Atlanta, Georgia plugg pioneer Tony Shhnow following up his 7th album Out the Woods with his self-produced 14th EP. Being introduced to his music after my younger brother J$zpiech showed me his 4th mixtape Black Billionaires Club & the song “Vet” off the full-length debut Da World’s Ours 3, he then continued to turn heads with his 8th mixtape Reflexions to critical acclaim last summer & I honestly wish I covered it considering that some of his best songs are on there like “Finessin’” or “Forgive Don’t Forget”. He then returned to his plugg roots on the BeatPluggz produced Plug Motivation, Love Streak showed a more sensual side to him, Shadowbanned 2 dabbled with new sounds & is starting the 2nd half of 2024 explaining there’s #NoOneElse like him 4 months after coming Out the Woods.
“Fort Myers to Atlanta” featuring SB Nunkk starts off with synths & hi-hats talking about catching them in both titular areas of Florida & Georgia that they represent whereas “Everything Match” kinda has a pluggier tone to the instrumental to flex that his whole outfit matches entirely. “Yale” talks about how good the brain is over a rubbery trap beat with some bells just before the grittier “1 of Dem 1’s” explains the fact that the Shnnowman built different, which is facts.
After the “Rap” skit, “Fall Down” nears the conclusion of the EP working in more synthesizers & hi-hats talking about being around once everything collapses in the end while “Check” moves on from there with a peppy ballad dedicate to those who be fresh to death out here. “Yeen Got Deez” featuring 10 Dunkin ends #NoOneElse pointing out that ain’t nobody else got it the way both of them do.
Out the Woods was a solid album of it’s own, but I have to admit here that I’m leaning more towards this new EP here in terms of quality. Best project of the 2 he’s given us in 2024 & will go down as one of the strongest EPs of his entire career. He really flourishes behind the boards cooking up production better than the last LP all by himself & validating that he’s genuinely 1 of a kind veteran in the underground scene.
This is a brand new collaborative mixtape from Detroit, Michigan trap sensation Babytron as well as Milwaukee, Wisconsin lowend rapper/producer Certified Trapper. One of whom rose to stardom in the late 2010s as a member of the ShittyBoyz & the other has been gaining popularity of his own landing a major label deal with Columbia Records. Both are managed by The Hip Hop Lab Records founder Lando Bando, so in that sense I can see why he brought them together for Mario & Luigi.
“iGlocks” starts with both of them over a Detroit trap instrumental telling you that shit’s bout to get intense when it’s really anything but referencing NXT commentator, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE United States Champion, 14-time WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion, RoW Tag Team Champion & TNA World Tag Team Champion Booker T whereas “Saucony” works in some interesting synth melodies with hi-hats further displaying a back-&-forth chemistry further revealing Tron to be the most interesting of the 2. “Rulebreakers” produced by Certified Trapper himself takes the lowend route so they can boast their mob ties leading into the murderous Detroit trap joint “Psychopaths” showing their psychotic tendencies.
Moving on from there, “Young Fly Muthafuckas” further emphasizes an eerier atmosphere to the beat flexing how young & fly they both are just before “Woulda Coulda Shoulda” jumps over ominous chords so they can portray the gangsta lifestyles. “So the Fuck What?” specializing in talking shit to the point where they need Mentos remaining in the Detroit trap realm, but then “Rescue Mission” returns to the lowend vibes warning to watch your mouth since they pop bitches.
“Blue $trip Bandits” brings a quirkier flare instrumentally thanks to Danny G calling themselves outlaws for the Ben Franks while “Bling Bling” once again goes lowend to be pickin’ plays up. The song “Day w/ TSF” featuring Peso Peso & Sauce Walka menacingly shows off their real g statuses with Tron & Sauce shining the most while “No Cameraman Around” talks about having $100K on them each. “Boogey Woogey Night” ends the tape with the best lowend track & maybe my favorite here.
