This is the 5th full-length LP from Philadelphia emcee O.T. the Real. Starting up in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations as well as his a discography currently consisting of 4 albums accompanied by a mixtape & 7 EPs up to this point. Standouts include the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman, the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & his previous LP the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. I haven’t covered his music since then but he’s dropped his debut mixtape No Matter What & a total of 3 EPs: Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer. All of which were hit or miss for me personally so when it was announced that O.T. was finally signing to Black Soprano Family Records/MNRK Music Group & enlisting araabMUZIK to fully prelude his debut for the Buffalo indie label Zombie, it raised my expectations significantly.
“If They Coulda, They Woulda” is a rugged 103 second boom bap opener having all the perfect samples of the dope that he be producing whereas “Turning Stones” shifts gears into trap territory dedicating this to all his homies who got it their own way. “The Crown” featuring an opening verse from Benny the Butcher & Elcamino on the hook lavishly talks about wearing the titular object on their rollies leading into the spacey trap flavored “Strong Survive” talking about only those who have strength will prosper.
Conway the Machine slides through on the jazzy “Just Different” cautioning that it ain’t the same when it’s you being the one to come & get, but then “Certain Things” featuring 38 Spesh addresses specific topics that they don’t even talk about over an eerie loop hooked up with these kicks & snares. “Ice Baby” takes a groovier route instrumentally working in some hi-hats too showing how he hits it with the ice just before “Blood Stains” featuring Rome Streetz drearily returns to the boom bap talking about having to wash the streets to remove the stains from it.
“Whole Shabang” featuring Amir Ali is an alluring trap start to the final leg of the LP comparing this music shit to the coke exchange prior to the trillwave-inducing “Anemic” featuring LIHTZ talking about how homie only had 1 life & he played with it rather than just staying with it. “JJ Reddick” picks things up comparing himself to the Orlando Magic player of the same name over a glamorous boom bap beat that is until “Fade Away” ends O.T.’s debut with B$F on a dreary note with kicks & snares talking about how you never know when death’s gonna aim your way.
As someone who started following O.T. about 2 & a half years ago when The Irishmen dropped, Zombie is his strongest project since Maxed Out & easily one of the best to come out of the Black Soprano Family camp this year as he is a more than welcoming addition to the roster. araabMUZIK’s production is noticeably more consistent than the mixtape & trilogy of EPs we’ve gotten from O.T. in the last couple years as they go down to the streets with one another to match their intensity.
Ken Carson is a 23 year old recording artist from Atlanta, Georgia breaking out in the SoundCloud scene & becoming a protege of local trailblazer Playboi Carti as one of the first artists to sign to the latter’s newly founded Opium Records. He would go on to drop a total of 5 EPs prior to his full-length debut Project X couple summers back & coming off the mature sophomore effort X over a year ago already which Anthony Fantano infamously gave a 0. However to commemorate Friday the 13th being in October this year, Ken’s unleashing his 3rd full-length LP.
“green room” is a rage-inducing highlight produced by F1LTHY of Working on Dying to start everything off calling out half of these motherfuckers out here that ain’t never seen shit whereas “jennifer’s body” talking about his bitch being a hottie interpolating “Good Riddance” by Green Day over some hi-hats & fuzzy synths. “fighting my demons” keeps it rolling with a hypertrap, cloudy 2-parter from Outtatown smokin’ on kush & looking to triumph mentally, but then “singapore” featuring Destroy Lonely keeps the rage beats in tact flexing in the titular country.
Meanwhile, “lose it” goes for a bombastic approach instrumentally confesses that he feels like he’s going to snap at any moment leading into “hardcore” talking about going gore on top of this set of booming sub-bass & hi-hats. “Me n My Kup” gives off a psychedelically vibrant atmosphere making it known he’s the only one up in here with his cup by his side just before the shrilling trap banger “it’s over” talks about his pants falling because of carrying too many racks on him.
