Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor enlisting KLC of the No Limit Records in-house production team Beats by the Pound to produce his 7th studio LP. Someone who’s steadily been holding it down for the last 2 decades including The Calling, Vinnie Chase & S.O.S. trilogies along with the Best in the World series paying homage to some of Jon’s influences, Salvation, While You Were Sleeping & Unconscious State. He was even signed to Aftermath Entertainment for 6 years before departing after Vehicle City wound up being shelved, returning nearly 6 months since providing Food for the Soul to drop 24.
“1 Time” was an aggressive opener talking about it rappers who’ve got caught up in the clout & forgot to live life putting it up for the real ones whereas “Where You From?” featuring Lil Wyte finds the 2 linking up to tell us what it’s like in Flint & Memphis respectively. “Nothin’ Gon’ Change That” featuring Fiend & Mac throws it back to the No Limit days with it’s horn instrumental separating the real from the fake leading into the funky “Get Right” asking how you were poppin’ bottles if your money ain’t right.
We get a sequel to “Story to Tell” off S.O.S. II: The Road to Legendary produced by MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 recalling a time where he was 13 & KLC giving it a jazzier feel as opposed to the trap sound of the original while “Work” featuring DJ Paul finds the 2 linking up to talk about getting that money over some dirty south shit. “Kings & Queens” featuring Jay Allure reminds me of those collabs Mia X used to do for No Limit just before “Motivated” incorporates these pianos & strings to talk about always staying inspired even when he’s been knocked down.
“Wake Up, Go Hard” featuring Mr. Serv-On gets the final leg of 24 with a dirty south anthem in ode to the everlasting hustle while “The Biggest Flex” featuring Dee-1 gets together for a lead single tryin’ to figure out who you’re frontin’ for. “Black Magic” featuring Enjoy Melody hits us with more No Limit nostalgia reminiscent of Mercedes in this particular instance & “Story Time” closin’ down shop by telling a tale of tragedy ending in gunfire after the opps caught him by surprise.
It’s been no kept secret that Jon has always been heavily influenced by the late 90s run No Limit Records was so to have KLC fully produce an entire body of work from him could more than likely appeal to those who look back fondly during that time period where No Limit was popular enough to have their own faction in WCW when WWE was in the Attitude Era. All that aside: KLC’s production feels like a mix of old & new ideas with Jon’s dream since he was 14 finally coming to fruition as a full circle moment in his career.
Here is the 6th solo LP from Corpus Christi rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & director Kevin Abstract. Making his debut over a decade ago in the form of MTV1987, he followed it up 2 years later with the fantastic American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story & rose to stardom as the de facto leader of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective the year after. Both of Kevin’s solo efforts since then ARIZONA baby & The Family were solid although I liked the latter more for it’s chipmunk soul heavy sound. Blanket went for an indie rock direction to quietly end his RCA Records tenure joining X8 Music & Virgin Music, finally putting out blush after teasing it for months.
After the “Introduction” intro, the first song “H-Town” featuring Ameer Vann as well as Love Spells & SoGone SoFlexy finds the quartet over a boom bap instrumental thanking God they’re all still alive today prior to “Copy” featuring Love Spells & SoGone SoFlexy giving off a bit of a psychedelic rock vibe praying their lovers come running back to them & “Danny’s Track” by Danny Brown referencing 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 Hulk Hogan.
“Yoko Ono” featuring Love Spells & Makana XO goes drumless with the help of Kiko Merley so the trio can ask what a classic is without a b-side or The Beatles without the late John Lennon’s widow whereas the chaotic “Nola” by Ameer Vann, Drigo, JPEGMAFIA & Love Spells produced by Quadeca references WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle.
