Finale – “The Good” review

Detroit, Michigan veteran Finale returns for his 4th studio LP & his first in over a decade. Making his debut in 2007 with Develop, the sophomore effort A Pipe Dream & A Promise would later result in him signing to Mello Music Group for Odds & Evens preceded by the Bits & Pieces mixtape the summer I graduated high school. This winter will mark 7 years since the 62 extended play & looking at some of the names involved with The Good gave me hope of it improving above that previous EP.

The titular intro starts things off on a soulful boom bap note talking about trying to make music people can enjoy & maintain a good name until sequencing into “Whatever’s Left” during the last 90 seconds or so incorporating a beat switch to give us the remaining amount in the tank. “Take the Time” continues from there talking about being remembered than simply existing prior to it’s final minute dubbed “Mirrors” speaks his mind without trying to offend.

“Thanks 2 Hip Hop” produced by Trox is a highlight for me personally from the instrumental to the lyrics about what the culture has done for him while “District 12” was my favorite single from the vocal sample Nottz brings to the table to Finale rapping his ass off without a hook. “Gunna’s Lament” sends a message to all the rappers tryna eat out here warning them to be careful just before “Self Checks & Balances” preceding “Roses” talks about looking within yourself to find the good.

Meanwhile on “Job’s Not Finished”, we’re getting hit a cinematic boom bap atmosphere throughout a great bulk of it clarifying that his mission’s far from complete until “Bread & Butter” humorously talks about taking labels to the bank instead of having them perceive him as a joke. “Honor the Code” featuring the Twin Towers pleads for artists to quit scheming & looking hard while “Patience” has a jazzier vibe thanks to yU talking about the very thing some lack.

“Wishing” brings the sampling back in effect courtesy of none other than Apollo Brown, soulfully explaining that he simply can’t sit back & chill while “Luther Stickell” makes a comparison to the Mission: Impossible character of the same name. “Enough” talks about being on & off for years when there’s no lies told there over a Jamil Honesty beat until linking up with Guilty Simpson, IAMGAWD & Phat Kat to fire off “4 Rounds” whilst maintaining the ruggedness.

The final 2-parter “D.W.M.B. (Drink Water, Mind Your Business) / Know It All” talks about having bigger fish to fry with a different plate to try & learning a lot albeit not enough to say he knows everything. DJ Jewels turns up the soulfulness on “A Good Time to Go” confessing he feels like he’s been in a head-on collision with reality while “Just Rap” featuring Homeboy Sandman & yU finishes up the album refusing to believe everyone walked away from the trap.

If you were to ask me who I consider to be amongst the most underrated hip hop artists to come out of the Motor City, I’d always throw out Finale’s name in there so for him to come back & drop The Good had me anticipating it all year & I’d have to put it behind A Pipe Dream & A Promise as his 2nd best full-length. I personally tend to prefer the production here more than 62’s, the guests all come correct with their performances & the man himself’s making his late grandfather proud.

Score: 4/5

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WTM Solid – “$uper Amazing $uper Rich” review

Detroit, Michigan rapper WTM Solid returning 3 months since his sophomore effort for his 3rd studio LP. A member of the WRLD Tour Mafia, he also embarked on a solo career of his own beginning a few years back with the debut EP Originatour followed by both Matter of Time & What’s the Difference?. Bigg as well as the full-length debut Imagine That at the start of last year elevated himself as an individual amongst the rest of WRLD Tour, following up Killa $eason as well as Touropean & Street Gospel to discuss being $uper Amazing $uper Rich.

“It’s a Life$tyle Tour” works in a cinematic Detroit trap instrumental talking about touring being a way of life the way he sees it whereas “Biggest Boss” incorporates some sampling techniques & interesting effects on his voice boasting his lifestyle. “Deadboylife” has a more eerier approach to the Detroit sound rapping his life over these beats leading into “Deadbeat” talking about making money in his city & in Atlanta, Georgia similarly to what his homegirl Rachel did.

Wrapping up the 1st half, “$olid Checkin’ In” produced by WTM Niketech gives a nod to the adlib his WRLD Tour brethren Rafa has become known for whenever he begins to spit verses while “Cross $tate Mafia” featuring Babytron has to be a top 3 track uniting the Cross $tate Boys & the Dog $hit Militia crews. “Livin’ in a Double Cup” was another favorite of mine from the cloudy Detroit trap vibe LulRose & WTM Miles give off instrumentally to the lyrics about his squad having the power of changing the government while “$ubway $urfer” references WWE Hall of Famer, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion Rikishi.

