BNYX – “Genesis FM” review

This is the full-length studio debut from Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania producer, songwriter & occasional rapper BNYX. Mentored by Jean Baptiste & later joining the Working on Dying production team known for pioneering tread music, he’s also known for being an extensive collaborator of Yeat, signing to the latter’s Lyfestyle Corporation imprint under Field Trip Recordings & Capitol Records distributed by Universal Music Group. His debut extended play Loading… made for a decent prelude & Genesis FM has arrived 7 months afterwards.

After the titular intro, “HunchO Step!” by Quavo begins with what I consider to be one of the stronger singles getting all the baddies to dance whereas “squEEze !i” by Lancey Foux was another track I enjoyed from the instrumental to the lyrics about being on go. “luv yoU right” by Chromeo stylistically shifts gears so the latter can confess to meeting their match just before “what’s happenin?” by Ledbyher talks about being with a woman thicker than his accent at the end who loves fake acting.

“Telepathy Love” by Clara La San goes for a poppier R&B sound so she can describe a relationship that feels rather psychic leading into “Fuëgo” by Peso Pluma & Yeat reaching the halfway point for a bilingual anthem about going loose off the alcohol. “OVERLOADDD” gets the 2nd leg of Genesis FM going on a more compositional note embracing an EDM sound while “I wanna know :)” by Big Sean & Clara La San links up for a pop rap duet where they’re trying to hear the truth.

Alt-pop, Atlanta bass, synthpop, electro, alternative R&B & indietronica all collide on another highlight single “Everywhere I Go (Remind Me)” by KiD CuDi interpolating the Röyksopp track “Remind Me” while “Science” by Nippa sings about his lover’s being a test subject for analyzation. “FANatic” by Beau Nox expresses a desire to touch the sights that’ve been speaking out & once “Fallen” by Don Toliver sings about falling for someone, “Time’s Slipping Away” by Anatole Muster bittersweetly ends yearning for 1 more day with this person.

I went into Genesis FM expecting to enjoy it more than Loading… because I adamantly believe BNYX is one of the greatest mainstream producers of this decade & as much as it pains to me say it, his debut album isn’t much better in terms of consistency. Happy an instrumental version happened since the pop rap, electropop, alt-pop, alternative R&B, electro hop, EDM trap, freestyle, indietronica, Atlanta bass & synthpop production is magnificent. However, the guest list once more feels hit or miss.

Score: 3/5

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Drake – “Maid of Honour” review

Continuing our coverage of Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake with his 10th LP. Skyrocketing to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s underrated full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing the hip hop/R&B sides of the OVO Sound founder’s music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. Honestly, Nevermind was basically Drake’s own version of Renaissance by foraying into house music a month ahead to mixed reception until Her Loss with 21 Savage was a 6/10 at best because 21 felt like a featured artist on there. For All the Dogs was the most I’ve enjoyed Drake’s music since If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & $ome $exy $ongs 4 U with PARTYNEXTDOOR last Valentine’s Day would become his worst collaborative project yet, coming off getting destroyed by Kendrick Lamar in a rap beef to drop Habibti, Maid of Honour & Iceman.

“Hoe Phase” begins with a club-inspired intro reminiscent of Honestly, Nevermind butchering a sample of “It’s Like That” by Run-D.M.C. whereas “Road Trips” goes for more of an R&B vibe singing about relationships falling apart. Stunna Sandy helps him take it back to 2016 during “Outside Tweaking” with the dancehall beat & “Cheetah Print” featuring Sexyy Red could not only be the worst track here, but also one of the worst songs Drake has ever career sampling “(It Goes Like) Nanana” by Peggy Gou

Central C appears on the tiring pop rap, dancehall, hip house, funk brasileiro, zess & dembow single “Which 1?” asking if one wants success or friends leading into “Amazing Shape” featuring Popcaan turns up the dancehall influences to describe women who’re built like an hourglass. “BBW” reaches the halfway point with a body positivity anthem that feels subpar until “True Bestie” samples “PSA” by Iconic Savvy to break down the chemistry between him & women when he’s out.

