CyHi the Prynce – “No Dope on Sundays” review

CyHi the Prynce is an MC from Atlanta, Georgia & this is long awaited full-length debut. The album opens with “Amen”, where CyHi’s talking about staying in your environment over a fittingly churchy instrumental. The next track is the title track, where he & fellow G.O.O.D. Music signee Pusha T talks about trappin’ another other day than the Lord’s day & the beat change from Lex Luger is phenomenal. The song “Get Yo Money” speaks on the drug game over an eerie instrumental & the track “Movin’ Around” with ScHoolboy Q isa weed anthem with a decent trap beat. The track “Trick Me” gets braggadocious over a mellow piano instrumental& the 2 Chainz verse isn’t all that bad. The song “Murda” talks about life in the streets over a decent reggae instrumental while the track “Don’t Know Why”gets conscious over a somewhat spacey instrumental. Also, the Jagged Edge feature on here is pretty great as well. The song“God Bless” is pretty much about being thankful & I️ absolutely love how it samples my favorite Roy Ayers song “Searching”. The track “Dat Side” with his mentor Kanye West sees the 2 attacking their haters over a dreary instrumental while the song “Looking for Love” is a self-explanatory love song with a decent trap beat & a mediocre auto-tune hook. The song “Nu Africa” gets pro-black over a nice boom bap beat & the track “Free” seems to be a diss towards Def Jam Recordings over a dreamy instrumental. The song “80’s Baby” speaks through the point of view of an unborn child over a jazzy instrumental & a beautiful BJ the Chicago Kid feature while the penultimate track “Closer” talks about maintaining a relationship with Jesus Christ over an instrumental with an uplifting atmosphere to it. I know both of these song topics sound corny, but CyHi’s actually able to pull both of them off. The album then closes with “I’m Fine”, which pretty much talks about livin’ life to the fullest & I really wish Travi$ Scott had a verse instead of just doing the hook. CyHi the Prynce has been long overdue with an album & I think this should give him the credit he finally deserves. Despite a few mediocre beats & hooks every here & there, it sounds focused, the features are on point & it’s just as smart as ever

Score: 3.5/5

Milkavelli – “Cult Member” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee Milkavelli making his solo debut. Originally known under the moniker Monster Under the Bed, he was also a former member of both the Children of the Damned & the Piff Gang collectives in addition to him presently comprising 1/4 of Cult Mountain & 1/2 of the Mcabre Brothers. Although he’s considered to be more of an affiliate of the Cult of the Damned, he’s telling us what it was like being a Cult Member a year after the 616god extended play days after Ryan Smile ended Josh Bodom’s record-tying 3rd reign as RPW British Cruiserweight Champion.

“Spaceman” begins with him talking about having vices because he’s hellspawn & giving middle fingers to the enemy at war whereas “Rehab” featuring Suspect OTB finds the 2 comparing the feeling of being inside of a studio to that of rehabilitation. “Lock & Load” continues with him talking about feeling comfy by himself carrying a pistol in his hand leading into “Jamaa” produced by Sumgii talking about his enigmatic profile & feeling trippy after taking a few tabs.

Nobodies Home jumps behind the boards on “Cold Outing” speaking of treating his weed sack religiously in sense to people telling him he raps sacrilegiously & winning when he’s never won while “ZZZ” featuring the late Lil Peep talks about each of their own relationships with drugs. “Foul Mouth” has a more chaotic trap vibe instrumentally talking about him going all in while “There It Is” tackles drugs, relationships, success & spirituality over a Reklews beat.

“Yay High” featuring Jesse James Solomon gets the other half of the album going with both of them talking about having different shit within the same day over a Tony Seltzer instrumental while “Silk Tears” admits to doing this shit for the fuck of it only for people to bit him. “S!ck” has the Mcabre Brothers linking up to talk about being fed up with being too ill at everything while “Feeling Like” psychedelically discusses him only having his teammates & going up against the weekend when it’s actually a weekday.

