Here is the 13th extended play from Belleville, New Jersey emcee/producer Action Figure 973. For a while at this point, his first couple mixtapes followed by his last dozen EPs & the full-length debut DOOM Was Right over a year ago giving flowers to one of my all-time personal favorite albums Madvillainy have each established himself as a promisingly skilled luchador who so happens to rap. The Most Interesting Man in the World got with Machacha for his sophomore effort last October, coming off What Would Harley Race Do? & 24 Hours in Switzerland to have DiMaggio fully produce Polo Grounds.
After the intro, “Butch Husky” begins with a mafioso vibe instrumentally talking about constantly being in the field whereas “Ken Griffey Jr. Was Never a Yankee” embraces a drumlessly dark sound to discuss doing a lot for people & them never thanking him even once. “Showdown at Shea” has an eerier tone to it talking about offing your favorite rapper while “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” references the terminal neurodegenerative illness AEW performer Rebel has been dealing with since this spring.
“Nomar Garciaparra” gives a shoutout to the retired shortstop & current SportsNet LA analyst of the same name while “Pete Rose” featuring 067 Red finds the pair referencing the 3-time World Series champion & WWE Hall of Famer who passed away a couple years ago. “War Memorial” featuring Brother Tom Sos reunites the 2 over a jazzy boom bap beat talking about living the dream of life itself while “Relief Pitcher” includes a bar referring to the current 2-time AAA Mundial Mixtas Parejas Campeon Mr. Iguana of the WWE subsidiary Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.
Act-Lo even said during the closer that he has countless lyrics that wrestling fans sing at his shows & it’s gotten to a point where he felt like he had to switch it up a bit & it would surprise me if the general consensus would be that Polo Grounds serves as a breath of fresh air for his discography. The hardcore lyricism’s more baseball themed in time for the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star game tonight, coasting DiMaggio’s batch of jazzy boom bap & drumless instrumentals with only a couple guests accompanying him instead of What Would Harley Race Do? only having 1.
This is the 2nd extended play from West London, England, United Kingdom rapper L-Z Roselli. Dropping his debut single “My Sharp Bride” in 2018, the guest appearances on Surf or Die as well as Invisible War & Tears of the Dragon when Onoe Caponoe initially dropped those full-lengths under High Focus Records world be my introduction to him although reception towards Unforgivable Sins was generally mixed New Years Day 2025. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I had hoped that Angels Cry & Demons Lurk would be superior.
“War Cry” begins with a UK drill intro screaming during his verses about being ready for combat whereas the trap-influenced “Jealous Ghosts” featuring Janset reaches the halfway point referencing Wembley Stadium, where record 2-time AEW International Champion Will Ospreay is set to end Kenny Omega’s ongoing 2nd reign as AEW World Champion next month at All In V that’ll mark the 3rd bout between the 2 following Wrestle Kingdom 19 & Forbidden Door IV.
To get the 2nd half of Angels Cry & Demon Lurk going, we have L-Z taking it back to the UK drill sounds from earlier with “Launch & Attack” once again with some blobby bass breaking down his militant mindset 1 last time while the closing track “Angels Cry” ties up all loose ends by spending the last 4 minutes of the EP combining piano with some 808s & bells talking about taking muhfuckas through crimes that’re legitimately violent in every sense of the word.
Angels Cry & Demons Lurk eschews the secondary influences of drift phonk, Memphis rap & Chicago drill to put a bigger emphasis on the horrorcore side of its predecessor. The end result was L-Z Roselli something far removed from mainstream hip hop by blending cinematically dark production with raw lyricism & a horror inspired atmosphere, proving why he deserves to be in the conversations Central C’s being put in regarding modern UK drill.
Maryland recording artist & producer Nosaint dropping his debut solo mixtape. A member of the Vanguard Music Group in-house production team, he also has 4 extended plays under his belt with 3 of them showing off his abilities as a rapper & the Saint Tape taking a backseat vocally to let some of his most notable collaborators rock his beats from Hardrock to Sk8star. For the past year however, he’s been preparing to reveal The Truth to the world & time has finally come.
“Weary Souljah” opens with a majestic 3 minute intro produced by his manager Zodiac reminiscent to some of Ye & Travis Scott’s material whereas “Absolutely Fucking Brazy” instrumentally gives off a delicate trap vibe so he can talk about his glow up. “Ruger” discusses treating life like it’s a scrimmage since it’s often compared to a game within itself leading into “2Bool” let’s it known to the haters that they better start worrying about themselves.
