Stress Eater – “Everybody Eats!” review

Stress Eater is a newly formed east coast hip hop supergroup consisting of The Bronx, New York emcee/producer Kool Keith alongside Boston, Massachusetts emcee/producer duo 7L & Esoteric. They’ve collaborated with each other plenty of times whether it be “Daisycutta” off the penultimate 7LES album to date A New Dope or multiple CZARFACE projects since, so to hear that they were forming a new trio together & putting out a full-length debut of their own as a way of preluding CZARFACE’s next studio LP was only a matter of time.

After the “Hunt for CZARFACE” intro, the first song “Rocket Science” is this slowly produced opener that The Czar-Keys laced as always declaring D-Day on all these wack MCs whereas “Here’s Some Homicide” featuring Ice-T takes the boom bap route instrumentally talking about stepping in front of a bus being a better option than fuckin’ with ‘em. “Cold Wave” moves on with a 81 second 7L & Esoteric solo cut returning to their battle roots & after the “People Want Sugar” interlude, “Willrow Hood” reunites the trio for a funky lyrical driving courses including a reference to WWE Hall of Famers D-Generation X.

“Top Men of Rap” makes their claim in the titular position referencing current AEW performer & commentator as well as former 7-time WWE world champion, 11-time WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion Paul Wight while “Mecha & the Sole Brother” if you couldn’t tell homages Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s iconic debut album Mecca & the Soul Brother. “Genuine Lifestyle” dustily talks about the way they live not being phony, but then “Off the Bones” feels like a passable Czar-Keys instrumental interlude.

“Space Cowboy” returns to the boom bap nearing the conclusion of Everybody Eats! referring to themselves as the sheriffs of this town while the song “Aladdin’s Castle” featuring Mega Ran notable for making the entrance theme of 12-time WWE tag team champions The New Day mixes an organ with kicks & snares making way for a 4-minute nerdcore banger. “Giving Back to the Universe” properly finishes Stress Eater’s debut on a mellow boom bap note coming in as if it’s a Mecha-Godzilla.

Creating a funky full-length adventure, Kool Keith and 7L & Esoteric become a counterpart character that can even give the mighty CZARFACE a run for his money after working together for nearly 2 decade by giving fans a rich blend of what makes both underground acts so special whether it be the block-rocking beats that The Czar-Keys cook up or the bizarre & mind-bending lyricism from both MCs.

Score: 4.5/5

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CZARFACE – “Czartificial Intelligence” review

CZARFACE is an east coast underground trio consisting of New York emcee/producer Inspectah Deck from the almighty Wu-Tang Clan as well Boston emcee/producer duo 7L & Esoteric of the Army of the Pharaohs. They first formed like Voltron in 1999 on the single ““Speaking Real Words”, but finally decided to form the supergroup after making “12th Chamber” off the final 7L & Eso album to date 1212 over 13 years ago. Their 2013 self-titled debut along with their 2015 sophomore effort Every Hero Needs a Villain would both become modern underground classics in my opinion. A Fistful of Peril the following year was originally supposed to be the quartet’s final album & I thought that was a great way for them to go out, but they did pleasantly surprise me when they dropped their collab albums CZARFACE Meets Metal Face with the late MF DOOM in 2018 & then CZARFACE Meets Ghostface Killah with his DOOMSTARKS partner in rhyme Ghostface Killah the year after that. The Odd Czar Against Us would come out 9 months later & that felt more like a split EP between CZARFACE and solely 7L & Esoteric given that both groups have 6 songs each. Czarmageddon! though ended up being the trio’s most consistent full-length since Every Hero Needs a Villain so when it announced they had signed to Virgin Music for their 6th album, I was intrigued to hear if CZARFACE would continue to improve themselves like they did a year & a half ago.

“Czarchimedes’ Death Ray” of course starts the album with a boom bap instrumental & feeling like no one can stop them whereas “Blast Off” works in more kicks & snares with a fuzzy guitar from The Czar-Keys continuing to boast on the lyrical side of things. “All That For a Drop of Blood” is a synth/boom bap hybrid explaining that it be a grand entrance whenever Czar’s in the building, but then “You Know My Style” featuring NEMS serves as an eerie reminder to all 4 of their underground roots on all fronts.