“IDK What Tour Wear” goes for a synth-heavy Detroit sound talking about his indecisiveness of picking out an outfit for the day while the timing of “$ora” makes me laugh considering the recent news regarding the AI app parodied by the Paramount Skydance Corporation subsidiary Comedy Central hit series South Park almost 5 months ago being shut down. He hops over this warmly uplifting beat to describe his position as the “Man with the Plan” & after “5 Stars*” boasts about making $25K in a quick manner, “Kendricky with Kapital” ends the album hitting the road without a driver.

$uper Awesome $uper Rich takes it’s name after a song from Killa $eason last summer baring it’s initials after the Slam A Slut Records label that the WRLD Tour Mafia built together as a family & it’s an exceptionally great follow-up to Street Gospel although I prefer the latter more. The cloudy Detroit trap production’s a little less plugg influenced than it was at the beginning to the year, handling a majority of the verses by himself other than Tron & further embracing the love he’s always had for The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel Entertainment owned Spider-Man franchise. He also announced last night that he’s currently recording Touropean 2 over at the UK, which I’m interested in hearing that considering both “Kash Doll Skirt” & “Support > Hate” are some of his best songs.

Score: 4/5

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Thundercat – “Distracted” review

Los Angeles, California musician, singer/songwriter & producer Thundercat returning for his 5th studio LP. Emerging in the 2000s as the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies, he would subsequently sign to Brainfeeder Records & make his full-length debut The Golden Age of Apocalypse nearly a week before I started high school. He would follow it up with the sophomore effort Apocalypse a couple summers later & his debut extended play The Beyond / Where the Giants Grow a month succeeding my graduation became popular due to the inclusion of his most lauded single “Them Changes”. It would eventually be included on Drunk, which is his most cohesive musical statement & an essential within the Brainfeeder discography. It Is What It Is mourned the loss of his friend Mac Miller & he’s having Greg Kurstin produce most of Distracted.

“Candlelight” gets things going with this smooth R&B intro singing about a lighting burning at both ends whereas “No More Lies” co-produced by Tame Impala fuses psychedelic soul, neo-psychedelia, boogie, synth-funk & synthpop suggesting he’s better off staying on his own. “She Knows Too Much” by Mac Miller blends funk, neo-soul, pop rap, jazz rap, jazz-funk & disco rap to talk about a woman out of his league leading into “I Did This to Myself” featuring Lil Yachty hops over a Flying Lotus instrumental combining neo-soul, funk, nu disco & disco rap to discuss relationships.

A$AP Rocky appears on “Funny Friends” rapping & singing about being homies until the very end just before the yacht rock-tinged “What’s Left to Say?” courtesy of Kenny Beats assures this person that the can spend their whole lives trying to figure out how they feel inside even if it’s a lie. “I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time” goes for a psychedelic neo-soul vibe with hints of jazz fusion & synth-funk addressing an ex-girlfriend of his while “Anakin Learns His Fate” compares himself to Darth Vader from the original Star Wars trilogy.

“Walking on the Moon” calmingly kicks off the 2nd half singing about a woman who takes him higher while “This Thing We Call Love” featuring Channel Tres tells their partners to take their time since it’s only them. “ThunderWave” featuring Willow Smith experiments with neo-soul, neo-psychedelia, tribal ambient, nature recordings, chillout & new age yearning for their lovers to hold them until reaching shore while “Pozole” suggests maybe he’s out of touch & only showing this person exactly who he is.

The song “A.D.D. Through the Roof” embraces a neo-soul sound talking about his attention deficit disorder going insane while “Great Americans sings over 1 last FlyLo beat about everything he does being a learned behavior of it’s own & landing on his feet every time he continues to fuck up. The self-produced closer “You Left Without Saying Goodbye” concludes the album clarifying that he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, hinting at posting his feet on OnlyFans being his new side hustle.

Exactly 6 years to the day since his previous full-length, Distracted could be my least favorite installment in Thundercat’s discography although there are some tracks I see myself revisiting & enjoyed it top to bottom slightly less than Big Mama last month. Greg Kurstin’s production culminates in psychedelic soul, neo-soul, alternative R&B, progressive soul, pop soul, jazz rap, nu jazz, synth-funk, jazz-funk, smooth soul, neo-psychedelia, boogie, synthpop, funk, pop rap, jazz fusion, disco rap, funk music, nu disco, tribal ambient, nature recordings, chillout, new age & yacht rock capturing the tensions between overstimulation & introspection.

