RazoR – “The NeveRending GoRy: The Nothing” review

RazoR is a horrorcore duo from Chicago, Illinois consisting of Tha Roka & Sin Rip. They introduced themselves to the underground wicked shit scene in the spring of 2016 by releasing their debut All Hail tha RazoR, which resulted in Scum signing them to his Denver gore hop powerhouse Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & making their official LSP debut on Halloween 2019 with heaRtless. 5 years later, Roka & Sin are linking back up to reintroduce themselves in the form of their 3rd full-length studio LP on the same day as Bloody Ruckus’ debut album Resurrection of the Broken Reflection.

After the titular intro, the first song “Raining Blood” begins by hopping over thunderous trap production declaring themselves as the kings of the hill whereas “D.T.O. (Death To Opps)” serves as a middle finger to all their opps. “Grosseries” works in synths & hi-hats warning they keep bodies in their fridge like groceries while “Beautiful” featuring Smallz 1 goes full-blown boom bap hauntingly getting hardcore.

“God Complex” goes for a grim trap vibe instrumentally to talk about having no shame at all instead possessing the feeling of pure vengeance just before “The Nothing” hooks up more kicks & snares personifying hate & the violence that the demonstrate. “Part of Me” switches into grisly trap turf again saying y’all a part of them now, but then “We’re the Ones” featuring Insane Poetry angrily warns to be aware if you take it far.

As for “Save Me”, we have Roka & Sin maintains the morbid trap flare from earlier coming clean that everybody got them feeling crazy lately leading into “Awake” infernally showing all y’all muhfuckas how phat they be on the mic. “Dummy” featuring Claas decently boasts that they be stealing bitches while the title track welcoming everyone to the pages of their life. The final song “Why So Serious?” ahead of the outro finishes the LP reminding that they’ll turn people into Casper.

heaRtless was a solid way of RazoR introducing themselves to the Lyrikal Snuff audience nearly almost half a decade ago & they return after all that time with what is easily my favorite body of work in their entire discography, turning up anticipation for the rest of the trilogy. It’s a whole new sound for the duo as they redefine themselves artistically, occasionally enlisting a few of their labelmates at points during the ride.

Score: 4/5

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Mumm Ra – “Autogod” review

This is the 2nd EP albeit Dirtcore Music debut from Chicago, Illinois emcee Mumm Ra. A member of the Mission: Infect collective, he eventually made his solo debut in 2008 with Remember the Name & the sophomore effort The AboM:Ination. His debut EP Clash of the Titans: The Return of 3rd Earth & his 3rd album The God Complex both came out back-to-back a decade ago, which later resulted in him following those up with Wrath of the Titans & House of M respectively. Madd Maxx just put out his new EP Dirtcore 24 at the beginning of the month celebrate his birthday, so it makes perfect sense to have The God kick off the Autogod trilogy.

After the “Chapter 1” intro, the first song “You Can’t Get Rid Me” produced by Crossworm is this incredibly dark opener addressing everyone who thought he was done making music whereas “Come On” talks about loyalty not being what it once was anymore over an electronic trap instrumental. “Had Enough” takes the apocalyptic trap route expressing his frustrations with rappers frontin’ while “King Omega” embraces the boom bap discussing his range being a beautiful thing. “1 Time” ends the EP dustily promising he’ll annihilate your squad.

Dirtcore has been steadily proving itself to be a dominant force within the underground ever since Crossworm started signing other artists to the label & Autogod not only proves my point further, but it has me feeling confident that the rest of the EP trilogy will go on to become some of the most important material in his discography. It’s more well-produced than some of his past material & you can really hear the reignited passion through Mumm’s verses.

Score: 4/5

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Shakewell – “Dangerously Close” review

This is the 3rd EP from Los Angeles, California emcee Shakewell. Coming up in the spring of 2017 off his debut EP Keystone Prince, he followed it up a year later with his 2nd EP Big Juice tha Sip resulting in the $uicideboy$ signing him to G*59 Record$ right when the pandemic started & releasing the full-length debut album Pray 4 Shakewell. 2 & a half years later, he’s coming off the Shameless $uicide & Kevlar Money Bags collaborative EPs with $B & Germ respectively to get Dangerously Close.

