Their Album isnt officially released until April 23rd but The Neighbourhood's major label debut album is avaible to listen through sound cloud. We wrote an article on how we expect great things from this band and they haven't disappointed one bit. You can check that out here. That's all for now enjoy!

The track listing is as follows:

1. How
2. Afraid
3. Everybody's Watching Me (Uh Oh)
4. Sweater Weather
5. Let It Go
6. Alleyways
7. W.D.Y.W.F.M.?
8. Flawless
9. Female Robery
10. Staying Up
11. Float



Let us know what you think of the band in the comments below

By - EB

You may have read our Review on Drakes 5AM In Toronto track, now only 3 weeks later the OVO team drops some visuals for the song. Let us know what you think.

By - J

Normally I'm quite skeptical about anything the "Wolf" puts out but this album was surprisingly well done it wasn't the same kind of crazy as Bastard or Goblin. The album features many of the Odd Future group with some nice additions such as Pharrell and Erykah Badu. The album wasn't what i was expecting, but it's sure to have an entirely different reception than Goblin and Bastard. This album made both our Top 10 albums to look out for in 2013 and our 5 Hip Hop albums to look forward to as well, and when people hear the album the reason for placing on these lists will be justified. So as I sit here and about to begin the album, i've decided i'll just do a track by track review:

1. Wolf

The introductory track for Wolf features a jazzesque piano strum with some light background lyrics. It then explodes with some trumpets and drums and Tyler's voice with, "F**k You... him". He then introduces the Sam character to Wolf.

 2. Jamba (feat. Hodgy Beats)

Jamba starts off with some muffled gun shots and the first line Tyler speaks is, "Papa ain't call even though he saw me on T.V, it's all good". The beat is one of those retro sounding video game sounds, with some heavy drums in the back and some synths on the hook. He then proceeds to talk about his irritation with having Asthma and that he's "sick of hacking and coughing". The hook features "Shut em down" screamed in a comedic tone. Hodgy comes in for the second verse and to keep things short basically amps up the Odd Future crew in his usual style. Tylers 3rd verse talks about how they should smoke weed which has Domo come in to call Tyler out for not even smoking weed.

3. Cowboy

The first two lines of Cowboy has Tyler using F**k 3 times in a variety of fillers for words. He goes on to say, "life ain't got no light in it/Darker than that closet that n***a Frankie was hiding in". Referring to Frank Ocean, saying that the life he's living is very dark and secretive something like what Frank must've experienced before he came out. The hook features Tyler saying that he's basically living solo by himself. The third verse is probably a deeper view of Tyler's mentality saying "Do you know how weird it is knowing I make a bunch of cheese / While my friends can't afford little pizzas from Little Caesars". Tyler references here that he's making money from music as his friends sit by and cant even afford to buy pizzas. There's then an overlay on the track saying that Tyler still treats his friends anyway. The beat on this track is very dark, featuring a simple 3 or 4 note strum with some snare heavy sounding drums and a light piano ensemble as he enters every hook.

4. Awkward

A very mellow slow piano strum with some low to high points and a bass heavy set of drums begin the tone of this track. At this point I'm completely confused at what I'm hearing I don't even know if this is a Tyler album. This track is more of a love ballad speaking about a girl he was "sprung" on when he was 16 which eventually turned sour. Frank Ocean comes in at the end to a very low alteration of his voice singing "You're my Girlfriend/You're my Girl/You're my girl/You're my girlfriend, you're my Girl Girlfriend".
5. Domo 23

The tone of this album takes a very noticeable twist on Domo 23. This was the first single we were exposed to by Tyler with a video to go along with it. This track is more of a main stream sounding song to amp you up reminiscent of Goblin and Bastard. Knew the kid couldn't have gone soft yet. It features that bass heavy beat which is opened up with trumpets and a beat that i cant even explain in words.

