Feardorian – “Out the Past With a Window” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper & producer Feardorian following up their eponymous debut solo EP with a 2nd EP commemorating their 19th birthday over 4 months since their full-length studio debut album Leaving Home. A prominent figure in the lowend as well as jerk & sample drill subgenres of hip hop, I first learned of them once they produced “T.M.U. (Turn Me Up)” off Pasto Flocco’s 2nd mixtape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) & more recently Ritchie with a T’s recent solo EP Quiet Warp Xpress nearly 9 months ago. Coming off a production credit on the new Lørd Skø album PiFF earlier this spring, Out the Past with a Window has finally come out with a week left until summer begins.

“Backbone” is this psychedelic trap intro breaking down the difficulty of getting it when you grew up without a spine whereas “Fooling” flips “Fall Into You” by Soulstice for a sample drill vibe instrumentally feeling like they’re in heaven after getting fried after a show. “Snowed In” goes for a hazier direction with the beat talking about having to find their mind because they had lost it initially just before “Sit Tight (IRL)” tries to lift this curse on them laying back until the bands start flowing their way.

The downtempo flare of “Life Hack” was a dope change of pace feelin’ like they doesn’t want to live or be seen at certain points leading into “Trickster Spirits” gives off a more minimalistic tone talking about being content with their ex-girlfriend moving on from them & going against the grain so much that they ran off. “RBF” cloudily airs out a loser who’s hanging around too many yes-men because the life they’re living currently being Hell, but then “Fulton” featuring lade finds the pair talking about being in their zone & others biting their styles.

“4 Signs” gets the final leg of Out the Past with a Window started with another sample drill track looking to waste no time whatsoever touchin’ $1B & signing it on the spot while “Flame” hops over a bare guitar/vocal sample hoping they haven’t been a bother to anyone during the course of their life still ballin’ regardless. “Mutual Aid” featuring Prblem was a cool drill/cloud rap fusion linking up with each other to talk about still living even with their spirits passing on & “Worth (Junebug)” warns they might leave this bitch hurt despite that not being intentional.

Between this as well as self-titled & Leaving Home, the rising southern hip hop recording artist has really outdone themself by providing a celebration & slice of life on the very moment their 2nd official year of adulthood began & looking at what their 20s hold. Their production culminating in trap, cloud rap, sample drill, emo rap, jerk, downtempo, ambient plugg & experimental hip hop sticks out as amongst the strongest of their whole entire career & to hear them trying out new flows demonstrates their growth as a performer.

Score: 4/5

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Digital Nas – “Tampering with Sound” review

Digital Nas is a 26 year old producer, rapper & singer/songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia whom many including myself got introduced to in 2016 after producing “Up Next 2” off Lil Yachty’s debut mixtape Lil Boat. Following an eponymous debut EP of his own, he would go on to put out another EP Throwaway Songs Worth Listening To. & a sequel to his self-titled EP as his full-length studio debut. His bitterness & desperation for attention has seemed to get the best of him as of late whether it be him making homophobic remarks about Tyler, The Creator during the Chromakopia rollout or being a yes-man for Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West in the midst of the latter’s behavior on Twitter worsening in the last 5 months owned by Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder, Neuralink founder & fellow Nazi Elon Musk. Nearly a couple months since DONDA 2 was finally completed, the man’s sophomore effort originally set to close the DN trilogy has been made public on streaming.

“Honest” feels reminiscent of his work on Ye’s final Def Jam Recordings album DONDA with the organs & electric guitar astonished by the amount of people falling for idiocracy whereas the experimentally drumless “Living n a Dream” sings about life not being what it seems. “bLCK hedi SliManE” regurgitates Ye’s obsession with the far-right with the “new black KKK” line over a chaotic trap instrumental while the synth-driven “Loose Screw” acknowledges his eccentricity.

