Grafh – “Art of Words” review

This is the 3rd full-length album from Queens emcee Grafh. Coming up in 2003 off his debut mixtape The Bang Out, he went on to release 7 more tapes before dropping his first full-length album Autografh only a few years later continuing that with a total of another 10 mixtapes & an EP. But as his sophomore effort Stop Calling Art Content produced entirely by the late DJ Shay & released through Benny the Butcher’s very own MNRK Music Group imprint Black Soprano Family Records turns 2 this fall, Grafh is enlisting 38 Spesh this time around to discuss the Art of Words backed by TCF Music Group

“Life’s the Same” is a symphonic boom bap opener with Grafh remind everyone of the fact that time’s passing us all by at an incredibly fast rate & it ain’t waiting on on a single soul out there whereas “Rain Falls” with Conway the Machine finds the 2 telling their mothers to pray for them. Bun B & Stove God Cook$ both come into the picture for the jazzy “Life’s Beautiful” to talk about the beautiful things that this life has to offer leading into Dave East tagging along for “Every Day” over some kicks & snares letting ‘em know this be daily shit for them.

Moving on to “Maggie Simpson”, we have Giggs accompanying Grafh over an operatic boom bap instrumental repping the sick out in Queens & the real ones Kingston just before “Already” weaves some pianos so dude can talk about how people already know what the deal is. “Goin’ Up” has a slicker tone sonically addressing the glow up, but then “Finesse” with Rome Streetz returns to the boom bap as both MCs let y’all know how bossy they are. The penultimate track “Dirty Work” has a despondent sound explaining someone’s gotta get their hands grubby & “36 Chambers” by grimily getting on his Wu-Tang shit.

Stop Calling Art Content quickly surpassed Autografh in quality to become my favorite body of work throughout Grafh’s ever-growing discography & there’s no way that anyone can tell me Art of Words isn’t up there too. Spesh’s production is as raw as the late DJ Shay’s was on the last album that we got from the Queens lyricist a year & a half ago on top of the man with the pen himself making hip hop meet art.

Score: 4.5/5

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Black Thought – “Glorious Game” review

This is the 2nd solo album from Philadelphia veteran Black Thought. Most notable for being the frontman of The Roots, he has since cemented himself as one of the most skilled & well respected lyricists in all of hip hop from his work with the band or his lengthy list of show-stopping features. However, it wouldn’t be until 2018 when he finally started putting out projects under his own name with the 9th Wonder-produced debut EP Streams of Thought before following up with the Salaam Remi-produced sequel Streams of Thought 2: Traxploitation & of course the Sean Cane produced full-length debut Streams of Thought 3: Cain & Abel that wrapped up the trilogy. Last time we heard from Thought was last summer when he & Danger Mouse finally released their Dangerous Thoughts debut Cheat Codes after 17 years in the making to universal acclaim, but is returning alongside El Michels Affair to spit some Glorious Game.

“Grateful” is a consciously abstract opener to the album with Black Thought encouraging the listeners to at least show some gratitude whereas the title track takes a more jazzier, psychedelic soul route to talk about how mackin’ & pimpin’ never died. “I’m Still Somehow” dives into spacier territory as far as sound goes confessing the heat he received from a friend & that black joy is rebellion, but then “Hollow Way” goes into boom bap turf asking if it’s the monster within or that causes black-on-black violence.

Meanwhile on “Protocol”, we have Thought over a more summery instrumental explaining that he’s from another planet & takes shit for granted leading into “The Weather” continues to dive into mellower territory looking back on the crazy summers he’s lived through. “That Girl” is a heartfelt ode to his wife Michelle with a sample-based beat just before “I Would Never” blends returns to the boom bap with a soul sample unloading spiritual baggage & telling those who’re still here to do their job.

“Alone” continues to fuse kicks, snares & keys to make it clear to the listeners who can’t help but feel loneliness while the song “Miracle” has some jazzy undertones throughout the beat has Black Thought talks about never realizing how much he had to sacrifice to be in the position that he’s in now. Then after the “Glorious Game” reprise interlude, the closer “Alter Ego” incorporates some synthesizers so he can admit publicly that he he was starting to lose his drive 15 years ago.

I would say it’s better than Cheat Codes but if you admire Mr. Trotter’s lyrical talents as much as I do, then I think you’re gonna like Glorious Game almost as much & it increases my anticipation for the 4th installment of the Streams of Thought series that was announced earlier this week whenever the time comes. The subject matter here is more personal & transparent & El Michels Affair’s production here is more bottom-heavy yet soul-tinged as opposed to Danger Mouse’s.

