Cypress Hill – “Back in Black” review

This is the 10th full-length album from South Gate’s very own Cypress Hill. Consisting of B-Real & Sen Dog on the mic as well as DJ Muggs on the boards & Eric Bobo on percussion, the quarter would take the west coast by storm a little over 3 decades back off their eponymous full-length debut under Ruffhouse Records in tandem with Columbia Records because of Muggs’ unique production style & their pro-marijuana legalization themes. Other standouts in the group’s discography include Black Sunday, my personal favorite Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom, the criminally underappreciated Cypress Hill IV & even their last one Elephants on Acid. But with the 4 year anniversary of the latter coming up in the fall & since DJ Muggs has been busy fully producing projects for other people ranging from Rome Streetz to more recently Rigz, they’re bringing in Detroit veteran Black Milk to produce Back in Black.

“Takeover” is an energetic opener talking about the return of the group on top of a cloudy boom bap instrumental whereas “Open Ya Mind” goes into a funkier direction celebrating weed being legal in their home-state. Demrick comes into the picture for the groovy “Certified” rightfully bragging about their legacies just before the Dizzy Wright-assisted “Bye Bye” pensively details the warzone that is the hood & the drums are so goddamn dusty.

Meanwhile on “Come with Me”, we have Cypress Hill coming through with a decent homage to the iconic Outlawz joint “Hail Mary” leading into “The Original” taking a funky boom bap route to talk about being OGs in this shit. “Hit ‘Em” finds B-Real & Sen Dog on top of some hi-hats to get anthemic while the song “Break of Dawn” works in a guitar talking about never stopping. The penultimate track “Champion Sound” mixes some elements of trip hop & digital dancehall to declare themselves champs, but then “The Ride” ends the album by jumping on top of a vibraphone & some bongos to tell the story of a crack dealer.

Now for all the fans who weren’t really fucking with Rise Up even though I’d say there are songs I appreciate now as much as I did then, you’re gonna like Back in Black a lot more since I’d say their MNRK Music Group debut could go down as my favorite they’ve done without Muggs’ involvement. In fact, I think it’s one of the best albums that Cypress Hill has put together yet. After all the experimenting that they did on Elephants on Acid, they manage to get one of Detroit’s greatest producers to take them back to their roots & succeeding.

Score: 4/5

Hatfield – “No Change” review

Hatfield is an MC from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who’s been steadily been dropping singles for over a year now like “Tax” & more recently “Did It All Without a Quake Feature”. But for his debut EP, he’s enlisting local producer DJ BLKUOS behind the boards for the whole thing given that they’ve been working with each other quite a bit as of late.

“Greenery” is a spacious boom bap opener telling everyone to leave him be whereas “Ohohh” takes a more calmer approach talking about acting clean around him. “No Lunch” returns to boom bap territory asking the lil homies what they doing leading into the groovy “My Ppl” paying tribute to his people of course. The song “Crosstheline” comes through with some heavy auto-tune detailing relationship issues while the title track takes a soulful route talking about being the one. “Stuck” ends the EP on a trap note challenging his opposition.

Overall, I think these guys gave us an impressive EP right here & I’m very intrigued by what they’re gonna do next. The amount of versatility that both parties show from Hatfield’s gritty raps to auto-tuned singing as well as DJ BLKLUOS’ production ranging from boom bap to trap really go hand-in-hand with each other & as a result, they present an admirably natural chemistry.

Score: 3.5/5

Vega7 the Ronin – “The Lead Lined Wall” review

Queens, New York emcee Vega7 the Ronin recruiting København, Hovedstaden, Denmark producer Machaha to produce his debut EP. Known for his multisyllabic rhymes & dense wordplay, Detroit veteran Ty Farris has seen fit to sign Vega7 to his rising indie label Bars Over B.S. Records to make a significantly bigger splash within the underground hip hop scene, treading along The Lead Lined Wall to make a broader introduction to everyone who might not be familiar with him yet since he’s never had an official body of work until now.

“Sage Mode” begins by referencing former 7-time WWE world champion, 3-time WWE tag team champion, 5-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart over a drumless instrumental whereas “Dakota Arms” takes a bit of an eerier boom bap turn to the beat talking about his lyricism being vulgar & the script being full of sulfur.

