CyHi the Prynce – “No Dope on Sundays” review

CyHi the Prynce is an MC from Atlanta, Georgia & this is long awaited full-length debut. The album opens with “Amen”, where CyHi’s talking about staying in your environment over a fittingly churchy instrumental. The next track is the title track, where he & fellow G.O.O.D. Music signee Pusha T talks about trappin’ another other day than the Lord’s day & the beat change from Lex Luger is phenomenal. The song “Get Yo Money” speaks on the drug game over an eerie instrumental & the track “Movin’ Around” with ScHoolboy Q isa weed anthem with a decent trap beat. The track “Trick Me” gets braggadocious over a mellow piano instrumental& the 2 Chainz verse isn’t all that bad. The song “Murda” talks about life in the streets over a decent reggae instrumental while the track “Don’t Know Why”gets conscious over a somewhat spacey instrumental. Also, the Jagged Edge feature on here is pretty great as well. The song“God Bless” is pretty much about being thankful & I️ absolutely love how it samples my favorite Roy Ayers song “Searching”. The track “Dat Side” with his mentor Kanye West sees the 2 attacking their haters over a dreary instrumental while the song “Looking for Love” is a self-explanatory love song with a decent trap beat & a mediocre auto-tune hook. The song “Nu Africa” gets pro-black over a nice boom bap beat & the track “Free” seems to be a diss towards Def Jam Recordings over a dreamy instrumental. The song “80’s Baby” speaks through the point of view of an unborn child over a jazzy instrumental & a beautiful BJ the Chicago Kid feature while the penultimate track “Closer” talks about maintaining a relationship with Jesus Christ over an instrumental with an uplifting atmosphere to it. I know both of these song topics sound corny, but CyHi’s actually able to pull both of them off. The album then closes with “I’m Fine”, which pretty much talks about livin’ life to the fullest & I really wish Travi$ Scott had a verse instead of just doing the hook. CyHi the Prynce has been long overdue with an album & I think this should give him the credit he finally deserves. Despite a few mediocre beats & hooks every here & there, it sounds focused, the features are on point & it’s just as smart as ever

Score: 3.5/5

WESTSIDEDOOM – Self-Titled review

WESTSIDEDOOM is a newly formed duo consisting of recent Shady Records signee Westside Gunn along with the renown MF DOOM. They announced a collaborative project together just a couple months ago & it’s finally here in the form of a 2-track EP. The first song “Gorilla Monsoon” named after the WWE Hall of Famer has an grimy boom bap beat from Griselda Records in-house producer Daringer & while Westside Gunn’s verse is as mobster as always, DOOM definitely outshines him on here. Especially with lines like “Overstand the past to get a grasp of the present, I make it faster than you spends it. End it”. The other track “2STINGS” sees the 2 getting hardcore & the eerie instrumental from The Alchemist fits the tone like a glove. Like many others, I am disappointed that this is wasn’t a full-length album. However, I still enjoyed this EP. The production is grimy & both MCs compliment each other very well

Score: 4/5

Milkavelli – “Cult Member” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee Milkavelli making his solo debut. Originally known under the moniker Monster Under the Bed, he was also a former member of both the Children of the Damned & the Piff Gang collectives in addition to him presently comprising 1/4 of Cult Mountain & 1/2 of the Mcabre Brothers. Although he’s considered to be more of an affiliate of the Cult of the Damned, he’s telling us what it was like being a Cult Member a year after the 616god extended play days after Ryan Smile ended Josh Bodom’s record-tying 3rd reign as RPW British Cruiserweight Champion.

“Spaceman” begins with him talking about having vices because he’s hellspawn & giving middle fingers to the enemy at war whereas “Rehab” featuring Suspect OTB finds the 2 comparing the feeling of being inside of a studio to that of rehabilitation. “Lock & Load” continues with him talking about feeling comfy by himself carrying a pistol in his hand leading into “Jamaa” produced by Sumgii talking about his enigmatic profile & feeling trippy after taking a few tabs.

Nobodies Home jumps behind the boards on “Cold Outing” speaking of treating his weed sack religiously in sense to people telling him he raps sacrilegiously & winning when he’s never won while “ZZZ” featuring the late Lil Peep talks about each of their own relationships with drugs. “Foul Mouth” has a more chaotic trap vibe instrumentally talking about him going all in while “There It Is” tackles drugs, relationships, success & spirituality over a Reklews beat.

