Buffalo emcee & singer Elcamino back with his 15th EP. Blowing up in 2017 off his self-titled EPwith Griselda Records, his profile increasingly grew after being followed up by Walking on Water mixtape in the summer of 2018 gradually building up a solid discography for himself along the way. But coming off a well received Black Soprano Family Records debut They Spit on Jesus earlier this month, Camino’s gonna keep it rolling by linking back up with 38 Speshfor a Martyr’s Prayer sequel.
“Streets Don’t Love Us” is minimally-produced opener explaining to everyone why he feels that the streets really don’t have love for him & his crew at all whereas “You Made It” gives off a warmer boom bap groove to it talking about celebrating success. “Kill Switch” delves further into his hardcore bag detailing that the best way to kill ‘em is by fucking their while “Weighing Options” somberly talks about another body dropping with each day. “Dope Talk” obviously spits that drug shit over some pianos & “No Drums” happens to be an appropriately drumless closer discussing his acquired tastes.
As much as I still like They Spit on Jesus for a B$F debut, Camino’s never missed over Spesh beats & it really doesn’t come as a surprise to me that I would view Martyr’s Prayer II as the best 2023 offering in the Buffalo recording artist’s discography. Spesh’s production is a slight cut above what we heard from Elcamino’s latest LP at the beginning of the month & the dude has some of his strongest performances in a while.
This is the 9th mixtape from Detroit emcee Babytron. Coming up as a member of the trio ShittyBoyz along with his childhood friends Stanwill & TR Dee signing to Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records, he also branched out on impressive solo career for himself as well as the side groups Lewis & Clark and the Dookie Brothers. But the last couple years was probably his biggest yet landing interviews ranging from No Jumper to even Rolling Stone following the release of Luka Trončić a couple summers prior to signing with EMPIRE Distribution later that same month & then Bin Reaper 2: The 2nd Coming that same fall. But now coming off Bin Reaper 3 as well as the bootleg Style EP & the full-length LP 6, we’re being treated to a sequel to Megatron.
“Beyond Turnt 2” hops on top of some pianos & hi-hats for a sequel to one of my favorite tracks off the original Megatron saying it’s time to kick in the door whereas “#Certified” talks about being legit over an ignorant trap instrumental. “Murder Mitten” goes into hyphy territory reminding y’all exactly where the fuck he’s from keeping cameras with him like WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion Bill Goldberg prior to “IRL” featuring BLP Kosher going back & forth with one another accompanied by a booming trap beat turning muhfuckas into WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion & 17-time WWE Hardcore Champion JBL.
Tron charismatically boasts that how his cup look, you think he bled in it on “Let’s Get It!” over strings & hi-hats leading into “Streetball” explaining to his girl that there ain’t no rules in the titular game over a rubbery Danny G & Jakesand beat. “Bop It!” featuring Drego & Beno experiments with a lowend sound telling the bitches to let them see that shit they doin’ all on TikTok, but then “Stutter Flow” experiments with a stuttering rap flow over a Detroit trap instrumental.
“Yo Mamma” by Lewis & Clark pulls off a back-&-forth delivery style better than “IRL” unsurprisingly since Babytron & Stanwill both come off so natural with a smooth backdrop & hi-hats leading into the bouncy “Down, Up!” talking about how it’s time to pick up a blick for him. “Kai Cenat / Old Days” featuring Luh Tyler is a decent 2-parter with dynamic & an average chemistry compared to “Yo Mamma” despite the subject matter of being rich now ain’t nothing like being broke back then just before “XXX” puts in extra hours over a tropical beat.
Meanwhile, the line at the start of “Deez Nuts!” asking why you rockin’ fake Bape in the midst of shopping off of Alibaba had me laughing congratulating someone for playing himself & the instrumental would fit snugly fine in a club while “Work!” ends the first half of Megatron 2by flexing that he grinds’ like he’s Rob Dyrdek himself over a spacey trap beat. GT & Cash Kidd join Tron so they can compare themselves to the “90’s Bulls” over a dark instrumental while “Ice Cream” featuring Certified Trapper, RiFF RAFF, Soulja Boy & YN Jay is actually a cool 3-minute cypher that I don’t mind other than Certified Trapper’s parts.
“Tutorial” shows off that he beat the game while everyone else is just learning how to play spitting out promethazine as if he’s former ECW World Television Champion, 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 3-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, WWE United States Champion, CZW World Heavyweight Champion, MLW World Middleweight Champion, 2-time BJWジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, 2-time BJW認定タッグチャンピオン & CMLL MundialPeso Semicompleto Campeon 田尻 over pianos & hi-hats while the synthesizer heavy “Trick or Treat?” explains exactly how he ended up going from Chris Rock to Ray Romano in his life.
