Peter Rosenberg – “Real Late” review

Peter Rosenberg is a 41 year old DJ, TV show host & professional wrestling personality from Maryland who most people these days are familiar with as the co-host of Ebro in the Morning on Hot 97. Now despite me personally not being a fan of that show AT ALL, my curiosity for this full-length debut of Rosenberg’s got the best of me given how much I enjoyed all of the singles he’s dropped leading up to it.

The title track that starts off the album has a chilling boom bap instrumental from DJ Skizz showcasing the worldplay of Vel the Wonder whereas the next song “Stain” by Westside Gunn is pretty much him quenching for blood & the eerie JR Swiftz production kicks the vibe up to 11. We have Ransom, Smoke DZA & Styles P coming together to proclaim themselves as messiahs on the trippy “S.R.D.” while the lead single “Marcus Smart” by Flee Lord & Stove God Cook$ gives off 70’s blaxploitation vibes both lyrically & sonically.

Flee sticks around with Roc Marciano to reminisce on the days of slinging coke on the sumptuous “Hallways” just before Eto & Jay NiCE hop aboard the jazzy “Mind Over Matter” to address how COVID has fucked up the music industry. The song “Next Chamber” with Method Man, Raekwon & Willie the Kid contains a mystic Graymatter instrumental for them to rap about pride over while the Meyhem Lauren solo cut “Words of Meyhem” gets back on that drug dealer shit backed by a Buckwild beat with a funky bass-line & some dusty drums.

Crimeapple, Ghostface Killah & Jim Jones come together for the mafiosi-themed dreary “Snake Eyes” while the Rasheed Chappell solo joint “Midnight Sunday” brings in some strings & saxes bragging about his lifestyle. The song “Wu Generation” by the 2nd Generation Wu finds the quartet trading back & forth paying tribute to each of their fathers over a rich instrumental while the penultimate track “I Want It All” by Fly Anakin & Nickelus F is a much more soothing tune about achieving success. The closer “Dear” by Homeboy Sandman continues to bring the jazz influences as he details why he’s here.

Regardless of my thoughts on Ebro in the Morning, I can’t deny that this album is pretty enjoyable. There are a couple of weak spots in the tracklisting, but a good portion of of the emcees & producers that Rosenberg has amassed use this platform of his to showcase their talents & I think it’s a real good look for them.

Score: 3.5/5

Moemaw Naedon & Calig Kontra – “Cult Theatre” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between Pittsburgh emcee Moemaw Naedon & New Orleans’ very own Calig Kontra. The pair have worked together on a couple of songs in the past like “Slime Volcanos” & “Old Times”, but are now joining forces with producer Pyramid Tapes (also hailing from New Orleans) to take their chemistry to the next level on Cult Theatre.

“A New Abyss” is a short yet evil opener as the duo jump on an organ-laced boom bap instrumental to talk their shit just before Lyrikill tags along the psychedelic “Lucid Fragments” to say they’re proud of their environments. Meanwhile on “Witches Sabbath”, the production has an almost industrial feel to it as Lord Goat comes in to help get boisterous before going into more conscious direction on “Magenta Brainwash”.

I think the prophetic lyrics on “Sovereign Sirens” are really great as is the cinematic beat & despite the brevity of “Pass the Vodka”, it does it’s job as an aggressive alcohol-themed banger. The song “Tortured Calculations” tells the story of both MCs pulling up to someone’s show backed by an instrumental while the penultimate track “Altered Beast” is a thunderous proclamation of being living embodiments of syllable evolutions. “Futura Dystopia” is a victorious closer telling everyone to stay late for the sequel.

Now if we really do get a follow-up to this EP at some point down the road, I’d be all for it because I happen to like Cult Theatre quite a bit. Pyramid Tapes whips up some of the best batch of beats he’s ever made & both MCs hit down some pretty provocative lyricism throughout it’s 26 minute run.

Score: 4/5

Ty Fontaine – “Ascension” review

Ty Fontaine is a 21 year old rapper from Washington, D.C. breaking out in 2018 off the debut EP Do Not Disturb. His profile continued to grow from there, especially when Taz Taylor signed him to Internet Money Records last spring. But to build off the hype as a potential nominee for the 2021 XXL Freshman Class this summer, Ty has to decided to drop his long-awaited 3rd mixtape.

“Glowin’ Up” is a touching opener as Ty hops on a cloudy, drumless instrumental to address his continuous rise to fame whereas “RIP Whitney” is a beautiful tribute to the late Whitney Houston that heavily samples “I Have Nothing”. Meanwhile on “Dummy”, we have Supah Mario help go into an electronic-tinged direction with lyrics about going hard just before Cactus Jack Records’ latest signee SoFaygo tags along for the atmospheric banger “Run It Up”.

