BLAX – “Omnipotent Methodology” review

Milwaukee, Wisconsin emcee/producer BLAX returning for his 4th studio LP. Breaking out over a decade ago off his debut mixtape BLAX x Life x Files followed by the debut EP Archangels & the debut album Be Well, he temporarily changed his moniker to Armstrong Ransome for his sophomore effort Dedicated & the 2nd EP Found before returning to the BLAX moniker on the next couple EPs Angeline &Wembenyama. His last album BLAXPLOITATION a couple years ago took hip hop’s classic sound & threw some modern elements in it, hitting us with Omnipotent Methodology.

“Soul(4)caster” begins with a drumless, lo-fi instrumental talking about shooting high above the clouds whereas “Brass Railz Cabaret” goes for a jazzier vibe feeling like he’s on fire when he’s never claimed to be the hottest previously. “Oneirology” goes for a cloudier boom bap talking about the study of dreaming while “PoetGvngDevoshun(all)” takes a more soulful approach to the beat suggesting those who ain’t talking the same slang isn’t repping the same thing he is.

Continuing with the 2nd quarter, “The Ominous Mobb” combines elements of jazz & boom bap reminding the world what kind of crew people are trying to fuck with up at their spot leading into “Ya Hip Hop Weak” getting a bit more aggressive so he can lyrically rip apart everyone who be churning out bullshit regularly. “24hrs7days” experiments with trap a bit talking about have to get the money every single day of the week just before “Brew City Cab Collective” embraces a funkier tone instrumentally for some slick boasting.

“Agencement Manifesto” starts the other half of Omnipotent Methodology with another drumless beat expressing his belief that there’s no such thing as overnight success while “Young Little Ghetto Boy” does the trap style better than “24hrs7days” did showing a more conscious side to his pen. “Take a Picture” vividly portrays what it was like for his mother raising him in the ghetto over this bluesy instrumental while “Pop, Toast!” featuring Baby Blak talks about envisioning themselves catching Ws like pros shifting towards funkier territory.

To get the full-length’s last leg going, “3rd Eye Open” returns to the boom bap with a luxurious twist speaking of achieving a higher state of consciousness while “Alive Wyre!” swaps out the pianos in favor of a soul sample opting to talk his shit on this one. “Divinity Directions” incorporates some jazzier undertones touching base regarding him staying faithful to God while “Beautiful+Healthy” makes for a soulful conclusion talking about prioritizing him stacking up his money.

Putting it down for the Milwaukee underground for 2 decades already, BLAX makes another career highlight out of Omnipotent Methodology rivaling it’s predecessor in becoming amongst the greatest entries in The God Degree Records founder’s discography. The production’s mostly inspired by jazz music aside from a few detours exploring boom bap or chipmunk soul & trap, representing the culmination of the conscious lyricist’s independent grind since the 2000s.

Score: 4/5

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A$AP Rocky – “Don’t Be Dumb” review

Harlem, New York rapper, songwriter, actor, producer, model & fashion designer A$AP Rocky returning to music after 8 long years. A prominent member of the A$AP Mob, his only mixtape LIVE.LOVE.A$AP is one of the greatest tapes of the previous decade & his debut album LONG.LIVE.A$AP under RCA Records came during my sophomore year of high school to further acclaim. The sophomore effort AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP came the week of my high school graduation was highly praised too, going for an experimental direction with Testing & has finally dropped Don’t Be Dumb after starting a family with Rihanna.

“Order of Protection” begins Flacko Season with a self-produced drumless loop with some hi-hats incorporated at the halfway point talking about being back in his bag whereas the 2nd & final single “Helicopter$” goes for a Memphis vibe instrumentally homaging the Petey Pablo single “Raise Up”. After the “Interrogation” skit, “Stole Ya Flow” blends industrial hip hop & trap speculated to be a jab at Drake when he said in a recent interview that isn’t the case leading into the pop rap/R&B fusion “Stay Here 4 Life” featuring & produced by Brent Faiyaz with co-production from Hit-Boy.

Cardo & Thundercat jump behind the boards for the cloudy trap highlight “Playa” advising not to stare when the diamonds be goin’ on & teaching others how to ball just before the hypnotic “No Trespassing” that Take a Daytrip cooked up suggests he might move out to Texas & shut down anyone who enters his property without permission. “Stop Snitching” featuring Sauce Walka samples “Give This Love a Try” by Leroy Hutson talking about going through it all from the start while “STFU” featuring the Slay Squad gives off an electro vibe to the beat sending a message to those who don’t know when to shut up.

