Album Mode

PinkPantheress and NewJeans are dropping singles, their sound is soooo similar so we speculate on whether they should collab and why it makes sense. Hip Hop also turns 50 this year and Spotify revealed their top 50 most streamed songs... about 10 of the songs aren't even hip hop. TIMECODES: 3:25 - NewJeans & pinkpantheress 19:45 - Top 50 11:35 - XXXTentacion 15:20 - Coolio 16:55 - J Cole 17:55...

J Hus' third studio album 'Beautiful and Brutal Yard’ is out and up for review! Will J Hus' offbeat rapping translate to North American fans? Will Drake get 'The London' treatment on 'Who Told You'? And Why doesn't J Hus use the deep voice on 'Killy' all the time? Find out in this episode of Album Mode Z! Démar’s rating: 6 / 10 Adriel’s rating: 8 / 10 The Love List: Killy, Alien Girl, Masculine, N...

First Démar and Adriel discuss The Grammys allowing for AI music to win awards. Then the real juice, NBA players-rapper comps! It's free agency in the NBA so we thought it be fun to find NBA star equivalents to some of hip hop's best rappers today. Here's the variety article mentioned in the pod. TIMECODES: 05:08 - purist music, computer music 06:22 - Artist on artist crime, bring back bullying 09...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Dominic Fike's second studio album 'Sunburn’. Is Fike the second coming on Jack Johnson? Is his production putting him in the 'Nas Zone'? Find out in this episode of Album Mode Z! P.S. Mona Lisa is still my song of the summer - D Démar’s rating: 7 / 10 Adriel’s rating: 7.5 / 10 The Love List: Mona Lisa, Dancing in the Courthouse, Any Pile, How Much Is Weed Timeco...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Lil Uzi Vert's third studio album 'Pink Tape’, whether hip hop anthems are back and Uzi's dilance to rock music. Is Uzi able to make the jump to a completely new genre? idk about that one chief. P.S. Why are we still doing 20+ song albums? WHYYYYY?? Démar’s rating: 7.5 / 10 Adriel’s rating: 6/ 10 The Love List: Flooded the Face, Endless Fashion, Nakamura, Just Wa...

Démar and Adriel discuss the best albums so far this year and breakdown the absolutely tragic season finale of 'The Idol'. Also there's been two girls made of "sugar, spice, kanekalon and cinnamon" running viral all over TikTok and giving us all a lesson on viral marketing. The duo decide whether they think FlyanaBoss is a meme or the real deal. Time Codes: 3:13 - top 5 albums 7:55 - Dave & CC...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Young Thug's Third studio album 'Business is Business’, whether Young Thug has fallen off and how Thugger's vocal performance circumvents the album's generic production. Démar’s rating: 7 / 10 Adriel’s rating: 6.5 / 10 The Love List: Gucci Grocery Bag, Wit Da Racks, Hoodie, Oh U Went 0:00 - Introduction 8:40 - Fav Thug songs 14:50 - 21 Savage is like Klay Thompso...

Démar and Adriel discuss the promo streak Lil Uzi Vert, Drake and Travis Scott have been on over the past week. Adriel keeps wanting to talk about Pusha T and Jim Jones inexplicable beef over the top 50 and a heated debate about whether Future is a top 50 rapper of all time. Time Codes: 0:15 – Introduction 4:48 – Drake is a style icon 8:15 – Uzi is a Republican 13:25 – Jim Jones vs Pusha T 14:45 –...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Gunna's fourth studio album 'A Gift and a Curse’, whether it's his best album to date and how leaving the guitar behind has helped his production. Démar’s rating: 4 Adriel’s rating: 6 The Love List: fukumean, rodeo dr, bottom, p angels P.S. When we said Young Nudy, we meant Young Thug 0:00 - Introduction 4:00 - It’s been destitute 4:50 - The black Nav 6:55 - 69 i...

Démar and Adriel breakdown episode 3 of the Idol, predict which songs they thing will be the song of the summer and discuss Andre 3000’s alleged album on the way. Don’t believe the hype! Andre 3000 is in the Kanye/Frank Ocean zone, we gotta see it to believe it. Time Codes: 0:00 – Introduction 2:03 – Being threatened by someone named Abel 9:18 – I thought it was going to be way worse 11:40 – Our p...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Janelle Monáe's fourth studio album 'The Age of Pleasure', its reggae roots and how seamlessly Monáe blends genres. Démar’s rating: 9 Adriel’s rating: 7.5 The Love List: Water Slide, Phenomenal, The Rush, Haute *NO SKIPS* Follow us: YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@AlbumMode TikTok: Album Mode: https://www.tiktok.com/@albummodepod Adriel: https://www.tiktok.com/...

Démar and Adriel talk about Drake's Honestly, Nevermind hitting its one-year anniversary and how its aged (hint: that joint slaps, you haters). Also The Weeknd's 'The Idol' is purposefully unsettling but also cringe. Time Codes: 0:00 – introduction 14:34 - Honestly, Nevermind's one-year anniversary Follow us: YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@AlbumMode TikTok: Album Mode: https://www.tiktok.com/@a...

