Johnathan Blake – “My Life Matters” review

Johnathan Blake is a 39 year old drummer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania notable for being the son of the late John Blake. His full-length debut The 11th Hour & the sophomore effort But Not Forgotten in the early/mid 2010s would generate enough buzz to the point where the greatest jazz label of all-time Blue Note Records signed him to their historic roster in 2021. Making his debut for them that fall with Homeward Bound, he’s ready to follow up Passage in the form of his 5th full-length LP.

After the 96 second “Broken Drum Cycle for the Forsaken” intro, “Last Breath” recruits Fabian Almazan on piano alongside Jalen Baker to play the vibraphone for an ode to the late Eric Garner reverberating the Black Lives Matter message whereas “Requiem for Dreams Shattered” after the “A Prelude to An Unnecessary Yet Tragically Banal Oratorio” further displays Fabian’s talents with the keys remembers those whose dreams weren’t realized.

“In a Brown Study” feels like yet another interlude albeit the upright bassist talents of Dezron Douglas get a chance to shine just before Muna Blake provides the spoken word piece “I Still Have a Dream” with Dezron playing behind her. The title track combines post-bop with a small dosage of nu jazz enlisting Dayna Stephens to add a synthesizer into the fold until “Can You Hear Me? (The Talking Drums Have Not Stopped)” continues the 2nd half with a drum solo.

DJ Jahi Sundance jumps behind the turntables during “Always the Wrong Color” combining the art of DJing with vibraphones & synths but once “That Which Kills Us Makes Us What?” shifts it’s focus solely towards Dayna for a couple minutes, “Can Tomorrow Be Brighter?” has to be the most tense moment throughout My Life Matters expressing optimism regarding the future in spite of all the turmoil that’s unraveled within our country these past 8 months.

“Lullaby for An Eternal Rest” puts the spotlight on Jalen’s vibraphonist skills crafting a gentle anthem for those who’re no longer with us in the physical form while “We’ll Never Know (They Didn’t Even Get to Try)” finds John’s son Johna accompanying him for a somber 7 & a half minute instrumental. “Prayer for A Brighter Tomorrow” serves as more of an outro blending soothing piano melodies & vocal harmonizations from local neo-soul veteran Bilal.

Ditching the hard-bop undertones of Passage a couple summers ago, My Life Matters still maintains the post-bop & jazz fusion elements of Johnathan Blake’s predecessor for the most personal entry of his entire discography. A commentary on the importance of family values & the social imperative to stand up in the face of injustice, he takes the lesson his parents taught him growing up about being a part of the problem if they don’t stand up to the injustice African Americans have unfortunately dealt with for centuries.

Score: 4/5

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Chris Webby – “88 Milligrams” review

Norwalk, Connecticut emcee Chris Webby tapping in with The Roots’ original keyboardist & former Aftermath Entertainment in-house producer Scott Storch for his 4th EP. Getting introduced to him during my senior year of high school when his full-length studio debut album Chemically Imbalanced under his own label 80HD Music in tandem with MNRK Music Group, he would go on to spend the late 2010s & the 2020s up until last Christmas doing the Wednesday series of mixtapes. 88 Milligrams linking up with one of my personal favorite producers had me thinking it was gonna be his finest extended play of his career.

After the “ASMR” intro, “Perfect Storm” begins the EP by pushing the hands on the doomsday clock over an instrumental that Scott Storch would’ve made in the 2000s during & succeeding his time with Aftermath whereas “In My Baggie” works in some pianos to talk about taking pills off the shelf at 12. “Put ‘Em High” cinematically cautions that no one wants to be a hero tonight while the trap-influenced “Running Scared” talks about playing the cards until they hit.

“Pyro” nears the end of 88 Milligrams with a beat throwing it back to either “Candy Shop” or “Just a Lil Bit” off of 50 Cent’s sophomore effort The Massacre celebrating it’s 2 decade anniversary earlier this spring talking about coming up in the spot to burn the place down leading into the cloudy “Rollercoaster” sending off the EP with Chris comparing life to a ride the way it goes up & down for roughly 5 & a half minutes.

