REVIEW: SZA - SOS

4/5

SZA Our Soul.

CTRL-ALT-CREATE. St. Louis, Missouri's own Solána Imani Rowe (AKA, SZA like the initials of her epic EP's (we can't wait for the A)) is the Queen of R&B pop. In-between 'Feeling Myself' with Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé and Rihanna 'Consideration'. That's why you see her with 'All The Stars' like Kendrick Lamar for his classic curated 'Black Panther' soundtrack (good job to Tems for 'Wakanda Forever' too). Or cameo sitting on the hood of a car for Childish Gambino's 'This Is America'. Arguably the only artist that comes close right now is Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, but she is still H.E.R. It's hard to believe it's been a half-decade since her 'Ctrl'. It's even harder to believe that it didn't garner a Grammy. Still, the nominated like a Golden Globe LP is part of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all-time. And now SZA is back to save our souls again. 

'S.O.S.' is one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year and also one of the best like U.K. grime icon Stormzy telling us how he really feels this month too. Truly an extended playlist. Diving off the springboard into an ocean of songwriting talent and subtle genius. A Jordan worth of tracks both cinematic (the billboard worthy 'Kill Bill' (the best since Taylor Swift's 'No Body, No Crime' with Haim, or D'Angelo's 'S###, Damn, Motherf#####') and 'Gone Girl') and blockbuster big budget (classic collaborations with Don Toliver ('Used') Travis Scott ('Open Arms'), Phoebe Bridgers ('Ghost In The Machine') and the late great Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan ("the RZA, the SZA") for the classic closer 'Forgiveless'). The second studio album from SZA is anything but a sophomore slump. Wearing a football jersey with her own name and initials on, she's been in the game too long for that. 

The Top Dawg and RCA Records album's self-titled intro says it all. "Nah, lil' b####, can't let you finish/Yeah, that's right, I need commissions on mine/All that sauce you got from me/All that s### I gave for free/I want it back, want it back/This ain't no warnin' shot/Case all you h##s forgot/Know you been more than lost/Without me, I'm so/Comin' like I'm so greasy/Ex-n####, he so needy/Punk a## tried to replace me, but the stakes is too high/They can't survive off mini-mes/I'm talkin' pedigree/Ain't no writers, that's just me/Ain't no spiteful, I'm just tea/Can't hate a b### for free/Talkin' I'm off the bench like Brady/I'm pressin' n####s like KD, it's up." Even the most hardcore hip-hop heads can't F with this flow, Joe.

Souls, the big-three singles are our savior right now. 'Good Days' will offset the bad. Whilst 'I Hate U' is the beat dedication since R&B money King Tank's 'Sex, Love and Pain' devotion of the same name. But it's the third and latest single 'Shirt' that really buttons up. "In the dark right now/Feeling lost, but I like it/Comfort in my sins and all about me/All I got right now/Feel the taste of resentment/Simmer in my skin, it's all about." Yearning like we've been burning for this song for so long. 

Frank like beans. Lyrically this album 'Seek(s) & Destroy(s)'. On 'Low' the hi-fi's get sweet licks of, "Cunning down, the side of me, I like to get it poppin' (Alright)/But these b#####s in my business got me out here choosin' violence (Yeah, yeah)/If you see me out in public, you don't know me, keep it silent (Okay)/In the bedroom, I be screamin', but outside, I keep it quiet", as Travis Scott backs her up. But it's the 'Love Language' with Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo that really speaks to you. Before hitting the 'Snooze' button on her middle of the night music, Solána reveals her deepest insecurities and vulnerabilities on 'Blind'. "It's so embarrassing/All of the things I need living inside of me/I can't see it/It's so embarrassing/All of the love I seek living inside of me/I can't see, I'm blind." Also adding, "my p#### precedes me."

Notice this like 'Notice Me' putting you on notice as SZA sings, "If I had a dime or two/For the cheap s### you be spittin', I'd provide the mood/That's cool with you, be jockin' me for all my jewels." On the one minute and 23 second on this 23 track album change 'Smokin' On My Ex Pack' SZA sizzles over a sample as classic to hip-hop as she is. And you still love her to the initial. From 'F2F' to 'Nobody Get Me', but you will. You can see it like a mirror on 'Conceited'. It's truly 'Special' like exploring your pure and physical vulnerability, and laying it all out, "I wish I was that girl from that Gucci store/She never wore any makeup and she owns couture/I got pimples where my beauty marks should be/I got dry skin on my elbows and knees/I never liked her, wanted to be like her/Hate how you look at her 'cause you never saw me/Like I was an art piece, like I was an ordinary girl" bare. This is the anthem for everybody. 'Too Late' is anything but and 'Far' takes it even further. "Tried to wash all of my s### away/Tried to wash all my emotions/Need a few brews, need a palm tree/I be drinkin' in private, don't call me to party, though/F### on your n#### for cardio/Too good, he really fell in love right away." Not afraid to cross that line. 

Babyface, Benny Blanco and Bjork are amongst the writers and producers creating this classic. Lizzo, Rodney Jerkins and The Neptunes too. And how about the great Jacob Collier for those 'Good Days'? A lo-fi delight of grungy surf rock that will get high with you in the lonely abyss of the midnight hour. Musing over the one you love and the one who got away. Submerging itself deeper, it's the iconic photograph that covers Princess Diana in tribute that’s truly this album's artwork. In her St. Louis Blues jersey with all due respect to the Diana they did dirty, it's as clear as water to see, that this R&B royalty has the crown now. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Kill Bill', 'Gone Girl', 'Ghost In The Machine (Feat. Phoebe Bridgers)'. 

