Jul 3, 2025 at 12:44 AM @AOTWClub XXXTENTACION scored a 7.7 Standings have been updated Get your reviews in for Alina Baraz!!
Jul 3, 2025 at 2:09 AM @AOTWClub @Justin Trudeau Alina Baraz - It Was Divine Considering how many cosigns she has on this album I'm just going to assume I've heard her at some point and forgot but for all intents and purposes his is my first expose to Alina and it's a good one! Spent the last couple hours with this album on repeat (while I side quested on Final Fantasy 16 lmao) and it helped me solidifiy some overall thoughts on the project. My Whole Life is an extremely strong start to the record for me, although they aren't bad by any means the album lyrically wasn't something that immediately jumped out to me overall but everything from the production to the melody and lyrics (the lyrics on Who Got Me are also good) really worked for me on this intro. I also want to praise the transitions on this album, a lot times they were completely unnoticeable which made it feel like one big song in a positive way. 6lack is an artist that I always loved on features but never dived into his discog, this is no different. Morroco is great. Frank is a solid track and Endlessly's beats switch is great The entire run into Off The Grid is stellar imo, Khalid does great. I always love a good Smino feature, dude is just always solid and entertaining. The 2nd half while still quite good imo is slightly weaker on 1st listen to me although it is already growing on me for repeat listens, I think its just a case of R&B not being one of my genres of choice that initially fatigued me a bit but listening to music with this tempo later in the day I'd super soothing. I really liked Memo Blue and Who Got Me. The strings on Say You Know are also really pretty. And although I like the guitar Take It Home was a little mid for me, can see it being a grower. Until I Met You was fun, Nas verse was a nice addition to make sure the record didn't get too monotonous. And The Beginning is also a super solid smooth closer. Even though R&B isn't what I go to often this is the exact kind that i really enjoy so I want to thank Mr Roo for giving me a new album to vibe to from a lady with a very soothing voice! My only negative would be that the genre itself can make runtime drag slightly but that's heavily dependent on mood. Favorite Songs: My Whole Life, Morocco, Endlessly, Gimmie The Wheel, Off The Grid, Who Got Me, Until I Met You. RATING 8/10
Jul 3, 2025 at 2:45 AM Alina Baraz This is a fairly solid record in my opinion, I gave it two full play throughs the last couple days. I feel like with music like this ive got to be in the right mood to give it a fair listen cause its far from my go too. Anyways Alina has a very good voice, I enjoyed the sound of most of the songs. The first track that really grabbed me was "Frank" it has an Amy Winehouse sort of vibe to it. Gimme the wheel is really smooth, and I enjoyed the production on that song as well. Say you know is another favorite, I just love the vibe to that song. Until I met you is great it has Nas so its hard to complain about and he has a solid verse. Anytime I hear him after a period of not listening to him much it makes me wanna jump in. Hes just so good. Anyways overall i enjoyed this album, its not my favorite thing ever, I probably wouldn't revisit it much just cause its not really my kind of music but its still solid for what it is. Score: 6.5/10 @AOTWClub
Jul 3, 2025 at 11:49 AM Alina had a song that blew up in 2015 called Fantasy. That’s how I first heard of her, if you ever heard her that could’ve been the song as it’s still her biggest song I think or at least one of the biggest. It was more of an electronic pop track than R&B. For sure. I love My Whole Life (sunset, sunseeeeet always gets stuck in my head). I agree, Who Got Me probably has the best lyrics on the album. I’m glad someone pointed this out. It really helps the album feel cohesive and feel like a divine experience which plays into the title of the album Yeah 6LACK is awesome, maybe I gotta pick one of his albums to show to the group one day. Agree on Morroco, it actually makes me wanna visit Morroco lol Definitely one of the best songs on the album, she did Off The Grid before Kanye Fax, he would be another good album pick for the group in the future Upon relistening to this album one of the things I realized is the 2nd half does seem weaker so I agree with you there. I get what you’re saying about the fatigue which is why I tend to listen to this type of music on chill nights. Although certain songs like Morroco feel great to listen to on sunny days and makes me wanna get out I’m glad you appreciate Memo Blue. It almost feels more like an interlude track but I think it’s one of the tracks that add a divine feeling to the album, especially with the effect on her vocals and the slow piano. Who Got Me is amazing, it’s lowkey a self-improvement anthem for me. Even if I didn’t realize at the time in 2020, I think this is one of the albums that subtly made me plant the seeds to start my self-improvement journey. Listening to it again in 2025 is a full circle moment, and that’s divine all in itself. Fax, the use of strings on this album is so nice it feels like heaven sometimes. Funny thing about Say You Know is I made the connection the other day that it sounds like a Gracie Abrams song that isn’t boring. I get what you mean, Take It Home is kinda repetitive. Although for some reason it really works for me and is one of my favorites on the album, it’s stuck in my head right now. For sure, Nas killed it. I love having a song called The Beginning at the end of the album. I’m glad this is the exact kind of R&B you enjoy! No problem I’m just glad you enjoyed it. Great picks for favorite songs and great rating I agree with! I get that, this music isn’t necessarily the type of music you can throw on at anytime Yeah she really locked down the sound with this album, very heavenly and cohesive That’s a big compliment! True and honestly is one of the best choruses on the album, it has a big feel to it Almost feels like lying on a cloud Yeah, having a Nas feature on this album was big. I wouldn’t necessarily expect Nas to hop on this kind of music but he fit really well Nice, thanks for the review!
