Shenseea – “Alpha” review

Shenseea is a 25 year old singer/songwriter & DJ from Kingston, Jamaica who’s dropped a handful of singles since 2015 like the Vybz Kartel-assisted “Loodi” or “Run Run”. She then signed to Interscope Records prior to the pandemic, but got her biggest push yet after appearing on the “Ok Ok” remix off Kanye West’s final Def Jam album DONDA this past summer. So given that, it was only a matter of time until she’d strike while the iron’s hot & drop a full-length debut.

“Target” with Tyga starts off the album with a decent ballad accompanied by a blissful atmosphere talking about doing right by one another whereas “Can’t Anymore” is a much more peppier follow-up wanting to get nasty. “Deserve It” goes into a more dancehall direction fantasizing over the perfect guy leading into 21 Savage tagging along for “R U That?”, which is a fresh fusion of contemporary R&B & trap outlining what kind of relationships they want.

Meanwhile on “Lick”, we have Megan Thee Stallion coming into the picture for a more refined version of “W.A.P. (Wet Ass Pussy)” down to the Murda Beatz instrumental just before the Offset-assisted “Bouncy” reveals itself to be a playful ass-shaking anthem. “Henkel Glue” returns to dancehall turf as Shenseea goes back & forth with Bernie Man talking about how this isn’t any kind of regular love, but then “Lying If I Call It Love” is a reggae-tinged slow jam detailing not being in love with her partner (played by Sean Paul) even though the sex is great.

“Hangover” comes through with an airy trap ballad advising how much it’s gonna hurt when she breaks up with her man while “Body Count” spaciously advises her new lover not to worry about such. “Egocentric” melodically advises how much your ego can damage you fighting for money like 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena while “Shen Ex Anthem” pretty much speaks for itself over a pillowy beat. The penultimate track “Sun Comes Up” reveals itself to be an empowering anthem about rising up & to end the album, Tyga returns for the endearing “Blessed” addressing their gratitude for where they are today.

For a commercial debut, I think Alpha further cements Shenseea as the most exciting new face in the dancehall scene. She still stays true to her roots, but I also think it’s fun the way she tries to incorporate elements of hip hop & pop into her music.

Score: 3.5/5

Ho99o9 – “Skin” review

Ho99o9 is a punk rap duo from Newark, New Jersey consisting of theOGM & Eaddy. They originally emerged on the scene in 2014 off their debut EP Mutant Freax & have since gone on to follow it up with 3 more EPs along with 3 mixtapes & even a full-length debut. But in light of them signing to Travis Barker’s newly formed Elektra Records imprint DTA Records, it was only appropriate to have the revered blink-182 drummer produce their sophomore effort over here.

“NUGE SNIGHT” is a short yet heavy opener cleverly welcoming listeners to Death Row whereas “BATTERY NOT INCLUDED” works in some thrashy drums talking about how “nothing’s ever perfect”. “BITE MY FACE” comes through with a riot-starter demanding to show ‘em what you’re living in just before Bun B tags along for the chopped & screwed “SLO BREAD” to get on their hustler shit.

Meanwhile on “PROTECT MY BITCH, Pt. 2”, we have Ho99o9 going into a more industrial sound calling out an internet gangsta leading into “…SPEAK OF THE DEVIL” incorporating a heavy ass riff talking about how you can’t run from them because this is who they are. Saul Williams comes into the picture for the punky “SKINHEAD” screaming to give them drugs, but then “LOWER THAN SCUM” comes through with a killer guitar riff talking about the devil being in them.

“DEVIL AT THE CROSSROADS” starts out the final leg of the album with an uncanny trap cut confessing their temptations with Satan himself while “THE WORLD, THE FLESH, THE DEVIL” goes into trap metal territory getting murderous. The penultimate track “LIMITS” with Jasiah finds the 2 chaotically talking about not seeing such & “DEAD OR ASLEEP?” ends the album with a punk rap ballad singing to take them out with no regret.

These guys have always caught my interest beginning when Horrors of 1999 came out over a week after my high school graduation, but I’m so happy they linked with Travis Barker because he gave them their best body of work yet. His production’s a lot more rawer in comparison to the recent shit he’s been doing with Machine Gun Kelly & both MCs sound angrier than ever on the mic.

