Eminem – “THE DƎATH OF SLIM SHADY (COUP DE GRÂCE)” review

This is the 13th full-length LP from Detroit emcee, songwriter, producer, record executive, actor, Shady Records founder, the white guy from D12 also known as Slim Shady or mostly Eminem. What can be said now about him at this point in his career that hasn’t been said already? His debut Infinite produced by his now hype man mR. pOrTeR & backed by Web Entertainment showed his potential with a heavy AZ influence & The Slim Shady EP resulted in a deal with Aftermath Entertainment & Interscope Records. His first 3 major label albums The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP & The Eminem Show are considered by many to be the holy trinity in his discography, but I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with ƎNCORE since it had great production except you can tell he was heavy on the drugs. RELAPSƎ came to grow on me from 2018 onward because you have to get past the accents to enjoy the production & really the last we’ve heard the Slim Shady persona until now. I have a love/hate relationship with RECOVƎRY to for the opposite reasons as ƎNCORE & after the decent The Marshall Mathers LP 2, things have been quite rough for Em in the last 7 years. RƎVIVAL was unquestionably one of the worst albums of the 2010s, which he would vent his frustration with on his last 2 full-lengths KAMIKAZƎ & MUSIC TO BE MURDERƎD BY. 3 & a half years after MUSIC TO BE MURDERƎD BY 2: SIDE B however, Slim’s returning after 15 years to meet his ultimate demise 2 & a half years after the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

“Renaissance” produced with Luis Resto starts Em’s first offering in 4 years apocalyptically explaining how his music has changed since his sophomore effort albeit commercial debut 25 years ago already in addition to criticizing everyone who was hating on Kendrick Lamar’s final TDE/Aftermath album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers for not having any bangers when it certainly did whereas “Habits” works in some kicks & snares prior to a switch up throwing it back to like mid-2000s era. “Trouble” ruggedly tries to get himself cancelled thanks to Aftermath in-house producers Dem Jointz & Fredwreck just before “Brand New Dance” feels like a successor to “Same Song & Dance”.

Don Cannon & Cubeatz give “Evil” a boom bap flare centered around his Bad Meets Ǝvil persona & after the “All You Got” skit, “Lucifer” reunites with Dr. Dre behind the boards hypnotically talking about TikTok & Twitter trying to get him kicked off. “Antichrist” featuring Bizarre likens themselves to the sons of Satan wishing they’d go off the deep end like Ye formerly known as Kanye West over vibraphones asking if you really want to dance with the devil until a dusty beat switch from Foul Mouth, but then the mR. pOrTeR-laced “Fuel” featuring the future of Dreamville Records himself J.I.D with both Grip & Westside Boogie on the remix goes head-on trap saying all their homies gonna ride with it asking what’ll happen when their fuel runs out & Em dissing Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy. “Road Rage” returns to the boom bap discussing coddled groups in society until a Dirty South switch-up at the end trying to get even & referencing the [adult swim] block of the Discovery Global-owned Cartoon Network while the lead single “Houdini” serves as a fun sequel to “Without Me” sampling “Abracadabra” by Steve Miller.

After the “Breaking News” skit, we get a devilish rap rock boom bap sequel to “Guilty Conscience” except that Dre isn’t on the mic this time around welcoming himself to his last hoorah bidding goodbye attempting murder suicide while “Head Honcho” featuring Shady/Aftermath’s newest artist Ez Mil ruggedly talks about money coming from their flows getting it on the pronto over some boom bap shit. “Temporary” featuring Skylar Grey serves as a tearjerking pop rap open letter to his daughter Hailie Jade Mathers who just got married to Evan McClintock a couple months ago for her to hear when he’s gone while “Bad One” takes a Middle Eastern trap approach trying to not sound arrogant in any way shape or form brushing off corny white rapper culture vultures like Tom MacDonald.