Score: 4/5

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Mike Shabb – “Shadow Moses” review

This is the 5th EP from Montréal, Québec, Canada emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb. Coming up in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 4 EPs & a couple of mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery & producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X this past fall. So to continue capitalizing off that, Mike’s bringing in his mentor & one of the most prolific beatsmiths that the underground has seen in recent memory Nicholas Craven to fully produce Shadow Moses from top to bottom.

“Smokin’ Samson” is an atmospherically drumless opener with Shabbo letting y’all know that he only smokes only the finest kush in the world whereas “All Greatness” takes a more soulful route to flex his lyrical prowess. “Play for Keeps” goes into a groovier direction advising to look around & tell him what you see while the song “Save the Joker” incorporates some crooning background vocals making it clear that not even God can save you. The penultimate track “Baskiat” has more delicate sound to it talking about how the repercussions will be felt & learning from his mistakes just before “Respectfully” comes through with a jazzy closer boasting that no one can do it the way he does it.

From the moment Craven himself introduced me to this guy by networking us through social media, I knew it was only a matter of time before his profile in the underground would grow & I highly recommend that the people who got introduced to Mike through “Switches on Everything” give Shadow Moses a listen because it’s my favorite solo effort of his to date. He really is at his best as an MC which should satisfy the new fans he’s already made & those he’ll continue bring in with his mentor also helping make it his most well-produced effort as well.

Score: 4.5/5

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Pi’erre Bourne – “Grails” review

Pi’erre Bourne is a 29 year old producer, rapper, songwriter & engineer from South Carolina who became one of the most in demand beatsmiths in hip hop today off amongst the biggest songs in Playboi Carti’s entire catalog “Magnolia”. He’s also made a name for himself on the mic by dropping 10 mixtapes as well as a couple EPs & 3 full-lengths albums, with the latest being Good Movie over last summer to mixed reception. However, Pi’erre’s looking to switch things up with his 3rd EP over here by officially releasing his biggest, most popular unreleased songs that were stashed in the vault.

“IG” sets the tone for what’s to come with it’s synthesizers & hi-hats as well as the lyrics addressing running into social media models at an Odell party whereas “Love Reeks” has a more playfully nocturnal vibe to it talking about how the grass is much greener after cutting hoes off. “Chicken & Waffles” for a TLoP4 leftover might be my favorite on the EP with it’s cloudy, bassy instrumental & the braggadocio throughout prior to “George Lopez” pulling together some synth-strings talking about feeling like Biggie with the more problems that arise when having more paper.

The final leg of the EP starts off with the cloudy “NY in June” telling his lover to simply follow him while the song “Tabloid” talks about a bitch that’s all up in him kin to the titular newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet accompanied by a psychedelic trap beat. The penultimate track is [a sequel] to “Honeyberry” with an instrumental that gives me 8-bit video game vibes discussing an ancient love & the wavy “Lessons” ends the EP talking about fucking bad hoes for practice.

I know some people like to dismiss Pi’erre as an MC as distinct of a producer he is but as someone who’s been following him for the past 6 years, Grails is easily the best EP he’s ever put out for a collection of previously unreleased leaks in contrast to the mediocrity of Good Movie & will keep everyone satisfied until Made in Paris drops. His improved songwriting is more catchier as opposed to the excessive horny subject matter throughout the previous album that gets annoying rather quickly & his production game remains unmatched.

Score: 4/5

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halfBREED – “3P” review

halfBREED is an east coast hip hop duo consisting of Virginia rapper C Dot Castro as well as Maryland rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, author & Twitch streamer Logic. These guys have been longtime collaborators & friends dating back to the Young Sinatra days, but reunited last summer on Vinyl Days & even a couple months ago on Bobby’s latest album College Park. So considering their decade plus history of working with one another, they’re now announcing the formation of halfBREED & releasing a 3-track debut EP.

“Vroom Vroom” sets it all off with a booming trap instrumental from Bobby Boy Records in-house producer 6 & Logic even giving own producer tag at the beginning even though it’s a blatant ripoff of Tay Keith’s as the duo warn any crew who wants to step up to them of their impending doom whereas “That’s What She Said” is a horrid indie pop ballad throwing it back to Supermarket about being fools for love. “Game 6” however closes the EP with a decent boom bap jam getting over the sickness like they MJ & Pippen.

