Shatter the Standards
@thestandards.bsky.social
We are dedicated to celebrating milestones, unearthing lesser-known musical gems, and promoting discussions around albums and new music that might not receive ample attention in mainstream conversations.
https://www.shatterthestandards.com
https://www.shatterthestandards.com
Chamillionaire’s blend of vengeance and melody gave the album its identity: one moment he’s snarling that revenge is a dish best served cold, the next he’s sweetening the hook with a hummed tune.
Anniversaries: The Sound of Revenge by Chamillionaire
Chamillionaire’s blend of vengeance and melody gave the album its identity: one moment he’s snarling that revenge is a dish best served cold, the next he’s sweetening the hook with a hummed tune.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Chamillionaire’s blend of vengeance and melody gave the album its identity: one moment he’s snarling that revenge is a dish best served cold, the next he’s sweetening the hook with a hummed tune.
Veteran West Coast ice‑cold bars, Southern trap appeals, and indie‑rap experiments all collided in the same strange year.
Five 2010 Rap Albums About Prison, Legacy and Moving Forward
Veteran West Coast ice‑cold bars, Southern trap appeals, and indie‑rap experiments all collided in the same strange year.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Veteran West Coast ice‑cold bars, Southern trap appeals, and indie‑rap experiments all collided in the same strange year.
We’re still watching, still debating, and still moved by this lavish, confounding, and brilliant record. Kanye West’s modern man-myth fully came to life, in all its beautiful, dark, twisted glory.
Milestones: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
We’re still watching, still debating, and still moved by this lavish, confounding, and brilliant record. Kanye West’s modern man-myth fully came to life, in all its beautiful, dark, twisted glory.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
We’re still watching, still debating, and still moved by this lavish, confounding, and brilliant record. Kanye West’s modern man-myth fully came to life, in all its beautiful, dark, twisted glory.
Here’s your upcoming rundown of albums/singles releasing on November 21st, featuring De La Soul, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tank, Chris Patrick, and many others.
New Music Drops: November 21, 2025
Here’s your upcoming rundown of albums/singles releasing on November 21st, featuring De La Soul, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tank, Chris Patrick, and many others.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Here’s your upcoming rundown of albums/singles releasing on November 21st, featuring De La Soul, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tank, Chris Patrick, and many others.
De La Soul returns with their first new LP in nine years. After the weight of Trugoy’s absence, the album is a tribute to a brother and a continuation of a group that refuses to be frozen by grief.
Album Review: Cabin in the Sky by De La Soul
De La Soul returns with their first new LP in nine years. After the weight of Trugoy’s absence, the album is a tribute to a brother and a continuation of a group that refuses to be frozen by grief.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
De La Soul returns with their first new LP in nine years. After the weight of Trugoy’s absence, the album is a tribute to a brother and a continuation of a group that refuses to be frozen by grief.
Pink Friday turned Nicki Minaj from an underground queen into a household name—a crowning moment, even if it meant swapping the wild style of her mixtapes for a polished pink coronation.
Anniversaries: Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj
Pink Friday turned Nicki Minaj from an underground queen into a household name—a crowning moment, even if it meant swapping the wild style of her mixtapes for a polished pink coronation.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Pink Friday turned Nicki Minaj from an underground queen into a household name—a crowning moment, even if it meant swapping the wild style of her mixtapes for a polished pink coronation.
Ransom has never been a comfortable rapper, but his collaboration with Premier gave him a new dimension. Now joining forces with Conductor Williams, he pushes into his own misgivings.
Album Review: The Uncomfortable Truth by Ransom & Conductor Williams
Ransom has never been a comfortable rapper, but his collaboration with Premier gave him a new dimension. Now joining forces with Conductor Williams, he pushes into his own misgivings.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Ransom has never been a comfortable rapper, but his collaboration with Premier gave him a new dimension. Now joining forces with Conductor Williams, he pushes into his own misgivings.
These are the albums that make you rethink whatever you assumed from the lead tracks. The deeper cuts do the kind of work the marketing never bothered to point at.
Five 2000 R&B Albums That Caught Us Off Guard in the Best Way
These are the albums that make you rethink whatever you assumed from the lead tracks. The deeper cuts do the kind of work the marketing never bothered to point at.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:06 PM
These are the albums that make you rethink whatever you assumed from the lead tracks. The deeper cuts do the kind of work the marketing never bothered to point at.
With Grimm Lynn, Q Parker, Felicia Temple, Oh No, Sekou, Don West, Gabriel Jacoby, Jay Cinema, ABBIANA, Apollo Brown & Ty Farris, and others, hit play on these projects released last week.
