Detroit, Michigan rapper Stanwill ending his 2023 with his 5th EP. Coming up as 1/3 of the ShittyBoyz with Babytron & TR Dee signing to Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records, he eventually branched out on his own during the COVID-19 pandemic off the debut EP $camwill as well as it’s successor Gifted & the debut mixtape Van Gundy. He also went Full Auto for his 3rd WP & coming off debut album Big $hitter followed by his last EP Big $hitter: Lost Files & of course the sophomore effort Still $hittin’, he’s feeling Unstoppable.
“Potty Trained” begins with a Detroit trap instrumental talking about the Dog $hit Militia pretending to not know the score whenever they be catching Ws whereas “Super Mario” references former 11-time WWE Tag Team Champions, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, ROH World Tag Team Champions, HOG World Tag Team Champions & ΩCW Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz.
Moving on from there, “Ball or Fall” talks about people only being there for you when you’re balling out & then turning their backs as soon as you start falling off while the self-produced “R&B” cautions that he’ll make the chopper sing soon as he catches an opp in his sights. “Hide & Seek” admits to checking his bank account when he gets depressed while “No Cap” makes reference to the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE.
“Song 7” by the ShittyBoyz, Fordio, J1Hunnit, MJPaid, Prince Jefe & ScrumbleMan nears the conclusion of Unstoppable with a THHL posse cut produced by Danny G & Jakesand while “Impossible” finishes up the EP with Stan talking about the thought of him being stopped becoming an impossibility at this point getting back on track after having to hurdle over some obstacles.
Still $hittin’ was an admirably shortened sequel to Big $hitter in spite of others saying it wasn’t on par, but Unstoppable finishes up Stanwill’s year with an extended play that fans of Detroit trap will probably like as much if not more than the full-length we got from him several months earlier. His labelmates all make stronger guest appearances than Still $hittin’ & the production is what you’d expect out of this style of music.
The 10th full-length LP from Vallejo, California emcee Larry June. Steadily grinding his ass off since dropping out of high school by dropping his last 9 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 Worthycollab effort 2 P’z in a Pod & more recently The Alchemist-produced The Great Escape this past spring. So when it was announced that Cardo was producing The Night Shift, I went into it knowing this was gonna be on the same level as The Great Escape.
“Clocked In” is an incredibly smooth opener to the album with the bass hitting hard & pockets on full whereas “Chops on the Blade” slickly talks about trappin’ like a motherfucker. “Ocean Cuisine” featuring 2 Chainz lavishly finds the 2 looking to make it last today just before “Love of Money” embraces a jazzier, soulful trap sound paying homage to the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony single “Foe tha Love of $” from the sample to the subject matter also.
Meanwhile, “Sweet Lady” is more of a slow jam describing a different kind of love for Larry leading into the synth-heavy “Pop Out” featuring ScHoolboy Q sees both of them coming together to drop braggadocio. “The Great Escape” featuring The Alchemist brings Larry with the man who produced his best album on the mic so they boast about being the ones over a pillowy beat, but then “Glasshouse Knockin’” draws inspiration from mobb music instrumentally talking that traphouse shit once again.
“Without You” featuring Blxst was a decent choice of a single & I can see why since it’s leaning more towards the pop rap style as they tell their significant others that they’re the ones while “GRGP” featuring Peezy & Too $hort brings the trio together for a breezy anthem getting on their pimp shit. “Stickin’ & Movin’” has a bit of a funkier flare musically admitting that it’s feeling like 2019 all over again for him while Jordan Ward’s hook on the delicately produced “Won’t Wait” has to be one of my favorites throughout the LP as Larry talks about being good on his own.
To start the final leg of the album, “Let Me Know” gives off a cloudier vibe acknowledging shit’s changed yet she ain’t ever met any other guy like him while “Made a Way” featuring Payroll Giovanni brings back the synths so they can talk about being as fly as they are. The song “Road Runnin’” gives me a futuristic feeling to the instrumental looking to get the money while “Big Fish” featuring Alemán atmospherically talks about putting rap first over the game these days. “The Good Kind” is a wavy closer getting in bag mode.