6. Answer

This album is flipping on me every time I think its going in a new direction. This song goes back to Jamba's first line with Tyler asking pops to answer the phone. Again a very mellow sounding beat with a nice retro beat. Here we can truly see a look into Tyler's life as he rages on his father's absence in his life. The third verse sounds like its about his father as well however he quickly mentions "the last verse was about this girl".

7. Slater (feat. Frank Ocean)

I enjoyed the beat on this track. It's got a heavy baseline that underlies a heavily repetitive strum. It's also got a very eerie sounding piano in the background. I was hoping to hear more of Frank Ocean on this track but he came in at the end and thats cool. This tracks has Tyler speaking on his wealth and venues perception of him because of his insane style. This track I ended up listening to 3 or 4 times before I understood what was going on (which I still don't think I do).

8. 48

This track features a sample of Nas at the beginning speaking on how crack f---ed up the world. Tyler enters story mode on this piano, guitar strummed bass heavy beat as he puts himself in the role of a drug dealer. He speaks on his rational for doing it based on his hunger and a need to support the family. It ends with a continuation of Nas speaking on people's addiction to the hustle.

9. Colossus

This song reminded so much of Eminem's Stan. In essence it's got the same concept as Tyler rhymes in the position of a Fan. This song just bars upon bars by Tyler and it really shows the talent Tyler has for Hip Hop. It offers no drums but a piano solo with a very edgy baseline in the background and I'm just gonna say its an xylophone overlay. Occasionally some drums come in with a smash of symbols as the story reaches it's climax.

10. Partyisnover/Campire/Bimmer (feat. Laetita Sadier & Frank Ocean)

Another really dark sounding beat which really outlines the plot of this song. The kind of sound you'd hear at the end of a party basically telling you to go home. Partyisntover offers one verse repeated twice telling the girl to take a chance with him. Campire enters an unorthodox sound with a short verse from Tyler eventually ending with Laetita Sadier coming in what I really cant understand right now. Bimmer was the point I was waiting for as Frank Ocean came in, it features another verse relating a girl to a BMW.

11. IFHY (feat. Pharrell)

I was looking forward to this track and it's production has not disappointed me. This song is probably one of Tyler's favourites since Pharrell is one of his favourite albums. He recently released the video for this song which you can see below.


12. Pigs

In this siren ridden, organ haunted house sounding beat, Tyler goes in on his youth being bullied and depressed and being called a variety of offensive names. It's an insight into the life of Wolf Haley.

13. Parking Lot (feat. Mike G & Casey Veggies)

13 tracks in and i've loved almost every minute of it. Tyler just goes in on this jazz sounding beat. It's almost disappointing that I'm here thinking what to write as I listen to this album.

14. Rusty (feat. Domo Genesis & Earl Sweatshirt)

The first thing I hear on this track instantly makes me love it. Im a big fan of heavy bass strums taking over songs. It oddly reminded me of Dr. Dre's Housewife (one of my favourite beats ever). Tyler gives Domo the first verse on this track which he completely bodies. This song is one of those arrogant songs that you'd hear from Kanye. Tyler comes in on the second verse and begins with "In a world where kids my age are popping mollies with leather". Tyler goes in on the song and goes at everyone who's talked shit about the things that he says. Earl the man comes in for the knock out verse and just rips it up.

15. Trashwang (feat. Na'kel, Jasper, Lucas, L-Boy, Taco, Left Brain & Lee Speilman)

As soon as I heard the eerie sound on Trashwang I remembered the music you'd hear when you go into a cave in the Pokémon games. In this feature filled track it brings back that insanity of Goblin and Bastard fans will love.

16. Treehome95 (feat. Coco O & Erykah Badu)

Because Erykah Badu is on this song I knew it had to be something special. It's a departure from the album of rapping as Tyler brings out his "vocals" and tries to sing. A nice addition to the album as it comes to a close.

17. Tamle

This was the song I was waiting for, I knew there HAD to be a song where Tyler jabs at how different this album is to his prior ones. The beat is so abstract and weird I was like wtf when I heard it but it made sense as he starting rapping. Probably not one i'll be constantly listening to though.

