Novatore – “Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience” review

Novatore is a 33 year old MC from Chicago, Illinois coming up as a member of the Infamous Crew. He’s also built up an impressive solo career in the last 6 years by dropping 4 EPs & 7 albums, the previous being Portrait of a Mad Man this past November. But given his history with Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance, it’s only right for them to drop a sequel to Embrace the Darkness.

After the “Demon to Some” intro, the first song “Antisocial” is a boom bap banger about how Novatore doesn’t like people whereas “Smoke & Mirrors” goes into a more operatic direction to tell listeners what you thought it was is something that isn’t. NEMS comes along for the atmospheric “Myth” pretty much saying their success was imminent while the somewhat quirkily-produced “Embrace the Darkness” opens up about losing faith watching people die.

Meanwhile with “Mask Up”, we get a Japanese sample in the beat as Novatore teams up with G-Mo Skee sending warning shots to their naysayers just before Termanology & A.M. Early Morning help get reminiscent on the string-laced “Looking Back”.
The actual “Night Raiders” song by Azthmatix succeeding an “Opening Credits” interlude brings in some synth-horns as they talk about there’s no one like them while the penultimate track “Raising Hell” is an off-the-top freestyle backed by a weepy beat. The album ends with “Workaholic”, which works in a hypnotic vocal sample & the dude raps about his hustle obviously.

It’s very rare when a sequel album is better than the predecessor, but Explorers of Experience pulls it off. Novatore’s pen-game keeps elevating to higher levels with each new project he puts out, you can never really go wrong whenever C-Lance is on the boards & putting them together results in mayhem.

Score: 4/5

Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen – “Your Worst Nightmare” review

This is the brand new collaborative effort between California horrorcore emcees Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen. We’ve heard them on a handful of joints in the past whether it be “G World Order” as well as “Disconnect the Doubt” or even Don Blanco’s “Good Name”, so it was only a matter of time for the duo to come together in a full-length capacity with Your Worst Nightmare.

After the intro, D-Dubb & Lil Sicx come along the atmospheric yet paranoia-themed title track whereas “Smoke” is a glitchy barnburner. Meanwhile on “Know What I Mean”, we go into a more spacious direction as they talk about leaving the murder scene untraceable while “Listen Close” is a grungy trap cut where both of them speak to the higher power. After the “What Are Nightmares?” skit, chopper extraordinaire Twisted Insane stops through for the cold-blooded “Slippin’” leading into the futuristic albeit dejecting “Stay Outta My Face”.

Off the Gas” if you couldn’t tell is a psychedelic weed anthem & even though I don’t care for Lace Leno’s verse on “Get Yo Money”, I love the diabolical production & it’s theme about stacking your bread. The track “Big Talkin’” gets braggadocious over a bouncy instrumental while the penultimate song “You Ain’t Really” with Fon Check is a dramatic shot at wankstas. After the “Wake Up” skit, “Forever” is a woozy closer with Agape joining Mi$tuh G & Mak7teen to tell their significant others that they’ll always love them.

I was wondering how this would turn out given how dope they sounded together on the 2 songs off G.W.O. (G World Order) & was not let down by it at all. I fuck with the aggressive trap production & their chemistry sounds better than ever before.

Score: 3.5/5

DMX – “Exodus 1:7” review

This is the 8th & final full-length outing from Yonkers icon DMX, whom originally started off as a beatboxer for Ready Ron as a teenager in the mid-80s. However it wasn’t until 1998 when X saved Def Jam Recordings from bankruptcy by dropping 2 of the most critically acclaimed hip hop albums of that decade back to back: It’s Dark & Hell’s Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. The follow-up …And Then There Was X at the tail-end of the next year was just as great in my opinion but from there, the next 4 albums from Ruff Ryders Entertainment’s flagship artist would range from average at best or hideous at worst. But after completing Exodus 1:7 just before his unfortunate passing 7 weeks back, Swizz Beatz & Def Jam are coming together to release it publicly.

The araabMUZIK co-produced “That’s My Dog” with The LOX kicks the album off as a misty ode to friendship whereas the next track “Bath Salt” with both JAY-Z & Nas is an aggressive, blaring theme for the streets. We get a cool sample of “California My Way” by The Main Ingredient on “Dog’s Out” as Lil Wayne joins X to wreak havoc on the mic whereas the Moneybagg Yo assisted “Money Money Money” is a weak attempt at trying to get a radio hit despite it’s Phantom of the Opera-esque production.

