Xay Astro

Oh man, the kid Xay Astro came back with another fire EP, Astronomical Vibes, to follow-up on his last one, Day Dreaming. This is one of the few guys who just simply never disappoints when he drops music. From the spaced-out lane of beats he has parked his whip in to the production that brings such soothing melodies, Xay Astro just continues to make hit after hit. Normally, at least one or two songs per mixtape/EP/Album are throwaways but with Xay Astro there has yet to be a song I didn’t find to be worthy of at least 10+ plays. Astronomical Vibes is no different.

Coming off the success of his singles Woah and Supersonic, Xay Astro brings us four new tracks that slap in a major way. Space Jam comes in hot with such a dope beat that Xay just absolutely kills. Maybe my favorite track on the tape, although Problem (Got It) gives it some serious competition. I love the way Xay Astro uses features in his tracks, and Kevin Hues is one of my favorites so it was great to see him back on Astronomical Vibes.

All in all, this is the best EP you’ll listen to this month. As I am getting back into running this page, Xay Astro will continue to be one of the most dominant underground artists we will be hearing. - BallsoNation

Xay Astro dropped his follow-up to Lost In The Valley last night, and since I got an inside peek at part of the tape a few weeks back (check that article here) I will keep this one shorter! With a feature on basically every track, one might think Xay couldn’t hold it down himself, but if you thought that, you’d be so damn wrong. While every feature sounds awesome and only adds to the Cloud 9 vibe, Xay is the glue that holds it all together. I’ve made several comparisons in past write-ups, but Xay certainly dived deeper into a Trav type of vibe on this tape. I would say this tape seems moodier than Lost in the Valley did, but I also believe it is a more concerted, stronger overall effort. You can really hear his progression from the last tape to this one, and I’m praying this dude drops another tape or two sometime in the next half year because he left us all waiting on the tip of our toes for more!! The tracks are ranked below, but this one was very tough as there was not a single song I didn’t loop through all day long! Xay Astro is EASILY in my Top 3 underground artists right now, anyone who doesn’t see it just hasn’t listened to my dude yet.

Track Ranks

Ceiling (ft. Kevin Hues)
Star Trek (ft. Concrete Prophet)
Far Away (ft. Kofi Skills)
F L Y (Prod. JosephPickUpThePhone & Mzstood)
OTS (Matt Write)
Xayliens Intro (ft. Concrete Prophet)
Bag Today (ft. Kevin Hues)

Scores:
Lyrics 8.5 Maybe the spot where he lacks the most, but don’t be fooled; this dude can drop the bars for sure. Sticking with the Trav comparison, imagine if Trav took some addy’s and actually tossed some serious effort to the lyricism department. There are some awesome quotes in this tape too.
Vocals 8.7 Easily one of the best parts of Xay Astro’s entire music vibe is his vocal production, as he has an awesome ear for what works and what doesn’t. This score would’ve been a 9.5 but one thing I noticed was some of the features had some whistled ‘S’ action going on (Star Trek’s feature is an example), which could for sure be the pop filter, but either way that slightly dropped his score since this one is all about the vocal production.
Beat Selection 10 Fuckin’ perfect, nothing else to say about it.
Production 9.3 Besides the vocal thing discussed above, this tape is produced so well. The mixdown and master is solid, and sounded good in my car, on my (dank) speaker, and in headphones. The beats were blended perfectly with the artist’s strengths to create an incredible vibe.
Grittiness 8.8 To see where these songs came from to what they sound like now, it’s really impressive to me. Xay and his boys for sure grinded this one out, earning them a top tier grit score.
Overall BallsoScore: 9.06 I always show Xay Astro hella love, but to be honest it’s because he makes incredible music and he came through again on Day Dreaming. Everyone I have ever showed a Xay Astro song is hooked on him like he’s phonics. Till the next one. - BallsoNation