“Red Ring of Death” sticks to the Detroit trap guns making a clever reference to what happens when 1 or more components of the Xbox 360 have failed while the piano-trap hybrid “WHATS FUNNY? (HAHA)” talks about hoes being nothing to brag over hitting bitches with the finisher of inaugural AEW World Champion, former ECW World Television Champion, IWGPインターコンチネンタルチャンピオン, ROH World Champion, WCW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE world champion, 7-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 4-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, record-holding 9-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion & WWE Hardcore Champion Chris Jericho.
Babyfxce E’s contribution to the 2-part “241” doesn’t really do it for me even though Tron himself & the beat-switch themselves are just fine while “$1M” talks about waiting on his 10th payment & referencing former 2-time アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン & the final WWE Cruiserweight Champion Hornswoggle hoping on top of more keys & hi-hats. “Coney Island” featuring AK Bandamont, BandGang Javar, Glockboyz Teejaee, KrispyLife Kidd, Los & Nutty and Nuk is a mediocre Detroit trap posse cut while with Krispylife & Babytron standing out the most while the bell-infused “Ain’t They?” by the Dookie Brothers picks up the pace wanting them to be shown more since it ain’t enough.
“Yakuza” featuring Fordio, J1Hunnit, MJPaid, Prince Jefe & ScrumbleMan reps the Dog $hit Militia for 3 minutes giving off a bassier quality musically while the song “Thumb War” vibrantly likens USDs, Euros, Yen, IDM to exactly that. The penultimate track “AYEE!” shoots for a grimmer approach saying you’d think he’d be making Kool-Aid playing with his father Mr. Sadistic who happens to be the frontman of former Psychopathic Records rap metal outfit Motown Rage & “I Imagine” wraps up Megatron 2 by paying tribute to his late homie $cam.
Although Style wasn’t all that good to me, 6 still stands as an impressive debut full-length album from the best member of the ShittyBoyz & we got a sequel to the tape that he dropped right before he made it onto the previous XXL Freshman Class list. Feature list is iffy, but the production is grounded in his signature Detroit trap sound dabbling with lowend a bit more & Tron himself improving himself compared to the last couple outings from him.
DJ Shadow is a 51 year old DJ & producer from San Jose, California who came up as a member of the Quannum Projects collective. His 1996 full-length debut Endtroducing….. is a landmark in the instrumental hip hop scene & the sophomore effort The Private Press was well received too, but everything since then has been treated to moderate reception. Last we heard from Shadow was the 2-disc Our Pathetic Age, but is returning 4 years later by making a stylistic departure for his 7th LP & his 3rd under Mass Appeal Records
“Ozone Scraper” is an underwhelming choice of an opener setting the tone of what’s to come by pulling from synthwave and dancefloor drum & bass whereas “All My” draws inspiration from footwork musically although I’ve heard the late DJ Rashad do this style better on Double Cup. “Time & Space” is a longwinded IDM cut lasting at 8 & a half minutes even though it just makes me wanna listen to Aphex Twin after a while just before “Craig, Incels & Wrightson” goes back into a more synth-based groove.
Approaching near the end of the first leg of the album, “Witches vs. Warlocks” hooks up these synths & hi-hats coming off a little robotically dull leading into “A Narrow Escape” becoming one of the better tracks here going for a more energizing atmosphere this time around. “You Played Me” was the best single we got from the project drawing inspiration from synth-funk, but then “Free for All” fuses elements of wonky & rock that wind up with mixed results.
“The Prophecy” shoots for a ghoulish vibe clocking in at nearly 5 minutes while “Friend or Foe” brings the synthesizers & hi-hats back together once more with a crescendoing 2nd half. “Fleeting Youth (An Audible Life)” strips the drums completely incorporating a spacious atmosphere while the 8-minute “Reflecting Pool” feels a bit hollow to me personally. The penultimate track “Forever Changed” pushes towards near the end by giving a cloudier trap flare to the beat & “She’s Evolving” closes shop by cooking up 1 last synthwave cut.
For an album called Action Adventure, I didn’t really find it to have either of those as entertaining aspects disappointingly. There’s definitely some adventure in Shadow making a headfirst foray into electronic dance music, but it hurts me to say that it doesn’t hold a candle to previous material & could very well be the weakest thing he’s ever done. Compared to those who paved the way for EDM like Daft Punk or like I mentioned earlier Aphex Twin & DJ Rashad, his takes on synthwave alongside wonky or footwork & IDM feel very plain.
