The Pharcyde is a pioneering alternative hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California now consisting of Fatlip, Imani & Slimkid3. Originally a quartet, their first couple albums Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde & Labcabincalifornia would become some of the most beloved in the west coast scene. Plain Rap was more moderately received with Humboldt Beginnings & Spear of the Nation both leaving fans divided, looking to bounce back on this brand new EP & the 2nd one in their whole discography.
“Citrus Nioxide” featuring Danny Brown & produced by Rockwilder kicks off the 4-track run with everyone talking about having the answers to the questions on them always catchin’ em on the downslide whereas “Oscar” is the only song I could do without here suggesting they should be awarded for acting the way they do. The title track works in some prominent piano chords thanks to Rick Rock advising not to let life pass you by & “Phabulous” soulfully ties it up with the help of Khrysis reminding everyone who they are.
Nearly 3 years after reuniting without Bootie Brown as a trio, Timeless connects The Pharcyde’s legacy of offbeat humor as well as their jazz-laced beats & unconventional lyricism with a new era of experimental hip hop. With them being away from the scene for almost 2 decades, they took the time to highlight producers they’ve been fans of & help them craft the strongest batch of late career material in their arson.
This is the 4th mixtape from Queens rapper Pasto Flocco. Coming up as an associate of Lil Tecca, he’s seen quite the success off his own once branching out on his own by dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the Surf Gang collective. Pasto rang in 2022 by dropping sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) under his newly founded Ghetto Luxury Entertainment & continued to build upon the sample drill sound on March Madness 2 in the spring & then Walking Glitch. He returned to a plugg sound few months ago on Rebirth & is now looking to close out the March Madness trilogy.
“James Harden (Dancing with the Stars)” is a quirky trap intro to the tape referencing Avengers leader Tony Stark or Iron Man owned by The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel whereas “GLE Troopin’” cloudily represents Ghetto Luxury for roughly 90 seconds thanks to J6. “They Know!” produced by Maajins talks about everyone knowing he got swag while the self-produced “Dance Through the Storm” doesn’t shy away from detailing his recent hardships.
As for “Laughing When She Lie”, we have Pasto turning up the psychedelic trap vibes a bit laughing off his girl tryna cap to him just before the cloudy “Cali Breeze” talks about a hoe showing him ass after pissing him off although he shows her the door. “Been Gettin’ $” speaks on him gradually making paper & hanging with him not being so cheap, but then “Saddle River” dabbles with plugg flexing he got 5 Guys if it’s beef.
“$ the Route to the Evil” starts the 2nd half of March Madness 3 advising to stay clear from a certain type of people while “Reggie Bush” talks about doing too much with all these racks on him. “Fuckin’ 4 Getback” heads for a rage-inducing direction to discuss women saying they love him only for it to be bullshit later on while “Zoom!” maintains a hypertrap flare talking about how funny it is that people try to use him.
To get the 4th quarter of the tape going, “Flocc Chamberlain” works in some synths & hi-hats courtesy of Swervo of Vanguard Music Group boasting how fly he is likening himself to Wilt Chamberlain obviously while “Pour4Me” heavily relies more on synths talking about getting fucked up with him under the influence. “Why Slime Me?” goes for a spacious trap approach shrugging off the idea of him getting tired of rockin’ & rollin’ while “New $ New Gunz” wants to know what the fuck you doing if you ain’t making bread.
March Madness alongside March Madness 2 are both individually important to Pasto’s discography in their own rights & even though I don’t understand why he released the trilogy chapter at the beginning of May unlike both predecessors coming out in the exact month the saga is named after, I still enjoyed it as much as Rebirth when he made his return after 2 years. He’s obviously grown both personally & artistically almost a decade later with the production reaching the mark his most recent EP had set.
Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher returning after 9 months for his 9th EP. Being in the game for 2 decades already, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Harry Fraud came in for a sequel to the latter following the mature Burden of Proof & finally, Tana Talk 4 took it back to the basement a couple years back. Coming off having Hit-Boy produce half of it & leaving the other half to The Alchemist produce his Def Jam Recordings debut Everybody Can’t Go along with both Summertime Butch & Buffalo Butch back-to-back, Excelsior’s looking to refine the styles of those predecessors.
