Samara Cyn – “Backroads” review

Samara Cyn is a 26 year old rapper & singer from Murfreesboro, Tennessee beginning her career in 2019 after writing her first song. However, it wasn’t until last fall where her debut EP The Drive Home began to turn heads and catch people’s attention because of the way she fused alternative hip hop with neo-soul. She’s been landing features on Ray Vaughn’s most recent mixtape The Good, The Bad, The $1 Menupreceding his beef with Joey Bada$$ the following month as well as the new ovrkast. album While the Iron’s Hot a few weeks ago, coming off the latter with her 2nd EP.

“Summer’s Turning” was a woozy intro finding herself sweating often because she feels like the jig is up whereas “Pop n Olive” featuring Sherwyn takes a cloudy boom bap approach instrumentally trading verses back-&-forth about killing people. “hardheaded” offers a funkier vibe to the beat confronting society in 2025 & after the cloudy yet relatable “Bad Brain” talks about facing the anxieties & distractions of life, “Brand New Teeth” featuring Smino wraps up the EP with both of them talking about delusional pressure.

Receiving co-signs from Doechii & even Lauryn Hill bringing her out on stage after she started her set late like always, Samara faces the parts of herself she’s been denying & confronting them well enough to make a Drive Home follow-up that makes her realize her potential even more than she did 8 months ago taking a path to success that’s been rarely traveled. She’s hungrier than she was back in October & if she keeps purifying the style that made her popular to begin with, her full-length studio debut will only leave a mark on the industry bigger than this moment.

Score: 4/5

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Dave East & Young Chris – “Fine Dining” review

Brand new collaborative EP between Harlem, New York emcee Dave East as well as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee Young Chris. The latter of whom gained notoriety as part of the State Property subgroup Young Gunz & the other broke out by landing a spot in the iconic 2016 XXL Freshman Class almost a decade ago. Both of these guys have collaborated with each other a couple times in the past & only 4 months after the From the Dirt Records founder linked with Ransom on The Final Call, he & Chris are going out for some Fine Dining.

“Pablo & Gunner” was a great single in my opinion from the back-&-forth delivery both parties employ to the boom bap instrumental whereas “Gemstars & Baggies” fuses jazz & trap together so they can talk about wanting to catch Ws as a way of rebounding from all the Ls they’ve previously took. “Kiss the Sky” takes it back to the basement representing a city where the skinny ones ride leading into “Ain’t Adding Up” airs out everyone who ain’t doing the math.

Elcamino provides the hook on the smooth pop rap cut “She’s Choosing” talking about getting high with women & having them lay on their chests while “We Won’t Stop” gets on the soulful boom bap tip once again refusing to pump the brakes & keep putting it on for their home state. “10 Toes Down” finds the pair needing a gallon of water each since the rap game so dry & “Get That $” dustily finishes with both of them chasing the paper.

Dave’s really been stepping it up with the collaborative projects this year because if you come to find yourself enjoying Fine Dining more than The Final Call, I wouldn’t even complain since Young Chris’ pen has always been as sharp as Peedi Crakk’s probably would’ve gotten a solo album on Roc-A-Fella Records after Prince of the Roc had the label not imploded on itself due to Dame Dash’s ego. You get more versatile production pulling from boom bap, jazz rap, trap & pop rap as opposed to the drumless chipmunk soul direction of The Final Call & both of them hone in on their chemistry together.

Score: 3.5/5

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Memphis Bleek – “APT 3D” review

Memphis Bleek is a 46 year old rapper & songwriter from Brooklyn, New York starting as the original hype man for JAY-Z. Hov eventually signed him to Roc-A-Fella Records once their distribution deal with Def Jam Recordings was settled, dropping both his full-length debut Coming of Age & the sophomore effort The Understanding to mixed reception. M.A.D.E. (Money, Attitude, Direction & Education) would become my personal favorite album of his in the winter of 2003 & with the 20-year anniversary of 534 passing last month, the Warehouse Music Group founder is looking to make a comeback with his 5th studio LP.

