LMNO – “3 Mimes & an Elephant” review

LMNO is a 51 year old MC from Long Beach, California known for being a member of the Visionaries. Making his solo debut over 2 decades ago with Leave My Name Out, he would go on to release a total of 17 more bodies of work under his own name with the most notable being the 10-disc James Kelly & the Madlib-produced 10:20. The last time I covered LMNO was when he formed the trio LMD in the fall of 2022 & put out an impressive debut called Flying High. So when I heard DJ D-Styles was fully producing the 19th LP in LMNO’s catalog, I knew it was gonna be quality considering D-Styles’ recent production run.

After an intro, the first song “A Dual with a Dual Edge” featuring Self Jupiter finds the 2 over a boom bap instrumental reflecting in coming from the bottom & jumping off the ledge before their wings began to spread whereas “Cross Examination” takes a funkier yet mellower approach not knowing what to do if he couldn’t create never tapping out. “Best to Lay Low” dabbles with rap rock preferring to sail the 7 seas instead of selling his soul leading into “Son of a Daughter” dustily talks about keeping babies out the street & never competing

“Hip Hop as Fuck” ruggedly breaks down the explanation of others either having it or not just before “Garlic Braid” was a great piano-driven single homaging the title track off Eric B. & Rakim’s sophomore effort down the hook & sample. “Bloody White Flags” deliriously suggests you find him if you want the smoke brought right to you directly while “Saved & Spent” drearily talks about giving thanks daily. “Out of Sight (Out of Mind)” featuring Blu closes the album with them flexing they daydream with night vision & their west coast underground statuses.

10:20 was easily the most I’ve enjoyed a solo effort from LMNO since After the Fact produced by Evidence over a decade ago & like I had expected, he & DJ D-Styles knock it out of the park with a follow-up halfway through the current decade that compensates the gap between the predecessor & now. D-Styles’ production similarly to Invincibl Rap Mislz & Beluga pushes the Beat Junkies sound forward with LMNO holding down the performances by himself like he did the last time we heard from him.

Score: 4.5/5

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Crossworm – “Shelter Skelter” review

Grand Rapids, Michigan rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & Dirtcore Music founder Crossworm quickly following up Dirtwave with his 5th EP. Starting as 1/2 of 2Korpse before branching out on his own for the full-length solo debut Phoenix, this was followed up by a sophomore LP Ready to Burn alongside 2 EPs Mouth Full of Dirt & jaws: Deciduous respectively. Taking a few years off after the latter, he returned in the summer of 2014 by dropping 4 more albums: Parasite Avenue, Drowning in Restricting Thought, Finding X & Eat the Weak. I’ve covered the Gōst EP along with the synthpop inspired ANTI & of course the eponymous Bodies Below Sea Level debut, coming off an EP couple weeks ago by making another stylistic departure on Shelter Skelter.

The title track starts with a witch house intro that sounds like it could be played at the end of an episode during the upcoming 5th & final season of the Netflix hit series Stranger Things whereas “Condemned” takes a prominently industrial direction instrumentally kinda like the Bodies Below Sea Level album without the hip hop fusion. “Oubliette” dabbles with the darksynth subgenre of synthwave additionally using a drum machine prior to “Bones in the Cellar” finishing the way he started in the form of another witch house cut.

When you look at the Depeche Mode influence on ANTI almost 2 years ago & the industrial horrorcore concept of Bodies Below Sea Level’s wider introduction to the underground as a team, Shelter Skelter gives a shot at making industrial & witch house music taking a break from rapping or singing to cook a few beats catered around the experimental style of music emerging out of 70s punk & sprinkling in hints of crunk shoegaze occasionally for a little over 10 minutes.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jay NiCE & Tha God Fahim – “Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 12” review

This is the 2nd collaborative EP between Atlanta, Georgia emcee Jay NiCE alongside local Dump Gawd himself Tha God Fahim. Both of whom have worked with each other countless times in the past several years, teaming up for the collab album Strictly 4 My D.U.M.P.E.R.Z. during the spring of 2018 & the Bloodspiller EP around Halloween time 2 & a half years ago. Jay was on half of Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 11 last month hours prior of the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE acquiring Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) from the Peña–Roldán family at the start of WrestleMania XLI weekend in response their Tony Khan-owned competitors All Elite Wrestling (AEW) & Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) both being involved with this year’s annual Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), 新日本プロレス (NJPW) & Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) co-promoted event Fantastica Mania on June 20 held at La Catedral de la Lucha Libre Arena México. Little did we know they would make the 12th entry of the saga a full collaborative effort between the pair with Nicholas Craven on production.

