Yelawolf – “Trial by Fire” review

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Exactly 5 months after the release of his previous album Love Story back in 2015, Alabama rapper/singer & Eminem protégé Yelawolf did not hesitate to announce plans for this new album over here. He spent last year dropping 2 singles, a prelude EP & then he went on a headlining tour all to promote it. However, he ended up cancelling the last 6 dates of the tour & was admitted into a psychiatric ward by his manager Jeremy Jones after an onstage mental breakdown that was resulted by the death of his childhood friend Shawty Fatt. He then re-emerged a month later under his government name stating that he lost nearly every friend & everything he had, gave his Slumerican Records label to his mother & was now making a fresh start as a new member of the renown Oakland-based alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics rather than staying with Shady Records & Interscope. Despite this statement, it wouldn’t be until early June of this year when he officially made his comeback with a music video along with the confirmation that he was keeping the Yelawolf name & staying with Shady/Interscope. Fast forward almost 5 months later, he’s finally releasing & surprisingly self-producing it.

The album opens up with the title track, where he’s talking about the day he was born as well as warning the listener to watch out whenever you’re around him & being back in the saddle after his recent personal issues over a killer hard rock-esque guitar. The next song “Shadows” tells the listener of how he went from going from being a vulnerable kid to becoming a criminal & the instrumental is fittingly ominous as he’s passionately venting his story to the audience. The track “Get Mine” angrily raps about getting yours over a country rock instrumental & not only does the Kid Rock hook fit like a glove, but I can also appreciate the scratches from DJ Klever as it pays tribute to all the DJs out there. The song “Son of a Gun” reflects on how his career began over some chimes with a decent guitar & some awesomely militant drums. The track “Ride or Die” is a dedication to Shawty over some perfectly gloomy piano keys & then a spoken word interlude from Slumerican signee Struggle Jennings over a twangy guitar, we are then treated to the next track “Daylight”. Here, Yela raps about his alcoholism over a country guitar & the fact that he uses the same rhyme scheme for nearly the whole first verse just proves how lyrical Catfish Billy can be.

The song “Do for Love” talks about a dad who eventually decides to rob a store as well as a mother who strips & sells drugs over a dramatic instrumental. The track “Punk” spits about feelin’ at home over a fast-tempo rap rock instrumental & the Juicy J hook makes me a little disappointed that he doesn’t have a verse on here. The song “Row Your Boat” has a somber instrumental & I definitely appreciate Yelawolf getting conscious in his fully sung lyrics, but the hook is actually super corny to me. The track “True to Yourself” passionately talks about living for the moment pretty much over an Western sounding instrumental with some background choir vocals & horns. The song “Sabrina” is a heartfelt dedication to his daughter with the same name & while the instrumental is ok, you can truly hear the pain in Yela’s voice as he’s remembering her. Especially when he’s screaming at the end. The penultimate track “Violin” cleverly compares a soldier & the country he’s fighting for to a man with an unfaithful woman over an acoustic guitar with some beautiful string sections & background vocals. The album then closes out with “Keep Me Alive”, where he explains his come up about his over a twangy guitar & settle drums. Also, the Wyonna Judd hook is probably the best on the entire album.

And as a whole, I think it’s his best full-length album yet. The country & rock elements are being fused in a lot better, Yelawolf sounds his most focused, most inspired & he’s starting to rap a lot more than he did on the last album. I‘ve heard some people say that he’s full-blown corny, but I think this is a prime example of how much of a dedicated artist he is

Score: 4/5

Babylon Dead – “2000 B.D.” review

Babylon Dead is a boom bap, political hip hop & ragga duo consisting of Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Jman alongside London producer Illinformed. One of whom has a couple solo albums under his belt already with the High Focus Records- backed Auranography & Free Dank whilst the other has become known for producing “Chalice” featuring Chip Fu off Jedi Mind Tricks’ only album without Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind’s involvement Violence Begets Violence. These guys initially got together for The Mould Tape’s outro “Gettin’ Mouldly” & have signed to the Glastonbury, Somerset imprint Real Life Drama Records for a debut album.