“Tobey” featuring Babytron of the ShittyBoyz & Big Sean with co-production from Lyrical Lemonade founder Cole Bennett was an experimental hardcore trap fusion talking about being bitten by goats rather than Tobey McGuire getting bit a spider & after the “Guess Who’s Back?” skit resurrecting Ken Kaniff, the final song “Somebody Save Me” featuring Jelly Roll bids farewell to the Slim Shady character once & for all asking to be saved from oneself over a flip of “Save Me” off the 2nd & final It Goes Up Entertainment/Strange Music album in Jelly Roll’s discography Self Medicated that benny blanco & Emile both cooked up apologizing to his daughters & being proud of the way they turned out. After a Steve Berman skit, “Kyrie & Luka” featuring 2 Chainz starts the bonus track run letting DJ Premier sample “Move the Crowd” by Eric B. & Rakim comparing themselves to Kyrie Irving & Luka Dončić additionally referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 4-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion & 8-time WCW World Tag Team Champion Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat while the other “Like My Shit” ends the deluxe calling out those biting his style over a trap instrumental d.a. got that dope supplied him.

Say what y’all want about the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, but I grew up on his first 3 major label albums & both D12 albums. They made me who I am today: And if you including myself whose first concert was Eminem on The Monster Tour thought that RELAPSƎ would be the last time we’d ever hear from Slim Shady, we were wrong because he traced the character’s life story & eventual downfall to the point where I can say what I’ve listened to is a genuine top 5 album in his discography. He discusses where he came from & where he is as we stand today with an interesting musical hodgepodge of ideas & influences. Rest in peace, Shady! Thanks for everything.

Score: 4/5

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Action Bronson – “Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor” review

New York City emcee, songwriter, chef, wrestler & television host Action Bronson enlisting Daringer & The Alchemist to produce his 8th full-length studio LP. Blowing up with release of his debut album Dr. Lecter in 2011, he then landed a joint venture with VICE Music & Atlantic Records while following up his debut with a couple EPs & mixtapes. The most notable being the Blue Chips duology, Saab Stories & my personal favorite: Rare Chandeliers. He then put out his major label debut Mr. Wonderful in 2015 & it has some of his best songs on there, but the end result would be a more glitzy mixed bag. He fulfilled his contracts by dropping Blue Chips 7000 & celebrated his freedom the next year in the form of White Bronco which were both solid, but didn’t reach the caliber of Lamb Over Rice the Thanksgiving after. Only for Dolphins though was pretty mid given that some of the production choices were questionable & Cocodrillo Turbo was a bounce back. As for Johan Sebastian Bachlava the Doctor, I went into it hoping it would be Bronson’s best album yet.

“Splash (Provocativ)” is this relaxing, jazzy opener showcasing a new fragrance from Bachlava when it’s all said & done whereas “SEGA” works in some haunting organ melodies from Uncle Al referring to himself as that muthafucka you don’t wanna rump with since he’ll moonsault off the top of a boat like WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle. “Nourish a Thug” hooks up pianos as well as kicks & snares from Daringer talking about taking temperatures the old fashioned way just before “Hideo Nomo” strips the drums explaining that his horoscope told him to get more cake out here.

Meanwhile on “Salvaje”, we have Bronson over more laidback production looking to smash guitars over heads like the 2nd longest reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion & WWE Hall of Famer The Honky Tonk Man did to current AEW manager, WWE Hall of Famer & former SMW Heavyweight Champion Jake “The Snake” Roberts on top of comparing a battle to one between the late WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper who had his last match in Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) leading into Meyhem Lauren joining him for the rock-influenced “Hogan” humorously talking about bitches who look like 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 Hulk Hogan.

“Citrus Wahoo” featuring Meyhem once again lecturing you for what you did wrong only to get stomped out with Bronson comparing himself to WWE Hall of Famer as well as their current Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative & NXT Head of Creative Shawn Michaels, but then “Kompressor” featuring Larry June charmingly talks about always coming through.

“NBA Leather on NBC” featuring The Alchemist himself jumps over keys & a harmonica pairing up the New York Knicks & the Chicago Bulls while the song “Shadow Realm” pours his heart off talks about trying to take off for so long in the midst of everyone hanging from land again. “Doctor” ends the LP drumlessly comparing his life to a scene from the 1979 masterpiece Apocalypse Now.