I’ve given Tron his praise for already being one of the best from Detroit in recent memory, yet I could never get into Certified Trapper since I’ve heard the lowend style done better. Case in point: Polo Perks, AyooLii & Feardonian’s collab album A Dog’s Chance from a few weeks ago. Mario & Luigi on the contrary has some highlights of it’s own except it’s one of the weaker entries in Babytron’s discography. Their sounds mix well, except Certified Trapper himself on the mic feels as if he’s a Great Value version of his contemporary down to the flow.
Akhlys is a Colorado black metal duo consisting of frontman, guitarist, bassist & keyboardist Naas Alcameth alongside drummer/percussionist Eoghan. Emerging together 15 years ago off their 38 minute single track debut Supplication, I personally wouldn’t be introduced to their music until their 2015 sophomore effort The Dreaming Ia month before I graduated high school. Their take on atmospheric, dissonant black metal & dark ambient throughout was so excellently crafted to the point where it quickly became amongst the best albums in that style of extreme metal of the previous decade & Melinoë at the end of 2020 continuing to build upon the sounds of it’s predecessor conceptually revolving around nightmares. 3 & a half years later, Naas & Eoghan are back again for their 4th LP.
“The Mask of Night-Speaking” starts with an infernal 12 minute atmospheric black metal opener standing now before a great barren hearth whereas the 2nd & final single “Maze of Phobetor” screams about being the wayfarer continuing the atmo-black vibes. “Through the Abyssal Door” concludes the first half of the album by fusing dark ambient & black metal together wanting to feel the Asterion’s gaze, but then the instrumental cut “Black Geminus” puts a bigger emphasis on ambient industrial. “Sister Silence, Brother Sleep” gets back on the atmospheric black metal talking about being at 1 within the House of Dreaming behind 1,000 masks revealed & “Eye of the Daemon” concludes House of the Black Geminus inhabiting every waking shadow.
Almost a decade after their breakthrough, Akhlys displays their frightening dominance on House of the Geminus drawing from esoteric & mythical traditions where the land of dreams is placed within the darkness of the underworld through labyrinthine halls, shadowed corridors, cellars of dread & attics of epiphany as ordeal & ecstasy meet at the vertices where each beholds his own daemon. Combining intense black metal with elements of dark ambient & death industrial, Naas & Eoghan unite psychological horror, orchestrated bludgeon & eerie foreboding on a harrowing journey into pandemonic majesty resulting in their most all encompassing, destructive & diabolically grand-sounding offering of the 4 in their discography.
London, England, United Kingdom emcee Mr. Key enlisting local producer Illinformed to handle the beats all over the latter’s sophomore effort. A member of Contact Play, he would eventually sign to High Focus Records as a solo act & drop his solo debut Yesterday’s Futures in the summer of 2015 using the sounds of wonky & glitch hop with the help of Greenwood Sharps to back his abstract pen. Both of them reunited near the end of 2019 for an EP called Green & Gold, returning after nearly 5 whole years for the more conceptual Kez.
“Escape from Bene” sets the tone with a piano-driven boom bap instrumental advising to trust them since there’s more to discover going forward whereas “Wakey Wakey” featuring Smellington Piff finds the 2 over a funkier beat talking about them both being on a high platter killing swarm. “All Right Ok” takes a mellower yet dusty approach to the beat talking about him doing well since Green & Gold leading into “He Say She Say” featuring Dirty Dike after the “What’s this Place?” skit addressing detractors.
As for “John Connor High Lyf”, we have Mr. Key over this jazzy boom bap beat talking about his life not always being the best & him not having it any other way just before “Bury Me in Bene” featuring Leaf Dog carries over the same vibes of the previous cut asking for their wishes to be buried when the time of demise comes. “Why is It?” featuring BVA comes together to ask for the reason there cornballs haven’t done a charitable act while the piano-driven “I Dunno” uses it’s title to answer various questions for 5 minutes.
