This is the brand new collaborative album from Alabama rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, fashion designer & entrepreneur Yelawolf as well as Floridian rapper Caskey. The pair have done songs together in the past such as “No Such Thing as Free” off of Trunk Muzik III & “Remember” off of Black Sheep 4 but to kick off their 2021, the duo are coming out of the woodwork with Yelawolf Blacksheep.
The album kicks off with “Just the Intro”, where Yelawolf & Caskey are going back & forth with one another for 4 minute straight over a victorious beat. The next song “Daytona” talks about how you can’t slow them down over a dim trap instrumental whereas the track “Been a Problem” talks about their stronghold on the rap game over some heavy bass & rattling hi-hats. The song “Billy & the Purple Datson” talks about doing what they have to in order to make that money over an unhinged beat while the track “Turn Up in Tijuana” talks about partying over a generic trap instrumental.
The song “Cookies” with Cub da Cookup Boss finds the trio talking about ride or die bitches over a sorrowful beat & then there’s the mediocre remix to “McQueen Fiend” off of Caskey’s previous album I Changed. The song “Open” talks about still being “open” after pulling out over a Three 6 Mafia-type beat while the track “C’est La Vie” talks about naysayers over a harp-tinged instrumental. The penultimate track “Tat Shop” talks about getting skulls inked on them for the haters over a trap beat with a cool flute incorporation & the fallen homies, but then the closer “$1M Deal” talks about being free from Shady Records & Cash Money Records respectively over a misty instrumental.
Coming away from this album, my feelings on it are mixed. I think the production plays well to both rappers’ respective sounds, but the chemistry is kinda odd considering that Yelawolf is outrapping Caskey on just about every joint.
The Insane Clown Posse are a horrorcore duo, the founders of Juggalo Championship Wrestling & the longest reigning JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions consisting of Violent J & Shaggy 2 Dope. There have been a total of 6 members in the group since its inception in 1989, but has been boiled down to J & Shaggy since the release of their 1992 debut album Carnival of Carnage. Together, they would create an empire whether it be subsequent albums like Riddle Box & The Great Milenko or expanding the self-owned Psychopathic Records as a force to be reckoned with in the underground by signing artists from Twiztid to more recently Ouija Macc. Now I wasn’t the biggest fan of ICP’s previous full-length album Fearless Fred Fury back in 2019 because I felt like it was rushed, however I do respect how angry it was. But as they gear up for the next joker’s card Yum Yum Bedlam, the wicked clowns are preluding it by dropping Yum Yum’s Lure on Juggalo Day.
After the “Bewitching” intro produced by 1 Man Kru of the Keepaz of the Krypt, the next song “Loyalty” finds J & Shaggy detailing what it means to be faithful over an ominous piano instrumental whereas the track “Afraid of Life” might be one of the worst ICP songs I’ve ever heard, as they talk about preferring to be a zombie phantom over a rock-flavored beat from Alien Ant Farm of all people.
The song “Smell of Rain” talks about women consuming them including a reference to 新日本プロレス founder, 3-time IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, 10–time G1クライマックス winner, WWE Hall of Famer & unrecognized WWE Champion アントニオ猪木 over a happy go lucky instrumental from Shaggytheairhead while the track “Ding Ding Doll” tells the story of a boy who buys a cursed Ecuadorian pull string doll from the dark web & the doll comes to life to wreak terror over a pillowy beat over a pillowy beat.
The song “I’ve Had It Worse” talks about how life sucks for everyone over a skeletal trap instrumental from the homie Devereaux while the penultimate track “Candyman” is a solo Shaggy cut with some of his most cringey lyrics on top of a more playful Mike E. Clark beat. The EP ends with “Clownheads”, which is a bloated & redundant advertisement for their Clownhead Paintings.
Coming from a Detroiter who’s been down with the clown since I was in middle school, I think the House Party Peep Show EP is much better because this is just as bad as The Calm & Eye of the Storm. I think the production is decent, but the execution on a good portion of these songs are terrible in my personal opinion. Really hope these songs aren’t on Yum Yum Bedlam & hopefully that album isn’t as disappointing as the material we got on here.
Fat Ray is a 39 year old MC from Detroit, Michigan who came up as 1/3 of the production trio B.R. Gunna alongside local veterans Black Milk & Young RJ. He would eventually go solo in 2008 by releasing the criminally slept-on The Set Up entirely produced by Black Milk, following it up until a full decade later with both The Lunch Room mixtape & the subsequent sophomore effort Perseus. However out of nowhere, the Bruiser Brigade member has seen fit to return by dropping his 3rd full-length album.
