MURS – “Captain California” review

After dropping his last solo album (but his debut with Missouri based independent powerhouse Strange Music) Have a Nice Life as well as reuniting with 9th Wonder to drop Brighter Daze in 2015, former Living Legends member MURS would spend 2016 doing a couple features & he even won a Guinness World Record for the Longest Rap Marathon back in September. However, he’s now returning with his 10th solo album but his sophomore effort with Strange. The album kicks off with the track “Lemon Juice”, where MURS & Curtiss King are battling back & forth with each other over this chick & the production from MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 on here is pretty smooth. The next track “Shakespeare on the Low” is a hood version of the timeless Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet & honestly, it’s just ok. The track “G.B.K.W. (God Bless Kanye West)” isn’t really about Kanye himself, but rather about a man who’s under stress over an upbeat instrumental enhanced with these twinkling keys. The next track “Colossus” originally appeared on the bonus disc of Strange Music founder Tech N9ne’s latest album The Storm & it sounds just as great as it did when I first heard it on that album 3 months ago. The song “Another Round” talks about sex, but the way he describes it isn’t excessively raunchy at all & the pre-hook from Krizz Kaliko as well as 7’s production on here are all on point as well. The song “1,000 Suns” is a dedication to his wife Kate & you can just tell that he wrote/delivered it from the heart. Not only that, but 7’s electro-tinged production isn’t a bad touch either. The song “1 Uh Those Days” with Reverie discuss their individually shitty days & the production from former Company Flow member Mr. Len has these string passages as well as some hard ass boom bap drums too. The penultimate track “Ay Carumba” is about getting another woman pregnant & the way he describes the situation isn’t bad at all, I’m indifferent towards the production on here. Not only do I consider this to be an improvement over Have a Nice Life, but I also think that this is the best thing MURS has done with Strange Music thus far. While I feel like the production could’ve been better on some tracks, the storytelling throughout is fantastic.

Score: 3.5/5

Thundercat – “Drunk” review

Thundercat is a 32 year old musician, singer/songwriter & producer from Los Angeles, California who emerged in the 2000s as the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies. He would subsequently sign to Brainfeeder Records & make his full-length debut The Golden Age of Apocalypse nearly a week before I started high school. He would follow it up with the sophomore effort Apocalypse a couple summers later & his debut extended play The Beyond / Where the Giants Grow a month succeeding my graduation due to the inclusion of his most lauded single “Them Changes”. His 3rd album however has been shaping up to be the most special entry in his entire catalog & some of the names involved further proved my point.

“Rabbit Ho” properly kicks things off singing about being bored & wanting to getting drunk out of boredom over a gloomy bassline as well as some somber keys whereas “Captain Stupido” co-produced by Flying Lotus describes monotony. “Uh Uh” comes through with a compositionally high-tempo jazz-funk interlude that seems taken from a Mario Kart game soundtrack while the lead single “Bus in These Streets” sings about technology in a very intriguing way fusing neo-soul, psychedelic soul & hypnagogic pop.

A sequel to “Tron Song” off Apocalypse called “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song II)” & although the songwriting is just as repetitive as it was on the predecessor, I’d say the instrumental on this one’s a lot more funky. The next couple tracks “Lava Lamp” & “Jethro” both explore the concept death, except the latter has more lively beat in contrast to “Lava Lamp”‘ having a dreamier instrumental courtesy of Sounwave, but then “Show You the Way” featuring Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald after the “Day & Night” interlude combines neo-soul, smooth soul funktronica & yacht rock to sing about making the most out of life.

“Walk on By” featuring Kendrick Lamar finds the 2 individually addressing the topic of loneliness & trying to right one’s wrongs while “Blackkk” tropically sings about walking into the light & the instrumental on here sounds pretty tropical. “Tokyo” reaches the halfway point with a fast-paced ode to the capital of Japan while “Jameel’s Space Ride” talks about being free over an uplifting beat gets the 2nd leg going by comparing his younger brother to 大江錦太郎 from the comedic ゴールデンボーイanime series.

