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.
Here is the 7th mixtape from Newark, New Jersey musician Jane Remover. Aside from the 3 full-lengths under deadAir Records including Frailty as well as Census Designated & most notably Revengeseekerz, they have also released the Ghostholding mixtape on the label & 4 tapes pioneering the Dariacore sound. Coming off the Indie Rock mixtape last summer & Young Dabo’s sickeningly transphobic “Bleed” diss towards them however, Jane’s back to give the world some Status Update Music.
“If You Think I’m a Bitch, You Should Meet Jane Remover” blends Dariacore, hybrid trap, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, xtra raw, jerk & complextro for an energetic intro mentioning underscores whereas “XO Tour Llif3” experiments with hyperphonics, speed house, electro house, hybrid trap, electro house, future bass & complextro to distinguish itself from Lil Uzi Vert’s biggest hit.
Brostep, Dariacore, rawstyle, EDM glitch hop, complextro & hardstyle all collide on the emotional “I Did This for Us” single while “…Like Watching a Zombie Turn” would debatably be amongst my top 3 tracks here due to the way future bass, changa tuki, UK hard house, brostep, psystyle & power soca are all mixed with hyperflip. “Crowdkilling 101” on the other hand explores bass house, electro-industrial, hard techno, complextro, speed house & French electro whilst maintaining the hyperphonics elements.
“Nothing Lasts Forever (Every Detail U Have Ever Told Me)” was a too 5 moment personally expanding beyond Dariacore in favor of rawstyle, speed house, hybrid trap, bubblegum bass, complextro, future riddim, festival progressive house, alternative rock & bass house while the manically dense “Chase This Feeling” bringing secondary influences of hyperflip, future bass, speed house, bubblegum bass, changa tuki, hard trance, rawphoric & rawstyle to the table.
Dariacore, deconstructed club, complextro, changa tuki, electro, nu skool breaks & bass house each have their own distinctive presence throughout “#BoyLetMeKnow” kick off the 2nd half of Status Update Music while “The Summer I Pretty” comes through with a mechanical melting pot of bass house, industrial techno, hyperflip, deconstructed club, complextro, Detroit techno, electro-industrial, hard techno, French electro, bass house & tearout.
“Right Nowww (Tear Me Apart)” would be my 2nd favorite song on the tape maximally meshing Dariacore, happy hardcore, hard trance, freeform hardcore, speedcore, buchiage trance, UK hardcore, hyper techno, psytrance, nightcore, midtempo bass, hardtek & bouncy techno while “L.A.M.B. (Love.Angel.Music.Baby.)” bears it’s name after Gwen Stefani’s timeless solo debut despite being stylistically rooted in brostep, hyperphonics, rawstyle, tearout brostep & hybrid trap.
The rhythmically buzzy “I Belong to Nobody (But Tonight I’m Yours)” keeps pushing boundaries of Dariacore drawing further inspiration from neoperreo, deconstructed club, digicore, lento violento, snap, jerk, trap, xtra raw & rawstyle prior to “Get Ugly” containing it’s individual sections varying between French electro, electro-industrial, hyperflip, drumline, industrial metal, ballroom, Jersey club, deconstructed club, neoperreo, midtempo bass & rawstyle.
“In Every Lifetime (Together Like This)” nears closer towards Status Update Music’s conclusion with a melodically polyrhythmic bass house, Dariacore, alternative R&B, hard techno, bubblegum bass, indietronica & speed house while the outro “Summer Fling” ends in the form of this perfect dance-pop, contemporary r&b, funky house, Baltimore club, akishibu-kei & 2-step anthem in time for next month.