“No Time” starts Kez’s final moments blending a jazzy woodwind with some kicks & snares talking about himself for 2 & a half minutes living more pleasantly than he was in his previous situation but once “Yellow Tops” hooks up a prominent vibraphone to assure fans it isn’t their fault that he can be a bit of a dickhead, the outro “Isabell Allende” featuring Jam Baxter & Ronnie Bosh wraps things up with the Contact Play brethren soulfully repping their squads.
As much as I’ve enjoyed Greenwood Sharps’ contributions to Yesterday’s Futures and Green & Gold, hearing that Illinformed was handling all of Kez’s production gave me the impression it would surpass both of it’s predecessors. Lo & behold, Mr. Key has done it. He kaleidoscopically describes the rise of a plucky kestrel through an off-grid anarchist commune called Bene comprised of misfits, lost souls, drug dealers, new age healers & would be cult leaders after spending 5 years in Spain.
Here we have the 4th mixtape from Detroit rapper & singer/songwriter 42 Dugg. His breakout debut EP 11241 Wayburn in 2018 would catch the attention of both Yo Gotti & Lil Baby, who jointly signed him to their respective labels Collective Music Group & CBFW Records shortly after. Dugg’s profile continued to grow in 2019 when he dropped his debut mixtape Young & Turnt, which was followed up last year by the sequel Young & Turnt 2 & the mature Free Dem Boyz. Now that he’s home from a prison stint, Dugg is making it clear on the 4th of July that it’s 4eva Us Never Them.
The intro is a soulful Detroit trap opener to the tape hanging with the killas whereas “Win wit Us” talks about everyone wanting to catch Ws by his side all of the sudden over a grisly trap beat. “4×4” featuring Meek Mill works in an apocalyptic sample & hi-hats ridin’ whips with engines that supply power to all 4 wheels instead of the usual 2, but then “Fresh From the Feds” takes the atmospheric trap route instrumentally to talk about needing a miracle & being down bad when he was incarcerated.
Rylo Rodriguez joins Dugg for the bell-infused “Case Closed” advising that a killa in their feelings is the summarization of a Drake song just before “Wrong Right” somberly talks about wanting everyone in his squad to live long lives. “N.P.O. (No Panties On)”featuring Sexyy Red brings the 2 together for an energetic sex anthem leading into “If I Can’t” bringing the Detroit trap vibes back into the fold talking about having everything & being gone.
“Megan” featuring Blac Youngsta menacingly boasting the lifestyles that they live while “Org” hooks up some horns & hi-hats to assure that he & his crew are still undefeated. “Catch 1” kinda has this orchestral trap flare to the beat talking about still being bad while the introspective “My Mama” starts the 2nd half of the tape by giving the audience game by telling them what she told & showed him in regards of having only himself & no friends.
EST. G joins Dugg for “Since When” to display a back-&-forth chemistry recapturing the essence of their collab mixtape Last Ones Left from a couple years ago while the menacing Detroit trap cut “Get in Your Bag” tells everybody out there to become 1 with whatever task you are trying to achieve. “BMF” featuring Jeezy is an excellent tribute to the Black Mafia Family especially since the Snowman knows Big Meech himself & the extended version of “Go Again” happens to be better than the original.
“No Love” featuring Lil Baby reunites the pair over a bell-woven trap beat from TM88 calling themselves the mob while “4eva Us” produced by Helluva aggressively details his street mentality. The song “Need You” provides a dejecting tone explaining shit ain’t been the same talks while the penultimate track “Still ‘Bout You” smoothly addressing a woman he cares for. Last but not least, the closer “Real Ones” fittingly ends by promising he ain’t ever going back to prison again.
Dugg has always been one of my top 3 favorite CMG signings alongside Mozzy & Glorilla but when it comes to the CBFW roster, not that many of Baby’s artists stood out besides Dugg other than maybe Rylo’s freestyle of the Wale/Bryson Tiller single “Love…(Her Fault)”. 4eva Us Neva Them reinforces all of it from the elevating production to the tight guest-list & Dugg reassuring his status a standout in the Detroit trap scene.