“Punk Rocky” combines post-punk revival, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic pop, indie surf, dream pop & rap rock alongside Ging pleading for him not to be left heartbroken while “Air Force (Black DeMarco)” talks about driving a Ferrari like it’s stolen. Can’t deny Digital Nas or Digital Nazi made one of the album’s craziest instrumentals alongside T-Minus during the jazzy “Whiskey (Release Me)” putting Digital Nazi’s ragebaiting & Twitter trolling aside trying to get high as possible while “Robbery” featuring Doechii references WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T continuing to carry over the jazz elements.

The title track embraces a happier atmosphere singing that he’d do anything to stay in Rihanna’s good graces prior to “Trip Baby” shaking it up with a chipmunk soul sample courtesy of Harry Fraud warning that anyone who fucks around near him will get clicked. “The End” featuring Jessica Pratt & will.i.am flips both “The Rip” by Portishead & “Ebony Glass” by Nancy Priddy drumlessly envisioning the apocalypse while “SWAT Team” talks about the Mob being rich thieves over a horror-inspired trap beat.

“Fish n Steak (What it Is)” by WANG$AP hooks up a prominent flute from Beat Butcha so they can speak of slowing the world down from the 713 to the 718 while “Sundress” starts the deluxe run after “Flackito Jodye” combines his most 2 prominent aliases having Danger Mouse sampling “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?” by Tame Impala telling his ex she flat out fell in the wrong hands. “Babushka Boi” meshes Memphis rap & drift phonk for a song written about an experience where he had his face cut while “D.M.B. (Dat’$ Mah B!*$H)” talks about his love for drugs & women having both Skepta & Shlohmo helping him achieve a cloudy sound.

Outside the context of it opening the Need for Speed: Unbound soundtrack, “Shittin’ Me” directly asks why some would throw him under the bus when then they have no dirt on him whatsoever while the neo-psychedelically conscious “Same Problems?” remembers a number of artists who’ve passed away. Pharrell & Tyler, The Creator provide “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)” a lot of cloudy trap energy referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WCW World Television Champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.

“Highjack” featuring Jessica Pratt collides cloud rap, trap, Memphis rap, neo-psychedelia, alternative R&B & neo-soul for a jab at Drake while “Tailor Swif” contains secondary influences of plugg talking about his agility. “Ruby Rosary” featuring J. Cole meshes jazz rap, cloud rap, drumless & illbient thanks to The Alchemist discussing their current artistic positions while DJ Dahi & James Blake sample “Time” by Hans Zimmer on the final bonus track “pray4dagang”tackling introspective subjects.

Testing nearly a decade later still contains some of my favorite A$AP Rocky tracks “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)” & “Gunz n Butter”, but Don’t Be Dumb marks a celebratory comeback I’d have to put above it’s 2018 predecessor. The predominantly experimental trap production occasionally sprinkles hints of cloud rap, Memphis rap, neo-psychedelia, drumless, industrial hip hop, pop rap, R&B, post-punk revival, psychedelic pop, indie surf, dream pop, rap rock & chipmunk soul throughout the hour portraying the man he’s become whilst dissecting 6 different alter egos of his.

Score: 4/5

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Recognize Ali – “All Shall Perish” review

Here we have the 19th proper solo album from Ghanan emcee Recognize Ali. This guy has been a dominant force in the underground from his vast discography of LPs, mixtapes & EPs within the last decade or so to the stellar feature performances that he’s provided for numerous artists. Some standouts in his ever-growing catalog to me personally include the Giallo Point-produced Back 2 Mecca, the Stu Bangas-produced Guerrilla Dynasty trilogy & the Bronze Nazareth-produced Season of the 7 to only name a few. Coming off Back to M3cca this fall, DJ D-Styles has been brought in to fully produce All Shall Perish.

“Realest” comes out the gate with this gritty boom bap opener advising that it wouldn’t be clever to go to war with him whereas “Killing Birds” featuring Bub Styles eerily talks about shattering dreams emptying full clip magazines at their opps. “Perpetual Stew” maintains a hardcore boom bap vibe reminding the world he’s been that dude with the repertoire that says it all while “Give ‘Em Hell” blends some pianos & saxophones with kicks & snares warning one could get murked for crossing him.

