2026, so far, is me going back to my roots which involves posting album reviews. Although a lot of these were written more than 10 years ago, I’ve adapted them as best as I could on Record Club so that they can still resonate today. Please feel free to have a look if you’re interested. Summary of all my old album reviews below with the best ones, in my opinion, highlighted in bold (record.club/john_noire/…).

Side note: 2013 was a crazy year for music and, arguably, the precursor for 2016

• Ab-Soul, These Days…

• A$AP Rocky, At.Long.Last.A$AP

• Beyoncé, Beyoncé

• Chance The Rapper, Acid Rap

• Childish Gambino, Because The Internet

• Drake, Nothing Was The Same

• J. Cole, Born Sinner

• J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive

• Jay-Z, Magna Carta Holy Grail

• Kanye West, Yeezus

• Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

• Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia Demo

• Mac Miler, Watching Movies With The Sound Off

• ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron

• SZA, Z

• Vince Staples, Summertime ‘06

• The Weeknd, Kiss Land

• YG, My Krazy Life