I’m really proud to see where Action Bronson has come in over a decade from his initial rise to the top over a decade ago to Fuck, That’s Delicious’ increasing popularity & even his brief AEW appearances in at All Out IV & Grand Slam II. Now over 13 years since his debut tape, he celebrates his mom’s born day by releasing my new favorite full-length of his. For only a half hour, we get a heart-to-heart dedication to all the Day 1s & even the newest members in Bachlava’s coalition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Akhlys – “House of the Black Geminus” review

Akhlys is a Colorado black metal duo consisting of frontman, guitarist, bassist & keyboardist Naas Alcameth alongside drummer/percussionist Eoghan. Emerging together 15 years ago off their 38 minute single track debut Supplication, I personally wouldn’t be introduced to their music until their 2015 sophomore effort The Dreaming Ia month before I graduated high school. Their take on atmospheric, dissonant black metal & dark ambient throughout was so excellently crafted to the point where it quickly became amongst the best albums in that style of extreme metal of the previous decade & Melinoë at the end of 2020 continuing to build upon the sounds of it’s predecessor conceptually revolving around nightmares. 3 & a half years later, Naas & Eoghan are back again for their 4th LP.

“The Mask of Night-Speaking” starts with an infernal 12 minute atmospheric black metal opener standing now before a great barren hearth whereas the 2nd & final single “Maze of Phobetor” screams about being the wayfarer continuing the atmo-black vibes. “Through the Abyssal Door” concludes the first half of the album by fusing dark ambient & black metal together wanting to feel the Asterion’s gaze, but then the instrumental cut “Black Geminus” puts a bigger emphasis on ambient industrial. “Sister Silence, Brother Sleep” gets back on the atmospheric black metal talking about being at 1 within the House of Dreaming behind 1,000 masks revealed & “Eye of the Daemon” concludes House of the Black Geminus inhabiting every waking shadow.

Almost a decade after their breakthrough, Akhlys displays their frightening dominance on House of the Geminus drawing from esoteric & mythical traditions where the land of dreams is placed within the darkness of the underworld through labyrinthine halls, shadowed corridors, cellars of dread & attics of epiphany as ordeal & ecstasy meet at the vertices where each beholds his own daemon. Combining intense black metal with elements of dark ambient & death industrial, Naas & Eoghan unite psychological horror, orchestrated bludgeon & eerie foreboding on a harrowing journey into pandemonic majesty resulting in their most all encompassing, destructive & diabolically grand-sounding offering of the 4 in their discography.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mr. Key – “Kez” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee Mr. Key enlisting local producer Illinformed to handle the beats all over the latter’s sophomore effort. A member of Contact Play, he would eventually sign to High Focus Records as a solo act & drop his solo debut Yesterday’s Futures in the summer of 2015 using the sounds of wonky & glitch hop with the help of Greenwood Sharps to back his abstract pen. Both of them reunited near the end of 2019 for an EP called Green & Gold, returning after nearly 5 whole years for the more conceptual Kez.

“Escape from Bene” sets the tone with a piano-driven boom bap instrumental advising to trust them since there’s more to discover going forward whereas “Wakey Wakey” featuring Smellington Piff finds the 2 over a funkier beat talking about them both being on a high platter killing swarm. “All Right Ok” takes a mellower yet dusty approach to the beat talking about him doing well since Green & Gold leading into “He Say She Say” featuring Dirty Dike after the “What’s this Place?” skit addressing detractors.

As for “John Connor High Lyf”, we have Mr. Key over this jazzy boom bap beat talking about his life not always being the best & him not having it any other way just before “Bury Me in Bene” featuring Leaf Dog carries over the same vibes of the previous cut asking for their wishes to be buried when the time of demise comes. “Why is It?” featuring BVA comes together to ask for the reason there cornballs haven’t done a charitable act while the piano-driven “I Dunno” uses it’s title to answer various questions for 5 minutes.

