This is the 3rd studio LP from Detroit, Michigan rapper Peezy. A part of the Team Eastside collective about a little over decade ago, he would later go on to release about a dozen solo projects beginning with Mud Muzik in 2014 & subsequently became one of the most prominent figures that the Motor City’s distinct trap scene has to offer. I covered his 8th mixtape Free Rio in 2022 when he got out of prison back at the beginning of that year for racketeering followed by his full-length debut Only Built 4 Diamond Links as well as the sophomore effort Ghetto & the Small Town Ghetto EP last winter, the latter of which preluded Still Ghetto.
“City’s Mine” was an enticing intro to the LP talking about the agreement amongst many that he’s taken over the 313 whereas “The Warm Up” featuring French Montana flexes that they jump shots before they ball, although French’s appearance was unwarranted. “So Ghetto” featuring Icewear Vezzo finds the 2 making up for it with a Detroit trap highlight repping their city while “All That” featuring Chicken P made for an underwhelming single choice.
Rick Ross joins Peezy on the exuberant “Hide the Rest” talking about money coming with respect around their individual parts leading into “It’s Givin’” featuring YG Teck returns to the Detroit sound albeit for one of the weaker collaborations on the entire album. “Lovin’ on Me” blends Detroit trap & pop rap working in some distinct sampling for a couple minutes while “Bond 9” featuring RMC Mike advises not to tell anyone if they fall for the love of these women.
“My Brother” featuring 42 Dugg talks about everyone thinking they went broke when they were actually saving money & letting it stack to the ceiling while “Main Artery” suggest that he might be one of the realist left since he stands on business. “Texas Shit” featuring G Herbo & THF Law would’ve been a lot more interesting if you took THF Law off it personally while “Playboi Carti” featuring 2 Chainz blends jazz rap & trap to shut the lots down.
Starting the final leg, “If I Can Make It” advises that anyone can survive out the trenches if he can while “Let’s Talk About It” featuring Babyface Ray reflects on being told to get the money instead of becoming famous. “‘96 Impala” featuring Larry June unites for an ode to Chevy Impalas & once “Daydreaming” talks about making others feel like he was there when the story he’s telling occurred, “Give It All” featuring Big Sean finishes with both of them putting everything in this music shit.
Serving as a sequel to Ghetto a few years ago, Still Ghetto maintains the attitude of its predecessor with the most star-studded offering of Peezy’s entire discography. That said: I came away from this album liking it only slightly less than the EP we got him 9 months earlier. Could’ve done without a few guest performers’ contribution, but many of them stick the landing whether it be locally or outside the Michigan area looking both within & beyond the Murder Mitten to propagate what he’s helped pioneer in the city.
Here is the double full-length studio debut from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy. Coming on my radar in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom, he would go onto drop 5 more EPs & a fantastic collab album with Larry June called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason. Harry Fraud produced You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check & DJ Muggs did What They Hittin’ 4 to significant acclaim, but the Roc Marciano-produced Nothing Bigger Than the Program was still good despite having too many features & the DāM-FunK produced Magic Hour improved on that as did The Tonite Show 2 entirely produced by DJ Fresh last fall. Almost a decade in the making however, Once Upon a Time has finally arrived.
After the “Beginning” intro, the first song “‘96 Big Body” gets the ball rollin’ with a smooth ass beat recalling the days when he was driving around in this fresh whip 3 decades earlier whereas “The Only 1” featuring Kamaiyah works in a Mobb beat from Cardo addresses those who thought they were the only pimps around. “For the Homies” produced by DJ Quik sends a shoutout to all of those in their lives who can’t be here leading into the g-funk heavy “Rekkless” looking back at his youth.
“Open Minded” instrumentally reminds me of something The Neptunes would’ve produced in the early/mid 2000s praising his girl for keeping that exact type of mentality while “From the Jump” featuring E-40, Jim Jones, Ohgeesy & Wiz Khalifa brings the quintet together over a DJ Fresh beat or Harry Fraud on the remix talking about how long they’ve been putting it down. “Dark Tints” featuring 03 Greedo strips the drums thanks to Conductor Williams refusing to stop what they started while “Famous Players” slickly gets in his pimp bag.
