Here is the 3rd EP from Los Angeles, California jazz rap/trap group Coast Contra consisting of RioLoz, Eric Jamal & Ras Kass’ twin children Taj Austin & Ras Austin. Their debut album Apt. 505 in the spring of 2022 received significant acclaim & their debut EP The Old Way the next fall, coming off being featured on Masta Ace & Talib Kweli’s latest albums Richmond Hill & The Confidence of Knowing respectively followed by the Austin twins’ appearance on Kamasi Washington’s 5th album Fearless Movement a year ago. Marco Polo produced my favorite EP of theirs yet In Case You Forgot at the start of 2025 & The 5th has arrived on DSPs after being exclusive to EVEN for a month.
“Rulaz” produced by Dem Jointz aggressively opens up shop talking about having no weak links around them whereas “Don’t Worry” hooks up a piano instrumental from Tae Beast suggesting not to stress over money because it doesn’t make you rich. “N2G” dabbles with trap to talk about them runnin’ it up in the midst of their new beginning while the 5 & a half minute “Woman” finds themselves experiencing a love like no other. “God’s Grace” lastly caps off the EP by smoothly talking about everything being alright & today being a good day.
I wouldn’t put it above In Case You Forgot personally, but The 5th still marks a sharp evolution from Coast Contra’s viral freestyles to fully-formed songs by showcasing the group’s lyrical depth along with their commitment to legacy & the cinematic sound they’ve become known for. The production has more trap elements than its predecessor did almost 8 months ago & I don’t mean that as a con, it just further cements the quintet’s variety.
Mac DeMarco is a 35 year old singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & producer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who I became a fan of during my adolescence off the debut EP Rock & Roll Night Club, his debut album 2, my personal favorite Salad Days & his 2nd EP Another One. I highly enjoyed This Old Dog too, although I can’t really say the same for either Here Comes the Cowboy or 5 Easy Hot Dogs with all respect to the guy. 1 Wayne G on the other hand was actually a pretty decent compilation despite it’s 9 hour runtime, clinging to the expectation of his 6th album surpassing both it’s predecessors in becoming his strongest material since forming his own record label.
“Shining” starts with a bedroom pop/indie folk crossover singing about his love possibly being broken & trying to figure out what’s going on whereas “Sweeter” acoustically observe that some things don’t ever change. “Phantom” continues to head down the prominent bedroom pop direction singing about the ghost of a person that he still lives sitting besides him when he’s by himself while “Nightmare” suggests maybe this individual would’ve stopped lying had they known they’d be in tears later.
Meanwhile on “Terror”, we have Mac singing about him being the type of person that reeks of annoyance or problems in addition to opening up regarding his fear of death while “Rock & Roll” breaks down the dichotomy of screaming in excessive joy & feeling down on himself mentally. “Home” finds himself preferring to be alone because of a dissolving friendship & his welcome with this former colleague becoming worn out leading into “Nothing at All” observing a spiraling relationship.
“Punishment” reaches the final leg of guitar by singing about his mother teaching him that those of us who don’t what we were made to do are gonna get what’s coming to them while “Knockin’” takes a more mature approach to his songwriting. “Holy” blends bedroom pop, slowcore & folk rock together so he can sing for a miracle to reveal itself to him while “Rooster” finishes off by optimistically rising up despite the future looking dimmer with each day.
Offering a close representation of where Mac DeMarco’s at in his life today, guitar feels like a step in the right direction for the jizz jazz pioneer & it’s easily the most I’ve enjoyed something from him since This Old Dog almost a decade earlier. His production is more minimal than 1 Wayne G’s taking the styles of bedroom pop, indie folk, folk rock, soft rock & slowcore to be more emotionally open than he has been in the past.