“Friend Zone” depicts himself as a gamer who doesn’t get laid making numerous reference blending neo-soul, syth-funk & funktronica for the 3rd & final single while “Them Changes” reappears with no complaints since it’s easily the best song he’s ever made. “Where I’m Going” embraces the funktronica influences a bit heavier singing about doing fine even if he’s getting weak while “Drink Dat” lets Wiz Khalifa handle the verses, spaciously rapping about this party girl.

As for “Inferno”, we have Thundercat over a funky psychedelic soul beat singing about going insane while “3AM” after the 26 second “I’m Crazy” intermission ends the trilogy split into it’s own individual portions by singing about the streets calling him. The title track intoxicatingly describes getting wasted while “The Turn Down” featuring Pharrell takes a more conscious approach lyrically. “DUI” reprises the same melody “Rabbit Ho” used starting his drinking anew while “Hi” by Mac Miller talks about several events possibly occurring in our lifetime.

The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam was said to be a prelude to Drunk & considering how much he artistically stepped up throughout that EP, it had me hoping he’d surpass both The Golden Age of Apocalypse & Apocalypse as much as I enjoyed those LPs during my adolescence. Lo & behold: He gives us the most cohesive offering in his career & an essential within the Brainfeeder catalog. FlyLo helps him expand the neo-soul direction it’s predecessor went for sprinkling elements of psychedelic soul, progressive soul, funk, funktronica, acid jazz, jazz fusion, neo-psychedelia, alternative R&B & yacht rock along the way for a trip inside of the former Suicidal Tendencies bassist’s humorous yet dark mind.

Score: 4.5/5

Lupe Fiasco – “DROGAS Light” review

Just 2 years after making a strong return to form with Tetsuo & Youth, Lupe Fiasco is now returning with his 6th full-length album. The album kicks off with “Dopamine Lit”, which has an quasi-ominous trap beat as well as lyrics about “making it from behind like AIDS” & “baggin’ like Bilbo”. The song “Promise” talks about keeping it 100 which I have no problem with at all, but the beat’s just ok to me. The song “Tranquillo” with Rick Ross & Big K.R.I.T. talks about love for themselves as well as all their homies over an ambitious sounding beat & while I like the first 2 verses, K.R.I.T.’s closing verse is what really steals the show. The track “Kill” with Ty$ is about being a strip club on a Saturday night & while Victoria Monét’s short verse from the point of view of a stripper wasn’t bad at all, it sounds like Lupe’s trying to rehash his L.A.S.E.R.S. (Love Always Shines Everytime, Remember 2 Smile) days on here. The song “L.A.W. (Love All Ways)” talks about wanting to be alone with his lover over a dreamy beat & it actually happens to be a Tetsuo & Youth leftover. The song “Pick Up the Phone” sees Lupe begging this chick to answer her phone over an electro-esque beat & again, it sounds like something from the L.A.S.E.R.S. (Love Always Shines Everytime, Remember 2 Smile) sessions. The album closes out with “More Than My Heart”, where Lupe pays homage to his mother over some uplifting keys & some thunderous drums. As anticipated as I was about this, I walked away from this album finding it to be just decent. I don’t mind an artist using outtakes from previous albums on their newest projects, but there’s a number of them on here that I personally find to be outdated & then there’s a lot that I’m indifferent towards

