Come and Share This Jam with Me

Now that we are roughly half-way through 2018, it's time to reflect on the songs that have impacted us this year. Like any year, there have been great some great songs and flat out terrible songs, but we're going to try and forget about those discrepancies and focus solely on the good ones. So without further ado, here are five songs that have thus far been this year's best. 5. Almost Had to Start a Fight / In and Out of Patience - Parquet Courts Punk's not dead. Parquet Courts is a super interesting and creative quartet that continually doesn't give a fuck about being popular or to commercially successful, rather the foursome often releases music that focuses on meaning be it instrumentally or lyrically in a manner that is raw, digestible and spelled out. "Almost Had to Start a Fight / In and Out of Patience," and Wide Awake!   in general, is a continuation of Parquet Court's leitmotif of straight forwardness and is an amalgamation of fiery f...

As a fan of J. Cole's "1985," I am sort of taken aback with "Old N*ggas." J. Cole is not trying to save Hip Hop or completely remove this recent trap trend that has crept into Hip Hop, however he has been critical and has attempted to mold and assist the new generation of sound cloud rappers and trap stars for the "better." J. Cole's recent KOD   (where "1985" is featured) uses trap at times with irony of J. Cole's and many other's negative perception of trap, but nonetheless does not negate its influence and can't help but embrace it. Being someone who has been in the "game" for a while, J. Cole is aware of having to adapt to new trends and niches that come about, but as someone part of the elder generation who think this style of Hip Hop is dumb, J. Cole cannot help but think something needs to be done for these kids who have embodied trap as part of their identity. Enter "Old N*ggas." YBN Cordae...

While, Donald Glover's Childish Gambino project has proved mainstream and audience appeal with previous tracks, they have not been all that impressive. "This is America" erases any notions that Donald Glover is unable to create an awe-inspiring and incredible song. "This is America" is a single off Childish Gambino's upcoming fourth album, and it is quite frankly the best song Donald Glover's Childish Gambino persona has made and has thus far been the best song of 2018. I might even go all-in to say "This is America" will turn out to be the best song of the year.  Taking influence from trap music, "This is America" is able to be a banger and a song that has an apparent meaning or cause to be made. Kendrick Lamar 's DAMN   is a great example of taking influence from the controversial trap music genre, and creating both mass appeal and disseminating a powerful message, and "This is America" is no different. In s...