Rock – “Ether Rocks” review

Rock is a 46 year old MC from Brooklyn, New York notable for being a member of the Boot Camp Clik collective & 1/2 of the duo Heltah Skeltah alongside the late Sean Price. He & Ruck were also 2/5 of The Fab 5 with O.G.C. despite the fact that they never put out a full-length debut as a quintet. The Rockness Monsta has also given us a couple mixtapes as well as a full-length debut & an EP, the latter of which just came out this past spring. But for his sophomore effort right here, he’s enlisting Manhattan producer Ron Browz behind the boards for the entire thing.

“Lettuce & Cabbage” is a rugged boom bap opener with Rock attacking anyone who dares to step up to him whereas “Pay Me” works in a more symphonic trap instrumental talking about being the best. “Flamboyant” returns to the boom bap to declare his gun game as such leading into Method Man tagging along for the cacophonous trap banger “Beastie Boyz” talking about being beasts in their own rights.

Meanwhile on “Billy Joel”, we have Rock on top of another orchestral trap beat much like “Pay Me” brushing off the negative shit that they try to throw his way just before Bo Blackk & Milly D.O.D. come into the picture for “Feast” which I like the suspenseful production & the subject matter about being different, but the features just don’t do it for me personally with all respect. “Got It Movin’” blends some dramatic strings with hi-hats & snares acknowledging that he makes it look easy, but then “Faith” with The Last American B-Boy & Ron dives into jazzy yet soulful boom bap turf talking about not wanting smoke with them.

“Shark Tank” with Ruste Juxx & Steele returns to a more symphonic trap sound yet again flexing their lyricism while the song “Hood Up” brings it back to soulful territory talking about how you should always rep where you came from no matter where you shine. The penultimate track “Squad” with The Last American B-Boy embraces a dustier vibe to rep their crew & “The Answer” sends the album off with a cheerful trap hit with the lyrics coming from a more introspective place.

Of the 2 solo albums that Rock has given us in the last 5 years, Ether Rocks just might be my new favorite of the pair thus far. He sounds passionate & proves that he can still very much hold it down on his own this deep in his career, but a lot of the trap stuff that Ron Browz whips up sounds samey to me. That being said, the boom bap beats that he delivers suit the Rockness Monsta’s style much better.

Score: 3.5/5

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Armani Caesar – “The Liz 2” review

This is the official full-length debut album from Buffalo emcee Armani Caesar. Coming up in 2011 by dropping her debut mixtape Hand Bag Addict under Buff City Records, she would go on to follow it up with her sophomore tape Caesar’s Palace in the fall of 2015 & her debut EP Pretty Girls Get Played Too a few years later. Then when the whole world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, she signed to Griselda Records & totally refined her style on her last project The Liz that same fall. But as the 2-year anniversary of that EP approaches this weekend, Mani’s back in the cut for a sequel.

After the intro, Westside Gunn comes into the picture for the guitar-woven boom bap opener “Paula Deen” produced by Camoflauge Monk referencing former 2-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger whereas “Diana” takes a more lavish route to spit that raunchy shit & the Kodak Black verse was completely unexpected yet I don’t mind it at all much like both of his appearances on Kendrick’s latest album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers this past spring. After the skit, “Mel Gibson” dives into dustier turf thanks to Daringer so Mani can charismatically flex just before Benny the Butcher & Stove God Cook$ come into the picture for the grimy “$100 Hiccup” reminding everyone how nice all 3 of them are in their own rights.

Continuing from there with “Survival of the Littest”, we have Mani over some boom bap production from Sovren justifiably explaining why she’s different than these other bitches in the game right now since a lot of females in the mainstream get a lot of unjust hate this day in age prior to the cloudy yet organ-laced “Queen City” admiring that she’s all about money this year. “Liz Claiborne Jr.” is a remarkably well structured 2 parter comparing herself to the late fashion designer, but then “Meth & Mary” picks it up from there with a sumptuous ballad about wanting a love like Method Man & Mary J. Blige in “I’ll Be There for You (You’re All I Need to Get By”.

