Darby O’Trill – “WIL(low)” review

Here is the 7th studio LP from Key Largo, Floridian emcee Darby O’Trill. A close collaborator of Chapter 17/Psychopathic Records in-house producer Devereaux, their debut together Piecemeal received critical acclaim during the COVID-19 pandemic & signed Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & fulfilled it over 3 years ago with Gully, which is a modern day wicked shit classic. Amputate was a solid prelude to The Tomb, the latter was even better. Darby’s official C17 debut Creek became his best since Gully as did GARDeN last fall, taking us to the WIL(low) only a couple weeks out from the Gathering of Legends or the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos & of course The 2 Day War between Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW). Most importantly record-holding 5-time JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion 2 Tuff Tony looking to take the title back from former GCW World Champion & GCW World Tag Team Champion Matt Tremont in The Final Battle after he ended Mad Man Pondo’s 3rd reign at the JCW/GCW Showcase Showdown: The Violence is Right couple weeks ago.

“strangling my boss with my wallet chain” made for an eerie trap opener produced by none other than Devereaux talking about death residing in his mind whereas “i saw the magician pull that rabbit out of his ass” wickedly flexes the tricks he has up his sleeve. “biting my tongue because there is nothing left to eat” talks about rather being the clown than the man behind the mask while “the scent of a 3 day old corpse rotting in a flawda attic” professes himself as Emperor of Bugs.

Shaggytheairhead hops behind the boards for the uncanny “barglegore gurglebach & the curious case of the vomiting shoes” talking about death fulfilling him & following “if i wuz more like u i’d b better off dead” referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE United States Champion, WCW World Television Champion & the inaugural WWE Royal Rumble winner “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. “the time i found bums having sex in a construction site porta potty” after the “you got anything else?” skit goes for a boom bap vibe finding himself unsure of where he’s going.

“da faladgulations ov mane” professes that he won’t ever become the type of person others want him to be while “i have alot of tattoos & most of them are shitty but she doesn’t seem to mind” harks back to the trap metal/horrorcore fusions on GARDeN talking about necrophilia. “17 pounds of crabdick at nates got me hallucinating, thanks parker” after the “1 nu message” skit keeps the heavy guitars & hi-hats in the fold to talk about a woman haunting him.

We have Darby feeling like the reaper’s close on the trap metal “is that a cat standing on my chest or my sleep paralysis demon?” admitting he never found his way home while “crippled by the thought of tomorrow” fuses trap & rock to talk about not being ok. “i ordered a falafel wrap and was served a severed hand on rye” tackles the theme of cannibalism over hi-hats & a nu metal riff that is until the “jerky jerrys” skit.

“drowned in a pool of kinetic sand” featuring Ouija Macc talks about not lacking intelligence despite their violent tendencies while “some guy told my girlfriend to dump me because im fat” opens up regarding not doing too well. “the vanilla scented mask of the killer” points out the reason he’s been getting hate & “now thats what i call an album no one is gonna care about” ends by talking about people not wanting him around because of him letting them down.

Once you’ve already gone down the Creek & past the GARDeN into the marsh amongst the vines where the lost souls gather, WIL(low) outdoes both it’s predecessors in becoming the darkest & most personal piece of work Darby O’Trill has ever made. Continuing to embrace the trap metal sound prominently, he near-perfectly takes us in the shoes of the lost & distraught wandering this earth searching for solace & thinking they’re alone.

Score: 4.5/5

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O.T. the Real – “Possession with Intent” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee O.T. the Real making his TCF Music Group debut with his 9th studio LP. Getting his start in the underground almost a decade ago after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping his last 8 albums as well as a mixtape & 8 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut showed improvement as did the Nickel Plated produced Cost of Living & The Devil You Know. That said: 38 Spesh fully producing Possession with Intent had me feel like this could be a special entry in O.T.’s catalog & the singles hinting towards it. Especially ahead of Shane Taylor Promotions becoming the new ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champions & La Facción Ingobernable becoming the new ROH World Tag Team Champions when Death Before Dishonor XXII takes place at 2300 Arena a.k.a. ECW Arena.