“Grimace Shake” is this synth-driven trap opener feeling like the Prince of Keystone calling back to his breakout debut EP whereas “Life at tha Moment” kinda gives me a Mobb vibe instrumentally telling us how life’s been at that exact point recording the shit. “.40 Talkin’” featuring Ramirez grimly works in keys & hi-hats getting on the gangsta rap tip lyrically while “Gun Louder” goes off-the-top boasting he has more mags than the New York Times does. “My Beanie Gone (Lame Killer)” morbidly looks to exterminate the lames & “When “My Way” Kills” featuring SXMPRA keeps the heat for every partner in case people want beef.

Big Juice tha Sip happens to be my favorite EP in Shakewell’s discography excluding Shameless $uicide & I was hoping for him to come out with something in 2024 due to the fact it’s almost been 2 & a half years since introducing himself to the G*59 audience but if Dangerously Close is his way of holding everyone off until the official Pray 4 Shakewell follow-up, then I’ll gladly take it. Instrumentally, it’s matches the bar that his full-length set & letting people know what’s been going on since we last heard from him.

Score: 3.5/5

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Talib Kweli – “The Confidence of Knowing” review

Talib Kweli is a 48 year old MC, songwriter, entrepreneur & activist from Brooklyn, New York notable for being 1/2 of the duos Black Star & Reflection Eternal with Yasiin Bey & Hi-Tek respectively. His solo debut Quality was released in the fall of 2002 to significant acclaim through Rawkus Records following Black Star’s eponymous debut & Reflection Eternal’s debut album Train of Thought, the sophomore effort The Beautiful Struggle received more moderate reception although songs like “Broken Glass” & “I Try” always stood out & Eardrum has to be my 2nd favorite album from Kweli’s behind the debut. Gutter Rainbows as well as Prisoner of Conscious & Gravitas were all received positively albeit not much as Quality & Eardrum, but Fuck the Money left the public divided & Indie 500 produced by The Soul Council was a considerable improvement as was Radio Silence. Last we heard Talib on his own excluding Gotham’s eponymous debut & of course Black Star & Liberation’s sophomore efforts no fear of time* & Liberation 2 was last Christmas when the Holy Daze EP which was ok, so I was intrigued in hearing that J. Rawls was fully producing Kweli’s 10th album.

“Breath, Eyes, Memory” is a laidback opener explaining the difference between European art & African art whereas the title track featuring Blu warmly talks about having to be brave enough to be yourself. “Native Sons” goes full-fledged boom bap paying homage to the Native Tongues collective just before the jazzy, drumless “We Outside” featuring TriState himself finds the 2 talking about never being divided.

As for “To the Ghetto”, we have Kweli over synths mixed with kicks & snares telling us he really doesn’t have any friends in this business only trusting a select few while “SWAT” by Coast Kweli gets on the hardcore tip letting y’all know who be up in the house tonight. “Turnstyle” featuring Buckshot & Skyzoo keeps things in the basement taking y’all back to ‘92, but then “Shalamar” featuring Ras Kass getting in a bag similar to the titular soul trio.

“Pay Homage” featuring IDK, Phil Da Agony & Planet Asia soulfully advises to respect the foundation while “Love for Life” draws from neo-soul discussing the magic in comforting one another. “Steve Austin” featuring Diani finds the father/daughter duo slickly boasting while “Sing into the Sky” featuring Niko Is returns to the boom bap doing simply that until they fall. “It’s Workin’” ends on a jazzy note talking about what you’re doing is working out.

All 3 of the duo albums that Kweli has been involved with in this current decade so far all been near-perfect in their own rights & I don’t think The Confidence of Knowing is a classic per se, but I do think it’s significantly better than the holiday EP we got from him almost 9 months ago. Even putting Talib’s social media behavior to the side, he’s still a remarkably talented lyricist & J. Rawls’ production bounces between boom bap & bare jazz loops fluidly.

