Here we have the 15th EP from Los Angeles, California emcee/producer A-F-R-O. A protege of R.A. the Rugged Man after winning the Definition of a Rap Flow contest, his Duck Down Music Inc.-backed 5th EP A-F-R-O Polo produced by Marco Polo introduced himself as a promising up-&-comer within the underground. The Drawing Board alongside the Stu Bangas-produced The Bad & the Ugly: The Goods Always Die First and Crimson Fury have all testified to his vengeful return in recent memory, coming off The Bad & the Ugly II to declare he has No More Patience… left in him.
“Who’s Dat?” starts with a vintage boom bap instrumental talking about being that muhfucka & assuring those who ain’t with the flow won’t rock the same as him leading into “Cross da Line” referencing current AEW performer & commentator as well as former 7-time WWE world champion, 11-time WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion Paul Wight.
Meanwhile on “N.B.N.A. (No Bitch N****s Allowed)”, we have A-F-R-O sharpening his pen so he can show off his wordplay abilities leading into “Hillz Have Eyes” featuring Illa Ghee & Rim uniting the trio so they can talk about committing mass murder. “U Ain’t” might be my favorite track here from the Erick Sermon beat to the confrontational lyricism while “Cyanide” featuring Johnny Smoke finds the 2 showing off their mean styles.
The self-produced “Things I Do” starts the final moments of No More Patience… talking about always checking his surroundings because things in life are always changing while “Da Formula” cites the late Sean Price of Heltah Skeltah & the Boot Camp Clik amongst his biggest lyrical inspirations, going from being a student to a professor himself. “Sittin’ on Top ov da World” concludes the EP feeling alone at the top of the underground, announcing his full-length debut will come within the next 12 months.
Said to be the most aggressive work of his whole entire career, A-F-R-O’s 5th & final extended play of 2025 finishes up the west coast lyricist’s year with my 3rd favorite of the quintet placed in the middle between My Mind’s My Biggest Gun & the final chapter of the AFRODEEZEAK trilogy behind it and Fromage & Crimson Fury above. Most of the production doesn’t interest me the same way the latter did or The Bad & The Ugly II aside from a couple notable moments, but No More Patience…will still satisfy many hardcore hip hop fans who’ve stuck around for the past decade.
London, England, United Kingdom emcee Verb T running it back with Vic Grimes for his 14th studio LP under High Focus Records. Most notable for signing to Low Life Records & briefly YNR Productions prior to becoming a member of The 4 Owls, he’s also been carving a path of his own for nearly 2 decades putting out over a dozen LPs & 8 EPs in that span of time. I didn’t care for Restoration as much as The Tower Where the Phantom Lives & the same can be said regarding both Homer Loan & it’s sequel, hoping To Love a Phantom would continue the momentum of it’s predecessor ahead of Jay Joshua becoming the new RPW British Heavyweight Champion along with the longest reigning RPW British Women’s Champion Alex Windsor ending the current champion Mercedes Moné’s reign & Joe Lando being crowned the new RPW British Cruiserweight Champion respectively this past week.
We get a somber boom bap instrumental all over the intro “Through the Wall” talking about moving more cautiously whereas “Introvert” describes a man who consistently lies with a straight because the facts are hysterical. “Illusion of Self” featuring BVA & Farma G brings the trio together so they can talk about the very thing they’ve seen many people fall victim to just before “Absorbing Imagery” captures pieces of his soul within the screen of this machine he’s lost in.
“Distraction” brings a bit of a funkier vibe to the beat making his opponents fall backwards after zapping their energy leading into “See the Truth” featuring Leaf Dog goes for a boom bap vibe once again hoping that everybody listening has all of their doubts erased & becomes proud of who they genuinely are. “Change” featuring Verbz stays in the basement instrumentally refusing to freeze when the pressure hits while “Motivation, Pt. 2” featuring Karizz finds the pair asking what their motives are.
