J. Cole – “The Fall-Off” review

Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper, singer/songwriter & producer J. Cole finishing his career with his 7th & final album. At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone & their mom knows who dude is. Especially given the universal acclaim of projects like The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, Born Sinner & my personal favorite: 2014 Forest Hills Drive. 4 Your Eyez Only & K.O.D. however were both released to mixed reception. Matter of fact: my review for K.O.D. is amongst my most controversial. I don’t get shit for it anymore but at the time when I gave it a 6/10, Cole stans were on my ass for the next 2-3 weeks. Almost a decade later: my opinions on that & 4YEO haven’t changed at all but that’s not the point. The Off-Season was the most I’ve enjoyed a Cole project since FHD & Might Delete Later was the worst tape he ever made, dropping The Fall-Off after a decade in the making.

After the “29” intro, the first song “2 6” gets the victory lap going with a boisterous trap beat produced by Omen & T-Minus talking about Cumberland County residents usually wylin’ out whereas “Safety” takes the boom bap route instrumentally thanks to Powers Pleasant & Wu10 telling all of his homies what’s changed with him since he left. “Run a Train” keeps the kicks & snares in the fold asking what anyone knows about him although the Future hook sounds like a bad  impression of himself leading into the self-produced “Poor Thang” working in a sample & some hi-hats to speak of young pups playing war games.

“Legacy” has to be one of the weaker tracks here because the topic of commitment issues doesn’t do a whole lot for me personally, but “Bunce Road Blues” featuring Future & Tems makes up for it whether it be the nocturnally dusty beat from The Alchemist to Cole’s verse written in the form of a suicide note being countered by both guests’ melodic performances. “Who TF Iz U?” finds Vinylz sampling “Drop a Gem on ‘Em” by Mobb Deep talking about a real one coming through while “Drum n Bass” advises to stay inside because it ain’t safe out around his parts over a piano-inflicted trap instrumental.

We get some cheap guitars in the midst of Cole asking himself whether he’ll survive “The Let Out” or not prior to Boi-1da playing a role in the 2-parter “Bombs in the Ville / Hit the Gas” talking about life being a film that can’t be rewinded & staying violent at all times. “Lonely at the Top” returns to the boom bap admitting that he didn’t understand the meaning of that phrase in his late 20s until FNZ divides “39” in 2 halves providing some insight to his mindset making a similar trip back home except he’s a little closer to finding the peace he’s been seeking.

“The Fall-Off is Inevitable” continues Disc 2 telling the story of his life in reverse over this funky beat while “The Villest” flips “The Realest” by Mobb Deep & Kool G Rap wanting you to know dreams do come true. “Old Dog” talks about learning new tricks over an energetic trap instrumental while the summery “Life Sentence” declares itself to be the realest shit Cole has ever written in his whole entire career dedicating itself to anyone who knows what it’s like to do life with someone in a time where it could be easy to give up. 

Pop rap & pop reggae get fused on “Only You” featuring Burna Boy for an ode to Cole’s wife Melissa Heholt while “Man Up Above” samples “Never Would’ve Made It” by Marvin Sapp giving all his praises to God. One of my all-time favorite Common tracks “The Light” gets flipped on “I Love Her Again” courtesy of Jake One talking about the renewed passion he had for hip hop after apologizing for “7 Minute Drill” a lot like “I Used to Love H.E.R.” & addressing Kendrick Lamar’s beef with Drake.

2 of the most iconic hip hop artists of all-time 2Pac & The Notorious B.I.G. fictitiously apologize to each other for the 90s east coast/west coast beef over the course of Beat Butcha & Tae Beast dustily producing “What If” preceding the drumless “Quik Stop” talking about changing our ways based on the differences we make. “& the Whole World is the Ville” samples “Love Put Me in the Corner” by The Isley Brothers with the help of BoogzDaBeast representing Dreamville & the closer “Ocean Way” uses the same Sekou sample Kevin Abstract did for “Text Me” comparing love to a candle wick in the rain.