After the “Corner” intro, the first song “I’m the Program” is this symphonic boom bap opener suggesting you gotta laugh at life sometimes whereas “Sign Language” works in a vocal sample thanks to Harry Fraud living in the moment since too much going on. “$ & Power” featuring Skylar Blatt dabbles with trap courtesy of Daringer wanting those 2 things while “Duffel Bag Hottie’s Revenge” featuring Boldy James talks about the B$F artist currently behind bars. “Toxic” featuring Styles P returns to the boom bap to unite the Butcher with the Ghost until “B$F” featuring Fuego Base & Sule ends by repping their set.
With Excelsior, Benny continues to cement his place as one of the most important & vital voices in hip hop today continuing his evolution becoming reactivated in summertime mode with the streets watching & the culture listening. Some have jumped off the porch early & understood the game instantly, others took a lil time & some needed their hand held in every aspect and was only good at riding coattails. Then you have got people like him who’re The Chosen Few.
Here we have the 5th EP from Baltimore emcee, singer, producer & visionary JPEGMAFIA. Breaking out almost a decade ago off his full-length debut Black Ben Carson, it wouldn’t be until the man’s next 2 albums Veteran & All My Heroes are Cornballs where he would reveal himself as one of the most creative minds in hip hop today. The 8-track EP, it’s follow-up with almost all newly recorded material, LP!, the Danny Brown collab effort Scaring the Hoes & Peggy’s production credits on both of ¥$’ albums Vultures & Vultures 2. We got a deluxe version of I Lay Down My Life for You that I highly enjoyed last summer & is teaming up with Flume so he can produce We Live in a Society.
“Track 1” starts off as a spoken word piece up until the drop during the 2nd half of it whereas “Is It Real” feels more of an Ravyn Lenae cut since Peggy only handles the hook singing about if the love they have is legitimate. “AI Girlfriend” humorously pokes fun at the concept of being romantically involved with artificial intelligence probably because of Kim Kardashian dating a Tesla robot these days while “The Ocean’s Fake” ends by admitting not even know when to see this individual again & goin’ back in time for them.
Being a big fan of the visionary take JPEGMAFIA has had on experimental hip hop on top of Flume’s influence in the wonky scene, both of these worlds collide for a quick 16 & a half minute EP meshing each of those individual styles together. Flume’s production here also contains hints of cloud rap, alternative R&B as prominently shown on the Ravyn Lenae song, industrial hip hop & a dash of sketch comedy as a way of holding Peggy fans off until it’s time for his new album whenever that may be.
Devstacks is a 25 year old rapper & producer from Boston, Massachusetts emerging off the Now They Know Us trilogy with the first 2 installments being EPs & the concluding chapter becoming his full-length studio debut. His 3rd EP Scriptures has proven to become his breakout project, going on to produce for the likes of Ty Fontaine to Kevin Abstract & more recently Diorvsyou the previous weekend. Starting the month of May off, Dev’s getting back on the mic for a sophomore effort.
“Shoutout Jesus Christ” puts a psychedelic spin on rage dropping braggadocio whereas “The Hills” goes for a druggier vibe aesthetically talking about buying stupid shit since he’s stupid rich now. “Soulja’s Coming” cloudily discusses being a heavyweight & geeked up at the exact same time leading into “Why U Make Thay Face?” talking about making bitches go crazy & never having a backup plan.
Everyone who thought he fell off gets clapped back on “Hate the Feeling” blending some pianos & hi-hats to make a killin’ just before “Lmk U Made It Home Ok” heads for more of a pop rap direction asking this woman to show him somethin’. “1of1” picks up from there flexing his unique style crossing over trap & regalia while “Wipe Your Nose” dismisses the supposed swagger of someone who chases hoes instead of chips.
