Raz Fresco – “Stadium Lo Champions” review

Pretty sure this has to be the 17th studio LP from Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee/producer Raz Fresco. I’ve been familiar with the guy since my high school years at this point whether it be some of his features or his own extensive discography including the Magneto Was Right mixtape series, the Futurewave-produced Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen album, the Nicholas Craven-produced Boulangerie album, the Cake beat tapes, the Gia…À La Carte collab EP with Estee Nack or more recently the Cookin’ Soul produced Bakin’ Soul, the Daniel Son collab effort Northside & the DJ Muggs-produced The Eternal Now. Merely 9 months later, Futurewave’s coming back for the return of the Stadium Lo Champions.

After the intro, the first song “Mind Light” is a boom bap intro with a calming vocal sample talking about everyone seeing him shine both day & night whereas “Ok Let’s Go” finds him ready to get the show going. “Tesla Tower Power” strips the drums talking about being cold-hearted since they’re Canadian while “Steve Austin” featuring Daniel Son homages the WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & NWA World Tag Team Champion set to appear on former WWE Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon’s new ESPN+ reality show Stephanie’s Places next week.

“Lauren Story” tells everyone to gather around he can vividly paint the image of a woman he met a week ago named Lauren over some vibraphones leading into “Cyanide” returning to the boom bap cautioning everyone to fasten their seats & steer away living your days fast. “Earth Spin” featuring Gritfall & Sonnyjim finds the trio addressing the people who feel as if the world revolves solely around them prior to “Olympic Flame” talking about working for either Satan or God.

Moving on from there, “What’s the Word?” those for a jazzier boom bap vibe instrumentally asking what’s good with the people he’s around just before “Alpaca” featuring al.divino & Estee Nack sees all 3 of them talking about certain individuals needing to get back out their & making the money they’re owed. “Honestly” expresses his desire for the whole world over a jazz rap beat prior to “Mortal Kombat” featuring The 6th Letter referencing the Warner Bros.-owned fighting game franchise that the WB CEO David Zaslav is considering selling.

“In My Lifetime” reaches the final moments of Stadium Lo Champions in some lo-Fi boom bap shit suggesting the things Raz has seen during his life will take everyone out their right minds & ahead of the “Lo Champion” outro, the final song “Sam Never Was My Uncle” concludes the album with 1 more drumless track pretty much talking about the United States of America’s current position it’s been taking for nearly 3 months already.

This summer will mark 2 years since Raz began churning out amongst the most important material of his 15 year career, taking it further by returning with Futurewave to display the growth within their chemistry together halfway through the current decade. The latter’s production is mainly built around boom bap, drumless, jazz rap & lo-fi hip hop as we’re treated to an evolution Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen they once were to becoming Stadium Lo Champions.

Score: 4.5/5

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Gerald Clayton – “1s & 2s” review

Gerald Clayton is a 41 year old pianist from Los Angeles, California notable for being the son of John Clayton & the nephew of Jeff Clayton from The Clayton Brothers. Introducing himself in 2009 off his full-length debut 2-Shade followed by the sophomore effort Bond as well as a Life Form & Tributary Tales, latter of which caught the attention of Blue Note Records & Gerald made his debut for them in 2023 with Bells on Sand. Continuing to evolve under the greatest jazz label of all-time, the Out Of/Into member’s returning for his 6th full-length LP.

“Angels Speak” combines post-bop, chamber music & neo-soul for a lead single with Elena Pinderhughes playing the flute alongside Joel Ross on the vibraphone & Kendrick Scott on drums whereas “Cinnamon Sugar” moves forward with a heavier lenience towards Latin jazz reminiscent of the late Kenny Dorham’s 3rd album & Blue Note debut Afro-Cuban.

Moving on from there, “Sacrifice Culture” embraces a nu jazz vibe remembering Jon Hassell prior to “How Much Love?” heavily leaning towards Elena’s flautist abilities. The buoyantly angular “Count M” pulls from hip hop culture a little blending a flute & a piano with Marquis Hill playing the trumpet for 2 & a half minutes leading into “Just Above” homaging the late Eric Dolphy’s sole Blue Note offering Out to Lunch! a couple months following his death in 1964.

“Lovingly” finishes the first half of 1s & 2s combining a flute & vibraphones for a 4 minute composition while “Rush” begins the 2nd act by giving percussionist Kassa Overall a few moments to shine throwing it back to Herbie Hancock’s jazz fusion masterpiece Head Hunters. “For Peace” evenly balances elements of nu jazz & electric jazz while the usage of a vocal choir during the backend of “More Always” felt like a refreshing idea to me.

