Rapper Big Pooh is a 41 year old rapper from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina who came up as a member of the seminal Little Brother alongside rapper/singer Phonte & producer 9th Wonder. However, he’s been building up quite a discography of his own since the man’s 2005 solo debut Sleepers. Last time we got a project from Big Pooh was in 2018 with the Focus…-produced RPM album but after taking a couple years off & to celebrate his birthday, he & Young RJ of Slum Village are unearthing an EP’s worth of joints they recorded together in the late 2000s.
“The Recipe” that starts the EP off spits about how he came to do rather than talk over a triumphant beat whereas the next song “Get It In” talks about going hard over a more rugged instrumental. The track “Money” with O-Dash & Frank Nitt finds the trio showing listeners how it is over a boom bap beat with some twinkling keyboard melodies while the song “Hello” gets on the lovey dovey side of things over a slow, enticing instrumental. The closer “Smile” pays tribute to his mother over a joyous beat.
Even though these joints were recorded a little over a decade ago, it sounds like they were all made recently. Rapper Big Pooh’s pen-game hasn’t changed a bit & Young RJ shows himself as one of the most underrated producers that the 313 has to offer.
Babyface Ray is a 30 year old rapper from Detroit, Michigan who came up in 2015 as a member of the Team Eastside collective. Since then he’s released 5 mixtapes, a collaborative effort with fellow Team Eastside colleague Peezy & 4 EPs. But with his birthday being the previous weekend & his profile ever-growing, Ray is celebrating by dropping a follow-up to For You in the form of a 5th EP ahead of a full-length debut.
The EP starts with “Real N****s Don’t Rap”, where Ray talks about his authenticity over a woozy trap beat. The next song “If You Know You Know” with Moneybagg Yo finds the duo talking about never trippin’ over a hyphy instrumental while the track “Tahoe” talks about live being good over an capacious FNZ beat. The song “Like Daisy Lane” gets braggadocious over a vigorous instrumental while the track “Allowance” with Kash Doll sees the 2 talking about bad bitches over a trap beat from Hit-Boy with some ghoulish bells. The penultimate track “Pink 10s” with EST G finds the duo on their gangsta shit over an instrumental with some prominent woodwinds & synths whereas the closer “Change You” talks about going up too fast over a tearjerking beat.
I’ve been paying attention to Babyface Ray for past few years now & this new EP is another reminder of his evolution. The production sounds more crisp in comparison to his previous efforts & his songwriting has gotten catchier. Can’t wait to hear what he has in store on an upcoming full-length.
This is a brand new soundtrack album curated by California producer, rapper & singer/songwriter Hit-Boy. Coming up in the late 2000s under the wing of Polow da Don, he eventually become an in-house producer for the Kanye West-owned Def Jam Recordings imprint G.O.O.D. Music from 2011 to 2013 before forming his own label HS87 Music distributed by Interscope Records. But it goes without saying that 2020 was Hit-Boy’s biggest year yet, starting off when he entirely produced Nas’ latest full-length outing King’s Disease in it’s entirety in late August. This would result in a 3-peat for Hit-Boy, as he went on to produce nearly half of Big Sean’s last album Detroit 2 a couple weeks later & then lacing Benny the Butcher’s sophomore effort Burden of Proof from front to back a little over a month after. But to accompany the universally acclaimed political drama Judas & the Black Messiah hitting HBO Max & select theaters, the West Coast producer has amassed an all-star cast of performers to make music inspired by the motion picture.
After the 3-minute spoken word intro “COINTELPRO / DEC. 4” by Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., the first song “Fight for You” by H.E.R. talks about freedom over a glossy yet funky beat whereas the next song “EPMD” by Nas gets in his Escobar bag referencing the 5 big tech companies in Google, Amazon, Apple Inc., Meta Platforms & Microsoft over an more aggressive instrumental from Hit-Boy himself. The song “Welcome to America” by Black Thought talks about dreaming as long as you’re breathing in the U.S. over a tribal beat from Sean C while the track “What It Feels Like” by JAY-Z & the late Nipsey Hu$$le talks about success over an instrumental with an ambitious atmosphere to it.
The song “Broad Day” by Hit-Boy talks about A&Ring the game over an angelic beat while the track “Plead the .45th” by SABA & Smino talks about remaining silent over a colorless instrumental. The song “Something Ain’t Right” by J.I.D & Rapsody talks about corruption over a calming beat from Cardiak while the track “Letter 2 U” by BJ the Chicago Kid asks to set this woman’s soul on fire over a tactile instrumental.
