Downtown Boys – “Public Luxury” review

The Downtown Boys are a hardcore punk rock band from Providence, Rhode Island consisting of alto saxophonist Will Cioffi, guitarist Joey DeFrancesco, tenor saxophonist Emmett Fitzgerald, drummer Norlan Olivo, bassist Dan Schleifer & lead singer Victoria Ruiz. Making their eponymous full-length debut back in 2012, they went on to follow it up with the sophomore effort Full Communism as well as the Sub Pop Records debut Cost of Living. Almost a decade later, they’re returning for their 4th studio LP.

“No More Jodas” begins with an urgent lead single singing in Spanish about this person being the disaster Victoria wants prior to her stating that “The City Begins” where many assumed it would end over some punk rock riffs. The 3rd single “Sirena” uses a handful of metaphors to symbolize empowerment singing in Spanish once again dabbling with new wave just before the 4th & final “Yellow Sun” addresses Israel occupying Lebanon for the past couple years giving a shot at goth pop.

Meanwhile on “Viva La Rosa”, we have Victoria & Joey breathing new life into a song that was initially conceived during their Malportado Kids days take inspiration from skate punk leading into “Enemy Without” throwing the it back to the Downtown Boys’ earlier material stylistically. The 2nd single “You’re a Ghost” combines dance-punk & industrial rock so they can critique the rise of fascism in the United States while “Albuterol” treads the synth-punk waters singing about smoking in bed.

“Mi Concha” wraps up the final moments of Public Luxury with another Malportado Kids rendition singing about Victoria’s shell not being white enough for others amplifying the new wave elements while “Public Works” starts with some galloping punk riffs & commanding vocal performances preceding the synthesizers & even an occasional saxophone. The title track spends the album’s last couple minutes blending more synths with a piano for a delicately electronic outro.

Amplifying the primary post-punk influences of their 2017 debut for Sub Pop, the Downtown Boys make their return after 9 long years with the most expansive entry in the band’s entire catalog & definitely the strongest since getting signed. They also incorporate influences of hardcore punk, garage punk, art punk, dance-punk, industrial rock, new wave, synth-punk & skate punk to make some bilingual political commentary regarding the people having it all in the end.

Score: 4/5

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Benny the Butcher – “The Plugs I Met 2.5” review

Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher preluding The Plugs I Met III with his 10th extended play. Being in the game for 2 decades already, it wouldn’t be until the previous one where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Harry Fraud came in for a sequel to the latter following the mature Burden of Proof & finally, Tana Talk 4 took it back to the basement a few years back. Coming off the Summertime Butch duology & Excelsior however, The Plugs I Met 2.5 has come 48 hours succeeding its announcement.

“Rise & Fall” featuring Elcamino & 38 Spesh after “The Dog & The Wolf” intro hops over a soulful instrumental from Harry Fraud explaining that there’s a certain price of the game that we haven’t accept even if we don’t want to leading into “Big Difference” featuring Bruiser Wolf & Fuego Base produced by the late DJ Shay works in a symphonic boom bap beat so the trio can respond to all of the haters criticizing them for their recent acquisitions.

Daringer & Beat Butcha get behind the boards on “Once Upon a Time” to kick off the 2nd half of The Plugs I Met 2.5, replacing the strings with a more sinister backdrop explaining that every leader was a good soldier at a certain point in their lives just before “Talk Shows” featuring Raekwon reunites with Harry Fraud to discuss having no respect for those who buy their runs since they hustled to earn theirs. The closing track “Can’t Be Much” sends off the EP with a symphonic trap outro getting in his coke rap bag lyrically.

Many will presumably say that The Plugs I Met 2.5 is the best thing Benny the Butcher has made since Tana Talk 4 or Everybody Can’t Go, but I did enjoy it a lot more than Summertime Butch 2 almost a year earlier as much of a huge improvement it was over it’s predecessor & has me anticipating a forthcoming trilogy chapter. The production feels like a mix between both installments of The Plugs I Met series letting Harry Fraud handle most of it outside of Daringer & DJ Shay’s contributions, bringing a stellar guest list on board for all but 2 tracks excluding the intro to break down the mafioso life.

Score: 4.5/5

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Pz’ – “No Turnin’ Back” review

Yes, we finally have another extended play from Atlanta, Georgia rapper & fashion model Pz’. Emerging a couple years ago off the strength of his debut single “Sun”, he would eventually blow up last summer when “Hedis Bussin’” came out & has since collaborated with the likes of billi0n for his debut mixtape Revenge as well as the Uy Scuti Bøyz’ eponymous tape earlier this spring. B4NTB came out a few days ago & No Turnin’ Back has arrived after a 48 hour delay as promised.

