Summrs – “Stuck in My Ways” review

This is the 7th full-length album from Louisiana rapper Summrs. Coming up as a member of the Goonie-founded Slayworld collective, he presence has been known predominantly in the plugg scene by constantly dropping projects whether it be his previous EP What We Have or even the last album Fallen Raven that we got 6 months ago. Both of which I highly recommend listening to if you wanna get into his music & is also enough to have me looking forward to Stuck in My Ways when he announced it merely days ago.

“Relying on Roxy” is an acoustic trap opener produced by BenjiCold with dude feeling like he’s dying when he’s strung out whereas “Start Striking” takes a cloudier route picking up where it’s predecessor left off thematically talking about fighting withdrawals. “No Days Off” brings back the acoustics yet again referring to himself as a rockstar & being in the studio constantly leading into the ethereal “Life’s a Beautiful Curse” courtesy of ZeeGoinXrazy talking about the ups & downs that come with living in the world today.

However on “Pure Motion”, we have Summrs handling the hook so his younger brother Desire can spit a verse accompanied by a booming GeoGotBands instrumental just before the synth-laced “No Morals” calling out some bitches for being as licentious as they are. “Russian Roulette” has a wavier groove to it admitting that he ain’t in this rap shit for the fame but rather the cheese, but then “Die Rich” blends some synthesizers & bass to talk about going out lit.

“Van Cleef Poppin’” dives into plugg territory droppin’ some vibrant braggadocio along the way while “Addy Geek” brings a more futuristic flare to the mix talking about being fucked up off the Adderall. “The Detox” comes together with some keys & hi-hats thanks to Chief Keef to my surprise dedicating it to a bitch who be with him because he stays winning while “Drug Traffickin’” is another piano trap ballad about living lavish in the penthouse.

Meanwhile on “Like a River”, things take a more moodier approach encouraging to keep the money flowing while “My Voicemail” is a settle 2 & a half minute R&B joint which is fine except my biggest complaint about it definitely has to be the mixing. “Closing the Book” is a syrupy slow jam singing how he ain’t like the other boys that his girl has been with in the past with the stripped back “Blood Tears” talking about no one being on the same tier as him & that things would’ve been done differently had said person was with him. 

“Miles on U” comes through with a hazy, auto-tune heavy pop rap cut with some romantic lyricism while Autumn! gives “Album Just for You” a pluggnb vibe singing about how he has a whole unreleased body of work on his phone dedicated to the love of his life. “I.K.Y.M.M.G. (I Know You Miss Me Girl)” has a more standard plugg sound Goyxrd cooks up telling this woman to call him because he knows she misses him dearly while “Pilates” keeps the synths & hi-hats going talking about everything being exotic.

Following that, “Like My Diamonds” keeps things in plugg turf comparing his girl’s beauty to his ice while the woozy “Baby Blue Gwag” is a catchy little ode about copping this dude’s girl a G Wagon. The track “Switch Sound” is a shimmering trap banger with some boastful lyrics while the penultimate song “Praise da Most High” is a peppy anthem giving his thanks to the man upstairs. The title track then ends the album on an acoustic trap note admitting that he wars his heart on his sleeve & is trying to cover up his sins with the drank. 

Fallen Raven still stands as my favorite Summrs album to date since it shows his artistic range best, but I still came away from Stuck in My Ways enjoying it almost as much. Primarily because of the fact that still brings the pop rap, pluggnb & rage aesthetics that made the previous full-length enjoyable & swapping the drill undertones out by pulling from alternative/contemporary R&B a little bit more than usual.