These guys have never missed in the 4-5 years of teaming up with one another & The Night Shift lived up to the expectations I had going into it continuing to churn out some of his best material to date. Cardo’s production is more rooted in mobb music & g-funk as opposed to the jazzier, drumless loops Uncle Al whipped up on that previous LP matched with equally solid performances from The Freeminded leader & nearly all the guest MCs/singers. Great job once again, Larry!
Beverly Hills producer, DJ & rapper The Alchemist coming off his born day over a week ago by dropping his 11th EP & a sequel to the last one Flying High. Beginning as 1/2 of the duo The Whooliganz in 1993 with Scott Caan, they would only disband a year later after recording a debut album that eventually got shelved & Scott went onto acting like his father. Mudfoot on other end quickly established himself as one of the greatest producers in hip hop history with a resume including ranging names from Mobb Deep to even Eminem. But after producing Faith is a Rock for MIKE & Wiki alongside the best album of 2023 Voir Dire by Earl Sweatshirt, it should be known that Uncle Al’s still Flying High.
“Turkish Link” is a full-fledged solo cut to start the EP with Alchemist himself over a jazzy instrumental boasting lyrically whereas “Phil Drummond” featuring Conway the Machine finds the 2 on top of a a murky boom bap beat talking about their current statuses. “Vertigo” featuring Action Bronson takes a groovier approach musically looking to dismantle shot while “Royal Hand” happens to be the grimy, long-awaited reunion of Gangrene after 8 years & they both sound like they never even took a hiatus to begin with. The closer “Paint Different” featuring Curren$y finishes things with 1 last jazz rap cut belittling their competition.
Unlike the last Flying High, we have one of my top 10 producers showcasing his skills on the mic more often in comparison which shouldn’t surprise people since he started out with the late James Caan’s son as a duo of MCs, but a lot of performances on his his producer work are left to the guests & he gels well with them over his own production rooted in his signature hardcore albeit jazzy boom bap sound. Heard he & Hit-Boy are doing an album à la Champion Sound by Jaylib, which is VERY interesting considering “Slipping Into Darkness”.
Queens emcee Lloyd Banks is returning with his 18th mixtape. Gaining notoriety in the 2000s for his witty punchlines along as well as being an original member of G-Unit alongside childhood friends 50 Cent & Tony Yayo, he kept himself busy for a little while after the group’s disbandment in 2015 by releasing A.O.N. 2 (All Or Nothing 2): L.I.U. (Live It Up) & Halloween Havoc 3: 4 Days of Fury just before taking on a 5-year hiatus that really lasted until he received a song placement on the soundtrack for Griselda Records’ theatrical debut Conflicted a year & a half ago along with the whole Course of the Inevitable album trilogy gaining renewed interest in the PLK himself. But 7 years since 4 Days of Furyended the Halloween Havoc trilogy, Lloyd’s resurrecting the series at The 72nd Hr.
“Above the Law” is a boom bap opener with some pianos talking about shocking the world whereas “Convoy” with Haas Almahdi cautions that the southern side of his hometown Queens is loaded with .357 Magnums over a glistening backdrop as well as some kicks & snares of course. “Familiar Scars” works in this appropriately ghostly boom bap beat so he can compare his life to a horror flick leading into the dusty “Speeding Session” talking about seeing the top from where he’s at currently & that they don’t get the vision.
Meanwhile, “Dangerous Minds” gives off an infernal boom bap flare to the instrumental warning that you really don’t wanna take this ride as much as you’d like just before “No Opinions” hooks up a shimmery loop with kicks & snares from Cartune Beatz talking about how there ain’t too many as hot as him demanding his props. “Clubbin’ & Chaos” goes for a sample-based boom bap feeling to it with his eyes never being taken off the prize, but then “Diamond Heist” featuring Vado finds the 2 over a despondent boom bap beat comparing their looks to pulling off the titular crime.
“Trap Dice” flexed that he’s so nice, he gets up when he slips & doubles on top of delicate keys alongside kicks & snares while “Broken Arrows” shoots for a darker atmosphere explaining that he’s just simply tryna breathe. “You Shouldn’t Be Here” has these beautiful orchestral elements throughout letting it be known that you’ll never be able to stick him while the dusty “Roaming Weather” is pretty much an open letter on wax to someone who Banks advises not to be a famous no one since nothing’s wrong with them.