Santa Monica, California emcee, producer & singer/songwriter Earl Sweatshirt surprise-releasing his 6th LP. Beginning his career in 2008 under the name Sly Tendencies as the son of Cheryl Harris & late poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, he posted a handful of tracks for a mixtape called Kitchen Cutlery on MySpace, but the tape would never be released to this day. Then he formed a rap trio with 2 of his friends called The Backpackerz & planned to release a mixtape together titled World Playground, but they disbanded sometime in 2009. Shortly after, he joined Odd Future & appeared on their 2nd & final mixtape Radical that May. 10 months later, he put out his only mixtape to date Earl with OF’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator producing a bulk of it. The tape received a lot of buzz, but Earl’s mother would send him to a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys in Samoa sometime after until February of 2012. He was then granted his own Columbia Records imprint Tan Cressida Records & released his full-length debut Doris a decade ago to critical acclaim right before I started my junior year of high school for his clever rhyme schemes & the gritty production from The Neptunes to even the RZA. He then formed the duo Hog Slaughta Boyz with OF affiliate Na’kel at the beginning of 2015 & released his sophomore album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. a couple months after. Many of which consider to be better than Doris for its darker aesthetic. Some Rap Songs not only wound up being my favorite album of 2018, but also bastard child of one of my all-time favorite albums: Madvillainy. Feet of Clay the year after marked a new distribution deal Tan Cressida signed with Warner Records was a cool collection of SRS outtakes preluding his full-length debut on the label Sick!about 3 & a half years ago, coming off one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist for the flawless Voir Dire to drop Live Laugh Love almost a week since the listening party.
“GSW vs. SAC” starts with a throwback to the Some Rap Songs era talking about how he’s always been a slow roller whereas “Forge” hooks up a Middle Eastern sample advising to stick along for the ride. “Infatuation” goes for a drumless chipmunk soul direction referencing the Bessie Anderson Stanley poem Success leading into the funky “Gamma (Need the <3)” giving a nod to the late Roy Ayers’ biggest hit “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”.
The strings that Navy Blue heavily samples during the course of “Well Done!” reminding us that he already said nobody could get a rise out of a real one just before the 2-parter “Live” produced by Black Noi$e cautions not to get beheaded with only a month left of summer. “Static” drumlessly references WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali at the beginning & later Jean Dawson at the halfway point of his verse while “Crisco” continues to strip the drums to talk about his upbringings.
“Tourmaline” counts down the final minutes of Live Laugh Love by coming to his senses while “Heavy Metal aka Ejecto Seato!” recalling a dream he had in 2016 vaguely similar to a scene in the movie Trainspotting where Renton began hallucinating as a result of him detoxing from heroin. “Exhaust” lastly sends off the album sampling a flute advising that it’s really just you & whatever you think at the end of the day, to which he’s not entirely wrong about.
If Some Rap Songs had a sequel that bridges the teenager we were formally introduced to 15 years earlier & the family man Earl Sweatshirt has become presently, you’d get Live Laugh Love. The production is a little more experimental than Voir Dire’s was 24 months previously & it brings a smile to my face knowing that the most skilled lyricist to come out from the OF camp is in a better place mentally.
New York veteran Ghostface Killah of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan with his 17th solo LP. One of hip hop’s most prolific storytellers & easily the most consistent member of the Clan exemplified by Ironman, Supreme Clientele, FishScale, Apollo Kids, 12 Reasons to Die & Sour Soul just to name a few. Ghostface Killahs in the fall of 2019 stands as one of the only few duds in his discography along with More Fish & the Mass Appeal Records debut Set the Tone (Guns & Roses), continuing the Legend Has It series with Supreme Clientele 2 finally seeing the light of day.
After the Redman intro, the first song “Iron Man” opens with a boom bap instrumental talking about having Wall Street bugging over helium stocks whereas “Sample 420” featuring M.O.P. sees the trio coming together for a fly gangsta rap cut. “Curtis May” featuring Conway the Machine & Styles P talks about their bars being prescribed out here like it’s medicine while “4th Disciple” dustily tells the story of a homie of his losing his life in a shootout.
“Windows” embraces a more soulful direction stylistically talking about his crew mobbin’ & him dartin’ but after the “Pause” skit, “Georgy Porgy” exuberantly clarifies that he ain’t here to play no games. After the “Force MD” skit, “Break Beats” jazzily flexes that he can get right with God & go back to Hell just before the funky “Beat Box” talks about a shawty who happens to be in her own lane.
