Brooklyn, New York veteran Chip Fu putting his debut solo EP up on all streaming platforms after making it exclusive to EVEN for a short period of time. A member of the Fu-Schnickens, he put out a solo mixtape of his own 15 years earlier called Stop Playing & the sequel roughly 32 months later. The Beginning of the Reckoning dropped exclusively on EVEN at the very beginning of the month, but has now become available on all streaming platforms regardless of whichever one you prefer to use.
After the intro, the first song “Me” produced by Blizzard opens with a soulful boom bap instrumental & Chip taking 113 seconds to kick his speedy flows into full gear whereas “Levels” keeps chopping up more vocal samples to talk about life being similar to that of an elevator. “Thousandz & Hundredz” finishes the EP with a boom bap/reggae crossover blending intricate rhyme schemes with a chopper flow.
Continuing to innovate & elevate hip hop over 3 decades deep into the game The Beginning of the Reckoning regardless of it’s brevity powerfully showcases Chip Fu’s lyrical mastery & depth in superior ways than either Stop Playing or Stop Playing 2 did making considerable improvements in the production department of things from those early tapes.
Blood Orange is a 39 year old singer/songwriter, producer, composer & director from London, England, United Kingdom releasing his full-length debut Falling Off the Lavender Bridge & sophomore effort Life’s Sweet! Nice to Meet You under the Lightspeed Champion moniker. Coastal Grooves, Cupid Deluxe, Freetown Sound & Negro Swan have all became some of the greatest alternative R&B within the last decade & has signed to RCA Records to make his 7th album his major label debut.
“Look at You” begins with an alternative R&B intro seeking meaning in one’s grace only to find nothing & still searching for some sort of truth whereas “Thinking Clean” sings over some skittering drums & pianos pondering if everything was taken from beneath. Sophisti-pop, bedroom pop, dream pop & jangle pop get fused on “Somewhere in Between” pleading to have the vision of an adolescent again while “The Field” blends liquid drum & bass, art pop, alt-pop & sambass comes across the feeling of the sun keeping us warm daily.
Alt-pop, art pop, bedroom pop, singer/songwriter, indietronica & alternative R&B combine on “Mind Loaded” feeling like everything means nothing to him & unable to think straight leading into “Vivid Light” finding himself in rage & not wanting to be alone because the more you hide, the smaller you become. “Countryside” collides dream pop, alt-pop & sophisti-pop singing about wanting to be taken away from the broken lights & seeking comfort in Epping Forest while “The Last of England” melancholically remembers his late mother who passed away last winter.
“Life” expresses his desire for watch somebody he cares about making it on their own & gaining waves of daisies while “Westerberg” homages “Alex Chilton” by The Replacements alongside it’s former frontman Paul Westerberg, who embarked on a successful solo career following the band’s demise almost 35 years ago. We get hints of bedroom pop on “The Train (King’s Cross)” singing about feeling as if the worst has yet to come for the first time in his life while the somewhat jazzy “Scared of It” vents over the difficulties of always looking & in out of the end suggesting one’s likelihood of being better off on their own.
Nearing the final moments of Essex Honey, we have “I Listened (Every Night)” embracing a more smoother tone becoming unable to find anything soft in between accompanied by an alternative bedroom pop instrumental & “I Can Go” featuring Mustafa finishes to the LP with both of them singing about how what you know is something that they can hold during nights that flow into lows.
Conceived during a period of grief & reflection on his upbringing in Essex intertwined with the ways music has inspired & healed him throughout his life, Blood Orange takes the world on a personal exploration of grief & his roots by stylistically emphasizing an alt-pop & bedroom pop sound with secondary sophisti-pop, dream pop, art pop, singer/songwriter, indietronica, alternative R&B, liquid drum & bass, sambass and jangle pop influences.