“No Time” starts Kez’s final moments blending a jazzy woodwind with some kicks & snares talking about himself for 2 & a half minutes living more pleasantly than he was in his previous situation but once “Yellow Tops” hooks up a prominent vibraphone to assure fans it isn’t their fault that he can be a bit of a dickhead, the outro “Isabell Allende” featuring Jam Baxter & Ronnie Bosh wraps things up with the Contact Play brethren soulfully repping their squads.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Greenwood Sharps’ contributions to Yesterday’s Futures and Green & Gold, hearing that Illinformed was handling all of Kez’s production gave me the impression it would surpass both of it’s predecessors. Lo & behold, Mr. Key has done it. He kaleidoscopically describes the rise of a plucky kestrel through an off-grid anarchist commune called Bene comprised of misfits, lost souls, drug dealers, new age healers & would be cult leaders after spending 5 years in Spain.

Score: 4/5

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Bizarre – “He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace” review

This is the 7th full-length solo 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 & its sequel revitalized himself for all the doubters, so the 3rd & final installment had me anticipating it as much.

The intro featuring Max Hilli starts the trilogy chapter of the series that the idiotic kid found his passion again by coming live from the Motor City over a grimy boom bap instrumental whereas “aRT pEACE” goes drumless to get on his grown man shit for 4 minutes. “Insane Asylum” works the kicks & snares back in hitting 3 shots with 3 glocks all for G-Unit Reeboks & “Run, Duck” featuring Lokye after the “Gas Station” interlude aggressively gets in their hardcore bag lyrically.

“Ford Plant” featuring La the Darkman eerily breaks down the exact spot where you’ll catch both of them slangin’ prior to “Party in Detroit” vibrantly talks about the hoes being outside, the players playin’ & the hustlers hustlin’ at the function. “Sexyy Red” hooks up a vocal sample with more kicks & snares wanting his bitch as nasty as the titular St. Louis star just before “Who Gotta” angrily asks if anyone out there got a problem with him.

We get some atmospheric vibes throughout “Bizarre Buds” that suit the track well since he’s conceptually providing listeners with an anthem dedicated to those who like smokin’ good weed leading into the uncanny “Sheefy Mcfly” featuring Dango Forlaine bringing the pair together talking about doing whatever the fuck they want. “Dressing Room” ruggedly flexes he appeared on No Jumper to plug Lena while “Rainy Dayz” featuring J-Classic & Keen Streetz puts the hard times behind them.

“Pack the Roach” feat. Isaac Castor, Jalen Frazier & Max Hilli finds the quartet over more boom bap production nearing the conclusion of He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace to discuss being the killers that they are & “Summertime” featuring Kain Cole concludes the LP by hooking up somewhat of a psychedelic beat to ring in the summer since the 2nd half of 2024 already began earlier on in the week.

Peter S. already started off the year well by preluding this album with the Ratt Poison EP & the latest entry of the He Got a Gun trilogy reinforces everything that made both installments the best material of his career on top of further proving that Foul Mouth is a great match for him. The latter’s production incorporates elements of boom bap, drumless, jazz rap & psychedelia allowing Bizarre to passionately destroy his competition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Camila Cabello – “C,XOXO” review

This is the 4th full-length studio album from Cuban singer/songwriter Camila Cabello. Originally a member of 5th Harmony, I first heard her when she was featured on the diabetically lovey dovey “Bad Things” by MGK & her full-length debut Camila at the beginning of 2018 released through Syco Music & Epic Records mostly produced by Ging ironically won me over on her. Romance & Familia were both later released to mixed reception & the singles building up to C,XOXO had me hoping she would bounce back from those couple duds. Especially after learning she signed a new label deal with Geffen Records & Interscope Records.

