The Openness Trio are a jazz trio consisting of Oakland, California guitarist Nate Mercereau alongside Takoma Park, Maryland saxophonist Josh Johnson & Los Angeles, California percussionist Carlos Niño. Known for collaborating with the likes of Kamasi Washington & André 3000, all 3 members have decided to form a new supergroup under none other than the greatest jazz label of all-time Blue Note Records & make a broader introduction with an eponymous full-length debut studio album.
“Hawk Dreams” was a solid, freely improvised new age lead single & a better intro to the LP with secondary influences of spiritual jazz whereas “…Anything’s Possible” works in a saxophone & some percussion for a little over 5 minutes. The final single “Openness” blends new age & ambient for the shortest composition of the 5 but once “Chimes in the Garden” embraces the spiritual jazz vibes a bit heavier for a moment, “Elsewhere” finishes with a mesmerizing free improvisational outro that Nate originally teased on YouTube in 2021.
For fans of the prominently ambient new age direction that André 3000 embraced on New Blue Sun or Kamasi Washington making amongst the greatest spiritual jazz of this current millennium even a decade after The Epic, the freely improvised self-titled debut from the Openness Trio brings a sound to the modern Blue Note roster than their own moniker implies & hopefully it’s only the beginning for them collectively.
The Brothers of Chaos are a west coast horrorcore duo from California consisting of San Jose emcee Chuckklez as well as Simi Valley singer/songwriter, rapper, producer, bassist, guitarist, audio engineer & music manager Freakshow. We recently got Chuckklez’ sophomore effort debut Horrors from the Unstable produced by DJ Ill Sprite this past winter, although it marked his debut for Lyrikal Snuff Productionz. However, he’s secured a separate label deal for him & Freakshow to properly introduce themselves to the Gore Hop universe with a debut EP in preparation of an upcoming tour run.
“Chaos” produced by Freakshow begins with a wicked rap rock intro talking about playing with an evil seance whereas “Sick Minds Think Alike” takes the boom bap route thanks to Zombie Aristocrats looking to leave corpses rotting in the sun. “Sonz of Darkness” samples “Fear No Evil” by Gimisum Family & Hollow Poynt displaying a back-&-forth chemistry while “STFU” featuring Bloody Ruckus sends a message to those who don’t know when to shut up. “Wanna Play a Game” references the Saw franchise & “Wicked Days” featuring Madopelli finishes with a west coast horrorcore heater that M.A.D. laced himself.
Chuckklez has already told The Gorefather himself Scum that he’d rather be a solo artist, but he wouldn’t mind being a part of a group depending on the person or people & how connected he is to them. The inaugural extended play from the Brothers of Chaos gives the underground wicked shit scene a glimpse of his magical chemistry with Freakshow, which has me hoping they’ll do an entire album down the line honing in on the standout beats now that the San Jose artist has been having more fun with his partner-in-rhyme than being by himself.
This is the 25th studio LP from Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records & being 1/3 of the Dump Gawds alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, we also can’t ignore the massive discography that he’s managed to build for himself, some of the standouts include Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. He’s been putting out amongst his best material in the past few years like the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull, the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King series, the Oh No-produced Berserko, the Mike Shabb-produced Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth, Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul & Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz. I don’t even have to mention the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap saga since we’re already 14 entries deep & the 15th one looks to serve as the “season finale”.
“D.Y.O.G. (Dig Your Own Grave)” featuring Jay NiCE was a soulful boom bap intro produced by Nicholas Craven breaking down what it’ll be like in a rap battle against them whereas the self-produced “Order of Pain” ruggedly talks about leaving y’all slumped with the Mossberg pump. “It’s Darkness” goes for a drumless chipmunk soul vibe running hunting bags up top rank with the heavy artillery prior to “Flame Weaver” talks about his name being solidified in stone.
