Memphis Bleek – “APT 3D” review

Memphis Bleek is a 46 year old rapper & songwriter from Brooklyn, New York starting as the original hype man for JAY-Z. Hov eventually signed him to Roc-A-Fella Records once their distribution deal with Def Jam Recordings was settled, dropping both his full-length debut Coming of Age & the sophomore effort The Understanding to mixed reception. M.A.D.E. (Money, Attitude, Direction & Education) would become my personal favorite album of his in the winter of 2003 & with the 20-year anniversary of 534 passing last month, the Warehouse Music Group founder is looking to make a comeback with his 5th studio LP.

“Durag Bleek” produced by Just Blaze was a perfect lead single to kick off the rollout talking about the Roc life being bigger than that mob shit whereas “Still R.O.C.” works in a gospel sample to talk about representing the same squad he’s been with for almost 3 decades, which he’s not wrong since Roc Nation Records is distributing Warehouse now. “You Should Know” laughs off those copping out more than they drop out over a soulful Cool & Dre instrumental leading into the mild pop rap cut “On My Way”.

We get a spoken word intro that takes up the first half of “Holla at Cheech” ahead of a 52 second verse off the top flexing that y’all should be following him outside of social media over a Sndtrak beat while “I’m the Type” brings a chipmunk soul vibe to the table talking about being the kind of person to ride with you until the very end. “King’s Design” suggests that he should be charging people the way he be speaking like a boss just before “3 Kings” featuring Benny the Butcher & Smoke DZA finds the trio talking about being royalty around their respective parts.

“Believe It” begins the 3rd & final leg of APT 3D with boom bap instrumental showing off the large lifestyle he’s been involved with ever since his music career took off really while “Choosing You” brings back the pop rap vibes except he & Mario Winans are doing it much better than they did on “On My Way” from the atmospheric sound to the lyrics of always remaining loyal to his partner. “Word to Hov” finishes Bleek’s first body of work in 2 decades with him taking the last 2 & a half minutes to shout out his mentor as well as explain that he had to take time away from music to pick himself back up from personal shit.

Taking it back to the apartment complex in the Marcy Projects that made him, APT 3D rivals M.A.D.E. (Money, Attitude, Direction & Education) by passionately returning to the booth casually shrugging off whatever Memphis Bleek had going on in his life outside of music. The production nostalgically throws it back to when Roc-A-Fella was at their prime as a label in the early 2000s & most of the features doing hooks other than both MCs who were on the 2nd single was a great move on his part since that time away gave him a lot to get off his chest.

Score: 3.5/5

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Joshua Redman – “Words Fall Short” review

Joshua Redman is a 56 year old saxophonist from Berkeley, California notable for being the son of the late Dewey Redman. Signing to Warner Records in 1994 with his eponymous debut, he would go on to follow it up Wish as well as Moodswing & Freedom in the Groove. He would stay with Warner for Timeless Tales (For Changing Times) followed by Beyond & Passage of Time, leaving after Elastic in the fall of 2002. Recently signing to the greatest jazz label of all-time, Joshua’s 16th solo LP will now be his official debut under Blue Note Records.

“A Message to Unsend” begins with a 5 minute post-bop composition enlisting labelmate Paul Cornish on piano ahead of his debut You’re Exaggerating! later this summer alongside Philip Norris playing bass & Nazir Ebo handling the drums prior to tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana joining the quartet for “So It Goes” to improvise 7 minutes of pure swagger. Philip’s bassist skills kicks off the first 60 seconds of the title track until the drums, sax & pianos all come in respectively while “Borrowed Eyes” reaches the halfway point with a bluesier mood.

Getting the ball rollin’ on Words Fall Short’s final act, “Icarus” could be my favorite post-bop song throughout the whole 45 & a half minute runtime bringing trumpeter Skylar Tang along for an exhilarating improvised post-bop jam just before “Over the Jelly-Green Sea” shows Joshua’s appreciation towards the late W.G. Sebald. The final instrumental piece “She Knows” explores his full range with a soprano saxophone giving a shot at avant-garde jazz during it’s 2nd half “Era Ends” by Gabrielle Cavassa sends off the album with a vocal jazz outro reminiscent to the most recent entry of her discography Where Are We?.

