Ransom – “The Uncomfortable Truth” review

Jersey City wordsmith Ransom dropping his 14th EP a week following its announcement. Coming up as 1/2 of the short-lived duo A-Team alongside Hitchcock, he branched out on his own in 2008 following their disbandment beginning with the full-length debut Street Cinema & the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort The Proposal. But it’s been safe to say these last couple years have been his biggest so far whether it be the 5 EPs that he put out produced by Nicholas Craven, 7 based around the 7 deadly sins, Heavy’s the Head entirely produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Rome Streetz collab album Coup de Grâce, Chaos is My Ladder, Director’s Cut 4 & Deleted Scenes 2. Lavish Misery produced by Harry Fraud was a step above Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child & MadeinTYO producing Smoke & Mirrors last summer was an exciting surprise, coming off The Reinvention produced by DJ Premier this past Halloween to confront The Uncomfortable Truth with Conductor Williams.

“Clairvoyance” ferociously breaks the gate down talking about his ability to perceive events in the future whereas “Blood Stains on Coliseum Floors” works in a crooning soul sample posing the question of why one would believe in faith when every single prophecy he’s familiar with has been ignored. The only single “Bomaye” drumlessly references the Rumble in the Jungle between George Foreman & WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali just before “Temple Run” featuring J. Arrr talks about not reaching their full potentials.

To begin the 2nd half, “Late Replies” keeps chopping up the soul samples apologizing to the love of his life for responding to her calls & texts later than he normally does leading into “The Human Animal” talks about people trying to pass batons in the midst of racing death. “Flowers & Tombstones” featuring J. Arrr reunites the pair 1 last time over a drumless beat to place blossoms on these analytics’ gravesites while “Trigger or Trigga” soulfully ends the EP talking about people falling victim to trigger works.

Wouldn’t have expected The Uncomfortable Truth to drop so soon after The Reinvention almost 3 weeks earlier but unsurprisingly, it’s another one of the greatest extended plays throughout Ransom’s whole entire catalog. Conductor Williams’ production leans heavier towards the drumless side of things contrasting Preemo’s signature boom bap sound of The Reinvention on Halloween & the lyrics are more soul baring, bringing along J. Arrr for a couple appearances instead of holding it down by himself again.

Score: 4.5/5

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Rome Streetz – “Trainspotting” review

London, England, United Kingdom born & Brooklyn, New York raised lyricist Rome Streetz enlisting Conductor Williams for his 10th studio LP. Emerging in 2016 off his debut mixtape I Been Thru Mad Shit, this was followed up by a plethora of projects with the most notable being the Noise Kandy tetralogy & Headcrack. These past couple years however we’re probably his biggest ones yet, as he dropped some of the best work of his career from the DJ Muggs-produced Death & the Magician or the Futurewave-produced Razor’s Edge to the Ransom-assisted collab effort Coup de Grâce & the Griselda Records deal that followed. His debut with the Buffalo powerhouse Kiss the Ring alongside the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced Wasn’t Built in a Day both made the top 10 spots of my last couple Best Of lists & Hatton Garden Holdup produced by Daringer became a flawless spot in my top 5 of 2024 last winter. Mass Appeal Records in the midst of their upcoming 7 album series has locked in with both GxFR acts to go Trainspotting.

“Andre Agassi” sets the tone with a gully boom bap instrumental making reference to one of the greatest tennis players of all-time whereas “M*A*S*H” homages the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned CBS sitcom of the same name holding the record for the most-watched series finale of any TV show. “Runny Nose” dustily gets in his pyrex bag talking about moving weight until “Ricky Bobby” featuring Method Man takes it’s name after the main character of the classic film Talladega Nights.

Meanwhile on “Blood in Boogers”, we have Rome running more laps around the whole game lyrically maintaining the traditional boom bap sound instrumentally while the single “Rule 4080” reiterates what A Tribe Called Quest taught everyone 3 decades ago. “Died 1,000 Times” aquatically suggests to stack more instead of spending the income quickly just before “Heartbreaker” chops up a soul sample to talk about breaking another hearts once again.

