Wiki – “Ancient History” review

Here is the 6th studio LP from New York City emcee, songwriter & producer Wiki. Formerly a member of the Ratking trio, he would go on to drop his solo debut No Mountains in Manhattan in 2017 under XL Recordings not too long after their disbandment followed by the sophomore effort OOFIE that next fall & Telephonebooth through his own label Wikset Enterprises. Coming off the Navy Blue-produced Half God & the Tony Seltzer-produced 14K Figaro however, he’s looking to dig up some Ancient History.

“G.T.F.O.H. (Get The Fuck Outta Here)” begins with this drumlessly soulful intro admitting that he feels like he isn’t missing out in 2026 whereas “Right Away” gets a little more optimistic over sample-based trap instrumental catching himself on a good day. “1 Time” chefs towards a boom bap direction talking about people not knowing how much power he truly has while “Park” psychedelically spends the early hours of the day sitting in the grass.

Navy Blue gets behind the boards for one of my personal favorite tracks “I.H.N.Y. (I Hate New York)” from the opulent boom bap beat to the lyrics detailing the love/hate relationship Wiki has with the city that made him the very person who he’s become but after “Bloom” featuring duendita & produced by Lil Ugly Mane raps & sings about people knowing where to find them right when the sun rises every morning, “Old Gods” reaches the halfway point solely spitting heat over a Tony Seltzer instrumental.

“Bourbon” kicks off the 2nd half of the album talking about being the cornerstore’s biggest clientele while “All in the Lining” featuring Your Old Droog finds the pair joining forces for another abstract boom bap standout Navy Blue cooked up once again. “Marm Era” soulfully describes memories he can recall like they happened yesterday while “Had Your Fun” continues the sampling to let everyone who thought he was done know that he’s still here.

Salimata joins Wiki for the romantic “Something New” talking about giving up their bullshit for each other over a MIKE beat to wind down the last few moments of Ancient History while the song “7 Deadly Sins” gives us a moody description of Christianity’s capital vices. The title track spends the last 5 minutes of the full-length with a symphonic instrumental from one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist talking about his shorty being sick of him.

Although I’d still consider Half God to be the most essential statement in Wiki’s solo catalog with 14K Figaro likely becoming a close 2nd at this point & of course placing the spectacular Faith is a Rock collaborative album he did with MIKE a few years ago on that same pedestal, I still liked a good chunk of Ancient History for it’s departure from the predominant trap production & conscious subject matter of it’s 2023 predecessor for a more drumless sound & getting more cryptic with his songwriting.

Score: 3.5/5

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Lee Carver – “A Night 2 Dismember” review

This is a brand new extended play from Dayton, Ohio emcee Lee Carver. Following his 2015 solo debut Massacre Mask, he later became the 3rd & final member to join the almighty Alla Xul Elu & the Long Live Evil founders have been sending shockwaves across the underground wicked shit scene since 2018 known for combining sharp horrorcore lyrics with boom bap & industrial hip hop instrumentation. His sophomore effort Meathead: Satanic Steakhouse came out this past winter & he’s back once more for A Night 2 Dismember.

After the “New Release” intro, “The House Demands a Host” opens up welcoming everyone back to the hellhole over a boom bap instrumental whereas “Serrated” expresses the hatred he has for humanity. “Mr. Meathook” has a quirkier vibe to the beat describing an individual who takes your wishes as his command while “Bump in the Night” featuring Mutanoid Underground Dwellers dedicate itself to the sickos who don’t give a fuck.

“Rotting Flesh Rewind” begins the 2nd half of the EP spitting some bloodcurdling wicked shit filled with gruesome imagery & after “Blood Shed” takes a slower yet morbid approach instrumentally so Carver can continue talking about murder, the final song Corpse Funnel” preceding the “Satanic Steakhouse Theme” outro takes it back to the traditional boom bap sound combining that with more horrorcore lyricism for 4 & a half minutes.

In preparation LLE’s medley set at the 26th annual Gathering of the Juggalos later this summer & the Skinner Family’s next member being introduced, my personal favorite Alla Xul Elu member Lee Carver continues the story of Meathead: Satanic Steakhouse titular character whom we were intended to 6 months earlier through A Night 2 Dismember as well as using it as an opportunity to flesh out his story & give it more context over dark production with a decent guest appearance.