“Ice Age” has a more colder tone to the instrumental fittingly expressing her love for all the finer things in this life while “1st Wives Club” brings a more jazzy boom bap flare as Mani’s just singing her ass off telling her man that he doesn’t own her. “Big Mood” talks about having stacks on deck over a more groovier instrumental while the symphonic “El Puro” links up with Conway the Machine so that they can both warn everyone to stay the fuck out of their lines.

The song “That Money Maka” speaks on using what she gots over a bare loop that’s calming to the ear while the penultimate track “Snowfall” resurrects the R&B sounds of “1st Wives Club” except this time she’s singing on top of some piano chords singing that she’s in beast mode & counting her Ms. However, I find “Sike” with Queendom Come to be a bit of a mediocre closer to the album as it’s basically a generically mediocre ass-shaker’s anthem.

The Liz was an impressive departure from the styles of Mani’s pre-Griselda work, but I recommend that those who’re still sleeping on her better wake the fuck up because this sequel right here as a full-length debut sees the 1st Lady of the Buffalo empire coming into her own stylistically. She‘s becoming versatile than before from the strip-club hit at the end to the more R&B & hardcore boom bap cuts on here with the lyricism coming from a more personal place.

Score: 4/5

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Napoleon da Legend – “The Colossus of G.O.A.T.s” review

Napoleon da Legend is a 42 year old MC born in Paris, France & based in Brooklyn, New York who a lot of underground heads should be familiar with at this point considering the lengthy discography that he’s built up for himself for nearly the past decade ranging from Coup D’État & it’s sequel to Street Universe & Dragon Ball G. But coming fresh off the 1 Piece inspired 2 Piece almost 2 months ago, Napoleon’s enlisting Sicknature of the Snowgoons to fully produce his 19th album.

“96 Bulls” is a grand boom bap opener to the album referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson whereas “Self-Talk” takes a more peaceful route in terms of sound so Po can basically have a profound discussion with himself. “Dance with the Devil” brings a more somber vibe to the instrumental admitting that’s exactly what he did the night prior, but then Brian Bars Burns & Nejma Nefertiti both come into the picture with Supa Kaiju for “Ultra” dropping battle bars on top of some kicks & organs.

As far as “Hustla” goes, we have Napoleon over some synth-woven boom bap talking about thinking of a master plan leading into “Disinformation” addressing more conscious subject matter & the beat has a warm yet fuzzy feeling to it that only further reveals the place of sincerity that it comes from. Eloh Kush tags along for the dusty yet keyboard driven “Indigenous Jedi” referring to themselves as just that prior to “Last Days” is a more rugged successor to “Disinformation” from the beat to the conscious lyrics.

The penultimate track “Rest in Perfection” finds Sicknature accompanying Napoleon on the mic 1 last time so they can deliver a potent ballad that honors & mourns every single person that we lost in 2020 with “Health First” rounding the album off with a groovy ode to eating healthy making reference to former IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン as well as 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.

Of the 5 albums that Napoleon has dropped throughout the year, The Colossus of G.O.A.T.s has to be the most well conceived of the bunch & is quickly becoming a standout in his ever-growing catalog for me personally. Sicknature’s always been an incredibly talented producer whether it’s just him or with the Snowgoons & his signature sound compliments Napoleon’s style more than most of the producers he’s worked with in the last couple years.

Score: 4/5

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M.I.A. – “MATA” review

M.I.A. is a 47 year old rapper, singer, producer & activist from London, England, United Kingdom who came up in 2005 off her full-length debut Arular that XL Recordings & Interscope Records jointly put out. Her popularity would begin to increase following the sophomore effort Kala & was even granted her own vanity label N.E.E.T. Recordings by the time ΛΛ Λ Y Λ became her most-left field body of work to date inspiring future acts like Death Grips & PC Music. She eventually fulfilled her Interscope contract by dropping Matangi & AIM but after 6 long years, she’s returning by having Island Records back her 6th full-length album over here.