“Durag Bleek” produced by Just Blaze was a perfect lead single to kick off the rollout talking about the Roc life being bigger than that mob shit whereas “Still R.O.C.” works in a gospel sample to talk about representing the same squad he’s been with for almost 3 decades, which he’s not wrong since Roc Nation Records is distributing Warehouse now. “You Should Know” laughs off those copping out more than they drop out over a soulful Cool & Dre instrumental leading into the mild pop rap cut “On My Way”.

We get a spoken word intro that takes up the first half of “Holla at Cheech” ahead of a 52 second verse off the top flexing that y’all should be following him outside of social media over a Sndtrak beat while “I’m the Type” brings a chipmunk soul vibe to the table talking about being the kind of person to ride with you until the very end. “King’s Design” suggests that he should be charging people the way he be speaking like a boss just before “3 Kings” featuring Benny the Butcher & Smoke DZA finds the trio talking about being royalty around their respective parts.

“Believe It” begins the 3rd & final leg of APT 3D with boom bap instrumental showing off the large lifestyle he’s been involved with ever since his music career took off really while “Choosing You” brings back the pop rap vibes except he & Mario Winans are doing it much better than they did on “On My Way” from the atmospheric sound to the lyrics of always remaining loyal to his partner. “Word to Hov” finishes Bleek’s first body of work in 2 decades with him taking the last 2 & a half minutes to shout out his mentor as well as explain that he had to take time away from music to pick himself back up from personal shit.

Taking it back to the apartment complex in the Marcy Projects that made him, APT 3D rivals M.A.D.E. (Money, Attitude, Direction & Education) by passionately returning to the booth casually shrugging off whatever Memphis Bleek had going on in his life outside of music. The production nostalgically throws it back to when Roc-A-Fella was at their prime as a label in the early 2000s & most of the features doing hooks other than both MCs who were on the 2nd single was a great move on his part since that time away gave him a lot to get off his chest.

Score: 3.5/5

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Nick Grant – “I Took It Personal” review

Nick Grant is a 36 year old MC from Atlanta, Georgia emerging in 2016 off his debut mixtape ‘88 along with the Epic Records-backed debut album Return of the Cool. His next tape Dreamin’ Out Loud would prelude the acclaimed God Bless the Child produced by Tae Beast of the Top Dawg Entertainment in-house production team Digi+Phonics, which later led to Carolina Diaries & Welcome to Loveland. A year & half since Sunday Dinner however, I Took It Personal has finally arrived a week after its initial release date.

“Unforgettable” sets the tone with a piano/boom bap hybrid sprinkling remnants of the past in his music testifying to the legacy he’s already established for himself whereas “Let It Reign / Read Your Contract” gets split into a soulful first half boasting that everything he writes murders & the other lamenting his time being on a major label including giving advice to anyone who wants to get signed basing it from his own experiences with Grand Hustle Records & later Epic.

The soul sample on “Do You Love Me?” fits the whole theme of love telling his girl that she’s the very reason he bosses up & he’s the realest out of all the fish in the sea leading into “Big Tymers” talking about there not being any other better story than the underdog. “Pass It Out / House Calls” serves as another 2-parter cloudily looking to chalk out his competition during the first half & the other talking about there being a problem if the dogs get called.

Chipmunk soul & boom bap get fused during “The Ritual” boasting that he’s the very reason why the matrix is glitching at the moment just before “No Apologies” belittles everyone who relies on ghostwriters over a jazzy yet soulful instrumental. “Love for the Mob” finds himself keeping it p & moving in silence like psalms showing off some killer wordplay while “The Pride” talks about joking a lot with his girl & still getting deep with her.

“Back Home” experiments with sample drill a bit reflecting on going major now & getting it out the mud when he started while “Product, User, Dealer” talks about making your favorite MC relapsing snorting lines again on top of observation the treachery of them street corners. Moving on from there, “Something to Sei” tackles a kind of love Nick feels should be illegal considering he was selling merch to give her heaven on earth.

