OsamaSon – “Psykotic” review

Here is the 4th studio LP from Charleston, South Carolina star 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 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. Jumpout came out at the beginning of 2025 & he’s looking to get a bit more Psykotic.

“Habits” opens with a distorted beat getting the mosh pits jumpin’ whereas “Worldwide” produced by gyro talks about the lifestyles of the rich & famous over a futuristic trap instrumental. The self-produced “Addicted” shifts back in rage territory to spit braggadocio while “Get Away” takes a more melodic approach so he can talk about never falling short like his competition are.

The Halloween vibes of “Maag Dump” are absolutely perfect with the holiday coming in 3 weeks flexing that his lil shooter hits shit for fun just before the chaotic “T193” references the late WWE Hall of Famer Paul Bearer. “FMJ” featuring che reunites the 2 & CXO nearly 3 months after “Hellraiser” for another exciting rage collaboration while the appropriately dark “Inferno” talks about being 20 when Atlantic signed him.

“She Woke Up” reaches the halfway point melodically boasting that he’s in this chick’s head rent free leading into him hyperactively making the “Function” jump to start the 2nd leg. “In It” gives off a more colorful rage mood tackling the theme of love & that same peppiness can be applied to “Yea I Kno” except he’s talking about his success.

gyro samples “Shirt Off” by Gucci Mane, Frenchie, OJ da Juiceman & Wooh da Kid during the chaotic “What’s Happening” & Lil O saving one of Psykotic’s best flows for his sole verse while “It’s a Party” talks about being fresh like every day his last & once “Gintama” homages the baby voice Playboi Carti used during the late 2010s, “Guap Man” takes almost 3 minutes to boast his wealth until the celebratory “Victory Lap”.

Joining the ranks of che’s newest album Rest in Bass or the recent Lucy Bedroque mixtape Unmusique & of course the new Jane Remover album Revengeseekerz, Psykotic in due time will certainly be regarded as the greatest work of OsamaSon’s entire career & amongst the most essential rage listenings of this ongoing decade from the mainly hardcore lyricism to the production’s undertones of experimental hip hop, industrial hip hop & trap.

Score: /5

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Young Thug – “UY SCUTI” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper & singer/songwriter Young Thug releasing his 4th studio LP fresh off a series of controversial jail phone calls being leaked. Proving himself to have impacted the modern sound of trap music whether some heads like him or not, he has achieved this by dropping classic mixtapes like Barter 6 & JEFFERY or starting up his 300 Entertainment imprint YSL Records & even the clothing line SP5DER. He made his full-length debut So Much Fun in 2019 executive produced by J. Cole & was one of the best trap projects of that year, but the 2021 sophomore effort P*nk received mixed reviews although I thought it was still solid although not as good as the debut & Business is Business felt like the closest we’ll get to a Metro Thuggin’ project for now. Approximately a month following his now ex-girlfriend Mariah the Scientist’s most important offering of her career Hearts Sold Separately, the Atlanta trap trailblazer has finally made up for UY SCUTI’s delays.

“Ninja” produced by Southside & Dez Wright starts with a surprisingly exciting trap intro derailed by dropping the hard R whereas “Yuck” featuring Ken Carson teams up over a Taurus instrumental to discuss shit getting lit. “On the News” featuring Cardi B finds the pair on top of a London on da Track beat to ask what it feels like seeing their faces on the television while “Catch Me I’m Falling” recalls meeting with Brian Steel when incarcerated.

Metro Thuggin’ reunites for “Fucking Told U” to talk about their respective lifestyles just before “Whoopty Doo” hilariously pokes fun at his interview on the Perspektives podcast earlier this month with Wheezy. “Blaming Jesus” has one of my least favorite instrumentals on the album despite the theme of needing real love & pleading that it’s not a phase prior to “Sad Slime” talking about his falling out with Gunna.

“R.I.P. Big & Mack” featuring T.I. unites both trap pioneers of their own generations for a historic Atlanta moment remembering the late Lil Keed who Thug wishes he cherished more than some of the other former artists on YSL while “Invest Into You” by Metro Thuggin’ goes pop rap/trap to talk about investing into Mariah & vice versa. “I’m So Dope” boisterously boasts of his legacy within the subgenre of trap while “Pardon My Back” featuring Lil Baby starts the 2nd half dropping braggadocio.

Sexyy Red joins Thug on “Mami” for a fun strip club banger while “Whaddup Jesus” featuring YFN Lucci squashes the beef between the 2 with an average collaboration over a synth-heavy TM88 beat. “Walk Down” featuring 21 Savage unites both local trap stars over a trap instrumental with some bells to rep their own sets while “Pipe Down” by Cactus Slatt locks in with Metro Boomin’ talking about nobody being richer than them.

“Spider or Jeffery” featuring Quavo lets their lovers know the 2 names that they prefer them to call them by whilst praising God for allowing them to beat the corrupt system while “Revenge” featuring Lil Gotit & 1300SAINT unites the trio to seek pure vengeance.“Money on Money” featuring Future talks about loyalty to their individuals circles & disdain for snitches while “Dreams Rarely Do Come True” featuring Mariah the Scientist is a 2-parter humorously comparing him crying to Gunna snitching to crying over a bitch.

The final single “Miss My Dogs” ends with an apology to everyone addressed in the leaked jail calls while the country trap hybrid “By the Police” starts the deluxe run throwing it back to the Beautiful Thugger Girls era. “Pussy Smell Like This” asks if any younger artist is shinin’ the way he is while “All Your Time” leans heavier towards the pop rap style with lustful lyrics. “Safe” with Leon Thomas III tackles his insecurities that his reputation overshadows while “I Put A” featuring the late Lil Keed talks about these rap dudes not being his kind over a Mike WiLL-Made It beat.

“Rosetta Stone” appreciably takes its cues from the Beautiful Thugger Girls days again although the “fuck that lil’ 13” line made me cringe while “Yes You Can” suggests to let others take his style as long as they ain’t taking his life. “Fighting Depression” happens to be a P*nk outtake that ATL Jacob cooked up talking about feeling superb yet trying to fight for something that he feels deserving of while “It’s Ok to Cry” remembers his late homie who passed away in 2020. “Spit in My Mouth” talks about getting freaky with a Japanese woman in bed & the final bonus track “Birthday Boy” featuring Mariah the Scientist reunites with each other 1 last time for an R&B/pop rap duet seeking trust.

Taking into consideration that this is the first proper solo effort from Young Thug since P*nk because Metro Boomin’ produced 60% of Business is Business over 2 years ago, all the controversy surrounding the YSL founder a few weeks ago had me a bit worried regarding the final product of UY SCUTI. However, I actually enjoyed his final project under 300 Entertainment & Atlantic Records a lot more than P*nk excluding Business is Business & would easily put it above The Last Wun. It’s exciting to hear him with other producers on Metro’s level & Thugger’s more introspective since coming home.

Score: 4/5

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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 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 Dylan Brady 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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