Love Spells sticks with Kevin on the Glue outtake “Post Breakup Beauty” that Romil Hemnani co-produced looking back on a relationship that only lasted a mere 9 months & wanting to feel like as if they’re untouchable just before “97 Jag” featuring Love Spells once again finds the pair wishing they would’ve followed their instincts instead of crashing out. “Text Me” could very well be the only song without a guest verse singing over a Sekuo sample of recovering from a breakup for 2 years while “Geezer” marks the new superduo’s introduction with their own eponymous single built around pop rap, indie pop, bedroom pop & boom bap
“I Wasn’t There” by DERBY lets his indietronica/bedroom pop styles flourish for a couple minutes on their own & after the “blush” interlude, “Maroon” by Dominic Fike finds the other half of Geezer asking if his partners can remember a time where he made their face turn brownish-crimson. “Pop Out” by Ameer Vann, Drigo, E Bleu & Love Spells brings an experimental trap flare to the table talking about the bad bitches coming out now that it’s summer, but then “Girlfriend” by Drigo & surprisingly Dr. Dre’s daughter Truly Young links the 2 up talking about having each other.
Kevin jumps back on the mic for “Bloom” featuring Ameer Vann & Love Spells to cook up a melancholic trap cut wanting their lovers to know they’ve been waiting their whole entire lives for them to come in the picture while “Abandon Me” by Quadeca tries to figure out why the individual he has in mind stays by him instead of turning their back on him like everyone else in his life. “Red Light” featuring Ameer Vann ends blush with both BH alumni delivering a perfect fusion of pop rap, alternative R&B & neo-soul limiting their growth for the love of their lives.
“Everybody Plays to Win” featuring Ameer Vann & Love Spells starts the deluxe run asking how they can be forgiven & not fall astray while “Medicine” by Ameer Vann, Drigo & Love Spells links up the 3 over synths & hi-hats feeling like their partners were sent from heaven above. The title track featuring Love Spells talks about fiending for love & others not knowing what they’ve been on while “Fall” gets Kevin handling verses by himself over a cloudy trap beat getting to the bottom of as to why a former friend turned his back on him.
AJ, Ameer Vann, Devanmanleyy, Drigo & Love Spells all clique up during “Don’t Ever Ask No N***a for Some Change” talking about flags they ignore by choice while “Oath” by Ameer Vann & Love Spells rides around town with heaters in their pockets. “MenOnTheMoon” sticks out as another Kevin solo cut jazzily feeling like he’s the only one left of himself while “Moonlight” by Ameer Vann & Love Spells talking about being painted as demons since that’s the way they’re viewed.
“On My Son” reflects on the lessons Kevin’s learned taking another moment all by himself hoping to move the way his family did soon as he wakes up the final bonus track “T.W.N.D. (That’s What N****s Do” featuring Ameer Vann & Truly Young caps off the extra batch of music with them puttin’ these snakes in on their asses if they wanna spaz out getting this money backed by horns & a repetitive Memphis-like vocal flip.
2001 was the first album that I listened to start to finish growing up in the early 2000s so when I heard blush was gonna be Kevin’s answer to that, it immediately had my interest. The final product however has a tad more highs than flaws. I love that the production goes from hip hop to alternative R&B, neo-soul, drumless, experimental hip hop, alt-pop, indietronica, bedroom pop & pop rap in a cohesive manner although the lack of Kevin performances make it feel more like a compilation.
This is the 22nd EP from New Orleans, Louisiana emcee/producer Chetta. Starting out a decade ago with his debut mixtape Nino White, this was followed up with 18 EPs as well as 11 more tapes & a full-length debut, but gained significant attention off his G*59 Record$ debut Been Here Forever a couple summers back. Falling Off went on to be an equally dope prelude to the previous album Playboy, which also maintained the level of consistency as those previous projects since signing to G*59 as did Sick Bitch. $crim of the $uicideboy$ produced Sacrifice & Sabotage last spring & is back 7 months after Can’t Replace Me to release Mix with Poison.
