Swae Lee – “Same Difference” review

Swae Lee is a 32 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Tupelo, Missouri who began his career as part of Dem Outta St8 Boyz alongside Bobo Swae as well as Lil Pantz & Slim Jxmmi. The latter of whom would stick by him following the departure of the other 2 members & signed to Mike WiLL Made-It’s own label Ear Drummer Records in tandem with Interscope Records as the duo Rae Sremmurd not too long afterwards. His subsequently made his solo debut in 2018 dropping Swaecation to mixed reception, returning 8 years later for a sophomore effort.

Tomato/Tomáto” produced by 30 Roc wasn’t actually that bad of an intro 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 whereas “No Call No Show” featuring ΠΔV continues with this mediocre pop rap cut.

Ging jumps behind the boards on “Everyone Wants” addressing someone who has what the rest desires while “The Gospel” hops over a cloudy Turbo instrumental to talk about being on autopilot. “Mural” featuring Jhené Aiko comes together for an R&B duet singing of their awareness regarding bad bitches needing someone to treat properly leading into “Side Eye” telling a woman he took to Santa Monica that she can’t expect him to ask her hand in marriage.

“E Off Emotion” locks in with both Mike WiLL Made-It & Pluss for a trap soul ballad singing that he’ll blow all the racks with his romantic interest while “Suitcase” featuring French Montana felt like an underwhelming note to end the 1st half on, addressing the type they’d put away. “Don’t Even Call” featuring Rich the Kid doesn’t start the other leg of the album any better despite the reference to UFC CEO Dana White, but “Flammable” kicked off the whole rollout experimenting with rage & missing the landing.

The tropical vibes of “FAV / ANNA” are merely passable even if I can’t say the same for this story he tells regarding a chick who he assumes left a man in shambles & after singing about a female who’s “Sneakier” than most leaving the final verse completely open over a Chopsquad DJ beat, “Raising Awareness” expressing his desire of dying with memories instead of dreams over London on da Track cooking up one of the finest instrumentals on the entire LP. 

“Working Remote” by Rae Sremmurd reunites over a Mike WiLL beat to talk about shining in the dark while “Violet” explains to female he seemingly loved to death that he had to walk away so he could focus on his mental health. “Take My Heart” featuring Post Malone ends Same Difference with this synthpop outro advising their partners to put their hearts somewhere safe, although I don’t think it’s as cute as “Sunflower” was.

Most including myself weren’t head over heels for Swaecation or Jxmtro when SR3MM dropped in 2018, preferring the main course rather than either Swae Lee or Slim Jxmmi’s attempt at making their own versions of Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. I’ve since been hoping Swae would follow up Swaecation & artistically surpass it, except it’s somehow worse. He’s always been the most melodic Rae Sremmurd member of the 2 & that doesn’t change as many would expect, although the production’s more uninteresting.

Score: 1.5/5

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Juicy J – “The Trippy Tapes” review

Memphis, Tennessee rapper, songwriter, producer & record executive Juicy J celebrating his birthday weekend with his 15th mixtape. Rising to stardom 3 decades earlier as the co-founder of the seminal Three 6 Mafia alongside his Tear Da Club Up Thugs cohorts DJ Paul & the late Lord Infamous, he’s also had the most successful solo career out of everyone in the Mafia whether it be the Taylor Gang Entertainment/Columbia Records-backed Stay Trippy & Rubba Band Business: The Album or more recently Crypto Business & Mental Trillness. The latter & it’s sequel noticeably taking on a more serious tone than some of Juicy’s latest material, taking a good chunk of it’s time coping with Gangsta Boo’s untimely passing. Coming off the mature Ravenite Social Club and the Logic-produced Live & in Color, we’re being treated to the inaugural entry of The Trippy Tapes.

Lex Luger combines some horns & hi-hats during the intro “I Don’t Shoot Dice” explaining that nothing’s nice regarding Juicy prior to “Cold Game” talking about everyone working with the feds these days. “Same Way” gives some advice in the fact that some of our Day 1s won’t be here when the money finally starts coming in leading into “Betta Not” featuring G9nstaB9by finds the 2 moderately talking about spending checks & referring to themselves as heavyweight.

