The Music Cypher

Here are the top 10 songs I listened to the most for the week starting on the 19th April to the 25th April, 2026. 1.  Leggo by B. Smyth featuring 2 Chainz  (25 ▶️) 2. Freedom (Live @ 2016 BET Awards) by Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar  (23 ▶️) 3. Popular by The Weeknd featuring Madonna & Playboi Carti  (22 ▶️) 4. Positions by Ariana Grande  (21 ▶️) 5. Pray You Catch Me by Beyoncé  (20 ▶️) 6. Say Yes by B5  (17 ▶️) 7. She Did It Again by Tyla featuring Zara Larsson  (16 ▶️) 8. Crazy by  Gnarls Barkley, CeeLo Green, Danger Mouse  (14 ▶️) 9.  Need A Boss by Shareefa featuring Ludacris  (13 ▶️) 10. All Night by Beyoncé  (11 ▶️) What have you been listening to this week?  Let me know in the comments!

"With No Due Respect" by Foggieraw album review Here an artist that I would not consider new on the sense that I did not know about him, I just had never listened to any of his music. Foggieraw came into my knowing because of his collaboration with Ari Lennox. That is quite shameful, giving that I follow Foggieraw on Instagram but you can blame me, i am a sucker for a beautiful darkskin black African man who loves black women. Anyway here is some more detail about the subject of this album review. Foggieraw (Jesse Lawrence Owusu) is a Maryland-based rapper and producer known for his soulful, jazz-tinged production, witty lyricism, and viral, high-quality music video snippets on social media. Originally from Ghana, he grew up playing piano and saxophone before transitioning to rap at 18, later establishing a unique sound blending faith, personal growth, and clever storytelling. Owusu gained significant mainstream attention through short, stylish music videos on Instagram and T...

"To Whom This May Concern" by Jill Scott album cover Jilly from Philly is back! You heard correctly, one of the pioneers of the neo soul movement during and after its heyday from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s, Jill Scott has released her sixth studio album titled "To Whom This May Concern". This release comes after an eleven year gap between her most recent release and her last release which was titled "Woman". With hits such as "A Long Walk", "Golden", "Hate on Me" under her impressive belt it should be surprising that long time fans were exhilarated when she announced her latest project.   Jill Scott described her 2026 album, To Whom This May Concern, as a deeply personal and reflective project born from a need to share her life experiences, stating, "I feel like I've created quite a bit. I'm very proud of what I said, how I feel, the emotions that are here, the thought process, the musicianship, it's tim...

  "St. Elsewhere" by Gnarls Barkley, CeeLo Green, Danger Mouse album cover The next album retrospective is " St. Elsewhere " by Gnarls Barkley, CeeLo Green, Danger Mouse. On Friday 24th April 2026, this album turned twenty (20) years old. St. Elsewhere is the debut studio album by American soul duo Gnarls Barkley. It was released on April 24, 2006, in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and on May 9, 2006, in the United States, although it was available for purchase one week earlier as a digital download in the US iTunes Store. St. Elsewhere debuted at No. 20 on the US Billboard 200, and peaked at No. 4. It topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 39 non-consecutive weeks in 2006 and 2007. The album's first single, "Crazy", was the first song to become a UK number-one single based solely on downloads. The album was certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA, for shipping 2,000,000 units with ...

"Lemonade" by Beyonce album cover The next album retrospective is " Lemonade " by Beyonce. On Thursday 23rd April 2026, this album turned ten (10) years old. Lemonade is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé. It was surprise-released on April 23, 2016, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, as a visual album together with a film of the same name. Beyoncé conceived Lemonade as a concept album that explores the historical Black female experience in the United States, allegorized as a personal journey through marital betrayal and healing, and structured as a song cycle based on the Kübler-Ross model. Categorized by critics as an eclectic, genre-blending album with avant-garde and art pop elements, Lemonade explores a variety of genres including R&B, rock, country, soul, blues, hip-hop, jazz, reggae, pop, gospel, and funk. It features guest vocals from Jack White, the Weeknd, James Blake and Kendrick Lamar. Upon release, it topped...