The first thing that came to mind to me personally when C Dot & Logic announced the formation of halfBREED was actually the now-disbanded Detroit duo HaLFBrEED consisting of The R.O.C. & Skrapz since their 2nd & final album kontamiNATION is such a horrorcore classic, but what a mediocre debut EP from the new halfBREED here. The production is ok as is Bobby Boy’s performances for the most part, but C Dot Castro’s were pretty average.

Score: 2.5/5

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Supah Sayin – “Neo-Lizard King” review

Supah Sayin is a 25 year old MC from Fort Worth, Texas who began to make his presence known over the fall after signing to Broken Record Music Club as well as dropping his debut EP Oblivion // Elysium & then going on to follow it up with Tatarus on Christmas Eve a little over 3 months later. But with the 2nd quarter of 2023 already kicking off at the beginning of the month, the Dallas up-&-comer is back on the spot with his 3rd EP at 7 joints running 19 & a half minutes long fresh off 2 singles that were teased a couple months back.

“Fear & Loathing” has a dramatically bare loop as he makes it clear that nobody can stop him prior to the grungy trap hybrid “Encanto” asking his lover if she has his back. “ParselTongue” jumps on top of some hi-hats to talk about how he been at the bottom in the past leading into the briefly woozy trap ballad “Spirit Bomb” declaring himself to be a bad ass & having shit that can only be learned. The song “Double Dutch” discusses trying to keep it cool even though he wants to move on over a distressing instrumental while the penultimate track “1:12am in Tejas” has a more melodic, synth-based sound to it talking about the type of guy he is. “Afterglow” on the other hand finishes the EP with a chill ballad saying he ain’t even gotta flex.

It feels more like an EP rather than an official full-length debut & I’ll even admit that Neo-Lizard King happens to be my introduction to Supah Sayin’s music, but the results that we got out of it will definitely start to turn more heads because what we have is his most well-crafted effort to date. The production tastefully fuses hip hop with psychedelic rock with the Dallas emcee proposing imagery on the level of the great Jim Morrison himself providing audio enlightenment on the world we live in & the path to self-acceptance.

Score: 3.5/5

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ИF – “Hope” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Gladwin, Michigan recording artist ИF. Coming up in 2010 off his debut mixtape Moments, he signed to Capitol Records about 4 years later & made his full-length debut the following year with Mansion. This was followed up in 2016 with Therapy Session, but it wouldn’t be until 2017 where ИF would finally achieve mainstream success with Perception. But coming off The Search which celebrate it’s 4-year anniversary this summer, ИF’s returning to in an attempt to give people Hope.

The title track is a mediocre cinematic classical opener to the attempting to give the people something different by introducing a new side to him & that’s exactly the opposite of what the fuck he does with some far too dramatic conscious raps whereas “Motto” a cringey pop rap ballad reminding that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Cordae outshines ИF on “Careful” as they discuss the importance of taking risks to get where they are today over a trap beat with some choir vocals, but then “Mama” is a more profound moment on the album with it’s pianos, hi-hats & lyrics about hoping his mother found peace before she passed.

“Happy” is a hideously overproduced pop rock jam whining that he just can’t imagine who I’d be if I was happy leading into “Pandemonium” returns to trap turf calling his pen cutting edge when there are far more lyricists that would murder him like Griselda even though their style is obviously more different than ИF’s. “Suffice” is a weak trap infused 2-parter despite the topic of mediocre not being enough & trying to make an impact on hip hop while the Julia Michaels duet “Gone” is a melodramatic breakup ballad.

Moving on from there, “Bullet” opens up the final leg of the album with an epic cinematic trap crossover paying tribute to his wife Bridgette even though the Kevin Abstract-inspired vocal pitch-changes are distracting while “Turn My Back” is a corny Christian rap with an energetic instrumental insultingly comparing himself to Ye or formerly known as Kanye West, Drake, Eminem who has clearly been a blatantly huge inspiration to him throughout his career, Dr. Dre, J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar when they’re all in a different league than him.

The song “Mistake” blends some pianos & strings to deliver some subpar singing performances although the topic at hand addressing those who think he’s a mistake relatable yet we’re all here for a destined purpose with our mistakes helping us learn to become better people while the penultimate track “Let ‘Em Pray” fuses trailer music with trap calling out those who pray on his downfall when really his music is mediocre at beat & below average at worse. “Running” ends the album with a garishly sung conversation with himself over some acoustics.

I really wasn’t expecting much going into this album & sure enough, it’s just the same shit you’d come to think would happen on an ИF album. The production pulls from pop rap, trap, alt-pop & even epic music as heard on his last mixtape Cloud although they don’t really do those sounds much justice with some sappy Christian & “conscious” if you can call it that lyrics. He really does sounds like he wants to improve his discography & unfortunately misses the mark.

