YG – “Just Re’d Up 3” review

This is the 6th mixtape from Compton, California emcee YG. Coming up in 2009 off his debut mixtape 4Fingaz, this was followed up with 4 more tapes prior to Jeezy discovering him in 2013 & landing him a deal with his Def Jam Recordings imprint CTE World. YG’s potential would begin to show in the form of his full-length debut My Krazy Life & came into his own on the sophomore effort Still Brazy launching his own label 400 Records around that same time period, but the next 4 albums Stay Dangerous as well as 4Real 4Real, My Life 400 & I Got Issues all received mixed to poor responses. Couple years later, he’s taking it back to his roots on the 3rd installment of the Just Re’d Up series.

“Go Brazy” featuring the Baby Stone Gorillas reunites with DJ Mustard on some ratchet shit advising that everyone listening should be getting loose whereas “Right Now” works in pianos & hi-hats flexing that his girl is fucking with a real one. “Only Fans” featuring Jaye Anderson is this decent R&B/pop rap fusion with horns tackling the themes of love while “She Pretty” featuring Saweetie has a symphonic trap vibe altogether showing off the beauty of women.

Larry June joins YG for “Put It in My Head” talking how fly they are over finger-snaps & keys just before “Street Love” featuring Diamond Platnumz kinda has a bit of a weird dancehall influence with some vibraphones discussing the titular kind of romance. “Her Way <3” featuring Kalan.FrFr brings a cloudy pop rap groove to the table asking what’s good with that pussy while “It’s Givin’” featuring Ty$ produced by DJ Camper, FNZ & Wax Motif finds the 2 talking about wanting to send their lovers to the hospital for the sex being too good.

After the interlude, “Malibu” featuring G Herbo & Tee Grizzley embraces the Detroit trap style allowing all 3 of them flexing the shit they be doing in the titular California city while “Violence” has a darker atmosphere to the beat reminding the way people be dyin’ around his parts. “Rescue Me” featuring Ty$ has one of my favorite instrumentals on the tape courtesy of Wheezy asking to be saved from the many eaters in the SUV while “Kolors” featuring Ackrite & Mozzy was an average nervous cut with Mozzy having the better feature of the 2.

“Love Make” mainly has a calmer pop rap sound throughout continuing to delve further into the themes of intercourse while “Stupid” featuring Babyface Ray & Lil Yachty sees the trio uniting for a flute-tinged club banger making it out the block similarly to the game of Tetris itself. “My Favorite” featuring Kalan.FrFr again cloudily tells their significant others that they wanna lay up with them while “Knocka” charmingly promises that 400 can’t be stopped.

As the final moments of the Just Re’d Up 3 draw closer & closer, the penultimate track “Pimp My Ride” brings this cool psychedelic guitar lead into the picture talking about that he might as well deck out his whip since he’s got $1M on him & “I’m in Love” smoothly finishes up the mixtape by coming clean professing that he’s been lovestruck as of late.

Nearly 8 years in the making, the final installment of the Just Re’d Up trilogy proves to be a slight cut above I Got Issues with average results much like how the first 2 entries of the series were received. Even if it’s great to hear him & Mustard working with each other again, the overabundance of romantic pop rap cuts & radio hits feel forced considering the fact that he’s not even on a major label anymore.

Score: 3/5

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Gucci Mane – “G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers)” review

I believe this is the 56th mixtape from Atlanta, Georgia rapper as well as record executive & entrepreneur Gucci Mane. Emerging in the mid-2000s becoming one of the Big 3 pioneers in trap music alongside T.I. & Jeezy, he also has one of if not the largest discography throughout the entire subgenre that continues to grow today. He spent a good bulk of this decade signing acts to 1017 Global putting out a number of showcase compilations that successfully gave these newer cats more exposure. Wop’s previous solo effort Breath of Fresh Air last fall was just a middle-of-the-road double disc experience & is having DJ Drama host the long-awaited G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers).

The title track gets us started by referring to himself as the Greatest Of All Trappers over a bouncy trap instrumental whereas “Rich Niggaz” has a more playful atmosphere to the beat from Zaytoven talking about starting to become rich 18 years ago. “Kicked In” produced by Honorable C.N.O.T.E. energetically explains that you can’t get high without these hoes because they’ll give you herpes leading into “Questions” grittily observing all these broke muhfuckas lookin’ sad out here.