Score: 4/5

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Kain Cole – “Khronicles of Kain” review

This is the sophomore effort from Belleville, Michigan emcee Kain Cole. Coming up artistically as a teenager, he would unfortunately wind up incarcerated for 8 years until signing to Detroit independent powerhouse Middle Finger Music almost immediately after coming home & showed us how much he perfected his craft by having the label’s co-founder Foul Mouth producing his 2022 debut album S.U.M.P. (Surviving Under Major Pressure). Following a string of guest appearances for his fellow MFM alumni Bizarre & Isaac Castor, the time for the Khronicles of Kain to be told as finally come.

“Gotta Have It” begins with this soulfully jazzy intro thanking all of his haters whether it be past or present whereas “It’s Up to You” embraces more jazzier vibes taking a more motivational approach to his songwriting for a couple minutes. “Heavyweight” switches things up with a boom bap instrumental & the gritty penmanship leading into “I.Y.K.Y.K. (If You Know You Know)” reminds the world that he’s been doing this prior to his incarceration.

Meanwhile on “Uno”, we have Kain over some strings mixed with kicks & snares flexing that he kills muhfuckas in silence despite him constantly smoking loud while “Blue Check” chops up more soul samples talking about how some will literally sell themselves out for money. “Foolish” ends the 1st half on some chipmunk soul shit admitting that it’s been hard for him to change because he loves this shit while “I Know” talks about people being inept of telling him what he’s already aware of.

“Bebe’s Kid” continues the 2nd leg of the LP taking a jazzy boom bap route instrumentally making it clear that he actually lives what he writes instead of merely yapping & after “Break a Leg” swaps out the jazz elements in favor of some orchestral undertones getting in his shit-talking bag for a bit, “We Get It In” featuring Bang Belushi finds the pair boasting that they’re so raw to the point where their intensities are felt across 10 different cities.

The song “Pesto” winds down the Khronicles of Kain coasting a piano-driven boom bap beat asking who the fuck these cornballs think they’re talking crazy to & rollin’ 100 deep with his squad while “Seasoned” featuring Bad News Brown joins forces with the MC/producer duo named after the late WWE Hall of Famer to discuss their own experience in the game. “How Did I Survive?” lastly finishes things up explaining his way of escaping the terror he’s seen.

Almost 4 & a half years since his debut, Kain Cole makes it clear to anyone that he didn’t go anywhere which I think his feature run justifies that & I might have to put Khronicles of Kain above S.U.M.P. (Surviving Under Major Pressure) because of the growth shown compared to it’s predecessor. Foul Mouth’s production varies between drumless, boom bap, jazz rap & chipmunk soul backing Kain’s introspective lyrics & a couple appearances from his MFM brethren.

Score: 4/5

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Mr. Green – “F.U. S.M.D. (For U, Some Musical Distraction)” review

Highland Park, New Jersey born producer Mr. Green now based out of New York City surprisingly taking the microphone for a new extended play of solo material. For nearly 2 decades already, this guy has produced for some of the most prolific artists across the entire underground hip hop spectrum from the Army of the Pharaohs to R.A. the Rugged Man & Westside Gunn. He also has multiple beat tapes under his belt & was interested in hearing what sort of directions he’d try taking for F.U. S.M.D. (For U, Some Musical Distraction).

After the soulful “ooo ooo ooo” intro, the first song “think about u” works in some pianos to sing about him not being able to get enough of a woman he’s fallen in love with whereas “make money” takes a mainly repetitive approach to his songwriting wanting to increase his revenue over more keys. “g thang” eventually reaches the halfway point soulfully covering WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg’s opening verse of “Nuthin’ But a G Thang”.

“u known me for years” kicks off the 2nd leg of F.U. S.M.D. (For U, Some Musical Distraction) hooking up a boom bap instrumental to spit an off-the-cuff freestyle talking about some wanting him to stay & others hoping he calls it quits but after a 21 second skit, the closing track beautiful life” preceding a Bandcamp exclusive outro spanning almost a minute spends the last 76 seconds of the EP repetitively singing about the beauty of existing.