Score: 3.5/5

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Sunn O))) – Self-Titled review

Sunn O))) is a drone metal duo from Los Angeles, California consisting of bassists/guitarists Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley. Their full-length debut ØØ Void & the sophomore effort Flight of the Behemoth respectively were both solid, dropping the latter under Southern Lord Records. White1 alongside its sequel White2 & more specifically Black One all increased their popularity, the latter being my favorite in the Sunn O))) catalog. Oracle was great too, following it up with their 2nd best in my opinion: Monoliths & Dimensions. 观世音 however might be the band’s worst, coming off the more positively received Life Metal & Pyroclasts to make their Sub Pop Records debut with their 11th studio LP.

“XXANN” epically kicks things off with this 18 & a half minute drone metal composition whereas the doom metal-influenced “Does Anyone Hear Like Venom?” comes through with an ode to the pioneering black metal band Venom. The hypnotically repetitive 2nd & final single “Butch’s Guns” ends the 1st leg containing some of the strongest riffs throughout the full-length prior to “Mindrolling” experimenting with nature recordings. “Everrett Moses” continues the other half blending doom metal & dark ambient while “Glory Black” ends with a fusion of drone metal, ambient, nature recordings & impressionism reminiscent of Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version.

Life Metal was easily the most I’ve personally enjoyed a Sunn O))) album since Monoliths & Dimensions, but Pyroclasts was almost as great & this new eponymous offering from the drone metal veterans demonstrates Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley willingness to evolve their unmistakable sound into bold new forms. Their Sub Pop debut predominantly takes it back to their roots m outside of the dark ambient, nature recordings, drone, doom metal, ambient & impressionism undertones handling all of the instrumentation by themselves rather than bringing some outside collaborators in.

Score: 4.5/5

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Tory Lanez – “Slutty Bass” review

Another full-length studio LP & the 10th overall from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper Tory Lanez. Blowing up over a decade ago off The New Toronto mixtape, he ended up signing with Interscope Records the following year & releasing a total of 4 albums until departing at the beginning of 2020. Daystar that same fall gaslit everyone after shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot & coming off the dreadful sequel Peterson last spring that’re both considered to be the absolute worst music he’s ever made, he’s creating a new subgenre he’s been calling Slutty Bass.

“Slide” begins with him talking about pulling up your city with .40 & a Glock on him over an Atlanta bass instrumental when that’s not quite a good look for him whereas “Bulma’s Patience” disses Megan Thee Stallion by calling her bogus & blaming her for his incarceration. “Aggression from Saturn” mediocrely sings about being unsure whether or not he likes it that his partner’s aggressive just before “Planet Bass (NBLYB)” brings back the Atlanta bass vibes thanks to Nico Baran of Internet Money Records flexing that he has beat & millions of dollars.

We have Tory interpolating “Nokia” by Drake on “WongTong Soup” so he can tell this woman who says she wants to date him that she’s already with the wrong one leading into him bastardizing “Material Girl” by Madonna during “Pink Material” & falling completely flat. “Keyz to Vampa” assures his lover he’ll give her the guide on how to cherish him as long as she doesn’t judge while “The Hate of Friends” attacks this chick’s friends for disliking him.

“S.M.O. (Slut Me Out)” starts the 2nd half with me wanting to listen to Amaarae’s single of the same name considering that it’s far more superior while “Janne’s Cotton Candy” makes a bunch of trite references regarding being infatuated towards the very female he’s writing this about. “Krillin’s Fumble” confesses to an ex-girlfriend that he still has feelings for her when they’ve already broken up while “Fyne Shit Paradise” dedicates itself all to the fellas that got their heart broken & still can’t leave shorty alone.

Finally nears further towards Slutty Bass’ conclusion, “Nobody Land” vents the hatred he has for someone he used to love more than himself that was seeing somebody else while “Best Birthday Ever” tries to make his create his own version of tracks like “B.B. (Birthday Bitch)” by Krizz Kaliko & T-Pain or “Ratchet Happy Birthday”, the latter being one of Drake’s worst songs. “Party 4 Martians” uneventfully ends the album boasting he has 54 bitches on his dick, wanting to get naughty with all of them.