The Fall-Off has been said for the past decade to be the greatest achievement in J. Cole’s discography & I wouldn’t be mad if anyone puts it above 2014 Forest Hills Drive even if I’d put this behind the latter for right now. The concept of Cole World: The Sideline Story gets bridged full circle regardless of myself leaning more towards Disc 2 than Disc 1 in terms of consistency, depicting himself traveling back to his hometown when he had accomplished the impossible in New York & when he had backed out of the Kendrick/Drake feud once it started escalating.

Score: 4/5

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Joji – “Piss in the Wind” review

Joji is a 32 year old rapper, producer, singer/songwriter & internet personality from Osaka, Japan making his full-length debut in 2017 with Pink Season. He would go on to follow it up with the sophomore effort Ballads & then Nectar, signing to Warner Records for his previous full-length Smithereens. Forming his own label distributed by Virgin Music called Palace Creek following his departure from the 88rising collective, he’s ready to begin this new era of his career declaring his independence in the form of his 5th studio album.

The self-produced “Pixelated Kisses” featuring Yeat on the remix blends alternative R&B, rage, witch house, trap soul & wave music talking about online relationships just before “Cigarettes” moodily issues the tobacco product as a metaphor for being burnt out. “Last of Dying Breed” combines alt-pop, alternative R&B, outsider house, neo-psychedelia & chillwave to grieve the rarity of an ex-girlfriend leading into “Love You Less” experimenting with dream pop, indie rock, shoegaze & jangle pop to sing about a toxic relationship.

“If It Only Gets Better” explores alt-pop, alternative R&B, indie folk, folktronica, wonky, trip hop & bedroom pop tackling the forever relevant subject of change just before “Love Me Better” sings about how he could’ve stayed with this woman he’s no longer seeing if she cherished him a lot more than she did. “Piece of You” feels more like a GIVĒON track since he handles a great deal of the performances despite the Kenny Beats instrumental while “Hotel California” heads for a lo-fi direction singing about a woman who makes his heart beat fast.

As for “Tarmac”, we have Joji finding himself emotionally stuck & looking for a way to something that felt authentic over some unsettling guitar passages while “Forehead Touch the Ground” spaciously sings about the inability of him trying to get this person out of his head. “Past Won’t Leave My Bed” ends the 1st half combining piano rock, adult contemporary, singer/songwriter & space rock revival for a personification of sleep while “Fade to Black” feels like a 75 second interlude performed by 4Batz.

“Can’t See Shit in the Club” brings some trap soul undertones in the mix for a spiritual successor to the 2020 loosie “F.T.C. (Fuck the Club)” until Dylan Brady joins Kenny Beats behind the boards during “Sojourn”, singing about a kind of love that’s in the middle of being eternal & unremembered. “D.Y.K.I.L.Y. (Don’t You Know I Love You?)” digs up an outtake from the Balladssessions to make a finished version of it while “Rose Colored” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying makes room for Yeat to spit 1 last verse so Filthy Frank can handle the hook.

Nearing the LP’s final moments, “Silhouette Man” slows down Joji’s vocals over this cloudy beat portraying himself as a shadow while “Fragments” mostly performed by Don Toliver sings about desiring pieces of his partner Kali Uchis since he can’t promise her eternity. “Horses to Water” hooks up a bassline & some pianos responding to people claiming the water’s different that it all tastes the same but after the repetitively written “Strange Home” sings about losing a part of him, the industrial outro “Dior” concludes with a chorus asking the woman he’s in love with if he’ll ever get the chance of seeing her again.

