che – “Fully Loaded” review

New surprise EP & the 5th overall from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist che. Starting as a member of the 4ersona collective under the original moniker murkio before settling on cheRomani+ & later abbreviating it, it wasn’t until more recently where he decided to build a solo catalog for himself by putting out the debut EP 3 over a year ago & followed it up in the form of X or the original version of his 3rd EP Closed Captions a few summers ago. Crueger that same Halloween showed more of a Chief Keef influence & sayso says was an acclaimed rage debut of its own, coming off the beloved Rest in Bass to drop Fully Loaded.

The self-produced “1M Mansion” begins with some synthesizers & 808s boasting the new crib he copped around his parts whereas “Promoting Violence” talks about people getting robbed for pennies. “White Folk” energetically describes his lifestyle becoming more expensive these past 2 & a half years but once “Tattoos” comes through with an ode to all of the ink he has on his skin, “Kittens” sends off Fully Loaded talking about being a big pup.

It’d be a huge stretch to put Fully Loaded in the same category as both of his LPs, but it feels like the beginning of a new era for che & eagerly await where his next album takes it beyond this point. The production experiments beyond the rage sound to explore trap metal & retain the Chicago drill influences of his previous material, spitting hardcore lyrics & using a deep voice reminiscent of Mr. Krabs from the Paramount Skydance Corporation subsidiary Nickelodeon hit series SpongeBob SquarePants.

Score: 3.5/5

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Central C – “All Roads Lead Home” review

Here we have the 6th extended play from Ladbroke Grove, London, England, United Kingdom rapper & singer/songwriter Central C. After putting out a total of 4 EPs & a couple mixtapes in addition to his Split Decision collab EP he & Dave did, the 2023 XXL Freshman Class member signed to Columbia Records & his full-length debut Can’t Rush Greatness was received mixed-to-negatively even if his popularity keeps growing. 14 months later, All Roads Lead Home has arrived following it’s delay last weekend.

The introductory freestyle was an mediocre choice of an intro considering he’s just going off the top promoting Drake’s upcoming 9th album Iceman whereas “Slaughter” featuring J Hus blends UK drill & 3-step, countering each other by spitting forgettable verses of their own. “Wagwan” kinda has this lo-fi drill vibe to it talking about a shorty he hasn’t seen in a minute prior to the self-produced “Feelings” acknowledges what it’s like when nobody believes in you.

“DC10” winds down the last few minutes of All Roads Lead Home talking about being inside of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos until Einer Bankz produces what could be my favorite instrumental on the EP during “Maka” featuring A2Anti, even if the latter’s guest appearance was worse than the other one. “Y Fi Dat” finally ends All Roads Lead Home talking about having his eye for sexy women & saving a hoe like he’s Spider-Man.

You’re better off listening to the new Fliptrix album Elevation produced by Telemachus if you’re looking for some new UK hip hop this weekend because not only has Can’t Rush Greatness aged like milk, but Central C’s newest EP preparing for his sophomore effort is somehow worse. A lot of that would attribute to a great deal of the beats feeling pretty cheap for this style of drill as well as his singular flow & basic lyrics.

Score: 1.5/5

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Mike Shabb – “The Lost Tapes” review

New surprise EP & the 8th overall from Montréal, Québec, Canada emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb. Emerging in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 7 EPs & a few mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery along with producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X & enlisting his mentor Nicholas Craven to fully produce his 5th EP Shadow Moses from top to bottom. Hood Olympics & Sewaside III were both solid in their own rights, following up Shabb Van Gogh as well as Fight the Power! & Vrai Rap Keb! to have Drega33 produce The Lost Tapes.

The jazzy “Don Gargon” officially kicks us off talking about how he can’t be seconded out by anyone while “Nike Tech” goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally wondering why people acting like he isn’t pushing hip hop culture forward. “Kiss & Tell” embraces a more psychedelic sound talking about keeping shit to himself just before “Evidence Flicks” hops over a bare saxophone loop whacking up anyone who fucks around with him.