After the “Where’s Your Stuff?” interlude, “New Bestie” delivers a boring dancehall 2-parter expressing his gratitude towards Vybz Kartel while “Q&A” feels an egotistically insecure breakdown on wax. “Stuck” produced by Gordo & Internet Money Records in-house producer Nico Baran talking about taking Pamelor because of a breakup but once “Goose & the Juice” makes himself an escape route for someone trapped in a stagnant long-term relationship, “Princess” experiments with pop punk undertones for an underwhelming outro.

Thankfully this bridging entry of Drake’s trilogy Habibti began & Iceman concludes is the 2nd & last installment that I can say I flat out didn’t like even if Maid of Honour’s only a slight cut above the predecessor. The pop rap, dance, hip house, miami bass, electro, jersey club rap, dancehall, contemporary R&B & afrobeats production makes it feel like a cross between Views & Honestly, Nevermind except both of those are more tolerable even if they’re not necessarily great either.

Score: 1.5/5

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Hexxx – “Endless Night” review

The 4th extended play from Los Angeles, California emcee Hexxx has finally arrived. Coming up a decade ago off his debut extended play Samhain, he would go on to follow it up 3 years later with his 2nd EP West Coast Wicked Shit prior to his full-length debut Demon Season & the sophomore effort Tales of a Cursed G becoming west coast wicked shit classics in their own rights. Coming off the Suerte EP last summer, he’s coming back for an audio description of an Endless Night over 2 months after Persephone ended Mercedes Moné’s reign as CMLL Mundial Femenil Campeon & a couple weeks since Templario became a 2-time MLW World Middleweight Champion.

“Rock, Paper, Cemetery” reemerges out the dusk to talk about this shit being hereditary to him whereas “Crash Out” goes for a trap vibe admitting that he’s been feeling like a ghost drowning his pain away. After an interlude, “The Real” talks about his future plans of staying independent & shouting out the legitimate who’re still with him just before things take a darker turn instrumentally to discuss feeling like a “Freight Train” as of late.

After the “Ghost Dog” interlude, “Westside Samurai” keeps the west coast wicked shit coming talking about it taking a lot of pain for him to get the kinda shine he has while “Loco” gets on his g shit over a ratchet beat. “Entrance Theme” kinda has a Memphis-inspired atmosphere dedicating itself to all his fellow gangstas & once “Chrome Clouds” talks about keeping the wave moving, “Friday” sends it all off with a jazzy west coast outro for a weekend celebration anthem.

Despite putting out Suerte almost a whole year ago next month, Hexxx spent a great deal of 2025 taking a break from touring so he could dedicate all of this time towards making Endless Night the greatest thing he’s ever done in his career yet & I can definitely say it’s not too far behind the predecessor regarding his EPs. The production ranges from jazz rap to ratchet to Memphis rap & lyrically, the procurator of west coast wicked shit answers a few questions he’s had bubbling in his mind.

Score: 4/5

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Drake – “Iceman” review

And finally there’s the Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake’s 11th LP & subsequently his last for Republic Records. Skyrocketing to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s underrated full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing the hip hop/R&B sides of the OVO Sound founder’s music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. Honestly, Nevermind was basically Drake’s own version of Renaissance by foraying into house music a month ahead to mixed reception until Her Loss with 21 Savage was a 6/10 at best because 21 felt like a featured artist on there. For All the Dogs was the most I’ve enjoyed Drake’s music since If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & $ome $exy $ongs 4 U with PARTYNEXTDOOR last Valentine’s Day would become his worst collaborative project yet, coming off getting destroyed by Kendrick Lamar in a rap beef to drop Habibti, Maid of Honour & Iceman.

“Make Them Cry” begins with a sample “The pressure is on me.” by Muchi to talk about his father Dennis battling cancer & some questioning the sincerity of that when he’s now cancer free whereas “Dust” takes a jab at Kendrick claiming that he doesn’t remember a word of his raps when it’s a lie. “Whisper My Name” disses JAY-Z stating he’d take the $500K instead of having dinner with him prior to “Janice STFU” dissing Hov once more over FNZ & Rogét Chahayed sampling “I Follow Rivers” by Lykke Li that was later remixed.

