Read the PDF is an MC/production trio consisting of mR. pOrTeR, Focus… & Dem Jointz. One of whom is Eminem’s current hypeman originally known as Kon Artis of D12 & the other 2 are known for being in-house producers for the Quincy Jones of hip hop Dr. Dre’s very own Interscope Records imprint Aftermath Entertainment. dEnAuN would eventually become an in-house producer for the label & some point, releasing their debut EP a year after their full-length studio debut By the Time You Look Up N.C. What We Doin’.
“Listen” starts with a hardcore hip hop intro with incredibly sequenced beat switches from all 3 members basically hopping over their own instrumentals dismantling their opponents whereas “It’s Too Late” finds the trio talking about how 2026’s gonna be different for them. “The Jig’s Up” wraps up Read the PDF’s inaugural EP with them taking shots at those tricking them structures similarly to the opener.
Listen, It’s Too Late. The Jig’s Up! finds each member creating their own individual sonic universes & merging them together onto a single track for a rawly authentic 3-song hip hop EP becoming a uniquely conceptual meeting of 3 visions from a group of Aftermath Entertainment in-house producers who all have their own different experiences in the past as MCs.
Here is the 5th studio LP from Staten Island, New York born albeit Baltimore, Maryland based emcee/producer Jamil Honesty. Getting his footing in off the strength of his debut mixtape Verses, he would go on to build a name for himself but putting out 3 EPs & a full-length debut serving as a sequel to one of the EPs that Hobgoblin produced. He would later release the Harbor Kidz’ self-titled debut, the Krazyfingaz-produced The God Honest Truth, the Machacha-produced Give Us Our Daily Bread, the final installment of the Martyr Musik trilogy & more recently Shots from the Soviet produced by Giallo Point. Almost 10 months later, JR Swiftz is getting brought in to fully produce M.E.M.O.I.R.S. (Music Evokes Memories Offering Inspiration, Radiating thru Sound).
After the “Foreword” intro, the first song “Chakra’s Cuts” refuses to worry about the future since what’s for everyone else is in the cards whereas “Follow Me” works in a boom bap instrumental to talk about being the living truth others speak of. “Real Rap” suggests that it’s carry-on if others aren’t carrying the culture & being out for legacy & wanting to be remembered as a lyrical paragon just before “‘94 Nas (The Chip Tooth Era)” featuring Jay Royale finds the 2 outclassing their competition like they’re substitutes.
“4evaNyce” starts the 2nd half with a jazzy boom bap beat talking about being nice with for all eternity leading into “Gold Teeth & Beepers” dustily advises to speak truthfully & giving fanatics what they’ve been craving. The title track works in a piano sample to tell ghetto stories with a plot twist while “Tennis Filas” featuring Awon, Blu, Kev Brown & Griot Noy turns the jazz influences back up for a 4 minute cypher. “Summer 90’s” finishes up by reflecting on what summer felt like to him 3 decades earlier.
Similarly to how Shots from the Soviet has already cemented itself as Jamil Honesty’s finest EP, M.E.M.O.I.R.S. (Music Evokes Memories Offering Inspiration, Radiating thru Sound) has officially taken over the spot of the predecessor 10 months ago & I’d strongly recommend both if you’re still sleeping on him. JR Swiftz’ cinematic production matched with Jamil’s precise lyrics make the album feel more like a time capsule of an era that we all miss crafted with precision & soul for fans of uncompromising hip hop rooted in sincerity.
London, England, United Kingdom rapper, songwriter & producer Skepta teaming up with local producer Fred again.. for his 3rd EP. A co-founder the Boy Better Know collective, a lot of people in the state including myself didn’t hop on board with him until almost a decade ago when he dropped his 4th album Konnichiwa to critical acclaim. This was followed up a couple years back with both Ignorance is Bliss & All In being welcomed to moderate reception, but the Skepta .. Fred singles had me anticipating this much more.
“Back 2 Back” fuses grime & dubstep together so he can talk about the recognition he’s gotten throughout his career whereas “London” carries over the styles of the previous track preferring to play the villain than the victim. “Last 1s Left” turns the dubstep influences up to talk about being the last of a dying breed while the soulful “21 Years” reflects on these past couple decades. “Victory Lap” co-produced by PlaqueBoyMax ends with a nod to the local community platform of the same name.
Both teasers that we’ve gotten these past few months confirms the speculation I had regarding Skepta doing a whole EP with Fred again.. & as I would’ve thought, it reveals itself to be the most cutting edge project he’s put out since Konnichiwa celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary next spring. Fred’s production plays well into the Boy Better Know co-founder’s grime style that he helped lay out the foundation for & simultaneously places electronic dance music as a secondary influence.
