Blu & Exile – “Miles: From an Interlude Called Life” review

This is the 3rd full-length album from the critically acclaimed California hip hop duo Blu & Exile. Their 2007 full-length debut Below the Heavens: In Hell Happy with Your New Imaginary Friend is rightfully regarded by many to be one of the best hip hop albums to come out within the past 15 years. This was followed up in 2011 with Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them & then the 2017 rarities compilation In the Beginning: Before the Heavens. But as we enter the 2nd half of 2020, they’re returning with the double-disced Miles.

Things starts off with “Blue”, where Blu makes a bunch of witty references to the titular color including one of WWE Hall of Famer, the shortest reigning WWE Champion & former WWE Tag Team Champion André the Giant on top of a heavenly beat from none other than Exile. The next song “When the Gods Meet” tells the story of an African American meeting a caucasian on a Saturday over a hypnotic instrumental while the track “True & Livin'” sends an impassioned message to the people over a soulful beat. The song “Miles Davis” speaks on how his opponents are washed up & his crew is superior over a jazzy boom bap beat while the track “The Feeling” talks about hope over a gorgeous piano instrumental.

The song “Music is My Everything” with Choosey of course is about how hip hop is their #1 passion over a soothing instrumental while the track “Bright as the Stars” with Aceyalone touches down on their earliest memories in the culture over a delicate beat. The song “Blue as I Can Be” of course talks about how unique he is over a forlorn keyboard instrumental while the track “You Ain’t Never Been Blue” is pretty much Blu talking his shit over a minimalist boom bap beat.

The song “Miles Away” talks about touring over an upbeat instrumental while the track “Troubled Water” comes through with some fiery bars over a harmonious soul sample hanging in the background. The song “Roots of Blue” is an amazing 10-minute black power anthem while the track “African Dream” talks about Africa being “the motherland” over a tribal instrumental. The song “Requiem of Blue” reflects on 2 points in his life in ’83 & ’88 over a flute-tinged beat whereas “The American Dream” talks about wanting it all over a luscious boom bap beat.

The song “Dear Lord” talks about a dream he had where everyone was united backed by a gorgeous horn section while the track “To the Fall, But Not Forgotten” pays tribute to a bunch of famous celebrities who’re no long with us & I really dig the Saloon-style piano chords on here. The song “All the Blues” tells the life story of Miles Davis over a jazz-flavored beat while the penultimate track “Spread Sunshine” talks about positivity over a joyous instrumental. The album then finishes with “The End”, which is a decent Dirty Science posse cut.

Double albums are usually hit or miss with me personally because many of them are just bombarded with filler cuts, but the duo manage it to pull it off very well. For this to be their first release of original material in almost a decade, it’s almost like they never left. Blu reminds us of his place as a West Coast underground titan & Exile’s extravagant production fitting his conscious lyricism like a glove.

Score: 4.5/5

Mickey Avalon – “Speak of the Devil” review

Mickey Avalon is a 44 year old rapper from Hollywood, California blowing up on Halloween 2006 with the release of his self-titled debut & then the loose single “What Do You Say?” appearing in The Hangover just 3 years later. This resulted in a deal with Suburban Noize Records, who helped Mickey release his 2012 magnum opus Loaded. Since then, he’s kept himself busy by self-releasing the equally fantastic Teardrops on My Tombstone & a handful of EPs. But with Subnoize’s reforming last year, Mickey has seen fit to link back up with Kevin Zinger & the spade for his 4th full-length album entirely produced by Smoov-E.

The opener “Handyman” is essentially Mickey proclaiming himself as that dude to solve all your problems over a trunk-knocking beat whereas the next song “Ulra-Violence” touches down on how nothing’s free over an instrumental with a jangly guitar hanging during the verses. The track “Shooting Up” obviously about doing drugs over an decent EDM beat while the song “Woke AF” takes a jab at the politically correct over a bombastic instrumental. The track “Johnny Come Lately” sees Mickey comparing himself to that of a pimp over a tuba-inflicted trap beat while the song “Dolly Parton” is a strip-club banger backed by some sirens that really kick up the vibe of it.

The track “Bad Luck Billy” tells the story of a man that’s always doing wrong over a stripped-back acoustic instrumental while the song “Let’s Go” finds Mickey getting into a lot of mischief from robbing a bank with a knife to carjacking over an EDM/trap fusion. The song “Rich Friends” brags about Mickey’s homies on top of an instrumental that sounds like something out of an old video game while the closer “End of My Line” gets right back into the acoustic side of things except the lyrics open up about how it’s difficult to look for a woman the opposite of him. The bonus cut “Dodging Bullets” is a teaser from his upcoming collab EP with reggae artist Landon McNamara entitled Highs & Lows.

