Ed O.G. & Insight – Self-Titled review

This is a brand new collaborative album between Boston veterans Ed O.G. & Insight. Both emcees have collaborated before on songs like “Strategy” off the latter’s 2004 classic The Blast Radius but all these years later, they’ve decided to come together for an eponymous full-length outing.

“Just Listen” is a plain & simple opener to the album with it’s flute-inflicted boom bap production as the whole thing starts off with the duo telling Siri they wants something classic, but not trendy just before telling listeners to remember who they are on the dreamy albeit punchy “It’s Edo & Insight”.

With the perfectly titled “Never Too Late to Correct Your Mistakes”, we get some grand string sections with lyrics about righting your wrongs whereas “Choose Your Path” provides food for thought over a luxurious instrumental.

Meanwhile on “Good in Goodbye”, we go into a somewhat funkier direction as the 2 talk about breakups leading up to them telling the listener that life isn’t about choices but how one chooses on the piano-heavy “1 Step at a Time”.

The pair bring in some sirens for “Ceiling” as they talk about not even reaching their pinnacle yet & then we get a remake of my all-time favorite Big Daddy Kane song: “Set It Off”.

The penultimate track “It Takes Process” sonically mixes together some keys & strings as they talk about how Rome wasn’t built in a day & to finish it off, we get a reimagining of the Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs joint “I Gotta Have It” with the closer “Unite & Let’s All Get Down.”

As a fan of both these guys, I’m really glad to hear them come together because this is a super solid album in my book. The chemistry is great & I love the jazzy undertones in the production as well. If they plan on doing more together down the road, then I’m here for it.

Score: 4/5

88GLAM – “Heaven Can Wait” review

88GLAM is a duo from Toronto, Ontario, Canada consisting of Derek Wise & 88 Camino. They originally caught my attention in 2018 when The Weeknd signed them to his Republic Records imprint X♥O Records, only re-releasing their first 2 mixtapes before departing last summer. But with their full-length debut Close to Heaven, Far from God on the way, they’re preluding it by dropping a 3-track EP.

“Five Stars” kicks the whole 10 minute torture chamber off with a plain instrumental, lifeless performances & lyrics that aren’t very sexy at all. In fact, this one part during the hook were 88 Camino says “she gon’ take this dick like she a virgin again” could very well be one of the worst lines I’ve heard all year. The next song right after “Clockwork” goes into more cloudier territory as the duo mopes about “I hate what happened to you but it’s all my fault” & the guitar laced closer “Wockstar” is a vapid look into their rich lifestyles.

Coming from someone who’s been a huge Weeknd fan since the Trilogy days, I could never see the appeal in these guys & Heaven Can Wait exemplifies that more than ever. I don’t mean any disrespect, but the production choices are painfully drab & it’s poorly written throughout. I’d rather listen to any ΠΔV project (specifically Emergency Tsunami) than this EP & that dude’s one of the most boring artists to blow up in the last 5 years.

Score: 1.5/5

Novatore – “Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience” review

Novatore is a 33 year old MC from Chicago, Illinois coming up as a member of the Infamous Crew. He’s also built up an impressive solo career in the last 6 years by dropping 4 EPs & 7 albums, the previous being Portrait of a Mad Man this past November. But given his history with Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance, it’s only right for them to drop a sequel to Embrace the Darkness.

After the “Demon to Some” intro, the first song “Antisocial” is a boom bap banger about how Novatore doesn’t like people whereas “Smoke & Mirrors” goes into a more operatic direction to tell listeners what you thought it was is something that isn’t. NEMS comes along for the atmospheric “Myth” pretty much saying their success was imminent while the somewhat quirkily-produced “Embrace the Darkness” opens up about losing faith watching people die.

Meanwhile with “Mask Up”, we get a Japanese sample in the beat as Novatore teams up with G-Mo Skee sending warning shots to their naysayers just before Termanology & A.M. Early Morning help get reminiscent on the string-laced “Looking Back”.
The actual “Night Raiders” song by Azthmatix succeeding an “Opening Credits” interlude brings in some synth-horns as they talk about there’s no one like them while the penultimate track “Raising Hell” is an off-the-top freestyle backed by a weepy beat. The album ends with “Workaholic”, which works in a hypnotic vocal sample & the dude raps about his hustle obviously.

It’s very rare when a sequel album is better than the predecessor, but Explorers of Experience pulls it off. Novatore’s pen-game keeps elevating to higher levels with each new project he puts out, you can never really go wrong whenever C-Lance is on the boards & putting them together results in mayhem.

