O.T. the Real – “Possession with Intent” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee O.T. the Real making his TCF Music Group debut with his 9th studio LP. Getting his start in the underground almost a decade ago after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping his last 8 albums as well as a mixtape & 8 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut showed improvement as did the Nickel Plated produced Cost of Living & The Devil You Know. That said: 38 Spesh fully producing Possession with Intent had me feel like this could be a special entry in O.T.’s catalog & the singles hinting towards it. Especially ahead of Shane Taylor Promotions becoming the new ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champions & La Facción Ingobernable becoming the new ROH World Tag Team Champions when Death Before Dishonor XXII takes place at 2300 Arena a.k.a. ECW Arena.

“18 Ballgames” opens with some jazzy horns splitting a rat’s shit in half & dipped before the cops came whereas “Never Saw Me” hops over a boom bap instrumental with some pianos to talk about having people who depend on him. “Big Fish” featuring Grafh brings the brass instrumentation back in effect referencing my favorite show of all-time Breaking Bad leading into “For the Face” talking about friends becoming foes & grams turning into ounces.

Amir Ali joins O.T. for a shimmery “Philly Special” advising to make money because money won’t make you while “Americans” talks about the possibility of his enemies winding up dead or behind bars serving life. “Grease” featuring Dave East chops up a soul sample so the pair can talk about the work their plugs gave them just before “Warlock” takes it back to the basement instrumentally pleading not to blame him since he doesn’t mess with fentanyl

“Richer” featuring Flee Lord gets the ball rollin’ on the final leg of Possession with Intent responding to criticisms of being in their bags too much while the cinematically grimy “Jon Jek” talks about lasting longer than the beef you got if you mind your business. The jazzy “Streets Alone” speaks on putting family over everything & “Doin’ Bad” finishes the LP with 1 more boom bap joint addressing his past beefs.

Granted I did enjoy O.T. the Real’s last couple projects with Nickel Plated, the singles we got out of the Possession with Intent rollout had me feeling like it would become another one of his most essential LPs. Lo & behold: The most I’ve enjoyed an O.T. solo project since Zombie. A good 75% of the guests stick the landing in terms of their performances, but he & 38 Spesh both make for a pretty damn good MC/producer pairing.

Score: 4.5/5

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Domo Genesis – “World Gone Mad” review

Inglewood, California emcee & songwriter Domo Genesis linking back up with Graymatter for his 2nd EP. Starting in mid-2009 as a member of the now defunct Odd Future collective, he’s gone on to give us 2 studio albums accompanied by 4 mixtapes & an EP excluding the Facade Records trilogy within the last dozen years, my personal favorites of which being his debut mixtape Rolling Papers, The Alchemist-produced 3rd mixtape No Idols, the Evidence-produced debut EP Aren’t U Glad You’re U? and sophomore effort Intros, Outros & Interludes. Doms’ last LP What You Don’t Get!? had a more drumless sound & they look to recapture that feeling in a World Gone Mad.

After the intro, “Weezy Face” is a jazzily drumless opener with a hint of a rock music talking about being the underrated greatest whereas “Church’s Chicken” gives off an orchestral boom bap vibe talking about having belief in half of what he’s seen. The title track strips the drums again explaining that he’s exactly what he sells because it’s his real life & “Rough Diamonds” soulfully ends with Domo talking about still drawing pictures in the sand.

What You Don’t Get!? to me was a solid continuation of the drumless sound he went with on Intros, Outros & Interludes even if I still have that as my favorite solo album of the 3 that Domo Genesis has dropped. World Gone Mad regardless maintains the jazz elements of What You Don’t Get!? aside from Graymatter occasionally venturing out in favor of chipmunk soul, boom bap or a small dosage of rap rock & Doms spitting heat for 10 minutes.

Score: 4/5

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Homixide Gang – “Homixide Lifestyle 2” review

Homixide Beno! & Homixide Meechie known together as the Atlanta, Georgia duo the Homixide Gang releasing their 4th LP. Bringing to turn heads off their debut EP Snotty World to the point where trap trailblazer/rage pioneer Playboi Carti made them the 3rd act to sign to his Interscope Records imprint Opium Records following Ken Carson & Ken Destroy Lonely respectively, Homixide Lifestyle was a solid debut & Snot or Not wound up being a mixed bag of a sophomore effort. Their debut mixtape 5th AMNDMNT & their previous album I5U5WE5 were both received more favorably, looking to revisit the Homixide Lifestyle for a sequel.