Kicking off the 4th quarter, “Hello Kitten” shows a more flirtatious side to Don Silk telling this woman who has his attention that doesn’t play with religion despite having faith while “Mmm Bop” featuring Sniff gets together over an eerie boom bap beat the latter made himself to talk about going to Hell merely for their own amusement. “Where’s Olly?” suggests those worrying of what he’s doing to get a real hobby & “Roger Rabbit” sends it all off describing him watching The Walt Disney Company-owned Who Framed Roger Rabbit? with Zapp playing in the background.

There are a few other members from the original Children of the Damned crew who either haven’t released any solo material whatsoever like Salar or Tony Broke solely doing guest appearances for the past few years following his last EP Money in the Bag, but I’d have to say I prefer Cult Member more than 616god if this is the last we’ll hear from the Monster Under the Bed individually. The production’s an upgrade from its predecessor last Halloween, there are more guests in comparison & includes a myriad of different hip hop styles like boom bap & cloud rap.

Score: 3.5/5

Lex the Hex Master – “Beyond Redemption” review

Almost year after his debut Contact & just in time for Halloween, Queens horrorcore MC & Majik Ninja Entertainment signee Lex the Hex Master is now dropping his sophomore album. After an 80 second intro, the title track is the first song in the track listing & it has a super ominous instrumental that fits his angry about being face to face with his fate perfectly. The track “Beast” raps about shuttin’ shit down over an energetic, but the first half of the hook is too nasal for me. The song “Joke’s Ova” with G-Mo Skee & Grizzy Hendrix is basically the 3 venting about the wack shit of today & getting back to the hardcore days over a sinister instrumental. The track “Attributes” sees Lex telling us a bit about himself & the instrumental kinda sounds like something Eminem would rap over in 2002 or 2003, but in a cool way.

The song “Shadow Army” with his mentors Twiztid alongside Gorilla Voltage & Řezník is a nice, gritty horrorcore posse cut & the track “Gangstas” talks about a chick who wants to chill with the thugs over an instrumental with a fitting gangsta rap vibe to it & the song “Broken” vents about haters as well as traumatizing your ears over another Early 2000s Eminem-esque instrumental minus the wailing guitar. The track “Bully Foot” has an instrumental kinda reminds me of “Put ‘Em in Their Place” by Mobb Deep, but Lex’s confrontational bars actually sound just fine over it. The song “Samurai” with Young Wicked sees the 2 bragging about their skills over some pounding drums & the hook is super catchy. The penultimate track “Arrival” with Young Uno, Var Francis & Bubbah Barz sees all 4 MCs taking shots at all the frauds out there over some ominous keyboards & then the closer “It Begins” is Lex vividly telling the story of a man who eventually gets murdered over a perfectly somber instrumental.

Overall, I think Lex the Hex Master outdid himself on this one. The production is grittier, Lex is continuing to improve himself as an MC & it sounds even angrier than before.I think Lex is one of the most underrated right now & if anyone’s new to him, I think this is where you should stop sleeping

Score: 4/5

L.A.R.S. – “Foul World” review

L.A.R.S. is a Detroit horrorcore duo consisting of childhood friends & longtime collaborators Bizarre of D12 fame & King Gordy of the Fat Killahz. The duo originally formed & debuted as The Davidians on Esham’s Butcher Shop mixtape back in 2008, but now they’re re-emerging with a new name along with a recent record deal with Twiztid’s Majik Ninja Entertainment & this 7 track mixtape preluding their upcoming debut album.

The opener “L.A.R.S. (Last American Rock Stars)”, sees the duo talking about partying over a decent rap rock instrumental from their DJ & honorary 3rd member Foul Mouth, who produced all but 1 song on the entire project. The next track “Put Me Thru” has a very surprising soul sample throughout & the way Gordy talks about this woman who’s being physically abused is super vivid. Also, there’s one line during Bizarre‘s verse where he accidentally mixes up Conway the Machine with his brother Westside Gunn (both of whom got signed to Shady Records earlier this year).

