Inspectah Deck – “Dragon’s Breath” review

Here we have the 5th solo LP from Staten Island, New York lyricist & producer Inspectah Deck. A member of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan as well as 1/3 of CZARFACEwith 7L & Esoteric, he would eventually drop his solo debut Uncontrolled Substance in the fall of 1999 under Loud Records & Relativity Records. Which I found myself enjoying more than the MNRK Music Group-backed The Movement as well as Manifesto & Chamber #9, although The Resident Patient marking the launch of Deck’s own label Urban Icons Records & Cynthia’s Son both came pretty close for their own separate reasons. I was nonetheless intrigued by P.A. Dre being brought in to fully produce Dragon’s Breath.

“Never Fold” featuring Raekwon, Sauce Money & Skyzoo after the “Dragon’s Intro” finds the quartet over a murderous boom bap instrumental talking about their refusal of backing down whereas “H.E.C.T.O.R. (Hustle Everyday Can’t Trust Or Rely)” discussing the daily grind & trusting nobody. “Lighter Fluid” featuring Eto, Mickey Factz & RJ Payne links up over a venomous boom bap beat continuing to spit hardcore lyricism just before “Shaolin Rebel 2” hits us with a soulful sequel to the Chamber #9 joint.

Ankhlejohn & Brizz Rawsteen both pop out for “Between the Lines” soulfully talking about seeing the signs God’s trying to send you although Ankhlejohn had my favorite guest appearance of the 2 personally leading into “The System” taking a more intricately conscious approach topically. “Up At Night” featuring Peedi Crakk switches it up by showing a more sensual side to both of them which is alright, but “Day in the Life” soulfully talks about being thankful for every day because it’s a dream to him.

“1 of 1” featuring G4 Jag, KXNG CROOKED & M.A.V. comes together for an eerie boom bap cut filled with all 4 artists detailing their unique skills while “Flight School” reaches the halfway point talking about grinding for his own shine. “Burgundy” kicks off the 2nd leg of Dragon’s Breath incorporating guitars to not let Satan steal his joy while “Cold Case” featuring Gripz & Ransom jazzily yet dustily puts us inside the shoes of detectives.

Che Noir & Sa-Roc teaming up during “Divine Protection” was an exciting moment talking about aiming the firearm & blasting to protect what’s theirs while “Solitude” featuring BVNGS, Flee Lord & Hus Kingpin coldly flexes that they be rollin’ around the parts muhfuckas can’t even hit up. “Anointed” featuring 40 B.A.R.R.S., Bahamadia & 7xvethegenius fiercely demands everyone honors them like the royalty they are while “Possession” featuring Cappadonna & Hell Fire would’ve been more enjoyable without the latter.

“Funny Style” symphonically talks about muhfuckas acting weird hoping to catch him down & out while “Czariana Grande” by CZARFACE produced by none other than 7L boasts of taking over car speakers whenever INS Ya Highness & 7LES unite. The closing track “Explicit Material” also by CZARFACE officially sends off Dragon’s Breath spending the remaining 3 minutes having Esoteric accompanying Deck going full battle rap mode ahead of their upcoming collab album with Tom Hardy at the end of the month.

Exhibiting the razor-lyricism that’s made Inspectah Deck a cornerstone of the Clan’s entire 36 Chambers mythology, Dragon’s Breath acknowledges the connecting theme of his storied career from his Shaolin foundations to the comic-book-noir world of CZARFACE & back again. Excluding a select handful of mediocre features, I can appreciate one of the most technically gifted & underappreciated MCs in all of hip hop doing his thing over P.A. Dre production for this full-circle moment.