“I Guess This is Where I’m Supposed to Apologize” was a self-produced rage intro co-produced by Dynox talking about never folding whereas “Sobe” keeps things in the hypertrap lane to discuss his old self being dead. “Fail on My Own” pulls inspiration from the Memphis scene being too high to give a fuck just before “Come Down Feel the Love” enraging airs out a how’s true intentions with him. “Flat Earth” finally closes Mix with Poison getting on his emo rap shit falling into Hell & hanging on until he feels numb.
Earlier this week, it was announced by G*59 that the first artist they ever signed Ramirez was departing to focus on starting his new label Velvet Note Records & Mix with Poison carries forward a new era for the independent southern hip hop/trap powerhouse by whipping up an EP ahead of their annual Grey Day Tour starting 6 weeks from now by writing & fully producing 5 new songs that I prefer more than Can’t Replace Me.
South Carolina producer, rapper, songwriter & engineer Pi’erre Bourne finally making up for the 15-month delay of his 4th studio LP. Becoming one of the most in demand beatsmiths in hip hop today off Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia”, he’s also made a name for himself on the mic by dropping 10 mixtapes as well as a couple EPs & 3 full-length albums. Grails was a short yet highly favorable collection of Pi’erre’s most anticipated solo tracks & with the 2-year anniversary of that passing a couple months back, Interscope Records has at long last allows him to recount a trip to France he made in the form of Made in Paris.
Splitting the intro “Façade” into 2 different sections, the first “Inside” wishes his uncle who did the spoken word intro was still here to see him today & the other “Alone” remembers his late grandmother along with flexing that he has more Soss than Ragu. The warm synthesizers on “Le Vôtre” make for one of my personal favorite instrumentals on the whole entire album talking about 2 hoes never feeling right with him while “Bon Appétit” takes a pop rap turn wanting his partner to eat him alive.
“J.B.H. (Just Being Honest)” featuring Young Nudy pairs the 2 over a syrupy plugg beat feelin’ like people are still doubting them as artists leading into “La Loi, C’est La Loi” trying to tell this woman how much he misses her when she doesn’t wanna hear it over an accordion. “Bleu” hooks up these organs tackling the issue of not knowing he would leave a chick heartbroken after trying to save their love while “Temps de Chasse” talks about not wanting to fuck around with his life anymore & the grass not being as greener on the other side.
The 2nd & final single “Pop” opens up regarding the kind of relationships he’s had in the past blending pop rap & trap with cloud rap while “Retraite” combines the colorfully atmospheric Good Movie outtake “Kit Kat” with an original latter half “Playground” turning up the rage. “En été” digs up these fuzzy synthesizers flexing his gains not that he’s playing his cards right while “Rapunzel” recaptures the themes of lust once again.
“J’adore” addresses his current love life referencing WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle & “Toot It Up” might be my favorite song here only because of the plugg instrumental & NOT because of the Timbaland line due to his ongoing AI tomfoolery.
Reaching the final leg, “Violette” meshes these acoustics & quirky synths with one another making reference to Futurama in light of it’s upcoming 10th season on The Walt Disney Company-owned hulu later this summer until “Blocs” proved to be a fun pop rap/trap lead single talking about being on the block when he was younger. “L’amour” offers a bit of a pluggnb vibe speaking to a woman he seems completely dependent on & “Sait” promises to give his girl everything but a wedding ring.
Recharging from all the traveling & barely getting any sleep in part of making sure the visuals were presented in the best possible way he wanted, Made in Paris pushes Pi’erre back in the spotlight with the most vital album of his career & one that captures his growth more than Good Movie did. Inspired by a trip to Paris a year or 2 ago, he takes some ideas that he’s had going far back as 2019 or presently & uses them together resulting in the most consistent LP in his canon since The Life of Pi’erre 4 & The Life of Pi’erre 5.
This is the 3rd studio LP from Flint, Michigan recording artist RMC Mike. Signing a joint deal with Rio da Yung O.G. & Peezy’s own labels M.I.N.E. Entertainment & #Boyz Entertainment alongside EMPIRE Distribution, his first couple EPs Rookie Season & Sophomore Season established himself as in the Detroit trap scene until his full-length studio debut Junior Season elevated it further. His last EP Ghetto Season was good & the sophomore effort Senior Season left me on the fence, coming off a trip to The 6 to brag that nobody can do it Like Mike.
