Bas – “We Only Talk About Real Shit When We’re Fucked Up” review

Bas is a 36 year old Sudanese-American rapper & songwriter born in Paris, France & raised in Queens, New York who emerged in 2011 by putting out his debut mixtape Quarter Water Raised Me. The 2013 sequel Quarter Water Raised Me 2 would catch the attention of J. Cole, who shortly after helped Bas become the 2nd act after Omen other than Cole himself to sign to his Interscope Recordsimprint Dreamville Records. He would introduce himself more to the Dreamville fans the next spring on the moderately received full-length debut Last Winter & the sophomore effort Too High to Riot couple years later won them over, as it’s still the most critically acclaimed body of work in Bas’ discography to date. His previous LP Milky Way in 2018 was also treated to mild reception as were the couple of EPs that he’s given us since then Spilled Milk & [BUMP] Pick Me Up, but the highlights on those last few projects had me holding out hope that Bas would reach the heights that Too High to Riot did once again.

“Light of My Soul” starts the LP with a drumless loop from Boi-1da sampling “We’ve Got a Way Out Love” by The Originals confessing that he has a problem makin’ other people’s problems his own whereas “Black Jedi” likens himself to Mace Windu shifting gears with it’s trap instrumental. “Choppas” talks about going round like the helicopter working in a cloudy backdrop & hi-hats just before “Home Alone” featuring J. Cole produced by T-Minus & Cubeatz serves as a vibrant dedication to the people that switched up on them, the women they miss, the ones they I love, the ones that stayed & the seeds that we growin’ although Bas feels like he’s been featured on his own track.

Meanwhile, “Risk” takes a smoother approach sonically detailing a relationship with a woman in which he took a risk with because she was almost too perfect at first until distancing herself from him leading into “Decent” featuring Amaarae talking about being 100% the same as they were when they started over a spacious trap beat. “Ho Chi Minh” gives a look at Bas’ emotional & mental state as well as his experience with substance abuse over a solemn instrumental, but then “179 Deli” featuring AJ Tracey dabbles with the UK drill sound a bit telling y’all to stay with them for the ride.

Cole returns on “Passport Bros.” for a mediocre pop rap/dancehall fusion with some afrobeats undertones & I say it’s mediocre because my biggest problem with it personally is that both of Bas’ verses feel underwritten although I’ll still take it over “Testify” featuring Sha Sha since it continues to expand on that dancehall vibe singing that they’re gonna “fuck each other right”. The atmospheric “U-Turn” featuring A$AP Ferg & Blxckie breaks down a woman who had them running back with Ferg having the better of the 2 guest performances prior to the final J. Cole appearance on the album “Papers Cuts” groovily asking if you dumb.

“Diamonds” looks to take a leap as artist have to continually explore & give more of themselves to feed the insatiable appetite of the audience on top of some summery acoustic passages while “Yao Ming” boasts that he got racks as tall as the iconic Houston Rockets player of the same name over soulful background vocals. The song “Dr. O’blivion” is more stripped-back thanks to Cole himself explaining that “she don’t want none of the madness you come with” while the penultimate track “Khartoum” is a powerful ballad about the ongoing war in Sudan featuring Adekunle Gold on the hook. “Wait on Me” ends the LP on a melodic note singing that he loves the moments you spending with him.

I remember upsetting a couple Dreamville fans after the Milky Way review because I still believe it’s the most commercial body of work I’ve heard from Bas, but We Only Talk About Real Shit When We’re Fucked Up happens to be the most I’ve enjoyed a project from the guy in about 7 & a half year. Those pop rap/trap elements from that previous album make their way over here once more except this time, he’s mixing them with some new sounds that he’s trying out like dancehall or afrobeats.

Score: 3.5/5

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Mickey Diamond – “Gucci Ghost 3” review

Detroit emcee Mickey Diamond is back with his 10th full-length LP. Emerging at the beginning of 2020 off the strength of his debut EP Bangkok Dangerous, the dude has since gone on to turn quite a few heads in the underground by building up the impressive discography for himself with his previous 9 albums alongside 7 EPs & a mixtape. But for the past year, Mickey has been consistent putting out some of the best material of his career thus far. This includes the Gucci Ghost album & it’s sequel produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Ral Duke-produced Oroku Saki EP, the Sadhugold-produced Death Threat$ album & the Camoflauge Monk-produced Capital Gains album. However to come off Gone in 60 Seconds & Bangkok Dangerous 4, he’s surprise-dropping a 3rd installment of Gucci Ghost.