“I Luv It” featuring Playboi Carti was a disappointing opener mixing electropop, Jersey drill, pop rap, footwork, Jersey Club & hyperpop inspired by “Cockiness (Love It)” by Rihanna whereas “Channel No. 5” decently fuses alt-pop, alternative R&B, pop rap, glitch pop, cloud rap & art pop to talk about a romantic partner being unable to resist her scent. “He Knows” featuring Lil Nas X following the “pink xoxo” interlude featuring PinkPantheress crosses over alté, dance-pop, alternative R&B, pop rap, tarraxinha, afroswing describing a chemistry that’s too strong leading into the stripped-back “20somethings” admitting to feeling like she’s living in limbo ripping off SZA.

The now disbanded City Girls consisting of JT & Yung Miami join Camila on “Dade County Dreaming” to draw inspiration from house music paying tribute to the titular county out in Miami, Florida but after the “koshi xoxo” interlude featuring BLP Kosher, “Hot Uptown” featuring Drake brings the 2 together for a melodic house duet produced by Boi-1da asking if their partners want them back topped by Drake’s annoying fake patois during the refrain further validating the colonizer line on “Not Like Us”. Drizzy even gets his own song on “Uuugly” & it might be the best one he’s put out after the beef with Kendrick Lamar, but then “Dream-Girls” warmly pays tribute to the girls learning to become women.

After the “305tilidie” interlude which is the 3rd & final one on the entire LP, the song “B.O.A.T. (Best Of All-Time)” atmospherically tackles the rumination & reflection stage of a breakup to start the final leg while the penultimate track “pretty when I cry” tropically wallows about how much of a pity it is that her ex left her. “June Gloom” closes out Camila’s official Geffen/Interscope debut slowly yet dejectedly asking her former boyfriend if his new girl gets as wet as she does for him moves the way she does over an FNZ beat.

“baby pink” featuring Eem Triplin’ starts the deluxe run by talking about their partners being theirs forever over synths while “Come Show Me” peppily tells this dude who’s tryna convince her that he’s changed to actually prove it to her. “can friends kiss?” spaciously talks about becoming too close to someone she considers as a friend having fantasies of them in her head at night & the final bonus track “godspeed” ends the deluxe with my favorite of the 4 new songs taking us through a ghost world through art pop, electropop, alt-pop & glitch pop.

A lot can happen in 6 years & given Camila’s last couple albums didn’t do it for me (her racist comments towards Normani in 2019 certainly didn’t help either), her new one here is better albeit not by very much. The features are ok but my biggest complaint about C,XOXO is that it feels like it’s trying to be a more commercial version of Charli XCX’s latest masterpiece brat from 3 weeks earlier with more of an contemporary R&B, alt-pop, alternative R&B, pop rap, alté, tarraxinha & afroswing vibe with additional elements of hyperpop, Jersey drill, footwork, dance-pop, Jersey club & art pop.

Score: 2/5

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Hiatus Kaiyote – “Love Heart Cheat Code” review

Hiatus Kaiyote is a neo-soul band from Melbourne, Australia consisting of lead singer/guitarist Nai Palm, bassist Paul Bender, keyboardist Simon Mavin & drummer Clever Austin. Their sophomore effort Choose Your Weapon the month I graduated high school in 2015 was my introduction to them & I loved how they fused it with soul jazz, acid jazz, funk music, nu jazz, progressive pop & neo-psychedelia. They finally returned 7 years later making their Brainfeeder Records debut on Mood Valiant maintaining the neo-soul & nu jazz elements from previously except putting a bigger emphasis on psychedelia. 3 summers later, Nai & company are returning for their 4th album.

“Dreamboat” majestically begins singing for the titular object to sail away & take her home whereas “Telescope” fuses psychedelic soul, neo-soul, contemporary R&B, neo-psychedelia, Afropiano & jazz-funk transporting listeners to an intimate crux in the universe to find solace in their shared musicality. “Make Friends” crosses over neo-soul, contemporary R&B, jazz-funk, psychedelic soul & jazz fusion exploring the concept of recognition principally in regards to gender identity leading into “Everything’s Beautiful” following the “BMO is Beautiful” interlude featuring Niki Yang working in elements of neo-soul, jazz-funk, jazz fusion & psychedelic soul finding beauty in literally everything.