As somebody who got introduced to him over a decade ago, Chris Webby has come a long way from his frat rap days in the past 15 years & 88 Milligrams comes right off the conclusion of the 80HD Music founder’s prolific Wednesday tapes with the most I’ve enjoyed his music in a while & easily his most cohesive EP on my opinion. Scott Storch’s production takes a nostalgic turn to when he was all over the airwaves as an opposed to adapting to modern sounds or techniques like having a producer tag on Dummy Boy & Chris gets in his baggie lyrically.

Score: 4.5/5

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Locksmith – “Wine & Circus” review

Richmond, California emcee Locksmith teaming up with New York producers The Heatmakerz for his 7th studio LP. Getting introduced to him through his Ski Beatz-produced debut album Embedded as well as the sophomore effort 1,000 Cuts & later Lofty Goals during my adolescence, his 2nd EP No Question produced by Apollo Brown later came out under Mello Music Group after I turned 21 & have been wanting him to match the same caliber of all those projects since. And considering the singles building up towards Wine & Circus, I was certain we were finally gonna get it.

The chipmunk soul sound that made Rrsonist blow up with Thrilla in the early 2000s bleeds all over the intro as the former Frontline member welcomes the underground to “The Greatest Show on Earth” whereas “Death by Temptation” works in a boom bap instrumental with a gospel sample to talk about honest guys getting demonetized now. “Culture” featuring Styles P gives a middle finger to the 2-party system for being flawed, which is a conversation many don’t want to have unfortunately just before the optimistic “Beautiful Day” talks about how great it is to be alive.

Joell Ortiz joins Locksmith for the soulful boom bap single “Closed Caption” sending a message directly towards the people who’ve been capping on their names noting that it’s too late for any apologies & once the drumless “Cons & Prose” gets on the conscious side of things lyrically, the sequel to “America” takes it a step further recapping the political climate of this ongoing decade. Interesting timing too because of Charlie Kirk being fatally shot last Wednesday, who was parodied by Cartman in the newest season of the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Comedy Central hit series South Park last month.

“Under Pressure” delves deeper towards the final leg of Wine & Circus with some pianos taking shots at the type of people who’re scared to face their own issues because of power going to their heads & becoming increasingly arrogant while the title track talks about never being harmed once you understand your worth. Mysonne appears for the closing track “Culture 2” picks up right where the original highlight earlier during the first half with more drumless vibe than its predecessor retaining the politically charged lyricism.

For almost 15 years now, I’ve noticed that Locksmith is at his greatest form whenever he’s tapped in with a singular producer like he was on No Questions or even Embedded despite the latter’s generally mixed reception. As for Wine & Circus, there’s no question we’ll be speaking of it a long time from now when it’s all said & done ranking it amongst one of if not THE greatest album of his career. The Heatmakerz’ sample-heavy production is a breath of fresh air compared to some of Locksmith’s material since 2018 & the Bay Area lyricist’s words of wisdom hit much harder in light of recent events.

Score: 4.5/5

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Tezzus – “Tezzy Pendergrass” review

Here is the 7th EP from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Tezzus. Introducing himself with his first few EPs Hard2Kill as well as Hellraiser & Everyday’s Halløween, his debut mixtape Tezzus Khrist last holiday season would significantly elevate his profile locally as did the handful of appearances he made on The XA Tape earlier this year. Coming off his new Søufside collaborative EP with Percaso as well as Backrooms & more recently King Phønk, we’re finally being tested to Tezzy Pendergrass a couple weeks following the I Phønk, U Phønk prelude.

“Gøtham Løve Støry” gets the EP going with a cloudy pop rap/trap intro confessing that he wants this woman’s affection & continuously making the money whereas “Permanently Stained” talks about shedding tears when looking back at how far he’s come. “Cadillac Whipping” produced by Feardorian flexes that he switches lanes more than his homies switch bitches leading into “Cøme Øn”, which is one of the more lyrically repetitive moments.