The song “On Your Mind” by Lil Durk gets confessional over a trap beat with some wonderful keyboard arpeggios while the track “Appraise” by White Dave talks about being the last hope over a cloudy instrumental. The song “All Black” by G Herbo talks about poppin’ out over some celebratory horn sections from Turbo while the track “I Declare War” by Nado Wick gets violent over an drugged-out instrumental from Cardo.
The song “No Profanity” by Pooh Shiesty perfectly lives up to it’s name as he talks about standing on what he believes in without cussing over a sumptuous trap beat while the track “Last Man Standing” by Polo G talks about leading Chicago the way Fred Hampton did over a wretched instrumental. The song “Respect My Mind” by Dom Kennedy talks about rising to the challenges over a hair-raising beat while the track “Revolutionary” by G Herbo & Bump J talks about “standing like a man” over a beautiful vocal sample laced throughout the instrumental.
The song “Teach Me” by SiR talks about having the wrong idea of love over a holy beat while the track “Contagious” by SAFE & Liana Ledé is a cliché romance duet carried by the spicy instrumental. The song “Rich N***a Problems” by A$AP Rocky details the cons of being wealthy over a jazzy trap beat & after the “J.A.T.B.M”. outro, the bonus cut “Black Messiah” by Rakim is essentially Fred Hampton’s life on wax backed by a soul sample from The God MC himself.
This is hands down the best soundtrack album I’ve heard in a while. I mean I’m not too big on soundtrack albums this day in age & I made that pretty clear when I gave a positive review towards the Conflicted soundtrack last month, but I consider this to be the Black Panther soundtrack on steroids from the guests & production to the subject matter.
Phora is a 26 year old rapper from Anaheim, California who broke out in 2017 off his debut album Yours Truly Forever. He just dropped his 6th mixtape With Love 2 back in November & now with Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend, he’s following it up by dropping his 2nd EP.
The EP starts with “colorblind”, where Phora talks about never leaving this woman’s side over a summery beat. The next song “Loaded Gun” talks about being lonely inside over a bare acoustic guitar while the track “I’m scared of falling in love” talks about living without a heart over a lethargic beat. The song “damaged inside” talks about how his life is better with his girl by his side over an acoustic-tinged boom bap instrumental while the track “room 427” talks about someone who only remembers the bad times with him over an acoustic guitar & some snares. “the art of letting go” talks about how he hopes his ex still smells him on her pillows over an derelict beat & then the closer “where do we go when there’s nothing left?” serves as a tribute to those who’re no longer with us & the vocal sample is actually really cool.
I can imagine some people getting down to this EP given how “sad” it is, but I did care for it at all unfortunately. The production is ok, but Phora doesn’t really do the emo rap subgenre any justice whatsoever as his lyrics come off too melodramatic & corny for a good portion of the time.
This is brand new EP from Detroit horrorcore duo, Juggalo Championship Wrestling founders & the longest reigning JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions the Insane Clown Posse. Consisting of Violent J & Shaggy 2 Dope, a lot of cats don’t know that 3 other members came & went during the first 5 years of the group’s inception. Not only would The Duke of the Wicked & the Southside Strangla go on to create seminal wicked shit albums like The First 6, but they gained an extremely loyal fanbase in the process & their self-owned Psychopathic Records became an independent hip hop powerhouse as the label’s roster continued to grow. They did a series of Paetron streams to commemorate what would’ve been the 27th annual Hallowicked show & to give back to everyone subscribed, the wicked clowns gifted them an exclusive 6-track EP.
The EP kicks off with “The Blob”, where Violent J tells the story of a killer blob from another galaxy over a dire beat from Devereaux. The next song “My Forehead” is literally J & Shaggy talking about how big Violent J’s forehead is over an old school instrumental from none other than Mike E. Clark while the track “Cartoon Goon” finds the duo going back & forth about an illustration that will seal your fate over a vilainous beat from Shaggytheairhead.
The song “Mighty Mote” sounds like a leftover from the Fearless Fred Fury sessions as J talks about a kid getting revenge on everyone from his step-dad to his school busdriver to the electronic/trap fused production while the penultimate track “The Ceremony” is a beautiful dedication to Shaggy, Billy Bill & Jumpsteady backed by an uplifting trap beat. The EP closes out with “Live Dead Forever”, which is easily the most wicked joint on the entire thing referencing the late Luke Perry only a month after his son Jack became the current AEW World Tag Team Champion.
For the 4 month wait, it was well worth it in my opinion. Violent J is still one of the greatest storytellers in hip hop history, Shaggy 2 Dope even though he only has very few verses on here is just as skilled & I do like how the production range from the touching “Medals” & the vintage “My Forehead” to the trap-flavored “Mighty Mote”. Safe to say it’s giving me hope for Yum Yum’s Lure next Wednesday as well as Yum Yum Bedlam later on in the year.