Lone returns alongside Lil Uzi Vert for “Like This” jumping over a futuristic instrumental with some hi-hats showing y’all how lit it can get while “succubus” goes for a distorted sound courtesy of a returning F1LTHY behind the boards talking about a bitch he knows that’s going straight to Hell without a doubt in his mind. “Paranoid” featuring Destroy Lonely wipes “singapore” from F1LTHY’s rage beat to discuss the paranoia that both of them face while the glitchy “pots” talks about curving someone’s girl until he saw the way she twerk.
“overtime” continues to scathingly diss those who be frontin’ that they killed people or having swag when they never did over some rattling hi-hats while “vampire hour” takes a cloudier approach sonically dedicating this one to all the vamps that’ve been in the building. “nightcore” perfectly lives up to it’s starting off with a nocturnal trap beat clarifying they ain’t shooting shit like Julius Randle, but the 2nd half has a cavernous tone to the instrumental talking about the way she move.
If you couldn’t already tell by the title of “rockstar lifestyle”, we have Ken giving everyone a look into how he’s living these days promising to never sell his soul whatsoever over a rubbery trap beat prior to the pop rap/rage hybrid “i need u” serving to be a good choice for a single & a closer exhibiting his unrequited love for his girl on top of continuing to brag about his lifestyle for the last time.
“loading” starts the deluxe run on some plugg shit to talk about the only thing he fears of is having his heart broken while “more chaos” keeps the icy synths & hi-hats in tact continuing the chaos. “toxic” has more of a hypertrap approach to talk about an evil bitch while the rage-inducing “leather jacket” likens himself to a biker. “mewtwo” jumps over synthesizers & hi-hats comparing his girl to the titular Pokémon while “s.s. (sydney sweeney)” energetically pays tribute to the titular actress. The glitching “overseas” serves as the final bonus track talking about beatin’ muhfuckas like Creed.
I’ve maintained that Lone is the most versatile Opium signing out of the 3 acts that Carti’s taken under his wing, but A Great Chaos happens to be an improvement over X as solid as that previous album was compared to his debut for it’s maturity. The production expands on the signature hypertrap sound that he’s made himself known for & another favorite thing about it for me is the simple fact that it’s significantly more darker than the previous LP was.
Sophomore effort from Manchester, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Sleazy F Baby. A member of the Cult of the Damned collective, he would sign to Blah Records in 2016 & make his full-length debut that year with All Blahk Tracksuit. He would also form the Super Sag Bros with Black Josh in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, enlisting Cambridge producer & Melonskin Records founder Dirty Dike from Contact Play to solely handle all the production for Sleazy’s equivalent to an audio Blaxploitation film.
“Lethal Weapon 5 (Swine)” aggressively begins with this secondary electronic influence to the beat talking about being mentally sick & not taking his meds whereas “S.W.M.D. (Sex, Weed, Money & Drugs)” dabbles with trap instrumentally breaking down those 4 subjects. “Sleaze” takes the boom bap route talking about part of his strength including him fucking up shit just before “Get Fucked Up” keeps it rugged sending a straightforward message to any lyrical opponent who dares to step against him.
As for “Pot to Piss”, we have Dirty Dike getting back in his trap bag behind the boards & Sleazy F talking about taking everything except counterfeits leading into “Pussy Whip” ends the 1st half portraying a more lustful side to the Cult’s sleaziest link. “Dip” kicks off Blaxploiation’s other act explore more themes of sexuality except there’s a more energetic approach to it than the previous track while “Bludclart” angrily talks about the gangsta lifestyle.
“Oscar” spends 86 seconds back in the basement hitting more uppercuts than Sugar Ray Leonard while “Big Pippen” references Scottie Pippen whilst putting himself inside the shoes of a pimp. After the “Jesus” interlude, “LA LA LA” takes a few minutes to tell us a “True Love Story” accompanied by a sully boom bap beat & “She Ain’t Yours” finishes Sleazy’s long-awaited 2nd album on a funkier note talking about people acting like they’re officially in relationships when that couldn’t be any more false.