Future & Molly Santana appear on the 2-parter “Ran to Atlanta” that Dez Wright, !llmind, Southside & Wheezy all cooked up making a self-aware nod to “Not Like Us” just before “Shabang” produced by 40 talks about the aftermath of the Kendrick beef. “Make Them Pay” works in an ovrkast. instrumental I really found myself enjoying until he disses J. Cole, Rick Ross, DJ Khaled & Pharrell but then “Burning Bridges” splits itself in halves to take a jab at A$AP Rocky reusing a “back to back” line for some odd reason.

“National Treasures” concludes the 1st half of Iceman with another 2-parter that Boi-1da & Internet Money Records in-house producer Nico Baran both put together attacking LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden & Russell Westbrook for attending the Pop Out show on Juneteenth 2024 while “B’s on the Table” talks about his ongoing Universal Music Group lawsuit. “What Did I Miss?” however began the whole rollout dissing DeMar & LeBron once more over a cloud trap beat from Tay Keith.

Meanwhile on “Plot Twist”, we have Drake over an instrumental Tom Levesque of Vanguard Music Group co-produced representing OVO & rebutting “Not Like Us” while “2 Hard for the Radio” basically pokes fun at “Not Like Us” even harder with it’s Bay Area sound & includes a DJ Mustard diss. “Make Them Remember” throws jabs at Kendrick, Cole, Dr. Dre & Joe Budden over a Boi-1da beat while “Little Birdie” talks about the aftermath of the Kendrick beef again.

“Don’t Worry” at last nears the conclusion of Iceman taking an alternative R&B approach courtesy of Sledgren interestingly pleading for his partner to come have the best time on the bedside while “Firm Friends” contains one of my favorite instrumentals thanks to Conductor Williams, only for Drizzy to hit us with more bars about the Kendrick beef & UMG CEO Lucian Grainge. The closing track “Make Them Know” spends the last 4 minutes admitting that the 4th of July in 2024 when the “Not Like Us” video premiered was the worst he felt in a minute.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to everyone that Habibti & Maid of Honour were passionlessly rushed throughout the Iceman sessions because Drake wanted to get out of his Republic contract, but the final installment of the trilogy was actually my favorite of them all even if it’s average at best. Aside from the alternative R&B joint, the production carries over the trappy pop rap/chipmunk soul ideas For All the Dogs had contrasting the R&B & dancehall/EDM influences of Habibti & Maid of Honour although the victim raps ruin it.

Score: 2.5/5

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Lørd Skø – “Elevator Music” review

New York emcee Lørd Skø following up PiFF with his 4th LP. Getting his start 6 years ago off his debut EP 13th Angel, his profile would grow from there eventually hiring one of the greatest A&Rs in the industry Dante Ross as his manager & showing the world of what he’s capable of doing when he put out his debut Museum. His sophomore effort United Palace was a great dedication to his neighborhood, coming off the Fat Beats Records-backed PiFF to have Statik Selektah produce Elevator Music singlehandedly.

The title track begins incorporating a boom bap instrumental with synthesizers giving us something for all those days he used to play the stairs whereas “How It Is” talks about calling things the way they are. “Better Days” featuring Dave East finds the 2 linking up over a soulful beat to discuss waiting for things in their lives to improve prior to “Northern Lights” featuring B-Real & Smoke DZA finds the trio getting on their stoner shit.

“Drunk Dial” featuring Ab-Soul ends the 1st half on a funkier note instrumentally sliding onto the scene with the meanest gangsta lean but after “Hangman” combines a slowed down vocal sample with some kicks & snares to tackle some mental health issues admitting he’s been hanging on by a thread, “Donnie Brasco” continues the 2nd leg of Elevator Music referencing the crime drama of the same name & wondering if this is where he’s supposed to be.

The song “Wonder” brings a jazzier boom bap vibe to the table pondering the meaning of that very word while “nWo” featuring Andre Lawrence, Kai Ca$h, LIFEOFTHOM, Marco+ & Rhakim Ali likens themselves to the WWE Hall of Famers of the same name & the most dominant faction in WCW’s later years. The soulful closing track “Wish Upon a Star” concludes Elevator Music talking about him staying busy as of late & wanting to admit his exhaustion to his mother.

We’ve already heard Lørd Skø over Statik Selektah production a handful of times within the past several years, so for the latter to handle all of Elevator Music’s beats raised my expectations for it significantly & can say with confidence that it’s the greatest thing Skø has done. From his sharp penmanship to the jazzy boom bap production the Showoff Records founder has become known for, it’s like simultaneously bridging generations of New York hip hop & pushing the culture forward at the same time.