Score: 4/5

BVA – “Lex Neville” review

Here is the sophomore effort from Glastonbury, Somerset, England, United Kingdom emcee & Real Life Drama Records co-founder BVA. A member of The 4 Owls as well as the Brothers of the Stone & the 3 Amigos, his solo debut B.V.A. (Be Very Aware) arrived in 2014 under High Focus Records roughly 3 years succeeding an eponymous debut extended play. Coming off Peep the EP produced by the Leigh Brothers a few years earlier, he & the latter duo are introducing the world to Lex Neville.

After the titular intro, the first song “Walk the Atlas” produced by Leaf Dog begins with a soulful boom bap opener talking over rappers to compensate for their wackness whereas “In the Grip” woke in an organ to caution that we’ve entered an age of ignorance. “End of Days” featuring Jack Jetson & King Kashmere talks about entering the apocalypse over an Illinformed instrumental prior to “Groundhog Day” featuring Datkid & Leaf Dog living life deliriously.

“No Model” continues by talking about the very person who used to always have his back becoming the reason he had to watch it himself & that he isn’t someone that others should be looking up to while “Bring Me Back” desires to be brought back from the place of no return. “The Oh Oh” featuring Leaf Dog reunites the pair so they can talk about smashing their competitors lyrically while the organ-heavy “Music Wot’s Real?” speaks of always keeping things legitimate.

Meanwhile on “Fear & Loathing”, we have BVA over a woodwind mixed with kicks & snares cautioning that he might piss in other’s potions while “Reach & Bong” featuring Leaf Dog finds the 2 talking about their love for smoking weed. “Rollin’” featuring Verb T comes together to stay holding it down goldenly while “Snake Eyes” featuring Leaf Dog & Smellington Piff links up so they can turn haters into weepers.

“Carving Tablets” begins to wrap up Lex Neville’s last leg going for a soulful boom bap direction instrumentally explaining that the only thing he’s ever given fuck about was making raw music while “Nothin’ Else” hooks up a harmonic gospel flip talking about there being no better feeling to him than this very moment. “Family” chops up a crooning sample sprinkling some kicks & snares in the mix to send off the LP suggesting haters to either suck a dick or to simply go home.

B.V.A. (Be Very Aware) remains a tight collection of tracks presenting BVA’s buoyant capability of holding down an entire project all by himself & the follow-up 7 years since makes big improvements over it’s predecessor. The Leigh Brothers’ boom bap production fully realizes the cohesive ideas in terms of sound Peep the EP had initially teased, hitting fans with more entertaining quotable accompanied by a consistent list of associated collaborators.

Score: 4/5

Nametag Alexander – “The Limit” review

Nametag Alexander is a 35 year old MC from Detroit, Michigan who came up as part of the short-lived trio 10 Speed & Brown Shoe almost 2 decades back. He has since gone on to drop a slew of solo projects within the last 14 years all to pretty positive reception. Last we heard from Nametag was last spring with the release of his 8th EP Work. Win. Repeat. & to follow it up, local producer Black Bethoven is being tapped in to produce this new EP from top to bottom.

“Set Go” kicks things off with a heavy instrumental with battle bars being peppered into the mix whereas the title track takes things in a much more dancier direction encouraging listeners to push it as far as you can go. The song “Conquer” incorporates a guitar & some claps as Nametag talks about taking over the world while “The Victor” shows some ambition in the lyrics & the beat almost as a Scott Storch feel to it.

Travis Slang’s feature on the penultimate track “Believe” is kinda weak, but I do enjoy the overall message about hustling & the Japanese sample in the production. Finally, I think “Pressure Applied” is a worthy closer with Nametag jumping on a soulful boom bap instrumental to spit that weight-bench rap.

In his ever-growing discography, to me The Limit is an absolute stand out. The whole concept of it is well put together & I really like how varied in sound Black Bethoven’s production is, ranging from boom bap to dance.

Score: 4/5

Supaman – “Medicine Bundle” review

Supaman is an Apsáalooke emcee from Crow Agency, Montana known for founding the group Rezawrecktion, but broke out solo off Honest to God following their disbandment. Billy Ills has since followed it up with 4 more full-lengths but to celebrate the birthday of his son & Biggie Smalls, he’s celebrating by putting out his 5th album.

The opener “1 More” starts things off sampling one of my all-time favorite Goodie Mob songs “Cell Therapy” as Supaman spits some hardcore lyricism whereas the next track “I Hope You Know” goes full-blown indigenous from the production to Ashley Hall singing in Apsáalooke start to finish. After the “Stay Connected” skit, we get an electronic-influenced response to mass incarcerations with “Know Better Do Better” while the streams of consciousness continue on the boom bap-inflicted “Eclipse” featuring Saigon.

