Tyler, The Creator – “Don’t Tap the Glass” review

New surprise LP & the 8th overall from California emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, visual artist, designer & comedian Tyler, The Creator. Emerging as the de facto leader of Odd Future, his evolution both artistically & personally since the collective’s disbandment last decade has truly been amongst the most fascinating ones I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime going from the bratty edginess of Bastard & Goblin to the undeniable maturity & versatility shown on Flower Boy & Igor. Call Me If You Get Lost happened to be his best lyrically & Chromakopia was a mature refinement of Cherry Bomb, releasing Don’t Tap the Glass in the middle of his ongoing tour.

“Big Poe” featuring Pharrell instrumentally throws it back to something The Neptunes would’ve made in the early 2000s with both of them introducing us to this new alter-ego possibly homaging the late Big Moe of the Screwed Up Click whereas “Sugar on My Tongue” takes on a more sexual tone with the lyrics experimenting with hip house. “Sucka Free” lyrically carries over the confidence of his “hey now” freestyle last Christmas except for a g-funk beat backing him until “Mommanem” drumlessly compares his haters to children.

One of the craziest instrumentals Tyler has ever made lands on “Stop Playing with Me” fusing Miami bass & electro calling for detractors to hop off his dick while “Ring Ring Ring” gets on a synth-funk/neo-soul vibe singing for his lover to pick up the phone & hoping they’re well. The title track boastfully laughs at the idea of him losing touch with the regular folks when he’s never been regular his whole career & “Tweakin’” brings back the synths to find himself trippin’ making the first 2-parter since Call Me If You Get Lost.

“Don’t You Worry Baby” lets DAISY take over the vocal performances singing about having the time & giving it to him before he falls asleep showing a Miami bass influence again while “I’ll Take Care of You” comes off as more of an interlude heavily sampling both Killa C & Princess’ verses during the Crime Mob’s biggest hit “Knuck If You Buck” for 3 & a half minutes. Including the Cherry Bomb title track’s drums. “Tell Me What It Is” ties up the half hour experience with a closer reminiscent of IGOR feeling skeptical of opening up his soul for love since he doesn’t know exactly how to.

Tyler, The Creator commemorates the 8-year anniversary of Flower Boy by straying away from the conceptual themes throughout a bulk of earlier material & whipping up a candidate for Album of the Summer with only a couple months left. It’s more centered around the pop rap & dance styles than anything he’s done previously pulling further inspiration from synth-funk, Miami bass, electro, neo-soul, dance-pop, hardcore hip hop, hip house, Atlanta bass & contemporary R&B doing what Drake thinks he did on Honestly, Nevermind but far superior.

Score: 4.5/5

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Raekwon – “The Emperor’s New Clothes” review

Raekwon is a 55 year old MC from Staten Island, New York known for being a member of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan. His solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… & it’s sequel are both some of the most beloved albums in all of hip hop, with the overlooked Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang falling right behind them. I.M.M.O.B.I.L.A.R.I.T.Y. (I Move More Officially By Implementing Loyalty And Respect In The Youth) as well as The Lex Diamond Story & The Wild all left people divided for their own different reasons & of course F.I.L.A. (Fly International Luxurious Art) being the worst in his discography. Signing a new distribution with Mass Appeal Records however, the Ice H20 Records founder continues the Legend Has It series with his 8th album.

After the intro, the first song “Bear Hill” opens with a bit of a lounge vibe getting bricks from Hitsville as well as staying fresh & crisp for more money whereas “Pomogranite” featuring Carlton Fisk & Inspectah Deck finds the trio over a boom bap instrumental talking about Dons never bowing. After the “Veterans Only Billionaire Rehab” skit, “Wild Corsicans” featuring Griselda blends chipmunk soul & boom bap together to discuss lives being lost because they ain’t moving right while “1 Life” produced by the J.U.S.T.I.C.E League talks about hip hop being exploited for profit.

“Open Doors” following the “Barbershop Bullies” skit works in some horns dedicating itself to the type of people who be blowing their nose in the flyers horns just before Swizz Beatz pulls from orchestral music during “600 School” featuring Ghostface Killah & Method Man bringing the trio together to get on some gangsta shit. “The Guy That Plans It” returns to the boom bap with an interesting Marvin Gaye sample talking about Rae preferring to be revered than be feared at the beginning & the end, but then “Da Heavies” moderately throws it back to the Lex Diamond era.