“PC5” is a bombastic trap intro shows love to their homie Problem Child 5 presently incarcerated on murder charges whereas “Redrag” produced by Maaly Raw talks about shooting a lame in his face with the Glock. “1-800-555-OPIUM” blends trap & rock together so they can discuss the money callin’ them just before “Call in Me” links with Toom of Vanguard Music Group so they can compare themselves to walkie talkies being only a call away.

The way “Cherub Rock” by The Smashing Pumpkins was sampled on “5G” was pretty rad refusing to sell their souls while “PB&J” featuring Ken Carson finds the trio talking about their dangerous tendencies & trying to score as opposed to goaltending. “Soul-Fly” works in an unexpected soul sample to discuss their past leading into “Vice City” talking about having bitches go crazy over a Pi’erre Bourne beat.

“Frank Matthews” reflects over a Clayco & OPM BABI instrumental of wanting to become drug lords their whole entire lives while “Red Tails” references the greatest QB of all-time & 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. “Villain” conceptually dissects the Dark Knight quote “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” prior to F1LTHY of Working on Dying sampling “Downtown” by SWV during the highlight “Facet!me”.

ATL Jacob hops behind the boards for “Johnny Cage” referencing the character from the Warner Bros.-owned Mortal Kombat franchise prior to Homixide Mali appearing for “Sober” so the trio can get loaded. “Breeze” has a more laidback approach than what Homixide normally does boasting that they have more stripes on their backs than referees while “Watch Out!” bombastically talks about needing to stay geeked up.

“Going On” heads for a trap metal direction instrumentally to flex the kinda shit that pops off around them while “Headtap” talks about slangin’ the sticks with no aim & leaving blood everywhere. “Free Agents” touches base regarding their lifestyle & after “Shopping Bags” talks about hitting the store with them since they got everything y’all need, “State Property” playfully sees the pair getting money hungry.

To start Homixide Lifestyle 2’s final leg, “$$$ Problems” talks about having no issues regarding their finances returning to a trap metal sound while ”Nun 2 It” assures their respective girlfriends that they’ll go global effective immediately. “Gvnganati” talks about the subject of loyalty remembering the late R5 Homixide & “Nintend0” wraps up the LP with both of them playing the gamble of life using all cash.

Aside from Carti unsurprisingly not clearing his “Chopshop” verse hence why it didn’t make the final cut & Destroy Lonely only doing a hook for “Shopping Bag” instead of a verse, the Homixide Gang’s successor to their debut has a more general hardcore hip hop approach instead of gangsta rap although it very much expands on it’s rage/trap metal production minus the industrial hip hop elements.

Score: 3.5/5

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WTM Miles – “Shortstop” review

Detroit, Michigan rapper WTM Miles releasing his long-awaited debut mixtape. A member of the WRLD Tour Mafia, his solo career began in the end of 2020 off his first couple EPs I Shoulda Been Dropped & Trappin’ n L.A. ahead of the full-length debut studio album Crackhouse Mafia. Born of his most recent batch of EPs Cross State Lines & Road Music would individually prelude Shortstop, which has arrived in the midst of what’s already shaping up to be a stacked week musically.

“Brick by Brick” comes out the gate with the Detroit sound to get on his off the planet shit whereas “Who I Am 2” picks up where the Cross State Lines highlight left off on some Detroit trap vibes not needing to say much because of his reputation. Homealone Drock & Prince Jefe join Miles on “Not Enough” with Jefe having my favorite guest appearance of the 2 staying committed to the bills prior to the self-produced “See Me Now” talking about waking people up.

We get another Cross State Lines sequel track, except this time it’s “Forever Hustling” explaining that nothing’s changed since while “Dame Time” blends some horns & 808s together referencing Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard. “March Madness” speaks on choosing to either go hard or go home just before “No Gimmicks” featuring WTM Solid talks about living the life they rap of.

“Daisy Navy Mafia” featuring Talibando & WB Nutty finds the trio coming together to press down keys without typing leading into “Code Talking” tells those on the consistent grind that their time will come with patience. “Mobsters” featuring Rafa unites both WRLD Tour members discussing turning Slam A Slut Records into a trend together while the Detroit trap/Mobb crossover “4am in the Raq” talks about not resting so he can tour.