“10 Toes” featuring Jay Worthy psychedelically unites the pair to discuss their commitment to the game leading into “Connie’s Revenge” talking about putting your favorite rapper’s neck on the chopping blocks. “99 Attributes” soulfully gears up to smoke whole entire record labels comparing his bars to coke while “Joe Pesci” makes comparison to the actor & best friend of Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese classics Goodfellas, Casino & The Irishman.

The song “Electric Slide” works in a slickly drumless rap rock vibe talking about being in the best form he’s been at in his whole entire career & pushing the output in his discography to prove it, but then “Resource Room” finishes Trainspotting with a woozily jazzy reminding everyone that he’s been on for a grip & I can certainly confirm since I started reviewing him when Joyeria came out on my 23rd birthday 6 years ago already.

Verifying the reality of Rome being on the grasp of fully realizing his potential, Conductor directs the Trainspotting trip & it pushing him closer to a space where when spirited debates around “top 10 MCs lists” are being held. The Heartbreakers member’s production is heavily rooted in the boom bap sound with secondary influences of jazz rap, drumless & rap rock to make Rome’s distinct fashion of putting rhymes together the backdrop they couldn’t deserved more.

Score: 4.5/5

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Conductor Williams – “Conductor, We Have a Problem 3” review

Conductor Williams is a 42 year old producer from Kansas City, Missouri notable for being 1/3 of the Griselda Records in-house production trio The Heartbreakers. His popularity in recent memory has been growing exponentially, earning himself a chance to work with those from Drake & J. Cole to more recently REi the Imperial for his Operation: Flamethrower EP last month. This ultimately resulted in the 3rd installment of the Conductor, We Have a Problem series having guests perform on every song as opposed to previously releasing beat tapes up until this point.

After the “Modus Operandi V” intro, the first song “Paint Pictures” by Evidence uncannily starts us off talking about fitting it less the more that he does whereas “Get Away!” by Rome Streetz was a great choice of a lead single attacking their opposition for being washed. After the “Board 40” interlude, “Hell in a Hellcat” by eLZhi takes the boom bap instrumentally to talk about being an anomaly prior to the soulful “Space Heater” by Domo Genesis points out that this ain’t what they thought it’d be.

“Ecstasy” by Russ has this underwhelming, melodic delivery throughout that just kills the vibe for me personally leading into the dusty “Hold You” by Benny the Butcher & Wiz Khalifa making up for it by telling everyone who ain’t in the game to stay in the bleachers. After the “Skin” interlude, “Guilty” by Leon Thomas III shifts gears in favor of a passionate R&B ballad just before the sample-driven “Down Bad” by Bishop Nehru preludes his upcoming self-produced album Solace in Shadows later this weekend.

The penultimate track “Necessary Cherry” by Wiki pushes towards the final moments of the 3rd installment of the Conductor, We Have a Problem trilogy talking about shipping, mundane & amazing at the same time “Kent” by Elijah Hooks ends with the latter singing on top of this subdued instrumental promising his lover that he’ll be there when they call him.

Other than a couple performers who punch under their weight, this is damn near everything that I would’ve expected from Conductor Williams making a producer project. The overall sound mostly sticks with the signature hardcore boom bap aesthetics that many know him for with a hint of R&B thrown in on the side with a primarily well-curated list of artists joint him for the ride.

Score: 4/5

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REi the Imperial – “Operation: Flamethrower” review

This is the 4th EP from New Orleans, Louisiana emcee REi the Imperial. Known for his vibrant storytelling & witty lyrics, he emerged in 2009 off his debut mixtape Spaceships & Satellites followed by another tape Worst Rapper Alive & the full-length debut Rise of the Rejects roughly 8 years later. He has since followed this up with the sophomore effort Origins, his 3rd album Respect How I’m Comin’ & his first 3 EPs 1-833-DOWNBAD as well as Worst Rapper Alive 1.5 & Worst Rapper Alive 2. It’s only been 16 months since the latter & Conductor Williams is being brought in to produce Operation: Flamethrower to high anticipation.

