Hus Kingpin – “Wavo Forever” review

Brand new LP & the 9th proper one overall from underground veteran Hus Kingpin. In addition to being 1/2 of Tha Connection with SmooVth, he has also built up over both a dozen mixtapes & EP in his discography all in the span of almost 2 decades with my personal favorites being Cocaine Beach produced by Big Ghost Ltd. as well as the Portishead-inspired Portishus & more recently The Supergoat fully produced by 9th Wonder. The latter in the beginning of 2024 has quickly become his most celebrated material in years, returning with Wavo Forever under Holy Toledo Productions.

“RZA Fangs” produced by RZA starts with him talking about keeping a razor in his mouth in case the gun’s jammed whereas “Ghost of Camay” goes for a soulful vibe thanks to Mathematics & he could’ve given us 1 more verse instead of letting the beat ride out for the last minute. “Next Level” featuring Inspectah Deck finds the 2 spending their 95 seconds together talking about turning people into ghosts when the smoke settles while “Hang Glide Samurai” featuring Kurupt & Raekwon comes through with more hardcore penmanship.

Killah Priest & Planet Asia both join Hus on “Mind Devine” aggressively talking about having guards around them because they’re well known while “Who Made You Look? 2” featuring Shyheim find the 2 teaming up for a sequel to a Portishus highlight. “The Pleasures” by Tha Connection featuring Rozewood brings all 3 of them together to look back at getting chains at 16 while “Majestic” featuring Ghostface Killah & Planet Asia lets the trio spit darts over a Big Ghost Ltd. beat.

“Killer’s Theme” featuring the Wu-Syndicate rounds out 3rd with everyone making an anthem for the kind of people who aren’t afraid to let some blood shed while “Saigon Velour” featuring Ghostface Killah & Tricky doesn’t hit me the same way “Majestic” did although I do like the Relense instrumental. “Wisewave” featuring Bronze Nazareth finishes up the full-length pairing both of them over a soulful beat the latter cooked up individually spitting verses of wisdom.

There are a couple of guests that I could’ve done without & some of the production can be a tad bit inconsistent compared to The Supergoat other than a few noteworthy exceptions, but I can definitely say that Wavo Forever’s the most I’ve enjoyed Hus Kingpin’s music in a couple years. If he makes an adjustment or 2 to the areas where this album lacks, then I really think he can make something nearing the same pedestal it’s predecessor & Cocaine Beach stand regarding the most essential entries to his catalog.

Score: 3.5/5

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Dylan Brady – “Needle Guy” review

St. Louis, Missouri singer/songwriter & producer Dylan Brady dropping his 5th extended play under his own imprint Dog Show Records in tandem with Atlantic Records. Known for being 1/2 of 100 gecs, he would eventually carve a path of his own by releasing Saxophone Joe & Taste the Rainbow as well as the full-length debut All I Ever Wanted & Choker respectively. Dog Show would eventually catch the attention of Mad Decent, whom Dylan signed to for his previous EP Peace & Love. 8 years later, the Needle Guy ready to make his major label debut.

“Throat Song” co-produced by Skrillex kicks things off with the weakest composition of the bunch due to how repetitive it mostly is with the central Asian throat singing whereas “Stay High” could be my favorite instrumental here, leaning heavier towards the festival progressive house side of things. “Ashley” embraces a Dutch house vibe decently remixing the Afrojack single “Ashley” while the title track finishes with Dylan blending dubstep, tearout & hard techno

Peace & Love almost a decade later has been widely considered to be the finest entry of Dylan Brady’s solo career, but Needle Guy returns to the averageness a lot of his individual output tends to suffer from. His production’s more catered towards the sounds of hardgroove techno, tearout, Dutch house, festival progressive house & tribal house than it’s hyperpop & alternative R&B predecessor except it isn’t as groundbreaking for those styles of electronic dance music than I would’ve hoped.

Score: 2.5/5

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BTS – “Arirang” review

BTS is a boy band from Seoul, South Korea consisting of RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jin, Jung Kook, V & Jimin. Their full-length debut Dark & Wild under Bighit Music & the HYBE Corporation was moderately received although Wake Up & Youth both proved to be less favorable, bouncing back with Wings & dividing audiences again by dropping Face Yourself a couple years later. Love Yourself: Tear as well as Map of the Soul: 7 & BE would continue to polarize the musical spectrum, reuniting following the completion of their military service for their 9th album.

