Jorjiana is a 21 year old rapper from Michigan City, Indiana who came up in 2024 off her breakout single “ILBB2”. She would later sign to Atlantic Records the following spring & would release her debut mixtape Project 219 roughly 7 months later to moderate reception mostly due to the underwhelming selection of beats rather than the performances from her or the guests. Recently joining Buvision Entertainment whilst retaining her Atlantic contract, she’s continuing to prelude her full-length studio debut with an extended play.
“Talk” opens up with a bassy instrumental that includes a switch-up midway through letting her detractors know she could care less of their feelings whereas “Indiana 2for2” talks about entering her old money era even if the beat’s generally uninteresting. “I’m the One” embraces a rage-inducing vibe making her guy nervous because she loves money more than him & after “808-Wish” moodily explores the downsides of relationships, “Rich Finally” cloudily ends 5 Elements talking about achieving wealth.
Neither of the previously mentioned tracks that were both released as singles building up anticipation for 5 Elements blew me away, but I still gave Jorjiana the benefit of the doubt thinking the other 3 songs would make up for it & I unfortunately liked this EP less than I did her debut mixtape last Black Friday. She’s a capable performer but as I had mentioned, Project 219 lacked in the production department & a great deal of her Buvision debut’s beats remain dull.
Brand new sophomore effort from Chicago, Illinois rapper 13°. Emerging only a few years ago off his first couple mixtapes Urban Junkie & Metropolitan respectively, he would go on to follow both of those up with Uptown Dropout as well as Clique City & it’s sequel. His debut EP Cyber Sundayz caught the attention of Island Records & they helped introduce him to a wider audience with the positively received full-length studio debut Black Fridayz, now declaring himself to be the Ghetto Hipster nearly 2 months since CM Punk became a 9-time WWE world champion.
“A Gloomy Morning” hops over a synth-driven boom bap beat produced by longtime collaborator Gyant to kick things off talking about being the king of his city & his life soarin’ past him whereas “Lordz Never Worry” gives off some Graduation vibes declaring himself to be a superstar. “White Sox Capz” psychedelically represents his hometown advising to get the fuck out his face unless one’s looking for him to put them to shame while the cloudily poppy “Pistolet” flexes of dating every model & comparing the head to blowing the smoke off a fired pistol.
We have some crazy sampling techniques being pulled off on “Membership” talking about not needing a patch because he’s already a gold member leading into “Ridiculouz” maintains the euphoria confessing he kinda digs people detracting him for being a golden ticket. “Poetry Jamz” stood out to me for it’s unignorable throwback to when The Neptunes dominated the airwaves in the early 2000s just before the poppy yet cloudy “Juene O.G.” poses the question of whether his not his name will be brought up in discussions a century from now.
“Northside Synonymz” begins the 2nd half likening life to another public assembly with the background vocals sticking out the most to me regarding the instrumental while the cloud rap/pop rap-infused 2nd single “Dwntwn Luv” intoxicatingly talks about trying to fuck a bouncer. “Lyricz” made for a solidly cloudy pop rap lead single making a cold reference to the late Juice WRLD at the end of the hook hoping this woman can heal his heart while the Ye-inspired “Brand New” talks about life giving him body shots.
Trippie Redd makes Ghetto Hipster’s sole guest appearance during the penultimate single “Emotionlezz” dedicating itself to all the weirdos & having apathetic pulling from future bass thoughts while the 3rd single “Hipster Encore” talks about his love of skinny Vogue models who do coke. “Microphone Fein” ironically lager includes a bar referring to 17-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE United States Champion & 4-time WWE tag team champion John Cena while “Journalistic” atmospherically concludes the album clapping back at the way fraudulent blogs be acting.