Démar and Adriel talk about how Taylor Swift got bullied into dumping Matty Healy and whether The Weeknd’s acting is genuinely off-kilter or just bad on ‘The Idol’. The duo also debate whether bad haircuts are The Weeknd’s brand and why there hasn’t been a hip hop #1 on the charts yet. Time Codes: 0:00 – introduction 2:15 – Bought in 5:50 – Taylor Swift fans like to cancel people 13:00 – The Fumbl...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss the first collab EP between Dave and Central Cee, ‘Split Decision’, how Central Cee has freed Dave from seriousness and how Dave’s lyricism challenges Cee to elevate his own. Démar’s rating: 4 Stars Adriel’s rating: 4 Stars The Love List: Sprinter, Trojan Horse, Our 25th Birthday 0:18 - Introduction 04:09 – Projects that never happened 4:38 – CC Fans 10:00 – 25th...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Arlo Parks’ sophomore album ‘My Soft Machine’, it’s adventurous production and Parks’ revamped (and blunted) song writing style. Démar’s rating: 8.5 Adriel’s rating: 8.5 The Love List: Blades, Purple Phase, Impurities, Puppy 0:00 Intro 4:00 Arlo Parks is Tyrese Haliburton 5:30 She doesn't need features 6:40 Romil from BROCKHAMPTON 8:35 Weightless with Paul Epwort...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss the KAYTRAMINÉ collab album ‘KAYTRAMINÉ,’ Aminé’s 90’s references, being a pop Pusha T and whether improved KAYTRAMINÉ is a crossover point for Kaytranada. Démar’s rating: 8 Adriel’s rating: 8.5 The Love List: 4EVA, Westside, K&A, EYE, Time Codes: 0:00 Intro 3:20 steez 4:20 lots going on in a good way 7:30 he’s like Portland 8:20 he’s like Pusha T 9:00 song o...

Démar and Adriel discuss why there’s no song of the summer yet, Kid Cudi nixing his single release after being roasted by twitter and the death of the great Tina Turner. Time Codes: 0:00 - Intro 1:00 - Tina Turner 4:35 - Song of summer / Adriel is a hipster 7:15 - Travis Scott … it’s music it’s on a USB 10:45 - Cudi snippet removed from Twitter 15:15 - Chance the rapper 16:15 - Summer Walker 22:45...

Démar and Adriel discuss how the hip hop developed over the 90s and how many artists have maintained their relevance beyond the monumental time for the genre. The duo also talks about DaBaby’s potential comeback because of the Repo Reaper account on TikTok’s virality. Time Codes: 0:00 - Intro 2:00 - Tribe 4:35 - 90s Dr Dre 7:05 - Wu-Tang 11:35 - Rihanna son named RZA 12:29 - RZA to Riff Raff 13:20...

Hip Hop turns 50 this year so Album Mode has decided to look at an album per decade to see how the genre has evolved since that primordial party in New York that started it all. This week Démar and Adriel discuss one of the god MC’s, Nas’ and his debut classic ‘Illmatic’, it’s iconic lines and one liners. The duo also discuss the legendary production list and how 'Illmatic' traps the listener in N...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss rapper Destroy Lonely’s debut album ‘If Looks Could Kill.’ Lonely’s Nav-ness and whether his lack of variance on a feature-less album can work long term. Time Codes: 0:00 - Intro 7:15 - If you know what 9/11 is then you are old enough 9:25 - One flow all the way through 14:45 - Sounds like he has to take a dump 16:00 - Something to his voice 18:30 - He is your co...

Démar and Adriel discuss why Démar is scared about The Weeknd potentially changing his stage name and Doja Cat’s twitter tirade about her artistry. Timbaland is also making AI songs with a dead artist… LIKE WE PREDICICTED. Time Codes: 0:00 - intro 3:00 - Dealing with Doja 13:45 - Ed vs Marvin Gaye 20:54 - The Weeknd 22:15 - Démar is nervous 23:10 - The fan artists complain about 26:45 - Démar is a...

This week Démar and Adriel discuss supergroup Boygenius latest album ‘The Record’ and whether they’re a sum lesser than their parts and if their “background music” style of production works. Demar’s rating: 5.5 Adriel’s rating: 6 The Love List: Satanist, $20, Emily I’m Sorry Follow us on YouTube / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok: @AlbumModePod @AdrielSmileyDotCom @DemarjGrant

This week Démar and Adriel discuss rapper Jack Harlow’s third studio album ‘Jackman.’ Harlow’s improved lyricism and whether he can step outside rapper-Drake’s shadow. 4:00 - raps like Drake 7:30 - this shit is good, respectfully 13:15 - when I think of Kentucky 16:00 - a pop rapper 18:00 - Drake of Jay-z beats 25:55 - is Jack top 50? Lol 27:00 - it can’t be (being a white rapper) 31:00 - black wo...

Démar and Adriel discuss how Post Malone went from potential one-hit wonder to 8 diamond singles. Also, Pras is involved in international espionage… What? 8:00 - We thought White Iverson was a gimmick 12:30 - Hip-hip is the space (primordial ooze) 13:45 - Rap Rock 18:30 - Pras 19:00 - founded wolf of Wall Street 21:45 - why is the Chinese government contacting the 3rd member of the Fugees 23:30 -...

Démar and Adriel discuss the audacity of Mac Demarco to drop a 199 song album and discuss Jim Jones' comments on Pusha T not being a top 50 rapper of all time. P.S. Juice Wrld is Top 50 - D =================================== Time Codes: 0:00 - intro 1:30 - song plays - Adriel a fan of more music 2:45 - song 20190724 - fun to make 5:45 - is it possible to drop too music (NBA Youngboy) 9:00 - Jim J...