Lloyd Banks – “The Course of the Inevitable” review

Lloyd Banks is a 39 year old MC from New York City gaining notoriety in the 2000s for his witty punchlines along as well as being an original member of G-Unit alongside childhood friends 50 Cent & Tony Yayo. After the group’s silent disbandment in 2015, he kept himself busy for a little while by releasing A.O.N. 2 (All Or Nothing 2): L.I.U. (Live It Up) & Halloween Havoc 3: 4 Days of Fury just before taking on a 5-year hiatus that really lasted until he received a song placement on the soundtrack for Griselda Records’ theatrical debut Conflicted back in January. Given that & his appearance on the upcoming Ransom EP 7 that’s dropping at the kickstart of next week, Banks is officially making a comeback with his 4th full-length album.

“Propane” serves as a devilish opener with Lloyd jumping on a piano-tinged boom bap instrumental rapping about running cats out the game, but then the next song “Sidewalks” advises listeners to avoid the wrong territory & the keyboard melodies on here from Cartune Beatz are more lavish in comparison to the opener. Freddie Gibbs tags along for the bleakly-produced “Empathy” as he & the Punchline King spit about being strong just before Roc Marciano comes into the fold for the soulful “Early Exit” to address the fact that they’ll always be respected.

Meanwhile on “Formaldehyde”, we get that drug dealer talk accompanied by Benny the Butcher backed by an icy beat just before going out for blood on the malicious “Death by Design” produced by Detroit’s very own The Olympicks. We go into a more trap sound on “Food” as Styles P accompanies Banks going at their competitions referencing Mayweather Promotions founder Floyd Mayweather before the slickly-produced “Crown” is a unique take on the saying “heavy is the head that wears the crown”. The song “Falsified” with Ransom goes back into boom bap territory as they both explain how they can’t trust anyone while Lloyd expresses his feeling of paranoia on the siren-induced “Break Me Down”.

I think “Commitment” does it’s job as a romantic ballad especially with the gorgeous sample Chase N. Cashe & then on “Pain Pressure Paranoia”, we get a powerful look at his demons. “Stranger Things” has a trippier sound as Banks explains that 50 changed on him & the theme carries it’s way into “Drop 5”, which has a cinematic instrumental & lyrics about betrayal.

The bells on “Panic” are a nice touch as it speaks on “not letting pride kill our vibe”, but then he says “if you’re gonna call yourself family stay that way” on the drumless “Smoke & Mirrors”. The penultimate song “Dishonorable Discharge” with Vado finds the 2 talks about backstabbers over a hypnotic sample & then the album finishes with the title track, which is an impassioning anthem telling you to find which path is yours.

I was wondering if this day would ever come given the 5 year gap between this & Halloween Havoc 3: 4 Days of Fury, but I’m happy it did because I think The Course of the Inevitable is the comeback that Lloyd deserves. He takes it back to the basement in terms of the overall sound & gets a lot off his chest lyrically with of course his clever punchlines remaining intact.

Score: 4/5

Eastside Ninjas – “Pact of the 4” review

The Eastside Ninjas are a supergroup from Detroit, Michigan consisting of duos Twiztid & Drive-By. Now this is far from the first time Jamie Madrox & Monoxide have worked with Blaze Ya Dead Homie & Anybody Killa, especially since all 4 of them have known each other since childhood as well as being members of Dark Lotus & the Psychopathic Rydas back when they were all signed to Psychopathic Records as protégés of the Insane Clown Posse. So really, it was only a matter of time before they united as a quartet & put out a full-length debut before Twiztid drops their rock album Unlikely Prescription on September 10 along with their upcoming Astronomicon performance this summer.

After the “Assemble” intro, the first song “ESN” opens the album up by getting in their shit-talking bag assisted by a saxophone-heavy instrumental from Young Wicked but then the next track “Outshine” goes into a more triumphant direction as they proclaim that their time has come. The quartet go on to address their haters on the bouncy, electronic-tinged “Like 2 Talk a Bit” whereas the appropriately titled “Highest in the Game” incorporates an alluring vocal sample as they talk about weed.

Meanwhile on “Get the W”, we get a rubbery instrumental as the Eastside Ninjas strive for success & then “All 4-1 1-4 All” brings in some west coast vibes in the production with lyrics about loyalty. The track “Relax Ya Mind” is a synth-laced banger about being relieved of stress while the final song “Reintroduce” is a boom bap/rock infused cut reminding listeners who the fuck they are.