Wouldn’t have ever imagined Mr. Green taking the risk of vocally performing over his own production for the duration of an entire project & although I appreciate gin doing so, I found a great deal of F.U. S.M.D. (For U, Some Musical Distraction) to be pretty average. There is some artistic range pulling inspiration from singer/songwriter as well as R&B & of course hip hop, but I was expecting more out of the songwriting considering the repetitiveness of multiple tracks & firmly believe he can make a few improvements.

Score: 2.5/5

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ZelooperZ – “Pin Breakers” review

This is the 2nd extended play from Detroit, Michigan emcee ZelooperZ. A member of the Bruiser Brigade collective & 1/2 of ZGTO, he has spent the last 15 years building up a solo catalog comprised of a dozen LPs along with another EP & a couple mixtapes. My personal favorites of which being the Black Noi$e-produced Dyn-o-mite & more recently, ZelooperZ’ most recent full-length Dalí Ain’t Dead, digging up all 11 of Pin Breakers’ tracks 9 months later & putting it up exclusively on his Bandcamp.

“Listen” starts us off with a 90 second intro talking about never dropping the ball similarly to Blake Griffin over some sampling in the background whereas “Pain T Wayne” hops over a psychedelic trap beat saying that he reminds himself of T-Pain & shit not changing. “Beautician” goes for a jazzier boom bap vibe instrumentally talking about working in any weather while “Mason’s Dispatch” feels like a minute & a half freestyle.

My least favorite track here might be “The Music” mostly because it sounds underdeveloped & so short where having it on here seems rather pointless while “Nostradamus” featuring Danny Brown makes up for it by giving us a boom bap banger that would’ve fit perfectly on Dyn-o-mite. “My Momma” continues the 2nd half of the EP showing gratitude towards his mother while “River Rogue” continues to chop up more samples talking about having this shit laced.

“Baby Bruisin’” nears closer towards the conclusion of Pin Breakers blending some strings & hi-hats discussing him spending a long time not having shit while “Sailing Seas” further elaborates on that recalling the days where he used to eat a bunch of Spam & sleep in the studio over a piano instrumental. The outro “Aha Aha” soulfully concludes the EP looking back at when he couldn’t walk around the hood because of a bounty placed on his stepfather’s head.

Considering that Pin Breakers was recorded in 2019 around the same time as Dyn-o-mite, it wouldn’t surprise me of these collection of previously unreleased tracks were meant to be on that album since ZelooperZ’ primarily abstract lyrics combined with Black Noi$e’s experimentally jazzy production were all key factors in making Dyn-o-mite so special to me even if there are some occasionally incomplete ideas floating around here & there.

Score: 4/5

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R8 – “Dawn Chorus” review

United Kingdom trap producer R8 curating his 3rd solo EP of rappers performing over his beats. For a few years already, he’s gotten a chance to work with some of the increasingly popular trap artists in recent memory from 9 Vicious to untiljapan & tana in addition to becoming a member of the Vanguard Music Group production team. However, seeing that he’s continuing to drop stuff under his own name with Dawn Chorus peaked my interest even if he was only able to get 4 guests on it & has been getting quite the attention.

“Grand Risings” by Nosaint begins with a trap intro where the latter’s rapping about some of these dudes out here being full-blown hoes whereas “Need Don’t Want” by Santova gives off a cloudier vibe instrumentally even if the repetitive songwriting does nothing for me. “Sak Pasé” by Nosaint co-produced by Patrick Garza boasts that his racks will do the speaking for him & after the compositional title track Tom Levesque co-produced, “Treat You Right” by Nosaint talks about treating his girl properly.

Deathtoricky gets his own moment to shine in the spotlight with “Holiday” even if it another track that I’m not head over heels for, but then “Unfortunate” by 9 Vicious samples the Tems song of the same name airing out someone who did them dirty. “Margiela Coat” by Nosaint talks about finding a woman who’s different from these other hoes until Dawn Chorus finishes up with 2 more 9 Vicious songs: “Free Mind” sampling another Tems joint & “Patience”.