Most would say Dariacore 2: Enter Here, Hell to the Left is the best thing Jane Remover had done under the leroy moniker, but Status Update Music surpasses it 5 years later. Their production nearly perfects the Dariacore subgenre of hyperpop & EDM microgenre Jane created eclectically mixing it with hints of hard dance, hybrid trap, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, xtra raw, jerk, complextro, speed house, electro house, future bass, rawstyle, EDM glitch hop, hardstyle, changa tuki, UK hard house, brostep, psystyle, power soca, bass house, electro-industrial, hard techno, French electro, bubblegum bass, future riddim, festival progressive house, alternative rock, hard trance, rawphoric, nu skool breaks, industrial techno, Detroit techno, tearout, happy hardcore, freeform hardcore, speedcore, buchiage trance, UK hardcore, hyper techno, psytrance, nightcore, midtempo bass, hardtek, bouncy techno, tearout brostep, neoperreo, digicore, lento violento, snap, trap, drumline, industrial metal, ballroom, Jersey club, midtempo bass, bass house, alternative R&B, indietronica, dance-pop, contemporary R&B, funky house, Baltimore club, akishibu-kei & 2-step.
Stray is a 33 year old rapper & songwriter from New Haven, Connecticut who formed the Rogue Hollow collective during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. His solo debut extended play Witherman would come out the next fall as did his full-length debut Cloudy Alibi in the summer of 2023 & more recently his previous EP Enjoy the View this past July, enlisting his crew’s newest in-house producer Charlie Beans to handle all of the beats for Stray’s 3rd EP coming off producing most of James Joyce the Squatch’s 4th album Discomfort Inn last month.
“Cicada” after the “Change of Plans” intro starts off with an aggressive boom bap instrumental pleading to dig up this world that’s been underground for too long while “Foul Ground” featuring James Joyce the Squatch talks about the difference between them & the rest. “Out Alive” depressively speaks of sleeping under a cypress tree forever & after “Frost Bite” assures it’s ok if one can’t keep up, the final song “Perfect Timing” preceding the “Epilogue” outro ends by explaining the very thing life has never had.
Gearing up for his upcoming sophomore effort Flinch also entirely produced by Charlie Beans later this fall, I’m getting a huge impression that it’ll top Cloudy Alibi to become Stray’s greatest LP yet since Blink of an Eye surpasses both Witherman & Enjoy the View as far as his EPs go. Between the Sky Swamp Orange frontman’s lyrics & Charlie’s dark production, it could also be looked at as Rogue Hollow’s continuation of making shockwaves across the underground.
Here we have the 8th mixtape from Washington, D.C. emcee/producer Ankhlejohn. Breaking out off his Big Ghost Ltd.-produced sophomore effort Van Ghost, he’s given the underground his last 7 tapes as well as 8 EPs & 7 full-lengths in almost a decade. Other favorites of mine in his discography include the Navy Blue-produced As Above, So Below, the Rome Streetz collaborative effort Genesis 1:27, the Cookin’ Soul-produced The Michelin Man & the August Fanon-produced Live! at the Disco last summer. A whole year later & V Don’s producing Everything Beautiful Died Early.
“Origins” gets things going with a 125 second intro talking about being paid to prove cases over a drumless orchestra backing him whereas “No Specifics” goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally referencing The Sopranos, which is one of my top 3 shows. $ha Hef joins Lordy so they can talk about some “Monyun” over a sample & some drums while “Trauma or Tragedy” incorporates a more laidback beat to talk about being there when the powder was still stone.
Babymaine joins Ankhlejohn on “Inglorious” for a gangsta rap/boom bap crossover detailing their experiences living in The Bronx & the DMV just before “Stoneisland” wraps up the 1st half of Everything Beautiful Died Early looking back at when Juelz Santana was a big inspiration to him. “Vegan Goose Down Silence” kicks off the 2nd leg talking about making this tape because he felt like the game needed him leading into “King, Pawn & Rook” featuring Crimeapple breaking down the mafioso lifestyle.
“Solar Faxx!” aggressively talks about his desire of making educating ourselves more mainstream while “Laugh & Cry” once again touches base regarding the subject of the gangsta life, explaining that it’s pretty much a cycle. “Day 1” talks about his refusal of disrespecting the plates he came from & his knowledge of the game dating back since the beginning while “Packback” ends by observing the amount of love since his youth that’s faded.
Next fall will be a whole decade since Ankhlejohn introduced himself by taking the underground on a trip through The Red Room & for the past 14 months, he’s been dropping the greatest output of his entire career from The Michelin Man to Live! at the Disco & now Everything Beautiful Died Early. There are only a small handful of guests on this one rather than Lordy holding down the mic all by himself throughout the predecessor last spring, but they’re all carefully selected since everyone flows well over V Don’s distinct production style.