The first song “Live Fast” after the “Maurizio’s Dead, Somebody Shot Em” intro sets off the LP with a piano-driven boom bap instrumental living in the fast lane & looking to die free whereas “Nauti by Nature” works in more pianos, kicks & snares talking about shooting ya. “Gucci Underwear” weaves another piano-boom bap hybrid into the fold firing shots at everyone who’s been lamed out up to this point prior to “Icebergs” shifting into more lavish turf reminding that there’s dark matter scattered over everything.

“Patrizia’s” starts the 2nd leg of the LP by returning to the boom bap assuring that he could do this shit forever if he wanted to just before “Reggiani’s Revenge” ruggedly calls these computer thugs Microsoft & seeing all the dead people a.k.a. dead presidents that he’s stacked up for himself by now. After the “Murder for Hire” interlude, “Designer Caskets” dustily compares his flow to hot lava & “Aldo’s Ghost” ties up the Gucci Ghost trilogy by eerily disappearing into the vapors RKOing everybody as if he’s 14-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion & WWE United States Champion Randy Orton.

Oroku Saki is the best EP that we’ve gotten from Mickey in 2023, but I firmly believe that Gucci Ghost 3 has now taken over Death Threat$’ spot for the best full-length he’s dropped this year & most certainly a late AOTY contender with only a couple weeks left until 2024 begins. Unlike the predecessor being more feature-heavy & the original Gucci Ghost only having a couple, it’s just Diamond & Big Ghost here continuing to elevate one another like they’ve been doing for the past year.

Score: 4.5/5

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K-Rino – “7 Hour Block” review

K-Rino is a 53 year old MC from Houston, Texas notable for co-founding the South Park Coalition collective with Ganksta N-I-P now known as Brother NIP as well as his extensive discography. Highlights include Stories From the Black Book, Danger Zone, No Mercy, Solitary Confinement, Annihilation of the Evil Machine, The Maven & who could forget the 7-disc The Big 7? Anyway he just came off his 35th album Audio Optics last month & it was ok, but I was interested going into 7 Hour Block.

After the “Arrival” intro, the first song “Got the Game Twisted” is an incredibly chilling opener to the LP talks about witnessing people go mad for fast riches in front of his very eyes whereas “Bad Understanding” shifts into boom bap territory a bit admitting he has exactly that & absolutely no one can break the cycle. “Words 2 Live By” has to be a favorite of mine on the album working in more kicks & snares along with a soul sample breaking down that life ain’t life until you start living it through prior to “The Ghost Maker” gets in his hardcore bag over some pianos.

“Something Better” gives off a funkier groove explaining how sad it is for him to watch greatness reducing itself & being average musically ain’t something to be content with just before Lord Save Us” instrumentally kinda feels like a homage to Dr. Dre’s production style during the 2000s asking God to save everyone from all the war-makers & fraud capers. “Cut Throat” of course shoots for a more sinister atmosphere & confrontational lyricism, but then “Bout to Pop” mixes some piano chords & hi-hats explains that situations happen in life so your mind can adapt.

The track “Friend Zone” begins the encore of the album by drawing inspiration from jazz rap telling the story of a woman she met at a party with among a group that he was in while “If You Were Still Here” has this chugging guitar passage & weeping strings talking about the absence of the fallen weighing heavy & that you gotta make songs about this kinda topic time to time. “The Departure” wraps up Killer Rhymes Intellectually Nullifying Opponents’ 36th LP with an outro shouting out everyone who’s been rocking with him all this time.

This dude has been celebrating 4 decades of being in the rap game with a discography bigger than artists like KRS-One, E-40 & Tech N9ne. But in my opinion: 7 Hour Block has to be my favorite thing Rino has done since A Long Short Way nearly 3 years ago already. DJ Trajic’s production is consistently eclectic pulling from boom bap, trap & jazz rap with the H-Town veteran delivering a mixture of conscious & aggressive subject matter.