“Never Gon’ Home” opens with a bassy intro explaining that it’s difficult for him to specifically say where he’s headed leading into “Live Strong” hazily talking about how he prayed for his success to come & all of his ØWay brethren playing their individual roles. “Dis Ain’t Right” speaks of being trained to kill along with smoking up all his weed because he can’t sleep at night while “Canes” talks about all this internet shit being a joke to him & coming from a city where all the artists are homegrown.

dragnutz makes the EP’s sole guest appearance on the synth-driven “No Ceilings” so they can discuss reaching new heights together just before “X Tape” talks about possibly changing this woman’s life after having sex. “Fête Feeling” experiments with Afrobeats observing that the woman he slept with has been acting strange around him & after “Claim to Fame” talks about constantly thinking of money, the outro “Maxfields” finishes up suggesting he might make a bag only to put it in his will afterwards.

No Turnin’ Back retains the similar trap & pop rap production that made B4NTB such an interesting prelude although there are more elements of rage being incorporated & a small dosage of Afrobeats towards the backend of it contrasting the previous EP’s futuristic swag undertones. Pz’ could potentially be the most versatile member of the ØWay collective the more I think of it & I already know his discography will only improve going forward.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ras Ceylon – “Scrollz of Lion Rock” review

Here is the 9th studio LP from Oakland, California recording artist & educator Ras Ceylon. Widely accepted for being the very first Sri Lankan emcee to emerge within the western hip hop canon by making his 1999 debut, he would later go on to join the Wu-Tang Killa Beez collective & drop 7 more full-lengths. However, he enlisted the late Oli “Power” Grant to executive producer Scrollz of Lion Rock prior to his passing with Holy Toledo Productions founder M-80 handling the A&R duties.

After the compositional “Grand Entrance (Sigriya)” intro, “Word is Bond” featuring Cappadonna & Timbo King finds the trio over a boom bap instrumental reminding the world who they are whereas “Dis.Info.Age” samples “Gazzillion Ear” by the late MF DOOM to talk about the rise of misinformation. “Ancestors” featuring Ras Kass joins forces to discuss the fearless of black people while “Buzzsaw” featuring Timbo King & 9th Prince dismantles all industry plants.

“Uprising” switches things up with a trap beat talking about how he doesn’t hide from shit leading into “Duality” featuring Timbo King produced by Mathematics reaching the halfway point with my favorite song here explaining that people either put the work in for glory or they merely don’t. “International Flex” featuring Tuff Like Iron & Yung Shanty brings everything together to go worldwide with it just before “Heart Muscle” soulfully breaks down his belief in love.

Timbo King appears once again on “Free the World” talking about fighting to win while “Land Grab” dabbled with trap again, maintaining the conscious subject matter. “River 2 Sea” featuring Solomon Childs calls for an end to the Gaza genocide & all apartheid but after “Sword Swingin’” featuring Planet Asia & Timbo King tries to see who’s pen cuts the deepest, the outro “Blessingz” featuring Prodigal Sunn ends the album advising not to take life for granted.

Built on the creative foundation of Jacket Fulla Medalz a couple years ago, Scrollz of Lion Rock elevates Ras Ceylon’s partnership with Timbo King into a fully realized long-form statement that cements him within the Wu-Tang Killa Beez lineage while highlighting his unique globally grassroots voice enlisting guests who help extended the narratives pushed. The production’s mainly rooted in the traditional boom bap sound confronting themes of power, resistance, survival & cultural memory with precision & weight.

Matt Proxy – “Trojan Horse” review

Matt Proxy is a 19 year old rapper & producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota who began making music as a teenager several multiple aliases with the most prominent ones being cloutedmatt & mwru. He has since dropped a total of 5 extended plays, with his previous one Horse Play under Sony Music last fall coming out not too long after receiving co-signs ranging from JPEGMAFIA to fakemink & even Playboi Carti. Looking to further capitalize on his popularity, he’s releasing a full-length studio debut.

The self-produced “5” opens up with a rap rock intro talking about his life being in a rearview mirror although I wish fakemink had a verse whereas “Stars” hits us with a 2-parter detailing his every move being watched & smoking blunts for therapeutic purposes. “Atlanta” samples “Father”by The Christians along with “Answer” by Tyler, The Creator & “Forever” by The Marvelettes to talk about his dad just before “All You’ll Hear is My Song in Your Head” featuring JUSQ addresses insomnia.