As for “Tides”, we have Jay Worthy on top of a drumlessly summery loop with lyrics about wanting a woman that he’s never even met by his side while “Bellagio” featuring Conway the Machine charismatically flexes of making music for the famous Las Vegas, Nevada hotel of the same name. “Choosing Shoes” featuring Boldy James keeps the drums out the equation painting imagery of the gangsta lifestyle while “2P’z” featuring Larry June recaptures the aura of their 2022 collab effort.
“True Story” featuring Ty$ winds down the final moments of Disc 1 by touching on some real life shit over a Hit-Boy beat while “The Outcome” featuring Ab-Soul, Dave East & Westside Gunn unites the quartet for a 4 & a half minute barfest accompanied by a sample-heavy beat that The Alchemist cooked up real realizing that this is the very moment where he & guests should observe the results. “Jive 95” featuring Bun B & Spice 1 after the “Skrappordie” interlude opens Disc 2 to go by the cheat code while “Daytons” featuring Mack 10 gives a fuck you to all of the haters they have.
Wallie the Sensei joins Worthy for the Mobb-inspired “Know My Worth” waking up to the money since they don’t know if being broke or dead is worse while “Escape from LA” featuring B-Legit & Jay 305 comes together for a Bay Area tribute. “Sake” featuring Curren$y talks about feeling more like they’re vacation rather than being on the run while the drumless “Blade Runner” featuring Roc Marciano refers to themselves as big game hunters.
“I’ll Be Fine” featuring Vicasso hops over a g-funk beat to talk about their diametric approach to making music while the funky “Gang Shit” reunited with DJ Muggs so he can admit that he doesn’t like stunt because of his humbleness. “Bix in the Morning” featuring Ice-T heavily samples “6 ‘N tha Mornin’” for a generational gangsta rap crossover while “P-Funkentelechy” sends a love letter to Parliament-Funkadelic.
Once Upon a Time’s final act begins with “Angel Dust” incorporating a psychedelic Thundercat instrumental talking about PCP while the jazzy “Worthy vs. Getty” recalls a story that occurred in 2003. Prior to the “End” outro however, “Runnin’ Outta Time” is what officially finishes responding to people who think they know him by saying that he doesn’t recognize them from his hood with Terrace Martin playing piano while “Checkmate” featuring Mozzy & Payroll Giovanni starts the deluxe run talking about not fucking with anyone who doesn’t have goals.
“I Wish” chops up more sped-up soul samples to express exactly how much he misses the women he’s speaking directly to while “The Big” featuring Le$ & Premo Rice unites so they can talk about people hating them because of the individual success each artist has experienced. 9th Wonder turns up the soulfulness for “I Can’t Relate” to profess that he doesn’t find it relatable whenever people say life’s a bitch while the funky “2night” talks about catching him in ancient whips.
Method Man appears during the drumless single “Visions” stating their confidence of always being right here as long as God’s by their side while “Same Song” featuring Shyheim talks about gangstas not living that long over a Camoflauge Monk beat. “The 4 Tops” featuring $ha Hef, T.F. & Vicasso unites everyone to drop singular verses without the need of a hook while “Mail Order Bride” featuring A$AP 12vyy & Isa P. Anchorman laughs off all these rappers who’re continuously acting tough.
“Rosie Perez” featuring Boldy James & TAS rounds out 3rd talking about everyone having to hustle so they could earn the precious gold medals they’ve won themselves while “Kalifornication” featuring YG Hootie represents their home state over an A$AP P on the Boards instrumental. After the “Ghetto Smile” interlude, “No Price” featuring Novelist soulfully talks about certain things being for free while the final bonus track “If I” featuring Rome Streetz concludes with both Griselda artists bodying an Evidence beat.
Although What They Hittin’ 4 still remains my personal favorite entry in Jay Worthy’s discography, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that the 30 song & almost 90 minute Once Upon a Time sticks out as the most star-studded musical opus he’s ever conceived. Bridging the east & the west coast with its admirably versatile guest list, the production mostly takes its cues from the westside to cohesively tell a story of authentically resilient ambition.