After the “Officer Full Beard” skit, “The Omerta” featuring Nas finds the pair over a Nottz beat talking about being examples of who they said they were while “Get Outta Here” featuring Ghostface Killah soulfully breaking down the billionaire lifestyle. After the “Sober Dose” skit, “Debra Night Wine” featuring Marsha Ambrosius opens up about a woman who ended up playing him while “Mac & Lobster” featuring Ghostface Killah finishes The Emperor’s New Clothesexplaining that nobody want it with them & having big plans being dreamt of.

Pushing the Legend Has It saga forward, the Chef’s official Mass Appeal debut makes us wait a little longer for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… III by pushing the message of valuing truth over trends & blocking trends from controlling your authenticity. It’s more polished than his most recently material with the production being the strongest since Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang & a majority of the guests are more well picked out than The Wild was enhancing the aggressive wordplay use to get it’s theme across.

Score: 3.5/5

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che – “Rest in Bass” review

Atlanta, Georgia recording artist che releasing his sophomore effort a month after its announcement. Starting as a member of the 4ersona collective under the original moniker murkio before settling on cheRomani+ & later abbreviating it, it wasn’t until more recently where he decided to build a solo catalog for himself by putting out the debut EP 3 over a year ago & followed it up in the form of X or the original version of his 3rd EP Closed Captions a couple summers ago. Crueger that same Halloween showed more of a Chief Keef influence & is saying Rest in Bass nearly 11 months since his highly acclaimed rage debut sayso says.

“Slam Punk” was a rage-inducing opener talking about a girl calling him “Based God” shouting out none other than Lil B whereas “Rolling Stone” turns up the hypertrap vibes talking about having the Devil on his shoulders telling him to go. “On Fleek” puts his vocal range on the forefront advising the opps to call it keeps leading into “Lip Filler” talking about being so dangerous that he could possibly die young.

Former 4-time WWE world champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, future WWE Intercontinental Champion & 5-time WWE tag team champion Sheamus gets referenced on the 2-parter “Hood Famous” posting up with felons just before “Bossupp” incorporates another beat switch referencing both WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE world champion & WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage and the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champion & current 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy of The Hardy Boyz.

“Marceline” keeps the rage beats coming likening his girl to the character from the Discovery Global-owned Cartoon Network series Adventure Time because she only comes out during the evening leading into “Die Young” produced by gyro talking about not wanting to grow old & going out in the fast lane. “Hellraiser” by OsamaSon looks to stir up some shit & CXO going for an experimental trap direction instrumentally, but then “Dior Leopard” hits us with another 2-part song talking about relapsing on drugs.

xaviersobased continues the 2nd half of Rest in Bass joining che during “Mannequin” homaging the late great Kobe Bryant bagging 24 hoes together while “Black Swan” splits itself in half again talking about being uncancellable & turning up at Summer Smash last month. “MDMA” makes several callbacks to sayso says speaking up regarding his lifestyle of recording in the studio & doing ecstasy while “Never Too Young to Die” featuring Chuckyy talks about being on top instead of middle men.

“Eardrummer” kicks off the final leg of the LP on a cloudier note thanks to Ginseng addressing his consistency & rise to fame while the distorted “Doe Deer” talks about simultaneously being a monk & a punk. “Stagedivin’” discusses making the mosh pit at the rave even bigger dying on the hill of not fucking with pigs while “Ba$$” samples “Lemon Glow” by Beach House finishing the album by talking about doing drugs & not wanting to leave.

Starting the Christmas Day deluxe run, “King of Rock” gives the audience more bass taking about shooting at opps & arguing the rights for that very title while “Make Out with My Choppa” boasts of poppin’ 100 bottles for 100 thots kissing a firearm. “Holy Moly” talks about drugs having him moving in slow motion & never running out of bread while “Die Hard” divides itself into 2 halves homaging the iconic action film that people to this day debate whether or not it’s a Christmas movie.

