# BrightFork #3: New Listens & Balance Patch

Source: https://brightonxu.com/posts/en/2026-06-18-brightfork-3/

Author: Brighton (Yi Xu)
Published: 2026-06-18

🎵Music Makes You Lose Control

Plenty of new music lately, and some backfilling going on too.

## 🆕 New Albums { .section-title }

### Olivia Rodrigo

**Olivia Rodrigo — you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love** (2026) · Score: 7.5

Genre: Pop

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/olivia-yspsfag.jpg)

Best track: stupid song

Fresh Olivia drop — and the Olivia renaissance is in full swing. A very pop, very poppy watery album, but it goes down easy.

### Sufjan Stevens

**Sufjan Stevens — Michigan** (2003) · Score: 8

Genre: Indie Folk

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/michigan.jpg)

Best track: All Good Naysayers, Speak Up or Forever Hold Your Peace

Sufjan's home-state concept album — stream-of-consciousness folk. Only just realized "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" is "All Good Naysayers" with a key change. The lineage is there, but the original is still too flat; musically it really is a whole tier below Illinois. When will Sufjan complete the set with California?

### Lil Wayne

**Lil Wayne — Tha Carter III** (2008) · Score: 8.5

Genre: Hip Hop

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/carter-3.jpg)

Best track: Got Money

Weezy at his peak — one listen and I was straight off searching for the "greatest rap albums" ranking.

**Lil Wayne — Tha Carter V** (2018) · Score: 8

Genre: Hip Hop

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/carter-5.jpg)

Best track: Let It All Work Out

A sequel six years in the making; the standard holds, but the magic is missing.

### Kanye West

**Kanye West — Bully** (2026) · Score: 8

Genre: Hip Hop

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/bully.jpg)

Best track: ALL THE LOVE

**Bully** - 「等Bully发布了，我就和你分手。」("When Bully drops, I'll break up with you.") The old-man vigil is finally over; being better than v1 and v2 counts as a win.

## ⚖️ Rebalance { .section-title }

### 🔼 Buff

**Sufjan Stevens — Illinois** (2005) · Score: 10

Genre: Indie Folk

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/illinois.jpg)

Best track: Come On! Feel the Illinoise!

**Illinois** - 9 → 10. Time will prove the greatness of Illinois.

### 🔽 Nerf

**Kanye West — My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy** (2010) · Score: 9.5

Genre: Hip Hop

![Album cover](https://brightonxu.com/img/mbdtf.jpg)

Best track: Devil in a New Dress

**MBDTF** - 10 → 9.5. Maybe I'm getting a little tired of it — arrangements this ornate actually make it less of an any-time-anywhere listen.

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