Hoodies All Summer
by Kano
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. The Telegraph (UK)
    Aug 30, 2019
    100
    Hoodies All Summer is the album that grime has been crying out for, an audacious state-of-the-nation address from one of its most articulate lyricists.
  2. The Line of Best Fit
    Aug 30, 2019
    95
    Hoodies All Summer is an exceptional achievement, proving once again that Kano is one of the UK’s most versatile, thoughtful and talented voices.
  3. Exclaim
    Sep 4, 2019
    90
    Is the best rap/rap-adjacent album of the year? It's definitely a contender. Is it the most important album of the year? Probably. Should you be listening to it right now? Without question.
  5. Clash Music
    Aug 30, 2019
    90
    Whilst the lyrics are direct and, in your face, the production is just as precise and thought out. It flows with Kano’s quick pace and ability to turn on the heat so quickly. The album offers 10 tracks of quality and meaning over the meaningless repackaged corporate sound that is found more often than not in this day and age.
  6. RapReviews.com
    Nov 19, 2019
    85
    Top Boy has elevated Kano to a bigger platform, and his music has managed to follow suit. His character in the Netflix series may play second fiddle to Dushane, but he can consider himself “Top Boy” as far as British rappers go.
  7. AllMusic
    Sep 5, 2019
    80
    Thoroughly inspired as well as creative, Hoodies All Summer is arguably the best work of Kano's career.
  8. DIY Magazine
    Sep 3, 2019
    80
    His sixth LP employs a rich palate in its production seamlessly blending trap beats with soul samples and orchestral flourishes.
  9. The Observer (UK)
    Sep 3, 2019
    80
    Overall this excellent album’s clarion-clear narratives about knife crime and the importance of good times – exemplified on Can’t Hold We Down – are delivered not just with anger and pathos, but humour.
  10. Q Magazine
    Aug 30, 2019
    80
    While preachiness rarely flatters battle-trained MCs, roller-coaster wordplay here makes the 34-year-old's sermons fun to untangle, even on harrowing subjects. [Oct 2019, p.107]
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  11. New Musical Express (NME)
    Aug 30, 2019
    80
    It’s not as if Kano’s position as one of the Top Boys of an energised UK grime and rap scene needed any further cementing, though ‘Hoodies All Summer’ has done exactly that.
  12. Mojo
    Sep 24, 2019
    60
    The lack of personal revelations that brought nuance and light to 2016's Made In The Manor often makes these vivid, grim depictions of inner city strife uncomfortable listening. [Nov 2019, p.89]
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  13. The Guardian
    Aug 30, 2019
    60
    He is yet, however, to enjoy a mainstream moment like those had recently by Stormzy and Skepta. The reflective, ambitious Hoodies All Summer isn’t likely to change that, but it will cement his reputation as one of grime’s wisest truth-tellers.
  14. The Quietus
    Sep 5, 2019
    40
    Ultimately, Hoodies All Summer sounds like it’s been ‘fixed’ by a major label trying to improve Kano’s chances of radio play by throwing some poppy hooks and production into the mix and praying for the best. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but in this case the result is simply banal.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. Mercha12
    Feb 24, 2021
    10
    Kano is the uk Goat. This album was a blessing. Great to see the evolution of such an artist from radio sets to studio albums.
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