Merlyn Wood is a 29 year old Ghanaian-American rapper & songwriter born in Accra, Ghana, Africa & raised in Texas known for being a member of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective. He also has a couple EPs under his belt with Teen Virgyn & Dirty Thunder, both of which where released to mixed reception as was Ameerlyn’s debut EP Slime in the Ice Machine under Blacksmith Recordings. Almost 23 months since Dirty Thunder, the Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the best boyband since 1 Direction is back by himself for his 3rd EP.
“Peace” was a stripped back choice of an intro singing over acoustics to ask when things are gonna get easier for him whereas “Ashes” embraces more of a pop rap/trap vibe talking about watching the crazy world we live in burn down. “Eater” pulls a bit of inspiration from rap rock for a description of those exact type of women & after “Nympho” continues to rap about lustful themes over a cloudy instrumental, “Backseat” finishes up with a trap outro getting down to business in the back of a car.
Dirty Thunder has gotta be my least favorite EP of the 3 that we have in the Merlyn Wood solo discography thus far, but Velvet’s the most versatile he’s sounded by himself since Teen Virgyn & a cut above that alongside it’s successor for his best solo material. The pop rap & cloud rap styles of that introductory EP are reincorporated fluidly except the secondary influences of wonky, alt-pop & alternative R&B are being replaced with the trap sounds of it’s follow-up along with rap rock & singer/songwriter.
Blood Orange is a 39 year old singer/songwriter, producer, composer & director from London, England, United Kingdom releasing his full-length debut Falling Off the Lavender Bridge & sophomore effort Life’s Sweet! Nice to Meet You under the Lightspeed Champion moniker. Coastal Grooves, Cupid Deluxe, Freetown Sound & Negro Swan have all became some of the greatest alternative R&B within the last decade & has signed to RCA Records to make his 7th album his major label debut.
“Look at You” begins with an alternative R&B intro seeking meaning in one’s grace only to find nothing & still searching for some sort of truth whereas “Thinking Clean” sings over some skittering drums & pianos pondering if everything was taken from beneath. Sophisti-pop, bedroom pop, dream pop & jangle pop get fused on “Somewhere in Between” pleading to have the vision of an adolescent again while “The Field” blends liquid drum & bass, art pop, alt-pop & sambass comes across the feeling of the sun keeping us warm daily.
Alt-pop, art pop, bedroom pop, singer/songwriter, indietronica & alternative R&B combine on “Mind Loaded” feeling like everything means nothing to him & unable to think straight leading into “Vivid Light” finding himself in rage & not wanting to be alone because the more you hide, the smaller you become. “Countryside” collides dream pop, alt-pop & sophisti-pop singing about wanting to be taken away from the broken lights & seeking comfort in Epping Forest while “The Last of England” melancholically remembers his late mother who passed away last winter.
“Life” expresses his desire for watch somebody he cares about making it on their own & gaining waves of daisies while “Westerberg” homages “Alex Chilton” by The Replacements alongside it’s former frontman Paul Westerberg, who embarked on a successful solo career following the band’s demise almost 35 years ago. We get hints of bedroom pop on “The Train (King’s Cross)” singing about feeling as if the worst has yet to come for the first time in his life while the somewhat jazzy “Scared of It” vents over the difficulties of always looking & in out of the end suggesting one’s likelihood of being better off on their own.
Nearing the final moments of Essex Honey, we have “I Listened (Every Night)” embracing a more smoother tone becoming unable to find anything soft in between accompanied by an alternative bedroom pop instrumental & “I Can Go” featuring Mustafa finishes to the LP with both of them singing about how what you know is something that they can hold during nights that flow into lows.
Conceived during a period of grief & reflection on his upbringing in Essex intertwined with the ways music has inspired & healed him throughout his life, Blood Orange takes the world on a personal exploration of grief & his roots by stylistically emphasizing an alt-pop & bedroom pop sound with secondary sophisti-pop, dream pop, art pop, singer/songwriter, indietronica, alternative R&B, liquid drum & bass, sambass and jangle pop influences.
Brooklyn, New York veteran Chip Fu putting his debut solo EP up on all streaming platforms after making it exclusive to EVEN for a short period of time. A member of the Fu-Schnickens, he put out a solo mixtape of his own 15 years earlier called Stop Playing & the sequel roughly 32 months later. The Beginning of the Reckoning dropped exclusively on EVEN at the very beginning of the month, but has now become available on all streaming platforms regardless of whichever one you prefer to use.
After the intro, the first song “Me” produced by Blizzard opens with a soulful boom bap instrumental & Chip taking 113 seconds to kick his speedy flows into full gear whereas “Levels” keeps chopping up more vocal samples to talk about life being similar to that of an elevator. “Thousandz & Hundredz” finishes the EP with a boom bap/reggae crossover blending intricate rhyme schemes with a chopper flow.