“Cutthroat” talks about pulling up to a meeting high as Hell & keeping that very attitude while the self-produced “Monster” confesses to sippin’ lean like he’s sick, going beast soon as he pops some ecstasy. “Dirty Sprite” comes through with another 2-parter talking about drank once again while “Serve da Ba$$” references former IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion in both TKO Group Holdings divisions Brock Lesnar.

We have che talking about putting in the work much like one of Rihanna’s biggest hits “Work” off her magnum opus ANTI on “RiRi” & once the distorted “Whippin’” featuring OsamaSon reunites 2 of the biggest artists in rage currently 1 last time admitting that both of them are still up in the kitchen like they’ve always been, “What’s Love?” talks about wanting to be told what genuine affection feels like & yearning for his girl to stick around with him until the evening.

“Freak Neek” shouts out the late Black Sabbath frontman & WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne who tragically passed away earlier this summer although there’s a homophobic bar at the very beginning of the verse that made me raise an eyebrow while “UAV” talks about his preference of sleeping with his lover instead of taking ecstasy & cooking opps. The final bonus track “I’m Sorry” appropriately finishes one of the most beloved rage albums of 2025 apologizing for falling in love, only wanting a Mercedes.

Ditching the secondary digicore & electroclash influences of sayso says, Rest in Bass hones in deeper on the experimentally hardcore rage sound of his debut last summer perfecting in his own way that makes it feel refreshing when it began to seem that the style was getting played out & taking heavier inspiration from Playboi Carti’s sophomore effort Whole Lotta Red celebrating it’s 5-year anniversary this Christmas by having che pushing this style of trap forward.

Score: 4.5/5

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Forth Wanderers – “The longer this goes on” review

Forth Wanderers are a Midwest emo/indie rock band from Montclair, New Jersey consisting of guitarist/songwriter Ben Special, guitarist Duke Greene, bassist Noah Schifrin, drummer Zach Lorelli & lead singer Ava Trilling. Introducing themselves in 2013 off their debut EP Mahogany followed by their full-length debut Tough Love & their 2nd EP Slop, the quintet would break up in the summer 2018 after Ava had some mental health issues following an eponymous sophomore effort. 7 years later, Sub Pop Records has brought them back together for their 3rd studio LP.

“To Know Me / To Love Me” fuses indie rock & noise pop to sing about knowing what this person in mind already thinks of her & suggests that they might as well admit to her face whereas “Call You Back” returns to their signature indie rock sound advising to leave her be since she has it really badly promising she’ll return the call later. “Honey” works in a reverberated guitar melody using the condiment as a simile for watching everything slow down prior to the indie rock/post-punk revival crossover “7 Months” singing about spending weeks laying in bed & nights without any sort of sleep whatsoever.

Ava & company bring a jauntier vibe to “Spit” wanting to be told how she felt having this individual’s name in her mouth & making it an effort to get their name out of it while “Springboard” continues to delve back into their indie rock roots asking if an unspecified person likes to watch her dance for the reason being that she could get in the mood being taken piece by piece. “Make Me” shows off some minor country & blues influences singing about being lied to just before “Barnard” blends surf rock & pop wanting to forgive someone she met when she was young.

“Bluff” was the 3rd & final single to be teased during The longer this goes on’s rollout with Ava admitting it’s fucked up that she would rather leave a person lonely than have to have her deception called out while “Don’t Go Looking” finishes the album by singing about wanting what’s hers being taken from her since it doesn’t work for her anymore & suggesting it would be a waste of time if one went snooping around because of the fact all is buried deep down.

In spite of Forth Wanderers sounding more self-aware & self-assured than ever, Ben has already clarified that the band hasn’t fully reunited since they’re still figuring out what’s next whether it be more music or tours. Sub Pop Records nonetheless allows the indie rock outfit to further distance themselves from the prominent Midwest emo sound of their debut in favor of indie rock similarly to what self-titled did with the exception it’s indie emo undertones are replaced with indie pop, noise pop, post-punk revival, grunge, shoegaze, country & blues, slacker rock, dream pop & jangle pop.

