POV: you're in love with your local occult priest that's hiding a dark secret you get to know once you accidentally run into him while burying a body of someone you've just killed in the night forest... and you for sure know what's going to happen next. cannibalistic gay sex.

A Dog’s Way Home

We watched as a family the movie called A Dog’s Way Home, about a dog trying to find his long way home. The story is told from the perspective of the dog, which is often humorous, sometimes sad, and quite loving. My 11 year old liked it, but he only understood layer one of the movie. I was so happy about that fact, for the real undercurrent story was something else entirely.

Who doesn’t like a good story about a lovable dog right? I wish it was that easy, but that is not the world we live in today. We no longer live in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I remember the original Disney The Incredible Journey about 3 pets looking for their master. So innocent, but no longer. We live in a culture now completely saturated with leftist ideology and LGBTQ brainwashing. So much so, that these things happen in front of us on the screen and now in real life without the majority of us even knowing or understanding what is taking place.

The dog’s owner in the movie is a likeable young white guy that eventually falls in love with a beautiful black girl. No problem there. Towards the conclusion, they are shown as a happy married couple. But along our circuitous way in the story, we are served a sometimes subtle and sometimes blatant smorgasbord of Hollywood’s myopic version of leftist America.

The very wimpy dog catcher is called a racist by our young black heroine because he is upholding the law of Denver that says no pitbulls are allowed in the city limits, and that is apparently the breed from which our star dog is derived. We are later given, by a sympathetic lady dog pound employee, a graying of the lines of what a pitbull actually is in reality. This of course gives the audience a reason to ask why is our innocent doggie being chased by the mean old wimpy man.

Later, not to mention the virtue signaling by minority groups in the cast throughout the movie, the wimpy dog catcher is man-handled, or should I say woman-handled by the dog owner’s mother. He is completely overwhelmed by her simply holding his wrist tightly, and her speaking toughly. She tells him that he will allow the doggie to be loaded up in a car, that will take our star far away to the state of New Mexico, so she won’t be caught a second time and euthanized. Yes, by the way, our doggie is a girl, and by the way, most of the likeable people in the movie are females. White guys don’t rate in Hollywood anymore, unless they are LGBTQ or somehow repentant for being a tough guy. Yet, without tough guys there would be no freedom because they fight our wars. Think about that one for a minute.

Moving the dog away from her home, of course, sets up the long distance journey home. Meanwhile, the wimpy dog catcher guy keeps looking at his wrist as if to say to the woman, owe you’re hurting my arm. The tetesterone in me wants to shout out, REALLY? That is all it takes for a law enforcement officer who fights pitbulls for a living to be shaken up and demoralized? Give me a break Hollywood.

By the way, most of the law enforcement in the movie are presented in a negative light for upholding the law. Laws are so passé to the Hollywood left, it makes you wonder why we even have laws in our society. They don’t do anything anyway, but only save lives, protect our private property, provide for the common defense, and keep our country together and in order. Who needs mean old boundaries and borders anyway? We are good without them, right?

Then during the long journey home, we are introduced to the homosexual couple, a white guy and a black guy. We are slowly shown that they aren’t just skiing buddies, but live together; celebrate together with a new bottle of champagne as a gift from one to the other for their book being published; and then we finally see their shiny wedding rings twinkle in the sun. Such a happy couple. There is no touching between them, but the message is loud and clear that this is the new normal for all of us to accept and even to celebrate as we do the marriage of the dog owner and his new pretty wife.

From a Biblical standpoint, this is complete hogwash. I have to wonder though if Christians watching this movie even batted an eye at this Hollywood masterpiece? We have been served up this wrotten feast so often we have become calloused to its true meaning. Face it. Christians have grown up with Ellen Degeneris in their living rooms, and they apparently like it. But for the sake of our children and posterity, we absolutely should do more than bat an apathetic eye. We need a full WAKE UP call to the church!

People, hear me on this. Our choices in life do absolutely have consequences. God tells us in Paul’s letter to the Romans that the homosexual and lesbian relationships, and all things LGBTQ, will end in the utter wrath of God and finally death. We must never forget, but remember what occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah. Before Paul began his ministry to Rome, he laid the Biblical foundation in chapter one by stating the facts boldly. God will give over the homosexual and the lesbian, (and we could add, all the LGBTQ alphabet), to their lusts and passions. The result of this giving over by God, is that their chances of ever recovering from their sexual addictions are slim to none. That is why it is so all important we as Christians need to tow the line, know the Word, and preach the Word in season and out of season.