Score: 4.5/5

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Chill Rob G – “Survival of the Better” review

Chill Rob G is a 62 year old MC from Jersey City, New Jersey who became notable for being a part of the Flavor Unit collective. His full-length debut Ride the Rhythm produced by the late 45 King would come out in 1989 under Wild Pitch Records & EMI Records, which would subsequently be followed up with the sophomore effort Black Gold & No Running. He also had C-Doc fully produce his SpitSLAM Records debut Empires Crumble in the spring of 2022 & here we are 50 months later picking up where the latter left off for Rob’s 4th album.

“Level Up Season” begins with this jazzy boom bap intro promising that shit won’t ever be even as long as Rob’s still alive whereas “Never Ready” featuring Copywrite finds the 2 linking up over a bass-line advising not to call yourself the best when you can’t prove it. “Ridiculous” featuring R.A. the Rugged Man & Sadat X brings the trio together to talk about sending wack rappers back to irrelevance while “I Am” reminds us all who he is over a jazzy drum & bass instrumental.

Treach joins Rob so both of them can let out some “Intrusive Thoughts” they’ve been having on top of a piano mixed with kicks & snares just before “Shots Fired” takes a funkier boom bap approach for some raw battle raps. “Let’s Go” featuring Chuck D hops over another bass guitar talking about trusting your instinct & actually think while “Higher Level” featuring Lakim Shabazz & Wise Intelligent continues the conscious lyricism hooking up a crooning beat behind them.

“G.T.F.O. (Get the Fuck Out)” winds down Survival of the Better’s last leg turning up the jazz rap influences for a message directed at those who might get it confused with him when they shouldn’t while “Dream Big” featuring Thrilla aka Shardcore brings back the funk encouraging their younger selves to listen to their hearts. The closing track “Choose Life” earned off the LP on a jazzier note talking about being motivated if anyone wants to achieve their goals like they say they do.

Empires Crumble to me was the most that I’ve enjoyed a Chill Rob G album since his debut, but Survival of the Better inserts itself in the middle right above it’s predecessor & behind Ride the Rhythm for a top 3 spot if I had to rank Rob’s discography. C-Doc’s production feels noticeably jazzier than Empires Crumble’s & the Flavor Unit member elevates his pen midway through this 5th act of his storied career alongside a murderer’s row of guests.

Score: 4/5

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Lucki – “dr*gs r bad” review

Chicago, Illinois rapper & occasional producer Lucki’s highly anticipated 4th LP has finally arrived. Beginning to turn heads in the summer of 2013 when he released his debut mixtape Alternative Trap to critical acclaim, he would later go on to give his fans 6 more tapes & a dozen EPs with the last one being the F1LTHY-produced Wake Up Lucki a week before my 25th birthday in December 2021. The full-length debut Flawless Like Me saw Lucki finding his style & the sophomore effort s*x mon*y dr*gs was the most I enjoyed Tune’s music in a while, coming off Gemini & the divisively received Daysb4bad* to deliver the main course that the latter preluded.

The “Nuppy” intro opens up the first couple of minutes talking about a woman who he feels like is the right one for him whereas “Picky Demons :)” talks about him not being the fastidious type & shit not being for show with him. “No Stars in Maybachs” featuring Rylo Rodriguez & Veeze finds the trio joining forces to trade verses with each other although I think Veeze was the better guest of the 2 while “Stupid Prizes” cloudily talks about what happens when one plays stupid games.

“Supertune!!” gives off a heavier psychedelic trap vibe instrumentally courtesy of Noah Mejia boasting that he feels like a superhero whenever he pops pills leading into “rookie 2 barbie” talks about how far he’s come since his Lucki Eck$ days over a decade ago back when I was in high school. “AllWay2Space” embraces a pluggier sound thanks to Taurus discussing his eagerness of going to the moon just before the “mdnt series” talks about going on a midnight roll driving around in his Maybach.

Lil Baby appears for “Snake Pit Flow” to describe the feeling they have of being made for this music shit over a LulRose instrumental while “(madness)!” shifts towards a more futuristic trap direction stylistically talking about there being hoes with no voices out here. “a theme atp…” expresses his willingness to have his people call him whenever their day’s been rough while “Keep It 1,000, Plz” talks about his desire to have everyone keep it legitimate when speaking to him.