Samuel Shabazz joins Miles on “Slow” to flex their own waves without Max B while “1 Strike” introspectively talks about his brother watching over him & trying to do him proud since everything gets bigger to him by the daily. “Fairy Odd Parents” heavily samples the theme song of the original Fairly OddParents, whose sequel series A New Wish is currently preparing for another season on the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Nickelodeon.

Money Man’s been teasing Shortstop for the past year at this point & for only a half hour tape, I enjoyed it a tad more than Road Music & it could plausibly rival Crackhouse Mafia if I had to pick a specific favorite or 2 out of the WTM Miles solo discography. He saves both the rap game & the road with tighter production than the last time we heard him, basically solidifying himself as the most recent AL Cy Young Award recipient Tarik Skubal of WRLD Tour stealing all the clientele.

Score: 4/5

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Blizzard – “Devilish Killer” review

This is the 2nd EP from Detroit, Michigan producer & rapper Blizzard. Aside from the 3 instrumental projects he’s already put out, his 2021 full-length debut from the Yung Fam Mafia co-founder Duel with Death had a few moments where the Middle Finger Music in-house producer hopped on the mic in contrast to letting a cast of guests handle the performances & Iron Tiger of Shaolin capitalized more on that last spring. A whole year later & Devilish Killer looks to take it a few steps further.

After the intro, the self-produced title track compares himself to the nuke following a 25 kill-streak in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 whereas “Shadowboxing” carries over the boom bap vibes talking about catching hands or the blade from him. “Midas” observes those tryna get on his same level when it’s a difficult within itself & after Foul Mouth chops up a soul sample for “Deadly Venom” talking about being a walking guillotine, “The Executioner” closes the EP by grabbing the sticks & tearing shit up.

Iron Tiger of Shaolin was the most we’ve ever heard Blizzard on the MCing side of things & instead of fully producing Devilish Killer all by himself, he takes a backseat from behind the boards except for a couple songs & holds the fort on his own disregarding the need for any features to hone in deeper on his lyricism. The sample-lenient boom bap production is still there, but it’s refreshing to hear him at his best as a performer & I’m happy he’s showing this side of him more.

Score: 4/5

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Rx Papi – “Where I’m From” review

Montréal, Québec, Canada producer Nicholas Craven fully producing a 5 track EP for Rochester, New York rapper Rx Papi. Beginning his music career when he was 9, Lil Meechy has since build up a solo discography consisting of 6 proper full-length studio LPs as well as his last 17 EPs & 13 mixtapes on top of a dozen collaborative projects. Essentials of Papi’s include the sophomore effort Numbers Tell a Different Story, his 13th EP Foreign Exchange, his 10th mixtape 100 Miles & Walkin’ and lastly the Pack a Punch EP with Smokingskul. I even enjoyed Raheem Dead, Somebody Shot ‘Em & his eponymous collab EP with 1600J last spring, with Where I’m From becoming highly anticipated for me as fan of both Papi & Craven.

“2 5th Rick” drumlessly samples a church organ to talk about the east side of the Roc & not wanting anyone to get that fucked up whereas “2am on the Eastside” switches it up for a chipmunk soul direction wanting to chill in the late night hours with a cup & a pill. “Walked Me Into the Wild” is a drumless sequel to the Raheem Dead, Somebody Shot ‘Em track that I prefer over the original while “Groovy Lou” works in a jazz-funk sample getting in his penthouse bag. The closer happens to be the 8th installment of the “Fay” saga, joining the last couple entries to go on a 3-peat speaking straight from the heart.

The singles teased in the Where I’m From rollout were already amongst his best 2020s output, but what we get out of these 15 in a half minutes is a drumless gangsta rap EP with minor boom bap & chipmunk soul influences that I’d have to put behind Foreign Exchange as my favorite one in Rx Papi’s whole entire discography. Obviously they’re different in sound because Foreign Exchange’s more cloudier & pluggier, I just mean in a way that compliments his range artistic range pulling off all those styles.

Score: 4.5/5

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Madd Maxxx – “G A T H E R” review

Brockton, Massachusetts emcee Madd Maxxx of the Mission: Infect collective dropping his 4th studio LP. He’s also released a few full-lengths as well as a mixtape & his 6 EPs on his own, with the last album being his 3rd album albeit Dirtcore Music debut Kaleidoscope becoming the strongest body of work he’s ever made thus far as was the Dirtcore ‘24 EP late last summer. He & Bodies Below Sea Level will be performing at the Gathering of Legends or the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos next month, so it makes sense for Crossworm to fully produce G A T H E R with the festival coming up in a few weeks.