In no way am I trying to insinuate that I don’t like Atlanta or Miami bass because there’s a handful of music taking inspiration from both of those scenes that I enjoy, but Slutty Bass feels like Tory Lanez taking both of those styles & doing what artists like Cash Cobain or even Chow Lee have been doing with sexy drill for the past couple years. The lyrics are pretty much what I expected out of the 1 Umbrella Records founder this deep in his career & the production continues to top itself in terms of being uninteresting.

Score: 1/5

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Swae Lee – “Same Difference” review

Swae Lee is a 32 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Tupelo, Missouri who began his career as part of Dem Outta St8 Boyz alongside Bobo Swae as well as Lil Pantz & Slim Jxmmi. The latter of whom would stick by him following the departure of the other 2 members & signed to Mike WiLL Made-It’s own label Ear Drummer Records in tandem with Interscope Records as the duo Rae Sremmurd not too long afterwards. His subsequently made his solo debut in 2018 dropping Swaecation to mixed reception, returning 8 years later for a sophomore effort.

Tomato/Tomáto” produced by 30 Roc wasn’t actually that bad of an intro referencing WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle whereas “No Call No Show” featuring ΠΔV continues with this mediocre pop rap cut.

Ging jumps behind the boards on “Everyone Wants” addressing someone who has what the rest desires while “The Gospel” hops over a cloudy Turbo instrumental to talk about being on autopilot. “Mural” featuring Jhené Aiko comes together for an R&B duet singing of their awareness regarding bad bitches needing someone to treat properly leading into “Side Eye” telling a woman he took to Santa Monica that she can’t expect him to ask her hand in marriage.

“E Off Emotion” locks in with both Mike WiLL Made-It & Pluss for a trap soul ballad singing that he’ll blow all the racks with his romantic interest while “Suitcase” featuring French Montana felt like an underwhelming note to end the 1st half on, addressing the type they’d put away. “Don’t Even Call” featuring Rich the Kid doesn’t start the other leg of the album any better despite the reference to UFC CEO Dana White, but “Flammable” kicked off the whole rollout experimenting with rage & missing the landing.

The tropical vibes of “FAV / ANNA” are merely passable even if I can’t say the same for this story he tells regarding a chick who he assumes left a man in shambles & after singing about a female who’s “Sneakier” than most leaving the final verse completely open over a Chopsquad DJ beat, “Raising Awareness” expressing his desire of dying with memories instead of dreams over London on da Track cooking up one of the finest instrumentals on the entire LP.

“Working Remote” by Rae Sremmurd reunites over a Mike WiLL beat to talk about shining in the dark while “Violet” explains to female he seemingly loved to death that he had to walk away so he could focus on his mental health. “Take My Heart” featuring Post Malone ends Same Difference with this synthpop outro advising their partners to put their hearts somewhere safe, although I don’t think it’s as cute as “Sunflower” was.

Most including myself weren’t head over heels for Swaecation or Jxmtro when SR3MM dropped in 2018, preferring the main course rather than either Swae Lee or Slim Jxmmi’s attempt at making their own versions of Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. I’ve since been hoping Swae would follow up Swaecation & artistically surpass it, except it’s somehow worse. He’s always been the most melodic Rae Sremmurd member of the 2 & that doesn’t change as many would expect, although the production’s more uninteresting.

Score: 1.5/5

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Coyote – “Machetes & Micheladas” review

This is the 4th studio LP from Los Angeles, California duo Coyote. Consisting of the Morales brothers LadiesLoveGuapo & Ricky Blanco, they went on to gain traction in late 2022 off their debut album Thicker than Water noted for its witty punchlines & East coast influences. Their 2024 sophomore effort L.Aliens quickly became their breakout project to the point where people were recommending to me & easily understood the appeal, coming off yoteLAndia to have Statik Selektah fully produce Machetes & Micheladas in it’s entirety a month after Penta became the new WWE Intercontinental Champion and 24 hours away from current AAA Mundial Mixtas Parejas Campeon Lola Vice becoming the new NXT Women’s Champion.

After the “ApeXzibit” intro, the first song “Gimme a Hell Yeah!” featuring Conway the Machine joins forces over a boom bap instrumental to spit hardcore gangsta lyricism whereas “No Rest for the Wicked” ruggedly talks about there being a blizzard outside. “Whippin’ Cream” featuring The Psycho Realm brings both groups together for a mafioso single discussing the paper just before “Blasphemy” talks about looking to trade narcos for vitamins & fish oils.

