So what do we do next?

  

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

#48 : Reasons To Smile - Kojey Radical

Kojey Radical’s debut album finally arrived this year and, while a lot of long-gestating debuts can fall flat on arrival, Reasons to Smile was worth the wait. Its interplay of hip-hop grit and neo-soul smoothness is kinetic and hypnotic, like watching oil and vinegar try to emulsify. Radical himself is the glue between Reasons to Smile’s warring sides, a grinning, gloriously charismatic guide through his universe

I've heard of Kojey, but that's about as far as things go for me - and the description above doesn't exactly give me too many clues.  So let's see what we've got...

Hmmm - it's an odd one.  It has all sorts of odd sounds on it (not least his voice) across all sorts of genres - it was pretty interesting in places, but I didn't really know what to make of it.  It was very referential, but I wasn't clear whether it was reverential.  I did feel that a lot of it was referring to "the black experience" which it might not surprise you to hear I don't feel I can really comment on - I was reminded of my previous experiences with Sault albums.  I did like "Together" though, with the female back singers and their amusing 70s soul style refrain "Get your shit together".

And we have our first charter on the list - it peaked at #11.  OK, so it immediately disappeared after that but it still managed one week!  Wikipedia doesn't have a lot on the album other than listing some interesting people involved - Kwame Kwei-Armah (the actor/multi-hyphenate), Kelis, Wretch 32 and Maverick Sabre.  And, of course, the critics liked it.

"Customers also listened to" Little Simz, Kae Tempest, Joy Crookes and Sault - look, it's almost like I know what I'm talking about!  I didn't mind this but I think it's safe to say I didn't really understand it - sorry, Kojey!

#47 : SICK! - Earl Sweatshirt

During a season of loss and introversion, an artist who made his name considering those states of being surprised listeners by expanding his purview, reaching outwards to forge connection – it’s there too in the warmth of the vintage soul-tinged production – and define some sense of freedom on his terms. It’s a beautiful example of Earl’s proclivity to defy expectations: on Sick!, the new father watches older members of his family die and reassesses his place in their lineage, past and future; he grapples with pain, how to process it rather than let it “fester into hate”, and works to stay present, aware of how “life can change in the blink of an eye”.

I'm aware that Mr Sweatshirt is one of them hippy-hoppy types, but can't tell you anything more than that - it's safe to say my expectations are not high.

And meh - what can I say about this?  It's (surprisingly) not (overly) offensive but it's not (for me) particularly impressive either - it's not really anything.  I'm sure that if you know this sort of thing then you'll probably manage a more definitive verdict - and it's not like you'll be coming to me for hip-hop advice anyway.  Only 24 minutes as well - it's gone before you notice it's there.

He has had some albums chart, but this one failed to do so, which somewhat surprised me.  Wikipedia tells me very little about the album except that the critics absolutely loved it - "SICK! is the first Earl Sweatshirt album that doesn't sound more freaked-out and withdrawn than the one that came before. It's a dense, rich, contemplative piece of work".  It also tells us it managed to chart in the US, getting to #80.  

Whilst reading about the album, I ventured into Earl's entry and the lad has had an interesting life - he grew up in California and released his first music at 15 to critical acclaim.  But he fell in with a bad crowd, so his mum took the very reasonable course of sending him to a school for bad lads.  In Samoa.  Hardcore.  And his mum is, obviously, a law professor at UCLA.

"Customers also listen to" Armand Hammer, The Alchemist, Wiki and JPEGMAFIA - I can tell you absolutely nothing about any of them, except that Armand features on some of the tracks on this album.  And I will not be making any effort to seek them out given my experience of this album - it just did nothing for me, I'm afraid.

A bit of a dip in like for me with this pair unfortunately, although Kojey was intriguing if not exactly enjoyable.

#50-49 - A good start to the year
#46-45 - Yeah, I liked these (to my surprise)