Anderson .Paak – “Ventura” review

Anderson .Paak is a 33 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Oxnard, California who gained notoriety by landing a handful of features on my all-time favorite producer Dr. Dre’s 3rd & final album Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre in 2015 as well as forming the duo NxWorries with Knxwledge & signing to Stones Throw Records together that same year. He then dropped one of the best R&B albums of the decade with Malibu at the beginning of 2016 & that lead to Dre officially signing him to Aftermath Entertainment a few weeks later. But with his fantastic major label debut Oxnard dropping 5 months ago, it seems like .Paak is now delivering a follow-up.

Things start off with “Come Home”, where .Paak & André 3000 fresh off his role in the A24 Films sci-fi horror High Life ask for their former lovers to reconcile over a jazzy beat & a WWE reference during 3 Stacks’ verse. The next track “Make It Better” talks about mending over a smooth instrumental from Fredwreck & The Alchemist alongside a gorgeous Smokey Robinson hook while the song “Reachin’ 2 Much” is an infectiously funky odyssey about this woman who is excessive for him. The track “Winner’s Circle” is a lust anthem over a beautifully minimalist instrumental while the song “Good Heels” with Jazmine Sullivan sounds like an unfinished duet.

The track “Yada Yada” brushes off his naysayers over a mellow instrumental while the song “King James” of course pays tribute to the Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James over a funky instrumental. The track “Chosen One” is a dedication to .Paak’s potential soulmate over a spacey beat while the song “Jet Black” talks about this couple peakin’ over a laidback beat. The penultimate track “Twilight” is about this woman who puts .Paak back in place over a vintage Pharrell instrumental, but then the closer “What Can We Do?” is a duet with Nate Dogg about moving on from a past relationship over an uplifting instrumental.

Yeah, it’s just as amazing as the last 2 albums were. There are a few underwhelming moments, but .Paak’s sticking to his R&B guns again in contrast to Oxnard & he continues to show how dynamic of an artist he really is.

Score: 4.5/5

Diabolic – “Collusion” review

Diabolic is a legendary underground MC from Long Island, New York who made a name for himself by battle rapping in the very late 90’s/early 2000’s. However, it wouldn’t be until 2009 that he would release his debut album Liar & a Thief. Which was solid, but he would eventually outdo himself 5 years later with the release of Fightin’ Words. But now, another 5 years has passed & he has teamed up with Vanderslice to help him return with his 3rd full-length album.

After the intro, we go into the first song “Think of That”. Here, Diabolic talks about returning to the throne of hip hop over a soulful boom bap beat. The track “Jitterbug” talks about not crossing him over an instrumental with a prominent keyboard & synthesizer while the song “Normalize” vividly describes the criminal activity he involves himself in over a perfectly sinister boom bap beat. The track “See the Light” with NEMS gets cold-blooded over an eerie beat while the song “Who We Are” with Tre Mark Star, Coast & John Jigg$ is about how living rough made all 4 of them the people they turned out to be today over a spacious instrumental.

The track “Other Side” talks about living like he’s on his way to death over a vicious beat while the song “Once Again” is laced with deadly battle bars over a jazzy beat. The track “Simon Phoenix” boasts about his skills over a haunting beat referencing WWE Hall of Famer Pete Rose & before the album finishes with the outro, the final song “Last Day” with Coast sees the 2 talking about keeping it live forever but the beat on here is just ok to me.

All that being said: I think this was a dope comeback for Diabolic. It’s a bit too short as it only runs a little over a half hour, but he & Vanderslice display a pretty great chemistry together from start to finish.

Score: 3.5/5

Iglooghost – “Clear Tamei / Steel Mogu” review

Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, United Kingdom electronic music producer Iglooghost fulfilling his Brainfeeder Records contract with a double extended play & his 6th overall. Dropping his debut mixtape Comet_Camping (Brkfstttt) in 2013, he would go on to follow it up with his debut extended play Twenteen & its successor Treetunnels preceding Flying Lotus signing him to Brainfeeder. His debut for the label Chinese Nü Yr on Devil’s Night 2015 became some of the most creative wonky music of that year, looking to further the critically acclaim of full-length debut Neō Wax Bloom by compiling Clear Tamei & Steel Mogu.

After the “Påleo Mamu” intro, “New Vectors” gets things going with this genius 3 & a half minute opener working in some xylophone-like synthesizers & strings whereas the Disc 1 title track combines drill & bass, wonky, experimental hip hop, glitch hop, bubblegum bass, grime, liquid drum & bass, deconstructed club, neurofunk, halftime & hardcore breaks for a chaotic single. “Namā” might be the only track on Clear Tameisince it feels like he’s playing things safer leading into “Shrine Hacker” featuring BABii reaches the halfway point on an orchestrally bass-heavy note.