Smokepurpp is a 23 year old rapper from Miami, Florida who broke out in 2017 alongside his childhood friend Lil Pump. Shortly after the release of his debut EP Up Now Fuck Next, he caught the attention of Houston superstar Travis Scott & dropped his critically acclaimed debut mixtape Deadstar under Cactus Jack Records in a joint venture with the Interscope Records sub-label Alamo Records. This was followed up with a 3-Pack EP a couple months later as well as the Murda Beatz-produced Bless Yo Trap tape in 2018 & the Lost Planet EP in 2019, but then Purpp would leave Cactus Jack that same year to release the full-length debut Deadstar 2. Which was below average in comparison to that debut mixtape. His sophomore album Florida Jit from last summer turned out to be mediocre, as the only saving graces of it were Ronny J’s production & a couple of the features. But to move on from a tumultuous 2020 like almost all of us are doing at this point, Purpp is coming out of the woodwork by dropping his 3rd EP.
Things start off with “Prom Queen”, where Purpp talks about being trigger happy over a trap beat sampling “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” by Wendy Rene. The next song “We Outside” with Lil Mosey finds the duo talking about poppin’ out until the sun comes up over an instrumental that has a bit of a country flare to it while the track “200 Thou” produced by Ginseng talks about walkin’ through the mall with a bunch of cash on him over a comatose beat.
The song “Rockstar” talks about his new lifestyle over an instrumental that sounds like it was copied right out of the Pi’erre Bourne playbook while the penultimate track “What You Wanna Do?” gets on the murder tip over a fittingly grisly beat. The EP ends with “Tic Tac”, where Smokepurpp talks about fucking up the trap over a trap metal instrumental.
Coming from someone who enjoyed Deadstar & Bless Yo Trap quite a bit, I really didn’t care for this EP other than a couple joints. The production choices are very questionable for a good majority of it’s 13-minute runtime & lyrically, Smokepurpp is just painting himself into a corner at this point.
Double Dragon is a newly formed hip hop duo consisting of Bukshot & Kung Fu Vampire. One of whom hails from Louisville, Kentucky & the other comes straight outta San Jose, California. Both these guys have collaborated with one another a couple of times throughout the years, but they’re joining forces & taking things to the next level by dropping a full-length debut together after they’ve been teasing it ever since 2019 to the delight of fans in the underground wicked shit scene who enjoy their respective styles.
After the “Rise of the Pranja” intro, the first song “Buk-Fu” finds the duo asking how people gon’ react when they come through over a malicious 7 instrumental with this incredible g-funk synth-line throughout while the next track “Ain’t the One” tells the listener not to play with them over a trap beat laced with this plinky keyboard melody. The song “Torn Apart” talks about over an instrumental backed by some Omen-like background vocals while the track “Non-Believers” with Boondox sees the 3 talking about losing their way over a spine-tingling trap beat.
The song “Nice” talks about taking flight over a cacophonous Godsynth instrumental while the treacle “Don’t Get Beat Up” talks about rappers feuding over nothing on top of an icy trap beat from Young Wicked. The song “Easy Target” with Rittz finds the trio talking about how they ain’t hard to find over a Kung Fu Vampire instrumental fusing elements of country as well as trap & rock while the title track talks about being the ones they fear over somewhat quirky yet abrasive beat. Then there’s the bonus cut “Tyrants”, where Double Dragon speak on not being with all the bullshit over a macabre instrumental.
This has been one of the underground’s most anticipated albums of 2021 & the final product makes it well worth waiting almost 2 years because you can really tell Bukshot & Kung Fu Vampire took their time to really hone in on a natural chemistry on top of some top notch production.
This is the 4th EP from Bridgeport, Connecticut emcee ReadyRockDee. Coming up as a founding member of the group Rowdy City, he would branch solo last year by releasing 3 solo EPs & a collab album with a New York spitter by the name of Teezy Money. But to kick off his 2021, he’s cooked up a 4th installment of his Flow God series.
The opener “Block Pride” talks about having respect being put on his name over a boom bap beat with some Godzilla-like horns whereas the next song “Boom Shakalaka” with RJ Payne finds the 2 talking about leveling up their pen-game over a trap instrumental with some solemn bells.
The track “Best Dope on the Street” with Rick Hyde sees the 2 comparing to their music to drugs over a ghoulish beat while the song “Project Baby” with Sy da Ari Kid finds the 2 of course detailing what it was like being raised in the gutter over an instrumental kin to The Heatmakerz.