18. Lone

As Wolf comes to a close Tyler again goes with a really mellow mellow beat. Tyler again gives us another insight to his life from his career to the death of his Grandmother.

Conclusion:

This album was a surprising twist to the guy we know as Wolf Haley, Tyler, The Creator etc. I give this album an 8/10 because it's pretty good and I think I'm going to buy it when it's officially released on April 2nd, you can purchase it off of iTunes here. 

I'd also like to shout out to Rap Genius who saved me the time from typing out the lyrics, check them out for a deeper insight into the album.

You can listen to the full album below.

It's not very often a well established band decides to wipe the slate clean and put out a completely different sound on their fifth album (sarcasm). Its actually very surprising how many great bands follow the pattern of releasing a classic, another great album, one or two shitty albums and then try to change the game up with a 5th or 6th album. Take Coldplay for example, we all thought we knew what Coldplay was about after they gave us some of the most beautiful thoughtful music collectively as a band as we'd ever heard before. Then they had a mid-life crises and released Mylo Xyloto. Not to get into the Coldplay conversation but it wasn't Coldplay, it was a Brian Eno injected pop album featuring Chris Martin. Many bands follow this trend but few actually pull it off.

It was easy to hear in the Strokes fourth studio LP "Angles" that they weren't really in it. Somewhere between their third album (which wasn't great either) the band kind of fell apart. Lead singer Julian Casablanca's released his single project called "Phrazes For The Young" and it sounded nothing like The Strokes. Backed up by tons of synths and weird electronic hooks, the rockstar no longer seemed to exist without the rock-band. Three years later we heard the mediocre "Angles" LP, sounding nothing like Julians single stuff but more like a forced effort to sound like The Strokes.

Fast-forward to today. The first time I sat down and went through this 38 minute album I was surprised but it left me in a good mood, an initially appealing piece of work. I then went to bed, woke up and couldn't help but putting it on again while eating my cereal, still finding it easy to get into. It shows up in your iTunes looking very retro with the RCA red cover almost giving it the look of a mix tape. It's ieasier to listen to then the last two records but is much different then the first two. Say you mashed the good aspects of "Phrazes For The Young" with the rock and roll sounds of "Room on Fire", you'd receive a little baby called "The Comedown Machine". It has a sort of post punk psychedelic sound while Julian sings in a super high pitched soft voice that sits half behind half in front of the instrumentals, especially heard on tracks like "One Way Trigger", "Partners In Crime", and the closing track of the record. It's hard to explain exactly what this album does sonically but if I close my eyes I can picture myself smoking a cigarette in a 1985 Benz while the sun beats down on me. This album tastes like New York in the summer. We hear many different types of lyricism and style on the album. The song "50 50" is maybe one of the more relevant punk songs The Strokes have ever released, where the title track is sort of a love ballet.

I gave it a few more days, and the more I listen the more I find myself falling in love with the Strokes again. Overall this is a good step for the band, they may not be the rockstars they were in the early 2000's but who is these days? Indie rock was dead and The Strokes helped resurrect it, maybe it's going to be another lull but with albums like this, were headed in the right direction.

By - J

It's not too often I hear music from new bands that I truly appreciate. But if it's any band that's done it it's The Neighbourhood. Their major label debut EP came out almost 2 months ago but as their single "Sweater Weather" gained popularity I started tuning in. Something about its dark sounding beat drew me in, the echoing vocals were an added benefit. It was kind of a paradox a very dark sounding beat, but one I can drop my windows to and turn my speakers up to while driving in the sun. They are definitely a group I'm going to be looking out for in the future.

Aside from the popularity of Sweater Weather another great track off of their EP, Im Sorry is Female Robbery, the video for this song was released over 7 months ago but has only raked in about 300k views on Youtube. The song starts out with, "I think i found hell". That was all i needed to get into it. The video is also an interesting piece of work, it paints the tale of a young girl who's parents are enduring marital issues and a father who takes out his anger on her and abuses her. The young girl is then kidnapped and is carried to a place where she and the kidnaper bury a notebook. My perspective of this is that the kidnapper and girl are one in the same and the kidnapper is burying the painful memories of her childhood represented by the book. It's a great video that is just as dark as the song itself making both work harmoniously. Check out the video below and let us know your iterpretation of it.