Some will tell you Pact of the 4 a lot like the Triple Threat album should’ve happened when they were on Psychopathic & them would’ve being a lot better although I much prefer this over Triple Threat’s self-titled. I love the diverse range of sounds Young Wicked went for on the production end as well as the way all 4 members continue to bounce off each other just like they did when they all came up together.

Score: 4/5

Peter Rosenberg – “Real Late” review

Peter Rosenberg is a 41 year old DJ, TV show host & professional wrestling personality from Maryland who most people these days are familiar with as the co-host of Ebro in the Morning on Hot 97. Now despite me personally not being a fan of that show AT ALL, my curiosity for this full-length debut of Rosenberg’s got the best of me given how much I enjoyed all of the singles he’s dropped leading up to it.

The title track that starts off the album has a chilling boom bap instrumental from DJ Skizz showcasing the worldplay of Vel the Wonder whereas the next song “Stain” by Westside Gunn is pretty much him quenching for blood & the eerie JR Swiftz production kicks the vibe up to 11. We have Ransom, Smoke DZA & Styles P coming together to proclaim themselves as messiahs on the trippy “S.R.D.” while the lead single “Marcus Smart” by Flee Lord & Stove God Cook$ gives off 70’s blaxploitation vibes both lyrically & sonically.

Flee sticks around with Roc Marciano to reminisce on the days of slinging coke on the sumptuous “Hallways” just before Eto & Jay NiCE hop aboard the jazzy “Mind Over Matter” to address how COVID has fucked up the music industry. The song “Next Chamber” with Method Man, Raekwon & Willie the Kid contains a mystic Graymatter instrumental for them to rap about pride over while the Meyhem Lauren solo cut “Words of Meyhem” gets back on that drug dealer shit backed by a Buckwild beat with a funky bass-line & some dusty drums.

Crimeapple, Ghostface Killah & Jim Jones come together for the mafiosi-themed dreary “Snake Eyes” while the Rasheed Chappell solo joint “Midnight Sunday” brings in some strings & saxes bragging about his lifestyle. The song “Wu Generation” by the 2nd Generation Wu finds the quartet trading back & forth paying tribute to each of their fathers over a rich instrumental while the penultimate track “I Want It All” by Fly Anakin & Nickelus F is a much more soothing tune about achieving success. The closer “Dear” by Homeboy Sandman continues to bring the jazz influences as he details why he’s here.

Regardless of my thoughts on Ebro in the Morning, I can’t deny that this album is pretty enjoyable. There are a couple of weak spots in the tracklisting, but a good portion of of the emcees & producers that Rosenberg has amassed use this platform of his to showcase their talents & I think it’s a real good look for them.

Score: 3.5/5

Moemaw Naedon & Calig Kontra – “Cult Theatre” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between Pittsburgh emcee Moemaw Naedon & New Orleans’ very own Calig Kontra. The pair have worked together on a couple of songs in the past like “Slime Volcanos” & “Old Times”, but are now joining forces with producer Pyramid Tapes (also hailing from New Orleans) to take their chemistry to the next level on Cult Theatre.

“A New Abyss” is a short yet evil opener as the duo jump on an organ-laced boom bap instrumental to talk their shit just before Lyrikill tags along the psychedelic “Lucid Fragments” to say they’re proud of their environments. Meanwhile on “Witches Sabbath”, the production has an almost industrial feel to it as Lord Goat comes in to help get boisterous before going into more conscious direction on “Magenta Brainwash”.

I think the prophetic lyrics on “Sovereign Sirens” are really great as is the cinematic beat & despite the brevity of “Pass the Vodka”, it does it’s job as an aggressive alcohol-themed banger. The song “Tortured Calculations” tells the story of both MCs pulling up to someone’s show backed by an instrumental while the penultimate track “Altered Beast” is a thunderous proclamation of being living embodiments of syllable evolutions. “Futura Dystopia” is a victorious closer telling everyone to stay late for the sequel.

Now if we really do get a follow-up to this EP at some point down the road, I’d be all for it because I happen to like Cult Theatre quite a bit. Pyramid Tapes whips up some of the best batch of beats he’s ever made & both MCs hit down some pretty provocative lyricism throughout it’s 26 minute run.

Score: 4/5

Ty Fontaine – “Ascension” review

Ty Fontaine is a 21 year old rapper from Washington, D.C. breaking out in 2018 off the debut EP Do Not Disturb. His profile continued to grow from there, especially when Taz Taylor signed him to Internet Money Records last spring. But to build off the hype as a potential nominee for the 2021 XXL Freshman Class this summer, Ty has to decided to drop his long-awaited 3rd mixtape.

