Blaze Ya Dead Homie – “Last Rites” review

Physical exclusive 5th extended play from Mt. Clemens, Michigan rapper Blaze Ya Dead Homie. Originally 1/2 of the 2 Krazy Devils, the Insane Clown Posse eventually signed him to Psychopathic Records & his eponymous debut EP as well as his full-length debut 1 Less G n da Hood would become some of the hatchet’s most beloved material at the turn of the millennium. Colton Grundy: Tha Undying introduced us to his alter-ego & Clockwork Gray received the same praise as his earlier material, departing Psychopathic after the Mike E. Clark-produced Gang Rags to make the sequel Reborn the inaugural release for his childhood friends Twiztid’s label Majik Ninja Entertainment in tandem with his own imprint Grundy Entertainment. It’s already been a decade since The Casket Factory but coming off Cadaver & Dead Serious, his Last Rites are being read.

“Smoke” starts us off with Blaze talking about not being the one to provoke while “Armed & Dangerous” instrumentally embraces a rap rock vibe cautioning that he has a gun on him. “Sold” experiments with trap metal airing out the people who’ve sold their souls to the Devil & once “In Between” awkwardly talks about there being no one to blame other than ourselves, the outro “No Tomorrow” ends Last Rites explaining shit ain’t been the same since he came to the game although I much prefer the Stir Crazy remix.

If you’re going into Last Rites expecting it to be a bunch of leftovers from the Dead Serious sessions kinda like what The Casket Maker was to The Casket Factory, you’ll be surprised to hear that a great deal of this EP doesn’t have as much of a Jelly Roll influence as Blaze Ya Dead Homie’s most recent album we got over the summer since the production fluctuates between rap rock along with trap metal & regular trap music to compliment the wicked gangsta performances he solely handles contrasting his longtime associates making appearances throughout Dead Serious.

Score: 3.5/5

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Smoke DZA – “We Outside” review

New York emcee & songwriter Smoke DZA enlisting Hollywood, California production duo Mike & Keys to produce his 22nd extended play. Starting out over 2 decades ago as 1/2 of Smoke & Numbers, he would eventually go on to achieve a cult following of his own by dropping 7 albums as well as 10 mixtapes & a plethora of EPs along the way. My personal favorites include the sophomore tape George Kush da Button, the Pete Rock-produced 4th album Don’t Smoke Rock & the whole 183rd-produced Ringside EP saga. It’s been a few years since Flying Lotus produced Flying Objects & was more excited for We Outside than some of his latest output.

“Exact Change” featuring Fergie Baby & Kai Ca$h finds the trio calling for everyone to celebrate even if the odds are against your favor but once “Statue of Limitation” featuring Benny the Butcher has both of them trying everything they can to keep the energy, “We Gon’ Be Straight” featuring Big K.R.I.T. hits the midway point of the EP linking up over a soulful boom bap instrumental issuing a promise of everything sorting itself out when it’s all said & done.

Beanie Sigel & Styles P both appear during the soulful “Diamonds Can’t Save You” to discuss the type of shit you don’t typically see on cable television while “1v1 vs. the System” featuring Reuben Vincent brings some keys & horns in the picture so both of them can talk about battling a corrupt governmental regime. “Food for Thought” featuring Bun B & King Chip spends the remaining minutes of We Outside encouraging people to never lose sight of the mission.

As much as I liked the recent collab EPs he did with The Musalini & Memphis Bleek earlier this year Uptown Saturday Night & Trees Open Doors, I do find We Outside to be a step above the likes of On My Way to Berlin or Road Trip to Amsterdam because of Smoke DZA’s socially conscious lyricism over Mike & Keys’ production ahead of the midterms 24 hours from now. I certainly wasn’t expecting a guest on every single song either.

Score: 4/5

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Twiztid – “Monsters” review

Here we have the physical exclusive 18th studio LP from Detroit, Michigan’s demented duo & Astronomicon founders Twiztid. Consisting of Jamie Madrox & Monoxide, they originally started out as part of the House of Krazees alongside childhood friend The R.O.C. in 1992 before their initial disbandment 5 years later. Almost immediately after, the Insane Clown Posse took Jamie & Mono under their wings by signing them to Psychopathic Records as who they’re known as today. They would become the label’s 2nd biggest act being their mentors off projects like Mostasteless, Freek Show, Mirror Mirror, The Green Book, W.I.C.K.E.D. (Wish I Could Kill Every Day & Abominationz. Shortly after the latter was released, Twiztid left Psychopathic to form Majik Ninja Entertainment in 2014. Since then they’ve released 8 albums & 10 EPs on their own label, my favorites of which being /ˌrevəˈlāSH⁽ᵊ⁾n/ & Glyph. Coming off Welcome to Your Funeral produced by Rob Zombie’s engineer Zeuss, they dropped Monsters on Devil’s Night.