406ahmad gets behind the boards for the 2-parter “No Dubs / Dealing with Loneliness” laying out anyone who tries him over some hi-hats & synths that later get swapped out in favor of a vocal sample to describe feeling alone just before “See What I See” ends the 1st leg of The Truth talking about putting in worn to better his life. The self-produced “Q.2.H.” (Quarter 2 a Half)” boasts of him flipping the product & making it whole until the pluggy “Pharmacy” courtesy of his Vanguard brethren R8 dismisses those riding his wave.
“Chocolate Rain” spends 90 seconds talking about a person who never had it figured Lucy over a piano-inflicted trap beat while “Toosie” after the compositional “Palmy” interlude admits to hiding his heart behind his jewelry. “Youngest O.G.” nears closer towards the conclusion of the tape talking about sticking to the code since everyone else ain’t shit compared to him & following the “Masaka Choirs” intermission, “Psalm 13” wraps things up shrugging off muhfuckas who’re all bark with no bite.
Becoming a fan of his production work after hearing “slatty” off the Mogul EP near the end of 2022, I truthfully haven’t heard much of Nosaint as a rapper up until this point & was surprised at how much I enjoyed a good chunk of The Truth. I understand why he only self-produced a couple tracks, but I’d be interested if he continues to spit over his own instrumentals going forward even if the tracks R8 as well as 406ahmad & the mixtape’s engineer Zodiac all cooked up stood out to me the most.
Show Me the Body is a post-hardcore trio from New York consisting of drummer Jack McDermott, bassist Harlan Steed & frontman Julian Cashwan Pratt. For the past 17 years, they’ve dropped a total of 3 full-lengths as well as 3 extended plays & a couple mixtapes. A vast majority of which came out under Loma Vista Recordings other than Yellow Kidney in 2013, enlisting Connecticut producer Kenny Beats to produce their 4th studio LP in it’s entirety the same day FATHERS made their eponymous debut.
After the horn-heavy “Overture” intro, “Eat for Peace” blends post-hardcore with noise rock & hardcore punk talking about radical love compelling him to fight whereas “No God” combines post-hardcore & rap rock to discuss explaining that you gotta break down to realize what’s at stake. “Good Time” rebelliously expresses their desire of the band always lookin’ for some fun leading into “Dance in the USA” fusing post-hardcore, rap rock, industrial rock, noise rock & dance-punk encourages to embrace the struggle.
“Do What’s Right (Happy)” winds down the last half of Alone Together discussing the things that people do to keep them satisfied just before “See You Again” after an interlude militantly sings about no grave or cemetery being capable of missing the 2 friends they’ve recently lost. “Mileage” keeps hitting us with more hardcore vibes boasting that they’re fueled up while “New Line” sings about a woman running back to her man after a couple days.
The song “Trust” could potentially be the catchiest one here detailing the struggles of finding reliability in people while the “Finale” was really the 3rd & final spoken word intermission preceding the “Overture” intro & the interlude respectively. The title track spends Alone Together’s last minutes dabbling with industrial rock, posing the question of friend or foe since it’s either one or the other & sending blessings to the people who’re standing individually.
Dog Whistle often gets mentioned as Show Me the Body’s most celebrated album even if some would debate it was surpassed by Trouble the Water, but the NYHC outfit might’ve outdone both of those. Kenny Beats’ dichotic production soundtracks Julian Cashwan Pratt’s themes of putting belief in action more hardcore punk & noise rock-oriented although there are lesser influences of industrial rock, post-hardcore & rap rock being displayed.
O.G.C. or the Originoo Gunn Clappaz are a trio from Brooklyn, New York consisting of Louieville Sluggah, Starang Wondah & Top Dog. Their 1996 debut DaStorm is widely regarded was one of the greatest albums Duck Down Music Inc. has ever put out although their 2nd & to date final full-length The MPire Shrikez Back was more moderately received. 3 decades later & the Boot Camp Clik subunit who also formed The Fab 5 with Heltah Skeltah are finally returning to drop off a 3-pack in celebration of their debut’s anniversary.
“I Don’t Need You” kicks things off with a dusty 3 & a half minute intro with some sampling chops talking about making money independently while “Make Peace” instrumentally embraces a boom bap vibe advising all low budget muhfuckas to sit down. The closer “Still Starang” produced by Rockwilder finishes the EP with my favorite track here, spending the final moments of 3:30 looking back at their careers going from touring the world to kicking it with Joey Bada$$.