This is the 7th full-length solo LP from Detroit emcee Bizarre. Emerging as an original member of the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof, he was also among the first in the crew to put out solo efforts with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdos being a hometown classic in my eyes. Fast forward 7 years later, Biz followed it up with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since, with the last time we heard him being his 11th mixtape 18159 Stout during the first quarter or the year. The Foul Mouth-produced He Got a Gun & its sequel revitalized himself for all the doubters, so the 3rd & final installment had me anticipating it as much.
The intro featuring Max Hilli starts the trilogy chapter of the series that the idiotic kid found his passion again by coming live from the Motor City over a grimy boom bap instrumental whereas “aRT pEACE” goes drumless to get on his grown man shit for 4 minutes. “Insane Asylum” works the kicks & snares back in hitting 3 shots with 3 glocks all for G-Unit Reeboks & “Run, Duck” featuring Lokye after the “Gas Station” interlude aggressively gets in their hardcore bag lyrically.
“Ford Plant” featuring La the Darkman eerily breaks down the exact spot where you’ll catch both of them slangin’ prior to “Party in Detroit” vibrantly talks about the hoes being outside, the players playin’ & the hustlers hustlin’ at the function. “Sexyy Red” hooks up a vocal sample with more kicks & snares wanting his bitch as nasty as the titular St. Louis star just before “Who Gotta” angrily asks if anyone out there got a problem with him.
We get some atmospheric vibes throughout “Bizarre Buds” that suit the track well since he’s conceptually providing listeners with an anthem dedicated to those who like smokin’ good weed leading into the uncanny “Sheefy Mcfly” featuring Dango Forlaine bringing the pair together talking about doing whatever the fuck they want. “Dressing Room” ruggedly flexes he appeared on No Jumper to plug Lena while “Rainy Dayz” featuring J-Classic & Keen Streetz puts the hard times behind them.
“Pack the Roach” feat. Isaac Castor, Jalen Frazier & Max Hilli finds the quartet over more boom bap production nearing the conclusion of He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace to discuss being the killers that they are & “Summertime” featuring Kain Cole concludes the LP by hooking up somewhat of a psychedelic beat to ring in the summer since the 2nd half of 2024 already began earlier on in the week.
Peter S. already started off the year well by preluding this album with the Ratt Poison EP & the latest entry of the He Got a Gun trilogy reinforces everything that made both installments the best material of his career on top of further proving that Foul Mouth is a great match for him. The latter’s production incorporates elements of boom bap, drumless, jazz rap & psychedelia allowing Bizarre to passionately destroy his competition.
Flint, Michigan rapper Krispylife Kidd continuing to apply pressure by dropping his 14th mixtape. Since 2019, his popularity in the local trap scene has been gradually increasing going on to release a total of his previous 13 tapes & 4 EPs all in that span of time. Icewear Vezzo even signed him to Iced Up Records during the pandemic & Lil Yachty had him featured on Michigan Boy Boat. Now I’d start with Krispylife 2 & The Art of Spice Talk trilogy if you wanna dive into Krispylife’s music. He put out his 4th EP Juice in February a few weeks after Vezzo released his Quality Control debut Live from the 6 & is staying in his B.A.G. (Born A Goat).
“Run That Down” begins by jumping over a sinister Detroit trap instrumental celebrating every time an opp gets killed & being all about the spinach like Popeye whereas the piano-driven “‘96 Bulls” featuring Rio da Yung O.G. finds the 2 likening themselves to the Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen of the subgenre that both artists hold it down for. “Stacks on Stacks” works in a soul sample & upbeat 808 percussion to flex his wealth while “Ain’t Enough” goes for more of a atmospheric trap vibe to the beat talking about not knowing too much.