Meanwhile on “Hold Me Down”, we go into a more electro direction as X alludes to spirituality just before doing his own version of an unreleased Swizz/Kanye collab that is “Skyscrapers” co-produced by the underappreciated Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis. After the “Stick Up” skit, the almighty Griselda comes along for “Hood Blues” as the 4 reminisce on their come-up whilst sampling “Shady Blues” by Lee Mason before things take a turn into a more romantic direction as X & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg jump on a “Sexual Healing” sample provided for the mR. pOrTeR co-produced “Take Control”.

Nas is re-enlisted for the meditative yet uplifting “Walking in the Rain” & after the titular skit, the penultimate track “Letter to My Son” finishes off the album by making a guitar-tinged tribute to X’s youngest son Exodus (whom the album was named after). To round it out, the “Prayer” outro is a spoken word piece that asks God to always look after us whether it be good times or bad times.

Anyone who’s been following me long enough probably already knows my stance on posthumous albums, so I’m not gonna get too deep into it. That being said, Exodus 1:7 is absolutely amongst the better ones out there. I understand some heads might be turned off by the large amount of features going into it which I understand because that tends to be the case with a lot of posthumous albums, but you can definitely tell this was completed before X’s passing because every joint sounds fully fleshed out & he actually has chemistry with those who contributed. Rest In Peace to the Dog!

Score: 3.5/5

BVA – “Lex Neville” review

Here is the sophomore effort from Glastonbury, Somerset, England, United Kingdom emcee & Real Life Drama Records co-founder BVA. A member of The 4 Owls as well as the Brothers of the Stone & the 3 Amigos, his solo debut B.V.A. (Be Very Aware) arrived in 2014 under High Focus Records roughly 3 years succeeding an eponymous debut extended play. Coming off Peep the EP produced by the Leigh Brothers a few years earlier, he & the latter duo are introducing the world to Lex Neville.

After the titular intro, the first song “Walk the Atlas” produced by Leaf Dog begins with a soulful boom bap opener talking over rappers to compensate for their wackness whereas “In the Grip” woke in an organ to caution that we’ve entered an age of ignorance. “End of Days” featuring Jack Jetson & King Kashmere talks about entering the apocalypse over an Illinformed instrumental prior to “Groundhog Day” featuring Datkid & Leaf Dog living life deliriously.

“No Model” continues by talking about the very person who used to always have his back becoming the reason he had to watch it himself & that he isn’t someone that others should be looking up to while “Bring Me Back” desires to be brought back from the place of no return. “The Oh Oh” featuring Leaf Dog reunites the pair so they can talk about smashing their competitors lyrically while the organ-heavy “Music Wot’s Real?” speaks of always keeping things legitimate.

Meanwhile on “Fear & Loathing”, we have BVA over a woodwind mixed with kicks & snares cautioning that he might piss in other’s potions while “Reach & Bong” featuring Leaf Dog finds the 2 talking about their love for smoking weed. “Rollin’” featuring Verb T comes together to stay holding it down goldenly while “Snake Eyes” featuring Leaf Dog & Smellington Piff links up so they can turn haters into weepers.

“Carving Tablets” begins to wrap up Lex Neville’s last leg going for a soulful boom bap direction instrumentally explaining that the only thing he’s ever given fuck about was making raw music while “Nothin’ Else” hooks up a harmonic gospel flip talking about there being no better feeling to him than this very moment. “Family” chops up a crooning sample sprinkling some kicks & snares in the mix to send off the LP suggesting haters to either suck a dick or to simply go home.

B.V.A. (Be Very Aware) remains a tight collection of tracks presenting BVA’s buoyant capability of holding down an entire project all by himself & the follow-up 7 years since makes big improvements over it’s predecessor. The Leigh Brothers’ boom bap production fully realizes the cohesive ideas in terms of sound Peep the EP had initially teased, hitting fans with more entertaining quotable accompanied by a consistent list of associated collaborators.

Score: 4/5

Black Soprano Family Records & TCF Music Group – “Trust the Sopranos” review

This is a brand new collaborative compilation between New York independent hip hop labels Black Soprano Family Records & T.C.F. Music Group. One operates as an E1 Music imprint owned by Benny the Butcher & the latter being founded by 38 Spesh. The pair have been working together for a long time now (case in point: Stabbed & Shot), so it only makes sense for them to bring their crews together for Trust the Sopranos.