Merlyn Wood is a 29 year old Ghanaian-American rapper & songwriter born in Accra, Ghana, Africa & raised in Texas known for being a member of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective. He also has a couple EPs under his belt with Teen Virgyn & Dirty Thunder, both of which where released to mixed reception as was Ameerlyn’s debut EP Slime in the Ice Machine under Blacksmith Recordings. Almost 23 months since Dirty Thunder, the Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the best boyband since 1 Direction is back by himself for his 3rd EP.
“Peace” was a stripped back choice of an intro singing over acoustics to ask when things are gonna get easier for him whereas “Ashes” embraces more of a pop rap/trap vibe talking about watching the crazy world we live in burn down. “Eater” pulls a bit of inspiration from rap rock for a description of those exact type of women & after “Nympho” continues to rap about lustful themes over a cloudy instrumental, “Backseat” finishes up with a trap outro getting down to business in the back of a car.
Dirty Thunder has gotta be my least favorite EP of the 3 that we have in the Merlyn Wood solo discography thus far, but Velvet’s the most versatile he’s sounded by himself since Teen Virgyn & a cut above that alongside it’s successor for his best solo material. The pop rap & cloud rap styles of that introductory EP are reincorporated fluidly except the secondary influences of wonky, alt-pop & alternative R&B are being replaced with the trap sounds of it’s follow-up along with rap rock & singer/songwriter.
London, England, United Kingdom rapper, songwriter & producer Skepta teaming up with local producer Fred again.. for his 3rd EP. A co-founder the Boy Better Know collective, a lot of people in the state including myself didn’t hop on board with him until almost a decade ago when he dropped his 4th album Konnichiwa to critical acclaim. This was followed up a couple years back with both Ignorance is Bliss & All In being welcomed to moderate reception, but the Skepta .. Fred singles had me anticipating this much more.
“Back 2 Back” fuses grime & dubstep together so he can talk about the recognition he’s gotten throughout his career whereas “London” carries over the styles of the previous track preferring to play the villain than the victim. “Last 1s Left” turns the dubstep influences up to talk about being the last of a dying breed while the soulful “21 Years” reflects on these past couple decades. “Victory Lap” co-produced by PlaqueBoyMax ends with a nod to the local community platform of the same name.
Both teasers that we’ve gotten these past few months confirms the speculation I had regarding Skepta doing a whole EP with Fred again.. & as I would’ve thought, it reveals itself to be the most cutting edge project he’s put out since Konnichiwa celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary next spring. Fred’s production plays well into the Boy Better Know co-founder’s grime style that he helped lay out the foundation for & simultaneously places electronic dance music as a secondary influence.
Detroit, Michigan rapper WTM Solid releasing his 6th EP. A member of the WRLD Tour Mafia, he also embarked on a solo career of his own beginning a few years back with the debut EP Originatour followed by both Matter of Time & What’s the Difference?. Bigg as well as the full-length studio debut album Imagine That at the start of this year elevated himself as an individual amongst the rest of WRLD Tour, following up Killa $eason by taking us through the day of a life of a Touropean.
“Black Eminem” opens with some horns & 808s asking if you’re with it or not so can make sure of it whereas “Better Than Yesterday” carries over the Detroit sound to talk about grabbing whatever he wants when he goes shopping. “Emote :p” has a bit of a hazier vibe instrumentally flexing that the gang never goes out of bonds just before “Aggravated <:” vents about how we haven’t seen him at his best yet.
As for “Kash Doll Skirt”, we have Solid going for a cloudier Detroit trap vibe thanks to Niketech talking about having nothing left to prove at this point in his career leading into “Crucified +” advises those hitting the road for the first time to strap up from another country. “Japan in Paris” talks about running out of paper more than hoes & not letting money change you while “‘25 Finals MVP” shows love to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Support > Hate” winds the clock down regarding the 4th quarter of Touropean with a cloudy Detroit sound courtesy of WTM Miles feeling like Bruce Wayne from the Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Entertainment-owned Batman franchise whenever he logs into his bank account & “Break My Arms, Break My Legs” finishes the EP continuing to shed Blood, Sweat & Tours for this shit.