Nearing the end of the 1st half, “Alien Concept” talks about having to shake things up to create a distance from a group of people whose conscious has been invaded by a foreign idea while the vibraphone-inflicted “No Expression” featuring Scorzayzee & Teach Em discusses their expressionlessly deadly statures. “Adrenaline” featuring Beano hops over some horns to talk about feelin’ like their hearts have been displaced while “Suspense & Tension” featuring Harry Shotta & Jah Digga describes a situation overcome with those 2 emotions.
“To Kill a Phantom” begins the 2nd act with a funkier beat talking about a ghost-hunting woman who stays stalkin’ on the ghost train while “Not There” speaks of his presence being felt even when he isn’t around at all. “Anti-Stress” talks about building himself up from ruins & not letting anyone tell him he can’t do it while “1,000 Features 2” fully colors the sketch of dreams he’s been drawing, only for his sorrow to be interrupted by the thought of his squad’s gratitude.
Vic hooks up some jazzy pianos during “Swerve a Lot” talking about being way too avoidant lately only for a switch-up to occur midway through while the laidback “By Myself” describes what it’s like whenever he’s alone. “Minimal” featuring Truemendous talks about both of them trying to take a more scarce approach to their lifestyles while “Don’t Waste Time Rushing” featuring Jayahadadream tackles the idea of making every minute count.
“Prior to Existence” smoothly advises the crowd of people whose souls have been crushed to say whatever they want as long as one learns to control their own noise after “Bring It All Together returns to the boom bap with some horns talking about combining fractured pieces, “Late to School” featuring Donkobz swaps out the horns in favor strings breaking down a gravitational pull they experienced that forced them to make a move.
The song “Rejuvenate” featuring Fliptrix starts To Love a Phantom’s final moments fusing jazz rap & boom bap talking about healing through the body, mind & soul while “Everything” featuring Isaiah Dreads explains that things around us were always meant to be connected. “Phantom Laugh” finishes up Verb’s best offering in a couple years trying to figure out if the echoing laughs of a ghost are actually a memory haunting him & the only thing he learned was to never conform.
Noticeably more ambitious than The Tower Where the Phantom Lives was a couple years earlier, Verb T bounces back from Restoration & both installments of the Homer Loan series’ averageness with a sequel to his greatest 2020s offering for an adventurous double full-length. Blurring the everyday with the supernatural conceptually, the cast of UK underground guests including the other 3 members of The 4 Owls all add their own distinctive flare to the wider narrative & Vic Grimes’ production marks a huge improvement over Verb’s recent extended plays.
Sugar Cherry a.k.a. Rozey is a rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Detroit, Michigan now based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who began as an emo trap metal rapper on SoundCloud under his original Lil Rozey moniker & became 1/2 of the duo Plastic Dagger alongside ITSOKTOCRY. He would later drop an electronic ambient EP in 2023 called sugarcherrykisses, going for an indie folk direction for Isn’t It Wonderful? as well as It Was Almost You & the self-titled EP later that same year. Death Trap came out this past spring & Anything Instead of Anything celebrated Halloween with a brief collection of shoegazey goth rock cuts, signing to Quadeca’s very own Virgin Music imprint X8 Music for what has been described as Sugar Cherry’s only studio album on my 29th birthday.
“Every Knife in the House is Mine” begins with a lo-fi indie folk opener singing about missing warm summer days & for people to gather around the picnic whereas “Heaven” gives off a more prominently compositional tone aside from a few occasional lines working in these fuzzy piano chords to wish he was at the pearly gates with the person he has in mind. “It’s Her Moon” goes back to a lo-fi indie folk direction singing about a woman in his life who had passed a week earlier while “Irish” takes the loner folk route wishing that summer would come to an end.