"House Of Balloons (Original)" by The Weeknd mixtape cover The next album retrospective is " House Of Balloons (Original) " by The Weeknd. On Saturday 21st March 2026, this mixtape turned fifteen (15) years old. House of Balloons is the debut mixtape by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was self-released free of charge on March 21, 2011, through his own record label, XO. House of Balloons was commercially reissued in 2012 through Republic Records as the first disc of the Weeknd's compilation album Trilogy, and was reissued in its original version with all samples present in 2021. After releasing music under aliases in 2009, the Weeknd met with several producers, including Cirkut, Illangelo, and Jeremy Rose in 2010 and 2011 in Toronto, where songs on the mixtape were created. In January 2011, Doc McKinney and Illangelo became the project's primary producers. House of Balloons is an alternative R&B record that incorporates elements of dream pop...

Welcome to the fourth (4th) episode of the fourth (4th) season of TMC's Series. This fourth season will explore my top 20 favourite albums of the decade so far from 2020 to 2025. Every episode, I will highlight four (4) albums by sharing my rating of the album along with my favourite tracks and song plus a short review of each album. The listing will be done in alphabetical order and is not ranked in terms of personal favourability! It should be noted that EPs (extended plays) and mixtapes will qualify to make the list although they are not technically albums. Here are five honourable mentions that just barely missed the cut, which are: Bloom by Durand Bernarr, Eusexua by FKA twigs, Fountain Baby by Amaarae, Poster Girl by Zara Larsson and Second Line by Dawn Richard. 13. Planet Her by Doja Cat (2021) Rating :  8️⃣ ▪️5️⃣ / 🔟 Favourite Tracks : Woman Need To Know I Don't Do Drugs Love to Dream You Right Review: A rap star cements herself as a force in pop music and culture! ...

Eric Bellinger Welcome back to Thirst Trap! This segment will briefly highlight a/an artist (s) , male or female ( I do not discriminate) by sharing picture(s), video(s), gif(s) etc. of them doing what I consider thirst trapping. Basically it is my excuse to lust after artist I find sexually appealing! TMC's thirst trap this time is  Eric Bellinger ! Eric Aldwin Bellinger Jr. (born March 27, 1984) is an American R&B singer and songwriter. He began songwriting in 2010, and has co-written singles including "Lemme See" by Usher, "New Flame" by Chris Brown, "Right Here" by Justin Bieber, "On Chill" by Wale, and "Music Sounds Better with U" by Big Time Rush. His contributions to Brown's album F.A.M.E. (2011) yielded his first Grammy Award. Excerpt taken from  Eric Bellinger Here are some  titillating  pictures of Eric Bellinger that was posted to celebrate his most recent birthday and to promote his latest single "Cry In Fro...

Here are the top 10 songs I listened to the most for the week starting on the 12th April to the 18th April, 2026. 1. Where Is My Husband? by Raye  (22 ▶️) 2. Leggo by B. Smyth featuring 2 Chainz  (20 ▶️) 3. Short N Sweet bu Sauti Sol featuring Nyashinski  (19 ▶️) 4. Leak It by FLO  (18 ▶️) 5. I Do by Musiq Soulchild  (17 ▶️) 6. SHE DID IT AGAIN by Tyla featuring Zara Larsson  (16 ▶️) 7. Everyday by Elijah Blake  (15 ▶️) 8. American Love Song by Momo Boyd  (14 ▶️) 9. Poison by Nicole Scherzinger  (12 ▶️) 10. Gentleman by Gallant  (11 ▶️) What have you been listening to this week?  Let me know in the comments!

"This Music May Contain Hope" by Raye album cover Every artist and music fans fears the fateful sophomore release. It is said to be the album that determines the direction of the careers of many artists. If it goes well the artist is off to the races but if it fails the artist hits a major hurdle. One of the most recent successful sophomore albums that comes to mind is Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa which showed artistic growth and cemented her as one of the main pop girls. Anyway back to the point, the pressure placed on the second album release is even more intense if the artist delivered a critically and commercially successful debut album which brings us to the subject of this album review, Raye. Rachel Agatha Keen has release her second studio album titled "This Music May Contain Hope" which is the follow up to her breakthrough and wildly successful debut album "My 21st Century Blues", check out my review of that masterpiece  here . To make matters even...