Wednesday Roundups #128: 25 Albums/EPs You Should Listen to In Your Spare Time
With Grimm Lynn, Q Parker, Felicia Temple, Oh No, Sekou, Don West, Gabriel Jacoby, Jay Cinema, ABBIANA, Apollo Brown & Ty Farris, and others, hit play on these projects released last week.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:02 PM
With Grimm Lynn, Q Parker, Felicia Temple, Oh No, Sekou, Don West, Gabriel Jacoby, Jay Cinema, ABBIANA, Apollo Brown & Ty Farris, and others, hit play on these projects released last week.
Dave Hollister was best known for his gospel-honed vocals and a stint as Blackstreet’s original lead singer, but this sophomore solo effort would become his best work to date.
Anniversaries: Chicago ‘85… The Movie by Dave Hollister
Dave Hollister was best known for his gospel-honed vocals and a stint as Blackstreet’s original lead singer, but this sophomore solo effort would become his best work to date.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Dave Hollister was best known for his gospel-honed vocals and a stint as Blackstreet’s original lead singer, but this sophomore solo effort would become his best work to date.
The hippie label never fit them, and De La Soul Is Dead proved it. The collective they helped shape made that vision bigger than any one album.
Giving De La Soul Their Well-Deserved Flowers
The hippie label never fit them, and De La Soul Is Dead proved it. The collective they helped shape made that vision bigger than any one album.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The hippie label never fit them, and De La Soul Is Dead proved it. The collective they helped shape made that vision bigger than any one album.
A record built from the wreckage of a year that nearly ended him. Tawobi turns the voicemails, withdrawals, and broken routines into the clearest mirror he’s held up to himself yet.
Album Review: Rosemary’s Baby by Tawobi
A record built from the wreckage of a year that nearly ended him. Tawobi turns the voicemails, withdrawals, and broken routines into the clearest mirror he’s held up to himself yet.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
A record built from the wreckage of a year that nearly ended him. Tawobi turns the voicemails, withdrawals, and broken routines into the clearest mirror he’s held up to himself yet.
Wu-Tang’s underrated third LP showed the swords were sharpened, the beats brought back to the streets, and they lived to fight another day—still for the children, and still nothing to mess with.
Anniversaries: The W by Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang’s underrated third LP showed the swords were sharpened, the beats brought back to the streets, and they lived to fight another day—still for the children, and still nothing to mess with.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Wu-Tang’s underrated third LP showed the swords were sharpened, the beats brought back to the streets, and they lived to fight another day—still for the children, and still nothing to mess with.
To mourn Amadou Diallo, a young man who lost his life after being hit by 41 bullets fired by police officers in New York, Mos Def and Talib Kweli spearheaded the creation of Hip Hop for Respect. Read over at Blackpolitan.
The Path for “Respect” (Dedicated to the Memory of Amadou Diallo)
To mourn Amadou Diallo, a young man who lost his life after being hit by 41 bullets fired by police officers in New York, Mos Def and Talib Kweli spearheaded the creation of Hip Hop for Respect.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:01 PM
To mourn Amadou Diallo, a young man who lost his life after being hit by 41 bullets fired by police officers in New York, Mos Def and Talib Kweli spearheaded the creation of Hip Hop for Respect. Read over at Blackpolitan.
Great Black music as the past, present, and future conversing together over a beat. Mama’s Gun is exactly that. It’s Afrocentric and funky, spiritual and irreverent, feminine and unflinching.
Milestones: Mama’s Gun by Erykah Badu
Great Black music as the past, present, and future conversing together over a beat. Mama’s Gun is exactly that. It’s Afrocentric and funky, spiritual and irreverent, feminine and unflinching.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Great Black music as the past, present, and future conversing together over a beat. Mama’s Gun is exactly that. It’s Afrocentric and funky, spiritual and irreverent, feminine and unflinching.
Ben Reilly spent years building a persona that could outrun doubt, but this catches him in the moment where the mask slips. SAVE! tracks what happens when the confidence gets real stakes attached.
Album Review: SAVE! by Ben Reilly
Ben Reilly spent years building a persona that could outrun doubt, but this catches him in the moment where the mask slips. SAVE! tracks what happens when the confidence gets real stakes attached.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Ben Reilly spent years building a persona that could outrun doubt, but this catches him in the moment where the mask slips. SAVE! tracks what happens when the confidence gets real stakes attached.
The debut showed Megan Thee Stallion as a survivor, an empowerer, and a cultural force. Good News is the sound of a Black woman turning the page on a dark chapter of her life.