“Glowin’ Up” is a touching opener as Ty hops on a cloudy, drumless instrumental to address his continuous rise to fame whereas “RIP Whitney” is a beautiful tribute to the late Whitney Houston that heavily samples “I Have Nothing”. Meanwhile on “Dummy”, we have Supah Mario help go into an electronic-tinged direction with lyrics about going hard just before Cactus Jack Records’ latest signee SoFaygo tags along for the atmospheric banger “Run It Up”.

The song “Right My Wrongs” is a psychedelic cut about forever stuntin’ while the Richie Souf-produced “Nelly Furtado” is a short, dancier joint about his girl. I thought “Inhale” was a dope single leading up to the tape with it’s stripped back-production & Ty’s melodic delivery about smoking weed as was “Pristine”, which is a pillowy ode to Goyard.

“I Can’t Feel My Face” is a drug anthem that almost has a Neptunes influence in the beat while “White Girl Benjamins” is a tropical tune about choosing money over bitches. The track “Celebration” is a cavernous yet bassy theme to his newfound fortune while the penultimate song “Addicted” assures his lover that they ain’t gon’ lose everything they started without getting too sugary with it. The tape ends with the title track, which is Ty rapping over a glistening instrumental saying it’s only up from here & rightfully so.

This kid is one of my favorite mainstream artists on the come-up & I think Ascension is really gonna increase his chances of going places because it’s his best work yet in my opinion. The production choices are much more refined in comparison to Ty’s previous efforts & his performances are infectiously catchy.

Score: 4/5

Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen – “Your Worst Nightmare” review

This is the brand new collaborative effort between California horrorcore emcees Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen. We’ve heard them on a handful of joints in the past whether it be “G World Order” as well as “Disconnect the Doubt” or even Don Blanco’s “Good Name”, so it was only a matter of time for the duo to come together in a full-length capacity with Your Worst Nightmare.

After the intro, D-Dubb & Lil Sicx come along the atmospheric yet paranoia-themed title track whereas “Smoke” is a glitchy barnburner. Meanwhile on “Know What I Mean”, we go into a more spacious direction as they talk about leaving the murder scene untraceable while “Listen Close” is a grungy trap cut where both of them speak to the higher power. After the “What Are Nightmares?” skit, chopper extraordinaire Twisted Insane stops through for the cold-blooded “Slippin’” leading into the futuristic albeit dejecting “Stay Outta My Face”.

Off the Gas” if you couldn’t tell is a psychedelic weed anthem & even though I don’t care for Lace Leno’s verse on “Get Yo Money”, I love the diabolical production & it’s theme about stacking your bread. The track “Big Talkin’” gets braggadocious over a bouncy instrumental while the penultimate song “You Ain’t Really” with Fon Check is a dramatic shot at wankstas. After the “Wake Up” skit, “Forever” is a woozy closer with Agape joining Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen to tell their significant others that they’ll always love them.

I was wondering how this would turn out given how dope they sounded together on the 2 songs off G.W.O. (G World Order) & was not let down by it at all. I fuck with the aggressive trap production & their chemistry sounds better than ever before.

Score: 3.5/5

Novatore – “Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience” review

Novatore is a 33 year old MC from Chicago, Illinois coming up as a member of the Infamous Crew. He’s also built up an impressive solo career in the last 6 years by dropping 4 EPs & 7 albums, the previous being Portrait of a Mad Man this past November. But given his history with Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance, it’s only right for them to drop a sequel to Embrace the Darkness.

After the “Demon to Some” intro, the first song “Antisocial” is a boom bap banger about how Novatore doesn’t like people whereas “Smoke & Mirrors” goes into a more operatic direction to tell listeners what you thought it was is something that isn’t. NEMS comes along for the atmospheric “Myth” pretty much saying their success was imminent while the somewhat quirkily-produced “Embrace the Darkness” opens up about losing faith watching people die.

Meanwhile with “Mask Up”, we get a Japanese sample in the beat as Novatore teams up with G-Mo Skee sending warning shots to their naysayers just before Termanology & A.M. Early Morning help get reminiscent on the string-laced “Looking Back”.
The actual “Night Raiders” song by Azthmatix succeeding an “Opening Credits” interlude brings in some synth-horns as they talk about there’s no one like them while the penultimate track “Raising Hell” is an off-the-top freestyle backed by a weepy beat. The album ends with “Workaholic”, which works in a hypnotic vocal sample & the dude raps about his hustle obviously.

It’s very rare when a sequel album is better than the predecessor, but Explorers of Experience pulls it off. Novatore’s pen-game keeps elevating to higher levels with each new project he puts out, you can never really go wrong whenever C-Lance is on the boards & putting them together results in mayhem.