The closer “Space Seas” takes us through a 2 & a half minute exhibition of Kassa’s percussionist skills getting more rhythmic than “Rush” was earlier while “Glass Half Warm” starts the deluxe run shifting the spotlight towards the flute, piano & vibraphones. The final bonus track “Glass Half Cool” feels like a continuation of sorts to “Glass Half Warm”, justifying the album’s key themes of harmonious tension & the idea of coexistence extending out to human relationships & cultures than simply music.

Heavily inspired by the art of turntablism, Gerald Clayton set out to create a musical statement consisting of 7 songs each symbolizing the opposing sides of yin & yang where the A side can be played simultaneously with the B side. The end resulting him ditching the post-bop vibes of Bells on Sand in favor of a jazz fusion/nu jazz sound, joining the likes of Robert Glasper’s whole Black Radio trilogy & the Madlib collection of remixes that got me into Blue Note as a teenager Shades of Blue in bridging jazz music & hip hop culture.

Score: 4.5/5

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Chino XL – “Map of Bones” review

Right in front of us is the 7th full-length studio LP albeit 2nd posthumous offering from East Orange, New Jersey emcee Chino XL. Breaking out in the mid-90s after signing to American Recordings & releasing the classic full-length debut Here to Save You All, he eventually went on to beef with 2Pac & I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who writes him off because of that. Especially since that I Told You So, Poison Pen & the Viper Records-backed RICANstruction: The Black Rosary all contain some of the best songs in his whole discography. Stu Bangas was brought in to produce God’s Carpenter couple summers & that became a near-flawless comeback, with Darkness & Other Colors recorded back in 2020 foreshadowing his own death from beyond the grave. Continuing to warm up for God’s Carpenter 2, what would’ve been Chino’s 51st birthday is being commemorated with Map of Bones recorded between 2008-2012.

“Hard to Kill” opens up by ruggedly suggesting that you should come heavy if you ever making threats & getting at his best when things get intense whereas “Die 4” angrily asks if anyone wants war with him. “Not Ok” works in these prominent horns so he can tackle the theme of mental health from beyond the grave leading into the heinous “Monster” talks about his beast status.

As for “I’ve Seen”, we have Chino over heavy sampling telling us everything he’s experienced during his time in the music industry just before “‘Til Death Do Us Part” shows his affection towards his wife-now-widow. “Capable” talks about people casting doubt over what he’s competent of doing, but then the chaotic boom bap hybrid “Keep Diggin’” speaks of staying loyal to the code o until the streets phase.

“The Search” becomes 1 with the ocean Jesus once walked on while “Numb” featuring Roc C triumphantly sees the pair back on the block. “You First” gets split into 2-parts with an EDM flare during the 1st half & boom bap for the other getting bloodthirsty while “Still Sailing” refers to every word he wrote as a symphony. The title track hauntingly rounds it out by talking about the suicidal thoughts that sadly took him.

Word’s been going around since last fall regarding Chino XL having a collaborative effort with Dheezy called The Mantis coming out at the end of 2025 & we’ll have to cross that bridge until we get there to see if that actually happens, all I know is that I appreciate Map of Bones for feeling as complete of a product as Darkness & Other Colors was. Even if I find myself preferring Body Bag Ben’s production on the latter, DJ Fokus’ left-of-center style is a bit refreshing & hearing Chino continuing to foreshadow him taking is life over a decade ago hits differently.

Score: 3.5/5

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RRoxket – “Rixhie Rixh 2” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper RRoxket returning with his 3rd mixtape. Emerging in 2022 off his debut EP Rixhie Rixh & the full-length debut album R.I.P. RRoxket, he would go on to drop 3 more EPs Happy Birthday RRoxket as well as RRoxket Valentine and Red M&M ahead of his debut tape Red Ranger that was preluded by his last EP High School Flunky. He put out a fun self-titled efforton Black Friday after officially signing to Sony Music & is returning to the essence of Rixhie Rixh.

“Bad Company” is this plugg-influenced intro referencing Super Bowl LVI champion & current NFL free agent prospect Odell Beckham Jr. whereas “Deuce” goes for a quirkier trap vibe instrumentally assuring everything will be ok the second he wakes up. “Oxycodone” gets back on the plugg tip so he can talk about his addiction to the previously mentioned opioid leading into “Accept” finding him being unable to get this woman off his mind.