As for “Another Meal”, we have Fahim over a bare organ instrumental hittin’ spears harder than 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion as well as 2-time NXT Champion & NXT Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker did to iShowSpeed at the Rumble just before the crooning “Don’t Blink” featuring Jay NiCE references 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair.
“Dead Giveaway” continues the soulful sampling techniques boasting his whole library collection of raw raps & throwing the moon at the last person who wanted to battle him, but then “Break Records” featuring Jay NiCE strips the drums completely for a hardcore chipmunk soul talking about their extraordinary lyricism. Jay NiCE sticks around on “Plant Seed” discussing revenge feeling better than forgiveness to them “Perfect Attendance” featuring Jay NiCE speaks of keeping full clips in the mag.
To get the 3rd & final act of the “season finale” going, “Precise Planning” keeps it drumless weeding out the fake until they get sent to their graves while “Keep Dat” makes MCs catch more shells than the bottom of the sea. “Solid Granite” brings a woodwind into the fold talking about having more guns than Gaston Glock advising to take heed to his warnings & “Bone Cracker” featuring Jay NiCE ends the album blowing .45 ACP mags to make their haters’ comrades sit down.
Said Final Explosion of the inaugural Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap season diverts from the norms of it’s predecessors by having Fahim himself producing almost half of it with the rest being left to Craven as opposed to the others being solely produced by the latter, expanding into a full-length body of work unlike the other 14 entries being EPs & finally 35% of the rhyming throwing it back to his chemistry with Jay NiCE during the 12th chapter capitalizing on the improved schemes of the more recent installments.
Houston, Texas rapper Yves! releasing his 15th EP a month succeeding the prelude. In almost 3 years, the last dozen of EPs under his name have all caught the attention of underground trap whether it be the Om. series & the Avarice. series or 4DaKash & Welcome to the Palace. Marking his 4th EP of 2025 alone, R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year) looks to expand on what he went for on B4 R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year) merely 4 weeks ago by serving up the main event with some notable production credits.
“1 of 1.” starts with a cloudy pop rap trap intro clocking at 115 seconds telling his girl to get her hands on her knees whereas the tropical “3am Thoughts.” talks about what goes through his mind in the early hours of the day. “Love.” produced by Cxdy of Internet Money Records giving props to Destroy Lonely’s last album Love Lasts Forever leading into the rage inducing “Sexy.” talking about his chick loving his vibe.
Cxdy gets back behind the boards for “Giuseppe.” referencing the Italian luxury footwear & fashion designer Giuseppe Zanotti just before “Drunk in Luv.” experiments with trap, rap rock & pop rap asking what happened between him & this woman whose final words to him were “replace me” prior to getting drunk in the car. Rio Leyva & Vendr cook up the playfully cloud rap/trap outro “10s.” wanting to know why this person he needs by his side hasn’t been around.
Looking to take over the game, R.O.T.Y. (Rookie of the Year) feels unlike anything else Yves! has done previously achieving his desire of making waves artistically. The production has a little bit of something for everybody from rage to hyperpop, cloud rap, experimental hip hop, trap, pop rap & rap rock taking a more serious approach to his delivery & songwriting on top of it in the midst of his booming popularity.
Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Sk8star with his 7th EP & the 3rd of this year. Getting his footing in the spring of 2021 off Superstar Status, he would go on to follow it up last year with both the B4NWØ EP & his debut mixtape New World Ørder respectively. The latter being my introduction to Sk8’s music after my lil brody UnreleasedSnip put me on, with songs like “Standin’ on Business” & “YSL Flow” being the standouts for me personally. Following his 3rd EP Mogul along with rebel at the beginning of 2023 & whole new meaning that same spring, Sk8 addressed the Rebel in the Room & continues the Rebelution by putting out Pale Fever.
“Pale Face” produced by Richie Souf blends trap & electronic together talking about being a Designer Junkie whereas “Confused” works in some pianos, organs & hi-hats to get so high that he’s unable to think clearly. “Rugby” gives off a bit of a luxury trap vibe talking about shit on the verge of getting ugly prior to 1300SAINT joining Sk8 on “Achoo” incorporating pianos & hi-hats to trade verses with one another.
