Action Bronson – “Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor” review

New York City emcee, songwriter, chef, wrestler & television host Action Bronson enlisting Daringer & The Alchemist to produce his 8th full-length studio LP. Blowing up with release of his debut album Dr. Lecter in 2011, he then landed a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records while following up his debut with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being the Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. He then put out his major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 & it has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. He fulfilled his contracts by dropping Blue Chips 7000 & celebrated his freedom the next year in the form of White Bronco which were both solid, but didn’t reach the caliber of Lamb Over Rice the Thanksgiving after. Only for Dolphins though was pretty mid given that some of the production choices were questionable & Cocodrillo Turbo was a bounce back. As for Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor, I went into it hoping it would be Bronson’s best album yet.

“Splash (Provocativ)” is this relaxing, jazzy opener showcasing a new fragrance from Bachlava when it’s all said & done whereas “SEGA” works in some haunting organ melodies from Uncle Al referring to himself as that muthafucka you don’t wanna rump with since he’ll moonsault off the top of a boat like 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. “Nourish a Thug” hooks up pianos as well as kicks & snares from Daringer talking about taking temperatures the old fashioned way just before “Hideo Nomo” strips the drums explaining that his horoscope told him to get more cake out here.

Meanwhile on “Salvaje”, we have Bronson over more laidback production looking to smash guitars over heads like the 2nd longest reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion & WWE Hall of Famer The Honky Tonk Man did to current AEW manager, WWE Hall of Famer & former SMW Heavyweight Champion Jake “The Snake” Roberts on top of comparing a battle to one between the late WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper who had his last match in Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) leading into Meyhem Lauren joining him for the rock-influenced “Hogan” humorously talking about bitches who look like 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 Hulk Hogan.

“Citrus Wahoo” featuring Meyhem once again lecturing you for what you did wrong only to get stomped out with Bronson comparing himself to WWE Hall of Famer as well as their current Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative & NXT Head of Creative Shawn Michaels, but then “Kompressor” featuring Larry June charmingly talks about always coming through.

“NBA Leather on NBC” featuring The Alchemist himself jumps over keys & a harmonica pairing up the New York Knicks & the Chicago Bulls while the song “Shadow Realm” pours his heart off talks about trying to take off for so long in the midst of everyone hanging from land again. “Doctor” ends the LP drumlessly comparing his life to a scene from the 1979 masterpiece Apocalypse Now.

I’m really proud to see where Action Bronson has come in over a decade from his initial rise to the top over a decade ago to Fuck, That’s Delicious’ increasing popularity & even his brief AEW appearances in at All Out IV & Grand Slam II. Now over 13 years since his debut tape, he celebrates his mom’s born day by releasing my new favorite full-length of his. For only a half hour, we get a heart-to-heart dedication to all the Day 1s & even the newest members in Bachlava’s coalition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Babytron & Certified Trapper – “Mario & Luigi” review

This is a brand new collaborative mixtape from Detroit, Michigan trap sensation Babytron as well as Milwaukee, Wisconsin lowend rapper/producer Certified Trapper. One of whom rose to stardom in the late 2010s as a member of the ShittyBoyz & the other has been gaining popularity of his own landing a major label deal with Columbia Records. Both are managed by The Hip Hop Lab Records founder Lando Bando, so in that sense I can see why he brought them together for Mario & Luigi.

“iGlocks” starts with both of them over a Detroit trap instrumental telling you that shit’s bout to get intense when it’s really anything but referencing 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 whereas “Saucony” works in some interesting synth melodies with hi-hats further displaying a back-&-forth chemistry further revealing Tron to be the most interesting of the 2. “Rulebreakers” produced by Certified Trapper himself takes the lowend route so they can boast their mob ties leading into the murderous Detroit trap joint “Psychopaths” showing their psychotic tendencies.

Moving on from there, “Young Fly Muthafuckas” further emphasizes an eerier atmosphere to the beat flexing how young & fly they both are just before “Woulda Coulda Shoulda” jumps over ominous chords so they can portray the gangsta lifestyles. “So the Fuck What?” specializing in talking shit to the point where they need Mentos remaining in the Detroit trap realm, but then “Rescue Mission” returns to the lowend vibes warning to watch your mouth since they pop bitches.

