Tag: Demrick

Serial Killers – “This Thing of Ours” review

The Serial Killers are a west coast supergroup consisting of B-Real, Demrick & Xzibit. Joining forces on Halloween 2013 by dropping an eponymous debut mixtape under Open Bar Entertainment, they would go on to follow it up a couple years later with The Murder Show & followed it up with the Day of the Dead extended play. Their debut album Summer of Sam would come out in the fall of 2020 despite its title getting more political than the trio’s earlier output, reuniting to have Scoop DeVille produce the sophomore effort.

“SK Anthem” sets the tone with this grisly boom bap intro spitting the kind of raps that’ll make you wanna punch someone in the face whereas the title track aggressively talks about the trio building a circle of trust together. “Call the Cops” gives off an old school hardcore vibe dropping bars that’ll make people snitch to the Feds leading into the horn-infused “Fired Up” advising against people trying their luck because each of them being vexed.

Moving on from there, “Levels” talks about improving oneself if anybody’s striving to reach the top just before “Hand Grenade” goes full rap rock so they can end the 1st leg boasting that they can walk through Hellfire & communicate with the dead. “High Energy” continues the 2nd leg of the album talking about life being this much of a trip & time being money while “Anarchy” encourages those listening to start promoting the strength we have instead of that other bullshit.

“Slippin’” nears This Thing of Ours’ conclusion incorporating some strings talking about keeping an eye out for the other side & not letting them catch you fuckin’ up while “By Any Means” speaks of constantly staying more solid than the concrete & representing the west coast. “We’re the Killers” finishes up the album with this ghostly boom bap outro talking about fearing no man & the lyricism of each member proving to be more deadly than fentanyl.

Summer of Sam to me was a lot enjoyable than The Murder Show or Day of the Dead were, but the Serial Killers return a little over halfway through the 2020s with Scoop DeVille behind the boards to make This Thing of Ours the greatest LP of their entire existence. Scoop’s production hits harder top to bottom as opposed to the predecessor having a couple lackluster moments instrumentally & I like that they refrained from having any guest appearances to focus more on their synergies.

Score: 4/5

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Stoney Point – “Stoney Point 4” review

Stoney Point is an MC/producer duo from Los Angeles, California consisting of Demrick & DJ Hoppa. One of whom came to my attention after linking up with Ca$his who was on Shady Records at the time for a collab mixtape called Homeland Security & the other for being a former in-house producer for Funk Volume up until the label tragically imploded on itself. They first teamed up as Stoney Point for a self-titled debut in 2015 followed by the 2018 sequel & the 2021 trilogy chapter. Another 3 years later, they’re continuing the tradition releasing their 4th album together almost a decade after the eponymous debut.

Starting us off, “Keep Moving” hops over a piano/boom bap instrumental to admit that a lot’s changed in Demrick’s life over the course of the last year & striving to push forward whereas the psychedelic “Golden” works in more kicks & snares to talk about doing just fine these days. “Look for the Smoke” has a jazzier flare to the beat knowing it’s time to re-up when the bag’s starting to feel light just before “Taking Chances” lavishly talks about being careful for what he wishes for reflecting on simpler days.

“Nothing Stays the Same” picks up further from there with it’s symphonic boom bap production discussing that change is always constant leading into “That’s How It Goes” featuring Kail Problems with co-production from Moo Latte fuses acoustics with kicks & snares so they can set the trends instead of following them. “What’s Left of Me” soulfully talks about being giving a duck less what they think of him after going through a lot, but then “Safety Pins & Soda Cans” jazzily admits to doing drugs as much as the common man.

“Hotbox the Room” marks an eerier approach to the beat asking who got the weed & shrooms while the piano-driven “Keep Building” talks about taking it day by day & brick by brick so you can build up to what you want in life stacking higher than the ceiling. “Forever Faded” brings the keys, kicks & snares back to stay lifted all day every day while “The Recipe” has the LP’s best feature from K.A.A.N. over a soul sample never letting the game get the best of them.

Beginning the 4th quarter, “About a Bag” instrumentally feels reminiscent to Zapp explaining that’s exactly what it’s gotta be this day in age while “MVP” refers to himself as the Most Valuable Poet” over an orchestral boom bap beat. The penultimate track “Purple Peak in the Air” has a classy trap vibe generally getting higher than a bitch up in the slot & lastly, “The Plan” ends the album doing everything he can while he’s still here.

DJ Hoppa’s just produced Kail Problems & Marley B.’s latest collab EP Shot Clock from a few weeks ago, but the 4th installment of the Stoney Point saga sure enough joins Delusions of Grandeur back from May in being another consistently great project in the Broken Complex canon this year. The production varies from boom bap to trap, jazz rap, soul music, classical, pianos & acoustics providing the soundscape for De to put a current twist to the duo’s titular lifestyle.

Score: 4/5

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