Score: 3.5/5

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Q-Unique – “The QR Code” review

Los Angeles, California deejay/producer DJ Rhettmatic teaming up with Brooklyn, New York emcee, singer & producer Q-Unique for his 4th studio LP. Emerging as 1/4 of the Arsonists & the lead singer of the 3-man hard rock outfit Stillwill, he’s also built up impressive solo discography for himself since the Uncle Howie Records-backed Vengeance is Mine nearly 2 decades back at this point. He would follow it up the previous decade with Between Heaven & Hell alongside BlaQ Coffee and The Mechanic before Stillwill bassist Fieldy of KoЯn fame produced the Pound for Pound EP. Coming off the Royal Blood EP produced by Jake Palumbo however, Rhettmatic’s handling The QR Code.

After the intro, “Cypha Up” aggressively opens up encouraging people to study with him & make some bread whereas “It Only Leads the Way” ruggedly describes an identity crisis some artists may experience after being deluded by materialism. “Fire Vision” featuring LMNO finds the pair linking up to flex their lyrical proficiencies over a raw beat just before “Suckess” talks about their experiences of people becoming unrecognizable after achieving success.

“The Good Life” encourages all shine their light through changes they make prior to “All in the Mind” featuring Ras Kass aggressively kicking off the 2nd leg teaming up to talk about the dangers of overthinking. “The Meltdown” featuring Esoteric joins forces for a cutthroat battle rap cut while “Comic Con Nerd Shit” featuring Pharoahe Monch pits the rebels against the stars. “Let’s Rock” embraces a rap rock vibe for a mosh anthem & the outro “Faith” talks about his everlasting future.

Excluding both Pound for Pound & Royal Blood because those were EPs, I might have to put The QR Code above Between Heaven & Hell & The Mechanic as Q-Unique’s 2nd best full-length rivaling his debut Vengeance is Mine to become the finest collection of material he’s made on his own. DJ Rhettmatic’s production paired with the concept of being original, staying authentic, respecting hip hop culture & never following the crowd sets the standard instead of chasing trends.

Score: 4/5

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Dinner Party – “Whatchu Bringing?” review

Dinner Party is a neo-soul/jazz rap supergroup consisting of Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin & 9th Wonder. All 4 of whom are acclaimed producers in their own rights, dropping their eponymous full-length debut in the summer of 2020 through EMPIRE Distribution when the COVID-19 pandemic was occurring & following it up nearly 3 years later with the neo-soul influenced sophomore effort Enigmatic Society to more lukewarm reception. Nonetheless, I still had anticipation for their 3rd studio LP considering the respect I already for its individual members.

“Stop Being Late” begins with a 2 & a half minute opener blending jazz as well as hip hop & spoken word whereas “If It Ain’t Broke (Love Wins)” by Phoelix turns up the soulfulness, singing about leaving perfectly functioning things alone unless they’re no longer working. “Stargazing” also by Phoelix finds himself thinking of the world’s current state fusing jazz & R&B together but once “Breakfast at Sharkey’s” takes a prominently compositional approach, “I Wonder” by Phoelix kicks off the 2nd half on some neo-soul vibes.

As for “Just My Type”, we have Phoelix over some predominantly finger snaps carrying over the themes of romance leading into “I’m Yours” by Phoelix smoothly assures his partner that he won’t leave her for any other woman. “Mutual Respect “ leans towards the jazzier side of things for a bright instrumental piece preceding the outro “Peace of Mind” properly sending off Whatchu Bringing?tastefully combining elements of jazz rap & boom bap.

For anyone who came away from Enigmatic Society enjoying it less than Dinner Party’s debut album, you’re probably gonna prefer Whatchu Bringing? like myself because I’d have to put their most playful statement right behind self-titled for my 2nd favorite entry in their discography so far. The primary neo-soul sound remains in tact, incorporating secondary influences of jazz fusion & instrumental hip hop for the course of a half hour.

Score: 3.5/5

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Dax – “Anger Management” review

St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada rapper Dax has returned for his 3rd studio LP. Working as a janitor before blowing up after dropping the single “YourWorthIt.org” with Hopsin in the summer of 2018, this was followed up with his debut EP It’s Different Now shortly after & the I’ll Say It For You EP under the Strange Music subsidiary It Goes Up Entertainment. Pain Paints Pictures was one of the worst debuts of this decade & the Columbia Records debut From a Man’s Perspective proved to be worse, unsure of what to get out of Anger Management.

