Ivy by Frank Ocean

Has there ever been a song like this that takes you straight there? Frank Ocean is still stuck on his first love and the feeling he concludes with is that it's good. It's unfortunate to have to reflect through a mirror of hate, but the innocence and purity of unexpectedly being hit by a train of empathy is indescribable. Keep on dreaming.

Kendrick Lamar: Untitled Unmastered

This is the first Kendrick Lamar album I've ever listened to all the way through...and it's very listenable. It's a very intriguing experiment as the track list is obscure and appeals to his fan base who are unequivocally obsessed with Kendrick and will memorize track 8's name with all its unconventional numeration. Bravo Mr. Lamar. Spectacular work.

Rihanna: Consideration: ANTI

The first track off of Aunty Rih Rih's ANTI is awesome. Sounding like the farthest thing from R&B, Rihanna sounds like she has been listening to so-called Indigo child Willow Smith. It's kinda funny, Willow's sound was immediately compared to Rih Rih's when she first debut "Whip My Hair" as a toddler. Listen to the track below....for your Consideration.

If You're Reading this it's Not too Late to Enjoy this Song

Drake is amazing at making songs that middle schoolers can latch onto for months and repeat phrases they don't really understand. Is he on a quest to expand the vocabulary for prepubescents or is this just another ride around the mean streets of Toronto? Hauntingly chill and ever increasingly mellow, it's never to late to listen.

http://youtu.be/79AR0VC5wCA

Lupe Fiasco: Ghetto Story

What an amazing song. Every time I listen to it I'm completely transformed into a yogi levitating over my old East New York neighborhood. This is some bleak stuff man. How many ways are there to analyze the plight and living conditions of marginalized communities? Lupe has a million answers. At the end of the song he is so exasperated from spilling his plasma all over the record he simply states: In the end,
                           I hope we learn more,
                                                              Than how to be whores,
                                                                                                    and how to move a ball.

Meek Mill: 4/4

I don't understand. Meek Mill mumbles and I don't understand what he is saying. I can understand every single word that Drizzy says. Speech pathology is necessary. Articulate, pronunciate, extrapolate, intonate.

Lupe Fiasco: Chopper

Lupe Fiasco doesn't just rap about the hypocrisy of living a marginalized life, often he makes full forays, and this time, he brings friends along.

This is an amazingly atmospheric track from his most esoteric of albums.

• Filet mignon from my food stamps
• Medical card from Obama
• Background check for a Chopper * blooooaw

Shakira: Underneath your Clothes

Shakira is really an amazing songwriter, especially since English is her second language. But that isn't exactly a politically correct statement to write, as music isn't bound by language and she has been traversing pop music boundaries since she had black hair and ONLY sung in Spanish. This song is awesome, not only for its clear expression of love for another's corporal being but because of its love of the beauty and depth of language in rhyme.

Like a lady tied to her manners, she's tied up to this feeling. Linda.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwBwKcQ1k84

The A Team

Perfect time of year to listen to this jam as motivations are slowing down, outlooks are bleak. It's too cold outside. But the world keeps calling. The rent isn't going to pay itself.

http://youtu.be/UAWcs5H-qgQ