After the “Freedom is a State of Mind” intro, the actual “Freedom is a State of Mind” song itself that kicks the album off with a tribal EDM banger asking what’re you gonna do with her freedom while “100% Sustainable” serves more as a Tamil folk music interlude. “Beep” though dives into moombahton territory thanks to Skrillex & Rick Rubin talking about being who you want leading into the warm yet empowering “Energy Freq” encouraging to feel the synergy.

“The One” continues on with M.I.A. over some cloudy trap production provided by T-Minus talking about sticking to who you are just before “Zoo Girl” hops on top of some bongos & woodwinds declaring herself as such. “Time Traveller” has more rubbery quality to the beat laced by Pharrell advising not to slip on no matter what you hit on, but then “Popular” returns to the moombahton sound with the help of longtime collaborator Diplo sarcastically detailing how hard it is to maintain popularity.

Meanwhile on “Puththi”, we have MIA spitting in Tamil for nearly 3 minutes with an entrancing instrumental while the song “K.T.P. (Keep the Peace)” has a more peppier groove to it warning not to con her a certain way. The penultimate track “MATA Life” has a more spiritual flare to it sonically talking about going all in with “Marigold” ending the album with an airy ballad declaring that we need miracle.

Compared to how mid AIM was, that’s absolutely not the case with MATA here. In fact, I’d say that it’s the best thing she’s done in nearly a decade. It’s cool to see her recharged on the mic as her ego & spirituality clash accompanied by production that expands on the moombahton sounds of her last 2 albums by fusing it with the likes of Tamil folk & funk ostentação.

Score: 3.5/5

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Louis Cole – “Quality Over Opinion” review

This is the 4th studio LP from Los Angeles, California singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & video producer Louis Cole. Known for being 1/2 of KNOWER with Genevieve Artadi, he would eventually make his eponymous solo debut in 2010 & followed it up with the sophomore effort Album 2 preceding Flying Lotus signing him to Brainfeeder Records distributed by Ninja Tune. His debut for the label Time has become the most celebrated entry of his individual discography & Quality Over Opinion looks to raise the stakes.

After the spoken word title track, the 4th & final single “Dead Inside Shuffle”combines funktronica & synth-funk with sophisti-pop singing about feeling content hearing nothing calling his name whereas the 3rd single “Not Needed Anymore” goes for a more indie folk vibe describing the feeling of alienation. “Shallow Laughter” works in some strings singing about hearing the echoes of this person who’s no longer in his life while “Bitches” comes through with this jazz-rock intermission.

“Message” feels like a cross between Earth, Wind & Fire alongside 1234-era Clown Core continuing to pen more depressive lyricism that’ll cut you up leading into the minimalistic “Failing in a Cool Way” singing about taking Ls yet making himself look good doing it somehow someway. “Disappear” turns the folkier elements back up acknowledging that many don’t value what they have until it’s lost just before “I’m Tight” blends synth-funk, funktronica & neo-soul to sing about the result of doing something different with his music.

To end the 1st half, “True Love” goes for a mellower approach explaining what genuine affection is from his perspective while “Planet X” gets the other leg going with a poppy yet funky ballad he wrote to coincide with Grand Theft Auto V’s Cayo Perico Heist DLC asking to name the uninhabited world after him. After the “Let Me Snack” interlude, “Forgetting” throws it back to his earlier material for a couple minutes losing track of where he’s been while “Park Your Car on My Face” brings back the funk getting sexual topically.

“Don’t Care” by KNOWER embraces the funkiness even more singing that nothing’s meant to stay while “Laughing in Her Sleep” tenderly describes what Louis considers to be his favorite mystery. After the “Outer Moat Behavior” interlude, “When” combines some synths & guitars singing about thinking of an ex-girlfriend of his while “Let It Happen” ahead of the “Little Piano Thing” outro ends with an art pop, dream pop, ambient pop, progressive pop, alternative R&B & neo-soul lead single.

