Cardi B – “Am I the Drama?” review

The sophomore effort from New York City rapper, actress, the hostess of the Endeavor owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s SummerSlam XXXVIII last month Cardi B has seen the light of day. Signing to Atlantic Records in early 2017 off both the Gangsta Bitch Music tapes, neither those or her full-length studio debut Invasion of Privacy would win me over on her musically although her success certainly can’t be denied. Her ex-husband Offset formerly of the Migos released the introspective Kiari last month & wants to ask Am I the Drama? the weekend after the current WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio ended former The Crash Pesocompleto Campeon El Hijo del Vikingo’s 2nd reign as AAA Mega Campeon at Worlds Collide V promoted with the WWE’s newly acquired Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) subsidiary to win his 1st world championship & Terence Crawford taking the undisputed super middleweight titles off of Canelo Álvarez during TKO’s newest division Zuffa Boxing’s inaugural event.

“Dead” starts Cardi’s return with a cinematic trap instrumental talking about wanting all these hating bitches 6 feet deep in the ground whereas “Hello” boastfully finds herself geekin’ out & turning up at the party. “Magnet” produced by Pooh Beatz simultaneously takes a few jabs at Offset alongside a horrid dig towards Lil Uzi Vert & JT while the tropical “Pick It Up” featuring Selena Gomez compares the love they have for their current partners to a drug.

The way “Imaginary Players” by JAY-Z gets sampled during the boom bap/g-funk single “Imaginary Playerz” is ok although the celebratory verses are merely average to me leading into the bilingual “Bodega Baddie” talking about the borough that made her. “Salute” hops over a TM88 beat to give props to the real bitches that have her back just before “Safe” featuring Kehlani dedicates itself to Stefon Diggs.

“Man of Your Word” atmospherically delves deeper into Cardi’s divorce from Offset as does the bittersweet “What’s Goin’ On?”, except the latter goes for a bounce vibe & the AI Lizzo feature was unnecessary. “Shower Tears” blends cloud rap & trap to talk about Offset cheating on her while “Outside” takes further shots at her ex-husband over a Charlie Heat instrumental borrowing from the Detroit sound & bounce.

As for “Pretty & Petty”, we have Cardi B responding to BIA dissing her on “Sue Me?” over a west coast-tinged beat while “Better Than You” featuring Cash Cobain taps in with FNZ & Vinylz to spit braggadocio together. “Funny How Time Flies (When You’re Having Fun)” by Janet Jackson gets sampled for the sultry “On My Back” showing an R&B influence while “Errtime” featuring Jeezy & Latto on the remix talks about being the baddest.

“Check Please” speaks of wanting more money than problems in 2025 while “Principal” butchers “The Pleasure Principle”, which has actually been one of my all-time favorite Janet Jackson songs for as long as I can remember. “Trophies” talks about hoes being sore losers & dismisses all excuses while “Nice Guy” featuring Tyla goes Afrobeats thanks to London on da Track, Internet Money Records in-house producer Synthetic & venny portraying modern love.

The song “Killin’ You Hoes” winds down the last several minutes of Am I the Drama? by taking aim at her detractors while the no melody “Up” caps off Cardi’s sophomore effort officially by getting cockier than the next cut. “W.A.P. (Wet Ass Pussy)” featuring Megan Thee Stallion starts the deluxe run with the controversially raunchy 2020 hit while “Don’t Do Too Much” experiments with New York Drill talking about showing ‘em how to be sexy.

An average reflection of Cardi’s success after her full-length debut can be the best said regarding “Money” while “Please Me” featuring Bruno Mars mutates contemporary R&B, pop rap, synth-funk & trap for a 2019 Valentine’s Day celebration. The superior “Press” takes shots at the media coverage around that time over a KeY Wane beat while “Bongos” featuring Megan Thee Stallion collides pop rap, dembow, zess & funk brasileiro for an underwhelming “W.A.P. (Wet Ass Pussy)” spiritual successor.

“Like What” heavily samples “She’s a Bitch” by Missy Elliott talking about being classy & intolerable at the same time while OG Parker’s dirty south-inspired instrumental on “Enough (Miami)” sticks out to me tackling themes of self-assured resilience. After the “Dear Bardi Gang” spoken word bit, the final bonus track “Hot Shit” featuring Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West & Lil Durk serves up something masculine for their blocks over a no melody Tay Keith beat.