The song “Take Me Under” somberly explains there ain’t no turning back for him until he hits the number while the penultimate track “Bad Advice” featuring Sy Ari da Kid on the hook luxuriously talks about not listening to your friends as their advice is obviously shitty. To end the 4th installment of the Halloween Havoc series, “Condolences” is a grueling closer promising that he’s hitting us at every quarter now refusing to stop.
The Course of the Inevitable 2 & Pieces of My Pain are still both enjoyable, don’t get me wrong on that. With that being said: Halloween Havoc IV: The 72nd Hr is the best thing Lloyd has done since his comeback album over 2 years ago. It’s more toned down with the features & increasingly raw than the trilogy of LPs we were treated to up to this point
This is the 9th mixtape from Detroit emcee Babytron. Coming up as a member of the trio 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 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 a couple summers prior to signing with EMPIRE Distribution later that same month & then Bin Reaper 2: The 2nd Coming that same fall. But now coming off Bin Reaper 3 as well as the bootleg Style EP & the full-length LP 6, we’re being treated to a sequel to Megatron.
“Beyond Turnt 2” hops on top of some pianos & hi-hats for a sequel to one of my favorite tracks off the original Megatron saying it’s time to kick in the door whereas “#Certified” talks about being legit over an ignorant trap instrumental. “Murder Mitten” goes into hyphy territory reminding y’all exactly where the fuck he’s from keeping cameras with him like WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion Bill Goldberg prior to “IRL” featuring BLP Kosher going back & forth with one another accompanied by a booming trap beat turning muhfuckas into WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion & 17-time WWE Hardcore Champion JBL.
Tron charismatically boasts that how his cup look, you think he bled in it on “Let’s Get It!” over strings & hi-hats leading into “Streetball” explaining to his girl that there ain’t no rules in the titular game over a rubbery Danny G & Jakesand beat. “Bop It!” featuring Drego & Beno experiments with a lowend sound telling the bitches to let them see that shit they doin’ all on TikTok, but then “Stutter Flow” experiments with a stuttering rap flow over a Detroit trap instrumental.
“Yo Mamma” by Lewis & Clark pulls off a back-&-forth delivery style better than “IRL” unsurprisingly since Babytron & Stanwill both come off so natural with a smooth backdrop & hi-hats leading into the bouncy “Down, Up!” talking about how it’s time to pick up a blick for him. “Kai Cenat / Old Days” featuring Luh Tyler is a decent 2-parter with dynamic & an average chemistry compared to “Yo Mamma” despite the subject matter of being rich now ain’t nothing like being broke back then just before “XXX” puts in extra hours over a tropical beat.
Meanwhile, the line at the start of “Deez Nuts!” asking why you rockin’ fake Bape in the midst of shopping off of Alibaba had me laughing congratulating someone for playing himself & the instrumental would fit snugly fine in a club while “Work!” ends the first half of Megatron 2by flexing that he grinds’ like he’s Rob Dyrdek himself over a spacey trap beat. GT & Cash Kidd join Tron so they can compare themselves to the “90’s Bulls” over a dark instrumental while “Ice Cream” featuring Certified Trapper, RiFF RAFF, Soulja Boy & YN Jay is actually a cool 3-minute cypher that I don’t mind other than Certified Trapper’s parts.
“Tutorial” shows off that he beat the game while everyone else is just learning how to play spitting out promethazine as if he’s 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 over pianos & hi-hats while the synthesizer heavy “Trick or Treat?” explains exactly how he ended up going from Chris Rock to Ray Romano in his life.
“Red Ring of Death” sticks to the Detroit trap guns making a clever reference to what happens when 1 or more components of the Xbox 360 have failed while the piano-trap hybrid “WHATS FUNNY? (HAHA)” talks about hoes being nothing to brag over hitting bitches with the finisher of inaugural AEW World Champion, former ECW World Television Champion, IWGPインターコンチネンタル王座, ROH World Champion, WCW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE world champion, 7-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 4-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, record-holding 9-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion & WWE Hardcore Champion Chris Jericho.