Wasn’t anticipating O.G.C. to coincide Buckshot’s self-produced 3rd album The Payback dropping earlier today & despite having to pick the latter for being the best of the 2, I still think 3:30 makes for an average return for the Gunn Clappaz although I’d definitely say it’s better than The MPire Shrikez Back. All 3 members haven’t lost a step in terms of lyricism or chemistry, but I wish the production stood out more similarly to the outro since both of Francis McCracken’s contributions were merely passable in comparison.
Jack White is a 51 year old musician, singer/songwriter, producer, businessman & actor from Detroit, Michigan known for being the frontman of the seminal garage rock revival duo The White Stripes. He would later drop his solo debut Blunderbuss under his own label 3rd Man Records in tandem with XL Recordings & Columbia Records in 2012, which was followed up with Lazaretto & Boarding House Reach prior to him declaring his independence in 2022 with Fear of the Dawn & Entering Heaven Alive respectively. His previous full-length No Name has quickly become his most beloved statement since The White Stripes’ disbandment & his 7th studio LP looks to dethrone it.
“G.O.D. & the Broken Ribs” accompanied by the b-side “Derecho Demonico” each get the ball rolling with a fusion of blues rock, alternative rock, punk blues, hard rock, garage rock revival & rap rock retelling the story of Adam & Eve in addition to breaking down is only rule of not starting what he can’t finish. “There’s Nobody Here” gives me some punk blues/garage punk vibes singing about sending smoke signals in the air with no one around while “Raising the Grain” commandingly heads for the catacombs where the river flows.
Meanwhile on “You’ll Never Fix Me”, we have Jack embracing a noisier sound encouraging to turn the lights off since he’s seen & heard enough just before “Nobody Knows” finds himself confused by all these questions until he suggests that it could be the human ego speaking to him. The final single “Dollar Bill” combines blues rock & garage rock revival with acid rock to sing about money & power while “I Can’t Believe What I’m Hearing” gives the impression that it was most likely conceived following his impending divorce from his 3rd wife Olivia Jean.
“Thick as Thieves” turns the blues punk influences back up singing about a loyal relationship where they fulfill each other’s needs while the bluesy “All Alone Again” explains that there isn’t an obstacle stronger than greed. “She’s in a Frenzy” continues from there exploring themes of envy & after “Making Contact” criticizes big tech for misinformation dominating social media these days, “Neighbors Blues” spends the last 5 minutes radiating some heavy Led Zeppelin vibes to vent that the people living next to him never have anything kind to say.
Carrying over the raucously frenetic energy of No Name a couple years ago, Jack White dethrones Frozen Charlotte’s predecessor to become his most intimate solo album & my favorite of his since leaving Columbia. The hard & blues rock styles are being prioritized more than his previous outing although we still get hints of punk blues, garage punk, psychedelic rock, alternative rock, garage rock revival, rap rock & acid rock packing a punch that longtime fans will quickly recognize that additionally leaves an open door to anyone who’s been recently introduced to Jack through this.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper/producer slayr preluding Fabula Nova & 7th Heaven with his 12th extended play after signing to Columbia Records. Recording music since he was only 11, he’s already dropped his last 11 EPs along with a full-length studio debut & a couple mixtapes. The most notable being Half Blood, which I’d rank amongst the greatest tapes of this decade due to it’s boundary pushing take on rage as well as digicore & pop rap. Earning a spot on the 2026 XXL Freshman Class however, he’s striking while the iron’s hot by dropping Avant Nova.
The self-produced “promise” samples “The Peace” by underscores shouting her out for clearing it & asking if his lover wants his heart whereas “switch my swag” featuring prettifun finds the pair talking about not switching their swag for shit. “nova” reaches the halfway point fucking up his brain & after “i got taste” rehashes his XXL freestyle, “having anxiety is annoying” delves into the relatable feeling of anxiousness. “raise my voice” ends the EP with a 2-parter.
It’s already been made clear of how proud I was of slayr for being a part of this year’s XXL Freshman Class alongside Chris Patrick & La Reezy, the latter of whom dropped his debut album Skiddle Bandana earlier this week. But even it doesn’t surprise me that Avant Nova only maintains the pop rap & rage components of his style since he’s now on a major label, I’m still adamant of Fabula Nova being another riveting entry in his discography.
