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Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank) [prod. by T-Minus]

HEATER ALERT!!!

Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank) [prod. by T-Minus]

Kendrick Lamar california (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

brown8

reviewed by
07-13-12

SXSW Thursday Night Highlights: The Chevin, The Record Company, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Sharon Van Etten

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The Chevin have all the tools to be a huge breakout band out of the UK. They’ve got the presence, the songs (“Champion” is a hit), and as we witnessed last night at Latitude 30, a great live show. In addition to the overall perfomance (which came off really well, the band’s songs translated very nicely live), the real standout was frontman Coyle Girelli. This guy can sing and from look to stage quality, ticks all the right “great UK band frontman” boxes. With the right push & support The Chevin are poised to be really something special. Keep them on your radar.

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L.A.’s The Record Company have been one of our favorite recent discoveries. The blues-driven trio, no doubt has great performance chops (that much was sure during their Ginger Man set last night), but what seperates this band from similar but much more mediocre bands is the quality of their songs. The skiffle-rattle of “Don’t Get Me Lonely” and The Yardbirdsesque “I Want Change” were highlights.

BET’s Music Matters showcase was packed. A bill that included Miguel, Nneka, Melanie Fiona and two of our must sees from Thursday night, Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T. K Dot had control of the house from moment one as he rolled through highlights from his excellent Section.80 mixtape. There was a heaviness and rasp in Lamar’s voice that revealed a bit of fatigue (The guy has been literally all over Austin the past few days) but there was no let up in performance quality as the L.A. rapper 100% knocked it out.

Big K.R.I.T. is a monster. The power and determination that focus through this guy as he spits is unreal. K.R.I.T. is a huge star in the making and his nasty Stage on Sixth performance was nothing less than an emphatic validation.

Sharon Van Etten has a magnetism in her music that is really really powerful. Her performance at The Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar showcase was (and I don’t use this word lightly) sublime. Sharon IRL captured our b3sci hearts last night (she’s had our non-IRL ones for a minute now). She was effortless. “Serpents” was captivating/hypnotic. “Warsaw” was straight class. POWER. The demure and unassuming Sharon is a force. This one woman should have all that power.

reviewed by
03-16-12

BJ The Chicago Kid – The World Is A Ghetto (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

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“His Pain” ruled. Here BJ and K.Dot cook up the next chapter in their (hopefully long) collaborative history. “The World Is A Ghetto” (word to George Benson) combines that super smooth super cool feel of a classic Benson track with a Marvin Gaye/Stevie Wonder-esque (Stevie is also sampled here) rhythm figure. Just the beat itself is dope as hell, add in BJ’s well felt croons and Kendrick’s top-of-his-game 16 and you have what can only be described as a really special track.

BJ The Chicago Kid – The World Is A Ghetto (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

BJ The Chicago Kid illinois (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

brown8

reviewed by
02-21-12

Kendrick Lamar – Cartoon & Cereal (Feat. Gunplay)

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K Dot yep. Kendrick Lamar lets loose new jawn “Cartoon & Cereal”. Seems as if even our dude can’t avoid the imperial splendor, sprawl and grasp of the Untouchable Maybach Empire, as K Dot links up with MMG’s Gunplay for the track. The subtle nods to spaced out 70’s funk & R&B in the instrumental may remind a bit of ATLiens era Outkast. Tippin’ a Diet Coke to this one.

Kendrick Lamar – Cartoon & Cereal (Feat. Gunplay)

Kendrick Lamar california (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

brown8

reviewed by
02-14-12

Kendrick Lamar – She Needs Me (Remix) (Feat. Dom Kennedy & Murs)

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Three of L.A.’s finest hook up on this remix to K. Lamar’s “She Needs Me” track from last year. Ill.

Kendrick Lamar – She Needs Me (Remix) (Feat. Dom Kennedy & Murs)

Kendrick Lamar: (Twitter) (Myspace)

Rating: 8.1

brown8

reviewed by
05-03-11

CurT@!N$ – Maniac (Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Chace Infinite)

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CurT@!N$ goes ham all over this souped up new Ibe-produced track, lifted off the equally dope “Killer Tape”.

