“GINGER” — BROCKHAMPTON

Favorite: “SUGAR”

The self-proclaimed hardest-working boyband is all grown up on this album, their fifth in three years. “GINGER” sounds like a therapy session for the already open and honest group as they deal with the events of 2018, when they kicked out a member of the group amid sexual misconduct allegations. Despite this, the album still has plenty of bangers, and it’s songs like the infectiously sweet “SUGAR” and the very raw “DEARLY DEPARTED” that stand out. In the end, the band’s ever-present chemistry shines through as usual to make this album one of the best of the summer.

“IGOR” — Tyler, The Creator

Favorite: “GONE, GONE / THANK YOU”

Tyler, The Creator is one of the few rappers who gets better with each release. Pair that with the fact that he has one of the most unique sounds and voices in rap, it was inevitable for him to put together an album like “IGOR.” “IGOR” sounds like the type of sound Tyler, The Creator has been building up to his whole career. An album that challenges the conventions of rap, he spends most of it singing, despite his high level of skill in the rapping territory, thereby showing off his true artistry. The album makes for one of the most emotionally resonant listening experiences you’ll have all year.

“Apollo XXI” — Steve Lacy

Favorite: “Like Me”

Fresh off The Internet’s last release, “Hive Mind,” Steve Lacy returns with his debut album, “Apollo XXI.” The album is a very interesting, yet laid-back experience. It’s the type of album to listen to on a nice, hazy summer day. Lacy is still trying new things, though: “Like Me,” is a nine-minute track that transitions from moods and topics with relative ease, which could be said about the album itself. Lacy impresses while still keeping intact the modern, creative thinking that he’s shown in his career so far.

“Angel’s Pulse” — Blood Orange

Favorite: “Tuesday Feeling (Choose To Stay)”

Blood Orange is somewhat of a recluse to the world — we know of his multiple talents, but don’t even know of the man himself. Despite this, his music feels personal and real. On his mixtape “Angel’s Pulse,” the follow-up to his striking 2018 album “Negro Swan,” he makes the soundtrack to your golden hour August day with a special someone or just your homies. It’s more laid-back than his aforementioned previous album, but it’s just the right vibe for your summer.

“85 to Africa” — Jidenna

Favorite: “The Other Half (feat. St. Beauty & Mereba)”

Jidenna is best known for his breakout single “Classic Man,” but since then has released his freshman album, “The Chief,” and an EP, “Boomerang,” in 2017. This summer Jidenna dropped his sophomore album, “85 to Africa. He said his aim was to make an album that took everyone back to their roots and combined both African and African American culture in a way that black and brown people could globally connect to. Between the afrobeats, bars and ballads that Jidenna drops in this album, there are also a lot of lessons and guidance with a hint of finesse.

“LEGACY! LEGACY!” — Jamila Woods

Favorite: “GIOVANNI”

“LEGACY! LEGACY!” is the R&B and soul artist’s sophomore album. Each track is named after a notable person of color, such as “EARTHA” for Eartha Kitt and “MILES” for Miles Davis, paying homage while still maintaining her own sound. The album is soulful, personal and poetic, making it a chill weekend vibe and a new addition to your study playlists. Woods’ sound on each track is unique and makes it one of the most calm album drops of the summer.

The pieces of art featured in the exhibition were all created by African American artists and show how the wide range of styles and techniques used over the course of decades correspond to ideas of African American selfhood.

Paintings like “Lost Boys: AKA BB” (1993) by Kerry James Marshall show an African American take on the lost boy companions from Peter Pan. In the painting, Marshall alludes to a trend of many African American youth being denied the opportunity to grow up and reach adulthood in the societal climate of the United States. There are dark tones of acrylic and collage styles used in the painting, which depicts “BB,” a lost boy, looking out solemnly.

There are also several lithographs, titled “Runaways” (1993), by Glenn Ligon. The 10 images provide a dispersed portrait of a fugitive slave, which Ligon created by asking friends to provide descriptions of him as if they were reporting him missing to the police. In a 1997 interview, Ligon said the piece aims to show “how an individual’s identity is inextricable from the way one is positioned in culture, from the ways people see you [and] from historical and political contexts.”

