Dylan's Deep Dives

Alfredo 2 Album Review: The Alchemist and Freddie Gibbs Peak on Sequel Album By Dylan Barbee Courtesy of Apple Music Release Date: 7/25/2025 It’s been half a decade since rapper Freddie Gibbs and producer The Alchemist released their Grammy-nominated album Alfredo . The collaboration album is still highly regarded in hip-hop today, with its dark and gritty Italian mafia tone still making a memorable listen. Many songs from Alfredo are still heavy in my music rotation, so when I heard that the duo was reuniting for Alfredo 2 with the release of the intro track “1995” and a short film on YouTube , I was buzzing with anticipation. On Alfredo 2, the notable duo musically takes us to the streets of Shibuya with a Yakuza aesthetic being brought to life with The Alchemist’s hazy and atmospheric production style throughout. The late night in the streets of Shubiya vibe lasts for 14 songs spanning to a near flawless 48 minutes and coexists perfectly with Freddie Gibbs’ aggressive lyricism as he...

DON'T TAP THE GLASS Album Review: Tyler, The Creator's Carefree Endeavor By Dylan Barbee Courtesy of Apple Music  Release Date: 7/21/2025 A new Tyler, The Creator album releasing on such short notice was the last thing I expected this summer. His rollouts are usually grand, building anticipation amongst music listeners and building up new characters that align with different layers of his personality. However, just nine months after dropping CHROMAKOPIA , the artist displays a new look with red leather pants, a red hat and a giant gold chain along with a mustache to embody this new persona that refuses to stop dancing or reveal anything deep about himself. DON’T TAP THE GLASS is a hypnotic dance-infused G-funk hip-hop album with 10 songs that last just 29 minutes. On his latest release, Tyler, The Creator delivers impeccable flows and melodies on top of a rough Cherry Bomb inspired sound mixed with a shimmering light-hearted production style that encourages listeners to just ke...

Sinners Bites Deep Into America’s Southern History By Dylan Barbee Courtesy of @sinnersmovie on Instagram Release Date: April 18th, 2025 I had rarely heard or seen anything about Ryan Coogler and Micheal B. Jordan’s newest collaborative film Sinners before it crept into the spotlight with high praise. The marketing for the film seemed very brief, not really revealing anything about the plot which I now know was purposeful.   Sinners is a striking period piece that immerses viewers into America’s Jim Crow South, exploring the region’s cultural roots through its music. Departing from Coogler’s previous approach on films like Black Panther and Creed, this original story quickly takes a bold gothic horror twist, using vampires as a haunting metaphor on cultural assimilation and the erasure of Black heritage.   The film starts with gangster twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Micheal B. Jordan) returning home to Mississippi from Chicago to open a juke joint to give back ...

  Wrapping Our Heads Around Severances’ Spectacle By Dylan Barbee Courtesy of @AppleTV on Instagram Released on Jan. 17th, 2025 and ended on Mar. 21st, 2025 SPOILERS AHEAD!!! By now, you’ve likely heard of  Ben Stiller’s critically acclaimed show Severance . The mind-bending thriller has caught the attention of millions with a wave of long-form TikTok videos of fans sharing their theories about the show’s potential future plotlines, viral memes and debate produced on fan-made Reddit pages.  Its satirical message on the corporate ladder is explored through a mysterious plot that thickens in season two with addictive twists and turns deservedly giving Apple TV their most-watched show yet.  To sum up the plot, the show explores work-life balance as people undergo a brain procedure called “severance” to separate their work consciousness from their personal lives. This is done through the show’s main character Mark (Adam Scott), who is struggling to cope with the sudden ...

A Sci-Fi Satire That Takes Icy Jabs To The Elites  By Dylan Barbee Courtesy of @mickey17 on Instagram Released: March 7, 2025 Spoilers Ahead!!! “What does death feel like?” This seems to be the burning question everyone is asking Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) after he has been forced to die sixteen times. For Mickey, death has become a form of abuse, as he is used as a real-life crash test dummy under the command of power-hungry colonial moron Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo). “I hate dying,” Mickey responds despite being a volunteer expendable, a job where he must die repeatedly.    Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s strange new political satire sci-fi film, Mickey 17 serves as a fun watch despite taking place in the year 2054 on an apocalyptic snow planet named Niflheim. With captivating cinematography and storytelling, Joon-ho explores relevant themes surrounding authoritarianism and the importance of heroism during dark times. However, Joon-ho’s jabs at politics feel...