“18 Ballgames” opens with some jazzy horns splitting a rat’s shit in half & dipped before the cops came whereas “Never Saw Me” hops over a boom bap instrumental with some pianos to talk about having people who depend on him. “Big Fish” featuring Grafh brings the brass instrumentation back in effect referencing my favorite show of all-time Breaking Bad leading into “For the Face” talking about friends becoming foes & grams turning into ounces.

Amir Ali joins O.T. for a shimmery “Philly Special” advising to make money because money won’t make you while “Americans” talks about the possibility of his enemies winding up dead or behind bars serving life. “Grease” featuring Dave East chops up a soul sample so the pair can talk about the work their plugs gave them just before “Warlock” takes it back to the basement instrumentally pleading not to blame him since he doesn’t mess with fentanyl

“Richer” featuring Flee Lord gets the ball rollin’ on the final leg of Possession with Intent responding to criticisms of being in their bags too much while the cinematically grimy “Jon Jek” talks about lasting longer than the beef you got if you mind your business. The jazzy “Streets Alone” speaks on putting family over everything & “Doin’ Bad” finishes the LP with 1 more boom bap joint addressing his past beefs.

Granted I did enjoy O.T. the Real’s last couple projects with Nickel Plated, the singles we got out of the Possession with Intent rollout had me feeling like it would become another one of his most essential LPs. Lo & behold: The most I’ve enjoyed an O.T. solo project since Zombie. A good 75% of the guests stick the landing in terms of their performances, but he & 38 Spesh both make for a pretty damn good MC/producer pairing.

Score: 4.5/5

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Homixide Gang – “Homixide Lifestyle 2” review

Homixide Beno! & Homixide Meechie known together as the Atlanta, Georgia duo the Homixide Gang releasing their 4th LP. Bringing to turn heads off their debut EP Snotty World to the point where trap trailblazer/rage pioneer Playboi Carti made them the 3rd act to sign to his Interscope Records imprint Opium Records following Ken Carson & Ken Destroy Lonely respectively, Homixide Lifestyle was a solid debut & Snot or Not wound up being a mixed bag of a sophomore effort. Their debut mixtape 5th AMNDMNT & their previous album I5U5WE5 were both received more favorably, looking to revisit the Homixide Lifestyle for a sequel.

“PC5” is a bombastic trap intro shows love to their homie Problem Child 5 presently incarcerated on murder charges whereas “Redrag” produced by Maaly Raw talks about shooting a lame in his face with the Glock. “1-800-555-OPIUM” blends trap & rock together so they can discuss the money callin’ them just before “Call in Me” links with Toom of Vanguard Music Group so they can compare themselves to walkie talkies being only a call away.

The way “Cherub Rock” by The Smashing Pumpkins was sampled on “5G” was pretty rad refusing to sell their souls while “PB&J” featuring Ken Carson finds the trio talking about their dangerous tendencies & trying to score as opposed to goaltending. “Soul-Fly” works in an unexpected soul sample to discuss their past leading into “Vice City” talking about having bitches go crazy over a Pi’erre Bourne beat.

“Frank Matthews” reflects over a Clayco & OPM BABI instrumental of wanting to become drug lords their whole entire lives while “Red Tails” references the greatest QB of all-time & 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. “Villain” conceptually dissects the Dark Knight quote “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” prior to F1LTHY of Working on Dying sampling “Downtown” by SWV during the highlight “Facet!me”.

ATL Jacob hops behind the boards for “Johnny Cage” referencing the character from the Warner Bros.-owned Mortal Kombat franchise prior to Homixide Mali appearing for “Sober” so the trio can get loaded. “Breeze” has a more laidback approach than what Homixide normally does boasting that they have more stripes on their backs than referees while “Watch Out!” bombastically talks about needing to stay geeked up.