Score: 4/5

Lil Durk – “7220” review

Lil Durk is a 29 year old rapper from Chicago, Illinois who came up a little over a decade ago off his debut mixtape I’m a Hitta. This was followed up with Life Ain’t No Joke & the first 2 installments of the Signed to the Streets trilogy, the latter of which led him signing to Def Jam Recordings for his full-length debut Remember My Name & the sophomore effort Lil Durk 2X. Since then, Durk has made himself home at Alamo Records & dropped 9 more mixtapes. But now in light of his late protege King Von’s latest posthumous outing What It Means to Be King seeing the light of day last weekend, Durk is continuing to apply pressure in the form of his 3rd album.

“Started From” kicks off the whole thing with a bare piano instrumental talking about his beginnings whereas “Headtaps” vulnerably opens up on starting from the bottom, but the beat is so painfully generic. “AHHH HA!”comes through with a vicious YoungBoy Never Broke Again diss down to the Southside/TM88 production, but then “Shooutout @ My Crib” mixed some pianos & snares addressing a home invasion that took place last summer.

Meanwhile on “Golden Child”, we have Durk over a cloudy Hitmaka instrumental detailing the violent gang life just before “No Interviews” talks about trying to turn up even with the beat being as comatose as it is. Future tags along for the spacey “Petty Too” to get back at their women being salty leading into “Barbarian” bringing back the keyboards talking about not letting up.

Gunna comes into the picture for the Chopsquad DJ-produced “What Happened to Virgil?” to pay their respects to the late Off-White founder while “Grow Up” starts off as a piano ballad talking about what he is wanted to be as he grew up prior to “Keep It On Speaker” switching it up into more tenser territory telling a story where the cops pulled him over because of the color of his skin.

Following that, “Smoking & Thinking” once again incorporates some keyboards venting the shit that enters his mind when smoking while “Blocklist” comes off as an arduous ballad bragging about the people he has blocked on his phone. “Difference Is” with Summer Walker feels redundant in the track-listing given that it just seems like a forced R&B duet to get radio play whereas “Federal Nightmares” on the other hand expresses some serious paranoia that he’s dealt with in the past & it’s really admirable.

The song “Love Dior Banks” does it’s job at tugging at the heartstrings telling his niece to hold her brother close while the penultimate track “Pissed Me Off” goes into drill territory paying tribute to his protégé King Von & his brother DThang. “Broadway Girls” however has to be one of the worst closers of the year, as Morgan Wallen pops in for a country trap tune describing their regrettable experiences with women.

All of that being said: I went into 7220 excited as Hell & wound up coming away from it at a crossroad. I appreciate Durk getting a lot more personal through his songwriting this time around & the lack of features further cements that, but the production is so remarkably inconsistent & it really makes me hope that he can get that situated sooner than later.

Score: 2.5/5

Fly Anakin – “Frank” review

Fly Anakin is a 27 year old MC from Richmond, Virginia who’s been making music for nearly a decade at this point. However, he first caught my attention in 2018 after being featured on Ankhlejohn’s magnum opus Van Ghost. & started to gain even more exposure a little over a year ago when he & Pink Siifu dropped their collab album FlySiifu’s. But coming fresh off some promising singles that Fly Anakin has putting out for the last few months, it was all leading up to his full-length debut album over here.

“Love Song (Come Back)” is a string-laced opener getting in his romance bag whereas the soulful “Dontbeafraid” with Henny L.O. finds the 2 talking about entitled cats setting the game back. “Sean Price” comes through with a lavish tribute to the fallen Boot Camp soldier of the same name with the help of Evidence behind the boards leading into the appropriately titled “Underdog Theme”.

After the “Kenneth Cole Collections” skit, “WaxPoetic” comes through with a drumless acoustic loop talking about being a suburban dude now leading into Pink Siifu tagging along for the boom bap-tinged “Black Be the Source” talking about building & destroying. Nickelus F comes into the picture for the dreary “Ghost” getting in their hardcore shit, but then “Class Clown” returns to soul territory acknowledging that the only capping he does is shrooms.

After the “Bread” skit, “No Dough” talks about not doing shit for free anymore over a groovy Madlib instrumental while the orchestral “Grammy Snubnose” warns not to let him see his people switch. “Bad Business (Killswitch)” weaves in a moody boom bap beat dissing MCs who be moving backwards while “Poisonous Primates” goes into funkier turf talking about killing his ego.