Only 24 hours prior to Stephanie Vaquer defeating イヨ・スカイ to become the new Women’s World Champion at WWE’s inaugural main roster pay-per-view on The Walt Disney Company subsidiary ESPN Wrestlepalooza V or former AEW tbs Champion Kris Statlander becoming the new AEW Women’s World Champion at All Out VII & former AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express reuniting, the seemingly mythical follow-up to Invasion of Privacy has arrived & I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would although I’m left on the fence with it. A little too long, but the production has improved slightly & I don’t mind Cardi B’s own performances all that much outside of a few cringey lines.

Score: 2.5/5

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Skepta – “Skepta .. Fred” review

London, England, United Kingdom rapper, songwriter & producer Skepta teaming up with local producer Fred again.. for his 3rd EP. A co-founder the Boy Better Know collective, a lot of people in the state including myself didn’t hop on board with him until almost a decade ago when he dropped his 4th album Konnichiwa to critical acclaim. This was followed up a couple years back with both Ignorance is Bliss & All In being welcomed to moderate reception, but the Skepta .. Fred singles had me anticipating this much more.

“Back 2 Back” fuses grime & dubstep together so he can talk about the recognition he’s gotten throughout his career whereas “London” carries over the styles of the previous track preferring to play the villain than the victim. “Last 1s Left” turns the dubstep influences up to talk about being the last of a dying breed while the soulful “21 Years” reflects on these past couple decades. “Victory Lap” co-produced by PlaqueBoyMax ends with a nod to the local community platform of the same name.

Both teasers that we’ve gotten these past few months confirms the speculation I had regarding Skepta doing a whole EP with Fred again.. & as I would’ve thought, it reveals itself to be the most cutting edge project he’s put out since Konnichiwa celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary next spring. Fred’s production plays well into the Boy Better Know co-founder’s grime style that he helped lay out the foundation for & simultaneously places electronic dance music as a secondary influence.

Score: 4.5/5

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Protect – “500 Days of Summer” review

Buffalo, New York rapper Protect hitting us with his 3rd studio LP almost 9 months since his last one came out. Introducing himself to the trap & plugg subgenres of hip hop by releasing his full-length debut All on Me & the sophomore effort Ball Hog for Life under Atlantic Records a year earlier, the latter being significantly more well received than its predecessor & some of the producer credits throughout 500 Days of Summer garnered my interest in giving it a proper chance almost a month until fall begins.

“Think About Ya” starts with a woozy trap instrumental talking about calling his girl 1,000 times & for his young slime to pick their head up whereas the blissfully rage-inducing “Hasta La Vista” suggests to come check his swag down. “Gossip Girl” produced by Cade gives a nod to The CW’s hit teen drama of the same name while “IfUGotMe” talks about his preference of having no one around because a lack of social battery.

Moving on from there, “Count Up” brings the hypertrap influences back in effect flexing that he has a kind of swag others would kill for leading into the trippy “Jumbo” comparing himself to King Kong & talking about being on fire. Rio Leyva & Vendr of Internet Money Records both killed their shares of the beat they made for “Redeye” wanting the world to watch him blossom while “Vlad” chaotically suggests to do what his gang says.

“Sip in My Room” ends 500 Days of Summer’s first half by talking about wanting to consume lean by himself in a bedroom while “Cartoon Network” named after the Discovery Global subsidiary of the same name flexing that he’s on TV & the channel can’t be changed. “Peyton List” talks about being in love with the racks in addition to asking for his twin to not break the code while “New Jeep” shows off his new whip, taking it for a quick spin.

As for “Sly Cooper”, we have Protect talking about not needing a discount for whenever he pulls up to the club bouncin’ while “Gee Wizz!!!” finds himself continuously trappin’ & being so geeked that he can’t even feel his face. “.Tor” makes a sick reference to the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Nickelodeon series Danny Phantom while “ICU” talks about seeing the way this unnamed individual stays moving.

“Lifeline” nears the conclusion of 500 Days of Summer advising that you don’t wanna fuck with him & having demons watching him despite lying about being ok while “World is Yours” explains that a cold day in Hell is more likely than him switching up. “Betray Ya” ties up the LP with him looking to race in an open road & waking up with a smile on his face because his life at this point has been nothing short of amazing.