Continuing to innovate & elevate hip hop over 3 decades deep into the game The Beginning of the Reckoning regardless of it’s brevity powerfully showcases Chip Fu’s lyrical mastery & depth in superior ways than either Stop Playing or Stop Playing 2 did making considerable improvements in the production department of things from those early tapes.
Quakertown, Pennsylvania singer/songwriter & actress Sabrina Carpenter releasing her 7th studio LP. The niece of Nancy Cartwright also known as the voice of Bart on the Fox Corporation’s flagship property’s longest running animated series The Simpsons, she herself began by starring in the Boy Meets World spinoff Girl Meets World alongside Milo Murphy’s Law on The Walt Disney Company owned Disney Channel. She later signed to Hollywood Records for her first 4 full-lengths Eyes Wide Open, EVOLution, Singular & Singular II until moving over to Island Records for Emails I Can’t Send. Her previous album Short n’ Sweet solidified herself as a modern pop superstar & Man’s Best Friend has now arrived following tributes from by the current NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca, the current WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio alongside former 2-time WWE women’s world champion Liv Morgan, former AEW Women’s World Champion Blake Monroe, former 3-time WWE women’s world champion & former TNA Knockouts World Champion Naomi, former 2-time NXT Tag Team Champion Kit Wilson and of course the current WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton.
Pop rock, synthpop, urban cowboy & soft rock all blend together for the self-produced lead single “Manchild” with co-production from Jack Antonoff singing about immature men whereas “Tears” finds herself becoming addicted to her new lover’s maturity over a dance-pop/nu-disco instrumental reminiscent of her smash hit “Espresso”. “My Man on Willpower” sings about a male who has too much self control & not understanding it returning to a pop rock sound leading into “Sugar Talking” making it clear that she isn’t have the sweet chit chat.
“We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night” embraces a heavy country pop vibe to sing about living in a continuous circle of becoming on the verge of ending her current relationship only for all to be forgiven in the morning leading into “Nobody’s Son” singing to the parents of a corrupt man asking them if they could raise him to love her. “Never Getting Laid” divides itself into 2 different halves hoping this fuckboy becomes agoraphobic while “When Did You Get Hot?” becomes astonished by seeing a former acquaintance undergoing a significant makeover.
The country pop influences make a return on “Go Go Juice” sings about getting drunk only to make a bunch of phone calls assuring that nobody’s safe while “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry” sings about making this individual worry more than other woman ever has. “House Tour” compares her home on Pretty Girl Avenue to Disneyland in the sense that it’s where all dreams come true & once “Goodbye” properly wraps things up by explaining that the meaning of the word to her is losing her for life, “Such a Funny Way” feels like an epilogue deluded by someone telling her he loves her when he clearly didn’t.
Before I get to my concluding thoughts on Man’s Best Friend, I want to say that the controversy that surrounded its tame artwork was soft to me when the PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 cover art already exists. Regarding the music itself: Sabrina Carpenter’s thematically more promiscuous than Short n’ Sweet was experimenting with country pop, dance-pop, pop rock, soft rock & urban cowboy heavier winding up with mixed results containing more highs than lows.
Vybz Kartel is a 49 year old DJ, singer/songwriter, entrepreneur & businessman from Kingston, Jamaica who’s widely crowned as the King of Dancehall subgenre of reggae similarly to roots reggae icon Bob Marley becoming recognized as the symbol of the entire genre that he helped pioneer. For over 3 decades, the Adidjahiem Records founder has released over a dozen EPs & full-lengths including during his decade long prison bid for Clive “Lizard” Williams’ murder. Literally a week after A John John Masterpiece & we already have another album from the Worl’ Boss.
“They’re Outta Love, We Aren’t” opens with a tribute to his fiancée Sidem Öztürk whereas “I Know” sings about her love for the Teacha makes him feel like no other women exist to him. “You Walked Away” takes 153 seconds to address everything that happened with his ex-wife & Short Boss Muzik founder Tanesha Johnson leading into “11:45” continuing to sing about his fiancée.
Ishawna joins the Worl’ Boss on “Bad Bad Bad” blending dancehall & house so they can discuss what women truly like in men just before “Ghetto Girl Chosen” jumps over a bashment beat only for him to beat it out of order. “Can’t Leave You Alone” continues the dancehall vibes singing about praying to God that he & his lover live forever while “In Too Deep” talks about his favorite city name being toxicity.
The title track begins Heart & Soul’s final moments by promising to give the Apple of his eye the time of her life as long as she trusts him with those 2 things while “Cinderella Ballroom” sings about him continuing to be here for a long time for a fun time. “You Know G.O.A.T.” finishes up the LP with 1 last reminder of why he’s called the King of Dancehall.