“Dudududu” continues the final half of The Lost Tapeson some soulfully funky shit talking about dying for this shit since he’s way too deep into it & once “Jet2” continues the crooning sampling techniques calling out someone who’s acting all tough when everyone knows that isn’t the case with him, the closing track “World Go Round” wraps things up combining chipmunk soul & jazz so he can talk about money making the globe spin.

It was already announced earlier this week that he’s working on Sewaside IV & I have no clue whether that’s coming before or after Hood Olympics 2, but I wasn’t anticipating Mike Shabb to drop another extended play so soon after Vrai Rap Keb! became some of the greatest French hip hop I’ve heard recently. He takes a backseat from the production so Drega33 can pull inspiration from drumless, boom bap, chipmunk soul, jazz rap, psychedelia & funk all for Montréal’s finest to body himself.

Score: 4.5/5

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Elcamino – “Bruv” review

2nd extended play of 2026 & the 22nd overall from Buffalo, New York emcee & singer Elcamino. Blowing up almost a decade ago off his self-titled EP with Griselda Records, his profile increasingly grew after being followed up by Walking on Water mixtape in the summer of 2018 along with dropped 2 studio albums & a few EPs the year after that. They Spit on Jesus proved to be a well received Black Soprano Family Records debut becoming the first Camino project that I had covered since On the 3rd Day & that much like No Weapon Formed Against Me was an improvement over some of the material we’ve gotten from him in recent memory. Real Bad Man would produce The Game is the Game followed by Ill Tone producing Built for Cuban Links named after Raekwon’s iconic solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… produced by RZA in addition to flexing his Millionaire status & Full Moon showing a heavy Future influence. Martyr’s Prayer III produced by 38 Spesh made for a gratifying conclusion to the beloved trilogy as did Mino, but now he’s coming off the Ill Tone-produced God is Love to drop Bruv.

“London Bruv” hops over a soulful boom bap instrumental to give his flowers to the United Kingdom’s capital whereas “Green Beret” produced by Ill Tone continues the chop up the soul samples talking about those kind of people not getting a whole lot of love. “Adele” keeps the crooning chipmunk soul vibes going using the same rhyme scheme for a couple minutes while “You’re Here” talks about doing it all for the glory & taking pride in the joys of him being African American.

The song “Getting Old” continues Bruv’s last leg going completely drumless to speak of knowing he’d lock himself in since there was always more in store for him than what he’s already achieved while “Eating Steaks” brings back the sampling techniques so he can talk about being in Paris for Fashion Week last year, embracing some jazzier undertones additionally. The closer concludes the EP with a chipmunk soul outro calling out a backstabber who doesn’t wanna see the “Other Side”.

Although I lean a little more towards God is Love, I can appreciate Elcamino getting in passport mode for Bruv since France & the UK have always been my 3rd & #1 biggest audiences outside of the States respectively. The production’s more soulful than it’s primarily drumless predecessor & Meech details a hustler philosophy with runway lighting including overseas backdrops, designer details & war-ready bars balanced by flashes of family, memory, the weight of who didn’t make it, grief, pressure & discipline through flexes that he earned himself.

Score: 4/5

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iyrus – “III” review

Up-&-coming Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper & producer of Nigerian descent iyrus is back for the final installment of his ongoing extended play trilogy. Emerging in the summer of 2024 after doing an On the Radar freestyle, he would later introduce himself more properly last spring off his debut EP Resurgence until continuing to make waves with I & II. It’s only been a couple of months since the latter began turning more heads & III has dropped exclusively on his SoundCloud page.

“Scarlett Johansson” begins with him looking to turn up the streets whilst driving a trackhawk Jeep over a sample-based trap instrumental whereas “Igbo Man” turns up the rage so he can talk about the way he’s been living. “Noise” featuring diamond* finds the 2 boisterously boasting their top shotta statuses leading into the self-explanatory “Make Money” talking about waking up every single day to stack up his bread.