“Ultimate Spider” was a drumless 3-minute hardcore intro referencing Dr. Octopus from The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel-owned Spider-Man franchise whereas “Tha Uppercut” continues the strip the drums even more including a line referring to the Discovery Global subsidiary Cartoon Network-owned PowerPuff Girls franchise.

The only Fahim solo cut “Nickleplated Temptations” doesn’t miss by any means soulfully showing off his quintessential pen while “Tha Company” dustily mentions Eric Cartman from the timeless Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Comedy Central series South Park ahead of the upcoming 27th season finally premiering in July.

“Black Mamba” if you couldn’t tell by the name homages the late Los Angeles Lakers icon & my 2nd favorite basketball player of all-time Kobe Bryant behind Michael Jordan while maintaining a boom bap vibe leading into the darker “Embers” makes the world burn with their respective outlooks on rap & lastly “Alarm” finishing by hopping over horns taking more jabs at their opposition.

Strictly 4 My D.U.M.P.E.R.Z. & Bloodspiller both have their individual standouts such as “B2G$” & “Rock Lava” respectively, but Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 12 leans heavier between Jay & Fahim’s chemistry as the predecessor last month teased that ends with what’s my new favorite collaborative effort of the 3 they’ve done. Craven’s production draws from drumless, boom bap & chipmunk soul for both Atlanta spotters to lay out hardcore lyricism for approximately 14 minutes.

Score: 4/5

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RJ Payne – “Sinnerz” review

New York emcee & revered battle rapper RJ Payne formerly known as Reign Man dropping his 16th EP. Building up an extensive solo catalogue for himself with 24 mixtapes as well as well as his last dozen 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. My Life’z a Movie produced by Stu Bangas quickly became my favorite LP in RJ’s discography & Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance went on a trip with him to The Barbershop, coming off Erick Sermon producing a 3-Piece & Drega33 fully producing Triangle D’or to team up with Cartune Beatz on Sinners.

After the “Let Me In” intro, the first song “Stacks” hooks up a bare slowed down sample to refer himself as royalty in the flesh whereas “Sammy’s Guitar” takes the chipmunk soul route instrumentally hoping that everyone has accepted their fate. “Ryan Coogler” warns not to make him come to your house for cleaning only leaving nothing behind but the bill & “Land of the Sinner” soulfully talks about his heart being bigger than his patience, but then “Smoke” wraps up Sinnerz with 1 last drumless observing a glitch in the game.

Furthering the acclaim of 3-Piece & Triangle D’or, the Reign Man’s consistent 2025 run carries on with another EP that will likely go down as amongst the best RJ has ever done similarly to both predecessors I mentioned earlier. Cartune Beatz’ production here goes for a primarily drumless sound further pulling from chipmunk soul & RJ refrains from having guests once again to spit the Payne fans have come to love him for.

Score: 4/5

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Diorvsyou – “Paussus.99” review

Another month & we got the 5th EP from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Diorvsyou. Coming up in 2021 off his debut EP 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. The next EP 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 couple EPs Untitled EP.9 & So Cunt. have both been received well enough to the point where Paussus.99 could elevate himself & the guests on the 1st leg.

“Pierce My Lungs” featuring ApolloRed1 was an exciting collab to open things up talking about being rockstars whereas “West” featuring untiljapan shows off a back-&-forth chemistry from the 2 that impressed me. “OnTheWay” featuring Sk8star has a tropical approach thanks to Taurus finds them having cash coming in their direction while “FountaineeBleu” cloudily pauses for the pictures only.

A reversed sample of “Olympian” by Playboi Cartipops up during “In Loading…” assuring nothing will stop him until “Flat Shoals Road” featuring Sk8star & southsidesilhoutte produced by Pi’erre Bourne finishes the EP with a sequel to “sex” off of Sk8’s most recent EP Rebelution only a few months ago carrying the energy they had on that standout over once again.

Both predecessor EPs we’ve gotten from Dior this year so far have been increasing his popularity due to his personal & artistic growth, but Paussus.99 could be my new favorite of the trilogy. He gets some of the biggest names in the underground trap scene within these past few years on a vast majority of it showcasing their styles complimenting his on top of elevated production catering to everybody’s own individual strengths.

