DJ Khaled ain’t the only one making DJ money outchea! These DJ’s like Calvin Harris are caking, and also have clout in the industry that is hard to overlook. With this new album, Calvin continues to mix and match artists from all genres to create a project that is as unpredictable as it gets when it comes to music.

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TOP 5

 

5. SKRT ON ME

Maybe ‘Skrt On Me’ is the most exciting song on the album, as it takes on this naughty island feel that is different than any other song on this album.

Even though the whole island-hop sound is getting older by the day, it still has enough life to appeal when it comes catchiness, energy, and fun. Besides that, Nicki’s accent is dope on the song, and her raps aren’t turrible (in My Charles Barkley voice).

Feels good to hear a song in which Nicki ain’t shootin’ shots at Remy for once.

4. FEELS 

The production on this song is similar to Casino lands production on Sonic The Hedgehog.

Pharrell grabs the song by its goofy ass arms almost immediately, dropping this disco sound that is chilling to listen to. No one is saying Pharrell has the greatest voice of all time, but he’s definitely up there when it comes to voices that can resonate with you.

Katy’s part isn’t extensive, but it’s good enough to say “HEY that’s Katy Perry!”

Big Sean’s quirky ass is the PERFECT feature for this song! He relies on his superior wordplay to satisfy the rap part of this song, trying his hardest to infuse any type of gangsta sound that he can.

This song is a big ass bowl of fruit loops.

3. FAKIN’ IT

Kehlani was given an opportunity to really impose her will on a superstar DJ’s song, and she absolutely killed it!

I’ve always thought that Kehlani had this demeanor that is hella sassy, and you get that version of her from start to finish on this song. Her part is meaningful, it’s relationshipy, it’s whiny, it’s in your face, it is everything you want from a young bad ass woman!

All you need to know is that Lil Boat doesn’t f–k the song up. Actually, I think his feature is perfect, as he plays the pimple faced teenager that barely knows how to take care of his ‘growing by the day’ girlfriend.

Best performance on this album goes to Kehlani folks.

2. ROLLIN’ 

‘Rollin’ sounds a bit like ‘Slide’, with Khalid almost sounding like the great Frank Ocean. Khalid sounds a bit inebriated, which I think is a sound that R&B artist should use more often.

Future sounds like a 1970’s uneducated pimp on this s–t, and I love it! He’s stumbling on his words, doing his best Silkk Tha Shocker impression.

1. SLIDE

How the hell did this collaboration come about? My best guess is that they all randomly got stuck in an elevator together.

Frank Ocean is awesome on this song! Even though the beat is pure disco, he approaches the track with this numbing sound that compliments it very well. Anytime you get hangover sounding Frank, you appreciate that blessing Gotdamnit!

Migos initially didn’t fit the song to me, but the more and more you hear them the more you like it.

I been vibing to this for months.

 

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SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. SLIDE (5/5)

2. CASH OUT (4.2/5)

3. HEATSTROKE (4.5/5)

4. ROLLIN’ (5/5)

5. PRAYERS UP (3.9/5)

6. HOLIDAY (4/5)

7. SKRT ON ME (4.5/5)

8. FEELS (4.8/5)

9. FAKING IT (5/5)

10. HARD TO LOVE (4.5/5)

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OVERALL RATING (7.8/10)

This album has such a vintage sound that I think is unheralded in music today. The funkdafied/bubble gum genre of the album is both infectious and consistent to me, as it forces listeners to go back in time to where disco music dominated airwaves like the Golden State Warriors dominated basketball!

While i like the approach that Calvin used on the album, I do feel some artists put up pretty blah performances on their parts (No need to name names people, but his name rhymes with Ron Regend). It is kinda hard to ask these artists to deviate from their natural sounds, so I don’t blame them for stumbling a bit.

I didn’t expect much from this album, so I didn’t view it as ground-breaking when I heard of its release. What I did expect (and I believe it delivered on) was this chilled out body of work that you can probably have playing in the background while you do some spring cleaning.