7L & Esoteric get their own solo cut with “Mama’s Basement” telling the story of a mother going away on a lifelong trip & never seeing her much, yet he found a world he can escape to in the end leading into the dusty “Frenzy in a Far Off World” featuring Frankie Pulitzer a.k.a. Tom Hardy keeping the battle bars rolling. “Czarsenic” despite is brevity has to be one of the most cutthroat moments on the album comparing their flows to arsenic over an unsettling beat just before the piano/boom bap “Gatecrasher” featuring Logic asking why people bringing beef up in their joint.

“Sirens” brings the synthesizers back into the picture explaining that they be sleeping with the titular prolonged warning sounds going off while “Helicopter” featuring Godfather Don & Kool Keith finds the quintet bringing it live from the czarbeque over kicks & snares. After the “1-11 Chelsea” instrumental from both 7L & JL Hodges, “Marvel at That (Road Trip)” is another 7L & Eso cut filled with Marvel wordplay while “Live from Czarnegie Hall” featuring Kool Keith ruggedly talks about this being survival of the fittest. “Together” ends with album with an uncanny instrumental describing themselves as A-list.

For a major label debut, CZARFACE continues to build upon what made their last LP from a year & a half ago by putting out another consistently focused body of work that pays homage to golden age of hip hop culture with samples from classic records. They mix their characteristic old school sound with soulful & jazzy beats on top of blending the unfiltered essence of OG braggadocio, introspective storytelling that the high-flying superheroes have become known for by now.

Score: 4/5

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CZARFACE – “Czarmageddon!” review

This is the 5th full-length album from East Coast supergroup CZARFACE. Consisting of Inspectah Deck of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan as well as 7L & Esoteric of the Army of the Pharaohs, first formed like Voltron in 1999 with Speaking Real Words” but decided to form the supergroup after making “12th Chamber” off the final 7L & Eso album to date 1212 in 2010. Their 2013 self-titled debut along with their 2015 sophomore effort Every Hero Needs a Villain would both become modern underground classics in my opinion. A Fistful of Peril the following year was originally supposed to be the quartet’s final album & I thought that was a great way for them to go out, but they did pleasantly surprise me when they dropped their collab albums CZARFACE Meets Metal Face with the late MF DOOM in 2018 & then CZARFACE Meets Ghostface Killah with his DOOMSTARKS partner in rhyme Ghostface Killah the year after that. The Odd Czar Against Us would come out 9 months later & that felt more like a split EP between CZARFACE and 7L & Eso given that both have 6 songs each. Last we heard from them was last spring when they dropped their 2nd collab album with DOOM called Super What? & now given that Record Store Day was last weekend, the supergroup’s getting back together for Czarmageddon!.

“Damien Dinner Time” is a boom bap opener produced by none other than The Czar-Keys finding Esoteric & Inspectah Deck spitting lethal battle raps like “You ain’t a Coachella, you flying coach with Ella & that local dope seller” and “I hit ‘em like lead to the chest, I wanna see hands to the forehead when my presence is blessed” whereas “The Czarlaac Pit” has a more Middle Eastern influence to the production talking about how you can’t stop their shine. “Can It Be?” works in some uplifting synthesizers coming through with some passionate verses, but then the synths that “Walk Thru Walls” bring to the table are more sinister accompanied by some dusty drums raising glasses to .

Meanwhile on “Splash Page”, we have CZARFACE over some heavy drums talking about being focused on the green leading into “Bob LaCzar” takes a more lo-fi route in terms of sound flexing their skills. Lion Eye tags along for the rap rock-tinged “Big ‘Em Up” challenging anyone to step up to them just before “Nu Muntantes” has a more cavernous tone to it comparing themselves to that of mutants & the hook is super awkward.