Nosaint of Vanguard Music Group produces the highlight “Tycoon” feeling like he’s a magnate & spreading no hate towards anybody stickin’ to the plan of fuckin’ up these checks coming his way leading into “Fein” cloudy talking about dealing with his face to get to the place you want to go. “ForMyRealOnes” lastly rounds out Pale Feverwith a dedication to those who’ve been by his side through it all.
Couldn’t tell you exactly how many EPs we’re gonna be getting until Sk8star decides to put out his debut album Designer Junkie, but it’s quite impressive that most of Pale Fever channels the energy of “Sex” for almost 17 minutes. The detailed production mostly handled by Richie Souf captivates on the 2 bangers he produced a few months ago carrying it out on a majority of it’s successor & Sk8 lyrically gives a taste of what’s to come on his upcoming debut.
New collaborative between Recognize Ali & Tragedy Khadafi. One of whom hails from Ghana breaking emerging out the underground in the past decade or so into veteran status & the other comes straight outta Queensbridge, New York as part of the Juice Crew collective. They’ve crossed paths on several instances with tracks like “Black Cocaine” or “Intelligent Hoodlums” & to hear that The Past, The Present & The Future were all colliding on the 4th of July made for an interesting kick off to the 2nd half of 2025 already.
“Will Be Free” breaks the door down with a drumless chipmunk soul instrumentally calling for their apparatuses to be checked whereas “Select Few” airs out all the corny ass people flooding the airwaves these days. “The Most Real” featuring Vinnie Paz produced by Hobgoblin made for an exciting hardcore single back in the fall of 2022 holding up now, but then “Loot Thirsty” finds the duo fiending for some money.
Trife Diesel joins Ali & Tragedy on “Black Coke” warning of their shooters laying everyone down like it’s Syria out in the east coast just before “Everything” chops up a vocal sample matched with kicks & snares talking about no survivors being left alive around their parts, not even the babies. “Cold” craves the taste of blood advising to get ready for the drama while “Gone Tomorrow” featuring Ransom jazzily plays in the kitchen until the food bubbles.
“Diplomats” gets the final leg goin’ sending missiles through your roof like it’s 9/11 while “Elevation” weaves a symphonic flip talking about their artistic altitude. “King Kong” hooks up some piano chords to say that they’re both in the hood with it while “Kuwait Regulate” featuring Flash sees the trio boasting their aggressive flows. “Old & New Legends” closes the album with both parties complimenting each other’s respective generations.
Originally planned to come out in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic occurring a year beforehand had obviously caused both parties to hold off on joining forces for a full body of work & long awaited project will satisfy people who’ve been following either side or both. Hobgoblin producing half of it made for some of the strongest batch of tracks & it feels like they’re trying to see who can out-rap who.
Arrested Development is an alternative hip hop outfit from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of dancer/choreographer Montsho Eshe, vocalist Tasha Larae, vocalist/dancer/choreographer Fareedah Aleem, vocalist 1 Love, guitarist JJ Boogie & frontman/producer Speech. Their 1992 debut 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life of… as well as their sophomore effort Zingalamaduni are widely considered to be the most important entries of their discography, putting out 10 LPs since then with the most recent being Bullets in the Chamber. A year & a half later, their 13th album has finally arrived to start the 2nd half of the year.
“Let’s Get On with It” was a jazzy, soulful boom bap intro produced by Configa calling for everyone to keep striving in their respective fields whereas “All I See is Melanin” kinda has a funkier vibe to the beat talking about melanin pride. “Live Forever” works in some orchestral elements for the instrumental suggesting that people need to be led while “My Job Ain’t Done” hooks up some jazzy horns from Speech explaining his mission is far from over.