The downer folk influences get amplified on “In a Lonely Place” singing about this person finding a reason to move forward & that he hasn’t just before “I’ve Known for a While” takes the slacker rock route hoping that it isn’t the last time he sees the one he wants to get away with for an unspecified period of time asking if it really matters when he’s already dead. “The Detroit Strangler” blends loner folk & indie rock together for a 91 second single sampling the Paramount Skydance Corporation’s faithful adaption of Revolutionary Road for the outro while the violin-heavy “Flowers (When You Come Home)” sings about blood moving slower his partner’s home.
“Bird Violence” continued with an indie/loner folk crossover wanting his lover to know she’s all he needs & the distancing between them taking a toll on his mental state while “Veins” compares his love interest to heroin, returning to the shoegaze sound that was all over Anything Instead of Anything nearly 6 weeks ago. “I Just Want You to Like Me” would have to be the weakest link if I had to pick 1 mostly due to it’s incredibly receptive approach to songwriting. “Beautiful World” sings about feeling like a ghost for the past 7 days getting fed up with being sick & alone when he awakes in the morning while “If I Come Home” trades off between a chorus & an instrumental breakdown.
As for “Heroin”, we have more elements of wombadelia being incorporated singing about crying for the last time & an individual who he thought was safe until they came his way while “Somehow a Part of Me Still Thinks You’re Coming Home Because In My Dreams I Got to Kiss You Goodbye” addressing someone he wants to see soon even if he can’t. “Surf David Surf” sings about the same old trick he plays on his that he’s been sobering up & doing well when none of those things are accurate while “October Sky” depressingly assures a deceased colleague he’ll join them when it’s time.
“Et Je Vous Montrerais Les Feux” continues the loner folk atmosphere wanting be loved in the midst of him trying to maintain his sobriety while “10,000 Pines” officially wraps up the LP in the form of this an 8 & a half minute ambient outro with a lo-fi edge to it. “A Killer” starts the deluxe run telling a friend named Darren that his life’s been falling apart, buying a gun for the sole purpose of murdering every last one of his friends in cold blood while “Sugar” admits to being unsure regarding whether or not he’ll have the ability of reuniting with a loved one in heaven.
Moving on from there, “Oh God” turns up the shoegaze undertones freaking out on the floor over the realization that he had let down an individual that he wants back in his life while “Scottish” sings about fleeing to the Scotland region of the United Kingdom or the country of Ireland only because he had planned on doing so with a woman who can’t be here with him presently. “Even If the Sky Turns Black” promises his soulmate that he’ll go to rehab again & get clean off drugs for hopefully the last time only for her sake while the slacker rock/outsider folk fusion “Shoobie” recalls seeing his late girlfriend by the Oceanside staring in one another’s eyes.
“The Way You Live” somberly sings about being unable to live without his partner as evident when she walked away while “The Great Big Fire in the Sky” likens his love for this woman to the usage of heroin, becoming self-aware of her hating the person he’s become & injecting her in his veins if he had the opportunity. The indie rock-flavored “Change (It Must Be)” sings about something in his life needing to be switched up while “Smiley” could’ve easily been combined with the previous cut serving as more of an interlude from my perspective.
Influences of loner folk bleed heavier during the single “On October 14, 2021, I Visited Lake Michigan & Saw My Own Reflection Staring Back at Me Drowning in the Water” confessing that he doesn’t know whether he’s in Hell or something closer to it while “I Can’t Feel You When You’re High” addresses a person he doesn’t recognize anymore, hating their own body as much as he hates his own. The final bonus track “Dog Food (Fall Time)” suiting for the season of autumn expressing true hatred for a junkie’s new friends.
With the exception of 3 newly recorded tracks, Land of Pine most likely concludes Sugar Cherry’s music career by making his own version of Minor Threat’s complete discography compilation after 6 years in the making & I say that because most of the full-length’s material has already been previously released as singles or originally appearing on Rozey’s earlier EPs like Isn’t It Wonderful? or self-titled. You might’ve also noticed almost all of his previous output has been scrubbed off the internet and it only makes this collection of singer/songwriter, indie folk, loner folk, tape music, slacker rock, shoegaze, dream pop & bedroom pop songs more poignant slowly pulling the layers back of his artistic growth from the late 2010s to now.