After the “Mission Briefing” intro, the first song “Spirit of Excellence” is a psychedelically drumless opener reflecting on success going from around the corner to his pores whereas “Title Shot” soulfully talks about how you gotta keep going since you’re gonna look up & be up one day. “Panduricane” cloudily suggests Pootie Tang should be a correspondent for the Discovery Global-owned CNN leading into “Imperial vs. Bowser” dustily referencing the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s longest running flagship program Monday Night RAW on USA Network moving to Netflix in a few months alongside former ECW World Television Champion, 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 3-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, WWE United States Champion, CZW World Heavyweight Champion, MLW World Middleweight Champion, 2-time BJWジュニアヘビー級王座, 2-time BJW認定タッグ王座 & CMLL MundialPeso Semicompleto Campeon 田尻.

“Thelma Evans” chops up the soul samples again paying tribute to his romantic interest while “Baby Charmander” takes the uncanny boom bap route instrumentally likening himself to a younger version of the titular Pokémon. “Jessica Rabbit” jazzily tells her he doesn’t wanna play her since family comes first while “Sunzilla” hooks up a grungy rock flip making a reference to the current ROH World Tag Team Champion & ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion Dustin Rhodes. “Auntie Rita” featuring LG & Old Orleans ends the EP with the trio over a soulful beat talking love again.

I vividly remember this guy contacting me several years ago on Instagram & fast forward present day, he just put out the best EP of his entire career. Conductor Williams’ production is incredibly consistent top to bottom & noticeably stronger than the instrumentals on REi’s previous work, paving the way for the Reject Society leader to take his storytelling & witty bars to newer levels beyond.

Score: 4.5/5

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Boldy James – “Across the Tracks” review

Detroit veteran Boldy James linking up with Conductor Williams for his 7th EP. Breaking out in the fall of 2013 off his Alchemist produced debut M.1.C.S. (My 1st Chemistry Set). He would later go on to land a contract with Nas’ independent label Mass Appeal Records for a little while before getting locked up but once Boldy came home, Uncle Al would help get his name back out there once getting out by dropping the Boldface EP around Christmas 2019 & then the sophomore album The Price of Tea in China. This was followed up with the Sterling Toles-produced Manger on McNichols which was as equally fantastic, but the Griselda Records-backed Versace Tape EP was a tad bit disappointing given how rushed it was. Bo Jackson though would become his most critically acclaimed work to date & Super Tecmo Bo was almost as great for an EP. Fair Exchange No Robbery produced by Nicholas Craven also became an essential until Penalty of Leadership surpassed it & Mr. 10-08 produced by Futurewave is up there too, so hearing that Conductor was producing Across the Tracks sounded as thrilling of an idea on paper.

“Terms & Services” starts off with a soulful boom bap beat talking about the first brick he ever touched being the worst one whereas “All Madden” featuring Bo Jack goes for a cloudier approach instrumentally referring to themselves as the real apex predators. “Flying Trapeze Act” brings back the soul samples flexing the way his youngin’ be catching bodies leading into “The Ol’ Switcharoo” unsettlingly talking about the all-nighters giving him vertigo.

Meanwhile on “Undisputed”, we have Conductor dabbling with more of a trap sound so Boldy can remind everyone he got the right mix just before “Lamp Shade” goes drumless talking about them coming to confiscate his onions sooner than later. “St. Juliana” soulfully moves on from there staying 2 commas in & 7 figures strong, but then “Permission” featuring Double D keeps the sampling going talking about needing the ok from them to make the hit.