Black Fridayz was a solid farewell to the Clique City sounds 13° blew up off of & to begin this new chapter of his career, his 2nd major label offering initially stemming from a highlight off his debut last fall dethrones it’s predecessor & the Clique City mixtape series for the bragging rights of becoming his finest collection of material so far. The production’s significantly cloudier than the debut & he’s having more fun with his music taking inspiration from the likes of Nas, Westside Gunn, the late Capital STEEZ & A$AP Rocky.
Finally have the 4th studio LP from Montréal, Québec, Canada emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb in front of us. Emerging in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out a few extended plays & mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery along with producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X & enlisting his mentor Nicholas Craven to fully produce his 5th EP Shadow Moses. He would follow these up with Hood Olympics, Sewaside III, Shabb Van Gogh, Fight the Power!, Vrai Rap Keb!, the Drega33-produced Lost Tapes & Maple Flavored. The latter of which was ok compared to the others I named, coming off Hood Olympics 2 to drop Sewaside IV.
After the “Fiya Fi Dat!” intro, “Montreal!” begins with a soulfully jazzy ode to the city that made him preceding him going full “Jack Mode!” for the next track swapping out the jazzier elements in favor of a funkier vibe. “1,2,1,2” references the late WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali’s motto for anyone looking to commit career suicide in a battle with him over an old school beat while “Tell ‘Em Again” dabbles with reggae sending love to all of his family out in New York.
We have Shabbo completely going hard with the sampling again on “Disco Duck III” continuing a trilogy in which Hood Olympics began & Shabb Van Gogh bridged while “Mr. Triggerman” gets on his gangsta rap shit over a crooning boom bap instrumental. “Conehead!” keeps it funky for more lyricism reminiscent of 90s hardcore east coast hip hop & so does “Tales from da Hood” except he’s recalling stories about his neck of the woods, assuming the saga will continue since it’s labeled “Part 1”.
“Boom It Up!” officially marks the halfway point of Sewaside IV speaking of getting rich like a muhfucka now as opposed to people doubting him & after the reggae-tinged “Mike Shabb Getting Married” interlude, “Leflaur Leflah!” homages one of the few tracks The Fab 5 have done with each other as a supergroup. “Ring-A-Round!” featuring Obijuan talks about keeping the guns & butter between them over some pianos while “85.5FM” featuring ANKHLEJOHN & Rvlr Magz gives us a hardcore intermission.
I felt like “Buckshot ‘26” was a dusty sequel to “Buckshot Flow ‘93” off Broken World while the jazzy “Bastard Child!” continues to give his flowers to the Boot Camp Clik. The other single “Dontsweatit!” featuring MIKE links up talking about walking through their own shadows & not letting detractors define who you are as a person until “Flowers!” takes a more smoother approach instrumentally yearning to show appreciation towards people while they’re still here.
“Reminisce!” returns to the boom bap looking back at him making it out of the jungles of Montréal & expressing his annoyance towards people hating for him being legitimate from the rip but after the celebratory “Party People!” outro, the bonus cut “Imnotakilla!” officially ends Sewaside IV with 1 last heater clocking at precisely 100 seconds basically getting in his shit-talking bag attacking those who ain’t getting bread or pussy daring them to pull up.
At the time, I really did believe Sewaside III was gonna conclude the saga & here we are 2 years later proving me wrong with what I’d consider the finest chapter of them all. Mike Shabb’s production takes heavy inspiration fromThe Bomb Squad similarly to what C-Doc did for Public Enemy last summer when Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 dropped last summer & the lyricism calling back to Duck Down Music Inc.’s run 3 decades earlier.
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina emcee Rapsody is back for her 5th studio LP. Rising to prominence last decade with a handful of mixtapes & EPs, her 2012 debut album The Idea of Beautiful continued to show her potential until the Roc Nation Records-backed Laila’s Wisdom in 2017 truly refined her style & sound almost perfectly. 2 years later, she signed to Def Jam Recordings releasing EVE to similar acclaim, coming off Please Don’t Cry to explain God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops.