I’ve already covered Spice’s last album Mirror 25 & Shenseea in the past, so it isn’t my first rodeo when discussing dancehall. Other artists whose music I’ve enjoyed in the past include the late dub pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry, the entire extended Marley family from Stephen & Ziggy to YG, the late Peter Tosh & his son Andrew, the late Bunny Wailer, the late Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff, Buju Banton, Mavado, Popcaan, Koffee, Bounty Killer & VP Records to name a few. Heart & Soul however isn’t Vybz Kartel’s best since coming home, but I do appreciate the inspiration taken from his engagement.
Buffalo emcee/producer Che Noir staying busy with her 10th EP. Discovering her after 38 Spesh signed Che to TCF Music Group & fully produced her first 3 EPs, her Apollo Brown-produced full-length debut As God Intended & then her self-produced 4th EP After 12 during the 2nd half of 2020 was where her potential began to blossom exponentially. She has since followed this up with the sophomore effort Food for Thought as well as The Last Remnants, the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced Noir or Never, The Color Chocolate, The Lotus Child & the Superior-produced Seeds of Babylon. The Color Chocolate 2 kicked summer off in full gear a couple months ago with a sequel that I liked more than the original & needs No Validation at this point.
“Incense Burning” kicks it all off with an angelic boom bap instrumental from The Other Guys feeling like she’s finally found her tempo whereas the jazzily dusty “Smooth Jazz” featuring 38 Spesh talks about their self-education regulating their street abilities. “Sugar Water” keeps the jazzy boom bap vibes going to speak on the real ones rising while “Moroccan Mint” featuring Jae Skeese talks about never folding because of the wisdom they teach.
Ransom & Skyzoo join Che on the crooning “Katastwof” explaining that it ain’t really a journey if there’s no specific destination intended leading into “Dollar Tree” featuring Skyzoo & Von Pea talking about having it all despite not needing much. “Ego Trips” keeps it in the basement instrumental not having it because she controls her destiny & “Susie” featuring Smoke DZA talks about a woman acting like the character from the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Nickelodeon series Rugrats.
Making a mission statement for those who know what they bring to the table with or without applause, Che Noir & the curated lineup of elite lyricists that joins her side navigate themes of legacy as well as resilience & self-worth over the soulfully signature analog rich production style that Mighty Joe & Isaiah or The Other Guys have become known for with each guest MC adding their own signature flavor to the Poetic Movement Records founder’s reflective world.
Queens, New York emcee, producer & singer/songwriter Kwamé making a comeback after over 3 decades with his 5th studio LP. Signing to Atlantic Records in the late 80s, his debut The Boy Genius & the conceptual sophomore effort A Day in the Life: a Pokadelick Adventure would both become well received in their own rights, although I can’t the same for either Nastee or Incognito. Now commemorating the 10-year anniversary of his own label Make Noise Recordings, the East Coast veteran is returning & has brought The Different Kids with him after signing a new distribution deal with Virgin Music.
“The Kwamé Show” is a sample-heavy intro talking about how there ain’t nobody like him almost 4 decades into the game but after the “Mom’s Grocery List” interlude, “Hello / Anybody?” moves forward with a 2-parter getting caught up in his zone. “Stroke Dif’rent” after the “3:00 AM” interlude goes for a funkier vibe talking about The Different Kids ruling the world leading into the “You Don’t Work Hard” interlude.
Meanwhile on “Adulthood”, we have The Boy Genius taking the boom bap route instrumentally welcoming listeners to the state of full maturity while the danceable “Lemme Git (All Owt)” asks where the inner strength is because of all this weakness. “No Way, Go Away” gives off a bit of a soulful edge refusing to waste his energy on bullshit leading into the single “Ms. Mary Mack” showcasing his wordplay abilities.
Lady Tigra gets her own song with the 68 second “Ole Skool Rappah” talking about her traditional values when it comes to MCing while “Nobody” sampling “La Di Da Di” by Slick Rick so he can stay in his lane. After the “New Beginning” interlude, “Kwamé 2 Kwamé” dabbles with electronics for a message from his future self while “There Eye Go” ends by talking about not needing a reintroduction.
Displaying several facets of Kwamé’s multi-hyphenated artistic personality, The Different Kids coincides with the new Rakim EP The Re-Up produced by Big Ghost Ltd. as another example of hip hop’s pioneers returning after a decade or over of inactivity to make quality additions to their discographies that further cement their longevities improving from both Nastee & Incognito. He blends witty braggadocio, captivating storytelling & occasional social with precisely dexterous flows & production that details his resilient creativity.
Legends Will Never Die 