Babyfxce E, Icewear Vezzo, RMC Mike & YSR Gramzall join Krispy for the dark 2 & a half minute Detroit trap joint “Just Talking” with Vez & Mike’s verses standing out the most amongst the 4 guests personally referencing the greatest WWE superstar ever; Hall of Famer, former 7-time world champion, 7-time tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion The Undertaker leading into “Gucci Jogger” hooking up some bells talking about catching him in traffic rocking the titular Italian luxury fashion house. “In the Air” featuring Cash Kidd interestingly fuses jazz music & Detroit trap together talking about being in love with the new Maybach, but then “Fanning” grimly cautions that nobody can duck all these shots he firing.
“Make Me Sick” flexes that he uses Flint water every time he whips up with tense keys & 808s backing him prior to “In That Case” taking another jab at a jazzy Detroit trap hybrid to hit his hood with 100lbs after his first deal. “Scratching Off” featuring AK Bandamont has an apocalyptic flare instrumentally explaining how foul they are while “Sheesh” warns y’all not to make him lose it over bells again. “King Griffeys” advises not to say the wrong shit to piss him off & “Today Was Bool” dissing all the divas.
Juice was a short yet fun bounce back from the moderate reception that 3-Peat & Krispylife 4 Life both received the previous year & B.A.G. (Born A Goat) further hammers home on that. There are more interesting ideas within the production than the EP we got from him 4 months ago (particularly the jazz-inspired cuts), I found roughly 60% of the guests’ performances to be enjoyable & some of Krispy’s lines on here are observingly funnier.
Houston, Texas rapper, songwriter & actress Megan Thee Stallion returning after 2 years for her 3rd album & Roc Nation Records debut. Rising to prominence in the spring of 2019 with the release of her debut mixtape Fever, I myself was very impressed with how it displayed Megan’s knack for catchy songwriting, dirty south/Memphis inspired production & a unique personality. Her popularity began to rapidly increase off her 3rd EP Suga & the full-length debut Good News, but Something for thee Hotties was a bit underwhelming in my opinion. Traumazine ended up being a decent sophomore effort with more highs & lows, so I expected Megan to be more personal given the title.
“Hiss” was a single that eventually grew on me heading for a hardcore Memphis trap direction tackling various aspects of her life up until this very moment whereas “Rattle” taking the eerie trap route to discuss having too many haters. “Figueroa” brings the scary vibes to the table dabbling with Detroit trap referring to herself as a Brat as opposed to a Barbie a.k.a. Nicki Minaj whose Megan diss “Big Foot” might be the worst diss track ever made, but then “Where Them Girls At?” moves on from there with a thunderous Hot Girl anthem.
Tay Keith cooks up one of my favorite beats throughout the album on the standout “Broke His Heart” vibrantly talking about making her ex Pardison Fontaine trick leading into “B.A.S. (Both Ain’t Shit)” featuring Kyle Rich produced by Lil Ju & Megan herself turns into cloudy trap territory painting a couple that both really ain’t shit since they lie to each other. “Otaku Hot Girl” playfully & wittingly shows her love for anime & Japan altogether just before “Find Out” has a rubbery tone instrumentally thanks to 30 Roc talking about her lil’ whoopty-woo.
“BOA” fuses trap, hardcore hip hop, pop rap, dirty south & electropop to show her boldness & assertiveness while “Mamushi” featuring Yuki Chiba on the standard version or TWICE on the remix works in pianos & hi-hats so both of them can declare themselves as the stars they are. “Accent” featuring GloRilla has this aquatic trap flare to the beat describing how thick they are while “Paper Together” featuring the greatest Houston duo of all-time UGK is a historic crossover representing different generations of the city.
Victoria Monét appears for the hook on the pop rap/trap hybrid “Spin” talking about putting that ass in a trance like you even have a chance to begin with while “Down Stairs DJ” hooks up a whistling sample & hi-hats thanks to Honorable C.N.O.T.E. telling everyone that she essentially loves her pussy. “Miami Blue” featuring Big K.R.I.T. has a grimier trap approach provided by Buddah Bless pointing out there must be something in the water & the pop rock/rap abomination “Worthy” could be the worst offender here despite the lyrics about being precious.