After the intro, “No Evidence” finds them sinisterly talking about covering up the murders they committed whereas my favorite track “‘Til the Cops Come” instrumentally leans towards a funky boom bap vibe looking to party until law enforcement shuts it down. “Now I’m Homicidal” talks about murdering every last person who’s against them leading into “Don’t Sank” calling for everyone struggling to stay afloat instead of succumbing to their depression & there’s a bar where Monoxide’s clapping back at people who’ve hated them before the Psychopathic days.

“Gotta Be Me” wraps up the 1st act responding to the “I Get It, Twiztid / Deal with the Devil” diss Long Live Evil diss Alla Xul Elu put out shortly after their MNE departure & throwing their severed heads in the crowd at last year’s Hallowicked while “I Just Wanna Kill” kicks off the 2nd half talking about once again never meeting anyone they didn’t want to take the lives of. “Devil Deja Vu” makes it clear they don’t give a fuck how far out from heaven they are & the final song “I Don’t Care Anymore” preceding the outro wraps up Monsters sending a message to those who has their hearts.

It’s wild to me that Twiztid destroyed all the unsold copies of Monsters when they could’ve easily put them up on the MNE Store when Fright Fest ended & give it a streaming release set for a later day instead of having it coincide with Songs of Samhain V: Outside of Heaven because this definitely makes up for the disappointment I had with both the latter becoming the weakest in the Songs of Samhain series whether it’s the production abandoning the rock influences or the wicked verses occasionally tackling themes of mental health & nonconformity along the way.

Score: 4/5

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Trizz & Twisted Insane – “1950 Hallow Creek Drive” review

West coast underground veterans Trizz & Twisted Insane hailing from Inland Empire & San Diego, California respectively enlisting MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 to fully produce a new collaborative studio LP. One of whom came up when Brotha Lynch Hung signed him to Madesicc Muzicc & the other made a name for himself for pulling off the chopper style without sounding corny in addition to forming his own label Brainsick Muzik. They’ve crossed paths with each other several times over the years & 1950 Hallow Creek Drive looks to celebrate Halloween in the most appropriate manner imaginable.

After the “Whatever You Do, Don’t Knock” intro, “Treats” immediately talks about how trick or treating on Halloween got them going apeshit over a trap instrumental whereas “Hallow Fiends” featuring Bleezo finds the trio on some boom bap vibes explaining that the only thing you hear on this night of the year is the screams of their victims. “Hive Mind” blends jazz rap & trap to address their collective consciousness prior to “Horror Year” dismembering the bitch made off the top.

“Ziplock” continues from returning to the boom bap to depict the lifestyle of a gangsta while “Ebola” gives us a look at the level of sickness each of them possess. “Grindhouse” embraces a trap sound again turning up the level of wickedness together just before “MRI” talks about putting holes in the necks of anyone disrespecting them. “This Sounds Like…” heinously lets the world know what typa shit they be on & “Ransom” wraps up 1950 Hallow Creek Drive giving us 1 last gangsta rap track.

I still believe Coronella with the Psychopathic Records subsidiary Chapter 17 Records’ CEO Ouija Macc stands as my favorite collaborative effort Trizz has done, but there’s no doubt in mind that 1950 Hallow Creek Drive has earned the right of becoming a very close 2nd. Him & Twisted Insane meshing their distinctive styles of gangsta-tinged horrorcore over 7 production varying from boom bap to trap & jazz rap makes for an appropriately bloodcurdling half hour even if I felt like Bleezo’s sole guest appearance was alright.

Score: 4.5/5

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Zukenee – “Nightmare on Slay St” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper/producer Zukenee celebrating Halloween with his 9th 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. 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, Zuminati & the Trapped in the Dungeon series have all followed since. Coming off last month’s B4BB and Blunts & Blades, he’s putting Nightmare on Slay St exclusively on his SoundCloud page to celebrate the spookiest time of the year.

“Gangsta” produced by Toom of Vanguard Music Group opens up combining some pianos & hi-hats to talk about living like a G whereas “Tom Ford” hooks up some 808s flexing that he smokes big gas & stays pissing off the hoes. “Yen” brings these plinky keys in the picture so he can touch base regarding him consistently catching Ws & running bags up back-to-back just before “Ik Bout Dat” talks about his knowledge of making paper & spending it.

Cade gets behind the boards during the song “Mariah” boasting of his money looking like chapters even though he’s not trying to read a book & once “We Could’ve Been Something” works in these horns that immediately command the attention of those listening right when you press play observing a woman with serious potential of becoming a scholar stooping herself down to a stripper so she can make some quick cash, “Teapot Can Talk” finishes the EP discussing how he mixes lean with tea.