“Brazy” reached the halfway point of dr*gs r bad with what I’d consider more of a brief freestyle than an interlude while “WAYBetter Dayz” featuring the late Chynna talks about being geeked up so much to the point where today could be his last day alive. “Loyal Snake” keeps the synthesizers coming to ask this woman if she could love him the way he loves her while the Detroit trap-tinged “Roundtripski” encourages someone who went rogue on him to do it again because he fucks with it.

Veeze returns again for the “Twin Flow” sequel “Twin FlowGodfather II”, going back-&-forth with each other to save my favorite guest appearance for last while “Ur a Vet!” talks about being on 3 different diamonds every single day & most being unable to keep up. “Gemini Dramatic” wraps up dr*gs r bad’s final moments describing a relationship where he’s got it out the mud & has a hoe who’s for the streets beside him while the outro “Yesterday On My Face” talks about being unable to trust this person.

“Not So Virgo of You” starts the deluxe run with a cloudy trap 2-parter that I’d say is one of the best songs he’s done this decade & once “I Don’t Care…” featuring the current WWE United States Champion Trick Williams’ manager Lil Yachty teams up for a atmospheric jerk single that I liked more than the other one they did at the beginning of the month, “Diamond Stitching” fuses the Detroit sound & tread so he can talk about his newfound wealth.

The single “Free Mr. Banks” combines trap & plugg to call for Lil Durk’s freedom in addition to remind us all of the code of the streets while “Overth!nking” experiments with vaportrap a bit to vent about his internal struggles including experiences of betrayal. The final bonus track “Tuff Luver” is what truly sends off the album, confessing that he’s been feeling somewhat nervous of becoming a superstar & shrugging it off suggesting maybe that’s the Chiraq in him.

Considering that one of the deluxe cuts stirred up controversy when Lucki dropped it through Steve Stoute’s independent distributor UnitedMasters & it’s competitor EMPIRE filing a lawsuit against Tune, some including myself would have to presume that dr*gs r bad fulfills the Chicago artist’s contract with them & I wish him nothing but the best if that’s in fact the case. However, it’s still an impressive trap/Detroit sound album even if it’s an undeniable improvement above Daysb4bad*.

Score: 3.5/5

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Drake – “Habibti” review

Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake going solo for the first time in 3 years with his 9th studio LP. Skyrocketing to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s underrated full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing the hip hop/R&B sides of the OVO Sound founder’s music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. Honestly, Nevermind was basically Drake’s own version of Renaissance by foraying into house music a month ahead to mixed reception until Her Loss with 21 Savage was a 6/10 at best because 21 felt like a featured artist on there. For All the Dogs was the most I’ve enjoyed Drake’s music since If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & $ome $exy $ongs 4 U with PARTYNEXTDOOR last Valentine’s Day would become his worst collaborative project yet, coming off getting destroyed by Kendrick Lamar in a rap beef to drop Habibti, Maid of Honour & Iceman.

The “Rusty” intro awfully begins with him singing over some acoustics for 62 seconds sending a message to the sweethearts & those he’s dated whereas “WNBA” produced by Gordo mediocrely details a long-distance relationship that’s effected by travel. “Slap the City” might be my favorite track here from the Noel Cadastre beat to Drizzy’s hedonistic lyrics, but then “High 5s” finds himself getting in his petty bag over a 40 instrumental.

“Hurrr Nor Thurrr” featuring Sexyy Red could be my 2nd least favorite track here because of the way they describe an addictively messy relationship ruining a sample of “MORAL” by Avenoir, but “I’m Spent” featuring Loe Shimmy tops it as the worst song here wasting a moody beat to talk about both emotional instability & luxury. “Classic” continues with this grating alternative R&B ballad encouraging a woman to leave the man she’s with until the minimally cold “Gen 5” makes a tacky statement regarding him getting a Glock for last Christmas.

The song “White Bone” was another moment that I was fine with instrumentally even if Drake ruins it by singing about a relationship on the verge of collapsing that he thinks is a real connection while “Fortsworth” featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR feels like an $$$4U leftover from the slow beat to them singing about being with long-distance partners. “Prioritizing” finally ends Habibti attempting to strip his confidence & replace it with the feeling of uncertainty.