If you enjoyed Loaded & Teardrops on My Tombstone as much as I did, then you’re gonna enjoy this album too. The lyricism remains wilder than ever before & Smoov-E continues to be a good match for Mickey because the sounds that he comes through with behind the boards continue to compliment his debauchery well.

Score: 3.5/5

Juice WRLD – “Legends Never Die” review

This is the 1st posthumous outing & 3rd full-length album overall from Chicago, Illinois rapper Juice WRLD. Quickly becoming a prominent face in the emo rap trend in 2018 off the strength of his commercial debut Goodbye & Good Riddance, he tragically passed away late last year just 9 months after the release of his sophomore effort Death Race for Love. Now even though I personally found both of those albums to be average at best, the kid was undeniably talented as proven on songs like “Lucid Dreams” & his astonishing 1-hour Tim Westwood freestyle. But just 7 months after Juice’s passing, his estate is coming together with Legends Never Die.

After a spoken word intro, the first song “Conversations” talks about his demons over a spacious Ronny J beat while the track “Titanic” compares himself to that of a sinking ship over a cavernous DY instrumental. The song “Bad Energy” talks about flushing out all the negativity in him over a skeletal instrumental while the track “Righteous” talks about how his anxiety’s the size of a planet over a melancholic beat from longtime collaborator Nick Mira of Internet Money Records.

The song “Blood On My Jeans” is an endearing tribute to his girlfriend Ally Lotti with an acoustic trap beat from Gezin while the track “Tell Me U Luv Me” finds him begging Ally to tell him everything will be ok on top of an instrumental with a bit of a dancehall influence to it. The song “Hate on the Other Side” by Polo G & The Kid LAROI seems out of place since Juice has very little appearance on it whatsoever & the Marshmello production is just kinda plain to me.

After the “Get Through It” interlude, the track “Life’s a Mess” with Halsey is an awkward rapper/pop singer duet that we’ve all seen done a million times already while the song “Come & Go” feeds into another pop rap cliche as Juice goes in on top of an EDM instrumental. The song “I Want It” talks about love over some more acoustic trap production while the track “Fighting Demons” needs no further explanation over a keyboard-inflicted beat.

The song “Wishing Well” talks about how he deals with fame over a glossy instrumental while the track “Screw Juice” tells the listener if he made it as far as he did, they can as well & the beat on here is just monstrous. The track “Up Up & Away” talks about getting high over an acoustic instrumental & after The Man, The Myth, The Legend” instrumental, the song “Stay High” talks about balance over a moody beat.

The track “Can’t Die” talks about how Ally changed his life over a synth-heavy instrumental from DY & before the album finishes off with the “Juice WRLD Speaks from Heaven” outro, the final song “Man of the Year” is a tearjerking celebration of life over a rap rock instrumental from Skrillex of all fucking people.

This is just a tad bit better than the latest Pop Smoke album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. It was clearly put together out of passion rather than just money, but there are slightly more hits than misses during the 55 minutes of this final product.

Score: 3/5

Big B – “Welcome to the Club” review

Big B is a 47 year old rapper from Las Vegas, Nevada starting out as the frontman for 187. After the band’s dissolution, the hooligan would go on to join OPM in 2002 & become a household name for the infamous California powerhouse Suburban Noize Records just a couple years later. His first 3 solo albums High Class White Trash, White Trash Renegade & More to Hate would become some of my favorite releases that the label has ever put out. We just celebrated the 7 year anniversary of B’s previous album Fool’s Gold earlier this past week & after going on a musical hiatus since then, he’s ready to make a comeback with his 7th full-length album.

“Enjoy the Show” is a good way to start off the album as B encourages the listener to just relax on top of a fitting rock instrumental whereas the next song “It Ain’t Punk Rock” talks about being him over a more traditional hip hop instrumental with a guitar thrown in. The track “Whiskey & Women” talks about it’s hard to maintain from the things he loves over a fast tempo instrumental while the song “Band of Brothers (This is How I Roll)” is a catchy country rock cut about keeping it real.

The track “San Felipe Blues” is a road trip anthem accompanied with an acoustic instrumental while the song “Forget You” with Everlast sees the 2 talking about drinking themselves blind because of scandalous women over some summery production. The track “That’s Country” talks about how he speaks the truth over a banjo & some hard hitting drums while the song “2nd Pistol in My Pocket” tells the story of a man being on a run after murdering someone the night before over a more outlaw instrumental.