“Body to Body” gets things going with this k-pop/pop rap intro expressing the lustful desires towards their romantic interests whereas “Hooligan” talks about acting a fool again & wanting everyone to watch these beat go crazy. “Aliens” fuses trap with the k-pop & pop rap sounds thanks to Mike WiLL Made-It confidently assuring the world that this’ll be one of the biggest jams of the year just before “FYA” produced by Diplo & Flume sings about a woman willing to dance on fire.

Pluss & Mike WiLL run it back with BTS on “2.0” pulling inspiration from trap once again so they can remind everyone of how they do but after the “#29” interlude, “Swim” sings to their lovers about spending their lives watching them & how they’d only want to be beside them. Tame Impala gives “Merry Go Round” a bit a synthpop vibe realizing their lives are broken rollercoasters only they themselves can blame for it while “Normal” sings about what they would like to consider the usual

“Like Animals” continues the 2nd half of Arirang with this atmospheric pop ballad assuring the love of their lives to eat this life until their hearts are full while “they don’t know ‘bout us” combines elements of trap along with pop rap & k-pop singing about people not knowing shit regarding them. After asking “1 More Night” to stay with their partners, “Please” makes it clear to them that they’ll take another step closer when the world falls apart & the final song preceding the “Armyrang” outro ends by singing about following their loved ones “Into the Sun”

It was funny to see the “Dynamite” music video being included during season 10 of MTV’s hit series Beavis & Butt-head on Paramount+ preceding their move to Comedy Central, but I’ve never considered myself a fan of BTS’ music outside of that & Arirang achieves the expectations of becoming the most enjoyably consisting LP they’ve ever made. Their k-pop style secondarily explores the sounds of pop rap, alt-pop, trap, synthpop, pop, experimental hip hop & contemporary R&B for a reunion that offers a glimpse of new perspectives.

Score: 3.5/5

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underscores – “u” review

underscores is a 25 year old singer/songwriter & producer from San Francisco, California who dropped 6 extended plays between 2015-2020 including Trust Exercises, Grawlix, Air Freshener, Skin Purifying Treatment, We Never Got Strawberry Cake & Character Development!. Her full-length debut Fishmonger would follow as would Boneyard a.k.a. Fearmonger & the sophomore effort Wallsocket, the latter 2 being widely considered as her greatest work. Coming off the Covergirl: Originally by Sonny EP in 2024 & of course producing a few tracks for Danny Brown’s 7th album Stardust this past fall though, she’s signing to Mom + Pop Music her 3rd studio LP.

“Tell Me (U Want It)” begins with a self-produced electropop, dance-pop, hyperpop, complextro & slimepunk single that she considers “Music for my iPhone spy movie” singing about direct communication in a relationship whereas “Music”blends electropop, hybrid trap, hyperpop future bass, bubblegum bass, colour bass & pop rap sampling “Gunk” off Fishmonger singing about feeling the harmony. “Hollywood Forever” issues a clear statement that she doesn’t want to be buried in the titular cemetery while “The Peace” goes a capella to talk about not speaking unless spoken to.

The late SOPHIE & Arca are both key inspirations of “Innuendo (I Get U)” confessing to part of her hope she can understand this person she’s addressing leading into “Lovefield” hypnotically mourns a type of love that was unrewarded. “Do It” combines electropop, dance-pop, contemporary R&B, complextro & electro house singing about not committing to a relationship due to the riskiness of it but once she sensss a “Bodyfeeling” she doesn’t tell her partner of, “Wish U Well” ends the album wanting nothing the best out of a woman who moved on.

Expanding the intricately high impact world continuing to be built by its own creator, Mom + Pop introduces underscores as part of their roster by presenting the most accessible entry in her entire catalog & what I’m sure will be amongst 2026’s most lauded opuses. Her songwriting’s more emotionally charged than everything she’s done previously & the electropop production culminates many different era of career. More specifically the styles of electronic dance music, dance-pop, alt-pop, future bass, bubblegum bass, hybrid trap & hyperpop.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mike WiLL Made-It – “R3SET” review

Mike WiLL Made-It is a 36 year old producer from Marietta, Georgia who has become one of the most in-demand producers across hip hop, trap R&B & pop for the last decade. He would also drop 5 mixtapes throughout the early 2010s including the Est. in 1989 series as well as #MikeWiLLBeenTriLL & Ransom, the latter of which came out through his own label Ear Drummer Records & gave us a sequel under Interscope Records almost a decade ago. The soundtrack for Creed II however became his final major label offering, returning a few days shy of his birthday to drop a sophomore effort independently.