“Blue $trip Bandits” brings a quirkier flare instrumentally thanks to Danny G calling themselves outlaws for the Ben Franks while “Bling Bling” once again goes lowend to be pickin’ plays up. The song “Day w/ TSF” featuring Peso Peso & Sauce Walka menacingly shows off their real g statuses with Tron & Sauce shining the most while “No Cameraman Around” talks about having $100K on them each. “Boogey Woogey Night” ends the tape with the best lowend track & maybe my favorite here.

I’ve given Tron his praise for already being one of the best from Detroit in recent memory, yet I could never get into Certified Trapper since I’ve heard the lowend style done better. Case in point: Polo Perks, AyooLii & Feardonian’s collab album A Dog’s Chance from a few weeks ago. Mario & Luigi on the contrary has some highlights of it’s own except it’s one of the weaker entries in Babytron’s discography. Their sounds mix well, except Certified Trapper himself on the mic feels as if he’s a Great Value version of his contemporary down to the flow.

Score: 1.5/5

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Akhlys – “House of the Black Geminus” review

Akhlys is a Colorado black metal duo consisting of frontman, guitarist, bassist & keyboardist Naas Alcameth alongside drummer/percussionist Eoghan. Emerging together 15 years ago off their 38 minute single track debut Supplication, I personally wouldn’t be introduced to their music until their 2015 sophomore effort The Dreaming Ia month before I graduated high school. Their take on atmospheric, dissonant black metal & dark ambient throughout was so excellently crafted to the point where it quickly became amongst the best albums in that style of extreme metal of the previous decade & Melinoë at the end of 2020 continuing to build upon the sounds of it’s predecessor conceptually revolving around nightmares. 3 & a half years later, Naas & Eoghan are back again for their 4th LP.

“The Mask of Night-Speaking” starts with an infernal 12 minute atmospheric black metal opener standing now before a great barren hearth whereas the 2nd & final single “Maze of Phobetor” screams about being the wayfarer continuing the atmo-black vibes. “Through the Abyssal Door” concludes the first half of the album by fusing dark ambient & black metal together wanting to feel the Asterion’s gaze, but then the instrumental cut “Black Geminus” puts a bigger emphasis on ambient industrial. “Sister Silence, Brother Sleep” gets back on the atmospheric black metal talking about being at 1 within the House of Dreaming behind 1,000 masks revealed & “Eye of the Daemon” concludes House of the Black Geminus inhabiting every waking shadow.

Almost a decade after their breakthrough, Akhlys displays their frightening dominance on House of the Geminus drawing from esoteric & mythical traditions where the land of dreams is placed within the darkness of the underworld through labyrinthine halls, shadowed corridors, cellars of dread & attics of epiphany as ordeal & ecstasy meet at the vertices where each beholds his own daemon. Combining intense black metal with elements of dark ambient & death industrial, Naas & Eoghan unite psychological horror, orchestrated bludgeon & eerie foreboding on a harrowing journey into pandemonic majesty resulting in their most all encompassing, destructive & diabolically grand-sounding offering of the 4 in their discography.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mr. Key – “Kez” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee Mr. Key enlisting local producer Illinformed to handle the beats all over the latter’s sophomore effort. A member of Contact Play, he would eventually sign to High Focus Records as a solo act & drop his solo debut Yesterday’s Futures in the summer of 2015 using the sounds of wonky & glitch hop with the help of Greenwood Sharps to back his abstract pen. Both of them reunited near the end of 2019 for an EP called Green & Gold, returning after nearly 5 whole years for the more conceptual Kez.

“Escape from Bene” sets the tone with a piano-driven boom bap instrumental advising to trust them since there’s more to discover going forward whereas “Wakey Wakey” featuring Smellington Piff finds the 2 over a funkier beat talking about them both being on a high platter killing swarm. “All Right Ok” takes a mellower yet dusty approach to the beat talking about him doing well since Green & Gold leading into “He Say She Say” featuring Dirty Dike after the “What’s this Place?” skit addressing detractors.

As for “John Connor High Lyf”, we have Mr. Key over this jazzy boom bap beat talking about his life not always being the best & him not having it any other way just before “Bury Me in Bene” featuring Leaf Dog carries over the same vibes of the previous cut asking for their wishes to be buried when the time of demise comes. “Why is It?” featuring BVA comes together to ask for the reason there cornballs haven’t done a charitable act while the piano-driven “I Dunno” uses it’s title to answer various questions for 5 minutes.