Score: 4/5

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JOBA – “Russell Boring” review

JOBA is a 31 year old rapper, producer, singer/songwriter & audio engineer from Houston, Texas notable for being a founding member of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective. The debut single “Sad Saturdays” back in 2015 should also be noted as really the only time we’ve heard what he’s capable of musically doing on his own & coming off a production credit on Ski Mask the Slump God’s sophomore effort 11th Dimension this summer, we’re getting a better look as to who he is on his full-length solo debut.

“Ghost” starts us off by singing about a ghost he saw & asked what the problem was over bare pianos whereas “Embryo” takes the exuberantly futuristic route instrumentally further employing a melodic delivery expressing his desire of wanting to be with his romantic interest. “American Fever” pulls from progressive pop, piano rock & art pop to sing about every single one of us being born to be wild in some way, but then the magical “Emerald Eyes” tells us of his amazement over this individual.

As for “Lonestar”, we have JOBA hopping over more colorful production singing his heart out that he’s standing his own ground even after BROCKHAMPTON’s dissolvement leading into the guitar-driven “Doormat” knowing everything will work out in the end & wanting his partner’s love. “New Beginnings” cheerfully talks about starting anew at this point in his career while “People Need People” mixes baroque pop, piano rock & psychedelic pop longing to be his lover’s soulmate. “Gospel of the Moon” closes the LP by singing that all he feels is concrete tears.

Matt Champion’s solo debut Mika’s Laundry from earlier in the year was a fantastic representation of his artistic versatility & Russell Boring takes that to different heights except it’s much more personal conceptually. His production culminates in the styles of art pop, art rock, piano rock, progressive pop & baroque pop spending the 9 song offering spanning a tad bit over a half hour in his personal life.

Score: 4/5

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SosMula – “Sleez Religion” review

Manhattan, New York rapper SosMula returning for the 3rd LP in his discography. Coming up as 1/3 of the now defunct City Morgue alongside fellow emcee ZillaKami & producer Thraxx, they’ve released 2 full-length albums & an EP together up before branching out on their own for a little bit. Sos was the first to step up to the plate by dropping 13 Songs 2 Die 2, which was a bit of a disappointment in my opinion due to the features & production. ZillaKami followed it up a month later with HIS solo debut Dogboy & the duo reunited to drop Bottom of the Barrel the month after that, both of those I found much more tolerable. 2 High 2 Die was better than it’s predecessor & the Sleez Machine EP that fall was the worst solo effort of his yet, which resulted in me hoping Sleez Religion would bounce back from it especially since City Morgue’s final album My Bloody America finally dropped nearly a year to the day as this.

After the titular intro, the first song “Confessionary” is this eerie trap opener talking about breaking all your bones whereas “Sleezy Bastard (Slasher)” brings hardcore hip hop, trap metal & gangsta rap together referring to himself as a toe tagger. “Candy Man” featuring Kim Dracula works in pianos & hi-hats referencing the titular horror film while “Death Dealer” morbidly talks about takin’ souls.

“Shark Teeth (Death Dealer 2)” has this devilish trap flare to the beat likening the Klean Up Krew to being sharks in the water leading into the energetic “Sgt. Slaughter” named after the WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion & 2-time WWE United States Champion flexing that his mafia style is similar to that of one of my top 3 shows The Sopranos. “Fred Flinstonez” grimly lets everyone know the type of shit he’s been on since City Morgue’s disbandment, but then “Patched Jeans” goes some emo rap over heavy guitars.

After the “Thy Kommandmentz” interlude, “Dead Presidentz” shoots for a more psychedelic trap approach instrumentally thanks to ilykimchi of Working on Dying calling himself the Mickey to her Mallory just before the rap rock-driven “Sex Pistol” opening up about being on adderrall lately & smashing every single IG model. “Cydeborg” keeps the guitars in tact boasting that he’s in Hell being hella bored while “Passport to Magonia” cavernously expresses his desire of running to the stars & after the “Kommit Ur Life” interlude, “Santorini in Spain” menacingly gets in his gangsta bag.