After the “Enter” intro, the title track sets the tone of what’s to come with an orchestral boom bap beat talking about meeting your demise if Jman shanks ya whereas “Raggo” embraces a significantly dustier approach instrumentally speaking of taking over the whole scene. “Judgement” hooks up more kicks & snares talking about maintaining the equally militant mind state the late Peter Tosh had leading into “Empire” shows a pyromaniac side to them both.

“Duppy” samples some strings making political commentary on serious long-term issues such as decades of police brutality while “Veteran” sticks with a boom bap vibe talking about the rest of the world not being ready for the movement Babylon Dead are about to start. “Acab” stands out for being amongst the earliest origins of the “all cops are bastards” phrase condemning officers for abusing their power & after the “Enemy” skit, “Voodoo” gruesomely talks about death having no fear for anyone or anything.

Starting off the last leg, “Fuckery” comes out the gate incorporating these funereal organ melodies observing the very thing he sees when turning on the television these days while “Hostage” continues to warn the game of it’s eventual takeover Jman & Illinformed are plotting. “Greed” eerily talks about being at war for that very reason & the current year of 2000 B.D. itself but after the “Message” skit, “Funeral” cooks up a ragga outro publicly rejecting a desire to have a service of remembrance if the pairing winds up dissolving for whatever reason there could hypothetically be.

My favorite album in the ragga subgenre of dancehall will always be Buju Banton’s 4th album ‘Til Shiloh & although I wouldn’t put Mad Lion’s sophomore effort Real Ting above it, it does have moments that’ve become somewhat overlooked. Babylon Dead nonetheless has introduced themselves by giving Real Life Drama Records a top 5 entry in their whole catalog portraying a happy marriage between Illinformed’s boom bap & ragga production and Jman’s politically charged lyrics.

Score: 4/5

Blu & Exile – “In the Beginning: Before the Heavens” review

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To commemorate the 10 year anniversary of their classic debut Below the Heavens: In Hell Happy with Your New Imaginary Friend, Blu & Exile are returning with their 3rd full-length album & it happens to be a prequel to that debut. The opener “Soul Provider” gets braggadocious & Exile’s production enhances the happiness of Blu finally making it. The next track “Another Day” vividly talks about a day in the hood over a lush boom bap instrumental while the song “Constellations” gratefully speaks on success & the hook on there is just as beautiful. The track “All These Ladies” talks about gold diggers over a funky yet smooth instrumental & the song “Party for 2” gets romantic over a jazzy instrumental.

The track “Back to Basics” tells the listener what he’s gonna do for the culture & gets vividly reflective over a laid-back instrumental. The track “On the Radio” vents about wack shit getting mad radio play over a hard boom bap instrumental & his hook is super catchy. The song “You’re Gonna Die Someday” gets vents about the current state of over a soulful instrumental that actually has an amazing J Dilla vibe to it. The track “Life’s a Gamble has some decent verses from Blu & the 3 artists that’re featured & I love how the beat starts off with some spacey synths & a fitting Marvin Gaye sample during the first half, but the switches up during of the second half was unnecessary to me. The song “Things we Say” with Emanon sees Blu & Aloe Blacc both rapping about the stuff they say hypothetically coming to life over a soulful piano boom beat.

The track “Hot for Y’all” has a joyous instrumental & for some reason unlike “Life’s a Gamble”, I think Blu & Donell Smokes compliment each other very well on here. The song “Hard Workers” with Blame 1 gets insightful (especially the latter) over a funky boom bap instrumental & the scratch hook hits the nail on the head. The penultimate track “Sold the Soul” has a nice smooth boom bap beat, but I was Blu was actually rapping over it rather than just talking & then later singing on it. The album closes out with “Stress Off the Chest”, where Blu’s talking about keeping his head up despite the bullshit around him over a nice Latin sample.