“Thriller” turns the bass up talking about having the baddest woman right beside him & making a movie with her while “parlay” featuring Swapa contains prominent performances from the latter since Dev has a criminally underwritten verse during the middle of it. “Shaderoom” compares the way hoes speaking ill of him to the Instagram news page while “Pictures” talks about his girl wanting to catch some flicks like a photographer.
Starting the final leg, “Sport Mode” breaks down his pockets eatin’ full court & hopping out a 4-door while “To My Crib” talks about his girl knowing exactly what time it is the second she pulls up to his place. “Keep It” ends the LP by advising women to never lie to him under any circumstance homaging the “Keep It Playa” track off Pharrell’s underrated solo debut In My Mind.
Few of his recent producer landings in the past year or 2 was what made me want to listen to 4SouljasOnly & it’s different from what we’ve already heard on Scriptures & the Now They Know Us saga. The sound he goes for on this one mainly departs from the regalia style that made him so popular in favor of standard trap relating to anyone with a soulja mindset clocking at a half hour.
Key Glock is a 27 year old from Memphis, Tennessee whose cousin Young Dolph signed him to Paper Route Empire in 2017 after his debut mixtape Whole Lotta Errthang. He has since released 4 more tapes in addition to an EP & 3 full-lengths, the most notable being his previous LP Glockoma 2 in the spring of 2023 showing considerable improvements in his Memphis gangsta trap style. Republic Records happened to sign him a couple months ago & is ringing it in with his 4th album albeit major label debut.
“Hallelujah” crosses over trap, a gospel sample & Memphis rap talking about the amount of money he’s counting starting to make his head spin whereas the title track shrugs off any notion of slowing down putting that bread up for his baby. “Blue Devil” boastfully shows off the 2 blue diamonds he got on him just before the soulful “Made a Way” talks about fucking up & still finding a path out of the trenches.
Moving on from there, “Watch da Throne” continues the sampling of soul music warning that everyone he considers to be competition should play it safe while “Badu” talks about letting the chopper sing similarly to the neo-soul icon Erykah Badu herself & making his own rules. “She Ready” flips Teri DeSario showing a romantic side to Key Glock breaking down the way this chick be blowing up his phone, but then “No Sweat” talks about never letting anyone see him tripping.
“The Grinch” takes the throne as the finest of South Memphis continuing the legacy of his late cousin who was tragically murdered a few years ago while “Sunny Dayz” blends soul & trap once again talking about only fearing God as well as cutting throats from ear to ear. “Papercutz” goes for a more playful tone altogether simply trying to have fun out here while “Kill My Vibe” asks for these bitches not to fuck up the good mood he’s in at the moment.
As for “I’m Getting It”, we have Glock putting a hoe on pause because of her gettin’ caught up in her feelings & uppin’ the score while “Again” talks about hitting the road again in addition to promising that anyone who plays with him will wind up working on the end. “Cream Soda” returns to a Memphis edge instrumentally riding around with the sticks while “Don Dada” talks about hustling ever since he was only a toddler.
“World is Ourz” reaches the backend of Key Glock’s major label debut blending Memphis rap & plugg a little showing off the power he has while “3am in ToKEYo” was my favorite single that was teased whether it by the DJ Paul & TWhy beat or the self made lyricism talking about never needing any help after coming into this world all by himself on top of thinking his lil’ bro should become a chef with the way he cooking the opps.
WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE world champion, ECW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 4-time & the final WWE Hardcore Champion, TNA World Champion & TNA X Division Champion Rob Van Dam gets referenced on “Money Habits” to start the deluxe run while “Going Hard” talks about killing it from the very day he was born. “All Dogs Go to Heaven” hops over a DY & Tre Pounds instrumental to call out the people who’d do literally anything for a penny while “Set in Stone” suggests to move along if you ain’t conversing with him about money.
“South Memphis Patriot” reflects upon himself for 140 seconds likening himself to the greatest QB of all-time & 7-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady while “Fashion Killa” talks about smoking the loudest of loud. “Bottega Bag” shows off the $300 he has tucked away in a bag from the Italian luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta while “Daddy’s Little Girl” links up with ATL Jacob for an ode to his daughter Rian.