The teasers building up to Piss in the Wind gave me the impression that Joji would make the most enjoyable body of work in his career since a great deal of his output until this point has been average at best & it very much succeeds at capturing his artistic evolution since his YouTube days. Parts of wave music, lo-fi hip hop, trap soul, art pop, rage, witch house, trap soul, indie folk, folktronica, wonky, trip hop, bedroom pop, outsider house, neo-psychedelia, chillwave, dream pop, indie rock, shoegaze, jangle pop, piano rock, adult contemporary, singer/songwriter & space rock revival all get incorporated into his alt-pop/alternative R&B sound in a versatile manner to compliment his melancholic songwriting & it feels like more of a complete product than Smithereens did.

Score: 3.5/5

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Mayhem – “Liturgy of Death” review

Mayhem is a black metal band from Oslo, Norway currently comprised of bassist Necrobutcher, drummer Hellhammer, guitarist Teloch, secondary guitarist Charles Hedger & frontman Attila Csihar. Considered pioneers in the most extreme metal subgenre imaginable, their 1994 debut De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is considered to be some of the greatest black metal ever recorded & the sophomore effort Grand Declaration of War would go for a more avant-garde direction. Can’t forget to mention one of their original frontmen Dead taking his own life only for the photo of the aftermath to be used as the coverart for a live bootleg or original guitarist Euronymous being murdered by the most notorious black metal musician of all-time Varg Vikernes a.k.a. Burzum. Chimera & Ordo ad Chao were both great even though Esoteric Warfare near the end of my junior year of high school holds a special place in my heart today, returning for their 7th album almost 7 years since Daemon.

“Ephemeral Eternity” infernally starts us off singing about death ruling everything without any exceptions whereas the 2nd single “Despair” combines elements of their signature black metal style & progressive metal suggesting the reaper’s already here & has supremacy over us all. “Weep for Nothing” takes a more dissonant black metal approach stylistically singing about the world around us falling apart & leaving no remains leading into “Aeon’s End” making a statement regarding every civilization meeting their demise.

To begin the Liturgy of Death’s other half, “Funeral of Existence” describes the point in life where everything decays & loses all meaning while the 3rd & final single “Realm of Endless Misery” goes for a more traditional black metal vibe singing about existence functioning as part of suffering. “Propitious Death” looks at dying from the perspective of being freed from life’s repetitions & “The Sentence of Absolution” finishes with the realization that greatest deception has been the idea of human life the whole entire time.

Determined to push the boundaries of extremity itself even further over 4 decades later, Mayhem reaffirms their status as the most uncompromising force in all of Norwegian black metal reaching an entirely different apex of darkness by making Liturgy of Death yet another testament to their longevity. It’s easily the most progressive & dissonant the band has sounded since Esoteric Warfare & I commend Attila for deepening his research on the idea of every living being inevitably passing away since it’s been such a prominent theme within the dark arts.

Score: 4/5

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Ella Mai – “Do You Still Love Me?” review

Ella Mai is a 31 year old singer/songwriter from London, England, United Kingdom signing to DJ Mustard’s very own Interscope Records imprint 10 Summers Records over a decade ago. Her first few EPs Time as well as Change & Ready were all solid preludes ahead of her acclaimed eponymous full length debut, following up her sophomore effort Heart on My Sleeve & the most recent extended play 3 coinciding the end of her 20s with her 3rd studio album asking Do You Still Love Me?.

“There Goes My Heart” was a lavish R&B intro with some finger snaps advising Jayson Tatum to not look or touch because that’s the last thing she wants whereas “100” goes for a more atmospheric vibe instrumentally singing about love never being 50/50 & wanting to give this guy the best love imaginable. “My Mind” describes all the ways her man continues to impress her & things not being too risky with him while “Somebody’s Son” sings about being weak for an individual who gets anything he wants from her.

3’s trap soul outro “Little Things” reappears towards the end of the 1st half describing her willingness to do the simplest activities with Jayson by her side just before “Outside” exuberantly sings about the comfort of her own home being her favorite place to be since there isn’t shit out there for her the way she sees it. After the “Audio Message” interlude, “Luckiest Man” soothingly kicks off the 3rd quarter bragging that they don’t make women like her anymore leading into “Might Just” singing about burning the whole roof down.