Jul 6, 2025 at 12:04 AM My pick is.... Quadeca - I Didn't Mean To Haunt You: He started out as one of the YouTuber fast rapper types initially blowing up from making videos on Fifa then decided to lock in and make one of my favorite albums of all time. His newest release is coming out this month so I figured this is a good a time as any to introduce anyone not familiar to him! This is a project that consists of mostly singing so if you want to see more of what he's like rapping I recommend the album previous to this From Me To You, although I consider this lane of his to be much much better. This is fully mixed produced and written by him and I'll give a fair warning that the vocals are mixed lower and fuzzier than normal, it all feeds into the concept of the record and I think it works incredibly in context but if you're interested in the lyrics at all I'd recommend pulling them up for at least one listen. Interested to see the reactions here and enjoy!
Jul 6, 2025 at 8:35 AM @AOTWClub @jankland has chosen Quadeca- I didnt mean to haunt you I will tally up Alaina Baraz late this week as requested, since the following week is a special week for The Clipse i might do both Alaina and This albums tally together. Do not start posting your reviews for The Clipse album until it is posted by me on Sunday, thanks!
Jul 6, 2025 at 10:27 AM Alina Baraz - It Was Divine review Went into this album as blind as it gets; had never heard of the artist before and did not know what to expect from this whatsoever. The whole thing pleasantly surprised me, I’m glad that it was possible for me to listen to this without any prior knowledge whatsoever. The very pleasant and mellow meshing of Alina’s voice and the great production style made me enjoy the h--- out of this project. I don’t listen to a lot of RnB or music of this kind whatsoever but It Was Divine sounded like precisely what I needed at this time. I’ve been getting kinda burnt out on a lot of music lately and this album made me put time aside for listening again. I already mentioned how the project has a very mellow quality to it, but, unlike some adjacent music, it does not sound lazy, overly safe, or like a few ideas are being constantly recycled. The whole thing is immensely cohesive and nothing feels out of place. The melodies are innovative and not jarring at any point during the runtime. Alina Baraz has a great voice that sounds weirdly comforting to listen to. The combination of everything I said makes this 52 minute album go by very quickly. On first listen it almost felt like a shorter EP, it flew by that fast. Sidenote: Morocco solidified 6LACK as a feature artist for me. I can’t vibe with pretty much any of his solo material but for the most part enjoy all of his guest appearances lol. I’ll also mention how the ethereal instrumentalization somehow reminded me of portions of that Boogie album, Everything’s For Sale, that dropped years back (if there’s anyone that still cares about that project lol). Pretty much the only songs that I didn’t care much for were Memo Blue and Be Good, but due to the way that they’re positioned within the tracklist they don’t strain the rest of the project much. I should listen to more of music like this, because I loved this a lot tape a lot, enough to give it a 9/10 Gotta thank @Ripper Roo for the cool pick and for providing me with chill tunes to smoke up to. Great album! @AOTWClub @Justin Trudeau
Jul 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM That’s how I felt when I first heard Alina Baraz as well. Divine intervention type s---. What can I say, It Was Divine that I picked this album lol jk. But for real I’m glad this album helped you to not feel so burnt out on music. One of the things I really aim to do here is increase people’s passion for music as it is the most important thing to me in the world. Sometimes all it takes is that one special album and you can feel passionate about listening to music again. I feel you, it’s happened to me before too. You couldn’t be more correct with this statement. Alina can be soooo mellow. But a lot of artists can be mellow… the problem is a lot of them are boring. When listening to this I get the sense that Alina is just naturally a mellow person rather than trying to force some sort of vibe. It feels true to her and lets her personality shine through. I feel like I know her a little better as a person whenever I listen to her music. But she also still has that mysterious quality to her that provides intrigue. Ikr? It’s so satisfying when albums are like this. Everything just works. It’s like she had a real artistic vision rather than just throwing a bunch of songs together like some artists do. I’m so glad someone said this. Her voice really just has something magical about it. I’m not saying she’s the best vocalist in the world or anything, but god d--- I could relax and listen to her voice all day. Yeah 6LACK really fit the vibe of Morocco and killed the feature. He kills a lot of features. I like his solo work but I get what you mean. Lil Baby is one of those artists for me who work well on singles and features but when put into a whole album experience they just don’t hit the same. I think you’d probably enjoy the rest of her discography. I’d say overall this album is her best, most cohesive body of work but some of her best songs aren’t even on here. Her previous album The Color of You I really enjoyed as well, in particular I think “Yours” is one of her best songs. I’ve never heard a bad song from her though, I don’t think you could go wrong checking out any of her work. Thanks bro I didn’t expect this album to get a rating this high, this means a lot. I’ve liked Alina Baraz forever and now that I finally got to put some people on to her it feels good. No problem bro. It’s also a great album to f--- to or smoke up to and then f--- to, if you’re into that.
Jul 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM Looks like I was right. +1 cookie for me. I’m glad to revisit this album. I’m interested to see how my experience goes since I’m waaaaaay less depressed of a person than I was when this came out
Jul 6, 2025 at 2:59 PM That is an interesting spot to be in for sure, I mostly come back to this project when I'm in a weird mood but there's still plenty to appreciate from it even if you don't relate anymore imo. Good to hear you're doing better!
