Nas – “Magic” review

This is the 15th full-length album from Queens icon Nas. For those who’re living under a rock, his first 2 albums illmatic & It Was Written are widely acknowledged as some of the greatest in hip hop history. I also wanna include stillmatic, The Lost Tapes, God’s Son & Life is Good. Then there was the Kanye West-produced NASIR & The Lost Tapes II, which I felt like they were fine additions to his catalogue even though the overall consensuses were polarizing. But for almost 2 years now, Nas has been working exclusively with Hit-Boy & both of them are a good fit for each other. King’s Disease earned Esco his first Grammy & the sequel that dropped over the summer was more superior in terms of quality, but are finishing off 2021 by dropping Magic.

“Speechless” is an unsettling opener to the whole album talking about getting his weight & safe up whereas “Meet Joe Black” takes things into boom bap territory advising not to fuck with him. “Ugly” incorporates some wavy synth melodies to detail some hardships & to confirm King’s Disease III is indeed in the works, but then “40-16 Building” is pretty much a glorious sequel to “Rare Form” off his last album.

Meanwhile on “Hollywood Gangsta”, we have Nas detailing being on top & surprising listeners with a bit of a quirky groove to the beat leading into the drumless “Wu is for the Children” talking about the special kind of things in life. The song “Wave Gods” with A$AP Rocky finds the 2 on top of an organ & some dusty drums to get charmingly boastful while the penultimate track “The Truth” makes me so happy calling out people on their bluff. “Dedicated” then finishes off the album with an incredible 2-parter about devoting his life to this shit referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson.

Magic in my eyes is on the same caliber as King’s Disease II & only increases my anticipation for the 3rd installment of the series even more. Hit-Boy continues to expand on the production versatility that the predecessor displayed & Esco keeps showing how a late career MC should be spitting.

Score: 4.5/5

Shady Ray – “Blood Work” review

This is the sophomore album from Inglewood emcee Shady Ray, who’s been around for a little over a decade with a handful of mixtapes under his belt including The Sinister & 1 Man Gang. But now that he signed to Lord Mobb Music a little bit after dropping his full-length debut Blood Pool, Ray celebrated Christmas Eve by having Sushi Punk produce Blood Work from front to back.

After the titular intro, the first song “Dark Path” starts off the whole EP by enlisting Jameel Na’im X for a drumless look at them fighting demons whereas “Fine China” has a more alluring sound to it saying he doesn’t make threats. “Appetite” goes back into drumless territory spitting some vicious battle raps leading into the calming “Medicated” talking about being blessed to be where is now.

Meanwhile on “Water on the Spoon”, we have Ray & Aaqil Ali coming together on top of a soul/horn sample to spit that heroin shit leading into Bale as well as T.F. & Young Act tagging along for “Where We At” to call out those who act like they came from the slums over yet another melodic vocal loop.

The song “Cannes” with BVNGS, Eto, Gifted Gab & Phonk P finds the quintet on top of some guitar licks going at those who have beef with them while the penultimate track “Act n’ Shady” with Flee Lord & Young Act weaves in some dreary pianos telling punks to leave all 3 of them alone. “Soul Food” finishes it all off by getting inspirational lyrically with these heavy horns backing him.

In the end, I think this is the crown jewel of Ray’s discography so far & have a feeling this is only the beginning. Lyrically, I feel like listeners will get a good idea as to who he is personality-wise & Sushi Punk comes correct behind the boards as well.

Score: 3.5/5

Curren$y – “Pilot Talk IV” review

Curren$y is a 40 year old rapper from New Orleans, Lousiana that first got his start with No Limit Records in 2002. He would then hop over to Young Money Entertainment & Cash Money Records in 2006, but eventually branched out in 2008 with his own label Jet Life Recordings. Since then, the man made a name for himself by dropping a handful of projects every single year with the latest being the Cash Fargo-produced Land, Air, Sea EP last month. However, Spitta’s celebrating Christmas Eve by dropping the 4th installment of his renown Pilot Talk series as his 17th full-length album & it’s only right for him to bring Ski Beatz back along for the ride.

