Babyface Ray – “Codeine Cowboy” review

New full-length LP & the 5th overall of Detroit rapper, songwriter & actor Babyface Ray. Starting out over a decade ago by joining the Team Eastside collective, he has since gone on to drop 5 mixtapes as well as 5 EPs & a well received debut within the last 6-7 years before turning heads worldwide & becoming one of the 2 biggest up-&-comers in the city next to Babytron, both of whom eventually landed spots in last year’s XXL Freshman Class. Coming off Mob along with Summer’s Mine & more recently The Kid That Did last fall, the Codeine Cowboy has pulled up to the spot.

“American Psycho” opens with some pianos & hi-hats talking about everyone in his gang blowing up whereas “Wavy Crete” featuring Lil Yachty finds the pair trading verses with one another for 2 & a half minutes. “Standing on Business” featuring LUCKI talks about wanting to rule the world referencing Pinky & the Brain from the Warner Bros.-owned Animaniacs franchise while “Kick the Cup Campaign” cautions against the dangers of opioid-laced lean.

Ironically enough, “Still Sippin’” featuring King Hendrick$ & Sauce Walka plays Devil’s advocate talking about consuming dirty Sprite with Sauce Walka have my favorite guest verse of the 2 just before “Can’t Be Me” reflects on the long way he came from bringing video games out of Blockbuster when those were still nationwide. “Netflix & Chill” talks about being emotional for that vibe over some pianos & 808s leading into the cloudy “I Know” featuring GT calls out those envious of their sauce.

“Lou Gram” assures that everything he sports is actually the way he lives as opposed to being an image while “Rich & Bored” featuring YTB Fatt talks about the type of people their homies are over a LulRose & tana instrumental. “Half Sleep” featuring Veeze unites both forces of the Detroit sound flexing that the Louis Vuitton/村上隆 collab can be caught when they pass by while “Sin Aire” featuring Samuel Shabazz suggests for others not to tell them how to breathe when they don’t even have air.

Cardo saves one of my favorite beats on Codeine Cowboy for “Elevator Music” continuing Disc 2 vents over doing wrong despite him living right as of recent times while the pop rap-inspired “Don’t Misuse Me” sends a warning to any woman looking to wrong him. “Hood Cry” featuring Mozzy was an entertaining gangsta rap single during the rollout while “Nobody’s Perfect” psychedelically feels like he’s leaving to reach new levels.

“That’s What They Told Me” cloudily nears the conclusion of the album by talking about others informing him of him getting hated on & when it comes to the romantic pop rap cuts, “You Just for Me” produced by Harry Fraud has gotta be my favorite from the instrumental to the swagger in Face’s delivery. “1 on 1 Talk with God” featuring Samuel Shabazz sends it all off with 1 more collaboration between the 2 that surpasses the other.

Simultaneously accentuating the familiar themes previously heard all over Babyface Ray’s discography up until this point & going deeper down other directions topically, I’d argue that Codeine Cowboy could become the most I’ve enjoyed a double album in the Detroit trap style since Babytron put out Bin Reaper 3: Old Testament & New Testament in late 2022/early 2023 respectively. Regardless of the guests like last time having a few whose performances don’t do much to grab my attention, Face still holds the throne of his city’s rap scene firmly & the production’s cloudier than a lot of his previous output.

Score: 3.5/5

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MURS – “Love & Rockets 3.16: The Emancipation” review

MURS is a 47 year old MC & singer/songwriter from Los Angeles, California notable for being a former member of the alternative hip hop outfit the Living Legends. He also has a dozen solo LPs under his belt excluding the 6 he has with 9th Wonder of The Soul Council, with my favorites being his Definitive Jux Records debut …The End of the Beginning & the Strange Music-backed A Strange Journey into the Unimaginable fully produced by MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7. Now signed to Mello Music Group, the west coast veteran’s closing the book on his solo career with a trilogy chapter of the Love & Rockets series.