As for “Water Style” featuring Ja’king the Divine, we have both parties maintaining the hardcore vibes altogether showcasing their prowesses while “The Lost Knife of a Hunter” includes a reference to WWE Hall of Famer & former WWE Tag Team Champion Tony Atlas who mentored current AEW coach/commentator as well as fellow WWE Hall of Famer & 2-time WWE world champion holding the original World Heavyweight Championship & the ECW World Heavyweight Championship Mark Henry.

“Food & Medicine” featuring MTS Music strips the drums in favor of a prominent vocal sample showing off clever wordplay with the bar centered around Cordae’s breakout single “Old N****s” leading into “PAL Code” showing respect to former SMW Tag Team Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & 6-time WWE Hardcore Champion Al Snow. “Akai Pads” references former NXT Women’s Champion, 6-time WWE women’s world champion & 2-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Mercedes Moné & the final song “GZA Chew Sticks” featuring Book$ ahead of the “Requiem” outro includes a bar referring to Bubbles from the Warner Bros.-owned HBO series The Wire.

The amount of buzz that this guy’s been generating in the underground up until this point makes it all worth it with one of the greatest hip hop EPs that I’ve heard in 2021 & establishes Veg7 the Ronin as a force to be reckoned with in the underground for years to come. Machacha’s production prominently goes for towards a minimalistically dark & drumless sound that near-perfectly helps enhance the display of Vega7’s penmanship showing off his technicality & wordplay abilities aside from a few guests showing up to add their own flavor to the table even if Ja’king delivers the hardest feature of the 3 in my respectfully personal opinion.

Score: 4.5/5

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Lil Durk – “7220” review

Lil Durk is a 29 year old rapper from Chicago, Illinois who came up a little over a decade ago off his debut mixtape I’m a Hitta. This was followed up with Life Ain’t No Joke & the first 2 installments of the Signed to the Streets trilogy, the latter of which led him signing to Def Jam Recordings for his full-length debut Remember My Name & the sophomore effort Lil Durk 2X. Since then, Durk has made himself home at Alamo Records & dropped 9 more mixtapes. But now in light of his late protege King Von’s latest posthumous outing What It Means to Be King seeing the light of day last weekend, Durk is continuing to apply pressure in the form of his 3rd album.

“Started From” kicks off the whole thing with a bare piano instrumental talking about his beginnings whereas “Headtaps” vulnerably opens up on starting from the bottom, but the beat is so painfully generic. “AHHH HA!”comes through with a vicious YoungBoy Never Broke Again diss down to the Southside/TM88 production, but then “Shooutout @ My Crib” mixed some pianos & snares addressing a home invasion that took place last summer.

Meanwhile on “Golden Child”, we have Durk over a cloudy Hitmaka instrumental detailing the violent gang life just before “No Interviews” talks about trying to turn up even with the beat being as comatose as it is. Future tags along for the spacey “Petty Too” to get back at their women being salty leading into “Barbarian” bringing back the keyboards talking about not letting up.

Gunna comes into the picture for the Chopsquad DJ-produced “What Happened to Virgil?” to pay their respects to the late Off-White founder while “Grow Up” starts off as a piano ballad talking about what he is wanted to be as he grew up prior to “Keep It On Speaker” switching it up into more tenser territory telling a story where the cops pulled him over because of the color of his skin.

Following that, “Smoking & Thinking” once again incorporates some keyboards venting the shit that enters his mind when smoking while “Blocklist” comes off as an arduous ballad bragging about the people he has blocked on his phone. “Difference Is” with Summer Walker feels redundant in the track-listing given that it just seems like a forced R&B duet to get radio play whereas “Federal Nightmares” on the other hand expresses some serious paranoia that he’s dealt with in the past & it’s really admirable.

The song “Love Dior Banks” does it’s job at tugging at the heartstrings telling his niece to hold her brother close while the penultimate track “Pissed Me Off” goes into drill territory paying tribute to his protégé King Von & his brother DThang. “Broadway Girls” however has to be one of the worst closers of the year, as Morgan Wallen pops in for a country trap tune describing their regrettable experiences with women.

All of that being said: I went into 7220 excited as Hell & wound up coming away from it at a crossroad. I appreciate Durk getting a lot more personal through his songwriting this time around & the lack of features further cements that, but the production is so remarkably inconsistent & it really makes me hope that he can get that situated sooner than later.