Moving on from there, “Kids” shows affection towards both of his daughters & tackles fatherhood in general just before “Balenciaga Fabric” talks about going from the streets to business maintaining a plugg flare to the beat from Hariroc. “Beautiful Dancer” sees him hittin’ up an amigo of his buying whatever he be importin’, but then “RR Shit” goes full-blown rage likening himself to a rockstar since he inked the Sony deal

“Wake Up” goes for a cloudier direction talking about rollin’ another blunt up the second he gets out of bed in the morning while “Sergeant Dip” blends the plugg aesthetics with gangsta rap lyrics. “Never Shook” featuring Lil Tony atmospherically discusses refusing to back down while the pluggy “Field Trip” talks about being willing to bet someone snitched. “Codeine, Percocets, Marijuana” finishes with a single revolving around those 3 substances.

It’s already been 3 years since this guy introduced himself off the original Rixhie Rixh & he takes it up a few levels on the sequel, showing his growth as an artist in that quick span of time. A lot of the same sounds that were all over self-titled like plugg, cloud rap & dark plugg make their way on here except the experimental hip hop undertones get swapped out in favor of rage & the energy of it’s predecessor gets recaptured from a new perspective.

Score: 3.5/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Lethal Weapon 2” review

In front of us is the 57th EP from Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records as well as 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, Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays produced by Mike Shabb, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth. Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul & Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz. Taking another break from the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap, I totally get why Drega33’s coming back in the picture for a Lethal Weapon sequel.

“ATK on Titan” is this jazzy intro likening his wraps to the dark fantasy anime series 進撃の巨人 whereas “Analytics” featuring Jay NiCE talks about their styles being a mix of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan & It Was Written. “Sacred Tablets” strips the drums creating his own lane & overcoming the rough patches in his life while “Lethal Force” hooks up a pitched vocal sample to talk about specializing in spreading viruses.

The song “Final Justice” starts the 2nd leg of Lethal Weapon 2 by hopping over these prominent horns telling everyone to move out his way unless you want chaos to ensue & him having something to prove just before “Ain’t No Way” blends chipmunk soul & drumless talks about having 0 distractions in his path. “Aura Farming” ends the EP with a jazz rap single he dropped this past weekend referring to himself as hip hop royalty.

Much of the discourse centered around Lethal Weapon a few weeks ago were generally mixed & I can’t be too mad at the successor here being much more well received from what I’ve been seeing across the spectrum. Drega33’s production still relies on samples dabbling with drumless, chipmunk soul & jazz rap this time around on top of the lyrics feeling like a long lost scroll getting deciphered in the middle of the Sahara desert.

Score: 4/5

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J-Classic – “The Jordan Rules” review

J-Classic is a 36 year old MC from Ypsilanti, Michigan who I first met in 2018 after Middle Finger Music put out their inaugural release with Aztek the Barfly’s 3rd album Line King & was even signed to the prominent Detroit underground label for a brief period of time. We’ve heard him on multiple features up until this point & is celebrating his born day by putting out his debut EP, which is ultimately the 1st time ever solo project in his discography that’s been a very long time coming after I was in his city this weekend for Astronomicon meeting both former AEW Women’s World Champion and アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン Britt Baker alongside the current TNA World Champion Joe Hendry who also held the recently retired TNA Digital Media Championship for a record-holding 266 days on top of making former 4-time WWE world champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, future WWE Intercontinental Champion and 5-time WWE tag team champion Sheamus believe at this year’s Royal Rumble couple months ago.

“Somewhere” begins with a slowed-down vocal sample talking about beating the game in the hardest setting or difficulty whereas “6 Rings” compares himself to the greatest basketball player of all-time Michael Jordan. “Ragnarok” produced by Foul Mouth refers to an important event in Norse mythology while “Baba Yaga” with Tru Klassick talks about the prominent figure in Slavic folklore. “Pinball Pete’s” shows off Game 7 intensity fusing jazz & trap until the title track finishes by keeping a 12 with no name on it.

I used to tell people to keep an eye out for J-Classic for several years & The Jordan Rules finally gives the underground a sense of why I’ve been co-signing him for so long. Its production explores a myriad of sounds including boom bap, jazz rap, trap & use of samples refraining from having any guests joining him so he can hold the bars down by himself carrying his own weight through these versatile musical backdrops the way I imagined he would’ve.