“Silverlake Rec League” begins the end by talking about friends, gym life, struggles & triumphs over an experimental trap instrumental whereas “Enjoy” fully displays the endearment he has towards his wife. “Chopper (ThisIsNotAnAntiPoliceSongThisIsAnAntiPoliceHelicopterSong)” featuring Reverie finds the 2 taking shots at the LAPD for fucking up their party while “This Ain’t That” thunderously talks about being despised forever selling his soul.

Moving on from there, “F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forever Always Motherfucker I Love You)” works in a flute-tinged boom bap instrumental finding community within his fanbase leading into “Flowers 4 will.i.am” showing his appreciation towards the Black Eyed Peas frontman. “Ga$ Prices” talks about the cost of refilling gas in your car being higher than WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg just before “Beauty in the Streets” jazzily takes us through the belly of the beast.

“OCH” starts the final leg of Love & Rockets 3.16: The Emancipation by responding to those saying freedom ain’t free while “Lightsabers & Black Forces” featuring Chace Infinite shows their appreciation for the Star Wars franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Lucasfilm. The closer “Stylus Groove” caps everything off with a drumless beat looking back at these past 3+ decades.

Reflecting on a storied career marked by honesty as well as humor & razor-sharp lyricism, Love & Rockets 3.16: The Emancipation finds MURS in peak form spitting with the urgency of an artist laying his legacy in stone. Celebrating a legacy built on raw truth & relentless passion, the west coast veteran crafts a worthy sendoff to the illustrious mark he’s left on the music industry filled with introspection & storytelling.

Score: 4/5

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Joey Valence & Brae – “Hyperyouth” review

State College, Pennsylvania emcee/production duo Joey Valence & Brae making their major label debut with their 3rd studio LP. Although their 2022 debut EP The Underground Sound was moderately received, their debut album Punk Tactics would go on to earn significantly improved positive reception & the sophomore effort No Hands catapulted their into popularity, garnering comparisons to the Beastie Boys. So much that the Sony Music subsidiary RCA Records gave these guys full artistic control ahead of Hyperyouth.

The title track samples “Like a Punk” along with “Bangarang” by Skrillex & “Block Rockin’ Beats” by The Chemical Brothers to encapsulate the fear of growing up whereas “Bust Down” featuring TiaCorine talks about never changing, including a dig taken at Sydney Sweeney following the controversial American Eagle ad she recently did that would make Ye formerly known as Kanye West proud.

“Give it to Me” expresses the modern day equivalent of the Beastie Boys’ desires of their future partners being badder than Bebe Rexha herself leading into “Is This Love?” talking about loving the women they’re currently seeing more than the FL Studio program itself as well as being married to the game & refusing to go out to clubs because of anxiety getting the best of them.

Rebecca Black of all people teams up with JVB on “See U Dance” for a contemporary R&B, pop rap, dance-pop & Atlanta bass crossover talking about wanting to watch women dancing while “Party’s Over” comes out the gate with a reference to former IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン as well as a 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion in both TKO Group Holdings divisions Brock Lesnar.

“Wassup” featuring JPEGMAFIA finds the trio teaming up for a hardcore hip hop single showing secondary influences of Miami bass & crunk music chopping up careers together while “Live Right” gets the 2nd half going talks about the fear of growing up. “Billie Jean” breaks down the type of music they like to hear at the club giving props to the late Michael Jackson while “Have to Cry” samples “Cry” by Bobby Caldwell to get vulnerable.

Meanwhile on “The Party Song”, we have JVB dabbling with industrial hip hop for an ode to getting wild just before “Myself” takes a mellow boom bap approach instrumentally asking if you can do it like them. “Go Hard” featuring TiaCorine finds the trio dropping braggadocio sampling “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambataa while “Disco Tomorrow” finishes the pairing’s major label debut by talking about not playing with their hearts.