Scram Jones producing the lead single “Rap Kingpin” sampling “My Melody” by Eric B. & Rakim for a sequel to “Mighty Healthy” while “The Trial” featuring GZA, Method Man, Pillz, Raekwon & Reek da Villain after the “Sale of the Century” skit vividly portrays themselves in a courtroom with a judge. Nas joins Starks for the soulful “Love Me Anymore” talks about how foul people can be while the crooning “Soul Thang” featuring DriZ, Iceman, Pillz, NEMS, Reek da Villian, Supreme-Intelligence & Sun God finds everyone going back-&-forth with one another.
“Metaphysics” was a tight remix to “Typhoon Rap” by Meyhem Lauren featuring Action Bronson while the soulful “Candyland” unpacks tons of candy & drug wordplay. After the “Lenny Green” skit, “The Zoom” samples “Zoom” by the Commodores for a passionate love ballad & the final song “You Ma Friend” featuring Method Man ahead of the “Knuckles” outro finishes with an ode to friendship.
The 3rd entry in the Legend Has It saga & the Yapp City Records founder’s 2nd offering under the Mass Appeal umbrella redeems Ghostface Killah from the mediocrity of Ghostface Killahs & Set the Tone (Guns & Roses) by presenting itself as an echo of a chamber that never dosed although I’d prefer both Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Pt. II & Muddy Waters 2 when discussing sequel albums. One of hip hop’s greatest storytellers who’s seen it all & lived it twice feels more like his vintage self than his last couple albums except he’s sharper, looser, freer & finding new ways to flip the script.
Cleveland, Ohio rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, fashion designer, model, director & filmmaker KiD CuDi making another stylistic departure with his 11th LP. Blowing up in 2008 off his debut mixtape A KiD Named CuDi as well as his songwriting credits on his mentor Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West’s 4th album 808s & Heartbreak, his profile from there would increasingly grow off his groundbreaking debut & sophomore albums Man on the Moon: The End of the Day & Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. But following the self-produced & overlooked Indicud, CuDi would leave G.O.O.D. Music amicably to form his own Republic Records imprint Wicked Awesome Records. Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon though was mediocre at best & who could forget when CuDi attempted to go alt-rock on the critically panned Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven? Luckily he would redeem himself on his next effort Pain & Demon Slayin’ in 2016 along with the self-titled album from him & Ye as the duo KIDS SEE GHOSTS couple summers later & even Man on the Moon III: The Chosen the day after my 24th birthday despite it’s blatantly heavy Travis Scott influence. Entergalactic was released mixed reviews as was INSANO, but I enjoyed how both LPs took it back to his roots along with mixing old & new sounds together respectively. INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA continued the energy of its predecessor & is staying on Republic to drop Free fresh off his appearance in Happy Gilmore 2 with the longest reigning AEW World Champion & current CMLL Mundial Peso Semicompleto Campeon MJF and the current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch.
“Neverland” after the self-produced “Echoes of the Present” compositional intro fuses pop rock, alt-pop, stomp & holler and synthpop to sing about love & embracing life whereas my favorite single “Mr. Miracle” culminates in pop rock, alternative rock & power pop feeling like he’s found his way back home. “Opiate” spaciously sings for the city to turn the lights off leading into “Deep Diving” finding himself having enough of no love.
Pop rock & alt-rock cross paths once again on “Truman Show” referencing the classic Jim Carrey film of the same name just before “Submarine” sings about feeling like he’s to deep into this psychedelic dream he’s having. “Ashes” goes for a moodier direction in sound wishing this person would lie to him & tell him they still mean something while the emo-pop rock single “Grave” sings about life eating him alive.
“Past Life” vents over the dichotomy of simultaneously being a winner & a loser in the same mind over a synthpop instrumental while “Picnic in Paris” sings about a soulmate waiting his whole life from him mixing the positives & negatives. “Stargazing” considers himself lucky if freedom was garden & sending love letters to this woman for eternity while “Salt Water” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying ends by singing about calling his life 1 hell of a ride.
