SosMula – “Sleez Religion” review

Manhattan, New York rapper SosMula returning for the 3rd LP in his discography. Coming up as 1/3 of the now defunct City Morgue alongside fellow emcee ZillaKami & producer Thraxx, they’ve released 2 full-length albums & an EP together up before branching out on their own for a little bit. Sos was the first to step up to the plate by dropping 13 Songs 2 Die 2, which was a bit of a disappointment in my opinion due to the features & production. ZillaKami followed it up a month later with HIS solo debut Dogboy & the duo reunited to drop Bottom of the Barrel the month after that, both of those I found much more tolerable. 2 High 2 Die was better than it’s predecessor & the Sleez Machine EP that fall was the worst solo effort of his yet, which resulted in me hoping Sleez Religion would bounce back from it especially since City Morgue’s final album My Bloody America finally dropped nearly a year to the day as this.

After the titular intro, the first song “Confessionary” is this eerie trap opener talking about breaking all your bones whereas “Sleezy Bastard (Slasher)” brings hardcore hip hop, trap metal & gangsta rap together referring to himself as a toe tagger. “Candy Man” featuring Kim Dracula works in pianos & hi-hats referencing the titular horror film while “Death Dealer” morbidly talks about takin’ souls.

“Shark Teeth (Death Dealer 2)” has this devilish trap flare to the beat likening the Klean Up Krew to being sharks in the water leading into the energetic “Sgt. Slaughter” named after the WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion & 2-time WWE United States Champion flexing that his mafia style is similar to that of one of my top 3 shows The Sopranos. “Fred Flinstonez” grimly lets everyone know the type of shit he’s been on since City Morgue’s disbandment, but then “Patched Jeans” goes some emo rap over heavy guitars.

After the “Thy Kommandmentz” interlude, “Dead Presidentz” shoots for a more psychedelic trap approach instrumentally thanks to ilykimchi of Working on Dying calling himself the Mickey to her Mallory just before the rap rock-driven “Sex Pistol” opening up about being on adderrall lately & smashing every single IG model. “Cydeborg” keeps the guitars in tact boasting that he’s in Hell being hella bored while “Passport to Magonia” cavernously expresses his desire of running to the stars & after the “Kommit Ur Life” interlude, “Santorini in Spain” menacingly gets in his gangsta bag.

“Boogie Man” hooks up some horrorcore undertones burning houses down like fireplaces as dumb as that sounds while “Slasher 2” pulls inspiration from the trap metal scene he helped pioneer once again further quenching for blood. “Sprain-Ankle” hops over a rage beat reminding everyone of the type of people he hangs with while “Supa-Savage” wickedly calling himself a knight in shining armor.

As for “Assault Rifle Facial”, we have Sos chaotically talking about clapping all your corny ass friends with the stick while “Sonic” featuring G Herbo sees the pair sharing their homicidal thoughts towards their opponents over a synth-based beat with Detroit trap bass. After the “Strangers in Barcelona” interlude, “Red Gutz” coldly discusses his ghetto mindset while “Burning Flags” warning that the .30 hitting your chest will devour you.

After the “Lost in Magonia” interlude, the penultimate song “Grimy-Hoez” featuring Sematary nears the end of the LP with this piano-trap crossover hanging with the slimiest homies they know & the shrilling “Berzerk-O” ahead of the “Immortal” outro happens to be a proper closer talking taking his own soul in kamikaze style being traumatized.

2 & a half years since Sos bounced back from his debut on 2 High 2 Die & unfortunately, I ended up liking Sleez Religion less than the predecessor. Maybe even less so 13 Songs 2 Die 2, joining Sleez Machine in being another subpar entry in his solo catalog. I’ll give him credit for the production mixing the sounds that he’s dabbled with up to this point all into 1 except it absolutely didn’t need to be almost 30 tracks.