“Fuck Yo Baby Daddy” featuring Big T shittalks an unnamed baby daddy over a decent trap beat from Rooq, but I think both Gordy & T’s verses at the beginning & the end respectively fit the concept a lot better than Bizarre’s verse in the middle. The track “Lose Your Mind” gets gangsta over a sinister boom bap beat & the way they go back & forth with each other just goes to show how strong their chemistry still is. The song “Mother’s Best Friend” is a hilarious sex tune over a jazzy instrumental & then the penultimate track “Savage Life” talks about how insane Gordy & Bizzy are over a fittingly sinister instrumental. The closer “I’m a Celebrity” then boasts about the lavish life & the rap rock instrumental here sounds a lot more exciting than the one we heard during the opener.

I personally think Majik Ninja is one of the rawest labels out right now & I think this latest mixtape from their newest sign act is no exception. Sure it feels like an EP given that’s only 7 tracks & 23 minutes long, but Foul Mouth’s production is on point & both King Gordy & Bizarre sound as crazy as they’ve ever been. Here’s to their upcoming debut album & hopefully some solo albums from both MCs at some point in the future

Score: 4/5

Big K.R.I.T. – “4eva is a Mighty Long Time” review

A year after leaving the renown Def Jam Recordings to form his own label Multi Alumni, Mississippi MC/producer Big K.R.I.T. is finally returning with his 3rd full-length album & it actually happens to be a double disc with 11 tracks on each disc. The opener “Big K.R.I.T.” gets ambitious both lyrically & production-wise & I really love how he goes some rapping from mid-pace to a faster one halfway. The next track “Confetti” brags about his rapping prowess & dissing the wack over DJ Camper’s piano chords along with a soul sample in the background & even a guitar solo during the hook. The song “Big Bank” with T.I. sees the 2 boasting about their wealth over a soulful yet hard hitting instrumental from WLPWR. The track “Subenstein (My Sub IV)” is the new welcoming installment of his “My Sub” series the Mannie Fresh/Supah Mario beat on here SLAPS! The song “1999” is basically Krizzle with a decent Lloyd hook getting romantic & I can definitely see it being a hit from the content down to Mannie’s production.

The song “Ride wit Me” gets braggadocious with an outstanding UGK feature & as for the track “Get Up 2 Come Down”, it talks about some hustlin’ over a smooth instrumental & it was really refreshing to hear Cee-Lo Green rapping a verse near the end. The song “Layup” reflects on starting with nothing & how he’s living better now over a very relaxing instrumental & his melodic delivery is infectious. After the Classic Interlude, we then get into the next song “Aux Cord”. Here, he’s telling us some of his influences like the late B.B. King (whom he collaborated with on his debut Live from the Underground) as well as Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone over a spacey instrumental. The first disc closer “Get Away” is the last in the first disc & he’s talking about being bullshit free over a smooth soul instrumental.

The first track on the second disc “Justin Scott” is just a 4 minute instrumental that you can kick back to & the song “Mixed Messages” talks about things like loving his girl yet hating her at the same time or being rich yet simultaneously giving back & the instrumental is just beautiful. The track “Keep the Devil Off” sees Krizzle asking God to brush off the haters over a fittingly gospel-influenced instrumental & the song Ms. Georgia Fornia talks about a love/hate relationship over a smooth guitar & the Joi hook has a lot of raw passion in it. The next 2 tracks “Everlasting” & “Higher Calling” are both love songs & while they aren’t bad at all, I’d say the first of the 2 sets the mood a lot better.

After the Weekend Interlude, K.R.I.T. then gives the listener his personal take on what fame does to you on “Price of Fame” & the song “Drinking Sessions” sees him getting vulnerable over some piano keys & some trumpets. The penultimate track “The Light” gets conscious over a jazzy instrumental & the Bilal hook is just as soothing while the closer “Bury Me in Gold” talks about giving it all away to be in heaven over a fittingly churchy instrumental.