"Trying Times" by James Blake album cover I do not know much about this artist so to Beyoncé's Internet we go to do our diligent research. James Blake Litherland (born 26 September 1988), professionally known as James Blake, is an electronic singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from London. Blake is primarily considered a dubstep producer and is frequently heralded as a leading figure in the post-dubstep community, but he is also noted for his prominent soul influences. As of December 2020, Blake has released four studio albums and eight EPs. After receiving recognition for a string of EP’s in 2010 (The Bells Sketch, CMYK, and Klavierwerke), Blake released his debut self-titled LP James Blake via his record label ATLAS on February 4, 2011, which was met with universal critical acclaim. On October 10, 2011 Blake released a deluxe edition of the album which contained his Enough Thunder EP, before releasing Love What Happened Here EP to round out a breakthrough ye...

"Miss Michigan" by Momo Boyd EP cover Thalia Mozia Boyd better known as Momo Boyd is no stranger to avid readers of this blog. She has been featured on the Hot 10 list and the most prestigious (If I may so) Year End Recap favourite solo songs list with "American Love Story" in 2025. She is a member of the American soft rock sibling band Infinity Song with her brothers Abraham, Israel and sister Angel. However, besides sharing suggestive videos of her brother to get the ladies and men lusting, she has began to release her own solo music. It started in May 2025 when she released her first solo song the aforementioned "American Love Song" which was met with social media controversy. Yet, she kept pushing and recently had a small breakout hit as a featured artist along with Kendrick Lamar on the song "Good Flirts" by Baby Keem from his most recent album "Casino", check out by review  here  . Looking to capitalize on the momentum from the tr...

"Life on Earth" by Musiq Soulchild album cover The next album retrospective is " Life on Earth " by Musiq Soulchild. On Wednesday 15th April 2026, this album turned ten (10) years old. Life on Earth is the seventh studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Musiq Soulchild. It was released on April 15, 2016, by eOne Music. It is the first album to be released on an independent label, after previously recording several albums on Def Jam Recordings and Atlantic Records. The album entered the US Billboard 200 at number 27. After finishing out his contract with Atlantic Records for the release of his 2011's album MusiqInTheMagiq, Musiq signed with Warryn Campbell's record label My Block Records. However, in June 2014, he emerged as a rapper under the pseudonym The Husel. At the time, he planned to release an album under the name, with guest appearances from Pastor Troy, T-Pain, Bone Crusher and Cash Out, among others. He later released the project as a fr...

"Killer Love" by Nicole Scherzinger album cover The next album retrospective is " Killer Love " by Nicole Scherzinger. On Wednesday 18th March 2026, this album turned fifteen (15) years old. Killer Love is the debut solo studio album by American singer Nicole Scherzinger which features special guest appearances from Sting, Enrique Iglesias & 50 Cent. It was released on March 18, 2011, by Interscope Records, in association with its affiliated record labels. Scherzinger had been working on a solo album since 2005, under the title Her Name Is Nicole and was originally due for release in 2007. However, unsuccessful singles and poor timing led the project being pushed back numerous times. After releasing The Pussycat Dolls' second studio album Doll Domination (2008), Scherzinger shelved the project entirely citing bad timing and creative issues as the reasons for its cancellation. Many of its songs were reassigned to the Dolls or other artists. In 2010, Moroccan ...

Welcome to the third (3rd) episode of the fourth (4th) season of TMC's Series. This fourth season will explore my top 20 favourite albums of the decade so far from 2020 to 2025. Every episode, I will highlight four (4) albums by sharing my rating of the album along with my favourite tracks and song plus a short review of each album. The listing will be done in alphabetical order and is not ranked in terms of personal favourability! It should be noted that EPs (extended plays) and mixtapes will qualify to make the list although they are not technically albums. Here are five honourable mentions that just barely missed the cut, which are: Bloom by Durand Bernarr, Eusexua by FKA twigs, Fountain Baby by Amaarae, Poster Girl by Zara Larsson and Second Line by Dawn Richard. 9. Holy Fvck by Demi Lovato (2022) Rating :  8️⃣ ▪️5️⃣ / 🔟 Favourite Tracks : Skin of My Teeth Substance 29 Eat Me Bones Review: Demi has tried many different musical hats but pop rock remains the one that fits her...