Score: 4/5

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PlaqueBoyMax – “Atlanta” review

This is the 4th EP from West Orange, New Jersey recording artist, producer, audio engineer, media personality & streamer PlaqueBoyMax. Catching on to him at the beginning of the year after calling out DJ Akademiks for being a child groomer, he has since stayed busy by churning out 3 EPs in the quick amount of time he’s been in the spotlight. In light of signing with Field Trip Recordings & Capitol Records recently, he’s embarking on a trip to Atlanta taking on a DJ Khaled role curating the whole thing.

“nun” by Quavo decently starts with a horn-inflicted trap instrumental talking about running around the condo geeked whereas “Party” by ApolloRed1, tana & 1300SAINT unites the trio so they can open up more regarding on the way they’ve been living since their respective label deals. “oncam” by Flo Milli cloudily gets seductive for 105 seconds just before “meanstreet” by PlaqueBoyMax himself was a 5 Forever prelude that I find myself torn with.

Lazer Dim 700 gets his own track with “nodrank” talking about having his squad by his side in the booth holding a joint & some drank over a regalia beat while “007” by Hardrock produced by Internet Money Records in-house producer Synthetic talks about the racks continuously coming as well as going on a shopping spree as a result of that. “Glacier” by Quavo ends the Atlanta journey with a bubbly trap instrumental going beast as if he came from a zoo & telling the truth when he records.

Wasn’t too show how I was gonna come away feeling towards this EP since all 3 of the ones that came beforehand were welcome to mixed reception aside from the “meanstreet” track, it’s a pretty solid compilation EP giving a look at what Max has capable of doing as a curator. In terms of production, it’s prominently in the trap flywheel further pulling from cloud rap & rage tapping in with local artists who’re either already established or have been gaining traction recently.

Score: 3.5/5

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Stereolab – “Instant Holograms on Metal Film” review

Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band from London, England, United Kingdom consisting of bassist Xavier Muñoz Guimera, keyboardist/vibraphonist Joe Watson, drummer Andy Ramsay, guitarist/keyboardist Tim Gane & frontwoman Lætitia Sadier. The latter’s appearance on “Campfire” off Tyler, The Creator’s sophomore effort Wolf becoming my introduction to her during my sophomore year of high school & the “Ping Pong” video. Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements, Mars Audiac Quintet, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Dots & Loops, Cobra & Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, Sound-Dust, Margerine Eclipse and Chemical Chords all stood out for their own reasons once I took a deep dive in the band’s discography although it was 3 years after their hiatus. It’s already been 15 long years since the Chemical Chords collection of outtakes Not Music saw the light of day, signing a new distribution deal with Warp Records for the Duuphonic Records founders’ 11th full-length album.

The lead single “Aerial Troubles” after the “Mystical Plosives” instrumental intro blends indie pop, neo-psychedelia, krautrock, chamber pop, indietronica, psychedelic pop & ambient pop singing about us unable to eat & drink our pain away whereas “Melodie’s a Wound” works in elements of neo-psychedelia, indie rock, ambient pop, space age pop, indietronica, space rock revival, post-rock & neo-acoustic setting manipulation as the goal.

“Immortal Hands” shows off a lounge influence during the first half until the other hooks up drum-machine alongside some dizzying brass & flutes colliding with each other leading into the cheerful “Vermona F Transistor” sings about being the creator of this reality instead of the deceiver who feigns for Lætitia’s love. “Le Coeur Et La Force” puts the band’s French on display lyrically discussing an eternal keystone being lent to them with the same heart of the same strength until “Electrifying Teenybop!” serves as another jam session.

Neo-psychedelia, ambient pop, indie pop, indie rock, indietronica, exotica, lounge & space rock revival all get balled up onto “Transmuted Matter” asking what you see through the eye of the heart while “Esemplastic Creeping Eruption” sings about abiding into the light portal when becomes dark. “If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream” takes a groovier approach condemning the idea of war since she belongs to Earth, but then “Flashes from Everywhere” sings about being learned from instead of being believed.

“Colour Television” gets the backend of Instant Holograms on Metal Film rolling by psychedelically telling a single story being violently imposed as a universal narrative of progress, development & civilization while “If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream 2” rounds out the groop’s comeback effort that many including myself have waited over a decade for with a defiantly singing about exploring without fear & providing contrasts to the predecessor.