Desiring to make the most powerful representation of who he is as an artist, Quality Over Opinion surpasses Time to become Louis Cole’s magnum opus & one of the greatest releases under the Brainfeeder catalog this decade. His production eclectically draws inspiration from synth-funk, art pop, funktronica, synthpop, jazz-funk, jazz pop, neo-soul, chamber pop, jazzstep, dream pop, ambient, alternative R&B, neo-soul, indie folk & sophisti-pop for over an hour of witty songwriting.

Score: 4/5

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Donnie Darko – “Life Lessons” review

Donnie Darko is an MC from New Jersey notable for extensively collaborating with New York producer, DJ & occasional Black Sunday partner-in-rhyme Sutter Kain since the beginning of his career. The ghetto metal pioneer himself has laced pretty much everything that Donnie has ever done from The Darko Effect to Another Day at the Office. But with the latter being released this past spring & fall kicking off last month, Donnie’s ringing in October by linking back up with DJ Bless for his 6th EP.

Things kick off with the 6th installment of the “Block Game” series hopping on top of a soulful instrumental to talk about coming from the project lights whereas “Charles S. Dutton” has a more crooning boom bap flare to it spitting that hardcore shit. “Dark Dayz Rainy Nights” takes a more funereal route detailing how clout’s a Hell of a drug prior to Naymez coming into the picture for “Late Night” which samples Sade if I’m not mistaken belittling motherfuckers. The song “Desperate Measures” diving into trap turf talking about being built to win & then the title track with King Brian ends the EP with a touching ballad about being determined to win.

Although I enjoyed Another Day in the Office when it came out earlier this year, Life Lessons has gotta be my personal favorite of the 2 EPs that Donnie gave us this year. The lyrics are some of the most introspective/personal stuff that he’s has laid onto wax yet as his longtime collaborator Sutter Kain sticks to his signature ghetto metal sound behind the boards.

Score: 3.5/5

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Curtis Foster – “Slasher’s Delight II” review

This is the 3rd EP from Chicago, Illinois emcee Curtis Foster. Coming up in the fall of 2020 off his last 2 EPs Innertia & Slasher’s Delight respectively, he has since spent the last 2 years giving us singles such as “Ambition” & “Bad Memories”. But with the 2 year anniversary of Slasher’s Delight passing by this weekend, Curtis is choosing to celebrate in the form of a sequel considering that we’re in the Halloween season currently.

“Nightrover” is a blaring yet grueling trap opener with Curtis talking about being at the hands of such whereas “Vintage Horror” dives into boom bap territory with Novatore assisting him in vivid spitting the wicked shit. After the Phone Call” skit, we have Orlando Coolridge coming into the picture with Curtis & Novatore for an atmospheric yet rattling trap sequel to “Slashers” off the predecessor while the penultimate track “Ghosts in the Graveyard” returns to the boom bap bringing you the hardcore. And to finish off the EP, the Seuss Mace-assisted “Witching Hour” comes through with an occult trap banger talking about putting spells on his competition.

If you loved the boom bap/trap sounds & horror-themed lyricism that made the original Slasher’s Delight my favorite body of work of his to date, then you’re gonna like the sequel almost as much. In comparison to the predecessor, the sounds that it brought to the table are being refined & the pen-game’s nearly as gruesome.

Score: 3.5/5

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RJ Payne – “My Life’z a Movie” review

This is the 3rd full-length album from Philly emcee RJ Payne. Coming up in the battle rap circuit under the original moniker Reignman, he would go on to build up an extensive solo catalogue for himself with 23 mixtapes as well as well as 6 EPs & of course his last 2 albums.Benny the Butcher even signed RJ to Black Soprano Family Records for a brief period of time, putting out some of best material like Leatherface & Square Root of a Kilo under Benny’s ever-growing indie label of his own. But to follow-up If Cocaine Could Talk 7 & Blood on My Chainsaw from the beginning of the year, RJ’s enlisting Stu Bangas to produce My Life’z a Movie in it’s entirety.