“Tell Her” cavernously advises her ex-boyfriend to let his new girl know that he still has feelings towards Ella while “Bonus” moodily goes back to the trap soul vibes singing about Jayson keeping her focused. “1st Day” has a more laidback sound to it telling her boyfriend that she’s fucking with him every day of the year & after “Chasing Circles” explains how she’d rather stay true to herself instead of faking the funk, “No Angels” blends R&B & gospel for the outro singing that we should be grateful until the time she & her partner have is up.

Do You Still Love Me? takes a more intentional approach than any of Ella Mai’s previous material in the past decade has done & it makes for the most intimate statement of her whole career. Using a myriad of perspectives for an intimate look at her life & a soulful journey through love, she delves into love’s complexities with a new outlook on that & life in general since she conceived a great deal of the album during after her pregnancy & postpartum with her mentor’s detailed production making big improvements above Heart on My Sleeve’s.

Score: 4/5

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Juice Crew – Self-Titled review

The Juice Crew is one of the original hip hop collectives formed in Queensbridge, New York by the late Mr. Magic & Marley Marl. Other members would include Roxanne Shanté, MC Shan, the late Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, the late Mr. C, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Craig G, Tragedy Khadafi, the late Grand Daddy I.U., the late DJ Polo, the late TJ Swan, DJ Cool V, MC Debbie D, DJ Fatal, DJ Chilly Q & MC Glamorous. We’ve never gotten anything from them collectively aside from “The Symphony” single, so to hear that some of the most notable names were reuniting for an eponymous reunion EP & having one of my top 10 producers of all-time RZA of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan producing the entire thing sounded too good to be true on paper.

After a compositional intro, “Open Ya Eyes” by Big Daddy Kane was an exciting lead single working in some pianos & dropping the knowledge the world needs whereas “Makin’ It Home” by Craig G, the late Grand Daddy I.U. Kool G Rap gets in Bobby’s sampling bag dropping 3 hardcore verses without a hook. “Lolita” by Craig G tells the story of Roxanne Shanté, who eventually gets a reflective song of her own with “Roxanne the Truth”.

“Single Mothers” by Masta Ace gets the final moments of the Juice Crew’s self-titled return sending a consciously bright love letter to all the women in the world raising children all by themselves & “Game Over” finishes the EP squashing MC Shan’s issues of previously having no involvement in this project 4 months ago by letting him perform the outro talking about being street smart, which I believe’s a win-win decision for everyone.

These guys would pave the way for so many hip hop collectives for decades to come from the Hieroglyphics to the Army of the Pharaohs, the Soulquarians & Odd Future to name a few plus I know some have complained regarding RZA fully producing this extended play for the Juice Crew instead of Marley Marl, but I don’t mind because The Abbott’s boom bap production suits each of the seasoned veterans who were able to make the late Mr. Magic, Mr. C & Biz Markie proud for still repping this culture we love over 40 years after it’s foundation.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mickey Diamond – “Black Sheep” review

Detroit, Michigan lyricist & one of the finest in the underground currently Mickey Diamond is back with his 18th studio LP. Emerging at the beginning of this decade off the strength of his debut EP Bangkok Dangerous, the dude has since gone on to turn quite a few heads in the underground by building up the impressive discography for himself with his previous 17 albums alongside 7 EPs & a mixtape. Since 2022 however, Mickey has been consistent putting out some of the best material of his career thus far. This includes the Gucci Ghost series produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Ral Duke-produced Oroku Saki EP, the Sadhugold-produced Death Threat$ album, the Camoflauge Monk-produced Capital Gains album, the outstanding Oroku Saki sequel Super Shredder & Gucci Gambinos. We recently got Diamond Cutter as well as Dolla $ign Diaries & Wolf Tickets, coming off the latter almost 2 months ago for the 2nd installment of this new trilogy.

