Ever since Machine Gun Kelly released “Tickets To My Downfall” in September 2020, the once-hardened rap star has been imitating a pop punk sound that has granted him great commercial success. This has spawned a wave of new age artists, obsessed with bridging the gap between pop punk and emo rap. One of those artists, Trippie Redd, has collaborated with Kelly on numerous occasions but never in the volume of their new collab EP, “genre: sadboy,” which was announced via a surprise social media snippet March 23 and the full 10 song EP was released March 29. While the album attempts to capture the sound of emo rap, the only thing it captures is the sound of two artists that are far out of their arena. 

Closer Astrid S Released Dec. 4 Universal Music Group Simple guitar picking accents Astrid S’s breathy, velvety voice throughout the verses of “Closer.” The chorus layers the airy guitar...