Yung Fazo links up with Tezzus on “High Fashiøn” giving a middle finger to the pigs confident that they won’t ever catch the 2 slipping just before “Main Høe” featuring Sk8star & tana finds the trio coming together for a cloudy pop rap/trap crossover talking about the way fame goes. “I See” expresses a desire for all of his opps to drop dead & thanking his mom for raising a star while the pluggy “Gangsta” featuring Pz’ talks about people doing shit for tends.

“By Yøu” starts the final leg of Tezzy Pendergrass heading for an atmospheric direction once again admitting that love never felt so real until he stood by the woman he had in mind writing this while “2night” advises the female she has in mind to stay away from snitches & that he stays strapped in the streets. I Løve U” appropriately sends off the EP by longing for his partner to be right beside him in bed.

Eschewing the rage subgenre of trap from a lot of his earlier material & more specifically the other 3 extended plays that he’s given us in the past 6-7 weeks or so, Tezzus puts his artistic range in the forefront for 25 minutes so he can reveal a sensual side to himself. It was a no brainer Tezzy Pendergrass would embrace a heavier pop rap vibe stylistically & the same goes for the romantic subject matter, but it feels authentically sincere rather than coming off as forced.

Score: 4/5

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Forgiato Blow & Stitches – “Make America White Again” review

Miami, Florida rappers Forgiato Blow & Stitches teaming up for a new collaborative EP. One of whom has been getting the same attention that the far-right has been giving Tom MacDonald these past several years & the other gained notoriety for beefing with The Game almost a decade ago this upcoming winter. These guys have crossed paths with one another a few times & are linking back up for one of the most tasteless music offerings of the year.

The title track is a grating trap opener endorsing white supremacy whereas “Pink Tusie” takes on the Detroit sound with some heavy bells talking about bringing the illegal drug cocktail to the function. “Chop ‘Em Down” rehashes the themes of the previous song vapidly portraying themselves as drug dealers while “Casino 1724” spews more delusional gangsta raps about how they be serving fiends

“Cocaine Cowboys” starts the 2nd leg of the EP by repping their titular statuses even if “it may not mean nothing to y’all” when they couldn’t be more right while “Get Money” borrows from the Detroit trap scene again insipidly talking about making paper. “Fidel” gloats of themselves selling bricks in Miami throughout the whole summer & “Plug Cried Tears” ends the torture by talking about never folding through their struggles.

Forgiato Blow already has some of the worst singles of this ongoing decade under his belt from “Boycott Target” or the most recent example being “Good vs. Evil” earlier this month & Stitches was the only bad thing about that “8 Ways to Die” single the Insane Clown Posse put out in 2019, but the crossover between both parties results in shameless promotion of fascism along with nationalism & white supremacy. None of which are acceptable or tolerated in hip hop culture.

Score: 0/5

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Ty Fontaine – “LOV3NDL13S” review

Maryland recording artist Ty Fontaine teaming up with Internet Money Records in-house prouder Rio Leyva for his 10th EP. Coming up in 2019 off the strength of his debut EP Waiting on Ascension, he would go on to follow this up with the full-length debut We Ain’t the Same alongside a couple of mixtapes & 3 more EPs, the previous being The Revive preluding a sequel to his Internet Money-backed debut mixtape Ascension & Black Truck Life. He signed to MNRK Music Group for his 7th EP 264 & more specifically Ascension 2, tapping in with one of his former label’s biggest beatsmiths for LOV3NDL13S.

“O V E R L Y – G O I N” is a bit of a hyper intro to the EP talking about his girl going stupid & calling him fine shit quickly whereas Fuk! Type! Shi! U! On! Bih?” desires legitimacy from his partner from the best to the worst. “I Shouldn’t Be Here” talks about finding him in places he’s not to supposed be while “b o d y tlk” if you couldn’t tell takes on the theme of intercourse. “errythang” finishes LOV3NDLI3S by explaining that everything becomes easier when it comes to his lover.