Conceived in a working environment that inspired him to dig into compositions that hadn’t found a home yet, Joshua Redman’s approach to bandleading hasn’t changed from the very moment he introduced himself to the world 3 decades earlier still performing with virtuosos who’ve mastered all the different jazz vocabularies & know how to express their individual brilliance through group improvisation & collective interaction. Primarily departing from the vocal jazz direction that took up a good bulk of Where Are We? & turning up the post-bop influences, Josh’s previously unheard collection of originals the beauty of human imperfection sees the light of day as his greatest material since leaving Warner.

Score: 4/5

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Bas & The Hics – “Melanchronica” review

New collaborative LP between Sudanese-American rapper & songwriter Bas alongside London, England, United Kingdom alternative R&B duo The Hics. One of whom began in 2011 by putting out his debut mixtape Quarter Water Raised Me & the 2013 sequel Quarter Water Raised Me 2 would catch the attention of J. Cole, becoming the 2nd act after Omen other than Cole himself to sign to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records. Bas would introduce himself more to the Dreamville fans the next spring on the moderately received full-length debut Last Winter & the sophomore effort Too High to Riot couple years later won them over, as it’s still the most critically acclaimed body of work in Bas’ discography to date. Milky Way was also treated to mild reception as were the couple of EPs that he’s given us since then Spilled Milk & BUMP (Pick Me Up), returning a year & a half after We Only Talk About Real Shit When We’re Fucked Up to team up with The Hics on Melanchronica.

“Out of Sight” was a soulfully orchestral trap fusion were 2 lovers talk about being down & out for each other whereas “Norbit” featuring Ab-Soul references the shitty Eddie Murphy movie that came out at the beginning of 2007 on top of mentioning that they want no parts with politics. “4 Walls” brings the alternative R&B & pop rap vibes they’re both known for in full effect wanting to get to know each other by telling war stories of their worst times while the cloudy “Everyday Ppl” reunites both acts for another R&B/hip hop duet talking about not wanting to fight anymore.

I found “San Junipero” to be a decent 2-parter with a beat switch during the final couple minutes pleading to hold onto love & “Comfort Levels” after the “Roxanne’s Interlude” acoustically talks about never seeing his squad going under since only God knows his hunger. “Mine” featuring Domani finds the quartet going for a tropical direction not wanting to let each other go while “Erehwon” featuring SABA talks about having tons of problems to pay for. “Sometimes” ends the album with a 7-minute closer split in 2 different halves observing tangible qualities in one another.

Breaking free from Interscope albeit staying with Dreamville much like the EARTHGANG did, Melanchronica feels like a longer version of the SNAKEGANG’s eponymous debut EP with the exception of The Hics’ production fusing Bas’ pop rap style with the indietronica/alternative R&B elements of the British duo’s own music. It’s concept is based around the longing of a lost love as well as the battle between our own duality & the pensive self reflection of one’s own shortcomings satisfying fans of both artists encompassing the stories of their lives from pre to post COVID.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ankhlejohn – “Live! at the Disco” review

This is the 7th studio LP from Washington, D.C. emcee/producer Ankhlejohn. Breaking out off his Big Ghost Ltd.-produced sophomore effort Van Ghost, he’s given the underground his last 6 full-lengths as well as 8 EPs & 7 tapes in almost a decade. Other favorites of mine in his discography include the Navy Blue-produced As Above, So Below, the Rome Streetz collaborative effort Genesis 1:27. & more recently the Cookin’ Soul-produced The Michelin Man earlier this year. August Fanon had produced Blu’s widely praised 13th solo album 40 back in April & hearing him produce Live! at the Disco had raised my expectations for it going in.

“Electric Funk Daddy” sets up some woodwinds & keys to get the party going assuring that you best believe he’s got some personal shit poppin’ off in his life right now whereas “Lexus GS300” embraces a funkier direction instrumentally so he can get on his smooth shit on the mic for a couple minutes. “Emilio Pucci” takes the drumless chipmunk soul route giving his flowers to the late founder of the Italian fashion house Pucci just before “The Lordy Way” brings back the funk talking about doing shit the only way he knows how to: his own.