“Yay High” featuring Jesse James Solomon gets the other half of the album going with both of them talking about having different shit within the same day over a Tony Seltzer instrumental while “Silk Tears” admits to doing this shit for the fuck of it only for people to bit him. “S!ck” has the Mcabre Brothers linking up to talk about being fed up with being too ill at everything while “Feeling Like” psychedelically discusses him only having his teammates & going up against the weekend when it’s actually a weekday.

Kicking off the 4th quarter, “Hello Kitten” shows a more flirtatious side to Don Silk telling this woman who has his attention that doesn’t play with religion despite having faith while “Mmm Bop” featuring Sniff gets together over an eerie boom bap beat the latter made himself to talk about going to Hell merely for their own amusement. “Where’s Olly?” suggests those worrying of what he’s doing to get a real hobby & “Roger Rabbit” sends it all off describing him watching The Walt Disney Company-owned Who Framed Roger Rabbit? with Zapp playing in the background.

There are a few other members from the original Children of the Damned crew who either haven’t released any solo material whatsoever like Salar or Tony Broke solely doing guest appearances for the past few years following his last EP Money in the Bag, but I’d have to say I prefer Cult Member more than 616god if this is the last we’ll hear from the Monster Under the Bed individually. The production’s an upgrade from its predecessor last Halloween, there are more guests in comparison & includes a myriad of different hip hop styles like boom bap & cloud rap.

Score: 3.5/5

Joe Budden – “Rage & the Machine” review

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53 weeks have passed since Slaughterhouse member Joe Budden gave us a near perfect ending to his Love Lost trilogy but now, he’s teaming up with araabMUZIK to give us his 8th & most likely final album. The opener “3” tells the listener what to expect going into this thing & the choir vocals in the background are just beautiful. The track “Uncle Joe” pretty much addresses the current state of hip hop over some piano chords from a personal point of view & the song “Serious” is a gritty duet with fellow Slaughterhouse member Joell Ortiz about how you shouldn’t fuck with either MC. The track “By Law” talks about keeping it real over a militant instrumental & the Jazzy hook isn’t too bad either. The song “Flex” with Fabolous is a smooth sex tune & the Troy Lanez hook fits like a glove. The track “Forget” is only 91 seconds long, but I can totally get where he’s going when he confesses about meeting so many people that he forgets them over a beautiful soul sample. The song “I Gotta Ask” gets into battle rap mode & the Into the Woods soundtrack sample was surprising, yet interesting. The track “Time for Work” is another sexual jam, but the production here is more energetic than it was on “Flex”. The song “Wrong One” has a chaotic instrumental that fits perfectly with Joe’s hardcore bars & the track “I Wanna Know” gets reflective on his life over a beautiful Manhattans sample with an equally beautiful hook from Stacy Barthe. The closer “Idols” is Joe naming all of his influences over a mellow instrumental if this really is Joe’s final album, then this was a perfect close the book. The production is on par with his previous album All Love Lost & Joe lyrically is getting into an OG’s perspective on things.

Score: 4/5

Kid Rock – “Sweet Southern Sugar” review

Here we have the 11th studio LP from Romeo, Michigan rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & DJ Kid Rock. Coming up as a b-boy for The Beast Crew in the late 80’s, he wound up signing to Jive Records & RCA Records for his full-length debut Grit Sandwiches for Breakfastbefore they cut ties with him due to comparisons to Vanilla Ice. Bobby then dropped The Polyfuze Method & Early Mornin’ Stoned Pimp on his independently owned Top Dog Records, but got Atlantic Records to help back Devil Without a Cause & the success of that rap rock classic lead to him shifting away from hip hop to teeter between classic rock & country for the last 2 decades even to this day. This foray has been either hit or miss with me personally, but I can’t deny the success of “Picture” & “All Summer Long”or how much I enjoyed the Rick Rubin-produced Born Free since it originally came out back when I was in middle school. Coming off his final Atlantic offering Rebel Soul & the Warner Records-backed 1st Kiss, he’s going independent again for Sweet Southern Sugar.

“Greatest Show on Earth” blends southern rock, hard rock, blues rock, country rock, progressive country & progressive rock to sing about how he loves being despised whereas “Po-Dunk” fuses southern rock, country rock, blues rock, bro-country, alternative rock & turntablism for a hideous redneck anthem when he had a luxurious upbringing. “Tennessee Mountain Top” maintains a southern country rock vibe for the WWE’s Survivor Series XXXI official theme song & after “I Wonder” asks if this woman thinks of him the way he does her, “American Rock ‘n Roll” ends the 1st half with a mediocre ode to some old fashioned rock & roll.