Meanwhile on “Alright”, we get a cheery anthem about making it through tough times kicked off with a sample of the iconic Bob Marley joint “3 Little Birds” just before the rebellious fancy dancing tune that is “Ethnocide”. The song “Sonshine” is a wonderful tribute to Supaman’s kid & even though Mother’s Day was just a couple weeks ago, I think “Momma’s Prayers” does it’s job as an empowering theme for the holiday.

“Another Day” is a piano ballad about always being there whenever he’s needed while the Hanzo-featured “High” has a glistening backdrop with some handclaps as the pair talk about elevation. The penultimate track “I Find a Way to Eat” incorporates some horns with Kaboose tagging along to help disrespect their opposers & then the album ends with “Let ‘Em Go”, where Supaman jumps on top of some strings pleading to free the kids in cages.

This dude’s approach to making music has always been unique & Medicine Bundle is no exception to it. Probably his most personal body of work yet in my opinion. I really like the wide range of sounds he shoots for on the production end & he takes you through what’s been on his mind for the last 3 years.

Score: 4/5

Old Children – “Push Start” review

The Old Children are a trio from London, England, United Kingdom consisting of emcees Booda French & HPBLK alongside producer King Kashmere. The latter of whom has become amongst the most recognizable names in the entire UK hip hop scene with a career spanning decades while the other 2 have emerged between 2015 & 2016 respectively. So to have The Iguana Man unite both of them & get behind the boards for the group’s debut extended play had me excited of what they were gonna do.

After the intro, “1Up” hops over a lo-fi boom bap beat refusing to celebrate wack rappers when they shouldn’t be whereas “Metron’s Chair” gives off an intergalactically dusty vibe instrumentally dismantling any competitor who isn’t on the same wave they are. “Abin Sur” reaches the midway point of the EP talking about this being do or die for both performers leading into “Louder” featuring Ramson Badbonez nostalgically kicks off the 2nd half on some old school shit.

“Long Road” winds down Push Start’s remaining minutes talking about over a beat reminiscent to the late, great J Dilla at points talking about finally making it to their own destinations after choosing to take the more difficult path while the final song “Double Dragon” preceding the outro makes a dope reference to WWE Hall of Famer, former 3-time WWE Champion, 11-time WWE tag team champion, the inaugural WWE Hardcore Champion, CWA World Tag Team Champion & TNA World Champion Mick Foley.

Regardless of whether or not the Old Children plan to continue making music together going forward, it doesn’t take away from the fact Push Start still gives the world a look at what these guys can accomplish when combining forces. Booda French & HPBLK give us some of the hungriest performances of their careers whether it be depicting out of this world imagery or making left field references & unpacking forward thinking streams of thought over King Kashmere’s cosmic production.

Score: 3.5/5

Black Soprano Family Records & TCF Music Group – “Trust the Sopranos” review

This is a brand new collaborative compilation between New York independent hip hop labels Black Soprano Family Records & T.C.F. Music Group. One operates as an E1 Music imprint owned by Benny the Butcher & the latter being founded by 38 Spesh. The pair have been working together for a long time now (case in point: Stabbed & Shot), so it only makes sense for them to bring their crews together for Trust the Sopranos.

The opener “Immunity” by Benny & Elcamino kicks off with a succulent instrumental from Rick Hyde as the 2 go on about having their block under control, but then the Camino solo cut “Corner” is a horrendously sung R&B ballad despite the luscious 38 Spesh production. We later have Che Noir, Klass Murda & Ransom detailing their lifestyles on the angelic “Price of Fame” before the latter teams up with Benny to talk about fake people on the piano-laced “Spineless”. Ampichino & Spesh come together to talk about their lives being like a movie for the victorious “Tokyo Drift” whereas the Heem solo cut “Long Story Short” is him jumping on alluring boom bap beat saying that he’s about to take shit over.

Ricky accompanies Heem on the cinematic “Load Up” to talk about their homies mobbin’ while the song “Love Left” by Benny, Che Noir & Klass Murda is a smooth heartbreak anthem. The penultimate track “Blue Money” by Benny, Elcamino & 38 Spesh finds the trio talking about getting it out the mud over an organ-laced instrumental from the late DJ Shay whereas the closer “Silent Death” by Chase Fetti & Rick Hyde is an airy ode to murder.

It was only a matter of time both labels would come together given their intertwining history & the end result is pretty decent. Benny & Spesh always bounced off each other well on projects like Stabbed & Shot and the Cocaine Cowboys duology, but the TCF artists (i.e. Ransom & Che Noir) outperform the BSF signees throughout the half-hour.