After the “Fly Away” skit, the penultimate track “Telepathic” with Big Kahuna Og finds the 2 tossing the mic back & forth with each other pretty well over a cloud backdrop & “Bag Man” returns with some angelic background vocals talking about how it don’t take much to be the man in the climate that hip hop’s in today.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this dude in the last few years & I can definitely hear why after listening this album. It’s touching that he flipped so many soul records in honor of father & even lyrically, there are points where he’s getting a lot more personal than he did on his previous efforts.

Score: 3.5/5

H.A.R.D. – “The Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse” review

H.A.R.D. is a hip hop super-duo consisting of Joell Ortiz & KXNG CROOKED. Both of whom have had notorious label issues at the start of their careers, but would go on to see success as members of the supergroup Slaughterhouse along with Royce da 5’9” & Joe Budden from the late 2000s up until the mid-2010s. The quartet had quietly disbanded in 2016 after Joe’s retirement from making music even though it wasn’t confirmed until 2 years later, but the other 3 members have been keeping themselves busy ever since. H.A.R.D. introduced themselves a couple months after the pandemic hit with an incredible eponymous debut EP & with the 2 year anniversary of that approaching in the spring, they’re coming back in the form of a debut album.

After the “Birth” intro, the first song “Vacancy” is a gospel-laced opener produced by The Heatmakerz talking about putting the business in the back & get back in business whereas “Ain’t Nobody Mad” follows it up with an organ provided by DJ Silk addressing those who be asking them why they still be talking about that bullshit. “Backstage” takes a more soulful route wishing real life was like being in a green room just before “Flood Waters” mixes some sputtering drums with pianos talking about how paradise ain’t what it used to be.

Meanwhile on “Fukglasshouse”, we have H.A.R.D. pretty much shooting down any remaining hope of Glass House seeing the light of day over a catastrophic trap beat from DJ Pain 1 leading into a dope sequel to “Brother’s Keeper” off Yaowa’s 3rd album House Slippers. “Almighty” weaves some horns in to get on their battle rap shit, but then “Smoke” comes through with a more calmer sound talking about not doing all the industry functions.

“Coastin’” has a more tenser sound calling out someone who ain’t down to ride while the song “Still in My Feelings” is a worthy sequel to “In My Feelings” off Joell’s latest solo effort Autograph referencing the greatest WWE superstar ever; 7-time world champion, 7-time tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion The Undertaker. The penultimate track “Look Mama” serves as a touching dedication to both of their mothers & lastly, “Sorry” closes out the album with a chipmunk soul sample apologizing to everyone for the way Slaughterhouse ended.

I think the self-titled EP has better production, but Joell & Crook come harder on here lyrically. Coming from someone who was once a big fan of Slaughterhouse, it’s a little fucked up that they didn’t tell Royce or Joe about it until it was announced but I can’t deny how interesting it is to hear these guys looking back on their time in the group.

Score: 4/5

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Benny the Butcher – “Tana Talk 4” review

Benny the Butcher is a 37 year old MC from Buffalo, New York who’s been making music since 2004. However, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Last year alone, he teamed up with Harry Fraud for The Plugs I Met II in the spring & then Pyrex Picasso in the summer. However, he’s finally linking back up with Daringer & The Alchemist for his 3rd full-length album as well as the 4th installment of the Tana Talk series.

“Johnny P’s Caddy” kicks off the album with a soulful Alchemist beat & J. Cole joining Benny in talking about deserving to be where they are now & their cribs being like an old show on the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned MTV whereas the Stove God Cook$-assisted “Back 2x” follows it up by bringing the coke raps back & Daringer taking the instrumental back to the basement. “Super Plug” works in a dejecting beat talking about how his only wish was to get his close ones rich just before Boldy James tags along for “Weekends in the Perry’s”, where he & Benny jump on top of a chipmunk soul sample addressing how it’s always been.

Meanwhile on “10 More Crack Commandments”, we have The Butcher delivering a stellar sequel to “10 Crack Commandments” that would make Biggie proud down to the spoken word outro from Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy leading into Conway coming into the picture for “Tyson vs. Ali” talking about how everyone compares the greatest to the greatest nowadays on top of some dusty drums & pianos. “Uncle Bun” goes into a more suspenseful direction as a Benny & 38 Spesh toss the mic back & forth with one another, but then “Thowy’s Revenge” incorporates a horn sample talking about how he went & got it.

“Billy Joe” brings an organ into the picture to describe the shit he be doing within the first 3 days of every month while the song “Guerrero” with Westside Gunn finds the 2 on top of a futuristic boom bap instrumental with some amazing wordplay. The penultimate track “Bust a Brick Nick” viciously attacks those who haven’t been the places he’s been to even though the beat is opulent as Hell & lastly, “Mr. Chow Hall” ends the album by confessing what’s been on his mind lately & the instrumental here is just spine-tingling.