What could possibly be the worst song he’s ever made “New Ice” ruins a trap beat with some decent synthesizers with poor songwriting & a hideous delivery with the soulful “#1 P” not being any better topically wanting to call it even & others wanting to be him when I simply cannot imagine that in any capacity. “Stars Aligning” goes for a drumlessly cloudy direction instrumentally trying to convince you he defines reprimands while “Broke the Rules” ironically talks about him not missing these days when he in fact has on several instances.

“God’s Timing” keeps the drums out of the equation hooking up more synthesizers conveying that everything’s on the most high’s time leading into the ambient plugg heavy “TrustNo1” talking about a vast majority of the population reading off as untrustworthy from his perspective. “False News” continues the decent sampling choices tackling a breakup & hoping for a redo becoming a possibility while “inLove” carries the theme of romance over further for only a couple minutes.

The song “Life Wild” brings a bare electric guitar to the table talking about the way he’s been living lately when that hasn’t been made any more obvious by him dissing Tyler, The Creator & even Ye’s former longtime engineer Mike Dean or wishing death on KiD CuDi for testifying against Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy while “Peacing Out” caps off Tampering with Sound taking the final moments to sing about letting it show where he’ll be.

Up until everything that happened between him & Tyler last fall, I would’ve told you that Digital Nas was a tolerable producer albeit a below average rapper/singer. Does that still ring true? Yeah, sure but he really needs to get his ego under control if he genuinely thinks that he’s a far superior performer than the former Odd Future de facto leader when he never has been & never will be. The only real thing this album has going for it a lot like almost all of his previous solo material is his pop rap, alternative R&B, experimental hip hop & art pop production because he’s a below average songwriter, a mediocre performer & an ugly spirited person outside of it all.

Score: 1/5

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Byzantine – “Harbingers” review

Byzantine is a groove metal, thrash metal & metalcore band from Charleston, West Virginia consisting of bassist Ryan Postlethwait, drummer Matt Bowles, lead guitarists Brian Henderson & Tony Rohrbough and finally frontman/rhythm guitarist Chris Ojeda. Forming during the beginning of the new millennium, they would put out 5 LPs together until signing with Metal Blade Records almost a decade ago & making their debut for the label on The Cicada Tree. Nearly 7 years after Chris’ solo debut Lullabyz, the band’s getting back together for their 7th full-length album & Metal Blade sophomore effort.

“Consequentia” begins with some guitars & clean vocals singing about being frozen in time eternally along with tomorrow bringing what today has made whereas “A Place We Cannot Go” turns up the heaviness so they can tackle the ever growing problem of mass shootings in the U.S., particularly in schools. The lead single “Floating Chrysanthema” details a bleak dystopian future when AI overpowers mankind & enslaves us all just before “The Clockmaker’s Intention” heavily bases it’s subject matter around the S-Town podcast.

Chris & company pull inspiration from the thrash subgenre during “Riddance” while the title track reads as a jab towards the Trump administration since literally everyone who’s a part of it represents the song’s message: Greedily doing everything they can to maintain power. “The Unobtainable Sleep” was a poetically dark choice of a single telling a story about pursuing serenity through death & after “Kobayashi Maru” bases itself around the fictional training exercise from the Star Trek franchise, “Irene” rounds it all out with an acoustic outro singing about Empress Irene of Athens.

Looking to raise the stakes with a revitalized lineup, Byzantine puts all of their chips on the table during Harbingers now that they have much more insight on what they needed to do to really make a push after many fumbles they’ve encountered during their career spanning a quarter of a century for this conceptual opus revolving around a maternal ruler. It marks a significant shift in the thrash/groove metal & metalcore outfit’s process testifying their resilience & creative evolution as a unit far enough where those in the metal community who’ve been sleeping on the Lamb of God affiliates all this time will finally be awoken.