After the “Home Sweet Home” intro, the first song “Central Park Vibes” is a piano/boom bap-laced opener with RJ letting y’all in on a day in his life whereas “Time Hotel” takes a more jazzier route confessing that he feels like he never rests & that no one can stop him. “Little Italy” goes into drumless turf spitting some mafioso bars & after the “Vintage Brooklyn” interlude, “Brooklyn Love” returns to the boom bap professing his appreciation for the titular city in NY. After the “Q Borough” interlude though, we have RJ getting in his selfish bag on the dusty “Jamaica Ave” just before the funk/gospel hybrid “Long Island Expressway” talks about how this gon’ be a Hell of a night & that he feels like King Kong.

“Top Down in Harlem” weaves some synthesizers to flex about drive around the titular neighborhood in the City of Dreams” with the top down & after the “D Train” interlude, the song “Bronx Tale” comes through with a bluesy story that occurred in our culture’s birthplace. The penultimate track “Staten Island Vibes” works in a soul sample & a flute so RJ can rep Shaolin prior to “The Check Out” sending off the album with him on top of an orchestral yet jazzy beat talking about having a great time chilling at the Time Hotel.

As much as I enjoyed RJ’s brief run with BSF, I can argue that My Life’z a Movie is quite possibly the most cohesive body of work in his his catalog thus far. The production that Stu Bangas cooks up on here pull from an eclectic range of sounds & it’s a bit conceptual with the lyrics throughout basically serving as a genuine love letter to the Big Apple with the references to all the cities.

Score: 4.5/5

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Lil Baby – “It’s Only Me” review

This is the 3rd full-length album from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Lil Baby. Rising to stardom in 2018 off his debut album Harder Than Ever, his profile would gradually increase from there by following up with a collab project with Gunna entitled Drip Harder & his 4th solo mixtape Street Gossip. He then dropped the mediocre sophomore effort My Turn weeks before the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic but with Amazon Prime putting out a documentary a couple months back, Baby’s returning in the form of It’s Only Me.

“Real Spill” is a rubbery yet introspective trap opener about being in a completely different mindset now whereas “Stand on It” takes a more lavish route standing on literally every word that he says. Nardo Wick tags along for the underwhelming “Pop Out” spitting braggadocio accompanied by an uneventful beat, but then “Heyy” was a weak choice for a final single obnoxiously rubbing it in everyone’s faces how lit everyone is now.

Moving on to “California Breeze”, we have Baby over some sample-based trap production from Murda Beatz reflecting on watching a bitch turn sour on him leading into the stripped back “Perfect Timing”almost about keeping his guard up because of people fucking him over. Young Thug comes into the picture for the horn-laced “Never Hating” produced by Wheezy acknowledging that this shit not ending until they’re dead & gone, but then “Forever” comes through with a mediocre pop rap ballad.

“Not Finished” weaves some chimes into the fold talking about never being done while “In a Minute”samples “Pound Cake” by Drake & JAY-Z letting you in on the extravagant lifestyle that he lives. “Waterfall Flow” has a more shimmering quality to the instrumental talking about his girl wanting to be gang while the keyboard heavy “Everything” calls out someone for taking a piece of his heart & owing him it all.

Meanwhile on the Tay Keith-laced “From Now On”, the one & only Future joins Baby in a chaotic look at them dodging the feds while “Double Down” reveals how cautionary he can be over some pillowy trap production. Rylo Rodriguez’ verse & the generic beat throughout “Cost to Be Alive” don’t really do it for me although I admire the subject matter addressed while “Top Priority” dives into atmospheric turf thanks to DJ Champ talking about being the one that they all run up to & dissing DJ Akademiks the cornball for thinking he can’t be touched.