“Big Game Fishing” is a pleasantly jazz boom bap opener paying tribute to his city & his homies who came up out of there whereas “Audio Dope 6” mixes these triumphant horns with some saxes talking about pledging to get the whole world high keeping the titular series going strong. “Non Fungible” takes a more spacious route to smoothly spit that braggadocio, but then “There It Is” has a tenser almost funkier sound challenging anyone to step to him bar for bar.

Meanwhile on “Workers & Bosses”, we have Spitta going back into cloud rap territory talking about wins turning into losses just as things start taking off leading into “The Scene” brings the saxes back in to chase away the bad vibes. “Memory Lane” is a soulful ballad with reflective lyricism while the string-laced “So Easy” factually talks about how it’s not hard to say you’re a g. The penultimate track “Under the Wings” slickly details stealing your girl with his Rolls Royce & finally, “Finger Roll” ends the album on a rap rock note telling all the clowns out there to wrap it up.

I hold the original Pilot Talk trilogy amongst the best material of Curren$y’s prolific career & this 4th installment definitely lived up to my expectations. Ski Beatz sticks to the jazz-influenced sounds of it’s predecessors & it’s still an incredibly great match for Spitta’s notoriously calm flow.

Score: 4/5

Phonk P – “Off-White Underbelly” review

Phonk P is a 32 year old MC from Compton, California who came to my attention in the spring of 2019 after dropping the collab EP Up’s & Down’s with his mentor Flee Lord, who would sign P to Lord Mobb Music following the release of his Local Astronauts-produced EP Bitters. However for his official debut under the ever-growing New York based indie imprint, godBLESSbeatz is being brought in to his sophomore EP in it’s entirety which caught my attention given the fact that the Loyalty or Death: Lord Talk trilogy was a lot of people’s introduction to Flee with myself being included.

After the titular intro, the first song “Murder Medley” opens the EP with Fred Blaze & Hyde Park tagging along on top of some melancholic piano chords thirsting for blood whereas “Hiatus” takes a smokier route putting a pause on the haters out there. Compton Menace comes into the picture for the horn/trap infused “Ghetto Byrds” talking about family over everything leading into the hypnotic “Resin” encouraging to keep your enemies closer. The dusty penultimate track “Bity of Industry” finds Hyde returning to proclaim that they’ll bust on anyone who disses them & “Lately” ends it off on a jazzy yet introspective note.

From the get-go, I had a feeling that Off-White Underbelly was gonna be P’s best work thus far & I stood corrected at the end of the day. I feel like he kinda overdid it on the features a tad bit, but there’s no denying that this is the best he’s ever sounded lyrically & godBLESSbeatz’ production on here compared to his previous efforts is just on a different dimension.

Score: 3.5/5

Roddy Ricch – “Live Life Fast” review

This is the highly anticipated sophomore album from Compton, California rapper Roddy Ricch. Coming up in the fall of 2017 off his debut mixtape Feed tha Streets, he would follow it up with a sequel almost a year later & signed to Atlantic Records shortly after. His full-length debut Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial was a significant improvement over this early tapes & with the 2-year anniversary of that album passing by a couple weeks ago, Roddy is finally following it up with Live Life Fast.

After the titular intro, the first song “thailand” starts off the album excellently with a bassy instrumental from Southside & some catchy braggadocio whereas “all good” follows it up with a zestful Ronny J beat as well as Future tagging along to talk about everything being straight. “rollercoastin’” to me seems like a blatant Young Thug ripoff that goes over horribly, but then “hibachi” seems out of place since Roddy barely has any presence on it only handling the hook. Even though Kodak Black’s verse at the start is just vapid, 21 Savage manages to go off at the backend of it & I also like Wheezy’s twangy production.