After the “Unnecessarily Long Skippable Intro”, the title track hops over a synthesizer & a drum machine to encourage the underground to come with him whereas “Let’s Fuckin’ Go Then” goes for a boom bap vibe so he can talk about being on the surface & no longer denying it. “God is a Juggalo” dustily speaks on his belief of our higher power supporting the Insane Clown Posse when they’ve said themselves that Dark Carnival is God, but then “Jester’s Privilege” aggressively calls out weak MCs & talks about saying whatever he wants.

“Zombie Walk” hooks up a creepy violin sample with kicks & snares talking about appealing to fans of smoking weed, horror movies & hip hop while the industrial hip hop/horrorcore crossover “Bats in the Belfry” opens up regarding the voices in his head disliking what they say to him. “Stop Rapping” returns to the boom bap with a bar at the halfway point of it homaging the recently deceased Prince of Darkness in Black Sabbath frontman & WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne prior to the industrial “I Can’t Stop” declaration of never quitting.

As someone who got to see Maxxx perform at the 2021 Gathering & unfortunately won’t make it to the Gathering of Legends or the 2 Day War between Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) including record-holding 5-time JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion 2 Tuff Tony looking to take the title back from former GCW World Champion & GCW World Tag Team Champion Matt Tremont in The Final Battle, he & Crossworm lock in for a collection of tracks that I’m confident he’ll perform at that event encapsulating the label’s signature industrial hip hop spin on the underground wicked shit scene & additional hints of boom bap.

Score: 4.5/5

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Seth Narley – “Oceans: Mondrian” review

South Bronx, New York emcee Seth Narley releasing his 9th EP & the 2nd one this year alone. Dropping his debut EP 5am on Crosby in 2019, he would later follow it up by putting out the Trissland trilogy & drop 3 more EPs last year; Night at the Roxy, A Millbrook Story & S.A.L.Y. (Still Ain’t Lie Yet). My favorite EP of his so far The American Dream: Son of a Dealer came out this past spring & only 4 months later, he’s continuing to stay busy with Oceans: Mondrian.

“Alton Road” was a drumless rap rock intro talking about moving on the low because he’s afraid of heights whereas the jazzy “Bob Costas” references the Discovery Global-owned CNN commentator. “Pussy & Paper” kicks the synthesizers into full gear talking about being hotter than the bread on the scale just before “Versace Mansion Memoirs” soulfully explains how deep shit gets when you got hood ties.

Hus Kingpin joins Seth for the jazzily drumless “Playa or Red” to talk about drawing the line once the fence got fucked with leading into “Sade at Carbone” sampling none other than Sade making the beginning of the week feel like the weekend. “What You Say” brings a guitar into the picture reflecting on the times he was on the 7 with that pure raw while “AB on DMP” keeps the drums out of the fold to talk about the rap game not being what it used to be.

“From Denmark” starts the final act of Oceans: Mondrian with a smoother vibe altogether flexing that nobody out here talking the way he is while the drumless “Los Muchachos” hits the back of a Rolls Royce to wish upon a dead. “Check Out Time (Mondrian)” wraps up the EP with Seth hopping over a bare guitar instrumental to admit that he might as well say his vows if he & this chick double fuck in the whip.

The former A$AP Mob affiliate comes off a unique tribute to former 3-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, NWA National Heavyweight Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, WWE United States Champion, 2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 3-time WCW World Television Champion Dusty Rhodes by taking a calmer & relaxed approach to his rapping style over primarily drumless production & the sole guest appearance outperforming the one we got last time.

Score: 4/5

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Paul Wall – “The Tonite Show” review

West coast producer DJ Fresh tapping in with Houston, Texas emcee, DJ & businessman Paul Wall for the latter’s 16th studio LP. An affiliate of Swishahouse Entertaimment & a co-founder of The Color Changin’ Click, his sophomore effort albeit major label debut The People’s Champ propelled him as an H-Town veteran 2 decades ago & has since been steadily dropping music whether it be Bounce Backs Over Setbacks becoming the best album of his from the previous decade to the mixed reception of The Great Wall a year & a half ago. Once Upon a Grind dropped on my birthday weekend last winter making up for The Great Wall’s divisive feedback by homaging the city who made him the person he is presently & DJ Fresh has brought back The Tonite Show to make Paul the most recent guest.