The opener “Immunity” by Benny & Elcamino kicks off with a succulent instrumental from Rick Hyde as the 2 go on about having their block under control, but then the Camino solo cut “Corner” is a horrendously sung R&B ballad despite the luscious 38 Spesh production. We later have Che Noir, Klass Murda & Ransom detailing their lifestyles on the angelic “Price of Fame” before the latter teams up with Benny to talk about fake people on the piano-laced “Spineless”. Ampichino & Spesh come together to talk about their lives being like a movie for the victorious “Tokyo Drift” whereas the Heem solo cut “Long Story Short” is him jumping on alluring boom bap beat saying that he’s about to take shit over.

Ricky accompanies Heem on the cinematic “Load Up” to talk about their homies mobbin’ while the song “Love Left” by Benny, Che Noir & Klass Murda is a smooth heartbreak anthem. The penultimate track “Blue Money” by Benny, Elcamino & 38 Spesh finds the trio talking about getting it out the mud over an organ-laced instrumental from the late DJ Shay whereas the closer “Silent Death” by Chase Fetti & Rick Hyde is an airy ode to murder.

It was only a matter of time both labels would come together given their intertwining history & the end result is pretty decent. Benny & Spesh always bounced off each other well on projects like Stabbed & Shot and the Cocaine Cowboys duology, but the TCF artists (i.e. Ransom & Che Noir) outperform the BSF signees throughout the half-hour.

Score: 3/5

Mach-Hommy – “Pray for Haiti” review

Mach-Hommy is a 38 year old MC from Newark, New Jersey breaking out in 2017 when he dropped his sophomore album H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor) under Griselda Records. However, he & Tha God Fahim fell out with the label shortly after only for both of them to reconcile this past Christmas. But since May is Haitian Heritage Month, we have Mach marking his return to the Buffalo powerhouse by dropping his 5th full-length album to celebrate.

“The 26th Letter” is a trumpet-laced opener where Mach goes on about rearranging the whole game whereas the next song “No Blood Sweat” jumps on a pillowy Camoflauge Monk instrumental to say he taking food out cats’ mouths. Westside Gunn hops on “Folie á Deux” as he & Mach tell all the fuckboys that they’re finished over a psychedelic boom bap beat from Conductor Williams before declaring every day as Easter Gunnday on the soulful “Maxron Jaxon”.

“The Stellar Ray Theory” was a great choice for a lead single with its sax-heavy production & the lyrics about cats “blaming clouds on the rain & the sky” while he gets in his storytelling bag on “Marie” & I love the “Hail Mary” tribute in the hook. After the “Leta Yo” skit, Mach vents that he keeps seeing Deedee & Stevie in his naps with Nicholas Craven providing him with a bass guitar & a vocal loop for “Kriminel” just before declaring that he’s in his bag on the Sadhugold-produced “Pen Rale”.

“Murder Czn” with Westside Gunn of course a melancholic cut using for blood while Tha God Fahim tags along for the rich “Magnum Band” to help talk about having 357 on deck. The back & forth chemistry between Mach & Westside on the piano-tinged “Rami” is fantastic & after the “Kreyol” skit, the song “Au Revoir” goes into a more rock direction with the help of DJ Green Lantern as well as lyrics going at “pussy n****s”. The penultimate track “Blockchain” has a slowed down jazz sample throughout as Mach explains that there’s too many information highway cats riding the wave & then “10 Boxes: Sin Eater” is a dusty finisher saying he’s been wavy.

As much as I really enjoyed Pray for Paris, I can argue that Pray for Haiti is one of those immensely rare instances where the sequel album is better than the predecessor. We get a good look into Mach-Hommy’s Haitian roots whilst sticking to the raw lo-fi aesthetics we’ve all come to know & love from him.

Score: 4.5/5

Ace Hashimoto – “Play Make Believe” review

Ace Hashimoto is a 31 year old rapper, producer & singer/songwriter from Chicago, Illinois coming up as a member of the now defunct Odd Future under his birth name brandUn DeShay in 2008. He would eventually depart the collective a couple years later as a result of a falling out with it’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator but still saw success on his own by producing for the likes of Danny Brown & Chance the Rapper. It should also be noted that brandUn has dropped a small handful of mixtapes since his OF days, my personal favorite of the bunch being All Day DeShay: AM. But with a new moniker & a 5 year hiatus since his previous tape goldUn Child 2, the Chi-Town artist is re-emerging by dropping what he says “might be my first & last” full-length album.