“Love Me Love Me Not” keeps the boom bap vibes going admitting that they’re unsure & after the “Shoebox Money” interlude, the actual “Shoebox Money” track itself featuring Sirrealist goes for a jazzier direction talking about getting what they deserve. “Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes” featuring Curren$y soulfully gets on some real life shit topically while “Letter to My Son” featuring Berner gets the 2nd half going talking about fatherhood.

John Solo’s appearance on “Cali Dreaming” was ok despite the soulful beat & the love they have for their hometown but after the “Welcome to America” interlude, “What’s Peace?” featuring Locksmith & R.A. the Rugged Man finds the quartet taking a more conscious approach to songwriting. “Kid Named Johnny” simultaneously gets in their storytelling bags & continue to demonstrate Statik’s ear for sampling while “I.D.K” talk about only having winners surrounding themselves.

“Cortez on My Feet” featuring Lil Mr. E nears towards the end of Machetes & Micheladas with a nostalgic boom bap flavored sneaker anthem of their own while “Fuck Everybody” featuring Daylyt aggressively embodies that “Fuck the World” mentality the late 2Pac was on. “Church” hooks up a crooning vocal flip making a bunch of witty religious references while “Huff & Puff” sends it all off with a jab at the people who get their egos hurt by their presence.

Being a fan of these guys for a couple years already, the teasers we’ve gotten ahead of Machetes & Micheladas gave me all the confidence of LadiesLoveGuapo & Ricky Blanco topping both L.Aliens & yoteLAndia. Lo & behold: They begin the 2nd quarter of 2026 with what’s undeniably the greatest thing they’ve ever made a couple weeks since Hechiero ended Claudio Castagnoli’s reign as CMLL Mundial Pesocompleto Campeon. Statik Selektah’s jazzy boom bap production is a huge improvement over Coyote’s last couple of full-lengths, the guest list is filled with heavy hitters & the Morales brothers themselves are in top form.

Score: 4.5/5

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MIKE – “Pompeii” review

Here we have the 9th studio LP from Livingston, New Jersey emcee & 10k Global founder MIKE. Breaking out a decade ago off his debut mixtape Winter New York, he would continue to make a name for himself by churning out 4 more tapes as well as his previous 6 albums & 8 EPs full of amongst the finest abstract hip hop that you’ll hear within the last decade. Standouts include May God Bless Your Hustle, War in My Pen & even the Wiki collab effort Faith is a Rock entirely produced by The Alchemist. Burning Desire, Pinball, its sequel & Showbiz! have all become acclaimed for their own different reasons too & he looks to raise the stakes by having the Surf Gang produce Pompeii.

“The Fall” comes out the gate jumping over an Evilgiane beat to talk about swerving the most overseas whereas “My Worst (Rebuke)” takes a more psychedelic approach instrumentally admitting that he’s gonna do everything he did at his lowest once more. “Da Bid” featuring Jadasea joins forces for a 2-parter produced by Harrison & Earl Sweatshirt talking about wearing their hearts on their sleeves just before “NOT 4TW” featuring Anysia Kym cloudily speaks of no longer paying attention to those copying because it ain’t for free.

An early favorite would have to be “The Pope” from the euphoric beat to the calmly delivered lyrics about staying remote leading into “Afro” him recollecting the craziness of how much love has passed. The lead single “Minty” blends plugg, trap, cloud rap, lowend & plugg taking jabs at supposed gangstas who take talents off LinkedIn just before Niontay provides my 2nd favorite guest appearance on “F.E.A.R.”, spitting hardcore verses back-to-back without the need of a hook.

“Tampering” only clocking at 73 seconds long is a shame considering that I really enjoy the plugg instrumental talking about having to interfere with a hoe while “Shutter Island” happens to be the exact same length talking about trusting lies & bloody swords over a beat that somewhat reminds me of Odd Future’s early output. “Back LA” featuring Na’Kel Smith links up so they can speak of living in danger while the 2nd & final single “Back Home” passionately talks about dismantling systems.

Earl joins MIKE for “Kirkland”, saving would I personally considered to be the best feature for last to wind down the last few minutes of the album discussing keeping it simple when doing it big while “#FREE #MIKE” talks about the surprising revelation that even his haters are happy his crew’s around & not changing up on family. “Man of the Month” spends the last 3 minutes explaining that he bled for his dreams to be lived out over a Niontay instrumental despite the other half of it being a simple outro.