The late “Marion Barry” gets brought up on a song named after him lettin’ y’all know where Lordy comes from over some delicate synthesizers behind him while “Long Overdue” chops up the soul sample again to map out big heists you won’t even believe. “Replica Jazz Club” dives into jazz rap turf talking about new beginnings & his vision being bigger than everyone else’s prior to “Monday Morning” soulfully talks about needing permission from no one except his mother.

“Day by Day” mixed soul & synth-funk showing everyone his imagination smoking the finest mush he could find on the daily while “Eddie Brock” makes reference to The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel-owned Venom’s alter ego turning the jazz influences back up again. “Majic 102.3 Vibes” maintains a jazz rap flare airing out the people who haven’t paid their dues in the game & “Digital Love” ends with a drumless saxophone talking about being that muhfucka.

I did enjoy the Grace Given EP don’t get me wrong, but Live! at the Disco recaptures almost every that made The Michelin Man his best in a while & both of them will be hailed as his most essential listens the more time passes. August Fanon’s production on this one a lot like 40 earlier this spring prominently centers itself around chipmunk soul, jazz rap & drumless swapping out the conscious subject matter Blu is known for in favor of the hardcore lyricism that Lordy’s become popular off of.

Score: 4.5/5

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Crossworm – “Cruelty” review

Here is the 8th studio LP from Grand Rapids, Michigan rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & Dirtcore Music founder Crossworm. Starting as 1/2 of 2Korpse before branching out on his own for the full-length solo debut Phoenix, this was followed up by a sophomore LP Ready to Burn alongside 2 EPs Mouth Full of Dirt & jaws: Deciduous respectively. Taking a few years off after the latter, he returned in the summer of 2014 by dropping 4 more albums: Parasite Avenue, Drowning in Restricting Thought, Finding X & Eat the Weak. I’ve covered the Gōst EP along with the synthpop inspired ANTI & of course the eponymous Bodies Below Sea Level debut, dropping Cruelty a month after both Dirtwave & Shelter Skelter.

The first song “We Rise, They Fall” after the “Live, Laugh, Lobotomy” intro was an industrial rock opener singing about how every single one of us should be standing tall whereas “You Fucking Lying Bitch” by Bodies Below Sea Level gets back on the industrial horrorcore sound of their self-titled effort last fall. “Warning” maintains the vibes of the previous track except Crossworm’s doing the MCing all by himself until “Bully” by Bodies Below Sea Level lets out some overcrowded angst they can’t keep in anymore.

“Liquify My Dick & Drink It” hops over an industrial beat for 50 second pleading to be left alone with his peace beneath the cold dirt subtly referencing The Beneath the Dirt Podcast in which the Dirtcore CEO produced it’s theme song, but then “Get the Fuck Off My Lawn” featuring Madd Maxxx industrially unites the 2 so they can repeat the same shit until they’re wrong. After the “What Do You Do?” interlude, “You’re Dead to Me” sings over synthesizers with the lyrics airing out some grievances he has leading into the “Vulnerable” interlude AND the “Useless Entitled Cripple” interlude.

Things get minimal for “It’s All My Fault” meshing pianos & an acoustic guitar taking some accountability for himself while “Shatter” by Misery Coast talks about their squad leaving everyone behind in dust. “Some Call Me the Devil” continued the industrial horrorcore hybrids acknowledging some comparing him to Satan while “I Still Hate” experiments with nu metal feeling loathsome. Lastly, “I Have My Reasons” closes Cruelty with a melodic boom bap joint recalling when he used to feel oblivious.

Eat the Weak was considered to be the most aggressive entry in Crossworm’s whole entire solo career up until this point & over 2 decades since Phoenix, he’s taken it to another level on Cruelty. His production feels like a mix of all the sounds he’s employed during the course of his career from horrorcore to industrial music, nu metal, industrial rock & boom bap bringing half of the artists he’s already signed to his increasingly popular underground hip hop label on board balancing his rapping abilities with his singing chops evenly.