“Leak” humorously talks about a hoe as fine as Kim Kardashian the night before & waking up the next morning lookin’ like Chief Keef without makeup while “Hypocrites” calling out those sayin’ it ain’t about the money on their bullshit knowing good & well that it really is. The sequel to “Making Love to the Money” picks up where The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted highlight left off just before “4 Lifers” triumphantly gets his flowers since Wop gave life to the culture.

Starting the tape’s final leg, “I Told Myself” talks looking like $500M every time you see him over a suspenseful trap instrumental while “1 Thing About It” vibrantly pushes towards the conclusion by getting with some of that paper. “Chanel Bag” featuring JT formerly of the City Girls has an eerier beat looking to maintain each other’s statuses as fly & “TakeDat” ends the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers) with a vicious diss aimed at Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy.

Gucci’s discography is large enough to the point where it’s accepted that he’s gonna have some misses & G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers) easily stands as the most I’ve enjoyed a project from him since Ice Daddy in the summer of 2021 commemorating him becoming a father. There’s obviously much less filler than there was on Breath of Fresh Air, the production has improved & the 1017 founder reassured his status in the trap subgenre.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jae Skeese – “Ground Level” review

This is the 8th mixtape from Buffalo, New York emcee Jae Skeese. Starting in 2010 off his debut mixtape W.A.C.K. (Women, Alcohol, Cash & Kicks), it wasn’t until a decade later where he & 7xvethegenius gained wide exposure as the very first signees to Conway the Machine’s very own Drumwork Music Group. The Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd EP Authenticity Check & the sophomore effort Abolished Uncertainties both elevated Skeese’s popularity in the last couple years. 5 months following the Superior-produced Testament of the Times, he’s looking to elevate from Ground Level.

“Brick After Brick” is a triumphant trap opener produced by Beat Butcha making it clear that he can’t be calm with this shit & the flame cannot be contained whereas “Peter Parker” featuring Malizah gives off a jazzy boom bap vibe thanks to Statik Selektah talking about hitting max potential to reach a higher leverage. “Situated” featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Sauce Walka connects the trio over more trap production so they can put in the work to reach the top of the mountain referencing the inaugural IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer & Real American Beer founder Hulk Hogan while “Lost Puppets” hooks up the kicks & snares again reminding that he doesn’t flow a certain way.

Dave East & Jay Worthy join Skeese for the pop rap/trap hybrid “Sara Lee” talking about wanting to hit bitches from behind while “EKIN 4” stands as my favorite in the tetralogy from the rugged instrumental that Ski Beatz & MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 cook up to the hungry performances. “Ohana Means Family” radiates a summery trap flare telling his partner that she’s where he gets his muscle from as opposed to being his backbone, but then “Glory” keeps it trap talking about repping Buffalo & that Griselda set the expectations.

“Wic Coupons” nears the conclusion of the tape on an atmospheric note making it out of the mud while “E4W” reunites F1RSTCLASS returning to the boom bap allowing the duo to make a dedication to those who came from the ground up. “02 Yale Cup Champs” featuring Che Noir & Smoke DZA sees all 3 of them for a dusty 5 & a half minute barfest while “Fruits of the Labor” featuring Project Pat ends Ground Level on some soulful trap shit from Ill Tone grinding all the time.

If anything, this mixtape is a testament to Jae Skeese’s evolution as an artist blending raw emotion & storytelling with cutting-edge production. Furthermore, he paints an illustration of where he is today & the highs & lows in his journey which would shape & inform the artist chock full of wordplay. As a fan of 4 years, I’m thrilled that he’s taking the next step from coming up out of the basement & building on top of the foundation he’s been building ever since being taken under Conway’s wing.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ilajide – “Tape Delay” review

Detroit, Michigan emcee/producer Ilajide formerly of the Clear Soul Forces enlisting Seattle producer Def D to produce his 7th EP in its entirety. In addition to his last 6 EPs, he also a couple beat tapes & 4 full-length albums under his belt. It’s been over 3 years since I covered Code 200 & that was the finest solo LP of his entire career, but Tape Delay had me anticipating it as much if not more.

“Trippin’” is a cloudy boom bap opener to the EP talking about being the coach running the scrimmages now out in Los Angeles whereas “Live from Jump” works in more kicks & snares to make it clear that money is class & he’s taking notes. “More Bling” has this old school flare instrumentally talking about needing more expensive, ostentatious clothing/jewelry just before the funky “Scam Jam” featuring Boog Brown looking at each day as another scam for them to get paid.

