Louisiana rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Autumn! preluding Back 2 My Roots with his 19th EP. Gaining traction off all 18 of his previous EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records right following the Not Much Left EP, he made his major label debut nearly 2 years ago with his sophomore album Antagonist! as well as following it up with the last 2 installments of the Golden Child trilogy & Midnight Club. Wick just delivered a sequel to Solitary in the spring & You Never Was Mine over the summer, but is surprise-dropping ##B4B2MR ahead of the main course.
“Something New!” starts with a psychedelic, self-produced plugg intro talking about not doing any 9-5s since his money be ridin’ tryna show his girl some new shit while “Laws of Power!” works in some synthesizers to talk about 10 rules that he lives by daily. “Both Ways!” heads for a cloudy trap direction instrumentally likening his hoes to Cullinan doors since they’re bisexual flexing that he’s still talkin’ hot & “Did It Again!” finishes the EP by keeping it atmospheric promising that this is only the beginning for him.
Wick’s last couple offerings Solitary 2 & You Was Never Mine were both welcomed to mixed feedback having less of a plugg emphasis to them focusing more on pop rap, trap & Chicago drill containing highlights that demonstrate his artistic range. However considering Back 2 My Roots’ title & the prominent plugg direction he goes for on this prelude, these are huge indications that Autumn!’s next body of work will mark a return to form to the sound that blew him up.
Boston, Massachusetts up-&-comer Rich Amiri returning for the final month of 2024 with his 3rd full-length studio album. Beginning to turn heads since the fall of 2021 off the strength of his debut EP Ethereal, the 4ersona member would go on to follow it up with 6 more EPs before signing to Internet Money Records & introducing himself to a wider audience on the aptly titled Evolution followed by the sophomore effort Ghetto Fabulous. He landed a spot in this year’s XXL Freshman Class over the summer & is now War Ready roughly 6 months later.
“Amiri Trendsetter” featuring OsamaSon finds the pair kickin’ things off with this psychedelic trap instrumental talkin’ about people bitin’ their styles & that life can’t be any better in 2025 whereas “Oh Myy” has a bit of a rage influence living life as if it’s a movie. “Don’t Make Me” hazily suggests that he can show y’all how to move & finesse thanks to Internet Money in-house producer Synthetic & venny just before “U Want That?” flexes that he’s at Maggianos with a baddie over a siren & hi-hats courtesy of Rio Leyva.
OsamaSon & Amiri link back up on the futuristic trap joint “I’m wit It” explaining that shit’s getting gnarly in addition to showing off their new sticks & everyone else’s glitching while “Touché” works in a hypertrap beat talking about bitches tryna fuck him for his paper being outta their minds. “Count My Bandz” with co-production from Taz Taylor triumphantly clarifies that the world don’t owe you shit, but then the hypnotic “That’s It” boasts his lifestyle.
“Hunchos” ends the first half of War Ready expressing his fear of telling a bitch that he loves her because he’ll feel completely stupid if she ends up cheating on him while “Same Old Me” samples “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” by Tame Impala to talk about those thinkin’ shit’s sweet being goners. “I’m Gone” admits that he doesn’t want to choose violence & he’ll dead any beef if they bring it to him over a rage-inducing instrumental while “Stormi Daniels” likens his girl to the titular pornstar.
Meanwhile on “Keep It Cool”, we have Amiri maintaining the hypertrap vibes saying y’all better keep it cool ’cause shit could get ugly at any point while the carefree “So Easy” talks about having his way. “Gutta Gutta” promises that he won’t ever switch on his Day 1s shell shocking people & leaving them wrapped up while “G23” turns the bass up staying focused off the adderrall.
“U Like?” reaches further towards the backend of War Ready turning the distortion up a bit addressing a mischievous bitch who doesn’t love him at all & actually wants to beef him coming to the apparent realization that he doesn’t think he can save himself anymore while “Day After Day” finishes the LP with a cavernous trap cut knowing he’s been making it look like a breeze as a result of doing it from the very beginning.
Starting the deluxe run with a bang, “Heavy Steps” that Toom of Vanguard Music Group helped laced asks how you saying you have a check when you can’t even afford your rent while the intergalactic trap cut “New Celine” talks about him refusing to cop a plea deal. “Ray Charles” happens to be the final bonus track of the 3, treating a bitch as if she’s the rhythm & blues icon not seeing shit alluding to his blindness when he was still here.