Gonna say this right now & I don’t give a fuck if anyone disagrees with me on it: I could definitely imagine Protect crossing paths with local underground icon, Griselda Records founder & 4th Rope founder Westside Gunn on either Heels Have Eyes II or FLYGOD is an Awesome God III since And Then You Pray for Me was West’s example of holding down trap production similarly to his Hall ‘N Nash cohort Conway the Machine & of course Benny the Butcher. Anyways, I feel like 500 Days of Summer ditched the rage & plugg aesthetics of Ball Hot for Life in favor of cloudy pop rap to result in his strongest album currently.

Score: 3.5/5

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Alex Warren – “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” review

California singer/songwriter, YouTuber & influencer Alex Warren releasing his full-length debut. Co-founding the Hype House collective of TikTokers, he would go on to sign with Atlantic Records in 2022 & teased the 2nd disc of this very LP last fall as a precursor of what we could expect to hear exactly 4 weeks after the Hype House’s disbandment. It’ll be almost 2 months since Addison Rae’s own debut Addison revealed herself to be the most musically talented of the crew & Alex looks to catch up by unveiling the full version of You’ll Be Alright, Kid.

“Eternity” was actually a decent intro culminating in adult contemporary, pop rock & pop soul singing about his father passing away when he was 9 whereas “The Outside” throws a hint of CCM in the picture asking for sign because he’s down & out of his mind. “First Time on Earth” opens up about the regret he has of holding his late mother to a perfect standard when she has her own flaws leading into the below average stomp & holler/country pop single “Bloodline” featuring Jelly Roll.

Alex’s past & memories that made him the person he is today moderately get recalled over the course of the pop rock track “Never Too Far” just before one of the worst singles of the year “Ordinary” whips up a generically corny & uninspired take on adult contemporary, stomp & holler, pop rock, pop soul & gospel. “Everything” works in some pianos to sing about feeling like he’ll lose it all if his wife Kouvr Annon leaves him just before “Getaway Car” obnoxious mutates stomp & holler with pop rock feeling like the Devil’s catching up to him.

“Who I Am” hooks up some occasional gospel choir vocals in the background with more pianos loathing in self pity wanting to know who he is in the eyes of his lover, but then “You Can’t Stop This” comes off as an overly preachy stomp & holler song about being unstoppable when the reception of his music speaks for itself. The final single “On My Mind” featuring ROSÉ was an adult contemporary stomp & holler duet that utterly fails at attempting to capture any form of chemistry between the pair to end Disc 1 while another pop soul, pop rock and stomp & holler single “Burning Down” addresses the Hype House’s demise.

Disc 2 continues with the country pop-tinged “Catch My Breath” singing about being off his head since the night he & Kouvr met on Snapchat while the open letter Alex penned to Kouvr on the day of their wedding “Carry You Home” feels ripped off from “Hey Brother” by the late Avicii swapping out it’s initial country pop & festival progressive house influences in favor or pop rock. “Troubled Waters” continues the torturous stomp & holler/pop rock mutations singing about the only thing he’s learned is that love leaves him while “Heaven Without You” promises he’ll have Kouvr’s heart in every lifetime.

“Before You Leave Me” makes another mediocre attempt at a stomp & holler/pop rock single singing about the concept of 2nd chances while “Save You a Seat” tries to go in an indie folk direction for a tribute to his parents. “Chasing Shadows” bites Lewis Capaldi a little finding himself missing his deceased mother & father while “Yard Sale” uses the concept of garage sales as a weak metaphor for letting go. You’ll Be Alright, Kid‘s title track puts an end to Alex’s debut by looking back on his 12 year old self wishing he knew back then everything would be alright.

Justin Bieber & Benson Boone both being named amongst Alex Warren’s biggest musical influences makes the most sense in the context of You’ll Be Alright, Kid being an equally unlistenable album as American Heart was a month ago & Swag surpassing them both by only a slight margin. It’s conceptually reminiscent of Chance the Rapper’s debut The Big Day with an adult contemporary stomp & holler twist, but the songwriting & vocals are more grating.

Score: 1/5

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Benji Blue Bills – “Out the Blue” review

Atlanta, Georgia gangsta rapper Benji Blue Bills recruiting Working on Dying member BNYX to produce his 3rd EP. Introducing himself in 2018 off his debut EP Before the Storm, his last EP Blue saw him taking 3 years off only to return for the full-length debut Campaign Blue & a sophomore effort 500k Degrees showing significant growth compared to his earlier material. BNYX has undeniably become an in-demand producer of this decade & hearing him behind the boards throughout the duration of Benji’s official Atlantic Records debut Out the Blue had a lot of promising potential.

