Saigon – “Paint the World Black” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee Saigon finally releasing his 6th studio LP entirely produced by Buckwild under It Goes Up Entertainment distributed by Strange Music & Virgin Music. Breaking out in the early 2000s off his debut mixtape Da Yardfather, it wouldn’t be until 2011 when he would make his full-length debut by dropping The Greatest Story Never Told under Suburban Noize Records. The album would spawn a sequel to fulfill his contract with the Spade the following year & then a final installment on his own imprint Squid Ink Squad Records in 2014. He returned from a 6 year hiatus in 2020 by signing to It Goes Up/Strange & dropping the STREETRUNNER-produced EP 777: The Resurrection & fulfilling that deal on Pain, Peace & Prosperity the next spring. Following a quick trip back to The Jordan Era under Payday Records last spring, Da Yardfather’s linking up with Buckwild to Paint the World Black under It Goes Up Entertainment alongside Strange Music & Virgin Music.

“Yardfather Talk” after the “Over the Break” intro opens up with some horns & a guitar talking about his music being too analytic for critics while “Write Back (Hear Me Now)” after the “Dear God” skit working in some sampling to acting the exact same things he did last time. “Well Wishes” fuses gospel & boom bap talking about wanting nothing but the best for those who turned on him leading into the “Meet Raymond Riches (Fame & Riches)” skit.

We get a soul sample chopped up on “Whose 4 da Young?” providing words of wisdom to the youth & Saigon doing this music shit for them prior to the passionate “My Child” pleading God for him to let his kid grow up in the world due to the state it’s been at these past 8 months. “No Witness” featuring Benny the Butcher hooks up a dope flute sample throughout talking about being O.G.s on the lowkey while “2000Now (Crowd Go Wild) starting the 2nd half by showing us how he likes hip hop to sound.

“Toxic Love Story” blends pop rap & R&B together for a look at a relationship where he & his girl are constantly arguing with each other over & over again but after the “187.4 FM DJ Titty Toucher” intermission, “Bare Necessities” talks about his altruism contrasting the greed that these so called “ballin’” artists are so overcome by & “Dying Never Goes Outta Style” tells the story of a child running wild.

After the “Let’s Talk About Love” skit, “Any Love” winds down the last few minutes of Paint the World Black observing a whole lotta jealousy these days asking if there’s any love left in the hearts of the population & the closer is a sequel to “Yardfather Talk” talking about opportunity knocking at his door. Only for it to be Raymond Riches, who introduced himself during a skit midway through.

The Jordan Era was a big improvement over Pain, Peace & Prosperity as a love letter to the mid 80s/late 90s except Paint the World Black raises the stakes exactly how I thought he would because it moves 777: The Resurrection behind itself for the right of becoming Saigon’s best project of the 3 he has put out since signing to the It Goes Up Entertainment subsidiary of Strange Music. From the lyricism to the production, he & Buckwild are merely doing what they felt was normal to them & pulling it off excellently.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

AZ – “Truth Be Told” review

Brooklyn veteran AZ is starting the final month of 2023 by putting out his 10th full-length LP. Most notable for his longtime association with Nas being the only feature on the latter’s iconic debut album illmatic with the song “Life’s a Bitch”, he would later go to signing with EMI Records & drop a full-length of his own Doe or Die a little over a year later becoming one of the greatest mafioso hip hop albums of all time. Other standouts in his discography include Pieces of a Man, Aziatic, A.W.O.L. & The Format & more recently Doe or Die II which was a return to form for him personally. But for his 2nd album of the 2020s, he’s enlisting Buckwild from D.I.T.C. to fully produce Truth Be Told.

After the intro, the first song “Reintroduction” sets the tone of what’s to come hooking up a soul sample with kicks & snares admitting that he’s been going for this going for the game-winning shot with only a few seconds left in the 4th quarter whereas “Don’t Go Astray” goes for a bluesy/boom bap vibe talking about real ones never head off target or into any sort of wrongdoing. “One of the Greatest” works in more kicks & snares accompanied by a mellow loop rightfully calling himself that leading into “Amazing” looking back on moments in his life over a prettier instrumental.

“Still Got It” proves Sosa’s point that he hasn’t lost a step with the pen since returning to making music on top of a soulful beat just before “G.O.A.T.” goes for a sample-heavy sound talking about his greatness. The lead single “This is Why” has some rock undertones to the instrumental a bit as he looks to remain fly, but then “Go Time” featuring Pharoahe Monch brings this orchestral flip in the picture so both of them can get on their battle shit.

The penultimate track & final single that just came out last weekend “How We Get It” featuring Fat Joe takes a lavish approach musically as both of them break down the way each of them get it individually & lastly, “Respect Mine” ends Truth Be Told by bringing it raw 1-last time breaking down his legacy for the last minute & 45 seconds left of this half-hour long LP.

Some were calling me crazy because I loved Doe or Die II more than others & I still believe it’s AZ’s best since The Format due to Undeniable & Legendary not being that well received. That said: Truth Be Told matches the caliber of that previous album we got a little over 2 years ago & is his 2nd consecutive classic in this decade. Sosa manages to refine & update his style with the help of his longtime collaborator from The Bronx.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Artifacts – “No Expiration Date”

The Artifacts are a duo from Newark, New Jersey consisting of El Da Sensei & Tame 1. Their 1994 full-length debut Between a Rock & a Hard Place that just celebrated it’s 28 year anniversary last Tuesday is widely considered to be a hip hop classic & their sophomore effort That’s That in the spring of ‘97 happened to be a great follow-up also, but wouldn’t be until 2013 where they officially got back together by landing features on other artists’ projects. But with DJ Kaos prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve have decided to enlist New York producer Buckwild of D.I.T.C. behind the boards for their 3rd full-length album & their 1st in a quarter of a century.