The track “Where Were You” is a powerful ballad calling out those who weren’t there for him when he was struggling while the song “It’s Too Late” takes aim at those who wanna act tough over a hard rock instrumental. The track “Down” talks about partying over over some banjos & guitars while the song “My Old Lady” of course is an endearing tribute to Big B’s mother over a more vintage country instrumental. The album then finishes off with “The Whiskey Blues”, which obviously talks about alcohol over a luxurious piano instrumental.

Now if anyone’s followed Big B’s career long enough, then you probably already know that he’s repped that white trash life in his music since the very beginning. That being said: This is pretty much his very own country album & it’s a mature one at that. Michael Bradford did a good job on the production end & you can definitely hear B has the passion again after that 7 year hiatus.

Score: 3.5/5

Che Noir – “As God Intended” review

Che Noir is a 26 year old MC from Buffalo, New York that I’ve been keeping up with for the past couple years now. I first caught wind of her through here extensive collaborations with 38 Spesh whether it be Che featured on his projects or Spesh producing a couple of her EPs. But to change things up, she’s enlisting Detroit veteran Apollo Brown for her full-length debut.

The album kicks off with “Anti-Social”, where Che talks about being a star since she was a kid over a boom bap beat with a luxurious piano-lead. The next song “Blood’s Thicker” paints a picture of what it was like for her growing up in Buffalo over a vintage soul sample while the track “Hustle Don’t Give” with Black Thought finds the 2 spitters being money hungry over an upbeat instrumental. The song “Money Orientated” lyrically needs no further explanation over a mystical beat while the track “12 Hours” tells the story of Che killing her man after catching him cheating on her with her friend Lisa over a desponding instrumental.

The song “Hold It Down” with Ty Farris sees the 2 talking about fighting until they die over an orchestral beat while the track “Daddy’s Girl” talks about her father being absent in her life on top of a spacious instrumental. The song “Worth Gold” talks bout being an adolescent over a somber boom bap beat while “The Apple” with Planet Asia finds the 2 making a dedication to black women worldwide over over a peaceful instrumental.

The song “Freedom” tackles racism in the United States over a woozy boom bap beat while the track “Follow the Wisdom” with Skyzoo displays a churchy beat & the way Apollo flips Scarface’s “My Block” on the hook is just incredible. The song “Winter” talks about how this man loves the streets more than her over a jazzy beat while the penultimate track “Live By the Code” over a tempting instrumental. The album then finishes with “’94”, which is a tribute to some of Che’s influences from Biggie to G-Unit over a meditative boom bap beat.

Buffalo has really been taking over the hip hop scene in recent years thanks to Griselda & this album only proves that Che Noir is on her way to becoming one of the illest female spitters out today. Throughout its 51 minute runtime, you’ll find some of her best songwriting to date accompanied by Apollo Brown‘s ever-so-phenomenal set of production.

Score: 4.5/5

Westside Gunn – “FLYGOD is an Awesome God II” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Buffalo emcee/entrepreneur Westside Gunn. Breaking out in 2016 with his near-perfect debut album FLYGOD, he would go on to take over the hip hop scene with his brother Conway the Machine & their cousin Benny the Butcher as they’ve consistently dropped a slew of high quality releases both solo-wise & as a trio. However, Westside has stated on numerous occasions that 2020 will be his final year rapping & kicked it off just this spring with Pray for Paris. But with the 1 year anniversary of FLYGOD is an Awesome God approaching this weekend, Westside is celebrating with a sequel preluding his Shady Records debut Who Made the Sunshine? set to drop next month.

After the “Praise God” intro, the first song “Michael Irvin” finds Westside talking about how no one’s flyer than him referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson over a jazzy beat whereas the next track “Jose Canseco” with Stove God Cook$ sees the 2 talking charismatically boasting including a reference to WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion Curt Hennig over a soulful instrumental from STREETRUNNER. I was surprised to see the loosie “1 More Hit” appearing on here, but I’m glad it did & the new Stove God Cook$ verse added on is a nice touch to it as well.

After the first “Sadhu Interlude”, the song “Lil Cease” with Griselda Records’ newest signee Armani Caesar finds the 2 rightfully proclaiming their thrones as King & Queen of Buffalo over a creepy boom bap beat from JR Swiftz. After the “Fuck the Police” skit, the song “Buffs vs. Wires” with Benny the Butcher & Boldy James of course gets on the drug dealer tip over a classy ass loop from Daringer.

Then after the “Mr. Maino” skit, we’re treated to a remix of another old WSG loosie “Bubba Chuck” with Stove God Cook$ being added on once again & I actually like this a lot more than the “1 More Hit” remix that I discussed earlier. Including the bar about WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion & 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior. After the final “Sadhu Interlude”, the song “Drive By Love” is a gangsta sex tune over a savory Chuck Inglish instrumental.