“Devil’s Lake” opens with a Detroit trap intro with strings & bells giving his music career everything in his might whereas “Neat Freak” shows off some secondary Mobb influences to the instrumental detailing his lifestyle. “Duck Hunting” featuring 3200 Tre finds both M.I.N.E. signees teaming up to figure out what those who say they ain’t in for the money are really doing it for leading into YTB Fatt poppin’ out for the underwhelming gangsta rap collab “Drug Bust” despite the Jakesand beat.
Baby Money, Rio da Yung O.G., VonOff1700 & YN Jay all join Mike on the boastful single “Braggin’ Rights” although I can do without Von’s verse right in the middle of it just before “Chicken Box” produced by Danny G talks about not wanting to hear of the things you couldn’t have, wouldn’t have or shouldn’t have done. “Slam Cam” featuring Rio da Yung O.G. references WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE world champion, ECW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 4-time & the final WWE Hardcore Champion, TNA World Champion & TNA X Division Champion Rob Van Dam while “Keep It Honest” by admitting he feels alone even if he’s not the only one in the ride.
“Brody crazy with the chopper like he autistic” makes for one of the wildest bars ever during the last 30 seconds or so of “Authentic” wanting to talk business with anyone who has a plug prior to “Music Is Never Ending” creating a brand new acronym for the 1 of the 2 labels he’s signed to. “We the Ones” brings the bells back in the equation laughing off the wankstas who ain’t ever dropped a body except “Damn Baby” as a finisher felt like a mediocre look at his preference in women who get lit.
Wouldn’t have thought that we would get Like Mike this quickly after The 6 since it’s been a couple months tops, but I still consider it to be a worthy album & probably my favorite of Mike’s. Regardless if I prefer The World Famous D-Boy’s production on the most recent EP, there are some striking similarities both projects share with the biggest one being that there are only a couple guest performances I could do without. A key difference however is Mike speaking his truth the whole time rather than taking us around The 6.
New collaborative EP from Buffalo, New York emcee & singer Elcamino alongside Stamford, Connecticut emcee Fuego Base. Both of whom have already been establishing themselves with Mino putting out an eponymous EP under Griselda Records in 2017 & of course Base garnering traction off the Say Dat trilogy. Being on Black Soprano Family Records together for a couple years at this point, they’ve decided to team up & take their duo name after WWE Hall of Famers as well as record 10-time WCW World Tag Team Champions & former RoW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat the day after The Skyscrapers became the new MLW World Tag Team Champions.
“Promise” kicks it all off with a crooning sample boasting of not having to worry about the neighbors since they don’t even have any whereas “Hunger Games” shrugs off each & every one of the fools speculation of being in bad deals aside from a questionable Diddy line. “Free Griselda Ticket” works in a heavy piano sample to talk about being in the moving business before rap while “Luxury Dope” featuring Jay Worthy finds the trio guaranteeing the lean coming if a fiend standing straight. “Protect Me” strips the drums to get God to keep watching over them going forward & “Gave ‘Em Hope” ends by talking about holding hate not being an ideal way for them to live.
Figured we would’ve gotten a sequel to Moving Base O.T. since it came around this exact time a year ago, but Harlem Heat leaves enough of a lasting impression regarding what both parties can do together when paired. Fuego Base’s comparison of himself to current NXT commentator, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE United States Champion, 14-time WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion, RoW Tag Team Champion & TNA World Tag Team Champion Booker T is validated & the way Elcamino’s delivery compliments Fuego’s feels reminiscent of former RoW Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, WCW World Television Champion & 10-time WCW World Tag Team Champion Stevie Ray.