“Misery” chops up “Hate Me Now” by Nas, “Just Too Much To Hope For” by the late Tammi Terrell & “Devil In a New Dress” by Ye featuring Rick Ross talking about his girlfriend still riding for him regardless of his own imperfections just before “New Solution” talks about being faithful to the money. “Blue” ends the 1st leg of Trojan Horseremembering his late sister who passed away back in March while “Never Kill Yourself” by never goodbye denounces suicide ideation.

We have “Meant2B” splitting itself into 2 separate portions talking about being destined for this music shit while “Love&Addiction” fuses experimental hip hop, drumless, sound collage, slacker rock, space rock revival & neo-psychedelia to ask if you can see the vision. “Sorry” later blends pop rap, neo-soul, experimental hip hop, neo-psychedelia, cloud rap & alternative R&B for another single addressing a breakup that he’s been going through.

“God” featuring Current Joys interpolates “Survival of the Fittest” by Mobb Deep talking about not wanting this life going full slacker rock & “iPhone” featuring Aiden Farley sends off Trojan Horse with a synthfunk/pop rap outro having Matt at the beginning of it talking about going fast, then we get a beat switch & Aiden hoping that nobody listens to the probable. I also found the guitar solo near the final moments to be exciting.

Trojan Horse marks a conclusion to a trilogy in which Beating a Dead Horse began & Horse Play bridged by taking more risks than Matt Proxy did 7 months earlier, resulting in the most powerful statement of his career so far. The experimental production dabbles with more live-instrumentation varying between slacker rock, chipmunk soul, industrial hip hop, sound collage, drumless, space rock revival, neo-psychedelia, pop rap, neo-soul, cloud rap, alternative R&B & synthfunk to take an prominently introspective approach to songwriting other than some occasional abstract & conscious detours.

Score: 3.5/5

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Cochise – “Trench Town” review

Cochise is a 28 year old rapper & producer from Palm Bay, Florida who introduced himself back in 2018 off his debut extended play. He would go on to drop 4 more EPs along with the full-length debut Benbow Crescent & the sophomore effort The Inspection. The latter of which has been widely considered to the weakest entry in his discography yet & Why Always Me? back in 2024 was an improvement, celebrating his independence following his departure from Columbia Records with his 4th studio LP.

“Parlay” begins with a 90 second rage intro talking about chopping the roof off his coupe whereas “SRT” carries over the hypertrap vibes instrumentally boasts that he made millions off this rap shit, hence why no one can tell him shit. “White Boy Swag” produced by venny has a crazy line about Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy trying to kill KiD CuDi on top of more rage beats leading into the soulful trap fusion “On My Mind” admitting that he woke up with some recurring thoughts in his head.

Pradabagshawty makes one of many stellar guest appearances on “Test” hopping over a BenjiCold beat talking about pulling up with choppers & kidnapping kids just before “We Chat” spends 78 seconds discussing a bad bitch who turns out to be bad news later on. “Who Dat?” sends a warning of decapitating anyone who tries to fuck with him leading into “Glorious” featuring Lelo joins forces over a Supah Mario instrumental sneaking in the club with firearms.

“It’s a Trap” gets the 2nd half of Trench Town going on some plugg shit cautioning against women saying they like you when that isn’t the case whatsoever in reality while “Headache” talks about needing some Advil to make his head stop killing him. “Cutlass” featuring Oodaredevil & 454 finds the trio masking up & shutting out mascots together while “So Much Fun” featuring prettifun talks about being so rich the point where they don’t need to make music anymore.

Meanwhle on “Bad Jit”, we have Cochise talking about his experiences of being a wild kid growing up while “Hashtag” wasn’t that impressive of a single to me although I appreciate the way he observes social media’s prominent usage of hashtags. “Gon” hooks up some celebratory synthesizers into the fold talking about killing shit with his twin by his side & the outro “Gilmora” takes inspiration from Ye to end the album giving a fuck less what people have to say since they treat him like a villain.

I wasn’t really a fan of Cochise’s major label output other than Benbow Crescent, but Trench Town commemorates this new era of his career no longer being held back by a major label to drop the most enjoyable collection of music he’s made since his debut. All 5 of the guests match his energy in terms of performances with the cloudy trap & rage production going a lot crazier than The Inspection or Why Always Me? combined.