While these works of art are more somber, there are other paintings that are lighter, such as the oil and acrylic on canvas painting “North Philly N****h (William Corbett),” created by Barkley L. Hendricks in 1975. The painting depicts a black man — sharp as ever in a long peach trench coat with fur lapels and a collared magenta shirt underneath. Hendricks was drawn to the style and aura of individuals, like this man, which became his muse. He, along with several other painters featured in the exhibition, aims to show black people as we see ourselves, and not just depict our brokenness and pain.

In addition to displaying the gallery in the museum while the exhibition is open, the BU Art Museum will also host interactive events throughout the fall semester. The events will end with the closing of the exhibition on Dec. 7. The events, most of which are free for the public to attend, include:

“A Reading and Talk by Fred Moten” — Thursday, Oct. 10 at 12 p.m. in the BU Art Museum

“Exhibition closing” — Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. in the BU Art Museum

As with Francisco’s previous work, “Helium” is impactful and quite lasting in its strong imagery, words and message. In the collection of 58 poems, he uses metaphors and comparisons in order to make the message relatable and to bring difficult discussions to the forefront.

Just like Francisco’s spoken-word performances, his collection allows for reflection and understanding on past events, even ones that we may be unfamiliar with. Francisco releases a concerto of words that fit together perfectly in such an artistic and bright way while conveying the darkest of topics in today’s society and our own psyches. He also includes some interesting facts among the imagery in order to tie it back into a reality that isn’t just emotion, but science, statistics and daily news.

From the very first poem in the collection, “Water,” Francisco opens up by writing the poem that alludes to a fear of water, likening the water to jaws of a liquid beast. He also sets the stage to his own self-awareness, and in doing so, gives us an open door into himself and his own self-proclaimed shortcomings and flaws. If anything, it makes him more realistic as a poet and storyteller by also making him one of us.

He features other poems that are about himself and his own self-reflection such as “My Honest Poem,” “Sip” and “Chameleon,” among others. In all of them, he features a short anecdote from his past or a regular daily activity. Throughout his poems, the imagery is heavy and displays, in a point of camaraderie, that he’s not perfect and is currently working on himself.

“I am not a love poet,” Francisco says. “Every time I try to write about love my hands cramp.” Despite his claim, his ability to write both love poems and poems of heartbreak is astonishing. In his poem “Correctly,” the last line of the paragraph-long piece is, “I promise I will love you as if it’s the only thing I’ve ever done correctly.” In “To the Girl Who Works at Starbucks, Down the Street from My House on Del Mar Heights Road, I Swear to God I’m Not a Stalker,” he continues his love-inspired poetry.

No stranger to heartbreak, Francisco features two poems of heartbreak that have gone viral on social media: “Scars” and “To the Random Dude Who started Dating My Ex-Girlfriend Two Days After We Broke Up (Yes, I Read That on Facebook),” which he has countlessly performed both separately and as a combined poem. Both poems feature a count from one to 10 in which he goes through the emotions and what he’s feeling post-heartbreak with someone he loved.

Political, racial and societal issues are also addressed in his poetry collection. He has poems that discuss the political climate of our nation. He speaks heavily on being a black man in America in our current state and how sometimes it’s easy to see himself dying over minuscule things merely because of his skin and the assumptions of others. In “Skin II” he writes, “your skin is that one friend who meets everyone before you do,” and expresses similar sentiment in other poems. He also discusses the global climate dealing with clean air in the poem “Trees” and discusses the depletion of water in “Roulette.” He continues to discuss what it’s like to grow up learning how to be a man, whether what he was taught was right or wrong and its influence on some of his shortcomings in his treatment of women, hypermasculinity and learning how to be emotional.

While those are the heavier topics of his poetry collection and sometimes are tough pills to swallow, he also writes motivational poems in which he tries to uplift others through their hardships and to help them understand that, eventually, there is a better tomorrow. Overall, this poetry collection provides discourse on a range of topics — happy, sad and indifferent. The range of emotions is not a rollercoaster, but a simple progression akin to life. Through his range and literary reflection, he provides an outlet for himself and comfort to others who find his writing relatable. Francisco tries to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and if it’s not there, he encourages both himself and his audience to create the light for themselves.