Chief Keef – “Mansion Musick” review

Chicago, Illinois drill pioneer Chief Keef is returning with his 20th mixtape a month after his Ottopsy EP. The opener “Belieber” talks about groupies over a beautiful yet unexpected set of piano chords while the next track “Rawlings” gets celebratory over some sub-bass & the hi-hats are going off like machine guns. The song “TV On (Big Boss)” gets charismatically braggadocious over a gritty instrumental while track “Uh Uh” is filled with gritty street bars over a druggy instrumental from Pi’erre Bourne. The song “Sky Say” talks about taking a vacation over a cloudy trap beat, but the Tadoe verse at the start doesn’t do anything for me.

The track “Hand Made” sees Keef bragging once again over a futuristic bass-heavy instrumental from Nard & B while the song “Get This Money” pretty much speaks for itself over a trap beat from some piano keys & plinky Atari-esque synthesizers. The track “Yet” gets sexual over an instrumental with strings & rubbery bass while the song “Part Ways” talks about flexin’ up over a gloomy beat. The penultimate track “Tragedies” talks about wealth over a chaotic instrumental from Keef himself & the closer “Letter” gets more introspective over some sole piano keys.

Overall, this was a solid tape. Some of the beats could’ve been better, but a lot of them are pretty hard & Chief Keef continues to sound more coherent with each recent project.

Score: 3.5/5

38 Spesh & Kool G Rap – “Son of G Rap” review

Just a few months after the release of the Stabbed & Shot collab EP with Griselda Records’ very own Benny the Butcher, Rochester MC/producer .38 Spesh is now teaming up with the legendary Kool G Rap for a full-length collab album. After the intro, we go into the first song “Upstate to Queens”. Here, the 2 get confrontational over a soul sample. The track “Land Mind” is the first of 5 without G Rap, but Ransom fills in for him & they both spit about their closets being filled with fabrics as well as their skills over this somber Alchemist beat. The track “Shame” is basically Spesh solely freestyling over the instrumental of the classic G Rap song “It’s a Shame” while “G Heist” sees the 2 reuniting to talk about a robbery over a Daringer beat with a faint soul sample in the background.

While the song “Dead or Alive” with Cormega does see the 3 vividly talking about the street life, the beat is just alright. “The Meeting” is definitely a big improvement though, as the duo talk about making either problems or peace over a grimy DJ Premier beat. The song “Binoculars” is the 3rd without G Rap, as it’s basically 38 Spesh with Benny the Butcher, N.O.R.E. & Vado talking about drug dealing over a boom bap beat with some eerie strings. The track “Nothin’ Gonna Change” contains more mafioso bars over a decent instrumental as does the song “Bricks at the Pen”, except I feel like the Showbiz instrumental on the latter suits the vibe a lot better.

The track “Flow Gods” with Meyhem Lauren & Freddie Gibbs is a lyrical onslaught with a soulful boom bap beat from Pete Rock while “Heartless” displays their individually compelling storytelling skills over some sinister piano chords. This is also the last song on the entire album to with G Rap on it. The song “Honest Truth” is basically Spesh & AZ “showing cats how to rhyme” over a gloomy beat while the penultimate track “Young 1s” with Che Noir reminisce about growing up over a DJ Premier beat that’s almost as hard as the one he provided earlier. The album then finishes with Spesh freestyling over “Last Name” off of Smoke DZA’s 2016 magnum opus Don’t Smoke Rock about his aborted child.

Wasn’t expecting this around the corner, but it’s pretty solid for the most part. Other than the freestyles being ok & some of the beats being a bit generic, the chemistry between G Rap & 38 Spesh is definitely there on the tracks they appear on together & most of the instrumentals suit them both very well

Score: 3.5/5

Future – “BEAST MODE 2” review

Aside from the soundtrack for the recent Superfly remake as well as dominating the recent DJ Esco album KOLORBLIND & a ton of features (most notably: his God awful bridge on “King’s Dead” off the Black Panther soundtrack), Atlanta, Georgia trap superstar Future hasn’t dropped a project in over a year. He spent 2017 dropping 2 albums back to back, the bloated self-titled album & the more pop/R&B inspired HNDRXX. Now, he is coming out of the blue with his 13th mixtape & it is a sequel to one of his most critically acclaimed tapes Beast Mode. Of course, Zaytoven is returning on the boards for it as well.