Many have criticized Amiri for having a supposed “lack of authenticity” & he pretty much takes the opportunity to silence those individuals by putting out an album that reinforces why he landed a spot the 2024 XXL Freshman Class nearly 6 months ago. Although he’s been experimenting with his music for a while now, he’s trying out more new sounds on here & it results in his most eclectic offering.
This is the full-length debut studio album from Atlanta, Georgia up-&-comer che. Starting as a member of the 4ersona collective under the original moniker murkio before settling on cheRomani+ & later abbreviating it. But it wasn’t until more recently where he decided to build a solo catalog for himself by putting out the debut EP 3 over a year ago & followed it up this past February in the form of X, which was supposed to be the original version of his 3rd EP Closed Captions over the summer which was a solid introduction to who he is artistically & personally. Crueger last Halloween showed more of a Chief Keef influence & is releasing Sayso Says with only less than a month left of summer.
“I Rot, I Rot” starts by hopping over an intergalactic trap instrumental from CXO talking about not needing any more new friends whereas “Saska, You Made It” turns the rage up celebrating his newfound success. “Pretend We’re Sleeping” encourages everyone to do their own shit working in some synths & hi-hats prior to “Get Naked” goes hypertrap again flexing his VIP status.
The message on “Enjoy Your Life” comes from a good place of heart maintaining the rage beats thanks to Ginseng telling his fans to enjoy their time here alive just before “Been There, Done That” has this bubbly hypertrap tone to the beat talking about doing it all. “Hex On My Chest, It’s Going Down” goes for a spaciously booming approach instrumentally advising to simply get through it & you’ll be ok leading into the energetic “Pissy Coffee” refuses to play games with anyone.
After the interlude, “It’s My Party & I’ll Die If I Want To” kicks off the other half of Sayso Says inducing more rage talking about not wanting peace anymore while “Don’t Tell No1” encourages people to come fuck with him over densely buzzing synth work with repetitive chord progressions & melodic synth leads. “Nunca Hacer Cocaina” incorporates a hint of digicore undertones speaking out against cocaine usage while “School Girl Sashimi” keeps the rage beats rolling talking about lust.
“Y.D.F.W.M.N.M.? (You Don’t Fuck With Me No More?)” whips up an ethereal trap banger calling out the people who switched up on him while the futuristic “Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things” wishes this bitch knew how he really felt. “Cut Off Your Hands” turns the bass up suggesting his girl should chop her hands off since she gives so much head & “My Favorite Color is Red” serves as a bombastic closer leaving blood everywhere.
Only a couple years in the game & I have no doubt in my mind that Sayso Says will take che to newer heights since it basically surpasses every expectation set out by his early EPs. His songwriting/performances are on par if not above Crueger’s last Halloween & I’d be reminded if I didn’t commend him for doing such an outstanding job self-producing a lot of it basing the LP’s sound primarily in the rage subgenre that he emerged out of.
Lafayette, Louisiana recording artist Summrs once again preluding his upcoming 10th album Tale of da Raven with his 16th EP & the 2nd of the year following B4daRaven. Starting out as a member of the Goonie-founded Slayworld collective, his presence has been known predominantly in the plugg scene by constantly dropping projects whether it be his last EP What We Have or even the Fallen Raven LP, both of which I highly recommend listening to if you wanna get into his music. Stuck in My Ways & Ghost were cool, but Rino brought back the plugg elements that Ghost lacked on the official What We Have sequel What We Didn’t Have last September & was curious of what direction Nightfall would take.
“Bentley Mulsanne” starts the final EP ahead of the next LP boasting that he’s at the top of the food chain over a futuristic trap instrumental whereas “F.W.W.Y.N. (Fuck Wrong With Y’all N****s?)” brings a cavernous trap beat to the table talking about never catching him slip. The hollowly produced “Phantom Musik” confesses he still doin’ things wrong thinking everything was right while the vibrantly catchy “F.O.B. (Family Oriented Business)” produced by Synthetic of Internet Money Records discusses coming for his. “Marble Floors” was a great trap/regalia crossover & the outro is a rage-inducing anthem for his fans.
B4daRaven had more of a prominent pluggnb/pop rap sound with cloud rap undertones in comparison to What We Didn’t Have astoundingly returning to Rino’s plugg roots, but the overall vibe on Nightfall generally leans more toward straight forward trap in comparison although you do get hints of cloud rap along with regalia & even rage. That tells me all of these sounds are gonna come together into 1 by the time Summrs himself feels ready to tell the Tale of da Raven sooner rather than later.
