Tag: Brown Bag Money

Daniel Son – “Shattered Glass” review

Pretty sure this has to be the 7th EP from Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee Daniel Son. A member of the Brown Bag Money collective, his profile began to rapidly increase in the underground off projects like the Giallo Point-produced debut mixtape The Gunners or the Futurewave-produced sophomore album Yenaldooshi. He also teamed up with Raz Fresco for the spectacular collab album Northside paying homage to the roots of the Toronto hip hop scene & a few months after reuniting with Futurewave for the first time since Son Tzu & the Wav.God on Bushman Bodega & the Finn-produced Hare Brained Schemes a few months later. Almost a whole year since Baggage Claims though, he & Futurewave are running it back for Shattered Glass a week after Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP) founder Scott D’Amore crowned The Good Brothers as the inaugural & shortest reigning MLP Canadian Tag Team Champions.

“Old Starter Kit” hops over a drumless jazz loop to talk about doing this shit for his own legacy’s sake whereas “Lil Earl” instrumentally goes for a boom bap vibe so he can discuss cookin’ ‘em all in the same pot. “Shipping Container” has this lo-fi quality to the beat talking about ordering more if you want to pay less prior to “Ticket Sales” featuring Asun Eastwood teaming up so bottom of them can discuss making any money rather than not bringing any in at all.

Moving on from there, “Bear Steaks” strips the drums to talk about making it out of the storm & finding his own directions while “Kolors on Queen” continues to embrace a lo-fi boom bap sound speaking of keeping his head on a swivel during his late night strolls. “Ocean Smock” featuring Sayzee finds the 2 joining forces to talk about the recoil from their firearms making shoulders pop while “Shotgun Draw” clarifies to those who were sending shots at him that they wound up completely missing.

“Broke Routine” winds down Shattered Glass’ final moments observing that some not being built to take any fall while “Late for Dinner” talks about seeing a ghost rockin’ in the hallway making noises every day of the week. “Hogwash” goes drumless again so he can express his belief of the musical oversaturation getting out of control & after “Bow Flesh” prays for chaos to balance his good days, the outro “All My Dice” finishes by talking about his future looking brighter than his past.

Taking the foundation of Soundwave & approaching it in his own way, Daniel Son builds on the energy of the beats & pushes it into something new with Shattered Glass after what had initially started as a simple idea quickly turned into something else with it’s completely separate identity. The transitions & pacing, are chaotic in the best way possible, but it never loses direction by maintaining the intentionally raw & unpredictable feeling.

Score: 3.5/5

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Asun Eastwood – “The S.O.U.L. (Science Of Understanding Life)” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee Asun Eastwood. Coming up as part of the Brown Bag Money collective, he eventually broke out solo in 2017 off his debut mixtape Hollywood Briggs & then a Finn-produced debut album With All Due Respect a couple years later. We were just treated to P.I.M.P. (Prophecy Is My Present) a few months ago to celebrate Asun’s born day & for a follow-up, he’s reuniting with Finn for The S.O.U.L. (Science Of Understanding Life).

The title track at the start sets the tone for the album really with Asun jumping on a soul sample to talk about leaving a legacy before Ill Conscious accompanies him on the boom bap, integrity-themed “Soul Cry”. The song “Humility” with Daniel Son is short yet affective as the duo talk about never dying on top of a somewhat fuzzy instrumental whereas “Cassius Clay Fist” is a other short cut, except it’s a lot darker in sound & the reckless lyricism.

Rigz jumps on the dreary “Thrill of Victory” to help depict how exciting it is to be victorious & not only is the storytelling on “Bookey Owned the 80s” outstanding, but I also love how smooth the production is. SLNC might have the weakest feature on the album with the mafiosi “Keep It Clean”, but Flee Lord makes up for it on “.40” as he & Asun get on their gun-talk shit on top of a bass-guitar & a flute.

Meanwhile, we have Saipher Soze tagging along for the rock-influenced “Midnight Sun” to get introspective before he & Family Gang Black spit about pride & stupidity on the old western-flavored “CB4”. The song “Crown to Crown” with M.A.V. has an extravagant instrumental with the duo talking about pushing weight while the penultimate track is a gorgeous sequel to “Soul’s Mystery” off With All Due Respect. The closer “Float Away” gets back on the rock tip telling listeners to look at him now.

Despite me enjoying P.I.M.P. (Prophecy Is My Present), I’d say Asun outdid himself on The S.O.U.L. (Science Of Understanding Life). A couple of the features punched under their weight in my opinion but nonetheless, his lyricism has stepped up & Finn’s production is amongst the best he’s ever cooked up.

Score: 4/5