“Going On” heads for a trap metal direction instrumentally to flex the kinda shit that pops off around them while “Headtap” talks about slangin’ the sticks with no aim & leaving blood everywhere. “Free Agents” touches base regarding their lifestyle & after “Shopping Bags” talks about hitting the store with them since they got everything y’all need, “State Property” playfully sees the pair getting money hungry.

To start Homixide Lifestyle 2’s final leg, “$$$ Problems” talks about having no issues regarding their finances returning to a trap metal sound while ”Nun 2 It” assures their respective girlfriends that they’ll go global effective immediately. “Gvnganati” talks about the subject of loyalty remembering the late R5 Homixide & “Nintend0” wraps up the LP with both of them playing the gamble of life using all cash.

Aside from Carti unsurprisingly not clearing his “Chopshop” verse hence why it didn’t make the final cut & Destroy Lonely only doing a hook for “Shopping Bag” instead of a verse, the Homixide Gang’s successor to their debut has a more general hardcore hip hop approach instead of gangsta rap although it very much expands on it’s rage/trap metal production minus the industrial hip hop elements.

Score: 3.5/5

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prettifun – “Funhouse 2” review

In front of us is the 4th studio LP from Charlotte, North Carolina rapper & producer prettifun. Known for his membership with the 4ersona collective, he would go on to put out 3 full-lengths & 7 EPs in almost 3 years prior to Victor Victor Worldwide signing him last fall & appearing on the new Lucy Bedroque mixtape Unmusique. mikey’s last album Funhouse was greeted to the same warm welcoming reception Pretti got & looks to expand the palpability of Funhouse by making a sequel.

Outtatown’s welcomingly playful rage atmosphere of “My Name” couldn’t have been a more appropriate intro talking about having fun with the money he’s been making while “Kisses” gets in depth regarding him not having to prove shit to anyone. “Fuck with Ya” produced by Ginseng suggests to keep blowing up his phone since he had to cop a new one covered in dough posted up in your hood just before the rage/plugg crossover “Famous” advised not to act as if he’s a huge star.

“Digital Love” gives his props to the Daft Punk single of the same name talking about his relationship struggles leading into “Last Wish” remembering his late grandmother. “Sides” clears up the rumors of him & another 4ersona member che having beef with each other when they simply haven’t talked in some time while “Heartbreaker” ties back into “Digital Love”.

Ending the first half of Funhouse 2, the lo-fi rage single “Unfazed” talks about starting a trend as a result of the waves he’s been making while “Different” professes that he feels like nothing’s been the same recently stepping on muhfuckas without a camp. “Internet” talks about having no fear inside of him because he’s self-aware of his artistic potential while “Back” speaks on his money addiction & there being no way out of it.

“idk wtf” combines rage, hardcore hip hop & digicore so asking for his vision to be trusted while “Infinity” talks about the endless flows he has in his arsenal & being ahead of the curve compared to his peers. “Hi-Fi 2026” finishes prettifun’s major label debut by announcing Hi-Fi 2 coming out some point within the next 52 weeks, which has me hoping it’ll surpass it’s predecessor when it comes to quality.

Honoring prettifun’s 20th birthday this weekend, Funhouse 2 feels nothing like a “deluxe version” of its predecessor & more of an eager standalone continuation. The production feels complexly layered compared to the original Funhouse embracing it’s experimental rage sound heavier than he initially did last fall aside from the occasional pop rap, trap, plugg, hardcore hip hop & digicore detours peeling back the vulnerability layers of his confessional approach to songwriting.

Score: 4/5

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Debby Friday – “The Starrr of the Queen of Life” review

Nigerian born albeit Montréal, Québec, Canada raised rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Debby Friday now based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada returning for a sophomore effort. Introducing herself off her first few EPs Terror as well as Bitchpunk & Death Drive, she would catch the attention of Sub Pop Records & sign to the Seattle indie label in the spring of 2023 for her full-length debut Good Luck. Couple years later & The Starrr of the Queen of Life looks to shine as we begin a new month.