This is the 2nd EP from Bronx, New York rapper Ice Spice. Growing up with a hard knock life at the Hudson Street Orphanage ran by Agatha Hannigan & later being adopted by Oliver Warbucks (kidding), she grew up to pursue a music career in 2022 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 their collab album with 21 Savage later that fall Her Loss. Ice Spice’s debut EP Like…? a year & a half ago was greeted to mixed reception & is looking to make a bigger breakthrough on Y2K!.
“Phat Butt” was a mediocrely experimental hardcore New York Drill opener sampling “Oh I Think Dey Like Me” by Dem Franchize Boyz talking about women biting her flows & poses whereas “Oh Shit” featuring Travis Scott takes a bouncier drill route instrumentally courtesy of Internet Money Records in-house producer Synthetic so both of them can look to turn up the spot. “Popa” dabbles a bit into rage territory to talk about getting super lit out here since she from the trenches, but then “Bitch I’m Packin’” featuring Gunna fuses drill & hypertrap explaining they got what they need.
Finishing the EP’s first half, “Plenty Sun” goes for a futuristic drill approach explaining that she don’t know how to do shit leading into “Did It First” featuring Central C fusing Jersey Club & cloud rap addressing themes of infidelity. “BB Belt” murkily declares herself as Ms. Poopie even though she doesn’t smell while “Think U the Shit (Fart)” swaps out the trillwave elements in favor of Miami Bass & new jazz courtesy of venny belittling her competition.
“Gimme a Light” nears the final moments of Y2K! with an underwhelming crossover between sample drill & dancehall flipping both “Gimme the Light” by Sean Paul & “Hazard Lights 4” by Blockwork featuring ShotBy O.A telling them to pass the dro to her prior to the bell-driven closer “T.T.Y.L. (Talk To You Later)” going out for the paper from the very moment that she first wakes up in the morning.
Starting the deluxe run, “Gyat” is a Jersey Club rap joint telling the haters to back up & the baddies to throw their asses back while “Hannah Montana” featuring DaBaby & NLE Choppa includes a dope line referencing “Tweakin’ Together” by Bktherula offering nothing else exciting than the drumless beat. “So What?” is this generic trap number talking about being spoiled & the final bonus track “Like” wants to know why everyone coming for her.
My thing with Ice Spice has always been the fact that I’ve heard the styles that she presents done better as said previously when I reviewed Like…? about 2 & a half years ago, which still stands of this very moment. Examples include Don Toliver’s 4th album Hardstone Psycho coming into his own through the help of new jazz, Yeat’s early stuff when it comes to rage, RealYungPhil’s 7th EP Dr. Phil regarding New York/sample drill & the Moh Baretta mixtape Unorthodox in terms of Jersey club rap. I don’t mind her trying out sounds, it’s just not as interesting as some of her contemporaries.
Here we have the 18th EP from Louisiana rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Autumn!. Gaining traction off all 17 of his previous EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records right following the Not Much Left EP, he made his major label debut nearly 2 years ago with his sophomore album Antagonist! as well as following it up with the last 2 installments of the Golden Child trilogy & Midnight Club. Wick just delivered a sequel to Solitary in the spring & is back for You Never Was Mine.
“Now They Shocked!” is a vibrant plugg opener telling y’all to best believe whereas “F My Wrist!” keeps working synthesizers & hi-hats talking about what happens when your pockets start getting heftier. “Take Her Phone!” takes the cloudier route instrumentally brushing off the bullshit & going in at those who thought it was over for him, but then the synth-driven “Force His Hand!” addresses everyone that lost their minds.
The rage-inducing “Scammers Jackboys Robbers!” rounds out the first half of the EP discussing the type of people he hangs around while the beat on “Rose Gold Patek!” kinda gives me Detroit trap vibes showing off his new luxury watch you can’t find anywhere else. “Passionfruit Lemonade!” talks about being rich forever over synths & hi-hats just before the piano/trap hybrid “How You Mad!” shows off 30 bitches in his crib.
“Undercover!” nears the conclusion of You Never Was Mine blending a psychedelic loop with his-hats bragging that he made a total of $200K in only the span of 11 days & finally, “Backcourt!” officially ends the 2nd EP that Wick’s given us this year talking about knowing someone that chose the wrong side asking God for only bad bitches & fast cars explaining that at least he got his bread up regardless if he might not be happy yet at this point in his life.