This is the 22nd extended play from Maryland recording artist BBY GOYARD. Getting his start in 2016 off You Had Me At Hello, he would go on to take over the plugg scene by putting out his last 21 EPs & 4 mixtapes. But coming off his debut full-length LP Loreseeker over the summer fully produced by DJ Smokey. However with only 4 days left until Halloween, it makes sense for GOYARD to drop off a 7-track offering to get people in the Spirit for the spookiest time of the year.
“New Earth” opens up shop with an adrenaline pumping trap instrumental with GOYARD getting boastful lyrically whereas “Shadowban” takes an industrial route to the best talking about being in MTL with empty bottles & that he loves to cast spells. “Myth” shoots for a haunting trap atmosphere showing off his wealth & looking to raise the stakes that is until “Black Magic Voodoo Diamonds” talks about the only thing he knows for certain is that he rocks with a band like The Used over a plugg beat.
The song “CursedLife” fuses elements of rage & Chicago drill so he can discuss how he lives with being cursed just before “Falls Count Anywhere” gives off a triumphant edge to the beat flexing that his whole fit costed him a mortgage. “Vowel Ritual” officially wraps up Spirit by asking what it’s exactly like in the Chamber of Secrets over a chaotic instrumental Egobreak & Shawn Ferrari produced together.
Lil Shannon has always been my personal favorite member of the Nitemare collective as proven & he continues to cement that as the case ahead of the spookiest time of the year because Spirit is certain to aptly get you into the Halloween mood. The production’s more trap-based with some undertones of Chicago drill & plugg thrown in unlike the sonic variety of Loreseeker balancing his playfulness with the occult in a healthy dosage.
Majik Ninja Entertainment is an underground hip hop label from Detroit, Michigan founded by Twiztid & their manager George Vlahakis in 2014 after departing from Psychopathic Records only 2 years before. However, they quickly built an empire or their own from bringing a few other PSY alumni along for the ride to help introduce G-Mo Skee & Alla Xul Elu to a much wider audience. The label’s first comp showing off their roster Year of the Swordhas to be my personal favorite of the 4 thus far with all respect to Songs of Samhain as well as the Attack of the Ninjas compilation & Songs of Samhain 2: Haunted Record Player. But as that time of the year comes around again, MNE’s following up on Songs of Samhain 3: Cult of Night by taking a trip through The Liminal Space.
After the “Liminal Space” intro, the first song “I’m the Night” by Twiztid is a rap rock opener produced by Fritz the Cat making the comparisons of Jamie Madrox & Monoxide to darkness whereas “All My Friends Are Dead” by Blaze Ya Dead Homie jumps over some pianos & hi-hats from Grady Finch talking about his homies no longer being here with him. “Deluded Dead” by Jamie gives off an industrial rock vibe musically discussing the mislead deceased, but then the self-produced “6 Feet Deep” by the artist formerly known as Young Wicked himself James Garcia of the Axe Murder Boyz ominously looks to bury motherfuckers.
“Highest High & Lowest Low” by Bonez Dubb, Boondox & Insane E finds the trio over a dark trap beat explaining that things have changed as they look to plateau leading into “Last House on Dead Street” is the prelude to an album that Blaze has been working on for the past 15 years when he was still on Psychopathic from the morbid instrumental to the gruesome performances. “If I Return” by Jamie & Zodiac MPrint heinously declares what would happen if they eventually make a return accompanied by a grueling beat just before “Merciful Fate” by the Eastside Ninjas goes for a ghoulish atmosphere talking about voices invading their minds.
The song “Strangehold” by Alla Xul Elu & the House of Krazees puts the 2 generational horrorcore trios together for the first time ever cavernously spitting the wicked shit beautifully while the chaotic penultimate track “Collide” by Triple Threat talking about everything inside being a mess. “Wounded & Suffering” by Grady Finch & WackGxd ends the compilation with a decent ballad rooted in Oh! The Horror’s signature sound.
Cult of Night showed some considerable improvement over Haunted Record Player & the original Songs of Samhain so with Fright Fest coming up in a few days, the journey through The Liminal Space is once that juggalos will enjoy for future Halloween seasons. The performances are a tad more consistent as everyone displays their own artistic characteristics in their respective fashions.