“No Time” starts Kez’s final moments blending a jazzy woodwind with some kicks & snares talking about himself for 2 & a half minutes living more pleasantly than he was in his previous situation but once “Yellow Tops” hooks up a prominent vibraphone to assure fans it isn’t their fault that he can be a bit of a dickhead, the outro “Isabell Allende” featuring Jam Baxter & Ronnie Bosh wraps things up with the Contact Play brethren soulfully repping their squads.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Greenwood Sharps’ contributions to Yesterday’s Futures and Green & Gold, hearing that Illinformed was handling all of Kez’s production gave me the impression it would surpass both of it’s predecessors. Lo & behold, Mr. Key has done it. He kaleidoscopically describes the rise of a plucky kestrel through an off-grid anarchist commune called Bene comprised of misfits, lost souls, drug dealers, new age healers & would be cult leaders after spending 5 years in Spain.

Score: 4/5

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42 Dugg – “4eva Us Neva Them” review

Here we have the 4th mixtape from Detroit rapper & singer/songwriter 42 Dugg. His breakout debut EP 11241 Wayburn in 2018 would catch the attention of both Yo Gotti & Lil Baby, who jointly signed him to their respective labels Collective Music Group & CBFW Records shortly after. Dugg’s profile continued to grow in 2019 when he dropped his debut mixtape Young & Turnt, which was followed up last year by the sequel Young & Turnt 2 & the mature Free Dem Boyz. Now that he’s home from a prison stint, Dugg is making it clear on the 4th of July that it’s 4eva Us Never Them.

The intro is a soulful Detroit trap opener to the tape hanging with the killas whereas “Win wit Us” talks about everyone wanting to catch Ws by his side all of the sudden over a grisly trap beat. “4×4” featuring Meek Mill works in an apocalyptic sample & hi-hats ridin’ whips with engines that supply power to all 4 wheels instead of the usual 2, but then “Fresh From the Feds” takes the atmospheric trap route instrumentally to talk about needing a miracle & being down bad when he was incarcerated.

Rylo Rodriguez joins Dugg for the bell-infused “Case Closed” advising that a killa in their feelings is the summarization of a Drake song just before “Wrong Right” somberly talks about wanting everyone in his squad to live long lives. “N.P.O. (No Panties On)”featuring Sexyy Red brings the 2 together for an energetic sex anthem leading into “If I Can’t” bringing the Detroit trap vibes back into the fold talking about having everything & being gone.

“Megan” featuring Blac Youngsta menacingly boasting the lifestyles that they live while “Org” hooks up some horns & hi-hats to assure that he & his crew are still undefeated. “Catch 1” kinda has this orchestral trap flare to the beat talking about still being bad while the introspective “My Mama” starts the 2nd half of the tape by giving the audience game by telling them what she told & showed him in regards of having only himself & no friends.

EST. G joins Dugg for “Since When” to display a back-&-forth chemistry recapturing the essence of their collab mixtape Last Ones Left from a couple years ago while the menacing Detroit trap cut “Get in Your Bag” tells everybody out there to become 1 with whatever task you are trying to achieve. “BMF” featuring Jeezy is an excellent tribute to the Black Mafia Family especially since the Snowman knows Big Meech himself & the extended version of “Go Again” happens to be better than the original.

“No Love” featuring Lil Baby reunites the pair over a bell-woven trap beat from TM88 calling themselves the mob while “4eva Us” produced by Helluva aggressively details his street mentality. The song “Need You” provides a dejecting tone explaining shit ain’t been the same talks while the penultimate track “Still ‘Bout You” smoothly addressing a woman he cares for. Last but not least, the closer “Real Ones” fittingly ends by promising he ain’t ever going back to prison again.

Dugg has always been one of my top 3 favorite CMG signings alongside Mozzy & Glorilla but when it comes to the CBFW roster, not that many of Baby’s artists stood out besides Dugg other than maybe Rylo’s freestyle of the Wale/Bryson Tiller single “Love…(Her Fault)”. 4eva Us Neva Them reinforces all of it from the elevating production to the tight guest-list & Dugg reassuring his status a standout in the Detroit trap scene.

Score: 3.5/5

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Bizarre – “He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace” review

This is the 7th full-length solo LP from Detroit emcee Bizarre. Emerging as an original member of the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof, he was also among the first in the crew to put out solo efforts with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdos being a hometown classic in my eyes. Fast forward 7 years later, Biz followed it up with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since, with the last time we heard him being his 11th mixtape 18159 Stout during the first quarter or the year. The Foul Mouth-produced He Got a Gun & its sequel revitalized himself for all the doubters, so the 3rd & final installment had me anticipating it as much.