There are no gray areas here, no ambiguity in Scripture on this issue of LGBTQ. Did you hear that? None whatsoever, Ellen Degeneris not withstanding. I understand there are many so-called Christians today talking about gay orientations and transgender orientations and all the LGBTQ+ alhabet orientations. But it is completelly false, and not even close to what Scripture teaches. LGBTQ is sin period, and there will be no self-identifying LGBTQ person in Heaven. That is a sobering thought. Professing Christian, if you still identify with LGBTQ, you won’t be with the family of God in Heaven. Listen to the Apostle Paul. He is the Christian’s timeless authority on this subject as he was inspired by God to write without error. We don’t need any Scriptural updates from the APA (American Psychological Association), which is human wisdom inspired by doctrines of demons.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

We wouldn’t ever say there is an adulterer orientation. Or a thief orientation. Or a swindler orientation. Would we? Or any other kind of orientation on this list. Yet, we are being told that there is an exception when it comes to the effeminate and to the homosexual. That God created the LGBTQ person with that identity, even that God blesses them. If so, then we might as well say God created the thief and the swindler, and blesses them; and God will steal you blind when the offering plate is passed next Sunday morning. That is complete nonsense.

Look further on in the passage. Paul goes on to say, “Such were some of you.” Did you notice the past tense? You were once identified this way before you came to Christ, but you are not this anymore. He goes on, “but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

There is no doubt in the matter, that once Christ washes us from all these sins, that we identify with these sins NO MORE. Therefore, the current popular teaching of supposed LGBTQ orientation is completely false, and dangerous. That is emphatic teaching people. Paul goes on to state in another place.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So let’s put this LGBTQ orientation teaching to rest people. The only victory for homosexuality is conversion to Jesus Christ period. Remember, it is LGBTQ that are asking for special status, not the others. So they and those that give them theological sanctuary need to hear what Paul is preaching. By the way, some do want to be washed, but the church is now telling them, no you are ok the way you are; you were made by God that way. In California law 2943 was passed that makes conversion therapy for homosexuals illegal. That is completely unbelievable, and what is more unbelievable is so-called Christian conservatives were pushing for this law to be passed, and it did pass both houses.

It is neither right nor good to continue on this false track that will lead no where good, but to our complete demise. There is no LGBTQ orientation, only sin. We should resist both the false gospel of Hollywood, and the false teachers in the church. LGBTQ is in reality a tragic life that is a kind of living death. Yet, we are being brainwashed to believe the total opposite, that it is somehow beautiful with twinkling wedding rings. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our children absolutely deserve the church to be CRYSTAL CLEAR on our teaching on LGBTQ. Without the true church teaching boldly and courageously the time honored Word of God, our children are DOOMED!. Our children don’t stand a chance if we desert them now at their hour of utmost need. For them to grow up and believe that LGBTQ is normal in the movies and in real life; and being brainwashed to believe by those in the church that there are no consequences for sin, is calling God a liar, and inviting God’s judgment upon us and our nation.

When Abraham asked God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if there were just 10 righteous people, he discovered the stark truth when he rose early the next morning to observe the rising smoke of the cities, and their utter judgment and destruction.

Genesis 19:27-28 “Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.“

Tragically, there weren’t even 10 people who knew or cared about God’s Word, and even the children were swept up in the fire and brimstone and destroyed along with their wicked fathers and mothers.

What will we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and parents of our dear little ones decide? Are the children precious to us enough to stand and fight against the tidal wave of luke warm and compromised Christianity? Or will Christ spew us out of His mouth because we were neither hot nor cold? I beg you to join the fight, and raise the banner of truth in front of an evil and perverse generation before it is too late, even when that means confronting a hostile world and a denomination given over to heresy. Wake up church!

BEST ALBUMS 2018

Ok here we go again for 2018, shall we?