After the “Peace, God!” intro, “Free Yo’ Mind” produced by mR. pOrTeR kicks things off on a funky note suggesting maybe she’s too humble or has too much ego & trauma in her search for freedom whereas “No Way” goes for a tropical vibe instrumentally dissing DJ Vlad & No Jumper for being culture vultures. The 2nd & final single “Apple Juice” blends neo-soul & jazz rap for an ode to the late D’Angelo leading into “Never Break” shifts towards a drumless approach showing us an indestructible heart.
We have the lead single “God Gotta Afro” experimenting with industrial hip hop & electro so she can talk about shattering dreams & duckin’ schemes just before “OMG! (Love to Sun Ra)” presents us a psychedelic love letter to none other than the late avant-garde jazz icon himself. “Black Love” featuring No Malice discusses Afrocentrism over some soulful background vocals & finger snaps while “Pick a Side” featuring Amanda Reifer hits the midway point talking about individuals hiding the truth away because they have privileges they ignore.
“Abandoned Me” kicks off the 2nd half on a cavernous synth-driven beat clapping back at a guy who’s angry because she put up boundaries he can no longer get around while “The Peejaays” by MadRaps talks about about the projects on top of this heavenly Madlib instrumental. “You!” proves to the crowd who doesn’t like trap that she can very much kill it over that sound exemplified by the hunger in her cutthroat delivery while “Black is Beautiful” by MadRaps tackles the Afrocentric subject matter once more.
The song “Pretty Bird” preceding the “Way U R” interlude remembering his niece’s girl who passed away asking to capture a picture of what it’s like beyond the light & singing at her wonder of love lost while the upbeat “Joyful” attempts at making the crowds dance, refuting the claim people don’t do it anymore. “Act II: Bloodline / Growing Older” wraps up God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops with a 6 & a half minute 2-parter talking about having the patience of an old timer.
Conceived when she took a vacation to Ghana, it made Rapsody look at the US rewriting history through whitewashing & that eventually resulted in God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops landing right behind Laila’s Wisdom for my 2nd favorite album in her discography. mR. pOrTeR handling a vast majority of the production other than a few tracks makes me happy as a Detroit native who feels like he can be underappreciated behind the boards, providing the right musical backdrops for Rapsody to preserve African American stories & truths.
The Scythe’s de facto leader & Floridian emcee Denzel Curry coming off the collective’s debut tape for his 6th studio LP. Originally a member of the SpaceGhostPurrp-founded Raider Klan a little over a decade ago, he’s seen quite the success on his own since departing off projects like Nostalgia 64, 32 Zel (Planet Shrooms), imperial, TA13OO, Zuu & the Kenny Beats-produced UNLOCKED. Melt My Eyez, See Your Future went on to become his most mature & acclaimed body of work to date has ran it back with Kenny for Unlocked II coming off King of the Mischievous South 2: Ultraground nearly 2 years prior.
“Gone Fishing” opens up with a rap rock intro referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson prior to “Evil Grin” featuring JPEGMAFIA not only blending rap rock & boom bap, but the line in Peggy’s verse about him not having fans anymore made me laugh as a fan of his since Veteran knowing it’s because the main critiques people had with Experimental Rap was the flows used being repetitive & Ye formerly known as Kanye West rubbing off on him after producing for ¥$ a little over 2 & a half years ago.
Had to address the elephant in the room there. Anyway, the psychedelic “Candlelight” contains cool interpolation of “DIET_” off the original Unlocked & a hilarious outro calling back to “Bounce with Me” by Bow Wow just before “Product” talks about going from the hood to investing in shit he’s a part of. “Ups” turns up the funkiness delivering a present from the villain himself to ensure he’s remembered leading into “Benjamin” admitting he shouldn’t give a fuck about cheese unless $100s are involved since it ain’t about him at that point.