New surprise EP & the 6th overall from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Diorvsyou. Coming up in 2021 off his inaugural extended play Scoreboard, it wasn’t until I saw him open up for southsidesilhouette in Brooklyn the following November where I was personally introduced to his music & I was actually impressed with his set. w.t.f.i.dvy? (who the fuck is diorvsyou?) marked a bigger breakthrough for him artistically & returned up from the Ashes almost a year since Diorvsrxlvnd’s eponymous debut. The last few EPs Untitled EP.9 as well as So Cunt. & Paussus.99 have all been received positively, dropping Pre Gamé in the midst of his ongoing Twitter beef with Destroy Lonely alongside ApolloRed1 & 9 Vicious.
“Options” starts with a plugg instrumental from 406ahmad & an eyebrow-raising bar about wanting to sleep with this hoe’s friend despite being underage whereas “Pullup!” goes for a pluggier vibe thanks to n9ck telling all the hoes to come where he’s staying at. “H8 da Real Meh” heads for cloudier territory explaining that he drinks in the middle of the day because of self-hatred & after “Dope!” bodies a Pi’erre Bourne beat to send off the Pre Gamé talking about all his women doing drugs, “High Schøøl” featuring EAtj starts the deluxe run taking the rage-inducing route looking back at when they didn’t have shit during their adolescence.
EAtj sticks around 1 last time for “2 Shows” talking about the women they’re dating having their own styles while “Manual” has an angrier atmosphere generally responding to people saying he sold his soul after meeting with Interscope Records. “Fukitup!” featuring Reezy X & Tezzus talks about derailing their opps while “Hell of It” boasts of him having tons of hoe’s for fun. “Cannibal” compares the head he’s receiving to the act of cannibalism itself & the final bonus track “1st Off” goes back-to-back with Pi’erre.
I truly couldn’t tell you whether he’s being serious about the minor bar during the intro or if it’s a jab at the fact 9 Vicious put the worst song of his entire career “Clout Demons” on his YSL Records debut Tumblr Music at the end of March but either way, a great deal of this EP teases what’s to come of Diorvsyou’s forthcoming debut album Soirée a year from now putting out a 10 minute 4-pack improving from Paussus.99’s production & performing by himself for most of the time other than a few guests.
Here we have the 4th mixtape from Atlanta, Georgia rapper RRoxket. Emerging in 2022 off his debut EP Rixhie Rixh & the full-length debut album R.I.P. RRoxket, he would go on to drop 3 more EPs Happy Birthday RRoxket as well as RRoxket Valentine and Red M&M ahead of his debut tape Red Ranger that was preluded by his last EP High School Flunky. He put out a fun self-titled effort last Black Friday after officially signing to Sony Music, coming off Rixhie Rixh II to tell the tale of the Geek Monster days preceding the Babes of Wrath becoming the inaugural AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions.
“Purple” starts with a plugg intro referencing the titular protagonist of the Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Entertainment franchise Static Shock who was not only homaged during former AEW World Champion & AEW World Tag Team Champion Swerve Strickland’s entrance at Dynasty II in April, but I can’t forget to mention Netflix’s reasonably controversial purchase of WB earlier this past weekend either. Anyway, “Last Sound” goes for more of a dark plugg vibe instrumentally talking about wanting money & wanting to go much farther.
Things go for a terror plugg approach on “Raiders” repping black & white like the Las Vegas Raiders although I’m much more of a Vegas Golden Knights fan personally prior to “WOAH!” produced by Cade sticking out amongst my favorite tracks here talking about sending shots at people’s families. “Trip” meshes gangsta rap lyricism with plugg production for a few minutes while “BLAAATTT” ends the 1st half talking about being able to quick-draw because of the Glock by his waistline.