CurT@!N$ – Maniac (Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Chace Infinite)

Purchase / Info

Rating: 8.1

brown8

reviewed by
01-25-11

B3SCI Best of 2015: Artists of the Year

b3scibestof2016

Thank you for reading.

adele

Adele

catfish3

Catfish & The Bottlemen

courtneybarnett2

Courtney Barnett

drdre

Dr. Dre

drake4

Drake

fettywap

Fetty Wap

future2

Future

jamiexx

Jamie xx

bieber

Justin Bieber

kendricklamar

Kendrick Lamar

leonbridges3

Leon Bridges

mo2

ohwonder3

Oh Wonder

tameimpala

Tame Impala

theweeknd

The Weeknd

reviewed by
01-07-16

B3SCI Best of 2015: Staff Favorite Songs

b3scibestof2016

Hello 2016. Goodbye 2015. 2015 was a year. We’ve elected at B3 this year that in lieu of arbitrarily ranking a list of top x-number tracks that we’d prefer to share lists of the favorite songs of the year of each main B3SCI writer. Following later this week will be B3’s choices for top artists of the year and our picks for artists to watch for 2016. Thanks for reading.

Troy

1 Drake – Hotline Bling
2 Drake / Future – Jumpman
3 Kendrick Lamar – How Much A Dollar Cost
4 Justin Bieber – What Do You Mean
5 Major Lazer / DJ Snake & MO – Lean On
6 SG Lewis – Warm
7 Kanye West – All Day
8 Florence + The Machine – What Kind of Man
9 Alabama Shakes – Don’t Wanna Fight
10 NoMBe – California Girls

deerhunter

Mike

1 Deerhunter – Breaker
2 Moses Sumney – Seeds
3 Gallant – Weight in gold
4 Kurt Vile – Pretty Pimpin
5 Midnight to Monaco – Suicide
6 Blur – Go Out
7 Green Buzzard – Zoo Fly
8 Spring King – City
9 Noel Gallagher – Ballad of the Might I
10 Sjowgren – Seventeen

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Bruce

1 Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – S.O.B.
2 Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian At Best
3 Alabama Shakes – Miss You
4 Death Cab For Cutie – Everything’s A Ceiling
5 FFS – Piss Off
6 The Struts – Could Have Been Me
7 The Maccabees – Marks To Prove It
8 Frank Turner – Mittens
9 The Libertines – Anthems For Doomed Youth
10 Hippo Campus – Suicide Saturday

kenton

Erin

1 Kenton Slash Demon – Harpe
2 Darius & FKJ – O
3 Lettuce – Phyllis
4 Sango – Dias Melhores
5 J.Louis – Camarillo
6 Rick Ross – Amazing Grace
7 Superhumanoids – Anxious in Venice
8 Egyptian Art- She’s Lovely
9 NoMBe – California Girls
10 HONNE – No Place Like Home

reviewed by
01-07-16

The Game & Skrillex – El Chapo

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The Game released his latest album Documentary 2 recently and it’s a star-studded, featuring the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube among tons of others. The track featured, “El Chapo”, is a joint venture with Skrillex alongside Bangladesh for the production. It’s the perfect balance between a hard-hitting hip-hop track and a classic Skrillex music festival-ready banger. Reviewed by Jake Goldstein.

The Game (Official)

reviewed by
10-13-15

Mondaii – Waffle House Dreams

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We’re totally feeling the slow-cadence vocals and trippy-kid vibe of Atlanta-based hip-hop artist Mondaii on his track “Waffle House Dreams” which we are drawn to for Mondaii’s fresh spin on a Kendrick Lamar-school sense-of-vocal-style. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Mondaii (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
08-31-15

Raleigh Ritchie – Never Say Die

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Another of the collaborations between UK artist Raleigh Ritchie and Kendrick Lamar/TDE producer Sounwave has surfaced in the shape of “Never Say Die”. On the track, R.R. opines woefully over the geographic distribution of his recent heartbreaks (Paris, L.A., Brighton are not spared) to the complement of Sounwave’s wavy West Coast production. Stream “Never Say Die” below.

Raleigh Ritchie (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-03-15

B3SCI Best of 2013: Staff Top 20’s

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It takes a village to build a B3SCI. That, and an exceedingly dope team of music mavens and cool bros & bras (girls). Check out Team B3’s favorite tracks and albums from 2013.

2013mikealbums

*Mikey C.