“I Wonder” co-produced by BNYX’s brother BEAUTIFULMVN starts with a soulful trap vibe instrumentally talking about the hunger that’s always been inside him finally coming out whereas “1-2 Step” heavily samples “1, 2 Step” by Ciara & Missy Elliott explaining that murder dancing is legitimately the only thing he knows how to do. “Feels CoreCore” heads towards a calmer, cloudier trap direction relating to what it’s like to lose a bitch leading into the rage-inducing “Morgan” finding himself going crazy.

Moving on from there, “Taco Shells” has to be my least favorite track if I had to pick one mainly due to it being one of the more repetitive moments lyrically just before the futuristically bell-woven “All the Way” talks about everything falling in place. “Aye Rage” gives new jazz a shot so he can throw shade towards jace! & “Right Key” gets on his pluggnb bag for a brief minute keeping his heart in a safe. “Down Girl” featuring Duki rounds out the EP with a bilingual romance duet doing anything if one or the other is down.

His name has come up on my radar a few times in the current decade because of his ties with DJ Phat or singles like “I’m Right Here”, but BNYX really locks in with 3B on Out the Blue enough where I can call it the greatest body of work the latter has ever conceived. BNYX’s production backs 3B’s gangsta heavy themes channeling the sounds of chipmunk soul, trap, pluggnb, rage & new jazz elevating the Atlanta artist’s whole style to coincide with his major label deal.

Score: 4/5

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Shoreline Mafia – “Back in Bidness” review

The Shoreline Mafia are a Los Angeles, California duo now consisting of Ohgeesy & Fenix Flexin’. Originally a quartet, their debut mixtape ShorelineDoThatShit resulted in them signing to Atlantic Records for their next couple tapes & EPs as well as a full length studio debut. They would temporarily disband following Mafia Bidness so its members could pursue their solo careers, reuniting with half its members in 2023 & returning to Atlantic in tandem with 300 Entertainment for a sophomore effort.

The title track fuses hyphy & trap to get the ball rollin’ talking about their return whereas “Touch Down” puts a bigger emphasis on hyphy thanks to DJ Snake including a reference to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy on the Discovery Global-owned Cartoon Network. “Back 2 Back” morbidly demands to know where the cabbage at & showing ‘em the money just before the ratchet “Too Often” talks about not fucking with broke bitches at all.

“Watch That Hoe” blends trap & hyphy once more advising for everyone to stay on their toes leading into “Broski” swaps out the hyphy influences in favor of Mobb music asking what you’re in the game for if you ain’t even tryna do it. “No Makeup” vibrantly references former IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン as well as a 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion in both TKO Group Holdings divisions Brock Lesnar while “Fast & Furious” gets back with DJ Snake for another hyphy heater.

As for “Rubbaband Man”, we have the Shoreline Mafia going for a nervous direction paying homage to T.I.’s most popular single while “Shoreline Twins” homages the Ying Yang Twins down to Mr. Collipark handling the co-production. “Work of Art” feels like a bit of a traffic music/g-funk crossover asking what the salary of these women are since they belong in galleries & want them by their sides, but then “Yoga & Pilates” shouts out all the bitches who do those 2 things.

“Go for Me” gets the final leg of Back in Bidness started by throwing guns in the building taking shots at everyone who be acting like they got cash & don’t actually show it while “Tusi” talks about a follow-up being guaranteed if it’s really beef with them. “Set the Record Straight” cautions that you have to have a resume in order to be near their presence while the gospel flip DJ Paul & TWhy use on “Top Notch” saves the best beat for last talking about still being high quality after 5 years off.

Returning stronger than ever, Back in Bidness is a testament to the Shoreline Mafia’s brotherhood & proving that time apart hasn’t dulled their signature sound. From the hard-hitting production reclaiming the throne of the nervous scene following Drakeo the Ruler’s murder to unfiltered lyrics, Ohgeesy & Fenix Flexin’ team up for a triumphant homecoming for the group that helped define a generation of underground rap.

Score: 4/5

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FKA twigs – “Eusexua” review

FKA twigs is a 37 year old singer/songwriter & dancer from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom notable in the art pop scene for her XL Recordings subsidiary Young Recordings debut EP2 after her eponymous debut EP along with her full-length debut LP1 & her 3rd EP M3LL155X. Her sophomore effort Magdalene was also acclaimed with many saying it’s better than LP1 & the same goes with her Atlantic Records-backed debut mixtape Caprisongs, heading into Eusexua maintaining the classic caliber of both it’s predecessors.