Score: 4/5

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Team Demo – “It’s a Demo” review

Team Demo is a DMV-based production crew consisting of DJ Dialtone, J. Cosell & Mr. Wise. They’ve produced for the likes of 50 Cent, Tha Alkaholiks & even the late Sean Price to only name a few. They just compiled a collection of previously released tracks earlier this year, but are now coming together for a full-length producer album of original material with Wais P on most of it. Kinda like how Ghostface Killah was prominently featured on Raekwon’s solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… & vice versa on Ironman.

“Quest Love Bounce” featuring Planet Asia & Skyzoo is a cinematic boom bap opener chockfull of hardcore lyricism whereas “Extras in the Pot” featuring Rome Streetz finds the 2 over some pianos, kicks & snares getting in their drug dealing bags. “5% Tint” featuring Che Noir & Hus Kingpin takes a soulful approach instrumentally wanting to take the lives of a couple opps leading into “Camera Flash” featuring Illa Ghee & Method Man finds the trio eerily talking about how you can pose like the flash of a camera itself.

Meanwhile, “Creep” featuring Montage Øne & MC Eiht gives off more of a minimal west coast sound as all 3 lyricists spit that g shit just before “Odee” featuring Termanology talks about running through the streets with it & a suspenseful boom bap beat. “Poli with the Plug” featuring Kingpen Slim & Vado ominously gets back on their hustler shit while “Do You Believe?” featuring Sauce Money angrily looks to make believers out of those who aren’t already.

“What You Don’t See” featuring Lil’ Fame & NEMS draws near the end of the LP dustily declaring that the things you don’t see is what you get turning the tables on “What You See is What You Get” by Xzibit prior to “Hallelujah” featuring The Bad Seed, Planet Asia & Ras Kass truly tying things up here with a gospel sample & a guitar so everyone is able to let off rapid fire bars in their own distinctive fashions for nearly 4 minutes.

If anyone enjoyed the joint “Crime Wave” off of 50’s final Shady/Aftermath album Before I Self Destruct that celebrated it’s 14 year anniversary last month, then you’re gonna want to check out Team Demo’s official debut. The production is raw paying homage to both the east & west coast which makes sense considering the list of guests that they bring along with them for the ride is generally consistent.

Score: 3.5/5

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OsamaSon – “Flex Musix” review

Charleston, South Carolina up-&-comer OsamaSon is back with a sophomore full-length album. Starting a couple years ago, he would then start to pump out 3 EPs shortly after I’m da Man as well as Vengeance & Carnival respectively. He returned at the beginning of 2023 by dropping osamavrt, following it up this past spring in the form of slime & Bad Habits. Osama’s debut Osama Season earlier this summer was some of the best dark plugg I’ve heard in a while, so it made sense for him to follow-up on that previous LP couple weeks after being delayed of it’s original Black Friday release.

“Blonde” is a rage-inducing opener booling on the East side with his fucking twin whereas “Baghdad” comparing his foreign bitch & his sticks to the capital of Iraq guaranteeing that your crew can’t fuck with whilst Ok mixes elements of electronic music with trap. “All Star” shifts back into the hypertrap sound to ball like an MVP with a bunch of checks all in his head just before “For da Flex” produced by gyro talks about giving no fucks as he & his slime go for the win over more rage beats.

Things take a turn into bombastic territory on “Worst Part” promising that you don’t want smoke with him at all leading into the bassy “Trenches” kicking shit with his manager Stef like it’s the NFL asking when Young Thug’s gonna be free & shopping at Lenox in Atlanta. “Nothing” returns to giving off a bit of a hypertrap edge instrumentally talking about running out of love & still having mud, but then “3x” saying all he needs is 3 percs over an explosive rage beat.

“Boss Up” talks about looking the best & making this far in the rap game already over these dense, buzzing synths with repetitive chord progressions on top of melodic synthesizer leads & hi-hats while “Kills” talks about falling in love & buying more drugs with more hypertrap production accompanying him. “Kome Thru” declares himself as the one turning the bass up high as Hell once more while the synth-heavy “Me When” talks about taking the trap to Los Angeles & that his bag got hella checks.

Meanwhile, I feel like “Uno” almost has this industrial trap vibe to it admitting all he does his flex while “Str8 Flexin’” continues to drop braggadocio over this chaotic ass instrumental. The song “Congrats” keeps things atmospheric talking about being congratulated on winning his shit while the penultimate track “Pop” admits that he’ll post up just to flex & to tell slime that he got bags on top of hi-hats woven into this “yeah” vocal sample. “Talking 2 a Ghost” ends the album by confessing over guitars from thr6x that he doesn’t know where he’s going, but that he’s gonna make it today.