Score: 4/5

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The Bug Club – “Very Human Features” review

The Bug Club is an indie rock duo from Caldicot, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom consisting of guitarist/vocaliat Sam Willmett & bassist/vocalist Tilly Harris. Emerging earlier in the decade off 3 EPs & a couple full-lengths, they would go on to sign with Sub Pop Records last summer for their previous LP On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System becoming widely received for it’s additional influences of garage rock along with post-punk revival & slacker rock. It’s been over 9 months since they made their debut for the label & are back in time for summer on their 4th album.

“Full Grown Man” picks up on the garage rock vibes singing about not knowing how to live alone whereas “Twirling in the Middle” incorporates more raw, energetic, simply employed, sloppy & fuzzbox-distorted guitars to do the rocksteady. “Jealous Boy” was a great lead single choice addressing expectations & comparisons with a loud-quiet-loud garage rock structure to it leading into while the vividly post-punk “Young Reader” suggests you don’t have to live like this since it’s a matter of principle.

Sam & Tilly experiment with glam rock during “Beep Boop Computers” singing about interpersonal relationships & experiences just before the title track subtitled “Muck” combining some of the folkier spoken word elements of Rare Birds: Hour of Song so they can concentrate deeply on one’s place in the world today. “When the Little Choo Choo Train Toots His Little Horn” pleads to be dunked in the water again due to them still feeling like monsters while the 2nd single “How to Be a Confidante” teaches everyone what they gotta do to become a close friend.

“Living in the Future” heads back to the garage taking pride in themselves for being overly focused on what might happen down the line instead of the current moment, but then “Tales of a Visionary Teller” refuses to show the taste of bitter practice offending their inner senses under any condition. “The Sound of Communism” aesthetically has an admirable Paul McCartney flare to it having fun with no regrets until “Blame Me” admits to them not believing in social consciousness with some catchy guitar melodies.

The 3rd & final single “Appropriate Emotions” manages to pull the suitable moods for a homosapien to feel in situations like the one they’re in as we speak sounding completely removed from the human experience as they possibly could’ve & despite “Have U Ever Been 2 Wales?” not being included, I still wanted to give it some props for being a joyous new ode to The Bug Club’s beloved home country chock full of regionally referential songwriting.

Presenting themselves as a collective mind even with only 2 members remaining, the band’s Sub Pop sophomore effort expands on the experimental tones of their 1st offering for the label getting more layered & complex than they did almost a year ago. Steve & Tilly create more of a pastoral atmosphere with the raw indie rock, post-punk, garage rock, slacker rock & occasional glam rock production, amplifying the storytelling through the songwriting looking closer at the smaller things in life & delving deeper into the creativity they’ve connected themselves to almost a decade after forming.

Score: 4/5

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Juicy J – “Live & in Color” review

This is the 9th studio LP from Memphis, Tennessee rapper, songwriter, producer & record executive Juicy J. Rising to stardom in the 90s as the co-founder of the seminal Three 6 Mafia alongside his Tear Da Club Up Thugs cohorts DJ Paul & the late Lord Infamous, he’s also had the most successful solo career out of everyone in the Mafia whether it be the Taylor Gang Entertainment/Columbia Records-backed Stay Trippy & Rubba Band Business: The Album or more recently Crypto Business & Mental Trillness. The latter & it’s sequel noticeably taking on a more serious tone than some of Juicy’s latest material, taking a good chunk of it’s time coping with Gangsta Boo’s untimely passing. Coming off the mature Ravenite Social Club, he’s having Logic fully produce Live & in Color.

The title track sets it off with a boom bap instrumental asking if you understand getting money with the rest of the hood whereas “Get Right” featuring Project Pat works in a psychedelic sample keeping his back against the wall. After the first of many “Discussion” interludes, “Big Bag Talk” finds himself back in the basement to show off his riches just before “The Problem” featuring Logic himself after the “Discussion 2” interlude soulfully brings the pair together to discuss coming from nothing.