“Offwhite Lumberjack” nears the conclusion of Across the Tracks on some lo-fi rap rock shit acknowledging that he’s been fucked up in the head ever since they took Tonya from him later referencing the late アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座, TNA World Tag Team Champion, WCW World Television Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 7-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall prior to “Stamps in the Middle” wrapping up the EP jumping on top of victorious horns talking grey squares keeping the stamps dead in the middle of them & comparing the Cuban on his neck to that of a whole trophy made out of diamonds.

Boldy already dropped a top 10 album of 2024 in Penalty of Leadership right when it began & now he’s concluded the first half of the year by putting out an EP that’s as highly enjoyable. His lyricism is rawer than the previous LP’s personal themes & Conductor Williams’ spot as one of the most in-demand producers in hip hop today as well as the standout member of Griselda’s in-house production trio The Heartbreakers is reaffirmed demonstrating his range more.

Score: 4.5/5

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Conway the Machine – “Conductor Machine” review

Here we have the 12th EP from Buffalo emcee Conway the Machine. Blowing up in late 2015 as part of the 3 OGs of Griselda Records alongside his brother Westside Gunn & their cousin Benny the Butcher, the trio have had hip hop on lock ever since their arrival by their constant work ethic balancing quality & quality as well as vividly detailing their lives in the streets on top of boom bap production kin to that of RZA & Havoc in their music. Con’s full-length debut From King to a God was my Album of the Year for 2020 & the Shady Records-backed sophomore effort God Don’t Make Mistakes is the most personal he’s ever been. But coming off Organized Grime 2 as well as the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed & Won’t He Do It, we’re now being treated GxF in-house producer Conductor Williams of The Heartbreakers fully producing Conductor Machine.

“Blessings of the King” is a soulful opener to the EP charmingly showing off how ill & fly he is whereas “Believe Me” gives of a jazzy boom bap flare to the instrumental declaring that the real is back. “Noir” works in some pianos, kicks & snares asking what exactly it is that you want from him leading into “Higher” taking a more psychedelic route to the beat talking about shit getting spooky up in here once again.

One of the first Drumwork Music Group signees 7xvethegenius joins Con for “Flame” hoping on top of a soul sample dropping some hardcore lyricism prior to “Church Fan” featuring the label’s first recording artist Jae Skeese pulling from gospel music spitting that higher power rap with his mentor La Maquina. “Love the Lord” though ends the album with some heavy vocal chops justifiably comparing his rhymebook to national treasure.

West’s Pray for Paris sequel And Then You Pray for Me is pretty much his La Maquina, but Conductor Machine is the best thing that Con has done this year in my opinion. Conductor coming fresh off his For All the Dogs production credit further showcasing why he’s one of the biggest beatsmiths today & the performances are equally consistent.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mach-Hommy – “Dump Gawd: Triz Nathaniel” review

Mach-Hommy is a 39 year old MC from Newark, New Jersey breaking out in 2017 when he dropped his sophomore album H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor) under Griselda Records. However, he & Tha God Fahim fell out with them shortly after only to reconcile a little over a year ago & then Mach returned to the label over the spring with one of best albums of last year: Pray for Haiti. Then he followed it up a couple months back with Balens Cho but given the significance of yesterday, Mach is enlisting Conductor Williams to produce his 12th EP from top to bottom.

“Fernet-Branca” sets off the EP with Jay NiCE & Tha God Fahim accompanying Mach on top of a slowed down piano instrumental asking what you know about them while the song “Eskimo Bros.” with Your Old Droog showing an incredible back & forth chemistry over a hallucinogenic beat. The penultimate track “D’Paramountcy” works in a bass guitar as Mach goes back & forth with Fahim as well as he did with Droog, but then both MCs stick around for “Leisure Earned” which is a lavish boom bap closure bragging that they got all the styles.

I’ve been wanting Mach to drop a full project with Fahim & Droog for a minute now, but I think this is the closest thing we’ll get to that for now. Conductor Williams’ production is abstract as fuck, Mach continues to reign as the current King of New Jersey as far as lyricists from that region go & the guests mesh really well with him also.

Score: 4/5