Score: 3.5/5

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Onoe Caponoe – “Concrete Fantasia” review

This is the 5th full-length studio LP from Perivale, West London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Onoe Caponoe. Introducing himself in the early 2010s off his debut mixtape Central Control as well as Willows Midnight Gallery & Holy Mountain, it wasn’t until The Staircase to Nowhere caught the attention of High Focus Records & made his full-length debut for the label with Voices from Planet Cattele during my senior year of high school. Spells from the Cyclops would continue Onoe’s evolution & Surf or Die has become the most celebrated work of his yet, coming off fighting the Invisible War for some Concrete Fantasia days after Alex Winsdor became the longest reigning RPW British Women’s Champion & a month since Leon Slater was crowned the youngest RPW British Cruiserweight Champion.

Zdechły Osa appears during the intro “Purple Haze” stylistically taking inspiration from the Memphis scene dropping bilingually hardcore lyricism in both English & Polish just before “Slayaz / Elf Island” lets off a rapid-fire flow until “Não Podes Fugir Do Teu Destino” by Hareton Salvanini gets sampled during the 2nd half. “Fifi (Mermaid Lagoon)” featuring Lil B goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally thanks to Telemachus so they can spin out their minds together while “House on the Hill” works in this addicting flip for a 3 minute horror film of multiple different genres.

“Pet Cemetery” gives off an experimental trap atmosphere swinging his sword under the moonlight glow just before “The Cheshire Cat” shifts gears back in boom bap territory except there’s a groovy twist to it referencing Alice in Wonderland, asking why stay chase rabbits when they always fall down the darkest hole doing so. “Wipeout” treads the experimental trap waters once more dismantling anybody on the mic who has no game compared to him while the tread/hip house 2-parter “Afro Samurai / Quest”contemplates one another similarly to night & day.

After the “Cat Kingdom” interlude, “Magic Carpet” officially kicks off the 2nd half of Concrete Fantasia promising to make this woman his while the 2nd single “Pinnochio” featuring Jehst documents the many highs &inevitable lows of running the roads on an ill-fated quest to become a real boy. “The Horsemen” likens his pen-game to the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse while the 5th & final single “Ice King” combines cloud rap & plugg to talk about being colder than crystal storm on the twilight tundra.

“Cat in Oz” makes for a jazzy lead single finding himself unable to get sleep because of the witches outside his house while the 4th single “Heaven’s Gates” explores the spaces between reality & the spirit realm. “Outsiders” fuses cloud rap & boom bap for a shimmering lurker’s anthem but once “Psychosis City” suggests those who don’t know him to keep it lowkey, “Age of Aquarius” officially sends things off with a compositional outro clocking at almost 5 minutes in length.

Offering an alternate space for his fans to escape whilst still commenting on the highs & lows of city life, the newest entry of Onoe Caponoe’s discography sticks out to me as the greatest thing he’s done since Surf or Die & makes another example of why he’s amongst the UK’s finest hip hop artists today. The production creatively fuses the sounds of cloud rap, boom bap, jazz rap, experimental hip hop, trap & plugg for an hour long ride inside the mind of High Focus’ lyrically abstract enigma.

Score: 4/5

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Eto – “Dead Poets” review

Eto is an MC from Rochester, New York who I first caught wind of him in 2018 with his feature at the end of the 6th installment of Westside Gunn’s infamous HWH mixtape series & eventually his DJ Muggs-produced full-length debut Hell’s Roof a few months later. This was followed up with Long Story Short as well as & Front Row & The Beauty of It, but is enlisting Toronto’s very own Futurewave behind the boards to make Dead Poets his first solo effort in 2 & a half years.

The titular intro sets things off with a bare piano instrumental talking about people trying to leave them in the dark & still shining regardless whereas “Vintage” works some raw kicks & snares declaring that he’s still living like the king he truly is to this day. “Bullets & Pills” was a good choice for a lead single keeping things in boom bap turf talking about having to clean up shop if one got the bills prior to Daniel Son tagging along for the gritty follow-up “Make It Out” as they both vividly describe being fortunate enough to get out of tough situations alive & well.