“Shame” featuring Logic once again brings a trap vibe to the beat from Bobby Boy Records in-house producer 6 suggesting you watch them kick their feet up after rolling their weed up & after the “Discussion 3” interlude, “We Live” returns to the boom bap talking about striving for something better. After the “Discussion 4” interlude, “Kill For” heads for a dustily exuberant approach flexing that he’s lived a life many wish they had leading into the 2-parter “& Did” immediately following the Discussion 5” interlude focusing on motion instead of pussy.

Chipmunk soul & boom bap collide with each other during “Flowers” talking about the samples getting his daughters through college but after the “Discussion 6” interlude, “20 Years Later” featuring Logic & Project Pat swaps out the boom bap elements in favor of trap sticking to the codes to this very day like they did 2 decades prior while “Fame” suggests to not let the internet mislead you & allow him to do all the guiding since Juicy’s a product of his people.

After the “Discussion 7” interlude, “Black Rothstein” featuring Wiz Khalifa likens themselves to Arnold Rothstein of the Jewish Mob over an instrumental meshing soul & trap with each other 1 last time until the final song “I Need a Hug” ahead of the “Discussion 8” outro properly ending Live & in Color by telling his late mother to take a good look at him because he’s genuinely trying figuring out if she can even hear him from the pearly gates.

Saving only 3 verses, Logic takes a backseat on the mic for a good portion of Live & in Color in favor of opting to focus more on the production side of things & that to me is actually a great call because this is almost on the same enjoyability level as Juicy’s jazz rap album 10 months ago. Bobby’s production in spite of the ridiculous amount of “Discussion” interludes tightly balances boom bap, trap & chipmunk soul during the course of 13 tracks displaying both sides of the Three 6 co-founder whether it’s the maturity of his recent output for fun trap joints to play when you’re out having fun.

Score: 4/5

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Apathy – “Mom & Dad” review

In front of us is the 10th studio LP from Connecticut underground MC/producer Apathy. Emerging only 2 decades back as a member of the Demigodz & the Army of the Pharaohs collectives founded by Open Mic & Vinnie Paz respectively, he was also signed to Atlantic Records at one point even though he eventually left due to creative differences. Since then The Alien Tongue has built up quite the solo discography on his own, with my favorites being Honkey Kong! as well as The Widow’s Son or more recently Where the River Meets the Sea & King of Gods. No Second fully produced by Stu Bangas. Connecticut Casual 2 mostly produced by Playa Haze was a highly worthy successor to Connecticut Casual last spring, getting ready for the summer by remembering his Mom & Dad.

“The Great Flood” featuring Little Vic & Suave-Ski recalls a series of severe floods that affected various regions of the U.S. roughly 4 decades ago whereas “Shore Life” keeps the trio together for a self-produced boom bap joint reminiscing on what it was like for them growing up in the east coast. “Put the Money in a Bag” featuring Little Vic produced by Playa Haze finds the pair sticking together so they can talk about hustling to the point of exhaustion just before “All Good” soulfully suggests you holla at him if you need anything.

Slaine of La Coka Nostra appears on “Blue Collar Scholar” to talk about the kind of art they make in a world built on lies over a sample-driven boom bap instrumental while the title track goes drumless referring to the President & First Lady of the U.S. during a bulk of the 80s as his parents. “Vintage Canvas” slickly cracks the code without having to go into practice mode, but then “Old Lyme Like Old Times” featuring Ryu gives off a laidback approach to the beat talking about letting the champagne blast off.

“Summer at the Shore” chops up a soul sample so he can confess that he’s getting sick of getting his fingers dirty from counting money & sleeping with his wife in high fashion declaring themselves as slaves of consumerism while “1 Crown” returns to the boom bap wanting to know the possibility of people who’ve never been great relating to what he’s saying. “Lee Harv” featuring a verse & production from Little Vic sees the 2 warning you’ll get shot in front of the world as if it’s JFK’s assassination & “Whalers” wraps it all up with some woodwinds using the same scale they use to weigh the whales with.