Being a fan of Dirty Dike since his time with High Focus Records a decade earlier, hearing that he was fully producing Blaxploitation gave me the impression of it reaching the same bar Sleazy F Baby’s debut had set & I’d say that goal has been achieved. The production balances boom bap & trap for a great deal of the 38 minutes you get out of Sleazy’s return, handling the verses by solely himself rather than having some of his Cult brethren joining him with all respect to the Damned of course.
Here we have the 4th EP from Manchester, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Black Josh. Known for being a member the Cult of the Damned & LEVELZ collectives as well as 1/2 of the B-Movie Millionaires, he would make debut over a decade ago off an eponymous EP & the full-length debut Blick Flair’s Ape Mountain until signing to Blah Records. He went on to drop 6 more albums & a couple more EPs under the London label, celebrating Friday the 13th in no better fashion than Today’s the Day.
“Habitat” was a dark, occasionally crooning boom bap intro coming out the gate with unapologetically hardcore penmanship whereas “Doolally” works in an organ sample mixed with kicks & snares talking about driving people crazy. The title track dustily finds himself ready to catch up to the money & the paper chase while “Vince Carter” featuring Da$h references none other then the greatest Toronto Raptors player of all-time himself over a symphonic boom bap beat.
Sonnyjim joins the B-Movie Millionaires on “E R M8” continuing the last leg of Today’s the Day bringing all 3 artists together hauntingly leaving heads spinning harder than The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s intro & after “Close to the Edge” maintains a boom bap vibe instrumentally talking about him feeling like he’s on the verge of slipping homaging the late DMX in the midst of it, we get hit with a soul sample & Josh letting the people he has in mind know he’ll “Pray” for them.
I wouldn’t put it above Smoking Kills regarding the extended plays in Black Josh’s discography, but Today’s the Day is definitely the most I’ve enjoyed a solo project from him since Mannyfornia. Rather than continuing to delve deeper into some of the most vulnerable material throughout Josh’s career much like Heartbreak Hostel did, the latter’s wordplay & the grimier production are enough to please any hardcore hip hop fan.
Westside Gunn is a 41 year old emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur & curator from Buffalo, New York proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in only the span of 8 years whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. Last we heard from West was the 10th & final installment of his infamous Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series last fall only 3 days before Halloween, but is making his 7th & final official LP a sequel to his 4th one Pray for Paris over 3 & a half years ago already.
After the “FLYGOD DiD” intro, the first song “Mamas PrimeTime by Hall ‘N Nash featuring J.I.D is a dusty boom bap opener produced by Beat Butcha & Mr. Green boasting about how devine they are whereas “Kostas” by Griselda goes into trap territory thanks to Tay Keith including a bar about the Indiana Jones franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Lucasfilm. “1989” featuring Stove God Cook$ finds the 2 turning up 36 ounces in public housing even though Westside’s chopped & screwed verse is distracting, but then “Suicide in Selfridges” works in a hazy loop with kicks & snares courtesy of Conductor Williams so DJ Drama can help welcome y’all to the new golden era.
Stovey returns for the orchestral “Kitchen Lights” explaining that the wrists be shining differently leading into “FLYGOD 2x” flexing the fact that he can get anything these days over a lo-fi boom bap beat. “DunnHill” featuring Rick Ross finds the 2 over more trap production making it clear that the protocol is to hit everybody just before “House of Glory” named after the Amazing Red & Brian XL’s independent circuit wrestling promotion of the same name that Westside Gunn & Master P have invested themselves into has a beautifully classy RZA instrumental flipping Gladys Knight so West & Stove God asking what they’d have to weigh it for since it’s all good.