“Boogie Man” hooks up some horrorcore undertones burning houses down like fireplaces as dumb as that sounds while “Slasher 2” pulls inspiration from the trap metal scene he helped pioneer once again further quenching for blood. “Sprain-Ankle” hops over a rage beat reminding everyone of the type of people he hangs with while “Supa-Savage” wickedly calling himself a knight in shining armor.

As for “Assault Rifle Facial”, we have Sos chaotically talking about clapping all your corny ass friends with the stick while “Sonic” featuring G Herbo sees the pair sharing their homicidal thoughts towards their opponents over a synth-based beat with Detroit trap bass. After the “Strangers in Barcelona” interlude, “Red Gutz” coldly discusses his ghetto mindset while “Burning Flags” warning that the .30 hitting your chest will devour you.

After the “Lost in Magonia” interlude, the penultimate song “Grimy-Hoez” featuring Sematary nears the end of the LP with this piano-trap crossover hanging with the slimiest homies they know & the shrilling “Berzerk-O” ahead of the “Immortal” outro happens to be a proper closer talking taking his own soul in kamikaze style being traumatized.

2 & a half years since Sos bounced back from his debut on 2 High 2 Die & unfortunately, I ended up liking Sleez Religion less than the predecessor. Maybe even less so 13 Songs 2 Die 2, joining Sleez Machine in being another subpar entry in his solo catalog. I’ll give him credit for the production mixing the sounds that he’s dabbled with up to this point all into 1 except it absolutely didn’t need to be almost 30 tracks.

Score: 2/5

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Babyface Ray – “The Kid That Did” review

Detroit rapper, songwriter & actor Babyface Ray is back a year after claiming the previous summer to be his for the 4th LP on his discography. Starting in 2014 by joining the Team Eastside collective, he has since gone on to drop 5 mixtapes as well as 5 EPs & a well received debut within the last 6-7 years before turning heads worldwide & becoming one of the 2 biggest up-&-comers in the city next to Babytron, both of whom eventually landed spots in last year’s XXL Freshman Class. Coming off Mob & Summer’s Mine which were both enjoyable follow-ups to Face, he’s looking to tell the story of The Kid That Did.

“Groupies & Goodfellas” is an atmospheric opener to the album talking about muhfuckas moving goofy this day in age whereas “Count Money” featuring Bossman DLow was a weak choice of a single from the decently synth-based Detroit trap production to the underwhelming guest performance talking about stacking chips. “Rubberband Man” tells us how he responds when people ask what his name is over an orchestral Detroit trap beat prior to “Shy Kid” hopping over more synth/Detroit trap crossovers to talk about pacin’ through the house tryna find some service.

Moving on from there, “I Need Some Motivation” maintains his hometown’s distinct take on trap music altogether in a heavenly fashion flexing that he be smelling like money while “Wavy Navy University” featuring Veeze finds the 2 over one of my favorite instrumentals on the album from tana representing both of their crews Navy Wavy & Wavy Gang leading into another atmospheric joint “Watching My Page” produced by Pooh Beatz talking about monitoring his pager.

“Delusional” featuring Hunxho takes a spacious turn thanks to LulRose talking about the rollercoaster that’s called life while another highlight “Cherish” works in some guitars & hi-hats courtesy of DJ Esco talking about being stuck in his ways since he never really had shit. Funny enough, “Stuck in My Ways” featuring King Hendrick$ fuses cloud rap & Detroit trap further elaborating on a theme from the previous joint, but then “Nights Like This” passionately reassures everyone that his success ain’t luck.

Carlo Anthony has another one of my favorite beats on “2 for 6” with it’s bell-heavy Detroit trap sound & the lyrics flexing that he ain’t ever going back going from having crack to plaques just before “Fish Tail Fish Scale” bringing the synthesizers back in the equation once more to talk about how he’s been fucking up cheese & getting more. “Legacy” featuring Doughboyz Clay gives off a soulful trap flare flexing that he wen’t from being broke to the man while “Money on My Mind” spaciously tells us he’s got paper on the brain.