Here we have what could likely be the only extended play from London, England, United Kingdom emcee Possessed. A founding member of Rhyme Asylum, they would drop their full-length debut State of Lunacy in 2008 & followed it up a couple years later with the sophomore effort Solitary Confinement. The latter of which would become the group’s final album since they disbanded afterwards although neither Skirmish or Psiklone have gone solo, which Absentia gave some fans hope considering it dropped without any prior announcement.
“Revolution” hops over a raw beat to kick things off talking about being immortalized & apologize for leaving when he shouldn’t have while “Priority” embraces a creepy boom bap vibe instrumentally, wrapping up the 1st leg advising those who think they can hang with him on the mic to put a sock in it. The closing track “Take Me” preceding a titular outro skit spends the EP’s remaining 3 & a half minutes chopping up a soul sample talking about being a completely different breed.
The man himself has since confirmed he’s done making music despite continuing to drop tracks from the vault that’re previously unreleased so if Absentia marks the only time we hear Possessed by himself for the duration of a project, then I suppose I’ll take it. I don’t find the production to be as impressive as someone like Illinformed or Badhabitz per se, but he still makes good justification regarding why he’s one of the most technically skilled lyricists in all of UK hip hop.
New surprise LP & the 4th altogether from Detroit, Michigan emcee Isaac Castor. Coming up in 2010 under the original moniker Gameboi, he would go on drop 4 mixtapes & 3 EPs prior to signing to the local underground hip hop powerhouse Middle Finger Music following its formation 8 years later. He then enlisted the label’s co-founder Foul Mouth behind the boards for his full-length debut The Rabbit Hole as well as the sequel & the final chapter Smoking Caterpillar, switching it up by having Machacha produce Lost in Transit.
“Bullet Train” begins with this 92 second drumless intro talking about needing a credit card replacement the way this game be scamming whereas “All Love” works him some bare guitars calling out the jokers faking to be tough when they ain’t. “Poet Dog” brings in some drums to talk about being made to reach the top just before “Canadian Wildfire” ditches them once again so he can explain the reason why the clouds have gotten so gloomy.
Things take a turn towards a boom bap vibe on “Get Serious” talking about staying mysterious in part of the sheep trying to follow the herd but after “Hopeless” featuring Miz Korona soulfully addresses an individual who’s so vain that they’ll consider this to be a diss directed at them, “What’s in the Box?” featuring Jalen Frazier continues the sample-driven boom bap instrumentation making people line up for this designer drug they’ve concocted.
“Candy Flip” featuring Aztek the Barfly, Fatboi Sharif & Foul Mouth brings the quartet together for a gritty hardcore hip hop anthem where each artist drops a cutthroat verse without the need of a hook while “Americano” jazzily talks about needing sativa & coffee soon as he gets up every single morning. “1 Way Ticket” takes up the last few minutes of Lost in Transit with a boom bap outro talking about people treating him like he’s normal until they realize he writes songs.
A great deal of the projects Machacha’s produced for other artists for at least 6 months following Eye of the Beholder have either been hit or miss, but Lost in Transit in my opinion ranks amongst Isaac Castor’s greatest material outside of The Rabbit Hole trilogy. You’re always gonna get quality production from Machacha & that’s no different here, the biggest difference however is the improved performances from both the main artist AND the guests.
Law & Disorder is an east coast superduo consisting of Brooklyn, New York emcee/producer D-Dot alongside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by way of Buffalo emcee & lawyer Tracey Lee. They’ve already crossed paths a few times already with D-Dot producing some tracks off Tracey’s slept-on solo debut Many Facez under Universal Music Group almost 3 decades ago, so hearing that they were joining forces for a full-length debut of their own at the beginning of the year peaked my curiosity.
After the “Court Day” intro, the opener “Be Warned” begins issuing a cautionary statement over a boom bap instrumental about them still being beasts with the pen whereas “Let’s Get It On” hooks up a quirkier beat to talk about their flows being hard to follow. “Like This” turns up the dustiness boasting the surgical abilities they have with the pen leading into “What’s Missin’?” talking about being the product of 2 turntables & a mic.