“Cold Night in Hell” winds down the last act of Unlocked II telling apologizing to his fans for getting used to the way he’s been living these days while “Crown” featuring Westside Gunn teams up declaring if anyone wants the throne, they better come take it from them & assurances of making it in due time that require patience. The closing track “Difference” featuring a brief Yebba verse sends off the album basically talking about SpaceGhostPurrp going from being an influential figure to burning every bridge he had.
Continuing the prolific run Kenny Beats has been on all year from Weezer’s new full-length The Gold Album earlier today to FATHERS’ eponymous debut & Rico Nasty’s latest EP RX, he & Denzel Curry reunite for an Unlocked sequel containing jazzier boom bap production compared to Unlocked II’s predecessor & there’s more of a conscious twist to Zel’s hardcore lyricism bringing a respectfully small handful of guests on board in comparison to holding it down by himself again.
Charlotte, North Carolina rapper & producer prettifun finally returning for his 5th studio LP. Known for being a member of the 4ersona collective, he would eventually go on to put out 3 full-lengths & 7 extended plays in the span of nearly 3 years prior to Victor Victor Worldwide signing him in 2024 off the positive reception of Pretti & Funhouse respectively. A sequel to the latter made for an impressive debut for the label 12 months earlier further embracing the rage sound more than it’s predecessor did, dropping Pretti Loves U 2 in preparation of both You Can Die Laughing & Hi-Fi 2.
The self-produced “Rollacoasta” turns up the bass to recall a hoe telling him she’s in love with the struggles whereas “Scene” combines rage & digicore so he can talk about feeling like his mind’s breaking. “Steps” emphasizes the digicore elements addressing Autumn, Duwap Kaine & 9 Vicious just before “Deposit” talks about spraying clips at those fucking around along with needing people to pick a side & not wanting the continuous amounts of money coming in to cease.
We have prettifun admitting to being ready for marriage at this point in his life on “Just Me” & throwing shots back at whoever sent them to begin with while “Nobody” wraps up the 1st half blending digicore, rage, pop rap, bubblegum bass, plugg & future bass so he can acknowledge his rise in popularity. The lead single “Moon & the Stars” dabbles with new jazz & kawaii future bass to kick off the 2nd leg asking if his lover would stay if he gave her those 2 specific things while “All Knowing” talks about being a top player.
“Room” kicks off the 4th quarter with some blaring 808s keeping it legitimate from the jump & doing this for his late homie Angie while “WTF Idk” confronts an individual who feels like they’re above him when he was the one who initially helped them over a digicore instrumental. “UI” talks about changing the form on all these fuckboys along with seeing if his label can pay him more while the closing track “All Love!” concludes Pretti Loves U 2shouting out his new group La Familia comprised of slayr, ezcodylee & Egobreak.
Funhouse & it’s sequel saw prettifun taking a backseat from the producing side of things so he could put some more recognition for himself as a performer, so I had higher expectations for Pretti Loves U 2 & would say it dethrones it’s predecessor last summer to become his magnum opus alongside the best thing he’s done of the 2 albums he’s made since Victor Victor signed him. His rage, pop rap, digicore, trap, bubblegum bass, plugg, future bass, new jazz & kawaii future bass production has evolved since Pretti using lesser influences of bitpop & his performances are equally catchier.
Detroit, Michigan rapper Payroll Giovanni self-producing his 15th studio LP. Notable for being a part of the Doughboyz Cashout collective, he also released over a dozen solo albums with the most notable being Big Bossin’ as well as Big Bossin’ 2 & Another Day, Another Dollar all fully produced by Cardo. Last time I covered him was when he self-produced Have Money, Have Heart a couple years ago & that was the most I’ve enjoyed his music since Giovanni’s Way, which didn’t wane any anticipation I had for M.O.B. (Mind my Own Business).
The title track opens up with some otherworldly synthesizers talking about leaving any conversation that doesn’t involve money whereas the only single “Puppies” recalls a situation occurring a long time ago where he tried to help someone only for said person to foolishly try robbing him. “No” talks about being up more these days after staying down for so long declining those who want something outta him while the west coast-tinged “Locked In” maintains his focus.