“$1M Baby” continues to go for an airy trap vibe instrumentally confessing his mom been having heart attacks with the amount of money that Face be blowing while “Ghetto Boyz” featuring Peezy brings the pair together for a grimy ass Detroit trap banger. “High Off Life” dreamily reps for the team while “Guardian Angel” addresses his own personal type of angels assigned to protect & guide him. “The World is Yours” featuring Fabolous ends with this empowering Boi-1da beat staying away of suckas & ditching groupies.

Summer’s Mine was a dope switch-up from cold climes to extreme heat & The Kid That Did in comparison sheds light on the subtle details about what success really looks like. Face makes his point clearly know that he’s a realist instead of an entertainer & his sweet spot counters opulence & drama with cold hard facts over a decade of establishing himself in the 313, eventually landing a spot as one of the city’s most respected artists in recent memory.

Score: 3.5/5

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Chanel West Coast – “California State of Mind” review

Chanel West Coast is a 36 year old television personality, rapper, singer & actress from Los Angeles, California notable for her appearances on Fantasy Factory & later a co-host of the only show on MTV this day in age Ridiculousness. As far as her music career, she signed to Young Money Entertainment as well as Cash Money Records & Republic Records to put out her first 2 mixtapes Now You Know & Waves ahead of her eventual departure. Her full-length debut America’s Sweetheart saw the light of day independently in the fall of 2020 & now that she finally stepped down from her role on Ridiculousness a year & a half ago, she’s dropping a sophomore effort.

The title track is this pop rap/trap opener capturing her hometown mindset in the most underwhelming way imaginable whereas “Lil Ms. Sunshine” puts a bigger emphasis on the melodic guitar riffs layering that with more hi-hats talking about having the last laugh. “100%” works in this run-of-the-mill trap beat trying to reaffirm her bad bitch status while “Cool Off” featuring Ill Nicky brings the guitars back in the fold to talk about being too hot for the shade.

“Pretty Girls” offers somewhat of an atmospheric trap flare instrumentally for this mediocre tribute to all the beautiful women out there just before “Waste My Time” embraces the rock vibes even further encouraging her lover to waste her time tonight. “Beautiful Mess” mutates pop rap with rock & trap telling her new man he’s crazy to think she’s perfect that is until Apollo Liberace gives the worst feature of the 2 on “Midnight in Hollywood” telling us when the spotlight looks best.

Even if the concept of “Wonderful Life” comes from a good place, the verses that Chanel lays over this jangly trap beat at certain points makes me feel like I’m listening to a cheap version of Nicki Minaj & that may or may not have been a potential reason why Lil Wayne & Birdman gave her a joint deal in the first place when I think about it. “Extra” finishes the LP with 1 more guitar-driven pop rap/trap hybrid talking about being extra out in Hollywood since she feels like she’s next up artistically.

DJ Khaled alongside Tyga & PJ Morton are the only other artists to release a full-length through Young Money/Cash Money other than Drake & Nicki during the height of the YMCMB era, but at least all 3 of them are still seeing success of their own now. California State of Mind though feels similar to former labelmate Paris Hilton’s sophomore effort Infinite Icon from last weekend in the sense that neither of them would’ve been well received from a critical or commercial standpoint. The production’s actually more decent than expected except Chanel’s songwriting & performances are lackluster.

Score: 1/5

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Paris Hilton – “Infinite Icon” review

Paris Hilton is a 43 year old media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, singer, actress & DJ from New York notable for being the granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. She’s had numerous reality TV shows in the last couple decades, put out a full-length debut studio album Paris through Warner Records & shortly after was instrumental in helping launch the career of Kim Kardashian. There was even a point in time where she temporarily signed to Cash Money Records during the height of YMCMB’s popularity & is returning to the music scene for a sophomore effort.