Moving on from there with “Poetry is Dead”, we have Eto over lavish piano chords pointing out the fact that those cut from the same cloth as him won’t live if the grind stops leading into “Cut the Robbin” returning to the boom bap declaring shop to be open for business nor to forget the unforgiven. The solemn titular interlude prioritizes self discipline & addressing that he hasn’t taken any losses or even wins yet just before G4 Jag comes into the picture for the jazzy “Did You Hear?” answering the question if either of them heard what others have said.

“My Poetry Deep” talks about how rare it is to see a costless person fall after learning that scared money gets it all over a boom bap instrumental with some harmonious background vocals while the song “City Broken” with Warlord Ironsheik has a more morbid approach sonically as both MCs advise not to slip & that slowly is the fastest way to get to where you wanna be in life. The penultimate track “Black Star” is a symphonic boom bap hybrid speaking on what those who die good men will receive & “Don’t Listen” ends things with Tearz handling the verses calling himself Van Gogh with a hoodie & Timbs on top of a tranquil beat.

From the moment Dead Poets was announced over the summer, I knew it was bound to be a great comeback from Eto after nearly 3 years of dropping a solo effort & I’m more than satisfied with the outcome of it. Although I respectfully wasn’t too crazy about the features during the back end of the album, Futurewave’s production is incredibly consistent & Swayze himself sounds rejuvenated on the mic.

Score: 4/5

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Smokingskul – “Bready” review

This is the 28th EP from emerging Swedish-American recording artist Smokingskul. Coming up in the spring of 2018 off his debut EP Souls, it wasn’t until this past fall where my little brother & UnreleasedSnip founder Jacob! played some of his shit for me during a smoke session. Namely the singles “Assembly Line” & “Vlone”. I was so impressed by the witty lyricism throughout both of those cuts, that it intrigued me enough to check out the Geffen Records-backed Nat Cap a few days later. I didn’t get to cover his previous EP Swedish Guy a few weeks later, but was most certainly intrigued to hear Bready following it’s announcement over the weekend.

“Chicken Wing” is a bombastic trap opener spitting about his mob ties even including an insane Backyardagains reference whereas “Aesthetic” comes through with a more synth-based approach calling out those who want his formula kin to a Krabby Patty or matching much like Freddy Krueger & Jason Voorhees. “Blue Zan” delivers a chaotic trap instrumental from TDF loving the blick more than rednecks along with getting Starbucks & how he ain’t Dunkin’, but then “Comic Con” almost has a cloudy flare to it talking about everything being real with him.

However with “Move”, we have Skul airing out the artists who be purpin’ & making all the opps accompanied by some sub-bass & synthesizers while the song “Fed 2” is a short yet aggressive sequel to the highlight “Fed” off his 22nd EP Da Slimeprint nearly 10 months ago at this point. The penultimate track “Green” goes into more pluggier turf letting y’all know what he’s sipping on & being off that white à la Charlie Sheen just before the rage-inducing closer “Perks on Hand” ties things up talking about staying to himself.

In comparison to everyone else that’s apart of the Taliban collective, Smokingskul has only been further revealing himself to be my favorite member within the past few months & Bready solidifies that for being the kick-off to what I personally believe will be the biggest year of his career to date. The production year again hones in on the plugg sound that he blew up off of as his distinct voice, invigoratingly aggressive delivery & witty gangsta raps continue to cement him as one of the most exciting new faces in the subgenre.

Score: 4/5

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Upfront MC – “Headrush” review

Bristol, England, United Kingdom’s very own Upfront MC returning for his 2nd extended play. A member of the Split Prophets collective, he would make his solo debut in 2012 off the Sound of Evolution… EP followed by the debut album Upfront & Personal and the sophomore effort Lettermorphosis. Coming off the inaugural entry of the Throwaway Thursdays mixtape series a couple years earlier, coming off Reflections to link up with Badhabitz & have his crew’s in-house producer solely handling Headrush’s production by himself.