“friends” starts the deluxe run calling for everyone to bust a move & get cheeky all their homies while “push the pipe” leans towards a boom bap sound talking about the world being ours for right now. “how does it feel to be so young?” feels like more of an interlude from the synthesizers to the repetitive songwriting while the 2-parter “bustamove” goes full-blown dubstep. “i like this” shows a more playful side to the duo lyrically feeling like their hearts are full & the final bonus track “changes” ends with them talking about seeing the vision clearly.

Birthed from Joey Valence & Brae’s experiences in the clubs of very little individuals sharing the same excitement & expression for music as them, they ditch the mid-school hip hop aesthetics of much of their previous material in favor of existential club music. Their production focuses less around the mid-school hip hop elements of their earlier stuff in favor of hardcore hip hop, boom bap, pop rap, electronic dance music, Miami bass, Atlanta bass, crunk, industrial hip hop, contemporary R&B, dance-pop to explore themes of love, dance, maturing & authenticity.

Score: 4.5/5

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Chance the Rapper – “Star Line” review

Chicago, Illinois rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & activist Chance the Rapper returning for an official sophomore effort. Becoming an overnight sensation in 2012 towards the end of my freshman year of high school with his debut mixtape 10 Day, he would eventually follow it up the next year with one of the best mixtapes of the previous decade: Acid Rap. Coloring Book had a more admirably Christian message to his music & The Big Day became one of the worst albums of the 2010s, looking to bounce back on Star Line.

“Ride” featuring Do or Die & Twista on the remix after the intro made for a cloudy trap opener with everyone talking about getting your brothers ride & them having your back moving forward whereas “No More Old Men” works in some strings to assure that he’ll live until his hair turns white. “The Negro Problem” goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally talking about Afrocentricity leading into the “Drapetomania” featuring BabyChiefDoit dabbling with trap a bit to go crazy.

Vic Mensa reunites with Chance on the autobiographical “Back to the Go” referencing Black Sabbath fronted by the late WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne alongside fellow WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg’s revived Death Row Records leading into “The Highs & Lows” featuring Joey Bada$$ consciously blending jazz rap, boom bap & neo-soul for them to talk about taking the ups & the downs. The neo-soul/Afrobeats hybrid “Space & Time” sings to be freed of his ex really loved him while “Link Me in the Future” talks about waiting on forever.

“Gun In Yo Purse” featuring TiaCorine & Young Thug starts the 2nd half of Star Line with the trio hopping over a trap beat to suggest that things will get worse sometimes while “Tree” featuring Lil Wayne might’ve been my least favorite single amongst the handful that we got awkwardly mutating pop reggae & pop reggae for both of them to talk about weed. “Burn Ya Block” takes a shot at hip house looking to see the block on fire while “Letters” returns to the Christian hip hop vibes of his last couple projects.

To get the 4th quarter going, “Speed of Light” fuses these choir vocals & EDM drums together for an uplifting track about society wanting to hold each other down while “Pretty” talks about self-love. “Just a Drop” featuring Jay Electronica finds the pair tackling religious themes once more expressing their need for water to cleanse their spirits & “Speed of Love” laments on his failed marriage, asking when or if a real connection will come to find him. “Child of God” starts the deluxe run to soulfully talk about self-discovery & self-affirmation while “Wraith” featuring Vic Mensa felt a tad bit mediocre compared to “Back to the Go” earlier, even with it’s minimally abstract lyricism.

“A Bar About a Bar” was a stronger attempt at Chance abstractly holding it down by himself while the footwork-driven “Yah Know” talks about mobbing in discreet. Gospel, jazz rap & chipmunk soul back the conscious subject matter of “Buried Alive” reflecting of a dark place he was at in his life while my favorite bonus track of the bunch “Together” produced by DJ Premier talks about his Chicago upbringings. “Stars Out” balances trap & jazz rap well thanks to Dominique Sanders doubling down on people turning their backs on them because of The Big Day while “Bad Boys 2” featuring Joey Purp homages the Michael Bay film of the same name. “3333” responds to the low ticket sales of his Minnesota State Fair performance while “Quiet Storm” airs his frustrations with the world these past 7 months.

