Jun 27, 2025 at 7:36 PM XXXTENTACTION - ? review I haven’t listened to this guy’s music in years, not since he blew up with Look At Me! probably. I remember hearing his album 17 and actually liking how raw and melodic most of it sounded - I should relisten and see if my opinion on that one has changed. Besides the giga viral singles, I never really picked this project up and gave it a proper shot (hence why this pick made me very excited, as I did not know what to expect, it’s been years since I last listened to X after all). I had plenty of time today so I decided on going track by track and seeing where that leads me. I’ll get into this review by saying that the intro on here is possibly the single worst way I’ve heard an album kick off ever. Good lord the so called instructions were annoyingly pretentious and painful to listen to. It’s good that the second track reedemed the s-----y start. I liked his vocals, X had a pretty good voice and was pretty talented at crafting melodies. It’s pretty great how a slow song like this one has an infectious quality to it. The following tracks, Moonlight and SAD! are, appropriately so, this project’s singles (I’m pretty sure). Both songs are vibrant, fun, and catchy, with SAD! probably being one of his best songs from what I’ve heard so far. Moonlight is decent but sounds a tad lazy vocally and lyrically alike. I also have to give a shoutout to the production which sounds refined but still keeps that indie(ish) edge. The following song, The Remedy For a Broken Heart… isn’t my favorite but it does have some cool elements, mainly the use of the acoustic guitar alongside the sample. It creates a unique, haunting atmosphere. Floor 555 goes hard as f---. I already knew that X and Denzel were tight and influenced eachother, this song solidifies that further. The energy is immense, like, I’m tryna mosh right now. NUMB is cool performance wise but sounds a bit generic and bland to me instrumentally. Not something I’d go back to. The reverse is true for the following song, infinity (888). I loved the beat on here but found both verses boring, the outro portion of the track did not help either; it just made the whole thing sound even messier and disorganized. I liked going down! It’s catchy all around, especially that hook. I’m glad that, like most tracks on this album, the song doesn’t overstay its welcome. The little midwest inspired riff on Pain = BESTFRIEND sounded cute on my first listen but I seriously disliked how low effort this track is. It doesn’t sound finished! There are things to like there but the song doesn’t really shine to the point where one can say this demo-like sound is a viable aesthetic and an artistic choice. ---’s parts on $$$ are pretty hard but the feature is pretty unlistenable. A forgettable track. SMASH was okay but a little lazy, I don’t mind it as much cause of the short runtime. The transition to i don’t even speak spanish lol was pretty cool and unexpected. I did not know what to expect from this track but I had a lot of fun with it. I was impressed by how smooth and effortless it sounded. I loved the melodies and how they worked with the beat. Changes is a very pretty track and one of the rare occasions on this album where I feel like the ‘demo’ approach to structuring the song works. ---’s voice and lyricism carry enough weight here and warrant their own moment. I loved how this song flowed into Hope; a track that’s one of my favorites on here. This man could create a very eerie atmosphere (was aware of this ever since hearing 17), and when it works it f---ing works big time. I’m pretty lukewarm on the final two tracks. One is a pretty amateur-sounding SOAD inspired, nu metal tune that could’ve probably been a lot better if it was worked on more, while the other is an another lazy attempt at constructing a weird indie guitar boy aesthetic. All in all this album, to me, was a real mixed bag. There are some undoubtedly great moments that prove the man’s sky-high levels of creativity but also some that pissed me off with how superficial they came of as (be it conceptually, or musically). XXXTENTACTION’s dabbling in several different genres and styles is pretty formiddable and I truly respect it. I think that, if he had more time, he would’ve evolved into a seriously fascinating artist. It is a shame he wasn’t able to advance his craft. I struggled with rating this album but ultimately decided on giving it a 6.5/10 Thank you all for reading and thank you @DiggleDogg69 for the interesting pick! @AOTWClub @Justin Trudeau
Jun 27, 2025 at 8:54 PM 8 Reviews in already!!! Haven't even got the next album announced yet Hey @Evad you still alive? You returned and have been Mia
Jun 27, 2025 at 11:38 PM I’m up next right? If you guys want me to announce my album right now a day early I can
Jun 28, 2025 at 7:44 AM @AOTWClub my pick is… It Was Divine by Alina Baraz I had multiple albums in mind, some of which were hip hop. Since we have been so hip hop and male heavy though I decided to pivot to another option I had in mind and save the other ones for another time. This also gives me a chance to put you guys to on to an artist you’ve probably never heard of which is a great aspect of this group. Alina Baraz is a singer I’ve been following for a while now, maybe since 2015 or 2016? I’ve always thought she should be bigger than she is. She has a really nice, unique voice that always gets me. Plus, I often love her lyrics and what her music is about. She creates such an amazing vibe. I find her to be pretty versatile since she’s made electronic music, pop music, R&B music, etc. This particular album is more R&B. This is the type of s--- I listen to on chill nights. Although this isn’t a complete departure from the hip hop wave we’ve been on since there’s features from Nas and Smino that I think you guys will like. I know this album won’t be for everybody but if you like some chill R&B music with beautiful vocals and atmosphere you will probably like this. I hope y’all enjoy this and check out more of her music in the future, but if not that’s fine too!
Jun 28, 2025 at 8:51 AM @AOTWClub @Ripper Roo has chosen his album a day early Alina Baraz- It Was Divine I will tally up XXXTENTACION- ? On Wednesday
Jun 28, 2025 at 10:37 AM I’ve always thought she looked familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I totally see this now
Jun 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM Yup so there’s still some rap here. He has a dope verse that fits the song really well, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album
Jun 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM Unrelated, but if yall have a chance to see this Chromakopia tour…GO Last night was so f---ing good. Totally worth the 8+ hours I spent on the road to even make the show
Jun 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM Also @Ripper Roo , pretty interested to dive into this album. Never heard of this artist either and I’ve been seeing split opinions on the record. Cant wait to dive in
Jun 28, 2025 at 12:41 PM I think you’ll probably like it. It’s definitely not for everybody though, and I could see some members of the group giving it a mediocre or low score. I never really paid attention to what people thought of this album so I don’t know what the general consensus was. I find my album experience is usually better when I just don’t pay attention to people’s reviews or reactions. However when I look on AOTY the user score is 73 and I’d say that’s pretty accurate. Obviously AOTY isn’t representative of all opinions though lol. Me personally though I’d probably go higher than 7/10 and rate it 8/10 just because I can be really biased towards this type of music. But like I said I think you are one of the people who will enjoy this album, our tastes are usually pretty similar. At the very least I think most people will agree she has a beautiful voice
