Clipse – “Let God Sort ‘Em Out” review

Clipse is a duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia consisting of Pusha T & No Malice. Signing to Elektra Records in the mid-90s, their original debut Exclusive Audio Footage produced by the greatest production duo of all-time The Neptunes wound up getting shelved & jumped over to Star Trak Entertainment/Arista Records to widely introduce themselves on Lord Willin’. Switching distribution deals with Jive Records a couple years later, the Clipse took them to court & Hell Hath No Fury has since become one of the greatest coke rap albums ever. Following the mixed reception of the Columbia Records-backed ‘Til the Casket Drops, both members would embark on solo careers for over a decade & having Roc Nation Records buy them out of their Def Jam Recordings contract according to longtime manager & Victor Victor Worldwide founder Steven Victor for a Pharrell-produced comeback.

“The Birds Don’t Sing” opens the Thornton brothers’ return insisting that the birds screen in pain as the siblings talk about their parents passing on whereas the very reason Def Jam pussed out “Chains & Whips” featuring Kendrick Lamar in fact sticks out as a rap rock highlight calling back to his verse on “Nosetalgia” off Push’s solo debut M.N.I.M.N. (My Name Is My Name) during my sophomore year of high school succeeding that classic song when you think about 3 of the 4 contributors involved in both “Nostealgia” and “Chains & Whips” all have 1 common enemy.

Tyler, The Creator airing out Playboi Carti on “P.O.V.” had to have been a full circle of a moment from him as somebody who’s been following Yung T since the Odd Future era or especially hearing “Trouble on My Mind” during my adolescence until “So Be It” fuses Khaliji music & dirty south airing out the honorary WWE Hardcore Champion Travis Scott for playing “Meltdown” a week prior to UTOPIA’s release & adding Drake’s verse onto it after the fact.

“Ace Trumpets” made for a perfect experimental hip hop & rage lead single with lyrics from the perspective of their days movin’ weight including jabs at Consequence & Jim Jones’ egotistical self having the nerve of putting himself above a later guest at some point during Let God Sort ‘Em on God, but then “All Things Considered” lets everyone know what’s been going on with them lately & the “Dior slides made of iguana” line during the hook made me think of how great they’d look on the current AAA Mundial Mixtas Parejas Campeon Mr. Iguana signed to the Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide subsidiary of the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE.

We have women wanting a “M.T.B.T.T.F. (Mike Tyson Blow to the Face)” since the coke strong as a punch delivered by the WWE Hall of Famer himself harboring white slave master souls in their safe over a boom bap instrumental prior to the blog era throwback “E.B.I.T.D.A. (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation & Amortization)” featuring Pharrell talking about there being no evening between them since the scale be telling no lies. “F.I.C.O.” picks up from there breaking down the survival of the fittest being either getting acquitted or facing time leading into “Inglorious Bastards” named after the Quentin Tarantino film of the same name marking the return of the Re-Up Gang.

“So Far Ahead” gets the 4th quarter of the Clipse’s comeback going off the rip refusing to eat at Roscoe’s out of respect for the late PnB Rock which is understandable as someone whose had Roscoe’s in the past & a crazy Brittney Griner line while the title track featuring Nas on the 2nd half “Chandeliers” leaving y’all dead on your back with your eyes lookin’ up clearing most of At the Church Steps & “By the Graces of God” closes the LP with the Thorntons explaining they way they escaped the odds.

When the timeless Public Enemy asked on “What Eye Said” off their newest full-length Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 if any MC can write a verse without cursing, I had mentioned No Malice alongside Method Man’s most recent material & isn’t as bad as O-V-Hoes are making it out to be since their all-time favorite wants to ask “What Did I Miss?” when he got bodied in 2 rap beefs & the group their biggest foe once looked up to saw the Louis Vuitton men’s creative director put doubters calling him washed by going demon time with production & the siblings providing a Ying & Yang factor lyrically regardless of everything that happened with Chad Hugo when he’s always been musically superior as his best friend as said on the criminally underrated In My Mind & the Piece by Piece biopic that I highly enjoyed the previous fall.