Score: 4.5/5

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Daz Dillinger – “Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back 2” review

Daz Dillinger is a 52 year old rapper, producer & songwriter from Long Beach, California who happens to be the cousin of Brandy, her brother Ray J, WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg & the current AEW tbs Champion and RPW British Women’s Champion Mercedes Moné set to face set to face the current CMLL Mundial Femenil Campeon Zeuxis at Grand Slam VI at Arena México this upcoming Wednesday & the current 4-time AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm at All In IV at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas next month. He eventually signed to Death Row Records & became an original in-house producer under the guidance of its co-founder Dr. Dre, forming Tha Dogg Pound with Kurupt not too long afterwards. Daz finally made his solo debut on ‘98 by putting out Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back on Death Row until departing rather quickly to put out 19 more LPs of his own with almost 3 decades of experience in the game. We just had the Dogg Pound Gangstaz make a return to form with W.A.W.G. (We All We Got) under Tha Row last spring & his 21st album looks to take it back to the essence of his own debut.

After the “Level 4 Yard Bizniz” intro, the first song “Death Row N’Matez” by Tha Dogg Pound featuring RBX & Soopafly was a funky west coast hardcore hip hop intro with all 4 of them justifiably showing off their status as O.G.s of The Untouchable west coast label whereas the soulful “Calculate the Time” talks about the chosen few who’re simply too cold. “West Coast is the Best Coast” boastfully represents the sunshine state to the fullest since hip hop’s a habit to him & after the “Get Down You Clown” interlude, “Set Trippin’” advises that those who ain’t from the same block as him to watch their step.

“Retaliation & Revenge” apocalyptically suggests you better not come around his parts or the city anymore bringing images of gang violence to life so he can back up the warning message he’s sending out just before “Get Bacc” lets y’all know the exact moment the guns start to blow reaffirming he’s always been with the gang life then, now & forever. “Start Bacc Bangin’” featuring a verse from the late Big Skye finds the 2 linking up for a modernized g-funk vibe flexing their Crip ties, but then “We Came to Play” featuring B-Legit goes for a traditional g-funk approach to dedicate itself to the playas.

Lil’ C-Style formerly of the LBC Crew joins Diggity Daz for “Switchin’ Lanez” working in more synthesizers so they can fondly recall the people in their lives who gave them a sack simply because they knew how hard both of them were hustlin’ until getting signed back in the day while “Like a Movie” by Tha Dogg Pound takes the trap route a little asking if you’re ready to do & comparing the way they live to a theatrical film. “Destiny” samples The Jackson 5 single of the same name standing tall because he was born for it while “On the Dead Homies” puts it all on the people in his life who aren’t with us today.

“The Reason” was a cloudy g-funk crossover breaking down why he’s been grinding with a purpose all this time while “Ask the Homie Daz” pulls from trap music again instrumentally to tell anyone who got questions for him to take them to someone else due to him having nothing for ya. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” dives into g-funk turf once again talking about the gangsta lifestyle he lived during his younger days & “Mentally Crazy” finishes Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back 2 with a powerful reflection on mental health explaining the stigma around that touchy subject makes it hard to reach out for help when it absolutely does.

It’s no secret a vast majority of Daz’ solo material since DPGC: U Know What I’m Throwin’ Up has been either received positively such as the So So Def Recordings-backed So So Gangsta & Dazamataz or left west coast heads divided in Matter of Dayz’ case. Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back 2 on the contrary makes for a worthy sequel to the album he broke out as a solo act with. His production takes cues from the west coast’s past & present, enlisting a more consistent guest list than The Adventures of Dilly tha Dogg exactly 6 months ago who perform on his same level rather than constantly being subpar.

Score: 4/5

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Apathy – “Mom & Dad” review

In front of us is the 10th studio LP from Connecticut underground MC/producer Apathy. Emerging only 2 decades back as a member of the Demigodz & the Army of the Pharaohs collectives founded by Open Mic & Vinnie Paz respectively, he was also signed to Atlantic Records at one point even though he eventually left due to creative differences. Since then The Alien Tongue has built up quite the solo discography on his own, with my favorites being Honkey Kong! as well as The Widow’s Son or more recently Where the River Meets the Sea & King of Gods. No Second fully produced by Stu Bangas. Connecticut Casual 2 mostly produced by Playa Haze was a highly worthy successor to Connecticut Casual last spring, getting ready for the summer by remembering his Mom & Dad.