This definitely feels like a Below the Heavens b-sides compilation with some of the tracks already being previously released, but it’s a well put together thank you to the fans for supporting them for the past decade

Score: 4/5

Wu-Tang Clan – “The Saga Continues” review

When it seemed like 2014’s A Better Tomorrow would be the almighty Wu-Tang Clan’s final group album, they’re now returning with their 7th official full-length album (excluding the single-copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin) & they have enlisted Wu-Elements member Mathematics to produce it in it’s entirety. After a 91 second instrumental intro with a spoken word sample & then an actual spoken monologue from the Clan’s de facto leader RZA, we are then treated to the album’s first song “Lesson Learn’d”. Here, Inspectah Deck teams up with Redman to remind you that they never play around over a hard hitting boom bap instrumental & I also didn’t mind Deck’s jab at the Once Upon a Time in Shaolin purchaser Martin Shkreli near the end of his verse, given that he’s an evil culture vulture. The track “Fast & Furious” is pretty much Raekwon & Hue Hef getting mafioso over a menacing instrumental & while Hue was just ok, Rae definitely made up for it. After a short instrumental interlude that takes it back the group’s early days with a Kung Fu sample, we are then lead into the next song If Time’s Money (Fly Navigation). It’s pretty much a Method Man solo cut, but he makes up for his last album The Meth Lab by hopping on an instrumental you can really kick back to & spitting a long yet charismatic verse.

The track “Frozen” may have a lazy hook as it recycles a couple Rae & Ghostface Killah lines from “4 Horsemen”, but the verses from Meth about pushing the limit as well as the vivid storytelling from Killah Priest & the lethally angry Chris Rivers make up for it some keys along with a bass guitar & a regular guitar. After a 45 second skit with a soulful instrumental in the background, we then get into the next song “Pearl Harbor”. Here, the late Sean Price gets with Meth & RZA to confrontationally spit bars like being the greatest & telling your crew to wear shorts with an image of you on it over some gritty horns as well as some keys & an organ. I also love how RZA brings back his Bobby Digital alter ego during his verse & the one line he makes midway through his part about how he can turn Lady Gaga heterosexual again was pretty hilarious. The track “People Say” sees Deck, Meth, Rae & Masta Killa linking back up with Redman alongside to get braggadocious over a very soulful boom bap beat. “Family” is a 1 minute skit containing a sample of a mother talking about family (hence the title) & the next song “Why Why Why” is basically a conscious RZA solo cut over some funky bass & some decently sung vocals from Swnkah.

The track “G’d Up” is basically Meth & R-Mean talking about being just that & the beat is pretty luscious, but the Mzee Jones hook sounds like a cut-rate T-Pain. The song “If What You Say Is True” sees Cappadonna along with GZA & Masta Killa getting with Streetlife to spit some abrasive battle rhymes over some sinister horns. The “skit” Saga is less of a skit & more of RZA spitting about haters not wanting the Clan grow & even a cool reference to the Flint water crisis over some beautiful strings. The 91 second “Hood Go Bang!” has a decent Redman hook, but then lone verse that Method Man delivers nearly has the same rhyme scheme throughout that it’s crazy. The final song in the track listing is “My Only One”, where Cappa along with The Abbott & Tony Starks rap about their boos over a grimy instrumental. The next 2 tracks are just a 2 minute interlude with a funky instrumental & long spoken word sample & then a 45 second monologued outro from the RZA over the same instrumental as the one in the intro.

At the end of the day, this was a lot more consistent than the last few group albums. It feels more like a compilation considering the fact that there’s only 1 or 2 group members on a number of tracks & U-God not being on it at all, but everyone including almost all the features go & Mathematics probably made it the Clan’s most well produced album since The W

Score: 4/5

Tech N9ne – “Strange Reign” review

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When it was announced in January that indie hip hop icon Tech N9ne was releasing 2 Collabos albums this year & his next solo album being in 2018, I didn’t really mind it at all. However, I found the first one of the year Dominion that dropped back in early April to be average at best due to feeling like his Strangeulation duology due to the entire Strange Music roster being the sole features & having the label’s in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 produce in it’s entirety. And while that is being repeated on this new Collabos album here, I think Strange Music is one of the best indie hip hop labels of all-time & that’s why I’m still giving it a shot.

