Gracie Abrams’ “The Secret of Us”

Rating: 4/5

Sporting an iconic bob and a toned six-pack, Gracie Abrams has made a name for herself by opening concerts for pop stars Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. Her highly anticipated album, “The Secret of Us”, was released on June 21, 2024, through Interscope Records. She worked alongside renowned producers Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner and Sam de Jong to create 13 tracks of indie pop.

Unfortunately, the first track, “Felt Good About You”, was filled with repetitive lyrics and boring beats, receiving subpar reviews from me and disappointed fans on TikTok. Although I had been excited for the album for weeks, hearing the line “felt good about you” repeated 25 times in a 3-minute song was definitely underwhelming.

However, the next few songs proved to be melodramatic and emotional with a captivating rhythm. Gracie Abrams even generously provided illustrative music videos for “Risk” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry”, which both reached over five million views on YouTube. “Risk” portrays the messy and impulsive actions toward a crush, whereas “I Love You, I’m Sorry” illustrates the conflicting emotions of guilt after a breakup. I especially love the lyrics “God, I’m jumping in the deep end/ It’s more fun to swim in” in “Risk” as it contains vivid imagery of the thrill and danger of intimacy. Despite this, my favorite version of this album has to be the live one, whether it is on Vevo Studios or television shows. The live versions have a sense of heartbreak, earnestness and vulnerability that the album sadly lacks. This remarkable effect was achieved through subtle note changes and emphasis on certain words like “haunt” and “I’m sorry”.

Next up, “us.”, featuring Taylor Swift, definitely bears similarities to Swift’s album “evermore” as it has a folksy beat and memorable bridge. Its poetic lines of “That night, you were talkin’ false prophets and profits/They make in the margins of poetry sonnets” add to the depth of the song about longing and unrequited love. Moreover, the intentional rhymes create a catchy melody often stuck in listeners’ heads.  I would love to see Gracie Abrams explore this style of contemporary folk in upcoming albums.

After a few more tracks about bitter breakups and self-growth is a 7-year-old song, “Close To You”.  First introduced as a demo on Instagram in 2017, the pop song was revised as a bonus track pre-deluxe and rose to Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks. “Close To You” mainly stands out because of its incredible vocals and storyline depicting the wistful feelings of an unreciprocated love.

Thus, I would rate this album a 4/5 stars as it unquestionably has the potential to be played on a late-night car ride or morning run. As a cross country runner, “The Secret of Us” has a great range of fast beats and exciting rhythms to keep me motivated.

Future & Metro Boomin’s “We Don’t Trust You”

Rating: 4.5/5

“WE DON’T TRUST YOU,” a collaborative rap album between renowned artists Future and Metro Boomin, was released on March 22, 2024. The album contains 17 tracks and features notable artists such as The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar. “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” is widely known as the album that sparked tension between famous rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Since its release, “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” has peaked #1 on the Us Billboard 200 as well as the Us Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The most streamed tracks on this album include “Like That, ft. Kendrick Lamar,” “Type Sh*t, ft. Travis Scott & Playboi Carti,” and “Cinderella, ft. Travis Scott,” which all significantly relied on the social media platform, TikTok, for their success in reaching hundreds of millions of streams.

For me, my favorite tracks on the album are “Like That”and “We Don’t Trust You.” These two tracks alone offer a deep insight into the versatility of the album. The track “Like That” is a very intimidating, controversial and energetic track with loud, electric synths paired with a fast tempo alongside aggressive lyrics from both Future and Kendrick Lamar such as “Kickin’ doors, kickin’ in doors, is you like that?” that sparked the tension with Drake. The track was essentially a diss and response to Drake, after Drake claimed that he was on the same status as Kendrick on the track “First Person Shooter”. On the other hand, “We Don’t Trust You” is a more mellow and soft track that eases and introduces the listener into the story of the album. The track is backed with soft trumpets, paired with mellow and calm lyrics from Future such as “Fake written all over you.” Overall, I think that this album is a significantly influential album for modern rap and definitely deserves a chance of winning Rap Album of the Year at the Grammys, due to the versatility in its tracks, popularity, and controversy . Thus, I give this album a rating of 4.5/5.

Don Toliver’s “Hardstone Psycho”

Rating: 4.75/5

Released on Jun. 14, 2024, “Hardstone Psycho,” is an R&B/Hip-Hop album by music star Don Toliver through Cactus Jack records. Produced by the legendary Metro Boomin, the album features rap superstars like Travis Scott and Future, with the deluxe version featuring other rap stars like Lil Uzi Vert and Yeat. The album eventually reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 200, and debuted at number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts.

The album is split into four “discs,” containing 16 songs. The deluxe version features a fifth disc and four more songs. Of the 20 songs, 12 are solo songs, and eight are credited with verbal features. Visually, the album cover shows Don in a deserted land wearing an all-black outfit standing next to an all-black motorcycle. A creative choice Toliver makes with his album is titling all of the songs and features on the album all with all caps.

The album as a whole represents how complicated love is, even for someone as rich and famous as him. Singing about his constant failures to find someone new, and late nights stuck on the same person he once fell in love with, Don shows a bit of humanity, being very relatable in being stuck. The album itself is like a chronological story, with the discs creating stopping points, which feel like a skip into the future. Being stuck at first, Toliver tries out different versions of himself, eventually finding independence.

If you use social media a lot, or just pay attention to music charts, you’d notice that the 3 most popular songs on this album are by far “BANDIT,” “NEW DROP,” and “TORE UP.” Apart from the more popular hits, this album also produces many hidden gems, like “ATTITUDE FT. CHARLIE WILSON & CASH COBAIN,” “KRYPTONITE,” “PURPLE RAIN FT. FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN” and “4X4.” One of my personal favorite gems is the last song on the album, “HARDSTONE NATIONAL ANTHEM.” It gives a feeling of a fresh start, which is a huge difference from the beginning of the album.

In the end, this is a very well rounded album with no song I could consider a miss in terms of quality. I would definitely listen to it any day of the week, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in some R&B laced with instrumentals you’d find in rap music. Overall, I rate this album a 4.75/5.