Photo Courtesy of Republic Records
“WE DON’T TRUST YOU”
by Future and Metro Boomin
After over a decade of Metro Boomin being a head producer for most of Future’s discography, “We Don’t Trust You” was released on March 22nd. It is the first official project between the two Hip Hop and Trap artists from Atlanta. Their friendship began in 2013, when Metro produced the song “Karate Chop” on Future’s 2014 album “Honest,” a track that peaked at #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their connection can be felt in the first half of the “We Don’t Trust You” album, starting with two fiery tracks, “We Don’t Trust You” and “Young Metro,” which represent the theme of the album, not being able to trust anybody. These songs will likely turn out to be the most streamed songs of the album.
After this, the album starts to wind down with the following two tracks, “Ice Attack” and “Claustrophobic,” which sound like the classic Future-produced Metro Boomin tracks we all know and love. This album features many rappers such as Travis Scott, Playboy Carti, Kendrick Lamar, and Rick Ross, who all help to tie this album together. Overall, this album was a pleasant listen and is great for any activity. Some listeners believe that the best tracks should have been mixed in better with the filler ones, but who knows how the duo will change it up when they release part two of the album on April 12th.
Photo Courtesy of Sony Music Latin
“Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran”
by Shakira
The widely known Colombian pop singer Shakira has won countless awards and is the world’s 21st most popular musical artist. Her musical expertise is shown in her newest album, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” her first release since 2017. It reached the number-one spot for Latin Albums in less than one week. “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” directly translates to “Women No Longer Cry,” which is believed to be a reference to her recent divorce from her long-time husband, soccer player Gerard Piqué, after a cheating scandal. After the divorce, Shakira released the song “BZRB, music session #53,” dissing her ex-husband. This track is said to be one of the best songs in the album because of its cultural significance to fans. “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” combines Mexican and Reggae genres with computer-generated sounds to electrify her new style. Shakira is well known for limiting her use of swear words in her music, but in this album, she changes her style by using more vulgar language and letting it all loose. Other notable tracks from this album were “Puntería,” featuring Cardi B and “Cohete,” featuring Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, which ties this album together nicely. After Shakira fans waited seven years for an album release, they were left satisfied with how it turned out.
Photo Courtesy of YZY
“Vultures 2”
by Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign
“Where is it?” is the question we have all been asking since the said release date of the album “Vultures V2” on March eighth After rappers Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign released the first version of the three-part album “Vultures” fans were impressed and couldn’t wait for the sequel. When Friday the eighth came, fans were disappointed but not surprised that the album was nowhere to be found. Kanye West is notorious for releasing his music exceptionally late, the most delayed being “The Life Of Pablo” which was released almost a year and a half after the said release date in 2015. After “Vultures V2” was not released, Kanye reportedly sent a message to his Instagram account @yefanatics stating “We in the lab” indicating that he and Ty Dolla $ign were still working on recording. Soon after this, @yefanatics posted screenshots of Kanye’s messages where he says he may forgo releasing his music on streaming services. Kayne that streaming “de-values music” and instead plans to only release the album digitally on his website, yeezy.com. This may be because of the recent controversy after the family of the late singer-songwriter Donna Summer accused Kanye of using a sample of her song “I Feel Love” in his track “Good (Don’t Die).” This song has since been removed from Spotify. Apple Music and iTunes briefly removed Vultures V1 from their platform after a dispute with Kanye’s producer. The album has still not been released on his website, and the release date of “Vultures V3” has already passed on April 5th.
Photo Courtesy of Columbia Records
“COWBOY CARTER”
by Beyoncé
Singer-songwriter Beyoncé has been releasing music for almost 22 years; her first song featured successful rapper Jay-Z, whom she married six years later. She is known for her unique R&B/Soul music, making her the sixth most popular artist in the world, but in her new album “COWBOY CARTER,” she incorporates a classic American country theme into most of her tracks. Beyoncé says that the idea for this album came after her appearance at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards, where she didn’t feel welcome and received a lot of racist backlash. After this experience, she did a deeper dive into the history of country music and eight years after the incident in 2016, her country album was finally released. The most popular song on the album, “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” has already reached 250 million streams. Its upbeat, catchy tune has helped the song gain a huge amount of attention on TikTok, with 1.2 million posts. Other notable songs on the album include “II MOST WANTED,” a calm and chill track featuring Miley Cyrus. The third most streamed song on the album was a remake of “Jolene” by legendary singer Dolly Parton which came out almost exactly 50 years ago. Overall, this album is an iconic moment for Beyoncé fans and will be remembered for years.