Score: 4.5/5

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Boldy James – “Late to My Own Funeral” review

Here is the 16th studio LP from Detroit veteran Boldy James. Breaking out in the fall of 2013 off his Alchemist produced debut M.1.C.S. (My 1st Chemistry Set), he would later go on to land a contract with Nas’ independent label Mass Appeal Records for a little while before getting locked up. Once coming home, Uncle Al would help get his name back out there once getting out by dropping the Boldface EP around Christmas 2019 & then the sophomore album The Price of Tea in China. This was followed up with the Sterling Toles-produced Manger on McNichols which was as equally fantastic, but the Griselda Records-backed Versace Tape EP was a tad bit disappointing given how rushed it was. Bo Jackson though would become his most critically acclaimed work to date & Super Tecmo Bo was almost as great for an EP. Fair Exchange No Robbery produced by Nicholas Craven, Penalty of Leadership, Mr. 10-08 produced by Futurewave, the Conductor Williams-produced Across the Tracks the Harry Fraud-produced The Bricktionary & the Carlo Anthony-produced Hidden in Plain Sight were all welcomed to warm reception additionally. Token of Appreciation produced by Chuck Strangers was much better than both Murder During Drug Traffic & Permanent Ink, the Antt Beatz-produced Hommage left people divided although I didn’t mind it, coming off the V Don-produced Alphabet Highway & the Killing Nothing sequel Conversational Pieces by showing up Late to My Own Funeral.

“Spider Webbing Windshields” opens with a sped-up gospel sample keeping blue tips in the tin mill & putting $10K bounties on heads whereas “Marrero” dabbles with rap rock instrumentally talking about being a ghetto trophy & a collector’s item. “Trapezoid” gets back on the chipmunk soul vibes boasting of the 227 Concreatures been real trappers while “Antonio Tuttle” drumlessly talks about his near death experience.

Reaching the halfway point, “Cordon Bleu” featuring David Wesson brings a jazzier flare to the table breaking down how real this shit gets at time & going crazy with the highest class just before “The Whole Shabang” soulfully talks about wanting it all. “Genie in a Bottle” continues with the sampling advising to take this as a token because time isn’t on his side prior to the 2nd & final single “Nice Try Wrong Guy” figuring out where one’s loyalty lies.

“Meal Prepping” gets the final leg of Late to My Own Funeral soulfully talking about hating thieves as much as rats just before “AT&T” featuring C Dell & Nick Bruno concludes the service linking the trio up over a chipmunk soul beat reaffirming their legitimacy getting up close & personal unlike some of these other killers around their parts or addressing the group of individuals burning bridges with them not knowing how to swim.

Regarding the run Boldy’s been on this year, Token of Appreciation & Alphabet Highway gotta make some room for Late to My Own Funeral since it’s head above shoulders compared to those enjoyable projects & The Pop Catcher has a very high chance joining this a month from now. Nicholas Craven’s production recaptures the drumless, jazzy & chipmunk soul feeling of Fair Exchange No Robbery combined with the expansion of Penalty of Leadership’s near-death experience exploration.

Score: 4.5/5

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Jane Handcock – “It’s Not Me, It’s You” review

Oakland, California singer/songwriter Jane Handcock releasing a sophomore effort after teasing it with a few singles. A member of MacArthur Maze, she introduced herself in the beginning of 2016 off her debut EP Truth Be Told followed by Where’s Jane? as well as Where’s Jane 1.5 & Summer Type Flow. Making her way onto the radar of WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg through Fa Real, she joined Death Row Records for her debut album W.o.W. (World of Women) & is returning almost 2 years since Blvck Saturday with It’s Not Me, It’s You.

After the intro, the first song “Use Me” opens with a boom bap/neo soul crossover produced by Soopafly feeling like she has a genuine connection with this man instead of gold digging whereas “Sorry” swaps out the boom bap elements to throw a hint of rock in the picture apologizing for saying shit she didn’t mean. “Same Ol’ Love” colorfully sings about needing her lover from beginning to end while “You” featuring BJ the Chicago Kid gets together for a jazzy & soulful duet glad to be surrounding each other.

“For the Views” goes for a tenser direction in terms of sound singing about seeing truth & lies just before the funky “Stare at Me” featuring Anderson .Paak finds the pair taking it uptown & running it back downtown. “Stingy” smoothly asks for her lover to save all his love for her wanting him all to herself leading into “Can’t Let Go” after an interlude slickly add singing about being unable to get this man off her mind.

