REVIEW: NAS - MAGIC

4/5

The Magic Hour. 

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Queensbridge area. Not a rapper was stirring, except Nasty Nas causing mass hysteria. A surprise at midnight from a carriage, all the way under your tree. Pure fire. Smokin' like a chimney. Sweeping everything up and away with its presence. To infinity and beyond with no buzz. After suffering from a 'Kings Disease' for over a year quarantined in the studio, the LeBron James of New York and the rap game, like 'Bron the NBA, is back with some true 'Magic' for the purists. All as he and sole producer Hit Boy on an album with no features (save standout 'Wave Gods' featuring A$AP Rocky and legendary 'Nas Is Like' producer DJ Premier) like J. Cole not wanting to 'Let Nas Down', create rabbit out the hat magic like Orlando. So much so the Yankee big hitter and his new producing partner forming a dynamic duo in Gotham have rocked the 90's black Orlando Magic pin stripes for a photo-op back in the studio. Big Nas rocking the 32 of the notorious B.I.G. Shaquille O'Neal, whilst Hit Boy hits up the number one and only, Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway. This O.G. back for the "trapped in the 90's" crowd (hands up) is not retiring to Florida. Like Jadakiss losing weight said about "getting chubby and (moving) to Miami, defying death". Instead he's taking it back to the 'Illmatic' days like the vibe of the timeless, young don, sepia album artwork photo. Because 'Magic' is 9 tracks like that and instant classic ready for your vintage vinyl. After August's second disease, Nas' third album inside a calendar is less than a half hour like the illest. All killer. No filler. It's time for some magic. 

'Speechless'? You will be after you've heard the first track that goes harder than an express L train. Have you ever heard a mic drop on the opening track? Well, you have now with lyrics from Nas like,"I’m twenty-one years past the 27 Club/It’s like I went back into my past and then I sped it up/Robert Johnson, Winehouse and Morrison found where Heaven was/Heaven on Earth, this s### is magic with no fairy dust/Home of the gully, gangsta, the gruesomе and the scary stuff." Scary hours indeed. Nuanced nostalgia like all he needs is 'One Mic'. That's all he needs. Then Nas gets ready to 'Meet Joe Black' like Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins meeting fellow Academy member, Brad Pitt once upon a time in Hollywood. Fathering the game slaying, "Why would I ever have to cop a chain again/When the QB chain birthed most the chains in the game?/No post office was stampin' time/Took out a slice out of the Big Apple, made apple pies, family sized/Leather bombers and Nike Sacais/Dangerous corners, you better pray that tomorrow arrives/Rap Sugar Ray Robinson, nothin' sweet/Y'all too out of shape to even box with me/Heavyweight, I know my way around the ring/Just like shawty know her way around the store/Makin' hits with Hit-Boy, all he gotta do is hit record." Hitting from all corners like Pitt's pre-angel getting hit hilariously by all those cars (I'm not sick...Google it). Yeah this is 'Ugly' like taking it bloody, but this is gully. And in this beautiful art form of street poetry how else would you even want it? 'Nasir' hasn't had it like this since a Kanye only produced seven track also in black and white. It's a good look. 