Somehow someway, LOV3NDLI3S manages to raise the bar higher than Ty Fontaine did on Ascension & Ascension 2 moving Virtual World to the side for his finest extended play as well as becoming quite possibly my newest favorite entry in his whole entire discography. Rio Leyva’s production is a lot more detailed than some of the previous material we’ve gotten from Ty in recent years & it’s what he needed for some time already.

Score: 4.5/5

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Jermaine Dupri – “Magic City” review

Jermaine Dupri is 53 year old songwriter, producer, rapper, DJ, entrepreneur & music executive from Atlanta, Georgia notable for founding So So Def Recordings mentoring the likes of Kris Kross & Da Brat. He also released his full-length debut Life in 1472 in the summer of ‘98 & later Instructions on Devil’s Night 2001, both under a distraction deal with Columbia Records at the time. Neither of which were received favorably, but is returning now that So So Def has gone independent for his 3rd studio LP. Not only his first in a quarter of a century, but also over 3 & a half years after introducing former 2-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Jade Cargill during her reign as inaugural AEW tbs Champion.

“Tryna Beat the Thrill” by Skooly starts JD’s comeback with a rich trap instrumental representing Atlanta & after the “Conversation with Big Meech” skit, “This or That” by the late Rich Homie Quan has to be one of the best songs of his career from his bittersweetly catchy performances to the infectious beat. “She’s a Freak” by Bow Wow & Travis Porter talks about their preference in women while “Magic Money City” by Bankroll N!, BunnaB, J Money & Sean P East shouts out the ATL strip club the album is named after.

Cee-Lo Green’s appearance on “Atlanna” gives off a trap soul vibe that I really enjoy to it propping up the city that he, the Goodie Mob & the rest of the Dungeon Family hail from leading into “Ass Shake” by Ludacris & Quavo sampling “Mercy” by Big Sean, Pusha T, Ye formerly known as Kanye West & 2 Chainz for another club anthem. “Pussy Got Me” by Akeem Ali, T.I. & Young Dro co-produced by BoogzDaBeast & FNZ blends soul & trap to get sexual while “Get It” by Rocko talks about letting in those who stay paid.

“Turn Around” by T.I., Young Dro, 2 Chainz and 8Ball & MJG was an outstanding choice of a single from the dirty south instrumental to the killer verses from all 5 performers while “I Wanna” by K CAMP & YFN Lucci doesn’t really captivate me the same way many other tracks do despite the glamorous beat. “More Than Me” by Belly Gang Kushington & Swavay throws it back to the snap era almost 2 decades ago while “Married to the Game” by Killer Mike & Jagged Edge meshes pop rap & R&B well.

Hollywood YC, Lil Scrappy & Skooly all team up on “The Kids from the Neighborhood” to talk about knocking on doors for the purposes of shopping people & stopping them while “We da Shit” by Lil Jon, Pastor Troy & Princess of the Crime Mob finishes our tour of Magic City with the trio throwing it back to when crunk was all over the airwaves in the early/mid 2000s hyping themselves up thematically with some simplistic keyboard melodies all over the instrumental.

Not too much of a fan of either Life in 1472 or Instructions as full-lengths outside a handful of songs from each of them, but Magic City switches it up entirely by focusing more on Jermaine Dupri’s production talents & that works out greatly in the long-run of his comeback. Recruiting a bunch of Atlanta artists, the So So Def founder’s beats here rival Metro Boomin’s on A Futuristic Summa with the exception of this being a love letter to the 770’s most famous strip club as opposed to the futuristic swag era in general.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ice Cube – “Man Up” review