The album opens with “Cold Piece of Work”, in which a 30 second snippet of closed out Dominion. Here, Tech teams up with JL alongside Strange Music’s 2 newest signees Jay Trilogy & Joey Cool to compare their flows to cocaine over a creepy trap beat. The next song “Minimize” with Stevie Stone & Krizz Kaliko is a jab at all the shit-talkers & the production is absolutely HAUNTING! The track “Let’s Go” with Big Scoob & Darrein Safron spits that g shit over a hard hitting instrumental, but Darrein’s rapper verse isn’t as obnoxious like his usual singing voice that’s blatantly bitten off of Chris Brown. The song “Happen” is pretty much Tech by himself talking about how the label stays working & not only is the instrumental super funky, but Tech’s signature chopper-style delivery is insane too. The track “Dangerous” with AboveWaves is a beautiful romance tune, as frontman Ryan Bradley & Tech N9ne are telling their significant others about how deadly their love is & the instrumental is dreamy yet gorgeous.

The song “Stick It In” sees Tech getting braggadocious over a demonic instrumental & the Krizz Kaliko hook is great as well. The last 2 tracks in the standard edition “These Hands” with Prozak, Wrekonize & Mackenzie Nicole as well as the Bad JuJu preview seem very similar to how Dominion’s standard edition ended. “These Hands” like a sequel to “Jesus & a Pill” off the last Collabos album as it contains spiritual lyrics & an explosive rap metal instrumental while the Bad JuJu preview is a 30 second snippet of a song with King-ISO that‘s more than likely gonna pop up on Tech N9ne’s next solo album Planet. I’m not gonna get too deep into the bonus tracks as almost all of them sound like they’re gonna be on upcoming albums, but I do wanna talk about the 2nd one “Off My Square” with ¡MAYDAY! & Rittz. It’s the only one out of the 5 bonus tracks where Tech N9ne appears on, but I do enjoy it as they tell you that they can’t be to fucked with over some funky bass along with some explosive drums & a psychedelic-esque guitar.

While I did have some concerns given that the last Collabos album was just ok, but I’m glad that this new album put them to rest because it overall sounds more well-put together Dominion from removing the needless interview skits to the step-upped performances

Score: 3.5/5

CunninLynguists – “Rose Azura Njano” review

With the release of 2 prelude EPs earlier this year, the horribly underrated Kentucky based hip hop trio CunninLynguists are coming together with their 6th full-length album. The opener “Red, White & Blues” sees MCs Deacon the Villain & Natti saying that they still think the US is alive despite all that’s going on right now over an instrumental from Kno that contains a killer guitar & some boom bap drums. The next track “Riot!” speaks on just that & while the hook is just average, the beat kinda has this churchy vibe that fits well with the descriptive lyrics. The song “Red Bird” talks about spirituality over a smooth instrumental & the sample hook is just as beautiful. The track “Violet (The Upper Room)” has a religious tone lyrically but this time, they’re talking about it over some jazzy keys & the way it’s structure it like a funeral was very creative.

The song “Gone” speaks on the evicted over a soulful boom bap beat à la 9th Wonder & the Trizz hook enhances the somber tone of it perfectly. The track “Any Way the Wind Blows” vividly tells the story of this woman who eventually commits suicide over a lush yet dreary instrumental & I absolutely love the sample that was used during the hook. The next 2 songs “Mr. Morganfield & Ms. Waters (Side A)” and “Jimi & Andre (B-Side)” really could’ve been been a single 8 minute song to me, mainly because the structuring of both individual tracks from the songwriting to the way the beat changes after each verse are very well incorporated. The track “Hustlers” intelligently talks about this woman who gets everyone floored over a smooth guitar loop & the hook fits in with the verses like a glove. The song “Oh Honey” is a creatively written love tune & while the drums are explosive as Hell, the overall vibe it gives off is just right. Lyrically, the penultimate track “No Universe Without Harmony” gets back to the topic of consciousness & the instrumental is pretty wavy yet gloomy. The album closes out with “Earth to Venus (Tiny Orange Star)”, where Deacon & Natti talking to their lovers with some spirituality references & the instrumental is just absolutely beautiful.