Halftime is upon us as Nas tennement takes us to '40-16 Building' for the best track of the stack, chugging like carriages. "I got that feeling, Lionel Richie, Dancing on the Ceiling/Hope it resemble a Van Gogh when you paint me the villain/The hate is real but you should know that the love is way realer/Crafty with a pen way before I could pack 'em in/Nasty with dreads, a slim teen, young, I was passionate/A brand new book cracklin' sound when you open, I'm writin' gems/I make gospel in thе booth it might sound like I'm writin' hymns." Giving us the ghetto gospel this Christmas. He, the God's Son is painting a perfect picture with "these hip-hop scriptures" (word to The Game) from the QB apartment block view of the city that belongs to him. This is what makes the 'Hollywood Gangster' one of the most famous faces alive when it comes to real hip-hop he pronounced dead on that albums arrival. Giving it a revival and that very note an interlude nod before keeping our heads doing the same in time and kind on 'Wu For The Children' that for the Tang-Clan, pays tribute to Shaolin's finest. Nas truly is 'The Truth' like "Beanie's first LP", or like fellow concrete jungle, streets of New Yorker and constant collaborator Alicia with her own 'KEYS' and Pusha T, reopening Sigel doors 'Plentiful'. But it's the warrior song closing cut 'Dedicated' that shows Nas is exactly that with his big-three LP's since 2020."When Carlito was dying/He see the shadow of his girl dancing with the baby/Like, "F### it, it's my time", but if God save me/Maybe I'll erase any vice that could potentially bring harm to me/Before I make a move, I think about it karmically/Everything come back like a boomerang/I'm black as Paul Mooney slang." Giving us more magic after catching lightening in the bottle twice with 'Kings Disease' and its sequel. Sure we loved watching the throne, but there's 'Blueprint 3' Jay-Z and then there's 'Blueprint' Jay-Z. All brawling like a "white tiger out the cage, Mike Tyson in '88". The heavyweight with the tile belt after another bout out the hole like Foxx playing iron. In the same season we get fellow New Yorker Norah Jones 'I Dream Of Christmas' first festive LP and Marvel's 'Hawkeye' coming home for the holidays in the Big Apple, Nas gives us something we've been waiting for like the unauthorised biography of KRS One for his second book after 'Street's Disciple' Rakim, paid in full. And you know the man who "takes Summers off because (he) loves Winter beef" always delivers like the big guy. See the Kingpin's 'Lost Tapes 2'. Only another Jones in Norah puts more down for the record. Radio may be going nowhere in this streaming age that sees albums swiftly Taylor made for surprise releases, from 'Donda' to 'Drake'. But with this album of the year that takes us back, titled the same as a new age Springsteen classic, just as short, but anything but sweet. Everything else gets split in two. Now you see Nas. Now you don't anything else but, 'Magic'. How'd he do it? TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Meet Joe Black', '40-16 Building', 'Wu For The Children'. 

REVIEW: NORAH JONES - I DREAM OF CHRISTMAS

4/5

A Holly Jolly Jones Christmas.

DUMBO, Brooklyn. The world's most famous bridge in the background as a bicycle rolls into frame across the cobbled streets that lead to that classic view of New York's other iconic gateway heading back to Manhattan. Christmas lights wrapped around the spokes like tinsel. Leading a St. Nick bike trip through the B.K. like a Santa Dash with one that looks nostalgically like Richard Attenborough's 'Miracle On 34th Street'. All the way to a rooftop Christmas party full of "friends that feel like family" and good times. Striking a pose in a matrimony of photo booths, beard face pulls and playing with Chris Kringle hats like cheerleader pom poms. As our smokey, smouldering muse winks at us fondly. Coming out of the cold of an atmospheric winter like steam from NYC manhole covers. Open it up like presents in just a few more sleeps, because that time of year has come round again. When Norah Jones gifts us with yet another record for the singer who gets out more albums these days than our older relatives this season. Last years safe as houses at home 'Pick Me Up Off The Floor' was proceeded by her 'Begin Again' new way of making music. Not to mention her second album with her Puss N Boots 'Sisters' that came right after their own Christmas 'Dear Santa' EP. Or her ''Til We Meet Again' live album that began this year to tide us over until the next time. And this full album will pick us up the same. Greetings from the most magical city in yuletide. Coming home for Christmas just in time like Marvel's 'Hawkeye' series, wrapping up its finale tonight in a bow as Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld take one. Like we wish we only could return to our residences, corona quarantined at a distance. "Last year was so hard with all the friends I couldn't see/Christmas without you was not as bright as it could be/I pushed through those winter nights just wishing you'd appear/Please say that you're coming home for Christmas time/It's only Christmas once a year/Do do do do do do", the performer who even gave us homemade concerts during corona last year soothingly sings on 'It's Only Christmas Once A Year', like a warm blanket after another year of discord behind our own doors. Making it count even if we can't fly home (hands up, lost in Japan. I miss you being close my beautiful family). All as she reaches for the star on a classic, dressed up cover that feels like its 'Not Too Late', with iconic New Yorker red shining like Christmas tree neon. On her tippy toes touching the tippy top like the top of the Empire State Building she recently cold, gloved hands played her piano on in concert with her band and the winter 'Boots' of fellow Puss, Sasha Dobson. Snow and good feeling falling all around this fall from the 'Come Away With Me' diamond singer who really takes us away in faraway land nostalgia tonight. 