The song “Nothing’s Free” brings a darker trap atmosphere to the table blending these hi-hats & ominous piano chords together until a symphonic switch up halfway through saying that America’s eating it’s babies when that couldn’t be any more true while “It Ain’t Personal” caps off the LP with 1 last soul sample chop making y’all think somebody filming him the way he’s shooting muhfuckas.

God Bless the Child was what renewed my interest in Nick during a rough time period in the lives of many & now that we’re pretty much halfway through the decade, I Took It Personal surpasses Return of the Cool as his strongest full-length & I feel like lot of people can learn a few things from it if you want to get involved with the music business. He’s laying out every experience he’s had in the industry whether it be good or bad & the production could be his most eclectic showing influences of boom bap, trap, jazz rap, chipmunk soul, cloud rap & sample drill.

Score: 4/5

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ScarLip – “Scarred B4 Fame” review

ScarLip is a 24 year old rapper & producer from Brooklyn, New York signing to Epic Records following the single “This is New York”. I on the other hand wasn’t introduced to her until she appeared on “Take ‘Em Out” off the Hip Hop 50, Vol. 2 EP that Swizz Beatz produced a couple years ago & began seeing the appeal in her music once “Blick” came out weeks after a couple of her fans were messaging me on social media last summer. To get THIS summer started, the Broken Child Entertainment founder’s preluding her debut album with a debut EP.

I didn’t mind “Pop That” featuring Lil Wayne as an intro bringing both of them together over a Rockwilder & Swizz Beatz instrumental to remind where you can find them if you need some weight whereas “Melanin” angrily talks about beefing with ghostwriters instead of other rappers. “Eastside” fuses trap & soul advising not to call her since she don’t need anyone leading into the mediocre New York drill collab “Fruity Pebbles” featuring TaTa.

“Could’ve Been Me” featuring Skilla Baby begins the final moments of Scarred B4 Fame with both of them keeping guns by their side asking what the plan is but after “Runaway Love” freestyles over the instrumental of the Ludacris track of the same name from Release Therapy, “Lord Please” sends off the EP fusing trap & gospel asking God to be easy on her.

Haven’t really consider myself the biggest fan of the New York drill scene other than the late Pop Smoke & right when I thought that subgenre was starting to fade out because nobody has really carried the torch since, hearing ScarLip for the past couple years had me hoping that she would capitalize on her potential with this EP & the results are mixed. I can certainly say the hunger’s there in her verses, although most of the guests’ performances & some of the instrumentals are 2 of the biggest criticisms I have with it.

Score: 2.5/5

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Che Noir – “The Color Chocolate 2” review

Here we have the 9th EP from Buffalo emcee/producer Che Noir. 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 recruiting Superior-produced Seeds of Babylon. Damn near 3 months to the day, The Color Chocolate 2 is kicking summer in full gear.

“Painting Class” was a drumless intro opting to give haters interventions instead of bars whereas “Buy vs. Sell” brings a self-produced boom bap instrumental in the fold talking about a woman who makes her every dime off crime. “Who’s the Greatest?” featuring eLZhi finds the 2 painting visions for the blind with intricate wordplay from both parties while “Show & Tell” featuring 7xvethegenius reunites the pair ahead of their collab effort in November to grind until they can’t anymore.

Starting the 2nd half, “Where You Go” takes a soulful route to the beat stripping the drums once again being colorblind to those showing her their true colors while “Blink Twice” talks making atheists pray on her downfall over a piano instrumental from Evidence. “Stories” expresses her frustration of being fed up with fake friends who never gave a fuck of what she wanted & the closer “New Beginning” remembers a late friend whose girl is carrying his child.

Pushing her lyrical prowess as well as her storytelling abilities & dexterity as a producer even further, Che Noir gets back on her bully shit with a sequel to The Color Chocolate 2 that I enjoy more than the predecessor from a year & a half ago. The sequel’s production is stronger than the original’s personally & I think there’s significantly more consistency within the guests’ performances.