The title track that kicks the album off talks about being happy to be back on his shit over a jazzy boom bap beat from Raphy, who produced all 3 joints on the entire thing. The next song “Flight Risk / Plead the 5th” gets on the gangsta rap tip over an instrumental, that starts off jazzy, but later switches up into a bare soul sample. The track “Menacing” talks about going to war if you want it over a beat that sounds like something RZA would’ve made for Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) while the cleverly-titled “Ethan Hunt” makes references to the Mission: Impossible franchise over a more chilled out instrumental.
The track “Jordan vs. Bird” gets on his mob shit over a boom bap beat with a dark atmosphere to it while the song “Dopeman Heaven” with Danny Brown finds the 2 talking about slanging drugs over a Black Milk instrumental with some downcast keyboard melodies. The track “Old Faithful” featuring Bruiser Wolf sees the duo talking about being fresh to death over a sleek beat while the song “Top Ramen” talks about not having much coming up over a psychedelic instrumental.
The track “Bar Smithing / Off-Safety” shows off his lyricism & the beat once again has that vintage Wu-Tang feel at the start, but it switches up into something more apprehensive. “The One” talks about how everyone wants to be that guy over a Crisfantom instrumental that’s clearly inspired by the late J Dilla while the penultimate track “The Sword” talks about being the 2nd level of crazy over an otherworldly beat. The album ends with “Mental Case”, where Ray talks about his homie Kutty over some harmonious vocal melodies.
Perseus might be the weakest of the 3 studio LPs we’ve gotten from Fat Ray so far even if there are a few songs I still go back to, but I’d put Santa Barbara right behind his debut & have no doubts that he can top it if he decides to put out more music a few years from now. The production’s more boom bap oriented than its predecessor & he brings a couple of his Bruiser Brigade brethren to spit hardcore gangsta lyricism for almost a half hour.
JPEGMAFIA is a 31 year old rapper, singer & producer from Baltimore, Maryland who broke out in 2016 with the release of his full-length debut Black Ben Carson. However, wouldn’t be until the man’s next 2 albums Veteran at the beginning of 2018 & then All My Heroes are Cornballs the following year where he would earn respect across the board & reveal himself as one of the most creative minds in hip hop today. He dropped a bunch of singles last year & compiled them onto an 8-track EP. But after signing to Republic Records last month, Peggy has cooked up another EP albeit with almost all newly recorded material.
I have no idea why the EP starts off with “LAST DANCE!” as it originally appeared on EP! a couple months back, but it’s still a great song. After the “INTRO!”, the first actual song “FIX URSELF!” talks about being too real for this shit over a cold instrumental while the next track “KELTEC!” talks about not needing industry friends over a futuristic beat.
The song “THIS ONE’S FOR US!” gets combative over an atmospheric instrumental while the penultimate track “PANIC ROOM!” talks about suckas over a lush beat from James Blake. The EP finishes off with “FEED HER!”, where Peggy flexes over a cloudy instrumental.
I was curious to hear how this would sound given that Peggy’s on a major label now, but I enjoy it almost as much as EP!. Yeah he’s going into a more pop rap territory on here, but he makes it work by putting his own unique spin on that more melodic sound.
slowthai is a 26 year old rapper from Northampton, England who came onto my radar in 2019 off his debut album Nothing Great About Britain. His profile continued to grow shortly after due to his feature on BROCKHAMPTON’s latest album at the time GINGER but with the 2 year anniversary of his first album coming up in the spring, slowthai has finally delivered his long-awaited sophomore effort.
The album starts with “45 SMOKE”, where slowthai talks about the world being his over an abrasive instrumental. The next song “CANCELLED” with Skepta serves as a well written response to cancel culture over a ghostly beat with some whistling while the track “MAZZA” with A$AP Rocky finds the 2 talking about the meaning of insanity over an off-the-wall trap instrumental. The song “VEX” talks about people irritating him over an energetic instrumental, but the following track “WOT” is so short that there’s no point to it being on here.
The song “DEAD” introspectively dives into the subject of the afterlife over a shadowy beat while the track “PLAY WITH FIRE” talks about feeling like he’s got his head in a blender over a playful instrumental. The song “i tried” opens up about a suicide attempt slowthai once had over an oxymoronic beat while the track “focus” talks about his brothers being in prison over a weary instrumental from Kenny Beats.
The song “terms” talks about how things in life could be worse over some cloud rap production while the track “push” talks about how no one wants to see you grow over a bare piano instrumental. The song “n.h.s. (national health service)” provides reassurance in a post-COVID world over a sparse beat while the penultimate track “feel away” pays tribute to his late brother Michael over a soft instrumental. The album ends with “adhd”, where slowthai talks about how “the passenger always been a witness” over a low trap beat.
Dude might be the best up-&-comer out of the UK right now because I enjoy this album more than I did Nothing Great About Britain. I mean as much as I enjoy slowthai’s previous full-length effort for how gritty & political it sounded, the production on TYRON is cleaner & the lyrics are more personal this time around.