October gave us this set like Christmas coming early. This month gave us deluxe wrapping. And in an August rush this writer didn't even have the time to tweet if it's too early (not anymore) to watch Sofia Coppola's 'Lost In Translation' reunion like 'On The Rocks', 'A Very Murray Christmas' yet. And in the blink of an eye its here and I may not even get the chance to make it on my list. But the singer who performed with Bill Murray and Puss N Boots as well as her own Christmas covers over the calendars gives us not only one of the greatest Christmas sets of all-time with outstanding, original new classic and a small sprinkling of legendary standards with her iconic vocal take, but one of her best actual albums. From 'Come Away' to 'Day Breaks' and all 'The Fall' of the 'Little Broken Hearts' and Willies in between for the jazz, new age, genre bender songstress. An eighth wonder for the album of the same number, just like fellow New York as they come piano icon Alicia's 'KEYS' (also unlocking one of the greatest hits of her accomplished album career, this month). This is a real album to add to her classic collection. Nuanced and not some nice nostalgic novelty for the holiday sales. This 'Feels Like Home' like Dolly Parton's 'Christmas On The Square'. Or the Gaslight of Brian Fallon's anthemic take on the 'Night Divine' standard. Not to mention Ben Harper's instrumental 'Winter Is For Lovers'. Or John Legend's 'A Legendary Christmas' by the fire like a yule log. Tank's 'A Classic Christmas Night' and 'A Very She & Him Christmas' to name just a fond few. But this one tops them all on the tree and it's thanks to the stunning single and vivid video from this 'Jolly Jones' for the 'Christmas Calling' that calls back to the classic, homaged hums of 'Sunrise' as this year begins to set like this one in our unconscious memory. "I wanna hear the music play/I wanna dance and laugh and sway/I want a happy holiday/For Christmas/I could call you on the phone/Sing a song, it feels like home/Instead of feeling all alone/This Christmas," Jones sings to our jonesin' hearts in kind who are really feelin' it. All we want this Christmas, Mariah, is a Happy Christmas. And maybe a sing-a-long to you too. 

So come on and come one, come all like everyone welcomed at the door of her home here in enthusiastic embrace...even with our elbows. No matter if you're wearing the same ugly sweater. It's a good look and it's all love with a piano by the fire in the snow globe album title track 'I Dream Of Christmas' to stocking fill your advent calendars with more hallmark harmonies. "I dream of Christmas/Snowflakes in the air/I dream of Christmas/Beauty everywhere/Fa la la la la la la la/Fa la la la la la la la/Fa la la la/La la la la la. Sing along at home. It's coming like Coca Cola holiday trucks. Just look out your 'Home Alone' window and give us a wave like Culkin's Kevin. Because red sweater on 'Lost In New York', there is nothing quite like this right now. Like a sleigh riding through Central Park similair to a carriage. All the way to the romantic ice rink and the 'Christmas Glow' for a Norah signature. Or the 'Blue Christmas' classic from many a live show, brought to the studio setting for this Blue Note record. Christmas, what a time to have the blues like Bill somberly staring from the window of another hotel to the city. But it's just been one of those years...again. Still, Miss Jones once more is here to provide a beautiful balm to all that. Dreaming of a 'White Christmas' like that unmistakable track, or Chipmunk creator Ross Bagdasarian's 'Christmas Don't Be Late'. Not knowing again that it actually might be cancelled in the end. But not this time. As like mistletoe and wine, Norah gives us a fine 'Christmastime' ("Can you believe it's Christmastime/Sometimes the joy is hard to find/All around the world/There's still ways to be kind") and a moral message for this greeting card for the seasons. Reassuring us that walking in this 'Winter Wonderland', 'You Are Not Alone'. "If you are tired/And if you are scared/You're not alone/If you were good/If you were bad/You're not alone/Jesus was born/On Christmas Day/Gave us his love/To make our own way', showing us the right Manhattan sidewalk path on Christ's birthday, like a star at night.  And this one shines on 'Run Rudolph Run'. Loading up all the presents for our dear hearts now 'Christmastime Is Here'. Longing for 'A Holiday With You'. Asking, "Would you like to spend Christmas with me?/Would you like to sit under my tree." Uhh, YES! But Christmas shoppers and sales staff alike, we know how annoying these albums become when played on repeat as the needle falls more than the ones on your tree. So even though right now this is the moment (from 'O Holy Night', to 'The Christmas Waltz'), 'What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?' Because like a Tank thanksgiving turkey ('Thankful For You'), Jones adds another decoration dedication to her first holiday album in this 'Last Month Of The Year'. "Here's the jackpot question in advance" she builds up to ask. Ringing in the New York, New Year in Times Square like a Dick Clark ball drop, Norah is still rockin' around the tree. "When the bells all ring and the horns all blow/And the couples we know are fondly kissing/Will I be with you or will I be among the missing/Maybe it's just too early in the game/Ah but I thought I'd ask you just the same/What are you doing New Year's/New Year's Eve/Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight/When it's exactly twelve o'clock that night/Welcoming in the New Year/New Year's Eve." Yet again, all you had to do was ask. Get your roasting chestnuts into this. This gets us into the spirit like the 'Christmas Carol' ghosts of past. No matter the Dickens. Even if this Christmas can't be a reality like last, Norah Jones makes it all a dream. Merrily on high. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)', 'Christmas Glow' , 'I Dream Of Christmas'. 