St. Paul, Minnesota producer & rapper Cardo celebrating his birthday week with a sophomore effort. Notable for lacing a couple standout tracks on Wiz Khalifa’s best mixtape Kush & Orange Juice, he would later go on to become one of the most in-demand beatsmiths in recent memory producing hits ranging from “THat Part” by ScHoolboy Q featuring Ye formerly known as Kanye West to “goosebumps” by Travis Scott featuring Kendrick Lamar or more recently “euphoria”, the latter serving as the first of 4 Drake disses. MADeMAN put his lyrical abilities to full display last fall & he’s looking to do it again with Sigan Viendo.
The intro by Nutso Thugn’ was an ok single mainly because I think the instrumental outshines Nutso’s performances while “texture” by born bad! has the same issues, most notably sampling “Knuck If You Buck” by the Crime Mob at a few points of the song that give it a dirty south vibe. “bad posture” by born bad! & YoDogg fuses cloud rap & trap to talk about not standing on what you speak on giving them that exact kind of energy while “hotr” by YoDogg angrily flexes that he’s a 1 man rumble.
“1st Chamber” by Skufl has this woozy approach to the beat speaking of working hard for his paper while the Mobb-influenced “Lately” by Nasaan & 21 Lil Harold was an unexpected pairing & 1 that I felt where Nasaan smoked Lil Harold. A favorite track of mine is easily “know he dead” by Rio da Yung O.G. tapping into the Flint sound & making it look easy while “gwfyn!” by born bad! samples “Make ‘Em Say UHH!” by Master P featuring Fiend, Mia X, Mystikal & Silkk the Shocker.
2025 XXL Freshman Samara Cyn getting her on track with “spooky” makes me happy since I highly enjoyed her Backroads EP earlier this summer delivering some of the best flows on the LP while “bonkerz” by Count Faces & Mathias Young sums up the way I felt soon as the beat dropped. “Came from Nothin’” by Oodaredevil will go down as amongst of the greatest songs the Texas Tycoon has ever done while “lemmehavit” by BBYKOBE heads for a hypnotic direction instrumentally.
“Free 5” by Redd Cold Hearted starts the final leg with the Atlanta rapper at her hardest since her appearance on “Middle of the Summer” off Playboi Carti’s full-length debut Die Lit while “board games” by Zukenee gives us a taste of what’s to come from his upcoming Zudo project, which already sounds like his most important body of work to date. Lil Yachty’s contribution to “beans” concludes Sigan Viendo by going harder than he did on the 5$tarCrete EP that Concrete Rekordz put out last month.
The idea of Cardo taking a backseat vocally throughout Sigan Viendo to focus on his production talents & recruit a myriad of guests taking up the mic needless to say seems like a refreshing change of pace on paper as a longtime fan of his talents behind the boards. However, I find myself enjoying this less than I did MADeMAN exactly 365 days ago. There’s nothing wrong with the beats, although I’m more on the fence with the list of performers.
Detroit rapper TR Dee hitting us with his 8th mixtape. Notable for being 1/3 of the ShittyBoyz alongside Babytron & Stanwill signing to Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records, he also began carving a path for himself as a solo artist off his first couple mixtapes Trapped in My Bag & Made for This ahead of his debut album M.I.P. (Most Improved Player). He has since given us 5 more tapes in Trapped in My Bag 2, Crunch Time, Ice Trae, Trapped in My Bag 3 & Early Mornings, Late Nights followed by the sophomore effort The Greatest. His Evolution revealed itself last September & the Dog $hit Militia member is finding himself Trapped in My Bag 4ever.
“In My Bag 4Ever” was the most aptly picked choice of an intro talking about popping bottles because he’s scratching off goals whereas “Generational Wealth” cautioning that the reaper will come for any person who chooses to cross him. “Jabbawockee” goes for a cloudier direction instrumentally flexing that he’s hot enough to burn people’s eyes while “Hypnotized” talks about a woman not leaving him alone.
Meanwhile on “Death Note”, we have TR Dee talking about his days looking sunnier than they were prior to his music career taking off leading into “Island Vibes” knowing if one’s really from the trenches based on whether or not they’ve stolen a bike. “Larry Byrd” by the Dookie Brothers finds the pair giving a nod to the hick from French Lick himself just before “Saiyan” talks about always being in his bag because he’s stuck in it.