“Moody Girl” nears the conclusion of Megan picking things back up with a banger that Juicy J cooked up behind the boards leaving me fiending for the Three 6 Mafia co-founder to produce a whole project for her at some point since they’ve been bringing the best outta each other for 5 years now as further exemplified from the calming trap instrumental to the aptly moody lyricism Megan displays that is until “Cobra” closes her Roc Nation debut blending trap, rap rock, conscious subject matter & dirty south excellently.
Starting the deluxe run, “Bigger in Texas” hops over this dirty south beat paying homage to her home state while the bloodcurdling “Bourbon” fiercely addresses every hater of her’s who stay watching everything she does out here. Buddah Bless shakes it up with the playfully fun “#1 Rule” with Megan speaking to all the people who forget exactly who she is while “Roc Steady” featuring Flo Milli samples “Goodies” by Ciara & Petey Pablo so both of them can lock in for this exciting back-to-back delivery.
“Best Friend” continues with this decent trap joint cooked up by Nico Baran of Internet Money Records about forming a mixed tag team similarly to The Terror Twins while “Right Now” declares herself the baddest out with this dark Tay Keith & FNZ instrumental backing her, to which I agree with on a mainstream level. “TYG” featuring Spiritbox takes an ugly jab at trap metal that I find disappointing when you look at the gangsta-themed lyrics while “Motion” talks about bitches being sick of her & real quickly wanted to point out that I’ve been a fan Drumma Boy, but he went harder than he should’ve behind the boards on this one.
The boom bap direction “Fell in Love” takes might come as a shock to those who don’t keep with Megan addressing her current relationship with Chicago Bulls player Torrey Craig while “He Think I Love Him” & “Like a Freak” move on from there freestyling over “I Think I Love Her” by Gucci Mane & “Like a G6” by the Far East Movement respectively. Our final bonus track “Neva Play” featuring RM is now the current theme song as of me writing this for the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown program after moving from FOX back to the USA Network.
For years I’ve been telling people that Megan is the finest female lyricist in the mainstream (Rapsody’s kinda in the middle between mainstream & underground for me) & now that JAY-Z got her out of her 1501 Certified Entertainment/300 Entertainment deal, the future is certainly looking bright for the Hot Girl Queen since it could very well be better than her first couple LPs. It’s more personal & seems like she’s less restricted as far as creative freedom goes.
Marsha Ambrosius is a 46 year old singer/songwriter from Liverpool, England, United Kingdom who came up as 1/2 of the duo Floetry. They would only put out 2 full-lengths before disbanding, but Dr. Dre signed Marsha to his Interscope Records imprint Aftermath Entertainment shortly after only for her to depart in 2009 without releasing a solo effort. She eventually released her debut Late Nights & Early Mornings under J Records in the spring of 2011 & returned a few summers later with the RCA Records-backed sophomore effort Friends & Lovers. The Songstress was last heard in 2018 when she put Nyla out through MNRK Music Group, but is returning to Aftermath/Interscope to let the Quincy Jones of hip hop himself Dre produce her 4th album making up for lost times.
“Smoke” starts by sampling “Yesterday” by Clifford Brown so she can take you away & preparing to bring umbrellas just in case of the weather whereas “Tunisian Nights” singing about evenings in the North African country of Tunisia putting an orchestral spin on the “Flight Time” by Donald Byrd sample. “1 Night Stand” flips “Remind Me” by Patrice Rushen so Marsha can describe a singular sexual encounter just before “Cloudy With a Chance of…Real” samples “Smilin’ Billy Suite, Pt. II” by The Heath Brothers so she can sing about loneliness.