“Rowdy” begins the 2nd act of the Geek Monster taking a moment to address his darling just before another highlight “RR” jumps over a pluggy Hariroc instrumental talking about his stick blowing up like it’s dynamite. “Sweet Angel” continues by heading towards a pluggnb direction getting more lustful in terms of lyricism while “Addy” works in a joyful plugg beat from boolymon so he can talk about taking both percocets & adderrall.
The song “2 Faced” pushes further towards the back end of the tape once again combining the gangsta lifestyle imagery & plugg instrumentation while “Fuxk Blueface” obviously serves as a diss track towards Blueface, who recently came home from a 2 year prison bid last month. “Lifeguard” finishes by blending synthesizers & 808s talking about putting motherfuckers in Lost & Found if they got a firearm on them.
Something that I think should be mentioned until I get to my closing thoughts is that RRoxket has likely completed his Sony deal when Rixhie Rixh II came out this spring, so for him to finish his 2025 with an independent tape that rivals the successor to his inaugural extended play almost 4 years ago already by continuing to solidify his status in the plugg, cloud rap & dark plugg subgenres of hip hop has me looking forward to this next chapter of his career.
Infinite Coles is a 33 year old singer/songwriter & rapper from Staten Island, New York notable for being the son of one of hip hop’s greatest storytellers: Ghostface Killah from the almighty Wu-Tang Clan. He’s also the brother of both Sun God from the Theodore Unit & of course Supreme-Intelligence, putting out an alternative R&B extended play in the fall of 2021 called Destiny to moderate reception. He made headlines a few months ago when the title track to his full-length studio debut album right here dropped, which went viral because of Infinite airing out his grievances towards his father for disowning him after coming out to him over a decade ago.
After the previously mentioned breakout single, “DMs” continues by singing over a house instrumental that he’ll give the man of his eye anything he wants whereas “Boots” featuring Julz & Maleigh Zan on the remix takes the hip house/ballroom route stylistically challenging anyone who wants to go up against them. “Shoot” finds himself singing over house production again warning he’ll call his siblings if this gunman pull the trigger on him until “Thankful” goes full gospel expressing his gratitude.
“Dad & I” after the “Why’s It Important?” interlude continues to delve deep into Infinite’s relationship with Ghostface while “Body Song” sings over a bare piano getting in his gospel bag again. “Mama Song” moves on with a heartfelt tribute to Infinite’s mother & after the “Different Kind of Rain” interlude, “BGM” goes for a soulful house vibe singing about this woman with a soul like the sun. The closer “Hummingbird” sends it all off with a moody ode to his lover working it for him.
It’s a shame albeit not really that surprising to hear that Starks doesn’t want anything to do with Infinite Coles because of his sexual orientation, but the latter uses Sweetface Killah to carve a stylistic path that’s a lot different than what his father & his siblings are all known for. Its production tends to be more based around both contemporary & alternative R&B, progressive soul, pop rap, ballroom, hip hop soul, dance-pop, hardcore hip hop, house & gospel introducing the world to an alter ego that was created by the homophobia that surrounded him.
Here we have the 15th mixtape from Mississippi emcee/producer Big K.R.I.T., who started out by releasing a few mixtapes from the mid to late 2000s. He eventually signed to GoodTalk Records in 2010 & his 6th mixtape K.R.I.T. Wuz Here that same year landed him a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings & a spot in the XXL Freshman Class in 2011. His first couple of full-lengths Live from the Underground & Cadillactica in 2012 & 2014 respectively continued to show his potential, but then he went on to form his own label Multi Alumni some time after. The inaugural outing under the new independent label being 4eva’s a Mighty Long Time, which is the best double disc hip hop album of the 2010s without question. Following that was the T.D.T. compilation & even K.R.I.T. Iz Here, which was an underwhelming sequel to K.R.I.T. Wuz Here given how excessively commercial it was in comparison to the rawness of the predecessor. D.R.D.D. (Digital Roses Don’t Die) wasn’t any better, so I went into Dedicated to Cadalee Biarittz hoping he’d return to form commemorating the 2-year anniversary of Regardless, It’s Still Timeless later this month.