This is brand new EP from Detroit horrorcore duo, Juggalo Championship Wrestling founders & the longest reigning JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions the Insane Clown Posse. Consisting of Violent J & Shaggy 2 Dope, a lot of cats don’t know that 3 other members came & went during the first 5 years of the group’s inception. Not only would The Duke of the Wicked & the Southside Strangla go on to create seminal wicked shit albums like The First 6, but they gained an extremely loyal fanbase in the process & their self-owned Psychopathic Records became an independent hip hop powerhouse as the label’s roster continued to grow. They did a series of Paetron streams to commemorate what would’ve been the 27th annual Hallowicked show & to give back to everyone subscribed, the wicked clowns gifted them an exclusive 6-track EP.
The EP kicks off with “The Blob”, where Violent J tells the story of a killer blob from another galaxy over a dire beat from Devereaux. The next song “My Forehead” is literally J & Shaggy talking about how big Violent J’s forehead is over an old school instrumental from none other than Mike E. Clark while the track “Cartoon Goon” finds the duo going back & forth about an illustration that will seal your fate over a vilainous beat from Shaggytheairhead.
The song “Mighty Mote” sounds like a leftover from the Fearless Fred Fury sessions as J talks about a kid getting revenge on everyone from his step-dad to his school busdriver to the electronic/trap fused production while the penultimate track “The Ceremony” is a beautiful dedication to Shaggy, Billy Bill & Jumpsteady backed by an uplifting trap beat. The EP closes out with “Live Dead Forever”, which is easily the most wicked joint on the entire thing referencing the late Luke Perry only a month after his son Jack became the current AEW World Tag Team Champion.
For the 4 month wait, it was well worth it in my opinion. Violent J is still one of the greatest storytellers in hip hop history, Shaggy 2 Dope even though he only has very few verses on here is just as skilled & I do like how the production range from the touching “Medals” & the vintage “My Forehead” to the trap-flavored “Mighty Mote”. Safe to say it’s giving me hope for Yum Yum’s Lure next Wednesday as well as Yum Yum Bedlam later on in the year.
Phora is a 26 year old rapper from Anaheim, California who broke out in 2017 off his debut album Yours Truly Forever. He just dropped his 6th mixtape With Love 2 back in November & now with Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend, he’s following it up by dropping his 2nd EP.
The EP starts with “colorblind”, where Phora talks about never leaving this woman’s side over a summery beat. The next song “Loaded Gun” talks about being lonely inside over a bare acoustic guitar while the track “I’m scared of falling in love” talks about living without a heart over a lethargic beat. The song “damaged inside” talks about how his life is better with his girl by his side over an acoustic-tinged boom bap instrumental while the track “room 427” talks about someone who only remembers the bad times with him over an acoustic guitar & some snares. “the art of letting go” talks about how he hopes his ex still smells him on her pillows over an derelict beat & then the closer “where do we go when there’s nothing left?” serves as a tribute to those who’re no longer with us & the vocal sample is actually really cool.
I can imagine some people getting down to this EP given how “sad” it is, but I did care for it at all unfortunately. The production is ok, but Phora doesn’t really do the emo rap subgenre any justice whatsoever as his lyrics come off too melodramatic & corny for a good portion of the time.
This is a brand new soundtrack album curated by California producer, rapper & singer/songwriter Hit-Boy. Coming up in the late 2000s under the wing of Polow da Don, he eventually become an in-house producer for the Kanye West-owned Def Jam Recordings imprint G.O.O.D. Music from 2011 to 2013 before forming his own label HS87 Music distributed by Interscope Records. But it goes without saying that 2020 was Hit-Boy’s biggest year yet, starting off when he entirely produced Nas’ latest full-length outing King’s Disease in it’s entirety in late August. This would result in a 3-peat for Hit-Boy, as he went on to produce nearly half of Big Sean’s last album Detroit 2 a couple weeks later & then lacing Benny the Butcher’s sophomore effort Burden of Proof from front to back a little over a month after. But to accompany the universally acclaimed political drama Judas & the Black Messiah hitting HBO Max & select theaters, the West Coast producer has amassed an all-star cast of performers to make music inspired by the motion picture.
After the 3-minute spoken word intro “COINTELPRO / DEC. 4” by Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., the first song “Fight for You” by H.E.R. talks about freedom over a glossy yet funky beat whereas the next song “EPMD” by Nas gets in his Escobar bag referencing the 5 big tech companies in Google, Amazon, Apple Inc., Meta Platforms & Microsoft over an more aggressive instrumental from Hit-Boy himself. The song “Welcome to America” by Black Thought talks about dreaming as long as you’re breathing in the U.S. over a tribal beat from Sean C while the track “What It Feels Like” by JAY-Z & the late Nipsey Hu$$le talks about success over an instrumental with an ambitious atmosphere to it.