“Big Boys Don’t Cry” tritely opens with this rap rock intro talking about men hiding vulnerability from the world whereas “Trauma” goes for a generic trap vibe, confessing to the feeling of in escaping the past. “Diary of an Alcoholic (10 Shots)” comes through with a fake deep perspective regarding alcoholism over a country rap instrumental leading into “God, Can You Hear Me?” melodramatically begs for the Man upstairs to listen to his pleas.

Continuing with “Man I Used to Be”, we have Dax talking about becoming half the person he was when Jamiroquai already tackled this subject with one of my favorite singles of theirs prior to the country-inspired “Temptation” reaching the halfway point speaking of desire knocking at his door. “The American Dream” forces himself to get in his patriotism bag when he’s not even American while over acoustics until “Caught You in the Bed” gets preachy regarding infidelity.

“Your Feelings” winds down the last leg of Anger Management mutating country rap & trap talking about the place Satan attacks at every chance while “Happy Wife, Happy Life” comes through with a corny pop rap track with a country twist to it. “Gave You the World” makes a turn towards cloudier territory talking about an ex-girlfriend he couldn’t save & “Comfortable Being Alone” hooks up a generic beat to send it all off finding solace in loneliness.

From a Man’s Perspective saw Dax coming into his own stylistically considering he’s pretty much embraced a more prominent country rap sound than anything he’s been doing for the past decade since & attached a sloppy point of view regarding men’s mental health when you got people like King Iso doing those topics justice, but Anger Management gratingly expands the musical ideas of it’s predecessor nearly 2 years ago to insincerely convey the reality of being honest with our struggles.

Score: 0/5

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UFO Fev – “4 the High” review

New extended play & the 13th overall from Harlem, New York emcee UFO Fev. Coming up a little over a decade ago off his full-length debut Around My Way, it wasn’t until 2020 when he saw his biggest year yet by dropping not 1 but 3 well received projects: the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort Fresh Air along with the Termanology-produced debut EP From El Barrio, With Love & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd album The Ghost of Albizu. This was all followed up with Magnum Opus along with the Vanderslice-produced Enigma of Dalí & 4 EPs: The Most High, Prayer, Weed & Music, E Pluribus Unum, Sunsets in the Ghetto & of course the Finn-produced Blood on the Bills. I even enjoyed the Fredro Starr produced Strapped & Pyramid Schemes, coming off The Ghost of Albizu 2: Albizu’s Revenge last summer to have Machacha produce 4 the High.

“Left Lane” eerily begins talking about always bouncing back since that’s the way he balls whereas “Dealin’” hops over a boom bap instrumental to get on his gangsta shit, observing the crack game pretty much being dead. “Levels Up” ruggedly talks about someone who he perceived to be a gangsta winding up snitchin’ & a price goin’ on everything except their souls while “Middle Gates” orchestrally wraps up the 1st half discusses his daughters knowing a man when they see one.

Eto appears for “Us Never Them” kicking off the 2nd act of 4 the High talking about preparing for war over a piano-driven boom bap beat talking just before “The Palladium” featuring Red Inf explains one has to engage in conflict if they’re searching for peace, embracing a rap rock sound. “Saturday Mornings” issues a warning of potentially smoking anyone who runs up on him at a mall & the drumless closing track “God’s Sincere” talks about the Lord carrying him across the sand.

UFO Fev warms up for his upcoming 14th album Creatine produced by Eto set to arrive within the next few months toning down the number of guests A Night on the Moon has for an EP that’ll make up for most who were left underwhelmed by Hustle, Weed & Music this past fall including myself. Machacha’s production matches the consistency of Lost in Transit & Villano de Medianoche, giving Fev less than a half hour to take up most of the verses delivering that unmistakable New York grit.