Score: 2.5/5

Big Sean – “I Decided.” review

Considering the fact that I was indifferent towards Big Sean’s previous album Dark Sky Paradise, I was kinda skeptical of going into his 4th full-length album over here. However, my morbid curiosity ended up getting the best of me as this past Friday drew closer & closer. The opening song “Light” has an uplifting message about how they can’t “take the light” no matter what. The album’s lead single “Bounce Back” talks about redeeming himself after taking an L the previous night over a dreamy trap beat & as much as I know other people love it, it’s just ok to me. The next song “No Favors” has an almost ominous sounding beat from WondaGurl & while Big Sean’s sole verse on here isn’t bad at all, the technical guest verse from Eminem that follows Sean’s verse easily steals the spotlight. The song “Jump Out the Window” talks about saving a girl from an abusive relationship she’s in & while the topic isn’t bad at all, I wasn’t really feeling the instrumental on here. I also can’t forget about the corny ass Mario Kart line near the end of the first verse. The song “Owe Me” talks about a chaos inducing ex coming back into Sean’s life & while I find the subject to be relatable, there are a few lines throughout that I find to be pretty cringeworthy. Especially the one about “cummin’ faster than The Flash”. The song “Inspire Me” is an ode to Sean’s mother & while I feel like the tribute he did to his grandmother on “1 Man Can Change the World” off his last album is better, this is still a sincerely heartfelt song regardless. The closer “Bigger Than Me” is basically about him wanting to make Detroit proud & not only do I love the feature from the Flint Chozen Choir on here, but I also like how the album closes out with Sean talking to his mom on the phone in contrast to the previous album closing out with him talking to his grandma on the phone. Personally, I consider this to be an improvement over Dark Sky Paradise. While I’m not head over heals for the production, I gotta give props to Big Sean for the concept of the album

Score: 3/5

Prodigy – ” The Hegelian Dialectic: The Book of Revelation” review

Almost 4 years after dropping the criminally slept-on Albert Einstein, Prodigy of the infamous Mobb Deep is finally returning with his 7th full-length album & it actually happens to be the first installment of a brand new trilogy of albums that is set to be completed by the end of the year. The album’s first song “Mystic” is the only track on here to be produced by The Alchemist (who entirely produced Prodigy’s last album) & not only do I love the flutes that he incorporates throughout the beat, but I really love how they fit Prodigy’s sincere rhymes about his talents like a glove. The next song “Broken Rappers” talks about how kids should be doing their homework on hip hop these days over an eerie beat & I feel like this track was very necessary considering all the recent mumble rap bullshit. The following song “Tyranny” talks about the current state of our government, but I’m actually indifferent towards the production on this joint. The song “As If” talks about Prodigy’s maturity which is definitely cool, but I wasn’t feeling the spacey production throughout this joint at all. The song “The Good Fight” talks about the things his family has taught him throughout his life & as much as I love Knxwledge, I don’t think the beat is one of the best he’s ever done but it’s definitely one of the better produced tracks on the album. Honestly as much as I love Mobb Deep as well as their solo work, I thought this was just ok. The rhymes are there, but the production comes off as generic to me for most of the time. Hopefully, the next 2 installments of the trilogy will have superior production while retaining the dope rhymes

Score: 2.5/5

Tech N9ne – “Dominion” review

Only 4 months after releasing his last album The Storm, Kansas City indie hip hop icon Tech N9ne is now returning with the first of 2 new Collabos albums that’re set to be released this year. Much like the last 2 Collabos albums Strangeulation & Strangeulation 2, Tech N9ne has the entire roster of his Strange Music record label solely featured on here & he has enlisted his label’s in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 to produce it in it’s entirety. The album’s first song “Drama” is a response to Missouri passing a bill that allows anyone to carry a handgun over a heavily sinister beat. The lyrics on the next song “Casket Music” with the CES Cru are definitely hardcore & the Wrekonize hook is on point, but the beat holds me back from fully enjoying it. The track “Put ‘Em On” with Stevie Stone & Darrein Safron is a bit self explanatory, as it talks about how they started out broke putting the listener onto their label over an eerie beat. The track “Wheels Like Hill” sees Tech solely talking about getting away from all the gold diggers out there & the production is just THUNDEROUS! The song “Some Good” with JL is a weed track & unsurprisingly, the instrumental has a relaxing tone to it. However, the finger snaps were unexpected & I actually didn’t mind them at all. The song “Salute”‘ with ¡MURSDAY! is basically telling the haters not to fuck with Strange over some catchy horns & a funky bassline. Even though Tech himself has said there are no plans for a 2nd ¡MURSDAY! album, this song actually gives me hope for it. While I really like how the next song “Fish in a Pita” sonically sounds like something from the 70’s, the content about vaginal odor is just really lame to me. The following track “Mo’Ammo” with MURS & Rittz has this decent guitar loop, but all 3 of them flow really well over it. I also really love the hilarious “gag reel” line during Rittz’ verse. The track “Jesus & a Pill” with Prozak & Krizz Kaliko talks about seeking inner peace & while the rap metal instrumental is mainly a down-tuned guitar with some drums, it predictably gets heavier during the hook. I understand that Tech N9ne wants to showcase every single person on his label & I think he achieved that with his last 3 Collabos albums (especially on my personal favorite Collabos album Welcome to Strangeland), but I would REALLY love it if he got a lot more non-Strange artists on the next Collabos album that he’s dropping later on in the year. Don’t get me wrong I like everyone that’s signed onto Strange, but solely hearing every signee being featured on there for the 3rd Collabos album in a row is actually getting tiring for me
Score: 3/5