Eager to make up for lost time, Stereolab finds themselves in perfect working order gloriously overstuffing songs that key in on familiar pleasure points while introducing all manner of shapeshifting surprises. Their production takes it’s cues from neo-psychedelia, indie pop, indie rock, post-rock, ambient pop, indietronica, krautrock, lounge, chamber pop, psychedelic pop, indie surf, space rock revival & easy listening to promise utopia is still in our grasps.

Score: 4.5/5

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G-Eazy – “Helium” review

Oakland, California rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & actor G-Eazy making up for the delays of his 8th studio LP. Breaking out into the mainstream with his 3rd album These Things Happen in 2014, this was followed up a year later with When It’s Dark Outas well as The Beautiful & Damned back in 2017. Scary Nights was a subpar prelude to These Things Happen Too, Everything’s Strange Here easily stands as his embarrassing body of work yet & the These Things Happen sequel was only better by a small margin. Freak Show was one of the worst albums of 2024 & is putting out Helium only 11 months later.

“GRWM” was a mediocre trap intro talking about hoes calling him & asking them to pay him whereas “Kiss the Sky” gives boom bap a shot only for him to miss with a weak homage to the iconic Jimi Hendrix cut “Purple Haze”. The title track gets into his signature pop rap style pleading for this woman’s love leading into the underwhelming boom bap/rap rock crossover “Outside” featuring Diany Dior staying out for the summer.

Finishing the first half, “Dream About Me” tells his ex not to even think of him in her dreams over a generic trap instrumental just before “Fight & Fuck” gets back on the pop rap vibe once again describing a toxic relationship where he & his partner argue only to make lover afterwards. “Nada” wound up being a close contender for one of the worst singles to come out in 2024 partying when he wants, but then “After Dark” expresses his desire to be understood.

“How Can You Sleep?” gets it going on the final minutes of Helium with an acoustic pop rap cut finding G-Eazy admitting that he can’t move on from this woman that he said he would try to leave in the past & I found the lead single “Vampires” to be a tiring closer addressing toxic relationships once again although I don’t really mind the moodier sound all that much nor did I have any issue with the Bahari hook/bridge.

Conceptually built around the highs & lows of love & life, the sliver of optimism I had regarding this one wasn’t really done any justice even if it was released the day prior of G-Eazy’s birthday & the birthday of his brother he was closer than close too. The boom bap portions are actually average at best & the idea of parties never lasting forever being worth it in the end is a valid life lesson, except neither the trap or the pop rap cuts don’t really scratch the itch.

Score: 1.5/5

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The Musalini – “Live & Let Die” review

California producer DJ Fresh teaming with New York emcee & Jamla Records recording artist The Musalinifor the latter’s 10th studio LP. Beginning to take the underground by storm since 2018 after dropping his debut mixtape Musalini Season, he went on to release 3 full-lengths & another tape before signing to TCF Music Group. Since then, he’s made himself home by dropping a few EPs & Return of the Oro in the early part of this decade. In God We Trust produced by 38 Spesh, The Don & Eye alongside its sequel fully produced 9th Wonder & Pure Izm produced by Khrysis have all quickly become his best material over the past 3 years. Mackaroni produced by Cookin’ Soul became my favorite of the 4 projects Mu$ put out last year & The Pierre Hotel was overloaded with features although the production was outstanding. Fast forward a few months, Live & Let Die is in front of us.

“Late Nite” works in some pianos only to break the door down with a cloudy boom bap instrumental telling his babygirl to live it up whereas “Moneyyyyyy” describes the affection he has for his ride or die. “Speeding” breaks down the explanation of him having more time than he does patience until “Player’s Ball” featuring Planet Asia & Silent Snipers finds the trio portraying themselves as pimps taking a funkier approach to the beat.

Izzy Hott joins Mu$ for “Double Life” advises everyone to know what you’re getting themselves into before they wind up getting themselves into it sampling soul music leading into “Good Game” going for a trap approach to talk about him giving her D is all he does. “Polo Scarf” brings a jazzy boom bap flare to the table always keeping it real & knowing what the agenda is, but then the soulful “Old Soul” talking about time costing money.

The title track featuring O Finess unites the 2 continuing the funkier vibes instrumentally reminding everyone of the way they be living while “Red Eye” calmingly talks about falling asleep on the plane that he boarded in his home state & woke up right when they landed over in the west coast. “Fly Zone” featuring John Dutch sees the pair calling themselves the flyest muhfuckas in the world & “Can’t Buy Love” featuring Silent Snipers ends by talking about not taking life for granted.