REVIEW: ALICIA KEYS - KEYS

4/5

Songs In The Keys Of Life.

Speak it to the highest power. Alicia Keys is the truth, like T.I. said, "Beanie's first LP". Or like the Sigel sample after the classic piano featuring Pusha T 'Plentiful' to push start this album to a tee, as 'KEYS' opens doors. The sequel to 'Alicia' is here, unlocked...and it's as original as it gets. Through the keyhole like Lloyd Grossman, this decadent double disc of 'Originals' and 'Unlocked' tracks is the eighth wonder from a woman who remixes her own damn songs. Take that Diddy! From the beginnings of 'Songs In A Minor' that's celebrated more anniversaries than grown folks. To the last first name status like Kobe album. Alicia has done it all. From the pages of 'The Diary Of Alicia Keys' that took her superstar status and history book confirmed it as legendary. To all the other legacy making albums and even last years amazing autobiography, 'More Myself: A Journey'. One that saw swear jar stories with Prince and finally had the reveal of someone who understands how much I was moved by Tom Hanks' operatic aria explanation to Denzel in 'Philadelphia' of Maria Callas' compellingly heartbreaking 'La Mamma Morta'. Complete with chapter beginnings from the who's who of the industry with spoken word audiobook accompaniment. From Bono to Jay-Z. Oprah to of course Swizz. And the albums to drop the needle next to this bookshelf addition to the songsheets for the classically trained pianist? The 'As I Am' perfect portrait of a 'Superwoman' (yes she is) that 'No One' can touch in black and white. 'The Element Of Freedom' that heard it for New York, even if it's hard to sleep with a broken heart and things on your mind in the Empire State of made dreams that never does (but, best believe she was ready). A 'Girl On Fire' like Minaj or Marylin. Ignited and still 'Here' like the no make-up, even more perfect portrait in black and white of an album as fresh as a 'Blended Family', or the Winter steam out of the grids of the Manhattan streets she turns into Broadway as electric as Times Square. No one is more concrete jungle than her. From the braids to the crowning Queen earrings she can rock just like Mary J or Beyoncé. After a four year break to make her family the most important thing, Alicia came back last year in a time where we all had to stay home, working harder than ever. From finding out about Kobe Bryant, his daughter GiGi and everyone on that fateful flight's tragic passing and then performing a tribute at the Grammy's with Boyz II Men at STAPLES, a place that will always be that (no Crypto) and Kobe's house. To taking the stage to the streets and all the names of those slain to show the world that Black Lives Matter. Alicia arguably had her biggest and most important year and this is the Grammy winner that went diamond more times than wedding rings. Now, still in matrimony with her muse, 'KEYS' unclocks another album to put under your tree this Christmas. With the gladest tiding for you Pips tonight. 