Albums:

01. Disclosure – Settle
02. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
03. The 1975 – The 1975
04. Kanye West – Yeezus
05. FOALS – Holy Fire
06. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
07. HAIM – Days Are Gone
08. Jake Bugg – Shangri La
09. Lorde – Pure Heroine
10. Drake – Nothing Was The Same
11. The Neighbourhood – I Love You
12. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
13. Tom Odell – Long Way Down
14. Rudimental – Home
15. London Grammar – If You Wait
16. Phoenix – Bankrupt!
17. PAPA – Tender Madness
18. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience
19. David Bowie – The Next Day
20. FIDLAR – FIDLAR

Songs:

01. Daft Punk – Get Lucky
02. BANKS – Before I Ever Met You
03. Disclosure – White Noise
94. Lana Del Rey – Young & Beautiful
05. Jungle – Lucky I Got What I Want
06. Rihanna – Stay
07. James Blake – Retrograde
08. Mausi – Move
09. Justin Timberlake – Suit & tie
10. Sam Smith – Money On My Mind
11. The Orwells – Other Voices
12. Phosphorescent – Song for Zula
13. Jaymes Young – Wondering
14. Mapei – Don’t Wait
15. John Newman – Love Me Again
16. James Vincent McMorrow – Cavalier
17. Little Daylight – Overdose
18. Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me
19. Josef Salvat – This Life
20. London Grammar – Wasting My Young Years

2013troyalbums

*Troy Meyer

Albums:

01. Kanye West – Yeezus
02. Disclosure – Settle
03. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name
04. Volcano Choir – Repave
05. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels
06. David Bowie – The Next Day
07. Darkside – Psychic
08. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
09. Iceage – You’re Nothing
10. Drake – Nothing Was the Same
11. My Bloody Valentine – mbv
12. Danny Brown – Old
13. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven
14. James Blake – Overgrown
15. HAIM – Days Are Gone
16. A$AP Ferg – Trap Lord
17. Phosphorescent – Muchahco
18. Arctic Monkeys – AM
19. Jon Hopkins – Immunity
20. King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath the Moon

Songs:

01. Banks – Warm Water
02. Lana Del Rey – Young & Beautiful
03. Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves
04. Daft Punk – Get Lucky
05. James Blake – Retrograde
06. Drake – Hold On, We’re Going Home
07. Rihanna – Stay
08. Phosphorescent – Song for Zula
09. Disclousure – You & Me
10. HAIM – Falling
11. Ariana Grande – The Way
12. MS MR – Fantasy
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Sacrilege
14. Sam Smith – Money On My Mind
15. Josef Salvat – This Life
16. Phantogram – Fall in Love
17. Jungle – The Heat
18. Raleigh Ritchie – Stay Inside
19. Pusha T – Numbers On The Board
20. MO – Waste of Time

2013brucealbums

*Bruce Rave

Albums:

1. Arctic Monkeys – AM
2. Johnny Marr – The Messenger
3. St. Lucia – When The Night
4. Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart
5. Of Montreal – Lousy With Sylvianbriar
6. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
7. Bastille – Bad Blood
8. Muse – Live At Rome Olympic Stadium
9. Foals – Holy Fire
10. Beady Eye – BE
11. Tribes – Wish to Scream
12. Soft Swells – Lifeboats
13. David Bowie – The Next Day Extra
14. Savages – Silence Yourselves
15. Fidlar – Fidlar
16. Portugal the Man – Evil Friends
17. Cage the Elephant – Melophobia
18. Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside – Untamed Beast
19. Jake Bugg – Shangri-La
20. The Virginmary – King of Conflict

Songs:

1. Frank Turner – Four Simple Words
2. Tribes – Englishman on Sunset Blvd.
3. Temples – Shelter Song
4. Pet Shop Boys – Love Is A Bourgeoisie Construct
5. Everything Everything – Duet
6. Teleman – Christina
7. Bastille – Flaws
8. Local Natives – Ceilings
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito
10. Vampire Weekend – Step
11. Champs – My Spirit’s Broken
12. Moby – The Perfect Life
13. The Jim Jones Revue – Where da Money Go
14. Foals – Providence
15. The Record Company – Feels So Good
16. Placebo – Too Many Friends
17. The Strypes – Blue Collar Jane
18. Cage the Elephant f/ Allison Mosshart – It’s Just Forever
19. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Let the Day Begin
20. St. Lucia – Call Me Up

2013brianalbums

*Brian Litwin

Albums: (no particular order)