Both of R8’s previous extended plays 8 & 8² have their individual selection of highlights such as “Farewell” or “Whole Story”, but Dawn Chorus brings more consistency to the table than it’s predecessors & think this is his finest solo offering yet. His cloudy trap production remains opulent start to finish & out of the small handful of guests, Nosaint taking up almost half of it was fun since he’s been getting a lot of recognition for his rapping abilities recently & the 9 Vicious fans will eat his contributions up.

Score: 3.5/5

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$amaad – “Idea of Evil” review

This is the 4th mixtape from Compton, California rapper/producer $amaad. For almost a decade already, he’s built quite a large discography for himself consisting of his last 3 tapes as well as 26 EPs & 4 full-length studio albums. The Say Hi $amaad! (Care Package) series would go on to receive the same favorable reception as did the Child of Drama penology coming off the final installment over a year ago to have Evilgiane of the Surf Gang fully produce Idea of Evil in it’s entirety.

“Castle in the Sky” begins with this ambient plugg intro mixed with some heavy vocal effects using it’s title for a nod to スタジオジブリ’s theatrical debut of the same name written & directed by it’s co-founder 宮崎駿 whereas “Child of Drama” carries those exact same vibes talking about having bullets for dumb muhfuckas. “Griffith Was Nothing” instrumentally has a more standard trap flare to it flexing that he’s doing this like it ain’t shit while “Saving You for Later” clarifies to an individual who thought they were saving him.

Moving on from there, “Drank Hunters” brings back the syrupy feeling of the earlier tracks talking about how he can’t act like he don’t want it just before “Leisure Day” featuring Saiah Woes finds the 2 decently linking up over an 808-heavy beat talking about seizing shit when they wake up. “Mama, I’m Alive” feels less of an interlude & more of an 103 second freestyle over this bouncy plugg instrumental leading into the title track featuring 730atMorning talks about wanting meaning out of their suffering.

“We” also featuring 730atMorning details the kinda women who they consider to be more their speed while “Us” featuring Rafa talks about bitches who be acting funny when they know both of them have to leave whether it’s for studio sessions or touring. “Seinin Anime! Show Out” continues wanting his lover to tell him exactly what he’s doing wrong in their relationship while “In Hell” collides some bells & 808s talking about people not nattering down there.

$a’maya appears on “Tendencies” trading bars back-&-forth with $amaad on the microphone for a couple minutes while “#SurfBae” talks about the ability he has of making bad bitches wanna start hustling. “All Around the World” reaches Idea of Evil’s halfway point expressing his desire of traveling the entire globe & how he embarrasses people in every state while “Palm Tree Evening” kicks off the 2nd half hopping over a plugg beat talking about his girl waking up clean.

“Sweet Chin Music” references the iconic finisher of 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion, the current WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development & head booker of their main developmental brand NXT Shawn Michaels while “Nobody No One” hooks up a lo-fi drum break talking about not being scared of anyone because they don’t have guns like he does.

Meanwhile on “Posse”, we have $amaad calling out the people who claim to be making money in their music when that isn’t the case whatsoever & wanting to give his crew diamonds while “D’ussé Don’t Say” talks about getting rich off some bad choices he made in the past. “I Got Water 4 U” featuring Saiah Woes reunites both artists over this aquatically atmospheric instrumental doubling up in the trap while “Rich Fucker” talks about him going 30-for-10.

“I Take Trips & Don’t Leave” gives off a more psychedelic plugg edge admitting to him trying to hit his girl from the back while “Green!” featuring Niontay talks about their preference of lean instead of liquor & their own revenues gradually increasing. “Behind My Back” spends nearly a minute & a half experimenting with lowend addressing the individuals running their mouth unbeknownst to him while “Sniper Gang Kodak #SurfGang” talks about trying to ball out.

Wrapping up Idea of Evil’s final moments, the song “It Was All Good” combines a sample with some elements of cloud rap & trap explaining his vision of making millions while “Making My Way” interestingly flips the iconic Vanessa Carlton single “1,000 Miles” talking about living downtown with his bae. “Get Me Started” recalls a time where a hoe wanted to fuck him at this party & the outro “I Look Back” featuring Saiah Woes concludes the tape on a more introspective note.