The song “Right My Wrongs” is a psychedelic cut about forever stuntin’ while the Richie Souf-produced “Nelly Furtado” is a short, dancier joint about his girl. I thought “Inhale” was a dope single leading up to the tape with it’s stripped back-production & Ty’s melodic delivery about smoking weed as was “Pristine”, which is a pillowy ode to Goyard.

“I Can’t Feel My Face” is a drug anthem that almost has a Neptunes influence in the beat while “White Girl Benjamins” is a tropical tune about choosing money over bitches. The track “Celebration” is a cavernous yet bassy theme to his newfound fortune while the penultimate song “Addicted” assures his lover that they ain’t gon’ lose everything they started without getting too sugary with it. The tape ends with the title track, which is Ty rapping over a glistening instrumental saying it’s only up from here & rightfully so.

This kid is one of my favorite mainstream artists on the come-up & I think Ascension is really gonna increase his chances of going places because it’s his best work yet in my opinion. The production choices are much more refined in comparison to Ty’s previous efforts & his performances are infectiously catchy.

Score: 4/5

Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen – “Your Worst Nightmare” review

This is the brand new collaborative effort between California horrorcore emcees Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen. We’ve heard them on a handful of joints in the past whether it be “G World Order” as well as “Disconnect the Doubt” or even Don Blanco’s “Good Name”, so it was only a matter of time for the duo to come together in a full-length capacity with Your Worst Nightmare.

After the intro, D-Dubb & Lil Sicx come along the atmospheric yet paranoia-themed title track whereas “Smoke” is a glitchy barnburner. Meanwhile on “Know What I Mean”, we go into a more spacious direction as they talk about leaving the murder scene untraceable while “Listen Close” is a grungy trap cut where both of them speak to the higher power. After the “What Are Nightmares?” skit, chopper extraordinaire Twisted Insane stops through for the cold-blooded “Slippin’” leading into the futuristic albeit dejecting “Stay Outta My Face”.

Off the Gas” if you couldn’t tell is a psychedelic weed anthem & even though I don’t care for Lace Leno’s verse on “Get Yo Money”, I love the diabolical production & it’s theme about stacking your bread. The track “Big Talkin’” gets braggadocious over a bouncy instrumental while the penultimate song “You Ain’t Really” with Fon Check is a dramatic shot at wankstas. After the “Wake Up” skit, “Forever” is a woozy closer with Agape joining Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen to tell their significant others that they’ll always love them.

I was wondering how this would turn out given how dope they sounded together on the 2 songs off G.W.O. (G World Order) & was not let down by it at all. I fuck with the aggressive trap production & their chemistry sounds better than ever before.

Score: 3.5/5

Novatore – “Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience” review

Novatore is a 33 year old MC from Chicago, Illinois coming up as a member of the Infamous Crew. He’s also built up an impressive solo career in the last 6 years by dropping 4 EPs & 7 albums, the previous being Portrait of a Mad Man this past November. But given his history with Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance, it’s only right for them to drop a sequel to Embrace the Darkness.

After the “Demon to Some” intro, the first song “Antisocial” is a boom bap banger about how Novatore doesn’t like people whereas “Smoke & Mirrors” goes into a more operatic direction to tell listeners what you thought it was is something that isn’t. NEMS comes along for the atmospheric “Myth” pretty much saying their success was imminent while the somewhat quirkily-produced “Embrace the Darkness” opens up about losing faith watching people die.

Meanwhile with “Mask Up”, we get a Japanese sample in the beat as Novatore teams up with G-Mo Skee sending warning shots to their naysayers just before Termanology & A.M. Early Morning help get reminiscent on the string-laced “Looking Back”.
The actual “Night Raiders” song by Azthmatix succeeding an “Opening Credits” interlude brings in some synth-horns as they talk about there’s no one like them while the penultimate track “Raising Hell” is an off-the-top freestyle backed by a weepy beat. The album ends with “Workaholic”, which works in a hypnotic vocal sample & the dude raps about his hustle obviously.

It’s very rare when a sequel album is better than the predecessor, but Explorers of Experience pulls it off. Novatore’s pen-game keeps elevating to higher levels with each new project he puts out, you can never really go wrong whenever C-Lance is on the boards & putting them together results in mayhem.