“1/17” was a great electropop, dance-pop, vocal trance, bubblegum bass, alt-pop & electro house intro showing a more playful side to herself whereas the electropop, dance-pop, vocal trance, bubblegum bass, alt-pop & dream trance single “All I Wanna Do is Party” sings about wanting to let loose. “In the Club” seductively finds herself tryna get her freak on pulling from the post-club scene a bit leading into the industrial hip hop/midtempo bass crossover “Lipsync”.

Debby switches it up for the alternative R&B-tinged “Alberta” singing about the feeling of uncertainty in a relationship just before “Higher” pleads for her lover to hold her close so she doesn’t panic. “P.P.P. (Pussy Pink Princess)” gets back on the industrial hip hop vibes talking about making everyone around her into believers but after the 808s & Heartbreak-inspired “Leave.”, the final single “Bet On Me” conveys the message of intuition & raw self-belief over a atmospheric drum & bass/alt-pop beat while “Darker the Better” finishes Debby’s 2nd LP with a dance-pop ode to getting fucked up.

29 months since her electro-industrial heavy debut, Debby Friday following the sound of her own voice has resulted in her most kaleidoscopic work ever. The production here appeals more prominently to art pop, electropop, dance-pop & alt-pop with secondary influences of bubblegum bass, alternative r&b, hyperpop, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, vocal trance, electro house, dream trance, midtempo bass, electroclash, EBM, acid techno and atmospheric drum & bass defining what it is to be a “starrr” using her own terms.

Score: 3.5/5

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Madd Maxxx – “G A T H E R” review

Brockton, Massachusetts emcee Madd Maxxx of the Mission: Infect collective dropping his 4th studio LP. He’s also released a few full-lengths as well as a mixtape & his 6 EPs on his own, with the last album being his 3rd album albeit Dirtcore Music debut Kaleidoscope becoming the strongest body of work he’s ever made thus far as was the Dirtcore ‘24 EP late last summer. He & Bodies Below Sea Level will be performing at the Gathering of Legends or the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos next month, so it makes sense for Crossworm to fully produce G A T H E R with the festival coming up in a few weeks.

After the “Unnecessarily Long Skippable Intro”, the title track hops over a synthesizer & a drum machine to encourage the underground to come with him whereas “Let’s Fuckin’ Go Then” goes for a boom bap vibe so he can talk about being on the surface & no longer denying it. “God is a Juggalo” dustily speaks on his belief of our higher power supporting the Insane Clown Posse when they’ve said themselves that Dark Carnival is God, but then “Jester’s Privilege” aggressively calls out weak MCs & talks about saying whatever he wants.

“Zombie Walk” hooks up a creepy violin sample with kicks & snares talking about appealing to fans of smoking weed, horror movies & hip hop while the industrial hip hop/horrorcore crossover “Bats in the Belfry” opens up regarding the voices in his head disliking what they say to him. “Stop Rapping” returns to the boom bap with a bar at the halfway point of it homaging the recently deceased Prince of Darkness in Black Sabbath frontman & WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne prior to the industrial “I Can’t Stop” declaration of never quitting.

As someone who got to see Maxxx perform at the 2021 Gathering & unfortunately won’t make it to the Gathering of Legends or the 2 Day War between Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) including record-holding 5-time JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion 2 Tuff Tony looking to take the title back from former GCW World Champion & GCW World Tag Team Champion Matt Tremont in The Final Battle, he & Crossworm lock in for a collection of tracks that I’m confident he’ll perform at that event encapsulating the label’s signature industrial hip hop spin on the underground wicked shit scene & additional hints of boom bap.