Score: 4/5

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Joshua Redman – “Words Fall Short” review

Joshua Redman is a 56 year old saxophonist from Berkeley, California notable for being the son of the late Dewey Redman. Signing to Warner Records in 1994 with his eponymous debut, he would go on to follow it up Wish as well as Moodswing & Freedom in the Groove. He would stay with Warner for Timeless Tales (For Changing Times) followed by Beyond & Passage of Time, leaving after Elastic in the fall of 2002. Recently signing to the greatest jazz label of all-time, Joshua’s 16th solo LP will now be his official debut under Blue Note Records.

“A Message to Unsend” begins with a 5 minute post-bop composition enlisting labelmate Paul Cornish on piano ahead of his debut You’re Exaggerating! later this summer alongside Philip Norris playing bass & Nazir Ebo handling the drums prior to tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana joining the quartet for “So It Goes” to improvise 7 minutes of pure swagger. Philip’s bassist skills kicks off the first 60 seconds of the title track until the drums, sax & pianos all come in respectively while “Borrowed Eyes” reaches the halfway point with a bluesier mood.

Getting the ball rollin’ on Words Fall Short’s final act, “Icarus” could be my favorite post-bop song throughout the whole 45 & a half minute runtime bringing trumpeter Skylar Tang along for an exhilarating improvised post-bop jam just before “Over the Jelly-Green Sea” shows Joshua’s appreciation towards the late W.G. Sebald. The final instrumental piece “She Knows” explores his full range with a soprano saxophone giving a shot at avant-garde jazz during it’s 2nd half “Era Ends” by Gabrielle Cavassa sends off the album with a vocal jazz outro reminiscent to the most recent entry of her discography Where Are We?.

Conceived in a working environment that inspired him to dig into compositions that hadn’t found a home yet, Joshua Redman’s approach to bandleading hasn’t changed from the very moment he introduced himself to the world 3 decades earlier still performing with virtuosos who’ve mastered all the different jazz vocabularies & know how to express their individual brilliance through group improvisation & collective interaction. Primarily departing from the vocal jazz direction that took up a good bulk of Where Are We? & turning up the post-bop influences, Josh’s previously unheard collection of originals the beauty of human imperfection sees the light of day as his greatest material since leaving Warner.

Score: 4/5

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Dabbla – “BLOTS” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee & Potent Funk Records co-founder Dabbla teaming up with local producer Ghosttown for his 2nd solo EP. Both of whom formed the Dead Players alongside Jam Baxter until Dabbla made his solo debut in 2016 off Year of the Monkey followed by the debut mixtape Chapsville under High Focus Records & the sophomore effort Death Moves respectively. Coming off Nobody as well as Bad Tuesday & G.W.O.A.T. (Greatest Wanker Of All-Time), it was intriguing to hear the LDZ & Problem Child member returning to High Focus with Ghosttown by his side throughout the duration of BLOTS ahead of Nino Bryant becoming the new RPW British Cruiserweight Champion this weekend.

“Shoosh” opens with what’s easily my favorite track here from the bassy trap beat to the rapid-fire flow & lyrics about being UK hip hop royalty whereas the 3rd & final single “Paper Boats” featuring PAV4N links the pair up to flex leveling up on some next shit. The 2nd single “Karate Good” featuring Dubbledge goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally having both of them wishing a muhfucka would just before the lead single “Bang” featuring Tis Zombie spits that gun talk pulling from trap once again.

Succeeding the “My Guy” interlude, “Uh Oh” begins the 2nd half of BLOTS fusing trap & jazz rap explaining that the true meaning of boredom is when one’s lacking inner resources while “Yadda Yadda Yadda” featuring Smuj joins forces to talk about hearing a whole lotta bullshit out these people’s mouths. The closer “Nonsense” sends off the EP with him over a woodwind so he can take aim at those speaking in balderdash.

Chapsville still remains my favorite solo project Dabbla has ever made almost a decade later so when I heard Ghosttown was fully producing BLOTS, I was hoping for it would surpass Bad Tuesday in becoming the most celebrated extended play of the 2 we’ve gotten from him & I certainly did it enjoy it more than it’s 2022 predecessor by only a slight margin. My criticisms of this EP lie more with them overloading it with guest appearances for nearly every son, but I can respect Ghosttown’s chaotic trap production & Dabbz recapturing the spirit of his LDZ days.