“Woosah” featuring Sada Baby & Stanwill takes the lowend route thanks to Certified Trapper promising that they won’t take back anyone who winds up leaving them while “Hawaiian Punch” talks about ignoring anyone who brings negativity his way. “Overtime” produced by Danny G speaks of never going against the grain & being the one who does the stuntin’ while “Mona Lisa” talks about tracking his whip if it’s stolen.
The 2nd act of Trapped in My Bag 4Ever begins to wind down on “Missed My Flight” venting his frustrations of a plane he was supposed to get on taking off without him because he was up the entire evening previously grinding until taking aim at everybody that stays talking shit about him & the squad, suggesting they should “Back It Up” since their flips won’t stop flapping.
“Pork & Beans” hooks up some pianos & 808s advises to run the tape up in preparation for an upcoming tour & the closer “Stone Cold Stunner” references 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & NWA World Tag Team Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Starting the deluxe run, “Not Gonna Learn” jumps over a Danny G & Jakesand instrumental talking about waking up those sleeping on him as if a thunderstorm’s occurring while “1 Man Army” featuring Org 6 suggests selling their catalog to prevent going broke. “Wake Up” hooks up some bells to talk about his jewelry dancing wherever he goes while “Icey Plunger” by the ShittyBoyz excitingly tosses the mic back-&-forth with each other.
“Durantula” was a welcoming attempt at Danny experimenting with lowend & TR Dee talking about D$M not being the ones to fuck with while “Let ‘Em Cook” compares himself to a chef the way he be cookin’. Roll Call” talks about possibly engaging in money fights even if it’ll last the entire evening while “Above the Rim” refuses to slide his mans let alone the people who gave him a hand when he needed it the most.
The song “Make It Quick” talks about not having any competition because they’ll all wind up getting lyrically slain by him & not going Hollywood because he isn’t done with music while the final bonus track “Kidz Bop” technically wraps things up wishing he had eyes in the back of his head to see who’s speaking ill of him when he’s not looking or who wouldn’t care if God forbid something happened to him.
You can’t go wrong with the first 3 installments of the Trapped in My Bag series although Crunch Time sticks out as my favorite TR Dee tape but anyway, I didn’t mind Evolution as others because his growth after 5 now 6 years in the game was right in front of us & that very much carries itself over onto Trapped in My Bag 4Ever. It’s like the same energy from the previous Trapped in My Bag entries is being recaptured with a different perspective.
Atlanta, Georgia rapper 2 Chainz finally releasing his 7th studio LP. Coming up as 1/2 of the duo Playaz Circle, they eventually signed to Disturbing tha Peace Records & Def Jam Recordings in the 2000s releasing only 2 albums. He eventually ventured off into a solo career, with the biggest standouts being Pretty Girls 👍 TRΛP MUSIC & Rap or Go to the League. He recently teamed up with Larry June for the collaborative effort Life is Beautiful produced by The Alchemist & has dropped a soundtrack to his new short film.
“Mutual Bonds” was a great drumles intro produced by STREETRUNNER talking about only fucking with people who fuck with him whereas “Not the Same” samples “Silly Love Song” by the late Enchantment explaining that some things have changed with him in his life. “Thought You Loved Me” fuses chipmunk soul & trap suggesting one would laugh if he was struggling at the moment just before “Sista Wives” featuring Lil Yachty talks about people not respecting them over a Buddah Bless instrumental, which in Yachty’s case is bad timing because of his recent PlaqueBoyMax stream.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again provides the weakest guest appearance on “I Wanna Win” despite the 30 Roc beat & the desire they express of wanting to catch Ws leading into the drumless chipmunk soul crossover “Flow Switcha” talking about his success invoking people. “Free” featuring Vory finds the pair calling for all their incarcerated homies to be let out & once “Deadbeat Moms” talks about those specific kind of mothers being at an all-time high, “The ATL Experience” ends with a tribute to his city sampling The Isley Brothers.
Some of the teasers that we got building up towards Red Clay had me hoping that it was gonna be an improvement from 2 Chainz’ final Def Jam offering Dope Don’t Sell Itself, but his inaugural solo release under The Real U Records’ new distribution deal with none other than EMPIRE honestly reached the same level of mediocrity. It actually starts off stronger than I would’ve thought & I’d like it a lot more if he condensed it down to the first half since those’re the most salvageable tracks of the bunch, the 2nd leg of it is really where the album starts to fall apart.