Score: 4/5

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Lou Phelps – “Chélbé” review

Lou Phelps is a 30 year old rapper & producer from Saint-Hubert, Québéc, Canada notable for being the MC half of the MC/producer duo The Celestics alongside his brother & one of the biggest producers in the past decade KAYTRANADA. He even has 3 EPs & a full-length debut album of his own since they mutually decided to focus more on their solo careers for the past 11 years. Nearly 9 months since the last EP Top Z last summer, Lou’s returning for a sophomore effort.

“Prolly Us” produced by KAYTRANADA who laced Chélbé front-to-back was a funky way to start things off talking about bad bitches & real homies both wanting love whereas “After I” featuring GoldLink finds the 2 asking if you can tell that they know how to have a great time. “4 My Children” keeps the funk/hip hop crossovers going talking about wanting to make millions for his kids & not giving a fuck regarding other’s feelings, but then “I Dunno” take a shot at hip house detailing a woman who keeps coming back to him for more.

As for “What Now”, the hip house vibes carry on referencing the current TNA World Tag Team Champion in his 3rd reign & inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy of The Hardy Boyz while “Under My Skin” featuring Nono Black finds the pair suggesting to let the haters hate & their money continuing to pile up. “Jungle” kinda reminds me of Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest & I mean that as a compliment boasting about being sexy & clean because he’s the man leading into “Is My Mic On?” sees him tryna play it right

“2am” blends synth-funk & hip hop telling the woman he has in mind that she’s a gift to him while “Aftaparty” talks about showing this chick how fast them birds go once they finally become an official couple keeping the synthesizers in the fold instrumentally. “Pimp” finishes Lou’s first LP in 7 years with 1 more funky beat to discuss spitting his rhymes because all he wants is the money in his pockets to get bigger & for all the broke ass bitches to take themselves back home.

Resurrecting the anarchic spirit of post-millennial underground hip hop, The Celestics unofficially reunite for a love letter to the culture’s golden age occasionally charting new territory in contemporary dance-rap. KAYTRANADA boldy fuses hip hop, house & jazz music for the globally minded, fashion-forward listener emphasizing his multicultural background & paying tribute giving himself a pat on the back for his authenticity, self-appreciation & personal style.

Score: 4/5

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Shoreline Mafia – “Back in Bidness” review

The Shoreline Mafia are a Los Angeles, California duo now consisting of Ohgeesy & Fenix Flexin’. Originally a quartet, their debut mixtape ShorelineDoThatShit resulted in them signing to Atlantic Records for their next couple tapes & EPs as well as a full length studio debut. They would temporarily disband following Mafia Bidness so its members could pursue their solo careers, reuniting with half its members in 2023 & returning to Atlantic in tandem with 300 Entertainment for a sophomore effort.

The title track fuses hyphy & trap to get the ball rollin’ talking about their return whereas “Touch Down” puts a bigger emphasis on hyphy thanks to DJ Snake including a reference to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy on the Discovery Global-owned Cartoon Network. “Back 2 Back” morbidly demands to know where the cabbage at & showing ‘em the money just before the ratchet “Too Often” talks about not fucking with broke bitches at all.

“Watch That Hoe” blends trap & hyphy once more advising for everyone to stay on their toes leading into “Broski” swaps out the hyphy influences in favor of Mobb music asking what you’re in the game for if you ain’t even tryna do it. “No Makeup” vibrantly references former IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン as well as a 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion in both TKO Group Holdings divisions Brock Lesnar while “Fast & Furious” gets back with DJ Snake for another hyphy heater.

As for “Rubbaband Man”, we have the Shoreline Mafia going for a nervous direction paying homage to T.I.’s most popular single while “Shoreline Twins” homages the Ying Yang Twins down to Mr. Collipark handling the co-production. “Work of Art” feels like a bit of a traffic music/g-funk crossover asking what the salary of these women are since they belong in galleries & want them by their sides, but then “Yoga & Pilates” shouts out all the bitches who do those 2 things.

“Go for Me” gets the final leg of Back in Bidness started by throwing guns in the building taking shots at everyone who be acting like they got cash & don’t actually show it while “Tusi” talks about a follow-up being guaranteed if it’s really beef with them. “Set the Record Straight” cautions that you have to have a resume in order to be near their presence while the gospel flip DJ Paul & TWhy use on “Top Notch” saves the best beat for last talking about still being high quality after 5 years off.