Score: 4/5

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Joyner Lucas – “ADHD 2” review

Here is the 3rd studio LP from Worcester, Massachusetts rapper & singer/songwriter Joyner Lucas. Somebody who first came to my attention in late 2016 with an incredible verse on “Sriracha” off of Tech N9ne’s 17th album The Storm, he exposure would increase the following year with the single “I’m Not Racist” along with a verse on “Lucky You” off of Eminem’s 10th album KAMIKAZƎ the year after that & his full-length debut ADHD was released during the COVID lockdowns to negative feedback from both critics & fans. Not Now, I’m Busy came out a year & a half ago to more mixed reception & basically half of ADHD 2 was already released as singles like literally every other rollout he’s had in the past.

After the “Family Therapy” skit, the first song “I Wish I Knew” opens with some pianos & hi-hats talking about inner growth featuring spoken word bits from WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg whereas “the “Fuck your top 5 ’cause I’m in the top 3 of your favorite top 5, let’s get this shit straight” on the lead single “One of Them” was laughable considering that Joyner’s discography comes nowhere close to Kendrick Lamar’s. Even if the horn-trap instrumental to be decent.

“Tear Me Down” featuring Ava Max made for a decent pop rap single tackling the theme of love hurting more than it heals & after the “Kevin” skit, “The Way That I Am” gives his flowers to Eminem much like he did with the Will Smith tribute “Will” on his debut. “Riot” is somewhat better talking about having money on his head & on the verge of getting arrested while “Hate Me” featuring T-Pain gives off a futuristic trap feeling to it coming with an 8 piece after others thought he was done.

After the “Denzel” skit, “White Noise” starts the 2nd half of ADHD 2 with a country trap fusion layering some auto-tune on his vocals feeling like his thoughts are getting too loud while “Butterfly Effect” carries the acoustics & hi-hats over to talk about going to another dimension if he could. “Anxiety Wins” featuring blackbear finds the pair getting on some emo rap shit until Ty$ probably saves my favorite feature on the album for “New Sofas” making up for typical Joyner bars like “To be Frank I don’t even do Oceans” leading into the “Therapy Checkup” skit.

Big Sean’s verse during “Active” was another highlight for me as he & Joyner talk about being outside when the lights are out while “Time is Money” featuring DaBaby & J Balvin could be the most tedious collaboration here with J Balvin’s verse at the end being my favorite regardless if it doesn’t do the rest of the song justice. “Listen to My Demo” is another favorite reflecting on trying to make it from 1999 to 2015 & the same can be said about “Momma” produced by N4 paying tribute to his mother.

Almost halfway through the current decade & ADHD is still widely considered to be amongst the worst hip hop albums of the entire decade, so my expectations weren’t all that high considering that & Not Now, I’m Busy being mediocre. And when he said “Nobody Cares” regarding his beef with Skepta, he wasn’t wrong considering that lame ass beef all drummed up in him dropping a sequel to his debut that’s slightly better than the original. Not trying to say he can’t rap because he can, he simply has a below average ear for production & the guests’ performances are equally tiring as his.

Score: 1.5/5

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Rollinthrax – “B4” review

This is the sophomore effort from The Bronx, New York rapper Rollinthrax. Delivering a slew of EPs from Fuckui<3u & 24×7 to SSX & ¡ridescentearly on in the decade, all of which built up for his full-length debut 2eZ celebrating his birthday with a fun batch of cloudy trap/rage songs. His debut mixtape One2Nun came out at the beginning of 2023 & he’s ready to take himself to the next level on B4 to the delight of many finishing up a feature run he’s been on since.

Fitting enough, “Is U Ready?” opens with synthesizers & hi-hats eagerly awaiting to run up a check leading into the cloudy “Wassup” produced by Cade feeling reminiscent of Lil Uzi Vert talking about a chick who acted like she loved him & later switched up. “It’s History” gets into his rage bag with the help of Jwade making different investments as of late prior to talking his shit during the single “Check Ur Phone” using crazy sampling techniques from n9ck.

“Almighty” pulls from the hypertrap subgenre again feeling zombified off too many drugs & wanting to be omnipotent just before “Opponent” gets back on a cloudy trap vibe talking about seeing dead bodies all around him. “VIP” hops over more rage beats comparing life to a game of chess & fucking with him being your worst mistake, but then “Irregular” fuses trap & glitch hop to talk about sticking out from the rest.