What was supposed to be R5 and Pretty Girls & Fast Cars wound up becoming the first installment of a trilogy that makes me curious as to where he’ll go from here on the other 2 installments later once that time comes. His production maintains the trap/pop rap sounds of Solitary 2 except Autumn!’s swapping out the Chicago drill undertones of that previous EP in favor of rage & pairing it with additional elements of plugg.
Lafayette, Louisiana rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Autumn! starting his 2024 by releasing his 20th EP. Gaining traction off all his previous EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Recordsright following the Not Much Left EP, he made his major label debut nearly 2 years ago with his sophomore album Antagonist! as well as following it up with the last 2 installments of the Golden Child trilogy & Midnight Club. Ahead of Pretty Girls & Fast Cars however, we’re being treated to a Solitary sequel first.
“Where Yo Cash At!” begins the EP on an airy plugg note calling cap over those lying about how much money they really have whereas Not One!” takes the playful trap route instrumentally clarifying that he only fucks hoes as opposed to being in love with them. “Can’t Keep Up!” futuristically gives insight into Twinuzis’ relations & his issues with women only caring about his wealth rather than him, but then “Up to Speed!” kinda has this rage-inducing vibe to the beat talking about needing P’s instead of hoes.
The cloudy, self-produced 2-parter “Richer Man! / Get In Yo Bag!” expressing self-awareness of them being mad ’cause he hates rappin’ & it still made him $1M alongside getting out of your feelings to by stacking your chips while the dynamically atmospheric “Balmain! / Self Healing!” begins with an ode to the French luxury fashion house of the same name & that playing with money is self care for him. “Solitude!” hooks up some synths & hi-hats to overcome his past struggles just before the moody “Don’t Come Around!” explains that she’s just not the one for him.
“What’s the Point!” spaciously begins the final leg of the EP by trying to figure out what the point is of everyone trying to come & test him leading into “Average Night!” going for a subdued plugg sound describing what a regular night is for him at this point. “Uptown Coolin’” finishes Solitary 2 with this cloudy trap teaser to Pretty Girls & Fast Cars talking about the dreams of a young kid who has to use cracked programs to make a vision coming into reality.
Nevertheless of Solitary coming out only 6 months before I started listening & reviewing Wick’s music if I’m being honest with myself, the sequel over here takes everything that made it’s predecessor exciting & taking it to a new level. You still get the cloudy, poppy trap rap from previously with the pluggnb undertones along with him occasionally dabbling in rage for the first time in a couple years considering the last time we heard him in that particular style was Antagonist!.
Lafayette, Louisiana recording artist Summrs preluding his upcoming 10th album Tale of da Raven with his 15th EP. Starting out as a member of the Goonie-founded SlayWorld collective, his presence has been known predominantly in the plugg scene by constantly dropping projects whether it be his last EP What We Have or even the Fallen Raven LP, both of which I highly recommend listening to if you wanna get into his music. Stuck in My Ways & Ghost were cool, but Rino brought back the plugg elements that Ghost lacked on the official What We Have sequel What We Didn’t Have last September prior to B4daRaven.
To start the EP, “Curbside at The Ritz” goes pluggnb talking about people throwing apples in the trash if he was passing them out back then whereas “Made Man” works in some heavier synthesizers flexing that he’s a soldier & the man with a plan. “Situationships” has a playfully cloudy tone to it referencing a bunch of women that he was previously with all by name, but then “Sneaky Link / Love That For Us” is this incredibly sequenced 2-parter telling a hoe who think she’s Sexyy Red that they ain’t ever done. The song “Drank n Sex” is this fun ode to lean & intercourse while “In Our Favor” continues the pluggnb vibes pointing out the people that need a savior just before “Brioni Shawl Colla / Catfish” concludes the EP with another 2-parter except he’s really talkin’ on this bitch.