New York, New York like Sinatra, Hells Kitchen like Ramsay's own is home, cooking up two sides to this story like a Masterchef (second reference, Grossman?). All at the same time her 'Quantum Of Solace' Bond theme partner Jack White going platinum blonde on blonde is mixing his own material anew like there was no time, forget another way to die. She has a license to kill, Beastie Boys ill. 'It's On Again' for this high scoring talent like Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire potentially (practically) joining Tom Holland for a truly amazing Spider-Man in this falls 'No Way Home'. The 'Originals' serves at the "classic side" of this modern icon who Hall of Fame really is a GOAT like a King James basketball version. Whilst the coin flips to 'Unlocked' and a "whole other sonic experience." All for 90 minutes of two halves of 26 tracks that kick it like a movie for the 'Smokin Aces' star who has made her big city and bright lights American dream like something straight out of Hollywood. But flipping the script you can hear and feel it perfectly on the crowning royal blue beginnings of 'Plentiful' with Pusha that showcases the showtime of this albums abundance. It's winning time like the Lakers on HBO as the former Clipse rapper shoots from the hip. "The devil's always preying on the weaker souls/All that we can know, it was all good just a week ago/Prada carry-ons, off to Mikonos/Celebrating life on white sands, but only we can toast/Still got it cheaper though, scales like a Libra, yo/Playing on these keys like Alicia, that's her secret though/Only on the need to know, nah, you don't need to know/Had to tell the truth on this beat like Beanie Sigel though, Push." This kind of track reminds me of the hidden bonus times in 'A Minor' that Keys was rampaging around with Bus-a-Bus and the Flipmode Squad rhymes. Or taking it back to the 'Streets Of NY' with Rakim and Nas' state of mind and rhyme. Setting it off perfect like the two stunning singles in lead for soul, gospel and R&B's leading lady Alicia, like Aretha, blending genres like family. The new 'If I Ain't Got You' in 'Best Of Me' ("You get the side of me/I would hold back and not reveal/You feed the mystery/You are my red and my blue pill/It makes me come alive/Don't be a lie, it feels so real/You get the best of me.") that in this music matrix like a Keanu Neo and Carrie Trinity resurrection reunion this month plays great on both sides of this white dress matrimony. No matter which hand you choose. Laurence Fishburne or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Time to fly! Or the Swae Lee hand lent 'Lala' that 'Unlocked' like the Khalid and Lucky Days assisted amazing 'Come For Me' does anything but stay mellow, as said once by Common who had Keys in his 'I Want You' video. Someone who is also unbelievably in the couple of calendars of his storied, classic career with his part in the 'Beautiful Revolution'. Televise this! 

'Alicia' has wrote songs about neo-soul queen Jill Scott though. Called Jill Scott. FEATURING f###### Jill Scott. How's that for layered in this world of multi-verses for her last chapter? But here the truly unforgettable 'Nat King Cole' is like Lenny Kravitz's-who had his own magnificent memoir ('Let Love Rule' taking us back to leading us to his first LP) out last year too-'Johnny Cash'. A delightful dedication as worthy of the weight of the biggest name it's devoted to like the love letter to the dearest it helps write in the same light and regard. This is the best as Keys reads, "So if you wanna leave alone/You gotta put on your finest/If you wanna sing your song/You gotta put the time into timeless/If you wanna take it all, let the chandeliers fall (Fall)/While you standing tall like the Taj Mahal/Be unforgettable/Like Nat King Cole/Like Nat King Cole." If only Nat or Natalie were here in duet. But best believe, they can hear this soul all the way in the heavens it was sent from. Like Prince passing his gently weeping guitar to George. The Carter, Lil' Wayne unlocking even more. His version is unforgettable too. 'Daffodils' on the light of either palettes shade is as beautiful as Van Gogh canvassing in one, single, pure gesture. Whilst the neo Raphael Saadiq 'Skydive' hits all new heights leaving us lost for words like the sickness of high altitude. "Sometimes it's pouring rain/Houselights are out/And I need you to follow my direction/Yeah, follow me, I'm falling out/Like in movie, hold my hand," she sings. We told you as cinematic as they come. Until the hip-hop Hollywood remix. There's no 'Dead End Road' here as she keeps flying with 'Billions' of gold bullion in her budget like Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. 'Is It Insane'? You're damn right! And that signature jazz track as smokey like a Robinson miracle and smouldering as fellow most famous like Madison New Yorker piano woman, Norah (Miss Jones...as if like Alicia you needed a surname), who has her own 'Dream Of Christmas' out now, is such a throwback even Billie Holiday could feel it between the smoke of a packed house of white tableclothed house seats under lamplight. With the lightest, tender touch of the feather drum. This might just be the best of her album and career. As seductive as they come like making fire with Maxwell in New Orleans, turning the mic up. It gets even sexier on 'Love When You Call My Name'. Singing "Even if I go for miles and hours/There's only one thing that I need, only one word you say/Love when you call my name," on another pair of Saadiq's for this triple like Tony, Toni, Tone as 'Only You' comes into dedication play like Ashanti. This one is perfect for the 'Old Memories' like that nostalgic track too, as 'KEYS' is signature Alicia all the way to the title closer. 'Paper Flowers' with country star of the moment Brandi Carlisle also strings and comes together as perfectly as Origami. Whilst Austrailan 'Chandelier' swinging singer Sia brings hidden depths of writing with Keys on 'Like Water', that mono-no-aware flows like a stream through the seasons that brings the old thing back that heart and soul we could only wish returns to sender. "And if the drought hits tonight/Do not fear because you and I/We are like water, like water/Made to survive", Keys sings over Sia. And in our collective one last year, Alicia came out swinging and singing. Not just surviving, but thriving. Like Bruce Lee, she be water. Helping the game grow from the garden of all her works in beautiful bloom on the eve of a new year, as the ball drops in the Big Apple's Times Square, Adam. One of the generations greatest just gave us one of her best albums for the record. The keys to the world of music are back in Alicia's piano playing hands. And she's not closing the lid. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Plentiful (Originals) Feat. Pusha T,' 'Nat King Cole (Originals)', 'Is It Insane (Unlocked)'. 