Moving on from there, “Greedy” co-produced by DJ Khalil & Phonix luxuriously confesses she’s been hurting lately & it simply isn’t enough leading into the outstandingly sequenced 2-parter “Self Care / Wrong Right” singing about satisfying her appetite along with her lover having the good good & giving her the best sex she’s ever had. “Wet” incorporates these illustrious strings staying with her partner even during the worst conditions, but then “Thrill Her” brings a soulfully jazzy boom bap flare to the beat paying homage to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
“The Greatest” was another exuberant choice of a single ahead of Casablanco that Marsha herself, Dre of course, Blu2th, Dem Jointz, Focus… & Trevor Lawrence Jr. laced asking if one is scared of the love she has to give while “Best I Could Find” nears the end of the album hopping over summery guitar passages & keys talking about things becoming distant to the point where love had come far behind. “Music of My Mind” rounds out the LP fusing the symphonic & jazz elements into 1 giving flowers to some of her influences from Duran Duran to the late great J Dilla.
When you think about the fact that Marsha’s the only Aftermath artist to leave the label without releasing an official album & eventually come back to do exactly that, it was something that a lot of people including myself were surprised by although expectations remained higher than her previous material. Sure enough, this was a moment almost 2 decades in the making exemplifying her talents. It’s significantly more well-produced than her early solo stuff which is a given considering Dre’s perfectionism & Marsha lays down the most passionate songwriting & vocals of her career.
Johnny Cash was a prolific singer/songwriter, musician & actor from Kingsland, Arkansas who rose to prominence as an icon in country music & for being one of the biggest badasses that has ever roamed God’s green Earth. He put out some of the genre’s most essential music including With His Hot Blue Guitar!, Orange Blossom Special, At Folsom Prison, Man in Black, all 3 albums from The Highwaymen & my personal favorite: the Rick Rubin-produced American Recordings hexalogy. Columbia Records unearthed Out Among the Stars during my junior high of year high school after keeping it in the vaults for 3 decades & now to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of American Recordings a couple months ago, Mercury Records is releasing his 4th posthumous album that he wrote all by himself 31 years ago before American even revitalized his career with new production from Johnny’s only son John Carter Cash.
“Hello Out There” is this magical opener with Johnny singing about planet earth calling whereas “Spotlight” fuses country with country pop & baroque pop encouraging to let him feel like losing her will be alright in the end accompanied by a sick guitar solo before the final verse. “Drive On” later saw the light of day on American Recordings the following year & has been a favorite of mine off that late career masterpiece, but then I Love You Tonight” has more of a laidback country tone to it admitting that it sure has been a party & they’ve been down that road previously.
Meanwhile on “Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?”, we have Johnny over acoustics asking listeners about the titular city in his home state of Arkansas leading into “Well Alright” surprisingly revealing itself back in April as one of the best country singles of the year telling the story of a woman that he met at a laundromat. “She Sang “Sweet Baby James”” goes for a stripped back approach singing about a woman who had a heart full of love prior to “Poor Valley Girl” profoundly paying homage to his late wife June Carter Cash.
The final song “Soldier Boy” kindas has this rockabilly singing about a boy with his backpack saluting all the women out there listening for doing what they have to do, but then the 2 bonus cuts consist of a cover of “Sing It Pretty, Sue” off his 8th album The Sound of Johnny Cash & “Like a Soldier” that also appeared on American Recordings the subsequent year much like “Drive On” did. Funny enough, “Like a Soldier” happens to be up there with “Drive On” as some of the best tracks in Johnny’s vast discography.
Being the first country artist that I can legitimately say I became a fan of, my expectations for Songwriter were it to maintain the caliber of both Willie Nelson & even Beyoncé’s latest full-lengths The Border & Cowboy Carter respectively. Come to find out, I like it more than the latter 2 combined. We get 8 brand new songs that we’ve never heard before, 2 demos & a cover spruced up production-wise by John Carter for a posthumous country/americana/outlaw country offering from his father that clears a lot of the bro-country you hear today.