Thrax used the horn-inflicted “How U Bomin’?” to flex that he’s always 2 steps ahead while “Pass da Cup” clarifies making it to the next level is part of the rule of survival with another creatively used sample. “Putiton” jauntily talks about living in luxury because he used to be broke while “Grey Anatomy” makes hypertrap a secondary influence telling his brothers to keep going. Regarding the closer, “Say It Say It” samples rock music to vent about giving her enough & her acting like it ain’t a thing.

Some were keeping their fingers crossed when Rollinthrax got his own track on Xavier Anthony’s debut compilation The XA Tape this past Super Bowl Weekend of him finally getting himself back out there & B4 makes his return 30 months following his debut for a comeback recapturing the sounds of trap along with rage & cloud rap summing up what he’s been up to all this time.

Score: 3.5/5

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Alex Warren – “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” review

California singer/songwriter, YouTuber & influencer Alex Warren releasing his full-length debut. Co-founding the Hype House collective of TikTokers, he would go on to sign with Atlantic Records in 2022 & teased the 2nd disc of this very LP last fall as a precursor of what we could expect to hear exactly 4 weeks after the Hype House’s disbandment. It’ll be almost 2 months since Addison Rae’s own debut Addison revealed herself to be the most musically talented of the crew & Alex looks to catch up by unveiling the full version of You’ll Be Alright, Kid.

“Eternity” was actually a decent intro culminating in adult contemporary, pop rock & pop soul singing about his father passing away when he was 9 whereas “The Outside” throws a hint of CCM in the picture asking for sign because he’s down & out of his mind. “First Time on Earth” opens up about the regret he has of holding his late mother to a perfect standard when she has her own flaws leading into the below average stomp & holler/country pop single “Bloodline” featuring Jelly Roll.

Alex’s past & memories that made him the person he is today moderately get recalled over the course of the pop rock track “Never Too Far” just before one of the worst singles of the year “Ordinary” whips up a generically corny & uninspired take on adult contemporary, stomp & holler, pop rock, pop soul & gospel. “Everything” works in some pianos to sing about feeling like he’ll lose it all if his wife Kouvr Annon leaves him just before “Getaway Car” obnoxious mutates stomp & holler with pop rock feeling like the Devil’s catching up to him.

“Who I Am” hooks up some occasional gospel choir vocals in the background with more pianos loathing in self pity wanting to know who he is in the eyes of his lover, but then “You Can’t Stop This” comes off as an overly preachy stomp & holler song about being unstoppable when the reception of his music speaks for itself. The final single “On My Mind” featuring ROSÉ was an adult contemporary stomp & holler duet that utterly fails at attempting to capture any form of chemistry between the pair to end Disc 1 while another pop soul, pop rock and stomp & holler single “Burning Down” addresses the Hype House’s demise.

Disc 2 continues with the country pop-tinged “Catch My Breath” singing about being off his head since the night he & Kouvr met on Snapchat while the open letter Alex penned to Kouvr on the day of their wedding “Carry You Home” feels ripped off from “Hey Brother” by the late Avicii swapping out it’s initial country pop & festival progressive house influences in favor or pop rock. “Troubled Waters” continues the torturous stomp & holler/pop rock mutations singing about the only thing he’s learned is that love leaves him while “Heaven Without You” promises he’ll have Kouvr’s heart in every lifetime.

“Before You Leave Me” makes another mediocre attempt at a stomp & holler/pop rock single singing about the concept of 2nd chances while “Save You a Seat” tries to go in an indie folk direction for a tribute to his parents. “Chasing Shadows” bites Lewis Capaldi a little finding himself missing his deceased mother & father while “Yard Sale” uses the concept of garage sales as a weak metaphor for letting go. You’ll Be Alright, Kid‘s title track puts an end to Alex’s debut by looking back on his 12 year old self wishing he knew back then everything would be alright.

Justin Bieber & Benson Boone both being named amongst Alex Warren’s biggest musical influences makes the most sense in the context of You’ll Be Alright, Kid being an equally unlistenable album as American Heart was a month ago & Swag surpassing them both by only a slight margin. It’s conceptually reminiscent of Chance the Rapper’s debut The Big Day with an adult contemporary stomp & holler twist, but the songwriting & vocals are more grating.