Score: 3/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 14” review

Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim releasing his 62nd EP over a week since the last one. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records as well as 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. Continuing the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap Rap saga, the dumpathon finds no end in sight with the 14th installment.

“Post Apocalyptic” sets off the EP with a laidback boom bap instrumentally talking about the state of the world especially with everything that happened in the Middle East last weekend whereas “No Traffic” heads for a chipmunk soul direction boasting that he’s in his own different lane when he’s not entirely wrong. “Warmonger” hooks up a drumless guitar instrumental to talk about living life like a gladiator while “The Work of 1,000” soulfully uses the element of surprise to fight his mental struggles.

Ru$h teams up with Fahim on “Megamen” like he did over a week ago for “Twisted Metal” letting it be known that there ain’t no 2nd chances when they make advancements to their styles leading into the atmospherically dusty “Olympic Weightlifters” talking about keeping a pump on him & looking to fulfill his destiny since this is our only opportunity alive. “Versace N Pepper Steak” rounds out the EP by hopping over a funk sample paying homage to the recently departed Sly Stone.

Noticeably less jazzier than the EP we got from him 8 days ago, Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 14 continues the historically unstoppable run Fahim & Craven have been on together since last fall. The latter’s production carries over the chipmunk soul, boom bap & drumless sounds that a vast majority of the series has been praised for from the get-go & Breadrick Douglas’ lyrics cut deeper than a samurai sword.

Score: 4.5/5

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Ankhlejohn – “Live! at the Disco” review

This is the 7th studio LP from Washington, D.C. emcee/producer Ankhlejohn. Breaking out off his Big Ghost Ltd.-produced sophomore effort Van Ghost, he’s given the underground his last 6 full-lengths as well as 8 EPs & 7 tapes in almost a decade. Other favorites of mine in his discography include the Navy Blue-produced As Above, So Below, the Rome Streetz collaborative effort Genesis 1:27. & more recently the Cookin’ Soul-produced The Michelin Man earlier this year. August Fanon had produced Blu’s widely praised 13th solo album 40 back in April & hearing him produce Live! at the Disco had raised my expectations for it going in.

“Electric Funk Daddy” sets up some woodwinds & keys to get the party going assuring that you best believe he’s got some personal shit poppin’ off in his life right now whereas “Lexus GS300” embraces a funkier direction instrumentally so he can get on his smooth shit on the mic for a couple minutes. “Emilio Pucci” takes the drumless chipmunk soul route giving his flowers to the late founder of the Italian fashion house Pucci just before “The Lordy Way” brings back the funk talking about doing shit the only way he knows how to: his own.

The late “Marion Barry” gets brought up on a song named after him lettin’ y’all know where Lordy comes from over some delicate synthesizers behind him while “Long Overdue” chops up the soul sample again to map out big heists you won’t even believe. “Replica Jazz Club” dives into jazz rap turf talking about new beginnings & his vision being bigger than everyone else’s prior to “Monday Morning” soulfully talks about needing permission from no one except his mother.

“Day by Day” mixed soul & synth-funk showing everyone his imagination smoking the finest mush he could find on the daily while “Eddie Brock” makes reference to The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel-owned Venom’s alter ego turning the jazz influences back up again. “Majic 102.3 Vibes” maintains a jazz rap flare airing out the people who haven’t paid their dues in the game & “Digital Love” ends with a drumless saxophone talking about being that muhfucka.

I did enjoy the Grace Given EP don’t get me wrong, but Live! at the Disco recaptures almost every that made The Michelin Man his best in a while & both of them will be hailed as his most essential listens the more time passes. August Fanon’s production on this one a lot like 40 earlier this spring prominently centers itself around chipmunk soul, jazz rap & drumless swapping out the conscious subject matter Blu is known for in favor of the hardcore lyricism that Lordy’s become popular off of.

Score: 4.5/5

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