While I do recall Kno tweeting last November telling us to expect the CunninLynguists to bring back the Dirty Acres era, I don’t really think they disappointed. Matter of fact, I think the trio surpassed Joey Bada$$’ latest album All AmeriKKKan-BadA$$ (which I also reviewed very positively) for the most conscious hip hop release of the year. Primarily because I find the lyricism is a lot more intelligent & Kno’s production continues to get a lot more beautiful over time

Score: 4.5/5

Verb T – “Good Evening” review

Dublin, Ireland beatsmith Pitch 92 from The Mouse Outfit fully producing London, England, United Kingdom emcee Verb T’s 8th solo LP. Signing to Low Life Records & briefly YNR Productions prior to becoming a member of The 4 Owls, he would also make his debut in mid-late 2000s off Bring It Back to Basics as well as Broken Window & Verbs with a Vengeance. These would be followed by Serious Games, which later resulted in T making his High Focus Records debut with Morning Process & I Remain. Coming off The Man with the Foggy Eyes produced by Illinformed, I felt it would be exciting to hear Pitch 92 fully produce Good Evening.

“Arrived Late” begins with an organ & some kicks & snares talking about finding to the worst to define your world whereas “Getaway Car” swaps out the organ in favor of a vibraphone confessing things get eerier the more his squad travels. “Mechanical” continues the jazzy boom bap vibes talking about the understandability of living mechanically while “Possession” featuring King Kashmere speaks of this being the type of shit that sinks in slowly.

Ocean Wisdom joins T during “Lie Low” sampling “Parle Plus Blas” by Dalida sending a message to those living in fear leading into the atmospherically dusty “That Sound” talks about feeling some kind of magic in the air. “Mates Rates” featuring Black Josh, Moreone & Rye Shabby finds the quartet comparing their lyrics to gold just before the crooning “When Not To” featuring BVA & Fliptrix superiorly laughs off those snitching on themselves.

“Games” combines boom bap & funk talking about how hard it is to stay sane with everything going on in this world presently while “Sends Me Away” featuring Sparkz jazzily talks about looking for tomorrow only for it to eventually come. “Everything That You Love” turns the funkiness back up suggesting a whole tightly to everything you love me & dear to your heart while “Sugar” playfully talks about him trying to stay the same since everyone’s sweet until they begin to decay.

DRS appears on “They Say”, kicking off Good Evening’s final quarter funkily remembering the late Salford John while “Many Miles” stand happily looking back at all the things he’s done in his career. The title track featuring Confucius MC & Jehst brings the trio together advising to stay seeing what they’ve been seeing while “Break Limits” wraps it all up with a motivational outro encouraging the world not to slip & pick themselves back up.

Stretching back to the days of when Low Life Records was in it’s prime & now envisioning himself as a major part of the ever expanding High Focus Records movement, Verb T uses an outstandingly fresh batch of jazzy & funky boom bap production Pitch 92 has become known for since The Mouse Outfit was around engineered by Telemachus to pen some of the most personal songwriting of his entire career & my favorite guest appearances personally being the ones coming out of the High Focus alumni.

Score: 3.5/5

Rittz – “Last Call” review

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A little over a year after the release of his last album Top of the Line, Georgia rapper Rittz is releasing his 4th full-length album & his last with Strange Music. The album opens with “Middle of Nowhere”, where Rittz is talking about on how far he’s came over an ambitious sounding instrumental from MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7. The next song “Press Rewind” sees him reflecting on his rough adolescence from getting in trouble at school to his father’s abuse towards him over a gloomy instrumental. The track “Indestructible” is an uplifting anthem about staying strong no matter what & the hook also does a great job of giving that vibe as does the instrumental. The song “Down for Mine” speaks on being just that & the rap rock instrumental from M. Stacks will make you get down to party.

