Tag: E-40

E-40 – “Rule of Thumb” review

Vallejo, California emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, actor & Sick Wid It Records founder E-40 releasing his long-awaited 19th full-length solo LP only 4 years after his last one Practice Makes Paper. However: It’s his 27th album if you don’t count Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift & Night Shift, Revenue Retrievin’: Overtime Shift & Graveyard Shift, The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil, Vols. 1-3 & subsequently Vols. 4-6, Sharp On All 4 Corners & The D-Boy Diaries all as individual albums. Anyway some heads like to disrespect him, but he’s been putting it down for the Bay Area for over 3 decades at this point. My favorites in his catalog include In a Major Way, The Mail Man, The Element of Surprise, Charlie Hu$tle: The Blueprint of a Self Made Millionaire, My Ghetto Report Card & The Block Brochure series to name a few. He’s also a member of The Click with 3 of his blood relatives & the supergroup Mount Westmore, the latter of whom put out their debut album last winter. However after releasing 2 Curb Commentator EPs during the pandemic, 40’s making a comeback on Rule of Thumb.

“Lift It” encourages those to lift the plastic if it’s the shit over a somber hyphy instrumental from Rick Rock to start off the album whereas “AYE!” hooks up the malicious horn melodies & finger-snaps warning that the law is coming asking if you hear him. “Does That Make Sense” gets on his mobb shit speaking the real just how he feels leading into the summery “GPS” featuring Larry June talking about how maybe it‘s the g in them.

Meanwhile, “The Game” returns to a hyphy-based sound saying maybe he’s doing exactly that prior to the woodwind/trap hybrid “Bay Warren Buffet” produced by his son Droop-E flexing his entrepreneurship for 2 & a half minutes. “High End” featuring B.G. who just got out of prison with Gucci Mane & Philthy Rich brings the 2 Bay emcees & both Atlanta representatives together over some synthesizers & hi-hats from DJ Daryl boasting their first class statuses, but then “Off Dat Mob” floats over this angelic vocal sample woven into a mobb beat explaining he grew up off this shit hence the title obviously.

“Green Light” featuring B-Legit finds the cousins returning to their hyphy roots detailing that it’s on site while “Water” featuring LaRussell goes into synth territory talking about how they’ll take their way. “Show You How to Do It” featuring G5, O.T. Genasis & Zoe Osama has some of the most underwhelming guest appearances on the LP despite the synths making their way back into the picture courtesy of ProHoeZak & the subject matter of showing y’all how it’s done while “Billionaire Dreams” expresses his desire to become a billionaire over a trunk-knocking beat.

To start off the 2nd half of the album, “Pickin’ Up What I’m Puttin’ Down” keeps it hyphy reminding that you’ll drown if you can’t swim while “Lemme Go” featuring Mistah F.A.B. & Too $hort sees the 3 Bay vets aggressively declaring that they can’t be held back. “I’m Just Spazzin’ appropriately gets a glimpse of 40 spazzin’ over a futuristically bouncy instrumental while “It’s Complicated” goes into smoother turf asking what is it that people are hooked on something getting faded.

“Pressure” featuring Bosko throws it back to the 80s sonically looking to apply pressure while “Succaz” featuring Trae tha Truth explains that it’s dark, but it’s from the heart also over a solemn hyphy beat. “Get My Life Right” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again gives off a melodic trap tone looking to have their lives straightened out while “Stop Actin’ Like a Weirdo” needs no further explanation over a piano-driven instrumental.

The song “The Bay” is an off-the-wall club banger laced with the help of Hallway Productionz that you might as well leave up to him to murder while the penultimate track “Lovin’ Somebody” gets on the grown man tip from the soul-heavy production to the sensual themes. “Dose of Game” ends the album by admitting that this music feel as good as the old school stuff & telling those in need of advice to play the game for what it’s worth.

I think the last time I mainly enjoyed a new album from 40 was The Block Brochure series throughout my first half of high school, as everything else since had been average or subpar since. Needless to say: Rule of Thumb is a step in the right direction. Some spotty production & guests here & there, but it makes me happy to hear him let the features they only take up 34% of the LP so he can sound more focused than he did on some of his past recent material.

Score: 3/5

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Mount Westmore – “Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort” review

Mount Westmore is a California west coast supergroup consisting Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, E-40 & Too $hort. Each member being veterans in their hometowns of Long Beach, Inglewood, Vallejo & Oakland respectively. We never heard all 4 of them on a track together until after they formed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic & after releasing their full-length debut Bad MFs over the summer exclusively as an NFT, they’re finally putting it on streaming services 6 months later backed by MNRK Music Group & with some new cuts sprinkled into the mix.

“California” is a hyper opener produced by Rick Rock representing their home-state whereas the bouncy “Motto” lets everyone know what the maxim exactly is. “Big Subwoofer” blends hyphy with trap thanks to Kato dropping some braggadocio leading into “Too Big” pulling from snap music interestingly enough going back & forth with each other talking about just exactly how they prefer to do shit.

However with “Activated”, we have Mt. Westmore explaining that everything’s imitated rather than calculated over a g-funk instrumental just before “Have a Nice Day (Fuck You)” has a soulful boom bap quality provided by Fredwreck & Dem Jointz basically telling everyone to kiss their asses & I actually like the latter’s hook quite a bit although my only complaint is that the first verse he delivers was redundantly short. “Ghetto Gutter” brings back the hyphy courtesy of 40 Water’s son Droop-E with co-production from Ant Banks acknowledging that it’s how you come prior to the rubbery-synth-laced “Free Game” dropping precisely that.

“I Got Pull” returns to g-funk turf advising to ask your boss if you don’t know who they’re are while “Up & Down” comes through with my least favorite track on the album personally, as it happens to be an awkward ode to all the thick bitches out there. “Do My Best” picks things back up with a smoother ballad produced by Soopafly referring to themselves as champions while “Lace You Up” has a more peppy quality to the beat giving the listeners some advise.

Meanwhile with “Tribal”, all 4 of them talk about how it takes a village to raise the real ones over more hyphy production while the song “How Many” goes back to the g-funk spitting that gangsta shit. The penultimate track “On Camera” is an eerie trap cut feeling like that they’re being watched primarily because of how quick things tend to go around on social media these days & “Mash” is menacing closer getting quite mobbish.

I know some people were quick to write off the supergroup’s debut since it was initially released exclusively as an NFT back in June, but I knew they’d have to put it up on all streaming services at some point & I gotta admit that the material that we got out of it is pretty impressive. It’s interesting to hear how all 4 MCs’ unique deliveries mesh with one another & the production representing the state of California as a whole by blending g-funk with hyphy.

Score: 3.5/5

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