Meanwhile on “Dimitri”, we have Nai over more funky production singing about everyone being “amputees of our divination” leading into what could possibly be my least favorite track on the entire album “Longcat” futuristically talking about the longest cat in the world for 105 seconds. “How to Meet Yourself” fortunately picks things back up working in pianos with the title much like “Everything’s Beautiful” speaking for itself conceptually just before the title track brings psychedelic soul, neo-soul, art pop, trip hop & neo-psychedelia encouraging to keep it handsome. “Cinnamon Temple” releases the pressure mixing psychedelic soul, experimental rock, math rock, noise rock, neo-psychedelia & progressive rock prior to the closer “White Rabbit” covering Jefferson Airplane.

In addition to providing the world a snapshot of 4 musicians dancing together on the edge, Nai & company also give us a cohesively wide-eyed yet relaxed body of work that reflects a deeper understanding of themselves & the music they wish to share with the world around them. And on the contrary of the band’s appraisal mostly stemming from their complexity, Love Heart Cheat Code has a simpler approach generally. I’d be further remissed if I didn’t mention Hiatus Kaiyote venturing out of their prominently psychedelic neo-soul sound in favor of contemporary R&B, Afropiano, jazz-funk, jazz fusion, art pop, trip hop, experimental rock, math rock, noise rock, neo-psychedelia & progressive rock.

Score: 4.5/5

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Lupe Fiasco – “Samurai” review

Chicago, Illinois emcee Lupe Fiasco is back after nearly 2 years releasing his 9th LP. Blowing up in 2005 after appearing on “Touch the Sky” off of Kanye West’s sophomore album Late Registration, he then went on to release 2 classic albums Food & Liquor and The Cool in 2006 & 2007 respectively. However, his output since then has been very inconsistent. His next album Lasers in 2011 is easily his worst yet, Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album in 2013 was just ok but then Tetsuo & Youth in 2015 was a near perfect return to form for him. Given that, I was excited to see what he was going to do in the future. DROGAS Light wound up being a disappointing mixed bag, but DROGAS Wave eventually made up for it. Drill Music in Zion produced by Soundtrakk on the other hand was a near-perfect sequel to Tetsuo & Youth, so I found him going the way of the Samurai from there to be an interesting move.

The title track sets the tone of the album by hooking up a jazzy, lo-fi boom bap instrumental comparing himself to an actual member of the powerful military caste in feudal Japan whereas “Mumble Rap” groovily talks about a woman drawn to the vibe of his remarks waking up with a song on the heart. “Cake” works in an organ & hi-hats showing his fans gratitude for sticking by him even when times were tough prior to “Palaces” bringing back the kicks & snares to talk about being tormented for so long.

“#1 Headband” jazzily kicks off the 2nd half of the album promising that he’s gonna be the one referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE Champion & 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion Yokozuna just before “Bigfoot” singing the things that you’d normally keep inside your head out loud maintaining the jazz influences instrumentally.

Meanwhile on “Outside”, we have Lupe mellowly advises to wait for him out in the open nearing the conclusion of the LP leading into the piano-driven “‘Til Eternity” ending Samurai with a reference to former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion or most notable in TKO Group Holdings as WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, TNA Hall of Famer & the UFC Hall of Fame’s inaugural inductee Ken Shamrock.

“High Note” soulfully starts the deluxe run by talking about the type of music he makes grabbing people by the jugular whilst referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson during the final verse while the other bonus track “SOS” finishes the extra flavor with a jazzy, lo-fi boom bap single talking about holding down the bass similarly to Guile from the カプコン-owned Street Fighter set to be played by the current 2-time WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in next spring’s theatrical reboot.

I mentioned at the beginning of the review about Lupe’s discography being inconsistent at times in the past but if we’re continuing to get albums from him on the same quality as Samurai & Drill Music in Zion, then I’m all for it because he went back-to-back here. In contrast to the latter being a sequel to one of his most acclaimed offerings, what he gives us here is a loving & living portrait to one of his all-time favorite artists: Amy Winehouse.