Boob Bronx & Chubs join Ali on the title track boasting that everything they touch becomes monumental leading into “Bad Mon” talking about not fucking around because of the size of his stick & the possibility of lives being lost. “Soft Ones” featuring Sage Infinite finds the 2 speaking of loading up when it’s war time & after taking a moment to talk about how “Sometimes the Predator is the Prey”, the final song “Real Recognize” wraps up All Shall Perish issuing a statement demanding his authenticity gets acknowledged.

Guerilla Dynasty III was a great conclusion to an outstanding trilogy & I thought Back to M3cca was cool although I didn’t enjoy it as much. All Shall Perish on the other hand improves from it’s predecessor a few months earlier & it’s easily Recognize Ali’s best solo effort in a while. The guest list can be 50/50, but DJ D-Styles’ production representing the signature Beat Junkie Sound & the Greenfield Music founder’s penmanship combined outweighs what very few criticisms I have towards it.

Score: 4/5

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BigBabyGucci – “Serotonin” review

Brand new LP & the 7th altogether from Charlotte, North Carolina recording artist BigBabyGucci. Starting almost a decade ago off his debut EP ART HOE Collection, he would continue to build a name for himself by putting out 19 more EPs as well as 6 full-lengths & his last couple tapes along the way. When U Wake Up, When You Go to Sleep, Baby 5 & the heavily alternative ANTI have all become his strongest material of the 2020s although I can’t the same for Isolation 2.5 a month after the latter. Internet Explorer was a fun redemption for himself & 5 months later, following up And When I’m Alone a couple months ago supplying a dose of Serotonin.

“The Biggest Opp” starts off with a synth-trap instrumental talking about making it to the top of an enemies list for being what they aspire of becoming whereas “Crew Love” goes for a funkier vibe asking his lover what she wants to do. “Waymo” continues to embrace a futuristic trap vibe talking about righting all of his wrongs leading into “Hate Me So Bad” taking inspiration from synth-funk a bit trying to figure why some hold resentment towards him.

Internet Money Records in-house producer Nico Baran co-produces “Molasses” getting back in his mode addressing a sweet talker who he deems to be slow just before “Pay 4 Love” atmospherically tells his lover he’s hoping they can take off together. “Upside Down” has a more playful tone to it talking about knowing what this bad bitch who came across his path needs while “Broke as Fuck” tropically boasts his chains come in all different colors similarly to a box of crayons.

“Heartbreak Hotel” kicks off the final act of Serotonin asking if it’s a problem that he likes to get high daily & whipping up a pot soon as he gets out of bed at the crack of dawn while “Fall Out” stylistically feels like a cross between Graduation and 808s & Heartbreak flexing that he’ll pull up with all the swag. “Soul Cry” finishes by continuing to take inspiration from those previously mentioned albums seeing his future in the distance whenever he goes to sleep at night.

Continuing to hold off a little longer until House of Mirrors or Soda & Syrup 2 and now Dopamine arrive, BigBabyGucci further capitalizes on the success of And When I’m Alone hitting the studio again for nearly a dozen new songs of audio Serotonin clocking at almost a half hour marking the beginning of what’s looking like a stronger year for him. The production’s a lot more synth-based than some of his recent output & maintains the hunger he had a couple months ago, complimenting the sound with fun pop rap performances.

Score: 3.5/5

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Wakko the Kidd – “In Airheadz We Trust” review

Hollywood, California rapper & entrepreneur Wakko the Kidd making his full-length studio debut. Introducing himself in the summer of 2018 off his debut single “Multiple Racks”, he would go on to launch his own strain of cannabis called Airheadz a year later. However in the summer of 2024, the Insane Clown Posse signed him to Psychopathic Records & has performed at many of their events like the Gathering of the Juggalos or Hallowicked. To get the hatchet’s 2026 going, he’s ready to finally drop In Airheadz We Trust days away from JCW Lunacy head writer Vince Russo crowning Facade of The Neon Blondes & Ken Anderson as the new JCW American Champion & JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion respectively.