Sure Idea of Evil has some occasional moments where you can feel it’s lengthy runtime & some understandably getting the impression that it’s bloated, but a great deal of it to me anyway provides us some of the most important material in $amaad’s career. Evilgiane’s production sticks with a predominant plugg sound including secondary influences of trap & ambient plugg with only a few guests joining him in describing a mind at war with itself.

Score: 4/5

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Tezzus – “The Resurrectiøn” review

This is the 9th extended play from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Tezzus. Introducing himself with his first few EPs Hard2Kill as well as Hellraiser & Everyday’s Halløween, his 2024 debut mixtape Tezzus Khrist would significantly elevate his profile locally as did the handful of appearances he made on The XA Tape. He later gave us the Søufside collaborative EP with Percaso, Backrooms, King Phønk, I Phønk, U Phønk and Tezzy Pendergrass until Young Thug signed him to YSL Records following 9 Vicious’ departure. ##FilthyLikeMax was a solid debut for the label & the eponymous Uy Scuti Bøyz tape left audiences including myself divided, making up for the latter with The Resurrectiøn.

We have PROJECT4PLAY sampling “Cranes in the Sky” by Solange on the intro “Solange” talking about being rich after not having shit whereas “Aubrey” flips “Trophies” by Drake discusses sitting in the back of a car with an extendo. “Tezzus Mane LaFlare” hops over a sample of “Lemonade” by Gucci Mane talking about living what he raps while “Jeffrey Williams” interpolates “Halftime” by Young Thug demanding $250K to sit with him.

“Katy Perry” samples “Dark Horse” by the latter featuring Juicy J to kick off the 2nd half of The Resurrectiøn thanks to Rafmade talking about fucking a hoe in New York until she’s sore leading into the rage-inducing “Ye” sampling “No Mistakes” by Kanye West detailing money coming after praying for the fame. The penultimate song “Lil Røkk” gives off a generally cloudier trap vibe & the outro “ØWay” sends off the EP flexing that he’ll have all his ice on him this summer.

Hopefully the reception of the Uy Scuti Bøyz tape a couple months ago was nothing more than a bump in the road because I truthfully got more enjoyment outta this than I did that or even FilthyLikeMax not too long after YSL signed Tezzus last fall, making The Resurrectiøn the best thing he’s done since joining the label. He’s basically catching up with us on how life’s been treating him & the sample-heavy production PROJECT4PLAY mostly handles results in some of the greatest beats he’s made.

Score: 4/5

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Mickey Diamond – “Blood of the Lamb” review

New surprise LP & the 19th overall Detroit, Michigan emcee Mickey Diamond. Emerging at the beginning of this decade off the strength of his debut EP Bangkok Dangerous, the dude has since gone on to turn quite a few heads in the underground by building up the impressive discography for himself with his previous 18 albums alongside 7 EPs & a mixtape. Since 2022 however, Mickey has been consistent putting out some of the best material of his career thus far. This includes the Gucci Ghost series produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Ral Duke-produced Oroku Saki EP, the Sadhugold-produced Death Threat$ album, the Camoflauge Monk-produced Capital Gains album, the outstanding Oroku Saki sequel Super Shredder & Gucci Gambinos. Coming off both Wolf Tickets & Black Sheep however, the Blood of the Lamb has arrived without any prior announcement.

“Stigmata” begins with this soulful boom bap beat talking about his preference of being wealthy instead of having all the fame whereas “Cold Sweats” takes an eerier route instrumentally explaining that karma catches up to all in the end. “Break Bread” brings some pianos into the fold so Diamond can talk about killing the greedy just before “Practice What You Preach” hooks up some sampling chops spitting more hardcore lyricism.

Meanwhile on “Communion”, we have Mickey over this gospel-inflicted boom bap beat explaining that he speaks from the heart rather than making himself sound good leading into “Have Mercy” grittily talking about still surviving when the backstabbers tried to take him down. “Collection Plates” starts the 2nd half on some more piano-driven boom bap instrumentals boasting that he’s been like this entire life while “Wormwood” sinisterly takes a more conscious approach to the songwriting.