Score: 2/5

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JOBA – “Russell Boring” review

JOBA is a 31 year old rapper, producer, singer/songwriter & audio engineer from Houston, Texas notable for being a founding member of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective. The debut single “Sad Saturdays” back in 2015 should also be noted as really the only time we’ve heard what he’s capable of musically doing on his own & coming off a production credit on Ski Mask the Slump God’s sophomore effort 11th Dimension this summer, we’re getting a better look as to who he is on his full-length solo debut.

“Ghost” starts us off by singing about a ghost he saw & asked what the problem was over bare pianos whereas “Embryo” takes the exuberantly futuristic route instrumentally further employing a melodic delivery expressing his desire of wanting to be with his romantic interest. “American Fever” pulls from progressive pop, piano rock & art pop to sing about every single one of us being born to be wild in some way, but then the magical “Emerald Eyes” tells us of his amazement over this individual.

As for “Lonestar”, we have JOBA hopping over more colorful production singing his heart out that he’s standing his own ground even after BROCKHAMPTON’s dissolvement leading into the guitar-driven “Doormat” knowing everything will work out in the end & wanting his partner’s love. “New Beginnings” cheerfully talks about starting anew at this point in his career while “People Need People” mixes baroque pop, piano rock & psychedelic pop longing to be his lover’s soulmate. “Gospel of the Moon” closes the LP by singing that all he feels is concrete tears.

Matt Champion’s solo debut Mika’s Laundry from earlier in the year was a fantastic representation of his artistic versatility & Russell Boring takes that to different heights except it’s much more personal conceptually. His production culminates in the styles of art pop, art rock, piano rock, progressive pop & baroque pop spending the 9 song offering spanning a tad bit over a half hour in his personal life.

Score: 4/5

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Talib Kweli – “The Confidence of Knowing” review

Talib Kweli is a 48 year old MC, songwriter, entrepreneur & activist from Brooklyn, New York notable for being 1/2 of the duos Black Star & Reflection Eternal with Yasiin Bey & Hi-Tek respectively. His solo debut Quality was released in the fall of 2002 to significant acclaim through Rawkus Records following Black Star’s eponymous debut & Reflection Eternal’s debut album Train of Thought, the sophomore effort The Beautiful Struggle received more moderate reception although songs like “Broken Glass” & “I Try” always stood out & Eardrum has to be my 2nd favorite album from Kweli’s behind the debut. Gutter Rainbows as well as Prisoner of Conscious & Gravitas were all received positively albeit not much as Quality & Eardrum, but Fuck the Money left the public divided & Indie 500 produced by The Soul Council was a considerable improvement as was Radio Silence. Last we heard Talib on his own excluding Gotham’s eponymous debut & of course Black Star & Liberation’s sophomore efforts no fear of time* & Liberation 2 was last Christmas when the Holy Daze EP which was ok, so I was intrigued in hearing that J. Rawls was fully producing Kweli’s 10th album.

“Breath, Eyes, Memory” is a laidback opener explaining the difference between European art & African art whereas the title track featuring Blu warmly talks about having to be brave enough to be yourself. “Native Sons” goes full-fledged boom bap paying homage to the Native Tongues collective just before the jazzy, drumless “We Outside” featuring TriState himself finds the 2 talking about never being divided.

As for “To the Ghetto”, we have Kweli over synths mixed with kicks & snares telling us he really doesn’t have any friends in this business only trusting a select few while “SWAT” by Coast Kweli gets on the hardcore tip letting y’all know who be up in the house tonight. “Turnstyle” featuring Buckshot & Skyzoo keeps things in the basement taking y’all back to ‘92, but then “Shalamar” featuring Ras Kass getting in a bag similar to the titular soul trio.

“Pay Homage” featuring IDK, Phil Da Agony & Planet Asia soulfully advises to respect the foundation while “Love for Life” draws from neo-soul discussing the magic in comforting one another. “Steve Austin” featuring Diani finds the father/daughter duo slickly boasting while “Sing into the Sky” featuring Niko Is returns to the boom bap doing simply that until they fall. “It’s Workin’” ends on a jazzy note talking about what you’re doing is working out.