“Danger” returns to the pianos addressing someone he could’ve exposed while “Stop Playing” follows it up with a decent trap/R&B hybrid with FNZ behind the boards & some more romantic lyricism. “F.R. (For Real)” comes through with an otherworldly sound justifiably showing off that he’s earned all of his stripes while “Back & Forth” with EST. G finds the 2 over a mediocre instrumental talking about wanting to be fucked good.

The song “Shiest Talk” with Pooh Shiesty confesses that they’ve been “thuggin’ way before Tony put Trevor on a shit bag” over some keys & hi-hats while the penultimate track “No Fly Zone” acknowledges that shit could be worse than it already it is over a woodwind-infused beat. To wrap up the album though, “Russian Roulette” delivers an acoustic trap ballad about fighting all of his life & even being self-aware that he hasn’t dropped his hardest shit yet.

I genuinely wanted to come away from It’s Only Me looking at it to be an improvement over My Turn, but it hurts me to say that it’s just as mid & I don’t mean that disrespectfully. He’s becoming a better performer as proven by some of his recent features & that happens to be the case here also, it’s just that the production is a lot more weaker than it was when we last heard from him 2 & a half years back.

Score: 2.5/5

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MAVI – “Laughing So Hard It Hurts” review

This is the sophomore full-length album from Charlotte up-&-comer MAVI. Emerging in the underground off his full-length debut Let the Sun Talk a day before his 20th birthday, he would go on to land a verse on “El Toro Combo Meal” off of Earl Sweatshirt’s last EP Feet of Clay a month later as well as preluding Laughing So Hard It Hurts a year & a half ago at this point in the form of a debut EP of his own End of the Earth. But after entering his Jordan Year last week, MAVI’s celebrating by dropping the long-awaited follow-up to Let the Sun Talk.

High John” is a stripped back opener with MAVI praying they still make love in his size whereas “Spoiled Brat” takes a more cloudier route boasting how much of an original he is. “Baking Soda” has a more conscious approach lyrically with some glitch hop influences to the instrumental just before “Doves” produced by Dylvinci blends jazz rap & neo-soul together vulnerably admitting to the world that those wings of his hurt.

Meanwhile on “Quiet on Set”, we have MAVI confessing that sometimes he feels like the director sometimes & the actor most times over some hi-hats & a calming backdrop prior to the somber yet delicately produced “3 Left Feet” talking about wishing that things didn’t have to end the way they did with an ex. “My Good Ghosts” dives into soulful turf explaining how “it’s getting empty searching the living when needing a friend”, but then “Reason!” weaves some pianos into the fold thanks to ovrkast. talking about how really they just fiending.

“Hemlock” has a more melodic yet acoustic tone to it calling this his sacrifice while “Having My Way” is a cloudy trap banger of course talking about having it his way with this shit. “Known Unknowns” returns to the boom bap calling out someone who was mean to him because she thought he was cute prior to the groovy “Trip” talking about a relationship that’s just is what it is.

Continuing from there, the crooning loop throughout “Opportunity Kids” is a nice touch as MAVI asking why this person left him alone & that they could’ve got the end of time together while the song “The Inconvenient Truth” tries to see what others have been on with the beat having a more lo-fi flare to it. The penultimate track “Chinese Finger Trap” brings the chords back in to address those who say he should be feeling honored to race & “Last Laugh” is a lush boom bap closer talking about getting just that in the end.

Let the Sun Talk showed quite a bit of potential in MAVI & End of the Earth was a short look at the growth within him at that time, but Laughing So Hard It Hurts elaborates on that pretty well in my personal opinion. The production is a refinement of the abstract yet jazzy/boom bap sounds that helped him blow in the underground to begin with by incorporating more elements of neo-soul this time around as his pen-game continues to elevate.

Score: 3.5/5

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