“Nothing Guaranteed” hops over a cloudy boom bap instrumental to talk about embracing everything you have while it’s here prior to him confessing he’s been trying to “Stay Afloat”, advising everyone to accept change being a part of the process. “Toxic” hooks up more kicks & snares so he can talk about him losing his sanity being the cost of this music shit leading into “Daily Struggle” ending the 1st leg of the EP on a cloudier note explaining that there’s always a message within his rhyme patterns.

To get the 2nd half going, “Perspective” brings up a piano flip to talk about the issues of balancing the dreams he has & living in reality while the cavernously raw “C.B.F. (Can’t Be Fucked)” rawly asks if anyone has ever woken up feeling like nobody can fuck with them. “Fine Lines” leans towards an uncanny boom bap direction telling the world to not let anything break you & “Feel the Fear” somberly concludes with him talking about the Devil inside of his ear.

Over a decade since Sound of Evolution… & with the 10-year anniversary of Upfront & Personal approaching next summer, one of the Split Prophets’ strongest links moves on from his Reflections to embark on a sudden feeling of hardcore boom bap euphoria dropping what I firmly believe could be his greatest entry in his whole entire solo catalog. Badhabitz’ boom bap production is a cut above beppo’s 9 months earlier & lyrically, the Upfront MC is in top form.

Score: 4.5/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Dark Shogunn Assassin” review

This is the 39th EP from from Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Coming up as an affiliate of Griselda Records alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, he’s also built up an incredibly vast discography with a couple of standouts being Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. Now the last time I covered Fahim’s work was when he dropped his 19th full-length album 6 Ring Champ & the final installment of the Shot Clock King trilogy of EPs produced by Nicholas Craven shortly after last spring, but is reuniting with Griselda in-house producer Camoflauge Monk to drop Dark Shogunn Assassin following the NicoJP-produced Chess Moves only a few days prior.

“Gristle” is a jazzy boom bap opener with Fahim rapping about how the dumpin’ won’t stop until he says as well as bringing the pain similar to that of Method Man & asking who the boogeyman of this rap shit really is. Estee Nack of the Tragic Allies also happens to pop up during the 2nd half of the song to lay down the EP’s only guest verse & he absolutely obliterates it, raising my expectations for Nacksaw Jim Duggan even higher than it already was when Westside Gunn announced it on Twitter a month ago already. The penultimate track “Sword n Shields” blends some kicks & snares with these low-register synthesizers so he can treat his pen as if it was a blade moonwalking over MCs as if the late King of Pop himself Michael Jackson came back from the dead & advising that you can lead a horse to the pond, but can’t make them drink. “Never Back Down” finishes it all off on a more mellow note with Fahim talking about being up for any challenge that’s brought to him & coming up from the struggle.

Blvk Pearl, it’s sequel, Iron Monkey, Iron Monkey: Dump Olympics & Only God Can Judge Me are all essential Fahim projects in my book so my expectations going into this EP were significantly higher than Chess Pieces as a result of that. Needless to say, they did it again with Dark Shogunn Assassin. Yeah it’s only 3 tracks running at 9 minutes, but don’t let that scare you from thinking that Camoflauge Monk’s raw production & Fahim’s elevated lyricism make it more than worth your while because they really never miss whenever they join forces.

Score: 4/5

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Ice Spice – “Like..?” review

Ice Spice is a 23 year old rapper from The Bronx, New York who actually grew up with a hard knock life at the Hudson Street Orphanage ran by Agatha Hannigan. After being adopted by Oliver Warbucks, she grew up to pursue a music career last summer after uploading a couple viral music videos & landing a Capitol Records contract. Drake eventually flew her out to join him at OVO Fest not too long after & unfollowed her on Instagram rather quickly once the festival concluded, with him calling her “a 10 trying to rap” & that her music is “good on mute” on the highlight track “BackOutsideBoyz” off his recent collab album with 21 Savage that dropped a couple months ago Her Loss. But to prelude her full-length debut, she’s surprise dropping her debut EP in only a few hours’ notice.