“Back n Forth” featuring Rio da Yung O.G. begins with a Detroit trap instrumental talking about wasting no time with broke bitches whereas “Bury a Body” featuring Ouija Macc finds the 2 teaming up for a more standard trap vibe offering to show listeners how to dispose corpses. “What’s That!?” featuring Baby Kia blends some synths hi-has boasting their freshness just before “Bloodbath” featuring Violent J talks about getting cash soon as they wake up.

Derez De’Shon joins Wakko on “How Many Times?” cloudily advising people that this is their chance to do their dance leading into “Fake Love” featuring Doobie combining trap & rock so they can talk about people pretending to support them when that isn’t the case in reality. “Cherry Cola” featuring RMC Mike returns to the Detroit sound speaking of doing better things in life like focusing towards their music careers while “Goin’ Crazy” featuring Peewee Longway sees the pair talking about their successes.

The song “Back It Up” featuring Icewear Vezzo & Soulja Boy kicks off the last leg of In Airheadz We Trust incorporating some 808s & bells for a single appealing to the strip clubs while “Death Wish” featuring Shaggy 2 Dope & produced by Mythic Mindz tells everyone who’ve been praying for their demise that they could end up on the 11:00 news. “Outta My Mind” featuring Layzie Bone wraps up Wakko’s debut with a cloudy trap crossover talking about smoking weed & the only song without a guest “Swing the Hatchet” shows his loyalty to Psychopathic.

I got to meet this guy a couple months ago at Hallowicked & some of the singles we got building towards In Airheadz We Trust gave me a better understanding as to why ICP signed him to Psychopathic, but Wakko the Kidd much like Ouija is stylistically different compared to a lot of the artists the label that runs beneath the streets has signed previously. A lot of the production is catered to the Detroit sound & although I don’t mind most of the guests, I feel like there are more of them then there needed to be.

Score: 3.5/5

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Will Epstein – “Yeah, mostly” review

Manhattan, New York singer/songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Will Epstein is back for his 3rd solo LP to get 2026 rolling. Known for being 1/2 of the indie pop duo High Water, he would go on to sign with Fat Possum Records & make his own full-length debut with Whims in the fall of 2022 to moderate reception with the sophomore effort Wendy following a few months later to mild feedback as well. Yeah, mostly however had me hoping Will would outdo himself musically based off a couple teasers within the last few months, only days succeeding Becky Lynch becoming a 2-time WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion & Rhiyo being crowned the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

“Saturday Night” begins with this Americana intro singing about fireflies shining bright during the dark evenings of the weekend whereas “Brideshead Revisited Revisited” goes for an indie rock direction stylistically homaging the Evelyn Waugh novel Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder. “Dishwasher” gives off a slower vibe singing about feeling at peace when he’s washing dishes leading into the piano-driven “Riverside” confesses this person in his life feels a lot closer than previously.

Moving on from there, “Socks in LA” gets back to an indie rock sound singing about only sleeping in his socks whenever he’s in the west coast due to the constantly warm weather just before “That’ll Be Me” has a sadder mood altogether recalling his grandmother Sherrie passing away & a friend named Max losing his home in the wildfires around this time 52 weeks ago. “Little Tony Soprano” references the main character from one of my top 3 favorite shows of all-time The Sopranosmaintaining the indie rock elements while “Window Window Window” blissfully advises to stop looking for kisses & fixes.

“Dimmer Switch” starts the last leg of Yeah, mostly embracing a smoother approach singing about him being unable to control how much this person means to Will while “Standing at My Standing Desk” asking himself whether he’ll be a father or bail out as well as getting caught between the past & the future. “Lauren Bacall” wraps up the album giving his flowers to the actress who was amongst of the last surviving stars from Hollywood’s golden age era hooking up some meditative piano chords behind him.

Yeah, mostly comes across being a lot more personal & self-assured Will Epstein has ever sounded compared to both of it’s moderately received predecessors looking at different facets of the singer/songwriter that emerge throughout the course of a single day. Tough to say whether or not it’ll be amongst my favorite albums of 2026 next winter, but it’s a worthy indie rock offering with secondary influences of Americana & singer/songwriter to get the year going containing stronger songwriting than Whims & Wendy’s combined.