To finish the first half of Tape Delay, “Back Up” keeps the funk for a party jam while the beat on “Send ‘Em In” pulls inspiration from J Dilla so Ilajide can talk about counting money in his office. “Don’t Touch My Hair” has a jazzy boom bap flare coming fresh out the salon leading into the groovy “Did What You Do?” saying he’ll do it again. After a “Back Up” remix, the final song “Dippin’” ends the EP by reminding that the players know what he be talkin’ ‘bout.

I’ve been a fan of Def D for over a decade when 33⅓ was released in the summer of 2013 following my sophomore year of high school, so for him to produce an entire EP for Ilajide was very exciting for me & it so happens to be the best EP in the former Clear Soul Forces member’s discography on top of joining Code #200 for some of his strongest solo material. Def D’s production is versatile whether it be pulling from boom bap, jazz rap, funk music, old school hip hop & cloud rap allowing the Detroit emcee to focus on rippin’ these beats to shreds for roughly 25 minutes.

Score: 4/5

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Falling in Reverse – “Popular Monster” review

Falling in Reverse is a pop punk/metalcore band from Las Vegas, Nevada consisting of lead guitarist/backing vocalist Max Georgiev, rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist Christian Thompson, bassist/backing vocalist Tyler Burgess & last but not least frontman/keyboardist Ronnie Radke. The latter of whom was the original frontman for Escape the Fate whose debut album Dying’s Your Latest Fashion is the only good thing in Ronnie’s entire career, but was kicked out in 2008 after being sentenced to prison for violating probation due to his involvement in the murder of Michael Allen Cook found guilty of battery with substantial bodily harm & prompted Radke to start From Behind These Walls which would later become Falling in Reverse. Signing to Epitaph Records immediately due to Ronnie’s former ties with Escape the Fate, they put out a mediocrely received debut album The Drug in Me is You in 2011 & came back with one of the worst albums of the previous decade Fashionably Late. Just Like You was almost as bad & Coming Home is their best although not by much, but Popular Monster was set out to be almost worse than Fashionably Late given some of the singles.

“Prequel” starts with over-the-top metalcore production & Ronnie writing in his diary that he’s a cynical, egotistical, unpredictable & hardenеd criminal whereas the title track fuses rap rock, post-hardcore, trap, melodic metalcore, djent & emo rap talking about depression. “All My Life” featuring Jelly Roll works in elements of alternative rock, hard rock, country rock, bro-country, nu metal & alternative metal asking for their souls to be saved leading into “Ronald” featuring Tech N9ne gratingly blending metalcore, trap, nu metal & hardcore hip hop to talk about identity & overcoming adversity.

Meanwhile on “Voices in My Head”, we have Ronnie culminating rap metal, trap, electronicore, nu metal, metalcore & djent whining that there feels like there’s a hurricane going on inside his head just before “Bad Guy” featuring his girlfriend at the time in former NXT Women’s Champion & former AEW Women’s World Champion Saraya a.k.a. Paige who used to date former AAA Mega Campeon, CMLL Mundial Pesocompleto Campeon, TNA World Champion, 4-time WWE world champion & 2-time WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio comes clean over a metalcore/trap hybrid that he’s a psycho douchebag. “Watch the World Burn” fails at mixing trap, alt-metal, hardcore hip hop, metalcore, post-hardcore, epic music & symphonic metal rapping about his inner demons prior to “Trigger Warning” asking if you’re proud to be American over a metalcore/nu metal abomination.

“Zombified” continues the torture on this LP bringing the alternative metal, electronicore, post-hardcore & djent vibes back for a pathetic jab at cancel culture while the final song “No Fear” finishes the album biting the $uicideboy$ at the start talking about how “saying what’s on your mind’s like stepping on a landmine” when in fact what he says from the mind is hateful & ugly in actuality. The bonus track happens to be a hideous cover of Papa Roach’s biggest hit “Last Resort”, which I was never a big fan of yet has aged poorly in the last 2 decades or so.

Ronnie has justifiably been one of the most scrutinized figures rock has seen in recent memory due to the battery with substantial bodily harm, assaulting a 16 year old girl & a 24 year old man at Six Flags Great Adventure’s Fright Fest metal festival FestEVIL resulting in Six Flags permanently banning rock/metal bands from performing at their parks going forward, raping a 25 year old-woman, going on transphobic tirades on Twitter (fuck calling it X) or most notably never handling criticism of his music very well & Popular Monster really takes the shit-cake on the same day as Post Malone’s new album F-1,000,000,000,000 did. His production is almost worse as it was over a decade ago uglily mutating sounds together whining about why people hate him tryna gaslight his listeners to thinking he’s the victim. In terms of metalcore, it’s NOWHERE near the epicness of Knocked Loose’s You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To.