Taking a west coast producer & an east coast lyricist, Live & Let Die makes up for the disappointment I had towards The Pierre Hotel with a 33 & a half minute body of work that I think is Mu$’ most enjoyable since Mackaroni almost 14 months ago. He & DJ Fresh are basically paying homage to Kool G Rap & DJ Polo’s 3rd & final album Live & Let Die where both regions take everything distinct of what makes their scenes special & flowing into each other seamlessly.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ouija Macc – “Chlorine” review

In front of us is the 7th studio LP from Las Vegas, Nevada emcee Ouija Macc. Breaking out in the fall of 2017 after the Insane Clown Posse signed him to Psychopathic Records shortly after putting out his debut EP Trashfire independently, Ouija has since proven himself as the hatchet’s biggest solo act dropping his last 6 full-lengths, 2 greatest hits compilations, 8 mixtapes & 5 EPs all in the span of nearly 8 years. He even started his own label Chapter 17 Records, with Darby O’Trill now being the only artist other than Ouija & teamed up with each other 13 months ago for the excellent collab effort Anemoia building up Darcc Planet to become the darccest material of his career last summer. 3 months after Psycho Babbel though, we entered the Temple of Ash & are now leaving so he can drop Chlorine on us in the midst of him opening during ICP’s tour set to end this weekend alongside Wakko the Kidd & tapings of the hit Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) webseries JCW Lunacy. I should also mention the inaugural JCW American Champion currently in his 2nd reign Caleb Konley appearing on Dark Side of the Ring a few days ago to remember the late WWE Cruiserweight Champion Daffney, Haley J ending Dani Mo’s inaugural JCW Women’s Championship reign & former JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champion Kerry Morton ending former The Crash Pesocompleto Campeon, NWA National Champion & TNA X Division Champion Willie Mack’s 2nd reign as JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion.

“Creepy Crawler” starts off with a hellish trap intro produced by Devereaux talking about crawling up on ‘em & stacking up his commas whereas “Miyazaki” pulls from the Memphis scene taking it’s name after the revered スタジオジブリ founder 宮崎駿. “WICC17 SH17” makes a phat homage to the style of music he’s widely known for & putting a modern appeal to it for a newer generation of juggalos while the DeadBoyGrim-laced single “Lil’ Nitemare” walks down the wrong path deviated by demons.

Meanwhile on “Loonatic”, we have Ouija bringing the presence of a wicked clown right in front of you over a cloudy trap instrumental until the ghostly “Never That” talks about running with the pack to the money & never looking back. “House of 1,000 Doors” gets in his storytelling bag portraying himself as a game show host named after Rob Zombie’s classic directional debut House of 1,000 Corpses until “Mr. Fat Balls” drearily talks about being fed up with the bullshit lies.

“Klepto” breaks down his skitzophrenic tendencies on the verge of stealing shit over some pots, pans & hi-hats while the chilling “Up It Up” entertainingly throws in bar introducing a new nickname for himself blending his moniker with the name of current Monday Night RAW commentator, occasional WWE in-ring performer, ESPN’s College GameDay analyst, host of The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN & former Indianapolis Colts kicker Pat McAfee.

Moving on from there, “Toot Toot” samples “The Loons off ICP’s sophomore effort & the 2nd Joker’s Card Ringmaster going 117mph for the cash since he don’t fuck around when it comes to that while “Mean Muthafucka” shows an angrier side to Ouija warning to get out his face unless you wanna see him crash out. “Databass” vividly portrays himself as a sex offender who preys for his victims on the internet, but then “Death Trap” featuring Apoc Krysis unloads 17 from the clip.

“Unda Unda” pulls inspiration from the Memphis hip hop scene more more blending that with horrorcore & trap talking about coming from the underground since Chapter 17/Psychopathic’s whole sound has appealed to that demographic of hip hop culture birthing it’s own subculture in the process & “Would It Be Alright” finishes Chlorine with a trap metal/emo rap hybrid asking if it’s ok if he dies here tonight.

Ouija’s been calling this the best thing he’s ever made for the past month now & I can’t really argue with it because of the the whole concept revolving around him always being a scrub no matter how clean. Devereaux handles most of the production showing influences of trap, horrorcore, cloud rap, trap metal, emo rap & Memphis hip hop backing the C17 CEO’s call for a juggalo takeover.

Score: 4.5/5

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