REVIEW: RICK ROSS - RICHER THAN I EVER BEEN

 

3.5/5

Rich Ross. 

Welcome back to the Port of Miami! Where Rick Ross brings more Heat to South Beach than a LeBron James throne changing decision. Or when the 'Will' of a 'Bad Boy For Life' named Smith called this place where it ain't no surprise to see Sly Stallone in the club, his second home. Raise the glass of Rozay in a city so hot they have nightclubs without roofs (I still can't get over that after my 2006 trip! How can you get thrown out of a club that's actually outside?). Because now in a world of Kings and Fresh Princes, Rick Ross is 'Richer Than I Ever Been' ("I". Me? Well...that's not much of an achievement) with his long awaited eleventh album, coming out of quarantine two years after his 'Port Of Miami' classic sequel. A few months after his Maybach Music artist Wale's (who appears with Future for the better days of 'Warm Words In A Cold World') own 'Folarin II'. A couple more after 'Certified Lover Boy' Drake battled now new friend Kanye and 'Donda' for not only rap, but album of the year. The same Canadian who called Ross the best rapper alive (did Thanos just snap his fingers again?). All on the same day Alicia's new 'Keys' opens doors. Rapping on the title track, "Heard they hear them twenty-times their momma screamin', "Hallelujah"/Rep the same block but where we from that's how they do you (Huh)/If you from the city, boy, you better rep the fullest (Brr)/I came for the money, twenty B's and that'll do it (Ah)/I'm the only to fill the dope boys in them arenas (You see it)." Now the notorious B.I.G. rapper with an infamous introduction to his 'Little Havana' ("Problem was I never was a prodigy/Possibly, my biggest flaw is lack of modesty") intro with Willie Falcon and The-Dream on the hook, working all this out after losing some of that body fat like Joe, still moves real weight like Joey Crack across the Atlantic. 