Score: 1.5/5

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Slump6s – “Forgive Never Forget” review

Slump6s is a 19 year old recording artist from Rochester, New York who broke out right when the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic started off the strength of his debut EP Naveah. He has since gone on to follow it up with 7 more EPs, a collab EP with tana who just dropped his major label debut GAULTIER through Lil Tecca’s very own Republic Records imprint Galactic Records a couple months ago & even the full-length debut Genesis last summer. But coming off the 3-piece Dog Pack, slump starting off the 2nd quarter of the year the way he started it: with a new EP & his 9th one overall.

“Show Me Luv” is an ethereal trap opener produced by CXO about how he does this for all the people he knows in his life who couldn’t be here standing with him whereas “Ruthless” works in a futuristic backdrop & some hi-hats talking about being focused on getting this money. “Fashion” shifts gears with the rage beats making it clear that he’s back in his motherfuckin’ bag again prior to “Commas” returning for a more psychedelic trap to rock all black like he’s DONDA referencing Ye or formerly known as Kanye West & the EP artwork itself. The penultimate track “S.D.M.N.S. (Shit Don’t Make No Sense)” returns to hypertrap turf with the title saying it all & “Walked” featuring Maajins ends the EP with both of them over some hi-hats & an intoxicating loop talking about being on route.

As the rage subgenre of trap music continues to expand from Playboi Carti helping start it all by dropping the album that started it all with 2020 Christmas Day sophomore album Whole Lotta Red to the rise of artists like Yeat, Summrs, the Homixide Gang, Ken Carson & KanKan to only name a small handful, I think Slump6s has definitely grown as an artist tremendously since he stated 3 years ago today & that not only proves what he said in late February that this is some of his best work, but intrigues me to hear if this is only the beginning of that.

Score: 3.5/5

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Meyhem Lauren – “Champagne for Breakfast” review

Meyhem Lauren is a 39 year old MC from Queens, New York that came up as the leader of the Smart Crew graffiti team. He eventually started rapping in the mid-2000s, it wouldn’t be until the 2010s decade that he saw success. Most notably with Mandatory Brunch Meetings, the Buckwild-produced Silk Pyramids, Piatto D’oro & most notably the DJ Muggs produced Gems from the Equinox. But coming off the Daringer-produced Black Vladimir to universal acclaim, Meyhem’s keeping the momentum going by reuniting with Muggs & bringing along Madlib so both West Coast veterans can produce his 6th album.

After the “Quicksand”, intro, the first song “Fresh Out the Water” truly sets things off with Muggs supplying a creepy vocal loop as well as some kicks & snares for Meyhem to make it clear that shit ain’t changed prior to Action Bronson tagging along for “Szechuan Capitol” so they can hop on a piano boom bap instrumental with a soulful beat-switch encouraging to protect your energy & Bronson talking about making his AEW debut in Arthur Ashe Stadium after a segment with former 3-time AJPW三冠ヘビー級チャンピオン, 5-time AJPW世界タッグチャンピオン, 4-time IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, 6-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, GHCヘビー級チャンピオン, GHCタッグチャンピオン, WCW World Television Champion, WCW World Tag Team Champion & newly inducted WWE Hall of Famer ザ・グレート・ムタ. “Midnight Silk” dives into drumless turf courtesy of Madlib to spit that mafioso shit leading into “Sunday Driving” having a more classier vibe sonically talking about focusing on the better things in life.

“Big Money” returns to the boom bap so he can flex his wealth just before “Evolution” blending some keys, kicks & snares so Meyhem can thank back from where he came from to how he’s evolved since then. “Dom vs. Cris” keeps it in the basement to justifiably talk about how he out here winning drinking champagne in the sunshine, but then “Holographic Rhetoric” by his little brother Hologram has a more soulfully drumless approach to declare that he doesn’t need to stop & he ain’t ever gonna change.

After the “Pop Clink Fizz” interlude, “OD Wilson” gives off a more sinister feeling to the beat bragging that the real ones are back on top like they oughta be while the cavernously funky “African Pompano” talks about repping the fly shit forever. After the “Triple M Airlines” instrumental interlude from Madlib, the penultimate track “One of Them Ones” reveals itself to be an unsettling boom bap anthem referring to himself as amongst the greatest & “Wild Salmon” is a grand drumless closer letting y’all know what he got on the grill as he drinks with the homies.