For a double disc album, this might be Big K.R.I.T.’s best work yet. It’s super consistent, it sounds focused, the lyricism is stronger than ever before, the production is immensely soulful & the passion is clear as day. I think Krizzle is amongst the most underrated right now & this double disc magnum opus could potentially be a modern classic within the next 3 years

Score: 4.5/5

Yelawolf – “Trial by Fire” review

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Exactly 5 months after the release of his previous album Love Story back in 2015, Alabama rapper/singer & Eminem protégé Yelawolf did not hesitate to announce plans for this new album over here. He spent last year dropping 2 singles, a prelude EP & then he went on a headlining tour all to promote it. However, he ended up cancelling the last 6 dates of the tour & was admitted into a psychiatric ward by his manager Jeremy Jones after an onstage mental breakdown that was resulted by the death of his childhood friend Shawty Fatt. He then re-emerged a month later under his government name stating that he lost nearly every friend & everything he had, gave his Slumerican Records label to his mother & was now making a fresh start as a new member of the renown Oakland-based alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics rather than staying with Shady Records & Interscope. Despite this statement, it wouldn’t be until early June of this year when he officially made his comeback with a music video along with the confirmation that he was keeping the Yelawolf name & staying with Shady/Interscope. Fast forward almost 5 months later, he’s finally releasing & surprisingly self-producing it.

The album opens up with the title track, where he’s talking about the day he was born as well as warning the listener to watch out whenever you’re around him & being back in the saddle after his recent personal issues over a killer hard rock-esque guitar. The next song “Shadows” tells the listener of how he went from going from being a vulnerable kid to becoming a criminal & the instrumental is fittingly ominous as he’s passionately venting his story to the audience. The track “Get Mine” angrily raps about getting yours over a country rock instrumental & not only does the Kid Rock hook fit like a glove, but I can also appreciate the scratches from DJ Klever as it pays tribute to all the DJs out there. The song “Son of a Gun” reflects on how his career began over some chimes with a decent guitar & some awesomely militant drums. The track “Ride or Die” is a dedication to Shawty over some perfectly gloomy piano keys & then a spoken word interlude from Slumerican signee Struggle Jennings over a twangy guitar, we are then treated to the next track “Daylight”. Here, Yela raps about his alcoholism over a country guitar & the fact that he uses the same rhyme scheme for nearly the whole first verse just proves how lyrical Catfish Billy can be.

The song “Do for Love” talks about a dad who eventually decides to rob a store as well as a mother who strips & sells drugs over a dramatic instrumental. The track “Punk” spits about feelin’ at home over a fast-tempo rap rock instrumental & the Juicy J hook makes me a little disappointed that he doesn’t have a verse on here. The song “Row Your Boat” has a somber instrumental & I definitely appreciate Yelawolf getting conscious in his fully sung lyrics, but the hook is actually super corny to me. The track “True to Yourself” passionately talks about living for the moment pretty much over an Western sounding instrumental with some background choir vocals & horns. The song “Sabrina” is a heartfelt dedication to his daughter with the same name & while the instrumental is ok, you can truly hear the pain in Yela’s voice as he’s remembering her. Especially when he’s screaming at the end. The penultimate track “Violin” cleverly compares a soldier & the country he’s fighting for to a man with an unfaithful woman over an acoustic guitar with some beautiful string sections & background vocals. The album then closes out with “Keep Me Alive”, where he explains his come up about his over a twangy guitar & settle drums. Also, the Wyonna Judd hook is probably the best on the entire album.

And as a whole, I think it’s his best full-length album yet. The country & rock elements are being fused in a lot better, Yelawolf sounds his most focused, most inspired & he’s starting to rap a lot more than he did on the last album. I‘ve heard some people say that he’s full-blown corny, but I think this is a prime example of how much of a dedicated artist he is