The opener “WIFI LIT” talks about being on “rich nigga shit” over an instrumental with a nice woodwind sample & it’s no “Mask Off”, but it is a solid way to start off the tape. The next track “CUDDLE MY WRIST” vents about having a monkey on his back over a laidback beat while the song “RACKS BLUE” of course about wealth over a trap beat with some gorgeous piano keys. The track “31 DAYS” talks about sex, but nothing about it sets the mood for me at all. It literally sounds like a bad leftover from HNDRXX.

The song “RED LIGHT” talks about going from sleeping on the floor at night to making millions over some somber piano chords & rubbery bass while the track “DOH DOH” with Young Scooter sees the 2 talking about counting up money over an eerie beat. “WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT” is a freestyle to “WEAK” by Larry League that is a lot better than the original song while the penultimate track “SOME MORE” is a mediocre ripoff of “Mo Reala”, which appeared on Zaytoven’s latest album Trap HoliZay. The tape finishes with “HATE THE REAL ME”, where he gets high & reminisces about the good times he had with Ciara over a cloudy beat.

I was a little concerned about this given the “King’s Dead” feature, but it went beyond my expectations. It’s not perfect at all, but I do believe’s this is just as fun as the first Beast Mode from Zaytoven’s production to Future’s delivery

Score: 3.5/5

Meek Mill – “Legends of the Summer” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper & songwriter Meek Mill preluding his 6th album with his 8th EP. Starting out in the battle rap circuit before T.I. briefly signed him to Grand Hustle Records. Once he left, Rick Ross brought him over to Maybach Music Group & we’ve seen a handful of ups & downs in his career over the past decade from the critically acclaimed Dreamchasers mixtape series to his beef with Drake. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison by a corrupt judge, only to be released 5 months later & preluding Championships with Legends of the Summer.

“Millidelphia” begins by triumphantly rapping about over an explosive trap instrumental from Swizz Beatz whereas the next song “Dangerous” featuring Jeremih & PnB Rock wastes some acoustics for cliché pop rap lyricism. The penultimate track “1am” is an energetic club banger with a bouncy instrumental from Jahlil Beats & the closer “Stay Woke” is arguably Meek’s best song I’ve heard in a long time talking about the justice system.

There’s no doubt my mind that Championships has the potential of being Meek Mill’s most mature musical statement & this 4-pack he drops off in preparation for it seems to be heading toward that route. The production’s a little 50/50 & I’m hoping that he’ll get that figured out with in the coming months but in regards to Meek’s own performances, he’s a lot more passionate than he was on Wins & Losses the previous summer.

Score: 3/5

B.o.B – “NAGA” review

7060025

B.o.B is a 29 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Decatur, Georgia. He blew up at the beginning of the decade as a T.I. protégé signing to Grand Hustle Records & putting out a pretty solid debut with B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray in 2010. His sophomore album Strange Clouds in 2012 was just as fun as the debut, but then I started to fall out of favor with B.o.B not too long after & for a few reasons. His next album Underground Luxury was pretty uninspired on all fronts & then he followed it up with a couple mixtapes that were just as mediocre like New Black & Psycadelik Thoughtz. Then in late 2015/early 2016, we saw B.o.B completely reinventing himself. He ditched the pop rap sound he became known for & went “conscious”, putting out the first 2 installments of his Elements mixtape series W.A.T.E.R. (We Are the Enemy Really) & F.I.R.E. (False Idols Ruin Egos). He then stated his belief that the Earth is flat, going as far to put out a horrendous diss track towards Neil deGrasse Tyson called “Flatline”. But just a year after following up the Elements mixtapes with Ether, B.o.B is now claiming that he’s retiring from music & that his 5th full-length album over here is his parting gift.

The album starts off with “Kumbaya”, where he monotonously talks about his return over a murky beat. The track “Matador Bobby” is supposed to be a club banger, but it’s annoying. Especially the part halfway through the verse where he repeats Janet Jackson’s name a hundred times. Then we have “Good N****r Sticker”, which contains some bass & rattling hi-hats alongside some painfully corny lyrics. Especially the lines about “It’s sad when you find out the world is trash, wait till they discover it’s flat” & “singing prayers like Sky Daddy blessing black people with good behavior“. The song “Elbows” with Amara La Negra is a cliché ode to twerking with a lifeless hip house instrumental while the track “Gerald Levert” is a generic trap banger down to the flow & the “skrt” adlibs we’ve heard a dozen times already.

