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I know I clown a lot on rappers who dive into the pop realm, but K-OS is one of the few who can pull it off and make it sound enjoyable, authentic, and not so generic or conforming.  Throughout his career, K-OS has been known to blend hip-hop with pop, rock, folk, and dance music, and here he stretches it out over a double-disc album.  The first disc (BLack) has an overall hip-hop vibe to it, while the second disc (BLonde) has more of a rock vibe, although it’s not such a black and white separation.  Most of the rapping is on the first disc, but there’s also a lot of singing, guitar playing and even some slightly EDM-influenced production.  The second disc is full-on rock, but K-OS also occasionally breaks into rap verses.  Bottom line, K-OS isn’t an artist you can box into one category, even if there’s more focus on one genre than another.

K-OS’ rapping may not have the illest rhymes you’ve ever heard, but he consistently keeps things fun and fresh.  He easily gets outshined by guest rappers like Black Thought and Shad, but his verses don’t ruin the songs by any means as he keeps his rhymes at a copasetic level.  I like the pop-rock songs on here too; K-OS can adjust his song writing style seemingly with ease to create some fun, catchy tunes without making it look like he’s blatantly trying to get played in the clubs or on radio.  Usually double-disc albums tend to have lots of filler, but I think K-OS pulled this off really well as he’s able to jump into different genres and do all of them justice, spending enough time with each of them.  Overall it’s a really well put together project.

My Joint (from BLack):

My Joint (from BLonde)(my first 4 choices weren’t on Youtube 😦 ):

My Grade (based on how well I connected with it, no disrespect if your experience was different): B+

Come back to my blog tomorrow to see which album or mixtape came in at #15 on the countdown!