Score: 0/5

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Post Malone – “F-1,000,000,000,000” review

Here we have the 6th full-length LP from Grapevine, Texas rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Post Malone. Rising to stardom in 2015 with the single “White Iverson”, this resulted in him signing to Republic Records quickly makjng himself home ever since by dropping his last 5 albums & a mixtape. Now even though I’ve never really been the biggest fan of Posty’s work, there’s no denying that he has a decent amount of tracks that I genuinely enjoy like “Congratulations” as well as “rockstar” & who could forget “Sunflower”? Hell I even liked his sophomore effort beerbongs & bentleys, which I maintain is the crown jewel of his discography. Hollywood’s Bleeding rode the emo rap coattails, his Mercury Records debut under it’s revival as a Republic subsidiary 12kt Toothace felt like 1-long song & Austin was mid to the point where Posty finally succumbed to Lil B’s tweet about him going country in 2017 on F-1,000,000,000,000.

“Wrong Ones” featuring Tim McGraw starts by bringing the 2 together over a guitar advising to keep the cold ones coming whereas “Finer Things” featuring Hank Williams Jr. talks enjoying all the finer stuff in life. “I Had Some Help” featuring Morgan Wallen was a patience testing lead single mutating country pop, pop rock & country rock tackling the theme of relationship struggles just before “Pour Me a Drink” featuring Blake Shelton works in some bro-country undertones looking for a buzz.

Dolly Parton saves one of the album’s best features for “Have the Heart” talking about not having it in either one of them to break each others’ hearts leading into the country pop flavored “What Don’t Belong to Me” telling his partner he can’t give her what doesn’t belong to him. “Goes Without Saying” featuring Brad Paisley is a country rock breakup ballad coming to terms with their ex-girlfriends not rekindling the flame, but then “Guy for That” featuring Luke Combs continues the country & rock hybrids talking about being good at breaking hearts.

“Nosedive” featuring Lainey Wilson is this acoustic duet reminding that every thorn has it’s rose while “Losers” featuring Jelly Roll starts the 2nd half of the LP for a legitimately enjoyable tribute to all the outcasts. “Devil I’ve Been” featuring Ernest delivers a contemporary country vibe being fed up with living a life of sin while the southern “Never Love You Again” featuring Sierra Ferrell talks the road not being their friends & the long, lost highway ahead of them.

Luke Combs joins Posty yet again on the stripped-back “Missin’ You Like This” so they can both cry over exes they still dream of all these years later while “California Sober” featuring Chris Stapleton turns the country pop influences back up telling the story of a woman on the run after stealing some sucker’s money. The contemporary country-inspired “Hide My Gun” featuring Hardy asks their lovers if they would conceal their weapons while “Right About You” goes country rock once more asking if she’d still love him if we were down bad & at home.

“M-E-X-I-C-O” nears the conclusion of F-1,000,000,000,000 pulling from traditional country hangin’ ’round & broken down with a settled downtown girl prior to her diplomatic father giving him a significant amount of money for him to leave the country heading to the continent of South America while “Yours” serves as an acoustic closer paying tribute to his own daughter telling her that she’ll always be his little girl knowing one day a special man will come in her life & they’ll get married.

Starting the Long Bed deluxe run, “Fallin’ in Love” is this tacky country rock cut talking about him falling in love becoming inevitable while “Dead at the Honky Tonk” continues the aesthetics from previously singing about a hole in his heart. “Killed a Man” tries to get in his outlaw bag falling flat on his face while “Ain’t How It Ends” keeps it traditionally country whining to a woman that this can’t be the way their relationship ends.

“Hey Mercedes” throws the rock influences in the picture again asking the titular character what she has planned for tonight while the contemporary country joint “Go to Hell” sings about a love interest making him feel right & being unable to figure out exactly what makes him feel that way about her. “2 Hearts” strips things back telling us what happens when 2 hearts split in 2 while the peppy “Who Needs You?” shrugging off a bitch since he can break himself into 2. The final bonus track “Back to Texas” goes contemporary again for a tribute to the titular state.