Much like Conway did with God Don’t Make Mistakes a couple weeks back, I think Benny gave us some of the best work of his career with this album. From the vivid street imagery to Daringer & The Alchemist’s production, every one involved kills it at picking up where the previous installment of the series left off while recapturing that sound.

Score: 4.5/5

Lyte – “Metamorphosis” review

Lyte is a 32 year old MC from Flint, Michigan who broke out in 2014 off his debut mixtape Follow the Lyte. He then signed to the Insane Clown Posse’s very own Psychopathic Records on New Year’s Day 2017 & put out his debut EP Psychopathic MonStar that summer following the 18th annual Gathering of the Juggalos in Oklahoma, but amicably left a couple years later in order to focus on building his own label MonStar Entertainment & becoming a father. But now after returning from his sabbatical, he’s finally unleashing his full-length debut to the world.

“Bars XXX” kicks off the album on a victorious note with the help of MonStar in-house producer Lendo Smiley talking about how he used to pray for this moment whereas “You Might Know” works in a guitar to tell the story of his struggle & where he is today. Layzie Bone & Stevie Stone tag along for the piano-laced “Problem” advising that you don’t want any beef with either one of them just before “Sunshine” returns to rap rock turf talking about making it out of the storm.

Meanwhile on “Flame”, we have Lyte on top of an operatic vocal sample boasting his rapping prowess leading into “Take Control” mixing some keyboards & guitars talking about fueling the flame except the hook is like nails to a chalkboard. “Change You” however goes into a spacious direction admitting that he hasn’t been the same since he’s made some dough, but then “Lyte It Up” goes into mellow boom bap turf talking about smoking weed.

“Level” incorporates some synthesizers with the help of Hypnotic Sound’s very own Str8jaket prior to Skitzo coming into the picture for the eerie “Cut Like That” produced by Jim Job referencing former IWGPジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 4-time WWE Tag Team Champion Owen Hart. “Outlaw” is a dope piano ballad comparing himself to such while “Mind Back Right” brings in P.R.E.A.C.H. & Twisted Insane to showcase their chopper flows over a solemn trap beat that Lyte happened to cook up himself.

The track “We Got That” goes full blown rap rock to talk about his ride or die bitch while the penultimate song “Stay in Yo Lane” with Ant G, Bam Beda, DJ Clay, Double Dragon, Frank Nitty & Tha Hav Knots is a lethal 7-minute posse cut going at their competition. The title track then finishes the album with an acoustic trap banger talking about being so much more than what the world thought he was.

I wasn’t sure if this day was actually gonna come like a lot of juggalos thought, but I’m actually happy it did because what a way for Lyte to return after that 5 year gap. The way he goes into detail as to how much he’s changed since then is very admirable & the production is as consistently stellar as it was on Psychopathic MonStar. Welcome back, dude!

Score: 3.5/5

K.A.A.N. – “Mission Hillz” review

This is the 20th full-length album from Maryland emcee K.A.A.N., who’s already made himself well established in less than a decade. Some of the standouts in his ever-growing discography include the Dem Jointz-produced Black Blood, the Ski Beatz-produced Requiem for a Dream Deferred & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced All Praise is Due. He’s coming fresh off 4 albums as well as the fact that it’s been over 2 years since the prelude EP Mission to Mission Hillz, K.A.A.N. is re-enlisting the Aftermath Entertainment in-house producer to take us down Mission Hillz.

“Falling Trees” is a cloudy trap opener talking about how the journey’s been a Jungle whereas “Way Out There” goes into a more vibrant route saying he just wants to ball all day. “Flatline” keeps it rolling with a celebratory banger about feeling like he’ll never go down, but then “Timing” takes a darker turn to address those who can’t comprehend what he’s accomplished.

Meanwhile on “U.F.W. (Unfuckwitable)”, we have K.A.A.N. on top of a flute sample attacking those who want to step up to him lyrically leading into the spacious trap cut “Patience” talking about never quitting. “Emergency” incorporates some stellar horn sections to show his hunger for the paper just before “Free Fall” savagely calls out those who started fucking with him now that he’s big.