Score: 4.5/5

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Even Heathens – “Handful of Cancel” review

Even Heathens is a horrorcore duo consisting of Pennsylvania emcee ILLtemper & Detroit veteran King Gordy. Forming in 2021 off an eponymous full-length debut & the Horrorcore Stories EP, they would go on to put out a sophomore effort Unpleasant Never Dies & the Odd Gods trilogy until forming the Wic Kids with Donnie Menace & Grewsum respectively last summer. Signing to Lyrikal Snuff Productionz a few months ago for a 2-album deal, the Heathens are ready to make their debut for the label.

The first song “Dig” produced by J Reno after the intro made for a cavernously dark opener talking about not finding what you were hoping for going deep in their minds whereas the guitar/trap crossover “Canceled” addresses the topic of cancel culture, which Cormega called an abused power & he wasn’t wrong. Stir Crazy reunites with the Heavens for a rap rock sequel to “King” bringing that horror music to your speakers while “Choices” talks about choosing 1 of 6,000,000 ways to die.

Insane Poetry joins ILLtemper & Gordy on “You Think?” as a way of responding to those speculate they’re crazy over a boom bap instrumental with some vibraphones just before “Can’t Hide” replaces the vibraphones with pianos to talk about them being unavoidable. “Fear Us” blends boom bap & horrorcore lyricism together explaining why they should be feared while “Grime” featuring Nasaan & Seuss Mace finds the quartet cautioning not to disturb them.

After the shock value “Coby Gets Raped” skit, “Tu Weered” featuring Killator gets the trio together for a trap joint talking about how they’re uncomfortable to be around & the closing track “Lot Lizards” closes the Even Heathens’ debut for LSP with 1 more boom bap track with a bit of a funkier twist to it describing sexual relations with those exact type of women feeling reminiscent of Necro’s sex raps regarding the level of vulgarity.

Only halfway through the decade with 6 LPs & an EP deep, the Heathens introduce themselves as the newest members of Team Snuff by carrying on the Experimental Drugz series with their finest work together so far in addition to raising my expectations for their next offering under the saw & axe. Stir Crazy & J Reno both kill it with their shares of the production & lyrically, both ILLtemper & King Gordy are at their filthiest.

Score: 4/5

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Paul Wall – “The Tonite Show” review

West coast producer DJ Fresh tapping in with Houston, Texas emcee, DJ & businessman Paul Wall for the latter’s 16th studio LP. An affiliate of Swishahouse Entertaimment & a co-founder of The Color Changin’ Click, his sophomore effort albeit major label debut The People’s Champ propelled him as an H-Town veteran 2 decades ago & has since been steadily dropping music whether it be Bounce Backs Over Setbacks becoming the best album of his from the previous decade to the mixed reception of The Great Wall a year & a half ago. Once Upon a Grind dropped on my birthday weekend last winter making up for The Great Wall’s divisive feedback by homaging the city who made him the person he is presently & DJ Fresh has brought back The Tonite Show to make Paul the most recent guest.

“Wake Up” blends jazz rap & trap together so the Oiler Mobb Entertainment founder can talk about getting his mind right the second he gets up every single morning whereas “It’s Necessary” turns the jazz influences up even higher to discuss doing what’s obligated & his legendary grind. “Dedicated to the Game” gives off a west coast Mobb vibe with a hint of trap talking about his loyalty to this shit leading into the piano-driven “Husslin’ For Eons” boasting his hustle.

We get a bluesy guitar sample on “Same Ol’ P” talking about nothing changing with him a little over 2 decades into his career while “Drink 1st” fuses cloud rap & trap opting to take a sip from his cup before he heads out. “Blanton’s Tonite” takes a smoother approach instrumentally for an ode to my personal favorite alcoholic beverage bourbon whiskey while “Out Yo Mind” talks about the crowd who thinks he ain’t paid tweaking.

“Riding with the Top Down” whips up a breezy anthem for the California & H-Town to blast in their whips on a sunny day while “Money on My Mind” shifts his focus towards the bag. “Still Froze” hooks up some synthesizers to show off the watch on his wrist while “Get the Paper” talks about grinding to the utmost. “Whatchu Really Kno” concludes The Tonite Show with a dirty south outro advising to keep a clear vision.