All 3 of the duo albums that Kweli has been involved with in this current decade so far all been near-perfect in their own rights & I don’t think The Confidence of Knowing is a classic per se, but I do think it’s significantly better than the holiday EP we got from him almost 9 months ago. Even putting Talib’s social media behavior to the side, he’s still a remarkably talented lyricist & J. Rawls’ production bounces between boom bap & bare jazz loops fluidly.

Score: 4/5

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RazoR – “The NeveRending GoRy: The Nothing” review

RazoR is a horrorcore duo from Chicago, Illinois consisting of Tha Roka & Sin Rip. They introduced themselves to the underground wicked shit scene in the spring of 2016 by releasing their debut All Hail tha RazoR, which resulted in Scum signing them to his Denver gore hop powerhouse Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & making their official LSP debut on Halloween 2019 with heaRtless. 5 years later, Roka & Sin are linking back up to reintroduce themselves in the form of their 3rd full-length studio LP on the same day as Bloody Ruckus’ debut album Resurrection of the Broken Reflection.

After the titular intro, the first song “Raining Blood” begins by hopping over thunderous trap production declaring themselves as the kings of the hill whereas “D.T.O. (Death To Opps)” serves as a middle finger to all their opps. “Grosseries” works in synths & hi-hats warning they keep bodies in their fridge like groceries while “Beautiful” featuring Smallz 1 goes full-blown boom bap hauntingly getting hardcore.

“God Complex” goes for a grim trap vibe instrumentally to talk about having no shame at all instead possessing the feeling of pure vengeance just before “The Nothing” hooks up more kicks & snares personifying hate & the violence that the demonstrate. “Part of Me” switches into grisly trap turf again saying y’all a part of them now, but then “We’re the Ones” featuring Insane Poetry angrily warns to be aware if you take it far.

As for “Save Me”, we have Roka & Sin maintains the morbid trap flare from earlier coming clean that everybody got them feeling crazy lately leading into “Awake” infernally showing all y’all muhfuckas how phat they be on the mic. “Dummy” featuring Claas decently boasts that they be stealing bitches while the title track welcoming everyone to the pages of their life. The final song “Why So Serious?” ahead of the outro finishes the LP reminding that they’ll turn people into Casper.

heaRtless was a solid way of RazoR introducing themselves to the Lyrikal Snuff audience nearly almost half a decade ago & they return after all that time with what is easily my favorite body of work in their entire discography, turning up anticipation for the rest of the trilogy. It’s a whole new sound for the duo as they redefine themselves artistically, occasionally enlisting a few of their labelmates at points during the ride.

Score: 4/5

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Bloody Ruckus – “Resurrection of the Broken Reflection” review

Bloody Ruckus is a 31 year old MC from Suamico, Wisconsin starting out in 2009 by releasing his debut EP Coming Out the Woods. This was followed up with the full-length debut Nightmarez from the Rez: The Rage, which was a popular piece of morbid art locally. The sophomore effort My Bloody Valentine after his 2nd EP Dark N Cold saw him gaining international attention since it came out around the same time as he infamously filmed a woman’s finger getting chopped off & her blood being drank a month after the 17th annual Gathering of the Juggalos in 2016, which was the last Gathering that Majik Ninja Entertainment performed at before they & Psychopathic Records severed ties only 6 months later. Scum signed Bloody Ruckus to Lyrikal Snuff Productionz once coming home & is following up his LSP debut Funeral Macabre with his 4th album.

“Vengeance” is this EVIL trap metal opener to the LP making it known that he’ll leave you in a body bag with the rest of your entire crew whereas “Night Terrors” featuring Rece’s Aura takes the cloudy trap route instrumentally talking about dragging the chains through the frost. “Cowbell Demon” turns the bass up to 11 daring anyone to step inside his slaughterhouse at their own risks & “I’m Gonna Nut in Your Urn” demonically calling out pussy muhfuckas.