You can purchase their EP off iTunes here.

Ghostface Killah (Twelve Reasons to Die) - Wu-Tang legend and prominent member is releasing his 10th studio album under the RZA Soul Temple record label. It was originally push back to not conflict with RZA's, Man With The Iron Fists movie soundtrack. The LP is concept album based on the comic book Twelve Reasons to Die. Anything from the Clan gets us excited. It's set to release April 16th, 2013.

Kid Cudi (Indicud) - The third solo album from the G.O.O.D music artist may be the most exciting of the month. After deciding that he was not going to use this album as the third instalment of the Man on the Moon series he aimed to take this album in a different direction. Cudi plans to make this his version of Dr. Dre's The Chronic 2001 where he will produce, feature and play a song writer all in one. Comparing himself to the Doc leaves lots of room for criticism so obviously were stoked to see what happens. It's set to release April 23rd, 2013. (Unofficial Album Artwork)

Snoop Lion (Reincarnated) - If it was a Snoop Dogg album it would be his twelfth solo album but instead this is his first go as the new Snoop Lion. It is a departure from the regular Hip-Hop Snoop and his attempt at a reggae musical direction. It's going to be especially exciting to see whether he can pull it off and if it makes or breaks his Hip-Hop career.  It's set to release April 23rd, 2013.

By - EB

This week we happen to receive a few new tracks from the New York native band Vampire Weekend. If you've heard these dudes previously you may know the tracks, "A-Punk", "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" or "Oxford Comma". They kind of blew up in 2010 with the album Contra and the single "Cousins". That album consisted of some weird rhyming by the lead singer Ezra Koenig and some worldly instrumentals. It played along a good balance between classic rock or indie pop and very international sounding instrument brought in from all over the world.

The two tracks we got blessed with this week are from their 3rd studio album titled Modern Vampires of The City due to be released on May 6th. The first track we got is called "Step". This beautiful long track surprised us. It is very romantic, relatively slow and more of a love song. The use of auto tune on this piece is done tastefully and it makes the vocals mesh well with the instrumentals to sound pretty. The song is laid down over a lyric video in front of cool black and white shots of New York city. The Second track we got is called "Dianne Young". This songs cute play on words Dying Young, is a match for a upbeat cool pop song with a well mixed vocal set. The song is put over  video of a slow motion burning car in front of a dark grey city background. There are some really witty lyrics hidden here so listen closely.

Check them both out below and let us know what you think.



Pre-order the album

By - J and EB

1:24 am this morning Drake dropped a new track called 5 am in Toronto, yesterday I had a feeling we might be seeing this track come to life because of his tweet simply saying "5 am in Toronto". If you can think back to his mix-tape days, then you may remember a track called 9 am in Dallas where Drake goes in over a pretty nice beat and does sort of a ballet of where he's at, at that point in his career.

5AM in Toronto
— Drizzy (@Drake) March 6, 2013

I'll start this off by saying I personally am not a hardcore Drake fan, in fact I don't really like him at all and if you have a problem with that stop reading.

Now, i'm not gonna trash this song because surprisingly it's not bad considering the awful piece that was Started From the Bottom. I used to listen to Drake when he was up and coming and this song kinds of takes me back to that point. So Far Gone was some of Drake's best work to date, Thank me Later and Take Care were okay but to me SFG was his beginning and the best he'll ever get. But not to be too hard on the guy he's putting Toronto on the map I just cant stand the image that comes with it.

