Lil Uzi Vert – “Eternal Atake 2” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper & singer Lil Uzi Vert starting November with their 4th LP. Becoming a household name in the trap scene with their 2015 mixtape LUV is Rage & then Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World the following year, Uzi has been entangled with a nasty legal battle with Generation Now Entertainment/Atlantic Records from their debut LUV is Rage 2 until the sophomore effort Eternal Atake came out in March of 2020 to moderate reception & followed it up a week later with the far superior Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World 2 that spawned the deluxe version trend where artists would drop a “deluxe version” of their newest project that’s basically an entirely new album. Red & White was a solid prelude to The Pink Tape which received mixed feedback, so they’re making an Eternal Atake sequel to fulfill their long-standing Generation Now/Atlantic contract.

“We Good” produced by WondaGurl & Cashmere Cat perfectly begins with this booming trap instrumental admitting they’ve been going through a Nitrous addiction much like Ye formerly Kanye West did whereas “Light Year (Practice)” works in a rage beat from Brandon Finessin’ of Working on Dying to talk about their love for ratchet bitches including a reference to the great one Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers & Los Angeles Kings. “Meteor Man” samples the theme from the Halo video game series flexing their aura just before “Paars in the Mars” talks sipping wock with a bunch of vocal effects.

Meanwhile on “The Rush”, we have Big Time Rush of all groups joining Uzi for the psychedelic trap vibes so Uzi can pay homage to them getting high feelin’ like he’s flyin’ until “Not an Option” goes into hypertrap territory once again telling everyone to stop saying they don’t got guap. “She Stank” atmospherically explaining why they ain’t wanna fuck this bitch, but then the triumphant “Mr. Chow” flexes the check.

“Lyft ‘Em Up” starts the 2nd half of EA2 runnin’ through shit over a rich trap beat from BryceUnknwn while the bombastic “Chips & Dips” applies further pressure likening their bands to braids referencing AEW’s newest signing Bobby Lashley of The Hurt Syndicate who was also a former 4-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 4-time WWE world champion. “Black Hole” pulls a bit from the drill scene reflecting on the days when they were broke & doing better now while the mellow “Chill Bae” gets in their breakup bag tackling a relationship that feels like a chore at this point.

The final leg kicks off with “Goddard Song” talking about a chick is trying to eat their swag up on top of a nostalgic trap instrumental while the trippy “PerkySex” obviously talked about having sex under the influence of percocets. “Conceited” publicly tells their girlfriend JT of prior City Girls fame that they can’t live without her & “Space High” is the highly anticipated Ebro Darden diss, which I enjoy as a diss down to the Trgc beat & since I’ve said in the past that I’m not a big Ebro fan.

The Pink Tape still very much had it’s highlights & some of Uzi’s best songs regardless of the low points on there like the shitty System of a Down cover. With that being said: Eternal Atake 2 here is basically similar to ¥$’ sophomore effort Vultures 2 except worse. Mike Dean’s mixing/mastering is perfect & Cashmere Cat producing more than half of it was a good call since I got put on him through his early EPs, it’s that Uzi’s addiction to nitrous also known as whippets or galaxy gas is really spiraling out of control. Hope they get the help they need like Ye did, who’s now currently working on his upcoming 11th album Bully in Japan.

Score: 1.5/5

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IDK – “BRAVADO iNTiMO…” review

Here we have the 4th studio LP from Bowie, Maryland by way of Clapham, London, England, United Kingdom rapper, singer/songwriter & producer IDK. Beginning to make waves in the spring of 2014 off his first 3 mixtapes profile began to significantly increase in 2017 when he signed to Williams Street Records in order to put out a 4th tape IWasVeryBad to critical acclaim. He continued the grind by putting out a debut EP IDK & Friends as well as the full-length album Is He Real? & his 2nd EP IDK & Friends: Basketball County, but the sophomore effort USEE4YOURSELF a couple summers ago was very underwhelming. Simple. however fully produced by KAYTRANADA wound up being his strongest body of work to date & F65 was a decent conceptual effort. Fast forward a year & a half later, he’s following it up with BRAVADO iNTiMO….

After the “HELLO” intro, the first song “CELiNE iN THE TRAP” starts by hopping over this guitar driven instrumental from Tae Beast bringing it to your live from the underground whereas “TiFFANY” featuring Gunna works in this boisterous trap beat so both of them can talk about their love for the Celine fashion brand. “KiCKiN!” maintains the trap vibes kickin’ doors down feeling untouchable just before “DENiM” featuring Joey Bada$$ hooks to kick & snares back up talking about never being the ones tryna ball for bitches.