“Cash Tall” moves on from there embracing the Detroit sound to discuss keeping his circle small & his money in large amounts while the Mobb-influenced “Enough” ends the 1st leg of M.O.B. (Mind my Own Business) about having his share of days where he wasn’t making as much money as he would’ve hoped to. “Rollie wit Baguettes” gets the 2nd half going incorporating more synths talking about what happens when listening to Payroll’s music just before “On the Flo” breaks down going from the streets to riches.
The song “Point of View” talks about his perspective always being on a woman he’s romantically involved with, encouraging her to hop in his whip asking whether she wants to know anything or do something while “Bosses in the Clouds” discusses staying prayed up handling his own business. “New Levels” though spends M.O.B. (Mind my Own Business)’s final minutes talking about being in the season of his life where he can’t settle.
Getting sick of producer/artist agreements & paying lawyer fees, Payroll Giovanni had all the right reasons to solely create M.O.B. (Mind my Own Business) & I can certainly see myself coming back to it more than Hustle Muzik or If Not Me Then Who?. His production’s gotten better since 2024 & hearing it will prelude another full-length the Detroit trap veteran’s preparing within the next coming months has me hoping he’ll continue capitalizing on his artistic deftness.
I believe this might be the 7th solo LP from Jersey City wordsmith Ransom. Coming up as 1/2 of the short-lived duo A-Team alongside Hitchcock, he branched out on his own in 2008 following their disbandment beginning with the full-length debut Street Cinema & the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort The Proposal. These last several years have been his biggest so far whether it be the 5 EPs that he put out produced by Nicholas Craven & 7 based around the 7 deadly sins, Heavy’s the Head entirely produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Rome Streetz collab album Coup de Grâce, Chaos is My Ladder, Director’s Cut 4 & Deleted Scenes 2. Lavish Misery produced by Harry Fraud was a step above Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child & MadeinTYO producing Smoke & Mirrors last summer was an exciting surprise, coming off The Reinvention produced by DJ Premier & The Uncomfortable Truth produced by Conductor Williams to explain The Price of Clarity.
After the “Ignorance Was Bliss” intro, “The Prime Example” works in some horns to talk about being nothing these caricatures chasing applause whereas “Good Mournings” produced by Mike & Keys soulfully asks why he should go out on a limb for a dumb muhfucka who fed sharks. “Sorry My Love” featuring Nick Grant finds the pair over a chipmunk soul instrumental talking about putting their lives in these raps while “Dr. Manhattan” strips the drums to transcend weak thoughts & fashion trends.
“Richer Prior Life” continues from there discuss washed up artists who be rambling about one potentially becoming musical prodigies just before “Swan Song” speaks of trying to make himself a bride rather than getting along with a woman. “The Boule’” wraps up the 1st half of The Price of Clarity talking about everyone wanting fame until it becomes difficult over a funky beat while “The Temptations gets the 2nd act going discarding all the haters who’ve been despising his God given talents.
Freeway & Young Chris both appear on “The Coldest Winter” providing their own answers to the question of “Where do you go from love?” over a soulful Nicholas Craven instrumental while “MK Ultra” tensely talks about seeing things too clearly. The title track explains there always being a lesson inside our own tragedies while “Circumvention” featuring Lloyd Banks lavishly talks about clapping joyously at the blessing in disguise called pain.
“Hollywood Squares” brings back the soul courtesy of The Heatmakerz recalling what his mother warned him regarding common crooks being portrayed by corny actors & after the “Crystal Clear” interlude, “The Ultimate Betrayal” responds to claims of the devil being a lie wondering what if his greatest trick was the bible wasn’t his. “Confessional Booth” wraps up The Price of Clarity talking about his belief of letting out all the hardships we bottle up.