Black Vladimir quickly became a favorite of mine in his discography last summer & went on to be the best albums of the previous year, but he really outdid himself on Champagne for Breakfast to the point where I as someone who’s been listening to him since Silk Pyramids can say it’s the best album he’s ever done. Muggs & Madlib both play Yin & Yang behind the boards much like how Ye or formerly known as Kanye West & Pharrell did on Pusha T’s last album It’s Almost Dry with Meyhem murdering it with the gangsta raps complimenting both West Coast beatsmith’s signature production styles.

Score: 4.5/5

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Rae Sremmurd – “Sremm 4 Life” review

Rae Sremmurd are a trap duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of real life brothers Swae Lee & Slim Jxmmi. However, many forget that they came up as a quartet in 2009 alongside Bobo Swae & Lil Pantz under the name Dem Outta St8 Boyz & dropped their only mixtape 3 Stooges with Lil Pantz would departing the group prior due to legal issues & Bobo following suit after to focus on his studies in Florida. P-Nazty would go on to introduce Swae & Jxmmi to revered trap producer Mike WiLL Made-It, who took the Brown brothers under his wing by making them the first act to sign to his Interscope Records imprint Ear Drummer Records rechristened as the names they’re known by today. After beginning to turn heads with hits like “No Type” & “Throw $um Mo” featuring Young Thug, it was enough for Rae Sremmurd to properly introduce themselves on the full-length debut SremmLife a month after the final single & the sophomore effort SremmLife 2 the following summer finding them to artistically expand more. Especially considering that “Black Beatles” featuring Gucci Mane is unquestionably the duo’s biggest hit to date. Their previous album however SR3MMLIFE in the spring of 2018 had a pretty strong start as it contains some of their best songs like “T’d Up” or even “CLOSE” featuring Travis Scott, but each of the Brown brothers’ respective solo debuts that were attached to it Swaecation & Jxmtro were both underwhelming at best which is a shame because I really was intrigued by the whole Speakerboxxx / The Love Below concept/homage except it’s 3 discs instead of simply 2 & the first one actually has new music from the titular duo. But after 5 long years, Swae & Jxm are returning with their 4th full-length outing.

“Origami (Hotties)” is a synth-trap opener produced by none other than Mike WiLL Made-it as the Brown brothers asking if you can see the others that’re surrounding them & to fold the paper whereas “Royal Flush” works in some horns & hi-hats courtesy of Chopsquad DJ as Thugger tags along so the trio can talk about dropping cash on land along with making grandmaster plans that’re complex. “Mississippi Slide” has a more shimmery approach sonically thanks to Zaytoven so Rae Sremmurd can pay homage to the titular state leading into the piano/trap “Not So Bad (Lean’s Gone Cold)” interpolating “Thank You” by Dido on the hook talking about the racks stacking up too tall.

On the other hand, “Tanisha (Pump That)” feels like a Slim Jxmmi solo cut featuring Swae on the hook despite the electro undertones throughout the instrumental & the lyrics describing how no one can do it the way she does just before the Murda Beatz co-produced “Bend Ya Knees” brings back the keys & hi-hats so they can ask their lovers to forgive them for their rich tendencies. Future joins Rae Sremmurd for the cloudy “Activate” talking about not being normal anymore, but then “Flaunt It / Cheap” delivers a well sequenced 2-parter encouraging the the party girls to get if started & nearly spending a dozen.

“Sexy” is an irresistibly catchy pop trap jam that 30 Roc helped Mike lace describing how physically attractive they both are while “YMCA” weaves some synth horns & hi-hats talking about how the conduct will quickly become disorderly now that they in the place. “Something I’m Not” has more acoustic groove to it as Rae Sremmurd gets more introspective on the lyrical front while Sonny Digital gives the song “Torpedo” a more atmospheric vibe so the duo can take off the the cash. The penultimate track “Diamonds Dancing” reminds everyone they’re here to stay over a trap beat from DJ Sremm with a reversed loop & “ADHD Anthem (Too Many Emotions)” sends off the album with some rage beats from Ronny J & Dynox of Internet Money Records talking about being misunderstood.

Considering the 5-year gap between this & Rae Sremmurd’s last album, I was intrigued to hear where both these guys would take it with the comeback effort & I think fans will find Sremm 4 Life to be more salvageable than SR3MM was. I admire how the approach & content are both a little different than before, Mike WiLL & company bring some consistent trap production to the table, Swae & Jxmmi both sound more focused than they did on their respective solo debuts that were attached to the predecessor & they didn’t go overboard with the features.

Score: 3.5/5

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