DOWN6 joins Bloody Ruckus for “This World Hates Me” so both of them can get in their emo rap/trap metal bag for nearly 3 & a half minutes just before a personal highlight for me “Stop Glorifying Rats” angrily lashes out at people that praise snitches, which I am fully on board with. “Bright Lights” hauntingly encourages to let Lucy open up everyone’s 3rd eye whether you’re doing DMT or shrooms, but then “666 Up in da Sky” featuring C4$PA fuses g-funk & horrorcore excellently regardless of the average guest appearance.

“Misanthropic” kinda has this EDM flare to the beat detailing his dislike for humanity altogether hence the title leading into “Welcome 2 Wicked Wisco” mixing elements of both g-funk & trap together representing Suamico & the underground wicked shit scene as a whole. “Flatline” heavily warns everyone that anyone who takes him for a joke will be left with hollow tips in ‘em while “Modern Atrocities” featuring Warlord Colossus demonically talking about their brains not being the same.

As for “Say No More”, we have Bloody Ruckus eerily giving us a glimpse of his gangsta mindset living by the gun while “Lord of Grudge” unsettlingly talking about running out of medication watching shadows crawl again. “Omega” is this horrorcore/electronic dance hybrid leaving full clips in the mouths of anyone running their mouths speaking ill towards him while “Every Dog Has His Day” uncannily addresses the titular expression.

“Wendigo” nears the end of the Resurrection of the Broken Reflection getting on the rap rock tip once more referencing the evil spirit originating from Algonquian folklore while “Bring ‘Em to the Darkside” featuring Donnie Menace, DOWN6, S.O.S. & Saw da Ghozt comes through with a 6-minute posse cut with a reference to 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. “Reflejo Roto” heinously talking about being a broken reflection of a man & “Eternity” ends by hellishly painting himself as a demon on the throne.

Crazy to think that this the same guy who filmed that woman’s finger getting chopped off & her blood being drank because I vividly remember when the news of that broke out & never would I have thought that he’d sign to LSP & return home with his best album yet. The production’s more darker & refined than Bloody Ruckus’ previous material, overcoming all obstacles & letting new listeners know who he is.

Score: 4/5

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Jay Worthy & MadeinTYO – “Time After Time” review

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy as well as Honolulu, Hawaii born/Tokyo, Japan raised rapper, singer & producer MadeinTYO joining forces for a new collaborative EP fully produced by the latter. One of whom has been grinding in the underground for the last 7 years & the other landing a spot in the 2017 XXL Freshman Class producing Ransom’s latest EP Smoke & Mirrors earlier this summer. However, Mr. Tokyo’s continuing to apply pressure by linking up with Jay for Time After Time.

After the intro, the first song “Master Delux” is a drumless opener to the EP with both of them provide the soundtrack to motherfuckers making bread whereas “Nino” jazzily keeps the drums out the picture boasting that the paper be doing double flips in their dreams. “School Daze” hops over yet another bare jazz loop refusing to lay up having work to do prior to “Chop” drumlessly talking about having the milk & not referring to dairy whatsoever.

“Fashion Week” maintains the jazz rap vibes working some drums in this time hoping that God forgives them for their fortunes & after the interlude, “London Carry-On” goes drumless again keeping extra sugar in their sweet tea. The final song “Antiqua Barrio” telling wack MCs to get off the mic being black as they are Off-White & the outro finishes the EP with a 3-minute instrumental piece.

Like I said a couple months ago during the Smoke & Mirrors review: I’ve never considered himself a MadeinTYO fan other than maybe “Uber Everywhere”, but he & Jay Worthy cooked up a collab EP that’s as enjoyable as THE AM3RICAN DREAM. His production’s more jazzier than it was on the Ransom EP keeping it prominently drumless in addition to that & lyrically, he & Jay Worthy ping off each other impressively during the course of the 24 minutes you get out of Time After Time.