Returning stronger than ever, Back in Bidness is a testament to the Shoreline Mafia’s brotherhood & proving that time apart hasn’t dulled their signature sound. From the hard-hitting production reclaiming the throne of the nervous scene following Drakeo the Ruler’s murder to unfiltered lyrics, Ohgeesy & Fenix Flexin’ team up for a triumphant homecoming for the group that helped define a generation of underground rap.

Score: 4/5

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2hollis – “star” review

2hollis is a 21 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Chicago, Illinois coming up as 1/2 of Mage Eternal & a member of OSX under the original Drippysoup moniker. Putting out a total of 7 EPs along with a couple mixtapes & 3 studio LPs, his last full-lengths 2 & Boy resulted in him signing to Interscope Records as a solo act this past fall. He’s now making a significantly bigger splash with his 4th album albeit major label debut a week out from the current 新日本プロレス President, former 8-time IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, 2-time IWGPインターコンチネンタルチャンピオン, 3-time IWGP USヘビー級チャンピオン, 新日本プロレス世界TVチャンピオン, 3-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン, NEVER無差別級チャンピオン, NEVER無差別級6人タッグチャンピオン, GHCタッグチャンピオン, CMLL Mundial Parejas Campeon, CMLL Mundial Trios Campeon & RPW British Heavyweight Champion 棚橋弘至’s final US match.

After the glitchy “beginning” intro, the self-produced “flash” talks about a lot of the things he’s shown the woman on his mind have actually been illusions whereas “cope” homages the “Heroes” title track by the late David Bowie admitting he feels empty & asking if he can be trusted. “you” works in some house undertones telling this woman how good she is at lying to him leading into “tell me” embracing the EDM vibes heavier talking about being afraid of death.

“destroy me” gets back on the hip house tip hoping for this chick to tell him she loves him & needs him in her life just before “burn” pulls a little from the dubstep scene talking about his romantic interest continually sticking in his head. “girl” is a bass-heavy trap dedication to his girlfriend he doesn’t want to lose tryna make sense of her & after the “dream rain sports” instrumental interlude, “nice” samples “Household Goods” by the Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs” showing his generosity.

2hollis maintains an EDM flare on “nerve” admiring the way he & partner are nonconformists but after the “ego” interlude, the rage-inducing “sidekick” talks about never being a close associate or assistant to anyone else. “eldest child” acoustically speaks about what it was like from his experience of being the oldest of 2 children in his family & the minimal closer “safe” pleads for his lover to tell him that he’s safe.

star for a major label debut feels like a collection of feelings & meanings from someone chasing stardom finds it all coming true in the most beautiful ways despite it burning so badly . His production here takes cues from electropop, electroclash, hyperpop, electronic dance music & digicore taking us along for a hero’s journey after starting everyone on the enemies & trials ahead of the upcoming follow-up he’s already working on as announced earlier on during the week.

Score: 3.5/5

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Σtella – “Adagio” review

Here we have the 5th full-length album from Athens, Attica, Greece singer/songwriter Σtella. Introducing herself with an eponymous debut, both it’s follow-ups Works for You & The Break would result in Sub Pop Records signing her and making the Redinho-produced Up & Away a decent debut for the Seattle, Washington indie label. 3 years later, she’s returning by putting out Adagio & the singles teased for it until this point seems like it could shape up to be better than Up & Away or even dethroning The Break for her strongest material.

The title track was a bedroom pop & samba intro asking why she’s being tormented likening herself to a spy with her 400 eyes taking her from A to B whereas “Ta Vimata” sings about the steps bringing her to the narrow path. “Omorfu Mou” finds her wanting her romantic interest when they leave & missing them while she stays just before “Baby Brazil” featuring Las Palabras suggests to let the feeling roll since the individual she has in mind likes control as much as they do.

“Can I Say” asks if she can tell her partner exactly how much she misses them while “80 Days” acoustically sings about going by the rules even if they don’t apply. “Too Poor” groovily explains the way she’s attracted to her lover & after the “Corfu” instrumental cut, the closing track “Caravan” officially wraps up her Sub Pop Records sophomore effort singing about her only real partner in crime at the moment being Father Time itself.

Inspired by an 11-minute boat ride to Anafi roughly 6 years ago, Σtella sounds more at ease & comfortable than she’s ever been on Adagio displaying new approaches to her songwriting. The end result turns out to be a pop LP that feels like a warm blanket due to the way it swaddles its listeners with nylon-string guitars, featherlight percussion, psychedelic keyboards & staccato drums offering a meditation on love, desire, rest & time.

Score: 4/5

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