“The Bop” after the “Need a Lawyer?” skit nears closers to the halfway point bringing us the rawness some have been looking for just before the funky “Boss” comes through with some lyrical braggadocio. “Oooweee Owwweeee” featuring the late Black Rob finds the trio bringing it hardcore over a jazzy instrumental prior to D-Dot getting a solo joint of his own with “D-Dot Wins” for a couple minutes, turning up the aggressiveness.
Preceding the “Act Now!!!” skit, we have Law & Disorder talking about the “Brotherly Love” they have for each other while “King-Dome” keeps dissecting all opponents who dare to step up against them. “Seen It All” takes a few moments to look back at the pair’s individually historical careers & once “It’s a Flex” talks about being better than everyone else, “You Know Who We Are” ends the album by having both parties dropping battle bars 1 last time.
I initially went into Law & Disorder expecting it to be a Tracey Lee solo album fully produced by D-Dot, but I had no issue with The Madd Rapper himself joining Tracey on nearly every track since he began in the late 80s as 1/2 of 2 Kings in a Cipher. The boom bap production’s a huge upgrade compared to a great deal of the LLeft Entertainment founder’s output since returning to music after getting his bar admission & proves that neither of them are bound by the past.
Here we have the 5th extended play from Montréal, Québec, Canada rapper Jimmie D. Coming up off the Trout & Brussels Sprouts EP a decade ago already, he would later go on to put out a full-length debut alongside a mixtape & 3 more EPs since. The sophomore effort Good Music Hypnotizes entirely produced by Nicholas Craven around this time last year has quickly become the best thing he’s made yet & he’s coming back 12 months later for Birds Fly Yonder.
“Humble Beginnings” begins with this 97 second drumless intro discussing there being nothing nice regarding the struggle whereas “All Nighter”goes for a chipmunk soul vibe to describe learning from his failures & leaving them behind. “No Love” produced by Nicholas Craven was a favorite of mine from the drumless sampling to the lyrics about falling back to progress at times “Koi” featuring Pay$o boasts that no one’s on their level.
Mike Shabb gets behind the boards for another standout track “Peter Thiel” hooking up a psychedelic beat so Jimmie can get in his bag for a minute & a half but after “Rudimentary” reunites with Pay$o & brings Raz Fresco along for a boom bap heater Nicholas Craven cooked up to kick off the 2nd leg looking back at how far each of them have come, “Corporate Prophet” strips the drums again for a lesson of mastering the slow flow & the loop having a summertime aura to it.
“Chipping Away” winds down the last act of Birds Fly Wonder incorporating a drumless gospel sample from Nicholas Craven to dismantle the type of people who like to burn bridges until he talks about hitting “Downtown B.C.” with a homie from the Philippines & a bad bitch with him. The outro “Wasted Time” runs it back with Nicholas Craven for the EP’s remaining 2 & a half minutes chopping up soul samples 1 last time demanding not to fuck around when it comes to his pay.
I fully support the idea of Craven enlisting 3 other producers to help Jimmie D make Birds Fly Yonder& despite half of it containing some of my favorite songs he’s done yet, it wouldn’t necessarily be put in the same tier as Good Music Hypnotizes when ranking Jimmie’s discography although I think the upcoming project Shabbo’s producing for him will be superior whenever the time comes. The instrumentals are more drumless except we’re still getting hints of chipmunk soul & boom bap, although Jimmie’s wordplay & guests all come correctly.
Yes, we have a brand new LP & the 9th altogether from New York City emcee, songwriter, chef, wrestler & television host Action Bronson. Blowing up with release of his debut album Dr. Lecter in 2011, he then landed a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records while following up his debut with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being the Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. He then put out his major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 & it has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. He fulfilled his contracts by dropping Blue Chips 7000 & celebrated his freedom the next year in the form of White Bronco which were both solid, but didn’t reach the caliber of Lamb Over Rice the Thanksgiving after. Only for Dolphins though was pretty mid given that some of the production choices were questionable & Cocodrillo Turbo was a bounce back. Coming off having Daringer & The Alchemist producing Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor in 2024, he’s taking us all to Planet Frog.