BabyFxce E’s contribution to the 2-part “241” doesn’t really do it for me even though Tron himself & the beat-switch themselves are just fine while “$1M” talks about waiting on his 10th payment & referencing former 2-time アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座 & the final WWE Cruiserweight Champion Hornswoggle hoping on top of more keys & hi-hats. “Coney Island” featuring AK Bandamont, BandGang Javar, Glockboyz Teejaee, KrispyLife Kidd, Los & Nutty and Nuk is a mediocre Detroit trap posse cut while with Krispylife & Babytron standing out the most while the bell-infused “Ain’t They?” by the Dookie Brothers picks up the pace wanting them to be shown more since it ain’t enough.
“Yakuza” featuring Fordio, J1Hunnit, MJPaid, Prince Jefe & ScrumbleMan reps the Dog $hit Militia for 3 minutes giving off a bassier quality musically while the song “Thumb War” vibrantly likens USDs, Euros, Yen, IDM to exactly that. The penultimate track “AYEE!” shoots for a grimmer approach saying you’d think he’d be making Kool-Aid playing with his father Mr. Sadistic who happens to be the frontman of former Psychopathic Records rap metal outfit Motown Rage & “I Imagine” wraps up Megatron 2 by paying tribute to his late homie $cam.
Although Style wasn’t all that good to me, 6 still stands as an impressive debut full-length album from the best member of the ShittyBoyz & we got a sequel to the tape that he dropped right before he made it onto the previous XXL Freshman Class list. Feature list is iffy, but the production is grounded in his signature Detroit trap sound dabbling with lowend a bit more & Tron himself improving himself compared to the last couple outings from him.
Westside Gunn is a 41 year old emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur & curator from Buffalo, New York proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in only the span of 8 years whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. Last we heard from West was the 10th & final installment of his infamous Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series last fall only 3 days before Halloween, but is making his 7th & final official LP a sequel to his 4th one Pray for Paris over 3 & a half years ago already.
After the “FLYGOD DiD” intro, the first song “Mamas PrimeTime by Hall ‘N Nash featuring J.I.D is a dusty boom bap opener produced by Beat Butcha & Mr. Green boasting about how devine they are whereas “Kostas” by Griselda goes into trap territory thanks to Tay Keith including a bar about the Indiana Jones franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Lucasfilm. “1989” featuring Stove God Cook$ finds the 2 turning up 36 ounces in public housing even though Westside’s chopped & screwed verse is distracting, but then “Suicide in Selfridges” works in a hazy loop with kicks & snares courtesy of Conductor Williams so DJ Drama can help welcome y’all to the new golden era.
Stovey returns for the orchestral “Kitchen Lights” explaining that the wrists be shining differently leading into “FLYGOD 2x” flexing the fact that he can get anything these days over a lo-fi boom bap beat. “DunnHill” featuring Rick Ross finds the 2 over more trap production making it clear that the protocol is to hit everybody just before “House of Glory” named after the Amazing Red & Brian XL’s independent circuit wrestling promotion of the same name that Westside Gunn & Master P have invested themselves into has a beautifully classy RZA instrumental flipping Gladys Knight so West & Stove God asking what they’d have to weigh it for since it’s all good.
Estee Nack joins Westside & Stovey for “JD Wrist” over a futuristic trap beat from FLYGOD Jr. with additional vocals from DJ Trap-A-Holics cautioning not to trip like this while “Disgusting” featuring Giggs keeps the spacey vibes going with some hi-hats in the mix with a bar about The Simpsons trademarked by The Walt Disney Company & on the Fox Corporation’s flagship property. “Chloe” luxuriously returns to the boom bap provided by Denny LaFlare getting his romance bag while “LL Bool Gunn” finds West singing over some keys & hi-hats paying homage to LL Cool J himself.