Score: 4/5

$ki Mask “The $lump God” – “YouWillRegret” review

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In light of fellow Members Only co-founder XXXTENTACION exploding into stardom, $ki Mask “The $lump God” is releasing his 2nd mixtape with Republic Records. The opener “Rambo” has an obnoxious hook, but the way he gets braggadocious over this abrasive trap beat is so animated. The next song “JustLikeMyPiss” with MadeinTYO sees the 2 talking about how attractive their ladies are & the trap instrumental here compared to the opener is much more eerie. The track “Bird is the Word” is a sinister gangster anthem & the Surfin’ Bird reference during the hook was unexpected, yet cool. The song “BabyWipe” could very well be $ki Mask’s best song yet, as it has an energetic instrumental & the way he flows over it is just deadly! The track “Gone” talks about getting intoxicated, but it just overall sounds unfinished. The song “Adventure Time” has a decent beat, but the verses don’t really do anything for me. The track “EverTookATab?” talks about drugs & the bass is THUNDEROUS! The song “Winnie” has a great rapid-delivery, but the hook is super corny hook & he’s just repeating himself. The penultimate track “Energy” has a guitar-tinged trap beat that’s actually pretty cool, but the hook is bitten off of “Pornography” by Travi$ Scott & it sounds underwritten. The tape then closes out with the hard hatting almost chopper-like XXXTENTACION duet “H2O”, which was taken from the Members Only 3 mixtape. As his first release with a major label, this was a decent mixtape. $ki Mask’s energy & flow are definitely there, but a lot of the tracks seem unfinished. I definitely hope his upcoming tape with Timbaland will be much more superior

Score: 3/5

Babylon Dead – “2000 B.D.” review

Babylon Dead is a boom bap, political hip hop & ragga duo consisting of Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Jman alongside London producer Illinformed. One of whom has a couple solo albums under his belt already with the High Focus Records- backed Auranography & Free Dank whilst the other has become known for producing “Chalice” featuring Chip Fu off Jedi Mind Tricks’ only album without Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind’s involvement Violence Begets Violence. These guys initially got together for The Mould Tape’s outro “Gettin’ Mouldly” & have signed to the Glastonbury, Somerset imprint Real Life Drama Records for a debut album.

After the “Enter” intro, the title track sets the tone of what’s to come with an orchestral boom bap beat talking about meeting your demise if Jman shanks ya whereas “Raggo” embraces a significantly dustier approach instrumentally speaking of taking over the whole scene. “Judgement” hooks up more kicks & snares talking about maintaining the equally militant mind state the late Peter Tosh had leading into “Empire” shows a pyromaniac side to them both.

“Duppy” samples some strings making political commentary on serious long-term issues such as decades of police brutality while “Veteran” sticks with a boom bap vibe talking about the rest of the world not being ready for the movement Babylon Dead are about to start. “Acab” stands out for being amongst the earliest origins of the “all cops are bastards” phrase condemning officers for abusing their power & after the “Enemy” skit, “Voodoo” gruesomely talks about death having no fear for anyone or anything.

Starting off the last leg, “Fuckery” comes out the gate incorporating these funereal organ melodies observing the very thing he sees when turning on the television these days while “Hostage” continues to warn the game of it’s eventual takeover Jman & Illinformed are plotting. “Greed” eerily talks about being at war for that very reason & the current year of 2000 B.D. itself but after the “Message” skit, “Funeral” cooks up a ragga outro publicly rejecting a desire to have a service of remembrance if the pairing winds up dissolving for whatever reason there could hypothetically be.

My favorite album in the ragga subgenre of dancehall will always be Buju Banton’s 4th album ‘Til Shiloh & although I wouldn’t put Mad Lion’s sophomore effort Real Ting above it, it does have moments that’ve become somewhat overlooked. Babylon Dead nonetheless has introduced themselves by giving Real Life Drama Records a top 5 entry in their whole catalog portraying a happy marriage between Illinformed’s boom bap & ragga production and Jman’s politically charged lyrics.

Score: 4/5

Future & Young Thug – “SUPER SLIMEY” review

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If it wasn’t enough that Future dropped his self-titled album & HNDRXX earlier this year along with Young Thug dropping Beautiful Thugger Girls mixtape back in June, the 2 Atlanta, Georgia trap superstars are now coming together with a surprise collaborative mixtape. The opener “No Cap” sees Future & Thugger getting braggadocious over an eerie beat from 808 Mafia co-founder Southside & then on the next track “3”, they channel their inner pimp over a futuristic-ish (no pun intended) trap instrumental from DY. The song “All da Smoke” is a party anthem with a fitting cloudy trap instrumental & the track “200” is yet another braggadocious tune, but this time with more of an atmospheric trap instrumental from Tre Pounds & Wheezy. The track “Cruise Ship” is a Thugger solo cut & I love how insanely energetic he sounds over this dreamy trap instrumental.