Score: 4/5

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The Kid Laroi – “Before I Forget” review

Waterloo, New South Wales, Australia rapper & singer/songwriter The Kid Laroi beginning 2026 with his sophomore effort. Emerging as a protege of the late Juice WRLD, he subsequently signed to Grade A Productions & Interscope Records up until his debut mixtape Fuck Love received mixed-to-negative reviews including 3 separate reissues. His debut album The 1st Time under Columbia Records was only a slightly better product, returning 26 months later to drop Before I Forgetin the midst of him coming out of a relationship.

“Me + You” decently samples “Tell Your Friends” by The Weeknd singing about Findlay McConnell wanting to fight him when he always thought they were friends whereas “July” goes for an alternative R&B vibe recalling him & Tate McRae breaking up 6 months earlier. “Private” asks himself whether he & Tate had moved too fast or if they let everyone in on what they had leading into the trap soul-flavored “Come Down” produced by FNZ singing about wanting to be with his ex.

Lithe joins Laroi on “Rather Be” continuing to delve deeper regarding his breakup with Tate McRae while the 2nd single “A Perfect World” combines sophisti-pop, contemporary R&B, soft rock & vaporwave whining about him & Tate being together in an alternate universe where they had resolved their issues. “5:21AM” acoustically yearns to be the man she wishes he would be while the lead single “A Cold Play” responds “Tit for Tat” blending alternative R&B, alt-pop, trap soul, Memphis rap & cloud rap.

“The Moment” continues the 2nd half of Before I Forget singing about waiting for the day he & Tate’s spirits are safe from the public eye while “Never Came Back” hooks up some acoustics confessing there was a point where he couldn’t sleep because of her leaving him, taking weeks for him to be at peace with the breakup. “Thank God” leans towards an alt-pop sound dismissing the possibility of loving his next girlfriend the way he loved Tate while “I’m So in Love with You” sings about him still having feelings towards her, being the only thing that he sees since last summer.

We have The Kid Laroi taking a moment on the piano-driven “Maybe I’m Wrong” responding to “Trying on Shoes” by confessing that he lost the series of singles he & Tate had put out attacking one another while “Her” doesn’t feel like an interlude at all, pleasing for Tate to take him back because the shape of her’s still carved in his heart. The 3rd & final single “Back When You Were Mine” wraps up the LP in the form of this moderate contemporary R&B, pop & soft rock outro hoping she doesn’t take it the wrong way since it was conceived when they were still dating.

“Back 2 Love” starts the deluxe run telling Tate to swing by since he was gone for an entire summer & giving a fuck less if they argue while “Hold Still” fuses R&B & rock courtesy of Ging singing about whether she has his trust or not. “I Condemn” experiments with rage & pop rap thanks to Outtatown except I would’ve preferred if he gave the beat to someone else since Laroi’s essentially responding to “Tit for Tat” again while “Quit You” sings about Tate being the worst drug he’s ever taken.

Things take a turn for an alternative R&B direction during “Weakest Feeling” confessing he’d rather not spend his Sundays with her while “Pieces” sings about him understanding Tate’s reasons for dissing him & what hits his mind when he misses her. “Move Your Body” dabbles with a funkier sound calling for everyone to hit the dance floors & after “Echoes” vents the difficulty of moving on from his previous relationship, the final bonus track “Dying on This Hill” sends it all off wanting Tate to know he’ll always be there for her.

Does anybody remember when Robin Thicke dedicated his 6th album Paula & his last under Star Trak Entertainment to saving his initial marriage with Paula Patton only for her to divorce him a year later? That’s kinda what The Kid Laroi does with Before I Forget except he was never married to Tate McRae & it actually has some occasionally enjoyable moments than Paula. The production’s more focused around contemporary R&B than The 1st Time with lesser influences of alternative R&B as well as trap soul & alt-pop which is merely passable, I just think the themes get tiring after a certain point.

Score: 2/5

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WTM Solid – “Street Gospel” review

Sophomore effort from Detroit, Michigan rapper WTM Solid. A member of the WRLD Tour Mafia, he also embarked on a solo career of his own beginning a few years back with the debut EP Originatour followed by both Matter of Time & What’s the Difference?. Bigg as well as the full-length studio debut album Imagine That at the start of the previous year elevated himself as an individual amongst the rest of WRLD Tour, following up Killa $eason & Touropean to spit some Street Gospel.