Score: 3.5/5

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che – “Empty Clip” review

The 2nd surprise EP of 2026 & the 6th overall from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist che. Starting as a member of the 4ersona collective under the original moniker murkio before settling on cheRomani+ & later abbreviating it, it wasn’t until more recently where he decided to build a solo catalog for himself by putting out the debut EP 3 & followed it up in the form of X or the original version of his 3rd EP Closed Captions a few summers ago. Crueger that same Halloween showed more of a Chief Keef influence & sayso says was an acclaimed rage debut of it’s own, coming off the beloved Rest in Bass & Fully Loaded to unload an Empty Clip.

The self-produced “Like Lil Mexico” starts us off with a bassy instrumental talking about being tatted whereas “Tuesday” produced by CXO samples “I Don’t Sell Molly No More” by iLoveMakonnen to discuss women & drugs. “DMX” turns up the bass so he can pull out his Mr. Krabs voice & after “O.G. Ginobili” talks about knowing he’d play with guns since he was a kid, “Los Santos” runs it back with CXO for a rage-inducing outro.

Continuing to tease his upcoming 3rd studio LP set to drop sometime before the end of the year, this most recent extended play of che’s could likely be my favorite of the 2 that we’ve gotten from him within these last few months. Empty Clip’s production is predominantly hypertrap-oriented although there are some secondary influences of trap metal & experimental hip hop, basically refining what he was trying to do at the beginning of the spring in time for summer.

Score: 4/5

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The Alchemist – “Liquid Form” review

New surprise EP & the 13th overall from Beverly Hills producer, DJ & rapper The Alchemist. Beginning as 1/2 of the duo The Whooliganz in 1993 with Scott Caan, they would only disband a year later after recording a debut album that eventually got shelved & Scott went onto acting like his father. Mudfoot on other end quickly established himself as one of the greatest producers in hip hop history with a resume including ranging names from Mobb Deep & Eminem to Travis Scott & even Drake. The Genuine Articulate found himself rapping more & he’s returning behind the boards once again to drop Liquid Form in celebration of the New York Knicks winning the NBA Finals.

“Gutter Pain” by Kool G Rap begins with a boom bap intro telling hood stories others aren’t his parts weren’t able to whereas “Beat Like a Key” by 2 Chainz maintains the dustiness talking about blowing shit down right when he pulls up. “Streets Don’t Change” by Conway the Machine kicks off the 2nd half on some more dark boom bap shit & Con explaining that the streets will always be the same, but “On the Spectrum” by Boldy James gives us a prelude of an upcoming Boldy LP produced by Uncle Al himself.

This has been a long time coming for the Knicks since their last championship was over half a century ago, so I completely understand why The Alchemist said “fuck it” & hit us with a 4-pack returning behind the boards in preparation of the upcoming self-titled debuts from the Forensics and Abi & Alan. Rather than continuing the abstractly drumless vibes The Genuine Articulate went for, the guests comprised of individually established veterans depict the life of gangstas & there are significantly more drums.

Score: 4/5

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tana – “Me” review

Here is the sophomore effort from Atlanta, Georgia rapper & producer tana. Starting in 2018 as a member of the plu2o9 collective under the original moniker BabySantana, he would go on to drop his first 2 EPs Recreation! & Planet Sosaalongside his debut mixtape Quan before signing to Lil Tecca’s very own Republic Records imprint Galactic Records the next fall. tana later preluded his full-length debut bana by putting out Gaultier as well as London & Dale, celebrating his independence by dropping Me.

“keep rollin’” begins with a self-produced 2-parter talking about nobody being on his level artistically whereas “me & my gun” takes a more psychedelic trap approach instrumentally so he can get in his gangsta rap bag. “Insane (For Your Love)” swaps out the psychedelia in favor of pop rap elements expressing how obsessed he is with a woman he’s in love with leading into “i like her” talking about his girl chiefing blunts & the beat reminds me of KiD CuDi’s early material at points.

As for “take u there”, we have tana over a druggier instrumentally explaining that he likes to count up his bread & mind his own business just before “pray for my mama” talks about making sure his people are good where they’re rising. “Everything Will Be Fine” dismisses acting right since he credits his selfishness to being the main reason he became wealthy while “control” provides words of encouragement, telling the audience he believes in them.

