The Panther Prints

    Overall, the Grammy’s were actually pretty entertaining. The performance with A Tribe Called Quest and Anderson .Paak were great and very relevant because of the themes of resistance in their music. Anderson .Paak was definitely a good choice to pair with the old-school sound of A Tribe Called Quest. One of my few problems was how many awards Adele won. “Hello” was good, great even, but 23 as an album was definitely not better than Views or Formation. Everybody and their mom listened to Views and Formation which empowered women everywhere to stand up for themselves. Even Adele wanted Beyonce to win the award for best album of the year. I was also very disappointed that Frank Ocean didn’t submit his album Blonde, because, for me that was the best album of the year and definitely in my top 5 of all time.     Some of my favorite moments in the Grammy’s were when James Corden started rapping and got a bit political, Schoolboy Q was shown wearing a bright pink hoodie...

We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service: Hype or Hot By Cal     The long-awaited album by A Tribe Called Quest, We Got it From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, came 18 years after their last release: The Love Movement. It was released on November 11, 2016 by Epic Records; 8 months after one member, Phife Dawg, passed away. The album features appearances from an eclectic mix of artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, Elton John, and Kanye West. The reason for the delay is relationship issues between the group. It’s their second record ever to reach the Billboard 200 and received wide critical acclaim. The title was created by Phife Dawg before he died and even though Tribe doesn't understand the meaning they kept it in place to honor Phife.     My favorite track off We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service is “Dis Generation” which features Busta Rhymes. My favorite line is “Talk to Joey, Earl, Kendrick, and Cole, gatekeepers of flow. They are e...

4 Your Eyez Only: Hype or Hot By Cal On December 9, the long-awaited 4 Your Eyez Only by rapper J. Cole dropped. It was dropped exactly two years after Forest Hills Drive, his most recent album. It is J. Cole’s 3rd ever studio-produced album and the hype surrounding it was crazy. I’m here to compare it to his other albums Born Sinner and 2014 Forest Hills Drive and to give my thoughts on whether the hype was deserved. 4 Your Eyez Only touches on many relevant topics such as mass incarceration and drug abuse. He also talks about his daughter, Nina, and what he hopes she will do. My two favorite songs off of Eyez are “Immortal” and “Neighbors”. Immortal is about how legends live on far after they've died and sometimes even surpass legends that are alive. He references real legends such as Tupac and also fictional ones such as Tony Montana. “Neighbors” is a song about current signifigant issues such as stereotypes and racism. If I had to put J. Cole’s three studio albums in order ...