SAVAGES – SILENCE YOURSELF
TORO Y MOI – ANYTHING IN RETURN
CHRVCHES – THE BONES OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE
THE 1975 – THE 1975
DISCLOSURE – SETTLE
ARCTIC MONKEYS – AM
DAFT PUNK – RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES
KANYE WEST – YEEZUS
AUTRE NE VEUT – ANXIETY
DRAKE – NOTHING WAS THE SAME
HAIM – DAYS ARE GONE
CHARLES BRADLEY – VICTIMS OF LOVE
VAMPIRE WEEKEND – MODERN VAMPIRE OF THE CITY
DANNY BROWN – OLD
BEACON – THE WAYS WE SEPARATE
LORDE – PURE HEROINE
BOARDS OF CANADA – TOMORROW’S HARVEST
ODDISEE – THE BEAUTY IN ALL
FUCK BUTTONS – SLOW FOCUS
A$AP FERG – TRAP LORD

Songs: (no particular order)

STEP ROCKETS – KISSER
CHRIS MALINCHAK – SO GOOD TO ME
JUNGLE – THE HEAT
WAVE RACER – ROCK U TONITE
THE CHAIN GANG OF 1974 – SLEEPWALKING
FRACTURES – TWISTED
JAI PAUL – ANYTHING OFF THE LEAKED ALBUM
THE 1975 – CHOCOLATE
KANYE WEST – BOUND 2
TORO Y MOI – HARM IN CHANGE
KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS – RECOLLECTION
WALLA – NATURE
MAJOR LAZER – BUBBLE BUTT
CHRVCHES – GUN
PHOSPHORESCENT – SONG FOR ZULA
MOUNT KIMBIE – YOU TOOK YOUR TIME (FEAT KING KRULE)
RYAN HEMSWORTH – AGAINST A WALL
VALENTINA – LADDERS
BANKS – THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
HOLY GHOST! – DUMB DISCO IDEAS

2013desiree

*Desiree Autobee

Albums:

1. Mansions – Doom Loop
2. Small Black – Limits Of Desire
3. Haim – Days Are Gone
4. The 1975 – The 1975
5. Sombear – Love You In The Dark
6. Tegan And Sara – Heartthrob
7. Jessie Ware – Devotion
8. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
9. Kisses – Kids In LA
10. Ms Mr – Secondhand Rapture
11. Caroline Smith – Half About Being A Woman
12. Guards – In Guards We Trust
13. Wild Ones – Keep It Safe
14. Nathaniel Rateliff – Falling Faster Than You Can Run
15. Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
16. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City
17. Sharks – Selfhood
18. Joywave – 88888
19. Flagship – Flagship
20. Robby Hunter Band – Magic City Hippies

Songs:

1. The Chain Gang Of 1974 – Sleepwalking
2. Shy Girls – Second Heartbeat
3. Body Language – The Chasing
4. Wild Cub – Thunder Clatter
5. The Limousines – Love Is A Dog From Hell
6. Donora – Under The Lights
7. Gauntlet Hair – Human Nature
8. Phantogram – Celebrating Nothing
9. Ra Ra Riot – Dance With Me
10. Sky Ferreira – You’re Not The One
11. Shout Out Louds – Blue Ice
12. Tennis – Mean Streets
13. Wet – Dreams
14. Josh Ritter – New Lover
15. Glacier Face – Last Days
16. Best Coast – This Lonely Morning
17. Kate Boy – Northern Lights
18. Andrew Belle – Dark Matter
19. Kitten – Graffiti Soul
20. Lazerhawk – The Video Craze

2013joanne

*Joanne Lam

Albums: (no particular order)

Quadron – Avalanche
Bill Callahan – Dream River
Rhye – Woman
Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe
Nils Frahm – Spaces
Tim Hecker – Virgins
King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath The Moon
Mount Kimbie – Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
Forest Swords – Engravings
Theo Parrish – Black Jazz Signature
Julia Holter – Loud City Song
Hiatus Kaiyote – Tawk Tomahawk
Oddisee – The Beauty In It All
Lubomyr Melnyk – Corollaries
Joomanji – Manj
Jackson C. Frank – Forest of Eden
Grouper – The Man Who Died In His Boat
Derrick Hodge – Live Today
José James – No Beginning, No End
Georgia Anne Muldrow as Jyoti – Denderah

Songs: (no particular order)

