

Since its release, this album has been in constant rotation in my personal music library as it seems that I can not get enough of the tales of LA that hit home and the sweet melodies that soothe the mind, body, and soul. However, it was clear that Reason was not resting on these features to gain notoriety for his album because there is a passion in every song that can only stem from a young artist willing to do whatever it takes to make it in the music industry. Reason had no problem including his TDE peers on New Beginnings seeing that there are features from Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Isaiah Rashad.
AMINE LIMBO PITCHFORK PROFESSIONAL
New Beginnings was a great studio album that featured the artist giving listeners a plethora of moods that range from hype, party songs to slow, sentimental songs in which Reason reveals aspects of his personal relationships, rise to fame and battle with balancing the street life with his professional career. Luckily for Reason, he is slowly advancing in his music career and setting himself up to fit very nicely into the TDE lineup. Being on TDE means many things for Reason, but it most notably means that he has a lot to live up to if he is trying to keep up with his peers that include: Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, SZA, Isaiah Rashad and Jay Rock. New Beginnings by Reason is the Los Angeles based rapper’s second album on the Top Dawg Entertainment record label. Honorable mention: Sleepy Hallow – Sleepy Hallow Presents: Sleepy for President

No other album feels like 2020 to me quite like Fetch the Bolt Cutters does. It was perfectly fitting then, that this album was released into a world working to make sense of itself in the midst of a global pandemic and radical social change. This album is an unfiltered, un-censored view into the mind of Fiona Apple, and by proxy, the mind of a woman working to make sense of the world around her. But keep listening, and soon enough you’ll understand what makes this album so special. The drums and vocals are mixed so loud that they seem to sandwich all the other instruments between layers of shouting and clanging. Sometimes it will seem uncomfortably quiet, and other times it will be distractingly cacophonous. It will attack you with its lyrics and pummel you with it’s percussion. It’s going to come at you seeming raw, unfinished and at times a bit overly forward.

This album is definitely not for everyone, and I say that in the most positive way possible. I never thought I would describe an album as sounding equally like Nina Simone and Tom Waits.

I agree with Pitchfork, this album is really, really good! I was lucky enough to hear Fetch the Bolt Cutters before reading any of the reviews, so hopefully I wasn’t influenced too much by them. Honorable mentions: Watermelon Collie – Big Blue, Jordana – Something to Say. R.A.P Ferreira – purple moonlight pages.Quelle Chris & Chris Keys – Innocent Country 2.