Meanwhile on “paid my dues”, we have Roddy & Takeoff impressively going back & forth with each other on top of a spacious Boi-1da instrumental about earning everything they got just before “crash the party” follows it up with some keyboards & hi-hats pondering if this woman really loves him. “no way” follows it up by talking about how he can’t trust an ungrateful bitch on top of a tranquil Cardo beat & after the “slow it down” interlude, “man made” is a fantastic piano ballad about being proud of himself.

“murda 1” with Fivio Foreign has a more cloudier approach to it with the help of Kenny Beats as the 2 compliment each other well spitting that gangsta shit while “everything you need” comes off as a boring attempt at a moody, lovey dovey ballad. Lil Baby comes into the picture for “moved to miami” proclaiming themselves as champs with TM88 having the best instrumental on the album without question, but I can’t say the same for “don’t i” even though Roddy & Gunna both kill their verses.

After the “bibi’s interlude”, the song “more than a trend” reveals itself as a half baked attempt at being flirtatious down to the skeletal beat while the penultimate track “late at night” takes another jab at it except it’s MUCH much better from the DJ Mustard beat to the songwriting. “$25M” finishes it all off with a cavernous banger produced by Tarentino reflecting on a vow he made when he was younger to make more bread.

For the 2 year wait, I’d say Live Life Fast very much lived up to the hype & I’ll even go as far to say that it’s Roddy’s most impressive body of work yet. It’s more well-produced compared to his previous material & I appreciate that he’s showing a more vulnerable side to him lyrically

Score: 3.5/5

Esham – “Psyops” review

Esham is a 48 year old MC/producer from Detroit, Michigan who is widely recognized as the godfather of horrorcore alongside his former Natas cohorts Mastamind & the late TNT. His run from 1989-2005 (particularly the albums KKKill the Fetus, Closed Casket & Doubelievengod?) would go on to lay out the groundwork for subsequent horrorcore acts such as the Insane Clown Posse & even Eminem. His output since then has incredibly inconsistent but after dropping an unbearable cover of “Rock ‘n’ Roll N****r” by the punk poet laureate Patti Smith herself over the spring, I was still morbidly curious going into The Unholy’s 22nd full-length offering given his impact on this reviewer’s hometown as well as the most underappreciated subgenre of hip hop culture.

“Off Duty” opens the album with some funky bass licks & a heavy guitar calling out the guy who filmed George Floyd’s murder rather than doing something whereas “Wildlife” keeps the rap rock vibes going detailing how it is in the jungles even though I don’t really like how muffled Esham’s voice is. “B.L.M. (Burn, Loot, Murder)” has a riff buried in the drums that sounds like it was taken from the 60’s calling to retaliate against Big Brother, but then “Ms. Information” weaves in a bare guitar riff to call out the uneducated with a garish hook.

Meanwhile on “Lone Wolf”, we have Esham on top of some punky drums advising to stay away from criminals just before “#NoGoZone” has a much more rawer aesthetic to it sonically talking about the hard times we’re in. “Scam Likely” weaves in a buzzing guitar lead tackling identity thief leading into “Silver Bullet”, which is an 83 second riot starter Down the heavier riff.

“Selling Dope” literally has nothing to do with such rather it’s yet another addition to the evergrowing list of boring Esham love songs whereas “SNAFU” gets back on the punk tip talking about partying 24/7 with some catchy whistling throughout. The distorted guitar on “A Love Song” is pretty badass even though the vocals & lyrics are just awful while the track “Unholies” has a more bluesy tone to it getting in hustler bag. The penultimate song “Reel Spill” seems like an off-the-cuff freestyle even though I do like the a bare guitar instrumental & the title track rounds it off with a badass revolutionary ballad.