“The Great Flood” featuring Little Vic & Suave-Ski recalls a series of severe floods that affected various regions of the U.S. roughly 4 decades ago whereas “Shore Life” keeps the trio together for a self-produced boom bap joint reminiscing on what it was like for them growing up in the east coast. “Put the Money in a Bag” featuring Little Vic produced by Playa Haze finds the pair sticking together so they can talk about hustling to the point of exhaustion just before “All Good” soulfully suggests you holla at him if you need anything.

Slaine of La Coka Nostra appears on “Blue Collar Scholar” to talk about the kind of art they make in a world built on lies over a sample-driven boom bap instrumental while the title track goes drumless referring to the President & First Lady of the U.S. during a bulk of the 80s as his parents. “Vintage Canvas” slickly cracks the code without having to go into practice mode, but then “Old Lyme Like Old Times” featuring Ryu gives off a laidback approach to the beat talking about letting the champagne blast off.

“Summer at the Shore” chops up a soul sample so he can confess that he’s getting sick of getting his fingers dirty from counting money & sleeping with his wife in high fashion declaring themselves as slaves of consumerism while “1 Crown” returns to the boom bap wanting to know the possibility of people who’ve never been great relating to what he’s saying. “Lee Harv” featuring a verse & production from Little Vic sees the 2 warning you’ll get shot in front of the world as if it’s JFK’s assassination & “Whalers” wraps it all up with some woodwinds using the same scale they use to weigh the whales with.

Coalmine Records has teamed with Anchors Up Records formerly Dirty Version Records to uncover Ap’s biggest memory growing up in the 80s, which was during Ronald Reagan’s presidency because he feels as if he was raised by the actor turned politician & his widow even though neither one of them were related to him. Meshing the nostalgia of the very decade that raised The Alien Tongue & socio-political commentary, the underground veteran takes it up a notch with the personal topics going from expanding on the state that made him last spring to reflecting on the Reagan administration’s impact on his life felt to this day.

Score: 4/5

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Slick Rick – “Victory” review

Slick Rick is a 60 year old MC from New York City by way of London, England, United Kingdom becoming the 3rd artist to sign with Def Jam Recordings over 4 decades ago. His debut The Great Adventures of Slick Rick became a golden age landmark cementing Rick the Ruler one of the greatest storyteller hip hop has ever heard. The Ruler’s Back would be received more moderately & Behind Bars was a dope venting session of his time incarcerated. It’s been over 26 years since his 2nd best work The Art of Storytelling fulfilled his Def Jam contact & has opted to sign with Mass Appeal Records for his long-awaited 5th LP overseen by actor Idris Elba set to appear in A24 Films’ upcoming TV adaption of Things Fall Apart. Couple more noteworthy things to get off my chest here & first is the announcement of Mark Kerr now to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in light of his upcoming biopic that I’m anticipating in the fall The Smashing Machine with Mark being played by 10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, United Football League (UFL) co-owner, TKO Group Holdings board of directors member, co-founder of $7 Productions & the final boss of professional wrestling himself The Rock of The Rock ‘n’ Soul Connection with the current record breaking 17-time WWE world champion John Cena accompanied by the honorary WWE Hardcore Champion Travis Scott. Speaking of the UFL since I’m at it for the fuck of it, the last thing I wanna say before finally diving into the music is I hope my hometown team the Michigan Panthers defeat the XFL conference champion DC Defenders in the Championship game this upcoming Sunday.

After the intro, the first song “Stress” featuring Giggs has a vintage old school vibe to the beat talking about feeling lonely & needing to be consoled whereas the self-produced “Angelic” flexes the higher-ups still studying “La-Di-Da-Di” to this very day justified by how much it’s been sampled or covered. “Foreign” suggests you peep the home increasing on him & the amount of individuals sleeping on him since he’s been gone leading into the “I Did That” interlude.