“ZOMBIE: The Entrail-duction is a instrumental piece, but then the first actual song “GIRLS” is a summery duet with ph-1 as the 2 sing about enjoying sweet freedom. The track “O.M.W. (One Man Woman)” is an acoustic cut about being ready for his partner whereas Ace & Taichi Mukai come together to take what’s theirs on the synth-heavy “2NITE”.

Meanwhile on “TRAK STAR”, we get an instrumental that sounds like something The Neptunes would’ve produced in the late 90’s/early 2000’s along with lyrics about wanting his partner to stay the night whereas Sir Michael Rocks & Devin Morrison come together to talk about staying inside on the piano-heavy “Great Indoors”. Ta-Ra tags along for the funky “Bad Habits” helping Ace sing about not being a shitty person while he takes things in a more jazzier direction on the tender “Affection”.

The track “4Everything” has a more boom bap sound to it as he & Kero 1 tell their lovers they “ain’t no Casanova” before pondering why he returned to his ex when their love was no more on the glossy “Nice to Know You”. After the rock-influenced “Etika’s Interlude”, the final song “I Feel Fly” is a peppy duet with Mon’aerie that I wish was longer than 56 seconds & the closer “Ending Theme” is just a skit done in Japanese.

If you’re going into this expecting the hip hop sound Ace Hashimoto came up on, you might be disappointed because Play Make Believe is a full blown R&B album. The features are kinda hit or miss but Ace’s singing has improved, the songwriting is catchy & the production is super crisp. Whatever the future holds for him, I wish him nothing but the best.

Score: 3.5/5

Supaman – “Medicine Bundle” review

Supaman is an Apsáalooke emcee from Crow Agency, Montana known for founding the group Rezawrecktion, but broke out solo off Honest to God following their disbandment. Billy Ills has since followed it up with 4 more full-lengths but to celebrate the birthday of his son & Biggie Smalls, he’s celebrating by putting out his 5th album.

The opener “1 More” starts things off sampling one of my all-time favorite Goodie Mob songs “Cell Therapy” as Supaman spits some hardcore lyricism whereas the next track “I Hope You Know” goes full-blown indigenous from the production to Ashley Hall singing in Apsáalooke start to finish. After the “Stay Connected” skit, we get an electronic-influenced response to mass incarcerations with “Know Better Do Better” while the streams of consciousness continue on the boom bap-inflicted “Eclipse” featuring Saigon.

Meanwhile on “Alright”, we get a cheery anthem about making it through tough times kicked off with a sample of the iconic Bob Marley joint “3 Little Birds” just before the rebellious fancy dancing tune that is “Ethnocide”. The song “Sonshine” is a wonderful tribute to Supaman’s kid & even though Mother’s Day was just a couple weeks ago, I think “Momma’s Prayers” does it’s job as an empowering theme for the holiday.

“Another Day” is a piano ballad about always being there whenever he’s needed while the Hanzo-featured “High” has a glistening backdrop with some handclaps as the pair talk about elevation. The penultimate track “I Find a Way to Eat” incorporates some horns with Kaboose tagging along to help disrespect their opposers & then the album ends with “Let ‘Em Go”, where Supaman jumps on top of some strings pleading to free the kids in cages.

This dude’s approach to making music has always been unique & Medicine Bundle is no exception to it. Probably his most personal body of work yet in my opinion. I really like the wide range of sounds he shoots for on the production end & he takes you through what’s been on his mind for the last 3 years.

Score: 4/5

Young Nudy – “DR. EV4L” review

Young Nudy is a 28 year old rapper from Atlanta, Georgia notable for being cousins with 21 Savage. Ever since coming up together in 2016, the cat released a total of 6 mixtapes (the most notable one being the Pi’erre Bourne-produced Sli’merre) before putting out his full-length debut Anyways just a little over a year ago. But as summer approaches next month, Nudy is following it up by dropping his highly anticipated sophomore album.

“Revenge” kicks things off with an ominous, bass-heavy instrumental from Coupe (who produced all but 5 joints on the album) & Young Nudy exposing someone for trickin’ people out their cash, but then “Mini Me” is essentially about sending youngins to pull a shootout & I like how they sample “Black Butterfly” by Deniece Williams. Meanwhile on “Yellow Tape”, we have Lil Uzi Vert coming into fold as he & Nudy jump on a cloudy beat from 20 Rocket saying they have murder on their minds before trying to find “the reason why the fuck your folks ain’t breathin’” on the synth-laced “Roughneck”.

