One of music's most transcendent qualities is its timelessness, its ability to exist outside of the parameters of minutes and hours, days and nights, years and decades. It can be as beautiful 50 years from now as it was yesterday. Equally, it can take on a completely new life of its own when absorbed in … Continue reading Best of 2018: Top 10 Special Releases
Category: Features
Best of 2018: Top 10 EPs
Some of my favorite music this year came in the form of EPs, which for the sake of time, I guess you could consider very efficient. Nevertheless, this year's best short albums gave us some outstanding debuts from new faces, notable sidesteps from well-established veterans and so much more. Here are 10 of my favorite … Continue reading Best of 2018: Top 10 EPs
Best of 2018: Matthew’s Top 10 Albums
In 2018, I had the pleasure to come on board at Riffs and Rhymes and give my opinion about multiple artists and styles of music. With that being said, 2018 was such a great year for music! The amount of music that was covered this year was very constant and diverse. No matter what week … Continue reading Best of 2018: Matthew’s Top 10 Albums
Best of 2018: Roberto’s Top 10 Albums
By this point, I suppose 2018 hardly needs an introduction. There's a lot going on outside and today's music reflects that, as art always tends to do. If there's one positive thing we can all agree on is that there is truly an infinite amount of great music being released into the world on a … Continue reading Best of 2018: Roberto’s Top 10 Albums
Best of 2018: Potential Classic Rap Albums
What defines a classic record? For a lot of people, it varies. Some people think it comes down to strictly the music and that it needs to be exceptional to be called a classic but in today’s increasingly short attention span and lifespan of an album’s relevancy, it’s hard to really call anything a classic. … Continue reading Best of 2018: Potential Classic Rap Albums
Best of 2018: Tyler’s Top 10 Albums
To put it plainly, 2018 was a lot. Parts of my self and sanity were tested because life came around so fast and I didn’t know how to cope in healthy ways. I finished my last semester of undergrad and graduated, got into the best relationship of my life, moved to a new city, and … Continue reading Best of 2018: Tyler’s Top 10 Albums
K-pop and the Eastern Wave: Is the West Ready?
There is a thirst for Asian voices to be heard in popular media.
How Raury is Changing the Music Industry
The former major label protégé is marching to the beat of his own drum.
Examining Cancel Culture in Music
Do you forgive and forget or banish them to cancelation hell?
We Don’t Care Enough About Hip-Hop’s Female Vets
Here’s the thing, we really don’t care about our female veterans. And no, I don’t mean our actual women who have served in any type of public force, even though veterans overall are treated like shit and we need to work on that. But no, I’m talking about the women in hip-hop who have paved … Continue reading We Don’t Care Enough About Hip-Hop’s Female Vets
Top 10 J. Cole Beats
Amid J. Cole's ascension into being one of rap's biggest names, it can be forgotten that not only is he an MC, but also a producer - and a good one at that. I am of the belief that J. Cole may actually be better at making beats than he is at rapping. Now, I … Continue reading Top 10 J. Cole Beats
Top 10 J. Cole Songs
In the future, when we look back at this decade in music, it will largely be remembered for the dominance of hip-hop. A handful of artists will come to mind when we think of who helped push the genre into such massive commercial relevancy: Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Future and many others. At … Continue reading Top 10 J. Cole Songs
Hot Take: Rap is a Young Man’s Game
Whose favorite rapper is older than 40? Please raise your hand. Alright, if you did, then odds are that you yourself are an elder statesmen in this rap game. Now this isn’t a diss or attack on you for being older. Trust me. Most people want to be able to get where you’re at. But … Continue reading Hot Take: Rap is a Young Man’s Game
Hot Take: Do We Really Like Growth?
What is growth? Like what actually is it? Is it simple as change or is it something more? The internet defines growth as a "process of developing or maturing physically, mentally, or spiritually". In terms of art, we always ask if an artist is growing in some shape, form, or fashion. Almost as a marker … Continue reading Hot Take: Do We Really Like Growth?
Drake vs. Pusha T: A Star Wars Story
This beef was brewing for around 15 years in a complex web of overlapping friendships and conflicts that were bound to boil over. What even most hip-hop heads failed to realize is that Drake vs. Pusha T is essentially Star Wars.
9 Hip-Hop Releases this Year You Need to Revisit
More than ever, rap has a voice. Here are nine hip-hop releases from this year you should definitely revisit.
10 Great Under the Radar Albums in 2018
Featuring albums from Brothers Osborne, Jackie Cohen, Lauren Ruth Ward and more.
The Best Albums of 2018 (so far)
Artists and writers from around the globe chime in on their favorite records of 2018 (so far).
Riffs & Rhymes: Weekly Playlist
A weekly playlist of tunes to spin, study and share, updated every Tuesday. Cheers.
5 takeaways from my first Coachella
Desert sun, overpriced food and live music aren't the only recipe for an epic weekend, but a reliable one for sure.
20 Badass Baseball Walk-Up Songs
An updated version of this post is available here. Spring is here and baseball season is upon us. In honor of the new season, I made a list of some of my favorite walk up songs for hitters and pitchers. Enjoy! Tracks deemed off-limits on this list for their cemented status as legendary walk-ups: AC/DC … Continue reading 20 Badass Baseball Walk-Up Songs
10 Artists I’m Anticipating Music From in 2018
Childish Gambino, Beach House, Gibbs and Madlib. The music outlook for 2018 translates to great expectations for lots of big names.
Top 10 J Dilla Beats
Counting down our ten favorite beats by legendary Detroit hip-hop producer, James Yancey.
A Tribute to Dolores O’Riordan
A couple weeks ago on Monday, January 15th, music lost another iconic voice with the passing of Dolores O'Riordan. O’Riordan was the lead singer of famed ’90s alternative rock band The Cranberries. It was reported that she was in London for a recording session the morning of her death. No major details have been released … Continue reading A Tribute to Dolores O’Riordan
5 Rap Albums I Overlooked Last Year
A few rap projects from 2017 that I slept on, just discovered or didn't listen to quite enough.
Top 15 Albums of 2017
From Kendrick Lamar to Fleet Foxes, here are my favorite albums of 2017.
Best of 2017: Honorable Mentions
Exceptional albums too good to overlook in our Best of 2017 series.
Announcement: Best of 2017 Series
It's finally December, which means for the next couple weeks every publication will be unveiling their favorite songs and albums of the year. Even though so many of these lists are watered down with mainstream releases and big name artists, they are still a fun way to reflect on the year that was and have … Continue reading Announcement: Best of 2017 Series
Fight For Net Neutrality
Today I wanted to break from music content to share on an important current event. As many people know, members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are working to repeal the current legislation in favor of net neutrality. Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all data on the internet the same, … Continue reading Fight For Net Neutrality
4 Music Publications You Should Know
Music blogs may not be as trendy as they were five or six years ago, but for all the nerds out there like myself who spend hours on end, scouring the internet daily for something new and fresh, a cool website goes along way. These days, great content is available in so many forms. Whether … Continue reading 4 Music Publications You Should Know