Tim Hecker – Black Refractions
José James – Make It Right
Bill Callahan – The Sing
Jungle – Drops
Quadron – Crush
Moonchild – All The Joy
Thundercat – Tenfold
Rhye – The Fall
Diggs Duke – Cause I Love You
James Blake – Our Love Comes Back
King Krule – Ocean Bed
Nils Frahm – Says
Hiatus Kaiyote – Nakamarra
Joomanji ft. Lindsay Olsen – Spread Too Thin
Derrick Hodge – Night Visions
The Spandettes – Sweet and Saccharine
Danny Brown – Lonely
Blu – Keep Pushinn
Shintaro Sakamoto – Don’t Know What’s Normal
Omar ft. Pino Palladino – There’s Nothing Like This

2013eliana

*Eliana Segal

Albums:

1. We Are the Same – Tallhart
2. Talon of the Hawk – The Front Bottoms
3. Common Courtesy – A Day to Remember
4. Save Rock n’ Roll – Fall Out Boy
5. Pythons – Surfer Blood
6. You Are Here – Magic Man
7. What You Don’t See – The Story So Far
8. Magnolia – Turnover
9. The Hands That Thieve – Streetlight Manifesto
10. The Greatest Generation – The Wonder Years
11. Ordinary Silence – Mixtapes
12. Adding up the Wasted Hours – The Lonely Forest
13. Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die – Panic! at the Disco
14. Tape Deck Heart – Frank Turner
15. Selfhood – Sharks
16. Doom Loop – Mansions
17. Youth – Citizen
18. Jar – Daylight
19. The Hurry and the Harm – City & Colour
20. True Trans – Against Me!

Songs:

1. Four Simple Words – Frank Turner
2. Twin Size Mattress – The Front Bottoms
3. Passing Through a Screen Door – The Wonder Years
4. City of Ocala – A Day to Remember
5. Lovric’s – The Lonely Forest
6. Paris – Magic Man
7. Follow Your Arrow – Kasey Musgraves
8. Clairvoyant – The Story So Far
9. Young Volcanoes – Fall Out Boy
10. I Was Wrong – Surfer Blood
11. Still Into You – Paramore
12. Roam the Room – Citizen
13. A Ring a Reason – Tallhart
14. Carry You Over – Tigers Jaw
15. A Life Less Ordinary – The Bronx
16. Cannonball – Diamond Youth
17. Conventry – Old Gray
18. Climbers – Mansions
19. Vegas Lights – Panic! at the Disco
20. It’s About Time – Young the Giant

2013charlie

*Charles Walker

Albums:

1. A Color Map of the Sun – Pretty Lights
2. The Lumineers – The Lumineers
3. Unorthadox Jukebox – Bruno Mars
4. Magna Carta…Holy Grail – Jay Z
5. Corsicana Lemonade – White Denim
6. Smoke and Mirrors – Brett Dennen
7. good kid m.A.A.d city – Kendrick Lamar
8. The 1975 – The 1975
9. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 – Eminem
10. Like Clockwork – Queens of the Stone Age
11. Yeezus – Kanye West
12. The Bones of What You Believe – CHVRCHES
13. Love Lust Faith + Dreams – Thirty Seconds To Mars
14. The Paradigm Shift – Korn
15. The Electric Lady – Janelle Monae
16. Free The Universe – Major Lazer
17. Random Access Memories – Daft Punk
18. Reflektor – Arcade Fire
19. Amok – Atoms For Peace
20. Disclosure – Settle

Songs:

1. Royals – Lorde
2. Radioactive – Imagine Dragons
3. Get Lucky – Daft Punk
4. Fuckin Problems – A$AP Rocky, Drake, and 2 Chainz
5. Wrecking ball – Miley Cyrus
6. Bubble Butt – Major Lazer
7. Holy Grail – Jay Z
8. Safe and Sound – Capital Cities
9. Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke
10. Bezerk – Eminem
11. Chocolate – The 1975
12. So Many Details – Toro Y Moi
13. The Mother We Share – CHVRCHES
14. Who Got It – Break Science
15. The Lottery – The Stepkids
16. Afraid – The Neighbourhood
17. Ashtrays and Heartbreaks – Snoop Lion and Miley Cyrus
18. Falling – Haim
19. Happy – Robert DeLong
20. City Of Angels – Thirty Seconds To Mars

reviewed by
12-17-13