Score: 4/5

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Lil Uzi Vert – “Maverick (Almost Forever)” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper & singer Lil Uzi Vert celebrating their birthday with their 4th extended play. Becoming a household name in the trap scene with their 2015 mixtape LUV is Rage & then Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World the following year, Uzi has been entangled with a nasty legal battle with Generation Now Entertainment/Atlantic Records from their debut LUV is Rage 2 until the sophomore effort Eternal Atake came out in March of 2020 to moderate reception & followed it up a week later with the far superior Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World 2 that spawned the deluxe version trend where artists would drop a “deluxe version” of their newest project that’s basically an entirely new album. Red & White was a solid prelude to The Pink Tape which received mixed feedback, fulfilling their Generation Now/Atlantic deal with a panned sequel to Eternal Atake & dropping Maverick (Almost Forever) through Cor(e) in tandem with Roc Nation Records only 24 hours after Jason Hotch ended Mustafa Ali’s reign as TNA International Champion.

The “Maverick” intro produced by Ronny J & Supah Mario opens up with my favorite track right out the gate from the cloudy yet energetic vibe instrumentally talking about life being as crazy as it is whereas “Go!” boasts of them sellin’ out shows right when they walk outside. “Poured” begins the 2nd quarter with an ode to sipping lean just before “.223” reaches the halfway point hopping over a cinematic Cade beat getting on some gangsta shit.

10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, United Football League (UFL) co-owner, TKO Group Holdings board of directors member, co-founder of $7 Productions & the final boss of professional wrestling himself The Rock gets referenced during “Yoko” to kick off the 2nd half of Maverick (Almost Forever) just before “Gas. Brake.” gives off a rebellious atmosphere comparing themself to a star out in the sky.

“Say It Was” hits us with what could possibly be the hardest instrumental here talking about everyone from their block knowing exactly how crazy Uzi truly is in real life & the closing track “London” gives their props to the capital of England & the United Kingdom only a month away from Will Ospreay ending Kenny Omega’s 2nd reign as AEW World Champion in his home turf at Wembley Stadium for All In V employing a cockney accent for the occasion.

In preparation of Chad Gable ending Penta’s reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion at SummerSlam XXXIX on Sunday evening, Lil Uzi Vert preludes the next LP giving ZeeGoinXrazy the honor of architecting their new pop rap, trap, rage, cloud rap & jerk sound ever since finally going independent & their performances are a lot more enjoyable than being fucked up off nitrous. If the next album’s gonna be anything like this EP, we’re gonna be in for a bounce back.

Score: 3.5/5

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Southpaw FLHC – “The Standard” reveke

Southpaw FLHC is a beatdown hardcore band from Jacksonville, Florida consisting of guitarist Alan King, bassist Marc Laroche, drummer Harrison Linder & frontman Daryn LaMontagne. Dropping off their eponymous debut extended play at the very beginning of 2021 in hopes of bridging the gap between hardcore’s past & present, they would go on to drop a couple singles afterwards only to spend a majority of the decade inactive musically until this full-length studio debut of theirs to conclude July.

“Rolling Stone” begins with a beatdown hardcore intro remembering Daryn’s late grandfather who served in Vietnam whereas “Run Game” angrily lashes out at those they taught to smooth talk & not everyone keep it real in the music industry. “T.T.G. (Trained to Go)” makes it clear they don’t give a fuck what it takes or bout the laws & the rules created but once “Nail in the Coffin” pleads for the chains bounding them from their destiny to be broken, “The Gavel” puts us inside shoes of a judge to conclude the 1st half.

Meanwhile on “Torches”, we have Daryn & company hitting us with more mediocre beatdown hardcore dedicated to those in the streets who lit the way for them while “The Path” featuring an Eric Ellis guitar solo near the final 30 seconds delivers an ode to the bold & the brave. “Play the Fool” comes through with an ironic jab at “pussy motherfuckers ain’t who they claiming to be” & once the title track talking about true power standing in our truths, “D.T.W.D. (Duvall ‘Till We Die)” concluded with a love letter to the county that made them.

