Shatter the Standards

Shatter the Standards

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The Handguide to the Ladies of Hip-Hop
Presented chronologically to show the long march of ladies in rap music toward success and recognition, contains several types of projects.
Mar 31, 2025 • Tai Lawson, Jamila W., and Tabia N. Mullings
150 Best R&B Albums of the 2020s So Far
So whether you’re an old-school purist, a fan of avant-garde experimentation, or simply looking for your new favorite record, here are 150 selections of…
Feb 24, 2025
Album Review: Garden Dance by Rap Man Gavin
A Cape Town–Providence rap album about plant medicine and historical erasure that never separates the personal from the political.
2 hrs ago • Shatter the Standards and Kendra Vale
Album Review: Days of You. by chromonicci
A beatmaker’s second vocal album runs on groove and desire, convincing enough when the details show up.
6 hrs ago • Shatter the Standards and Amaya🎀
New R&B from Elmiene, Jenevieve, Noah Guy, rum.gold, and Isaia Huron
Five new R&B tracks about staying too long, giving too much, and refusing to leave. Debut albums and a breakup concept record led the week.
14 hrs ago • Soulpolitan
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R&B Albums That Basically Counts As Going to Therapy
Apr 21, 2025 • Brandon O'Sullivan
Album Review: The Fall-Off by J. Cole
Feb 6 • Shatter the Standards and Kamaria Jules
Album Review: Man’s Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter
Aug 28, 2025 • Charlotte Rochel
Album Review: Son of Spergy by Daniel Caesar
Oct 23, 2025 • Tai Lawson and Shatter the Standards

Recent posts

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Album Review: Skeletor by Chief Keef
A man who built Drill’s blueprint at 16 is 30 now. Chief Keef made his most autobiographically detailed album. It’s the best thing he’s done in a mighty…
Mar 28 • Shatter the Standards and Nia Lattimore
Milestones: Return of 4eva by Big K.R.I.T.
The Mississippi rapper and producer’s magnum opus of a mixtape is Southern rap’s warmest, most self-assured free album of 2011.
Mar 28 • Shatter the Standards and Noura Haddad
Album Review: EXTRA CHEESE by NAHreally
The Massachusetts MC’s tenth release wrings a whole album from the pleasures and anxieties of being pretty good. Nobody rapping this candidly about…
Mar 28 • Shatter the Standards and Mina Abdel
Milestones: Fishscale by Ghostface Killah
The Wu-Tang veteran’s fifth solo album trades kingpin fantasy for basement stress, a late-career monument to urgency and unresolved damage.
Mar 28 • Shatter the Standards and Fallon Reese
Milestones: King by T.I.
Between a film role and a presumptuous title, T.I. calls himself royalty, raps the same block biography three albums running, and dares anyone to argue.
Mar 28 • Shatter the Standards and L. Ari James

Guides

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The Handguide to Lucky Daye
David Brown left a cult at eight, got cut from American Idol at nineteen, and starved in LA at thirty. Lucky Daye is what happened after all of it…
Mar 17 • Shatter the Standards and Janelle K. Moore
There Is Only One Chaka Khan
Since the mid-seventies, Chaka Khan has been a colorful chameleon on and off the stage. She is widely known for her spontaneity and has constantly found…
Mar 16 • Blackpolitan and Raya Sinclair
The Lineage of Michael Jackson (Kids / Young Stars)
Each guide is based on this run of albums, believed to be part of Michael Jackson’s roots. It then branches out into post-1995, drawn from that tree…
Feb 27 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil
Falling in Love with Bruno Mars All Over Again
A world-class superstar who needs no introduction enters a new chapter in romantic mode. The biggest release of 2026, an overwhelmingly entertaining…
Feb 26 • Shatter the Standards and Darryl Keyes
The Jackson 5 Follower Groups Before 1994
The Jackson 5 template proved too profitable to retire. Family harmony meets youth marketing. These nine albums trace the Jackson 5’s afterlife in…
Feb 20 • Shatter the Standards, Brandon O'Sullivan, and Phil

New Music Drops

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New Music Drops: March 27, 2026
As new albums and singles get constantly flooded into our radar, look no further than skimming through the release week of March 27th. We know it can be…
Mar 26 • Shatter the Standards
New Music Drops: March 20, 2026
As new albums and singles get constantly flooded into our radar, look no further than skimming through the release week of March 20th. We know it can be…
Mar 19 • Shatter the Standards
New Music Drops: March 13, 2026
As new albums and singles get constantly flooded into our radar, look no further than skimming through the release week of March 13th. We know it can be…
Mar 12 • Shatter the Standards
New Music Drops: March 6, 2026
As new albums and singles get constantly flooded into our radar, look no further than skimming through the release week of March 6th. We know it can be…
Mar 6 • Shatter the Standards
New Music Drops: February 27, 2026
As new albums and singles get constantly flooded into our radar, look no further than skimming through the release week of February 27th. We know it can…
Feb 27 • Shatter the Standards
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