As for “Niraj”, we have Jane over some guitars from Charlie Bereal suggesting that this heartbreaker she knows plausibly needing love while “Smile” serves as a 90 second ode to happiness. “Good ta Me” puts her versatility on the forefront rapping & singing about her desires to give this man everything he wants over a Hit-Boy beat, but then “That’s All I Need” talks about only requiring love over a guitar & finger snaps. “Blowing Wind Around” closes the LP by favoring of rising in love rather than falling in it.

Jane uses It’s Not Me, It’s You as an opportunity to look at herself in all attributes to get the good, bad & ugly parts of her story out there in addition to strengthening Tha Row’s revived R&B division. Unlike the recent October London album October Nights basing itself around soul & contemporary R&B or Charlie Bereal’s debut for the label Walk with the Father throwing it back to the days of 70s smooth soul, MacArthur Maze’s biggest member diversifies from them shifting towards neo-soul mostly.

Score: 4/5

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Brothers of Chaos – Self-Titled review

The Brothers of Chaos are a west coast horrorcore duo from California consisting of San Jose emcee Chuckklez as well as Simi Valley singer/songwriter, rapper, producer, bassist, guitarist, audio engineer & music manager Freakshow. We recently got Chuckklez’ sophomore effort debut Horrors from the Unstable produced by DJ Ill Sprite this past winter, although it marked his debut for Lyrikal Snuff Productionz. However, he’s secured a separate label deal for him & Freakshow to properly introduce themselves to the Gore Hop universe with a debut EP in preparation of an upcoming tour run.

“Chaos” produced by Freakshow begins with a wicked rap rock intro talking about playing with an evil seance whereas “Sick Minds Think Alike” takes the boom bap route thanks to Zombie Aristocrats looking to leave corpses rotting in the sun. “Sonz of Darkness” samples “Fear No Evil” by Gimisum Family & Hollow Poynt displaying a back-&-forth chemistry while “STFU” featuring Bloody Ruckus sends a message to those who don’t know when to shut up. “Wanna Play a Game” references the Saw franchise & “Wicked Days” featuring Madopelli finishes with a west coast horrorcore heater that M.A.D. laced himself.

Chuckklez has already told The Gorefather himself Scum that he’d rather be a solo artist, but he wouldn’t mind being a part of a group depending on the person or people & how connected he is to them. The inaugural extended play from the Brothers of Chaos gives the underground wicked shit scene a glimpse of his magical chemistry with Freakshow, which has me hoping they’ll do an entire album down the line honing in on the standout beats now that the San Jose artist has been having more fun with his partner-in-rhyme than being by himself.

Score: 4/5

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Openness Trio – Self-Titled review

The Openness Trio are a jazz trio consisting of Oakland, California guitarist Nate Mercereau alongside Takoma Park, Maryland saxophonist Josh Johnson & Los Angeles, California percussionist Carlos Niño. Known for collaborating with the likes of Kamasi Washington & André 3000, all 3 members have decided to form a new supergroup under none other than the greatest jazz label of all-time Blue Note Records & make a broader introduction with an eponymous full-length debut studio album.

“Hawk Dreams” was a solid, freely improvised new age lead single & a better intro to the LP with secondary influences of spiritual jazz whereas “…Anything’s Possible” works in a saxophone & some percussion for a little over 5 minutes. The final single “Openness” blends new age & ambient for the shortest composition of the 5 but once “Chimes in the Garden” embraces the spiritual jazz vibes a bit heavier for a moment, “Elsewhere” finishes with a mesmerizing free improvisational outro that Nate originally teased on YouTube in 2021.

For fans of the prominently ambient new age direction that André 3000 embraced on New Blue Sun or Kamasi Washington making amongst the greatest spiritual jazz of this current millennium even a decade after The Epic, the freely improvised self-titled debut from the Openness Trio brings a sound to the modern Blue Note roster than their own moniker implies & hopefully it’s only the beginning for them collectively.

Score: 4/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 15 (Final Explosion)” review

This is the 25th studio LP from Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records & being 1/3 of the Dump Gawds alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, we also can’t ignore the massive discography that he’s managed to build for himself, some of the standouts include Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. He’s been putting out amongst his best material in the past few years like the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull, the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King series, the Oh No-produced Berserko, the Mike Shabb-produced Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth, Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul & Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz. I don’t even have to mention the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap saga since we’re already 14 entries deep & the 15th one looks to serve as the “season finale”.