Some people would say either Honestly, Nevermind or Certified Lover Boy are Drake’s worst solo efforts, but I feel like he managed to outdo both of those & have Habibti take the cake. It’s more on the R&B side of things stylistically compared to Maid of Honour & Iceman although the production’s decent explorations of alternative R&B, pop rap, trap soul, downtempo, contemporary R&B & pop rap are ruined by the songwriting.

Score: 1/5

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Chip Fu – “Invisible Footsteps” review

This is the 2nd solo extended play from Brooklyn, New York veteran Chip Fu. A member of the Fu-Schnickens, he would eventually put out a solo mixtape of his own 16 years earlier called Stop Playing & the sequel arrived roughly 32 months later. The Beginning of the Reckoning under Blaq Ink Entertainment in tandem with Fat Beats Records was a solid EP last summer & the highlights it had made me eager of where Invisible Footsteps would go next.

After the intro, we have the man himself welcoming us to the “Shell Down” except I feel like the trap instrumental is merely ok compared to the enjoyable lyricism whereas “Double Dutch” hooks up a more thunderous beat & flows that would make the heads of those unfamiliar with start spinning. Busta Rhymes later appears on “Have Mercy”, where both lyricists join forces over a boom bap instrumental so they can ask God to grant them lenience.

“MI-JOI” might be my least favorite track on Invisible Footsteps & that’s disappointing because I appreciate the positive messaging despite the execution of the dancehall sound while “Warning” featuring Shaquille O’Neal finds the 2 linking up to talk about those thinking they can fuck with them, assuring them they’re all sorely mistaken. “More Amor (Love)” finishes the EP fusing jazz rap, boom bap & pop rap for an ode to affection.

With all due respect to Chip Fu because I did enjoy his previous EP alongside his output with the Fu-Schnickens or guest appearances, Invisible Footsteps does have moments that I can see myself going back to since the verses as well as the flows & both guest appearances are on point. My main criticism I have towards this newer batch of material is that the production’s somewhat more inconsistent at times, which I find disappointing.

Score: 2.5/5

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ShittyBoyz – “Back to the Basics” review

Here we have the 5th studio LP from Detroit trap trio the ShittyBoyz. Consisting of BabyTron alongside Stanwill & TR Dee, they emerged off their debut mixtape 3-Peat under the mentorship of Lando Bando in the summer of 2019 taking the motor city by storm & following it up with another tape. They even have 4 full-lengths in Trifecta as well as the the sequel & of course the trilogy chapter. Last time we heard the 3 Man Weave was in 2024 & they’re taking it Back to the Basics.

The title track produced by Danny G fuses the Detroit sound & techno talking about the food they’re cooking not being for plates whereas “Killian Hayes” shrugs off this crazy bitch for proclaiming themself to be a demon when that isn’t the case. “Timeout” talks about their motion being unstoppable over a Detroit trap instrumental leading into “Heist” explains that they can’t let the phone ring twice if there’s any money involved.

“Rocket Science” by Stanwill gives off somewhat of a mafioso atmosphere talking about blasting off in UFOs just before the 2nd & final single “Geek Squad” finds the trio trading verses with each other for a few minutes. “Fetty, Mula, Gwalla” continues the 2nd half of the album hopping over a darker beat with some bells talking about money while “Pumpkinhead” lets Babytron shine for a solo joint of his own hittin’ hoes with the sidestep.

We have Danny G running it back with the ShittyBoyz on “Kudos” assuring that anyone can do it too if they’ve already done it while “Lord Sidious” talks about the possibility of becoming rich if one makes the right choices. TR Dee gets a track of his own with “Work” suggesting that any competition has been confused with ghosts over a Jakesand instrumental & once “Mojo” talks about using door codes instead of keys, “Outta Town” ends with them ignoring advice from those who’ve never been in their position.

These guys have been saying in recent interviews that Back to the Basics is their most refined material yet & I would have to agree with that sentiment in the sense that it’s a lot shorter than the longer projects they’ve been known for, linking back up after taking a year off to focus on their solo endeavors without having any guest appearances to either trade verses each other or letting each member putting their individual growth on display for the world.

Score: 3.5/5

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