“MiLES TRUMPET” comes clean that he doesn’t know how to love since he’s too young sticking with a luxuriously dusty edge instrumentally leading into “CHECK!” having a bit of a quirkier beat to talk about sticking to the door unless you got a check. “PAPERCUTS” offers a bit of a calmer atmosphere talking about people trying to fuck his paper up, but then “SWiTCH” featuring Conway the Machine brings both of them together to address the system.

The song “SUPERNOVA” featuring The Arti$t begins the encore of BRAVADO iNTiMO… by allowing both of them to get on the pop rap tip together while the penultimate track “SEE YOU AGAiN” heads for a guitar-driven direction asking this woman who could very well be the love of his life when will they see another next. “GOODBi” serves as more of an outro giving listeners a token of his appreciation while “MARiO COiNS” after the “…” intro starts the deluxe run murdering everyone in 2025.

“S U (B)” featuring Denzel Curry links up over this trap beat pleading to not make ‘em wanna switch up on them counting all the dividends together while “MiLES TRUMPET 2” talking about being way too young to fall in love this woman he has in mind. “RiCH MAN DREAMS” featuring Ab-Soul takes a jab at everyone out here acting like they know ‘em when they clearly don’t & the final bonus track “FLOW” talks about finding the answer within a verb.

Originally intended to be a 2-disc offering, the official F65 picks up from the predecessor by showing 2-different sides to the Maryland based recording artist. The production ranges from boom bap to trap & pop rap showcasing his boldness intended to impress on 1 end, allowing him to make room for the intimate & vulnerable sides of him to be shown in addition.

Score: 4/5

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Darby O’Trill – “GARDeN” review

What better way to come off Hallowicked than Key Largo, Floridian emcee Darby O’Trill releasing his 7th LP? Emerging in the fall of 2018 off his full-length debut Blood, Guts & a Whole Lotta Love, would go on to follow it with Fester almost a year later & has extensively been working with Chapter 17/Psychopathic Records in-house producer Devereaux by bringing him into the cut to fully produce his 3rd album Piecemeal to critical acclaim during the COVID-19 pandemic. Darby’s eventually signed a 1-album deal with Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & fulfilled it over a year 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 & had a feeling GARDeN could join them in the ranks a month away from the Insane Clown Posse’s annual Ballas Christmas show followed by a livestreamed JCW Lunacy show.

“Diet Root Beer Shampoo” is a 100 second demonic trap opener that Devereaux of course laced talking about the portal to Hell’s Pit in the basement of his apartment whereas “The Sound of Suffering Trapped Skin” works in some hi-hats & guitars feeling murderous. “Quit Lookin At Me, You’re Making My Shadow Nervous” wants to know what the fuck you want over another trap metal beat while “Hell Been Callin’ featuring Shaggytheairhead & produced by Mythic Mindz recaptures the aura of 10 Bandz from this spring.

As for “Dick Down in a Bucket Fulla Beans”, we have Darby delving further down the trap metal rabbit hole feeling the fire burn around him just before “Crooked Pastor Blaster” serves as a sequel to “C.P.K. (Crooked Preacher Killas)” by the Insane Clown Posse & one that does the original justice. The bassy “Fiery Fish Pizza TMDWU” has some cool Memphis undertones throughout feelin’ like something’s talking in his head, but then “The Omen of the Body Bag” is another trap metal head-smasher.

“Multicolored Mood Ring” keeps the heavy guitars & hi-hats in the fold reminding us all that life & death is alchemy while “Blistered Hands Wipe the Sweat From My Brow” maintains a trap metal flare paralleling “My Axe” by ICP except he refers to a shovel instead of an axe. Shaggytheairhead’s only singular production credit lands on Skull Bone Soccer” giving a standard trap vibe so Darby can caution his disgustingness while the lively “A Man Made of Scabs & Guilt” asks why he even tries

Ouija Macc appears for “Baptized in a Vat Acid” aggressively leaving their opposition in the dirt while “Smokeless Tobacco Spit is Gross, Just Like You” goes trap metal again to spit the wicked shit. “Curse of the Ancient Skin Tags” infernally suggests a sign towards the end being close while “The Burden of Being” remarkably mixes trap metal & emo rap. “Close the Gate, Don’t Let the World In” heinously finishes his C17 sophomore effort by talking about being dead.