“Come On Let’s Go” goes for a hip house direction instrumentally grabbing his coat in spite of him having to go to work in a few hours right when things were getting hot while “Landlord” explains the occupation of owning property in New York these days isn’t easy whatsoever. After the “Mother Teresa” interlude, “Spirit to Cry” briefly discusses those wanting his soul to meet it’s demise just before “Documents” featuring Nas talks about being watched as if they’re top agent shoguns.

The piano-driven boom bap flare of “So You’re Having My Baby” suits it’s concept of getting a woman pregnant with her saying it’s his child while “Cuz I’m Here” gets back on the hip house tip observing all the honeys who came out to have fun. After the “Matrix” interlude, “We’re Not Losing” advises to keep it moving like him when taking Ls with the beat reminiscent to RZA’s production work 3 decades ago & “Another Great Adventure” produced by Q-Tip ends with a funky homage to his 1988 debut.

Reflecting where the Ruler’s been this past quarter of a century & where he’s going hereon out, Victory kicks off the Legend Has It series by reintroducing a pioneer to this next generation of hip hop fans who can still rock the mic like he did on his Who Made the Sunshine? appearances at the beginning of the decade. The production palatably blends hip house, funk, boom bap & hip hop’s golden age to backdrop Slick Rick’s themes of perseverance, storytelling, imagination & evolution.

Score: 3.5/5

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Lil Tecca – “Dopamine” review

Here we have the 4th LP from New York rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & Galactic Records founder Lil Tecca. Blowing up in 2018 after signing a distribution deal with Republic Records & the viral single “Ran$om”, it would later be included on his debut mixtape We Love You Tecca that same year & would receive lukewarm reception although it’s truthfully grown on me a tad bit over the course of time. His debut album Virgo World was released during the pandemic & is widely considered to be the weakest entry in his discography. The last time we heard from Tecca was a couple summers ago when Internet Money Records founder Taz Taylor executive produced a worthy sequel to We Love You Tecca & Tec showed maturity to the point where I recanted calling him a 1-hit wonder when Virgo World came out. Plan A came out last fall refuting the indication of him having a backup plan & Dopamine has arrived the weekend after the artwork was shared.

“Dark Thoughts” was an outstanding pop rap, g-funk & bounce single assuring his partner that she can open herself up to him whereas “Owa Owa” produced by Rio Leyva & Taz Taylor samples “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles talking about his time & presence not being taken for granted. “½ the Plot” hooks up a blobby bassline clarifying he does whatever he wants without any other options necessary, but then “The Truth” talks about doing so much with little to prove & always being outside.

Meanwhile on “Favorite Lie”, we have Tecca dismissing all the lame shit in addition to only rockin’ Gucci if it’s Tom Ford & referencing my favorite WR of all-time growing up Randy Moss just before “Hollywood” explains it’s been a while because of all the bullshit’s been going through as of late & being so fly to the point where others stop stylin’. “X Factor” suggests he might as well pull up to the UK since things out here are turning into the Simon Cowell hosted game show just before “Don’t Rush” advises his lover to slow things down in their relationship.

“Boys Don’t Cry” compares the relationship he’s currently in to Bonnie & Clyde on the verge of committing a crime & wanting to get to know her even though he can’t call her while the cloudy yet melodic “Sure of It” boasts about him walking into the bank on some movie shit coming with 1 life & opting to live it hard enough where he’s betting on himself every time. “LYK” tries to show this woman what’s right & what’s wrong feeling as if it’s him against the world like Rambo in First Blood leading into “On Your Own” counting all of his commas & not trying to speak leaving his texts on “read”.

Clams Casino & Ginseng link with Tecca on the standout “1 Night” talking about doing a hoe so badly that he’s pulling out voodoo magic on him while “Irish Goodbye” expresses a desire for him to go A.W.O.L. laying on the down low. “Wake Up” finds himself cancelling his plans & feeling like it’s all fake love whenever he rolls his dope up while “Malibu’s Most Wanted” talks about partying out in Austin, Texas pullin’ up in a foreign. “Tic Tac Toe” featuring Ken Carson finishes the Dopamine rush with both of them getting boastful of their lifestyles.