“Wake Up” blends jazz rap & trap together so the Oiler Mobb Entertainment founder can talk about getting his mind right the second he gets up every single morning whereas “It’s Necessary” turns the jazz influences up even higher to discuss doing what’s obligated & his legendary grind. “Dedicated to the Game” gives off a west coast Mobb vibe with a hint of trap talking about his loyalty to this shit leading into the piano-driven “Husslin’ For Eons” boasting his hustle.

We get a bluesy guitar sample on “Same Ol’ P” talking about nothing changing with him a little over 2 decades into his career while “Drink 1st” fuses cloud rap & trap opting to take a sip from his cup before he heads out. “Blanton’s Tonite” takes a smoother approach instrumentally for an ode to my personal favorite alcoholic beverage bourbon whiskey while “Out Yo Mind” talks about the crowd who thinks he ain’t paid tweaking.

“Riding with the Top Down” whips up a breezy anthem for the California & H-Town to blast in their whips on a sunny day while “Money on My Mind” shifts his focus towards the bag. “Still Froze” hooks up some synthesizers to show off the watch on his wrist while “Get the Paper” talks about grinding to the utmost. “Whatchu Really Kno” concludes The Tonite Show with a dirty south outro advising to keep a clear vision.

Approximately a couple days following Wednesday’s season premiere of South Park on Comedy Central poking fun at the Paramount Skydance Corporation cancelling The Late Show in 2026 because of a joke Stephen Colbert made regarding his show’s parent company settling a $16M lawsuit, Paul Wall & DJ Fresh get together to make a highly successful attempt at capitalizing their chemistry 7 months ago & my favorite late career entry in Paul’s catalog.

Score: 4.5/5

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Bronze Nazareth – “Funeral for a Dream” review

Grand Rapids, Michigan emcee/producer Bronze Nazareth enlisting Detroit veteran Apollo Brown to produce his 6th solo album. Known for being a member of the group Wisemen alongside his late brother Kevlaar 7 & eventually the Wu-Tang Clan’s in-house production team the Wu-Elements, he would also go on to build a solo career for himself beginning with The Great Migration almost 2 decades ago & School for the Blindman only 5 years later. Bundle Raps & Ekphrasis produced entirely by Leaf Dog & Roc Marciano respectively became his strongest output since his debut, coming off producing Things I Seen for Termanology a few months ago to deliver Funeral for a Dream.

“Banshee Walk” after the “Next Dream” intro chops up a vocal sample for a boom bap instrumental with synthesizers talking about the streets being alive & keeping the cannon sharp prior to “Enough Lord” sampling gospel music asking God to chill in the same week Malcolm-Jamal Warner predeceased WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath and the inaugural IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, Real American Beer founder, Real American Freestyle Wrestling (RAF) co-founder & known racist Hulk Hogan.

Apollo removes the drums completely on “Right There” talking about a person he knows having it all in front of him & fucking it up somehow while “Blue Albacore” gets back on the boom bap vibes slowing down the pitch of the sample used comparing success to a diamond suggesting that you gotta be moving mountains sometimes. “Lavender” goes for a heavier chipmunk soul direction tapping in with Love Jones on the outro hoping for critics to withdraw once he pivots the law while “Wheels of Misfortune” flexes about no one having bars like him.

“Meeting in the Clouds” combines chipmunk soul & boom bap together for a crushing tribute to his late brother Kevlaar 7 until “Faded Pictures” talks about envious individuals watching him shine wanting to turn him into a distant memory. “Smorgasbord” continues the distinct sampling to get on his luxurious fly shit & after the chipmunk soul collab “Lemon Glue” featuring Eddie Kaine talking about teaching you unexpected lessons, “The Quiet Years” drumlessly ends the LP by talking about being unbreakable.

Marking the longtime Mello Music Group in-house producer’s debut under his own label Escapism Recordings after leaving MMG this past winter, Apollo Brown & a close friend since his childhood Bronze Nazareth have caught up with one another for an obituary regarding the bond they’ve had for 4 decades strong beginning their individual careers simultaneously as teenagers saying goodbye to the dream itself because of them realizing the goals they had have been achieved by now.

Score: 4.5/5

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