“PREYers” featuring Daniel Son references the inaugural IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 3-time WWE Hall of Famer, Real American Beer founder, Real American Freestyle Wrestling (RAF) co-founder & known racist Hulk Hogan while “Lamb’s Blood” brings another gospel flip to the table gives us some observations of his even if he including myself isn’t the kind of guy who knows the bible by heart.

The penultimate song winds down Blood of the Lamb’s final moments on some drumless gospel vibes giving all praises to God for having his back & that being the reason why he won’t ever forsake Him while the outro “Erick’s Sermon” soulfully concludes The Wolf, The Lamb, The Goat trilogy talking about a vow he made to his his father that he won’t ever let him down. Especially since he was the one who made sure he had food on the table when Diamond was younger.

Wolf Tickets made for an introspectively spiritual detour from Gucci Gambinos or the Gucci Ghost saga & Black Sheep focused more on Mickey Diamond’s capabilities of telling stories, but what makes Blood of the Lamb an interesting conclusion to this series he & Big Ghost Ltd. have been doing for 6 months already is the production could likely be more sample-heavy than it’s predecessors & the likelihood of it being Diamond at his most religious topically.

Score: 4.5/5

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Vince Staples – “Cry Baby” review

Here we have the 6th studio LP & Loma Vista Recordings debut from Compton, California rapper, singer/songwriter & actor Vince Staples Emerging as a close affiliate of the now defunct Odd Future collective, he would go on to release 4 mixtapes before signing a joint deal with Blacksmith Records & even No I.D.’s very own Def Jam Recordings imprint ARTium Recordings. My personal favorite of which being Stolen Youth, which was entirely produced by the late Mac Miller. His first major label outing Hell Can Wait was a dope little EP preluding the full-length debut Summertime ‘06, which became one of the best double disc albums of the previous decade. Vince later detailed the pitfalls that came with his success on the next EP Prima Donna & the dude’s sophomore effort Big Fish Theory was easily his most experimental work yet. He later teamed up with Kenny Beats for his 3rd EP FM! & his eponymous 3rd album but coming off Ramona Park Broke My Heart & some Dark Times, he’s ready to air out a Cry Baby.

The lead single “Blackberry Marmalade” blends conscious hip hop, post-punk, political hip hop, post-punk revival, rap rock, hardcore hip hop & experimental hip hop to talk about racism in the United States whereas “Go! Go! Gorilla” takes a funkier approach instrumentally explaining that the police have always been the strongest enemy African Americans have always had & having nobody to trust because of crooked cops abusing their power.

“White Flag” combines political hip hop, conscious hip hop, neo-soul, blues rock, rap rock, dub & post-punk for the 2nd single declaring his surrender of patience towards putting up with white supremacy just before “The Running Man” embraces more of a punk rap vibe talking about missing the days he used to aspire along with leaving his baggage behind since he didn’t feel like there was anything worthy of bringing & nobody being safe from the war that’s occurring outside.

Reaching the halfway point, “TV Guide” discusses the way television has been controlling the masses & them assuming everything they see on the news to be true prior to “The Big Bad Wolf” kicking off the 2nd half embracing a funk rock sound talking about a police officer shooting at an innocent bystander based on the color of his skin. “Only in America” once more takes a jab at the systematic racism & admits he’s been in search of a breakthrough after being hurt since last spring.

“Do You Know the Devil?” winds down the last moments of Cry Baby asking if one will find God or fall from grace life when gets hard & death gets way too close for one to be comfortable while the 3rd & final single “Cotton” crosses over elements of funk rock, psychedelic rock & conscious hip hop talking about black people’s stories of survival being exploited for money. “7 in the Morning” finishes the album channeling a more militant mindset pondering why some view the death of his people as entertainment.

It should go without saying that Vince Staples’ independent debut Cry Baby will easily become the most politically charged entry of his discography since the Hell Can Wait EP back when I was senior in high school, joining the likes of Summertime ‘06 & Big Fish Theory for a top 3 spot in his discography. The production is a rebellious melting pot of rap rock, funk rock, conscious hip hop, post-punk, post-punk revival, rap rock, hardcore hip hop, experimental hip hop, psychedelic rock, neo-soul, blues rock & dub music expressing the frustration of the rise of fascism.

Score: 4.5/5

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