The penultimate track “Higher” with Mickey Factz sees the 2 getting on the motivational end over a heavenly beat & then the closer “Real as it Gets” talks about being true to yourself over an ataractic instrumental.
In comparison to the previous 3 installments of the Flow God series, I think this new one is the best of them all. ReadyRockDee’s lyricism has improved (not to say it wasn’t dope before), the features are on point for the most part & the production is some of the best he’s ever jumped on top of.
The Super Famous Fun Time Guys are an Ohio-based horrorcore duo consisting of Mr. 8 Legz & Whipstick. They’ve released 2 full-lengths & an EP on their own since their formation in 2017 but after becoming the first act to sign to Alla Xul Elu’s independent label Long Live Evil a little over a month ago, 8 Legz & Whipstick are celebrating by dropping their 3rd full-length album.
After the “Tokyo Smoothies with Bob” intro, the title track that truly kicks the album off taps in with Dubbs to spit some humorous insults over an uptempo instrumental while the track “Up for Grabs” with Breadwin DeVille & Hard Target finds the quartet talking about sex over a somewhat tropical beat. The song “Could’ve Played Fallout” tells the story of Whipstick bringing 8 Legz out to a party over a trap instrumental with some plinky keys while the track “Luchaflorida” talks about where the duo came from referencing The Undertaker’s final match against AJ Styles at WWE’s first 2-night WrestleMania last year over a dusty boom bap beat.
The song “Squad Up” with Blaze Ya Dead Homie sees the trio talking about this being the new sound over an instrumental with this hypnotic loop hanging in the background while the track “Alright” talking about wack rappers over a trap beat with some twinkling chimes. The song “Muerte Mierda” reunites with Dubbs to talk about murder over a deranged instrumental while the track “Hide & Seek After Sunset” with Alla Xul Elu finds the 5 enhancing the horrorcore vibes of the previous joint from the lyrics to the production.
The song “In the Alleyway” talks about slaying any rapper who opposes them over a Billy Obey instrumental that throws it back to the 90’s while the track “Brainless” talks about being immortalized after death over a grungy boom bap beat. The song “Talk2me” ponders how one can heal if they can never escape over a paranormal instrumental & after the “We’re Being Creepy” skit, the closer “I Like My Friends” talks about running the rap game their way over a playful beat from Bad Mind for the first 3 minutes before leading into a 14 minute skit.
Alla Xul Elu & I’ve been curious to hear what would happen if they brought new talent on board the Long Live Evil label. Needless to say, I’m very impressed with what the Super Famous Fun Time Guys delivered on here. Their sound on here is totally refined in comparison to their previous output & their pen-game has also improved.
This is a brand new EP from Buffalo emcee Conway the Machine. I really shouldn’t have to explain who he is at this point not just because I’ve been covering the whole Griselda camp quite a bit throughout these past few years, but just the way they have been dominating hip hop since late 2015 balancing quantity & quality by dropping a handful of dope projects a year. But 2020 was undoubtedly Conway’s most prolific year yet, dropping a total of 2 EPs & a full-length debut that’ve all quickly gone down as some of his best bodies of work yet. But as Conway gears up for his long-awaited Shady Records debut God Don’t Make Mistakes, he’s re-enlisting Big Ghost Ltd. for a sequel to No One Mourns the Wicked entitled If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed.
After the “Commencement” intro from Lukey Cage, the first song “J Batters” calls to free his homie of the same name over some cinematic string sections whereas the next track “away We Move” talks about going from nothing to performing at Coachella over a soulful beat. The track “Kill All Rats” with Ransom & Rome Streetz finds the trio taking aim at snitches over an occult instrumental while the song “Toast” talks about aiming at fuck boys over a luxurious beat.
The song “Losses to Blessings” talks about the trials & tribulations over a melancholic, jazzy beat while the track “Highly Praised” talks about never falling off over a gospel sample. The song “Sons of Kings” with Knowledge the Pirate sees the 2 getting in their shit-talking bag about over a boom bap beat with some up-tempo keyboard melodies while the penultimate track “Red Beams” talks about wanting all the smoke over a devilish beat. The album ends with “Forever Ago”, where Conway talks about lying to protect his significant other from the truth over some harmonious vocal melodies.
I think If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed is right on par with No One Mourns the Wicked & brought my excitement for God Don’t Make Mistakes to an all-time high. Conway continues to elevate as the best lyricist in Griselda & on the other end, Big Ghost Ltd. cooks up some of his best production yet.
Legends Will Never Die 