Approximately a couple days following Wednesday’s season premiere of South Park on Comedy Central poking fun at the Paramount Skydance Corporation cancelling The Late Show in 2026 because of a joke Stephen Colbert made regarding his show’s parent company settling a $16M lawsuit, Paul Wall & DJ Fresh get together to make a highly successful attempt at capitalizing their chemistry 7 months ago & my favorite late career entry in Paul’s catalog.

Score: 4.5/5

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Bronze Nazareth – “Funeral for a Dream” review

Grand Rapids, Michigan emcee/producer Bronze Nazareth enlisting Detroit veteran Apollo Brown to produce his 6th solo album. Known for being a member of the group Wisemen alongside his late brother Kevlaar 7 & eventually the Wu-Tang Clan’s in-house production team the Wu-Elements, he would also go on to build a solo career for himself beginning with The Great Migration almost 2 decades ago & School for the Blindman only 5 years later. Bundle Raps & Ekphrasis produced entirely by Leaf Dog & Roc Marciano respectively became his strongest output since his debut, coming off producing Things I Seen for Termanology a few months ago to deliver Funeral for a Dream.

“Banshee Walk” after the “Next Dream” intro chops up a vocal sample for a boom bap instrumental with synthesizers talking about the streets being alive & keeping the cannon sharp prior to “Enough Lord” sampling gospel music asking God to chill in the same week Malcolm-Jamal Warner predeceased WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath and the inaugural IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, Real American Beer founder, Real American Freestyle Wrestling (RAF) co-founder & known racist Hulk Hogan.

Apollo removes the drums completely on “Right There” talking about a person he knows having it all in front of him & fucking it up somehow while “Blue Albacore” gets back on the boom bap vibes slowing down the pitch of the sample used comparing success to a diamond suggesting that you gotta be moving mountains sometimes. “Lavender” goes for a heavier chipmunk soul direction tapping in with Love Jones on the outro hoping for critics to withdraw once he pivots the law while “Wheels of Misfortune” flexes about no one having bars like him.

“Meeting in the Clouds” combines chipmunk soul & boom bap together for a crushing tribute to his late brother Kevlaar 7 until “Faded Pictures” talks about envious individuals watching him shine wanting to turn him into a distant memory. “Smorgasbord” continues the distinct sampling to get on his luxurious fly shit & after the chipmunk soul collab “Lemon Glue” featuring Eddie Kaine talking about teaching you unexpected lessons, “The Quiet Years” drumlessly ends the LP by talking about being unbreakable.

Marking the longtime Mello Music Group in-house producer’s debut under his own label Escapism Recordings after leaving MMG this past winter, Apollo Brown & a close friend since his childhood Bronze Nazareth have caught up with one another for an obituary regarding the bond they’ve had for 4 decades strong beginning their individual careers simultaneously as teenagers saying goodbye to the dream itself because of them realizing the goals they had have been achieved by now.

Score: 4.5/5

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Quadeca – “Vanisher, Horizon Scraper” review

Quadeca is a 24 year old singer/songwriter, producer, YouTuber & rapper from Los Angeles, California whose early mixtapes Work in Progress, Nostalgia for the Now, Bad Internet Rapper & Out of Order were all received negatively as was the full-length debut Voice Memos. His sophomore effort From Me to You proved to be decent, with both I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You & Scrapyard under deadAir Records garnering widespread praise for artistically reinventing himself. Recently starting up his own label X8 Music distributed by Virgin Music, the founder is making his official debut under the imprint in the form of his 4th album a month after Kevin Abstract signed with him to put out blush.