F### with him, you know he's still got it. The man who once rapped, "if she dies on my d###, she'll live through my rhymes" (how reassuring for her parents) may never win 'The Pulitzer' (God forgives 'Teflon Don', I don't), but on the track of the same name, he's going for the rap one. "Twenty million cash, yes, that's called success/Thousand acres, my own metropolis/And he still hustle with dominance." The "King of all Kings" this Christmas with a brick under the tree like the 'Trilla' rapper says on his 'Imperial High', wanting the crown back like the 'Rather You Than Me' album cover. The 'Hood Billionaire', 'Mastermind' going 'Deeper Than Rap' on the 'Marathon' cut that really outruns not only the game, but those playing the world like they care enough to change it. "Envy won’t be tolerated, so let’s cut this conversation/And true love what I got for mine, otherwise it’s complicated/Fake s###, just a fantasy, things you may have contemplated/Judas was a politician, made up like a Ronald Reagan/This is just a war on drugs, tell me how you feel about it/Black lives really matter now, tell Emmett Till about it/George Floyd was face down as you n####s stood around it/Did your little FaceTimes, left the neighborhood astounded." Now that's worth the Pulitzer in this swipe away world of stories that last 24 hours. These lines will last forever in rap legend for the man who made his own legacy, despite 50. Adding the outstanding 'Outlawz' ("I got a line of cars wrappin’ ’round the block/And livin’ better than these rappers rappin’ ’round the clock/I built a golf course and a car porch/Since everybody askin’ “Where your cars goin’?”/Mozzarella, now its only tall cheddar/Most dope boys been a Paul Bearer/Package the product then you pick it up back in Bahamas/Talkin’ them dollars, how I touch it, come off as a profit.") like Tupac featuring 21 Savage and a classic Jazmine Sullivan chorus to the 'Aston Martin Music' of his most successful singles 'Speedin'' down Ocean Drive. 

Boss like Springsteen, Ross ravishes the game like it was already slain with Benny The Butcher, making meat out of the 'Rapper Estates'. And a meal too for his own ticket to ride. Taxing the rich with lines like "backs against ropes, win a case/Then it's back to bein' broke, I know the place/Where the rats and the roaches would race", that will never see the Maybach of his music impounded. Acting like raps Ali with references to blood brother Malcolm, by any means necessary. On the 'Wiggle' with Dream Doll for that Derulo and Dogg chart-topping money. Sales figures will be a luxury tax for Ross once the boss of all bosses unleashes 'Can't Be Broke' like the dog (word to the late, great DMX. Rest peacefully) in his voice, as Yungeen Ace and Major Nine help with the down payment. It seems like after years of collaborating in blockbusters, trading rhymes like NBA deadlines with the Young Money likes of Lil' Wayne and Drake that Rick is now rolling with the young future like 'Big Rings', now he's 'Made It Out Alive' like Blxst. "War stories, my mama made it through the Holocaust/Candle burnin', the people came, they cut the power off/Full of hatred, then come the questions, is the family Satan?/Everybody gotta show they hands, trust me, be patient/Negativity grow like weeds in the flowerbed/Seen Gs turn into fiends, get a thousand years." Again the man that once bragged about not giving 100 grand to Haiti because "that's a decent watch" has grown and stepped his rap game up. Bringing that Young Jeezy, epic energy power bar rap back. And this is like protein powder to your speakers. No snowman, even if 'tis the season and the city of vice like Grand Theft Auto, or rolled up Crocket and Tubbs sleeves before Farrell and Foxx. But taking it back like Shaft or 'The Look Of Love' Isaac Hayes (frequent collaborator John Legend once compared Ross to the Chef) sample that's been an urban staple from everyone from Damian Marley to Jay-Z, can he live? All as he leaves the competition from the exhaust of his Maybach in 'Hella Smoke' like Wiz Khalifa. What colour is it this week? Black or yellow? On the greenback album cover of 'Ever', a white party suited Rozay is on the almighty dollar like the last name of his logo for this baked dozen. But he's got more than money on his mind as he cashes in on his lines. When it comes to the stakes and stacks of rap royalty, Rick Ross is a rich man. Uhh! TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Outlawz (Feat. Jazmine Sullivan & 21 Savage)', 'The Pulitzer', 'Warm Words In A Cold World (Feat. Wale & Future)'. 

SONG FOR THE MOMENT: JOHN MAYER - LAST TRAIN HOME (BALLAD VERSION)

5/5

Sob Core.

Laugh now, sob later. Catching the 'Last Train Home' conducted by John Mayer and its locked down video quarantined in Union Station (similar to this year's Regina King hosted Oscar's like 'One Night In Miami') was always going to be my song of the Summer and therefore year. Because even this Christmas, 'tis the season. Just like the 'Continuum' classic album man's latest LP 'Sob Rock' was going to be for the record because of it's 80's porn. Cry me a river like Timberlake or Bublé. I'm sorry Tyler! But this is my favourite creation. What else can you expect for an 80's baby like me taken back to the future with a haircut still stuck in that past (what's left of it anyway)? A man so obsessed with the videotape nostalgia of 'Stranger Things' like he was the time he went to New York in the pre-COVID Summer of 2019 for the fourth of July fireworks to coincide with the independence day themed (no, not just welcoming aliens to earth) third season of 'Things'. Set not only in the year, but the month I was born in 1985. I was excited as the New Yorker watching the premiere of the then new 'Spider-Man' sequel ('Far From Home') next to me (again pre-corona) when in the movie Spidey actually landed in front of the cinema adjacent to Madison Square Garden that we were actually watching the movie in ("HA! He's outside!"). Mayer's times gone by mesmerizing 'Sob Rock' guaranteed not a dry eye in the mothers basements of those still living in their second childhood. Missing the good ole days like they do their hairlines. Now realising they're as old as Doc Brown. Great Scott! This was something you kids might not have got, but your parents for sure were always going to love it.