Score: 3/5

Mach-Hommy – “Pray for Haiti” review

Mach-Hommy is a 38 year old MC from Newark, New Jersey breaking out in 2017 when he dropped his sophomore album H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor) under Griselda Records. However, he & Tha God Fahim fell out with the label shortly after only for both of them to reconcile this past Christmas. But since May is Haitian Heritage Month, we have Mach marking his return to the Buffalo powerhouse by dropping his 5th full-length album to celebrate.

“The 26th Letter” is a trumpet-laced opener where Mach goes on about rearranging the whole game whereas the next song “No Blood Sweat” jumps on a pillowy Camoflauge Monk instrumental to say he taking food out cats’ mouths. Westside Gunn hops on “Folie á Deux” as he & Mach tell all the fuckboys that they’re finished over a psychedelic boom bap beat from Conductor Williams before declaring every day as Easter Gunnday on the soulful “Maxron Jaxon”.

“The Stellar Ray Theory” was a great choice for a lead single with its sax-heavy production & the lyrics about cats “blaming clouds on the rain & the sky” while he gets in his storytelling bag on “Marie” & I love the “Hail Mary” tribute in the hook. After the “Leta Yo” skit, Mach vents that he keeps seeing Deedee & Stevie in his naps with Nicholas Craven providing him with a bass guitar & a vocal loop for “Kriminel” just before declaring that he’s in his bag on the Sadhugold-produced “Pen Rale”.

“Murder Czn” with Westside Gunn of course a melancholic cut using for blood while Tha God Fahim tags along for the rich “Magnum Band” to help talk about having 357 on deck. The back & forth chemistry between Mach & Westside on the piano-tinged “Rami” is fantastic & after the “Kreyol” skit, the song “Au Revoir” goes into a more rock direction with the help of DJ Green Lantern as well as lyrics going at “pussy n****s”. The penultimate track “Blockchain” has a slowed down jazz sample throughout as Mach explains that there’s too many information highway cats riding the wave & then “10 Boxes: Sin Eater” is a dusty finisher saying he’s been wavy.

As much as I really enjoyed Pray for Paris, I can argue that Pray for Haiti is one of those immensely rare instances where the sequel album is better than the predecessor. We get a good look into Mach-Hommy’s Haitian roots whilst sticking to the raw lo-fi aesthetics we’ve all come to know & love from him.

Score: 4.5/5

Ace Hashimoto – “Play Make Believe” review

Ace Hashimoto is a 31 year old rapper, producer & singer/songwriter from Chicago, Illinois coming up as a member of the now defunct Odd Future under his birth name brandUn DeShay in 2008. He would eventually depart the collective a couple years later as a result of a falling out with it’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator but still saw success on his own by producing for the likes of Danny Brown & Chance the Rapper. It should also be noted that brandUn has dropped a small handful of mixtapes since his OF days, my personal favorite of the bunch being All Day DeShay: AM. But with a new moniker & a 5 year hiatus since his previous tape goldUn Child 2, the Chi-Town artist is re-emerging by dropping what he says “might be my first & last” full-length album.

“ZOMBIE: The Entrail-duction is a instrumental piece, but then the first actual song “GIRLS” is a summery duet with ph-1 as the 2 sing about enjoying sweet freedom. The track “O.M.W. (One Man Woman)” is an acoustic cut about being ready for his partner whereas Ace & Taichi Mukai come together to take what’s theirs on the synth-heavy “2NITE”.

Meanwhile on “TRAK STAR”, we get an instrumental that sounds like something The Neptunes would’ve produced in the late 90’s/early 2000’s along with lyrics about wanting his partner to stay the night whereas Sir Michael Rocks & Devin Morrison come together to talk about staying inside on the piano-heavy “Great Indoors”. Ta-Ra tags along for the funky “Bad Habits” helping Ace sing about not being a shitty person while he takes things in a more jazzier direction on the tender “Affection”.

The track “4Everything” has a more boom bap sound to it as he & Kero 1 tell their lovers they “ain’t no Casanova” before pondering why he returned to his ex when their love was no more on the glossy “Nice to Know You”. After the rock-influenced “Etika’s Interlude”, the final song “I Feel Fly” is a peppy duet with Mon’aerie that I wish was longer than 56 seconds & the closer “Ending Theme” is just a skit done in Japanese.

If you’re going into this expecting the hip hop sound Ace Hashimoto came up on, you might be disappointed because Play Make Believe is a full blown R&B album. The features are kinda hit or miss but Ace’s singing has improved, the songwriting is catchy & the production is super crisp. Whatever the future holds for him, I wish him nothing but the best.

Score: 3.5/5