The intro featuring Max Hilli starts the trilogy chapter of the series that the idiotic kid found his passion again by coming live from the Motor City over a grimy boom bap instrumental whereas “aRT pEACE” goes drumless to get on his grown man shit for 4 minutes. “Insane Asylum” works the kicks & snares back in hitting 3 shots with 3 glocks all for G-Unit Reeboks & “Run, Duck” featuring Lokye after the “Gas Station” interlude aggressively gets in their hardcore bag lyrically.

“Ford Plant” featuring La the Darkman eerily breaks down the exact spot where you’ll catch both of them slangin’ prior to “Party in Detroit” vibrantly talks about the hoes being outside, the players playin’ & the hustlers hustlin’ at the function. “Sexyy Red” hooks up a vocal sample with more kicks & snares wanting his bitch as nasty as the titular St. Louis star just before “Who Gotta” angrily asks if anyone out there got a problem with him.

We get some atmospheric vibes throughout “Bizarre Buds” that suit the track well since he’s conceptually providing listeners with an anthem dedicated to those who like smokin’ good weed leading into the uncanny “Sheefy Mcfly” featuring Dango Forlaine bringing the pair together talking about doing whatever the fuck they want. “Dressing Room” ruggedly flexes he appeared on No Jumper to plug Lena while “Rainy Dayz” featuring J-Classic & Keen Streetz puts the hard times behind them.

“Pack the Roach” feat. Isaac Castor, Jalen Frazier & Max Hilli finds the quartet over more boom bap production nearing the conclusion of He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace to discuss being the killers that they are & “Summertime” featuring Kain Cole concludes the LP by hooking up somewhat of a psychedelic beat to ring in the summer since the 2nd half of 2024 already began earlier on in the week.

Peter S. already started off the year well by preluding this album with the Ratt Poison EP & the latest entry of the He Got a Gun trilogy reinforces everything that made both installments the best material of his career on top of further proving that Foul Mouth is a great match for him. The latter’s production incorporates elements of boom bap, drumless, jazz rap & psychedelia allowing Bizarre to passionately destroy his competition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Krispylife Kidd – “B.A.G. (Born A Goat)” review

Flint, Michigan rapper Krispylife Kidd continuing to apply pressure by dropping his 14th mixtape. Since 2019, his popularity in the local trap scene has been gradually increasing since 2019 going on to release a total of his previous 13 tapes & 4 EPs all in that span of time. Icewear Vezzo even signed him to Iced Up Records during the pandemic & Lil Yachty had him featured on Michigan Boy Boat. Now I’d start with Krispylife 2 & The Art of Spice Talk trilogy if you wanna dive into Krispylife’s music. He put out his 4th EP Juice in February a few weeks after Vezzo released his Quality Control debut Live from the 6 & is staying in his B.A.G. (Born A Goat).

“Run That Down” begins by jumping over a sinister Detroit trap instrumental celebrating every time an opp gets killed & being all about the spinach like Popeye whereas the piano-driven “‘96 Bulls” featuring Rio da Yung O.G. finds the 2 likening themselves to the Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen of the subgenre that both artists hold it down for. “Stacks on Stacks” works in a soul sample & upbeat 808 percussion to flex his wealth while “Ain’t Enough” goes for more of a atmospheric trap vibe to the beat talking about not knowing too much.

Babyfxce E, Icewear Vezzo, RMC Mike & YSR Gramzall join Krispy for the dark 2 & a half minute Detroit trap joint “Just Talking” with Vez & Mike’s verses standing out the most amongst the 4 guests personally referencing the greatest WWE superstar ever; Hall of Famer, former 7-time world champion, 7-time tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion The Undertaker leading into “Gucci Jogger” hooking up some bells talking about catching him in traffic rocking the titular Italian luxury fashion house. “In the Air” featuring Cash Kidd interestingly fuses jazz music & Detroit trap together talking about being in love with the new Maybach, but then “Fanning” grimly cautions that nobody can duck all these shots he firing.