Chico Buarque gets sampled during the post-rock, modern classical, chamber music, neo-psychedelia, totalism, progressive folk, folktronica, art pop, avant-folk, choral, MPB & capoeira intro “No Questions Asked” repetitively singing about being there when no one else is just before “Waging War” gets split up into 3 different sections built around neo-psychedelia, art pop, folktronica, glitch pop, glitch hop, progressive pop, post-rock, chamber folk, deconstructed club, experimental hip hop & experimental rock as he tries to calm himself down & attempt to take his own advice. The lusciously gentle “Ruin My Life” carries forward by talking about an existential crisis leading into art pop, jazz pop, folk pop, Bossa nova, chamber folk, lounge, progressive folk, jazz rap, progressive soul all culminating in the lead single “Godstained”.

“At a Time Like This” continues the first half of Vanisher, Horizon Scraper talking about keeping his soul on high alert centered towards experimental hip hop, neo-psychedelia, art pop, glitch pop, glitch hop, cloud rap, alternative r&b, abstract hip hop, post-rock, wonky & progressive pop while the 2nd single “Monday” combines folk pop, baroque pop, art pop, chamber folk, chamber pop, folktronica & Waltz reflecting on a relationship that didn’t last. “Dancing Without Moving” has gotta be the catchiest moment on the entire LP balling pop rap, experimental hip hop, neo-psychedelia, art pop, alt-pop, alternative r&b, jazz rap, nu jazz, neo-soul, boom bap & chamber pop into 1 looking at the night sky to copy what he does until “That’s Why” speaks of life not getting any better than it is at this very moment.

After the “I Dream About Sinking” instrumental, we have the distortion gradually increasing over the course of “Natural Causes” suiting the increasing paranoia while “Thundrrr” blends hardcore hip hop, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, funk mandelão, glitch hop, grime & wonky. “The Great Bakunawa” featuring Danny Brown makes for a breathtakingly industrial hip hop, hardcore hip hop, neo-psychedelia, illbient, abstract hip hop, post-rock & horrorcore collab while the final single “Forgone” divided in 3 parts speaking of remaining through it all. “Casper” by Maruja frontman Harry Wilkinson ends with a melting pot of post-rock, experimental rock, post-industrial, art punk, post-hardcore, space rock revival, nature recordings, totalism, noise rock, poetry, chamber jazz, jazz-rock & noise to talk about death.

“Learn to Swim” starts the deluxe run by throwing it back to the I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You era while “A Little Too Much” puts his range on display with him singing the first couple verses & rapping the final one. “Touch the Sky” feels it it could’ve been placed between “Ruin My Life” & “Godstained” as an interlude but after the “Horizon Scraper” compositional piece, we’re treated to a “Forgone” prelude subtitled “Not Enough” & the “Sundown” instrumental cut. “Burns Down” uses a flow similar to Lucy Bedroque’s except it feels reminiscent of brakence’s stuff aesthetically & the final bonus track “Wind Catcher” excluding the “Godstained” demo happens to be another composition.

Conceptually focused around a lone traveler sailing into the ocean alone pursuing freedom & cosmic understanding with his own self-destruction subconsciously motivating it, Quadeca’s musical evolution in recent memory continues with the most ambitious entry in his discography thus far & the finest of this redeeming trilogy arc. His masterful production goes outside of the box showing influences of art pop, folktronica, jazz pop, folk pop, Bossa nova, chamber folk, lounge, progressive folk, jazz rap, progressive soul, baroque pop, chamber pop, Waltz, singer/songwriter, progressive pop, neo-psychedelia, post-rock, psychedelic folk, experimental hip hop, ambient music, hardcore hip hop, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, funk mandelão, glitch hop, grime, wonky, illbient, abstract hip hop, horrorcore, experimental rock, post-industrial, art punk, post-hardcore, space rock revival, nature recordings, totalism, noise rock, poetry, chamber jazz, jazz-rock, noise, modern classical, chamber music, totalism, avant-folk, choral, MPB, capoeira, nu jazz & neo-soul coordinated in ways to pull you deeper into the story.

Score: 4.5/5

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