Here we have the 12th studio LP from Atlanta, Georgia rapper & singer/songwriter Future. Coming up as a member of the Dungeon Family thanks to his cousin Rico Wade of Organized Noize, he officially made his debut in 2012 with Pluto & would later follow it up with a hot streak of modern day trap essentials like Honest, Monster, Beast Mode & my personal favorite of his: D.S. 2 (Dirty Sprite 2). With that said: A great deal of his material for the past decade has primarily been hit or miss. I mean sure HNDRXX took a more sensual approach & SUPER SLIMEY showed a pretty great chemistry with fellow trap trailblazer Young Thug, but Beast Mode 2 was a step down from the predecessor & he got with Juice WRLD to put out a collab tape that literally should’ve never happened: WRLD on Drugs. Finally at the very beginning of that next year, The WIZRD was just passable even though it showed NO artistic evolution whatsoever & Save Me was a decent attempt at being more vulnerable. High Off Life admirably found him staying true to himself in the midst of trying new things & I Never Liked You put the toxicity claims about him to rest. Metro reunited with Future for We Don’t Trust You & We Still Don’t Trust You, refining Pluto’s previous double album FUTURE HNDRXX & becoming his best since D.S. 2 (Dirty Sprite 2). Coming off Mixtape Pluto however, we’re getting a glimpse of The Real Me.
“Fukk a Interview” hooks up a synthesizer-based trap beat produced by ATL Jacob, FNZ & Wheezy talking his shit for his whole entire family for the intro whereas “1 2” gets his gangsta rap shit for a couple minutes over a Smatt Sertified instrumental. “No Misery” puts some odd effects on his vocals talking about trying to tie a bitch like an ace until “California Girls” takes a stripped-back trap approach talking about having bitches around the world.
Meanwhile on “Tank Top Pluto”, we have Future flexing his lifestyle over a boisterous beat from DY prior to the latter’s fellow 808 Mafia brethren TM88 getting behind the boards for “Weight Up” so he can talk about getting his cake up combing an opulent backdrop with some hi-hats. “Konnichiwa” instrumentally makes me feel like I’ve been teleported a couple centuries forward boasting his exotic hoes while “Trench Coat” continues the gangsta themes talking about his grandmother’s house being a drug store.
“Snowing in Skyami” to dig up an outtake from the Mixtape Pluto sessions that Taurus cooked up including a hilarious line regarding him having more women than Nick Cannon while “Build a Bitch” goes for a drumless direction although the repetitive lyricism can get tiring after a bit. The only single “Radio” explores the tension between humility & success over a Dez Wright beat eschewing any mainstream appeal in the process while “2018” brings back the raspy voice he infamously used for the “King’s Dead” single the same year over a DJ Spinz instrumental.
Continuing the 2nd half of The Real Me, “Money Over Everything” has somewhat of a distorted trap quality to it talking about the revenue being his to priority while “Off the Hinge” suggests to let him have his way since he has 5 vibes in his bedroom over a Southside beat. “If I Could” talks about how it wouldn’t be a sin for him to eventually rule the whole world & the difficulty of telling his loved ones how he feels while the bouncy “Big Moment” confronts his girl regarding her to take the stress outta her.
“Cast a Spell” once again delves deeper into the themes of romance raspily assuring this woman that he does shit better than her exes & after “Kick” combines electronics with trap to talk about him beginning to feel the effects of some drugs he took, “Hollywood” acknowledges him being crazy enough to know he’s groovy comparing himself to a pop star AND a rock star simultaneously containing what might be the most upbeat drums on the entire full-length.
The song “Feeling I Give” prepares to send off The Real Me willing to bet $1M on his doubts of any other artist being more toxic than him while “Alice” easily sticks amongst my top 3 cuts, referencing the Disney classic Alice in Wonderland over a playful instrumental that the Louis Vuitton’s creative director for men’s fashion Pharrell made. “Eye to Eye” spends the final minutes talking about being on another level with his money.
Mixtape Pluto still gets a divisive reputation over 9 months since it came out & although I couldn’t tell you why Future lied about having hidden features twice when he’s handling all the performances himself, I wouldn’t really consider The Real Me to be on par with the double LP he & Metro put out a couple years ago. It’s more in the same category as The WIZRD in that there are some tracks I can see myself revisiting, but it doesn’t necessarily evolve the sound he became synonymous with during my adolescence.
Here is the 3rd solo LP from Brooklyn, New York emcee/producer Buckshot. Emerging as the frontman of the trio Black Moon & the Boot Camp Clik’s de facto leader along with founding one of the most beloved record labels in all of hip hop Duck Down Music with the assistance of his business partner Dru Ha, his debut The B.D.I. Thug as well as Backpack Travels become the only 2 albums he’s put out & he’s coming off the I’m the Boss EP a few years earlier to drop off The Package.