Toom of Vanguard Music Group mixes a guitar & some hi-hats together for “Can’t Feel My Face” getting high until his face becomes numb while “Fabo” talks about turning your whole block into halos. “Trust Myself” confesses that he feels like he can’t even trust himself at times while “Red Shirt” talks about his pockets falling in love with the cake. The final bonus track “Fell in Luv” samples “Swangin’ & Bangin’” by E.S.G. for him to run it onto the top.
Not gonna beat around the bush & admit that it took me a while to get into Key Glock since I was more of a Dolph fan up until Glockcoma 2 began to earn the respect of many including myself. Glockaveli as far as a major label debut goes speaks volumes about Glock’s dominance & staying power in the rap game carrying on the solid reputation for carrying entire projects on his own with no features needed enhancing the gritty street-centric bars & handpicked production that made him blow.
Hate is a blackened death metal band from Warsaw, Poland consisting of drummer Nar-Sil, lead guitarist Domin, bassist Tiermes & frontman ATF Sinner. They’ve released a total of 10 studio albums in a little over 3 decades including many lineup changes until the historic Van Nuys, California label Metal Blade Records signed them to for both Auric Gates of Veles & Rugia respectively. It’s been 3 & a half years since the latter already, reuniting for their 3rd body of work under Metal Blade & the 13th studio LP in their entire catalog as a whole.
The title track is this death metal intro calling to break the waves of the eye of doom whereas “Iphigenia” cautions of there eventually being a night when embers of evil will come your way. “The Vanguard” sticks out as the fastest & most viscerally aggressive song of the bunch basing it’s concept around King Agamemnon while “A Ghost of Lost Delight” asks for optimism in hard times although it feels longer than it should be.
After the “Rite of Triglav” interlude, “Perun Rising” gets the 2nd half of Hate’s comeback on a melodically blackened death metal vibe talking about the prominence of the Slavican supreme god of sky & war leading into “Alfa Inferi Goddess of War” gets her story told thereafter due to the name of the album being a guiding phrase during the songwriting sessions. “Prophet of Arkhen” continues to deliver further down the mythological touchstones & “Ageless Harp of Devilry” lastly sums up the whole key of work in front of us whilst shedding new light on some of the strongest themes.
Significantly more humanity focused & personal than Rugia was, Bellum Regiis marks Hate’s return with a timely aural & visual exploration of a struggle for power & everything that comes with it. They hone a modern sound rife with eerie atmosphere & depth to the point where they forge a bolder & more aggressive style than ever as well as similarities to Erebos in the character of the compositions & overall sound except this one’s being richer in style & contains more black metal elements.
Orange, Virginia singer/songwriter Lael Neale with her 4th studio LP. Starting out a decade ago by pouring our her indie folk & alt-country debut I’ll Be Your Man, she subsequently signed to Sub Pop Records for her sophomore effort Acquainted with Night focused more on minimal synth, bedroom pop, contemporary folk, dream pop and hypnagogic pop & Star Eaters Delight expanding in favor of twee pop, chamber pop, ambient pop, neo-psychedelia and ethereal wave respectively. 2 years later & she’s returning for Altogether Stranger.
“Wild Flower” hooks up some claps & an organ to start singing about eating her words & wasting away whereas “All Good Things Will Come Pass” strips it back to an electric guitar acknowledging the inevitable demise of everything. “Down on the Freeway” was solid indie pop single asking if you’re gonna follow & if anyone would miss her wanting out of the city, but then the piano-driven “Sleep Through the Long Night” wanting what she can’t find.
The organs come back in the fold for “Come On” explaining a bell that never rang will claim to call the new day in just before “Tell Me How to Be Here” fuses singer/songwriter, indie folk & bedroom pop painting a stark & haunting portrait of her Los Angeles return. “New Ages” tackles the concept of lust over electric guitars & organs clashing while “All is Never Lost” minimally sings about there always being a wheel that turning us, which leads into “There From Here” finishing with more minimalism breaking down a purgatory we pay for.