MGK – “bloom” review

About a year & a half after the release of his mediocre sophomore album General Admission, Bad Boy Entertainment signee MGK is now putting out his 3rd full-length album. The opener “The Gunner” is decent with it’s piano/explosive drum instrumental & it’s ambitious lyrics, but the album takes a massive nosedive right after that. The next track “Wake + Bake” is a weed anthem with a cheesy psychedelic-esque instrumental & while his rags-to-riches story on “Go for Broke” isn’t too bad, but the instrumental & the James Arthur hook turn it into a generic radio-hit. I can also see where he’s getting at by talking about being imperfect & not giving up on “At My Best”, but the way he does it is so painfully corny. The gaudy beat & the Hailee Steinfeld hook exactly don’t help at all, either. The song “Kiss the Sky” has a bland instrumental, a tedious hook & sappy lyrics about not needing stars to grant wishes because he’s famous. The track “Golden God” talks about going from working at Chipotle to being a successful artist, but the beat is pretty boring. I can definitely see the song “Trap Paris” being a club banger, but the trap instrumental from Sonny Digital as well as the catchy Ty$ hook & the Quavo verse are really the only things about the track that make it worth vibing out to. The track “Moonwalkers” is another dumb weed anthem with a decent trap beat while the song “Can’t Walk” generically talks about being on pills over an plain electro instrumental. The lovey dovey “Bad Things” with Camila Cabello is probably the worst track on the entire album. Not that I have an issue with rappers making love songs but this one in particular is so sugary, that you might get diabetes after listening to it for the first time. The song “Rehab” cornily compares his love for this woman to drugs over an acoustic instrumental while the penultimate track “Let You Go” talks about an ex over an awkward rap rock instrumental. The torture finally ends with the decent “27”, where he talks about the 27 Club since he turned 27 a few weeks prior over a twangy guitar & some pianos. As a whole, this is definitely one of the worst things I’ve heard all year. There are very few tolerable moments on here but for the most part, it sounds way more commercial than ever & Machine Gun Kelly’s lyrics are at it’s corniest

Score: 0.5/5

Westside Gunn – “FLYGOD” review

Westside Gunn is a 34 year emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator from Buffalo, New York known for his controversial Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series followed by a couple EPs & founding one of the quickest rising labels I’ve seen in recent memory Griselda Records. Some of the singles building towards his official full-length debut studio album have been universally lauded by the hip hop community in the last several months, making the sky the only limit imaginable.

“Dunks” by Hall ‘N Nash samples “Omen” by Keith Mansfield thanks to Daringer so they can discuss being about that action whereas “Gustavo” references former 2-time CWA Heavyweight Champion, 2-time CWA World Tag Team Champion, 2-time SMW Heavyweight Champion & WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler. “Shower Shoe Lords” featuring Benny the Butcher flips “Baddy” by John Fiddy refusing to give a fuck like they always haven’t while “Vivian at the Art Basel” featuring Your Old Droog finds Camoflauge Monk sampling “Roberta” by Les McCann to assure the hardships of life.