“Greatness” comes through with a cavernous banger talking about how ill he is while “Show Them” works in a more stripped back instrumental advising to watch how he gets his paper to build. “I See” bombastically advises his competition to fall back prior to “Captured” bringing the flutes back in talking about seeing the shit as a nightmare.

The song “2 Much” incorporates an organ telling his opposition to take a break while the penultimate track “Matter Fact” hypnotically talks about the difference between him & where everyone else is at in their careers. “Count’n Me Out” sends the album off on a suspenseful note airing out those who doubted him.

Every time these guys link up with one another, they always bring the heat & [i]Mission Hillz[/i] is no exception at all. I felt like some of K.A.A.N.’s last few albums have been lacking in the production department, so it makes me happy to hear him taking it back to the basics with Dem Jointz.

Score: 4/5

Yelawolf – “Sometimes Y” review

Yelawolf is a 42 year old rapper, singer/songwriter, fashion designer & entrepreneur from Gadsden, Alabama who came up as a contestant on The Road to Stardom in 2005. His debut album Creekwater that same year, but didn’t catch the mainstream’s attention until New Year’s Day 2010 off the strength of his 4th mixtape Trunk Muzik. This caught the attention of Detroit icon Eminem, who signed Catfish Billy to his Interscope Records imprint Shady Records the following year. Yelawolf went on to release 4 albums under his contract with Slim, leaving in Spring 2019 to focus on continuing to build his own label Slumerican Records. He’s gone rogue since dropping a different project every week throughout last April, but is re-emerging with his 8th full-length album produced entirely by Shooter Jennings.

The title track is a hard rock flavored opener talking about being battle ready whereas “Hole in My Head” goes into more acoustic territory touching down on alcoholism. “Rock & Roll Baby” has a bit of a Lynyrd Skynyrd influence to it telling the story of a woman who’ll be heart broke by the sunlight, but then “Make Me a Believer” pulls from Ric Ocasek talking about self worth. Meanwhile on “Shoestring”, we have Yelawolf returning into acoustic turf detailing the tale of him barely missing bus call just before “Radio” talks about how pretty this chick used to be before she did coke & the riff has this rebellious feeling to it.

“Jump Out the Window” goes into a more cheerful direction encouraging the listener that everything’s possible, but then the song “Catch You on the Other Side” reveals itself to be a piano ballad pondering where he went wrong. The penultimate track “Fucked Up Day” has crescendoing instrumental talking about a shitty day in the neighborhood & “Moonshiner’s Run” ends the album with an ass-kicking dedication to all the moonshine makers out there.

A lot of genre-crossovers can fall flat on their faces like Rebirth & Supermarket, but I’m actually surprised at how much I liked a good portion of Sometimes Y. I really admire how Yelawolf managed to stick to a southern rock style without trying too hard to appeal to a radio market that doesn’t exist & there really couldn’t have been a better producer choice than Shooter Jennings because he really homes in on that sound pretty well.

Score: 3.5/5

A.M. Early Morning & Novatore – “Kingdom of Criminality” review

This is a brand new collaborative album between Chicago emcees A.M. Early Morning & Novatore. Both of whom have been turning heads in the underground for a couple years now, but didn’t actually connect with each other until “Looking Back” off the latter’s Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience produced by C-Lance last spring. However, the pair are now coming together to take the world through the Kingdom of Criminality & are bringing Stu Bangas on board to produce the whole thing.

The titular intro sets the album off by grimly talking about turning crews into fairy dust whereas “Sons of Satan” mixes a guitar in with some dusty drums proclaiming themselves as hellspawn. Spit Gemz tags along for the piano/boom bap laced title track welcoming you to the titular world just before the raw “Jumanji” talks about getting into any obstacle. Lord Goat & Recognize Ali come into the picture for “Circle of Goats” to spit some deadly battle raps leading into “Left in Ruins” by detailing how the crime life will follow you & the beat on here has an alien-esque feel to it. “Cannibal Feast” weaves in a piano & guitar to provide the theme for cannibals while the orchestral “Pissy Stairwells” finds the 2 trading rhymes back & forth excellently with one another. The penultimate track “Another Dimension” with Chino XL heinously talking about being beyond sick & “Underestimated” with Apathy ends the album on rock-tinged note calling out those who doubted them.

Given that both of these guys just came through with some of the highest points of their careers last year, I was pumped going into this & it certainly lived up to my expectations. A.M. Early Morning & Novatore both bring the best out of each other with unique chemistry while Stu Bangas still maintains to be a monster behind the boards.

Score: 4.5/5