Babe, why you no like nice things?

     

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's top 50 albums of 2022. 

#32 : Remember Your North Star - Yaya Bey

Yaya Bey’s superlative second record is one of the year’s coolest, a heady mix of R&B and jazz that’s lived-in, conversational, meticulous; acidic in its humour and boundless in its empathy. Songs such as Keisha and Meet Me in Brooklyn are filled with subtle interlocking parts but never feel busy: the production equivalent of no-makeup makeup, they provide perfectly minimal backing for Bey to unspool her lackadaisical but painstakingly composed lyrics about relationships, work and Black womanhood. Recalling incisive, free-spirited chroniclers of sex and romance such as SZA and Cookie Mueller, Bey provides a much-needed voice for 21st-century singles everywhere, getting lost in love and looking good doing it.

I think I've heard her name from time to time throughout the year, but couldn't tell you any more than that - from the description above I'm expecting something smooth that will either hit the spot or just slide by without being noticed.

Hmmm - it's nice, but it does somewhat slide by (except for the rude words which jump out at you).  It's well done smooth R&B but it didn't particularly excite - no one track particularly jumped out at me.  It reminded me of SZA - and had a similar effect on me, I'm afraid.

No chart activity for Ms Bey and no Wikipedia entry for the album, but she does have an entry which goes into great depth - "Yaya Bey is an American rhythm and blues musician from Brooklyn".  So now we know all about her!  "Customers also listen to" Sault, Sudan Archives and Jamila Woods - I don't see much resemblance to Sault so I can only assume the other two are closer.  I didn't hate this, but I couldn't get too excited for it either.

#31 : It's Almost Dry - Pusha T

Four years after his career-rejuvenating instant classic Daytona, Pusha T returned with It’s Almost Dry, arguably his sharpest and most appealingly persnickety album since his peak Clipse days. Unlike on Daytona, there’s no Drake beef here to draw Push’s ire; instead, his lyrics are all about petty rifts and decades-old dramas, scores that can only be settled with excoriating, ice-cold wordplay. While the credits list seems bloated – It’s Almost Dry is stacked with household names including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Kid Cudi and Lil Uzi Vert, and features a Beyoncé sample on grandiose highlight Rock n Roll – the focus is squarely on Pusha, as, nearly 20 years on from his first commercial peak, he re-establishes himself as one of the era’s most vital rappers.

I think I've heard of Pusha T, from The Guardian's description of his last album as a "career-rejuvenating instant classic" I assume he was around for a bit, then not around for a bit and now he's back, baby!  I'm expecting some hip-hop - with that list of guest artists, I think I'm probably safe.

This is old skooooool, man.  If I have to listen to hip hop, this is the kinda stuff I go for - there's some content and at least the lad's not mumbling.  But that doesn't mean I'll seek it out.  I probably liked some tracks more than others - the "Jealous Guy" one was OK, but apart from that I wasn't really paying attention.  You'll like it if you like this sort of thing, I guess - I like the album cover though.

Wow - this got to #7 and managed two whole weeks in the charts.  I think that's our best so far (there's a chance we may meet slightly more successful albums later on - there's no chance of us avoiding Harry, Taylor and Queen Bey).  Wikipedia has a surprising amount on the album - but probably not that surprising when you read it got to #1 in the US.  There's a bizarre section on how he posted a picture of Lana del Ray "with her face seemingly obscured by a pile of cocaine" because of "the belief that he and the singer talk about similar subjects in their music".  Errr - yeah.  He also explained the album title in that he was producing a masterpiece and people kept asking him when it was ready, and if he was painting a masterpiece the answer would have been "It's Almost Dry" (did this happen to da Vinci?).  Oh yeah, and quite coincidentally, the same is true for drugs - I'm sure that never occurred to him until someone pointed it out.

"Customers also listened to" Jay Rock, DJ Khaled and Jay Electronica - oh yeah, them guys.  To be fair, you always know when DJ Khaled is involved in a track.  This album isn't really my kinda thang but it was a lot better than a load of other "not my kinda thang" albums.

Two albums that don't quite hit the spot for me this time.

#34-33 - Two I wasn't expecting much from, but really liked

#30-29 - Two albums that are just my kinda thang