Hon. Mentions: Negro Swan - Blood Orange; Singularity - Jon Hopkins; Elsewhere - Ryan Hemsworth; Scorpion - Drake; Diplomatic Ties - The Diplomats; Some Rap Songs - Earl Sweatshirt; FM! - Vince Staples; Rally Cry - Arkells; I’m All Ears - Let’s Eat Grandma; Be The Cowboy - Mitski; Kamikaze - Eminem; Ye - Kanye West; KIDS SEE GHOSTS - Kanye West and Kid Cudi; Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino - Arctic Monkeys; Black Panther: The Album - Kendrick Lamar, et al; KOD - J. Cole; Culture II - Migos; Hive Mind - The Internet; God’s Favorite Customer - Father John Misty; Blood - Rhye; Both Ways - Donovan Woods; Songs of the Plains - Colter Wall

10) Swimming - Mac Miller

This one was tough. Malcolm James McCormick’s fifth studio album was barely out three months before he left us. It’s hard to evaluate Swimming in isolation of Miller’s untimely death at age 26. Especially since, in my mind, the album represents something of a turning point for the former frat rapper. Recorded in the wake of Miller’s high profile breakup with Ariana Grande and in the midst of public struggles with addiction, Swimming is full of heartache and soul bearing self-reflection. Sonically, Mac’s airy raps and crooning vocals float over jazzy beats and orchestral accompaniments, with help from Thundercat and Dev Hynes. There’s room for fun as well amid the melancholy - the more upbeat Ladders and What’s the Use? are sure enough to keep a dance floor moving. The worst thing about Swimming is really how good it is, and how it felt like Mac Miller was on the cusp on something great we’ll now never see. 

Highlights: Self Care, What’s The Use?, 2009, Ladders

9) QUARTERTHING - Joey Purp

Chance the Rapper’s Savemoney compatriot Joey Purp is like a breath of fresh air. QUARTERTHING’s 14 tracks, most clocking in at under 3 minutes, come fast and furious like Purp’s (mostly) un-autotuned flow. Joey’s full throated, almost Meek-Mill-esque, delivery gives the album a mixtape-like authenticity - notwithstanding the varied and expert production from the likes of RZA, Knox Fortune and frequent Chance collaborator Nate Fox. The opening 24k Gold/Sanctified, and Hallelujah just two tracks later, feel downright celebratory pairing Purp’s flow behind a blaring big band sound. Others, like Look At My Wrist and Paint Thinner, are Chicago Drill and house inspired, feeling like they’d be right at home in a sweaty club basement. Lyrically, Purp is a classic hip-hop storyteller and street documentarian, drawing from experiences in a former life selling drugs and the violence of his home city. This impressive studio album debut is more than enough to solidify Joey Purp’s place among an exciting new generation of Chicago rappers.

Highlights: 24k Gold/Sanctified (ft. Ravyn Lenae & Jack Red), Godbody (ft. RZA) [Pt. 2], Hallelujah, Look At My Wrist (ft. Cdot Honcho), Karl Malone

8) Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves is clearly in the pantheon of artists that can’t release an album without it making this list (I rated Pageant Material #8 in 2015 and Same Trailer, Different Park #9 in 2013... both criminally underrated in retrospect). Musgraves continued to be a revelation with her third album. There was a great Ezra Koenig quote last year, where he talked about seeing Musgraves’ concert and being inspired by the clarity of her music: “from the first verse, you knew who was singing, who they were singing to, what kind of situation they were in”. On Golden Hour, she maintains that clarity, stretching a little more outside the traditional country sound into pop and disco-inspired melodies. I do miss the dry humour and rebellious spirit of the previous two Musgraves outings, I’ll admit. You won’t find any overt weed references here, but Kacey finds plenty of ways to remind us how few fucks she gives about the Nashville country establishment. Golden Hour also shows off some of Musgraves’ strongest songwriting to date - the sprawling Space Cowboy stands out as one of the best singles of the year in any genre. I’m probably in the minority in thinking Golden Hour is not my favourite Kacey Musgraves album, but it’s still one of my favourite albums of 2018.