“Babylon Bis” featuring Stove God Cook$ has a sumptuous boom bap quality to it that JR Swiftz hooked up talking about them knowing their drug of choice prior to “Ultra GriZelda” featuring Denzel Curry justifiably boasting that they be running shit up over a cloudy trap beat. “Jalen Rose” featuring Boldy James looks at Daringer pulling off an eerie trap vibe showing off their globetrotter statuses while “Steve & Jony” featuring EST G compares themselves as the Steve Jobs & Jony Ive of the streets over a woozier instrumental.
Jeezy slides through on the energizing “Mr. Everything” to drop some braggadocio in their own respective styles while “Freddy Js” featuring Detroit trap star Peezy finds the 2 over some piano chords talking about their eastside roots. “The Revenge of the Flips Leg” featuring Rome Streetz brings back the kicks & snares showing respect to Eastside Flip, but the title track featuring KayCyy closes out West’s last LP on a peaceful & beautifully sung note.
Pray for Paris is easily one of my favorites from the FLYGOD, so to hear And Then You Pray for Me as a counterpart makes a noticeable change in sound. The production’s more based around trap music even though he doesn’t abandon his boom bap/drumless roots at all as he pulls inspiration from all across the world by bringing a humongous list of guests with him throughout the journey.
This is a brand new collaborative full-length LP between east coast hip hop artists MIKE & Wiki. One of them represents Livingston, New Jersey & the latter hailing from Manhattan, New York. Both of whom have individually been making waves in the underground off their own solo efforts such as May God Bless Your Hustle or even Wiki’s previous LP Half God almost 2 years ago already on top of previously working with each other on songs like “Standout” or “Promised” off both of those albums that I had previously mentioned. They dropped a 3-track EP together last Black Friday fully produced by The Alchemist called 1 More, but are bringing Uncle Al back into the picture once again to turn it up a notch on Faith is a Rock.
“Stargate” is a drumless orchestral opener to the album with Wiki talking about how he feels like his life’s improved & MIKE talking about how these motherfuckers soft compared to them whereas “Thug Anthem” takes the jazzier route instrumentally promising to make it jump without any tangent. “Mayor’s a Cop” works in some more jazz-inspired horns with kicks & snares getting on the more conscious side of things lyrically, but then “Bledsoe” strips the drums once more looking to balance what they know with this new trend & that there ain’t no limit to what they can do.
Moving on from there, “Pray for Him” gives off a hypnotic trance to the sample-heavy beat discussing that they ain’t trying to play God asking what they put this pain in for & ecstatically remaining calm leading into the MIKE solo cut “Odd Ways” returning to the boom bap with orchestral flare to it talking about his soul being strong & his mind is crazy. Wiki returns once more on ”Scribble Jam” admitting he doesn’t understand what she saw in him when the floors was all he could see on top of MIKE breathing faster & living slower just before Wiki’s solo joint “Be Realistic” keeps the strings, kicks & snares in tact getting in his hardcore bag lyrically.
The penultimate track “Memory Loss” finds MIKE & Wiki back together for encore of Faith is a Rock looking to live for the large payment with Uncle Al drawing inspiration from jazz music instrumentally once again & the aptly titled “1 More finds both east coast underground MCs looking to provide 1 last thought each before they head out previously having lost sight as opposed to seeing more nowadays in comparison over a soul sample.
Both of these guys are well known in the underground for their abstract lyricism, so to hear them coming together with one of my top 10 producers of all-time sounded like a match made in Heaven on paper. Lo & behold: This might be the best collab album I’ve heard all year. Uncle Al’s jazzy production matched with the elevated use heavy metaphors, symbolism or cryptic meanings used by both lyricists result in some of best work of their careers.
This is the 4th full-length album from Detroit trap trio the ShittyBoyz. Consisting of BabyTron alongside Stanwill & TR Dee, they emerged off their debut mixtape 3-Peat under Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records in the summer of 2019 taking the motor city by storm & following it up with another tape & 2 full-lengths with the last ones being Trifecta as well as the the sequel last summer shortly after BabyTron performed at the Gathering of Dreams with his father Mr. Sadistic of former Psychopathic Records rap metal outfit Motown Rage. Over a year later, the Boyz are now looking to close out the trilogy by completing the TRIF3CTA with a finale.