Score: 2.5/5

Fly Anakin – “Frank” review

Fly Anakin is a 27 year old MC from Richmond, Virginia who’s been making music for nearly a decade at this point. However, he first caught my attention in 2018 after being featured on Ankhlejohn’s magnum opus Van Ghost. & started to gain even more exposure a little over a year ago when he & Pink Siifu dropped their collab album FlySiifu’s. But coming fresh off some promising singles that Fly Anakin has putting out for the last few months, it was all leading up to his full-length debut album over here.

“Love Song (Come Back)” is a string-laced opener getting in his romance bag whereas the soulful “Dontbeafraid” with Henny L.O. finds the 2 talking about entitled cats setting the game back. “Sean Price” comes through with a lavish tribute to the fallen Boot Camp soldier of the same name with the help of Evidence behind the boards leading into the appropriately titled “Underdog Theme”.

After the “Kenneth Cole Collections” skit, “WaxPoetic” comes through with a drumless acoustic loop talking about being a suburban dude now leading into Pink Siifu tagging along for the boom bap-tinged “Black Be the Source” talking about building & destroying. Nickelus F comes into the picture for the dreary “Ghost” getting in their hardcore shit, but then “Class Clown” returns to soul territory acknowledging that the only capping he does is shrooms.

After the “Bread” skit, “No Dough” talks about not doing shit for free anymore over a groovy Madlib instrumental while the orchestral “Grammy Snubnose” warns not to let him see his people switch. “Bad Business (Killswitch)” weaves in a moody boom bap beat dissing MCs who be moving backwards while “Poisonous Primates” goes into funkier turf talking about killing his ego.

After the “Fly Away” skit, the penultimate track “Telepathic” with Big Kahuna Og finds the 2 tossing the mic back & forth with each other pretty well over a cloud backdrop & “Bag Man” returns with some angelic background vocals talking about how it don’t take much to be the man in the climate that hip hop’s in today.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this dude in the last few years & I can definitely hear why after listening this album. It’s touching that he flipped so many soul records in honor of father & even lyrically, there are points where he’s getting a lot more personal than he did on his previous efforts.

Score: 3.5/5

H.A.R.D. – “The Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse” review

H.A.R.D. is a hip hop super-duo consisting of Joell Ortiz & KXNG CROOKED. Both of whom have had notorious label issues at the start of their careers, but would go on to see success as members of the supergroup Slaughterhouse along with Royce da 5’9” & Joe Budden from the late 2000s up until the mid-2010s. The quartet had quietly disbanded in 2016 after Joe’s retirement from making music even though it wasn’t confirmed until 2 years later, but the other 3 members have been keeping themselves busy ever since. H.A.R.D. introduced themselves a couple months after the pandemic hit with an incredible eponymous debut EP & with the 2 year anniversary of that approaching in the spring, they’re coming back in the form of a debut album.

After the “Birth” intro, the first song “Vacancy” is a gospel-laced opener produced by The Heatmakerz talking about putting the business in the back & get back in business whereas “Ain’t Nobody Mad” follows it up with an organ provided by DJ Silk addressing those who be asking them why they still be talking about that bullshit. “Backstage” takes a more soulful route wishing real life was like being in a green room just before “Flood Waters” mixes some sputtering drums with pianos talking about how paradise ain’t what it used to be.

Meanwhile on “Fukglasshouse”, we have H.A.R.D. pretty much shooting down any remaining hope of Glass House seeing the light of day over a catastrophic trap beat from DJ Pain 1 leading into a dope sequel to “Brother’s Keeper” off Yaowa’s 3rd album House Slippers. “Almighty” weaves some horns in to get on their battle rap shit, but then “Smoke” comes through with a more calmer sound talking about not doing all the industry functions.

“Coastin’” has a more tenser sound calling out someone who ain’t down to ride while the song “Still in My Feelings” is a worthy sequel to “In My Feelings” off Joell’s latest solo effort Autograph referencing the greatest WWE superstar ever; 7-time world champion, 7-time tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion The Undertaker. The penultimate track “Look Mama” serves as a touching dedication to both of their mothers & lastly, “Sorry” closes out the album with a chipmunk soul sample apologizing to everyone for the way Slaughterhouse ended.

I think the self-titled EP has better production, but Joell & Crook come harder on here lyrically. Coming from someone who was once a big fan of Slaughterhouse, it’s a little fucked up that they didn’t tell Royce or Joe about it until it was announced but I can’t deny how interesting it is to hear these guys looking back on their time in the group.