“Trim the Circle” moves forward urging everyone to cut off all the bullshit energy surrounding them just before “Ain’t No Way” calls cap on someone claimin’ to still cop J’s when they can’t even afford their own car. “On da Low” gives off a heavy Memphis vibe talking about smoking dope out in California & keeping it lowkey while “Show Me” clarifies that he doesn’t give a fuck what people say, opting to watch what they be doing instead.

Lil Wyte joins Juicy for “I Smoke Earth” talking about their love of the dankest weed they get their hands on while “Backshots” takes a more sexual approach topically, which isn’t surprising considering the name. “A.D.B.F. (All Dese Bitches Fuckable)” keeps the raunchy subject matter going talking about the sexiness of all the women surrounding him while “Don’t Play With” angrily comes at the throats of those spewing craziness out their mouths.

“Victim” nears the end of the 1st leg talking about the unbelievability of those acting tough on social media only to flip the switch when shit hits the fan while “Speak in Gold” flexes that he manifests checks whenever he opens his mouth. “Day Walker” samples “The Rain” by Oran “Juice” Jonesso he can talk about a hoe his family nor TMZ will ever catch in public by his side while “I Wanna Baby” confesses he has no issues with women who act ratchet.

BeatKing & Wiz Khalifa both appear on “42” delivering an anthem to be played as part of their individual birthday celebrations prior to him trying to bring the “Real N***a Era” back over a Memphis-driven instrumental. “4 da Chat” encourages a stripper to bend it over & throw it back for everyone watching his livestream while “Yeah Dat Thur” talks about his lifestyle, including only blowing gas & carrying a Goyard bag full of money around.

“Last Time” keeps it rollin’ advising to keep a firearm on ya because of the streets being cold blooded while “You Not That” talks about having no one around him unless you’ve got ice in your veins. “Had to Do It” featuring Wiz Khalifa reunites the pair for a song I enjoyed more than “42”, explaining they had to cut their bitches off because they didn’t have a choice while “Shrooms” talks about consuming psilocybin although it’s not really my thing.

It was cool to hear Babyfxce E laying a verse out for Scotty” although I’m personally not the biggest fan of him on top of Juicy having the better performances of the 2 & after “Gofers” spends 110 seconds going at the throats of clout chasers who’ll literally go for anything to receive attention in return, “Like This” poses the question of what these cornballs will do when shit gets low & not having to make any complaints about the cars & house he owns.

“Sneaky” featuring RJtheWeirdo wraps up The Trippy Tapes’ encore turning up the Memphis influences telling a promiscuous woman who can’t keep her legs closed to meet them outside while “Stash” featuring G9ngstaB9by reunites both of them 1 last time letting everyone who wants to book them know that they wait to be paid in full first. The self-produced “Power” featuring La Reezy sends it all off shifting their focus from money to control.

Hearing that Lex Luger producing a vast majority of this inaugural entry of The Trippy Tapes raised my anticipation for it considering how well he & Juicy J have worked with each other in the past, but I wound up a bit divided towards the end result coming away from it. Granted the production’s an improvement over Head on Swivel, although there are some filler that should’ve been included on the sequel & some of the guests are underwhelming.

Score: 3/5

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Tory Lanez – “Slutty Bass” review

Another full-length studio LP & the 10th overall from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper Tory Lanez. Blowing up over a decade ago off The New Toronto mixtape, he ended up signing with Interscope Records the following year & releasing a total of 4 albums until departing at the beginning of 2020. Daystar that same fall gaslit everyone after shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot & coming off the dreadful sequel Peterson last spring that’re both considered to be the absolute worst music he’s ever made, he’s creating a new subgenre he’s been calling Slutty Bass.

“Slide” begins with him talking about pulling up your city with .40 & a Glock on him over an Atlanta bass instrumental when that’s not quite a good look for him whereas “Bulma’s Patience” disses Megan Thee Stallion by calling her bogus & blaming her for his incarceration. “Aggression from Saturn” mediocrely sings about being unsure whether or not he likes it that his partner’s aggressive just before “Planet Bass (NBLYB)” brings back the Atlanta bass vibes flexing that he has beat & millions of dollars.