Anniversaries: Good News by Megan Thee Stallion
The debut showed Megan Thee Stallion as a survivor, an empowerer, and a cultural force. Good News is the sound of a Black woman turning the page on a dark chapter of her life.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:01 PM
The debut showed Megan Thee Stallion as a survivor, an empowerer, and a cultural force. Good News is the sound of a Black woman turning the page on a dark chapter of her life.
You can hear artists fighting through circumstances—scandal, reinvention, label grind, or lineup changes—but the records stay grounded in the songs. They sketch out a picture of where the genre stood.
Five 2010 R&B Albums That Marked a Turning Point for Their Artists
You can hear artists fighting through circumstances—scandal, reinvention, label grind, or lineup changes—but the records stay grounded in the songs. They sketch out a picture of where the genre stood.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:05 PM
You can hear artists fighting through circumstances—scandal, reinvention, label grind, or lineup changes—but the records stay grounded in the songs. They sketch out a picture of where the genre stood.
Shadow of a Doubt has aged into an intriguing chapter of the Freddie Gibbs saga. Not his magnum opus, but a vital turning point that cemented his versatility even as he’ll fine-tune later to conquer.
Anniversaries: Shadow of a Doubt by Freddie Gibbs
Shadow of a Doubt has aged into an intriguing chapter of the Freddie Gibbs saga. Not his magnum opus, but a vital turning point that cemented his versatility even as he’ll fine-tune later to conquer.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Shadow of a Doubt has aged into an intriguing chapter of the Freddie Gibbs saga. Not his magnum opus, but a vital turning point that cemented his versatility even as he’ll fine-tune later to conquer.
Prodigy’s ice-cold flow still commands respect as if declaring, one more time, that he’s the head in charge. H.N.I.C. remains a gripping listen, a snapshot of an MC fearlessly coming into his own.
Anniversaries: H.N.I.C. by Prodigy
Prodigy’s ice-cold flow still commands respect as if declaring, one more time, that he’s the head in charge. H.N.I.C. remains a gripping listen, a snapshot of an MC fearlessly coming into his own.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Prodigy’s ice-cold flow still commands respect as if declaring, one more time, that he’s the head in charge. H.N.I.C. remains a gripping listen, a snapshot of an MC fearlessly coming into his own.
Summer Walker is wedded to a saga even as she looks ready to shed it. She isn’t chasing a happy ending so much as deciding which parts of herself she wants to marry and which she’s ready to bury.
Album Review: Finally Over It by Summer Walker
Summer Walker is wedded to a saga even as she looks ready to shed it. She isn’t chasing a happy ending so much as deciding which parts of herself she wants to marry and which she’s ready to bury.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Summer Walker is wedded to a saga even as she looks ready to shed it. She isn’t chasing a happy ending so much as deciding which parts of herself she wants to marry and which she’s ready to bury.
Here’s your upcoming rundown of albums/singles releasing on November 14th, featuring Celeste, FKA twigs, Ellie Goulding, Nia Smith, and many others.
New Music Drops: November 14, 2025
Here’s your upcoming rundown of albums/singles releasing on November 14th, featuring Celeste, FKA twigs, Ellie Goulding, Nia Smith, and many others.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Here’s your upcoming rundown of albums/singles releasing on November 14th, featuring Celeste, FKA twigs, Ellie Goulding, Nia Smith, and many others.
Sometimes a performer doesn’t make a second record so much as rebuild themselves. In Celeste’s case, that reconstruction happens in public and in song.
Album Review: Woman of Faces by Celeste
Sometimes a performer doesn’t make a second record so much as rebuild themselves. In Celeste’s case, that reconstruction happens in public and in song.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Sometimes a performer doesn’t make a second record so much as rebuild themselves. In Celeste’s case, that reconstruction happens in public and in song.
After four years of relative quiet and a label change, Wale stands up as an emcee with history. Everything Is a Lot is not a reboot, but the weight he’s been holding in his life and in the industry.
Album Review: Everything Is a Lot by Wale
After four years of relative quiet and a label change, Wale stands up as an emcee with history. Everything Is a Lot is not a reboot, but the weight he’s been holding in his life, and in the industry.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:05 PM
After four years of relative quiet and a label change, Wale stands up as an emcee with history. Everything Is a Lot is not a reboot, but the weight he’s been holding in his life and in the industry.
After Eusexua’s dance‑floor high, FKA twigs turns the glow of recovery into something hungrier and self‑possessed.
Album Review: Eusexua Afterglow by FKA twigs
After Eusexua’s dance‑floor high, FKA twigs turns the glow of recovery into something hungrier and self‑possessed.
www.shatterthestandards.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:55 PM
After Eusexua’s dance‑floor high, FKA twigs turns the glow of recovery into something hungrier and self‑possessed.