REVIEW: RM - INDIGO

4/5

Monster's Ball.

Proof of BTS' hiatus between mandatory military service and BLACKPINK's worldwide domination may be greatly exaggerated. At least, speaking solo like Han, that is. We already had new hope with J-Hope's 'Jack In The Box' album opening Pandora's like a 'Chicken Noodle Soup' ("with a soda on the side") a mere month after their Ross and Rachel announcement. And only last week Jung Kook cooked up an amazing anthem for all you 'Dreamers' to kick off the World Cup. They won't just let it BE (good). And now, in we go with 'Indigo'. The undisputed leader of South Korea's prime pop act, RM (AKA, Rap Monster (AKA, Real Me) back with a new album, live from the United Nations. As the elder statesmen and worldwide spokesman of the group gives us his first personal playlist since the '.mono' of 'Seoul' and 'Tokyo' fell on our ears like 'Forever Rain'. 

Japan's MUJI would be proud of the album artwork aesthetic. 'Harry's House' and Stormzy too ('This Is What I Mean'). But how about the hip-hop heads? Baduizm on the first track? Now that's a flex. Don't hate. RM is as much a real rapper as Badu is a constant collaborator with the most creative. 'Yun' is an instant classic to set off the vinyl vintage of a body of work that just flows like being water. "F### the trendsetter" RM proclaims after a Yun Hyong Keun sample intro in tribute tells us, "According to Plato's humanity. It's the human essence to seek truth, goodness, and beauty. It's the sincerity in truth, the moral goodness, and the beauty. But in my opinion, you have it all when you have the truth." And here it is. "I'ma turn back the time/Back the time, far to when I was nine/When things were only good or bad/I think I was more of a human/A finger pointing from here to a mountain/Saying it's the place I need to go now/That's where you belong," Kim Nam-joon tells us as Erykah evokes even more. "You keep the silence/'Fore you do somethin'/You be a human/'Til the death of you." Haunting this young life as we knew it. 

Anderson .Paak on the second track?! Already it's like that for a man who was recently 'Musicians On Musicians' teasing a collaboration with Neptune N.E.R.D. Pharrell on a Rolling Stone cover, Silk Sonic. Smooth as it goes, forget 'Still Life'. This is art living its best beat life. More Big Hit's for your HYBE hybrid hype. "I'm still life (Yeah, ooh-ooh, you're still life, baby)/Y'all can't lock me in the frame, I'm movin', yeah (You're still life)/I'm still life (Ha, ooh-ooh, go ahead, go and live it up, yeah)/Life is better than the death, I'll prove it, yeah (Let's get it now)", Anderson sings on the chorus, as the Rap Monster calls him Paak like Shakur. Adding, "난 still life, but I'm movin'/Just live now, goin' forward, yeah/멈추지 않는 정물, huh/또 피워 나의 꽃을/Gimme no name 'cause I'm untitled/계속 전시되는 내 삶 (Huh, yeah)/그래도 삶 아직도 삶 (What? Mm)", for the record with one of the game’s best, from the fourth of July 'Fire On The Sky' of Marvel's 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' to drumming on Superbowl Sunday for the good Dr. Dre and all his friends. 

Honne honed a nice 'Crying Over You' remix with RM back in 2018 and there's more monster collabos here. Korean-Canadian Tablo is here 'All Day' for the tableau and the 'Romance' of Korean folk singer Kim Sa-wol duets beautifully on 'Forg_tful', no need for the E like Sheila and this young Prince. Paolo Blanco and British-Jamaican singer Mahalia get 'Closer', before things get 'Hectic' with Olympic Park, Grand Mint Festival favourite Colde. Fresher still is the air of the 'No. 2' closer with 'Dinosaur Teacher' Park Ji-yoon. But for all this legendary Korean talent it's the 'Wild Flower' lead single and vivid video with Youjeen that really blooms with beats, rhymes and life. 

"Flower field, that's where I'm at/Open land, that's where I'm at/No name, that's what I have/No shame, I'm on my grave/When your feet don't touch the ground/When your own heart underestimates you/When your dreams devour you/When you feel you’re not yourself/All those times", Real Me emotes and devotes on an album that for all the warmly welcome guest spots is truly at its most powerful when it gets personal. And 'Lonely', musing, "In a moment of eternity/It's neatly packed here/I hate this hotel room/I'm floating alone/This loud horn/As wide as the narrowed room/I'm trapped in myself." Always able to cut to the core of what means more in a modern malaise dulled by depression, but spoken up for and told to love yourself like an anthem. Even so in solo it seems it has been time for a 'Change' like Part 2 as Monster raps on the sequel, "I can't believe I loved you once/Fool me once, then fool me twice (getting his George W. Bush on)/Shame on you, yeah, shame on me (and Stevie Wonder)/Think I lost my sanity/Chemistry we had for sure/Gradually we wanted more/Thеy say you can't fix someone/Seems you got one fit you right." This top ten album and one of the best and most anticipated of the calendar is the album we've been waiting for ever since he gave us 'Mono'. BTS may be taking a collective break, but individuals like RM are here to stay. The book and postcard version of this 30 something minute album saying so long to Kim's 20s and mapping the persona of his Seoul soul to come. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Yun (Feat. Erykah Badu)', 'Still Life (Feat. Anderson .Paak)', 'Lonely'.