Willy Northpole – “Broadway Theatre” review

Willy Northpole is a 44 year old MC from Phoenix, Arizona who gained national exposure after Ludacris signed him to Disturbing tha Peace Records in 2007 distributed by Def Jam Recordings at the time releasing his debut album Tha Connect in the summer of 2009 to mixed reception & departing both labels in 2012. That said, he’s finally returning over a decade later joining Astray in becoming the first 2 artists to sign to Whitney Peyton’s independently owned Alpha Howse & releasing long-awaited sophomore album effort.

The title track is a jazzy opener talking about Willy’s return after so long whereas “Dear Young Willy” takes the soulful route instrumentally sending a message to his younger self. “OG” brings a jazz rap/trap hybrid to the table reminding everyone that he’s been around in the game prior to Bigshot’s awkward feature on “Rearrange” embracing the trap sound fully so both of them can talk about sex.

“1 Car” finishes the first half of the LP on some dreary trap shit feeling like giving up on everything just before “Blue Balls” embraces a hardcore boom bap flare delivering cutthroat lyricism for 3 & a half minutes. “Citizen” keeps it dusty brushing off the idea that he’s a gangsta, but then “Cook” featuring Whitney Peyton as well as Astray & Bag of Tricks Cat comes through with a trap-flavored Alpha Howse posse cut.

Nearing the encore of Broadway Theatre, the penultimate track “Cosmic Highway” strips the drums completely hopping over a bare loop telling us that he calls it a lil’ vacation as opposed to what our ancestors call it & “Chocolate Cholo” featuring Glasses Malone closes the album pullin’ receipts on them putting their respective cities on in a major way representing their Afro-Latin heritages over a Latin trap beat.

Him signing to Alpha Howse was said to be the best thing to ever happen in his entire career & it sure enough proves to be a sophomore joint that doesn’t try pandering to a mainstream audience much like his major label-backed debut did 15 years ago. The production is a healthy dose of boom bap, trap, drumless & jazz rap letting everyone know what he’s been up to after all this time & I last but not least enjoyed all but 1 feature performance.

Score: 3.5/5

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Astray – “Made It Out Alive” review

This is the 5th full-length LP from Detroit emcee/producer Astray. Making a name for himself at the beginning of the current millennium off a self-titled debut, he continued to follow this up with Hungry as well as Who’s Coming with Me? & my personal favorite Daydreaming at a Green Light. From there, local veteran Eminem signed him to his Interscope Records imprint Shady Records for a publishing deal up until his official departure earlier on in the year. Whitney Peyton launched her own indie label Alpha Howse after leaving Suburban Noize Records a while back & after making him one of the first 2 signees, Astray’s happy as anyone he Made It Out Alive.

“Avalanche” is a self-produced boom bap opener advising to put your eyes where they can see to put on a show for you whereas the title track has a grimier tone working in more kicks & snares expressing his gratitude for still being here today. “1 Eye Open” gives off a desponding boom bap vibe instrumentally talking about a keeping with 1 eye closed & the other open prior to “Kimbo Slice” ruggedly likening himself to the late MMA figure who fought in the both Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) & temporarily in the UFC division of the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings

Meanwhile on “Pack of Wolves”, we have the entire Alpha Howse roster coming together for a raw posse cut showcasing what they’re capable of just before “Cut Throat” returns to the boom bap thanks to Pig Pen talking about being here with a vengeance. “Breaking the Law” featuring Willy Northpole & Bag of Tricks Cat experiments with cloudy trap looking to commit some crimes leading into “Art of War” hooks the kicks & snares back up bringing it hardcore. “Lift the Sorrow” featuring Blumoon ends the album speaking from the heart about gun violence.

Being someone that’s been following Astray since the Shady publishing deal, it makes me happy to see Whitney expanding her new indie label & Made It Out Alive certainly makes the case for the Alpha Howse label growing stronger on top of looking forward to Willy Northpole’s upcoming Alpha Howse debut Broadway Theatre next month. The production’s mostly boom bap centered & the Detroit emcee expresses his gratitude for still being here today.

