In this three-part season finale, Matthew, Ricardo, Tracy, CC and Randerson share their picks for Best Albums, Best TV Shows, Worst Movies and Best Movies of 2022!
Thank you all for the listens, likes, loves, shares and comments, and here’s to another year of great music, movies and TV!
(Timestamps and lists are provided in the YouTube descriptions)
BEST TV SHOWS & WORST MOVIES OF 2022:
TOP FILMS & FILM DISCOVERIES OF 2022:
In this week’s episode (recorded over the course of two days and at two locations, hence the difference in audio quality between reviews), Matthew and Ricardo talk about some great things and one ‘not-great’ thing as we discuss the World Cup Finals match between Argentina and France, Henry Cavill no longer playing Superman, the sixth season of Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty”, the romantic horror drama “Bones and All”, the Oscar-worthy documentary feature “Fire of Love”, Steven Spielberg’s newest film “The Fabelmans”, Martin McDonagh’s newest film “The Banshees of Inisherin” and James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water”.
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Ricardo weigh in on the recent cancellation of the “Wonder Woman 3” film and a video showing reggae/dancehall artist Sizzla destroying two platinum plaques sent by hip-hop curator DJ Khaled. Afterwards, they discuss the Civil Rights-themed biopic “Till”, the #MeToo-themed biopic “She Said”, the Guillermo del Toro-directed “Pinocchio” movie and the slavery-themed Will Smith vehicle “Emancipation”.
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE
In this week’s episode, Ricardo and I share our brief thoughts on the official trailers for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, “Cocaine Bear”, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”, “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” and “The Last of Us”, in addition to reviewing the ‘Best of 2022’-worthy films “Aftersun” from Charlotte Wells, “Decision to Leave” from Park Chan-wook, “Triangle of Sadness” from Ruben Östlund and “The Menu” from Mark Mylod.
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE
For this track review, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on “Down for Me”, the new single and latest collaborative track from Florida-based R&B singer/songwriter Lester Sanchez and Atlanta-based rapper Quincy Jamal. Their previous collaborative effort came in the form of the highly enjoyable 2020 album “Wentworth”, which treated listeners to nine tracks of smooth flows, catchy hooks, breezy pop rap production and a number of “Yeah Yeah’s” (clearly his signature vocal) from Lester himself.
But what I took away from “Wentworth” was its great emphasis on relationships with women. And while that’s already a familiar trope in pop rap and hip hop in general, Lester and Quincy downplay the egotism usually associated with it and highlight the ups and (mostly) downs of finding a woman who’s just as driven towards success as they are.
“Down for Me” marks their official return as a duo, so to speak, as they haven’t worked together on music since the release of “Wentworth”, thanks to their own creative and professional endeavors. With The Cashiers (a production group whom Quincy built a rapport with over the past few years) handling instrumentation duties, this track is also the fifth single Lester dropped in 2022, with another one slated for a December release. Does this mean we’re getting another “Wentworth” or a solo Lester Sanchez project like his 2020 EP “I’m Only Packing One Suit”? Time will certainly tell, but for now, let’s focus on “Down for Me”!
In a similar vein to the production on those aforementioned projects, “Down for Me” treats us to a soothing, spacey, percussion-based beat with some subtle trap hi-hats in the background. Essentially, the song centers on the casual and heartfelt beckoning of Lester (who appears throughout most of the track’s near four-minute runtime, delivering the hook and first verse) towards a potential love interest. On the hook itself, Lester assures her that he’ll “keep it one hundred”, even going as far as re-iterating his promise on the opening line of the first verse (“You know I keep it ten dimes”). On this verse in particular, he frames himself as this quiet observer of sorts, clearly enamored by her from the jump and taking note of the way she was mistreated during her previous relationships (“You’ve been all on my mind / Since I seen you outside with a couple broke guys”, “You’ve been riding with some losers / You’ve been driving them around like an Uber”).
The following bars are quite intriguing as they set up Lester’s material and emotional goals respectively – to quote the great R&B wordsmith Mario – to “give her everything she wants and needs” and “show her the way love’s supposed to be” (“And I’ve been trying to figure out who took your worth / You’re the hottest thing on this Earth / Taking shit from someone who don’t work”). And yet Lester wisely frames himself as someone who’s not here to RESCUE this woman from constant heartbreak (Thank God we’re not getting another “Treat You Better” from Ryan Mendez with this track)! And that’s where we get the brilliant final lines on this verse (“I’ve been trying to take you different places / So if you change your mind / I’ll change your location”)
On the song’s second and final verse, Quincy echoes Lester’s sentiments but this time, towards his own potential love interest. His suave vocal presence, in addition to his flow which starts off measured but gets rhythmic on the second half of his verse, make for some of the song’s best moments. But I really admired how he incorporated his own perspectives on his life and career into the discussion. He mentions his occasional willingness to move quickly towards his goals as an end result of growing up in a violent neighborhood. But when it comes to love however, he knows he has to take his time, and even encourages his partner-to-be to do the same.
Overall, I found myself enjoying and appreciating “Down for Me” and I can definitely see it drawing a wider audience to the musical talents of Lester Sanchez, Quincy Jamal and the Cashiers. I do hope that we get a full project from Lester and Quincy in the near future as this track makes it clear that their creative chemistry remains intact. But in the meantime, if you’re looking for a laid-back, romantic, R&B/pop/rap joint to vibe out to for the holidays, look no further than “Down for Me”.
Listen to “Down for Me” on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Deezer.
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Ricardo cover the Oscar-worthy drama “Tár”, the second season of the conspiracy theory-themed, Netflix animated comedy series “Inside Job”, the first season of the “Addams Family” spinoff series “Wednesday”, the second Marvel Studios TV special “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” and the first season of the newest Star Wars TV series “Andor”.
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE
In his fifth interview, Matthew speaks with Randy Van Gelder, frontman of the pop rock band Echo Strike, on the formation of the band and their previous album output, in addition to breaking down their new record – and one of the year’s best albums – “Can’t Do Anything Right”.
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE
OR WATCH IT HERE
In this jam-packed, two-episode BBB RADIO / RETROSPECT REVIEWS crossover, Ricardo and Matthew, alongside special guests Tracy Hutchings, Sommerleigh Pollonais and CC Lilford pay tribute to the late, great Kevin Conroy, touch on the recent episode of SNL hosted by Dave Chappelle and guest starring Mos Def and Talib Kweli (Black Star), review the fourth and final season of FX’s “Atlanta” and the Netflix documentary “Is That Black Enough for You?!?”, get spoiler-free and spoilery on the highly anticipated “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and celebrate 30 years of Spike Lee’s timeless biopic “Malcolm X”.
LISTEN TO S02E46 HERE
LISTEN TO S02E47 HERE
BBB RADIO 