RH Review: The Lollapalooza Experience (2018)

After a long four-day weekend of countless live acts, underground after parties, and spending over a hundred dollars in Uber’s; it feels great to be in the AC recapping the Lollapalooza experience.

Arriving early on Thursday to see Valee was the perfect way to start off the festival. The energy during “Two 16’s” was insane. One person, who looked about 17, was screaming every lyric directly in my ear. If I wasn’t sure about the lyrics, I certainly am now. Also the photo below is legendary.

After helping tear down the temporary studio set up hosted by Closed Sessions at SoHo House, I found my way to the front of the Bud Light stage to see Travis Scott. With his new album Astroworld dropping an hour after his performance, the crowd was ridiculous. I had a difficult time recording any of the show due to the mosh pits.

Tyler The Creator and Post Malone were two notable acts on Friday. Post Malone receives a lot of hate in the hip-hop community, but his set was much better than expected. His voice sounded strong and it felt like the entire audience knew every word during his performance. I added a clip from Tyler The Creator’s set below to give an idea of the audience.

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Saturday was the least exciting day for me. I missed Femdot from sleeping in too long. Other than LL Cool J, the other acts I saw were disappointing. Lil Pump found a way to be worse than my already low expectations. GoldLink sounded as if he didn’t have enough material for an entire hour. The energy of the festival was redeemed during Hippie Sabotage’s performance at their after party. The two brothers from Sacramento killed it.

The final day ended strong. Knox Fortune had the most intimate show of the weekend. Their crowd was also the most mature I saw all weekend, with the median age above 18 for the first time. Lil Uzi Vert is a rock star. To think about seeing him at the Metro just two years ago, to playing at the main stage at Lolla is crazy. The crowd loved him.

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All in all, the weekend was a success. It’s almost hard to believe Lolla is over.

by Collin Covert

[Review] Post Malone "Stoney"

The greatest part about music of this era is that you can't put it in a box and say "this is that and that's all it can be." The average artist of today will try to rap, sing, produce, play instruments and write for Kanye West. One of the best examples of at least 4 out of the aforementioned 5 is Post Malone and his official debut album Stoney.

"White Iverson" was quite a while ago, especially the way music moves today, but that definitely wasn't all this young man had. Depending on what you like, White Iverson may be the best or worst song on this album.

"Deja Vu" feat Justin Bieber for me is the hottest track on the project. On the low, Bieber is top 5 in traditional R&B and a lot of y'all need to step your game up if that statement hurts your soul. Also really like the "Up There" joint.

"Feel" featuring Kehlani is a pretty dope track that one day you are just going to put it on repeat, then either drive or sit with it playing at a moderate level. "Too Young" is a groovy joint with some reckless bars from Post. I'm not mad at it though. "Congratulations" with Quavo is just another reason why I have already reserved my seat on the Quavo Bandwagon. This one could be big if Post and his team put a push on it. Another very nice joint is "Yours Truly, Austin Post".

Stoney is a little contemporary country and a little bit rock n' roll. It's also got a little soul, and of course hip-hop influences. You can ride to it, smoke to it, throw a chill little gathering with turn up spurts, and it's definitely something that is lady-friendly, especially if they are casual listeners to all genres of music. There are no "bad songs" on this album, but there are a few "it's just not for me" songs. Listening to this project front to back, Post Malone could be the next Kid Rock without the "Merica-edge" if he wanted to be. I think to maximize his potential, he should definitely stay away from the fickle and forgetful hip-hop audience. Stoney is a good album. If you like music in general you will definitely appreciate it.

Check out another Ruby Hornet review here.

by @ImCamQuotes