Score: 4/5

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Benny the Butcher – “Tana Talk 4” review

Benny the Butcher is a 37 year old MC from Buffalo, New York who’s been making music since 2004. However, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Last year alone, he teamed up with Harry Fraud for The Plugs I Met II in the spring & then Pyrex Picasso in the summer. However, he’s finally linking back up with Daringer & The Alchemist for his 3rd full-length album as well as the 4th installment of the Tana Talk series.

“Johnny P’s Caddy” kicks off the album with a soulful Alchemist beat & J. Cole joining Benny in talking about deserving to be where they are now & their cribs being like an old show on the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned MTV whereas the Stove God Cook$-assisted “Back 2x” follows it up by bringing the coke raps back & Daringer taking the instrumental back to the basement. “Super Plug” works in a dejecting beat talking about how his only wish was to get his close ones rich just before Boldy James tags along for “Weekends in the Perry’s”, where he & Benny jump on top of a chipmunk soul sample addressing how it’s always been.

Meanwhile on “10 More Crack Commandments”, we have The Butcher delivering a stellar sequel to “10 Crack Commandments” that would make Biggie proud down to the spoken word outro from Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy leading into Conway coming into the picture for “Tyson vs. Ali” talking about how everyone compares the greatest to the greatest nowadays on top of some dusty drums & pianos. “Uncle Bun” goes into a more suspenseful direction as a Benny & 38 Spesh toss the mic back & forth with one another, but then “Thowy’s Revenge” incorporates a horn sample talking about how he went & got it.

“Billy Joe” brings an organ into the picture to describe the shit he be doing within the first 3 days of every month while the song “Guerrero” with Westside Gunn finds the 2 on top of a futuristic boom bap instrumental with some amazing wordplay. The penultimate track “Bust a Brick Nick” viciously attacks those who haven’t been the places he’s been to even though the beat is opulent as Hell & lastly, “Mr. Chow Hall” ends the album by confessing what’s been on his mind lately & the instrumental here is just spine-tingling.

Much like Conway did with God Don’t Make Mistakes a couple weeks back, I think Benny gave us some of the best work of his career with this album. From the vivid street imagery to Daringer & The Alchemist’s production, every one involved kills it at picking up where the previous installment of the series left off while recapturing that sound.

Score: 4.5/5

Shenseea – “Alpha” review

Shenseea is a 25 year old singer/songwriter & DJ from Kingston, Jamaica who’s dropped a handful of singles since 2015 like the Vybz Kartel-assisted “Loodi” or “Run Run”. She then signed to Interscope Records prior to the pandemic, but got her biggest push yet after appearing on the “Ok Ok” remix off Kanye West’s final Def Jam album DONDA this past summer. So given that, it was only a matter of time until she’d strike while the iron’s hot & drop a full-length debut.

“Target” with Tyga starts off the album with a decent ballad accompanied by a blissful atmosphere talking about doing right by one another whereas “Can’t Anymore” is a much more peppier follow-up wanting to get nasty. “Deserve It” goes into a more dancehall direction fantasizing over the perfect guy leading into 21 Savage tagging along for “R U That?”, which is a fresh fusion of contemporary R&B & trap outlining what kind of relationships they want.

Meanwhile on “Lick”, we have Megan Thee Stallion coming into the picture for a more refined version of “W.A.P. (Wet Ass Pussy)” down to the Murda Beatz instrumental just before the Offset-assisted “Bouncy” reveals itself to be a playful ass-shaking anthem. “Henkel Glue” returns to dancehall turf as Shenseea goes back & forth with Bernie Man talking about how this isn’t any kind of regular love, but then “Lying If I Call It Love” is a reggae-tinged slow jam detailing not being in love with her partner (played by Sean Paul) even though the sex is great.

“Hangover” comes through with an airy trap ballad advising how much it’s gonna hurt when she breaks up with her man while “Body Count” spaciously advises her new lover not to worry about such. “Egocentric” melodically advises how much your ego can damage you fighting for money like 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena while “Shen Ex Anthem” pretty much speaks for itself over a pillowy beat. The penultimate track “Sun Comes Up” reveals itself to be an empowering anthem about rising up & to end the album, Tyga returns for the endearing “Blessed” addressing their gratitude for where they are today.