The idea of KiD CuDi foraying into pop music doesn’t sound bad at all on paper, but Free as an attempt to provide the world with hope in the midst of our country’s current political climate leaves me a little torn. I have no issues with his vocals or songwriting & I’m proud he’s the happiest he’s ever been. My main criticism here though is that the production doesn’t grab me the same way INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA or the original INSANO did.
Atlanta, Georgia rapper Offset returning after 22 months for his 3rd studio LP. Starting out as 1/3 of the Migos with Unc & Phew, he released a fantastic collaborative project with 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’ on Halloween 2017 called Without Warning only to make his solo debut Father of 4 the best of the 3 compared to QUAVO HUNCHO & The Last Rocket. Set It Off wasn’t too bad either, but Kiari has been shaping up to be his most personal since Father of 4 & had me anticipating it.
“Enemies” produced by Metro Boomin’ & Honorable C.N.O.T.E. begins by asking for God to protect him from his friends whereas “Pills” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again samples “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by Nina Simone to talk about drug usage “Professional” mildly boasts of him getting bitches like it’s a skill leading into the underwhelming “Back in That Mode” featuring YFN Lucci talking about them getting in their bags again.
Gunna joins Offset on “Different Species” bringing an acoustic guitar & some hi-hats together so they can discuss the baddies they stole livin’ the dream just before the WWE’s official Elimination Chamber XVI there song “Bodies” featuring J.I.D paints poignant imagery of the gangsta lifestyle combining trap & chipmunk soul thanks to Vinylz, FNZ & BoogzDaBeast or trap metal if you include the remix from BNYX of Working on Dying. “Love You Down” by Ready for the World gets smoked during “Love You Down” courtesy of London on da Track telling his new chick that he’ll start trusting her while “Run It Up” featuring Key Glock talks about having money on their minds over.
“Set It Off” oddly enough ends Kiari’s first leg with a demo quality title track that didn’t make his previous album while “Folgers” references my 2nd favorite basketball player of all-time Kobe Bryant & refusing to trip since he’s been bettering himself. “All of My Hoes” incorporates these psychedelic guitar licks & hi-hats talking about his hoes stealing each other while “Calories” flexes that he made $20M from his sound this summer.
As for “Checkmate (Smooth)”, we have Offset talking about making it onto the news because he’s a fashion week killer & flooding his new bitch out in the pool while “Backends Fasho” boasts of him making finer materials out of the regular things. “Prada Myself” talks about how everything he has makes him the person he is now while “Never Let Go” pays homage to Takeoff.
“Favorite Girl” counts down the final minutes of Kiari with a dedication to the most special woman in his life & “Move On” ties it all up by reflecting on his marriage to Cardi B, explaining that she’s happy for her moving on & asking why she doesn’t feel the same way about him. He even touches base regarding their little back-&-forth convo on Twitter at the beginning of 2025, rightfully explaining that it made them look foolish.
Starting the deluxe run, “Athlete” cloudily talks about getting geeked up on ecstasy on a boat while “History” mixes some horns & hi-hats to give game for free. “How Did We Get Here?” takes full accountability for his divorce from Cardi B while “Swing My Way” links up with Turbo for a cloudy pop rap/trap hybrid. “Style Rare” featuring Gunna shows off their senses of fashion & the final bonus track “10” was a weaker pop rap attempt.
Putting his artistic persona aside, Offset or in this case Kiari looks at himself in the mirror to see how far he’s come & what he’s done whether it’s good or bad. Soul-searching without sacrificing the technical precision he’s been known for, the ex-husband of WWE’s SummerSlam XXXVIII hostess gearing up for her comeback next month peels the layers back & gives the audience a better look at himself as a person.
Oxnard, California veteran Wildchild hitting us with his 5th album. A member of the Lootpack alongside DJ Romes & one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib, his first couple solo efforts Secondary Protocol & Jack of All Trades under Stones Throw Records & Fat Beats Records respectively, although T.G.I.F. (Thank God It’s Funky) & Omowale would be received more moderately in comparison. Regardless, I still went into Child of a Kingsman hoping for it to be his best since Jack of All Trades.