Highlights: Slow Burn, Space Cowboy, High Horse, Love is a Wild Thing

7) Lush - Snail Mail

It’s about to become clear that there is a “women in indie rock” movement happening on this year’s list. The debut album from 18 year old singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan is one of the most aptly titled records of 2018. Lush’s indie rock soundscapes are just that. Loud, full and richly textured. Jordan’s crystal clear vocals soar and float above her ringing guitar chords and riffs. The songwriting is perhaps what you’d expect from an 18 year old, full of heartbreak, confusion and teen angst. She does it well though. As the first chorus builds on Heat Wave, Jordan’s voice builds: “And I hope whoever it is Holds their breath around you, 'Cause I know I did”. The album’s standout track for me is Full Control which crescendos to a refrain of: “I'm in full control, I'm not lost, Even when it's love, Even when it's not.” At the same time, Lush exudes a maturity and a nostalgia that hearkens back to Snail Mail’s spiritual predecessors like Cat Power or Fiona Apple. Snail Mail was one of many reasons that 2018 gave me hope that there’s a future for indie rock and “guitar music” generally. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what’s next.

Highlights: Pristine, Full Control, Deep Sea, Heat Wave

6) boygenius EP - boygenius

The only thing that ever held me back from including boygenius on this list was my long held view that “an EP is not an album”. Well, since Kanye decided that 7 songs can be an “album” why not 6? Any album that has 6 songs as good as the 6 on boygenius EP would make this list! boygenius is the indie “supergroup” made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and the holder of last year’s #3 album on this list, Julien Baker - all accomplished solo acts in their own right. Predictably, the whole is something greater than the sum of its parts. boygenius EP’s six songs are a tour de force amalgam of indie, country and folk (owing to the band’s cross-genre Nashville and Viriginia roots) full of raw emotion and grit. Dacus, Bridgers and Baker seem made to perform, and sing, together. The harmonies on this record make boygenius sound like an indie rock iteration of Destiny’s Child or an edgier, less twangy version of the Dixie Chicks. The songs do not hold back, with high highs and low lows. On Me & My Dog, the soaring chorus evokes an escapist dream: “I wish I was on a spaceship, Just me and my dog and an impossible view”. The emotional highpoint of the record might be Baker and Bridgers’ chorus on Salt in the Wound apexing with: “I’m gnashing my teeth, Like a child of Cain, If this is a prison I’m willing to buy my own chain”. I can’t stop watching live videos of these three - they seem so at home onstage together. As excited as I’d be to see boygenius become more than a side project, I’m equally excited to see what’s next for Bridgers, Dacus and Baker on their own.

Highlights: Me & My Dog, Stay Down, Salt In the Wound, Ketchum ID

5) DAYTONA - Pusha T

YUGH! Amid Kanye’s unhinged tweets, messy, disorganized projects, and Oval Office visits, DAYTONA, the 7 track album he entirely produced for G.O.O.D. Music veteran Pusha T, was one thing that gave us hope that Kanye hadn’t completely lost his touch (or his mind) in 2018. DAYTONA showcases both producer Kanye and King Push at the absolute peak of their talents. It’s amazing, in this era of Xanax-fuelled mumblerap, to think how long we’ve been listening to Kanye and Push do their thing. Lord Willin’ introduced the world to Pusha T in 2002 (alongside his brother Malice, as he then was, as the iconic rap duo Clipse). The College Dropout came out two years later. I still remember buying the CDs and wearing out my discman with both of them. It’s easy to forget that Kanye and Terrence “King Push” Thornton are both 41 years old! There’s something refreshing about two guys in their forties still being able to make a banging rap record about selling drugs and buying expensive shit. Push said DAYTONA was made “for my family...high taste level, luxury, drug raps fans.”  Those fans are well served by DAYTONA. After the beat comes in on album opener If You Know You Know, Push sounds like he’s speaking directly to his day one fans, raising a styrofoam cup to: “This thing of ours, oh, this thing of ours”. The album exudes the bravado of an MC on top of his game confident in the knowledge that he’s spitting bars on a classic. And we can’t forget the incendiary Infrared, the song that touched off a vicious beef between Pusha T and rap’s biggest star, Drake, ending after Push revealed in a diss track that Drake was hiding his son from the world. Almost 20 years on, Pusha T is still ready to go war, still “clickin’ like Golden State” and still wearing the crown as King Push. Long may he reign.

