder will be someone the skateboarding community will not forget about. Here is Dylan Rieders’ skateboarding in the Supreme Cherry video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM9H0i1Vls4

            I’m Andrew Tidwell, a 19 year old skateboarder out of Murfreesboro, TN. I have been skateboarding for going on 7 years now and have been a geek about skateboarding since I was a little kid.