Estee Nack joins Westside & Stovey for “JD Wrist” over a futuristic trap beat from FLYGOD Jr. with additional vocals from DJ Trap-A-Holics cautioning not to trip like this while “Disgusting” featuring Giggs keeps the spacey vibes going with some hi-hats in the mix with a bar about The Simpsons trademarked by The Walt Disney Company & on the Fox Corporation’s flagship property. “Chloe” luxuriously returns to the boom bap provided by Denny LaFlare getting his romance bag while “LL Bool Gunn” finds West singing over some keys & hi-hats paying homage to LL Cool J himself.
“Babylon Bis” featuring Stove God Cook$ has a sumptuous boom bap quality to it that JR Swiftz hooked up talking about them knowing their drug of choice prior to “Ultra GriZelda” featuring Denzel Curry justifiably boasting that they be running shit up over a cloudy trap beat. “Jalen Rose” featuring Boldy James looks at Daringer pulling off an eerie trap vibe showing off their globetrotter statuses while “Steve & Jony” featuring EST G compares themselves as the Steve Jobs & Jony Ive of the streets over a woozier instrumental.
Jeezy slides through on the energizing “Mr. Everything” to drop some braggadocio in their own respective styles while “Freddy Js” featuring Detroit trap star Peezy finds the 2 over some piano chords talking about their eastside roots. “The Revenge of the Flips Leg” featuring Rome Streetz brings back the kicks & snares showing respect to Eastside Flip, but the title track featuring KayCyy closes out West’s last LP on a peaceful & beautifully sung note.
Pray for Paris is easily one of my favorites from the FLYGOD, so to hear And Then You Pray for Me as a counterpart makes a noticeable change in sound. The production’s more based around trap music even though he doesn’t abandon his boom bap/drumless roots at all as he pulls inspiration from all across the world by bringing a humongous list of guests with him throughout the journey.
Brand new full-length debut LP from Ellenville, New York duo The Hoodies. Consisting of siblings E-Class & Young Poppa, these guys have been taking over the local underground scene for the past 6 years off the strength of their debut mixtape Blood Thicker as well as a couple EPs both Where Should We Land & more recently What Pressure Makes this past spring. However, they’re enlisting pioneering DJ/producer/emcee Kid Capri to unearth some Hidden Gems.
“We Don’t Play Around” is an atmospheric opener to the album by letting it be known that neither of these guys be fuckin’ around getting back in the zone whereas “Monster” works in a rugged boom bap instrumental getting on their demon time. “My Brother” takes a more orchestral route talking about their actual brotherhood, but then “I’m Hot” has a bit of a funky groove to it with these kicks & snares flexing their rapping prowesses.
Meanwhile, “Wish List” featuring Fooks has a mellower approaching bringing some hi-hats into the fold encouraging y’all to take a ride with them just before the vibrant “Big Stepper” talks about their big dog statuses. “Top of N.Y.” draws inspiration from the Brooklyn drill scene a bit saying there ain’t no reason to talk leading into “War” returning to the boom bap advising they don’t want beef.
“In My Bag” keeps it rugged g tying in their element a big while “Ride with You” is a smooth ballad getting on the more melodic, sensual side of things. “Let Me Show You” featuring Henny da Don on the hook smoothly talks about coming up from the hood with each other & “Who Am I?” is a soulful closer to the LP moving properly as opposed to moving with the ops or the feds.
These guys have been renowned for their commentary on social justice hence their name, but Hidden Gems is bound to turn more heads onto them because this is the finest body of work that they’ve given us to date. Kid Capri’s production is mostly grounded in the traditional boom bap sound with a healthy dosage of pop rap & Brooklyn drill undertones as E-Class & Young Poppa deliver the strongest performances of their career.
This is the 2nd EP from Hampton, Virginia rapper Samson Samson. Introducing himself a decade ago by releasing his debut EP Regret, he would return last spring by releasing the full-length debut studio album Beforecore flooded with guest appearances on nearly half of it, signing to Dirtcore Music exactly a month later & embodying everything he’s been wanting to do artistically on his sophomore effort albeit Dirtcore debut Witch Hunt celebrating it’s 1-year anniversary last weekend. But if you’re looking for Bye-Fi to recapture those vibes, you might just be disappointed.