After the “Cadalee Radio” intro, the self-produced “Old News” works in a sample & hi-hats talking about hearing at all at this point in his career whereas “Gotta Do It” blends cloud rap & dirty south looking to do things the way the playas did back then. After the “Grillz by Scotty” commercial, “Hi Def” shifts towards a pop rap vibe with a bit of a Zapp twist to it while “The Mileage” talks about crankin’ the volume in his big body.
“Not in the Whip” embraces a more aggressive approach in delivery refusing to touch base regarding politics or any petty bullshit thrown his way & after the “CJ Customs” commercial, “I-20” begins the 2nd half of the album with a hook reminiscent of Devin the Dude talking about spillin’ on the major east-west highway down south. “Elevated” brings a smoother beat to the fold speaking of his artistic altitude while “The Everliving Sub Knocker” featuring Karlous Miller talks about bass.
After the “Spokesnvogues” commercial, “So Far So Good” jazzily homages the late Roy Ayers while “Precious Metal” talks about appreciating life & rollin’ in a whip with old school candy paint bumpin’ the late DJ Screw. “In the Rain” dedicates itself to every sunbeam that wouldn’t leave him alone until Karlous Miller shines with a 44 second freestyle. “Celebrate the Line” featuring Killa Kyleon, Lil’ Keke, Paul Wall, Propain, Slim Thug & Z-Ro ends the tape with a victorious Houston posse cut until the deluxe run starts talking about being a “Sunset Vet”.
“Back n ‘99” takes a moment to reflect on the final year of the previous millennium over a funky trap instrumental while “El-Doe” talks about knockin’ bass when he drives. We later have K.R.I.T. putting himself inside the shoes of an individual looking to get out of this “Funky Game” succeeding the “City of Ink” skit & after “Substance” talks about having the inability of stopping because the Sun has his system on lock, the final bonus track “Reign Supreme” jazzily ties things up explaining that they could never make him hate the South.
Shifting away from the commercialized sounds of K.R.I.T. Iz Here & D.R.D.D. (Digital Roses Don’t Die), this inaugural entry in the Dedicated to Cadalee Biarittz marks Big K.R.I.T.’s return to his dirty south roots & it has me highly looking forward to the way the rest of this series will pan out. His production also takes some inspiration from the Houston hip hop scene too & he’s a lot hungrier than he was compared to when he was forcing himself to appeal to a radio market that didn’t exist.
Brand new extended play & the 6th overall from Brooklyn, New York veteran Skyzoo. Emerging in the underground off the 9th Wonder produced Cloud 9: The 3 Day High, he continued to make a name for himself with a consistent discography. Highlights include The Salvation, the !llmind produced Live from the Tape Deck, A Dream Deferred, Music for My Friends, the Apollo Brown produced The Easy Truth, In Celebration of Us & my personal favorite: the Pete Rock produced Retropolitan dedicated to his home state. All the Brilliant Things built itself around gentrification & The Mind of a Saint was dedicated one of my favorite shows Snowfall, coming off the Old Soul Music-backed Keep Me Company to discuss the Views of a Lifetime.
“Tags at the Moma” produced by Camoflauge Monk talks about scheming for 20 cans a day over a boom bap instrumental whereas “Pardon Me” flexing that he was cut from a more Godly cloth. “The Wager” takes a drumless approach thanks to Cartune Beatz asking for the specifics of a bet & once “Sky is Like” homages one of Nas’ greatest singles ahead of Light-Years next weekend, “Devotion” talks about finishing the school of hard knocks with honors over a crooning Conductor Williams beat.
Thelonious Martin jumps behind the boards for “Love Day” incorporating a flute & a soul sample comparing himself to Gil Scott-Heron wearing a Carmelo Anthony jersey while “Hope & Pray” takes a few minutes talking about wishing nothing but the best for the person he has mind. “The Soloist” blends jazz rap & boom bap courtesy of The Other Guys suggesting he might be better off by himself while “Half Bloom” strips the drums talking about taking on more than he had to.