Score: 1/5

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Acetone Boogie – “R U Still Dead? (Remember Me)” review

Acetone Boogie is a 36 year old MC from Tucson, Arizona releasing his debut album Karma Circus in the spring of 2013 & dropping a sophomore effort The Divine Trickster during the summer of 2017 respectively. He has since joined the Swamp Society collective, dropping Rayamiento & Southwest Phonk both produced by Devereaux along with forming the Gloom Unit with Frankie Goldie. And to coincide with him performing at the Gathering of Legends next month, his 3rd studio LP looks to gives juggalos a preview of what’s to come during his set.

After the “R U Still Dead?” intro, the first song “Gittin’ Nutty” was a great southwest phonk single talking about making money being reckless whereas “Self Inflickted Success” produced by Devereaux talks about working overtime simply because he wants what’s his. “Suffokate” featuring Jvztizzo finds the 2 fusing the Memphis phonk sound with horror-themed lyricism just before “Double Dosin’” thinks of the days when he had no worries or pain when the maggots get in his head.

“Mantra uv da Maniaccs” starts the 2nd half of the album talking about shawty making it crash like it’s broken & the cash flow leading into “Juggin’ in Hell” bringing a cloudy trap vibe to the table representing the juggalo lifestyle until he can’t anymore. “Disposable Stalefaced Raps” talks about people loving what he can do for them instead of loving him personally while “Santacruzriver” pulls inspiration from the Memphis scene once again keeping only real ones around.

The song “Dead Dude Muzik” starts the clock regarding R U Still Dead? (Remember Me)’s final minutes turning the Memphis influences up even higher fusing horrorcore & gangsta rap subject matter with one another prior to “Bleeding Out” featuring Jvztizzo wrapping everything up with a rock ballad & both artists we got to hear team up 18 months ago on their Children of the Moon collaborative EP produced by Shaggytheairhead getting emo thematically.

You’re gonna wanna give Rayamiento & Southwest Phonk when discussing Acetone Boogie’s EPs, but R U Still Dead? (Remember Me) sticks out as some of the craziest shit he’s ever done in his whole entire discography & any juggalo getting to see him rock some of these cuts on the Detonation Stage on August 14 at 1am at the Gathering will be very lucky to hear his continued artistic growth whilst celebrating the biggest family reunion’s silver jubilee.

Score: 4.5/5

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UFO Fev – “The Ghost of Albizu 2: Albizu’s Revenge” review

Harlem, New York emcee UFO Fev surprise-releasing his 12th studio LP. Coming up a little over a decade ago off his full-length debut Around My Way, it wasn’t until 2020 when he saw his biggest year yet by dropping not 1 but 3 well received projects: the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort Fresh Air along with the Termanology-produced debut EP From El Barrio, With Love & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd album The Ghost of Albizu. This was all followed up with Magnum Opus along with the Vanderslice-produced Enigma of Dalí & 4 EPs: The Most High, Prayer, Weed & Music, E Pluribus Unum, Sunsets in the Ghetto & of course the Finn-produced Blood on the Bills. I even enjoyed the Fredro Starr produced Strapped & Pyramid Schemes, although The Ghost of Albizu 2: Albizu’s Revenge already raised the expectations looking at it on paper.

“Road to Redemption” gets the ball rollin’ on The Ghost of Albizu sequel talking about spending it all & making it back twice because he’s a hustler with a Jose Santiago hook performed in Spanish whereas “The High & Mighty” embraces a sample-heavy boom bap direction admitting to thinking before he speaks now. “My People” loops up some sped-up vocals talking about Puerto Ricans wanting to be free since he himself has Puerto Rican origins while “Scarlet Fever” featuring Red Inf makes sure they leave no prisoners boasting that nobody can stand a chance against them.

Jose Santiago comes back to kill it with the choruses 1 more time on “Work Hard, Play Harder” blending rap rock & boom bap together except he’s singing in English this time about getting it out the mud off the muscle just before “Puerto Rock” leaves wack rappers layin’ on their backs & flexing of him opening up his own lane for Puerto Ricans who’re nice on the mic. “Culture Cypher” jazzily takes us all the way back to the South Bronx where hip hop all started leading into “Vengaza” dustily talking about the concept of revenge.