New full-length LP & the 5th overall of Detroit rapper, songwriter & actor Babyface Ray. Starting out over a decade ago by joining the Team Eastside collective, he has since gone on to drop 5 mixtapes as well as 5 EPs & a well received debut within the last 6-7 years before turning heads worldwide & becoming one of the 2 biggest up-&-comers in the city next to Babytron, both of whom eventually landed spots in last year’s XXL Freshman Class. Coming off Mob along with Summer’s Mine & more recently The Kid That Did last fall, the Codeine Cowboy has pulled up to the spot.
“American Psycho” opens with some pianos & hi-hats talking about everyone in his gang blowing up whereas “Wavy Crete” featuring Lil Yachty finds the pair trading verses with one another for 2 & a half minutes. “Standing on Business” featuring LUCKI talks about wanting to rule the world referencing Pinky & the Brain from the Warner Bros.-owned Animaniacs franchise while “Kick the Cup Campaign” cautions against the dangers of opioid-laced lean.
Ironically enough, “Still Sippin’” featuring King Hendrick$ & Sauce Walka plays Devil’s advocate talking about consuming dirty Sprite with Sauce Walka have my favorite guest verse of the 2 just before “Can’t Be Me” reflects on the long way he came from bringing video games out of Blockbuster when those were still nationwide. “Netflix & Chill” talks about being emotional for that vibe over some pianos & 808s leading into the cloudy “I Know” featuring GT calls out those envious of their sauce.
“Lou Gram” assures that everything he sports is actually the way he lives as opposed to being an image while “Rich & Bored” featuring YTB Fatt talks about the type of people their homies are over a LulRose & tana instrumental. “Half Sleep” featuring Veeze unites both forces of the Detroit sound flexing that the Louis Vuitton/村上 隆 collab can be caught when they pass by while “Sin Aire” featuring Samuel Shabazz suggests for others not to tell them how to breathe when they don’t even have air.
Cardo saves one of my favorite beats on Codeine Cowboy for “Elevator Music” continuing Disc 2 vents over doing wrong despite him living right as of recent times while the pop rap-inspired “Don’t Misuse Me” sends a warning to any woman looking to wrong him. “Hood Cry” featuring Mozzy was an entertaining gangsta rap single during the rollout while “Nobody’s Perfect” psychedelically feels like he’s leaving to reach new levels.
“That’s What They Told Me” cloudily nears the conclusion of the album by talking about others informing him of him getting hated on & when it comes to the romantic pop rap cuts, “You Just for Me” produced by Harry Fraud has gotta be my favorite from the instrumental to the swagger in Face’s delivery. “1 on 1 Talk with God” featuring Samuel Shabazz sends it all off with 1 more collaboration between the 2 that surpasses the other.
Simultaneously accentuating the familiar themes previously heard all over Babyface Ray’s discography up until this point & going deeper down other directions topically, I’d argue that Codeine Cowboy could become the most I’ve enjoyed a double album in the Detroit trap style since Babytron put out Bin Reaper 3: Old Testament & New Testament in late 2022/early 2023 respectively. Regardless of the guests like last time having a few whose performances don’t do much to grab my attention, Face still holds the throne of his city’s rap scene firmly & the production’s cloudier than a lot of his previous output.
Flint, Michigan rapper & M.I.N.E. Entertainment founder Rio da Yung O.G. with a brand new mixtape & his 2nd body of work in 2025. Breaking through the local trap scene during the latter portion of the previous decade under the mentorship of Peezy signing to #Boyz Entertainment in tandem with EMPIRE Distribution, he has since put out his last 9 EPs as well as a full-length debut album & a handful of collaborative projects under his belt all over the duration of 7 years. Rio Circa 2020 was a solid EP celebrating his 30th birthday & 8 months after Rio Free, he’s taking us on a trip back to F.L.I.NT. (Feel Like I’m Not Through).