I genuinely had no what idea to expect from Psyops, but it just so happens to be Esham’s best album since Dichotomy. Dude’s always been notorious for sampling rock music throughout his career, so it’s nice to hear him stick to that sound for the course of an entire project. Plus given that Reel Life Productions has been based in Minneapolis for quite some time now & the protests that took place over there a year & a half ago as a result of George Floyd’s murder, I like how he sticks to this political/conscious concept revolving around it. However, my only real complaint is that some of these songs could’ve been mixed better.

Score: 4/5

Krizz Kaliko – “Wrapped Up” review

This is the 3rd EP from Kansas City recording artist Krizz Kaliko. Coming up as one of the first acts to sign to Strange Music alongside Kutt Calhoun, he would go on to work very closely with the local independent powerhouse’s founder Tech N9ne for nearly 2 decades whether it be providing featured rap verses or simply providing background vocals for a number of albums & EPs that Tech has put out. As far as his own output goes, Krizz dropped a total 7 full-length albums & 2 EPs through the Snake & Bat before amicably departing over the spring to form his very own label Ear House Inc. alongside his wife Shoo Shoo. They’ve dropped a handful of singles throughout the year since & are now combining them into Wrapped Up.

“Gifted” is an energizing opener to the EP with Krizz & Shoo Shoo hopping on an aggressive trap beat from MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 to spit some hardcore braggadocio raps whereas “Snowfall” switches it up into a lighthearted Christmas ballad with some warm piano melodies throughout. “Somewhere” takes things into a more glossier route singing his ass off providing motivation for those who’re in a dark place this holiday season just before “Weight” comes through with an ode to body positivity fusing elements of gospel & trap pretty well.

The song “Feelin’ Good” is a decent summertime bop with an “All Night”-esque instrumental from Wyshmaster that’s all fine & dandy until Futuristic comes in sounding like a blatant Chance the Rapper clone while the penultimate track ”Pressure” goes into a darker direction talking about moving forward despite the struggles of everyday life. Then there’s “B.B. (Birthday Bitch)”, where Krizz & T-Pain deliver a hyphy-tinged banger for all the ladies out there that want to celebrate their special day.

Krizz has always been a man of many talents with Wrapped Up, we got a respectable kickoff to this new chapter of his career. Much like his Strange swan song L.I.F.E. (Legend Immortal Forever Eternal), the EP is a healthy mix of his lethal MCing skills & powerful singing voice except he’s proving that he can hold it all down without Tech N9ne.

Score: 3.5/5

Boldy James – “Super Tecmo Bo” review

Boldy James is a 39 year old MC from Detroit, Michigan who broke out in the fall of 2013 off his Alchemist-produced debut M.1.C.S. (My 1st Chemistry Set). He would later go on to land a contract with Nas’ independent label Mass Appeal Records for a little while before getting locked up but once Boldy came home, Uncle Al would help get his name back out there once getting out by dropping the Boldface EP around Christmas 2019 & then the sophomore album The Price of Tea in China at the beginning of last year. This was followed up with the Sterling Toles-produced Manger on McNichols which was as equally fantastic, but the Griselda Records-backed Versace Tape EP was a tad bit disappointing given how rushed it was. He & Alchemist just dropped Bo Jackson to widespread acclaim over the summer, but are returning together out of the blue for Boldy’s 4th EP.

“Level Tipping Scales” sets it off well by spitting that pyrex shit on top of an atmospheric instrumental whereas “No Laughing Matter” follows it up by warning listeners that the drug dealer life ain’t no joke & the upbeat production is just fly as fuck to me. “Hot Water Tank” has these cool little whistles throughout the beat as well as how it details the gangsta mentality even though ICECOLDBISHOP’s verse is wack as fuck, but then “Bumps & Bruises” takes things into jazz territory & it’s nice to hear him getting more insightful through his lyrics.