“Shepherd’s Pie” begins with a drumless soul sample talking about him learning how to save money rather than chase it whereas “Big Bad Wolf” takes the boom bap route instrumentally so he can fuck up anyone who steps in his way. “Murda He Wrote” strips the drums once again talking about pulling up to shows with 10 of homies while “B22” soulfully talks about him shaking up the block consistently unlike those no one wants to collaborate with.

As for “Silence of the Lambs”, we have Diamond over some pianos mixed with kicks & snares letting the fear breathe again leaving the feds asking what happened to him during his break leading into “Rabbit Hole” bringing back the crooning sampling chops talking about his style being too flashy for the poor. “Matthew 7:15” eerily boasts of slitting throats using a Liquid Sword while “Business as Usual” continues the 2nd half talking about seeming cool up until everything comes down to the money.

“Cry Wolf” starts the 4th quarter bringing us more hardcore boom bap cautioning the whole community would take his side if anyone’s beefing with one of his while “When It Rains” soulfully talks about feeling the pain of his homie who’s been down bad. “False Profits” rawly makes it clear his purpose here is to challenge the greatest to ever do it & “Want You Back” ends by chopping up soul samples 1 last time talking about not being mad at a woman he was once in a relationship with.

It hasn’t even been a couple months since Wolf Tickets began The Wolf, The Sheep & The Goat trilogy shooting a buzzer beater in terms of how 2025 was musically & Black Sheep isn’t what many who’ve caught up with Mickey Diamond over the years would expect it to be topically. His lyricism is more focused towards his capability to tell stories centered around friendships, relationships, spirituality, conspiracy theories & politics accommodated in the way Big Ghost’s signature production style always has.

Score: 4.5/5

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9 Vicious – “B4EM” review

Brand new EP from Atlanta, Georgia rapper 9 Vicious preluding his upcoming 4th album Emotions. Breaking out in 2024 off his debut single “U Fancy”, he would go on to further introduce himself on B4SA & the full-length debut Studio Addict helped him gain more exposure to the point where Young Thug signed him to YSL Records after B4TM dropped & Tumblr Music wasn’t that bad of a debut for the label other than “Clout Demons”. B4FN & For Nothing have both become the best things he’s made since the YSL deal, dropping off B4EM to end January.

“Raging Love” produced by 406ahmad begins telling all these pussies to stop faking shit leading into Patrick Garza sampling “Work” by Rihanna featuring Drake on “RiRi” referencing the greatest QB of all-time Tom Brady. I respect him trying to a 2-parter with “More Painting” although the overly sexual themes doesn’t cut it for me but after “4Real” talks about loving money more than hoes immediately after, the highly anticipated “Racks Blue” interpolates the Future joint of the same name on top of an R8 instrumental.

Kicking off the 3rd quarter, “Listen Up Jews” ranks amongst the most awkward songs this guy’s ever made talking about becoming Jewish because his girl’s Jewish using more beat switches & “Fuck O.G.s” splits itself in halves again continuing the tiring themes of sex. “24hrs” samples “Straight from the Heart” by Con Funk Shun talking about his life never being the same he gives “Free Smoke” to his opps with Nosaint of Vanguard Music Group behind the boards, “Anal” ends with 1 last 2-parter comparing himself to the late Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious.

Squashing his beef with Tezzus & diamond* last month after when Thug made them the newest additions to the YSL roster this previous holiday season, 9 Vicious as always warms the modern trap underground up for Emotions within the next month or so except I didn’t enjoy B4EM as much as I did B4FN & B4TM or even B4SA. I’d still say the production is still the strongest focal point this guy’s music has going for it feeling more dynamic than usual, I just feel like he isn’t saying anything I haven’t heard already.