Inspired by spending the last month overseas, WTM Solid comes over 4 weeks after Money Man Miles saved the rap game & the road once he took up the Shortstop position by cooking up an EP that’s only 8 minutes longer than the last one he put out earlier this summer repping the motor city whilst living the WRLD Tour life over in Europe.
Haverstraw, New York emcee Pro Dillinger completing the Dirtwave trilogy with his 9th LP. A member of the Umbrella collective as well as 1/2 of The Steiner Brothers, he has released a total of 5 mixtapes along with his last 8 albums & even 7 EPs. Favorites include the Finn-produced debut Pray for My Prey, the Machacha-produced Dirt Don’t Hurt, his 3rd EP MOSFoul, the Sting vs. Flair collab EP with Mickey Diamond & the Steiner Brothers’ eponymous debut. Dirty Work celebrated it’s 1-year anniversary earlier this summer & the dirtiest of the Umbrella brought Sean Kelly back to handle production for Reasonable Dirt much like Forever Foul & more recently the Futurewave produced Dirtwave alongside it’s sequel becoming his most acclaimed work to date. To finish the month of August, a 3rd installment arrives with eager anticipation.
“Follow the $$$” was a drumless chipmunk soul intro talking about the battery in his back getting charged up whereas “King” by The Steiner Brothers featuring Big Trip finds the trio coming together for a luxuriously hardcore boom bap track. “Never Going Broke” chops up a vocal sample to talk about the relatable goal of not losing it all financially while “Church St.” reflects on the days of doing whatever he wanted and on the titular street.
Meanwhile on “Scarface”, we have Pro Dillinger talking about how counting money is a habit for him & not needing any friends because he has a whole lot of enemies as it already is over a boom bap instrumental leading into “Road 2 Riches” breaking down the military minded mentality he & the rest of The Umbrella has. “Fentanyl” featuring Estee Nack links the pair up so they can talk about making it to the big leagues just before “Ain’t No Killer” calls out some bluff.
“Old Lungs” featuring Daniel Son nears the end of Dirtwave 3 with a jazzy boom bap beat talking about being the same despite their respective takeovers of the underground while “Dirtmusic” removes the jazzier elements for a dedication to his fam who got it out the mud. “Bread First” closes up shop with 1 last chipmunk soul cut explaining his prioritization of money coming first.
The original Dirtwave & Dirtwave 2 have been rivaling each other for the past 10 months or so in becoming Pro Dillinger’s finest opuses of his career, but Dirtwave 3 maintains the hardcore hip hop/boom bap fusions that made both it’s predecessors so acclaimed except the production leans heavier towards the jazz rap & drumless chipmunk soul styles in comparison.
This is the 2nd EP from pioneering Long Island, New York emcee/producer Rakim. Notable for being 1/2 of the seminal golden age duo Eric B. & Rakim, they put out 4 classic albums together from the mid-80s to the early 90s, with their debut Paid in Full & the sophomore effort Follow the Leader laying out the groundwork for future generations of hip hop to come. Kid Wizard eventually went solo in late ‘97 signing to Universal Music Group for an acclaimed debut The 18th Letter & the follow-up The Master while not as acclaimed still received positive feedback. Reception to The 7th Seal a decade after The Master was more mixed due to the lackluster production although the lyricism was certainly praised & G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) was a step in the right direction despite the heavy features, but Big Ghost Ltd. producing 2 new tracks on The Re-Up minus the 7 remixes raised my expectations greatly as a fan of both him & The God.
“I’m Good” makes for the only track of the 2 piece that doesn’t have a guest on it, but The God still delivers on the mic nonetheless over a boom bap instrumental from none other than the The Hands of Zeus himself whereas the final song consisting of brand new material & it’s sole single “Not to Be Defined” featuring Lazarus is also the sole moment that Big Ghost didn’t produce, leading it up to Dem Jointz showing the rhythm of the souls in both lyricists’ hearts.