“Different Music” teeters between the Flint sound & lowend asking if you really want beef with him because of the casualties of war whereas “Great Day” flexes the 100 racks he made & refusing to listen to the music of those who be cappin’ in their raps. “Never Switched” has bit of a west coast influence to the beat talking about the FBI being the biggest gang prior to “Ghetto Love Story” working in some synths for a sexual Flint trap song.
FBLManny joins Rio for “I Go” tapping into the Detroit sound a bit looking to break the scale regardless if Manny had one of the weaker appearances on the tape while “Back Rubbed” has a cloudier trap vibe talking about picking a different plan if you wanted to rob him. “Aggressive Flow” works in some simple piano & tubular bell patterns getting more hostile in terms of delivery while “Open a Bank” featuring 3200 Tre reminds us that Money Is Not Everything.
“Rich Regardless” featuring YN Jay goes for a cloudier flint sound so they can express their shared desires of becoming wealthy while “Naked Party” talks about his preference of sliding by himself & staying with the crooked jumps. “Dumb n Dumber Flo” featuring RMC Mike calls back to the series of beloved collaborative efforts they have together while “Thug Talk” paints more gangsta imagery over a Flint trap instrumental.
We get treated to a “My Story” sequel in the form of “Another Story” picking up where the Fiend Lives Matter EP intro left off conceptually while “Sneaky B” produced by Danny G talks about blood not making you family in his opinion. “Ask Jay” blends 808s, strings & bells to talk about meeting Jesus if you’re caught sipping’ fake juice around him while the piano-tinged “BS Story” speaks of not giving no fucks regarding the previous day since it’s history.
“Big Ben” embraces the Flint sound again showing off a pinky ring he copped for $90K while “Ghetto Cypher” featuring RMC Mike, VonOff1700 & YN Jay feels like a successor to “Braggin’ Rights” except Baby Money’s not on it & VonOff1700 still having my least favorite verse out of everyone. “Ghetto Star” featuring Star Bandz & “What U Spend” featuring Zillioinaire Doe combined aren’t that much better although Danny G’s beat on the latter is the strongest of them both.
YN Jay reunites with Rio for “Ripped Jeans” to start the deluxe run crip walkin’ all over crisp blue $100 bills while “Chrome Fight” talks about his real street legend status & calls his competition weird as fuck. “Easy Kill” clarifies that he’s still signed to Peezy even though M.I.N.E.’s been popping off ever since coming home & once “YN” cloudily talks about keeping a piece on him first day out of prison, “Imported” poses the question of why people act like he owes them something.
“Morning” brings some bells into the fold talking about doing this Flint sound shit independently while “Smoke” explains that he’ll never know the way Gunna felt during the YSL R.I.C.O. case because he actually did his 60 months. “Skittle Head” featuring Veeze dedicates itself to sippin’ lean & the final bonus track “Paper Trail” talks about learning from his mistakes when he was incarcerated, confessing that he made some poor choices.
Rio da Yung O.G.’s hometown has spawned a handful of hip hop artists that’ve I’ve come to appreciate in my lifetime from The Dayton Family to Jon Connor or Lyte, but the city of F.L.I.NT. (Feel Like I’m Not Through) being widely known for people like him not always making it out gets a 62 minute love letter on the day commemorating it’s 810 area code that I find to be on par with Rio Free.
This is the 11th mixtape from Detroit emcee Babytron. Coming up as a member of the ShittyBoyz along with his childhood friends Stanwill & TR Dee signing to Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records, he also branched out on an impressive solo career for himself as well as the side groups Lewis & Clark and the Dookie Brothers. But the last couple years was probably his biggest yet landing interviews ranging from No Jumper to even Rolling Stone following the release of Luka Trončić until signing with EMPIRE Distribution later that same month & Bin Reaper 2: The 2nd Coming that same fall. Bin Reaper 3 ended the trilogy with a 2-disc effort, the bootleg Style EP wound up being disappointing, the full-length LP 6 made up for it as did his previous mixtape Megatron 2. His collab mixtape Mario & Luigi with Certified Trapper wasn’t all that great either & Tronicles was cool, cooking up a Luka Trončić sequel originally set for his born day couple months ago.
