Peter Rosenberg – “Real Late” review

Peter Rosenberg is a 41 year old DJ, TV show host & professional wrestling personality from Maryland who most people these days are familiar with as the co-host of Ebro in the Morning on Hot 97. Now despite me personally not being a fan of that show AT ALL, my curiosity for this full-length debut of Rosenberg’s got the best of me given how much I enjoyed all of the singles he’s dropped leading up to it.

The title track that starts off the album has a chilling boom bap instrumental from DJ Skizz showcasing the worldplay of Vel the Wonder whereas the next song “Stain” by Westside Gunn is pretty much him quenching for blood & the eerie JR Swiftz production kicks the vibe up to 11. We have Ransom, Smoke DZA & Styles P coming together to proclaim themselves as messiahs on the trippy “S.R.D.” while the lead single “Marcus Smart” by Flee Lord & Stove God Cook$ gives off 70’s blaxploitation vibes both lyrically & sonically.

Flee sticks around with Roc Marciano to reminisce on the days of slinging coke on the sumptuous “Hallways” just before Eto & Jay NiCE hop aboard the jazzy “Mind Over Matter” to address how COVID has fucked up the music industry. The song “Next Chamber” with Method Man, Raekwon & Willie the Kid contains a mystic Graymatter instrumental for them to rap about pride over while the Meyhem Lauren solo cut “Words of Meyhem” gets back on that drug dealer shit backed by a Buckwild beat with a funky bass-line & some dusty drums.

Crimeapple, Ghostface Killah & Jim Jones come together for the mafiosi-themed dreary “Snake Eyes” while the Rasheed Chappell solo joint “Midnight Sunday” brings in some strings & saxes bragging about his lifestyle. The song “Wu Generation” by the 2nd Generation Wu finds the quartet trading back & forth paying tribute to each of their fathers over a rich instrumental while the penultimate track “I Want It All” by Fly Anakin & Nickelus F is a much more soothing tune about achieving success. The closer “Dear” by Homeboy Sandman continues to bring the jazz influences as he details why he’s here.

Regardless of my thoughts on Ebro in the Morning, I can’t deny that this album is pretty enjoyable. There are a couple of weak spots in the tracklisting, but a good portion of of the emcees & producers that Rosenberg has amassed use this platform of his to showcase their talents & I think it’s a real good look for them.

Score: 3.5/5

Moemaw Naedon & Calig Kontra – “Cult Theatre” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between Pittsburgh emcee Moemaw Naedon & New Orleans’ very own Calig Kontra. The pair have worked together on a couple of songs in the past like “Slime Volcanos” & “Old Times”, but are now joining forces with producer Pyramid Tapes (also hailing from New Orleans) to take their chemistry to the next level on Cult Theatre.

“A New Abyss” is a short yet evil opener as the duo jump on an organ-laced boom bap instrumental to talk their shit just before Lyrikill tags along the psychedelic “Lucid Fragments” to say they’re proud of their environments. Meanwhile on “Witches Sabbath”, the production has an almost industrial feel to it as Lord Goat comes in to help get boisterous before going into more conscious direction on “Magenta Brainwash”.

I think the prophetic lyrics on “Sovereign Sirens” are really great as is the cinematic beat & despite the brevity of “Pass the Vodka”, it does it’s job as an aggressive alcohol-themed banger. The song “Tortured Calculations” tells the story of both MCs pulling up to someone’s show backed by an instrumental while the penultimate track “Altered Beast” is a thunderous proclamation of being living embodiments of syllable evolutions. “Futura Dystopia” is a victorious closer telling everyone to stay late for the sequel.

Now if we really do get a follow-up to this EP at some point down the road, I’d be all for it because I happen to like Cult Theatre quite a bit. Pyramid Tapes whips up some of the best batch of beats he’s ever made & both MCs hit down some pretty provocative lyricism throughout it’s 26 minute run.

Score: 4/5

Ty Fontaine – “Ascension” review

Ty Fontaine is a 21 year old rapper from Washington, D.C. breaking out in 2018 off the debut EP Do Not Disturb. His profile continued to grow from there, especially when Taz Taylor signed him to Internet Money Records last spring. But to build off the hype as a potential nominee for the 2021 XXL Freshman Class this summer, Ty has to decided to drop his long-awaited 3rd mixtape.

“Glowin’ Up” is a touching opener as Ty hops on a cloudy, drumless instrumental to address his continuous rise to fame whereas “RIP Whitney” is a beautiful tribute to the late Whitney Houston that heavily samples “I Have Nothing”. Meanwhile on “Dummy”, we have Supah Mario help go into an electronic-tinged direction with lyrics about going hard just before Cactus Jack Records’ latest signee SoFaygo tags along for the atmospheric banger “Run It Up”.

The song “Right My Wrongs” is a psychedelic cut about forever stuntin’ while the Richie Souf-produced “Nelly Furtado” is a short, dancier joint about his girl. I thought “Inhale” was a dope single leading up to the tape with it’s stripped back-production & Ty’s melodic delivery about smoking weed as was “Pristine”, which is a pillowy ode to Goyard.

“I Can’t Feel My Face” is a drug anthem that almost has a Neptunes influence in the beat while “White Girl Benjamins” is a tropical tune about choosing money over bitches. The track “Celebration” is a cavernous yet bassy theme to his newfound fortune while the penultimate song “Addicted” assures his lover that they ain’t gon’ lose everything they started without getting too sugary with it. The tape ends with the title track, which is Ty rapping over a glistening instrumental saying it’s only up from here & rightfully so.

This kid is one of my favorite mainstream artists on the come-up & I think Ascension is really gonna increase his chances of going places because it’s his best work yet in my opinion. The production choices are much more refined in comparison to Ty’s previous efforts & his performances are infectiously catchy.

Score: 4/5