“OMG” starts with a cloudy trap instrumental talking about becoming bigger than his own personal issues whereas “Orange Hearts <3” cautions of how others say his name & making bands daily. “R.I.P. Mac Miller” gives his condolences to the late Pittsburgh recording artist/producer of the same name slathering a chopped & screwed effect throughout his vocals leading into “Happy Face 🙂 Sad Face :(” talking about people going from friends to enemies when that couldn’t be more accurate.

We get a pluggier vibe on “S.W.A.G. (Somebody Who Admires God)” explaining that shit runs deeper than the rap game & getting the bag yourself just before “Free Byrd” cloudily expresses gratitude for his daughter since she brought the best out of him as a person. “Lemme Guess” featuring $amaad produced by LulRose & WTM Niketech finds the 2 addressing the crowd of people who’re down in life because of their own struggles while “Where the Luv?” featuring Rafa atmospherically talks about their hearts getting discarded.

“Keep Grindin’” embraces the Detroit sound boasting of him having the ability to make a Lamborghini out of a minivan prior to suggesting that everyone shuts the fuck up whenever it’s “Black Jesus Talking”. WTM Amex joins Solid on “Here We Go Again” airing out biters who’re trying to steal their respective styles since they’re so unique while “Shame on You, Blame on You” incorporate some sampling talking about thanking himself for overcoming all of his problems.

The song “Unsatisfied 2” kicks off Street Gospel’s last act with a sequel to a track off Originatour continuing to work in more samples while “Alchemist” soulfully takes us back to reality, suggesting kids to put down the guns & addressing our country’s economical issues like a recession nearing closer with each day. “Mental Health Awareness” ends the album talking about seeing the beauty in this because he knows who he is & promising things won’t end until he’s not here anymore.

2025 was by far the biggest year in WTM Solid’s solo career dropping a full-length studio debut & a couple EPs proving why he deserves recognition beyond his output with the WRLD Tour Mafia, beginning 2026 by crafting what I’m convinced to be the most personal collection of material I’ve ever heard from him. Instrumentally, the Detroit sound is being meshed with elements of cloud rap & plugg interestingly spending a half hour putting us inside of his shoes aside from a couple guests joining him occasionally.

Score: 4.5/5

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$uicideboy$ – “Thy Will Be Done” review

New Orleans, Louisiana duo & G*59 Record$ founders the $uicideboy$ consisting of Ruby da Cherry & $crim surprise-dropping their 6th studio LP on Christmas Day. In over a decade, they have given a plethora of projects whether it be the Kill Your$elf saga & Eternal Grey or even the debut album I WANNA DIE IN NEW ORLEANS & the Travis Barker-produced Live Fast, Die Whenever. The sophomore effort Long Term Effects of Suffering followed as did Sing Me a Lullaby, My Sweet Temptation along with New World Depression. In what was supposed to be a 2nd disc of Thy Kingdom Come back in August, the boy$ have decided to make Thy Will Be Done a stand-alone sequel of it’s own.

“Leviticus” starts off with a grisly trap instrumental produced by none other than $crim asking for God to send a flood to wash their sins away whereas “2009 Reggie Bush” goes for a Memphis vibe asking for everyone to get off their dicks. “Bloodsweat” aggressively talks about having the balls to die where they stand unlike others although the homophobic bar was cringe leading into the dirty south flavored “Angel Grove” coming at my 2nd favorite song observing the plot twist of them sacrificing themselves to the world.

Reaching the halfway point, “Whatever Floats Your Boat Will Definitely Sink My Ship” takes a melodic approach in terms of delivery over a blend of hi-hats & a guitar singing about not wanting to be this afraid of the dark while the tropical trap atmosphere of “MSY” begins the 2nd leg talking about spending the past decade of their lives using metaphors to express the way they’ve been feeling. My favorite song has easily gotta be “Old Addicts, New Habits” from the experimentation of trap & jazz rap to the lyrics representing the Northside like they’ve done so their whole careers.

“Frenzy” energetically kicks off the encore of Thy Will Be Done with another top 3 moment in my opinion looking to fuck shit up harder than a Hurricane swapping out the hi-hats in favor of some 808s while “Hypernormalisation” eerily embarks on a trip to the Southside & preferring euthanasia over getting high. “Fuck Ups” finishes off with a hypnotic phonk beat giving middle fingers to 5-0 & hanging out with the fiends because those’re the kind of people they came up with.