We still get some jazz-inflicted brass on “Easy” representing a brand new style of hip hop music just before “Flowers” talks about being unable to help themselves from giving people black power energy. “Forward Ever” kinda has a funkier flare to the beat basing itself around the concept of continually progressing instead of moving backwards while “Pearls” keeps the vibes groovy pleading for the shell to open up & not being afraid.
“Pulsate” finishes up the 2nd quarter of Adult Contemporary Hip Hop with a delicately jazzy boom bap instrumental discussing our palpitations while “Baby Yes” chops up a chipmunk soul sample take on themes of love. “Original” brings a woodwind into the fold praising the lord & keeping the faith while “Mil Town Soldier” finds themselves charismatically riding around in a 1968 Chevrolet Nova.
Bee Taylor joins the crew for a jazzily dusty hardcore hip hop collab “Pack It Out” allowing them to speak on who got the magic & who doesn’t, but then ”Goal Dysmorphia” explains that the titular issue was exactly what happens when one goes through a metamorphosis. “Family” kinda has this lo-fi feel to the beat responding to those questioning who they are by saying they’re like relatives while “Stay Awake” soulfully talks about his dad teaching him not to be poor.
The song “Lifing” marks the beginning of the end regarding Adult Contemporary Hip Hop returning to the boom bap knowing that days can be completely different instantly while “Danger” looks to completely blow any & all competition out of their frame dismantling those whose pen game couldn’t hold up to Speech’s then or now. “Stardust” closes the full-length by atmospherically responding to the question of how they handle their fame.
Reflecting on freedom along with self-determination & the contradictions still woven into African American life this 4th of July, what Arrested Development achieves with Adult Contemporary Hip Hop feels similar to what Public Enemy on Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 last weekend: Proving their relevance after decades in the game. The homage to the late Twan Mack takes on theme of melanin pride, the state of the world since this January, mortality, relationships, love, legacy & bar-for-bar energy elevated in part by soulful boom bap production.
This is the 12th EP from Orange County, New York duo The Doppelgangaz. Consisting of MCs/producers Matter ov Fact & EP, they’ve gone on to make waves in the underground by dropping a total of 8 full-length albums as well as 11 EPs & 6 beat tapes. Standouts include their breakout sophomore effort Lone Sharks, the follow-up Hark, their 5th album Dopp Hopp, Aaaaggghh, Black Cloak Lifestyle & Went Left. Been almost a couple years since the latter embarking on a west coast sound as opposed to their roots & they’ve decided to hit us with a sequel to it.
After the “JO VM” intro, the title track was a g-funk opener showing their love for the sunshine state once again whereas “All in Your Mind” works in a piano/boom bap instrumental talking about taking it all in stride. “Do It Like We” brings the funk influences back in the fold boasting that nobody can do shit on their level while “Would’ve Had a Hit” is a g-funk heavy stoner’s ballad. “Too Too Much” caps it all off with 1 final g-funk joint to play when you’re out in the weekends.
Continuing the G Pack saga in the 23 months since they initially Went Left, The Doppelgangaz once again shift away from the traditional boom bap style of the Groggy Pack Entertainment founders’ home turf in favor of drawing inspiration from the west coast scene once again embracing the g-funk production with ease & carrying over the original’s playful subject matter.
Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim recruiting Mr. Skip to produce his 63rd EP. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records & being 1/3 of the Dump Gawds alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, we also can’t ignore the massive discography that he’s managed to build for himself, some of the standouts include Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. He’s been putting out amongst his best material in the past few years like the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull, the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King series, the Oh No-produced Berserko, the Mike Shabb-produced Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth,Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul & Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz. I don’t even have to mention the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap saga since the season finale’s coming soon, becoming The Dumplorian this 4th of July.
“No Limit” was a funky choice of an intro advising to stop if you can’t find the rhythm whereas “Mayor” fuses chipmunk soul & boom bap dividing everything into proportions so the whole family can eat. “Temptations” has a lavishly drumless vibe to the beat talking about being afraid of staying the same while “Duck Season” shifts over into chipmunk soul turf again having too many reasons to be killing this many mics.