“D.Y.O.G. (Dig Your Own Grave)” featuring Jay NiCE was a soulful boom bap intro produced by Nicholas Craven breaking down what it’ll be like in a rap battle against them whereas the self-produced “Order of Pain” ruggedly talks about leaving y’all slumped with the Mossberg pump. “It’s Darkness” goes for a drumless chipmunk soul vibe running hunting bags up top rank with the heavy artillery prior to “Flame Weaver” talks about his name being solidified in stone.

As for “Another Meal”, we have Fahim over a bare organ instrumental hittin’ spears harder than 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion as well as 2-time NXT Champion & NXT Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker did to iShowSpeed at the Rumble just before the crooning “Don’t Blink” featuring Jay NiCE references 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair.

“Dead Giveaway” continues the soulful sampling techniques boasting his whole library collection of raw raps & throwing the moon at the last person who wanted to battle him, but then “Break Records” featuring Jay NiCE strips the drums completely for a hardcore chipmunk soul talking about their extraordinary lyricism. Jay NiCE sticks around on “Plant Seed” discussing revenge feeling better than forgiveness to them “Perfect Attendance” featuring Jay NiCE speaks of keeping full clips in the mag.

To get the 3rd & final act of the “season finale” going, “Precise Planning” keeps it drumless weeding out the fake until they get sent to their graves while “Keep Dat” makes MCs catch more shells than the bottom of the sea. “Solid Granite” brings a woodwind into the fold talking about having more guns than Gaston Glock advising to take heed to his warnings & “Bone Cracker” featuring Jay NiCE ends the album blowing .45 ACP mags to make their haters’ comrades sit down.

Said Final Explosion of the inaugural Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap season diverts from the norms of it’s predecessors by having Fahim himself producing almost half of it with the rest being left to Craven as opposed to the others being solely produced by the latter, expanding into a full-length body of work unlike the other 14 entries being EPs & finally 35% of the rhyming throwing it back to his chemistry with Jay NiCE during the 12th chapter capitalizing on the improved schemes of the more recent installments.

Score: 4/5

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Yves! – “R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year)” review

Houston, Texas rapper Yves! releasing his 15th EP a month succeeding the prelude. In almost 3 years, the last dozen of EPs under his name have all caught the attention of underground trap whether it be the Om. series & the Avarice. series or 4DaKash & Welcome to the Palace. Marking his 4th EP of 2025 alone, R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year) looks to expand on what he went for on B4 R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year) merely 4 weeks ago by serving up the main event with some notable production credits.

“1 of 1.” starts with a cloudy pop rap trap intro clocking at 115 seconds telling his girl to get her hands on her knees whereas the tropical “3am Thoughts.” talks about what goes through his mind in the early hours of the day. “Love.” produced by Cxdy of Internet Money Records giving props to Destroy Lonely’s last album Love Lasts Forever leading into the rage inducing “Sexy.” talking about his chick loving his vibe.

Cxdy gets back behind the boards for “Giuseppe.” referencing the Italian luxury footwear & fashion designer Giuseppe Zanotti just before “Drunk in Luv.” experiments with trap, rap rock & pop rap asking what happened between him & this woman whose final words to him were “replace me” prior to getting drunk in the car. Rio Leyva & Vendr cook up the playfully cloud rap/trap outro “10s.” wanting to know why this person he needs by his side hasn’t been around.

Looking to take over the game, R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year) feels unlike anything else Yves! has done previously achieving his desire of making waves artistically. The production has a little bit of something for everybody from rage to hyperpop, cloud rap, experimental hip hop, trap, pop rap & rap rock taking a more serious approach to his delivery & songwriting on top of it in the midst of his booming popularity.

Score: 4/5

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Sk8star – “Pale Fever” review

Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Sk8star with his 7th EP & the 3rd of this year. Getting his footing in the spring of 2021 off Superstar Status, he would go on to follow it up last year with both the B4NWØ EP & his debut mixtape New World Ørder respectively. The latter being my introduction to Sk8’s music after my lil brody UnreleasedSnip put me on, with songs like “Standin’ on Business” & “YSL Flow” being the standouts for me personally. Following his 3rd EP Mogul along with rebel at the beginning of 2023 & whole new meaning that same spring, Sk8 addressed the Rebel in the Room & continues the Rebelution by putting out Pale Fever.