Needless to say: A lot has happened to Chance the Rapper these past 6 years & Star Line makes his official comeback with what The Big Day should’ve been the summer prior to the COVID-19 pandemic changing our lives permanently. His consciously poppy lyrics takes the lessons he’s learned all this time head-on carrying over the predecessor’s secondary influences of neo-soul, jazz rap, chipmunk soul & trap to hit the targets better regarding their incorporations. I’d lastly be remised to point out the Christian hip hop & contemporary R&B elements being replaced in favor of boom bap & jazz rap, calling back to his earlier days.

Score: 3.5/5

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Evidence – “Unlearning 2” review

Venice, California emcee/producer & former graffiti artist Evidence releasing a sequel to Unlearning as his 5th LP. Coming up in the early 90’s as part of the trio Dilated Peoples alongside Rakaa & DJ Babu. He’s also established himself as a solo artist along the way dropping his debut album The Weatherman under ABB Records in 2007 & making himself at home with the renown Minneapolis powerhouse Rhymesayers Entertainment for 16 years by now. Weather or Not ended the weather themes of his earlier stuff & is picking up where his last album left off on Unlearning 2.

“Plans Change” sets the tone with a funky Sebb Bash instrumental talking about the difference between him & everyone else is that he isn’t losing steam whereas “Different Phases” produced by Beat Butcha reiterating that he hasn’t read the rules to the game. “Future Memories” featuring Larry June has a jazzier vibe to it thanks to The Alchemist so they can talk about making shit happen leading into “Outta Bound” talking about being judged for coloring outside the lines.

The drums get stripped completely on “Seeing Double” advising to trust someone when you love them because there’s no other way just before the lo-fi, self-produced “Nothing to See Here” talking about his position as a rapper who ain’t playing a part. “Define Success” work in a piano instrumental so Ev can break down what it means to be successful from his perspective while the soulful “Stay Alive” featuring Blu enlists Conductor Williams to talk about something keeping them full of life.

“Nothing’s Perfect” taps in with Graymatter behind the boards likening his life to the music of a playlist while the chipmunk soul-infused “Favorite Injury” featuring Domo Genesis finds the 2 talking about staying impatient until their last breath. C-Lance carries the sampling onto “Top Seeded” himself a minimalist with a massive profile while the crooning “Greatest Motivation” featuring Theravada talks about needing hate because love’s complacent.

The Step Brothers reunite for the jazzy/boom bap crossover “Rain Every Season” explaining that their patience thins whenever they’re waiting for inspiration while “Laughing Last” talks about beating up a brick to the point where it’s out of shape. “Dutch Angle” lastly chops up a weary vocal sample to end Unlearning 2 staying even ‘til he’s titled & stating the idea of him being past tense in his city won’t happen.

Focusing less on comfort & more on transformation, Unlearning 2 uses the opportunity of Evidence’s previous album’s open-ending to his advantage pushing back against the concept of legacy by making a deeper & more instinctive exploration of his style. The production’s more soulful than its predecessor was 4 years earlier, creating an experimentally rooted sound with more determination than ever to turn pain into purpose through sharply intentional creativity in.

Score: 4.5/5

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KAYTRANADA – “Ain’t No Damn Way!” review

Port-au-Prince, Haiti born albeit Montréal, Québec, Canada raised DJ, producer, singer/songwriter & rapper KAYTRANADA returning for his 4th studio LP. Starting as 1/2 of The Celestics alongside his younger brother Lou Phelps, he’s has been widely recognized as being amongst the most popular & in-demand producers in all of music for the past decade working with everyone from Mobb Deep to Mach-Hommy. KAYTRADAMUS even has 3 solo efforts under his belt in 99.9% through XL Recordings, the RCA Records-backed Bubba, the eponymous debut from KAYTRAMINÉ & more recently Timeless last summer. 13 months have passed since the predecessor & Ain’t No Damn Way! has arrived 4 days after it’s announcement.