“Cartel” is the first of 6 bonus tracks by flexing his mob ties over rage beats while “Rehhab” switches into a a slower flow & a more melodical approach although it’s still grounded into that hypertrap sound instrumentally. “Need It” has these icy synths & skittering hi-hats talking about being in the streets fuckin’ that shit up while “Alot” continues clashing dense, buzzing synthesizers with repetitive chord progressions melodic synth leads likening his whip to a GoKart. “Flxr” has a heavier sound using a different vocal delivery than Osama normally does looking to stack his chips & the rubbery “Freestyle” ends the deluxe by giving 1 last flex.

OsamaSeason quickly cemented OsamaSon as a fresh new face in the dark plugg scene for me, but he completely departs from that style & even plugg music in general on a sophomore effort that results in being a cut above the debut that we got from him earlier this summer. The rage undertones of the predecessor are being showcased more than they were last time, his confidence is off the charts & he sounds like he’s having fun with it.

Score: 4/5

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Night Lovell – “I Hope You’re Happy” review

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada rapper, songwriter & producer Night Lovell is back with his 3rd full-length LP albeit his 2nd for the $uicideboy$‘ very own G*59 Record$. Emerging in 2014 when he dropped his debut EP I’ll Be Back & then following it up 4 months later with his debut mixtape Concept Vague, heads continued to turn in 2016 off the sophomore tape Red Teenage Melody & the 2019 full-length debut Goodnight Lovell. His sophomore effort & G*59 debut Just Say You Don’t Care was a step above the album before that, but is returning by simply saying I Hope You’re Happy.

“Morrison” is a morbid trap opener produced by outby16 who did the entire project explaining that they tried to take him down with no success whereas “Who’s This Weirdo?” takes the boom bap route instrumentally talking about being back & asking exactly what the plan is. “My Day’s Ruined!” was an underwhelming choice of a single hooking up a suspenseful loop with some hi-hats dissing those who be fucking up his mood, but then “Golden Ticket” grimly talks about running ’round the fuckin’ world tryna conquer.

Meanwhile, “Sunday” goes for a dreary trap vibe melodically asking why they make him feel like it’s nowhere to go leading into “Life Sucks So We Fuck” featuring ZillaKami of prior City Morgue fame who has the best feature on the LP goes full-blown trap metal talking about how there really isn’t any better remedy when you think about it. “Peek-a-Boo” likens himself to that of a monster over some heinous piano chords & hi-hats just before “Sucks to Be You :/“ draws inspiration from the Memphis scene a bit telling y’all to pick your battles.

“Freak” featuring Freddie Dredd who’s guest appearance is a little weaker in comparison to Kami’s, but nonetheless was a ghostly trap single addressing those lookin’ like freaks tryna take their shines from them while “Eye Spy” gets in his young stunner bag keeping that occult atmosphere in the fold. “Alive Even When I Die” draws near the end of Night Lovell’s official G*59 sophomore effort by telling guys a story ’bout his life over a psychedelic guitar riff & hi-hats. Finally, the closer “Cold Shoulder” ties up the LP by professing that he doesn’t wanna live this life over a woozy beat.

Just Say You Don’t Care was a considerable step-up from Goodnight Lovell, but he really takes his elevation to a whole new level by going above & beyond on I Hope You’re Happy. outby16’s production expands KLNV’s cloudy trap sound in favor of experimenting with trap metal & even boom bap. As far as Lovell’s performances go, he outdoes himself 2 & a half years ago when he was first introduced to $B’s audience & bringing in a couple features unlike last time also.

Score: 3.5/5

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Nicki Minaj – “Pink Friday 2” review

Trinidadian-American rapper & singer/songwriter Nicki Minaj is celebrating her 41st birthday by putting out her long-awaited 5th full-length LP after a couple delays. Starting in ‘04 as 1/4 of the Hoodstars, she would go solo shortly after & put out a trilogy mixtapes in the mid/late 2000s, most notably her final one Beam Me Up Scotty that later resulted in New Orleans icon Lil Wayne signing Nicki to a joint deal with Young Money Entertainment & Cash Money Records. Her debut album Pink Friday in my opinion is her best full-length, as Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was trash & The Pinkprint was average as was her last LP Queen over 5 years ago already. She has since departed Cash Money, but is sticking with Young Money & it’s distributor Republic Records alongside her newly launched Heavy On It Records for a sequel to her debut that I went into morbidly curious about.