“Ask N****s” is a stellar way to start it all with it’s piano-infused boom bap instrumental with some pianos & angelic vocals so El & Tame challenge to question anyone how they bring it from the Bronx to New Jersey whereas “The Way I Feel” has a more rawer approach to it as Sensei & Tame flex their lyrical prowesses. “Better Music” works in a soul sample acknowledging that everyone knows they be movin’ leading into the strained “Facts” talking about how they ones you gon’ call & the horn sections.

Moving on to “Come Alive”, we have the Artifacts & Big Joker boasting that they’re too fresh just before Ras Kass joining the trio for the grimy “Real Rap” telling y’all that’s exactly what you’re listening to as such. Now I totally understand where they’re coming from, but I respectfully feel the term “real hip hop” is nonexistent because music is subjective & a lot of heads I know have their own interpretations of what “real hip hop is”. A-F-R-O however comes into the picture for the crazed “Contagious” informing y’all that the format is sickening. The song “Raw Garden State” comes through with a rugged ode to their home state while the penultimate track “Take a Trip” weaves some strings in to reminisce. “3 4 the Crew” is an upbeat closer acknowledging that this was overdue.

I really had no worries going into No Expiration Date considering how great their last 2 albums are in their own rights & sure enough, we got a near-perfect comeback from the revered Jersey duo here & it’ll confidently go down as one of the best. Not just because I personally feel that El & Tame haven’t lost a step in terms of their lyricism & chemistry at all, but Buckwild reveals himself to be the perfect person for them to get behind the boards since he produced a couple of my favorite songs of theirs & brings it as raw as them.

Score: 4.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram for the best music reviews weekly!

Rasheed Chappell – “Sinners & Saints” review

Rasheed Chappell is a 44 year old MC from Passaic, New Jersey who’s been making music for a little over a decade now. He just dropped an EP produced by 38 Spesh this past spring called Ways & Means but to follow it up, Rasheed is enlisting Buckwild for his 3rd full-length album.

The opener “Tour Bus” with Che Noir & 38 Spesh finds the trio comparing Trust Gang to the Wu over a piano instrumental whereas the title track is essentially Shannell Griggs rapping from a penitentiary phone line. The song “Rock Bottom” with Ransom sees the 2 talking about the struggle over a melancholic instrumental while the track “Mass Media” takes a jab at news outlets over a boom bap beat with a sample kin to “#OkBye” off of KXNG CROOKED’s 2011 EP Million Dollar $tory.

The song “Crime & Punishment” talks about never letting down over a harp-inflicted instrumental while the track “Bredren” with Planet Asia sees the 2 flexing their prowesses over a soulful beat. The song “Dyckman” with The Musalini finds the 2 getting romantic over an instrumental with some beautiful vocal harmonies & after the “Post Game” skit, “The Blue Hood” tells the story of a corrupt cop over some demonic string sections. The penultimate track “C.E.O. Shug” talks about how “everybody can’t go” over a glistening beat & then closer “Black Owned” talks about doing it himself over a grim instrumental.

Personally, I think this is Rasheed’s finest body of work to date. The concepts that he brings to the table all come in together like an audio documentary series as Buckwild provides him with some suiting soundscapes.

Score: 3.5/5

Flee Lord – “Hand Me My Flowers” review

This is the 8th EP from Queens emcee Flee Lord. The man has proven himself as one of the most most hard-working dudes out today by constantly dropping projects like Loyalty or Death: Lord Talk, it’s superior sequel Loyalty or Death: Lord Talk 2, Gets Greater Later, Later is Now and Loyalty & Trust. He just dropped an EP with DJ Shay a month ago entitled Lucky 13 & now he’s tapping Buckwild in for Hand Me My Flowers.

After a jazzy intro, we get right into the first song “Plug Talk”. Where Flee obviously discusses dope slangin’ over a bleak instrumental. The song “Beethoven Wit a Stick” with TF sees the 2 talking about going bar for bar over an uncanny instrumental while the track “10 From This Clip” talks about reaching top dog status over an orchestral beat. The song “Can’t Fuck Wit Flee” might have the weakest beat on the entire EP despite Lord showing off his rapping prowess very well while the track “On My Deen” talks about going from selling drugs to touring over a boom bap beat with a faint string loop.

The song “Toast to My Neighbor” is full of vicious shit-talking over a boom bap beat with some horns & even though the track “Gathering My Thoughts” is only a minute long, I really enjoy how gritty it is over. The penultimate song “From the Change Jar” talks about being the people’s champ over a set of strings & then the EP finishes with “Shooter Tappin’ on Ya Window”, where Flee talks about being happy with his life now over a luxurious instrumental.

Of all the projects the dude has put out in 2020, this is easily my favorite so far. I wish he would drop something more full-length, but he maintains himself as one of New York’s dopest MCs whereas Buckwild reminds us that he’s one of the greatest producers of all-time.

Score: 4.5/5