“In Ha Mood” is a decent sample drill opener with a jersey club flare to it convincing her mans to stay with him even though she wants to turn up whereas “Princess Diana” compares herself to the late Princess of Wale over some more safer drill production. “Gangsta Boo” with Lil Tjay averagely flips “I Need a Girl, Pt. 2” by Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy touching on gangsta love & having nothing to do with the late Gangsta Boo whatsoever while the song “Actin’ a Smoochie” staying in sample drill turf getting raunchy. The penultimate track “Bikini Bottom” has a fresh slack-key guitar as she discusses what fame has brought her & “Munch” is a Brooklyn drill closer paying tribute to cunnilingus.

Before I wrap things up, lemme just say the Annie references at the beginning of the review were clearly jokes. As far as the quality of the music being presented, it’s a decent EP. I can definitely see why she’s popular in the Brooklyn drill scene, but it’s just that I’ve heard the sample drill style that she also pulls from on here pulled off better with projects such as RealYungPhil’s 7th EP Dr. Phil & even Pasto Flocco’s most recent stuff.

Score: munch/5

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Trippie Redd – “Mansion Musik” review

Trippie Redd is a 23 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Canton, Ohio who came up in the 2017 off the first 2 installments of the A Love Letter to You mixtape series. The kid would continue to grow after dropping his full-length debut Life’s a Trip & then A Love Letter to You 3 the following year. However, the quality of his music started to take a nosedive given the mediocrity of ! & A Love Letter to You 4. If you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Pegasus was a bloated mess & the Travis Barker-produced pop punk foray Neon Shark vs. Pegasus is barely better. Last time we heard Trippie though was a year & a half ago now when he dropped Trip at Knight, where nearly every song sounded similar to one another. But for his 6th album, he’s tapping in with the Drill God himself Chief Keef to executive produce it.

The title track is an uncanny trap opener with Trippie dropping some braggadocio whereas “ATLANTIS” finds him & Keef linking up over some rage beats showing off their extravagant lifestyles referencing the longtime Warner Bros. franchise Looney Tunes. Future tags along for the chaotic “PSYCHO” talking about losing their sanity, but then Lil Baby accompanies them both on the bassy banger “FULLY LOADED” talking about being strapped.

“KNIGHT CRAWLER” feels more like a Juice WRLD song featuring Trippie Redd with the main artist himself encouraging to start a riot & Juice plotting to take over the world just before “VAN HELSING” talks about being a chameleon over some synths & hi-hats. “FREE RIO” comes through with a Detroit trap influenced dedication to Rio da Yung O.G. leading into “KRZY TRAIN” with Travis Scott going full-blown trap metal to discuss being married to the game.

Moving on from there with “MUSCLES”, we have Lil Durk coming into the picture as he & Trippie rep their respective gangs up in this bitch over a spacious trap beat while “GOODFELLAS” with Nardo Wick has one of the weaker feature performances with his verse near the end despite the piano instrumental & the subject matter of hustlin’ out kin to one of the greatest movies ever. “KILLIONAIRE” talks about being an achiever backed by some suspenseful production while Big30’s verse on “HIGH HOPES” is no better as much as I enjoy the beat that Chopsquad DJ brings to the table & Trippie’s performances.

“DIE DIE” with LUCKI finds the 2 back in hypertrap territory talking about the city being theirs & being to fly while the blaring “WHO ELSE!” with Rich the Kid address their mob ties with Rich’s verse being a bit mediocre. “BIGGEST BIRD” produced by Zodiac of Internet Money Records & Vanguard Music Group sounds like it was made for Summrs’ latest album Fallen Raven since Trippie’s only on the hook & I’ll still take it since that’s his best full-length to date, but “HIDEOUT” with Fijimacintosh kinda gives me sci-fi vibes instrumentally & both showing off mansions.

