Frequent collaboration with Travis Scott, Kanye West and a multitude of other members of Kanye’s record label allowed prolific artist Kid Cudi to maintain a modern sound and a degree of popularity beyond his own cult following. Given the peak of his popularity between the 2000s and early 2010s, it becomes worth questioning whether his sound still gives listeners the earworms it used to.

The artist-christened Scott Mescudi has several critically acclaimed albums that received adoration from fans in prior years, though there’s one that catches more eyes than most –  2010 debut release “Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.” 

What especially sticks out about this album’s composition is its unique approach to the hip-hop genre. Choir samples and rock influence are certainly nothing new, though the sort of harmony that Cudi delivers on this album, and practically every other under his name, proves both unique and unparalleled. 

This distinction is due in large part to the ad-libbed humming and synchrony that have become a staple of Cudi’s music. It’s an aspect most visible even on his most popular songs, including the prior album’s most popular single, “Day ‘n’ Nite,” where he can be heard delivering what equates to an entirely new layer of instrumental prowess in between the chorus.

Another of the elements that result in Cudi’s claim to fame consists of the rollercoaster of variance between the tone of his songs. Listeners can be delivered to new heights with the euphoric melody of songs like the titular “Mr. Rager” before being met with a sharp reality check via the introspection of tracks including “GHOST!” and “Don’t Play This Song,” featuring Mary J. Blige’s heartfelt vocals.

Although the album’s sonic distinction speaks for itself, Mescudi has garnered widespread fame for the openness with which he discusses his ongoing struggle with mental health. He makes it no secret that such struggles have bogged him down before, but the continuity and success of his career makes it abundantly clear that he strikes a chord with listeners worldwide.

“Man on the Moon II” is an album that holds strong to this day, one that listeners can tune into for that sense of comfort and nostalgia in the exact same way they experienced it 11 years ago. It’s for this reason that Kid Cudi’s music still resonates with fans today – and a large part of why his releases have maintained similar consistency throughout a career spanning over a decade.

Aug. 29 marked the day that sent Kanye West’s discography of studio albums into the double digits with his release of “Donda,” a 27-track behemoth of an album that doubles as his largest project to date. To some, this proves to be a welcome contrast to his previous album “Jesus is King,” which clocked in at just under 30 minutes in length. To others, it’s a bit too much to handle.

The album opens with self-titled intro “Donda Chant,” a 52-second long track bereft of rhythm or accompaniment beyond the repetition of the titular name. The late Donda West – the album’s namesake – was Kanye’s mother and has been cited as one of his most influential role models throughout his life. 

Lyrics paying homage to the West family matriarch aren’t exclusive to this album  – they remain present all throughout Kanye’s work on songs like “Hey Mama,” “Touch the Sky” and many earlier tracks. “Donda” itself is similarly laden with references to his beloved mother who West referred to as his day one manager, confidant and best friend.

What sticks out about “Donda” is that the album is still distinctly Kanye – though in a different light. Neither introspection nor discussions of faith are foreign topics in the context of 2018’s “Ye” or 2016’s “The Life of Pablo,’ although many wrote West off as an artist incapable of making an album centered around anyone but himself. 

Setting emotions and background aside, West distinguishes himself once again with a full-length release. Songs like “Off the Grid,” “Hurricane” and “Moon” maintain the same high-energy sound he’s become recognizable for since “Yeezus” and before.

His sound is bolstered by an all-star list of featured artists: Travis Scott; Pop Smoke; The Weeknd; Lauryn Hill; Kid Cudi; Playboi Carti; and about a dozen other artists lend guest verses scattered throughout the album with the majority knocking it out of the park. 

Admittedly, one of the album’s pitfalls happens to be its length. The “pt. 2” addition to some songs’ titles adds five songs and about 20 minutes to the end of the album, with many listeners finding the addition of such tracks unnecessary.

Perhaps the most egregious example of this is “Jesus Lord pt. 2,” which goes on for a shocking 11-and-a-half minutes to close out the album amidst a backing choir. This, too, elicits a widespread complaint from some listeners: the religious undertones of Kanye’s music have grown to be a bit preachy.

Religion has taken a backseat for most of the time it was a subject in West’s music, as exemplified by “The Life of Pablo.” The extent of its influence was lent by occasional samples, whereas the topic takes up entire interludes on “Donda.” The polarizing content of the 2019 release “Jesus is King” implied that perhaps Kanye fans would rather get their sermons from a pastor rather than a prolific artist.

Yet and still, this release is distinctly Kanye. It may prove too early to offer a full assessment, but it’s safe to say that West’s 10th release holds its own in spite of the two-year wait from his previous album.