Meanwhile on “Great Adventures”, we have Boldy on top of a silky yet drumless beat vividly detailing getting the gang tied up just before “Moth in the Flame” talks about being true to the game & the theatrical production enhances the seriousness of it very well. The song “300 Fences” compares his Concreatures crew to that of the infamous Black Mafia Family on top of an apprehensive instrumental while the penultimate track “Guilt” incorporates in some weepy strings talking about someone not being built for this life. “Francois” then ends the album with a gritty dedication to the thugs out there.

Bo Jackson has quickly become the best work of Boldy’s career in my personal opinion & for them to follow it up as quickly as they did, Super Tecmo Bo is very close to being on that same caliber. I respect that they toned it down on the features even though I wasn’t feeling the only one on the EP at all, but both parties continue to bring the best out of one another both lyrically & sonically.

Score: 4/5

Jay Jules – “U.N.I.T.E.D. (U Neglected Intentions Together Enemies Different)” review

This is the 2nd EP from emcee Jay Jules. Coming up at the very beginning of 2019 off his debut EP 1 Shot, the man has continued to stay busy since then by dropping a handful of singles including “Bills Payed” & “3/4 Choppin’”. However for U.N.I.T.E.D., he’s enlisted Gabiga to produce the whole thing & has brought a wide range of MCs on board.

“U” kicks off the whole EP on some dusty boom bap shit talking about how the way we get it matters whereas the Ned-E assisted “Neglected” takes a mellower turn saying life can’t be easy. Possibility tags along for the summery “Intentions” clarifying that they’re both far from malicious, but then Rapture Boy hops on the piano-laced “Together” talking about love being supreme.

The song “Enemies” with Ms. C-Line somberly finds the 2 saying they have love for those who don’t feel the same towards them while the penultimate track “Different” enlists Mabreeze on top of some synthesizers encouraging listeners to not let people tell them they can’t do shit. “Unity” then ends the EP with a fresh 11-minute cypher showcasing talents from all over the world.

Compared to 1 Shot, I really dig how Jay went in a completely different direction. Gabiga hones it in with the lo-fi production, every MC involved has a style of their own & provide some unique perspectives to the range of themes presented throughout the half hour.

Score: 3.5/5

Pi’erre Bourne – “Yo88!” review

Pi’erre Bourne is a 28 year old producer, rapper, songwriter & engineer from South Carolina who became one of the most in demand beatsmiths in hip hop today off Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia”. He’s also made a name for himself on the mic by dropping 8 mixtapes as well as 2 EPs & 2 full-lengths albums, with the latest being The Life of Pi’erre 5 over the summer finishing the series. But to move on from it, Pi’erre’s enlisting TM88 to fully produce his 10th mixtape.

“O.M.S. (On My Shit)” is a futuristic opener talking about being in his bag whereas “Pop Out” takes the cloudier route paying homage to his bitch. “Homecoming” co-produced by Outtatown has a more uptempo sound talking about the hood showing love whenever he comes back around which gets me in a good mood when it comes on, but then “Stunt 102” almost has that Whole Lotta Red sound to it flexing his lavish lifestyle.

Meanwhile on “Chit Chat”, we have Wiz Khalifa joining Pi’erre on top of an atmospheric instrumental calling out those who be running their mouths for those who love moshpit starters leading into the synth-laced “Block Boy” talking about carrying his block with him wherever he goes which is admirable. “Yo!gurt” is basically a BJ anthem going into a more ethereal direction just before Young Nudy tags along for the spacious “Richer Dreams” talking about their wealth.

The song “Love Scam” is essentially him saying there ain’t no price on his girl’s love at all over an intoxicating beat while the penultimate track “Cullinan” explains that he gets better with time & the guitar licks on here are just stellar. “Run It” then ends the tape with some suspenseful synth melodies that really draw you in celebrating his success.

The Life of Pi’erre 5 showed many improvements in Pi’erre, so I was absolutely excited going into this tape. Lo & behold: I like it just as much if not more than his last album. Dude’s getting progressively better as a performer & I think it really goes to show that people need to give TM88 his flowers for helping lay the groundwork for modern trap production.

Score: 4/5