Score: 4/5

88GLAM – “Heaven Can Wait” review

88GLAM is a duo from Toronto, Ontario, Canada consisting of Derek Wise & 88 Camino. They originally caught my attention in 2018 when The Weeknd signed them to his Republic Records imprint X♥O Records, only re-releasing their first 2 mixtapes before departing last summer. But with their full-length debut Close to Heaven, Far from God on the way, they’re preluding it by dropping a 3-track EP.

“Five Stars” kicks the whole 10 minute torture chamber off with a plain instrumental, lifeless performances & lyrics that aren’t very sexy at all. In fact, this one part during the hook were 88 Camino says “she gon’ take this dick like she a virgin again” could very well be one of the worst lines I’ve heard all year. The next song right after “Clockwork” goes into more cloudier territory as the duo mopes about “I hate what happened to you but it’s all my fault” & the guitar laced closer “Wockstar” is a vapid look into their rich lifestyles.

Coming from someone who’s been a huge Weeknd fan since the Trilogy days, I could never see the appeal in these guys & Heaven Can Wait exemplifies that more than ever. I don’t mean any disrespect, but the production choices are painfully drab & it’s poorly written throughout. I’d rather listen to any ΠΔV project (specifically Emergency Tsunami) than this EP & that dude’s one of the most boring artists to blow up in the last 5 years.

Score: 1.5/5

Ed O.G. & Insight – Self-Titled review

This is a brand new collaborative album between Boston veterans Ed O.G. & Insight. Both emcees have collaborated before on songs like “Strategy” off the latter’s 2004 classic The Blast Radius but all these years later, they’ve decided to come together for an eponymous full-length outing.

“Just Listen” is a plain & simple opener to the album with it’s flute-inflicted boom bap production as the whole thing starts off with the duo telling Siri they wants something classic, but not trendy just before telling listeners to remember who they are on the dreamy albeit punchy “It’s Edo & Insight”.

With the perfectly titled “Never Too Late to Correct Your Mistakes”, we get some grand string sections with lyrics about righting your wrongs whereas “Choose Your Path” provides food for thought over a luxurious instrumental.

Meanwhile on “Good in Goodbye”, we go into a somewhat funkier direction as the 2 talk about breakups leading up to them telling the listener that life isn’t about choices but how one chooses on the piano-heavy “1 Step at a Time”.

The pair bring in some sirens for “Ceiling” as they talk about not even reaching their pinnacle yet & then we get a remake of my all-time favorite Big Daddy Kane song: “Set It Off”.

The penultimate track “It Takes Process” sonically mixes together some keys & strings as they talk about how Rome wasn’t built in a day & to finish it off, we get a reimagining of the Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs joint “I Gotta Have It” with the closer “Unite & Let’s All Get Down.”

As a fan of both these guys, I’m really glad to hear them come together because this is a super solid album in my book. The chemistry is great & I love the jazzy undertones in the production as well. If they plan on doing more together down the road, then I’m here for it.

Score: 4/5

The Truth & Frank B. – “Badfellas” review

This is a brand new collaborative debut EP between New York emcees The Truth & Frank B. The pair first came together last year on the song “I Know I Can” off of The Truth’s Spring EP & with the 1 year anniversary of that project coming up this weekend, they’ve seen fit to take listener through what it means to be Italian-American hip hop fans by crafting Badfellas.

After the “Lil Mo Mozzarella” intro, the title track incorporates some harps into a boom bap instrumental as the duo take a Ray Liotta quote from Goodfellas about wanting to be a gangster for as long as he can remember & making it into their own before lacing some keyboards & an organ on the money hungry “Fuck U Pay Me”. The homie Bobby J from Rockaway tags along for “Paint Houses” as the 3 show homage to The Irishman before going into a more rubbery direction on “Funny How?” as they put their own spin on a Joe Pesci quote from Goodfellas.

Meanwhile, we have Cold Shoulda stopping by for the quasi-jazzy “Code Red” discussing that they gotta watch their backs whereas the dusty “Caruso” is more reflective in terms of lyricism. I can definitely see people getting rowdy to the penultimate track “My Cousin” given it’s disrespectful lyricism & it’s off the chart energy before “That’s It” ends things off by telling listeners not to break the code of the streets & you can definitely tell the instrumental has a strong DJ Premier influence to it.

If anyone reading this is a fan of both traditional East Coast hip hop & Scorsese flicks, then this EP is absolutely work checking out. Both emcees bounce off each other very well, the movie references are super clever & the production is incredibly gritty.