For these guys to call their debut album The Standard for beatdown hardcore is pretty arrogant considering a great deal of this album to me lacks innovation or Knocked Loose & Hatebreed doing that style of hardcore punk more justice. Harrison Linder sporting apparel from the neo-Nazi associated clothing brand Curb Stomp & reposting a couple far-righters on their Instagram after their “apology” video only adds insult to injury, to which I think the punk rock scene shouldn’t let fly considering they’ve always stood on rebelling against authoritarianism & bigotry.

Score: 0.5/5

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Tyga – “$tarface” review

This is the 8th studio LP from Compton, California rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & television personality Tyga. Dropping 4 mixtapes & a full-length debut prior to Young Money Entertainment alongside Cash Money Records & Republic Records signing him, he released 11 more tapes & a couple albums through the major labels except Careless World: Rise of the Last King was the only one of the bunch that stood out. The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty & Kyoto under his own imprint Last Kings Records would both become the worst in his discography regardless of the latter marking his EMPIRE Distribution debut excluding Bitch I’m the Shit 2, introducing us to his $tarface alter-ego.

“Spinnin’ in Circles” unceremoniously opens with an 80s synthpop throwback where Tyga’s lifelessly singing about everything moving fast & cold whereas “White Grains” comes through with an distractingly obvious Tory Lanez bite that makes me wanna listen to the latter, which says a lot because I’m not a big Tory fan. “Powdered Dreams” continues the 80s vibes singing about everything being his at the Miami Beach shoreline until the synthwave-inspired “Just Us Tonight” gets romantic when he dated an underage Kylie Jenner.

Reaching the halfway point, “Freezing” direly uses the change of temperature for a breakup metaphor despite the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City atmosphere until the lead single “Gave U Racks” lets the Tory Lanez influences bleed heavier annoyingly singing about a woman winding up stranded as a result of her buying the love Tyga gave her. “Time is Currency” fully embraces the synthwave aesthetics one more explaining to his partner that the reason they haven’t spent much time together is due to money.

“Affection” gets ready to conclude $tarface in the form of this sloppy 2nd & final single capitalizing on 80s nostalgia singing about a woman who desires love & cash while “Died 4U” sounds like an impromptu karaoke session he was having in the studio whining over an ex he’s missing. The outro “Last Forever” spends the disaster’s final minutes trying to evoke the sensation of being in a high school prom hoping for a feeling that won’t ever end.

Young Money now has been defined by Lil Wayne crying for not playing the Super Bowl half-time show along with Drake having his ego shattered in a rap beef & Nicki Minaj protecting predators, but Tyga could most likely be the most irrelevant artist to come out of the whole YMCMB camp & I don’t know what will make people realize that if $tarface’s creative bankruptcy doesn’t. The synthpop, contemporary R&B, synth-funk & synthwave production was confirmed to be AI-generated & Tyga’s singing hasn’t improved at all since Kyoto.

Score: 0/5

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T.F. – “Skanless Summers: The Legend of…Maniac Blue” review

Los Angeles, California emcee T.F. enlisting MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 to produce his Roc Nation Records debut & his 2nd LP of the year. Initially hearing him on “Tookie Knows, Pt. II” off ScHoolboy Q’s magnum opus Blank Face LP, he subsequently dropped his debut EP No Hooks only 7 months later, which was followed up by his full-length debut ErThangSkanless & then a 2nd EP called OktoberFest. After appearing on Flee Lord’s 8th EP Hand Me My Flowers produced entirely by Buckwild& put out 2 more EPs on his own, T.F. eventually signed to Lord Mobb Music & put out Blame Kansas produced by both Mephux & Roc Marciano. Coming off the Khrysis-produced The Green Bottle & the DJ Muggs-produced Don’t Call Me Lucky however, he’s staying hot with Skanless Summers: The Legend of…Maniac Blue.