“Make Me Sick” flexes that he uses Flint water every time he whips up with tense keys & 808s backing him prior to “In That Case” taking another jab at a jazzy Detroit trap hybrid to hit his hood with 100lbs after his first deal. “Scratching Off” featuring AK Bandamont has an apocalyptic flare instrumentally explaining how foul they are while “Sheesh” warns y’all not to make him lose it over bells again. “King Griffeys” advises not to say the wrong shit to piss him off & “Today Was Bool” dissing all the divas.

Juice was a short yet fun bounce back from the moderate reception that 3-Peat & Krispylife 4 Life both received the previous year & B.A.G. (Born A Goat) further hammers home on that. There are more interesting ideas within the production than the EP we got from him 4 months ago (particularly the jazz-inspired cuts), I found roughly 60% of the guests’ performances to be enjoyable & some of Krispy’s lines on here are observingly funnier.

Score: 3.5/5

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YN Jay – “Flint 2 Detroit” review

YN Jay is a 24 year old rapper from Flint, Michigan emerging in the late 2010s/early 2020s off his first 3 EPs MVP, Coochie Land & Watch This as well as the subsequent trilogy of mixtapes Ninja Warrior, Coochie Chronicles and Young, Wild & Free. His profile began to grow from there, following those up with the full-length debut Album Mode, preluding the sophomore effort Coming 2 Coochie Land with a 4th tape Coochie Goat. Looking to bounce back from the mixed to negative reception of Life Before Death & Been Havin’ last summer however, the Coochie Man returns for his 3rd album.

“Difference” featuring Kash Doll & Tay B begins with the trio over prominent bells & hi-hats comparing & contrasting themselves to their opposition whereas the only song without a guest “I Ain’t Done Yet” stands out for it’s cloudy Detroit trap flare to the beat talking about being nowhere near finished musically. “US 23” featuring Grindhard E & Rio da Yung O.G. takes a bit of a rubbery turn instrumentally vividly painting images of the gangsta lifestyle, but then another highlight “She the 1” featuring Babytron & Baby Money talks about the special women in their lives over more upbeat 808 percussion.

Sada Baby & Skilla Baby join YN Jay on the distorted, string-laced “Hangover” energetically passing the mic to one another nonstop breaking down their lifestyles for almost 4 minutes leading into “Boss” featuring Payroll Giovanni jumping on top of 808s & pianos to spit that G shit. “Stupid & Crazy” featuring Icewear Vezzo displays an exciting back-&-forth chemistry for 100 seconds keeping the keys & upbeat percussion in the fold while “Figure It Out” featuring Drego brings the bells back to discuss getting it on their own referencing WWE’s 2nd flagship program SmackDown.

“Dear Rio” featuring Peezy serves as a touching open letter to Rio da Yung O.G. since already he’s incarcerated for a while just before “Rich Ugly Motherfuckers” featuring Babyface Ray humorously talks about being wealthy & unhandsome. “Cup Holder” featuring BandGang Lonnie Bands mixes strings & 808s for an ode to lean while “3 Stooges” featuring Los & Nutty likens themselves to the titular comedy trio.

Cash Kidd appears for the penultimate track “I-75” referencing the interstate that runs north–south from Miami, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and “Flint Stones” featuring Babyfxce E, BFB da Packman, Grindhard E, Krispylife Kidd, Louie Ray, RMC Mike& YSR Gramz ends with a 6 minute posse cut representing some the finest artists in Flint currently. Standout verses excluding Jay’s for me are Krispylife’s, Ray’s & Mike’s.

Normally I get skeptical about projects with an insane amount of features top to bottom, but I didn’t mind it throughout the Coochie Man’s latest album here because I understand what he was going for & that would be a star-studded love letter from Flint 2 Detroit. Both cities are represented properly as YN Jay takes some of the biggest names in the Detroit trap scene for the ride, a lot of whom I’ve already covered in the past & the production is really what you’d expect from this style of music.

Score: 3.5/5

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H.A.R.D. – “Tapestry” review

Hardcore superduo the Housing Authority Rap District also known as H.A.R.D. consisting of Joell Ortiz & KXNG CROOKED are returning for their 4th & final LP. Both of whom have had notorious label issues at the start of their careers, but would go on to see success as members of the supergroup Slaughterhouse along with Royce da 5’9” & Joe Budden from the late 2000s up until the mid-2010s. The quartet had quietly disbanded in 2016 after Joe’s retirement from making music even though it wasn’t confirmed until 2 years later, but the other 3 members have been keeping themselves busy ever since. H.A.R.D. introduced themselves a couple months after the pandemic hit with an incredible eponymous debut EP along with 2 full-lengths: The Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse and Harbor City. They dropped off their 2nd EP JFKLAX & their 3rd LP Prosper to more moderate reception, but are getting back together 1 last time on Tapestry in time for summer.