Rylo Rodriguez’ verse on the energizing “WITCHCRAFT” is underwhelming as the lyrics address recklessness while “TOILET WATER” with Ski Mask the Slump God picks things back up as both parties deliver a grim ballad belittling anyone who dares to step up to them. “PURE” with G Herbo works in some organs as they talk about how they’ve been trapping since they were kids prior to Chief Keef returning 1 last time on the triumphant “Rock Out” speaking on being big dogs.

“ARMAGEDDON” with Rob49 brings back the rage beats warning that they have 100 round drums on them while the song “NUN” being one of the weakest cuts as there is “nun” really going on with DaBaby’s verse although the subject matter of not being told shit is relatable & the production is alright. The penultimate track “Swag Like Ohio, Pt. 2” is a remarkable sequel to one of The Almighty Based God Lil B’s greatest hits with him even dropping a verse at the back-end & “Colors” with Kodak Black ends things with a pluggy Pi’erre Bourne instrumental showing off their Rollie’s.

As critical as I’ve been with Trippie Redd’s most recent output, I actually think Masion Musik is a slightly-above average step in the right direction for him & it has me anticipating A Love Letter to You 5. I like how he switched up his sound quite a bit & But improved his vocal performances, it’s just that the album’s too long & would’ve been better if you took off the joints where the features were punching under their weight.

Score: 3/5

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Autumn! – “##B4GC3” review

This is the 19th EP from Louisiana rapper/producer Autumn!. Making a name himself in the plugg scene, he got his start by dropping 16 EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records after the Not Much Left EP. He made his major label debut last spring with his sophomore effort Antagonist!, following it up with ##B4GC2 & Golden Child 2. But with the final chapter of the trilogy on the horizon, of course twinuzis had to prelude it with ##B4GC3.

“Baby Fewch!” is an atmospheric trap opener to the EP with Autumn! talking about getting this shit too easy whereas the song “Colors!” takes a more vibrant route detailing his mob boss & not stressing over fuck boys. The penultimate track “Recollections of Fame!” embraces the pluggnb sound we all came to know & love him for as he clarifies that all his brothers roll with him prior to “The Remorse!” ending things on a somber note recalling a phone call that he received in New York & trying hard to find some sort of closure.

As we await for Golden Child 3 which is said to be a self-produced full-length album unlike the past installments of the series being EPs, this’ll sure be enough to hold us off until then. It’s pretty much a mix of his pluggnb roots & some new sounds that he successfully decided to try out. At this rate, the final entry of this series that introduced me to dude’s music is sure to be something special.

Score: 3.5/5

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Sk8star – “rebel” review

This is the 4th EP from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Sk8star. Blowing up in the spring of 2021 off Superstar Status, he would go on to follow it up last year with both the B4NWØ EP & his debut mixtape New World Ørder respectively. The latter being my introduction to Sk8’s music after my lil brody UnreleasedSnip put me on, with songs like “Standin’ on Business” & “YSL Flow” being the standouts for me personally. He just dropped his previous EP Mogul a month after we saw him live in Brooklyn & just so happened to surprise drop rebel here over the weekend, 4 weeks later.

“king of the hill” is a guitar-tinged trap opener with Sk8 talking about a baddie in high heels being totally unaware of how good he makes her feel whereas “mono boots alyx” has a more atmospheric approach asking a shorty what her sign is & shows off the titular boots that he happens to own. “imma ride” works in some hi-hats & strings speaking on being by his homie’s side, but then “status” takes the cloudier route to talk about how he been ballin’. The woozy penultimate track “in the shadows” finds Sk8 acknowledging that he’s doing better than his enemies & they hate him for it just before “motion” produced by Nosaint & ReidMD of Vanguard Music Group sends things off on a peppy yet melodic note having just that.

If anyone’s still not up on this dude yet, then I recommend you change that because I think one of the ATL’s most exciting up-&-comers at the moment is gonna go even harder than he did last year when I got put onto him & this definitely goes to show it. It’s really fresh to hear him detail where he’s at in his life currently & even displaying his versatility with some the beats that these producers bring to the table.

Score: 3.5/5

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