“A Kingsman’s Flowers” begins by take everyone on a trip down memory lane in order to explain the definition of a kingsman whereas “Season of Kingsmen” produced by Nottz talks about preserving hip hop since he like many holds it dearly to his heart. “Change for My 2¢” heads for a jazzier direction instrumentally to make some powerful social commentary just before the synth-heavy “Wing Chun” talks about remaining undefeated.
Things take a funkier turn on “Multiverse” feeling as if the boom bap in him has been restored whenever his feet touch the floor leading into “Bat Signal” talking about how he don’t play. The beat Nottz whips up on “Mr. Pinocchio & Positive People” feels reminiscent of the late J Dilla touching base regarding crooked cops while “Freedom Riding” talks about the late John Lewis.
“Black Man Blues” turns the jazz influences back up so he can break down the hardships of being an African American feeling as if his glory is trying to be silenced & after the “Where the Poem Lady?” interlude, MAYAH takes over a good portion of the vocals during “Kingsmen” for a neo-soul jam continuing the themes of preserving the culture’s 4 elements & the overlooked element of knowledge.
The song “My Utopia” brings a drumless guitar beat into the picture describing what a perfect world would look like to him & after the “Brown Identity” interlude, “Welcome Home” ahead of the Antwone Fisher outro officially completes Child of a Kingsman by recapping a trip that Wildchild took to Soweto, South Africa with the MC/producer superduo Liberation.
Conceived during his time away from making music to focus on being a father, Child of a Kingsman stands out as potentially the finest example of Wildchild’s ability to make room in his songs for other artists to shine. Blending jazz & neo-soul together, he makes it a commitment to unify cultures through music & paying homage to all of hip hop’s veterans with intricately powerful songwriting.
Deftones are a groundbreaking alternative metal band from Sacramento, California consisting of DJ/keyboardist Frank Delgado, bassist Fred Sablan, drummer Abe Cunningham, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter & frontman Chino Moreno. Adrenaline, Around the Fur, my personal favorite White Pony, Saturday Night Wrist, Diamond Eyes & Koi No Yokanwould all become classics for their own individual reasons & are returning 5 years after Ohms made up for Gore’s averageness to put out their 10th full-length album.
The lead single “My Mind’s a Mountain” sets the tone by combining alternative metal, shoegaze, post-hardcore, post-metal & doomgaze singing about the cycles of depression & non-depression whereas “Locked Club” suggests to either join the parade or be left out entirely. “Ecdysis” throws it back to the band’s nu metal origins singing about a new phase arriving just before the alt-metal/shoegaze crossover “Infinite Source” realizing a love they were chasing has been found.
“Souvenir” pushes forward with a 6-minute skull smasher singing about hurdling through space & discovering each other’s ways embracing the night leading into “cXz” finds their thoughts reappearing as lost time. “I Think About You All the Time” reminisces over a friend of the band’s who passed away some time ago leading into the 2nd & final single “Milk of the Madonna” blending alt-metal, post-hardcore & shoegaze to sing about being lost in religious ecstasy.
What could possibly be the heaviest track here “Cut Hands” assuring that they can’t be pulled out of their graces in the midst of these adversaries hitting a crossroads because of their lives failing in front of the band while “~Metal Dreams” sings about envisioning the gold drenched days laid ahead & sinking in perfect pose forever sooner rather than later. “Departing the Body” sends it all off with the realization that a brand new phase of their movement has started to change.
Private Music not only continues the ethos of Koi No Yokan & Ohms, but it’s another testament to Deftones rightfully becoming the Radiohead of alternative metal whilst striking a middle ground between the rest of their discography. Contemplating the attractiveness & dangers of nature as well as the challenges of tending a positive mindset & images of a trip beyond the physical realm, they revisit all 4 styles of it’s predecessors explored during the COVID-19 pandemic with more interesting ideas & intricate pacing.
Dominic Fike is a 29 year old musician, singer/songwriter & rapper from Naples, Florida who Columbia Records signed in 2018 off his debut EP Don’t Forget About Me & later What Could Possibly Go Wrong? during the COVID-19 pandemic. He would later join the cast of the Warner Bros.-owned HBO series Euphoria during it’s previous season & the sophomore effort Sunburn was more well received than it’s predecessor. 14 Minutes last spring preluded his debut mixtape here to mixed feedback & he’s finally dropping it after the recent formation of Geezer this summer.