Disc 2’s titular song succeeding the “1st Vōids” intro wasn’t as strong as the latter’s & starts the other portion of the EP on a bit sourly just before “Black Light Ultra” makes up for it by sampling “Ain’t It Funny” off Danny Brown’s masterpiece Atrocity Exhibition. “Mei Mode” whips up a futuristically energetic wonky, bubblegum bass, hybrid trap, deconstructed club, brostep & grime single that can be rhythmically quirky at times “Niteracer” wraps it up with this wonky, hybrid trap, UK bass, drill & bass, glitch hop, EDM trap, grime & bubblegum bass outro.

When it comes to Iglooghost’s EPs, I’ve always had Chinese Nü Yr as my favorite but I’m gonna have to put Clear Tamei / Steel Mogu above it considering we get some backstory behind the English producer’s full-length debut out of it. Both sides contain similar production styles including wonky, UK bass, hybrid trap, drill & bass, glitch hop, deconstructed club, hybrid trap, bubblegum bass & glitch hop except Steel Mogu’s significantly darker than Clear Tamei & we’re conceptually being introduced to young God in-training named Tamei who winds up in combat against a group of mysterious beings 3 millenniums preceding the events of Neō Wax Bloom.

Score: 4.5/5

Conway the Machine – “Everybody is F.O.O.D. 3” review

Conway the Machine is a 37 year old MC from Buffalo, New York who has been hustling mad hard with his brother Westside Gunn & their label Griselda Records throughout the past couple years. He just dropped his 9th mixtape Everybody is F.O.O.D. last summer with a sequel this past winter & now with his Shady Records debut coming in June, he’s decided to drop a 3rd installment out of nowhere.

The EP kicks off with “Everbody is F.O.O.D.”, where the Machine spits battle bars keeping elbows flying like the late WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time world champion & Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage over an eerie boom bap beat. “The Basement” challenges his competition over a prominent guitar while the song “Country Mike” continues the confrontational themes over some somber keys. The track “Richest in the City” talks about that over a a nocturnal boom bap beat & while I do like the fitting sample as well as the drug dealing story being told on “Egyptian Cloth”, it sounds unfinished. The song “London Pound” with Berner gets boastful over a mediocre trap beat from Cookin’ Soul & then after the “Survival” interlude, the closer “Don’t Judge Me…” picks up as Conway talks about how he speaks his mind over a gloomy boom bap beat.

All & all, this definitely has me looking forward to The Machine’s upcoming Shady Records debut even more. Conway sticks to his guns lyrically & he returns to his boom bap roots for the most part on this one in comparison to the previous installment being more diverse, but it works out fantastically. However, my big complaint is that he could’ve fleshed out a couple tracks & add about 2 more songs in the mix. Nonetheless, great EP.

Score: 4/5

Yelawolf – “Trunk Muzik 3” review

Yelawolf is a 39 year old rapper, singer & producer from Gadsden, Alabama who first came onto the scene in 2005 with a mediocre debut album Creekwater. It wasn’t until the kickstart of 2010 with the release of his breakout tape Trunk Muzik that he would gain attention, eventually signing to Shady Records/Interscope Records & releasing his sophomore album Radioactive: Amazing & Mystifying Chemical Tricks the following year. A focused grouped, yet still fun major label debut. He then returned in 2015 with Love Story, where he started to incorporate country & rock music into his style. But when his childhood friend Shawty Fatt passed away at the tail-end of 2016, it caused him to disappear from the scene for a while. He fortunately returned with his previous album Trial by Fire, which is pretty much a self-produced & refined sequel to Love Story. Now after dropping a total of 8 vicious freestyles, he’s returning with his 5th full-length album & his last with Shady/Interscope.

The intro kicks things off fantastically, as it pretty much serves as a sequel to Trunk Muzik‘s title track from Yelawolf’s angry bars down to WLPWR sampling the original “Trunk Muzik” song itself. The next track “Catfish Billy 2” of course is a gritty follow-up to the cut that introduced the world to Yelawolf’s alter ego to begin with & even though I appreciate the song “Rowdy” for being a description of coming from the gutter as well as an abrasive beat from DJ Paul (who also provides an adrenaline pumping hook), the MGK verse is laughable. The track “Special Kind of Bad” is a violin & bass-heavy love ballad that’s goes over very well, but the next song “Like I Love You” is a cringey follow-up to it with a moody trap beat. The track “Drugs” is a look at addiction over a somber beat while the song “Trailer Park Hollywood” talks about looking country fresh & the beat is perfect for the whip.