“My Place” opens with a lo-fi trap intro with a cloudy remix from his Bodies Below Sea Level cohort Crossworm later on that I personally find myself gravitating to more talking about there being a little bit of evil his dreams whereas “E-motion” responds to those calling him emotional over a downtrodden boom bap instrumental. “Darker Coat of Paint” blends lo-fi hip hop & emo rap together suggesting he should’ve listened to himself when he said he wasn’t ready while “Compatible” expresses hope of finding someone who can turn it around when they’re both hurting. Fittingly, the title track ends with Sammy addressing an ex by telling her they weren’t meant to be.
Rather than continuing the horrorcore themes of Witch Hunt last fall, Dirtcore’s inaugural signing switches it up entirely taking accountability for himself & learning not to move on from a relationship so fast. The production’s prominently more lo-fi & the heavily emo subject matter spreads the lesson he’s learned, which is that love gets fickle when you dive into it quickly & says his farewells to something that was never going to work with the hopes of those listening say goodbye to things that we as people have wanted to sort itself out regardless if we have yet to realize that it won’t.
This is the 8th full-length album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake. Skyrocketing to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s underrated full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing his hip hop/R&B sides of his music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. Honestly, Nevermind was basically Drake’s own version of Renaissance by foraying into house music a month ahead to mixed reception until the Her Loss collab album with 21 Savage easily became the best thing he’s done in 8 years & that’s a 6/10 at best because 21 felt like a featured artist on there. So considering that, I went into For All the Dogs expecting something interesting. Especially since he said he was going to throw it back to his roots musically.
“Virginia Beach” begins it all with 40 sampling “Wiseman” by Frank Ocean accompanied by some hi-hats dedicating this to everyone from the titular city in Virginia whereas “Amen” featuring Teezo Touchdown is a piano/trap hybrid that Budgie hooked up with both of them talking about gratefulness. “Calling You” with an underwhelming 21 Savage feature & co-production from Cash Cobain starts off by layering an electro loop over hi-hats until a soulful switch-up needing to be held until the inevitable, but then the synth-laced “Fear of Heights” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying, Pooh Beatz & xynothing makes various references to travelling abroad.
Meanwhile, “Daylight” with Adonis goes for a shimmery trap vibe courtesy of Southside & Smatt Sertified talking about shooting them in broad day leading into “First Person Shooter” starting off with a slowed down sample prior to a heavenly beat switch with co-production from Boi-1da, FNZ, Tay Keith & Vinylz comparing this to the Super Bowl as J. Cole delivers one of the best features on the LP making this the first time the 6 God & the King of Dreamville have crossed paths in about a decade. Yeat’s verse on “IDGAF” has to be another standout guest appearance as he & Drizzy join forces over a rage beat talking about their nonchalant-like personalities.
“7969 Santa” primarily has a woozier vibe to it instrumentally referencing a Delilah restaurant located out in Santa Monica Boulevard looking to get someone off his mind while “Slime You Out” featuring SZA is a disappointingly mediocre alternative R&B duet basically saying they slimin’ each other for them kid choices they made as corny as it sounds. After the superiorly chilled out R&B-inflicted “Bahamas Promises” reflecting on a troubled relationship, the wavy “Tried Our Best” talks about treating this woman right & has been growing on me over the last couple months that is until the mid atmospheric trap 2-parter “Drew a Picasso” right after another interlude “Screw the World” paying homage to DJ Screw telling this chick she ain’t gon’ find no one better & possibly making it work again.
PARTYNEXTDOOR’s chemistry with his mentor shown on the minimally moody “Members Only” is pretty tight saying these bitches are too down with the gangy even though lines like “Feel like I’m bi ’cause you’re one of the guys, girl” are total cringe while “What Would Pluto Do?” subliminally disses Future over a piano/trap beat. “All the Parties” is an airy 2-parter with reflecting on his success, distance from others in the music industry & paints a vivid image of his fortune & close-knit crew until Conductor Williams gives “8am in Charlotte” a dustier edge rapping his ass off for 4 & a half minutes. I seriously don’t even care about the supposed Ye diss either.
