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

Life Support- Sam Smith

The 8th on In the Lonely Hour, Life Support is the kind of track that you initially dismiss as myopic, but eventually love for its image-evoking lyrics and vulnerable performance. A must listen.

http://youtu.be/XwGQfbarg1U

Sorry

I never thought I would be vibing to Beiber. But hey, times change, people change, is too late to say, "sorry?"

Every Time the Sun Comes Up [Sharon Van Etten]

You've accomplished a lot in your life, but those regrets are always with you. When do they pile up at your door? That's right, in the morning. Creeping in with the draft and that morning dew your mom warned you will give your pneumonia. You may have never gotten sick, but your shoulders are perpetually heavy.

Maps [Maroon 5]

It's hard to say anything bad about Maroon 5's music. The first time you hear a new song from them, you swear to everything you hold dear that you will hate it. That searing falsetto, that saccharine pop-y sound, the repetitive lyrics, the reckless abandon into all things sweet and endearing...Until that one day it comes on and you are singing along. Oh well, no one's around.

Brooklyn Baby [Lana Del Rey]

Lana of the king embodies Williamsburg, Brooklyn occupants in this catchy drifty tune. Her boyfriend plays in a band; he's cool, but not as cool as she. It's Brooklyn Baby.

Ultraviloence [Lana Del Rey]

I'm not sure what this song is all about. I had to look up the lyrics (thanks Google). Lana Del Rey muses on being 27 and being alive and being a rock star (does she qualify as one?). Jim Morrison is in the 27 club, is he the Jim she refers to in her song? Or is this all a sad song about being involved in an abusive relationship? Listen above.

Heart's On Fire

The first single from the new Passenger (the fella that sung "Let Her Go") album, Whispers (aptly titled no? Have you heard his voice?!), is a sweet melodic tune. I heard it first and then thought, "wow this should be a great lead single"; then I saw it was the single. Very good Mr. Rosenberg.

Lazaretto

Jack White's music is not boring. Following up his excellent 2012 effort, Blunderbuss, Mr. White returns with Lazaretto, an exciting blend of chamber-music punk rock that will rock your summertime.

Chimes at Midnight

That sweet spot after lunch before your food has achieved its total potential of soporifics, this song will rock you. After all, you're energized from the burger you stood on the grill line 32 minutes for; it devoured more than half of your lunch, and you (in turn) devoured your processed meat. 

Nicki Minaj's "Pills N Potions"

Even since she slithered onto the scene in the video for "Massive Attack," Nicki Minaj has made a indelible mark on pop music culture. This has been due largely to her ability to slip into different skins and generate hits across the genres of dance-pop and hip hop. Here, in "Pills N Potions," Minaj is rapping and singing, hinging upon a style that resulted in success in the past (see "Your Love"). Whether this is the hottest of tracks her upcoming The Pink Print has to offer is yet to be seen, but stay tuned, chameleon Minaj is always full of surprises.

Fabolous Ft. 50 Cent “Cuffin Season (Remix)”

"Damn it's so cold in the f)(#@in winter!" That pretty much sums up what October 2013 to April 2014 in New York was. Now that it's June, those who reluctantly held on to failing relationships gather the courage to unlock their hearts, fly free and embrace the sunshine.