This new half hour collection of ideas from the $uicideboy$ carries over the ethos of Thy Kingdom Come almost 5 months ago & it most certainly would enhance the quality if it were an expansion of that predecessor since that was the original plan, but I can’t blame Ruby da Cherry or $crim for spinning Thy Will Be Done off into a completely separate album by itself due to them offering a sequel that progresses beyond the original cohesively. $crim’s production explores the sounds of Memphis rap, trap, phonk, dirty south, jazz rap & a small dosage of trap metal further embracing their new sense of spirituality.

Score: 4.5/5

Polo G – “H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. 2 (He Overcame Obstacles During Pain Or Emotional Trauma) 2” review

Brand new LP & the 6th overall from Chicago, Illinois rapper, singer/songwriter & record executive Polo G. Rising to prominence in 2019 off his full-length debut Die a Legend which I personally found it to be decent, it wasn’t until the sophomore effort The GOAT the subsequent spring where I noticed some significant improvements. Hall of Fame & it’s sequel on the contrary were both released to mixed reception in 2021, redeeming himself to me anyway as the H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. (He Overcame Obstacles During Pain Or Emotional Trauma) a year & a half ago. Last week however, he announced a follow-up to the latter & gave me hopes of him continuing to head down the right direction musically.

“Painkillers” produced by Smatt Sertified actually starts off pretty solidly talking about being a Chiraq veteran who sticks his chest out when speaking prior to “Move Wrong” sampling “Lay It Down” by 8Ball & MJG featuring Crime Boss so he & VonOff1700 can ruin it. “Hard Body” blends acoustics & hi-hats talking about him continuing to follow paper trails while “Crash the Party” sends 100 rounds with no fucks given.

The instrumental on “Chances” doesn’t really do a whole lot for me & it’s a shame because I feel like the subject matter of him taking risks to get where he is comes from a serious place until the 6th & final single “Gangsta Graduation” featuring G Herbo talks about making out of the streets over an equally uninteresting beat. The 3rd single “Chinatown 2” picks up where The GOAT standout left off conceptually although I’d very much prefer the original just before “Lost My Friend” works in some average sampling masking the pain of a colleague he ain’t cool with anymore.

“High Tolerance” was obviously chosen for the 5th & penultimate single due to it’s predictable sound although I’m not gonna dismiss the idea of him being used to emotional struggles while “If I Gat To” speaks of his belief that we all face common battles, which I can agree to a certain extent. “Shoot It Off” made for an average 2nd single blending gangsta rap & trap figuring why this person he knew chose to speak if he has the right to remain silent while “1 More Time” confesses he thinks it’s fucked up the way a homie thinks he see shit.

Meanwhile on “Insubordinate”, we have Polo G talking about going from only wanting millions of dollars in cash to solely desiring peace while the 4th single “Quality Over Quantity” comes off a bit ironic since one could use that title in an argument regarding this spiritual successor being less enjoyable than the predecessor. “Dope Peddler” calls himself a cocaine specialist when I’d personally give that title to Clipse while moving forward asking who’s “Left to Blame” when he’s down & out.

“Boring Soul” surprises me with one of the more appealing moments instrumentally talking about being an uninteresting person on the inside advising to never put somebody before yours due to him not seeing a lot of people he knew anymore while the lead single “My All” was my favorite of them all from the Southside & TM88 beat to the lyrics about his struggles with love while “Spiritual War” talks about the reason why he’s been having the feelings he’s been experiencing.

King Von makes a posthumous appearance during “95 Bulls” & that itself is basically Polo G’s eulogy to his late friend who was killed half a decade ago already that I can admire for what it is while “Madden” boasts of him always making his opposition the angriest. “Rent Due” concludes H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. 2 (He Overcame Obstacles During Pain Or Emotional Trauma) 2 dropping off 3 verses straight without a chorus sticking to a vow he made of not folding.

I’m very well aware I’m in the minority of the original H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. (He Overcame Obstacles During Pain Or Emotional Trauma) being an improvement over both Hall of Fame albums, but at least Southside producing 72% of it gave it something going for it & a great deal of this sequel over an entire year later has very little purpose to it besides a small handful of tracks. The topics addressed are still the ones he’s basically become known for except the production has downgraded tremendously.

Score: 1.5/5

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