Alright, FLY is going to level with you tonight, this week was better than it first looked, but only in a sense that it was more solid than I thought, but New Music FLYday is shockingly lean today. So, while I hate to leave on a weak note (and will preface this by saying that there definitely won't be a New Music FLYday next week, as I'll be away from my laptop and don't really use the Forum on mobile [and wouldn't have it in me to type up a whole one on mobile while maintaining the same high quality and on the spot proofing that we have all come to expect by my strong grip on the world's most beautiful language], but will also say that the following week is when PFF Virtual Fest starts, which runs for 10 days, so if FLY jump in with the all access badge despite not taking time off work for it this year because of this dumb trip next week, I'll be squeezing in a ton Friday night through Sunday, which is prime New Music FLYday typing time, so this might be the last full one we get for like a month), I'd say that the blame for this falls more on the releases and less on FLY, as I did do some digging, though, admittedly, I didn't do that much broadening of the scope to stuff in a few genres because FLY is a sucker for that real trap shit, and, make no mistake about it, we've that it on this week's edition of New Music FLYday.
The thing that most caught my eye was the debut album from BlocBoy JB, FatBoy. So in the time since BlocBoy JB was launched in to the mainstream thanks to the spotlighting by/culture vulturing of (depending on your perspective, one supposes), Drake on the fantastic "Look Alive", it feels like he's sort of been quiet, so much so that it wouldn't be wrong to ask if he was simply a one hit wonder. This album ended up being better than I expected, because I too was of the mind that he just kind of didn't have 'it'. Which probs isn't entirely bad on its own, though was likely an accurate summation on my part. It's easy listening trap, with BlocBoy's flow being solid and him mostly sticking to what works, so in that sense I was much more whelmed than underwhelmed or overwhelmed, and there are some hot songs here. Just don't ask me(atwad,FLY) which ones they are because I've already forgotten most of this album. I suppose with the Drake cosign it becomes hit or miss, obviously him jumping on the "Versace" remix way back when was a large part of the force that launched Migos in to the success they've found (FLY has more detailed thoughts on why they hit as well, but likely not the place for that), and I wouldn't say that BlocBoy squanders it here, just that he doesn't offer much more than what you heard on that song which is now almost three years old. And, in that time, you've seen the rise of DaBaby who, while having his own problems with a monotonous flow, has done a much better job of dropping a lot more and constantly being featured on songs. They kind of sound a bit similar too, which doesn't help BlocBoy much at this point either. "Look Alive" stays on repeat for my Purest Pump Spotify gym playlist; however, I'm not even sure if anything on here will make that cut.
Not spending much time on this next one, but Famous Dex released Diana, which has even more of a problem with being forgettable than the BlocBoy album had. Situating himself somewhere adjacent to the Slime God him, Dex delivers one of the most generic trap albums that I've listened to in quite some time. Both this and the previous album were not bad, but while BlocBoy was fine background noise, this one fell on the other side by being kind of tedious. Not sure why that was the case, though I suppose it's that JB has a heavier focus on the rapping and delivery, while Dex settles in to this Gunna-esque space that doesn't seem to even have the direct connection to Thug's greatness that you get with Gunna or even Lil Baby. I'd say you likely shouldn't bother with this album, even FLY is done with it.
And, lastly, we have the week's most surprising release, A Demon In 6lue from Lil Loaded. Still very much in line with that trap shit I'm looking for, this one easily hit the most for me, especially as I was entirely unfamiliar with Lil Loaded before listening. His sound isn't too different from some of his contemporaries, existing in the harder sphere of southern trap that, most recently, I found with NLE Choppa, and this whole project, while also kind of just solid, skewed a lot more positive for me. "High School Dropout" is the song that, so far, I've added to my 2020 playlist, but towards the end you get a couple of tracks that feature YG and also the previously mentioned NLE Choppa that are pretty hard. At only 20, he puts together a strong project, and apparently was born in Dallas, though idk if that's where he 'came up', nor do I even know what Dallas's music scene is anyway. You even get away from it for moments of introspection that mostly work, and add a layer to the project which breaks it up nicely, with the standout being a remarkable verse from Polo G on "While I'm Here" that gives me even more faith in the strong reaction I had to his album earlier this year. Not sure the reader will get much out of this one, because it still is what it is, as it were, but this shit goes pretty hard.
Think this week's etdoesgood should listen to this award almost certainly goes to Act II: The Patents Of Nobility (The Turn) from Jay Electronica, because FLY think it's a Tidal exclusive (for now?), and I think you have that service/I don't. Pretty sure it leaked earlier in the week, but FLY doesn't listen to leaks, though is tempted to download it because I'm obviously very interested in seeing what it turned out to be in the approx 13 years of development.
Singles found a bit more success this week, though I mostly feel compelled to just write about the three that I added to the playlist. Headlining them all is the all too brief "Live From The Abyss", which is another in a long line of tracks that makes the case for 2020 being Denzel Curry's year. This one stands alongside the BLM protest songs that cropped up a few months back, but I also kind of feel like it's more in line with something like "I Might Vote For Donald Trump" in terms of how hard hitting it is or even Ski Mask's "Burn The Hoods" in the way that it channels anger in a burst of loud frustration. Can't wait for whatever Denzel's next project is. Next up, after a few features that had me wondering if the album was a one off success, Stunna 4 Vegas pops up as the featured artist on 300lbs Of Guwop's "I.D.F.W." that is your standard banger where 300lbs (an artist I'm entirely unfamiliar with) more than holds his own while Stunna brings some CINECAST!ing heat. Been a little while since I got fired up over a S4V verse, but still very much CINECAST!ing with him this year. And the last one that stood out to me, somewhat surprisingly because I've been lukewarm on a lot of his music, was "Sleepy Hollow", the latest single from Trippie Redd (who also had a good feature on one of the first two albums I listened to today, but, again, don't remember damn near anything about them, so I can't tell you which one it was, but would make the most sense if it was the Dex one, though we don't fact check during these recaps), and should not be confused with the artist Sleepy Hallow, who has been steady crushing it in 2020. This designed to stream song, like the Denzel one, clocks in shy of two minutes, but while Curry's is attractive because of the verse, this one is more effective because Trippie strings together a strong hook that he's able to use twice and stuff a quick, decent verse in the middle. The song is fun though, and sees Trippie in a form I like. Plus it's short.
Kind of like this week's entry. We've reached the end! Hopefully FLY makes it back soon.