Coalmine Records has teamed with Anchors Up Records formerly Dirty Version Records to uncover Ap’s biggest memory growing up in the 80s, which was during Ronald Reagan’s presidency because he feels as if he was raised by the actor turned politician & his widow even though neither one of them were related to him. Meshing the nostalgia of the very decade that raised The Alien Tongue & socio-political commentary, the underground veteran takes it up a notch with the personal topics going from expanding on the state that made him last spring to reflecting on the Reagan administration’s impact on his life felt to this day.

Score: 4/5

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Slick Rick – “Victory” review

Slick Rick is a 60 year old MC from New York City by way of London, England, United Kingdom becoming the 3rd artist to sign with Def Jam Recordings over 4 decades ago. His debut The Great Adventures of Slick Rick became a golden age landmark cementing Rick the Ruler one of the greatest storyteller hip hop has ever heard. The Ruler’s Back would be received more moderately & Behind Bars was a dope venting session of his time incarcerated. It’s been over 26 years since his 2nd best work The Art of Storytelling fulfilled his Def Jam contact & has opted to sign with Mass Appeal Records for his long-awaited 5th LP overseen by actor Idris Elba set to appear in A24 Films’ upcoming TV adaption of Things Fall Apart. Couple more noteworthy things to get off my chest here & first is the announcement of Mark Kerr now to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in light of his upcoming biopic that I’m anticipating in the fall The Smashing Machine with Mark being played by 10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, United Football League (UFL) co-owner, TKO Group Holdings board of directors member, co-founder of $7 Productions & the final boss of professional wrestling himself The Rock of The Rock ‘n’ Soul Connection with the current record breaking 17-time WWE world champion John Cena accompanied by the honorary WWE Hardcore Champion Travis Scott. Speaking of the UFL since I’m at it for the fuck of it, the last thing I wanna say before finally diving into the music is I hope my hometown team the Michigan Panthers defeat the XFL conference champion DC Defenders in the Championship game this upcoming Sunday.

After the intro, the first song “Stress” featuring Giggs has a vintage old school vibe to the beat talking about feeling lonely & needing to be consoled whereas the self-produced “Angelic” flexes the higher-ups still studying “La-Di-Da-Di” to this very day justified by how much it’s been sampled or covered. “Foreign” suggests you peep the home increasing on him & the amount of individuals sleeping on him since he’s been gone leading into the “I Did That” interlude.

“Come On Let’s Go” goes for a hip house direction instrumentally grabbing his coat in spite of him having to go to work in a few hours right when things were getting hot while “Landlord” explains the occupation of owning property in New York these days isn’t easy whatsoever. After the “Mother Teresa” interlude, “Spirit to Cry” briefly discusses those wanting his soul to meet it’s demise just before “Documents” featuring Nas talks about being watched as if they’re top agent shoguns.

The piano-driven boom bap flare of “So You’re Having My Baby” suits it’s concept of getting a woman pregnant with her saying it’s his child while “Cuz I’m Here” gets back on the hip house tip observing all the honeys who came out to have fun. After the “Matrix” interlude, “We’re Not Losing” advises to keep it moving like him when taking Ls with the beat reminiscent to RZA’s production work 3 decades ago & “Another Great Adventure” produced by Q-Tip ends with a funky homage to his 1988 debut.

Reflecting where the Ruler’s been this past quarter of a century & where he’s going hereon out, Victory kicks off the Legend Has It series by reintroducing a pioneer to this next generation of hip hop fans who can still rock the mic like he did on his Who Made the Sunshine? appearances at the beginning of the decade. The production palatably blends hip house, funk, boom bap & hip hop’s golden age to backdrop Slick Rick’s themes of perseverance, storytelling, imagination & evolution.