Lil D saves my personally favorite guest verse of the 2 during the boom bap & chipmunk soul fusion “Benicio” to kick off The Ghost of Albizu 2: Albizu’s Revenge’s last 6 minutes or so assuring that the plug knows his face & he’s been simply running in place as of late prior to “The Cornerstone” finishing up the album with 1 final jazzy boom bap joint about being emotionally generated rather than AI generated & a hook homaging “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” by the almighty Wu-Tang Clan.

Crazy to think it’ll already be 5 years this upcoming Halloween since I first got introduced to Fev by hearing The Ghost of Albizu and catching up to both Fresh Air & From El Barrio, With Love afterwards. And I understand that some weren’t feeling Pyramid Schemes as much as Enigma of Dalí, but most people are gonna enjoy The Ghost of Albizu 2: Albizu’s Revenge a lot more since it continues the hardcore/conscious themes & jazzy boom bap sounds of the predecessor expanding it occasionally in favor of rap rock & chipmunk soul.

Score: 4.5/5

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Bizarre – “He Got a Gun 5: Basement Jazz” review

5 installments deep into the He Got a Gun saga & the 9th studio LP from Detroit emcee Bizarre. Emerging as an original member of the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof, he was also among the first in the crew to put out solo efforts with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdos being a hometown classic in my eyes. Fast forward 7 years later, Biz followed it up with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since, with the last time we heard him being his 11th mixtape 18159 Stout during the first quarter or the year. The Foul Mouth-produced He Got a Gun has since become a whole entire series of it’s own, releasing Basement Jazz as a way of celebrating THE DƎATH OF SLIM SHADY (COUP DE GRÂCE) turning 1.

“Therapy” opens with a drumless gospel sample talking about having eternal loyalty for his brethren refusing to be friends with somebody whose brother got popped by him whereas “Screws Loose” featuring B-Real takes the boom bap route instrumentally still getting psycho with it. “Deep into Thought” works in some pianos to talk about living life to the fullest & showing y’all how to ball just before “Warrants” angrily gets involved with criminal activity.

L.A.R.S. or the Last American Rock Stars reunite on “Bag ‘Em Up” talking about servin’ it up & turning up all the smoke that all the hoes bring to them while “Cooley High” strips the drums to spit that gangsta shit asking why a knife got brought to a gunfight. “He’s Nice” featuring Cassidy finds the pair over a rap rock/boom bap hybrid filled with battle raps leading into “All Gas No Breaks” featuring Kain Cole grittily talking about not slowing down.

“Purpose” featuring Fool Boy Marley gotta has my least favorite guest performance on the entire thing despite the theme of not wanting their friends & family to worry for them, but then “Raised in the Ghetto” hooks up a crooning sample to talk about coming to rob instead of poppin’ bottles. “Practice What I Preach” brings some finger snaps & pianos to the fold speaking on being no good until “I Just Wanna Have Sex With You” ruins synth-lenient beat with average depictions of romance.

Meanwhile on “I Miss My Dogs”, we have Bizarre reflecting over the people in his life who can’t be with him presently while “Motion” by L.A.R.S. featuring X Factor works in a trippy guitar riff talk about steadily being on the move. “Mid July” combines themes of sex with the rockstar lifestyle he’s been on for 2 decades prior to Bruiser Wolf linking up to make some “Junky Music”.

“Get Off My Corner” featuring Jalen Frazier & Max Hilli begins the final quarter of the album with the trio advising certain people to back up from their respective blocks while “David Starr” featuring Foul Mouth & Nick Speed brings a jazzier vibe to the table for them to dismiss being soft. “Tap Dance” featuring Lokye ahead of the “Basement Jazz” outro as a closer hops over some pianos, kicks & snares taking on the lustful themes better than “I Just Wanna Have Sex With You”.

All 4 of He Got a Gun 5: Basement Jazz’ predecessors carry some of Bizarre’s most essential material by himself & I can say the same for most of what we got throughout this latest entry. Foul’s production a whole 365 days since the most vital placement of his resume lives up to the name in that it’s than what he’s done with his longtime collaborator almost a decade since their creative partnership began regardless of the few moments where the performances lack.

Score: 4/5

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