“Perfect 3” starts it all off with some flutes & hi-hats talking about how they really are an immaculate trio together whereas “Boomshakalaka” works in some horns tossing the mic back & forth with each other boasting that they’re the ones. “Triumphs & Trophies” is a 2-minute bell/trap crossover encouraging to let them get the drop, but then “Tronald & Stanley” if you couldn’t tell by the name finds the Dookie Brothers jumping over pianos for a minute & a half saying you can’t see them like 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena.
Meanwhile, “50 Boyz” gives off a straight forward Detroit trap sound talking about how they be with the fuckery leading into “Fun & Games” gets on their hi-NRG shit betting the’ll put ‘em in the ground if it’s beef for that cheese. “Forever Lit” has a more suspenseful atmosphere declaring that they’ll always be up just before “Fly Life” beautifully kicks the hi-NRG back up going into detail of the fly shit they be doing.
“Mosh Pit” references former 14-time WWE world champion, WWE Hall of Famer, 5-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE tag team champion & WWE’s current CCO Triple H while “Duck! Duck! Goose!” aggressively cautions not to flex on them because they’ll embarrass you in the process. The synth-laced yet Bay Area inspired “Mood Switch” that Jakesand cooked up points out that they’re still undefeated while “Ball Players” gives off a piano-driven trap vibe chockfull of basketball players wordplay including a bar about Point Grey Pictures founder Seth Rogen, who plays Allen on Invincible.
Moving on from there, “Tip Off” makes me feel like blasting this in the middle of driving downtown making it no secret that they’ve been waiting just to ball while the cloudy “WrestleMania” named after the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s marquee event makes it clear that they ain’t even gonna fight. “Game 7” gets on their back & forth shit for a minute a half over a rowdy beat calling out those in the club who ain’t throwing shit while “Juggernaut” brings back the synthesizers contemplating if this shit for them on the beach as they dancing.
“Sh!tty Pack” featuring BFB da Packman goes into a more sample-based trap direction even though BFB doesn’t do it for me not wasting bullets on their asses while “On Fire” hooks up a shimmery backdrop with hi-hats having more stripes than a referee. “Wembanyama” blends these strings, bass licks letting it be known his cousin in a suit after saying the wrong shit until “Danny & Jake” featuring GrindHard E & YSR Gramz ends the album with the latter 2 getting washed in a 3 minute cypher.
This whole trilogy has been some of the ShittyBoyz’ best material & they went on a pretty fun note to complete the TRIF3CTA. Wasn’t too big on the features personally, but the Detroit trap production never fails to interest me as do the charismatic chemistry that the trio have always had. Here’s to the next chapter of the biggest group that the local trap scene has to offer today.
Michigan rapper $weet-T quickly following up his full-length studio debut Sweet Talk with a sophomore effort. Introducing himself alongside $kid for the collaborative EPs Monkey Business & Fancy Off Fiends respectively, it wasn’t too long thereafter when Lando Bando signed him to The Hip Hop Lab Records & properly introduced himself with a debut album earlier this spring. Exactly 90 days have passed & the newest ShittyBoyz affiliate is looking to Sweeten the Pot up a little bit.
“Sweet Chaka” starts by peakin’ off the boomers in contrast to those wasting their lives on on the Meta Platforms-owned Instagram whereas “The Whole Pie” featuring Babytron & Brezden finds the trio excitingly trading the microphone back-&-forth with each other. “Peep the Receipts” produced by Danny G & Jakesand cautions that he’ll make anyone obsolete if he & the gang pop out while “Federal Offenses” featuring Certified Trapper makes another attempt at a back-&-forth chemistry although not as great.
$kid reunites with his partner in rhyme on “Otis” throwing it back to the Fancy Off Fiends era a little dismantling their competition leading into “Spot Test” talking about making the pot burst with all the pressure he has on him. “7 Horses” brings $kid back in the fold for 1 more collaboration that I like less than the first one just before “Nebuchadnezzar” references the Discovery Global subsidiary Cartoon Network owned [adult swim] hit series Rick & Morty.