I’m only gonna rate this purely based on the short batch of material that we got from The Re-Up because 1 thing that I wanna make clear is that the 5 remixes from G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) rival the original versions from the previous EP that I prefer more since that was all new material. Nevertheless, I still believe that the 3 newly recorded cuts are worth mentioning because they continue to exemplify that Rakim is still The God almost 4 decades later. G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) 2 has been said to have lesser guests than the predecessor & if that’s true, it could be on The 18th Letter caliber.
New York City emcee, singer & actor Joey Bada$$ making up for the delays of his 4th LP. Emerging as a founding member of the Pro Era & Beast Coast collectives, his debut mixtape 1999 under GoodTalk Records has gone on to become a classic & Summer Knights was a solid prelude to his full-length debut. B4.DA.$$ eventually came on his 20th birthday & lived up it to it’s expectations by expanding on the vibes of 1999, although the sophomore effort ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ unquestionably became the most political he’s ever been & 2000 would’ve been a perfect 10 if “Welcome Back” was left off of it. Set to come out earlier this month, Columbia Records has finally letting him tell the world what it’s like for him being Lonely at the Top.
“Dark Aura” produced by Chuck Strangers was a great gangsta/jazz rap single & a better intro choice talking about how nothing can be done regarding his return whereas “Swank White” featuring Westside Gunn works in some heavy sampling to reference former TNA World Tag Team Champion, 3-time IWGP USヘビー級チャンピオン & IWGPタッグチャンピオン Juice Robinson of former AEW World Trios Champions & ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champions Bullet Club Gold a.k.a. the Bang Bang Gang.
The instrumental Kirk Knight cooks up on “Supaflee” feels reminiscent of the iconic N.O.R.E. single “Superthug” produced by the production duo of all-time The Neptunes & it’s a dope homage if that’s the intention prior to “Highroller” featuring A$AP Ferg teaming up over a boom bap instrumental from Boi-1da so they can talk about blowing the bag. “Ready to Love” combines pop rap & boom bap seamlessly with the help of Hitmaka leading into “BK’s Finest” featuring CJ Fly, Kai Ca$h & Rome Streetz repping their borough over a Statik Selektah beat.
“Underwater” finds himself occasionally feeling trapped & being unable to break free, which may or may not be related to Columbia Records delaying Lonely at the Top earlier this month. Regardless, “3 Feet Away” moves forward with a more trap direction instrumentally talking about putting trust in God just before “Speedin’ Through the Rain” gives off a jazzy boom bap vibe thanks to Jay Versace keeping his foot on the gas pedal traveling the road to riches.
The penultimate song & final single “Still” featuring Ab-Soul removes the jazzier elements of the previous joint talking about knowing that their artistic successes were destined while the title track homages the title track off Gang Starr’s masterpiece Moment of Truth. “ABK” deserves an acknowledgement too because of its fusions between hardcore hip hop, hyphy & boom bap even though it didn’t make the final cut. And of course Jelly Roll revealing the Lonely at the Top cover weeks prior to him tagging with former 14-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion & WWE United States Champion Randy Orton at SummerSlam XXXVIII.
By far one of the craziest moments of 2025 was when Joey Bada$$, CJ Fly, Kai Ca$h, Jae’Won, Ray Vaughn, Reason, AZ Chike, Daylyt & Hitta J3 were all trading diss tracks with one another in May & the founding Pro Era member gears up for an upcoming album fully produced by Statik Selektah to come out of the vault with a tight collection of songs culminating in hardcore hip hop, boom bap, jazz rap, pop rap, trap & gangsta rap that are still worth your time even if it’s not up to par with 2000.