“Back to the Otherside” kicks off the 2nd leg of Sweet Southern Sugar telling those dealing with suicidal thoughts to never give up just before “Raining Whiskey” sings about drowning in alcohol ever since this individual walked out the door. “Stand the Pain” encourages people to persevere when life’s kicking you down while “Grandpa’s Jam” makes up for a boring cover of “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by 4 Tops with this rap rock closer talking about the birth of his granddaughter, marking the first time in a decade that Bob has rapped in his music & having longtime producer Mike E. Clark program the drums.

Thankfully the rumors of Kid Rock running for Senate only 4 months ago were only drummed up so that could bring more attention to Sweet Southern Sugar even if I liked it less than the 2 full-lengths he put out after Born Free. His southern rock, country rock, rap rock, hard rock, blues rock, alternative rock and rock & roll production’s pretty much what you’ve come to expect from him at this point regardless of him exploring subjects like the hillbilly life, heartbreak, suicide prevention, opioid usage & becoming a grandparent.

Score: 1.5/5

Lex the Hex Master – “Beyond Redemption” review

Almost year after his debut Contact & just in time for Halloween, Queens horrorcore MC & Majik Ninja Entertainment signee Lex the Hex Master is now dropping his sophomore album. After an 80 second intro, the title track is the first song in the track listing & it has a super ominous instrumental that fits his angry about being face to face with his fate perfectly. The track “Beast” raps about shuttin’ shit down over an energetic, but the first half of the hook is too nasal for me. The song “Joke’s Ova” with G-Mo Skee & Grizzy Hendrix is basically the 3 venting about the wack shit of today & getting back to the hardcore days over a sinister instrumental. The track “Attributes” sees Lex telling us a bit about himself & the instrumental kinda sounds like something Eminem would rap over in 2002 or 2003, but in a cool way.

The song “Shadow Army” with his mentors Twiztid alongside Gorilla Voltage & Řezník is a nice, gritty horrorcore posse cut & the track “Gangstas” talks about a chick who wants to chill with the thugs over an instrumental with a fitting gangsta rap vibe to it & the song “Broken” vents about haters as well as traumatizing your ears over another Early 2000s Eminem-esque instrumental minus the wailing guitar. The track “Bully Foot” has an instrumental kinda reminds me of “Put ‘Em in Their Place” by Mobb Deep, but Lex’s confrontational bars actually sound just fine over it. The song “Samurai” with Young Wicked sees the 2 bragging about their skills over some pounding drums & the hook is super catchy. The penultimate track “Arrival” with Young Uno, Var Francis & Bubbah Barz sees all 4 MCs taking shots at all the frauds out there over some ominous keyboards & then the closer “It Begins” is Lex vividly telling the story of a man who eventually gets murdered over a perfectly somber instrumental.

Overall, I think Lex the Hex Master outdid himself on this one. The production is grittier, Lex is continuing to improve himself as an MC & it sounds even angrier than before.I think Lex is one of the most underrated right now & if anyone’s new to him, I think this is where you should stop sleeping

Score: 4/5

L.A.R.S. – “Foul World” review

L.A.R.S. is a Detroit horrorcore duo consisting of childhood friends & longtime collaborators Bizarre of D12 fame & King Gordy of the Fat Killahz. The duo originally formed & debuted as The Davidians on Esham’s Butcher Shop mixtape back in 2008, but now they’re re-emerging with a new name along with a recent record deal with Twiztid’s Majik Ninja Entertainment & this 7 track mixtape preluding their upcoming debut album.

The opener “L.A.R.S. (Last American Rock Stars)”, sees the duo talking about partying over a decent rap rock instrumental from their DJ & honorary 3rd member Foul Mouth, who produced all but 1 song on the entire project. The next track “Put Me Thru” has a very surprising soul sample throughout & the way Gordy talks about this woman who’s being physically abused is super vivid. Also, there’s one line during Bizarre‘s verse where he accidentally mixes up Conway the Machine with his brother Westside Gunn (both of whom got signed to Shady Records earlier this year).

“Fuck Yo Baby Daddy” featuring Big T shittalks an unnamed baby daddy over a decent trap beat from Rooq, but I think both Gordy & T’s verses at the beginning & the end respectively fit the concept a lot better than Bizarre’s verse in the middle. The track “Lose Your Mind” gets gangsta over a sinister boom bap beat & the way they go back & forth with each other just goes to show how strong their chemistry still is. The song “Mother’s Best Friend” is a hilarious sex tune over a jazzy instrumental & then the penultimate track “Savage Life” talks about how insane Gordy & Bizzy are over a fittingly sinister instrumental. The closer “I’m a Celebrity” then boasts about the lavish life & the rap rock instrumental here sounds a lot more exciting than the one we heard during the opener.