Being familiar with Darby since Piecemeal, he’s come a very long way in these past 4 years & GARDeN a lot like that introductory body of work alongside Creek & of Gully further proves further in addition to Chapter 17 embodying a new generation of juggalos. It’s more trap metal sounding than his previous material aside than the emo rap undertones, colliding that style with horrorcore in a tasteful manner.

Score: 4.5/5

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Craig G – “The World’s Cooked” review

Craig G is a 51 year old MC from Queens, New York who started out as a member of the Juice Crewcollective. His full-length debut The Kingpin produced by Marley Marl & the sophomore effort Now, That’s More Like It came out in the late 80s/early 90s through Atlantic Records & returned over a decade later with This is Now!!! like he never left. Marley Marl went on to produce Operation: Take Back Hip Hop, which resulted in Craig signing to Soulspazm Records for his last couple albums Ramblings of an Angry Old Man and I Rap & Go Home. 8 years later, he’s back for his 7th full-length LP.

After the “Few Words from tha Teacha” intro, the first song “The Okey Doke” fuses rap rock & boom bap telling everyone to hold themselves accountable for what they fell for whereas the sample-driven “Dumb Down” featuring B-Real talks about this era that we’re entering. “America’s Dumbest Criminals” vividly tells the story of a couple criminals who later got arrested the same night just before the chipmunk soul title track discusses the current state of the world.

“Fortitude” flips an organ representing hard work & after the Chuck D interlude, “Gossip Sites” disses everyone who posts online for attention. “Expand Ya Mind” featuring Chubb Rock sets out to exactly that over a boom bap instrumental while “Reconsidered” tells a sad tale for 3-minutes. “Smartest 1 in the Room” featuring Freeway takes us back in the basement tryna inspire & making the community legitimate while “Wise Words” ends by telling everyone to go for theirs.

Craig has always been a bit underappreciated when it comes to members of the Juice Crew & although I don’t think it’s one of the best albums that he’s ever done per se, I did enjoy the half hour listening experience. The production is prominently based around the traditional east coast boom bap sound & Craig observes the cons of our world today.

Score: 3.5/5

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Bodies Below Sea Level – Self-Titled review

Bodies Below Sea Level are a duo consisting of Grand Rapids, Michigan emcee, singer/songwriter, producer & Dirtcore Music founder Crossworm alongside Hampton, Virginia recording artist Samson Samson. Both of whom have already collaborated with each other on a handful of songs over the years up to this point like “Killmode” or “Open Up Your Mind” & of course most notably “Bodies Below Sea Level”, but are finally taking it to a new level by coming off Hallowicked to release an official eponymous full-length debut studio album.

After the “Respawn” intro, the first song “The Devil’s Own” is this industrial hip hop/rap rock mixture talking about being heathens right down to the bone whereas “Laughter (Bang, Bang, Bang)” industrially raps about being guaranteed to stop your momentum. “Evil” works in some dark synthesizers to talk about being wicked people & “Sever” embraces the rap rock influences further on top of the horrorcore lyricism.

“Loser” officially reaches the halfway point of the LP on the rap rock tip letting off some angst for almost 3 minutes just before “Infinite” hooks up some hi-hats & a blobby bassline to talk about the wicked shit always being inside of them to this very day. “Trouble in the Library of Corpses” happens to be another well-crafted industrial/horrorcore blend leading into “Unrepenting” pulling inspiration from Depeche Mode.

Meanwhile on “Eat Myself Alive”, we have Grounds joining over a trap beat admitting that’s the way they feel sometimes & the official closing track “We’re the Dead” proceeding the “Summoning” interlude ends the way they started from the industrial hip hop/rap rock influences to the lyrics talking about them traveling beyond the grave.

Assuming this is only the beginning for them, Bodies Below Sea Level’s self-titled debut gets November going by taking 36 minutes to properly introduce themselves as a unit. The production balancing industrial hip hop & rap rock proves to be a refreshing change of pace within the underground wicket shit scene, building most of the lyrical themes around horror.