“My Life” by Latrelle featuring Kelis gets sampled for the deep house intro with “Space Invader” throwing hints of contemporary R&B in the mix whereas “Championship” continues the house vibes with an 115 second instrumental piece. “Home” sticks out as one of my favorite beats here due to it’s carefree atmosphere just before “Target Joint” pulls inspiration from the funky house subgenre.

Nearing the end of Ain’t No Damn Way!’s first half, “Things” samples “Things Fall Apart” by Steve Monite for a futuristic house composition with some synthesizers leading into “backstABs” getting back in his deep house bag instrumentally. “Good Luck” definitely feels reminiscent to my all-time favorite production duo The Neptunes in terms of sound, but then “Shine Your Light for We” samples “Black Boy” by Cappadonna & makes it into a disco highlight of it’s own.

“Goodbye Bitch!” combines characteristics of both synth funk & funky house for an infectious beat that won’t make you stop nodding your head while the deep house cut “Don’t Worry Babe (I Got U Babe)” makes an irresistibly soulful use of sampling. Speaking of which: The last song “Do It (Again!)” after “Blax” continues to display KAYTRA’s ear for chopping up samples, this time repurposing “Let’s Do It Again” by TLC.

As opposed to having a cast of guests performing over his instrumentals like on all 3 of his predecessors, KAYTRANADA returns out of nowhere 14 months later for Ain’t No Damn Way! as a welcoming return to his electronic roots. Ditching the primary alternative R&B influences of Timeless last summer to emphasize the deep house side of it’s predecessor, he gets to sprinkle additional hints of funky house & synth funk over the 30+ minute course.

Score: 3.5/5

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Protect – “500 Days of Summer” review

Buffalo, New York rapper Protect hitting us with his 3rd studio LP almost 9 months since his last one came out. Introducing himself to the trap & plugg subgenres of hip hop by releasing his full-length debut All on Me & the sophomore effort Ball Hog for Life under Atlantic Records a year earlier, the latter being significantly more well received than its predecessor & some of the producer credits throughout 500 Days of Summer garnered my interest in giving it a proper chance almost a month until fall begins.

“Think About Ya” starts with a woozy trap instrumental talking about calling his girl 1,000 times & for his young slime to pick their head up whereas the blissfully rage-inducing “Hasta La Vista” suggests to come check his swag down. “Gossip Girl” produced by Cade gives a nod to The CW’s hit teen drama of the same name while “IfUGotMe” talks about his preference of having no one around because a lack of social battery.

Moving on from there, “Count Up” brings the hypertrap influences back in effect flexing that he has a kind of swag others would kill for leading into the trippy “Jumbo” comparing himself to King Kong & talking about being on fire. Rio Leyva & Vendr of Internet Money Records both killed their shares of the beat they made for “Redeye” wanting the world to watch him blossom while “Vlad” chaotically suggests to do what his gang says.

“Sip in My Room” ends 500 Days of Summer’s first half by talking about wanting to consume lean by himself in a bedroom while “Cartoon Network” named after the Discovery Global subsidiary of the same name flexing that he’s on TV & the channel can’t be changed. “Peyton List” talks about being in love with the racks in addition to asking for his twin to not break the code while “New Jeep” shows off his new whip, taking it for a quick spin.

As for “Sly Cooper”, we have Protect talking about not needing a discount for whenever he pulls up to the club bouncin’ while “Gee Wizz!!!” finds himself continuously trappin’ & being so geeked that he can’t even feel his face. “.Tor” makes a sick reference to the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Nickelodeon series Danny Phantom while “ICU” talks about seeing the way this unnamed individual stays moving.

“Lifeline” nears the conclusion of 500 Days of Summer advising that you don’t wanna fuck with him & having demons watching him despite lying about being ok while “World is Yours” explains that a cold day in Hell is more likely than him switching up. “Betray Ya” ties up the LP with him looking to race in an open road & waking up with a smile on his face because his life at this point has been nothing short of amazing.