7 years after The Based God predicted it, Post Malone has finally gone full-blown Kid Rock making his official country debut like the WWE Hall of Famer himself did resulting in one of the worst albums of this decade just like the new Falling in Reverse album Popular Monster. His takes on contemporary country, country pop, pop rock, country rock & bro-country feels more of a cash-grab as opposed to passionate although some of the guests’ performances either outshine him or match his level of awful. You’re much better off listening to Slumerican Records artist Tony Martinez’ new debut album Everywhere West, Johnny Cash’s latest posthumous effort Songwriter, Beyoncé’s 2nd act of her ongoing trilogy Cowboy Carter or even Willie Nelson’s best late career album The Border instead.

Score: 0.5/5

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Diamond D – “The Diam Piece 3: Initium” review

The Bronx, New York emcee/producer Diamond D preparing the final installment of The Diam Piece trilogy by splitting it into 3 EPs & giving us the first Initium ahead of Duo in November as well as Tria in February 2025. A mentor of Jazzy Jay, he would then form the D.I.T.C. collective alongside Lord Finesse & Showbiz in ‘92 only to put out his classic full-length debut Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop shortly after. D went on to drop 6 more albums & a couple mixtapes of his own, the latest being Gotham’s acclaimed self-titled effort & The Rear View. The Diam Piece & its sequel left most of the rhyming to the guests, so I get why he’d return to that formula coming off The Rear View.

“Fire & Water” by RJ Payne & Skyzoo starts off ruggedly bringing hardcore lyricism over boom bap production whereas “The King” by KRS-One was a great lead single & another one of the best Blastmaster songs I’ve heard in recent memory taking the crown as rightfully his. “Merk” by Bishop Lamont & Torae keeps it in the basement instrumentally getting bloodthirsty, but then “Bosses” by Lord Tariq & Sauce Money finds the 2 getting on the mafioso tip for 4 minutes.

Fatman Scoop & Static the Prodigy hop on the playful sounding “Death B4 Dishonor” promising that you don’t wanna test either one of them leading into “Codes” by Agallah, David Bars & Royal Flush rawly reminding not to trust anyone in the streets. “Lay Me Down” by Inspectah Deck & Shyheim aggressively details the life of crime while “Blue Sunshine” by E-A Ski & 38 Spesh brings the respective west coast & east coast producer/MCs dustily getting on the battle rap tip. “My People” by Bonecrusher ends with a jazzy tribute to his kinfolk.

In the digital era where a lot of people’s attention spans are incredibly short, it’s more than understandable that the D.I.T.C. co-founder didn’t want to release a 29-song album & decided to split The Diam Piece 3 into a trilogy of EPs. Initium itself with its versatile list of performers over Diamond D’s signature sound is more than enough to hold everyone over until Duo at the end of 2024 & finally Tria early next year.

Score: 4/5

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38 Spesh – “Mother & Gun” review

Rochester, New York producer/MC 38 Spesh is back for his 5th solo LP. Known for being the leader of the Trust Army & founder of TCF Music Group, he’s been steadily busy throughout the last few years whether it be him producing projects for the likes of Planet Asia & Elcamino or his own solo output. Coming off lacing Grafh’s 4th album God’s Timing a few weeks ago however, Spesh’s hopping back on the mic for Mother & Gun almost a year after the Gunsmoke EP.

“Early Morning” is a soulful opener to the album talking about the fact that they didn’t believe him when he initially said he was gonna be rich whereas “Sacrifice” works in some hi-hats sampling soul music once again thanks to STREETRUNNER hustling hard. “Spesh is Back” moves forward going for a self-produced orchestral vibe instrumentally to talk about him returning to the mic while “Del Lago” shifts gears back in trap territory flexing his power was imposed.

Havoc & Lloyd Banks join Spesh for the rugged “Had It Coming” cautioning to build the ark because they gonna be flooding shit just before “Burn Marks” asks how he couldn’t hold a grudge towards his cuzz since the opps been chillin’ with him lately. “Speshal Methods” introduces the world to the titular east coast duo over boom bap production applying lyrical pressure, but then we’re treated to the latest installment of the “Can’t Show Love” trilogy.

“Only You” featuring Klass Murda nears the conclusion of Mother & Gun hooking up a crooning sample responding to the bitches who say they got them clarifying that they aren’t idiots while “Underestimated” featuring Benny the Butcher & Che Noir wraps things up with all 3 of them talking about people estimating them lower than they actually are.