Synths scintillating you like a Springsteen 'Human Touch', the on fire 'Battle Studies' of this young pretender heading through a tunnel of love to lucky town had everything you could want from the hair spray days of perms and mullets. From 'Shot In The Dark' videos that rotary phone dialled up references to that revered time and staring through windows of rain clichés. Or glass imitations like our 'Friend' Joey Tribbiani when he broke up with Chandler. Even the sports car riding commercial campaigns drove this motion home like a cassette into the tape deck. You just had to pop in this pop art throwback. But for all the sobs, nothing beat running for that 'Last Train' like chasing after the carriage your lover departs on (bye, Chandler). That was until the 'I Don't Need No Doctor' live legend prescribed a whole new take of this heartbreak warfare form of transportation. The 'Ballad Version' of 'Last Train Home' and its accompanying studio session video even instrumentally has an intro like something straight out of an era genre sitcom (word to 'WandaVision'...check your TV guide, but I'm sure you tuned in). But when this song gets going in live from the studio form, it really is on. You don't need another alternative like 'Good Love Is On The Way'. As Mayer brings back more solos in vogue than Destiny Child break-ups. Strike a pose, axeman. Even if you are a bassist like that 'Seinfeld' intro. Sideline, true story; I've been watching that show so much on the FIRST train to work that I'm having nightmares of Jerry axe-murdering me with that bloody bass whilst screaming, "THESE PRETZELS ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY!" I know that's the 90's, but have you seen those fashions? "Is this still CNN?" Clearly it took us a minute to leave like visiting our family for the holidays (if only. Miss you, my closest). 

That old thing comes right back as Mayer sings the lyrics, "If you wanna roll me/Then you gotta roll me all night long/And if you wanna use me/Then you gotta use me till I'm gone/I'm not a fallen angel, I just fell behind/I'm out of luck and I'm out of time/If you don't wanna love me, let me go/I'm runnin' for the last train/I'm runnin' for the last train home." Words that carry you home with so much more meaning drawn out like long drives. And boy are they drawn out. Its like how Jamie Foxx 'Straight Out The Foxxhole' described it in church. The difference between black and white singers when it's time to devote, 'Today Is Our Wedding Day'. Your average white version takes a standard three minute, minus the half hour of bowing. The black version? "Tooooodaaaaay is our wedding daaaaaay. Oh yes, it is." About 45 minutes according to Foxx. But act like you've got some sense like  Jamie and see that John has soul too like a Pixar picture. He could even stretch that out like calisthenics to the next evening. Even if he was told to "shut the f### up" in a barbershop on 'Chappelle's Show' when his guitar was used as a litmus test, social experiment for the effect of music on people from stripping in the office, to fighting in restaurants. Just wait until Dave breaks out Questlove and some Spanish piano. But the 'Bittersweet' with Kanye singer who also told Common to 'Go' repeatedly just be's over the rails of one of his most revelatory. The music is having such an effect on him, he's playing possessed. There's a bit in his break were the solo is so good he starts talking to himself and looking at his guitar like it was a cute dog and he was patting it like, "there's a good boy". Add his piano man like Billy Joel shaking his head in unison to John like a puppy too and this is all love like heart and soul across these electrified strings. All before the climax of what looks like he's going John Lennon 'Cold Turkey'. What better way to put the stamp on an 80's album than to bring the most epic, excellent instrument back to today like Bill and Ted for all you wild stallions? Even if you did miss the previous 'Last Train Home', like waiting all day and then two come at once, it seems like there was another, just right behind. Roll that! TIM DAVID HARVEY.