The self-produced “We Have Arrived” begins with a jazzy 3 & a half minute intro to get things going whereas “Good Day” continues the jazz rap vibes explaining about how rather pleasantly this day has been panning out in his hood. “What I Bring to the Table” shifts towards a hardcore boom bap direction talking about getting his & breakin’ ‘em all off leading into “Sounds of the Subway” brings the horns back for another jazz rap cut getting on his New York shit.
“Just Stop” moves on from there with a more mellow boom bap atmosphere providing some advice for the kinda people who don’t know when to shut the fuck up until “Make Moves” reaches the halfway point of the full-length responding to those saying he ain’t the hardest. “High Tech Low Life” kicks off the 2nd leg of The Package ruggedly talking about going nowhere as long as he has is notepad & pen in his backpack while “All Fans” expresses his increasing appetite over some strings.
To get the 4th quarter started, “Beware Now” jazzily advises to realize where one stands & spraying up blocks while “Band on Break” brings some pianos into the fold responding to the people wondering where he’s been for so long. “Night Stress” featuring Steele talks about everyone having their own right to rebel & scoffing at these muhfuckas playing crash dummies while the title track spends the LP’s final minutes embracing a celebratory atmosphere confident of taking it to the top with him.
The B.D.I. Thug has been widely considered to be one of the most disappointing debut albums in hip hop & Backpack Travels was alright for what it was but if it takes another decade or so for Buckshot to go solo again, then I wouldn’t complain because I truly believe The Package is musically superior than both it’s predecessors. I think it’s a great for those who’ve been wanting him to produce an entire body of work for himself & the Duck Down co-founder lyrically sounds as sharp as he did on Rise of da Moon back in 2019.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee/producer Raz Fresco self-producing his 18th studio LP. I’ve been familiar with the guy since my high school years at this point whether it be some of his features or his own extensive discography including the Magneto Was Right mixtape series, the Futurewave-produced Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen album, the Nicholas Craven produced Boulangerie album, the Cake beat tapes, the Gia…À La Carte collab EP with Estee Nack or more recently the Cookin’ Soul produced Bakin’ Soul, the Daniel Son collab effort Northside & the DJ Muggs-produced The Eternal Now. Coming off Stadium Lo Champions however, he’s back 15 months later for Y = Self.
“It Don’t Stop” begins with a mellow yet rugged intro promising to do his thing as long as the sun’s shining whereas “Borders” goes for more of a drumless vibe to talk about generational madness. “The Living Light” instrumentally embraces a warm boom bap direction boasting his capability of turning muhfuckas’ worlds off balance leading into “Can’t Let Go” soulfully talking about people making themselves prisoners of the street life.
Continuing from there, “The Blind” returns to the boom bap telling the detractors that they can pretend he isn’t successful as much they as want just before “What’s Really Real?” begins to question the idea of authenticity in hip hop itself from his perspective. “The Deaf” ends the 1st half on a rugged note talking about trying to break the cycle of generational pain while “Mayday” kicks off the 2nd half cautioning that one can’t refund the game.
We have The 6th Letter making Y = Self’s only guest appearance during “Memoires” talking about having recollection of your life when it’s all said & done while “Specialize” soulfully details him becoming an expert at getting what’s his. “The Dumb” concludes the trilogy of songs in which “The Blind” began & “The Deaf” bridged while “L.I.F.E. (Learning by Intelligent Forms of Energy)” symphonically talks about him trying not to preach on the microphone since that’s what churches are for.
“Censorship” gets the album’s final act going with a darker atmosphere talking about there being levels of certified gangsta shit occurring at all times while “PlzTllMe” demonstrates Raz’ ear for samples once more, flipping a soul track & making knowledge born on the microphone at the exact same time. The closer “Euphoria’s Formula” sends of the Toronto veteran’s first full-length in over a year with a soulful outro speaking directly from the heart.
The last time Raz Fresco produced an entire body of work for himself was Pocket Operations III: Breakfast in Berlin back in 2023 so considering the solo run he’s been on these past couple years, I was excited for Y = Self considering how much I loved Bakin’ Soul or The Eternal Now & I can say he gave an introspective opus that further cements his place as one of the underground’s most respected voices over 15 years since I initially heard his verse on Ace Hashimoto’s “Super Smash Bros.” as a teenager.
Legends Will Never Die 