Score: 3.5/5

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Lil Tecca – “Dopamine” review

Here we have the 4th LP from New York rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & Galactic Records founder Lil Tecca. Blowing up in 2018 after signing a distribution deal with Republic Records & the viral single “Ran$om”, it would later be included on his debut mixtape We Love You Tecca that same year & would receive lukewarm reception although it’s truthfully grown on me a tad bit over the course of time. His debut album Virgo World was released during the pandemic & is widely considered to be the weakest entry in his discography. The last time we heard from Tecca was a couple summers ago when Internet Money Records founder Taz Taylor executive produced a worthy sequel to We Love You Tecca & Tec showed maturity to the point where I recanted calling him a 1-hit wonder when Virgo World came out. Plan A came out last fall refuting the indication of him having a backup plan & Dopamine has arrived the weekend after the artwork was shared.

“Dark Thoughts” was an outstanding pop rap, g-funk & bounce single assuring his partner that she can open herself up to him whereas “Owa Owa” produced by Rio Leyva & Taz Taylor samples “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles talking about his time & presence not being taken for granted. “½ the Plot” hooks up a blobby bassline clarifying he does whatever he wants without any other options necessary, but then “The Truth” talks about doing so much with little to prove & always being outside.

Meanwhile on “Favorite Lie”, we have Tecca dismissing all the lame shit in addition to only rockin’ Gucci if it’s Tom Ford & referencing my favorite WR of all-time growing up Randy Moss just before “Hollywood” explains it’s been a while because of all the bullshit’s been going through as of late & being so fly to the point where others stop stylin’. “X Factor” suggests he might as well pull up to the UK since things out here are turning into the Simon Cowell hosted game show just before “Don’t Rush” advises his lover to slow things down in their relationship.

“Boys Don’t Cry” compares the relationship he’s currently in to Bonnie & Clyde on the verge of committing a crime & wanting to get to know her even though he can’t call her while the cloudy yet melodic “Sure of It” boasts about him walking into the bank on some movie shit coming with 1 life & opting to live it hard enough where he’s betting on himself every time. “LYK” tries to show this woman what’s right & what’s wrong feeling as if it’s him against the world like Rambo in First Blood leading into “On Your Own” counting all of his commas & not trying to speak leaving his texts on “read”.

Clams Casino & Ginseng link with Tecca on the standout “1 Night” talking about doing a hoe so badly that he’s pulling out voodoo magic on him while “Irish Goodbye” expresses a desire for him to go A.W.O.L. laying on the down low. “Wake Up” finds himself cancelling his plans & feeling like it’s all fake love whenever he rolls his dope up while “Malibu’s Most Wanted” talks about partying out in Austin, Texas pullin’ up in a foreign. “Tic Tac Toe” featuring Ken Carson finishes the Dopamine rush with both of them getting boastful of their lifestyles.

“Catch Me If You Can” starts the deluxe run with a song that clears the recent KSI single of the same name talking about being in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan counting up his yen while the self-produced “Not Too Much” dabbles with plugg a bit to ask why you let your life of gold rust up the way it already has. “Sold Not Told” finds himself stealin’ hoes & drenching them in Celine Dion while the final bonus track “L.A.N. (Lame Ass N****s)” airs out every single cornball this hoe’s been texting figuring out how she found him through them.

Leaning into his pleasures more than ever during this current chapter of his life, Dopamine gears up for summer 2025 by summarizing who Lil Tecca is as an artist opting in favor of a pleasurably catchier direction as opposed to sadder more melancholic tones. You still get whiffs of the staple styles he’s known for except he’s introducing new sounds to his wheelhouse along the way, including newer tempos & even newer subjects to address lyrically. It’s like you’re getting a mix of his older material & him trying new things.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jalen Frazier – “Ethics of War” review

Detroit, Michigan emcee Jalen Frazier linking with Lord Mobb Music in-house producer godBLESSbeatz for his 4th EP. Getting his footing in during the fall of 2020 off the strength of his debut EP Expressions of the Neglected, he would continue to turn heads in the local underground scene last summer with the follow-up God Bless My Chalice. His debut album The Drop produced by Foul Mouth elevated himself from both of it’s predecessors & 15 months later, the Ethics of War are being laid out.