Wrapping up the 1st half, “oK” discusses walking off the stage & going back to his hood a lot similarly to Miley Cyrus prior to “Blessed in Hell” incorporating some heavy 808s to talk about his confidence of always doing all of this without needing any help. “Spam” featuring Zukenee claims to be damned if they fall off harder than Lil Xan when both of them are more talented than he ever was while “Big Red Dog” talks about paying the cost of any artist wants to be at his level.

“Get Money” winds down III’s final minutes flexing that he’s been letting his expensive habits get to him, coppin’ an expensive palace out in Calabasas over more rage beats & once “Kunta Kinte” talks about going from middle schoolers insensitively calling him the main character of Roots: The Saga of an American Family during his adolescence to the one their bitches want, “Pablo” ends the EP talking about feeling like Gregg Popovich whenever he’s in Texas & the reputation he has in his own hometown.

Local artist slayr has been making a lot of waves this month because of his 2nd mixtape Half Blood being reissued, recently joining ApolloRed1 & 9 Vicious in the studio last weekend. iyrus on the other hand already began revealing his artistic potential back in January although it hasn’t been fully realized this, continuing to flourish throughout his 4th extended play. I can appreciate him taking a backseat in terms of production compared to its predecessor like I to focus more on lyrically spazzin’ alongside both guests.

Score: 3.5/5

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Dylan Brady – “Needle Guy” review

St. Louis, Missouri singer/songwriter & producer Dylan Brady dropping his 5th extended play under his own imprint Dog Show Records in tandem with Atlantic Records. Known for being 1/2 of 100 gecs, he would eventually carve a path of his own by releasing Saxophone Joe & Taste the Rainbow as well as the full-length debut All I Ever Wanted & Choker respectively. Dog Show would eventually catch the attention of Mad Decent, whom Dylan signed to for his previous EP Peace & Love. 8 years later, the Needle Guy ready to make his major label debut.

“Throat Song” co-produced by Skrillex kicks things off with the weakest composition of the bunch due to how repetitive it mostly is with the central Asian throat singing whereas “Stay High” could be my favorite instrumental here, leaning heavier towards the festival progressive house side of things. “Ashley” embraces a Dutch house vibe decently remixing the Afrojack single “Ashley” while the title track finishes with Dylan blending dubstep, tearout & hard techno

Peace & Love almost a decade later has been widely considered to be the finest entry of Dylan Brady’s solo career, but Needle Guy returns to the averageness a lot of his individual output tends to suffer from. His production’s more catered towards the sounds of hardgroove techno, tearout, Dutch house, festival progressive house & tribal house than it’s hyperpop & alternative R&B predecessor except it isn’t as groundbreaking for those styles of electronic dance music than I would’ve hoped.

Score: 2.5/5

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Samara Cyn – “Detour” review

This is the 3rd EP from Murfreesboro, Tennessee rapper & singer/songwriter Samara Cyn. Beginning her career in 2019, it wasn’t until the fall of 2024 where her debut EP The Drive Home began to turn heads and catch people’s attention because of the way she fused alternative hip hop with neo-soul. Her most recent extended play Backroads came out right around the time she was selected to be apart of the 2025 XXL Freshman Class last summer, looking make a quick Detour exactly 9 months later & only a week following her most recent single.

“Free” starts us off with this heavenly intro singing about wanting to fall in 2 prior to an EDM breakdown to conclude it whereas “Good is a Lie” produced by ovrkast. blends neo-soul & hip hop talking about her desires to light this guy’s world up. “oooshxt!” honors the legacy of Missy Elliott admitting that she hasn’t been doing so sweet as of lately despite all of her successes, but then “Bushwick” featuring ovrkast. brings both of them together so they can talk about nobody threatening them.