“LeBron Hennessy” after the titular intro begins with this soulfully drumless opener produced by Daringer calling out artists who go for the same old meal whereas “Olympic Vince Carter” has a funkier boom bap vibe talking about how to know when there’s trouble in the water. Harry Fraud blends & rap rock so Bronson can compare his life to a “VHS” flick while the lead single “Triceratops” featuring Lil Yachty & Paul Wall still feels like a fever dream.
Roc Marciano appears for the 2nd & final single “Peppers” so they can talk about taking it easy over a boom bap instrumental with a prominent woodwind prior to “Condor” kicking off the 2nd half stripping the drums again explaining that tomorrow’s another journey. “Mandem” featuring Meyhem Lauren emphasizes the rock influences a bit to get boastful with each other just before the 90 second “My Blue Heaven” heads towards jazz rap territory thanks to Kenny Beats referencing WWE Hall of Famers & former WWE Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters.
“Iguana” references former AEW World Tag Team Champion, 2-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, TNA Hall of Famer, 4-time TNA World Champion, TNA World Tag Team Champion, 8-time WCW world champion, WCW World Television Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer & 2-time WWE United States Champion Sting while “Mutations” hops over a guitar to talk about taking the sword out the stone. After the compositional “Chutney” intermission, “Simoné” featuring Clovis Ochin sends it all off realizing that love changes.
Despite being thankful that the original AI artwork Action Bronson had posted on social media weeks earlier wasn’t used, I still feel like Planet Frog could’ve been better than what we wound up getting because I’d say this is the most average thing I’ve heard from him since Only for Dolphins. I respect the concept of it being this deep sea odyssey set in a dystopian world, but some of the production doesn’t impress me compared to Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor & Cocodrillo Turbo.
Detroit producer, MC & songwriter Black Milk back for his 9th LP after leaving Mass Appeal Records. Making his presence known as a member of the B.R. Gunna production trio, he eventually went solo 2 decades ago with Sound of the City & followed up on 313 Day 2007 with Popular Demand. The following year, he would dabble with electronic music on Tronic & would later start incorporating live instrumentation on Album of the Year in 2010. His next album No Poison No Paradise eventually became Black Milk’s darkest work yet & it would see a solid sequel If There’s a Hell Below the year after. FEVER became some of his most politically charged material & he’s looking to follow up Everybody Good? with a Ceremonial return.
After the “Fazes” intro, the first song “Feel Sum’n Heal Sum’n” begins by talking about either paying the standard price or double without bargaining over a self-produced instrumental whereas “In the Sky” brings a funkier vibe to describe feeling like the furnace has gone from hot to frozen. “Crash Test Dummy” has this summery boom bap flare so he can talk about slowing down prior to hitting the ground running just before “Dreams Not Only Made at Night” strips things back for a story that ends in people getting arrested.
“Act Like” after the compositional “Lift Off” interlude takes a few minutes to confront a woman who’s switching up on him & after “Never Never” talks about being made for the moment in addition to living a good life being the only thing that he’s ever wanted, “Ceremony” continues the 2nd half of the full-length in the form of this 3 minute instrumental jam session that blending this breezy guitar & drums for the soundtrack to a warm summer day.
Saba appears on the 2nd & final single “Ok…Nah” sending a direct message towards the people who thought they were safe or trying to escape from either artist prior to some rap rock undertones being hooked up so he can talk about waiting for the “Right Time” to come explaining that this shit’s bigger than merely accomplishments from his perspective. “YOUIT (Truth Be Told)” ends the album drumlessly talking about going from sitting on porches to sitting inside of Porsches.
Gearing up to fully produce Fat Ray’s upcoming 6th album Food From the Gods II set to drop somewhere between the next 7 months, Black Milk rocks the mic for the first time in 3 years for a Ceremonial reflection of how far he’s come as an artist since Sound of the City. Not only does his production exemplify this through displaying his creative evolution, but his subject matter’s more introspective than it is political this time around.
Legends Will Never Die 