Lael’s 3rd offering under Sub Pop covers an unexpected breadth of musical & lyrical terrain like neo-psychedelia, art pop, indie pop, singer/songwriter, indie folk, synthpop, indietronica, & minimal synth. She additionally vacillates between the questionably reconcilable states of childlike optimism & existential melancholy, uncovering the extraordinary within the mundane by tackling themes of polarity including country vs. city, humanity vs. technology & isolation vs. society.
Queens, New York emcee Lloyd Banks celebrating his 43rd birthday by releasing his 20th mixtape. Gaining notoriety in the 2000s for his witty punchlines along as well as being an original member of G-Unit alongside childhood friends 50 Cent & Tony Yayo, he kept himself busy for a little while after the group’s disbandment in 2015 by releasing A.O.N. 2 (All Or Nothing 2): L.I.U. (Live It Up) & Halloween Havoc 3: 4 Days of Fury just before taking on a 5-year hiatus that really lasted until he received a song placement on the soundtrack for Griselda Records’ theatrical debut Conflicted along with the whole Course of the Inevitable album trilogy gaining renewed interest in the PLK himself. Halloween Havoc IV: The 72nd Hr came out roughly 6 months ago & is back already with the 3rd installment of the A.O.N. (All or Nothing) series.
“Determination” is this piano-laced boom bap intro talking about coming back moving differently & kicking ass whereas “If I Wake Up” suggests that he should already be dead with what he’s become in addition to the sacrifices made to be on top. “1982” featuring Ransom produced by Cartune Beatz aggressively reps the year Banks was born leading into “1 Life” shrugs off those never liking him with Haas Almahdi.
As for “Pick & Choose”, we have Lloyd talking about never following the paths of others since that’s why people end up taking Ls just before “Despite My Mistakes” featuring Styles P suggests shit happens for a reason & there being money to make. “Rolling” works in some horns to talk about always having to keep it moving regardless, but then “Endangered Innocence” featuring Ghostface Killah admits they wouldn’t change anything over a soulful Nicholas Craven instrumental.
“Art of Rap” returns to the boom bap giving his flowers to this culture that we’ve been calling hip hop for over 5 decades already just before “Perfect World” talks about taking your time still going for a hardcore vibe generally. TL TopOfDaLyne saves the tape’s weakest feature for “Dedication” although I very much respect the overall theme & the summertime feel to the beat while “Keep Pushing” once again delivers more grown man boom bap.
Moving on from there, “Traumatized” conceptually talks about everyone continuing to dream & them later justifiably regretting it if they don’t try at all while “Revolving Door” discusses the difficulty of looking at him when you know good & well he proved you wrong. “The Grudge” responds to everyone who thinks money can erase insecurities or reputation’s invincible until it bleeds while the highlight “No Info” talks about riding when the time’s right over an Olympicks beat.
“Upper Echelon” starts the final moments of A.O.N. 3: (All or Nothing 3): Despite My Mistakes on a jazzier note making it an effort to keep it moving with his back fully against the clock & getting back in his position whether people like it or not while “High Powered” officially sends off the tape with more jazz rap influences confessing the love he’s always had has been starting to change as of late.
Both of the previous entries in the A.O.N (All or Nothing) saga F.N.O. (Failure’s No Option) & L.I.U. (Live It Up) have quickly become amongst the most celebrated mixtapes of the previous decade, so finally getting Despite My Mistakes only 7 months after being announced didn’t disappoint because the hot streak he’s been on all decade since leaving G-Unit Records carries on.
Chicago, Illinois rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, fashion designer, former G.O.O.D. Music founder & YZY SND’s sole proprietor Ye or formerly known as Kanye West finishing his 12th studio LP a month after dropping Bully. Someone who I personally have considered a top 10 producer of all-time up until this point with 3 perfect 10s in his discography: The College Dropout, Late Registration & My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. However since late 2022, he has been on a mission to destroy his legacy by identifying as a Nazi on Alex Jones’ fake news platform InfoWars. He’s been taking it up a few notches for the past couple months on Twitter owned by Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder, Neuralink founder & fellow Nazi Elon Musk making comments that’re antisemitic, ableist, homophobic & misogynistic or dissing numerous celebrities including showing envy towards Kendrick Lamar since he’s on the throne of the rap game. Coming off his vile interview with child groomer DJ Akademiks earlier this month, Ye has randomly decided to finish Donda 2.