The song “over influence” continues Detour’s final moments rapping like the rent’s due on top of promising that she won’t ever let a weak bitch inside of her home & taking some inspiration from orchestral music with the strings while “Highest” incorporates 1 last ovrkast. beat talking about doing shit that others out here aren’t. “Nomad” finishes things up with a moody closer detailing her experiences of being stood up, lied to, led astray & people spitting in her face.

Known for often fusing hip hop & neo-soul in her music, Samara Cyn comes off her Camp Flog Gnaw performance this past fall by creatively pushing herself throughout Detour to the point where I have to put it above the EP she gave us 9 months earlier. The pop rap, boom bap & alternative R&B production’s a bit more experimentally darker than what many of us familiar with her have grown accustomed to & conceptually, she’s issuing a statement based off her own experiences of disconnecting from social media built around remaining human in the modern age of the internet.

Score: 4/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman III” review

Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor returning for the 3rd installment of his ongoing 12-part series of extended plays almost a week since Divine Dominion, the current CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion Místico alongside JetSpeed & Jack Perry all became the new AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions, AEW World Trios Champions & AEW National Champion at Revolution VII and days after Wren Sinclair & Aaron Rourke became the new WWE Women’s Speed Champion & WWE EVOLVE Champion respectively. Someone who’s steadily been holding it down for the last 2 decades including The Calling, Vinnie Chase & S.O.S. trilogies along with the Best in the World series paying homage to some of Jon’s influences, Salvation, While You Were Sleeping & Unconscious State. He was even signed to Aftermath Entertainment for 6 years before departing after Vehicle City wound up being shelved, coming off Food for the Soul & 24 produced by KLC of the No Limit Records in-house production team Beats by the Pound to go on a 3-peat with Smitti Boi.

“Black Messiah” aggressively comes out the gate talkin’ about fightin’ & throwin’ fists until his arms gets tired whereas “No Smoke” takes the trap route instrumentally explaining that BabyChiefDoIt using AI to write his raps has to be the dumbest shit he’s ever heard. “So Far Gone” goes for a bit of a boom bap vibe talking about public opinion changing only when you’re dead while “War” apocalyptically confesses to feeling like we’re at conflict.

Reaching the halfway point, “Good Money” addresses a woman who claims to be stripping to make it out the hood except she’s still doing it even after becoming wealthy leading & after “To the Young Lady at the Barber Shop” melodically speaks directly to a female who isn’t receiving the love she wants promising it’ll all be ok, “Come Over” goes for a conscious rap rock direction wanting to elevate the female he’s talking about & leaving the old version of her behind.

“Look the Other Way” begins The Artist Yahn Freeman III’s encore soulfully discussing an experience he had the the other day where he ran into someone he personally knew & they eventually turned their heads after saying something while “Silent Conversations” returns to the boom bap telling everyone who’s tuned in to keep going no matter what. “Things You Can’t Control (For TTT)” soulfully ends the EP talking to a young king who should play this when lost in their thoughts.

So we’re almost a quarter way through 2026 already & of the 3 entries to come out of this whole saga so far, The Artist Yahn Freeman III makes improvements above The Artist Yahn Freeman II & dethroning the 1 that began it all. It’s starting to look increasingly likely that Smitti Boi will be producing the whole series & I can’t complain because the production’s more varied than the other 2 installments, backing the messages Jon’s portraying through his rhymes tend to be more urgent than it’s predecessors.

Score: 4/5

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KiD CuDi – “Have U BN 2 Heaven @ Nite?” review