Highlights: If You Know You Know, The Games We Play, Hard Piano (ft. Rick Ross), Infrared

4) Honey - Robyn

I found myself slightly disappointed in Honey at first, largely because my expectations for Robyn’s first album in eight years were based on the high energy electro-pop brilliance of 2010′s Body Talk. What I should have realized is that, if Robyn were going to make another Body Talk, she wouldn’t have kept us waiting this long. Honey is not Body Talk - you won’t find another Call Your Girlfriend or Dancing on My Own among its nine silky smooth tracks. But it is no less brilliant. If I can forget that Beach2k20 exists for a second, it feels pretty darn close to a perfect album. Honey betrays a lighter touch for Robyn, perhaps more in tune with the sound of the moment. A little more euro house and disco tinged, Honey furthers the Swedish songstress’s long evolution away from the pop idol of her late 90′s past. Honey still embodies Robyn’s signature juxtaposition of electronic dance rhythms alongside themes of sadness, loneliness and heartbreak. And songs like Honey and Missing U can still light up any dancefloor. The highlight for me is the slow-building Send to Robin Immediately, which just swells over its Lil Louis sample as Robyn urges the listener into action: “If you got something to say, say it right away. If you got something to do, do what's right for you. If you got somebody to love, give that love today. Know you got nothing to lose, there's no time to waste”. In between albums, and while writing Honey, Robyn lived through the death of a longtime collaborator and a breakup and reunion with a romantic partner. The emotional toll of these experiences seem to shine through. Robyn told the BBC’s Annie Mac earlier this year: “When I wrote this album I think I was quite tired of myself writing sad love songs, but I did anyway and looking back on that now, I think it's OK for things to be sad. Combining it with something that's bright and strong and powerful is a way of finding your way out of the sadness.” 

Highlights: Missing U, Human Being (ft. Zhala), Send to Robin Immediately, Honey

3) Clean - Soccer Mommy

Clean, the impressive debut album from 20 year old Nashville singer-songwriter Sophie Allison, was the first album I heard this year that I 100% knew would be on this list. By the time Your Dog hits at the third track, I was completely enthralled. That song is so goddamn rock and roll with Allison sparing no mercy for the subject shitty boyfriend of the opening verse: “I don't wanna be your fucking dog, That you drag around, A collar on my neck tied to a pole, Leave me in the freezing cold”. Elsewhere, on Still Clean, Allison plays with gruesome animalistic imagery singing of an ex-lover picking her “out your bloody teeth”. There is a warmer side to Clean as well. Scorpio Rising, with it’s “bubbly and sweet like Coca-Cola” softness and lyrics about meeting up after dark and missed calls from your mother definitely remind you that Allison is a self-professed devotee of Taylor Swift’s early work (which should give you another idea of why I love this album). Speaking of T-Swift, the rollicking Last Girl almost mirrors You Belong With Me in describing the crushing insecurity of comparing oneself to a new partner’s ex, somehow pulling off lyrics like “I want to be like your last girl, She's the sun in your cold world and, I am just a dying flower, I don't hold the summer in my eyes” as if that were a totally normal thing to say. Beneath the upbeat riff of Cool, where Allison idolizes the cool girl “with a heart of coal, She’ll break you down and eat you whole” is the understanding that being that person won’t bring her the happiness she seeks. Acceptance of one’s emotions and insecurities is the core theme of Clean - that “You gon’ be like that” (as Allison put it to the Fader) and you’ll be happier once you accept you for you. In many ways, Clean evokes a similar vibe to the Snail Mail and boygenius entries further up this year’s list, as a scrappy “girl with a guitar” indie record and a tongue-in-cheek stage name. That sense of charming honesty is what, I think, makes Clean stand above the other entries on this list.