Score: 2.5/5

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Wordsworth – “Chemistry” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee Wordsworth has returned for his 7th studio LP. A member of the duo Punch n Words & the trio eMC, he officially made his solo debut 2 decades ago already with Mirror Music followed by The Photo Album & the Donel Smokes-produced New Beginning. After JSOUL went on to produce his debut EP Blame It on Music & later Sam Brown doing Our World Today respectively, the next EP Undivided Attention would be an improvement over Blame It on Music & The Fragility of Life was overloaded with too many features. Stu Bangas produced 2 Kings & the Chemistry was enough for them to a sequel.

“The Realtor” sets up shop with a boom bap instrumental using a gospel sample comparing himself to a real estate agent whereas “Strangers” featuring Sage Francis & Wreckonize ruggedly talks about their distrust towards that crowd of people. “It Took a Village” featuring Pearl Gates instrumentally keeps things in the basement explaining the cost of raising & keeping them safer just before “It Ain’t Over” eerily details the demise of a character who’ll get their vengeance.

As for the title track, we have Wordsworth over a soulful boom bap beat talking about his & Stu’s talents balancing each other chemically leading into “The Only Sin” featuring Ruste Juxx talking about one not trying being their biggest misdeed. “Don’t Get in the Way” has this apocalyptically raw approach to the instrumental sending advice to everyone listening after having friends become foes while “Username” uses a melodically pitched vocal sample talking about being overwhelmed as of late.

“People in My Neighborhood Too” featuring Masta Ace finds both eMC members linking up to tell stories of their home borough out in Breukelen while the luxuriously dusty “Nominated” celebrates the year he spent elevating himself. “I Was Raised” by Punch n Words featuring Apathy angrily brings the trio together so they can discuss their printings & after the motivational “1 Chance”, we have MidaZ the BEAST & NapsNdreds joining Words for the decent rap rock outro “Get Ya Boy”.

Nearly 26 months since 2 Kings became my 2nd favorite entry in Wordsworth’s solo discography right behind The Photo Album, he & Stu Bangas have done it again leveling up their Chemistry in the process of making another late career highlight for the New York veteran. It has a tighter guest list & Stu’s production continues to rejuvenate Words’ passion enough where the latter lyrically gets more brutal than he was a couple years earlier.

Score: 4.5/5

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Zukenee – “Zuminati” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper/producer Zukenee is back with his 7th extended play. Starting in the spring of 2021 off his debut EP Undiscovered, he would continue to make a name for himself in the underground by putting out a couple more EPs in Castle & Playful alongside the debut mixtape Stop Playing last summer. Subsequent exclusive singles like “OJAYS” & “Chest” would later become amongst his best singles since both of them were released in the span of a year & a half preceding Player Slayer. Guillotine, Birth of St. Slay, Slaytanic, Knight Shift & Eye Love U have all continued to elevate his profile & he’s ending the 1st month of 2026 to drop Zuminati.

“Bait” produced by Cade starts with a fun trap intro talking about not going on Twitter because of incels on there trying to get a rise out of him whereas “Glock Backshots” featuring Sk8star finds the 2 teaming up for a cloudy gangsta rap crossover. “Rich Nigga” goes for a dirty south vibe talking about sleeping with a woman who’s already in a relationship with someone wealthy leading into the rage-inducing “ATL” representing the city that made him who he is today.

The 75 second “Ear Bleed” assures he’ll smoke anyone who makes a bad first impression over some 808s while “Lokey” brings some synths & bells in the fold telling this hoe he’s been seeing to keep their relationship low profile. “Up My Geek” dismisses those waving white flags when there’s smoke when they’re yelling of fires but after the synth-trap crossover “Pyramid” talks about his intents of scheming, “Suicide Note” finishes up by boasting of the exoticness of the weed he’s smoking & the whip he pulls up to the spot driving in.

We only have to wait & see how many more projects Zukenee plans on giving us within these next 11 months because I do remember him confirming that he has something in the works called Zudo fully produced by Cardo, but Zuminat might be the weakest thing he’s done so far although I’d call it average with more highs than lows as opposed to falsely dismissing it as trash. Although his performances may not be the issue, the production sounds a bit samey compared to his earlier output disappointingly.