We have Tory interpolating “Nokia” by Drake on “WongTong Soup” so he can tell this woman who says she wants to date him that she’s already with the wrong one leading into him bastardizing “Material Girl” by Madonna during “Pink Material” & falling completely flat. “Keyz to Vampa” assures his lover he’ll give her the guide on how to cherish him as long as she doesn’t judge while “The Hate of Friends” attacks this chick’s friends for disliking him.

“S.M.O. (Slut Me Out)” starts the 2nd half with me wanting to listen to Amaarae’s single of the same name considering that it’s far more superior while “Janne’s Cotton Candy” makes a bunch of trite references regarding being infatuated towards the very female he’s writing this about. “Krillin’s Fumble” confesses to an ex-girlfriend that he still has feelings for her when they’ve already broken up while “Fyne Shit Paradise” dedicates itself all to the fellas that got their heart broken & still can’t leave shorty alone.

Finally nears further towards Slutty Bass’ conclusion, “Nobody Land” vents the hatred he has for someone he used to love more than himself that was seeing somebody else while “Best Birthday Ever” tries to make his create his own version of tracks like “B.B. (Birthday Bitch)” by Krizz Kaliko & T-Pain or “Ratchet Happy Birthday”, the latter being one of Drake’s worst songs. “Party 4 Martians” uneventfully ends the album boasting he has 54 bitches on his dick, wanting to get naughty with all of them.

In no way am I trying to insinuate that I don’t like Atlanta or Miami bass because there’s a handful of music taking inspiration from both of those scenes that I enjoy, but Slutty Bass feels like Tory Lanez taking both of those styles & doing what artists like Cash Cobain or even Chow Lee have been doing with sexy drill for the past couple years. The lyrics are pretty much what I expected out of the 1 Umbrella Records founder this deep in his career & the production continues to top itself in terms of being uninteresting.

Score: 1/5

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Sunn O))) – Self-Titled review

Sunn O))) is a drone metal duo from Los Angeles, California consisting of bassists/guitarists Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley. Their full-length debut ØØ Void & the sophomore effort Flight of the Behemoth respectively were both solid, dropping the latter under Southern Lord Records. White1 alongside its sequel White2 & more specifically Black One all increased their popularity, the latter being my favorite in the Sunn O))) catalog. Oracle was great too, following it up with their 2nd best in my opinion: Monoliths & Dimensions. 观世音 however might be the band’s worst, coming off the more positively received Life Metal & Pyroclasts to make their Sub Pop Records debut with their 11th studio LP.

“XXANN” epically kicks things off with this 18 & a half minute drone metal composition whereas the doom metal-influenced “Does Anyone Hear Like Venom?” comes through with an ode to the pioneering black metal band Venom. The hypnotically repetitive 2nd & final single “Butch’s Guns” ends the 1st leg containing some of the strongest riffs throughout the full-length prior to “Mindrolling” experimenting with nature recordings. “Everrett Moses” continues the other half blending doom metal & dark ambient while “Glory Black” ends with a fusion of drone metal, ambient, nature recordings & impressionism reminiscent of Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version.

Life Metal was easily the most I’ve personally enjoyed a Sunn O))) album since Monoliths & Dimensions, but Pyroclasts was almost as great & this new eponymous offering from the drone metal veterans demonstrates Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley willingness to evolve their unmistakable sound into bold new forms. Their Sub Pop debut predominantly takes it back to their roots m outside of the dark ambient, nature recordings, drone, doom metal, ambient & impressionism undertones handling all of the instrumentation by themselves rather than bringing some outside collaborators in.

Score: 4.5/5

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Thundercat – “Distracted” review

Los Angeles, California musician, singer/songwriter & producer Thundercat returning for his 5th studio LP. Emerging in the 2000s as the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies, he would subsequently sign to Brainfeeder Records & make his full-length debut The Golden Age of Apocalypse nearly a week before I started high school. He would follow it up with the sophomore effort Apocalypse a couple summers later & his debut extended play The Beyond / Where the Giants Grow a month succeeding my graduation became popular due to the inclusion of his most lauded single “Them Changes”. It would eventually be included on Drunk, which is his most cohesive musical statement & an essential within the Brainfeeder discography. It Is What It Is mourned the loss of his friend Mac Miller & he’s having Greg Kurstin produce most of Distracted.