Gonna say this right now & I don’t give a fuck if anyone disagrees with me on it: I could definitely imagine Protect crossing paths with local underground icon, Griselda Records founder & 4th Rope founder Westside Gunn on either Heels Have Eyes II or FLYGOD is an Awesome God III since And Then You Pray for Me was West’s example of holding down trap production similarly to his Hall ‘N Nash cohort Conway the Machine & of course Benny the Butcher. Anyways, I feel like 500 Days of Summer ditched the rage & plugg aesthetics of Ball Hot for Life in favor of cloudy pop rap to result in his strongest album currently.

Score: 3.5/5

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Insane Clown Posse – “The Naught” review

Detroit horrorcore duo, Juggalo Championship Wrestling founders & the longest reigning 2-time JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions Insane Clown Posse have officially unveiled their 17th studio LP & the final Joker’s Card of the 2nd Deck. Consisting of JCW Commissioner Violent J & the shortest reigning JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion Shaggy 2 Dope, many don’t know that 3 other members came & went during the first 5 years of the group’s inception. Not only would The Duke of the Wicked & the Southside Strangla go on to create seminal wicked shit albums like The First 6, they also gained an extremely loyal fanbase in the process & their self-owned Psychopathic Records became an independent hip hop powerhouse as the label’s roster continued to grow until they wanted to focus more on their own legacy. Commemorating the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos or the Gathering of Legends kicking off tomorrow & The 2 Day War between JCW & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) beginning later this weekend, The Naught will explore the afterlife in a concept differing from The Wraith’s exhibitions of Shangri-La & Hell’s Pit.

The title track produced by Shaggytheairhead after the intro opens with a trap song breaking down the titular character’s meaning whereas “Watch Me” reunites with longtime collaborator Mike E. Clark talking about the wicked shit splitting your shit up throwing it back to the Bang! Pow! Boom! & The Mighty Death Pop! days instrumentally. “Everybody Dies” moves forward with a 6-minute rap rock-influenced Violent J solo cut picking up where Everybody Rize” off my 3rd favorite Joker’s Card The Amazing Jeckel Brothers left off just before the semi-boom bap influenced “Happy Fun Day” uses wordplay for the Duke to ask what exactly others find wrong with him in having bloody fun referencing former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, ECW World Television Champion, IWGPタッグチャンピオン, WCW Hardcore Champion & 2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion Bam Bam Bigelow.

“Only Wicked Shit” goes for an EDM trap direction thanks to Brian Kuma so both of the clowns can represent their style of music they’ve been making for over 3 decades & after the “Flashback” skit, “Dead Kelly” blends these bells & hi-hats together to tell the story of the titular character. Shaggy 2 Dope getting his own track with the carnivalesque “Here We Go” looking to tear the place down alongside the rest of his hatchet family while the playfully humorous “Cinnamon Pigtails” describes a tale of Violent J meeting a woman on Instagram who turned out to be a catfish.

Devereaux helps ICP dabble with trap metal on “I’m Still Breathin’” talking about their gratitude of being alive despite the chaos in the world while “Pop Out” continues the 2nd half of The Naught with another 2 Dope solo joint that DJ Clay makes more trap oriented than the last one angrily making the speakers jump while the disco rap-inspired “Throw ‘Em Up” after another “Flashback” skit talks about throwing your hatchets up. Violent J responds to 1 Man Kru’s disses these past couple years by calling him a “Softy Pillow Man” using a prominent tuba within the beat leading into the occult “I’m Fallin’” talking about them thinking no one should try to die.

Expressing some kind of resolution from the conflict inferred from the rest of The Naught, the iconic Toto single “Africa” gets heavily sampled throughout “While It Lasts” ending the 2nd Deck of Joker’s Cards structured similarly to “Low” off Fearless Fred Fury where the Duke’s singing during a good bulk of it & Shaggy drops off a brief rap verse. Wasn’t one of my favorite songs off FFF personally but “While It Lasts” is conceptually stronger than “Low”, basically talking about enjoying the time we all have on this planet.