“Are You Gone Alreaady?” featuring Billie Eilish on the hook has an angelic trap sound to it thanks to FINNEAS talking about only hurting you if you let them whereas “Barbie Dangerous” shows off a speedier flow reminding that these bitches is her sons all this time later over a piano-driven trap instrumental. “F.T.C.U. (Fuck This Club Up)” pays homage to a joint on Waka Flocka Flame’s groundbreaking debut album Flockaveli over a rubbery bassline & hi-hats from ATL Jacob, but then “Beep Beep” featuring 50 Cent goes into spacious trap turf courtesy of Murda Beatz wondering if it’s beef if she don’t even know you exist

Moving on from there, “Fallin’ 4 U” professes her feelings for her childhood friend/now husband & sex offender Kenneth Petty over an genuinely luscious beat with hi-hats just before “Let Me Calm Down” featuring J. Cole goes into a cloudier direction instrumentally so both of them can talk about being taken somewhere mystical. “R.N.B. (Real N***a Bitch)” featuring Lil Wayne continues to delve further into atmospheric territory dedicated to the titular type of women while “Pink Birthday” talks about making one feel like it’s their special day over Boi-1da flipping “Pornography” by Travis Scott.

“Needle” featuring Drake is an awkward reggaeton ballad comparing life to a haystack & their romantic partners as the needles in it hence the title while “Cowgirl” talks about getting drunk over acoustics & hi-hats. “Everybody” featuring Lil Uzi Vert has this danceable groove throughout the instrumental with both of them look to spin & kill guaranteeing that TikTok will have a field day with it while “Big Difference” explains that she ain’t nothing like these other women out here over a chaotic trap instrumental from BoogzDaBeast & FNZ.

We get a bit of dancehall mixed with trap & hardcore pop rap on “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” dropping braggadocio throughout while “Forward from Trini” featuring Skeng & Skillibeng embraces those dancehall elements of the previous cut a bit more heavier describing the kind of woman who has a thing for bad guys. “Pink Friday Girls” heavily samples “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauter putting her own spin on that concept & “Super Freaky Girl” isn’t any better pretty much building itself around “Super Freak” by Rick James.

“Bahm Bahm” gives off a tropical trap flare explaining you can’t talk on the phone with her because she doesn’t like to put the cops in business prior to Don Cannon & Sean Momberger cooking up one of the stronger instrumentals on the album with “My Life” making it known to everyone tuning in that she doesn’t need any more drama in her life. The spacious R&B duet “Nicki Hendrix” featuring Future advises that feeling destructive leads to destruction while “Blessings” featuring Tasha Cobbs Leonard finds BNYX of Working on Dying stripping the drums to talk about their own respective blessings.

The penultimate track “Last Time I Saw You” blends alt-pop & contemporary R&B with pop rap alongside alternative R&B & even jersey club singing about her father Robert Maraj who passed away over 2 & a half years ago already. However to close out Nicki’s 5th album & the sequel to her debut, “Just the Memories” details that memories don’t live like people do but they’ll always remember you rather. The first of 3 bonus cuts “Love Me Enough” is easily the best from the summery sound Murda Beatz delivers to the lyrics admitting to previously believing love had to hurt while “Press Play” featuring Future teams Pluto with Roman with the fans on K. The last bonus song “Big Foot” is not only up in discussion for being the worst diss track ever made aimed at Megan Thee Stallion, but MAYBE the worst single of the decade.

There was no way in my mind that Pink Friday 2 would be any worse than Queen or especially Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, but I still came away from the final product kinda on the fence with it. Of course you’re gonna have some filler during the 90 minute or so listening period, but I can definitely hear her incorporating all the things that people love about her with a way bigger sound although the production has it’s lackluster moments such as the way some of the samples were used or even a few features.