“Candlelight” gets things going with this smooth R&B intro singing about a lighting burning at both ends whereas “No More Lies” co-produced by Tame Impala fuses psychedelic soul, neo-psychedelia, boogie, synth-funk & synthpop suggesting he’s better off staying on his own. “She Knows Too Much” by Mac Miller blends funk, neo-soul, pop rap, jazz rap, jazz-funk & disco rap to talk about a woman out of his league leading into “I Did This to Myself” featuring Lil Yachty hops over a Flying Lotus instrumental combining neo-soul, funk, nu disco & disco rap to discuss relationships.

A$AP Rocky appears on “Funny Friends” rapping & singing about being homies until the very end just before the yacht rock-tinged “What’s Left to Say?” courtesy of Kenny Beats assures this person that the can spend their whole lives trying to figure out how they feel inside even if it’s a lie. “I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time” goes for a psychedelic neo-soul vibe with hints of jazz fusion & synth-funk addressing an ex-girlfriend of his while “Anakin Learns His Fate” compares himself to Darth Vader from the original Star Wars trilogy.

“Walking on the Moon” calmingly kicks off the 2nd half singing about a woman who takes him higher while “This Thing We Call Love” featuring Channel Tres tells their partners to take their time since it’s only them. “ThunderWave” featuring Willow Smith experiments with neo-soul, neo-psychedelia, tribal ambient, nature recordings, chillout & new age yearning for their lovers to hold them until reaching shore while “Pozole” suggests maybe he’s out of touch & only showing this person exactly who he is.

The song “A.D.D. Through the Roof” embraces a neo-soul sound talking about his attention deficit disorder going insane while “Great Americans sings over 1 last FlyLo beat about everything he does being a learned behavior of it’s own & landing on his feet every time he continues to fuck up. The self-produced closer “You Left Without Saying Goodbye” concludes the album clarifying that he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, hinting at posting his feet on OnlyFans being his new side hustle.

Exactly 6 years to the day since his previous full-length, Distracted could be my least favorite installment in Thundercat’s discography although there are some tracks I see myself revisiting & enjoyed it top to bottom slightly less than Big Mama last month. Greg Kurstin’s production culminates in psychedelic soul, neo-soul, alternative R&B, progressive soul, pop soul, jazz rap, nu jazz, synth-funk, jazz-funk, smooth soul, neo-psychedelia, boogie, synthpop, funk, pop rap, jazz fusion, disco rap, funk music, nu disco, tribal ambient, nature recordings, chillout, new age & yacht rock capturing the tensions between overstimulation & introspection.

Score: 3.5/5

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Giffy Pluggo – “The Layoff: No Hooks” review

Here is the 4th extended play from Chicago, Illinois emcee & ATIP Records founder Giffy Pluggo. Emerging a few years ago off his debut mixtape Paid Leave & its sequel put out an expanded version of his debut album Los Pluggos followed by Pluggo’s Birthday & Douda respectively. The latter mostly produced by Myles & becoming the most beloved entry in his discography thus far, coming off a Luxury Manifesto almost 9 months prior to break down The Layoff: No Hooks.

“Notice Received” recalls the very moment he was let go from his day job over a crooning vocal sample talking about this only being an overview of the feature presentation whereas “Overqualified” goes for a chipmunk soul vibe instrumentally boasts of copping a Cybertruck when I personally think they look like refrigerators although I don’t mind the interface of it. “Division Shut Down” talks about knowing your worth & labels having to pay him in advance while “Out Here” includes a dope bar referring to Ye’s debut The College Dropout.

Global appears on the song “Pink Slip Poetry” shifting towards a cloudier direction with the beat talking about the Cybertruck that Giffy copped earlier being unable to fit in his garage & considering it to be the problems of a baller while “Exit Strategy” incorporates some warm synthesizers so he can speak of growing up on a different type of block. “Restructured” spends the last few minutes of the EP announcing that Paid Leave 3 will be arriving soon over a drumless loop & going through a lot to get to where he’s at presently.