“Luka Magic” starts by showing love to his inner circle homaging the real Luka Dončić over a Detroit trap instrumental whereas the “Michigander” single referencing WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali talks about being proud of his identity. “77” flexes his ties with the Dog $hit Militia harking back to the Detroit techno days with a modern twist while “Ex 2 (BM)” featuring Rio da Yung O.G. expresses hope of their ex-girlfriends getting into a scuffle with fighters from the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division UFC.
The “Mukbang” trend gets used as a double-edged metaphor crudely discussing luxurious dining & once “Shithead” talks about his desire of becoming a billionaire reminding these dumb fucks who he is, “Cheat Code 3” produced by Pi’erre Bourne divides itself in 2 halves referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WCW World Television Champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
WWE Hall of Famer, 7-time WWE world champion, 7-time WWE tag team champion, WWE Hardcore Champion & current Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) booker The Undertaker gets referenced at the start of “Chase the Money” featuring G Herbo following his confrontation with the current TNA World Champion Trick Williams a few days back just before “Dark Knight” talks about a body getting caught without a trace of it being left. The 4th installment of the “PunchGod” saga puts Babytron’s unique punchlines in the forefront leading into “2-Man” featuring VonOff1700 referencing WWE Hall of Famers D-Generation X.
Reaching the halfway point of the tape, “Retro Tron” responds to the crowd that wants him to make music reminiscent of his older material while “Sirloin” includes a witty bar about former WWE Champion, 8-time WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, the inaugural & record-tying 3-time AEW TNT Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, IWGP USヘビー級チャンピオン, ROH World Champion & ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion Cody Rhodes. “Caveman” shows off his punchlines again including 1 at the end popularized by the late Big L while “Belt Town” talks about figuring out what’s next.
“End-Zone” featuring NoCap will satisfy any hip hop head who loves sports due to the heavy amount of wordplay shouting out the late Junior Seau or Ben Roethlisberger while “Drugs, $ex & Murder” talks about the gangsta lifestyle maintaining the Detroit sound in the process. “BumpStockBoyz” moves on from there explaining that people would kill for his lifestyle while “Bol-Bol” reunites with Danny G to talk about the blunt caving your chest after a fat rip.
Certified Trapper, Luh Tyler, Trapland Pat & 1900Rugrat all join Tron for the underwhelming “Spring Break” dropping off brief verses albeit the best gets saved for last while “Demigod” talks about losing count of the times that he’s been counted out. “Whiteboy” references the current 17-time WWE world champion John Cena ahead of his title defense at SummerSlam XXXVIII this weekend & “Final Level” ends with switching the instrumental during each verse placing Jakesand first.
Tronicles had it’s share of standout moments for being bloated as it was, but the original Luka Trončić could potentially be my favorite Babytron tape & the sequel here recaptures that same energy now that Luka Dončić himself was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this spring. Despite only a couple of the guests standing out to me, Tron’s memorable punchlines & the production make Luka Trončić 2 worth your 73 minutes.
This is the 12th LP from Vallejo, California emcee Larry June. Someone who’s been quite busy for almost 2 decades his last 11 studio efforts as well as 14 EPs & 7 mixtapes with the highlights of his ever-growing discography including the Lex Luger-produced Trap Larry, the Cardo-produced Cruise USA & it’s sequel Into the Late Night, the Harry Fraud-produced Keep Going & more recently the mobb music-influenced Jay Worthy collab effort 2 P’z in a Pod, The Alchemist-produced The Great Escape & The Night Shift. His previous album Doing it for Me just came 11 months ago & he’s looking to link back up with Cardo for him to produce Until Night Comes.
After the “Free Uncle Sherm 6” intro, the first song “50’s in the City” kicks it all off showing everybody the way he does shit in the bay over a slick Mobb instrumental whereas “Black Man” kinda leans heavier towards g-funk in terms of sound givin’ a fuck less of what others gotta say regarding him. “Meet Me on Harbor” featuring Black C finds the 2 smoothly doing whatever the fuck they be wanting to do having everything others desire, but then we get a sequel to “7 Mile Bike Ride” off Orange Pint.