The general consensus amongst our time’s greatest thinkers & philosophers is that we cannot put a price on clarity, so Ransom comes off the Salvation for the Wicked collaborative EP he did with Boldy James going solo for the first time in 9 months admirably challenging those claims despite not being my favorite thing he’s done. My main critique lies with some of the production falls flat compared to his recent output, but the powerful messaging can’t be ignored.
Belleville, New Jersey emcee/producer Action Figure 973 celebrating his born day with his 14th expedited play. For a while at this point, his first couple mixtapes followed by his last 13 EPs & the full-length debut DOOM Was Right over a year ago giving flowers to one of my all-time personal favorite albums Madvillainy have each established himself as a promisingly skilled luchador who so happens to rap. The Most Interesting Man in the World got with Machacha for his sophomore effort last October, coming off What Would Harley Race Do? as well as 24 Hours in Switzerland & the baseball-themed Polo Grounds produced by DiMaggio to announce Souled Out days after The Good Brothers became the new MLW World Tag Team Champions.
“8 Hour Paris Flight” after the titular intro kicks things off with a drumlessly soulful opener talking about forever plotting outside of the country whereas “London Traffic” soulfully discusses the vitality in what he does. “William Regal” shows some love to WWE’s current VP of Global Talent Development, former 4-time WCW World Television Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion of the same name.
We have “Eyeful” kicking off the 2nd half incorporating more soul sampling referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair leading into “Ashley Massaro” remembering the late WWE diva who was not only a sexual abuse victim of Vince McMahon’s, but also took her own life.
“No Fly Tipping” immediately succeeding the “Paris Baguette” skit winds down the last few moments of the EP bringing a rap rock vibe to the table so Act-Lo can assure everything he does going forward becoming symbolic for their own justifications & the outro “Flight Home” spends the last 127 seconds of Souled Out hooking up a crooning soul sample talking about none of these rappers being safe for the remaining 4 months of 2026.
Polo Grounds to me still remains a breath of fresh air for people who felt like Action Figure 973’s discography was getting stale & Souled Out continues that trajectory recapping trips he took to London, England, United Kingdom & Paris, France over mostly soulful production. I can’t forget to further mention the claims of symbolism behind his future output & no one being safe for the rest of the year, hinting he has more music coming down the pipe soon that I’m interested in hearing.
God’s Hate is a metalcore band from Los Angeles, California consisting of bassist Alec Faber, guitarist Taylor Young, guitarist Martin Stewart, bassist Anthonie Gonzalez, drummer Colin Young & current 2-time AEW World Trios Champion Brody King performing lead vocals. Introducing themselves in 2014 off their debut extended play Divine Injustice followed by Under the Knife & their full-length debut Mass Murder, they eventually would go on hiatus following their eponymous sophomore effort in 2021. I was however interested in their 3rd extended play after former 3-time AEW World Champion, AEW International Champion, CMLL Mundial de Peso Semicompleto Campeon, CZW World Heavyweight Champion, アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, MLW World Middleweight Champion, MLW World Tag Team Champion & ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF tweeted about it.
The title track begins incorporating elements of groove metal into their signature metallic hardcore sound asking where everyone’s rage went & those who don’t have shit still having them in the end while “I’m the Cure“ treads the beatdown hardcore waters explaining the straight edge get to decide the way they die. Won’t Be Disgraced finishes with a cover of “Warriors Will Reign” by Harm’s Way & although I’m personally not the biggest fan of covers, I give them all the respect in the world for doing it out of remembrance of Bo Lueders in light of his passing several months ago.
For only 2 newly written songs & a cover: God’s Hate have made a fierce comeback driven by grief as well as the state of the greater hardcore community & the world at large. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion, NWA World Tag Team Champion, PWG World Tag Team Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion & ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion recaptures the beatdown metalcore style of their self-titled album & sprinkles elements of groove metal along the way kin to Mass Murder encouraging those listening to make a change using their hatred.