For a commercial debut, I think Alpha further cements Shenseea as the most exciting new face in the dancehall scene. She still stays true to her roots, but I also think it’s fun the way she tries to incorporate elements of hip hop & pop into her music.

Score: 3.5/5

Ho99o9 – “Skin” review

Ho99o9 is a punk rap duo from Newark, New Jersey consisting of theOGM & Eaddy. They originally emerged on the scene in 2014 off their debut EP Mutant Freax & have since gone on to follow it up with 3 more EPs along with 3 mixtapes & even a full-length debut. But in light of them signing to Travis Barker’s newly formed Elektra Records imprint DTA Records, it was only appropriate to have the revered blink-182 drummer produce their sophomore effort over here.

“NUGE SNIGHT” is a short yet heavy opener cleverly welcoming listeners to Death Row whereas “BATTERY NOT INCLUDED” works in some thrashy drums talking about how “nothing’s ever perfect”. “BITE MY FACE” comes through with a riot-starter demanding to show ‘em what you’re living in just before Bun B tags along for the chopped & screwed “SLO BREAD” to get on their hustler shit.

Meanwhile on “PROTECT MY BITCH, Pt. 2”, we have Ho99o9 going into a more industrial sound calling out an internet gangsta leading into “…SPEAK OF THE DEVIL” incorporating a heavy ass riff talking about how you can’t run from them because this is who they are. Saul Williams comes into the picture for the punky “SKINHEAD” screaming to give them drugs, but then “LOWER THAN SCUM” comes through with a killer guitar riff talking about the devil being in them.

“DEVIL AT THE CROSSROADS” starts out the final leg of the album with an uncanny trap cut confessing their temptations with Satan himself while “THE WORLD, THE FLESH, THE DEVIL” goes into trap metal territory getting murderous. The penultimate track “LIMITS” with Jasiah finds the 2 chaotically talking about not seeing such & “DEAD OR ASLEEP?” ends the album with a punk rap ballad singing to take them out with no regret.

These guys have always caught my interest beginning when Horrors of 1999 came out over a week after my high school graduation, but I’m so happy they linked with Travis Barker because he gave them their best body of work yet. His production’s a lot more rawer in comparison to the recent shit he’s been doing with Machine Gun Kelly & both MCs sound angrier than ever on the mic.

Score: 4/5

Bun B – “Mo Trill” review

This is the 6th full-length album from Port Arthur veteran Bun B. Coming up as 1/2 of the iconic duo UGK a little over 3 decades back, he eventually released his solo debut Trill in 2005 & began focusing towards his solo career a few months after UGK’s self-titled double album when his cohort Pimp C passed away. He went on to release 4 more albums with the last one being Return of the Trill, but is now returning after 3 & a half years by enlisting Cory Mo to produce Mo Trill in it’s entirety.

The title track starts off the album with Lil Keke & Slim Thug joining Bun on top of a jazzy instrumental talking about being triller than they were the day prior whereas “Hesitate” with David Banner & Talib Kweli finds the trio jumping on top of a glossy beat talking about Yahweh telling them that Heaven’s waiting. Wale & 2 Chainz tag along for the soulful trap ballad “My Queen” paying tribute to the special ladies in their lives just before “This World” with Big K.R.I.T. & Trae tha Truth gets socially conscious on top of an organ & hi-hats co-produced by Zaytoven.

After the “Queenie Keepin’ It Trill” skit, we have Devin the Dude coming in the picture for the twangy relaxation anthem “Feel Good” leading into the Benny the Butcher-assisted “Theme Song” paying tribute to all the playas out there & the guitar on here is so gnarly. “The Geto” is a pretty cool recreation of Too $hort joint of the same name down to Z-Ro’s hook while the song “Duces in the Wind” with Larry June & Le$ goes into a funkier route talking about living like a playa & moving like a boss. The penultimate track “The Streets” then reminds everyone that the hood don’t love nobody over a sorrowful instrumental & “Pot of Gold” ends it with a gospel-tinged ballad about how they can’t stand the rain.

Bun always comes correct whenever he drops a solo effort & I actually happen to take Mo Trill over that Bun B Day EP he put out the summers after Return of the Trill. Cory Mo been putting it down for H-Town for a little over 2 decades at this point, so for the Trill O.G. to let him shine for an entire album by letting him & his guests rap their asses off accompanied by some fresh southern production.

Score: 3.5/5