“Just War Theory” ominously begins the EP finding himself back in his essence after dealing with some losses whereas “Collateral Damage” featuring J-Classic brings a soulful boom bap vibe to the table bodying anyone who wants to step up to them in a battle. “On a Mission” swaps out the vocal sampling in favor of pianos suggesting you weigh your options before committing a robbery while “Infrared Nightmares” admits to giving a fuck less about a conviction.

The song “King’s Blood” featuring Liym Capital kicks off the Ethics of War’s final leg with both of them teaming up so they can make a few dollars to pay off some fees leading into “Manipulated Thoughts” ruggedly talks about making sure every single thing that he does wasn’t in vain. “Old Stainless” caps off the EP with a hardcore boom bap joint explaining his motivation is the green presidents as if it’s life or death for him.

Some of the production on both I Hope Your Pistol Don’t Jam… & even All Love Until It’s Not wasn’t hitting for me like it was on The Drop last spring, but Ethics of War more than makes up for it matching that debut LP on all fronts. godBLESSbeatz’ gritty boom bap sound matched with Jalen’s street bars fit just as fluidly as it did when he linked with Foul over a year ago, once again saving only a couple guest performances so he can step up his own pen game a week before summer.

Score: 4/5

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Smiley – “Never Box Me In” review

This is the 3rd EP from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper Smiley. Beginning as a member of the Garden Gang, he would go on to drop his debut mixtape Buy or Bye in the spring of 2018 followed by 2 EPs & even a couple more tapes before local superstar Drake signed him to OVO Sound a little over 3 years ago already. As for his OVO debut Buy or Bye 2, it didn’t really do all that much in catching my interest or standing out enough to the point where I’d go back to it & I Did What I Did wasn’t doing any favors. In spite of Kendrick Lamar performing last night & tonight in the label’s city, Smiley’s advising to Don’t Box Me In.

“Budge” wasn’t that good of a single bragging over a piano-trap instrumental that his trap house was doing the same numbers as the NFL when I doubt that whereas “6SideKids” cloudily talks about feeling bored on tour. “2 Mazza” featuring Drake has gotta be one of the more salvageable moments on the EP from the Boi-1da beat to even Smiley’s mentor barely outperforming him leading into the atmospheric “Kept Snowin’” tediously speaking on the racks making him feel good.

Why G pops up on “Trapman” for a subpar trap collab prior to Icewear Vezzo saving the best feature on the EP for “Money Feen” talking about their overly obsessive desire for money. “Big Dog” featuring Baka Not Nice whose weird case still makes people wonder why he’s around takes a nosedive again hilariously referring to themselves as bosses & after “Wave the Flag” adds insult to injury talking about not making it worse since he learned from the best, Pooh Beatz samples Sean Leon during “Spill the Tell” until Smiley derails it by making them “put out your hand like Wii”.

“Bob Curry” cloudily starts the deluxe run boldly asks if anybody wants smoke when the guy who have him a deal’s still taking Ls while “Oliver North” continues with a comatose tribute to his city. “Ratchet Baby” featuring Roy Wood$ finds the 2 talking about preferring some nastiness in their women while “Faddah” pleads for all the time he’s lost to come back when that isn’t happening. The final bonus track “Not a Fan” ends the EP with him talking about being a “guyser” whatever that means.

Last summer, it was mentioned when I had reviewed I Did What I Did that Smiley was by far the weakest link compared to the rest of the OVO roster & Don’t Box Me In solidifies that even further. I appreciate the fact he wanted to go for a different direction compared to his earlier material, but that doesn’t mean I found a lot of his performances boring compared to almost half of the guests on top of the production for a good run of the 36 minutes coming off as mostly uninteresting.

Score: 1.5/5

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