In case some of you forgot, 38 Spesh has always been as much of a quality MC as he is amongst the most in-demand producers that the underground has to offer & his first full-length in almost 4 years here has to be the most intimate of his entire career. He takes a backseat behind the boards allowing other beatsmiths to gain more exposure laying out some of the most personal lyrics that he’s laid out on wax yet.

Score: 4/5

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Frisco Boogie – “Lost in the Loophole” review

Nottingham, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom emcee, producer, graffiti writer & b-boy Frisco Boogie making his Hidden Hobby Records debut with his 7th LP. Dropping his solo debut in 2020 with The Internal Masquerade the sophomore effort Masks of the Morning Son a few months later, he would go on to release Rainbows in the Rubble as well as the COVID-19 themed C.I.R.C.U.S. (Conditions In Reality Causing Us Stress) or the optimistic Sunflowers in September. Coming off 50 From the Cradle last fall honoring his 50th birthday, he’s found himself Lost in the Loophole.

“Lost” begins with a self-produced beat that reminds me of something Dr. Dre would’ve made in the 2000s essentially serving as the title track whereas “Same Ol’ Same” takes the boom bap route instrumentally talking about feeling like life’s repeating itself. “Silence” works in some pianos & woodwinds explaining that keeping your mouth shut is the best answer when realizing it doesn’t value your words leading into “March” featuring the Local Healers taking a smoother approach to talk about a woman who won’t give in.

To get the 2nd half going, “Karma” returns to the boom bap hooking up a prominent vocal sample telling the story of a woman he knew by the name of Susie while “No Answer” orchestrally suggests maybe he would be asking different questions. Frisco later waits for the human race to disappear the “Field of Crows” in a breeze over a vocal sample but once he observes some “Turmoil in the Trenches” all the way from a park bench, the final song asks “1 Question” & that being whether one would push their children.

Known for being the UK hip hop scene’s equivalent to Skyzoo in terms of everything he does having it’s own different concept, Frisco Boogie preludes his forthcoming 8th album celebrating this new era of a career spanning 3 decades when he started out as 1/2 of Lost Island. Topically, a lot of Lost in the Loophole continues the maturity of Frisco’s last couple offerings using dizzying wordplay to ponder whether or not those listening are stuck in a loophole of their own over old school boom bap production.

Score: 4/5

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Durkalini – “Church & Surf” review

This is the 2nd EP from Roanoke, Alabama rapper Durkalini. Introducing himself in the trap scene over a year ago off his last EP 4000 Degrees, he continued to push himself in the forefront by releasing a couple mixtapes Pyro the Pastor & Pilgrimage last fall. After taking a 9-month break, lini’s taking us to Church & Surf teaming up with the remaining producer members of the Surf Gang collective so they can help make it the most well-rounded offering in his discography

“Freaks Out” produced by Evilgiane, Eera & even Goner right before he departed the Surf Gang only recently starts the sermon on some plugg shit talking about being out all night when the freaks come out whereas “Rather Be Safe 2” works in an orchestral backdrop & hi-hats thanks to Harrison preferring to be safe than sorry. “Green Card” brings the plugg vibes back asking where the fuck your card is again while “Objection” has a fuzzier trap flare to talk about every day being the weekend.

The cloudier aesthetics of “Soho” are a nice touch referencing the titular shopping destination in New York south of Houston Street in Manhattan leading into Giane & Graham Perez providing “Alligator” with an atmospheric sound feeling like it’s a holy matrimony the way Durkalini be married to this shit. “Bottega Boots” has more of a rich trap groove flexing the designer footwear copped from Bottega Veneta, but then “Damn Huh” hooks up an organ & hi-hats knowing he gon’ race the pigs.

“Guinness” pushes towards the encore of Church & Surf talking about being unable to buy new guns since he’s a bandit, staying on the corner although he can’t give no directions, not stopping at red lights since he already got a ticket anyway & the fact that they don’t teach us shit in school still tryna give people in the streets a sentence while “Cartier Wires” finishes the EP on a peppy cloud rap note boasting that his pockets are loaded & broke bitches being the very last thing he’s thinking about.

Surf Gang’s been on a crazy production team run since Pasto Flocco, Polo Perks, Moh Baretta & pretty much all the other former vocalists in the crew departed to focus on their solo careers and Church & Surf joins Matt Ox’s 4th EP OXygen as the best of the 5 EPs they’ve laced in the last 10 months. The production’s more consistent than lini’s past material & the Alabama up-&-comer lets new listeners in as to who he is.

Score: 4/5

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