NIKI, the up-and-coming pop star from the Asian music collective 88rising that is home to artists such as Joji and Rich Brian, released her debut album “Moonchild” early last month. The 21-year-old Indonesian singer-songwriter made quite the impression on the music industry with her breakout EP “Zephyr” back in 2018 and has continued to grow with hit singles and features since then. 

“Moonchild” is a continuation of the growth that NIKI has shown over the last few years. Going beyond many expectations that people had for her debut album, the 10-track, 35-minute “Moonchild” is a mystical concept album split into three parts, each meant to represent different phases of the moon.

This separated tracklist is not just for show. Every phase has a different sound and tone among its songs. Phase one consists of some of the darker yet groovier songs on the album. The songs with more spacey production and grand vocals on the record come in phase two. Phase three holds some of the slower yet more powerful and thoughtful ballads of the entire album.

The album opens up with the track “Wide Open (Foreword),” which starts with NIKI’s smooth vocals over a stripped-down beat as she introduces us to the fairytale world of this album. NIKI gives us a “word of warning” on this track, telling the audience to “keep an eye wide open.” The lyrics are more ominous than what I have come to expect from NIKI. Her delivery on this track is darker and more aggressive than usual. This opening track surprised me quite a bit when I first heard it, and immediately pulled me into the world of “Moonchild.”

The foreword transitions smoothly into the next track, “Switchblade,” which officially marks the beginning of phase one on the album. The song is sung from the perspective of the Moonchild, who describes their experience of discovering a new place, saying “What is this place? The skies are vast and no one’s a familiar face. But I’m not afraid.” This song symbolizes NIKI’s personal journey of moving to the United States on her own at only 18 years old.

Sonically, the song consists of a synth-heavy pop beat over very light and airy vocals from NIKI. While this isn’t my favorite sound or style that NIKI utilizes on this album, it does contribute to the mysticism of the Moonchild world that she established with the opening track.

Next up is the song “Nightcrawlers,” a fun, bumping R&B track where NIKI displays a slick flow on the first verse. The tone of the track becomes eerier with the bridge, where the chorus is repeated in a heavily altered, ominous voice that still sounds pleasing to the ear. NIKI follows that up with a darker delivery on the second verse over a stripped-down version of the beat from earlier in the song. Overall, it’s a catchy song that fits in well with the darker theme of phase one. 

“Selene” is the final track of phase one, a song in which the singer is possessed by Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon. This is the first track of the album that wowed me. NIKI begins with a quiet, subdued delivery over a jazzy baseline. As the instrumental picks up and the drums come in, NIKI’s vocals become high-pitched and more emphatic. The instrumental is groovy, NIKI’s vocals are sensual, and the song makes me want to get up and dance. 

The song “Tide” marks the beginning of phase two. With the shift in phases comes a shift in sound and tone, as the track opens with NIKI’s dark vocals over an extremely stripped-down beat. NIKI’s quiet yet dark delivery is reminiscent of Billie Eilish; then about halfway through the track, the drums pick up, and NIKI begins to rap in a chaotic and altered voice that makes it sound as though she is screeching her lyrics. The song closes out with a soft piano and strings instrumental over a swirl of fading voices, creating an eerie sense of calm after the chaos earlier in the track. The song, with the calm beginning, chaotic middle and peaceful end, represents a tidal wave as it builds and then eventually hits land.

“Pandemonium” is next up on the tracklist. It is one of the more forgettable songs on the album. It is a simple, straightforward R&B track, with not much else to offer. NIKI’s vocals are enjoyable, as they always are for me, but nothing about this track really stands out amongst the other songs or NIKI’s discography in general.

“Lose,” which immediately follows “Pandemonium,” suffers from many of the same problems as the previous track. I tend to be a sucker for emotional and powerful piano ballads, which makes it easy for me to enjoy this track. The problem lies in the fact that NIKI plays it extremely safe with her vocals on this track. The heavenly strings and impactful piano on the instrumental build-up at points in the song that seem to suggest that NIKI’s vocal performance will build up to match them, but there is never a point on the track where that happens. While her vocal performance isn’t bad by any means, I felt myself being a bit underwhelmed.

“Plot Twist,” a flirty, upbeat pop song, is next, which is the first track of phase three of the album. This is a much-needed change of pace from the previous few tracks that were slower, darker and more emotional. “If There’s Nothing Left…” is the most reflective track on the album. In this song, NIKI is singing to someone very special to her, someone who will always be there even “if there’s nothing left.” This track also has one of my favorite vocal performances on the entire album. NIKI’s singing is so passionate and angelic, and it matches the ups and downs in the instrumental perfectly.