The track “No Such Thing as Free” with Caskey & Doobie is a jab at people who talk crazy over an eerie beat while the song “We Slum” with Shawty Fatt & Big Henri is self-explanatory over a banger beat. The track “Box Chevy VI” with Rittz & DJ Paul is a tribute to old school Chevrolets over a vintage Paul instrumental while the song “All the Way Up” with MopTop & Cub da Cookup Boss is a look at their feelings on fame over some keyboards & skittering snares. The track “Over Again” is a somber breakup anthem with a cloudy beat while the song “Addiction” tells the depressing story about a friend of Yelawolf’s over a piano infused boom bap beat. The album then closes out with “Over Here”, where Yelawolf disses rappers who’re only out for the fame over a settle guitar & some thumping kick-drums.

With Yelawolf’s tenure at Shady Records being over, this is the best full-length album he’s released yet. The features are hit or miss, but it’s a great return to form of his earlier work from his deadly lyricism all the way down to the menacing production. Really looking forward to the future as he is now a fully independent artist.

Score: 4/5

Onoe Caponoe – “Surf or Die” review

Brand new album & the 3rd overall from Perivale, West London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Onoe Caponoe. Introducing himself in the early 2010s off his debut mixtape Central Control as well as Willows Midnight Gallery & Holy Mountain, it wasn’t until The Staircase to Nowhere caught the attention of High Focus Records & made his full-length debut for the label with Voices from Planet Cattele during my senior year of high school. Spells from the Cyclops continued Onoe’s evolution & had me hoping Surf or Die.

After the introductory skit, the first song “Suicide City” begins with a mix of Bionic from the London Posse & early Pro Era kicking flows over a nostalgic boom bap beat whereas “Red Planet” goes for a more cloudy Memphis trap vibe inciting an intergalactic mosh pit. “Ms. Universe” feels instrumentally reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest’s late 90s output telling the woman he’s been seeing that he can make the stars shine while “Blood Moon (City Hunt)” shifts treads the trap waters again discussing 169 coming through the back door.

“Valentine’s Massacre” returns the boom bap after the compositional “Carnival of Souls (Hypno Pop)” piece abstractly referencing the murder of seven members & associates of Chicago, Illinois’ notorious North Side Gang just before “Graveyard Funk” shows off a bit of a Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony influence with a Memphis twist to it. “Behind the Wall of Sleep” talks about the good living forever & bad croaking whenever their time comes leading into “Chop ‘Em Down (Mosh of the Dead)” featuring L-Zee Roselli ending the 1st half of Surf or Die with an aggressive crunk gangsta rap fusion.

After the “Last Bittersweet Moment” instrumental intermission, “Heathers” smokily recalls a woman he met during the summertime & getting far away from people together while “Spaceship Funk / Cat on the Roof” talks about being swerved out in our solar system ahead of the spoken word outro during the 2nd half. “Raincloud” brings some jazzy piano chords in the fold speaking hearing voices in the back of his head like the Harry Potterfranchise antagonist Voldemort while the trap-flavored “Phone Call” produced by Telemachus talks about stepping out engulfed in flames.

“Crazy Cat Coffee Party” takes inspiration from jazz rap once again flexing that he’s been high in the sky & there being nobody higher than him generally while “Yellow Brix” confesses to being afraid of changing. “Lost the Love” smoothly samples “Running Out of Time” by Rexy realizing his mind’s true potential & the final song “Cymatics” prior to the “Black Sun (Love’s Key)” outro jazzily leaves a trail of flames behind when it’s time for him to go off.

Capturing the turbulence within Onoe Caponoe’s life these past couple years, I have no doubts of Surf or Die being heralded as the greatest LP in his entire discography & amongst the top 5 projects throughout High Focus Records’ most for years to come. The prominent experimental hip hop direction of Spells from the Cyclops ventures further out in favor of boom bap, jazz rap, cloud rap, Memphis rap, trap & sound collage getting a lot more lyrically abstract than what he’s done previously.

Score: 4.5/5

Logic – “Supermarket” review

Logic is a 29 year old rapper who came up at the beginning of the decade with his Young Sinatra series of mixtapes. His first 2 studio albums Under Pressure & The Incredible True Story showed more promise of his potential, but pretty much everything after that saw him taking a total nosedive. However with a new novel out now, he saw fit to release a new album accompanying it.

The “Bohemian Trapsody” has a pretty acoustic instrumental, but it sounds half-written. The next song “Can I Kick It?” is a buttery bastardization of the iconic Tribe Called Quest song with the same name while the song “Time Machine” is a cringey piano ballad about saving this chick (presumably his ex-wife Jess Andrea). The song “Pretty Young Girl” is a decent acoustic tribute to one of Logic’s Day 1 while the title track insists that he’s not a stalker, but yet he’s obsessing over this chick to the point where he goes to her job just to see her & fantasizes over her constantly. The song “Baby totally ruins Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” while the track “By the Bridge” is pretty much Logic whining about why this woman doesn’t love him over another acoustic instrumental.