Score: 4/5

88GLAM – “Heaven Can Wait” review

88GLAM is a duo from Toronto, Ontario, Canada consisting of Derek Wise & 88 Camino. They originally caught my attention in 2018 when The Weeknd signed them to his Republic Records imprint X♥O Records, only re-releasing their first 2 mixtapes before departing last summer. But with their full-length debut Close to Heaven, Far from God on the way, they’re preluding it by dropping a 3-track EP.

“Five Stars” kicks the whole 10 minute torture chamber off with a plain instrumental, lifeless performances & lyrics that aren’t very sexy at all. In fact, this one part during the hook were 88 Camino says “she gon’ take this dick like she a virgin again” could very well be one of the worst lines I’ve heard all year. The next song right after “Clockwork” goes into more cloudier territory as the duo mopes about “I hate what happened to you but it’s all my fault” & the guitar laced closer “Wockstar” is a vapid look into their rich lifestyles.

Coming from someone who’s been a huge Weeknd fan since the Trilogy days, I could never see the appeal in these guys & Heaven Can Wait exemplifies that more than ever. I don’t mean any disrespect, but the production choices are painfully drab & it’s poorly written throughout. I’d rather listen to any ΠΔV project (specifically Emergency Tsunami) than this EP & that dude’s one of the most boring artists to blow up in the last 5 years.

Score: 1.5/5

Ed O.G. & Insight – Self-Titled review

This is a brand new collaborative album between Boston veterans Ed O.G. & Insight. Both emcees have collaborated before on songs like “Strategy” off the latter’s 2004 classic The Blast Radius but all these years later, they’ve decided to come together for an eponymous full-length outing.

“Just Listen” is a plain & simple opener to the album with it’s flute-inflicted boom bap production as the whole thing starts off with the duo telling Siri they wants something classic, but not trendy just before telling listeners to remember who they are on the dreamy albeit punchy “It’s Edo & Insight”.

With the perfectly titled “Never Too Late to Correct Your Mistakes”, we get some grand string sections with lyrics about righting your wrongs whereas “Choose Your Path” provides food for thought over a luxurious instrumental.

Meanwhile on “Good in Goodbye”, we go into a somewhat funkier direction as the 2 talk about breakups leading up to them telling the listener that life isn’t about choices but how one chooses on the piano-heavy “1 Step at a Time”.

The pair bring in some sirens for “Ceiling” as they talk about not even reaching their pinnacle yet & then we get a remake of my all-time favorite Big Daddy Kane song: “Set It Off”.

The penultimate track “It Takes Process” sonically mixes together some keys & strings as they talk about how Rome wasn’t built in a day & to finish it off, we get a reimagining of the Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs joint “I Gotta Have It” with the closer “Unite & Let’s All Get Down.”

As a fan of both these guys, I’m really glad to hear them come together because this is a super solid album in my book. The chemistry is great & I love the jazzy undertones in the production as well. If they plan on doing more together down the road, then I’m here for it.

Score: 4/5

The Truth & Frank B. – “Badfellas” review

This is a brand new collaborative debut EP between New York emcees The Truth & Frank B. The pair first came together last year on the song “I Know I Can” off of The Truth’s Spring EP & with the 1 year anniversary of that project coming up this weekend, they’ve seen fit to take listener through what it means to be Italian-American hip hop fans by crafting Badfellas.

After the “Lil Mo Mozzarella” intro, the title track incorporates some harps into a boom bap instrumental as the duo take a Ray Liotta quote from Goodfellas about wanting to be a gangster for as long as he can remember & making it into their own before lacing some keyboards & an organ on the money hungry “Fuck U Pay Me”. The homie Bobby J from Rockaway tags along for “Paint Houses” as the 3 show homage to The Irishman before going into a more rubbery direction on “Funny How?” as they put their own spin on a Joe Pesci quote from Goodfellas.

Meanwhile, we have Cold Shoulda stopping by for the quasi-jazzy “Code Red” discussing that they gotta watch their backs whereas the dusty “Caruso” is more reflective in terms of lyricism. I can definitely see people getting rowdy to the penultimate track “My Cousin” given it’s disrespectful lyricism & it’s off the chart energy before “That’s It” ends things off by telling listeners not to break the code of the streets & you can definitely tell the instrumental has a strong DJ Premier influence to it.

If anyone reading this is a fan of both traditional East Coast hip hop & Scorsese flicks, then this EP is absolutely work checking out. Both emcees bounce off each other very well, the movie references are super clever & the production is incredibly gritty.

Score: 4/5