The track “Shootin’ Star” gets charismatically braggadocious over a mellow instrumental & the Peso Piddy produced “Dork Rap” is an unapologetically abrasive shot at all the dork rappers out there (hence the title) along with bringing the hardcore back. The track “Crash & Burn” tells the story of his friend & his ex-girl having a kid over a wavy instrumental & the way he tells it is so vivid. The song “Reality Check” talks about getting your life together over a nice country/rap instrumental & the track “Different Breed” tells the haters that he’s like no other over a twangy guitar/trap beat from Matic Lee.

The song “Illumination” is another empowerment joint over a futuristic sounding instrumental & the auto-tune on here is an awesome throwback to the late great Roger Troutman. The track “Into the Sky” is another braggadocious tune & the bass on this thing is absolutely perfect for your whip. The song “Fuck Cancer” is a diss track towards cancer & the way he uses his experiences from seeing his wife’s friend & one of his closest friends successfully beating it was very personal. The track “Lose My Cool” starts with some nice piano keys & DJ scratches, but then some hard drums are incorporated as he’s delivering his frustrated bars. The song “So Long” is an endearing eulogy to a friend who had committed suicide along with another who was murdered & to his own grandpa over a somber instrumental from The Avengerz. The track “Victory Lap” is basically his farewell to Strange over a smooth instrumental & the standard edition closer “I’m Only Human” talks about all of his mistakes over a airy trap instrumental & the strings at the beginning & end are gorgeous.

The first bonus track “Live & You Learn” is about just that & the keyboard instrumental from Mista KA reminds me A LOT of Scott Storch. The next one “Win” with Hitman Shawty & Kane sees the 3 rapping about success over a laid-back instrumental from 7 & while Hitman Shawty & Kane are the only 2 featured MCs on here, their verses were just ok to me. The 3rd bonus track “Good Life” talks about living good over an intergalactic sounding instrumental & then the 4th one “Side Note” is about the current state of hip hop a bunch of creative name-dropping over a southern-tinged beat. The penultimate bonus track “Spiraling Outta Control” then vents about his deer of the world ending (especially with Donald Trump as our current president), but the beat is pretty uncharacteristic. The album then closes out with “Happy Ending”, which is Rittz ambitiously talking about his hopes of maintaining success despite leaving Strange Music.

Given the title, Rittz is walking away from Strange with his greatest work yet. The production is on point, the lyrics are passionate & the lack of features is very refreshing as well. Can’t wait to see what he’s gonna do in the future

Score: 4/5

Masta Killa – “Loyalty is Royalty” review

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It’s been 6 long years in the making & just when it seems like it would never come out, Wu-Tang Clan member Masta Killa is finally releasing his long-awaited 4th full-length album. After a 41 second intro, we are treated to the album’s first song “Return of thee Masta Kill”. While the instrumental from Blahzay Blahzay producer/DJ PF Cuttin’ has this twangy guitar with some boom bap drums & I’m fine with the verses from both Masta Killa & fellow Wu member Cappadonna during the beginning & end respectively, bu Young Dudas’ was just average to me. The self-titled track is basically Jamel Irief romantically talking to his lady & the beautifully smooth 9th Wonder instrumental compliments the tone very well. The track “Therapy” with Method Man & Redman insightfully talks about music being therapeutic to them over a piano loop & some boom bap drums & while the song “OGs Told Me” has a great Cortex sample throughout provided by the producer Dame Grease, my biggest issue with it is that it feels more like a Boy Backs song given the fact that he dominates almost every verse except for Masta Killa’s that comes in halfway through. After a 98 second spoken word piece from the Clan’s de facto leader RZA over somber piano chords, we are then treated into the next track “Trouble”. Here, Jamel’s vividly rapping about how his criminal days began over a soulful instrumental. Then after a 1 minute skit, we are then treated to the next song “Down with Me”. For this joint, Masta Killa gets with the late Sean Price to brag about their rapping prowesses over a boom bap instrumental with some bass. The track “Tiger & the Mantice” with GZA & Inspectah Deck sounds like a vintage Wu banger from the Kung Fu film sample to the battle rap lyricism from all 3 MCs. The song “Real People” has a murderous tone lyrically & the guest verses from Prodigy & KXNG CROOKED were absolutely perfect. The track “Flex with Me” charismatically spits about the lavish life over some jungle-ish drums & the Chanel Sosa hook is pretty catchy as well. The song “Calculated” has this wailing down-tuned synthesizer throughout & despite Jamel’s verse at the end sounding ambitious, I wasn’t feeling the 2 verses from Ra Stacks & Knick Gunz that precede it all that much. Also, the hook sounds like the type of hook I’d hear on the radio. Before we get a 2 minute outro to close out the album, we get 2 last songs with “Noodles, Pts. 1 & 2”. Both of these songs should’ve been combined into 1 entire track rather than being split in 2 parts, I do like the orchestral mafioso vibe of the first half along with the seductive vibe of the other half. Personally, I think this album was worth the long wait. Sure some of the tracks have already been released for a period of time & I could’ve done without a couple of the features, but it’s well produced & Masta Killa continues to prove himself as one of the Clan’s most underrated swordsmen over time

