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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Nvy Jonez LKR – “A.L.T.D. (Angels Loyal to Demons)” review

This is the 3rd EP from Brooklyn emcee Nvy Jonez LKR. Coming up in the summer of 2019 off an eponymous debut EP, he would go on to expand his profile in the underground within the last few years by follow it up in the form of Black Popeye & even a tetralogy of collab EPs with D-Rell called the Chicken Spot series, coming fresh off the latest installment 6 Piece earlier this past summer. But for A.L.T.D. (Angels Loyal to Demons) over here, Nvy’s enlisting Accosta the Man to produce the entire thing from start to finish.

“Blakk Magikk” is a vibraphone-laced boom bap opener with Nvy talking about wanting all the static whereas “Greed & Love” follows it up with some twinkling keys & dusty kicks letting y’all know who you’re fucking with accompanied by a sung AHVE verse during the 2nd half. “Enemy” with JahVybez & King Moe finds the trio over a trap instrumental asking if you see the villain when looking into their eyes while D-Rell & Rodey Cali’s Remedy tag along for the 3rd installment of the “Street Politics” series returning to the boom bap with some gangsta bars.

The penultimate track “Drugz” brings it back to the trap for the first half prior to the beat switch during the 2nd talking about coming in hot just before “Violence” finishes the EP off by enlisting Negash Ali & Showrocka to assist in him on top of a boom bap instrumental basically summing up the whole theme of the EP by praying & scheming at the same time.

I still stand on 6 Piece being the best Chicken Spot installment yet, so it had me intrigued about where Nvy would take it on a future solo project. Now that we got a 3rd EP from him, I think the fans will dig it ahead of his opening set for Conway the Machine next month. The boom bap/trap production that Accosta delivers is his strongest to date & Nvy lyrically continuing to step up.

Score: 3.5/5

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TR Dee – “Crunch Time” review

Detroit rapper TR Dee tapping in with Danny G for his 4th mixtape. Notable for being 1/3 of the ShittyBoyz alongside Babytron & Stanwill signing to Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records, he also began carving a path for himself as a solo artist off his first couple mixtapes Trapped in My Bag & Made for This ahead of his debut album M.I.P. (Most Improved Player). Coming fresh off Trapped in My Bag 2 several months ago, he & Danny are teaming up on Crunch Time.

“Zap Zone” comes out the gate with a stunning Detroit trap intro talking about the whole block having lasers on them whereas “Franklin Saint” co-produced by Jakesand references the main character of The Walt Disney Company-owned FX hit series Snowfall, which I’m a fan of. “Drunk in Love” talks about being addicted to money like it’s a drug while “Odd Future” by the Dookie Brothers gives a nod to one of my favorite hip hop collectives of my adolescence.

We have TR Dee talking about how nothing’s basic when it comes to him & the rest of his squad during “Take the Throne” rightfully boasting that they’re the greatest in the whole city while “My Glocky & My Chop” featuring MJPaid & $camaurion finds the trio trading verses with each other for 2 & a half minutes. “Glo Gang” crowns himself the lieutenant of the Dog $hit Militia while “Wizardry” pokes fun at people scouting & watching others play ball from the sidelines.

“Louie V” winds down the final minutes of Crunch Time talking about his materialistic lifestyle copping a duffel bag from the iconic French luxury fashion house whose men’s creative director, Off-White founder & RSVP Gallery founder Virgil Abloh passed away 11 months earlier while the closing track “6 & 0” discusses his preference of showing people what he does rather than giving them a whole explanation.

Contrary to many Detroit trap fans enjoying Crunch Time less than both installments of the Trapped in My Bag series or Made for This & M.I.P. (Most Improved Player), it’s another great example of what TR Dee can do by himself & having a singular producer by his side takes it to another level. Danny G’s production exemplifies why he’s one of the greatest beatsmiths in this style of trap & all 3 guest performers match TR’s level of lyrical proficiency.

Score: 4.5/5

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UFO Fev – “Blood on the Bills” review

UFO Fev is a 38 year old MC from Harlem, New York who came up in 2014 off his full-length debut Around My Way. But 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 & more recently Sunsets in the Ghetto. But for his 6th full-length over here, Fev’s enlisting Finn of the Brown Bag Money collective behind the boards from start to finish.

“A1 Credit” is a gully opener where Fev comes out to admit that he don’t need any credit & that he ain’t slept-on until Pro Dillinger tags along for the jazzy “Drop the Needle” talking about not freezing when the world gets too cold for ya. LRed Inf then comes into the picture for the boom bap-heavy “Check the Balance” going in depth of doing it for the love & doing just that when they wake up whereas “Wash the Bills” takes a more drumless route talking about being a hustler.

However on “Drug Free”, we have Fev over a bare sample explaining how badly the crack epidemic impacted his community leading into the Ty Farris-assisted “Tax Man” returning to the boom bap letting y’all know it’s about respect rather than money. “Caged Birds” has a more mellow sound to it venting about life going on & on, but then “Left vs. Right” goes chipmunk soul detailing a conflict with both hands. The track “Watch What You Say” pretty much says it all over a somber yet dusty beat & prior to the spoken word outro “Words of Wisdom”, the gully “Keep Spending” with Saipher Soze truly sends off the album with the 2 MCs about how drug dealing is essentially an American past time.

Fev’s last 4 EPs have been hit or miss with me personally, but it just goes without saying that Blood on the Bills wipes the floor & will go down as one of his best projects much like Fresh Air or The Ghost of Albizu. Finn continues to cement himself as one of the best underground producers that Canada has to offer in recent memory with his incredible raw sound & Fev himself sounds rejuvenated on the mic.

Score: 4/5

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Pasto Flocco – “#TWLG” review

This is the 6th EP from Queens rapper Pasto Flocco. Coming up as an associate of Lil Tecca, he’s seen quite the success off his own once branching out on his own by dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the Surf Gang collective. Pasto rang in 2022 by dropping sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) under his newly founded Ghetto Luxury Entertainment & continued to build upon the sample drill sound on March Madness 2 in the spring & then Walking Glitch over the summer, so it was only a matter of time until he celebrated fall in the form of #TWLG only a day after his 19th birthday.

The intro is 2-minute kickoff to the EP with a futuristic instrumental admitting being in a certain mode as of late whereas “Off da Porch 2 takes a triumphant route picking up where the loosie “Off da Porch” left off as far as content goes. “mhm mhm” embraces a sample drill sound thanks to J6 talking about how that’s the exact noise he be making when a fuckboy tries to run his mouth to him prior to the airy yet booming “Joy Ride” letting y’all know he ain’t giving no 1s.

Meanwhile on “My Fault”, we have Pasto diving into cloudier turf so he can get unbottle his feelings towards a recent breakup while the song “Can’t Stop Now” brings a hazier vibe provided by Harrison talking about his refusal to quit. The penultimate track “Believe It” to things end with a remarkable sample drill-laced sequel to song that got Pasto where he is today: “Shawn M!”.

We’ve gotten a total of 4 projects from Pasto throughout the year & The Way Lyfe Goes has to be my personal favorite one of them all. Primarily because of the the fact that he throws it back to some of his older styles & mixes it with the sample drill sound that he fully embraced on the last EP he put out only a couple months back.

Score: 4/5

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