Picking up where Keep Me Company left off last Black Friday, this new extended play 53 weeks later deals with looking back on what was after you’ve settled into this new world of the growth Skyzoo’s last album explored & I’d actually say I’d prefer Views of a Lifetime over it’s predecessor. I feel like the production’s stronger & the 1st Generation Rich Inc. founder reflects on how his previous life has changed drastically & it got him where he is currently.
Compton, California emcee, songwriter, actor & professional attention whore The Game linking up with Mike & Keys for his 16th mixtape. Originally taken under the wing of JT the Bigga Figga. His 2002 debut mixtape You Know What It Is would catch the attention of Dr. Dre & 50 Cent. Both of whom signed Game to a joint venture to their individually respective labels Aftermath Entertainment & G-Unit Records, distributed by Interscope Records. With their help, his debut album The Documentary the following year would go on to become a West Coast essential. However, a falling out between Game & 50 just months after the album’s release would result in Game moving over to Geffen Records to complete his 5-album contract. His next 4 albums Dr.’s Advocate, LAX, The RE.D. (RE-Dedication) Album & Je5us PiecE all showed that Game didn’t need Dre or 50 to make quality music. Once fulfilling his major label obligations, he went the independent route by founding his own label Numinati Records & showcasing the artists with a compilation entitled Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf in 2014. Game then put out an overloaded yet decent sequel to his debut with The Documentary 2+2.5 the next year as well as his previous album 1992 the year after & Born 2 Rap on his 40th birthday. Hit-Boy helped him come out of “retirement” again with the more consistent Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind, although it was DONDA levels of bloated. In preparation of The Documentary III after siding with Drake in his beef with Kendrick Lamar, I was hoping Every Movie Needs a Trailer wouldn’t carry over any of that corny “Freeway’s Revenge” energy.
After the chopped & screwed “Silver Lining” intro, the first song “Caviar x Cartier” begins with a jazz rap opener talking about how you can turn around & lose it all today whereas “Can I” passionately gives us a look at the way he writes his rhymes over a soulful instrumental. “Chrome Hearts” works in some sampling to talk about him rather being feared than loved leading into “Amerikkka’s Nightmare” addressing people praying on his downfall.
“🤡🤡” takes 2 & a half minutes to poke fun at all the cornballs who ain’t poppin’ like they thought they’d be just before the sample drill/chipmunk soul fusion “Good Enough” speaks of the thin line between fatherhood & his neighborhood. “Quarter Zips x Matcha” kinda has some jazzier undertones to the beat cautioning that this real life with him instead of some corny Druski shit while “Rotation” co-produced by Jason Martin formerly known as Problem ends the 1st half with a club-oriented pop rap joint.
To begin the 2nd act, “The Coast Guard” talks about breaking down anybody who speaks ill of the Bloods calling back to Game’s origins with the infamous street gang while “Head of State” soulfully lets the world know what he’d do if he was president. “The Assassination of Candace Owens” heads towards chipmunk soul turf instrumentally talking about how people would rather be lied to & live in a fantasy world while “Left Out” experiments with an industrial hip hop sound basically giving a middle finger to everything.
“Blood Tears” featuring Mozzy jazzily talks about keeping their experienced pain to themselves while “So Contagious” offers food for thought to digest. “Just Like Me” soulfully shouts out those who made it out the trenches similarly to him prior to O.T. Genasis ruining “Scheme” despite “New York, New York” by Kurupt being flipped. “Livin’” finishes up sampling “Ain’t It Fun”by Paramore for an outro dedicated to the west coast while “Whatever” starts the deluxe run talking about being at the end with other artists over a crooning boom bap beat.