Score: 4/5

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Chanel West Coast – “California State of Mind” review

Chanel West Coast is a 36 year old television personality, rapper, singer & actress from Los Angeles, California notable for her appearances on Fantasy Factory & later a co-host of the only show on MTV this day in age Ridiculousness. As far as her music career, she signed to Young Money Entertainment as well as Cash Money Records & Republic Records to put out her first 2 mixtapes Now You Know & Waves ahead of her eventual departure. Her full-length debut America’s Sweetheart saw the light of day independently in the fall of 2020 & now that she finally stepped down from her role on Ridiculousness a year & a half ago, she’s dropping a sophomore effort.

The title track is this pop rap/trap opener capturing her hometown mindset in the most underwhelming way imaginable whereas “Lil Ms. Sunshine” puts a bigger emphasis on the melodic guitar riffs layering that with more hi-hats talking about having the last laugh. “100%” works in this run-of-the-mill trap beat trying to reaffirm her bad bitch status while “Cool Off” featuring Ill Nicky brings the guitars back in the fold to talk about being too hot for the shade.

“Pretty Girls” offers somewhat of an atmospheric trap flare instrumentally for this mediocre tribute to all the beautiful women out there just before “Waste My Time” embraces the rock vibes even further encouraging her lover to waste her time tonight. “Beautiful Mess” mutates pop rap with rock & trap telling her new man he’s crazy to think she’s perfect that is until Apollo Liberace gives the worst feature of the 2 on “Midnight in Hollywood” telling us when the spotlight looks best.

Even if the concept of “Wonderful Life” comes from a good place, the verses that Chanel lays over this jangly trap beat at certain points makes me feel like I’m listening to a cheap version of Nicki Minaj & that may or may not have been a potential reason why Lil Wayne & Birdman gave her a joint deal in the first place when I think about it. “Extra” finishes the LP with 1 more guitar-driven pop rap/trap hybrid talking about being extra out in Hollywood since she feels like she’s next up artistically.

DJ Khaled alongside Tyga & PJ Morton are the only other artists to release a full-length through Young Money/Cash Money other than Drake & Nicki during the height of the YMCMB era, but at least all 3 of them are still seeing success of their own now. California State of Mind though feels similar to former labelmate Paris Hilton’s sophomore effort Infinite Icon from last weekend in the sense that neither of them would’ve been well received from a critical or commercial standpoint. The production’s actually more decent than expected except Chanel’s songwriting & performances are lackluster.

Score: 1/5

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Toro y Moi – “Hole Erth” review

Chaz Bear or better known by his stage name Toro y Moi is a 37 year old singer/songwriter, producer & graphic designer from Columbia, South Carolina notable for being a pioneer of the chilllwave microgenre. His first 5 albums Causers of This, Underneath the Pine, Anything in Return, Michael & What For? all hold fond places in my heart since they were all released during the course of my adolescence. Boo Boo was ok & same with Outer Peace, but Mahal wound up being my favorite full-length of Chaz’ since What For? to the point where the singles ahead of his 9th LP had me intrigued as to what he was going to do.

“Walking in the Rain” starts by singing over a psychedelic trap instrumental about being back in this bitch like a bad teenager whereas “CD-R” kinda has this lo-fi quality to it keeping the hi-hats in the fold remembering the days of burning CD-Rs & having a Blackberry. “HOV” fuses rage & a hint of rock music talking about being a biodegradable energy angel prior to the pop rock, indie pop, cloud rap, alt-pop, pop punk & trap-flavored “Tuesday” laments music & other content can be predicable, repetitive or mundane in a world of algorithms & media consumption.