Score: 4/5

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Tuxedo – “Tuxedo IV” review

Tuxedo is a synth-funk/boogie duo consisting of producer Jake One & frontman Mayer Hawthorne. Forming almost a decade ago, their eponymous full-length debut came out a couple months before I graduated high school with a sophomore effort coming down the pipe a couple years later & more recently their previous LP. It’s already been 5 years since we last saw Tuxedo together & since they took a break to focus on their own endeavors, I was thrilled for their 4th album.

“Hold Us” is a g-funk opener co-produced with DJ Battlecat reminiscing of the late, great king of hooks Nate Dogg to melodically detail shit sounding expensive so they pour up wanting to know if you know anything about that whereas “This is 4 You” brings a nu disco flare to the table reserving this ballad for a specific person in particular tonight. “Back 4 More” has a boogie driven direction singing of a love that’s never felt this good & “Think Twice” goes synth-funk advising both of their romantic interests not to overthink.

As for “Good Time 4 Ever”, we have Tuxedo maintaining a synth-funk vibe making sure you have a good time for the rest of your life & “Cake” right after the “Jake’s Groove” interlude inspired by DJ Quik of course throws it back to the Parliament-Funkadelic days a bit. “Ride with Me” returns to a g-funk edge homaging Nate once more, but then “Windows Down” charismatically throws it back to the Zapp/Roger Troutman era. The upbeat “4 Sure” dances on the ceiling above the floor & “We Made It” properly finishes the LP by shifting towards a smoother direction celebrating the duo’s success.

Bonding over a shared love of Parliament-Funkadelic & Zapp amongst other Zodiac signs in funk music altogether, Tuxedo finally make their comeback after their longest gap between releases yielding a bevy of absolute slappers that are packaged perfectly for dance floors in 2024 whether it be Jake One’s production pulling from g-funk to synth-funk & boogie or Mayer Hawthorne’s catchy vocal performances detailing the duo’s exuberant lifestyle.

Score: 4/5

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The Cure – “Songs of the Lost World” review

The Cure are a well regarded post-punk/goth rock band from Crawley, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom consisting of bassist/keyboardist Simon Gallup, keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, guitarist Perry Bamonte, drummer Jason Cooper, guitarist Reeves Gabrels & frontman Robert Smith. They’ve made some of the most essential music within both subgenres like 17 Seconds, Faith, Pornography, The Head on the Door, my personal favorite Disintegration, Wish & even the eponymous effort that Ross Robinson produced. 16 long years later, they’re back together for their 14th album.

“Alone” starts by fusing goth rock with dream pop & ethereal wave drawing it’s inspiration from the Ernest Dowson poem “Dregs” whereas “& Nothing’s Forever” is a slow & string-heavy number singing about a promise Robert made to be with someone on their deathbed. “A Fragile Thing” crosses over into alt/goth rock turf with additional influences from drean pop & baggy music clarifying there’s nothing you can do to change the end, but then the gloomy “Warsong” sings that we’re all born for war.

To get the 2nd half going, “Drone:Nodrone” easily stands as the catchiest & most upbeat moment on the entire LP from a musical standpoint acknowledging a tumultuous relationship just before “I Can Never Say Goodbye” passionately laments the death of Robert’s brother Richard for 6 minutes. “All I Ever Am” sings about way love turns out every time from his perspective will never be enough & “Endsong” wraps things up with a 10-minute epic of a closer inspired by a starlit night that reminded Robert of a similar evening in 1969, stargazing in the back garden with his father when Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

The goth rock/post-punk icons return after an over a decade dealing almost exclusively in death, dying & the relentless march of time inspired by David Bowie’s 26th & final album ★. The songs move slowly & many go on for minutes before Smith opens his mouth. No pop hits, no hooks & really no fun. It’s also some of the band’s most engrossing work, a statement that like most great Cure songs can’t be taken lightly.

Score: 4.5/5

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House of Krazees – “31” review

The House of Krazees are a seminal Detroit, Michigan horrorcore trio consisting of The R.O.C. alongside Mr. Bones & Hektik. Introducing themselves 31 years ago off the strength of their first 2 EPs Home Sweet Home & Home Bound, the next one Outbreed & their full-length debut Season of the Pumpkin back-to-back would later become classics in the early wicked shit scene followed by the sophomore effort Head Trauma until their 1997 disbandment. The R.O.C. would form HaLFBrEEd with Skrapz releasing their debut The Night They Came Home under the H.o.K. moniker in contrast to Mr. Bones & Hektik signing with Psychopathic Records as protégés of the Insane Clown Posse, renaming themselves as Jamie Madrox & Monoxide of the demented duo & Astronomicon founders Twiztid. HaLFBrEEd disbanded in 2000 after kontamiNATION despite that becoming another horrorcore essential & Twiztid released their first 9 albums through hatchet, departing at the end of 2012 & forming their own label Majik Ninja Entertainment a decade ago already. Kicking off the Halloween festivities, the original lineup of The R.O.C. & Twiztid are returning for their 3rd proper LP.