Score: 3/5

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Chino XL – “Prelude to The Mantis” review

Here we have the 8th studio LP albeit 3rd posthumous offering from East Orange, New Jersey emcee Chino XL. Breaking out in the mid-90s after signing to American Recordings & releasing his classic debut Here to Save You All, he eventually went on to beef with 2Pac & I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who writes him off because of that. Especially since that I Told You So, Poison Pen & the Viper Records-backed RICANstruction: The Black Rosary all contain some of the best songs in his whole discography. Stu Bangas was brought in to produce God’s Carpenter a few summers ago & that became a near-flawless comeback, with Darkness & Other Colors recorded back in 2020 foreshadowing his own death from beyond the grave. Map of Bones recorded between 2008-2012 commemorated what would’ve been Chino’s birthday last April, dropping a Prelude to The Mantis in preparation for his upcoming collaborative effort with Dheezy & of course God’s Carpenter 2.

“The Mantis” produced by Johnny Slash was a great intro from the flute-heavy boom bap beat to the hardcore chopper flows whereas “Blue Bird” takes a more luxuriously dustier route instrumentally although hearing him tackling depression hits differently considering the circumstances of his passing. “I Know” works in some horns thanks to Nick Wiz talking about what every region wants leading into “Steezy” experimenting with cloud rap & trap continuing the mental health themes.

Rittz, Statik KXNG & Tech N9ne all join Chino XL on “Terminally Ill” having all 4 lyricists bodying a Statik Selektah beat for nearly 7 minutes just before Apathy flips some strings during “Blood, Sweat & Tears” making way for Chino to spend 109 seconds speeding up his flow. “Guillotine” has a smoother instrumental flexing his raw glow while the radio friendly “Loving You” featuring Holy Toledo Productions founder M-80 links up for a tacky look at themes of heartbreak.

“Shots Through Ya Vehicle” blends a flute with more kicks & snares spitting intricate wordplay whilst maintaining a chopper-like delivery while “Chi Chops” swaps out the woodwind in favor of some keys talking about his only goal being him wiping out humanity entirely. “A Capella” seems like a moment here that feels completely unfinished since it could’ve easily been used as a guest appearance while “Basquiat” pretty much feels the same except the apocalyptic beat’s alright.

Copywrite & KXNG CROOKED both appear for a “Triple Seize” tearing apart their opponents over a rap rock instrumental while the piano-driven “Paradigms” displays what crazy breath control he had talking about being more than flesh & bones, hence he won’t ever be dead & gone when he has been. “The Rapture” featuring Cappadonna, KXNG CROOKED & Planet Asia brings the 4 together for a raw east coast/west coast crossover while “Chemistry” takes another jab at trap talking about being the type who was smart enough to listen when others didn’t.

“We Just Spit Bars” featuring Canibus could be an outtake from the S.L.I.C.C. (Self Licking Ice Cream Cone) sessions & that to me was one of Bis’ better opuses in recent memory while “Cruel World” keeps it hardcore for almost a minute & a half. “Champion” featuring Killah Priest as well as Kurupt & Ras Kass talks about either being victorious or a victim but after “On My Grind” gruesomely dismisses artists who’s pen isn’t alive, the outro “Grand Finale” concludes with another disjointed verse.

Putting the M-80/Chino XL estate controversy aside, Darkness & Other Colors remains my personal favorite of the 3 posthumous albums we’ve gotten so far & Prelude to The Mantis would have to go right behind it since I enjoy it more than Map of Bones although that’s not to say this warmup for what Chino & Dheezy have coming next doesn’t have flaws of it’s own. As opposed to the last couple full-lengths actually being presented as completed statements, there is some filler that could’ve been utilized more properly although the confrontation of mental health would certainly help those struggling.

Score: 3.5/5

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