Kinda disappointing 21 Savage only does the hook for “Real N****s” cautioning that the authentic artists are gonna become extinct sooner than later while “2nd Hand Smoke” soulfully tells the Crips & Bloods who’re still living to get on down. Swizz Beatz producing “Art Basel” wasn’t too bad aggressively making a Mona Lisa outta jaw jackers while “Steffon Digg Her Out” takes a more soulfully sexual approach thematically referencing the New England Patriots WR of the same name.
“Favorite” combines the classic west coast hip hop feeling with trap wanting the woman he’s seeing to stop picking faves while “Tricks” tells the story of an encounter he had with some bitch from his dreams. “Brick by Brick” featuring Benny the Butcher & Conway the Machine brings the trio together over a symphonic boom bap instrumental talking about pushing kilos & taking no Ls or shorts while “You’s a Virgin” featuring Boosie Badazz angrily claps back at the so called killers for not living up to their rep.
Game asks all of his sons & daughters to take a drink out of “Something in the Water” over a sample representing his hometown of the CPT while “Dead Hermes” soulfully asks what more is there for him to say since not much has changed for him as far has he’s concerned. The final bonus track “It Feels Like Heaven” featuring Dom Kennedy officially caps off Every Movie Needs a Trailer with a laidback Jake One beat dismissing those tryna play with them when the ball’s flat.
Putting aside his bullshit defense of R. Kelly & Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy at a private birthday celebration last weekend especially with The Reckoning documentary coming out on Netflix merely a few days ago, I have to admit that Every Movie Needs a Trailer was more of a stronger listen than Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind was a few summers previously. Obviously there’s a lot less filler on here compared The Game’s last full-length, but he only brings a couple guests on board to flow over Mike & Keys’ production mostly well.
This is the 5th EP from Newark, New Jersey musician Jane Remover. Known for pioneering the Dariacore microgenre, they made their breakout debut in the fall of 2021 with Frailty under deadAir Records & it wasn’t until exactly 24 months later when former BROCKHAMPTON leader Kevin Abstract called Jane Remover’s sophomore effort Census Designated his favorite album of that year where I personally got introduced to their music. Revengeseekerz came out in April to widespread acclaim, returning 8 months later with ♡.
“Magic I Want U” begins with an alternative R&B, glitch pop, breakbeat, Atlanta bass, alternative rock & digital cumbia loving the way this guy uses his hands & words whereas “So What?” was notably sampled throughout “All4U”, which was the stunning closer off Danny Brown’s latest album Stardust last month additionally interpolating their own singles “JRJRJR” & “Turn Up or Die” respectively.
To finish the 1st half, “Music Baby” contains probably the most repetitive songwriting structure throughout the entire extended play giving a fuck less of what people think of them while “Flash on the Pan” blends alternative R&B, emo rap, sexy drill, indie rock, shoegaze & dream pop basically remixing a cover they did of one of my personal favorite Britney Spears tracks “Hold It Against Me” back when I was in my final year of middle school.
“How to Teleport” starts the final moments of ♡with an extended version of a digital cumbia b-side to “Magic I Want U” pleading to not be awoken from this dream they’re experiencing because they can’t fall back in the fountain of youth again while the closer “Dream Sequence” & the b-side to “Flash in the Pan” covers “Aberdeen Dream Sequence”, which is widely considered to be the greatest slacker rock/slowcore singles that Jane Remover has ever made under the venturing moniker.
Serving as a prelude to their upcoming 4th album next year, Jane Remover compiles a brand new EP consisting of 3 covers & 3 newly recorded songs focusing more around alternative R&B as well as glitch pop & alt-pop as opposed to Revengeseekerz’ heavy digicore/EDM sound earlier this spring even if some of the material predates Jane’s biggest high in their career yet. The secondary influences within the production get shaken up in favor of alternative rock, breakbeat, sexy drill, east coast club, Atlanta bass, digital cumbia, emo rap, shoegaze & dream pop teasing another exciting artistic reinvention.
Legends Will Never Die 