Los Angeles emcee, songwriter, actor, film producer, CubeVision founder & BIG3 founder Ice Cube not slowing down musically with his 12th album. The cousin of Del the Funky Homosapien & Kam, he started as part of the C.I.A. gained notoriety as a member of N.W.A until departing after their historic debut Straight Outta Compton. Cube later got his own Priority Records deal as a solo artist, teaming with The Bomb Squad for his own debut AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted & later Kill at Will. Death Certificate went on to become another west coast hip hop landmark due to some of its racially & politically charged content, with his Lench Mob Records debut The Predator mainly addressing a lot of the racial tensions in the United States at the time. Lethal Injection was more g-funk heavy and the War & Peace double-disc effort marked the end of the former Westside Connection member’s Priority contract. Laugh Now, Cry Later distributed by Virgin Music & EMI Records was a solid comeback almost 2 decades ago next summer after mainly focusing on acting during the first half of the 2000s & then Raw Footage had it’s highlights although it was decent as a whole. I’m the West became his most negatively received body of work & the Interscope Records-distributed Everythang’s Corrupt showed to be an improvement although still average. Man Down last fall was a pretty great homage to his Day 1s & the sequel Man Up is here 10 months later.

“Man Power” produced by E-A-Ski starts by asking if one has masculine abilities from within whereas “What You Gonna Do About It?” disses the kind of people who only speak of doing things instead acting upon it. “Freedumb” consciously discusses how people are getting spied on through their smartphones while “Guess What?” talks about being in the cut figuring out if the targeted suspects are either for or against him.

We have Cube making it clear as day that one should “Forget Me If You Ain’t wit Me” leading into the only single “Before Hip Hop” featuring Chuck D & LL Cool J on the remix talking about life prior to making music over Hallway Productionz cooking up the original instrumental & DJ Premier handling the remix. “Act My Age” featuring Scarface dabbles with trap a bit for an ode to MCs over 35 just before “Ratchet Ass Mouth” cautions about the kind of women you shouldn’t date.

“Respect My Space” poses the question if anyone wants to battle him while “California Dreamin’” gives off a g-funk vibe for a tribute to the sunshine state. “That Salt & Pepper” shows off his grown man status for 115 seconds over a funky Erick Sermon beat & after “Bring Everybody” charismatically talks about being untouchable, “All Work No Play” finishes with a message to the O.G.s who feel the same way he does.

In spite of what others have to say about Ice Cube’s music in past 2 decades or so & don’t get me started with War of the Worlds flopping, I’d say that Man Down is the better of the 2 albums we’ve gotten from him in the past 10 months although Man Up’s very much decent. I appreciate that he only got 1 guest on here in contrast to the amount Man Down had, but the production here is a little weaker as a whole.

Score: 3/5

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K.A.A.N. – “Anger Management” review

Columbia, Maryland emcee/producer K.A.A.N. dropping off his 28th LP. He’s delivered numerous standouts in his ever-growing discography like Black Blood, the Ski Beatz-produced Requiem for a Dream Deferred, the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced All Praise is Due, Mission Hillz, The Death of a Rapper & The Nightly News both produced by former Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7, Peace of Minds and Delusions of Grandeur & In Due Time both produced by DJ Hoppa. Only a few months after the poorly received Yesterday, he & Hoppa are going to Anger Management.

The title track works in a flute with some kicks & snares to talk about being a problem child wylin’ whereas “Back to It” keeps a boom bap vibe instrumentally so he can see who’s really tough or not. “I.D.C. (I Don’t Care)” brings some organs into the fold to take 3 & a half minutes of not giving a fuck just before “What Do You See?” asks if one feels like him whenever you look in his eyes.

Coyote makes Anger Management’s sole guest appearance on the single “Breaking Bad” paying homage to my favorite show of all-time leading into “Smoke & Mirrors” talking about shit not being what it really seems. “Ego Death” has an eerier boom bap vibe addressing the kind whose thoughts are controlled by their self-esteem while “The Infamous” keeps it in the basement elevating above the minimals.