Score: 3.5/5

Iglooghost – “Neō Wax Bloom” review

This is the full-length studio debut from Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, United Kingdom electronic music producer Iglooghost. Dropping his debut mixtape Comet_Camping (Brkfstttt) in 2013, he would go on to follow it up with his debut extended play Twenteen & its successor Treetunnels preceding Flying Lotus signing him to Brainfeeder Records. His debut for the label Chinese Nü Yr on Devil’s Night 2015 became some of the most creative wonky music of that year, coming off Little Grids to make bigger waves with Neō Wax Bloom.

“Pale Eyes” embarks on our trip by embracing a prominently ambient composition up until the final minute of it whereas the Brazilian folk-inspired “Super Ink Burst” works in a crazy saxophone sample that I can’t get enough of. “Bug Thief” blends glitch hop, wonky, footwork jungle, IDM, halftime, bubblegum bass, UK bass, footwork, future bass, grime, EDM glitch hop & nu jazz for a complexly playful lead single just before “Sōlar Blade” culminates in the styles wonky, glitch hop, UK bass, IDM, bubblegum bass, grime, footwork, drill & bass, kawaii future bass, hybrid trap, brostep, dariacore, footwork jungle, jazz fusion, halftime & digital fusion.

Glitch hop, bubblegum bass, UK bass, grime, wonky, hardcore breaks, drill & bass, deconstructed club, hybrid trap and future bass all collide on the single “White Gum” to end the 1st leg until “Purity Shards” kicks off the opening 99 second of the 2nd half incorporating some heavy vibraphones for this whimsical intermission. “Zen Champ” continues by going for a varied direction by hooking up some of the craziest percussion on the entire LP & samples a bird laughing while “Infinite Mint” featuring Cuushe marks one of many moments where “Gold Tea” gets flipped.

“Teal Yomi / Olivine” featuring Mr. Yote rounds out 3rd with a 2-parter where I prefer “Olivine” over “Teal Yomi” mostly because of the way he counters the latter’s hyperactivity by shifting towards a hip hop while Little Grids’ intro “Peanut Choker” reappears with it’s dense fusion of wonky, footwork, bubblegum bass, hybrid trap, dubstep & adding a guitar near the final moments of it. “Göd Grid” finally sends off with an outro that took him 3 months to complete because of it’s fast tempo & trimming it in half after being displeased with the 64 bars he removed from the final version.

I’m not sure if anything can dethrone Kamasi Washington’s 3rd album The Epic’s spot as Brainfeeder’s greatest musical statement, but Neō Wax Bloom would have to be a close 2nd. His production’s more maximalist than Chinese Nü Yr’s & eclectically explores UK bass, wonky, halftime, bubblegum bass, glitch hop, drill & bass, footwork, future bass, grime, hybrid trap, glitch pop, halftime, deconstructed club, footwork jungle, footwork jungle, IDM, EDM glitch hop, nu jazz, kawaii future bass, brostep, dariacore, jazz fusion, digital fusion & hardcore breaks depicting primally religious themes.

Score: 4.5/5