After the intro, the first song “Sent Here to Take You” perfectly starts us off foreshadowing what’s to come with this aggressive opener detailing their schizophrenic tendencies whereas “Lifeline” take the cold blooded boom bap route instrumental, talking about stabbing muhfuckas. “Into Hell Face 1st” brings a rap rack vibe to the table asking y’all what it’s worth once you reach Hell’s Pit prior to “Mask, Playing Games” drearily getting on the Jason Voorhees tip lyrically.

“Make It Dark” returns to the boom bap bringing the dark to your life discussing if they could stab the entire world just before “Killing Machine” brings a bit of an industrial hip hop vibe to the beat so they can talk about being comatose numb with a mask butcher knife stabbing. “The Slaughter, The Carnage” continues to show the trio’s murderous tendencies leading into “Swim in Your Blood” dusty talking about being addicted to doing exactly that.

As for “Break Skin”, we have the House of Krazees offering a bit of a dark atmosphere instrumentally discussing the possibility of living forever & never dying again biting the cartilage while “Killer Hunter” hopped over more kicks and snares to talk about killin’ ‘em all. “The Basement” pushes towards the final moments of 31 by putting an uncanny spin on the traditional boom bap sound talking about how it’s up to you if that’s where you really wanna die & “Thorn” ends by making sure there’s nothing left off everyone they’re killing. The bonus track “Down the Street” dabbles with trap yelling in the streets in black hoodies & pumpkin masks.

If you ask me, I never really considered The Night They Came Home to be the final House of Krazees album up to this point & more of the unofficial debut album from HaLFBrEEd. That said: their 1st body of work since Head Trauma goes to show the pioneering wicked shit group’s longevity. The R.O.C.’s production takes it back to their roots & it’s the most wicked that I’ve heard Twiztid sound in a while, foreshadowing their upcoming album Welcome to Your Funeral produced by Rob Zombie’s engineer Zeuss by taking it back to where it all started.

Score: 4.5/5

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Diorvsyou – “Ashes” review

Atlanta, Georgia up-&-comer Diorvsyou releasing his full-length debut album. Coming up in 2021 off his debut EP Scoreboard, it wasn’t until I saw him open up for southsidesilhouette in Brooklyn the folllwing November where I was personally introduced to his music & I was actually impressed with his set. The next EP w.t.f.i.dvy? (who the fuck is diorvsyou?) marked a bigger breakthrough for him artistically & almost a year since Diorvsrxlvnd’s eponymous debut, Dior himself’s returning up from the Ashes.

“Long Time” is this rage-inducing open or acknowledging the fact that it’s been a while since we’ve heard from him & that’s how life goes sometimes whereas “SoFarGone” produced by PROJECT4PLAY & Zaan takes the psychedelic trap route instrumentally talking about everything being new. “WakeUpThumb” has a bit of a cloudy trap approach flexing his lifestyle just before the booming “Leisure” talks about being so high at the moment.

southsidesilhouette & Sk8star both join Dior on “ToThePlan” for a 3-headed monster of a trap heater produced by Y3rip & n9ck promising to come get you right if you talkin’ down leading into “African King” talks about having so much swag to the point where he doesn’t even know what he wants when hitting the stores anymore. “Fashion Forward” works in some hypertrap undertones to the beat boasting that none of the shit he puts on wax is fiction, but then the playful “Mudwash” talks about having too many options at his dispense.

“Prblms” featuring REEZY X brings the pair together over a regalia instrumental interpolating the classic JAY-Z single “99 Problems” while the inebriating atmosphere of “No Kap” featuring Sk8star talks about the fact that both of them are fly & they be makin’ this shit look ways. “:tf” featuring southsidesilhouette leaves hoes with the sad face explaining to them that’s not how shit goes for either one of them despite the horn-laced drill beat while the moody “Smash” boasts his wealth.