The album closes strong with the song “Drive On,” one of my favorite tracks from the album. The reflective and nostalgic feel of the track makes it the perfect song to turn on during a peaceful drive, and once again, the vocal performance is astounding. Her delivery of the line “‘Cause the beasts have scattered” gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. The end of the track slowly fades away, almost like a film slowly cutting to black at the end.

“Moonchild” is full of ups and downs. Starting with the ups, the production and vocal performances are great all around. There are also plenty of standout tracks, with “Nightcrawlers,” “Selene,” “If There’s Nothing Left…” and “Drive On” being my absolute favorites. Overall, this album lends itself very well to a casual listen. There are very few songs, if any, that I would skip while listening to the album.

The problem arises with the concept itself. I think the concept is interesting, although not necessarily ambitious. However, it seems as though NIKI often prioritizes making popular mainstream songs over songs that fit the concept effectively. “Lose” is the biggest example of this, but it is not the only offender by any means.

Despite this, “Moonchild” is an extremely fun and enjoyable album. I would gladly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of pop and/or R&B.

This past Friday the Asian hip-hop and pop record label 88rising released “Head In The Clouds II,” a new album featuring many members of the label including the likes of Rich Brian, Joji and NIKI. This album is a sequel in name to the group’s 2018 project titled “Head In The Clouds.”

In terms of sound and style, however, these two projects are vastly different. I found many songs from the original to be airy, summery, and meant to invoke the nostalgia of hanging out on the beach with friends, which the album cover seems to support. Songs like “Midsummer Madness,” “History” and “Head in the Clouds” all have this sound. This isn’t to say that the album didn’t have bangers. With the likes of “Red Rubies” and “Beam, which featured Playboi Carti, the album had plenty of bangers.

While there are also plenty of bangers on “Head In The Clouds II,” they differ heavily in style. If I had to describe the sound of this album in one word I would call it futuristic, and judging by the cover art, which features what appears to be a robot lady on the beach, that is definitely the style they were going for. The production on this album uses a heavy amount of synthesizers and auto-tune. For instance, on the opening track titled “These Nights,” , Rich Brian’s usually low, deep voice is raised in pitched  significantly, creating this futuristic sound. 

The song “La La Lost You” is a good example of the synth-heavy production. The synth-pop mixed with a little bit of trap-style production fits nicely with NIKI’s voice. The production is quite enjoyable on these tracks and on most of the other tracks as well. While it leans on auto-tune and synths, the production varies enough to keep you engaged for the whole project. 

One of the biggest highlights on this album is the song “Walking,” which features Swae Lee and Major Lazer. Swae Lee elevates almost every track he’s featured on, and this one is no different. His melodic vocals combined with Joji’s distinct but equally hypnotic voice on the track create a smooth, relaxing song that is great to vibe to.

“Just Used Music Again,” one of the singles from the album, was another standout for me. The club-ready EDM style is not something I expected to hear on an album consisting primarily of rap and pop artists, but it too is another great vibey track.

If you are looking for a love song on this project, the track “I Love You 3000 II” is the best on the album – and yes, that is an “Avengers: Endgame” reference). This song is similar to the sound of the original “Head In The Clouds” album, with an airy acoustic playing under Stephanie Poetri and Jackson Wang’s soft vocals as they go back and forth about a possible proposal. 

For those who are wanting to skip straight to the pure trap bangers, “Hopscotch” is what you are looking for. The production is pretty standard – heavy bass with drums that will get your head bobbing. The best part of this track is the vocal performances. Classic Rich Brian comes out on the final verse of the song, but the standout is Joji, who goes outside his comfort zone to do a melodic rap on this song. He starts out his verse in this high-pitch tone, but halfway through he lowers his voice, showing his range. The flows on the track are very simple, but they are entertaining enough and mesh well enough with the beat to keep listeners engaged.

There isn’t really a bad song on this album. The only problem with the album is that it doesn’t have much substance. Most of the songs, while enjoyable during the listen, fail to make a lasting impact and leave the listener feeling empty. The production is occasionally standard and boring, like on Hopscotch. The lyrics for most of the album are very bland as well. 

If you are looking for compelling songwriting, I would not recommend this album. During my first listen, I found myself nodding my head to many of the songs and vibing with most of them. After I finished my first listen, I could barely remember many of the tracks, as none of them really left an imprint on me. This album focuses more on vibes than substance, which hurts it in the long run.

Overall, “Head In The Clouds II” is a fun album. The production is solid, but the standouts are the members of 88rising. Rich Brian, Joji and Niki, who I didn’t talk about much but who are huge to  this project, carried the album. However, even the Higher Brothers and August 08 had some standout moments. This album is not groundbreaking by any means, and the songwriting really holds it back. While the production is solid, it doesn’t really stand out much. Despite all this, the album is full of fun, well-crafted songs that fans of all musical genres can listen to and enjoy.