The song “Broad Day” by Hit-Boy talks about A&Ring the game over an angelic beat while the track “Plead the .45th” by SABA & Smino talks about remaining silent over a colorless instrumental. The song “Something Ain’t Right” by J.I.D & Rapsody talks about corruption over a calming beat from Cardiak while the track “Letter 2 U” by BJ the Chicago Kid asks to set this woman’s soul on fire over a tactile instrumental.
The song “On Your Mind” by Lil Durk gets confessional over a trap beat with some wonderful keyboard arpeggios while the track “Appraise” by White Dave talks about being the last hope over a cloudy instrumental. The song “All Black” by G Herbo talks about poppin’ out over some celebratory horn sections from Turbo while the track “I Declare War” by Nado Wick gets violent over an drugged-out instrumental from Cardo.
The song “No Profanity” by Pooh Shiesty perfectly lives up to it’s name as he talks about standing on what he believes in without cussing over a sumptuous trap beat while the track “Last Man Standing” by Polo G talks about leading Chicago the way Fred Hampton did over a wretched instrumental. The song “Respect My Mind” by Dom Kennedy talks about rising to the challenges over a hair-raising beat while the track “Revolutionary” by G Herbo & Bump J talks about “standing like a man” over a beautiful vocal sample laced throughout the instrumental.
The song “Teach Me” by SiR talks about having the wrong idea of love over a holy beat while the track “Contagious” by SAFE & Liana Ledé is a cliché romance duet carried by the spicy instrumental. The song “Rich N***a Problems” by A$AP Rocky details the cons of being wealthy over a jazzy trap beat & after the “J.A.T.B.M”. outro, the bonus cut “Black Messiah” by Rakim is essentially Fred Hampton’s life on wax backed by a soul sample from The God MC himself.
This is hands down the best soundtrack album I’ve heard in a while. I mean I’m not too big on soundtrack albums this day in age & I made that pretty clear when I gave a positive review towards the Conflicted soundtrack last month, but I consider this to be the Black Panther soundtrack on steroids from the guests & production to the subject matter.
Babyface Ray is a 30 year old rapper from Detroit, Michigan who came up in 2015 as a member of the Team Eastside collective. Since then he’s released 5 mixtapes, a collaborative effort with fellow Team Eastside colleague Peezy & 4 EPs. But with his birthday being the previous weekend & his profile ever-growing, Ray is celebrating by dropping a follow-up to For You in the form of a 5th EP ahead of a full-length debut.
The EP starts with “Real N****s Don’t Rap”, where Ray talks about his authenticity over a woozy trap beat. The next song “If You Know You Know” with Moneybagg Yo finds the duo talking about never trippin’ over a hyphy instrumental while the track “Tahoe” talks about live being good over an capacious FNZ beat. The song “Like Daisy Lane” gets braggadocious over a vigorous instrumental while the track “Allowance” with Kash Doll sees the 2 talking about bad bitches over a trap beat from Hit-Boy with some ghoulish bells. The penultimate track “Pink 10s” with EST G finds the duo on their gangsta shit over an instrumental with some prominent woodwinds & synths whereas the closer “Change You” talks about going up too fast over a tearjerking beat.
I’ve been paying attention to Babyface Ray for past few years now & this new EP is another reminder of his evolution. The production sounds more crisp in comparison to his previous efforts & his songwriting has gotten catchier. Can’t wait to hear what he has in store on an upcoming full-length.
Rapper Big Pooh is a 41 year old rapper from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina who came up as a member of the seminal Little Brother alongside rapper/singer Phonte & producer 9th Wonder. However, he’s been building up quite a discography of his own since the man’s 2005 solo debut Sleepers. Last time we got a project from Big Pooh was in 2018 with the Focus…-produced RPM album but after taking a couple years off & to celebrate his birthday, he & Young RJ of Slum Village are unearthing an EP’s worth of joints they recorded together in the late 2000s.
“The Recipe” that starts the EP off spits about how he came to do rather than talk over a triumphant beat whereas the next song “Get It In” talks about going hard over a more rugged instrumental. The track “Money” with O-Dash & Frank Nitt finds the trio showing listeners how it is over a boom bap beat with some twinkling keyboard melodies while the song “Hello” gets on the lovey dovey side of things over a slow, enticing instrumental. The closer “Smile” pays tribute to his mother over a joyous beat.
Even though these joints were recorded a little over a decade ago, it sounds like they were all made recently. Rapper Big Pooh’s pen-game hasn’t changed a bit & Young RJ shows himself as one of the most underrated producers that the 313 has to offer.
