Tag: BYLUG Entertainment

Payroll Giovanni – “Have Money, Have Heart” review

This is the very first EP from Detroit, Michigan rapper Payroll Giovanni. Notable for being a part of the Doughboyz Cashout collective, he also released a dozen solo albums with the most notable being Big Bossin’ as well as Big Bossin’ 2 & Another Day, Another Dollar all fully produced by Cardo. I was however interested in learning that Have Money, Have Heart would be entirely self-produced & felt like it could be his strongest material since Giovanni’s Way.

“Rose Annivesary” is a piano-driven Detroit trap opener encouraging to get the ball again if you fumbled it the first time prior to “Any Kit” taking the spacious route instrumentally talking about getting their shit together, huddling up & stacking their chips as a unit. “600 Benz” works in more keys & 808s flexing that his money stay hustling while “Holding Up My Line” to say fuck the attention unless it leads to business. “$10M Cribs” hooks up some synths cautioning that you’ll go too far to quit once you see his other side, but then “Cashout” ends the EP brings the synthesizers back advising that they’ll hate seeing you ball & laugh if you fall.

Living in Michigan my entire life, I’ve been following Payroll since the Doughboyz Cashout days & further exemplified himself as a legend in the Detroit trap scene ever since branching off from the crew in favor of a solo career. Have Money, Have Heart however lived up to my expectations in becoming his most consistent body of work in a few years joining the Big Bossin’ series & Another Day, Another Dollar as his most essential solo material. His production is still very much centered around the Motor City’s distinctive trap sound working out in the lab rapping without overthinking.

Score: 4/5

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

Payroll Giovanni – “Another Day, Another Dollar” review

Payroll Giovanni is a 32 year old rapper from Detroit, Michigan who came up about a decade ago as a member of the Doughboyz Cashout collective. He’s also released a total of 8 solo albums, most notable being the Cardo-produced Big Bossin’ & Big Bossin’ 2. But just a month after the 3 year anniversary of the latter, the pair are reuniting for the 4th time to put out Payroll’s 9th full-length effort.

The album kicks off with “Previously”, where Payroll recaps everything that’s happened to him in the past 3 years over a West Coast-flavored beat. The next song “It’s Around” talks about making himself a boss over a nightly instrumental while the track “Eyez Closed” talks about counting money like it’s nothing over a beat with a more Bay Area influence to it. The song “Always Hustling” talks about never slowing down over a smooth instrumental while the track “Mob $hit” with Larry June sees the 2 talking about what they be on over a ritzy beat.

The song “Everyday” talks about grinding nonstop over a straight up g-funk instrumental while the track “Make It Look Easy” talks about going from rags to riches over a delicate beat. The song “Game Showed Me” talks about dudes being iffy to him over a keyboard-heavy instrumental while the penultimate track “Pay & Cardo” talks about giving the listeners what they want over an atmospheric beat. The closer “Forever Flow” then talks about how his grandma used to give him money to flip over a synth-heavy beat.

Payroll always puts out his best material whenever he hooks up with Cardo & this is a great follow-up to Big Bossin’ 2. I really dig how both parties took it back to the 90’s West Coast gangsta rap era from the overall sound of the album to the lyrics & for those who aren’t familiar with Payroll, it’s almost like you’d think he’s actually from Southern California.

Score: 4/5