Meanwhile on “RacksIn”, we have Dior starting the final leg of Ashes on some cloudy trap shit talking about the racks coming in & cash going out while the otherworldly “Rated R” promises to let the 9 off if anyone ever tries to play with him. “X2” featuring Galactic Records signee tana turns the bass up high running an entire mile with Rick Owens boots on both of their feet & lastly, the closer “Toast” that Nosaint of Vanguard Music Group laced vibrantly ends Dior’s debut asking where his Day 1s are.

w.t.f.i.dvy? (who the fuck is diorvsyou?) showed quite a bit of potential in the 4evrrthumbin’ member & Ashes a year & a half later takes that same potential to newer heights. The guest-list is mostly consisting, there’s a lot more outside collaborators than there was on that previous EP as opposed to a single producer’s particular sound & Dior himself feels rejuvenated.

Score: 4/5

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Tyler, The Creator – “Chromakopia” review

Ladera Heights emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, visual artist, designer & comedian Tyler, The Creator releasing his 7th full-length studio LP on a Monday to start off the Halloween 2024 week. Blowing up about 15 years ago as the de facto leader of Odd Future, his evolution both artistically & personally since the collective’s disbandment in 2015 has truly been amongst the most fascinating ones I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime going from the bratty edginess of Bastard & Goblin to the undeniable maturity & versatility shown on Flower Boy & Igor. T’s last album Call Me If You Get Lost happened to be his best lyrically and a year & a half after The Estate Sale EP, we’re now entering Chromakopia.

“St. Chroma” produced with Inflo introduces us to the titular character representing where Tyler’s at personally & artistically pulling from experimental hip hop, west coast hip hop, industrial hip hop, neo-soul & neo-psychedelia whereas “Rah Tah Tah” throws it back to the Cherry Bomb era instrumentally talking about how she ain’t ever meet anyone like him. “Noid” mixes experimental hip hop, psychedelic rock, west coast hip hop, zamrock, rap rock, neo-soul, hardcore hip hop, psychedelic soul & neo-psychedelia tackling themes of paranoia prior to “Darling, I” sampling “Vivrant Thing” by Q-Tip to talk about him continuing to fall in love.

As for “Hey Jane”, we have T over this calming beat imagining what it would be like if his romantic partner Jane got pregnant even though neither of them were anticipating the pregnancy just before the colorful “I Killed You” breaks free from external pressures, toxic relationships, or outdated versions of himself. “Judge Judy” breaks down the story of a fleeting relationship with a woman named Judy bringing a nostalgic summer atmosphere to the table just before “Sticky” featuring Glorilla, Lil Wayne & Sexyy Red flips “Get Buck” by Young Buck explaining how shit’s getting out here.

“Take Your Mask Off” hooks up these prominent synthesizers & pianos hoping listeners find themselves while “Tomorrow” goes for a minimal sound altogether addressing his fear of aging. “Thought I Was Dead” featuring ScHoolboy Q & additional mixing from Romil Hemnani fuses hardcore hip hop, west coast hip hop, experimental hip hop, industrial hip hop, aquacrunk, fanfare & grime for a boisterous manifesto of his mentality later addressing people criticizing him for what he said about Columbia Records labelmate Ian during his SpringHill interview although the mixed reception of Goodbye Horses proved his point.

The pianos that start “Like Him” ahead of the psychedelic influences kicking in during the other half are stunning feeling like he’s chasing a ghost & wanting to know if he looks like his father while “Balloon” featuring Doechii samples “I Wanna Rock (Boo Boo)” by 2 Live Crew leader Uncle Luke so they can air this bitch out since both of them are at the top of the room. “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” finishes Tyler’s 4th consecutive classic by talking about vulnerability, self-awareness & personal growth over more synths & pianos while the deluxe run’s sole bonus track “Mother” recalls stories of his mom.

Breaking his traditional 2-year cycle of releasing music, Chromakopia to me is pretty much a mature refinement of Cherry Bomb. The experimentation within his production ventures beyond west coast hip hop in favor of neo-soul, hardcore hip hop, synth-funk, neo-psychedelia, progressive soul, rap rock, zamrock, industrial hip hop, aquacrunk, fanfare & grime so he can battle with the shades of maturity as the once colorful glee of ambition & youth withers away with his maturity. His mother Bonita Smith’s advice throughout keeps Tyler’s “light” alive, guiding him through the greatest hurdles in adulthood.

Score: 4.5/5

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