B4DaRaven very much carries on the plugg/pluggnb elements that What We Didn’t Havereturned to after Stuck in My Ways & specifically Ghost lacked in that particular style. If that indicates anything to me, it’s that Tale of da Raven could very much be a spiritual successor to Fallen Raven of sorts. The production during it’s 19 minute duration is consistently chill as the last album was & the performances from Summrs himself are as strongly catchy similarly to the sequel to his best EP. However long the album takes, this prelude off in the meantime will hold off until then no problem.
genre: sadboy is an Ohio duo consisting of rapper, singer/songwriter, musician & actor MGK alongside rapper & singer/songwriter Trippie Redd. Both of whom have already crossed paths with one another quite a few times over the years on tracks like “all I know”, “Red Sky”, “Pill Breaker” & “Candy”. So obviously looking back on their history of working with one another as well as the simple fact that they’re both from the same neck of the woods, one shouldn’t be too surprised by them forming genre: sadboy & putting out a debut EP.
“lost boys” unceremoniously begins with this emo-folk cut talking about how it’s just another one of those nights again whereas “beauty” takes the somber trap route sampling “Let Go” by Frou Frou dropping corny bars like “Ship across the sand like The Mandalorian”. “time travel” immerses everyone into their worlds showing a back-&-forth chemistry over a spaciously drumless beat while “struggles” goes head-on rock again whining that they’re not happy to be here.
Moving forward, “suddenly” brings that trap flare back trying to be edgy by saying that’s everyone’s alive except for them while the cloudy yet tedious “half dead” moans about being all alone. “hiding in the hills” discusses running from themselves with Satan as Ronny J mixes rock & trap just before the dreary trap cut “no more” talks about giving 0 at this point. J.I.D’s feature on the rap rock “who do I call?” is the best verse of the entire EP asking where do they go from here & the stripped-back “summer’s gone” finishes self-titled by telling y’all to let them dry & rot.
It was pretty much a guarantee that genre: sadboy was gonna come out with one of the absolute worst EPs of the year & they sure did not disappoint considering the standard that was already set by the couplet of singles we’ve gotten in over a week. The poppy trap & rock production is ok considering that both members of the duo have ventured out in those particular sounds previously, it’s just that Trippie’s performances are significantly better than the 2 & they just aren’t enough for me to keep coming back to the EP.
This is the sophomore full-length album from Boston up-&-comer Rich Amiri of the 4ersona collective. Beginning to turn heads since the fall of 2021 off the strength of his debut EP Ethereal, he would go on to follow it up with 6 more EPs before signing to Internet Money Records & introducing himself to a wider audience this past spring on the aptly titled Evolution earlier this past spring. And with only a month left of fall to go, Amiri’s returning halfway through the 4th quarter to show off how Ghetto Fabulous he is.
“No Handouts” is a cloudy trap opener co-produced by Rio Leyva talking about bossing up becoming the man now simply tryna play it safe previously whereas “I Want Everything” expresses his desire to have it all over a cloudy backdrop with some hi-hats worked in also. “Quartermill” happens to be another atmospheric trap cut flexing that he’s got $250k on him prior to “Outta There” talking about rockin’ out the show & collect the check afterwards over a glossy trap beat from solely Rio.
The rage vibes throughout “1 Call” are pretty interesting as Amiri let’s it be known he doesn’t trust anyone just before the horn-inflicted “Illuminati” addresses the claims that some of these idiots out here have been making that he’s a part of the titular secret society. “Sticks on Ready” boasts that his whole team’s too rich ‘cause someone put on his guys accompanied by a futuristic trap instrumental, but then “Troops” acknowledges that everyone knows he ain’t a fool & I love the angelic trap vibes to the beat.
“Forza” continues the 2nd half of Ghetto Fabulous by bragging about racing just like the titular video game franchise over more horns & hi-hats while the vibrant “Codeine Crazy” produced by Taz Taylor & ReidMD from Vanguard Music Group is a dedication to the lifestyle that he’s found himself involved in since making music. “Ain’t Nothing” shows off how crazy he’s been going resurrecting the trillwave aesthetics of some of the previous joints that is until “Paper Bag Tags” goes for a playful approach showing a sensual side to Amiri.
The bassy penultimate track “What It Cost” draws near the end confessing he doesn’t know anything about old money even though he’s got a whole lot of new money these days & “Kurt Cobain” wraps it all up by hooking up a trap instrumental reminiscent to that of a retro video game breaking down the ways of him livin’ large now that his music career is taking off alongside his profile continuing to increase as a result of that.
Evolution showed a lot of growth in Amiri earlier this year & as a way of possibly ending his 2023, he’s giving everyone a glimpse into his Ghetto Fabulous lifestyle & making it as consistent as the previous body of work from him. Internet Money’s production continues to bring the best out of him as he flexes his newfound fame & fortune.
Legends Will Never Die 