Score: 4.5/5

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Megan Thee Stallion – “Megan” review

Houston, Texas rapper, songwriter & actress Megan Thee Stallion returning after 2 years for her 3rd album & Roc Nation Records debut. Rising to prominence in the spring of 2019 with the release of her debut mixtape Fever, I myself was very impressed with how it displayed Megan’s knack for catchy songwriting, dirty south/Memphis inspired production & a unique personality. Her popularity began to rapidly increase off her 3rd EP Suga & the full-length debut Good News, but Something for thee Hotties was a bit underwhelming in my opinion. Traumazine ended up being a decent sophomore effort with more highs & lows, so I expected Megan to be more personal given the title.

“Hiss” was a single that eventually grew on me heading for a hardcore Memphis trap direction tackling various aspects of her life up until this very moment whereas “Rattle” taking the eerie trap route to discuss having too many haters. “Figueroa” brings the scary vibes to the table dabbling with Detroit trap referring to herself as a Brat as opposed to a Barbie a.k.a. Nicki Minaj whose Megan diss “Big Foot” might be the worst diss track ever made, but then “Where Them Girls At?” moves on from there with a thunderous Hot Girl anthem.

Tay Keith cooks up one of my favorite beats throughout the album on the standout “Broke His Heart” vibrantly talking about making her ex Pardison Fontaine trick leading into “B.A.S. (Both Ain’t Shit)” featuring Kyle Rich produced by Lil Ju & Megan herself turns into cloudy trap territory painting a couple that both really ain’t shit since they lie to each other. “Otaku Hot Girl” playfully & wittingly shows her love for anime & Japan altogether just before “Find Out” has a rubbery tone instrumentally thanks to 30 Roc talking about her lil’ whoopty-woo.

“BOA” fuses trap, hardcore hip hop, pop rap, dirty south & electropop to show her boldness & assertiveness while “Mamushi” featuring Yuki Chiba on the standard version or TWICE on the remix works in pianos & hi-hats so both of them can declare themselves as the stars they are. “Accent” featuring GloRilla has this aquatic trap flare to the beat describing how thick they are while “Paper Together” featuring the greatest Houston duo of all-time UGK is a historic crossover representing different generations of the city.

Victoria Monét appears for the hook on the pop rap/trap hybrid “Spin” talking about putting that ass in a trance like you even have a chance to begin with while “Down Stairs DJ” hooks up a whistling sample & hi-hats thanks to Honorable C.N.O.T.E. telling everyone that she essentially loves her pussy. “Miami Blue” featuring Big K.R.I.T. has a grimier trap approach provided by Buddah Bless pointing out there must be something in the water & the pop rock/rap abomination “Worthy” could be the worst offender here despite the lyrics about being precious.

“Moody Girl” nears the conclusion of Megan picking things back up with a banger that Juicy J cooked up behind the boards leaving me fiending for the Three 6 Mafia co-founder to produce a whole project for her at some point since they’ve been bringing the best outta each other for 5 years now as further exemplified from the calming trap instrumental to the aptly moody lyricism Megan displays that is until “Cobra” closes her Roc Nation debut blending trap, rap rock, conscious subject matter & dirty south excellently.

Starting the deluxe run, “Bigger in Texas” hops over this dirty south beat paying homage to her home state while the bloodcurdling “Bourbon” fiercely addresses every hater of her’s who stay watching everything she does out here. Buddah Bless shakes it up with the playfully fun “#1 Rule” with Megan speaking to all the people who forget exactly who she is while “Roc Steady” featuring Flo Milli samples “Goodies” by Ciara & Petey Pablo so both of them can lock in for this exciting back-to-back delivery.