Score: 4/5

Apathy – “Where the River Meets the Sea” review

Apathy is a 42 year old emcee/producer from Willimantic, Connecticut coming up just 2 decades back as a member of the Demigodz & the Army of the Pharaohs collectives founded by Open Mic & Vinnie Paz respectively. He was also signed to Atlantic Records at one point, but left due to creative differences. Since then The Alien Tongue has built up quite the solo discography on his own, with my favorites being 2011’s Honkey Kong! & even his previous album The Widow’s Son in 2018. But after years in the making, Ap is finally releasing his 7th full-length outing.

The title track following the “Headwater” intro kicks things off with a glossy tribute to his father & after “The Ocean” interlude, we get some cinematic string sections “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” & the lyrical theme of it was inspired by the opening line off one of my favorite Public Enemy songs “Welcome to the Terrordome”. We go into a more soulful direction with the confrontational “We Don’t Fuck Around” just before Styles P & Lil’ Fame hop aboard the guitar-laced “P.S.E. (Public School Era)”, which conceptually is based around the opening line off the iconic Biggie joint “Party & Bullshit”.

Anoyd & Chris Webby are enlisted for the fittingly aquatic “Underwater” as they spit about slippin’ off the deep end before “River of Light” provides us with a progressively layered instrumental & lyrics proclaiming himself as a King cut from a different cloth. The song “Force Fields” with Pep Love & Tajai finds the trio hopping on an quasi Middle Eastern-inspired beat from Teddy Roxspin letting haters know you can’t break them leading up to the optimistic “A Rainy Day in Connecticut”.

Meanwhile on the Stu Bangas-produced “Mermaid Music”, we get an organ-laced tribute to Ap’s wife whereas the Snak the Ripper-featured “Dream Sequence” goes back into a more orchestral territory as they go in about not wanting to wake up from the dreams they have. And just before “The Mouth” outro, the final song “Remember the Night” reunites with Hayze is a somber depiction of how they always do their deepest thinking at sundown.

I have a tendency to enjoy artists at their most mature & that’s what Ap has done on Where the River Meets the Sea. A couple of the features I could’ve done without but I think his production has only gotten better with time & you can really hear the vulnerability in The Alien Tongue’s voice throughout his performances.

Score: 4.5/5

DMX – “Exodus 1:7” review

This is the 8th & final full-length outing from Yonkers icon DMX, whom originally started off as a beatboxer for Ready Ron as a teenager in the mid-80s. However it wasn’t until 1998 when X saved Def Jam Recordings from bankruptcy by dropping 2 of the most critically acclaimed hip hop albums of that decade back to back: It’s Dark & Hell’s Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. The follow-up …And Then There Was X at the tail-end of the next year was just as great in my opinion but from there, the next 4 albums from Ruff Ryders Entertainment’s flagship artist would range from average at best or hideous at worst. But after completing Exodus 1:7 just before his unfortunate passing 7 weeks back, Swizz Beatz & Def Jam are coming together to release it publicly.

The araabMUZIK co-produced “That’s My Dog” with The LOX kicks the album off as a misty ode to friendship whereas the next track “Bath Salt” with both JAY-Z & Nas is an aggressive, blaring theme for the streets. We get a cool sample of “California My Way” by The Main Ingredient on “Dog’s Out” as Lil Wayne joins X to wreak havoc on the mic whereas the Moneybagg Yo assisted “Money Money Money” is a weak attempt at trying to get a radio hit despite it’s Phantom of the Opera-esque production.

Meanwhile on “Hold Me Down”, we go into a more electro direction as X alludes to spirituality just before doing his own version of an unreleased Swizz/Kanye collab that is “Skyscrapers” co-produced by the underappreciated Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis. After the “Stick Up” skit, the almighty Griselda comes along for “Hood Blues” as the 4 reminisce on their come-up whilst sampling “Shady Blues” by Lee Mason before things take a turn into a more romantic direction as X & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg jump on a “Sexual Healing” sample provided for the mR. pOrTeR co-produced “Take Control”.

Nas is re-enlisted for the meditative yet uplifting “Walking in the Rain” & after the titular skit, the penultimate track “Letter to My Son” finishes off the album by making a guitar-tinged tribute to X’s youngest son Exodus (whom the album was named after). To round it out, the “Prayer” outro is a spoken word piece that asks God to always look after us whether it be good times or bad times.

Anyone who’s been following me long enough probably already knows my stance on posthumous albums, so I’m not gonna get too deep into it. That being said, Exodus 1:7 is absolutely amongst the better ones out there. I understand some heads might be turned off by the large amount of features going into it which I understand because that tends to be the case with a lot of posthumous albums, but you can definitely tell this was completed before X’s passing because every joint sounds fully fleshed out & he actually has chemistry with those who contributed. Rest In Peace to the Dog!

Score: 3.5/5