Former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, TNA World Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, WCW World Television Champion, WWE United States Champion, 7-time WCW World Tag Team Champions & 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Scott Hall gets his flowers on the Roc Marciano-laced “Hall” prior to “Free Chapo” by Hall ‘N Nash displaying the back-&-forth chemistry between the duo while “Over Gold” featuring Meyhem Lauren throws in a bar referring to WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE tag team champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 4-time WCW World Television Champion Greg Valentine.

“Bodies on Fairfax” featuring Danny Brown samples “Rainbow Music” by SoLaRiS so they can address everyone who’s been asking for that fly shit from them while “Chine Gun” gives flowers to West’s late cousin who was tragically almost a decade. “King City” featuring Mach-Hommy finds the 2 talking about nobody fucking with them over a boom bap instrumental from Tha God Fahim leading into “Omar’s Coming” by Hall ‘N Nash featuring Roc Marciano uniting the trio to homage the protagonist of The Wire.

The soulful “Mr. T” produced by Apollo Brown changed my life since it was what sparked my loyalty for Griselda only needing 1 brick while “50 In. Zenith” featuring Skyzoo maintains a chipmunk soul vibe courtesy of Statik Selektah talking about a war going on outside. “Albright Knox” featuring Billie Essco returns to the boom bap & the final song excluding the outro “Dudley Boyz” featuring Action Bronson likening themselves to the former 2-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン, NWA World Tag Team Champions, the inaugural 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champions & 18-time WWE tag team champions over an Alchemist beat.

FLYGOD marks Griselda’s official takeover & has quickly become a modern day underground hip hop landmark setting a balance between the vanity, the grimy & occasionally thoughtful. The production primarily handled by GxFR’s in-house producer Daringer except for 7 cuts tends to be either jazzy or lo-fi & themes of griminess, self reflection, wealth, flossing, who West is as a person, his own experiences, what he lives through currently, what he’s had to live through in the past & how he can floss really well.

Score: 4.5/5

HAPPYPPL – “Things to Do in Happy Land When You’re Dead” review

HAPPYPPL are a duo from England, United Kingdom consisting of Sheffield emcee Trellion alongside Runcorn, Cheshire, emcee/producer & Blah Records founder Lee Scott. Both of whom make up 2/4 of Cult Mountain, dropping an eponymous debut EP with Milkavelli & Sumgii as well as a sequel in only the span of 3 years. However to warm us up for The 616sons in a few months & the trilogy chapter of Cult Mountain’s eponymous saga, Sumgii’s soundtracking the Things to Do in Happy Land When You’re Dead.

“Heart Shaped U” experimentally begins with both of them over this talking about not wanting to rap anymore because they’ve become bored with it giving middle fingers to everyone whereas “Tony Called” finds the 2 taking pride in being scumbags who’re out of their minds. “Hey Hoe” references アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, TNA World Tag Team Champion, WCW World Television Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 7-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Scott Hall just before “Manzell” by Cult Mountain shrugs off the bitches on their dicks talking shit.

Starting the other leg, “Swayze Point” talks about doing this music shit for each of their children rather than the money leading into “Timon Squared” declaring themselves to be the modern version of Kid n’ Play when I can’t even dispute that claim. “EBB Tide” continues the experimentations representing Earth 616 from The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel universe & “#Sad” ends Things to Do in Happy Land When You’re Deadtalking about wanting to be joyous.

Giving fans something to hold them off until the next Cult Mountain EP when summer comes, Things to Do in Happy Land When You’re Dead introduces us to this newest side project from half of their lineup that would satisfy fans of either Lee Scott or Trellion. Sugmii’s production sounds more experimental than usual & both performers ironically take a more depressing approach to their songwriting in an ironic twist of the HAPPYPPL’s concept being laid out.

Score: 4.5/5