“BBL Love” strips the drums completely tackily comparing love to a Brazilian Butt Lift in the sense that “you won’t know if it’s real until you feel one” making it the worst song on the album ironically right after the best while “Gently” featuring Bad Bunny goes into Latin trap turf with the help of Gordo talking about living like The Sopranos from the Warner Bros.-owned HBO which is one of my top 3 shows of all-time behind Better Call Saul & Breaking Bad on amc respectively. However, I don’t see myself listening to it ever again. “Rich Baby Daddy” featuring Sexyy Red mixes elements of Jersey Club with trap providing a decent anthem for the strip clubs while “Another Late Night” featuring Lil Yachty picks up the pace fusing pop rap & rage chilling with women during the evening & Drake fuckin’ FINALLY addressing the rumors about him with Millie Bobby Brown.
As we continue to the encore of the album, the penultimate track “Away from Home” confesses that it doesn’t feel like a home to him anymore more rather just simply wall, doors & floors that only he can afford & lastly “Polar Opposites” ties up this 23 song album clocking in at 85 minutes in the form of an average spacey slow jam singing about how immature it is for Mariana to block him on everything in an unprovoked manner without exactly knowing why whatsoever. As he had legitimately plans to understand her a bit more, but obviously that’s not going to happen anymore because she broke his faith.
Now the Scary Hours deluxe version of this album contains 6 new bonus cuts & I’ll go over them right now. “Red Button” produced by ovrkast. & Lil Yachty starts off the deluxe run shouting out Taylor Swift, mentioning his truce with Kanye West & promising to find out wherever his opposition is celebratin’ to see who really crazy & after “Stories About My Brother” goes into jazzy boom bap territory with the help of Conductor calling this “the storm before the calm, we’ll get to the vacation later” including a Joe Budden diss, “The Shoe Fits” works in a woodwind addressing the ladies wonderin’ why Drake can’t rap like the same old guy answering he doesn’t know how anymore.
“Wick Man” has to be my favorite bonus track of the 6-pack comparing himself to John Wick & starting off by taking a laughable jab at Pusha T calling him “broke” over a reversed loop from one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist that’s later made up with a reference to 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena while “Evil Ways” featuring J. Cole displays a back & forth chemistry between the 2 with a soulful trap sound this time. Finally, the last bonus cut “You Broke My Heart” is easily the most melodic of the bunch singing over pianos about a woman who broke his heart. Want to mention him, BNYX, the latter’s brother BEAUTIFULMVN, Lil Yachty & 40 failing miserably with the standalone trap, pop rap, alternative R&B, cloud rap, emo rap single “Search & Rescue” too.
Look: I haven’t enjoyed a Drake project consistently in 8 years up to this point, but I’ll always give him his credit where it’s due because his place in hip hop has been cemented by the impact he’s had on it & the music industry at large. With all of that being said: I genuinely think For All the Dogs is a step in the right direction for him compared to his last couple albums Certified Lover Boy & Honestly, Nevermind. Easily his most consistent solo effort since If You’re Reading This in my respectful opinion. He mainly returns to his trappy pop rap roots also dabbling with trap soul, chipmunk soul, contemporary R&B & even Latin music in the process with slightly more hits & than misses.
This is the 5th full-length LP from Buffalo emcee & singer Elcamino. Blowing up in 2017 off his self-titled EP with Griselda Records, his profile increasingly grew after being followed up by Walking on Watermixtape in the summer of 2018 along with dropped 2 studio albums & a few EPs the year after that. Now it’s been quite a while since I’ve last covered Camino, with the last project of his that I reviewed being his 10th EP On the 3rd Day. Since then he’s put out 4 more EPs alongside a couple additional LPs with Walk by Faith & Not by Sight and Let There Be Light. But after signing to Black Soprano Family Records not too long ago, he’s finally making his debut under Benny the Butcher’s very own MNRK Music Group imprint in the form They Spit on Jesus.