I personally think Majik Ninja is one of the rawest labels out right now & I think this latest mixtape from their newest sign act is no exception. Sure it feels like an EP given that’s only 7 tracks & 23 minutes long, but Foul Mouth’s production is on point & both King Gordy & Bizarre sound as crazy as they’ve ever been. Here’s to their upcoming debut album & hopefully some solo albums from both MCs at some point in the future

Score: 4/5

Big K.R.I.T. – “4eva is a Mighty Long Time” review

A year after leaving the renown Def Jam Recordings to form his own label Multi Alumni, Mississippi MC/producer Big K.R.I.T. is finally returning with his 3rd full-length album & it actually happens to be a double disc with 11 tracks on each disc. The opener “Big K.R.I.T.” gets ambitious both lyrically & production-wise & I really love how he goes some rapping from mid-pace to a faster one halfway. The next track “Confetti” brags about his rapping prowess & dissing the wack over DJ Camper’s piano chords along with a soul sample in the background & even a guitar solo during the hook. The song “Big Bank” with T.I. sees the 2 boasting about their wealth over a soulful yet hard hitting instrumental from WLPWR. The track “Subenstein (My Sub IV)” is the new welcoming installment of his “My Sub” series the Mannie Fresh/Supah Mario beat on here SLAPS! The song “1999” is basically Krizzle with a decent Lloyd hook getting romantic & I can definitely see it being a hit from the content down to Mannie’s production.

The song “Ride wit Me” gets braggadocious with an outstanding UGK feature & as for the track “Get Up 2 Come Down”, it talks about some hustlin’ over a smooth instrumental & it was really refreshing to hear Cee-Lo Green rapping a verse near the end. The song “Layup” reflects on starting with nothing & how he’s living better now over a very relaxing instrumental & his melodic delivery is infectious. After the Classic Interlude, we then get into the next song “Aux Cord”. Here, he’s telling us some of his influences like the late B.B. King (whom he collaborated with on his debut Live from the Underground) as well as Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone over a spacey instrumental. The first disc closer “Get Away” is the last in the first disc & he’s talking about being bullshit free over a smooth soul instrumental.

The first track on the second disc “Justin Scott” is just a 4 minute instrumental that you can kick back to & the song “Mixed Messages” talks about things like loving his girl yet hating her at the same time or being rich yet simultaneously giving back & the instrumental is just beautiful. The track “Keep the Devil Off” sees Krizzle asking God to brush off the haters over a fittingly gospel-influenced instrumental & the song Ms. Georgia Fornia talks about a love/hate relationship over a smooth guitar & the Joi hook has a lot of raw passion in it. The next 2 tracks “Everlasting” & “Higher Calling” are both love songs & while they aren’t bad at all, I’d say the first of the 2 sets the mood a lot better.

After the Weekend Interlude, K.R.I.T. then gives the listener his personal take on what fame does to you on “Price of Fame” & the song “Drinking Sessions” sees him getting vulnerable over some piano keys & some trumpets. The penultimate track “The Light” gets conscious over a jazzy instrumental & the Bilal hook is just as soothing while the closer “Bury Me in Gold” talks about giving it all away to be in heaven over a fittingly churchy instrumental.

For a double disc album, this might be Big K.R.I.T.’s best work yet. It’s super consistent, it sounds focused, the lyricism is stronger than ever before, the production is immensely soulful & the passion is clear as day. I think Krizzle is amongst the most underrated right now & this double disc magnum opus could potentially be a modern classic within the next 3 years

Score: 4.5/5

Yelawolf – “Trial by Fire” review

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Exactly 5 months after the release of his previous album Love Story back in 2015, Alabama rapper/singer & Eminem protégé Yelawolf did not hesitate to announce plans for this new album over here. He spent last year dropping 2 singles, a prelude EP & then he went on a headlining tour all to promote it. However, he ended up cancelling the last 6 dates of the tour & was admitted into a psychiatric ward by his manager Jeremy Jones after an onstage mental breakdown that was resulted by the death of his childhood friend Shawty Fatt. He then re-emerged a month later under his government name stating that he lost nearly every friend & everything he had, gave his Slumerican Records label to his mother & was now making a fresh start as a new member of the renown Oakland-based alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics rather than staying with Shady Records & Interscope. Despite this statement, it wouldn’t be until early June of this year when he officially made his comeback with a music video along with the confirmation that he was keeping the Yelawolf name & staying with Shady/Interscope. Fast forward almost 5 months later, he’s finally releasing & surprisingly self-producing it.