Continuing the lo-fi sampling, “Giant” talks about being an outcast for pretty much his whole life referencing the Nintendo-owned Super Smash Bros. franchise leading into “Dump Gawd Theme Music” jazzily flexing that his rhyme massacres tend to occur without any reasoning. “Bueller” featuring Mr. Skip himself closes the EP with a remix to their first ever collaboration that Skip breathed new life into.
The Lethal Weapon trilogy has primarily been serving as breathers in the midst of the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap series & I can say the same with what Fahim does here on top of that. Mr. Skip approaches his production here like he’s a score using murky loops, soulful grit & cinematic energy front to back leaning towards that raw lo-fi aesthetic without sacrificing the musicality or message.
Atlanta, Georgia rapper 9 Vicious celebrating the 4th of July with his 3rd LP. Breaking out last summer off his debut single “U Fancy”, he would go on to further introduce himself on B4SA & the debut album Studio Addict helped him gain more exposure to the point where his uncle Young Thug signed him to YSL Records after B4TM dropped & Tumblr Music wasn’t that bad of a debut for the label other than “Clout Demons”. A little over a month has passed since B4FN became his most beloved EP & he’s to have For Nothing familiarize himself with new fans in light of his upcoming feature on UY SCUTI.
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” produced by 406ahmad starts by suggesting that people only hate him because they’re broke when in really because of the “Clout Demons” controversy whereas “Takin’ Swag” talks about being the father of swag likening everyone else being his children. “New Means” responds to the people wanting to go back to that Studio Addict style by saying he’s evolving prior to “Co-sign” with R8 & Patrick Garza talking about not needing anyone else’s approval.
The bar referring to Marilyn Manson at the start of an underwritten verse on “Valley” is odd timing as a fan of his Triptych because of his horrid Falling in Reverse collaboration “God’s a Weapon”, but then “Moshpit” makes up for it with a pretty solid rage track to get the pits going. “Internet Gangsta” produced by BenjiCold has possibly my least favorite hook on the album implying he’ll cheat on his girl if she pisses him off while “Face” opens up regarding his lifestyle of wealth & sex visiting 渋谷、東京、日本.
“Chaos” gets the 2nd half of For Nothing started with a 2-parter from Jwade taking “Die Young” over “Thumb in the Ass” without hesitation while “Mobb Deep” has very little to do with the influential east coast duo & more so feeling like a clown with Rick Owens shoes on in the snake-pit. “Hurt Sum” speaks of the changes in life since Tumblr Music this spring & being on the phone with Lil Uzi Vert while “Slatt Gospel” hopes that he doesn’t die young even if he’s not afraid of it.
Nosaint of Vanguard Music Group links up with 9 on my personal favorite song here “Pretty” talking about being a money getter not giving a fuck about shit while “DBZ” references the timeless ドラゴンボールZ created by the late 鳥山明 during the hook chillin’ in New York. The song “So Many Tears” goes on to diss Uzi claiming they fell off officially after Eternal Atake 2 although I can’t really argue against it because it did suck & “The End” finishes with another cut split in 2 halves: “Cardigan” & “WhiteHo”.
Mass Appeal Records had good reason to threaten legal action against YSL due to the original artwork biting The Big Picture (1974-1999) since they got a posthumous Big L offering Harlem’s Finest: Rise of the Forgotten King as part of their ongoing Legend Has It series, which is a good thing because it makes me greatly appreciate For Nothing than that initial cover art & lemme make it clear that my opinions on 9 Vicious’ output much like Autumn!’s doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with either one of them as people & mainly the quality within their music itself. Now that that’s out the way, expanding on the cloudy rage-inducing trap sound of it’s prelude EP days following the announcement of a collab on the upcoming deluxe version of Kevin Abstract’s new album blush.
Legends Will Never Die 