Benjamin Gibbard joins Chaz for “Hollywood” rolling alt-pop, cloud rap, emo rap & bedroom pop into 1 heading out to the titular city out in the west coast having no cell service stone rolling & role playing while “Reseda” featuring DUCKWRTH & Elijah Kessler goes for some punky undertones talking about a long day of living in the very city that Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) was founded. “Babydaddy” cavernously advises this woman he’s talking to that the father of her child could possibly be watching him from the side just before the chilled out “Madonna” featuring Don Toliver compares their partners to the pop icon of the same name.

“Undercurrent” featuring Don Toliver & Porches brings the synths back together so all 3 of them can ask if you can feel or hear an underlying influence & “Off Road” ironically might be my least favorite track here since he’s blatantly pulling from Travis Scott’s style too much. “Smoke” featuring Kenny Mason is this playful trap joint still adjusting with the time feeling all 4 seasons while “Heaven” goes bedroom pop talking about smoke & mirrors got you lookin’ at distractions hopin’ that it’s magic. “Starlink” ends with some dance undertones telling a bitch to get a grip on her life.

Hole Erth easily stands as the genre shapeshifter’s most unexpected & bold move to date diving headlong into cloud rap, alternative R&B, indie pop, alt-pop, emo rap, trap & pop punk. He even reclaims himself embracing the myriad sounds & eras that formed him while crashing new worlds together accomplishing the goal he set out of keeping up with the contemporary alternative listener building the themes around both angst & nostalgia.

Score: 3.5/5

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DJ Jewels – “UNDR DAWG” review

DJ Jewels is a 48 year old DJ, producer & rapper from Detroit, Michigan known for his work with some of the Motor City’s most notable hip hop acts from D12 to his Grindset cohort Fatt Father of the world famous Fat Killahz or even Obie Trice. He released his solo debut Another Conversation Peace a quarter of a century ago followed by Peep Game, Priceless & Take It or Leave It. My introduction to him though was the summer of 2010 when he produced the posthumous Proof mixtape Time a Tell recorded in 24 hours sometime before his murder, which has some of my favorite solo material from the mayor. The Best is Yet to Come has to be my favorite album from Jewels & was excited to hear his 6th LP following the 5 EPs The Movement, Who’z Dean Jones?, Fastlife Fame, Aniel & Pick 6.

The intro by Finale starts in the form of this 96 second horn-laced opener giving the finger to their competition mainstream or underground whereas “Document” by Guilty Simpson works in an opera sample matched with kicks & snares talking about fools betting that their music wouldn’t be hittin’ no more. “No Hook” by Big Tone & Denmark Vessey has a funkier vibe to the beat murdering it without the need of a chorus & after the “DJ Stripalude” interlude, “Is On Me” by DJ Truth has to be one of the weaker cuts & that’s because of the heavy auto-tuned vocals, the trap instrumental is fine.

“Drought Season 3” by Big Herk & the late MC Breed embraces the Bay Area-inspired take that the Detroit trap scene has become known for in recent memory boasting the fact they stay getting that shit prior to “Grind Season” by Grindset sampling “I’m Afraid the Masquerade’s Over” by David Porter talking about never making projects to skim through, as how it should be. “Hey Mr. DJ” by Kashia Adams goes R&B singing over a funky instrumental that she wants to dance leading into the trap-inflicted “Gettin’ Off” by Dean Jones & Tae-O only knowing to run shit up.

Interestingly on “Ur tha Won”, we have DJ Jewels jumping over one of his beasts to give a shot at MCing for a little over a minute & holding his own weight maintaining the trap sounds from the previous joint turning the energy up getting romantic while “Meet Mr. Wonderful” featuring Marv Won finds the 2 talking about progressively improving every single day over this jazzy soulful hybrid. “Still Love er” by Big Tone & Loe Louis starts the other half of UNDR DAWG with a fresh dedication to hip hop culture & the sequel “1st Love (Still Love er 2)” much like “Ur tha Won” is another Jewels solo joint instead it has a boom bap vibe to it.