We get a sequel to “The Problem” where K.A.A.N. talks about having a bone to pick while “Illin’” feels like a full 90s throwback proclaiming to be the illest. “Comment Section” jazzily suggests to keep whatever they have to say in the social media comments while “Fuck ‘Em Up” suggests everyone else mind their own business. “Point of No Return” finishes the year-long trilogy by admitting he didn’t learn much & possibly erupting.

Some feel like K.A.A.N.’s whole trifecta with DJ Hoppa has overstayed it’s welcome & I would have to disagree with that because Anger Management can certainly hang with Delusions of Grandeur & In Due Time amongst the Maryland chopper’s greatest material of his entire career. Hoppa’s boom bap production is a huge upgrade from Yesterday’s & lyrically, Knowledge Above All Nonsense does a fine job of holding the fort by himself other than Coyote’s appearance.

Score: 4.5/5

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King Iso – “ghetto psycho” review

Omaha, Nebraska emcee/producer King Iso is back after 23 months for his 7th LP. Coming up as a protege of San Diego chopper Twisted Insane, he would only drop first 2 albums & The Insanity Plea & Autophobia under Brainsick Muzik. Shortly after, they had an unfortunate falling out & it prompted Iso to put out his next full-length DeMenTia independently in 2018. However, I was thrilled to see him sign with Strange Music the following spring & his debut on the Kansas City powerhouse World War Me has quickly become one of the label’s best albums ever. Get Well Soon as well as 8 P.M. Med Call & iLLdren all went on to be equally well received, taking us on a trip through the mind of a ghetto psycho.

“Law 6126” starts with a dedication to the ghettos worldwide talking about having to prove to the state of Nebraska that Iso isn’t mentally insane over a self-produced cloudy trap instrumental whereas the deranged “Element” discusses the environment he grew up around. “Butcher Knife” featuring Snake Lucci blends trap & rock talking about being in the middle of the map with pistols on their laps while “Hell’s Architect” featuring Matt Phoenix finds the 2 talking about keeping life in those who need them.

Starlito appears for “Giving Down” hoping to succeed for the sake of their seeds & after the “Top of the Morning” skit, “Check” gives off a ghostly trap vibe staring in the face of death to say “aye that’s twin”. “Beat Box” throws it back to the g-funk era a bit talking about those envious of his name ringin’ the way it’s been while the hyphy-tinged “Crash Out” featuring E-40 after the “Gas Station” skit finds the 2 speaking of uncontrollable anger.

“S.D.G.A.F. (Still Don’t Give a Fuck)” featuring Kuniva aggressively unites the pair so they can talk about giving 0 while “Trip” heads for an eerie trap direction instrumentally explaining the ways of craziness life has to offer. After the “Checking In” skit, “Bloody” radiates a doomsday atmosphere that I find to be suiting going through shit he wants to forget while the smoky “High” talks about smoking the finest blunts.

JB’s appearance on “Bad” doesn’t do a whole lot for me & nor does the topic of his woman’s attractiveness while “Concrete Boxspring” featuring Don Trip only slightly improves despite the theme of keeping their souls in tact. After the “On the Way” skit, “Travis O’Guin” gives his flowers to the Strange Music CEO himself & the founder of it’s subsidiary It Goes Up Entertainment while “Talk to Me” explains to his woman that he’s going ghost to count paper.

“Normal” starts ghetto psycho’s final act by assuring that it’s usual for all of us to have our unusual quirks while the title track embodies the core theme of the album over a booming trap instrumental with some keys. “Against the World” takes a moment to deliver a heartfelt lyrical tribute to his whole entire family & “W.O.O.T.S. (Writ Out Of The Script)” featuring Taebo tha Truth ends with both of them advising not to be omitted from the game plan.

Pushing himself out of the darkness & ignites his own light, ghetto psycho simultaneously embraces King Iso creating his own sound handling the production much like the rest of his discography except he’s incorporating more live instrumentation & adding his own unique sauce to any different style of beat you’d want from him. Conceptually, what he considers to be the most important work of his career engages in lyrical homicide on a massive scale whilst his mask of sanity is slipping.

Score: 4.5/5

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