After the intro, the first song “Born” starts us off with an angelic sample talking about both of them being Heaven’s children whereas the soulful trap joint “Rap Music” tells us how much hip hop culture has saved their lives. “Here I Am” works in this gospel flip to talk about speaking life to them since death is of the tongue just before “Holiday” blissfully explains the harvest helped keep their people from starving.

“No Other Way” somberly sets out to make play after play without any options on the table for them leading into “Parental Advisory” goes full-blown boom bap to talk about doing it all so their hometowns of Brooklyn & Long Beach can eat now. “How Y’all Feel” energetically moves forward wanting to know the exact way the crowd out there be feelin’, but then “Fall Down” has an aggressive trap flare to the beat getting back up when they’re down.

The sampling throughout “Thorazine” is absolutely classy start to finish making something beautiful out of a straight up horror scene while “My World” brings the kicks & snares back inviting everyone to their worlds. “Yachts” calming discusses being unable to feel a hard left since it’s all ocean while the final song “Broadwalk & Park Place” prior to the outro pouring their hearts out describing where they were stuck between.

I genuinely think if these guys stuck with a singular producer throughout the entire duration of 1 more project like The Heatmakerz, they would give us their best offering since their eponymous EP or their full-length debut. Still though: the material they’ve given us from Harbor City onward still remains very much acceptable listens & Tapestry happens to be a solid conclusion of H.A.R.D.’s run. The production balances boom bap & trap so both MCs represent the east & the west.

Score: 3.5/5

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James Blake & Lil Yachty – “Bad Cameo” review

Here we have a new collaborative LP between James Blake & Lil Yachty. One is a singer/songwriter & producer from London, England, United Kingdom & the other happens to be a rapper, singer/songwriter & producer coming straight outta Atlanta, Georgia. Both of whom I’ve covered individually in the past ranging from projects like Assume Form to Michigan Boy Boat & of course Let’s Start Here., the latter being Yachty’s very own 808s/IGOR moment venturing out into a psychedelic rock direction. Neither one of these guys have ever worked with each other previously, so my curiosity around Bad Cameo got a hold of me needless to say. Especially after James’ comments back in March about streaming services devaluing music & has since been trying to help improve streaming rates for artists, hence why Pharrell released his latest album Black Yacht Rock: City of Limitless Access through its own web domain on his birthday along with ¥$ planning to release Vultures 2 exclusively through a YZY app & Metro Boomin’ recently saying his next album might be the last on DSPs. Those & Bandcamp are the best solutions.

“Save the Savior” starts off headed towards an ambient direction rapping & singing about the savior needing to be saved whereas “In Grey” hopes to be picked back up by Valentine’s Day if they fall by then bringing a future garage vibe to the table behind the boards. “Midnight” takes the neo-psychedelic art pop route instrumentally knowing that the shore will speak even though you’re the only one who saw while “Woo” fuses hip house & alternative R&B wanting to know if their partners really love them.

The title track produced with BNYX of Working on Dying goes ambient once again hoping not to head down towards a significantly dark path ever again just before the ambient house-infused “Missing Man” finds both of them vulnerably feels broken down into pieces. “Twice” continues the 2nd leg of Bad Cameo in the form of this perfectly balanced 2-parter describing a simple equation you can count on them for prior to the progressively ethereal “Transport Me” samples “The Vibes is Right” by Barrington Levy wanting to know your story.

“Run Away from the Rabbit” nears the conclusion of the collaborative LP that we never thought we needed to hear wanting to be blinded over an ambient instrumental & “Red Carpet” closes it out with 1 more ambient cut talking about never wanting to walk the red carpet on top of everyone seeing new versions of them right in front of us & late night thoughts make it hard for either one of them to sleep at night.

Yachty’s evolution throughout the last year & a half putting out some of the best material of his career has been one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed in my life especially when you had the heads who genuinely don’t fuck with him at all coming clean that Let’s Start Here. or “The Secret Recipe” are incredible & Bad Cameo stands as a historic crossover for fans of both him & James. It’s prominently art pop & neo-psychedelic with additional undertones of alternative R&B, ambient house, ambient, experimental hip hop, future garage & UK bass.

Score: 4.5/5

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