Giffy Pluggo has also confirmed that he’s working on something with Drumwork Music Group founder Conway the Machine as we speak & I look toward to that considering that the Black Soprano Family Records collaborations happened through him opening for Benny the Butcher several time. And in light of him getting laid off from his job, The Layoff: No Hooks rebuilds himself in real time & this improvement above Luxury Manifesto EP is only the beginning of this new era in his career. The production’s an improvement above the predecessor & conceptually, he’s taking a piece of the moment when life flips on us & we have to decide whether to fold or level up.

Score: 4/5

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LIFEOFTHOM – “Re-Route: Reflection” review

This is the 6th extended play from New York City emcee LIFEOFTHOM. Coming up in the late 2010s off his first couple EPs Thomas & Robot Jesus, he would go on to release 3 more in Floor 11 as well as Room 44 & Cocotaso respectively. Driving Blind produced by Plain Pat following an appearance on Lørd Skø’s sophomore effort United Palace has since become his most acclaimed material & Re-Route: Reflection produced by Supah Mario looks to reach that same pedestal.

“Can’t Help” featuring Meechy Darko gets things going with this gritty boom bap beat talking about being outside looking for the hard play whereas “Monday” goes for a summery vibe instrumentally telling this woman he can’t live without her. “The World is Yours” shift towards a cloudier direction realizing that it seems like he doesn’t need the internet anymore & “Grape Vine” ties it all up in the form of this boom bap outro talking about him staying asking questions because answering them is a bonus.

LIFEOFTHOM already has 5 other EPs he’s given over the course of this ongoing decade & I might not have Re-Route: Reflection above Driving Blind, but it’s pretty close & continues to dent more cracks into realizing his true potential than a lot of his earlier output a decade ago. There’s more of an obvious reflective approach to his songwriting & Supah Mario’s production is more lenient towards the trap sound he’s become known for over the course of a decade.

Score: 4/5

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Tony Shhnow – “Flood” review

New surprise LP & the 9th altogether from Atlanta, Georgia plugg pioneer Tony Shhnow. Being introduced to his music after my younger brother J$zpiech showed me his 4th mixtape Black Billionaires Club & the song “Vet” off the full-length debut Da World’s Ours 3, he then continued to turn heads with his 8th mixtape Reflexions to critical acclaim & I honestly wish I covered it considering that some of his best songs are on there like “Finessin’” or “Forgive Don’t Forget”. He would return to his plugg roots on the BeatPluggz produced Plug Motivation, Love Streak showed a more sensual side to him, Shadowbanned 2 dabbled with new sounds, the self-produced #NoOneElse was a step above Out the Woods & painted an introspective Self Portrait produced by Mike & Keys last fall. Looking to end the 1st quarter of 2026 though, Flood has dropped without any further warning.

“HWYC (Intro)” hops over a horn-inflicted trap instrumental to get the tape started talking about going hard whereas “Redbone” goes for a pluggier vibe admitting that he can slow done if he wants to, but has no plans of stopping. “Look Good” featuring ManMan Savage finds the 2 decently talking about making names of themselves around their neck of the woods until “Fuck You Mean” combines some synths & pianos shouting out a bunch of local labels who paved the way for him.

Dreek Jones joins Tony for “Salt Kills Snails” produced by Earl on the Beat moderately talking about getting so high in the morning to the point where neither of them can tell if it’s real or not while “No Plans” featuring Heartless Kid admits to turning down certain artists when their music comes on because they aren’t saying anything. “Priceless” has a cloudier sound to it talking about paying the price to become a boss just before “Road Rage” featuring D.R.A.M. & YoDogg references WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T over a soul sample.

“Legend Has It” featuring Luh Tyler kicks off the 2nd half with both of them talking about dying as street celebrities if their music careers don’t pan out the way they hope while “Need Me a Milli” cautions that things will get sticky for those who dare to run on him. “Pushin’ Player” featuring Ebo Sosa brings both of them together to talk about giving their demons Hell instead of fighting them these days while “Stackin’ & Flippin’” incorporates some synth-horns making bread whilst waiting for what’s his.