Common complaints regarding Yum Yum Bedlam from what I’ve heard amongst juggalos is that it felt like a mixtape than a Joker’s Card or the producer tags, neither of which I had any issues with personally because I appreciated it being the first female character in the Dark Carnival mythology & it’s themes of loyalty. The Naught however has to be my 3rd favorite Card of the 2nd Deck, with #2 being Bang! Pow! Boom! & of course The Mighty Death Pop! at #1. The production feels like a throwback to the carnival sound even with Kuma & Mythic Mindz finishing the 71% that Mike E. Clark had yet to complete because of him moving & the clowns themselves answering the question of if one was ever alive at all if there’s no afterlife when we die.

Score: 4.5/5

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Hariroc – “The Squidfather” review

This is the sophomore effort from Atlanta, Georgia producer & rapper Hariroc. Known for being an extensive collaborator of Lil Tony, he would go on to fully produce the Troc & Swaggbaggs extended plays for Tony in their entireties preceding a debut album of his own Indalment last summer welcomed to moderate reception. 13 months have passed & The Squidfather has returned to bless the plugg subgenre of trap compiling almost 30 tracks recruiting more notable names than previously.

“Restart the Wave” by Lil Tony begins with a piano & some 808s talking about not being able to name a single person who’s pulled his cork whereas “We Don’t Like U” by Teflon Zay hops over these ethereal synthesizers & skittering hi-hats to poke fun at Will Smith slappin’ Chris Rock. “Trap Ain’t Workin’” by RRoxket proves to be a favorite of mine from the pluggy beat to the lyrics trollin’ his opps when he smokes weed while “Backwood Baby” by Pradabagshawty talks about using Swishers as of late to roll his shit.

One of the weaker cuts on here in my opinion goes to “Celibate” only because of 1900Rugrat wasting this insane ambient plugg instrumental until “Biting My Swag” by Babystaydown makes up for it by airing out his grievances towards everyone who be coping his aura & trying to make it their own. White Friends” by PCF Manmanweighs things down again using a clumsy flow for roughly 104 seconds prior to “I Think” by Protect saving us once more talking about putting techs all over his body.

“SV” by 4eRedd & IsoBkae carried the plugg vibes forward joining forces so they can discuss not moving so loosely while “Bummy Scam” by Teflon Zay & Zone1eriic trades the mic back-&-forth with each other talking about using their Glocks to make their opps drop dead in the middle of a mall. “Hitmaker” by Yksteexy goes ambient plugg again feeling like he’s gonna be taken out for the things he won’t say while “Foxes” by Aobtrey & Fox BD dropping 1 comatose verse after another.

Nino Paid joins Lil Tony on “Threw Up the Drank” ending the 1st half of The Squidfather explaining they changed due to them not wanting to go back being broke & swervin’ while “From the Ground Up” by Cayo begins the 3rd quarter using this raw ass instrumental to talk about building this shit from the dirt skyward. “Yo Favorite Rapper a Hoe” by ApolloRed1 advises not to shed a tear if he’s ever killed while “Strike in Clayco” by Rx Yp picks up from there puttin’ belt to ass.

“So Much on My Mind” by Luhh Dyl, Seddy Hendrinx & Warhol.SS comes together to cloudily talk about doing things legitimately this time while “Kel Tec” by Double XL references Spider-Man 3, which was by far the worst entry of the Sam Raimi trilogy. “Man Up” by RW 5 talks about having to mature himself after he came home from prison like any other responsible person would do while “Turkey Neck” by GetRichZay & SSG Splurgewakes up daily to get a bag or 2.

Jripey takes the mic during the pluggy “Super Fly” talking about making songs for fun instead of charting while the ambient plugg “Watch My Back” by Day 1 Lil Willie looks back at a time where he told someone to trust to look out for him only to be betrayed. “Snakes” by TopOppGen moves forward running up in cribs without knocking beforehand while “Homie Hopper” by tana talks about taking down whole entire gangs by his lonely & asking where these individuals were when he was broke needing them.

