Destroy Lonely — </3³

Back in 2022 and at the start of 2023, Destroy Lonely was on an impressive run. In the span of 18 months he released multiple hits that all had a unique production choices, beats and flows. Now, he is just a shadow of his former self. After last years lackluster "LOVE LASTS FOREVER" I hoped he would take his time and actually try to create an album with some type of vision.

However, "</3³" sounds just like his las album, maybe even more bloated, somehow. There is no world where a 50 minute long Lone project is needed. It's just too much, especially when every single song sounds the same. The formula he uses to create songs is okay, but because he uses the same exact formula on every track, you get bored pretty easily. The closer, "leave u out 2 dry" is the only track where he experiments, which still doesn't make it better than the 17 ones that were before it.

Unfortunately, I think we can all agree now that Destroy Lonely is in fact washed and the worst member of the "Opium" label.

Overall score: 20/100

Lola Young — I'm Only F**king Myself

An album that is bound to become my guilty pleasure.

"I'm Only F**king Myself" is a pretty standard album, you could even call it mid, trashy at times. Yet it's really catchy, making its 46 minute run time simply vanish before your eyes.

Lola makes her unique, strong voice work amazingly with the loud, obnoxious production choices, giving the first few tracks of this album almost a punk-ish vibe. Her lyrics are great and well thought out, even though they indeed are overly sexual. She uses them just enough to give the whole "cunty" vibe while still talking about topics that are not considered "cunty" most of the time. "SPIDERS" is my absolute favorite song from this LP as of now. I wish we got to hear more tracks like this one. It is an amazing love oriented song on which Lola flexes her powerful voice, sounding almost like a Halestorm song I guess. "Post Sex Clarity" does the same thing as "SPIDERS" but with a mix of Olivia Rodrigo. It is a straight up great rock song that leaves a strong impression, especially the ending, that sound almost Swans or even Maruja inspired. "CAN WE IGNORE IT? :(" is a pop punk banger, where she talks about her mental problems with a very relatable spin. The song gets carried by spacy guitars and strong, deep drums, as well as her great, catchy singing, making you literally dance your anxiety away.

However, there are some bland, maybe even boring tracks on this record holding it back from being a complete banger. Still, this record stands as the best, most mature but at the same time child like project Lola Young has release up to date.

Overall score: 75/100

Cardi B — AM I THE DRAMA?

Who told her releasing an hour and ten minutes long album with two 5 year old songs as its closer was a good idea...

This was a very very very hard listen. Especially "What's Going On" with Lizzo. Burn that song. Why was that sample cleared... It's even worse then when Nettspend used a Deftones track. I mean Lizzo sang great, but it was just awful... Most of the songs on here aren't even that bad instrumentally, which is to be expected since Cardi B probably has one of the biggest budgets in the whole of industry. If the beats were given to, I don't know, Fivio Foreign, he would have delivered a better LP. Most of the times, Cardi B sounds irritating, maybe "Killin You House" and "Magnet" could stand as exceptions. Features also don't save this album, Selena Gomez and Lizzo did their parts, but the song was unsavable from the start. Summer Walker is on here multiple times, but I just can't see what he could have possibly contributed to this album. Best song by far are "Up" and "WAP". "Up" is just a club banger with an amazing beat, catchy flows and even a decent delivery from a Grammy winner, Cardi B. "WAP" was, and still is a goddamn banger. Yes it's disgusting, but man it is a really fun track. Megan Thee Stallion also had an incredible verse. Can't wait for her new album.

Overall score: 10/100