“ATL (APPR3CIAT3 TH3 LOV3)” by 21 Savage splits itself into halves to get things going with the help of London on da Track showing love to the city that made them whereas “Standing O” by Monaleo & Travis Porter co-produced by Shawn Ferrari blends some hi-hats & synthesizers for a decent single catered to the strip clubs. “TIM3” by SahBabii wasn’t as strong of a 2-parter as the intro although I appreciate the respect paid to the late Black Sabbath frontman & WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne, but then “RUSSIAN ROULETT3” by Young Thug makes up for it talking about the game of chance.

Anycia, J Money & KARRAHBOOO all get together for “My Way” moderately talking about having things how they’d like over an instrumental Sonny Digital was involved in cooking up while “@ 874” by Hunxho & 2 Chainz shows off Mike WiLL’s ear for sampling although Tity Boi had the strongest performance out of both of them. “D33P3R” by Ludacris & Teezo Touchdown was easily my favorite single due to them tastefully combining R&B & pop rap to describe being deep in love while “Rooms” by Chief Keef & YoungBoy Never Broke Again unites both of them to explore the typical themes of their own individual discographies.

“O.F.G. (Opportunities For Growth)!” by J. Cole with co-production from Pluss & 30 Roc gets the 2nd half going talking about there being too much money for him to get & only having chances at evolution going forward in his career while “STOV3 LIT” by OJ da Juiceman has to be one of the best songs I’ve heard from him in quite some time recalling his days when he was trappin’ in the lab. “MONEY TALK$” by Killer Mike, T.I. & Young Dro brings all 3 of them together with Zaytoven helping behind the boards to talk about the paper while “AAA” by Sid Sriram continues with this mediocre attempt at trap soul named after the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s subsidiary Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.

The late Lil Keed gets a posthumous track of his own with “IN MY H3AD” talking about having some shit going on mentally until his passing over an beat Chopsquad DJ had a hand in making while “All I Know” by Cee-Lo Green shits all over “AAA” combining gospel & soul for a passionately sung ode wondering if anyone believes in God because He believed in him. “Major” by Swae Lee ends the R3SET with an outro that’s far more tolerable than the latter’s “Flammable” single, which gives me some hope for his upcoming sophomore effort Same Difference.

Taking the opportunity to cement his presence in a new decade, Mike WiLL Made-It’s follow-up to Ransom 2 celebrates his birthday a few days early by dropping an improvement above it’s predecessor & one of the better mainstream producer curated albums that I’ve heard more recently. The production expands the trap & pop rap styles he’s become known for in addition to occasionally venturing out to experiment with gospel & trap soul, primarily bringing the right guests in those lanes other than a couple lulls.

Score: 3.5/5

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Samara Cyn – “Detour” review

This is the 3rd EP from Murfreesboro, Tennessee rapper & singer/songwriter Samara Cyn. Beginning her career in 2019, it wasn’t until the fall of 2024 where her debut EP The Drive Home began to turn heads and catch people’s attention because of the way she fused alternative hip hop with neo-soul. Her most recent extended play Backroads came out right around the time she was selected to be apart of the 2025 XXL Freshman Class last summer, looking make a quick Detour exactly 9 months later & only a week following her most recent single.

“Free” starts us off with this heavenly intro singing about wanting to fall in 2 prior to an EDM breakdown to conclude it whereas “Good is a Lie” produced by ovrkast. blends neo-soul & hip hop talking about her desires to light this guy’s world up. “oooshxt!” honors the legacy of Missy Elliott admitting that she hasn’t been doing so sweet as of lately despite all of her successes, but then “Bushwick” featuring ovrkast. brings both of them together so they can talk about nobody threatening them.

The song “over influence” continues Detour’s final moments rapping like the rent’s due on top of promising that she won’t ever let a weak bitch inside of her home & taking some inspiration from orchestral music with the strings while “Highest” incorporates 1 last ovrkast. beat talking about doing shit that others out here aren’t. “Nomad” finishes things up with a moody closer detailing her experiences of being stood up, lied to, led astray & people spitting in her face.

Known for often fusing hip hop & neo-soul in her music, Samara Cyn comes off her Camp Flog Gnaw performance this past fall by creatively pushing herself throughout Detour to the point where I have to put it above the EP she gave us 9 months earlier. The pop rap, boom bap & alternative R&B production’s a bit more experimentally darker than what many of us familiar with her have grown accustomed to & conceptually, she’s issuing a statement based off her own experiences of disconnecting from social media built around remaining human in the modern age of the internet.

