2026 Album Roundup #5
Two roundups in one month? We're building steam here.
Failure - Location Lost
I had forgotten about this one for the last update, but this album is pretty sick. Very 2000's alt-rock/space rock vibes here. These guys have been putting out albums since 1992?! But this is the first I've heard from them and I definitely dug it. Dope Hayley Williams feature too which I am always here for.
Bladee - Sulfur Surfer
Idk man, I guess I'm a bladee nationalist too. Cold Visions was dope in 2024, spiderr was dope whenever that came out, and this is pretty dope too. I feel like I'm generally not a big cloud rap guy, and honestly sometimes I feel like this edges too far into stereotypical #sadboy music with both the lyrics and delivery, but I mostly dig it. This is also much shorter than Cold Visions which I think I prefer.
Genesis Owusu - Redstar Wu and the Worldwide Scourge
After Stampede came out I was super hyped for this album. The good news is that the rest of the album is pretty damn good. The bad news is that it doesn't often sound anything like Stampede lol. Where Stampede is more rock/dance-punk the album skews very rap heavy. Which I'm also here for, Genesis is a pretty good rapper and hits on politically relevant topics without coming on too strong imo, but after loving the vibe of Stampede I was a bit disappointed that there weren't more similarities on the rest of the album.
Lil Shine - Get Rich or Die Sippin
Good lord what an artist/album title combo. Based on those things alone I feel like I should probably hate this. But I kinda dig it lol. It's pluggnB like our UK dawg Corey Lingo. But I feel like this is distinctly different. Corey Lingo sounded to me like vocals ripped straight from the mid 2000s over the plugg style synths. This feels more like an evolution of that mid 2000s style. Idk if that makes sense, but they do feel like distinct styles of the same genre. I do feel similar to For What It's Worth that it does all start to meld together for me after a while. 18 tracks I think is a bit much, even if they are all under 3 minutes.