“Stop the Cap” by Raqbaby pleas for these phony muhfuckas to cut out all the bullshit fibs they spewin’ while “Fake Percy” by Blo talks about throwing up due to taking percocets that weren’t even legitimate. “Chris Vec” by Lil Tony & 1900Rugrat reflects over the times they were down bad having nobody fuck with them but prior to the “Free Beat I Love Y’all” compositional outro, it only makes sense for Hari to approach the mic himself for the last song “Close with God” talking about fighting his demons.

Becoming a fan of his last fall through joints like “On Same Shit” by Babystaydown or “Living Room” by Pradabagshawty & “Ganger” by RRoxket, I had expectations of The Squidfather hoping that it would be an improvement above Cegular Records founder Whyceg’s sophomore effort Cegregation a few months earlier & that’s what I sorta got even if this is only better by a very slight margin. Hariroc’s production centered around plugg, cloud rap, ambient plugg & dark plugg sticks out amongst the best he’s ever made except the guest-list can be inconsistent at times a lot like Cegregation’s.

Score: 3/5

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Amaarae – “Black Star” review

Amaarae is a 30 year old singer/songwriter from The Bronx, New York by way of Accra, Ghana independently releasing her 2017 debut EP Passionfruit Summers followed by the 2020 full-length studio debut The Angel You Don’t Know through her own label Golden Child Entertainment. The latter of which caught Interscope Records’ attention, who signed her for the highly praised sophomore effort Fountain Baby & looks to raise the stakes even higher with the 3rd LP becoming the most personal of them all.

“Stuck Up” opens with a reference to Spike Lee ahead of his upcoming A24 Films neo-noir crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest coming to theaters next weekend whereas the boldly audacious “Starkilla” sings about serving ketamine, cocaine & ecstasy. “ms60” contains one of my favorite instrumentals on the album from WondaGurl responding to those calling her stuff like bitch, villain & a controversial diva while “Kiss Me Thru the Phone 2” featuring PinkPantheress samples “Thong Song” by Sisqó for a homage to Soulja Boy.

As for “B2B”, we have Amaarae singing about bisexuality sampling “Maybe” by Toni Braxton just before “She’s My Drug” heavily interpolates “Believe” by Cher asking if one believes in love when sobered off the drugs. The lead single “Girlie-Pop!” however excitingly blends Jersey club, dance-pop, tamborzão, alté & alternative R&B embodying the feeling of a kiss from your favourite person in the world.

“S.M.O. (Slut Me Out)” combines dance-pop, gqom, Bacardi Burger-Highlife, Detroit techno, electro & hiplife for a cross between Donna Summer & Control era Janet Jackson while “Fineshyt” makes for the 2nd & final track to be produced by BNYX of Working on Dying sings about her bisexual experienced wanting to buying the woman she’s currently in love with whatever kind of clothes she wants on top of the inability of leaving her by herself.

To get the 4th quarter’s clock winding down, “Dove Cameron” calls back to her previous LP singing about people referring to her as “Fountain” & showing off all the money she’s been making while “Dream Scenario” goes alternative R&B desiring for her lover to tell her what they want. “100drum” finds herself confronting the familiar feeling of paranoia brought on by an unnamed adversary & “Free the Youth” ties it all up by singing about not getting too pumped because she’s fucked up.

Familiarizing myself through her collaborations with the likes of KAYTRAMINÉ or Janelle Monáe to Bas & Childish Gambino, the 2nd major label offering in the Amaarae canon playfully embraces her Ghanaian heritage. It’s production leans heavier towards dance-pop & electronic dance music compared to Fountain Baby additionally pulling further inspiration from funk brasileiro, alternative r&b, house, alté, pop rap, African music, Afroswing, gqom, Bacardi Burger-Highlife, Detroit techno, electro, hiplife, Jersey club, tamborzão & alté to confidently explore her identity as an artist & as a woman.

Score: 4.5/5

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