The track “Don’t Be Nobody’s Bitch” is one of the better tracks on here, which has a moody trap beat & I do like the concept of him jabbing those who try to bring B.o.B down. Despite a couple corny lines like “I don’t want no kids, that’s for sure. Pulling out my dick like it’s a sword” & “Who do I ride for? Definitely no clowns, you sideshows”. The song “T.M.I.” with Havi is a diss towards the police & it’s not that I don’t like the message (case in point: N.W.A‘s “Fuck tha Police”), but it just comes off vapid. Then we have “Cuello”, which is mindlessly raunchy with a prominent sample of Future’s God awful bridge on “King’s Dead” from earlier this year. The penultimate track ”How It Is” isn’t as obnoxious as the previous song I mentioned, but it is sappy. Especially with lines like “We can do this shit without training wheels”. Then we finally end off with “Bad Computer”, which has a bland beat & a hilariously bad concept about what B.o.B thinks life in 5625 will be like.

If he’s truly retiring from music (because so many artists have said it & a vast majority of them are still around), then this is a horrible way to go out. The production is subpar, the concepts are delusional & a lot of the bars are trite. Don’t get me wrong though: I truly loved B.o.B’s first 2 albums, but he lost his mind shortly after & it’s upsetting to see that confirmed in the end. Still though, I wish him the best of luck on his future endeavors.

Score: 1/5

Drake – “Scorpion” review

It’ll soon be a decade since Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & entrepreneur Drake introduced me to him with his breakout mixtape So Far Gone in middle school. The success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment & Cash Money Records, who put out the man’s full-length debut Thank Me Later the following year. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall & More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, dividing his 5th album fresh off his beef with Pusha T into 2 discs comprised of hip hop & R&B respectively.

The opener “Survival” is a reflection of his career over a killer Lil B sample from No I.D. & 40 while the next song “Nonstop” talks about his grind over some prominent bass. The track “Elevate” talks about becoming famous & making life better for him & his loved ones over some atmospheric background vocals while the song “Emotionless” is a response to Pusha T’s nasty “Story of Adidon” diss track from last month. He’s not dissing him, but he does confirm that he has a son named Adonis over this trap beat with a beautiful soul sample. However the one line where he says “I wasn’t hidin’ my kid from the world, I was hidin’ the world from my kid” made me chuckle a little bit. I mean it’s no question that the media would’ve been all over the baby if his birth was announced prior, but I kinda laughed because of the fact that the mother Sophie Brussaux went on Twitter last fall & dissed him. The track “God’s Plan” is just as fun as it was on his Scary Hours EP from earlier this year while “I’m Upset” is one of his worst singles & I don’t blame Oogie Mane of Working on Dying for that.

The track “8/10” talks about where he’s at now referencing the current UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway over an uplifting boom bap beat from Boi-1da while the song “Mob Ties” talks about cutting people off over a bouncy beat. The track “Can’t Take a Joke” is about hanging out with the titular people in Hidden Hills & Italy over a murky beat. The song “Sandra’s Rose” talks about how his life has changed since being in the music industry over a beautiful DJ Premier beat & the track “Take Up” sees him talking about childhood over a grimy DJ Paul beat with JAY-Z’s verse kinda reminds me of his mafioso days. I also love how he ends the song by saying “I got your president tweetin’, I won’t even meet with him. Y’all killed XXXTENTACION & let George Zimmerman live, streets is done”. The first disc then finishes off with fittingly with “Is There More?”, where Drake is asking questions about life over a moody beat conf.

The next disc starts off with “Peak”, where he sings to an unnamed love interest over a settle beat. The next track “Summer Games” talks about a breakup over a spacey instrumental that to me sounds like it would pop up on any KiD CuDi album while the song “Jaded” is a dedication to Jorja Smith over an atmospheric beat. The track “Nice for What” is an empowering women’s anthem over a Murda Beatz instrumental with a beautiful sample of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor”, but it feels like it should’ve been on the previous disc. The song “Finesse” is a message to his current significant other over another settle instrumental, but then “Ratchet Happy Birthday” might be the worst Drizzy track I’ve ever heard. I get that he wants this girl to have a good time on her birthday, but it’s just really corny. The instrumental is buttery as Hell, too.

The song “That’s How You Feel” talks about spending time with an unknown girl over another moody beat while the track “Blue Tint” is a response to all his haters but just like “Nice for What”, it sounds like it was made for the first disc. The song “In My Feelings” asks the City Girls if they love him, but it seems desperate & sappy. The track “Don’t Matter to Me” talks about his ex doing drugs & alcohol as a result of breaking up with him, but it actually works well thanks to the unreleased Michael Jackson vocals that’re evenly balanced.