The album opens up with the title track, where he’s talking about the day he was born as well as warning the listener to watch out whenever you’re around him & being back in the saddle after his recent personal issues over a killer hard rock-esque guitar. The next song “Shadows” tells the listener of how he went from going from being a vulnerable kid to becoming a criminal & the instrumental is fittingly ominous as he’s passionately venting his story to the audience. The track “Get Mine” angrily raps about getting yours over a country rock instrumental & not only does the Kid Rock hook fit like a glove, but I can also appreciate the scratches from DJ Klever as it pays tribute to all the DJs out there. The song “Son of a Gun” reflects on how his career began over some chimes with a decent guitar & some awesomely militant drums. The track “Ride or Die” is a dedication to Shawty over some perfectly gloomy piano keys & then a spoken word interlude from Slumerican signee Struggle Jennings over a twangy guitar, we are then treated to the next track “Daylight”. Here, Yela raps about his alcoholism over a country guitar & the fact that he uses the same rhyme scheme for nearly the whole first verse just proves how lyrical Catfish Billy can be.

The song “Do for Love” talks about a dad who eventually decides to rob a store as well as a mother who strips & sells drugs over a dramatic instrumental. The track “Punk” spits about feelin’ at home over a fast-tempo rap rock instrumental & the Juicy J hook makes me a little disappointed that he doesn’t have a verse on here. The song “Row Your Boat” has a somber instrumental & I definitely appreciate Yelawolf getting conscious in his fully sung lyrics, but the hook is actually super corny to me. The track “True to Yourself” passionately talks about living for the moment pretty much over an Western sounding instrumental with some background choir vocals & horns. The song “Sabrina” is a heartfelt dedication to his daughter with the same name & while the instrumental is ok, you can truly hear the pain in Yela’s voice as he’s remembering her. Especially when he’s screaming at the end. The penultimate track “Violin” cleverly compares a soldier & the country he’s fighting for to a man with an unfaithful woman over an acoustic guitar with some beautiful string sections & background vocals. The album then closes out with “Keep Me Alive”, where he explains his come up about his over a twangy guitar & settle drums. Also, the Wyonna Judd hook is probably the best on the entire album.

And as a whole, I think it’s his best full-length album yet. The country & rock elements are being fused in a lot better, Yelawolf sounds his most focused, most inspired & he’s starting to rap a lot more than he did on the last album. I‘ve heard some people say that he’s full-blown corny, but I think this is a prime example of how much of a dedicated artist he is

Score: 4/5

$ki Mask “The $lump God” – “YouWillRegret” review

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In light of fellow Members Only co-founder XXXTENTACION exploding into stardom, $ki Mask “The $lump God” is releasing his 2nd mixtape with Republic Records. The opener “Rambo” has an obnoxious hook, but the way he gets braggadocious over this abrasive trap beat is so animated. The next song “JustLikeMyPiss” with MadeinTYO sees the 2 talking about how attractive their ladies are & the trap instrumental here compared to the opener is much more eerie. The track “Bird is the Word” is a sinister gangster anthem & the Surfin’ Bird reference during the hook was unexpected, yet cool. The song “BabyWipe” could very well be $ki Mask’s best song yet, as it has an energetic instrumental & the way he flows over it is just deadly! The track “Gone” talks about getting intoxicated, but it just overall sounds unfinished. The song “Adventure Time” has a decent beat, but the verses don’t really do anything for me. The track “EverTookATab?” talks about drugs & the bass is THUNDEROUS! The song “Winnie” has a great rapid-delivery, but the hook is super corny hook & he’s just repeating himself. The penultimate track “Energy” has a guitar-tinged trap beat that’s actually pretty cool, but the hook is bitten off of “Pornography” by Travi$ Scott & it sounds underwritten. The tape then closes out with the hard hatting almost chopper-like XXXTENTACION duet “H2O”, which was taken from the Members Only 3 mixtape. As his first release with a major label, this was a decent mixtape. $ki Mask’s energy & flow are definitely there, but a lot of the tracks seem unfinished. I definitely hope his upcoming tape with Timbaland will be much more superior

Score: 3/5