The title track produced by Koreless brings together trance, art pop, progressive trance, melodic techno, ambient techno & minimal techno describing a feeling of momentary transcendence whereas “Girl Feels Good” desires men to listen to the passion of women unashamedly displaying the power women hold. “Perfect Stranger” works in elements of 2-Step, dance-pop, Euro house, alt-pop & future garage content with living with some mystery while “Drums of Death” with deconstructed club, UK bass, glitch pop, IDM, alternative R&B & glitch sings about you being her main character in your life.

“Room of Fools” sees her tempt the idea of love against this room of fools dances without a care of the real ongoings of the world while “Sticky” finds herself in the aptly titled kind of situations over & over again in attempts to express herself sexually since deep down she knows it’s a punishing cycle, but yet she can’t let go. “Keep It, Hold It” admits to feeling like wanting to turn the other way sometimes asking what she has to do & so just before the Jeff Bhasker co-produced “Childlike Things” featuring one of my top 10 producers Kanye West’s eldest daughter North West both going where the wild things are & North performing in Japanese better than she did “Bomb” off Vultures 2.

Meanwhile on “Striptease”, we have FKA twigs reaching the encore of Eusexua by singing on top of this angelic trap beat that Dog Show Records founder Dylan Brady of the hyperpop duo 100 gecs helped put together additionally while “24hr Dog” feels herself becoming a so-called full time ‘slave’ for her partner resolving herself as to being a domesticated ‘dog’ for them in addition to their demands & wishes. “Wanderlust” ends the album telling her love to find her even if she is ‘lost’ in the immaterial lusting for the endless voyage that both life & death have to offer.

“The 11” starts the deluxe run describing a method she developed by encouraging conscious action on repeat for the mind & body via spoken word while the vocal trance, dance-pop, hard techno, progressive house, progressive trance, UK hard house & peak time techno single “Perfectly” sings about times things were messy for her yet doing it so well. “The Dare” seems like a cross between Madonna’s late 90s output & Dido knocking at this guy’s door daring him to forgive her & after “Gotta Feel” sings of her desires to be bathed in forgiveness & trust, the final bonus track “Lonely But Exciting Road” opens up regarding her belief of heaven possibly coming her way.

Inspired by a night in the summer of 2022 where FKA twigs found her way outside the city to a warehouse rave where hundreds of strangers were dancing to loud immersive techno, her first album in 6 years is more a love letter to dance music’s emancipating powers due to her channeling through the auteur’s heady, haunting signature style. The production shows influences of electronic dance music, art pop, trance music, dance-pop, alternative R&B, downtempo, deconstructed club, UK bass, glitch pop, IDM, glitch music, 2-Step, Euro house, alt-pop & future garage, progressive trance music, melodic techno, ambient techno & minimal techno providing greater understanding to the term she created herself defined as a state of being.

Score: 4.5/5

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OsamaSon – “Jumpout” review

This is the 3rd full-length studio LP from Charleston, South Carolina up-&-comer OsamaSon. Starting a few years ago, he would then start to pump out 3 EPs shortly after I’m da Man as well as Vengeance & Carnival respectively. He returned at the beginning of 2023 by dropping osamavrt, following it up this past spring in the form of slime & Bad Habits. Osama’s debut Osama Season & the follow-up Flex Musix increased his profile as did the 3vil Reflection collab EP with Glokk40Spaz last spring, but he’s now ready to Jumpout after some delays.

“Southside” gets the album rollin’ by talking about everyone being mad at all the racks he’s made in the past year & a half over these synth-horns from Ok whereas the quasi-rage inducing “Fool” celebrates all the wins that he’s continuing to experience. “GTFO Out the Room” tells everyone to clear out proving that he can very much rock out too while “Made Sum Plans” asks his girl to talk to him since he off that drank.

Meanwhile on “Break da News”, we have OsamaSon bombastically flexes that his shooters don’t ever miss leading into “Room 156” maintains the hypertrap vibes to talk about not knowing if you never try to go. The title track produced by gyro reminds everyone that he’s not a new artist since he’s been around for a few years at this point just before “Going Dumbo” talks about going stupid.

“She Needs a Ride” completes the first half of Jumpout boasting himself waking up stoned off that good weed while “New Tune” talks about hittin’ licks dressed up in an outfit that cost him approximately $300K. “Waffle House” stands up for nonbinary rights since his bitch “don’t by no pronouns”, but then “I Got the Fye” shows how turnt up he’s been these days.