This is the 2nd EP from Davenport, Iowa rapper & dancer Brigid Bites. Creating the juggalette burlesque troupe in 2017 called Juggalesque, they’ve have since become a drawing attraction at the Gathering or the Juggalos since then with her eventually joining Chapter 17 Records CEO/Psychopathic Records recording artist Ouija Macc on stage quite a few times since. However she made a pretty solid introduction into the music world this past spring with her last EP Hatchet Girl, she’s returning in time for Hallowicked to put out Pumpkin Spice.
The title track produced by Elevated Focusion formerly known as Jonny Rythmns gives off an electronic vibe instrumentally as she talks about the titular spice mix making you feel incredibly alive whereas “Batshit Love” works in some synthesizers expressing her to desire to be insanely toxic. “D.O.T.W.S. (Daughter Of The Wicked Shit)” gives off an eerier trap flare to the beat declaring herself to be exactly that & “Stay Forever” is a groovy choice of a closer describing a carnival full of dead ghosts.
Hatchet Girl to me is still a solid gateway as to who Brigid is both personally & artistically, but I honestly think that she outdid herself a bit on here. The production mostly handled by Elevated Focusion is on caliber with the last EP as I feel like he continues to bring the best out of the Iowan Juggalesque founder so she can provide the soundtrack to the best time of the year.
Hardcore super-duo H.A.R.D. returning for their 3rd full-length LP. Consisting of Joell Ortiz & KXNG CROOKED, both of whom have had notorious label issues at the start of their careers, but would go on to see success as members of the supergroup Slaughterhouse along with Royce da 5’9” & Joe Budden from the late 2000s up until the mid-2010s. The quartet had quietly disbanded in 2016 after Joe’s retirement from making music even though it wasn’t confirmed until 2 years later, but the other 3 members have been keeping themselves busy ever since. H.A.R.D. introduced themselves a couple months after the pandemic hit with an incredible eponymous debut EP along with 2 full-lengths last year: The Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse and Harbor City. But coming off JFKLAX, they’re now looking to Prosper.
“The Tale of 2 Cities” is a groovy boom bap opener talking about coming from Brooklyn & Long Beach respectively whereas “Still” smoothly makes it known that both parties are out here grinding. “Dodgers 2” works in a sample, kicks & snares for a sequel to “Dodgers” off their latest EP just before & “War Outside” blends these strings with hi-hats to describing the harsh realities of the streets.
Moving on from there, “Sunroof” hooks up this alluring vocal chops from The Heatmakerz explaining why be so calm in the booth leading into the soulful title track as Crook & Yaowa come from a more introspective side of things looking live on & live long. “Wife Her (Snipe Her)” groovily gets romantic promising that no man could compete with them while “W.I.F.E.” blends these jazzy horns & crooning samples talking about having no one to grow with ‘cause they don’t know shit.
“Black Tie Affair” continues to push towards the end of the Housing Authority Rap District’s 3rd album returning to the boom bap boasting their top dog mentalities sipping champagne & lighting a cigar up until the soulful “No More” ends the album no longer staying humble paying homage to “Back in the Day” by Ahmed during the hook.
Harbor City & JFKLAX are still both enjoyable projects, but I know both of these guys can put out another body of work that’s on par with self-titled or Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse because they continue to show it a year & a half later. They’re both veterans & still have chemistry that’s no question, I just think they need more consistent production much like how Signature was better than Autograph itself.
Sophomore full-length LP from 18 year old Rochester up-&-comer Slump6s. Ever since the pandemic, he’s built a name for himself in the rage/drill scenes by releasing a total of 10 EPs & a debut album up to this point. However, he’s returning over a year later after Genesis by taking us through his Exodus.
The intro is a futuristic trap opener dropping braggadocio whereas “Habits” featuring Dvertigo finds the 2 keeps things cloudy so both of them can talk about how every day is a new mannerism to them. “Sex” takes a more atmospheric approach instrumentally from CXO & che struggling with the problem of too many hoes to pick from as far as the one he wants to smash, but then the riot-inducing “Often” talks about falling in love with the crosshairs & hanging with the dogs.
“Solid” blends these finger snaps & a UFO-like backdrop keeping it exactly that just before “Tags” hooks up these synths & hi-hats to talk about how he didn’t come this far for no reason. “YSL” wavily detailing a chick that wants all of him & debating on whether or not he should go for the kill leading into quasi-quirky “Frontline” talking about turning up in the AM.
Meanwhile, “Karma” spaciously acknowledges that destiny be watching everything he does prior to “Nicki” shooting for a playful sound comparing this hoe that he with to Nicki Minaj herself. “Flu” featuring OsamaSon is a favorite of mine as both of them energetically boast while the cavernous “Issey” talking about going global.