“nsfw (the prelude)” kicks off the 2nd leg of Me on some 808s & Heartbreak vibes singing about being from the future while “again” returns to a trap sound dissing 9 Vicious & admitting that his days have been getting somewhat darker. “laptopnotebook” mixes some hi-hats with sampling techniques talking about not needing anything else other than those 2 specific items while “PMD” details being in love with the way she sits on his ambition.

Cardo gets behind the boards for the song “show it off” talking about wanting to link up with his shawty because he finds their relationship to be nothing short of gorgeous while “dear jodie” produced by Zodiac of Vanguard Music Group pens an open letter to a woman he knew wanting her to know that he’s a changed man. The outro “philly” spends Me’s final minutes talking about coming to fuck shit up & arriving to the function throwing bands.

Despite being happy for tana no longer being held back by a major label, I wouldn’t put Me above Bana or even Gaultier although I’m adamant of him putting something out of that caliber regardless of whether he signs somewhere else or not. The cloudy yet poppy trap production could’ve been better especially during the 2nd half of it other than a few occasional highlights & would’ve loved a guest appearance or 2.

Score: 3/5

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Boldy James – “Trapper’s Alley 3: Hell or High Water” review

Brand new mixtape & the 7th overall from Detroit, Michigan veteran Boldy James. Breaking out in the fall of 2013 off his Alchemist produced debut M.1.C.S. (My 1st Chemistry Set), there was a point where Nas’ independent label Mass Appeal Records had them on their roster for a little while before getting locked up. Once coming home, Uncle Al would help get his name back out there once getting out by dropping the Boldface EP around Christmas 2019 & then the sophomore album The Price of Tea in China. Manger on McNichols produced by Sterling Toles was as equally fantastic & the Griselda Records-backed Versace Tape EP was a tad bit disappointing given how rushed it was. Bo Jackson though would become his most critically acclaimed work to date & Super Tecmo Bo was almost as great for an EP. Fair Exchange No Robbery produced by Nicholas Craven, Penalty of Leadership, Mr. 10-08 produced by Futurewave, the Conductor Williams-produced Across the Tracks the Harry Fraud-produced The Bricktionary & the Carlo Anthony-produced Hidden in Plain Sight were all welcomed to warm reception additionally. Token of Appreciation produced by Chuck Strangers was much better than both Murder During Drug Traffic & Permanent Ink, the Antt Beatz produced Hommage left people divided although I didn’t mind it, although the V Don-produced Alphabet Highway along with the Killing Nothing sequel Conversational Pieces & Late to His Own Funeral were more positively received. Coming off his Roc Nation Records debut Criminally Attached, he & Craven are running it back for Trapper’s Alley 3: Hell or High Water.

The 2nd & final single “Summer’s Eve” kicks things off with a soul sample talking about seeing so many leave to the point where he no longer fears death whereas “Mama Maxine” featuring 218bojay keeps the drumless vibes going ensuring anyone who fucks with them will end up in the trauma unit. “My Last Try” blends chipmunk soul & boom bap talks about trying to put wings on a brick to make the glass fly prior to “Beautiful Snow” featuring Chip$ & Dave Hill getting in their coke rap bags.

“False Accusations” reaches the halfway point of the tape soulfully recalling a point in his life where he was incarcerated for a crime he didn’t even commit & once “Hamburger Helper” featuring Chip$ reunites the pair to kick off the 2nd leg opulently talking about counting up all the extra money they have laying around, “Powerhouse” featuring Chip$ & Lethalias Grain finds the trio asking if having green thumbs makes them gardeners & the cocaine hitting harder than powerpunches.

Wrapping up Trapper’s Alley 3: Hell or High Water’s final moments, the song “Grinding My Gears” soulfully talks about how he wouldn’t have ever imagined making a career out of his criminal experiences while “Don’t Tell Me (Trinidadian James)” flexes that his whole entire squad’s in the heavyweight division. The lead single “Death & Taxes” finishes up with this drumless gangsta rap outro explaining there being only 2 things in this world that we can’t escape.

Boldy James never disappoints whenever he locks in with Nicholas Craven for an entire project & that’s the main reason I’m usually very praiseful of their material, but I would necessarily put Trapper’s Alley 3: Hell or High Water on the same pedestal as Fair Exchange No Robbery & Penalty of Leadership or Late to My Own Funeral if you wanna include a more recent example. Craven’s drumlessly jazzy yet soulful production & Boldy’s gangsta/coke raps are like Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen although the guest list can be somewhat spotty.

Score: 3.5/5

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