“Seasick” featuring BandGang Biggs links the 2 up to talk about ballin’ in contrast to others barely gettin’ by while “Hot Potato” dismisses those with puny vocabs & making people think he went to a university the way he articulates himself. “Callin’” taps in with Carlo Anthony to talk about the money hitting his line while “Cape Cod” speaks of plugging people in with God & airing out a whole team of broads.
ScrumbleMan’s appearance on “Dionysus” is one of the weaker guest performances on the LP even with them trading verses with one another while “Money Mission” featuring J1Hunnit makes up for it with both labelmates talking about their assignment of getting the bread. “Merlin” boasts that he keeps a 45 auto tucked like he was fightin’ the fascists while “Knockin’” makes reference to both Flynn White & Huell Babineaux from my favorite shows Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul.
“Good Run” pushes towards the conclusion of Sweeten the Pot by referencing future WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE world champion & 4-time WWE Tag Team Champion Dave Bautista while “Filthy” featuring GlockBoyz TeeJaee kicks off with a nod to EMPIRE Distribution founder Ghazi Shami & later the 2004 NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups. Couldn’t forget to mention the line about the Paramount Skydance Corporation subsidiary Nickelodeon hit series SpongeBob SquarePants almost halfway.
J1Hunnit comes back 1 last time for “Block Party” with a bar out the gate referring to former 3-time WWE world champion, 5-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion, 3-time TNA World Champion, ΩCW Heavyweight Champion, 9-time WWE Tag Team Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion, HoG Tag Team Champion, 2-time ΩCW Tag Team Champion, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion & The Crash Mundial Parejas Campeon Jeff Hardy.
If you’ve ever wanted a spiritual successor to Fancy Off Fiends in the sense that Danny G’s handling most of the production, Sweeten the Pot would be it except it’s the most exciting that $weet-T has sounded by himself. Jakesand & Carlo Anthony’s contributions behind the boards are all on par with Danny’s beats since they’re amongst the best in Detroit sound & even if the guests are a little 50/50, the flows that $weet-T hits us with still makes up for it.
This is the 7th mixtape from Detroit, Michigan rapper/producer Prince Jefe. Known for his affiliation with the ShittyBoyz, I can’t forget to mention the 9 EPs & his previous 6 tapes he’s already put out since 2023 to establish himself as a solo artist. Personal favorites of mine gotta be Jefe, 12/19, On the Run & more recently Lab Talk a couple months earlier. For his 3rd & final offering of the year, he’s looking to do it Jefe’s Way under Lando Bando’s own The Hip Hop Lab Records.
“Angel” opens with some strings & bells talking about hearing Envy next to him as if he’s on The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne tha God leading into “Handle It Right” venting over seeing people he knew in life changing all because of some money. “Tryna Tell U” embraces the Detroit trap vibes heavier talking about living more on the right side of things these days prior to “50 Boy” boasting that he cooks better than his own mother.
As for “Jealous”, we have Jefe going for a cloudier approach to the Detroit trap aesthetics comes clean of his daughter catching a body recently & feeling that exact way about it just before “Math Ain’t Mathin’” warning that he got hitmen who’ll send out hits with the blicks if you piss him off over a Jakesand instrumental. “Single Again” has a cloudier Detroit sound to it talking about a breakup while “L.L.$. (Long Live $camaurion)” featuring Fordio of the Dog $hit Militia pays tribute to $camaurion, who was killed in a fatal car accident last fall.
“Voodoo” admits it’s been hard to switch from the streets to rap while the self-produced “On the East” featuring Certified Trapper boasts of everyone in their hoods knowing about them. “J Reed” references Green Bay Packers WR Jayden Reed while “Another Deuce” produced by Danny G talks about having junkies knocking on his door in the early morning. “Heel Toe” featuring Babytron ends Jefe’s Way with them entertainingly going back-&-forth with each other.
Familiarizing myself with his appearances on Lando Bando’s 4th album New Era & of course Babytron’s 8th mixtape Bin Reaper 3: New Testament, the most underrated artist in the Detroit trap scene puts out a new tape under Lando’s steadily growing label & it easily surpasses a lot of what I’ve heard regarding Jefe’s earlier material. Including his work when his original moniker used the same name as Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince because he’s doing it how he wants to.
Legends Will Never Die 