Score: 4/5

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KiD CuDi – “Have U BN 2 Heaven @ Nite?” review

Brand new extended play from Cleveland, Ohio rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, fashion designer, model, director & filmmaker KiD CuDi. Blowing up in 2008 off his debut mixtape A KiD Named CuDi as well as his songwriting credits on his mentor Ye formerly known as Kanye West’s 4th album 808s & Heartbreak, his profile from there would increasingly grow off his groundbreaking debut & sophomore albums Man on the Moon: The End of the Day & Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. But following the self-produced & overlooked Indicud, CuDi would leave G.O.O.D. Music amicably to form his own Republic Records imprint Wicked Awesome Records. Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon though was mediocre at best & who could forget when CuDi attempted to go alt-rock on the critically panned Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven? Luckily he would redeem himself on his next effort Pain & Demon Slayin’ in 2016 along with the self-titled album from him & Ye as the duo KIDS SEE GHOSTS couple summers later & even Man on the Moon III: The Chosen the day after my 24th birthday despite it’s blatantly heavy Travis Scott influence. Entergalactic was released mixed reviews as was INSANO, but I enjoyed how both LPs took it back to his roots along with mixing old & new sounds together respectively. INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA continued the energy of its predecessor. Free came out last summer & found myself disappointed by it although I appreciate him going for a poppier sound, posing the question of Have U BN 2 Heaven @ Nite?.

“Real Ones Never Die” starts us off with some wavy synthesizers & acoustics remind us all of the legitimate lasting for eternity whereas “Drown” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying goes full pop rock singing about an evil awaiting him. “Halos & Angels” reunites with his WZRD cohort Dot da Genius blending neo-psychedelia & alternative R&B looking to get his mind right while “Ride Ride” ends with a peacefully climatic outro he self-produced culminating in the styles of alternative R&B, neo-psychedelia & pop rap.

75% of this EP was already released as singles & considering that all 3 of them were bangers to me anyway, I knew I’d come away from Have U BN 2 Heaven @ Nite? enjoying it more than Free & it makes me anticipate his upcoming 12th album more than I initially was prior to listening to this although I’d love for BNYX to do an entire project with him eventually. The production’s a huge improvement above the latter album mixing alternative R&B, neo-psychedelia, pop rap & pop rock capturing his range as an artist rather than sticking to 1 particular sound & we get a look at where he is now that he’s no longer on a major label.

Score: 3.5/5

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17&18 – “OuttaWack” review

17&18 are a duo from Detroit Michigan consisting of C.R.I.M. & Forever Foy. One of whom I met in 2021 at the release party for Fatt Father’s 5th album Soccer Dad produced by Middle Finger Music co-founder Foul Mouth & the other began his career a year later, starting up his own label Forever & a Day Entertainment too. Crossing paths with each other at a show towards the backend of 2024, they’ve since been plotting to make their introduction & have dropped their full-length studio debut to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

“No Direction” starts us off having both members trading cutthroat bars with each other over a piano instrumental whereas “Higher Than You” moves on from there on some eerier shit, with C.R.I.M. talking about working for everything she has & Foy confessing to being a manic depressive since an adolescent. “Not Rain” hooks up a cumbersome boom bap beat speaking of manifesting everything that draws to them prior to the ghostly “DNT CRY” advising not to shed any tears for them.

Reaching the halfway point, “The Bad Guy” instrumentally kinda has a funkier vibe to it talking about being in their villain eras for their own betterment while “Please Dont Roll Up My Window” greatly explains that they’re staying underground because the mainstream’s too compact these days. “Nobody Cares” however goes drumless so they can make it clear that people really don’t give a shit about how much others complain or pray.

“Total Annihilation” became the very moment that 17&18 were born spitting hardcore verses over this bloodcurdling beat while “RapCamp Retreat” featuring Beezy Brown, Blizzard & Jay Hemlock as well as “We Gotta Be Close” featuring J. Santino, Jenn Foy, Lyric Bell & SongByrd finishes OuttaWack with 2 different posse cuts. 1 clocking at 5 minutes taking a more hard of approach & the other at 6, except it ties everything together on a more endearing note.