“Pale Face” produced by Richie Souf blends trap & electronic together talking about being a Designer Junkie whereas “Confused” works in some pianos, organs & hi-hats to get so high that he’s unable to think clearly. “Rugby” gives off a bit of a luxury trap vibe talking about shit on the verge of getting ugly prior to 1300SAINT joining Sk8 on “Achoo” incorporating pianos & hi-hats to trade verses with one another.

Nosaint of Vanguard Music Group produces the highlight “Tycoon” feeling like he’s a magnate & spreading no hate towards anybody stickin’ to the plan of fuckin’ up these checks coming his way leading into “Fein” cloudy talking about dealing with his face to get to the place you want to go. “ForMyRealOnes” lastly rounds out Pale Feverwith a dedication to those who’ve been by his side through it all.

Couldn’t tell you exactly how many EPs we’re gonna be getting until Sk8star decides to put out his debut album Designer Junkie, but it’s quite impressive that most of Pale Fever channels the energy of “Sex” for almost 17 minutes. The detailed production mostly handled by Richie Souf captivates on the 2 bangers he produced a few months ago carrying it out on a majority of it’s successor & Sk8 lyrically gives a taste of what’s to come on his upcoming debut.

Score: 4/5

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Tha God Fahim – “The Dumplorian” review

Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim recruiting Mr. Skip to produce his 63rd EP. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records & being 1/3 of the Dump Gawds alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, we also can’t ignore the massive discography that he’s managed to build for himself, some of the standouts include Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. He’s been putting out amongst his best material in the past few years like the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull, the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King series, the Oh No-produced Berserko, the Mike Shabb-produced Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth, Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul & Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz. I don’t even have to mention the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap saga since the season finale’s coming soon, becoming The Dumplorian this 4th of July.

“No Limit” was a funky choice of an intro advising to stop if you can’t find the rhythm whereas “Mayor” fuses chipmunk soul & boom bap dividing everything into proportions so the whole family can eat. “Temptations” has a lavishly drumless vibe to the beat talking about being afraid of staying the same while “Duck Season” shifts over into chipmunk soul turf again having too many reasons to be killing this many mics.

Continuing the lo-fi sampling, “Giant” talks about being an outcast for pretty much his whole life referencing the Nintendo-owned Super Smash Bros. franchise leading into “Dump Gawd Theme Music” jazzily flexing that his rhyme massacres tend to occur without any reasoning. “Bueller” featuring Mr. Skip himself closes the EP with a remix to their first ever collaboration that Skip breathed new life into.

The Lethal Weapon trilogy has primarily been serving as breathers in the midst of the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap series & I can say the same with what Fahim does here on top of that. Mr. Skip approaches his production here like he’s a score using murky loops, soulful grit & cinematic energy front to back leaning towards that raw lo-fi aesthetic without sacrificing the musicality or message.

Score: 3.5/5

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The Doppelgangaz – “Still Left” review

This is the 12th EP from Orange County, New York duo The Doppelgangaz. Consisting of MCs/producers Matter ov Fact & EP, they’ve gone on to make waves in the underground by dropping a total of 8 full-length albums as well as 11 EPs & 6 beat tapes. Standouts include their breakout sophomore effort Lone Sharks, the follow-up Hark, their 5th album Dopp Hopp, Aaaaggghh, Black Cloak Lifestyle & Went Left. Been almost a couple years since the latter embarking on a west coast sound as opposed to their roots & they’ve decided to hit us with a sequel to it.

After the “JO VM” intro, the title track was a g-funk opener showing their love for the sunshine state once again whereas “All in Your Mind” works in a piano/boom bap instrumental talking about taking it all in stride. “Do It Like We” brings the funk influences back in the fold boasting that nobody can do shit on their level while “Would’ve Had a Hit” is a g-funk heavy stoner’s ballad. “Too Too Much” caps it all off with 1 final g-funk joint to play when you’re out in the weekends.

Continuing the G Pack saga in the 23 months since they initially Went Left, The Doppelgangaz once again shift away from the traditional boom bap style of the Groggy Pack Entertainment founders’ home turf in favor of drawing inspiration from the west coast scene once again embracing the g-funk production with ease & carrying over the original’s playful subject matter.

Score: 4/5

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