Anyway, 5 AM in Toronto, a song produced by Boi1da features a synth sounding beat (but i could be wrong), it's coupled with simple old school sounding snare and bass with some light hats. The content of this song shines though. There's no definitive hook on the song, sounds like 3 minutes of pure rapping on Drakes part, the rhymes he puts out are those of the cocky, I made it kind. He starts off with "You underestimated greatly/most number ones ever how long did it really take me/ the part i love most is they need me more than they hate me", some how he gets to talking about guns "so they never take shots/ I got everyone on safety/ I could load every gun with bullets that fire backwards/ probably wouldn't lose a single rapper." Wait wait wait, did i just hear that? Dope line, just dumb coming from you. "N****s make threats cant hear em over the laughter", my guess is that this is to all the beefs he's been involved with. He then goes on to talk about money, his grammy and how rappers these days are all about the PR and how he's the only rapper known for the music. Again, what? This goes two ways mate. No you're not known for the music, you're known for beefing with Chris Brown over Rihanna, and that garbage that was Started from the bottom. "B*****s loving my drive i never give it a break/ give these n****s the love, the verse and even the hook/ that's why every song sound like Drake featuring Drake." I won't lie that line was dope and had some truth to it, every single song Drake is a part of gets radio play. He went as far as saying "without me rap is just a bunch of orphans". Again.... No. And then he finishes the song with that singing, "awwwwwhhhh yeah".

One of the best things about this track is just the name. Drake has done a good job staying connected to his roots, and putting Toronto on the map, although it may not always be in a good way. All in all great rhymes, very well executed, sick beat but it's just Drake so... hating it a must. All love though, ha ha.

What do you think of the track? Listen below and let us know.

Alright if you haven't heard of this kid yet your obviously not a Hip-Hop head like us here at SGL. Jo-Vaughn Virgie Scott popularly known as Joey Bada$$ is a brooklyn young gun from the rap collective Pro Era. He may have popped on your radar back in June of 2012 when he dropped his first mix-tape, 1999 or when he followed that mixtape up with Rejex. Needless to say this 18 year old brooklyn native kills it. With a very young Jay-Z esque flow and an ear for good old hip hop samples and beats we may be in the presence of one of the next greats. You may have heard him on A$AP Rocky's debut album Long.Live.Asap on the almost 8 minute long track featuring Joey, Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big KRIT. At this point Joey isn't signed to any record labels and is keeping it independent for now, but has referenced on a few tracks including this one how he turned down an offer from Roc-A-Fella Records and the man Jay-Z himself.

The track below is his first single released of his debut LP and although his album didn't make it on our Most Anticipated Albums of 2013, it is definitely on mine. This video is pretty cool, it features Joey and some of his crew members walking around brooklyn in a half animated half real life editing scheme that shouts a sort of Kanye-ish production. In a way it kind of disappointing to see this underground rapper that always looks kind of grimy and dirty in his videos, so clean and well produced. However, every great rapper eventually ditches the rags and moves to the riches. If you haven't had a chance to check out his most popular video to date for the track Survival Tactics, you can take a look here. Let us know what you think of this video and what you think of Joey Bada$$ in general. Comment below.

By - J

Just a few days ago Kid Cudi unleashed another single off his forthcoming album Indicud and it's a unique song. Immortal features samples from MGMT "Congratulations" as well as Billy Madison.

It starts off with Adam Sandler in Billy Madison with the line "I am the smartest man alive." It then blends in with the MGMT sample coupled with Cudi's unique style of production. The one thing that sets this song apart is that Cudi sings the entire song, it features no rapping. The hook features a two liner,"I'm living my life as if I got powers/And tonight I feel immortal/I said tonight I feel immortal/Tonight I feel immortal." Definitely a reflection of Kid Cudi's struggles and his recovery. You can check out an in depth description of all the lyrics at Rap Genius.


After dropping the first two singles off Indicud, Just What I Am and King Wizard. I'm definitely excited to hear the full length LP. Cudi's stated that the album will be his version of Dr. Dre's "The Chronic 2001"so let's see what he'll bring. After the tragedy that was WZRD and a bunch of crazy features off Cruel Summer, he's off to a great start for Indicud.

Listen to the track below. What do you think?

By – J

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