The song “Fearless & Inventive” by Stress Eater finds the trio over some more rock production talking about being bounty hunters & after the “Boogie DefMix” interlude, the penultimate track “Czarv Wolfman” is a fresh 2-parter in the vein of “I’m the Man” by Gang Starr as well as Jeru the Damaja & Lil Dap with a reference to former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座, the inaugural IWGPインターコンチネンタル王座, 2-time WWE United States Champion & WWE Tag Team Champion MVP. “Logan-5” ends the album with an emotional note paying tribute to Esoteric’s dog Logan, who passed away a little over 2 years ago at this point.

I’ve been a fan of CZARFACE since the first album came out during my sophomore year of high school & I have to admit that this is the Fistful of Peril follow-up that I wanted The Odd Czar Against Us. The production from The Czar-Keys is pretty much a melting pot of all the sounds they’ve experimented with in the past & I’m happy to hear Deck on more than half of it destroying mics with Eso like they do best.

Score: 4.5/5

CZARFACE & MF DOOM – “Super What?” review

This is the surprise 2nd collaborative album between East Coast supergroup CZARFACE & one of the most beloved MCs/producers in all of hip hop: MF DOOM. The first time we heard Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric team up with Viktor was on “Ka-Bang!” off the trio’s classic 2015 sophomore album Every Hero Needs a Villain, which was followed up in 2018 with the appropriately titled CZARFACE Meets Metal Face. But after being delayed for the past year due to COVID-19 as well as DOOM’s unfortunate passing, Super What? is finally seeing the light of day.

“The King & Eye” is a solid way to kick the album off as the quartet team up with D.M.C. to declare themselves as royalty referencing AEW performer Orange Cassidy on top of a boom bap beat from none other than The Czar-Keys with some chimes being incorporated. The next song “Czarwyn’s Theory of People Getting Loose” goes on about how “there’s no dope in the industry” & even though I personally believe is far from true, all 3 of the verses on here are cutthroat as Hell. As for the production end of it: I like how it starts off grimy, but the switch-up midway through Esoteric’s verse was a bit unnecessary.

“Mando Calrissian” has a Special Herbs feel to it instrumentally as the trio talk about going commando, but then the track “DOOM Unto Others” is an decimating battle rap cut. Del the Funky Homosapien provides the best feature at the end of the threatening “Jason & the Czargonauts” before talking about “continuing where they left off” on the jazzy “Break in the Action”.

After the “A Name to the Face” skit, the song “This is Canon Now” is a 7L & Eso solo cut taking it back to the days of A New Dope instrumentally & dropping numerous comic references. The penultimate track “So Strange” incorporates an organ as well as some dusty drums as they pop off about the thoughts in their mind & even though I like the storytelling on “Young World” a lot, it’s a weird way to end the album.

Even though Super What? is more of an EP to me than a full-length, I still enjoyed it as much as CZARFACE Meets Metal Face. The chemistry between the 3 emcees never fails to amuse me & The Czar-Keys stick to their guns in terms of the project’s overall sound.

Score: 4.5/5

CZARFACE – “The Odd Czar Against Us” review

CZARFACE is an East Coast supergroup consisting of Inspectah Deck of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan as well as 7L & Esoteric of the Army of the Pharaohs. They first formed like Voltron in 1999 with “Speaking Real Words” but after getting together again on “12th Chamber off the final 7L & Eso album to date 1212 in 2010, that’s when the trio decided to form a trio together. Their 2013 self-titled debut along with their 2015 sophomore album Every Hero Needs a Villain would both become modern underground classics in my opinion. Last time we heard the supergroup on their own was in 2016 with A Fistful of Peril, as they’ve been putting out collab albums with both MF DOOM & Ghostface Killah throughout the last couple years. However, they’re ending off the 2010s with their 4th full-length album.

The opener “Bizarro” finds Deck & Esoteric challenging their opponents referencing former WWE Tag Team Champion Adrian Adonis over a druggy instrumental whereas the next song “Call Me” is a 7L & Esoteric cut about people trying to hit em up over an instrumental kin to A New Dope. “The Gift That Keeps On…” sees the trio reforming to use the title as a beautiful metaphor for the trio’s music over a meditative instrumental while the song “Me’s Company” is Esoteric talking about keeping his circle small over a funky beat.