The classy trap direction of “Insta” is something that I really found myself enjoying talking about a girl he met on the Meta Platforms-owned Instagram app coinciding with it’s founder Mark Zuckerberg showing us his true shtoile on Monday while “Frontin’” gets back on the rage beats addressing an individual who be cappin’ suggesting they ain’t got shit to hide. “Mufasa” reaches the encore of the LP feelin’ like The Lion King’s antagonist while “Ref” talks about having more stripes on his chest than a referee.

“The Whole World’s Free” captures the artist’s message of liberation & personal empowerment amid the complexities of relationships & material pursuits while “Round of Applause” encourages everyone to pull-up & have fun. “Logo” starts a brief deluxe run talking about being that muhfucka tryna get his stats bigger & the final bonus track “Luv” shows off the hundreds he has in the bank posted up in the 6.

Flex Musix marked a huge breakthrough in OsamaSon’s career & he’s making up for all the pushback 8 months after 3vil Reflection became the best collab EP that he or even Glokk40 have ever cooked up in their careers by decent continuing where he left off on Jumpout. The rage-heavy production isn’t exciting as it was 13 months ago, but Lil O himself takes his intense performances higher.

Score: 3/5

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Cordae – “The Crossroads” review

This is the 3rd full-length studio LP from Suitland, Maryland emcee Cordae formerly of the YBN collective. The first time I heard him was “Old N****s”, an immensely well written response to “1985” off of J. Cole’s 5th album KOD. That single alone earned Cordae a HUGE co-sign from none other than Dr. Dre as well as a deal with Atlantic Records, where he put out a potential showing debut The Lost Boy the following summer right after his 2019 XXL Freshman Class placement. Just Until….. became a solid prelude to From a Bird’s Eye View, which received mixed feedback & Cordae himself even acknowledged it as the weakest entry of his discography. Nearly 3 years later, he’s at The Crossroads.

After the intro, the first song “‘06 Dreamin’” produced by FNZ is a soulful boom bap opener reflecting on a true story that happened when he was only 8 whereas “Back on the Road” featuring Lil Wayne takes the trap route instrumentally to talk about how we simply have to open our eyes. “Summer Drop” featuring Anderson .Paak gets back on a rawer edge courtesy of J. Cole pointing out that they don’t have any other options just before the rich “Nothing’s Promised” reminds that there isn’t anything guaranteed to us.

“Mad as Fuck” brings back the trap vibes expressing his frustration with everyone who isn’t paid enough to beef with him prior to “All Alone” sampling “A House Isn’t a Home” by Luther Vandross talking about feeling lonely even with all the success. “Never See It” fuses soul & trap getting on his pimp shit leading into “Pray” featuring Ty$ on the hook returning to the boom bap thanks to DJ Camper & Hitmaka asking if you’ll stick around once the money goes.

As for “Don’t Walk Away”, we have Cordae on a groovier beat pleading for his girlfriend of 5-years 大坂なおみ not to walk away from him while “Saturday Mornings” featuring Lil Wayne finds BoogzDaBeast flippin’ “I Really Really Love You” by Father’s Children venting over all the problems they’ve been dealing with. “No Bad News” samples “Bad News” by Kanye West thinking about this life of his, but then “Shai Afeni” serves as this open letter to his daughter drawing inspiration from chipmunk soul.

“What Really Matters” mixes trap with chipmunk soul telling listeners to put nothing over family including materialism while “Syrup Sandwiches” featuring Joey Bada$$ goes for an intoxicating atmosphere with the help of Thelonius Martin reflecting on their growth individually. “Now You Know” goes drumless for a tribute to his late grandmother & the bonus track “2 10s” featuring Anderson .Paak ends by showing off both artists’ completely different perspectives that they have when it comes to women making way for J. Cole & Dem Jointz to mix pop rap & jazz rap.

Reaching a turning point in his life, The Crossroads embodies Cordae at being the most refined version of himself as an artist by focusing on his craft & drawing inspiration from life to make sure he was putting his best foot forward. A culmination of decisions, the production’s more consistent than it was nearly 3 years ago & redeems himself from the mixed reception of From a Bird’s Eye View describing a period when every decision felt like the stakes were high for him.

Score: 4/5

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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 or the antisemitic Nazi 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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