The song “After Dark” with Ty$ sees the 2 talking about hooking up with women in the late night hours over a laidback instrumental from none other than Static Major & while the penultimate track “Final Fantasy” is probably the freakiest I’ve ever heard Aubrey get, but it’s the 3rd track on this R&B side feels like it should’ve been on the first disc. The album then finishes with “March 14”, which is a 4th misplaced rap song on the entire album. However it’s not bad, because I like how he goes more in-depth about Adonis over this moody boom bap beat

While this is definitely better than VIEWS & More Life, it’s still a mixed bag. He sounds a lot more passionate on here than he did on the last 2 projects I mentioned & I can definitely appreciate the A Side/B Side concept, but there are 4 tracks on the 2nd disc that really should’ve been on the first one & A LOT of filler. If you evenly took the best tracks from both discs & put them onto just 1, then it would’ve been pretty great.

Score: 2.5/5

Gorillaz – “The Now Now” review

7012475

Just a little over a year after their painfully bloated comeback Humanz, legendary British virtual band Gorillaz is now giving us their 5th full-length album. Things start off with “Humility”, where Damon Albarn sings about isolation over an smooth tropical instrumental. The next track “Tranz” is pretty much Damon talking to his lover an electronic instrumental while the song “Hollywood” by Jamie Principle & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg sees the 2 talking about the famous life over an electro-funk instrumental. The track “Kansas” vents about finding another dream over a funky beat with some rubbery bass while the song “Sorcererz” advises everyone to hold onto their inner-visions over a synth-heavy instrumental.

The track “Idaho” recalls a time where he stayed at Bruce Willis’ ski lodge over an atmospheric instrumental that gets more layered as it progresses while the song “Lake Zurich” is mostly a fun synth-funk instrumental. The track “Magic City” refers to being higher over a synthpop instrumental while the song “Fireflies” talks to an ex over a gloomy instrumental that suits the vibe fantastically. The last 2 tracks “1%” & “Souk Eyes” get romantic, but the latter is actually fully written.

I never expected this coming around the corner given the gap between the last album & the album prior The Fall, but it is a solid album. Of course it’s well produced, but I also really love the fact that the lyrics are written in Damon’s perspective as opposed to 2D’s. Also, there’s A LOT less filler on here than there was on Humanz.

Score: 3.5/5

Teyana Taylor – “K.T.S.E. (Keep That Same Energy)” review

With the release of her average debut VII in 2014 & the birth of her daughter the year after, Harlem recording artist Teyana Taylor is returning with her sophomore album & she has enlisted GOOD Music founder Kanye West to produce it in it’s entirety.

The album starts off with “No Manners”, where she sings about her husband Iman Shumpert over some strings & piano chords. The next song “Gonna Love Me” gets romantic over an acoustic instrumental & a beautiful soul sample during the hook while the track “Issues / Hold On”. vents about fighting to keep Iman with her over a mellow guitar. The song “Hurry” with Kanye sees the 2 getting playful over a funky beat with my favorite hook on the entire album while the track “3Way” is about Teyana bringing in another woman for Iman so they can have a threesome over a moody instrumental & the Ty$ verse compliments it so perfectly. The song “Rose in Harlem” talks about being betrayed over some horns & a fitting soul sample while the track “Never Would’ve Made It” is a heartwarming tribute to her daughter over some stuttering drums & piano keys. Unfortunately, the worst song on the entire album would pop up with the closer: W.T.P. (Work This Pussy). The house production is ok, but it’s structured poorly & the vocal sample is annoying as fuck.

Other than that, this is the album that I’ve been waiting Teyana to make (even back in her Star Trak days). It’s passionate, the vocals are a lot stronger as is the songwriting & it’s WAY better produced than her debut. If she & Kanye are gonna work with each other in the future, than I’m all for it

Score: 4/5

Death Grips – “Year of the Snitch” review

img_3859-1

After having a quiet 2017 with the exception of their Steroids EP, renown Sacramento, California experimental hip hop trio Death Grips are returning with their 6th full-length album.

The album begins with “Death Grips is Online”, where The I.L.Y’s provide an instrumental with a futuristic atmosphere to it as MC Ride calmly delivers his cryptic verses. I also love the scratches from DJ Swamp as well as the moments where Ride tells “BREAK IT, BREAK IT DOWN!”. The next track “Flies” talks about severing all ties over a glitch hop instrumental while the song “Black Paint” talks about requiring privacy & finally thinking over a noise rock instrumental. The track “Linda’s in Custody” has a nice electronic beat & the depressed tone in Ride’s voice suits it very well. After the short drill & bass interlude “Horn Section“, we go into the song “Ha Ha Ha”. Here, Ride gets sexual & the way the trio samples their past songs “Lock Your Doors”, “Up My Sleeves”, “Black Dice”, “Inanimate Sensation”, “I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)” & “Lord of the Game” was very creative.