I haven’t really heard much of Forever Foy’s material up to this point but knowing C.R.I.M. for almost 5 years already, I wanted to give OuttaWack a chance & it gives me an understanding regarding why they formed 17&18 since this isn’t too far behind from Bill & Isiah’s eponymous 2023 debut in terms of recent Motor City pairings. Both of them team up in the studio dismissing anything what either of them would consider a bad idea without judgement or sense of feeling embarrassed.

Score: 3.5/5

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Bernadette Price & Terror Van Poo – “Kissing the Ground for Sinners” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee & Ruck Down Records CEO Bernadette Price teaming up with local artist Terror Van Poo & Boston, Massachusetts producer Stu Bangas for a new collaborative extended play. The widow of the late Sean Price of the Boot Camp Clik & Heltah Skeltah, she’s made a few appearances on songs in the past whether it be her late husband’s posthumous offering Imperius Rex or even with the likes of RJ Payne, Rim, the Snowgoons, Ruste Juxx & Vic Spencer. She finally made her solo debut last spring with A Widow’s Cry & to commemorate what would’ve been Ruck’s 54th birthday, it only makes sense for her & Terror to drop Kissing the Ground for Sinners.

After the intro, “Burden of Proof” starts with both of them hopping over a boom bap instrumental to talk about these rappers being bitches & masking it by claiming they’re real whereas “Big Trouble” eerily cautions that they got the gunplay as well as the street credit. “Trust in God” has a creepier vibe to the beat talking about having more faith in Higher Power & their guns more than people leading into “Food” featuring Leanah Cane aggressively proclaiming there to be no one nicer than them.

“Fuck You” gets the 2nd half of the EP going by giving middle fingers to everybody & instrumentally embracing a somber tone just before “Gunn Butt” jazzily talks about them having the ability to change perceptions overnight. The title track finds both of them looking to smoke any & all clowns who come in their direction while “Brownsville O.G.” blends a piano sample with some kicks & snares representing their stomping grounds to end the EP.

Terror Van Poo already had a few appearances on A Widow’s Cry almost a year earlier, so the idea of him doing an entire EP with Bernadette Price rapping over Stu Bangas production to honor her late husband’s legacy seemed like it could that LP & it sure enough does. Stu’s beats here hit significantly harder than Kissing the Ground for Sinners’ predecessor & we get a look at the artistic chemistry between both New Yorkers rather than continuing to present what Sean’s widow can offer as a solo artist.

Score: 4.5/5

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SHVMIRE – “Eyes Wide Shut” review

This is the 4th extended play from Brooklyn, New York emcee/producer SHVMIRE. Dropping his debut EP 333 ❤ as well as a full-length debut Reclusive Poet he primarily self-produced and the Saxophones & Sex EP in 2024, he would eventually make his return this past Christmas Eve releasing his previous EP Grinch’n. Almost 3 months later, he’s continuing to take a backseat behind the boards & tell more stories of the masked hooded figure with a blue face & a closed yellow eye named ANU by putting out Eyes Wide Shut.

“Broadway & Canal St.” begins with this drumlessly jazzy beat explaining that everyone having the right to brag because it’s all facts whereas “Fidelio” featuring Nuemoney718 soulfully talks about what happens when pussy’s at stake. “Black Gatsby” chops up more chipmunk soul samples suggesting that everyone listening finds their passion while “Press Play” featuring Action Figure 973 talks about how shit gets real in the east coast.

Nuemoney returns for “The Shining” using proper grammar to speak of money continuing to rely on sampling instrumentally & “Mota y Platanos” also featuring Nuemoney references the current 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champion & inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy. “Auntie Margaret’s Soul Food” soulfully talks about how he’s only warming up while “Uncle Elroy’s Pie” welcomes anyone looking for a fix to his humble spot.

“Broken Mirrors” winds down Eyes Wide Shut’s last few moments clarifying that he’s in his 4th season who’s still commencing his reclusive style of hip hop rather than being a rookie & the beat feels like something out of a improvised jazz band session while “Follow the Light” is ties it all up with this celebratory closer firing off rapid flows talking about him thinking in double time these days & that he’s closer to God after stepping towards this brightness he’s referring to.

Known for blending gritty hip hop with jazz-influenced textures & surreal film-like energy, Eyes Wide Shut leans fully into that vision by pairing music with darkly immersive visuals inspired by secrecy as well as power & hidden worlds. The end result is SHVMIRE’s greatest solo material thus far. He uses ANU as both an alter ego much like what one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib has previously done with Quasimoto & a storytelling device where everything connects, which is exemplified by the cohesive transitions.

Score: 4/5

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