Score: 2/5

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IAMISEE – “Phantom X” review

This is the 6th proper full-length LP from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee IAMISEE. Coming up as 1/2 of Grace & Divine, the duo would land a short-lived deal with Ruffhouse Records until eventually disbanding. He then embarked on a solo career of his own in 1999 off a self-titled debut & returned a couple years later with 83 (A.D. Three). This was followed up with Adamantium as well as IAMISEE vs DJ Demon and Fear & Loathing in the Music Business. But over a decade later, he’s teaming up with DJ Iron to make a comeback on Phantom X.

“A.D.A.G. (Angels, Demons, Aliens, Ghosts)” is a drumless breaking down spiritual beings having a physical experience whereas “Electric” dives into boom bap territory talking about how exactly bright he’s shining. “Champion” works in more kicks & snares explaining that he just has that type of sound just before “Rinse & Repeat” remains in boom bap territory so he can talk about life being confusing at times, which rightfully so.

Moving on from there, “Beyond Worlds” keeps things rugged telling y’all to blast this shit as the wheels of your truck spin leading into “The Meaning” ending the first half of the album over an atmospheric loop with kicks & snares addressing those who think they know what he’s thinking. After the “Outerlude,” we have “Signs of the Times” starting the 2nd leg with a sample-based boom bap beat explaining what this shit be prior to the somewhat psychedelic “Atomic Comet” talking about the way he plans to hit the earth over

After the 2 & a half minutes “Mind” instrumental cut, the title track subset “(33 RPM)” returns to the boom bap likening himself to a breath of fresh air while the song “Timeslip” hooks up some kicks & snares with these grungy guitar licked acknowledging that it’s been a long wait since the fans have last heard from him yet he’s finally here. “Return to Sender” however happens to be a groovy closer dedicated to all the souls stuck in limbo.

Come to find out that Phantom X has been a decade in the making starting in 2013 & completed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which is interesting because you can definitely hear they put their all into it. DJ Iron’s production fuses classic hip hop with elements of 60’s psychedelica & bits of acid rock while also further experimenting with vintage organs, phasers, analog filters & tape echoes on top of the dense lyricism taking the listeners to an other-worldly realm.

Score: 3.5/5

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AZ – “Truth Be Told” review

Brooklyn veteran AZ is starting the final month of 2023 by putting out his 10th full-length LP. Most notable for his longtime association with Nas being the only feature on the latter’s iconic debut album illmatic with the song “Life’s a Bitch”, he would later go to signing with EMI Records & drop a full-length of his own Doe or Die a little over a year later becoming one of the greatest mafioso hip hop albums of all time. Other standouts in his discography include Pieces of a Man, Aziatic, A.W.O.L. & The Format & more recently Doe or Die II which was a return to form for him personally. But for his 2nd album of the 2020s, he’s enlisting Buckwild from D.I.T.C. to fully produce Truth Be Told.

After the intro, the first song “Reintroduction” sets the tone of what’s to come hooking up a soul sample with kicks & snares admitting that he’s been going for this going for the game-winning shot with only a few seconds left in the 4th quarter whereas “Don’t Go Astray” goes for a bluesy/boom bap vibe talking about real ones never head off target or into any sort of wrongdoing. “One of the Greatest” works in more kicks & snares accompanied by a mellow loop rightfully calling himself that leading into “Amazing” looking back on moments in his life over a prettier instrumental.

“Still Got It” proves Sosa’s point that he hasn’t lost a step with the pen since returning to making music on top of a soulful beat just before “G.O.A.T.” goes for a sample-heavy sound talking about his greatness. The lead single “This is Why” has some rock undertones to the instrumental a bit as he looks to remain fly, but then “Go Time” featuring Pharoahe Monch brings this orchestral flip in the picture so both of them can get on their battle shit.

The penultimate track & final single that just came out last weekend “How We Get It” featuring Fat Joe takes a lavish approach musically as both of them break down the way each of them get it individually & lastly, “Respect Mine” ends Truth Be Told by bringing it raw 1-last time breaking down his legacy for the last minute & 45 seconds left of this half-hour long LP.

Some were calling me crazy because I loved Doe or Die II more than others & I still believe it’s AZ’s best since The Format due to Undeniable & Legendary not being that well received. That said: Truth Be Told matches the caliber of that previous album we got a little over 2 years ago & is his 2nd consecutive classic in this decade. Sosa manages to refine & update his style with the help of his longtime collaborator from The Bronx.

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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