Saturday, September 17, 2016

A Couple of Album Reviews (Avalon Young & Futuristic)

 Shift - Avalon Young
(Genre: R&B)

I became aware of Avalon Young through Creator's Radio on Dash Radio. First I heard her cover of Oui by Jeremih, but soon I watched her on one of their livestreams. That's when I learned that she actually was on American Idol. I then was intrigued and decided to keep an eye on her after that. So recently I saw her teaser trailer on YouTube for this album and anticipation grew.

I really was surprised slightly by her sound, since she was definitely an R&B artist rather than a mixture like Ariana Grande which is what I was expecting. Her style is actually more akin to Kehlani with a smooth production with an ear pleasing vocal performance that's pretty without being overbearing. The songs touch on various aspects of having a love life to needing closure from a break up to finding the love you don't mind making time for. Folks who dig contemporary R&B should certainly give this a listen and I recommend "Closure", "Favorite", "I Know", & "Complicated".

As Seen on the Internet - Futuristic
(Genre: Rap/Hip Hop)

Exposure to Futuristic came to me by means of the YouTube channel TeamBackPack and their many cyphers of up-and-coming emcees. Futuristic caught my attention with his quick witted style and I slowly became more aware of his huge internet presence that was still growing. Last year, I finally snagged a couple of projects from the rapper and saw him as what I feel what radio would need. Futuristic manages to ride that balance of fun party music that's catchy, but not entirely ignorant as radio would showcase back in the day.

Thus, this album picks up exactly where The Rise & Coast 2 Coast left off with more tunes to jam to with plenty of replayable quips and dope production. The cool twist he brought with As Seen on the Internet is his use of collaboration with YouTube and internet celebrities, planning to make a video for nearly every song in the tracklist. Whenever I need something to rock to that's easily digestible and riddled with fake gun clapping & drug pushing, this is a go-to album to play. For hip hop heads who don't mind something light, this is what I'd recommend and for those partygoers, this is perfect for you! I enjoy these joints the most: "Do it", "Anti-Social", "Scrollin", "Nudes", "Alone in the City", & "Hashtag".

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