The penultimate track “Rebirth” namedrops both WWE Hall of Famers & former 3-time WWE tag team champions The Road Warriors alongside former CZW World Jr. Heavyweight Champion, PWG World Champion, record-setting 3-time ROH World Champion, ROH World Television Champion, the longest reigning NXT Champion, the inaugural NXT North American Champion & NXT Tag Team Champion Adam Cole on top of the peaceful instrumental. The album then finishes with “Steve Behr”, where Westside enlists Rome Streetz to talk about pushing coke over a hypnotic sample.

It’s not as good as Pray for Paris, but I still think this is a solid album regardless. In contrast to the predecessor seeing Westside Gunn experimenting & trying new things, he pretty much takes it back to the basement on here. Beyond excited to see where he takes things on Who Made the Sunshine?.

Score: 3.5/5

Damo the Great – “Sacred Geometry” review

Damo the Great is an MC from Dearborn Heights, Michigan who debuted in 2018 with Order Out of Chaos. He had also put out an instrumental album called Now You Know the year prior but as we approach the 2nd half of this hectic year, he’s starting off the new decade with his sophomore effort entirely produced by Invectrum.

After the unsettling “Poison the Toad” intro, the first song “Shoot 1st” talks about how he don’t fuck with haters over a gloomy boom bap beat whereas the track “Valaryian Steel” with Aztek the Barfly & Guilty Simpson finds the 3 coming through with vicious battle bars over a rugged instrumental. The song “Evil Kanevil” with DZK & Green Children sees the 4 talking about how they’re all demonic on the mid over an spine-tingling beat & after the “Ouroboros” interlude, the song “Eloise” talks about insanity over a bleak instrumental

After the “Intro to Geometry 101” interlude, the the title track comes through with some good for the mind over a clever violin loop while the song “Murderers Row” with Diabolic sees the 2 proclaiming themselves as lyrical assassins over a demented beat. The track “Dream” with Sankofa finds the 2 pondering about life over a forlorn instrumental while the song “It Ain’t Over” with Mastamind sees the 2 challenging their opponents over a suspenseful instrumental. The album finishes off with “Wetwork”, where Damo is pretty much saying he could care less about a number of things over a supernatural instrumental.

As much as I liked Order Out of Chaos, I think I enjoy this new album just a little bit more. There are a couple features I could’ve done without, but Foul Mouth did a great job on the mixing & I really dig how Sacred Geometry is a lot more darker from Damo’s lyrical topics to Invectrum’s production

Score: 3.5/5

Substance810 – “The Definition Of” review

Substance810 is an MC/producer from Port Huron, Michigan who first made his mark in 2006 with his debut album The Definition under his original moniker Tekneek. 14 years later & 5 more projects later, he’s returning with a sequel to the album that started it all titled The Definition Of.

The opener “All My Life” speaks about being a righteous man now & for this to be the only song not to be produced by Substance810 himself, the psychedelic boom bap production Know It comes through with is a great touch. The next song “Fuck You Talmbout” is about how he’s more concerned about bars than radio play over a chilling instrumental while the track “Midnight Oil” finds him contemplating about getting bread over a nightly beat. The song “U Should Kno” with Rudy Will sees the 2 talking about earning medals for how they run joints & comparing their lyrics to a movie script over a delicate instrumental while the track “Just Ridiculous” comes through with some nasty battle raps over a ghostly boom bap instrumental.

The song “Royal Rhymes” with Jamil Honesty sees the 2 flexing their lyricism while the track “Wowzerz” talks about how hardcore he is over a flawlessly vintage boom bap beat. The song “Chop Suey” with Drip Matthews sees the 2 talking about how they’re still the same as they were in the start over a hypnotic beat while “The Rising” with Daniel Son & Rome Streetz finds the 3 wordsmiths detailing their rise in the underground over a luxurious instrumental. The penultimate track “Tunnel Vision” with Jay Royale sees the 2 talking about keeping it raw over a gritty loop. The album then finishes with “Dark Clouds”, where Substance810 talks about his inner turmoil over a symphonic instrumental.

Michigan has always been filled with bottomlessly talented hip hop acts even to this day & if you wanna get into the guy, this is not a bad place to start at all. He does a fantastic job at showing the listener how much he’s evolved in the past 14 years both as a brutal MC & as an equally talented producer.