“Best Friend” continues with this decent trap joint cooked up by Nico Baran of Internet Money Records about forming a mixed tag team similarly to The Terror Twins while “Right Now” declares herself the baddest out with this dark Tay Keith & FNZ instrumental backing her, to which I agree with on a mainstream level. “TYG” featuring Spiritbox takes an ugly jab at trap metal that I find disappointing when you look at the gangsta-themed lyrics while “Motion” talks about bitches being sick of her & real quickly wanted to point out that I’ve been a fan Drumma Boy, but he went harder than he should’ve behind the boards on this one.

The boom bap direction “Fell in Love” takes might come as a shock to those who don’t keep with Megan addressing her current relationship with Chicago Bulls player Torrey Craig while “He Think I Love Him” & “Like a Freak” move on from there freestyling over “I Think I Love Her” by Gucci Mane & “Like a G6” by the Far East Movement respectively. Our final bonus track “Neva Play” featuring RM is now the current theme song as of me writing this doe the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown program after moving from FOX back to the USA Network.

For years I’ve been telling people that Megan is the finest female lyricist in the mainstream (Rapsody’s kinda in the middle between mainstream & underground for me) & now that JAY-Z got her out of her 1501 Certified Entertainment/300 Entertainment deal, the future is certainly looking bright for the Hot Girl Queen since it could very well be better than her first couple LPs. It’s more personal & seems like she’s less restricted as far as creative freedom goes.

Score: 4/5

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Marsha Ambrosius – “Casablanco” review

Marsha Ambrosius is a 46 year old singer/songwriter from Liverpool, England, United Kingdom who came up as 1/2 of the duo Floetry. They would only put out 2 full-lengths before disbanding, but Dr. Dre signed Marsha to his Interscope Records imprint Aftermath Entertainment shortly after only for her to depart in 2009 without releasing a solo effort. She eventually released her debut Late Nights & Early Mornings under J Records in the spring of 2011 & returned a few summers later with the RCA Records-backed sophomore effort Friends & Lovers. The Songstress was last heard in 2018 when she put Nyla out through MNRK Music Group, but is returning to Aftermath/Interscope to let the Quincy Jones of hip hop himself Dre produce her 4th album making up for lost times.

“Smoke” starts by sampling “Yesterday” by Clifford Brown so she can take you away & preparing to bring umbrellas just in case of the weather whereas “Tunisian Nights” singing about evenings in the North African country of Tunisia putting an orchestral spin on the “Flight Time” by Donald Byrd sample. “1 Night Stand” flips “Remind Me” by Patrice Rushen so Marsha can describe a singular sexual encounter just before “Cloudy With a Chance of…Real” samples “Smilin’ Billy Suite, Pt. II” by The Heath Brothers so she can sing about loneliness.

Moving on from there, “Greedy” co-produced by DJ Khalil & Phonix luxuriously confesses she’s been hurting lately & it simply isn’t enough leading into the outstandingly sequenced 2-parter “Self Care / Wrong Right” singing about satisfying her appetite along with her lover having the good good & giving her the best sex she’s ever had. “Wet” incorporates these illustrious strings staying with her partner even during the worst conditions, but then “Thrill Her” brings a soulfully jazzy boom bap flare to the beat paying homage to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.

“The Greatest” was another exuberant choice of a single ahead of Casablanco that Marsha herself, Dre of course, Blu2th, Dem Jointz, Focus… & Trevor Lawrence Jr. laced asking if one is scared of the love she has to give while “Best I Could Find” nears the end of the album hopping over summery guitar passages & keys talking about things becoming distant to the point where love had come far behind. “Music of My Mind” rounds out the LP fusing the symphonic & jazz elements into 1 giving flowers to some of her influences from Duran Duran to the late great J Dilla.

When you think about the fact that Marsha’s the only Aftermath artist to leave the label without releasing an official album & eventually come back to do exactly that, it was something that a lot of people including myself were surprised by although expectations remained higher than her previous material. Sure enough, this was a moment almost 2 decades in the making exemplifying her talents. It’s significantly more well-produced than her early solo stuff which is a given considering Dre’s perfectionism & Marsha lays down the most passionate songwriting & vocals of her career.

Score: 4.5/5

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