The song “Perc 30” has a more hypnotic tone instrumentally as Young Nudy proclaims himself as a rich shooter whereas “The Rustlers” goes into a more braggadocious direction lyrically with the production from Mojo & Bavier having a spectral feel to it. “Child’s Play” with 21 Savage is a cool lil homage to the horror movie franchise of the same name despite the comatose beat, but then he admits that he “doesn’t like to beef with pussies” if he “ain’t got no reason” on the minimally-produced “Soul Keeper”. I thought “2Face” was a good choice for a single leading up to the album because or perfectly lives up to it’s name with the instrumental switch-up during the 2nd half along with Nudy & G Herbo’s lyrics about being famous yet reckless.

The nocturnal beat on “Scott Evil” is pretty dope as are the lyrics about how he “don’t need nobody squeeze for me” before asking for smoke on the glum-sounding title track. The penultimate track “Colombian Necktie” is pretty much a ruthless 4-minute freestyle about slitting throats & finally, the closer “Walking Dead” is basically Young Nudy going on about how he’s seen it all & I almost wanna say the instrumental almost goes into a more dungeon synth sound which is pretty cool.

It’s pretty safe to say that DR. EV4L is easily Nudy’s darkest body of work yet. Throughout the 45 minute runtime, the songwriting borderlines horrorcore at some points & Coupe could possibly become trap’s next big producer because his contributions to the production-end of the album ties into it’s theme more.

Score: 3.5/5

J. Cole – “The Off-Season” review

This is the long-awaited 6th full-length album from North Carolina rapper, singer/songwriter & producer J. Cole. At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone & their mom knows who dude is. Especially given the universal acclaim of projects like The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, Born Sinner & my personal favorite: 2014 Forest Hills Drive. However, his last 2 albums 4 Your Eyez Only & K.O.D. were both released to mixed reception. Matter of fact: my review for K.O.D. is amongst my most controversial. I don’t get shit for it anymore but at the time when I gave it a 6/10, Cole stans were on my ass for the next 2-3 weeks. Even to this day: my opinions on that & 4YEO haven’t changed at all but that’s not the point. I was given hope for The Off-Season given his feature run (most notably “Family & Loyalty” off the final Gang Starr album One of the Best Yet) along with his L.A. Leakers freestyle just a couple of days ago.

The opener “95 South” pays homage to Cam’ron’s “Killa Season” from J. Cole’s flashy lyricism to even The Heatmakerz-influenced production provided by Boi-1da. Cam’ron himself makes an appearance during the intro & outro. Even the “Put Yo Hood Up” sample during the last 40 seconds is pretty cool. The next song “amari” has a more mystical feel to it instrumentally with T-Minus & Timbaland as Cole while the track “My Life” serves as a sequel to “a lot” off i am > i was from it’s soulful trap production co-produced by Jake One & Wu10 down to the surprise 21 Savage & even the subject matter.

“Applying Pressure” jumps into boom bap territory going on about how you just gotta flex sometimes whereas “Punchin’ the Clock” details teetering between enlightened & insanity over a Tae Beast instrumental that has a bit of a ghostly yet jazzy feel to it. He later incorporates a fucking Willie Hutch sample on “100 Mil” talk about how he’s been getting better over time & even though the instrumental on “Pride is the Devil” is somewhat similar to “Can’t Decide” off Aminé’s last album Limbo, I do enjoy Cole & Lil Baby’s takes on egoism quite a bit.

Meanwhile on “Let Go My Hand”, we get an instrumental from DJ Dahi & Ging that almost takes me back to 1999-era Joey Bada$$ with lyrics about making sure his son is equipped when he gets older before “interlude” incorporates a Tommy Parker sample to talk about coming a long way. “The Climb Back” has a well-flipped[Brief Encounter sample throughout with Cole rapping about being assessed as one of the all-time greats while the penultimate track “Close” surprisingly samples MF DOOM’s “Valerian Root” as the lyrics talk advise being patient with God. Then the album finishes off emotionally with “Hunger on the Hillside”, which is Cole jumping on some strings to say he’s gonna be the same man when he retires.

Although I’d have to say my current Album of the Year so far is a toss-up between Death & the Magician or Haram, I’m not gonna deny that this is hands down the most consistent J. Cole album I’ve heard since Forest Hills Drive. He sounds like he has a fire under his ass performance-wise & it’s refreshing to hear him bringing outside collaborators into the fold. If he keeps it up, It’s a Boy & The Fall Off could both shape up to be epic finales in his career.

Score: 3.5/5