Score: 4/5

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Whitney Peyton – “Side Effects” review

Whitney Peyton is a 29 year old MC from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who rose to prominence in the underground by releasing 3 albums, 2 mixtapes & 4 EPs all independently. She recently signed to Burbank, California powerhouse Suburban Noize Records at the beginning of the decade with my favorite full-length of hers Alpha, going on to leave afterwards to form Alpha Howse & made her debut under the imprint The Audacity only 14 months ago. But now, she’s returning to take us in a trip for her 6th official full-length.

“Leave Me Alone” featuring Enkay47 is a woozy trap opener advising not to bother either one of them since they don’t know who to trust whereas “Make Some Room” gives off more an electronic flare instrumentally getting flirtatious on the lyrical end. “Sometimes” featuring Astray takes the cavernous route so both of them admit they have moments where they just wanna run away, but then “Make Up Ya Mind” featuring Grieves comes through with a more stripped-back approach talking about a relationship where he doesn’t want her to be herself & gets mad when she’s with other guys.

C-Lance’s boom bap production “Climber” might be my favorite beat on the whole album calling out those with no shine who want to climb to the top, but then “Takes One to Know One” delivers the worst feature from Futuristic despite the acoustic trap instrumental & the subject matter of being headcases. “Full Moon” featuring Bag of Tricks Cat works in some heavy synthesizers talking about how something don’t feel right leading into “Get It from My Mom” featuring Reverie paying tribute to their mothers with a trap metal beat from Godsynth.

The song “Into the Fire” draws closer to the end of the album by jumping on top of a moody trap instrumental encouraging everyone that’s listening to live for the moment while the penultimate track “Be Mine” returns to more pop rap turf telling her significant other to take care of themselves & that your heart has to be yours first. “Ring Around the Rosé” is a cloudy closer to tie up Whitney’s 6th album albeit 2nd under her independent imprint by declaring it doesn’t have to be the way it is anymore.

The Audacity although I didn’t enjoy it as much as Alpha still had its highlights & undeniably marked a new chapter in Whitney’s career, but I actually might like Side Effects a tad bit more than the AH debut she put out over a year ago at this point. Only a couple features that under-performed like the predecessor, except the 2 biggest differences are that the production’s better & she has a brand new confidence.

Score: 3.5/5

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Whitney Peyton – “The Audacity” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Philly emcee Whitney Peyton. Rising to prominence in the underground in 2007 & off her full-length debut The Remedy only a few years after, she would go on to release 3 albums as well as 2 mixtapes & 4 EPs all in the last 12 years. Last we heard from her was a couple months before the pandemic broke out when she dropped Alpha under Suburban Noize Records & that just further cemented her status as a force to be reckoned with. But now in light of her starting up her own label Alpha Howse, she’s returning in the form of The Audacity.

“Give It Gas” opens up the album with a suspenseful trap instrumental talking about being back in her ways whereas “Ding Dong” goes full-blown Detroit trap to deliver a party anthem. C-Mob tags along for the cloudy “Suck It Up” produced by Godsynth reminding us all how important mental health is with both MCs putting their own perspectives out there just before the Mega Ran-assisted “Don’t Even Ask” takes things into more braggadocio territory & the instrumental that Godsynth brings to the table here in comparison to the joint we heard earlier has a much more vibrant aesthetic to it.

Meanwhile on “Outta My System”, we have Whitney Peyton on top of a trap beat from C-Lance surprisingly talking about flushing an ex out leading into Reverie coming into the picture for the thunderous “Slippin’” to declare that you’ll never catch them taking Ls. “Over & Over” works in some impressive rock influences talking about being a puppet to her own emotions while the actual closer “Bad Bitch” with Melissa Marie take it back to the MySpace days in terms of sound for the ladies to go wild too. We are then treated to “On My Way to Phoenix” off of Bag of Cat Tricks’ last EP Milk & Vodka as well as the “Give It Gas” remix as bonus tracks.

I’ve been wondering for the last 2 years how Whitney would follow-up what I consider to be her finest hour & I think this new album just further proves that she’ll find great success with Alpha Howse down the line. It’s really cool to hear how every cut has it’s own different vibe & lyrically, she still sounds as hungry as she did in ‘09 when she was starting out.

Score: 3.5/5