Both entries of the Pinball series & Showbiz! all contain some of MIKE’s greatest tracks like “On God” for example, but my favorite song on the latter “Belly 1” exponentially raised my expectations for Pompeii & it sure enough isn’t too far behind May God Bless Your Hustle or Burning Desire for a spot in the top 3 of his entire catalog. The Surf Gang’s production emphasizes the plugg undertones of Pinball II, additionally sprinkling hints of cloud rap & ambient plugg to reflect on the destruction of civilization as we know it.

Score: 4.5/5

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Earl Sweatshirt – “Utility” review

Brand new studio LP & the 7th altogether from Santa Monica, California emcee, producer & singer/songwriter Earl Sweatshirt. Beginning his career almost 2 decades ago using the alias Sly Tendencies as the son of Cheryl Harris & late poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, he posted a handful of tracks for a mixtape called Kitchen Cutlery on MySpace, but the tape would never be released to this day. He formed a short-lived rap trio with 2 of his friends called The Backpackerz & planned to release a mixtape together titled World Playground, but they disbanded sometime in 2009. Shortly after, he joined Odd Future & appeared on their 2nd & final mixtape Radical that May. 10 months later, he put out his only mixtape to date Earl with OF’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator producing a bulk of it. The tape received a lot of buzz until Earl’s mother would send him to a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys in Samoa sometime after until February of 2012. He was then granted his own Columbia Records imprint Tan Cressida Records & released his full-length debut Doris a decade ago to critical acclaim right before I started my junior year of high school for his clever rhyme schemes & the gritty production from The Neptunes to even the RZA. He then formed the duo Hog Slaughta Boyz with OF affiliate Na’kel at the beginning of 2015 & released his sophomore album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. a couple months after. Many of which consider to be better than Doris for its darker aesthetic. Some Rap Songs not only wound up being my 2018 Album of the Year, but the bastard child of one of my all-time favorite albums: Madvillainy. Feet of Clay the year after marked a new distribution deal Tan Cressida signed with Warner Records was a cool collection of SRS outtakes preluding his full-length debut on the label Sick!, which the flawless Voir Dire produced by one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist cleared. Last summer’s Live Laugh Love detailed his experiences of becoming a father & has brought the Surf Gang in to produce Utility.

“this2shallpass” clarifies over an ambient plugg beat from Evilgiane & Harrison that the only destination going forward is up whereas “:( again :)” goes for a more general plugg vibe talking about finding the strength to get up again. The 3rd & final single “Home on the Range” instrumentally combines plugg & trap confessing he’s not quite over the hill yet while “React” talks about going from basic to advanced training.

Meanwhile on “Hot Water (Cahuilla)”, we have Earl laughing off the idea of him folding & that the hate on the way down be the realest just before “Rectangle Lens” goes for a more experimental vibe talking about shit getting more serious by the day. “Leadbelly” featuring MIKE blends plugg, cloud rap, ambient & experimental hip hop putting a minimal emphasis on each of their distinctively abstract styles just before “quikk” feels like a 2 minute compositional intermission.

“Ew!” would rank amongst my top 5 tracks from the beat to the lyrics about anyone trying him only stumbling & stacking up all kinds of cheese in the cut while the lead single “Earth” fuses cloud rap, ambient plugg, lowend & experimental hip hop speaking of having to scratch the surface so he could breathe. “Chali 2na” compares himself to the Jurassic 5 member of the same name & references WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T while “Sisyphus” talks about freezing over Hell on a daily basis.

Lerado Khalil joins Earl on “Locusts” to discuss how they’re steaming now rather than smoking while “Tour de France” talks about a little mouthful whenever he’s feeling content. “Chicago” compares himself to a merchant the way he stays outside over a Tony Seltzer beat while “Book of Eli” assures he won’t ever go away despite quieting down here & there. “AOK” looks back at when all he wanted was a tub & his father while “Don’t Worry!” sends it all off talking about him deserving to be burnt the 1st time around.