This is the debut extended play from Liverpool, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom rapper EsDeeKid. Making his debut on wax towards the backend 2023 on the Dualspines loosie “Altered”, he subsequently began to drop a slew of songs on his SoundCloud a few months later that would help him gain traction such as “Apathy” or “Palaces”. A great deal of the teasers building up towards Rebel have been considered to be his most celebrated material & had myself curious to hear if it would live up to the hype only 48 hours away from Nino Bryant becoming the new RPW British Cruiserweight Champion.
“4 Raws” featuring Timothée Chalamet on the remix combines hardcore hip hop, trap, Chicago drill, gangsta rap, cloud rap & wave talking about their own pasts whereas “Cali Man” featuring Rico Ace embraces the styles of jerk, gangsta rap & cloud rap discussing their preference of high quality weed. “Prague” works in some 808s to talk about leaving a show at the Czech Republic’s capital leading into “Dirty” expressing his love of sippin’ lean.
fakemink & Rico Ace appear on “LV Sandals” fusing jerk, cloud rap, gangsta rap & hardcore hip hop talking about hoes acting scandalous while “Panic” produced by Fimiguerrero explains that he won’t ever stop the racket since he’s always been a mad kid. Fimiguerrero himself gets his own solo track with “5am”, continuing the 2nd half blending jerk, cloud rap & rage referencing WWE Hall of Famer & former World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali.
“Phantom” featuring Rico Ace reunites for a jerk, hardcore hip hop, dark plugg, cloud rap & gangsta rap single talking about being blacked out while “Mist” also featuring Rico Ace finds the 2 teaming up 1 last time for a cloudy jerk joint detailing their lifestyles. “Rottweiler” could most likely be my least favorite track here mostly because of its structuring while “Tartan” featuring Fimiguerrero references the current 17-time WWE world champion John Cena.
Jerk has been becoming hip hop’s next big subgenre within the past couple years characterized by taking elements of both plugg & the late 2000s jerk rap fad during my early middle school days, but Rebel has to be the greatest body of work I’ve heard done primarily using this new style for only being an EP on top of validating EsDeeKid’s increasing popularity across the world. He’s essentially flipping UK grime on its head through the added influences of both Playboi Carti & Yeat to the mix describing the debauchery in his life.
Here we have the 9th EP from Buffalo emcee/producer Che Noir. 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 recruiting Superior-produced Seeds of Babylon. Damn near 3 months to the day, The Color Chocolate 2 is kicking summer in full gear.
“Painting Class” was a drumless intro opting to give haters interventions instead of bars whereas “Buy vs. Sell” brings a self-produced boom bap instrumental in the fold talking about a woman who makes her every dime off crime. “Who’s the Greatest?” featuring eLZhi finds the 2 painting visions for the blind with intricate wordplay from both parties while “Show & Tell” featuring 7xvethegenius reunites the pair ahead of their collab effort in November to grind until they can’t anymore.
Starting the 2nd half, “Where You Go” takes a soulful route to the beat stripping the drums once again being colorblind to those showing her their true colors while “Blink Twice” talks making atheists pray on her downfall over a piano instrumental from Evidence. “Stories” expresses her frustration of being fed up with fake friends who never gave a fuck of what she wanted & the closer “New Beginning” remembers a late friend whose girl is carrying his child.
Pushing her lyrical prowess as well as her storytelling abilities & dexterity as a producer even further, Che Noir gets back on her bully shit with a sequel to The Color Chocolate 2 that I enjoy more than the predecessor from a year & a half ago. The sequel’s production is stronger than the original’s personally & I think there’s significantly more consistency within the guests’ performances.
ScarLip is a 24 year old rapper & producer from Brooklyn, New York signing to Epic Records following the single “This is New York”. I on the other hand wasn’t introduced to her until she appeared on “Take ‘Em Out” off the Hip Hop 50, Vol. 2 EP that Swizz Beatz produced a couple years ago & began seeing the appeal in her music once “Blick” came out weeks after a couple of her fans were messaging me on social media last summer. To get THIS summer started, the Broken Child Entertainment founder’s preluding her debut album with a debut EP.