Jose Guapo’s feature on “Fa Nun” might be favorite throughout Flood, pairing to discuss that they ain’t turning up for nothing while “Seeumsayin” hops over some creepy synthesizer melodies getting on his gangsta shit lyrically. “Too Much” experiments with a jazzier approach instrumentally talking about some doing more for the goes than they should be & the outro “Spare Change” speaks of some being too weak over a woodwind.

Tony Shhnow has always been one of the most consistent artists in the entire plugg subgenre, but Flood would have to rank amongst the weaker entries of his discography although it contains slightly more highs than lows. He’s rapping his ass off & the varied production are both 2 of the biggest pros this album has going for it, except the half where he’s killing it by himself feels a lot stronger than the other half where he’s running laps around his guests.

Score: 3/5

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Fat Ray – “Santa Rosa” review

In front of us is the 5th studio LP from Detroit, Michigan veteran Fat Ray. A member of the trio B.R. Gunna alongside Black Milk & Young RJ, he would eventually go solo in 2008 by dropping the criminally slept-on The Set Up, but it wouldn’t be until a full decade later when it was followed with both The Lunch Room mixtape & then his sophomore effort Perseus. Santa Barbara proved to be the strongest since his debut until Food From the Gods topped it, dropping Santa Rosa in preparation for Food From the Gods II.

“Rap City in the Basement” hops over a drumless loop talking about having a lot of room for improvement & being 1 with the microphone whereas “Plates” energetically looks to flip the script every time he gets off the stage across the country. “2 B’s” gives off a more aggressive vibe talking about being in it to win it leading into “Fast Freddy” featuring Black Thought bringing both of them together to get on their battle shit lyrically.

The title track fuses boom bap with hints of jazz rap talking about moving shit all across America while “K-Dot Pool” looks to run up some plays until it feels like sap to everyone else. “Good Sense” brings some horns into the fold talking about how all his squad does it plot & maneuver just before “High Score” featuring Marv Won discusses all of these phony muhfuckas imitating their styles spreading a lot of poison in the music industry today.

“Lockdown” gets the last leg of Santa Rosa going cautioning that nobody wants to get shot down by him while “Big Worm” has a bit a funkier sound to it talking about having to make some turns because it was all apart of the process. “Change Us” featuring billy woods leans towards a drumless chipmunk soul direction explaining that they were raised by the homicide right near the danger & “Mitch Green / Scudded” spends the album’s last 4 minutes delivering a 2-parter.

Seeing the amount of love Food From the Godsgot last year made me really happy for Fat Ray because it was his way of showing how far he’s come since The Set Up, but I’m happy we got a Santa Barbara sequel in preparation of Food From the Gods II because fans of Santa Rosa’s predecessor will enjoy the follow-up as much. Ray’s hardcore/gangsta lyricism & Raphy’s boom bap/drumless production that made Santa Barbara so great is being brought back albeit amplified & bringing more higher profile guests on board.

Score: 4/5

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Kanye West – “BULLY” review

Chicago, Illinois rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, fashion designer & former G.O.O.D. Music founder Ye formerly known as Kanye West finishing his long-delayed 12th studio LP. Someone who I personally have considered a top 10 producer of all-time up until this point with 3 perfect 10s in his discography: The College Dropout, Late Registration & My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He sadly lost touch with reality in 2025 for a 4-month manic episode amplifying the hate speech he’s been spewing since late 2022, for which he claims to be deeply mortified & has deep regret over. However, the final version of Bully is among us now that YZY SND signed a distribution deal with gamma. & removing all the YeI vocals that plagued the unfinished version of it around this time 12 months earlier.

The self-produced “King” samples “Reach for a Star” by Duke Edwards thanking Martin Luther King Jr. for him marrying Bianca Censori whereas “This a Must” goes for an industrial hip hop vibe talking about him coming for the glory during the Graduation era & the 9 Vicious adlibs were unexpected. “Father” featuring Travis Scott with co-production from Che Pope flips “Heavenly Father, You’ve Been Good” by Johnnie Frierson speaking of waking up to new versions of themselves leading into “All the Love” singing about having nothing to worry of & having YZY’s Head of Music 88-Keys sample “Fayek Alaya” by Fairuz.