The track “Dear Computer” is Deck & Esoteric talking about going viral over an electro-boom bap beat while the song “Burrito” sees Eso telling the story of being at a Mexican place over a beat with some dope bass-playing throughout. The track “Brother Marquis” then finds CZAR trading bars with each other over a warping beat.

The track “Couch” is Esoteric about being lazy over a suiting instrumental while the song “Double Dragon” finds Deck getting back with the Boston duo to go at their competition over a tense instrumental. “The Problem with Frank” sees Eso comparing himself to the Punisher over an eerie beat while the penultimate track “Dog” finds him paying tribute to his Lab over an atmospheric beat. The album then finishes with “Czartis Gilmore (The Cool Down)”, where Esoteric gets back with Inspectah Deck to talk about wack rappers over an alluring beat.

As a huge fan of CZARFACE, this was ok. The pen game is undeniably killer but it seems like there’s a lack of focus as the album seems half CZARFACE, half 7L & Esoteric. Nonetheless, I’m excited to see what they’re gonna do going into the 2020s.

Score: 3/5

CZARFACE & Ghostface Killah – “CZARFACE Meets Ghostface” review

This is the highly anticipated collab album between East Coast supergroup CZARFACE & the legendary Ghostface Killah. They first teamed up on the banger “Savagely Attack” off of CZARFACE’s self-titled debut back in 2013 but now almost a year after the trio’s collab album with MF DOOM titled CZARFACE Meets Metal Face, they’re following it up by doing a collab album with Tony Starks himself.

After the “Back at the Ringside” intro, the first song “Face Off” sees CZAR & Ghost really suiting the title over an eerie beat. The track “Iron Claw” tells their competition not to push them referencing former UFC Lightweight & Welterweight Champion B.J. Penn over an El-P inspired instrumental while the song “Czarrcade ‘87” is a CZAR solo cut where Esoteric & Inspectah Deck get confrontational over an ominous beat. The track “Powers & Stuff” reunite with Ghost to brag about their skills including a reference to 6-time WWE world champion & 4-time WWE Tag Team Champion Dave Bautista over an apocalyptic beat while the song “Masked Superstars” continues the lyrical themes of the previous joint over a more boom bap beat.

The track “Morning Ritual” has a somber beat & the storytelling is vivid, but I’m confused as to way Inspectah Deck doesn’t appear on it at all. The song “Super Soldier Serum” gets boastful over an electro-tinged beat while “The King Heard Voices” gets murderous over a perfectly fitting instrumental. The track “Listen to the Color” is another CZAR cut that could’ve been on any of their first 3 albums & before things close out with the “(Post Credits Scene)” outro, the final song “Mongolian Beef” is a lyrical onslaught with a doomsday-sounding beat.

From front to back, it definitely lives up to the hype. It could’ve been a little longer & used a couple features, but the production & chemistry between CZAR & Ghost is almost on par with DOOM’s.

Score: 4/5

CZARFACE & MF DOOM – “CZARFACE Meets Metal Face” review

This is the highly anticipated & unexpected collab album between East Coast supergroup CZARFACE & the renown MF DOOM. They originally collaborated on the hard hitting “Ka-Bang!” off of CZARFACE’s classic 2015 sophomore album Every Hero Needs a Villain, but now they are reuniting for a full-length project together. After the “Take Your Medicine” intro, we then get into the first song “Meddle with Metal”. Here, the Metal Face Villain alongside Inspectah Deck & Esoteric tell all the wack MCs that armageddon is here over an ominous beat from The Czar-Keys (7L & Spada4). The track “Badness of Madness” sees the 3 MCs bragging about their rapping prowess over some creepy keys & then after the “Closer Talker” skit, we then get into the next song “Forever People”. Here, the 3 charismatically y’all about how dope they are over some settle bass.