Queens, New York emcee, producer & singer/songwriter Kwamé making a comeback after over 3 decades with his 5th studio LP. Signing to Atlantic Records in the late 80s, his debut The Boy Genius & the conceptual sophomore effort A Day in the Life: a Pokadelick Adventure would both become well received in their own rights, although I can’t the same for either Nastee or Incognito. Now commemorating the 10-year anniversary of his own label Make Noise Recordings, the East Coast veteran is returning & has brought The Different Kids with him after signing a new distribution deal with Virgin Music.
“The Kwamé Show” is a sample-heavy intro talking about how there ain’t nobody like him almost 4 decades into the game but after the “Mom’s Grocery List” interlude, “Hello / Anybody?” moves forward with a 2-parter getting caught up in his zone. “Stroke Dif’rent” after the “3:00 AM” interlude goes for a funkier vibe talking about The Different Kids ruling the world leading into the “You Don’t Work Hard” interlude.
Meanwhile on “Adulthood”, we have The Boy Genius taking the boom bap route instrumentally welcoming listeners to the state of full maturity while the danceable “Lemme Git (All Owt)” asks where the inner strength is because of all this weakness. “No Way, Go Away” gives off a bit of a soulful edge refusing to waste his energy on bullshit leading into the single “Ms. Mary Mack” showcasing his wordplay abilities.
Lady Tigra gets her own song with the 68 second “Ole Skool Rappah” talking about her traditional values when it comes to MCing while “Nobody” sampling “La Di Da Di” by Slick Rick so he can stay in his lane. After the “New Beginning” interlude, “Kwamé 2 Kwamé” dabbles with electronics for a message from his future self while “There Eye Go” ends by talking about not needing a reintroduction.
Displaying several facets of Kwamé’s multi-hyphenated artistic personality, The Different Kids coincides with the new Rakim EP The Re-Up produced by Big Ghost Ltd. as another example of hip hop’s pioneers returning after a decade or over of inactivity to make quality additions to their discographies that further cement their longevities improving from both Nastee & Incognito. He blends witty braggadocio, captivating storytelling & occasional social with precisely dexterous flows & production that details his resilient creativity.
Buffalo emcee/producer Che Noir staying busy with her 10th EP. Discovering her after 38 Spesh signed Che to TCF Music Group & fully produced her first 3 EPs, her Apollo Brown-produced full-length debut As God Intended & then her self-produced 4th EP After 12 during the 2nd half of 2020 was where her potential began to blossom exponentially. She has since followed this up with the sophomore effort Food for Thought as well as The Last Remnants, the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced Noir or Never, The Color Chocolate, The Lotus Child & the Superior-produced Seeds of Babylon. The Color Chocolate 2 kicked summer off in full gear a couple months ago with a sequel that I liked more than the original & needs No Validation at this point.
“Incense Burning” kicks it all off with an angelic boom bap instrumental from The Other Guys feeling like she’s finally found her tempo whereas the jazzily dusty “Smooth Jazz” featuring 38 Spesh talks about their self-education regulating their street abilities. “Sugar Water” keeps the jazzy boom bap vibes going to speak on the real ones rising while “Moroccan Mint” featuring Jae Skeese talks about never folding because of the wisdom they teach.
Ransom & Skyzoo join Che on the crooning “Katastwof” explaining that it ain’t really a journey if there’s no specific destination intended leading into “Dollar Tree” featuring Skyzoo & Von Pea talking about having it all despite not needing much. “Ego Trips” keeps it in the basement instrumental not having it because she controls her destiny & “Susie” featuring Smoke DZA talks about a woman acting like the character from the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Nickelodeon series Rugrats.
Making a mission statement for those who know what they bring to the table with or without applause, Che Noir & the curated lineup of elite lyricists that joins her side navigate themes of legacy as well as resilience & self-worth over the soulfully signature analog rich production style that Mighty Joe & Isaiah or The Other Guys have become known for with each guest MC adding their own signature flavor to the Poetic Movement Records founder’s reflective world.
Legends Will Never Die 