The track “Shitshow” is a wild 2-minute sequel to “Hot Head” off their last album Bottomless Pit down to Ride’s aggressive delivery & the digital hardcore instrumental while the track “Streaky” talks about the hustler life over an instrumental with their signature industrial hip hop sound. The track “Dilemma” talks about Ride’s lifestyle over a synth-punk instrumental while the song “Little Richard” has a nice EDM instrumental, Ride’s robotic delivery is just ok. “The Fear” sees Ride venting being afraid to die & I absolutely love the sinister synths that Andy Morin brings to the table. Also, the way Ride famously screams his brains out during the hook never fails to amuse me. After the heavy guitar “outro”, we get into the actual closer “Disappointed” which is anything but. Zach Hill’s rattling drums in the instrumental are insane & the call/shout delivery that Ride employs will make you wanna fight someone. Especially when he yells “WHHHYYY ME?” throughout the hook.

To be honest, this is one of Death Grips’ best albums. As expected, MC Ride’s lyrics are cryptic & there are strong elements of both industrial hip hop & punk music. However, they also fuse elements of noise rock & IDM near-perfectly. My only real complaint about this (aside from Ride’s delivery on “Little Richard”) is that I feel like the last 2 tracks should’ve been switched around. Other than that, Death Grips yet again prove why I consider them the greatest experimental hip hop act of all-time

Score: 4.5/5

Westside Gunn – “Supreme Blientele” review

Just a couple months after his FLYGOD is Good…All the Time EP, Buffalo MC Westside Gunn is delivering his highly anticipated sophomore album. After a spoken word intro from WWE Hall of Famer & 7-time tag team champion Arn Anderson, we go into the first song “GOD$ Don’t Bleed”. Here, the FLYGOD hooks up with Benny the Butcher & Jadakiss get confrontational towards their competition over a haunting soul sample from Daringer. The next track “Dean Malenko” named after the former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, ECW World Television Champion, ECW World Tag Team Champion, 4-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion is about drug dealing over a boom bap beat with some beautiful piano chords while the song “Brutus” is a bloody Griselda Records posse cut over an epic Pete Rock instrumental named after former WWE Tag Team Champion Brutus Beefcake. The track “Amherst Station” vividly tells the story of the hustler life over a soulful beat while the song “RVD” named after the former 2-time WWE champion, ECW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, the 4-time & final WWE Hardcore Champion, TNA World Champion & TNA X Division Champion Rob Van Dam gets braggadocious over a boom bap beat with some somber keys. I also like the spoken word passage from Keisha Plum during the second half.

Then we get into my favorite song on the album “Elizabeth” named after the late WWE/WCW manager Ms. Elizabeth where he talks about his street knowledge over a jazzy Alchemist beat. Then it transitions into “Mean Gene” perfectly, where he spits his signature “flyshit” paying homage to WWE Hall of Famer Gene Okerlund over a soulful beat. However, the next 2 tracks “Stefflon Don & “Sabu” are easily the weakest on the entire album. Even if the latter is named after former 2-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion, FTW Champion, ECW World Television Champion, 3-time ECW World Tag Team Champion, JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, IWGPジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン & the longest reigning XPW World Heavyweight Champion Sabu. They’re not bad, but they definitely sounded unfinished to me. If he added another verse on both tracks, that would’ve been perfect. The song “Brossface Brippler” with Benny & Busta Rhymes sees the 3 getting murderous over an eerie soul sample from Alchemist that fits the vibe perfectly while the track “Spanish Jesus” with Crimeapple sees the 2 returning to the drug dealer themes over a rap rock beat from Harry Fraud.

“The Steiners” with eLZhi is filled with battle bars named after the 10-time WWE Tag Team Champions, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champions & 2-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン over a joyous boom bap beat from Pete Rock & then “Ric Martiel” with Roc Marciano go back to the drug dealer days over a soulful Roc beat. The track “WESTSIDE” gets braggadocious once again over a sinister Statik Selektah beat & before a spoken word outro from A.A. Rashid, it ends with the epic “WrestleMania 20”. Here, Westside tells us that he’s not playing games over a 9th Wonder instrumental with a prominent acoustic guitar & a smooth Anderson .Paak hook.

As expected, this is Westside’s best work yet. There are a couple tracks that could’ve been fully fleshed out but other than that, the hardcore boom bap production & Westside’s signature street bars is a lot more refined than it was on his 2016 debut FLYGOD

Score: 4.5/5