“True Love” was an average pop rap, alternative R&B, emo rap & boom bap intro produced with Mike Dean talking about how genuine romance shouldn’t be complicated with a surprisingly great hook from the late XXXTENTACION whereas “Broken Road” pondering what it means to find your soul on top of a doleful beat that original G.O.O.D. Music in-house producer Brian “AllDay” Miller had a hand with Ye in making & Don Toliver’s hook on here is so catchy. “Get Lost” goes a cappella looking back on all the good & bad memories of his life so far with an excessive amount of auto-tune slathering his vocals leading into “Flowers” throwing it back to the Graduation days in terms of sound courtesy of Digital Nas encouraging to send him $100k rather than the titular object.
As for “Too Easy”, we have Ye embracing a bit of a glitchier quality to the production thanks to Dem Jointz & Beach House discussing his trials & tribulations just before “Pablo” featuring Future follows it up with a trap cut that ATL Jacob, FNZ & $crim of the $uicideboy$ helped laced except Ye uses AI or what I like to call YeI for his verse. “Mr. Miyagi” featuring Future & Playboi Carti takes the drill route instrumentally likening themselves to the wise sensei from the Karate Kid films using more YeI until Future sticks around for “Happy” & it’s WAY better than “Pablo” other than the YeI from the peppier flare Wheezy delivers behind the boards to the subject matter asking the world if they look like they’re doing fine to them.
“Security” asserts that nothing can get in the way of him being with his family & Digital Nas’ production here almost reminds me of Yeezus in a way except Ak’s intro at the start was a sickening move while “Sci-Fi” works in some string sections as Sean Leon joins Ye in addressing his divorce from Kim Kardashian or The Hobbit now romantically involved with a Tesla robot. “Louie Bags” starts off great with its hypnotic beat & talking about boycotting LV after Virgil Abloh’s passing except Jack Harlow’s verse & the YeI ruin it. Can’t forget to mention the fact that Ye tweeted “Fuck Virgil” this February when his meltdowns began to worsen & has a song coming out at some point in the year called “Virgil Let Me Down” telling Ak it’s all because he’s evil.
Baby Keem appears with Quavo & Offset on “We Did It Kid” with Tom Levesque of Vanguard Music Group supplying additional production addressing the hardships they endured to achieve their current success & the product of their constant grind while the industrially drumless “Maintenance” talks about those who’s preservation or upkeep is constantly high. “Lord Lift Me Up” is a decent Vory solo cut BoogzDaBeast helped Ye cook up asking for God to lift up his spirits & “First Time in a Long Time” featuring Soulja Boy ends with them talking about Ye’s faith in God & his feelings stemming from his divorce from Kim using YeI as well as Big Draco’s humble beginnings & everything he’s done to achieve success. “Jesse” starts the deluxe run with a bubbly trap beat butchering it with YeI vocals while “Suzy” reminds me of Graduation minus the YeI. The final bonus track “City of Chi” gets plagued with YeI again talking about being closed for business.
Hearing the original version of this that came out 3 years ago, I’m happy & furthermore shocked than anything regarding Donda 2 finally getting to see the light of day except I don’t think those who won’t find themselves forgiving Ye for initially abandoning it won’t find themselves satisfied with it & I’ll argue the final product isn’t even that much better than Bully was. The pop rap, trap, contemporary R&B, alternative R&B & gospel sound hasn’t really changed all that much except that the mixing is considerably worse since Mike Dean literally hasn’t had anything to do with Ye in 2 & a half years by now. When it’s all said & done: Neither album is all that great & WW3 (I’m not calling at the other name fuck that shit) will take the shitcake as the worst one of them all & the final death blow to Ye’s career.
Legends Will Never Die 