Right when “Making the Band (Danity Kane)” came out on SoundCloud a couple years ago, I knew the possibility of the Surf Gang producing an entire body of work for Earl Sweatshirt was a guaranteed & it’s as brilliant as I would’ve imagined. I already prefer the production more than Live Laugh Love mostly because it’s a lot different than what those who’ve become familiar with Earl’s discography would expect, expanding on the previously mentioned loosie’s cloudy plugg ideas & demonstrating his capability of rapping over anything.

Score: 4.5/5

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9 Vicious – “Emotions” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper & producer 9 Vicious dropping his 4th studio LP a week after doing adlibs for Ye formerly known as Kanye West’s 12th album Bully. Breaking out in 2024 off his debut single “U Fancy”, he would go on to further introduce himself on B4SA & the full-length debut Studio Addict helped him gain more exposure to the point where Young Thug signed him to YSL Records after B4TM dropped & Tumblr Music wasn’t that bad of a debut for the label other than “Clout Demons”. B4FN & For Nothing have both become the best things he’s made since the YSL deal, departing when the Uy Scuti Bøyz consisting of diamond* & Tezzus signed. B4EM in January was mostly carried by the production & was curious to hear how Emotions would be following the biggest co-sign of 9’s career yet.

“Talk About It” produced by 406ahmad samples “The Meaning of Love” by Steve Kuhn speaking of people wanting to know how he made it prior to “Amazing” flipping “Sex with Me” by Rihanna thanks to Patrick Garza telling a MILF he ain’t tryna cheat on her. “Posing Tonight” splits itself into 2 halves to depict the gangsta lifestyle until “Rolling Loud” celebrates his upcoming performance at the festival whilst dissing OsamaSon & che.

A couple of A$AP Rocky’s greatest tracks “Fashion Killa” & “Purple Swag” get heavily sampled on the next few songs using the exact same names although I’d rather put on the original versions of them just before “Clock It” talks about having a stripper bitch. “Trevon O’Ryan Echols” will easily go down amongst 9 Vicious’ more profound songs admitting that it’s not easy being him while “Vivienne Westwood (R.I.P.) / O.G. Got the Drop” continues from there with another 2-parter talking about being a real punk.

“Want U” finds himself coming out as bisexual & I’m not trying to say that’s a bad thing in any way shape or form because there are plenty of LGBTQ+ artists I’ve covered in the past, but it doesn’t necessarily surprise me. “PROJECT4PLAY / SVJ” divides itself in a couple different portions dissing both Tezzus & Young Thug while “Molly Ecstasy” hops over an cloudy R8 beat with heavy 808s, although bars like “she give that head like a MAGA hat” don’t really do it a whole lot of justice.

Kacy Hill producing “Sunset Hill” seems appropriate considering she was signed to G.O.O.D. Music at 1 point, working in a guitar so 9 can represent YSL when he was literally firing shots at Thug earlier. “U Dig Det” continues the 2nd half talking about giving a fuck less regarding all the cap he sees when he wakes up while “My Whole Heart” promises his lover that he’ll give her his all, although the “Listen Up Jews” nod at the end of the 1st verse made me cringe.

“Julia” talks about being in Los Angeles & a woman by that name calling him spewing a whole lot of nothing the way he sees it while “Need” takes a shot at Afrobeats to ask his bae what she needs from him. The instrumental on “Love Album” isn’t any issue although the overly sexual lyrics get quickly tiring while “Italy” responds to Tezzus pulling up to his mother’s house by claiming that it didn’t bother him & how he wouldn’t ever cheat on the person who has his heart when he probably is unfaithful.

Rounding out 3rd, we have 9 trying to make the classic MGMT single “Electric Feel” into his own down to 406ahmad sampling it & “Life’s Funny” samples “Ironic” by “Alanis Morissette” to talk about God having an interesting way of telling him this chick’s the one. “Forgot” confesses to being so locked in to the point where it slipped his mind that he was in a relationship & “Blowing Emotions” sends off the album with 1 more 2-parter that Nosaint of Vanguard Music Group cooked up talking about having so many feelings.

It was confirmed earlier this week by ApolloRed1 that the collaborative project he & 9 Vicious have been planning for a year has now been scrapped because of 9 taking issue with Apollo doing an upcoming tape with OsamaSon & although I did wind up enjoying Emotions a little more than the prelude at the end of January, it’s not by a whole lot. I’ll reiterate the praise I’ve always had regarding his ear for production, although I still adamantly believe his whole shtick of beefing with everyone & “homaging” as many musical icons imaginable to be running dry.

Score: 3/5

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