The track “Captain Crunch” is basically shit-talking the wack & to be honest, I think Deck has the best verse on here. Especially with how he started it. The 1 & a half minute “Don’t Spoil It” is a short yet head-bobbing Inspectah Deck solo cut that talks about the era he came from & being hip hop’s most wanted over some live drumming & a guitar in the background. The song “Phantoms” with Open Mike Eagle sees the 4 making a fancy anthem over a futuristic beat while & I love how the beat changes to something grimier during the 2nd half. The track “Bomb Thrown” is filled with creative battle bars with an eerie soul sample in the background.

After the “You Masked For It” skit, we then go into the song “Astral Traveling”. While DOOM doesn’t have a verse on this joint at all, CZARFACE & Vinnie Paz do manage to spit violent bars throughout going toe-to-toe with WWE Superstars Finn Bálor & Samoa Joe and the way the beat changes after each verse is a nice homage to “I’m the Man” by Gang Starr. The song “Nautical Depth” takes a jab at the current state of hip hop over an eerie beat while the track “Stun Gun” is a 7L & Esoteric cut with battle bars over some bass & an organ. The song “MF Czar” talks about how the trio & the Villain are hip hop’s antidote over some grim electronic keyboards while “Captain Brunch” is a decent remix to “Captain Crunch”. The album then finishes off with “Sleeping Dogs”, which is just a 50 second instrumental.

From the second this was announced, I knew this was gonna be great. CZARFACE’s chemistry has been proven over the past 5 years, but their chemistry with MF DOOM is stronger than it was on “Ka-Bang!”.

Score: 4.5/5

CZARFACE – “A Fistful of Peril” review

After releasing 2 modern classic hip hop albums in 2013 & last year, Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck & Army of the Pharaohs/Demigodz members 7L & Esoteric are hitting us with another full-length album under the CZARFACE name. Just like last time, the album is entirely produced by the group’s producer 7L& his protégé Spada4 but they’re not blatantly copying what they did on the trio’s last 2 albums.

The album starts off with the track “Electric Level 1”, where we hear a tiny sliver of spoken dialogue & then it transitions to a 1-minute electronic beat that kinda reminds of 7L & Esoteric’s 4th album A New Dope just 10 years before. However, things don’t really kick off until the next track “2 in the Chest” which has a slowed down funky beat as well as killer rhymes & flows from the trio’s 2 MCs Inspectah Deck & Esoteric.

“Czar Wars” (awesome title) sees Eso & Deck trading lines back & forth with each other, only proving that their chemistry together is still fucking killer! The beat isn’t bad either, the guitar loop throughout is pretty nice & I love the reference to WWE Hall of Famers & former 3-time WWE Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors. The track “Machine, Man & Monster” starts off with a raw verse from Conway & with the bass playing throughout as well as the electric guitar I heard on this track at points, the beat reminds me of something I’d hear from CZARFACE’s previous album Every Hero Needs a Villain but not in a bad way at all.

The next track “Dare Iz a Darkseid” (which is cleverly named after Redman’s classic sophomore album Dare Iz a Darkside) starts off with a hilarious verse from Esoteric followed by a roughly delivered verse from Deck over a hard boom beat beat & I just REALLY love how you can hear how much fun Eso is having while he’s delivering his verse. The track “All in Together Now” (named after the Wu-Tang Clan’s original name for those who don’t know) has THUNDEROUS drums, a nice electro loop & I love the ambition in the 2 MC’s voices as they deliver these braggadocious yet accomplished sounding lines. Following that track, we have the closer “Level Electric 1” which is just a beautiful 1 minute dark ambient sounding piece.

Now I remember Eso making a poston his Instagram back in January of this year hinting that this is the last CZARFACE album & if that really is the case with this album, they went out with a bang! The production 7 & Spada bright to the table is tight while Eso & Deck’s flows are on point as is their lyrics & the chemistry is still near perfect. Despite my only issue with the album being that it’s too short (it only runs at 35 & a half minutes), the 3 were able to come through with an album as equally great as their last 2 albums

Score: 3.5/5