“Gotchu” nears the end of the LP by singing with heavy auto-tune over an electronic beat & the closer “Amore” rounds out the album by vigorously talking about being the king of the hill. The booming bonus cut “$$$” however truly saves things for last telling a bitch straight up that she doesn’t have a clue of exactly what the fuck he’s been on.
Genesis & even some of the features that I’ve heard Slump on up to this point have shown me that there is in fact potential in him even though that & his EPs are more moderately received compared to his debut tape Origin, but I think we get a look from him on a new level with this sophomore effort. The production’s better & he’s displaying his versatility more.
New York emcee & revered battle rapper RJ Payne formerly known as Reign Man back with his 9th EP. Building up an extensive solo catalogue for himself with 23 mixtapes as well as well as his last 7 EPs & 4 full-length albums. Benny the Butcher even signed RJ to Black Soprano Family Records for a brief period of time, putting out some of best material like Leatherface & Square Root of a Kilo under Benny’s ever-growing indie label of his own. However, My Life’z a Movie produced by Stu Bangas quickly became my favorite LP in RJ’s discography celebrating it’s 1-year anniversary last weekend & to come off the moderately well received P.A. Dre-produced sequel last month, Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance is teaming up with the Reign Man for a trip to The Barbershop.
After the “Barberchair” intro, the first song “Uninspired” explains his reasons for inspiration being at a low currently over a luxurious boom bap instrumental whereas “Already Rich” works in some glamorous keys talking about being rich spiritually. “Man Child” gives off a somber vibe musically coming to teach & rebuild the love, but then the piano-driven “The Ghost of Kevin Samuels” gives his flowers to the late controversial internet personality going on to say that we need to look into the mirror & get our shit together.
“Losing My Religion” has a crooning soul vibe to it telling y’all to consider him to be a hoodlum with a mission while “Slave Food” cautioning those who’ll use food as a weapon as he’s been noticing it since the recession. But until the “Barberchair” outro, the final song “Conspiracy Theories” prays that every day will get better being well aware of what the government’s hiding over some kicks, snares & an luscious backdrop.
If My Life’z a Movie is RJ’s best album, then there’s no question in my mind that The Barbershop will stand the test of time as my favorite EP of his because I went into it expecting it to be an LP but they still delivered on the same caliber as that Stu Bangas-produced album. Conceptually, RJ takes the listeners through a trip experience feeling as if you’re at an actual barbershop & the score that C-Lance cooks up is incredibly consistent.
Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer & Tha Dump Gawd himself Tha God Fahim is back with the 20th full-length LP in his ever-growing discography. 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. But dude has been on a CRAZY ass EP run in 2023 with the standouts being the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull & the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King 4, the Oh No-produced Berserko & his last EP Dump Gawd: Rhyme Paysproduced by Mike Shabb. But 6 months later, Camoflauge Monk is behind brought in to help tell the story of Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth.
The title track starts off the album is a drumless opener with some synthesizers talking about being his own worst critic whereas “Crisis” goes for a hypnotic groove instrumentally cautioning for haters to act right since it’s duck season. “Big Money Talk” gives off a jazzier flare to the beat admitting that he doesn’t want to get into the literature because they see inferno when he raises the temperature, but then “The Learning” triumphantly professes everything that he’s learned up to this point.
“While You Hear” goes for a mellower approach sonically advising everyone that’s tuning in to value their time referencing 10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & $7 Productions co-founder The Rock leading into “Doubloons” being compared to as the fastest man alive when dumpin’ over a cloudy instrumental. “Lone Warrior” works in these pianos chords comparing himself to exactly that just before “Manifestin’” returns to the boom bap talks about another day of being a living legend.
Approaching the final leg of the LP, the penultimate track “Dry Ice” blends these mellow synth leads with kicks & snares sounding like it could be played during an [adult swim] bumper discussing doing the same thing differently every single day prior to “Da Bottom” closing out the album on a twangier note talking about turning his pain into commas & living his life with nothing but honor.
It’s been a while since we’ve last heard from the Dump Gawd since he was dumpin’ like crazy at the beginning of the year, but it’s great to see that Nature Sounds is helping him & the most underrated Heartbreakers member in Camoflauge Monk return like it was nothing because this is a strong full-length from Fahim. Monk’s production is a bit versatile compared to some of his past material with the Dump Gawd & the latter sounds recharged on the mic.