“Catch Me If You Can” starts the deluxe run with a song that clears the recent KSI single of the same name talking about being in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan counting up his yen while the self-produced “Not Too Much” dabbles with plugg a bit to ask why you let your life of gold rust up the way it already has. “Sold Not Told” finds himself stealin’ hoes & drenching them in Celine Dion while the final bonus track “L.A.N. (Lame Ass N****s)” airs out every single cornball this hoe’s been texting figuring out how she found him through them.

Leaning into his pleasures more than ever during this current chapter of his life, Dopamine gears up for summer 2025 by summarizing who Lil Tecca is as an artist opting in favor of a pleasurably catchier direction as opposed to sadder more melancholic tones. You still get whiffs of the staple styles he’s known for except he’s introducing new sounds to his wheelhouse along the way, including newer tempos & even newer subjects to address lyrically. It’s like you’re getting a mix of his older material & him trying new things.

Score: 3.5/5

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Digital Nas – “Tampering with Sound” review

Digital Nas is a 26 year old producer, rapper & singer/songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia whom many including myself got introduced to in 2016 after producing “Up Next 2” off Lil Yachty’s debut mixtape Lil Boat. Following an eponymous debut EP of his own, he would go on to put out another EP Throwaway Songs Worth Listening To. & a sequel to his self-titled EP as his full-length studio debut. His bitterness & desperation for attention has seemed to get the best of him as of late whether it be him making homophobic remarks about Tyler, The Creator during the Chromakopia rollout or being a yes-man for Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West in the midst of the latter’s behavior on Twitter worsening in the last 5 months owned by Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder, Neuralink founder & fellow Nazi Elon Musk. Nearly a couple months since DONDA 2 was finally completed, the man’s sophomore effort originally set to close the DN trilogy has been made public on streaming.

“Honest” feels reminiscent of his work on Ye’s final Def Jam Recordings album DONDA with the organs & electric guitar astonished by the amount of people falling for idiocracy whereas the experimentally drumless “Living n a Dream” sings about life not being what it seems. “bLCK hedi SliManE” regurgitates Ye’s obsession with the far-right with the “new black KKK” line over a chaotic trap instrumental while the synth-driven “Loose Screw” acknowledges his eccentricity.

What could possibly be the worst song he’s ever made “New Ice” ruins a trap beat with some decent synthesizers with poor songwriting & a hideous delivery with the soulful “#1 P” not being any better topically wanting to call it even & others wanting to be him when I simply cannot imagine that in any capacity. “Stars Aligning” goes for a drumlessly cloudy direction instrumentally trying to convince you he defines reprimands while “Broke the Rules” ironically talks about him not missing these days when he in fact has on several instances.

“God’s Timing” keeps the drums out of the equation hooking up more synthesizers conveying that everything’s on the most high’s time leading into the ambient plugg heavy “TrustNo1” talking about a vast majority of the population reading off as untrustworthy from his perspective. “False News” continues the decent sampling choices tackling a breakup & hoping for a redo becoming a possibility while “inLove” carries the theme of romance over further for only a couple minutes.

The song “Life Wild” brings a bare electric guitar to the table talking about the way he’s been living lately when that hasn’t been made any more obvious by him dissing Tyler, The Creator & even Ye’s former longtime engineer Mike Dean or wishing death on KiD CuDi for testifying against Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy while “Peacing Out” caps off Tampering with Sound taking the final moments to sing about letting it show where he’ll be.

Up until everything that happened between him & Tyler last fall, I would’ve told you that Digital Nas was a tolerable producer albeit a below average rapper/singer. Does that still ring true? Yeah, sure but he really needs to get his ego under control if he genuinely thinks that he’s a far superior performer than the former Odd Future de facto leader when he never has been & never will be. The only real thing this album has going for it a lot like almost all of his previous solo material is his pop rap, alternative R&B, experimental hip hop & art pop production because he’s a below average songwriter, a mediocre performer & an ugly spirited person outside of it all.

Score: 1/5

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