Score: 4/5

Run the Jewels – “Run the Jewels 4” review

Run the Jewels are a super-duo consisting of Killer Mike & El-P. They first crossed paths with each other in 2012 when the latter produced Mike’s 5th album R.A.P. (Rebellious African People) Music in it’s entirety, but came together officially the following year with a self-titled debut. Their sophomore album in 2014 is my personal favorite though, as it’s a lot darker. Last we heard from Mike & El-Producto together in a full-length capacity was in 2016 with their much more political 3rd album but in classic Run the Jewels, they’re releasing their long awaited 4th album a couple days early.

Things kick off with “yankee & the brave (ep. 4)”, where the duo display their chemistry over an abstract chaotic instrumental. The next song “ooh la la” with Greg Nice sees the 3 talking about over a piano-inflicted boom bap beat while the track “out of sight” with 2 Chainz talks about being menaces over a vintage rap rock instrumental. The song “holy calamafuck” is a dark shit-talking anthem with a phenomenal beat switch about halfway through while the track “goonies vs. E.T.” talks about having another chance over an abrasive instrumental.

The song “walking in the snow” is pretty much a well-timed response George Floyd’s recent murder over a dynamic instrumental while the track “JU$T” with Zack de la Rocha of course talks about the industry over a Neptunes-influenced beat which is fitting because Pharrell kills it with his additional vocals. The song “never look back” talks about moving on from the past over a futuristic instrumental while “the ground below” talks about how love never meant much to them backed by an amazing sample of “Ether” by Gang of 4. The penultimate song “pulling the pin” cleverly uses grenades as a metaphor for their hearts over an instrumental with a cavernous instrumental with phenomenal guitar playing from Josh Homme & then the album finishes off with “a few words for the firing squad (radiation)”, where Killer Mike & El-P make an epic dedication to those whose voices were never heard over a more minimalist instrumental.

These guys now have 4 consecutive classics together, because this did not disappoint me at all. I love how they took all the elements of their first 3 albums & fused them all together into 1 near-perfect 39 minute album. The production is off the wall, their chemistry is unmatched at this point & the political commentary is perfect for everything that’s going in the world right now.

Score: 4.5/5

Freddie Gibbs – “Alfredo” review

Freddie Gibbs is a 37 year old emcee from Gary, Indiana that started out in 2004 with his debut mixtape Full Metal Jackit. Interscope Records would eventually sign him in 2006, but he left shortly after without releasing a full-length debut. This was made up for with the mixtapes The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs & Str8 Killa No Filla, which would catch the attention of Jeezy & land Freddie a contract with CTE World in 2011. This didn’t last long though, as Gibbs would leave CTE the following year after releasing the tapes Cold Day in Hell & B.F.K. (BabyFace Killa). In 2013, he decided to form his own label E$GN Records & finally dropped the full-length album, E.$.G.N. (Evil $eeds Grow Naturally). He & iconic Oxnard producer Madlib would drop their MadGibbs debut Piñata the year after that, which is EASILY one of the greatest hip hop albums of the previous decade. Gibbs continued to grow his profile after that with Shadow of a Doubt, You Only Live 2wice, Freddie, the Curren$y collab EP Fetti & of course there’s MadGibbs’ sophomore effort Bandana almost a year ago at this point. However, he’s returning out of the blue with his 3rd full-length album & The Alchemist producing it in it’s entirety.

Things kick off with “1985”, where Freddie talks about his flow being God level over a psychedelic guitar instrumental. The next song “God Is Perfect” talks about “Gangland shit” over a dreary instrumental while the track “Scottie Beam” finds Gibbs getting conscious & Rick Ross flexing over a dreamy instrumental. The song “Look At Me” talks about how he ain’t looking back over a soulful instrumental while the track “Frank Lucas” featuring Benny the Butcher sees the 2 talking that drug dealing over a grim boom bap beat.

“Something to Rap About” featuring Tyler, The Creator sees the 2 discussing rapping about crime & fame respectively over a tropical instrumental while the track “Baby $hit” talks about how soft dudes be nowadays. The song “Babies & Fools” with Conway the Machine sees the 2 reminiscing on their first & second loves over a gorgeously smooth instrumental while the penultimate track “Skinny Suge” opens up about feeling like someone’s tryin’ to kill him over a meditative beat. The album finishes off with “All Glass”, where Gangsta Gibbs gets on the gangsta tip over a hard hitting instrumental.

For this being the lyrical surprise album everyone was talking about dropping this week, it’s phenomenal. Probably Freddie’s best solo effort yet in my opinion. The production is phenomenal as we’d all expect from Uncle Al at this point culminating in jazz rap, boom bap & drumless with Freddie’s pen-game being just as gruesome as it was on Bandana depicting the gangsta lifestyle he’s experienced with guests that’re on the same level.

Score: 4.5/5