“Organic Free Range Chicken” finds himself catching Ws & mobbin’ on all these hoes but after the “Cardo’s Groove” interlude, “Ya Feel Me” featuring E-40 turns the Mobb influences up even higher talkin’ about feelin’ good with a couple big stacks on ‘em. “Gotta Be Love” goes for a nocturnal g-funk vibe to the beat tellin’ his girl how fly she is just before “On the Unda” portrays himself as a pimp suggesting this chick to slip out of store shoes for hoe shoes.
To get the final act of Until Night Comes rollin’, “100 Bags” featuring Don Toliver gets together for a psychedelic pop rap cut responding to their partners asking where they’ve been by saying they’ve been around while “Canadian Snow” soulfully boasts of him speaking like a boss & walking like a kingpin. “Still Game Related” featuring HBK & Payroll Giovanni finds the trio talking about doing what others can’t while the title track featuring Richie Rich & Wiz Khalifawraps it all up with a Mobb outro.
Standing by that Doing it for Me wasn’t up to par with either The Great Escape or The Night Shift, I did however come to enjoy it as much as the Life is Beautiful collaborative effort Larry June did with 2 Chainz produced by The Alchemist back in February & cuts above the last solo effort almost 2 years ago. Cardo’s production get back in the Mobb/trap fusions that made his previous material with Larry stick out & making slight improvements regarding the choice of compared to guests Until Night Comes’ predecessor.
Here is the 5th studio LP from San Francisco, California emcee Ramirez. Emerging as a longtime affiliate of the $uicideboy$, he would go on to co-found to the New Orleans-based indie label G*59 Record$ with them & build himself as an artist by dropping 8 mixtapes, his last dozen EPs & 4 full-lengths. Tha Playa$ Manual was his best LP yet with it’s g-funk production from Rocci & is looks to mark a new chapter with the sequel on his newly formed EMPIRE Distribution imprint Velvet Note Records over a week after G*59 announced his departure to go do his own thing.
After the “Velvet Note Lounge” skit, the first song “Hollow Tips” was a synth-funk intro & skittering hi-hats introducing y’all to his heater if you even try to make a move on him whereas the jazzy “Cut Throat Game” advises to get back up no matter how hard you fall. “Playas Need Love” fuses both g-funk & jazz to talk about that very subject in hand, but then the 2nd single “True Playas” suggests not to trip because fortune favored the strong putting a synth-heavy feel on the Mobb sound.
“I’m Not Yo Daddy” fuses trap & synth-funk together suggesting you come take a ride with him just before “Boulevard Nights” featuring Jason Joshua & Rocci matches a seducing instrumental that wears it’s jazz influences more during the 2nd half with all 3 of them sharing a melodic delivery. After the “Playing a Fool” skit, “Money Don’t Stop for You” jazzily sings of wanting nothing more to waste his time with a woman he’d fall for while “Shake Junt Hoes”proved to be a Memphis inspired final single.
Meanwhile on “Pushin’ on Some Paper”, we have the Lil Homewrecker talking about pimpin’ being second nature to him & making it look easy while the lead single “Chain Swangin’” turns the Mobb influences back up explaining that he’s still the same playa with a deadly weapon on him. “Scrapin’ tha Corner” throws back to the phonk undertones of Tha Playa$ Manual to talk about being on some larger shit while “Never Listen” offers invest in oneself as his best advice.
“Don’t Lose Hope” gets back on the g-funk/synth-funk crossovers wanting to hold his romantic interest tight because he wants her to know she’ll always be safe around him in any possible situation & “Cadillac Burnin’” featuring Rocci ahead of the “Goodbye & Goodnight” outro properly finishing Ramirez’ debut of Velvet Note with a captivating duet feeling reminiscent of something you’d hear during the 70s & I mean that as a compliment instead of implying any indication of it being outdated.
Tha Playa$ Manual has been regarded by many in the G*59 fandom to be the crown jewel of the label’s entire discography & I’d have to say it’s aged astonishingly well as a modern g-funk classic since it came out down the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. Tha Playa$ Manual II as a sequel raises his artistic stakes even higher than I would’ve thought. There are a few songs where he takes a break from delivering bars of the gangsta life to favor towards sung vocals with on top of the best production he’s had in a few years culminating in elements of g-funk, Memphis rap, pop rap, jazz rap, synth-funk & Mobb music.
Legends Will Never Die 