XXL's Scores
- Music
For 380 reviews, this publication has graded:
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68% higher than the average critic
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6% same as the average critic
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26% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.7 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: | Life is Good | |
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Lowest review score: | Hotel California |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 260 out of 380
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Mixed: 120 out of 380
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Negative: 0 out of 380
380
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
The rapper, producer and crooner pulls all the stops on The Chief, resulting in a first impression that is a memorable one.- XXL
- Posted Feb 27, 2017
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- Critic Score
It may not be quite the full-marks classic he’d hoped, but Oxnard is an intriguing next step for the 2016 XXL Freshman that demands repeat listening and hints that he may have a Blueprint in him yet.- XXL
- Posted Nov 19, 2018
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- Critic Score
The album still possesses enough of the classic Slug and Ant material that the underground has come to love that it will prove a welcome addition to their catalog.- XXL
- Posted May 13, 2011
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- Critic Score
Mac Miller’s sophomore effort is a surprising and focused album from an artist fed up with his public perception. He does enough here to prove his point.- XXL
- Posted Jun 18, 2013
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- XXL
- Posted Jul 26, 2016
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- Critic Score
Throughout the 11-track record, Em and Royce deliver exactly what their fans have been waiting for for a decade plus: lyrics to go.- XXL
- Posted Jun 16, 2011
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- Critic Score
Transformation suffers from a few forgettable beats, but not in a way that devalues the project. Add another four-star LP to Murs's solid catalogue.- XXL
- Posted Dec 8, 2011
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- Critic Score
Under Pressure feels like a roadmap to the influences he states on the album--OutKast, A Tribe Called Quest, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Quentin Tarantino films.- XXL
- Posted Oct 29, 2014
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From a glimpse of his rock star lifestyle to transparent parables of his quest for inner peace, Machine Gun Kelly crafts a well-rounded effort that is likely to raise his stock and push his name back into the conversation of respected rappers. Bloom is an effort that’s just short of a comeback, but is very much a step up for Cleveland’s finest.- XXL
- Posted Jul 7, 2017
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Despite the numerous false starts for a release date, Hall Of Fame has finally arrived and it’s well worth the wait.- XXL
- Posted Aug 29, 2013
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With his latest effort, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, the 37-year-old Dungeon Family elite again tackles fresh sonic landscapes while remaining nimble with verbal wizardry.- XXL
- Posted Dec 12, 2012
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- Critic Score
If anything lets Tha Carter V down, it’s the track sequencing and transitions, which can start to make the project feel like it’s dragging about halfway through. However, that should hardly dissuade Wayne’s most diehard fans, as even in its slowest moments, the album never loses its heady sense of rapture. ... The album is indeed memorable, as much for the journey that led to its release as the previously unseen layers that Weezy reveals.- XXL
- Posted Oct 2, 2018
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“One Man” in particular, which deals with the loss of his grandmother and his acceptance of her passing, really underlines what the entire work is about: dealing with the ups and downs in life and figuring out the best way to accept them and move forward. With Dark Sky Paradise, Big Sean has finally found that balan- XXL
- Posted Feb 25, 2015
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A project filled with rich, jazzy vibes and all the tight lyricism we've come to expect from one of Chicago's very best.- XXL
- Posted Mar 21, 2018
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The emotion and power is not missing from MMLP2--but you’re getting one with more perspective, a version which has seen 13 more years and has a different outlook on some of the same topics that he first visited in 2000.- XXL
- Posted Nov 4, 2013
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Gucci Mane’s latest may be business as usual, but Drop Top Wop gives the customer exactly what they’re looking for, which is a tried-and-true art within itself, making it another quality offering in the Atlanta legend’s extensive catalog.- XXL
- Posted Jun 13, 2017
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- Critic Score
The LP finds Meek at his most concise and focused in some time. All 17 songs carry that raw, kinetic emotion that has made Meek such a force to be reckoned with but they are also much more dialed in and concentrated than anything on DC4 or his Meekend Music series.- XXL
- Posted Aug 10, 2017
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Campaign may not exceed the musical brilliance of Free TC but it’s a close runner-up.- XXL
- Posted Sep 30, 2016
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YSIV succeeds when it forgoes pretentious views on what hip-hop should be and instead focuses on what makes the self-proclaimed Young Sinatra unique. The trio of “Everybody Dies,” “The Return,” and “The Glorious Five” feature the Everybody MC at his most fluid and nimble.- XXL
- Posted Oct 3, 2018
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- Critic Score
His cadence and dance party-made flow make light of his more serious situations in a way that translates well to listeners. His rhymes are relatable and the beats are bumping—a true win-win.- XXL
- Posted Apr 11, 2017
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Shunning party-hearty staples for the mainstream and taking it back to the concrete, Snoop Dogg turns back the hands of time on Neva Left, delivering an album that is a testament to his unprecedented staying power.- XXL
- Posted Jun 28, 2017
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- Critic Score
MFH2 highlights everything we have come to love about Gates and more. Even though he wavers with some vocal performance on a few tracks, he still manages to put together a solid free sample project that should tide us over until his sophomore offering drops next year.- XXL
- Posted Jul 6, 2016
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- Critic Score
Fraud’s production matches his laconic delivery in a way that other producers’ work just hasn’t. This makes Saaab Stories a much more cohesive mixtape than it would have been otherwise.- XXL
- Posted Jul 25, 2013
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Nine albums removed from anonymity, Rather You Than Me secures Rick Ross’ slot within the list Top 5 of rap soloists to emerge from the South over the last 20 years, and is among his more cohesive bodies of work to date.- XXL
- Posted Mar 21, 2017
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If Teflon Don was a buffet-style feast with deluxe entrées laid out for the listeners, God Forgives, I Don't is a full-course dinner that starts with a plate of bruschetta and ends with a zeppole.- XXL
- Posted Aug 1, 2012
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Seen It All: The Autobiography is a solid offering, and shows growth of Tha Snowman who is 10 years deep in the rap game.- XXL
- Posted Sep 4, 2014
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With Rich Forever, Ross continues to cement his position as one of hip-hop's best artists.- XXL
- Posted Feb 2, 2012
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The project gives fans an answer to the hypothetical of what a full album between Drake and Future would sound like, right now, in 2015. It’s cutting and honest and self-congratulatory and vindictive. It’s fantastically decadent and brutally real at the same time.- XXL
- Posted Sep 23, 2015
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All in all, The Divine Feminine is an experiment well done. Mac Miller’s creative mind explores the ins and outs of the modern relationship while maintaining a certain level of sophistication that can be considered timeless.- XXL
- Posted Sep 21, 2016
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Atmosphere has never been afraid to bare everything, strip things down to their most honest form, and grow with their listeners. Southsiders is the next step in that lineage, and one that falls directly in line with their previous work.- XXL
- Posted May 12, 2014
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