The song “Patek Water” is basically Young Thug & Offset rapping about not wanting to go back to being broke & not only was I disappointed that Future only did the hook on here, but Offset’s line near the end about “her sucking on semen” made me cringe a little bit. However, Future makes up for it by having the track “Feed Me Dope” to himself as he raps over a sinister instrumental. The song “Drip on Me” sees Future & Thugger linking back up once more to get mafioso over a wavy instrumental & then the track “Real Love” is an spacey sex tune with Future sounding more slick to set the vibe in contrast to Thugger sounding hype. The track “4 da Gang” is another Future solo cut, but with him talking about how nothing’s changed & repping his Freebandz crew over another cloudy beat from Fuse.

The song “Killed Before” is another Thugger solo cut & despite the verses being decent, I really love how he got London on da Track to bring back that country rap vibe from Beautiful Thugger Girls. The penultimate track “Mink Flow” gets back to the braggadocio bars over a hard beat from Mike WiLL Made-It & with the closer “Group Home” venting about their break-ups, Future’s verse is more sad & Thugger’s is more fittingly hostile considering the fact that he broke off his engagement with his ex-fiancée Karlae recently.

Modern trap fans would dream of someone as unique as Future doing a collab project with someone as versatile as Young Thug & in the end, I think this is better than the Drake & Future collab mixtape What a Time to Be Alive that they did back in 2015. Sure it’s not super lyrical, but I see that Future has a more natural chemistry with Thugger then he did with Drake. On top of that, the production is almost as lively & the deliveries are just wild

Score: 3.5/5

Blu & Exile – “In the Beginning: Before the Heavens” review

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To commemorate the 10 year anniversary of their classic debut Below the Heavens: In Hell Happy with Your New Imaginary Friend, Blu & Exile are returning with their 3rd full-length album & it happens to be a prequel to that debut. The opener “Soul Provider” gets braggadocious & Exile’s production enhances the happiness of Blu finally making it. The next track “Another Day” vividly talks about a day in the hood over a lush boom bap instrumental while the song “Constellations” gratefully speaks on success & the hook on there is just as beautiful. The track “All These Ladies” talks about gold diggers over a funky yet smooth instrumental & the song “Party for 2” gets romantic over a jazzy instrumental.

The track “Back to Basics” tells the listener what he’s gonna do for the culture & gets vividly reflective over a laid-back instrumental. The track “On the Radio” vents about wack shit getting mad radio play over a hard boom bap instrumental & his hook is super catchy. The song “You’re Gonna Die Someday” gets vents about the current state of over a soulful instrumental that actually has an amazing J Dilla vibe to it. The track “Life’s a Gamble has some decent verses from Blu & the 3 artists that’re featured & I love how the beat starts off with some spacey synths & a fitting Marvin Gaye sample during the first half, but the switches up during of the second half was unnecessary to me. The song “Things we Say” with Emanon sees Blu & Aloe Blacc both rapping about the stuff they say hypothetically coming to life over a soulful piano boom beat.

The track “Hot for Y’all” has a joyous instrumental & for some reason unlike “Life’s a Gamble”, I think Blu & Donell Smokes compliment each other very well on here. The song “Hard Workers” with Blame 1 gets insightful (especially the latter) over a funky boom bap instrumental & the scratch hook hits the nail on the head. The penultimate track “Sold the Soul” has a nice smooth boom bap beat, but I was Blu was actually rapping over it rather than just talking & then later singing on it. The album closes out with “Stress Off the Chest”, where Blu’s talking about keeping his head up despite the bullshit around him over a nice Latin sample.

This definitely feels like a Below the Heavens b-sides compilation with some of the tracks already being previously released, but it’s a well put together thank you to the fans for supporting them for the past decade

Score: 4/5