The title track featuring Fuego Base finds the 2 over a mobster-like boom bap instrumental from Ill Tone talking about how they would do the worst whereas “New Bills” featuring Benny works in some strings, kicks & snares detailing life in Buffalo for them. “Victory” featuring Inspectah Deck takes a more soulful boom bap approach getting on the celebratory side of things, but then “For the Streets” switches it up with a spacey trap banger dedicated to the hoods.
“Neva Gon’ Change” dives headfirst into chipmunk soul talking about refusing to ever switch up just before “Tap In” featuring Armani Caesar returns to a trap-based sound as both of them charismatically set out to hook you up. “Cry with Me” gives off a summery boom bap flare getting incredibly personal on the mic leading into the groovy “All I Know” talking about representing the very city that he came from.
Meanwhile, the appropriately titled minute & a half “Ballad” finds Elcamino singing over some horns that is until the delicately produced “Started from Nothing” featuring Loveboat Luciano spits about coming up not having shit. The song “80 Bills” featuring Benny the Butcher is an eerie trap cut reminding y’all that B$F be that mob while “War Ruckas featuring Havoc with Camino’s brother King Ralph & even over a soulful boom bap beat talking about bringing war. “The Best of Me” is an orchestral-tinged closer refusing to let people get to him.
I enjoyed Walk by Faith & Not by Sight and Elcamino 3, but No Weapon Formed Against Me was a significant improvement over some the other projects that he’s put out in these last 2 years so I had high expectations for They Spit on Jesus & it lived up to them. The production’s consistent, the guests are all on par & his versatility is on full display.
This is the 10th full-length LP from Detroit veteran Ty Farris. Emerging up up under the name T-Flame being featuring on a lot of projects throughout the mid-2000’s until the very end of the decade, it was at that point where he started to put out solo stuff at a prolific rate by dropping 11 mixtapes, all 9 of his previous albums & 3 EPs. Standouts include the Room 39 duology & the No Cosign Just Cocaineseries, the 5th & final installment of which finally arrived earlier this year followed by the Machacha-produced Malice at the Palace a month later. However, Ty’s returning 7 months later by letting y’all hear some Sounds That Never Left My Soul with the help of Graymatter.
“The Vortex” is a 2-minute rap rock opener clocking in at almost 2 minutes staying humble with the help of God himself whereas an early standout “Everything They Not” continues forward on a more rugged note talking about how he’s everything that these motherfuckers wish they were. “Box of Bullets” goes for a psychedelic sound detailing that more problems arise when you earn more money just before another favorite “Lifetime of Misery” is a dreary boom bap follow-up feeling the menacing vibrations as their souls demise.
On the other hand, “Samples of My Soul” weaves a woodwind flip into the picture cautioning that he has a heart of gold although it then cold if you bringing danger his way while the eerie “Death Over Disagreements” talking about keeping his name out your mouth in funny ways since he’s from the 313. The solemn “Splashes of Tragedy” admits that part of his meditation process is polishing the heaters that he owns while the luxurious title track asks to close your eyes & envision.
The song “Light the Corners of Ya Mind” hops on top of a soul sample to get into his specialty of giving haters to show their jealousy while the penultimate track “Kavanah” hauntingly talks about a soul with a hole in it. To round out the album though, we have T-Flame over a dark instrumental sending a clear message to all the “People Who Dead & Don’t Know It”.
Ty’s been known for his consistency, but he’s really been stepping up each year because dude just went on a threepeat here. Graymatter’s production is a slight step above Machacha’s on the last album Malice at the Palace that I found myself enjoying as much earlier this year & some of the concepts that T-Flame addresses resonated with me in relatability.
Legends Will Never Die 