Brand new extended play from Cleveland, Ohio rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, fashion designer, model, director & filmmaker KiD CuDi. Blowing up in 2008 off his debut mixtape A KiD Named CuDi as well as his songwriting credits on his mentor Ye formerly known as Kanye West’s 4th album 808s & Heartbreak, his profile from there would increasingly grow off his groundbreaking debut & sophomore albums Man on the Moon: The End of the Day & Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. But following the self-produced & overlooked Indicud, CuDi would leave G.O.O.D. Music amicably to form his own Republic Records imprint Wicked Awesome Records. Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon though was mediocre at best & who could forget when CuDi attempted to go alt-rock on the critically panned Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven? Luckily he would redeem himself on his next effort Pain & Demon Slayin’ in 2016 along with the self-titled album from him & Ye as the duo KIDS SEE GHOSTS couple summers later & even Man on the Moon III: The Chosen the day after my 24th birthday despite it’s blatantly heavy Travis Scott influence. Entergalactic was released mixed reviews as was INSANO, but I enjoyed how both LPs took it back to his roots along with mixing old & new sounds together respectively. INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA continued the energy of its predecessor. Free came out last summer & found myself disappointed by it although I appreciate him going for a poppier sound, posing the question of Have U BN 2 Heaven @ Nite?.

“Real Ones Never Die” starts us off with some wavy synthesizers & acoustics remind us all of the legitimate lasting for eternity whereas “Drown” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying goes full pop rock singing about an evil awaiting him. “Halos & Angels” reunites with his WZRD cohort Dot da Genius blending neo-psychedelia & alternative R&B looking to get his mind right while “Ride Ride” ends with a peacefully climatic outro he self-produced culminating in the styles of alternative R&B, neo-psychedelia & pop rap.

75% of this EP was already released as singles & considering that all 3 of them were bangers to me anyway, I knew I’d come away from Have U BN 2 Heaven @ Nite? enjoying it more than Free & it makes me anticipate his upcoming 12th album more than I initially was prior to listening to this although I’d love for BNYX to do an entire project with him eventually. The production’s a huge improvement above the latter album mixing alternative R&B, neo-psychedelia, pop rap & pop rock capturing his range as an artist rather than sticking to 1 particular sound & we get a look at where he is now that he’s no longer on a major label.

Score: 3.5/5

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SHVMIRE – “Eyes Wide Shut” review

This is the 4th extended play from Brooklyn, New York emcee/producer SHVMIRE. Dropping his debut EP 333 ❤ as well as a full-length debut Reclusive Poet he primarily self-produced and the Saxophones & Sex EP in 2024, he would eventually make his return this past Christmas Eve releasing his previous EP Grinch’n. Almost 3 months later, he’s continuing to take a backseat behind the boards & tell more stories of the masked hooded figure with a blue face & a closed yellow eye named ANU by putting out Eyes Wide Shut.

“Broadway & Canal St.” begins with this drumlessly jazzy beat explaining that everyone having the right to brag because it’s all facts whereas “Fidelio” featuring Nuemoney718 soulfully talks about what happens when pussy’s at stake. “Black Gatsby” chops up more chipmunk soul samples suggesting that everyone listening finds their passion while “Press Play” featuring Action Figure 973 talks about how shit gets real in the east coast.

Nuemoney returns for “The Shining” using proper grammar to speak of money continuing to rely on sampling instrumentally & “Mota y Platanos” also featuring Nuemoney references the current 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champion & inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy. “Auntie Margaret’s Soul Food” soulfully talks about how he’s only warming up while “Uncle Elroy’s Pie” welcomes anyone looking for a fix to his humble spot.

“Broken Mirrors” winds down Eyes Wide Shut’s last few moments clarifying that he’s in his 4th season who’s still commencing his reclusive style of hip hop rather than being a rookie & the beat feels like something out of a improvised jazz band session while “Follow the Light” is ties it all up with this celebratory closer firing off rapid flows talking about him thinking in double time these days & that he’s closer to God after stepping towards this brightness he’s referring to.

Known for blending gritty hip hop with jazz-influenced textures & surreal film-like energy, Eyes Wide Shut leans fully into that vision by pairing music with darkly immersive visuals inspired by secrecy as well as power & hidden worlds. The end result is SHVMIRE’s greatest solo material thus far. He uses ANU as both an alter ego much like what one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib has previously done with Quasimoto & a storytelling device where everything connects, which is exemplified by the cohesive transitions.

Score: 4/5

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