“Maniac Blue” opens up with the funky trap beat introducing us to the main character who’s widely known for being a gangsta whereas “Janky Gold” gives me some heavy Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas vibes instrumentally flexing the rubber bands around his wrist. “South Coast Plaza” featuring Jay Worthy finds the pair over a g-funk beat talking about being big budget prior “Bounce Rocc” featuring Trizz & Zoe Osama bringing the trio together for my least favorite single since Zoe didn’t impress me like Trizz did.

As for “Hollywood Slang’n”, we have T.F. maintaining the funk vividly putting us inside the shoes of a dope dealer just before “Cend’n Corners” featuring LilBunko talks about both of them driving around the street carrying pistols in their laps. “A Different Cloth” featuring Dreebo & Fat Meech links up so all 3 of them can decently talk bout being built differently than the rest of these muhfuckas while “Luv Letters” takes a more soulful route getting romantic topically.

“I’m a Dog” featuring pushes closer towards the conclusion of Skanless Summers: The Legend of…Maniac Blue discussing the kind of person he is over a g-funk instrumental while “Bebe’s Kids” featuring ICECOLDBISHOP references the Paramount Skydance Corporation adult animated comedy of the same name based off the late Robin Harris’ standup routine. “The Ballads” masterfully sends off the album telling the stories of a dead loc.

Originally announced last month, Skanless Summers: The Legend of…Maniac Blue had me expecting it to maintain the level of quality Don’t Call Me Lucky achieved several months earlier & I’m somewhat disappointed with the final results. Which doesn’t have anything to do with MIKE SUMMERS’ production or T.F.’s gangsta-infused subject matter, it’s mostly because of the excessive number of guest appearances varying between enjoyable & lackluster.

Score: 3/5

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Goosebytheway – “Nature Boy” review

Buffalo, New York rapper & singer/songwriter Goosebytheway making his full-length studio debut. Signing to Drumwork Music Group back in 2022, he would make a handful of guest appearances across several Conway the Machine projects preceding his debut mixtape By the Way a year afterwards. But the time has come for him to drop his very own LP Nature Boy named after 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair following The Demand ending The Conglomeration’s reign as AEW World Trios Champions.

“203” featuring Conway the Machine finds the pair talking about where they come from over an opulent beat whereas “Rivi” takes the boom bap route instrumentally asking whether anyone’s hearing him or if they’ve heard of him yet. “Pesto Margarita” maintains the more kicks & snares keeping a gun on him in case anyone acts out leading into “Walk Ups” featuring Conway the Machine & Fuego Base seeing the trio ripping up a drumless loop from Bozack Morris.

K’mani & Spark Houston’s contributions to “Pedigree” weren’t that great despite the reference to 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, 14-time WWE world champion, 5-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE tag team champion & the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division’s CCO Triple H while “Nowhere to Be Found” featuring Jottibee after a skit continues the 2nd act of Nature Boy talking about being prepared for war since they’ve hit rock bottom.

“Selfish” featuring Jae Skeese makes up for the mediocre guest verses having both Drumwork labelmates getting stingy as fuck together while “Heisenberg” featuring Conway the Machine & SK da King includes a reference to the main character of my all-time favorite show: Breaking Bad. The closing track “I Ain’t Did Enough” spends the album’s final minutes with 1 last boom bap cut feeling like he should’ve done more since he has 2 kids to raise.

Regardless of former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion as well as WWE Hall of Famer & the inaugural WWE Champion Buddy Rogers originally earning the Nature Boy nickname, I typically see people caring less for the features Goosebytheway has been doing for Conway in recent memory & I’ve been giving him the benefit of the doubt since he got his label deal because I felt there was room for him to grow. The production has improved since his last tape so have the performances from both Goose & the guests.

Score: 3.5/5

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