I didn’t mind “Pop That” featuring Lil Wayne as an intro bringing both of them together over a Rockwilder & Swizz Beatz instrumental to remind where you can find them if you need some weight whereas “Melanin” angrily talks about beefing with ghostwriters instead of other rappers. “Eastside” fuses trap & soul advising not to call her since she don’t need anyone leading into the mediocre New York drill collab “Fruity Pebbles” featuring TaTa.
“Could’ve Been Me” featuring Skilla Baby begins the final moments of Scarred B4 Fame with both of them keeping guns by their side asking what the plan is but after “Runaway Love” freestyles over the instrumental of the Ludacris track of the same name from Release Therapy, “Lord Please” sends off the EP fusing trap & gospel asking God to be easy on her.
Haven’t really consider myself the biggest fan of the New York drill scene other than the late Pop Smoke & right when I thought that subgenre was starting to fade out because nobody has really carried the torch since, hearing ScarLip for the past couple years had me hoping that she would capitalize on her potential with this EP & the results are mixed. I can certainly say the hunger’s there in her verses, although most of the guests’ performances & some of the instrumentals are 2 of the biggest criticisms I have with it.
Nick Grant is a 36 year old MC from Atlanta, Georgia emerging in 2016 off his debut mixtape ‘88 along with the Epic Records-backed debut album Return of the Cool. His next tape Dreamin’ Out Loud would prelude the acclaimed God Bless the Child produced by Tae Beast of the Top Dawg Entertainment in-house production team Digi+Phonics, which later led to Carolina Diaries & Welcome to Loveland. A year & half since Sunday Dinner however, I Took It Personal has finally arrived a week after its initial release date.
“Unforgettable” sets the tone with a piano/boom bap hybrid sprinkling remnants of the past in his music testifying to the legacy he’s already established for himself whereas “Let It Reign / Read Your Contract” gets split into a soulful first half boasting that everything he writes murders & the other lamenting his time being on a major label including giving advice to anyone who wants to get signed basing it from his own experiences with Grand Hustle Records & later Epic.
The soul sample on “Do You Love Me?” fits the whole theme of love telling his girl that she’s the very reason he bosses up & he’s the realest out of all the fish in the sea leading into “Big Tymers” talking about there not being any other better story than the underdog. “Pass It Out / House Calls” serves as another 2-parter cloudily looking to chalk out his competition during the first half & the other talking about there being a problem if the dogs get called.
Chipmunk soul & boom bap get fused during “The Ritual” boasting that he’s the very reason why the matrix is glitching at the moment just before “No Apologies” belittles everyone who relies on ghostwriters over a jazzy yet soulful instrumental. “Love for the Mob” finds himself keeping it p & moving in silence like psalms showing off some killer wordplay while “The Pride” talks about joking a lot with his girl & still getting deep with her.
“Back Home” experiments with sample drill a bit reflecting on going major now & getting it out the mud when he started while “Product, User, Dealer” talks about making your favorite MC relapsing snorting lines again on top of observation the treachery of them street corners. Moving on from there, “Something to Sei” tackles a kind of love Nick feels should be illegal considering he was selling merch to give her heaven on earth.
The song “Nothing’s Free” brings a darker trap atmosphere to the table blending these hi-hats & ominous piano chords together until a symphonic switch up halfway through saying that America’s eating it’s babies when that couldn’t be any more true while “It Ain’t Personal” caps off the LP with 1 last soul sample chop making y’all think somebody filming him the way he’s shooting muhfuckas.
God Bless the Child was what renewed my interest in Nick during a rough time period in the lives of many & now that we’re pretty much halfway through the decade, I Took It Personal surpasses Return of the Cool as his strongest full-length & I feel like lot of people can learn a few things from it if you want to get involved with the music business. He’s laying out every experience he’s had in the industry whether it be good or bad & the production could be his most eclectic showing influences of boom bap, trap, jazz rap, chipmunk soul, cloud rap & sample drill.