“Pretty Girl Anthem” by DJ Truth happens to be an average pop rap/trap crossover dedicated to all the pretty women that be out here in Detroit just before “Thankful4U2” by Jill Govan goes off with another R&B joint that’s as catchy as “Hey Mr. DJ” from earlier. “Grow More” by Big Tone goes for a groovier approach instrumentally suggesting to watch what you feed your conscious mind & tell him the haters vamonos, but then “Cheat Code” is a 3rd solo cut from DJ Jewels chopping up a soul sample throwing 808s in the fold repping Grindset.

Picking up from the previous track perfectly, Grindset returns to the boom bap on “How Dat Sound?” talking about driving off on people who don’t value their hard work while “Heat tha Summer Up” happens to be the final Jewels solo cut jumping over another Detroit trap beat similarly to “Cheat Code” & “Ur tha Won” heading to the top without runner-ups. “Go Mode 2” by Grindset & Oba Rowland decently remixes to the same song off Grindset’s eponymous debut while “Live 4 Me” by Alius Pnukkl discusses needing time to get through things.

Almost all of the EPs that DJ Jewels has been putting out in the last 5 years other than Who’z Dean Jones? if you think about it have been finding him venturing out into house music before even Beyoncé & even Drake put out Renaissance or Honestly, Nevermind. As for UNDR DAWG, I love it as much as The Best is Yet to Come. His production here could be his most versatile pinging between boom bap, Detroit trap & R&B leaving most of the performances to a list of established & up-&-coming local artists aside from the 4 solo tracks.

Score: 4/5

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Paris Hilton – “Infinite Icon” review

Paris Hilton is a 43 year old media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, singer, actress & DJ from New York notable for being the granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. She’s had numerous reality TV shows in the last couple decades, put out a full-length debut studio album Paris through Warner Records & shortly after was instrumental in helping launch the career of Kim Kardashian. There was even a point in time where she temporarily signed to Cash Money Records during the height of YMCMB’s popularity & is returning to the music scene for a sophomore effort.

“Welcome Back” is an electropop opener singing about her return to music after nearly 2 decades whereas “I’m Free” featuring Rina Sawayama fuses dance-pop, nu-disco, contemporary R&B French house & Brazilian bass tackling the theme of doing whatever they want with their lives. “Chasin’” featuring Meghan Trainor garishly mutates dance-pop, tropical house, afrobeats, dancehall, contemporary R&B & moombahton givin’ up on their exes prior to “B.B.A. (Bad Bitch Academy)” featuring Megan Thee Stallion obnoxiously crosses over dance-pop & hip hop schooling the baddies.

Sia joins Paris for the alt-pop, synthpop & electropop duet “Fame Won’t Love You” talking about fame not caring for people as much as a parent would leading into “ADHD” calling the neurodevelopmental disorder her superpower over dense, layered & compressed production usually coupled with a distinct fuzzy & warm low-frequency synthesizer style. “Legacy” draws inspiration from dance-pop again singing about making history with her current husband Carter Reum, but then “Stay Young” is this poppy house hybrid seeking eternal youth.

“Infinity” gets back on the electropop tip to sing about Carter’s love for her being heaven sent stopping the world when he put her over everything else while “If the Earth is Spinning” featuring Sia goes synthpop dancing within the Earth spinnin’ since it’s a new beginning. “Without Love” featuring Maria Becerra nears the end of the LP with a house-pop duet not wanting to live without love & “Adored” is an electropop closer expressing the feeling of adoration.

One of the things that I personally have always appreciated about Paris was Scott Storch’s half of the production on there since The Roots’ original keyboardist & former Aftermath Entertainment in-house producer’s extraordinary talent remains undeniable. For the follow-up, I like it less than the debut. Even if dance-pop & electropop vibes from the debut remain in tact except the contemporary R&B & pop rock undertones are swapped out in favor of synthpop & house pop, Paris’ vocals still haven’t improved whatsoever in nearly 2 decades.

Score: 1/5

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