Highlights: Cool, Your Dog, Last Girl, Scorpio Rising

2) Lamp Lit Prose - Dirty Projectors

The first of our top two is another repeat offender on this list (a previous incarnation of the Projectors’ Swing Lo Magellan had #7 back in 2012 and last year’s eponymous Dirty Projectors was my 2017 #8). I loved every minute of Lamp Lit Prose - it’s almost a 1B for me on this list and was pencilled in at 1 for a time in the drafting process. This album has everything that was good about last year’s DPs record but is, ultimately, tighter, more fun, less weird and less sad. Dave Longstreth appears to have moved on (at least musically) from the emotions he was working through on Dirty Projectors, which was essentially an extended meditation on the breakup of his relationship with Amber Coffman and the band’s upheaval. With Lamp Lit Prose, his “new look” Dirty Projectors (with help from friends like Syd, Rostam and HAIM) have put together something a little more traditional (by Dirty Projectors standards) and a lot more listenable. Longstreth told Exclaim that this album, compared its morose predecessor, “is really about feeling hope again, finding the things that give us hope, that make us feel optimistic and joyful.” Lamp Lit Prose falls somewhere between the twangly, jam band atmosphere of the Projector’s Swing Lo Magellan and Bitte Orca heyday and the more experimental, electronic-infused vibe of the Dirty Projectors released 18 months prior. Longstreth’s guitar riffs are again front and centre, but the voice modulation and distorted electronic sounds are still there, albeit in a more subtle way. Four part harmonies bounce over the jazzy melodies and hopeful lyrics. Where he was mourning a lost love on the last record, here we see Longstreth “in love for the first time ever” on I Found It In U (a salvaged beat from his work on Solange’s last album). On Break Thru, the un-named romantic subject is held up as “an epiphany” with comparisons in quick succession to Archimedes, Fellini and Julian Casablancas. The horn-backed chorus on What Is The Time is the high point of the record for me - the kind of song that makes you want to raise your voice and join in on the hook. All in all, it’s just great to hear this band making fun music again. Lamp Lit Prose is upbeat, creative and simply a joy to listen to. I absolutely loved this album... but just not quite enough to edge out our number 1.

Highlights: Break-Thru, That’s a Lifestyle, I Found It In U, What Is The Time

1) ASTROWORLD - Travis Scott

IT’S LIT!!! I would have never predicted that a Travis Scott album would land here at number 1, but here we are. And I feel good about it. ASTROWORLD dominated my listening from its mid-summer release onward and, with each spin, I became increasingly convinced of its greatness. Travis is an artist that I’ve long found perplexing. Insanely popular among his legions of young fans, he embodies so much of the “new rap” ethos, the first genre of music where I’ve started to feel like I might be ‘too old’ to enjoy it. It was clear on his prior outings, Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, that the talent and creativity was there, but the overall product always seemed messy, disorganized, unpolished. With ASTROWORLD, Scott finally has made his Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The album is named for a former Six Flags theme park in Scott’s hometown of Houston that was torn down a decade ago and still sits vacant. Previewing the title of the album, Scott told GQ last year: "They tore down AstroWorld to build more apartment space. That's what it's going to sound like, like taking an amusement park away from kids. We want it back. We want the building back. That's why I'm doing it. It took the fun out of the city." True to his word, the album’s 17 tracks are tied together by an overarching creepy, grimy sound. Listening to ASTROWORLD feels like walking through an abandoned theme park. Even more impressive is how Travis, as curator of the album’s varied guest list, bends the star studded guest appearances to his will, fitting them in perfectly to his dank sonic menagerie. The likes of Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, Swae Lee, Tame Impala and James Blake don’t overpower Scott’s vision but blend into the scenery, their talents employed perfectly by Travis in the role of ringmaster. Newcomers get some shine too, like Scott’s Cactus Jack labelmate Sheck Wes who gets a guest verse on NO BYSTANDERS and a shoutout to his ubiquitous single from Travis on 5% TINT: “We did some things out on the ways that we can't speak, All I know it was "Mo Bamba" on repeat”. And then, there’s SICKO MODE. Why is it that the best Drake song each year invariably comes from someone else’s album, even in a year where Drizzy himself releases a double album? The ASTROWORLD track list, at least initially, left out the featured artists, so hearing Drake’s voice over the opening notes of the album’s third track was the first time most listeners had any indication that the 6ixgod himself would be making an appearance. What a wonderful surprise it turns out to be. SICKO MODE, the album’s best track, feels like three or four different songs as the beat changes form and Travis and Drake pass the mic back and forth. The song’s Tay Keith produced final act (the “out like a light” part) is for my money the best two minutes of hip hop music made in 2018. ASTROWORLD succeeds on its grandeur, vision and consistency. Travis Scott set out to build something big and from the moment the bass kicks in on STARGAZING through to the mellow, string backed denouement of COFFEE BEAN, he succeeds at every turn. ASTROWORLD was 2018′s biggest, most creative, most sonically consistent and most fun album in hip-hop. In my estimation, it’s the best album of the year.

Highlights: STARGAZING, CAROUSEL (ft. Frank Ocean), SICKO MODE (ft. Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk), WAKE UP (ft. The Weeknd), CAN’T SAY (ft. Don Toliver)

That’s all folks. Thanks for reading and see ya in 2019.