This guy’s dropped a total of 6 projects in the span of 10 months with the moderately received Zuminati & B4BB being the weakest & many considering both installments of the Trapped in the Dungeon duology to be their favorites of the bunch although I’d say each of them aren’t too far behind Blunts & Blades. That being said: Nightmare on Slay St is still a nice way for Zukenee to surprise his fans considering the fact he announced it literally a whole week prior.

Score: 3.5/5

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Noah Mejia – “Platinum After Dark” review

Noah Mejia is a 25 year old producer from Los Angeles, California who was introduced to in the spring of 2023 when he produced the opening track off Sk8star’s 2nd mixtape whole new meaning. He would go on to work with a handful of trap artists ranging from SoFaygo to $crim of the $uicideboy$ & even Lucki, coming off a small handful of stand alone singles that he’s been dropping since the very beginning of 2026 to compile a solo debut extended play of artists rapping over his beats for less than 10 minutes.

“Ballright” by Boohavinn made for a decent trap intro talking about being the flyest muhfucka walking the Earth & flexing his connections to the mob whereas “I Don’t Need Love!” by Cashjunko explaining he’ll only fire his Glock if his girl in the mood. “Shine” by D. Savage co-produced by Rio Leyva kicks off the 2nd half talking about running these bands up while “1500” by Diorvsyou finishes the EP calling out broke ass bums with some buzzing synths Internet Money Records in-house producer Synthetic provides.

If we ever get a full-length studio debut from Noah Mejia at any point going forward, I hope I find myself enjoying it a lot more than I did Platinum After Dark considering I personally was left on the fence with it in general. The first couple guests don’t really stick out but once you get past it, I’m not gonna dismiss Noah handling 75% of the production with the exception of the outro & or the performances picking up towards the backend of it.

Score: 2.5/5

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Kurupt & Snoop Dogg – “The Hollow” review

New collaborative extended play between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee, songwriter, actor & occasional producer Kurupt alongside Long Beach, California emcee, songwriter, media personality, actor, entrepreneur, record executive & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg. Both of whom met each other in the early 90s at the Roxy when they engaged in a 20 minute battle & signed to Death Row Records not too long afterwards, celebrating Halloween by taking their chemistry to new heights for The Hollow.

“Neighbors” after the ”Our Gang” intro kicks things off with this futuristically funky beat from Rick Rock telling us where they’re from & after “Priceless” takes a more luxurious route instrumentally thanks to Uncle Snoop himself talking about money not meaning shit when everything in life’s going the way it’s supposed to, “Get Yours On” featuring G Perico finds the trio goes full g-funk so they can tell everyone to get what’s rightfully theirs.

Soopafly appears during “Fuss About It” to commence the 2nd half refusing to complain of people building them up to tear them down while “A Dog Party” finds Snoop holding it down by himself calling for people from the suburbs to the slums to go crazy. “Survival” reunites with Young Gotti only to kill everything it had going for it by using AI for the final version of it when the original in May didn’t include that technology whatsoever until “Almost Broke My Collar” concludes The Hollow having Snoop rock it solo 1 last time.

It was telling Kurupt & Snoop Dogg were planning to have an entire collection of material when both singles came out within the span of 5 months almost 6, I completely understand why The Hollow arrived in preparation of Tha Kingpin linking up with Hus Kingpin this Christmas Eve for their own collab album Kingpin’s Theory & the Cuzznz’ eponymous LP over a decade earlier. Aside from ruining the lead single through AI usage, the classic west coast vibes & the boastful performances.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman VIII” review

And here’s the 7th extended play from Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor albeit the 8th in his ongoing The Artist Yahn Freeman series. Someone who’s steadily been holding it down for the last 2 decades including The Calling, Vinnie Chase & S.O.S. trilogies along with the Best in the World series paying homage to some of Jon’s influences, Salvation, While You Were Sleeping & Unconscious State. He was even signed to Aftermath Entertainment for 6 years before departing after Vehicle City wound up being shelved, coming off Food for the Soul & 24 produced by KLC of the No Limit Records in-house production team Beats by the Pound to drop VI, VII & VII simultaneously for Halloween.

Tito Lopez appears during the trap intro “There for You” talking about how they feel like superheroes whereas “Never Keep Me Down” explains that confidence is crucial for one to survive & things boiling down to whether you got it or not. “Seen It Before” calls for everyone to line up all the closest people in our lives in a row & after the sinister “Let ‘Em Know” reminds people who’s the realest from head to toe, “We Not the Same” talks about the differences between him & those saying they’re on his level.