“Welcome Back” is an electropop opener singing about her return to music after nearly 2 decades whereas “I’m Free” featuring Rina Sawayama fuses dance-pop, nu-disco, contemporary R&B French house & Brazilian bass tackling the theme of doing whatever they want with their lives. “Chasin’” featuring Meghan Trainor garishly mutates dance-pop, tropical house, afrobeats, dancehall, contemporary R&B & moombahton givin’ up on their exes prior to “B.B.A. (Bad Bitch Academy)” featuring Megan Thee Stallion obnoxiously crosses over dance-pop & hip hop schooling the baddies.

Sia joins Paris for the alt-pop, synthpop & electropop duet “Fame Won’t Love You” talking about fame not caring for people as much as a parent would leading into “ADHD” calling the neurodevelopmental disorder her superpower over dense, layered & compressed production usually coupled with a distinct fuzzy & warm low-frequency synthesizer style. “Legacy” draws inspiration from dance-pop again singing about making history with her current husband Carter Reum, but then “Stay Young” is this poppy house hybrid seeking eternal youth.

“Infinity” gets back on the electropop tip to sing about Carter’s love for her being heaven sent stopping the world when he put her over everything else while “If the Earth is Spinning” featuring Sia goes synthpop dancing within the Earth spinnin’ since it’s a new beginning. “Without Love” featuring Maria Becerra nears the end of the LP with a house-pop duet not wanting to live without love & “Adored” is an electropop closer expressing the feeling of adoration.

One of the things that I personally have always appreciated about Paris was Scott Storch’s half of the production on there since The Roots’ original keyboardist & former Aftermath Entertainment in-house producer’s extraordinary talent remains undeniable. For the follow-up, I like it less than the debut. Even if dance-pop & electropop vibes from the debut remain in tact except the contemporary R&B & pop rock undertones are swapped out in favor of synthpop & house pop, Paris’ vocals still haven’t improved whatsoever in nearly 2 decades.

Score: 1/5

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Krizz Kaliko & Vin Jay – “Chop” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between Krizz Kaliko & Vin Jay. One is an MC, singer/songwriter & voice actor from Kansas City, Missouri notable for being one of the first people that Tech N9ne signed to Strange Music along with Kutt Calhoun and Skatterman & Snug Brim while the other is a New York rapper emerging in 2019 by releasing the single “Mumble Rapper vs. Lyricist” to widely negative reception. Krizz left Strange in the spring of 2021 following L.I.F.E. (Legend Immortal Forever Eternal) to form his own label Ear House Inc., making his 3rd EP Wrapped Up the inaugural release through his imprint. He & Vin Jay have been working closely have been working closely for the past, which resulted in Vin opening for Krizz on your & eventually Chop.

The title track is a decent trap opener produced by former Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 going back-&-forth talking about them teaming up so they can cut up anyone who wants to step up to them whereas “Champ” turns the bass up boasting that they’re bigger than everyone else. “Famous” then works in a vocal sample & hi-hats disregarding fame & Vin Jay saying there’s no debating he’s one of the greatest, except for the fact that his discography up to this point has been generally panned.

“Bussin’” starts the other half of Chop has another one of my favorite instrumentals on the entire EP swapping out the sampling from the previous track in favor of grisly piano chords & “B.D.E. (Big Dick Energy)” easily has to be my least favorite track here not because of the chaotic trap beat, but rather due to their take on the titular slang phrase coming off as corny instead of boastful. “Ball Out” finishes the EP with 1 more trap joint going on a high streak & Vin Jay calling himself a legend, which is true in the sense that “Mumble Rapper vs. Lyricist” is literally one of the worst singles of the previous decade.

Being a longtime fan of Krizz Kaliko ever since the Strange Music days, I’ve continued to support him ever since he left to go his own way as proven by how much I enjoyed Wrapped Up few years ago simply because he’s always stood out as a highly skilled MC & an undeniably captivating singer/songwriter responsible for penning some of the most memorable hooks in Tech’s discography. But Chop sadly marks a step down from the Wysh You Would collab album with Tres Aurland almost 2 & a half years ago. 7’s half of the production is more detailed than the other & Krizz’ performances are significantly stronger than Vin Jay’s.

Score: 1.5/5

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