To get the tape going, “All Hands on Deck” comes out the gate by displaying his range singing & rapping about wanting to inhabit the safe zone of an individual he deeply cares for whereas “Aftermath” goes into an indie rock direction finding him trying to get over an ex of his. The cheerful atmosphere of “Smile” suits it’s lyrics about how it’s not what you’re missing or could’ve done better prior to the funky “Sandman” inviting this woman to be his drifter.
“Great Pretender” colorfully tells this influencer who always spoke so kindly that he sees right through their bullshit & that they do a really good job at making it seem as if their words are sincere while “$500 Fine” talks about having the feeling that he could’ve made the relationship work if he didn’t fuck up 3 times. “1 Glass” despite it’s underwritten structuring embraces the indie rock sound again advising to come get him if he’s lying while “Quite the Opposite” talking about the only thing he knows how to do is make songs that’re apologetic.
Reaching the 3rd & final act, “Upset & Aggressive” realizing that he’ll get rolled over every time he would come over to see this woman who would eventually cut him out while “David Lyons” references Gene Wilder’s character in the film See No Evil, Hear No Evil. The epilogue takes a more soothing route instrumentally singing about being left behind & astray while the self-produced “Still Feel It” ends by explaining that there’s no backstory or words used in vein.
Reflecting on recent life events whilst showing personal growth & maturity, Dominic Fike continues to seek beauty in harrowing-but-tender emotional bloodletting with the most deeply personal collection of ideas. The production here primarily focuses on bedroom pop aside from occasional detours into pop rock, indie rock, alt-pop & pop rap to provide a new perspective in light of him becoming a father.
Teyana Taylor is a 34 year old actress, singer/songwriter, rapper, dancer, model, music video director & choreographer from New York City who briefly signed to Star Trak Entertainment in the mid-2000s until going over to G.O.O.D. Music & Def Jam Recordings at the start of the previous decade. Her full-length debut VII during my senior year of high school & K.T.S.E. (Keep That Same Energy) produced by Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West stands as the most underrated offering of the Wyoming sessions. Fulfilling her G.O.O.D. Music contract with The Album during the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s returning to Def Jam for her 5th LP.
After the Taraj P. Henson intro, the first song “Fire Girl” opens with a delicately drumless instrumental singing about the impossibility of her soul being burned whereas “Long Time” after the Sarah Paulson interlude fuses afrobeats & R&B addressing her ex-husband Iman Shumpert. “Hard Part” featuring Lucky Daye follows 2 back-to-back interludes with a duet asking if their partners want a relationship or not leading into “Back to Life” singing about her dissolving marriage.
“All of Your Heart” after the Jodie Turner Smith interlude expresses her desire to be loved & trusted while “Shut Up” ends the 1st leg of Escape Room pleading for her limits to be pushed & likening sex to a weapon. “Pum Pum Jump” featuring Tyla links up for a duet singing about getting too crazy with their lovers whenever they get lit while what could possibly be my personal favorite track here “Open Invite” produced by KAYTRANADA gives her partner a chance to come inside & get this right.
After the Issa Rae interlude, “In Your Head” sings for her new man to drown in her love waiting for him in his bed while “Final Destination” explains that it’ll always be love no matter where they take it. After another Issa Rae interlude, “Bed of Roses” embraces a contemporary R&B direction singing about wanting to be close to someone & “In Your Skin” after the Kerry Washington interlude lusts to be pressed up against her lover all the time. “Always” after the Regina King interlude finishes up with a heartwarming tribute to her children.
Exploring themes of heartbreak as well as healing & finding freedom, Escape Room makes for a solid comeback to music for Teyana Taylor excluding her feature on Will Smith’s 5th album Based on a True Story earlier this spring. The narration interludes can be a little excessive at times personally, but the production is a step up from The Album & it’s gratifying to hear her breaking free from the mental prison she was in.
Legends Will Never Die 