North West instrumentally takes it back to the College Dropout/Late Registration days on the chipmunk soul-inspired “Punch Drunk” rapping about him having to lead to read between the lines just before “Whatever Works” flips “Don’t Wonder Why” by Cissy Houston referencing WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Mama’s Favorite” heavily builds itself around Ty$’s background vocals thanks to YZY SND in-house producer 1SRAEL of Working on Dying remembering his late mother Donda while “Sisters & Brothers” survives the infamous In a Perfect World sessions chopping up both “Get Involved” by Jonah Thompson & “My Loleatta (Dish Apella)” by Ellis D to discuss his antihero status.

The title track ends the 1st half sampling “Mujhe Maar Daalo” by Ashle Bhostle courtesy of The Legendary Traxster addressing all the controversy he got himself into between February & May of last year while “Highs & Lows” wasn’t as strong as the original version due to the sample not being cleared in time. “I Can’t Wait” flips “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes talking about figuring the system out & being consecutive at shutting shit down while “White Lines” samples Stevie Wonder’s cover of “They Long to Be (Close to You)” by The Carpenters admitting he belongs by himself sometimes.

“Circles” might be the only track on the album that I don’t care for & it has nothing to do with Don Toliver handling all of the vocal performances, but rather the way “Huit Octobre 1971” by Cortex is being sampled. Makes me wanna listen to one of my favorite Madvillain songs “1 Beer” instead. “Preacher Man” has to be a top 5 on the whole thing flipping “To You with Love” by The Moments talking about the plot twist being convenient when there isn’t any lies told there while the downtempo “Beauty & the Beast” was originally conceived during the Donda sessions according to Mike Dean, sampling “Don’t Have to Shop Around” by The Mad Lads singing about overcoming a few things when I’d say it’s more than a few.

The song “Damn” has a significantly minimal approach to the beat pondering whether Ye ruined things or if it’s because this is the way he is while “Last Breath” featuring Peso Pluma comes together over a sample of “Bésame Mama” by Poncho Sanchez, going full Latin to tackle the concept of toxic relationships. That said: It’s another cut on here I’d do without. “This One Here” ends the album with a reworked version of a leftover from him & James Blake’s cancelled collaborative effort War looking back at all the hot water he got himself into since 2022, clarifying with confidence that he’s healed & moved on from it all in addition to killing his ego when the argument can be made that we haven’t seen Ye’s ego in it’s final form yet.

Hype Williams’ visuals as a fan of the ブシロード-owned 新日本プロレス deserve to mentioned, adding onto his recent attendances at events put on by the サイバーファイト-owned division プロレスリング・ノア & DDTプロレスリング’s sister promotion 東京女子プロレス (TJPW). Appearances in the video include former 2-time NEVER無差別級6人タッグチャンピオン & 6-time IWGPジュニアタッグチャンピオン ヨウ, former 3-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン, 7-time 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 矢野 通, AJPW世界ジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Champion, 6-time IWGPジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, 2-time IWGPジュニアタッグチャンピオン & 2-time GHCジュニアヘビー級タッグチャンピオン タイガーマスクIV and former 5-time IWGPジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, CMLL Arena Coliseo Parejas Campeon, 4-time IWGPジュニアタッグチャンピオン, NEVER無差別級6人タッグチャンピオン & GHCジュニアヘビー級タッグチャンピオン エル・デスペラード.

You’ll always have that group of people who say they won’t forgive Ye or listen to his music ever again after everything he said & did the year earlier, which is absolutely more than understandable & I can’t place blame on anyone for feeling that way because of morally obvious reasons. Nevertheless: If he’s truly committed to taking accountability or receive treatment to break a destructive cycle he’s based nearly his entire career off of, then Bully’s a start because merely calling it superior to the Vultures series would be a ginormous understatement. The production’s heavily reliant on the use of samples bouncing between the styles of neo-soul, experimental hip hop, drumless, chipmunk soul, alternative R&B, art pop, industrial hip hop & urban contemporary gospel revitalizing his passion now that he’s no longer under the reign of a major label.

Score: 4/5

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