The song “Best Friend” is an acoustic love ballad that goes over pretty decently while the track “Lemon Drop” talks about setting this woman free over some funky guitar licking. The song “I’m Probably Gonna Rock Your World” is a hilariously sappy sex tune with a dreamy instrumental from Mac DeMarco of all people while the track “Vacation from Myself” talks about not needing sophistication over a mellow instrumental. The song “DeLorean” is another love ballad filled with Back to the Future & then the closer “I Love You Forever” is pretty much a boring diatribe to Jess.

I don’t know what else to say about this, it’s easily the worst thing he’s ever done. I can appreciate Logic for stepping out of his comfort zone & the production is cool for the most part, but the instrumentals tend to wear thin by the end. On top of that: his singing is awful & the lyrics are cornier than anything he’s been putting out since ΞVERYBODY.

Score: 0.5/5

Baka Not Nice – “no long talk.” review

Baka Not Nice is a 40 year old rapper from Montréal, Québec, Canada who started out as a security team member of Toronto, Ontario superstar Drake. He eventually signed to Aubrey’s very Warner Records imprint OVO Sound in 2013 & got a weird case of him forcing a 22-year-old woman into prostitution only to steal her money shortly after & questioning him being around him. Now just a few months after releasing his debut EP 4Milli this past fall, he’s returning with a follow-up EP that’s only 3 tracks.

The opener “My Town” gets confrontational over a nocturnal beat provided by 40 that fits in solidly & then there’s the song “30”, where Baka monotonously brags & the instrumental on here is super skeletal. The closer “Caddy’s” kinda bounces back as it’s a strip club anthem that actually goes over better than I had expected & the Juicy J verse is just flawless.

This is definitely better than 4Milli, but not by much. It goes a bit harder, but I think Baka & company could’ve worked in 2 or 3 more cuts so that it would become a more fleshed out product. Regardless, this has me a bit more curious to hear something bigger that he may have coming down the pipe soon.

Score: 3/5

GloToven – Self-titled review

Chief Keef is a legendary 23 year old rapper & producer from Chicago, Illinois who blew up onto the scene in 2012 with his Back from the Dead mixtape & his debut album Finally Rich. Both of which I highly recommend if you wanna get into drill music. He’s dropped a handful of projects since then & this new one with Zaytoven producing it from front to back really stopped me in my tracks.

The album kicks off with “3rd Person”, where Keef talks about how life is fabolous over an abrasive beat. The next song “Old Heads & Regretful Hoes” with Lil Pump sees the 2 talking about good dope over a somber trap beat while the track “Batman” spits that gun talk over an atmospheric instrumental. The song “Ain’t Gonna Happen” is an emotional piano ballad while the song “Fast” addresses fake cats over a spacious beat.

The track “Spy Kid” is a vicious diss towards 6ix9ine while the song “Fuck What the Opp Said” is self-explanatory over a flute-inflicted beat. The track “Petty” is a druggy auto-tune ballad that doesn’t go over very well while the song “Han Han” talks about money over a piano-inflicted trap beat. The track “Posse” gets confrontational over a glimmering trap beat while the song “Sneeze” continues the gun talk over a haunting beat. The album then finishes with “What Can I Say”, where Keef talks about hoes over a moody beat.

To be honest, this is Chief Keef’s best effort in a while. He sounds angrier than ever & Zaytoven provides him with some of the most hard hitting instrumentals that we’ve heard on one of his projects in years.

Score: 4/5

Elcamino – “Don’t Eat the Fruit” review

Elcamino is an MC from Buffalo, New York who‘s been blowing up within the past couple years. He dropped a self-titled EP with Griselda Records in November of 2017 & a mixtape last summer called Walk on Water but now, he’s delivering his long-awaited debut. The album kicks off with “Davis St.”, where El talks about being made over a soulful beat. The next track “Devotion” talks about just that over a luscious soul sample from DJ Shay & Nicholas Craven while the song “Ghetto Luv” talks about making out of the struggle over some horns & an organ. The title track gets bloodthirsty over an atmospheric beat while the song “Venice Beach” with Benny the Butcher sees the 2 getting mafioso over some epic string sections.

The track “Flu Game” is an unfinished yet gloomy minimalist piece while the song “Redrum” pretty much speaks for itself over an eerie beat. The track “Big Bro” is a dedication to his older sibling over a beautiful instrumental while the song “Too Grimey for the Radio” with Meyhem Lauren truly lives up to it’s title in every aspect. The track “9 on My Lap” with Conway the Machine gets back on the confrontational tip over a sinister boom bap beat while the song “Alter Prayer” with Crimeapple gets back on the mafioso tip over a synth heavy beat. The album then ends with “Hidden Hills”, where Elcamino continues to brag over a Termanology instrumental with some congas & an infectious horn lead.

Man, it makes me really happy to see Elcamino outdoing himself with each & every project. The production’s more refined & El sounds harder than ever, but I just wish it was longer than 29 minutes.

Score: 4/5