“Faith of a Child” continues the 2nd half of VIII instrumentally leaning towards a boom bap to discuss grinding until he gets every last thing he prays for in life while “7 Days” talks about the importance of allowing our surroundings influence us regardless of where one lives. “On Go” discusses him hustling like he’s getting ready to lose his mind & trying to feed his kids while the soulful trap crossover “Legacy” wraps it all up talking about his optimism never being compromised by living in the ghetto.

Similarly to VI dedicating myself to the memory of Jon Connor’s friend Mekeva Blackmon who always gave him a space to be himself & believed in him from the get go to her untimely death a couple months earlier as well as The Artist Yahn Freeman VII honoring his older sister in professional life coach Chanel Patton, The Artist Yahn Freeman VIII brings these new chapters full circle mother Mahaley Lark to coincide her birthday only 24 hours earlier.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman VII” review

This is the 6th extended play from Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor & the 7th chapter of his ongoing The Artist Yahn Freeman series. Someone who’s steadily been holding it down for the last 2 decades including The Calling, Vinnie Chase & S.O.S. trilogies along with the Best in the World series paying homage to some of Jon’s influences, Salvation, While You Were Sleeping & Unconscious State. He was even signed to Aftermath Entertainment for 6 years before departing after Vehicle City wound up being shelved, coming off Food for the Soul & 24 produced by KLC of the No Limit Records in-house production team Beats by the Pound to drop VI, VII & VIII simultaneously for Halloween.

“Look at Me Now” opens up with a trap intro talking about people laughing at this person instead of with them whereas “They Ain’t Free” calls for people to stop idolizing those who hate their lives. “Actin’ Like” talks about prioritizing his peace over what people in the streets be saying but after “Same Story (Don’t You Know)” observes everyone trying to get their money & minds right, “Leap of Faith” reminds us all that karma’s very much real.

As for “Dark or Light”, we have Jon talking about how making something outta nothing is simply what he does while “Halfway Home” explains there being more to life than what we’re shown regularly. “The Reminder” experiments with disco rap for not even a minute expressing hope of what he’s saying being made to clear to people listening while “Start Today” soulful ends VII offering some clear advise to those who aren’t living up to their full potential.

Considering that VI was dedicated to the memory of Jon Connor’s friend Mekeva Blackmon who always gave him a space to be himself & believed in him from the get go to her untimely death a couple months earlier, I love the idea of him expressing the gratitude he has towards professional life coach Chanel Patton throughout The Artist Yahn Freeman VII, who considers his older sister the 1st best friend he ever made in his life. I also have to commend Maestro Williams for the outstanding mixing.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman VI” review

Finally got the 6th installment of Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor‘s ongoing The Artist Yahn Freemanseries. Someone who’s steadily been holding it down for the last 2 decades including The Calling, Vinnie Chase & S.O.S. trilogies along with the Best in the World series paying homage to some of Jon’s influences, Salvation, While You Were Sleeping & Unconscious State. He was even signed to Aftermath Entertainment for 6 years before departing after Vehicle City wound up being shelved, coming off Food for the Soul & 24 produced by KLC of the No Limit Records in-house production team Beats by the Pound to drop VI, VII & VIII simultaneously for Halloween.

“Miracle” begins with this cinematic trap intro talking about being a supernatural phenomenon in the living flesh whereas “The Confessional (Long Road)” breaks down all the things he used to do in his life. “Unapologetically Me” instrumentally leans towards a more soulful trap vibe talking about having no remorse for doing his thing just before “Consequences of Content” observes people not comprehending the things they watch every single day.

Continuing from there, “Evidence” talks about the amount of potential wasted when people succumb to temptation leading into “The Best” flexing that he was born to be the greatest to ever do this shit. “Forgiveness of Self” interestingly blends jazz rap & trap including a cool interpolation of “Hail Mary” by the Outlawz to reach the midway point of the tape while “On Everything” passionately talks about using the flow to bare his soul when he’s ready to snap.

“Chosen / The Moral” comes through with a 2-parter explaining that he’s worked too hard to waste his energy while “It Will All Make Sense” spends a couple minutes getting in his conscious bag lyrically. The boom bap instrumental “On Everything 2” brings to the table could be my personal favorite on VII revisiting it’s predecessor’s energy & “Never Die (Testify)” encourages to go hard when you’re fed up, “Conversations with Keva” remembers his late friend Mekeva Blackmon.

So much has happened in Jon Connor’s life over the course of these past 4 months including the untimely death of Keva, so it makes all the sense in the world for the All Varsity Music Group founder to dedicate VII in memory of the very person who always gave him a space to be himself around since she believed in him since the very beginning alongside making it The Artist Yahn Freeman saga’s lengthiest clocking at over a half hour.

Score: 3.5/5

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