Rockitneedspace – “Next Day Air.” review

Los Angeles, California rapper & producer Rockitneedspace making his Tan Cressida Records debut with a brand new extended play. Linking up with Anklesandwich for the respective we bet it on expert! & continue? collaborative EPs the year earlier, he’s now become the 3rd artist that former Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt has signed to his independent label following Black Noi$e & Cletus Strap. The latter of whom recently dropped rappers suck. this summer & Next Day Air. enlists the Surf Gang to help strengthen the roster’s newest addition.

“factory reset.” produced by Harrison kicks things off talking about there being nothing player regarding the game paying him over a plugg instrumental whereas “luke babbittt” maintains the pluggy vibes to discuss turning up the volume of things quicker than your favorite producer. “iN LOVING COLOUR” talks about this person who was walking with a clean slate getting his hands bloody & after “craig = the problem” featuring distroROE lets delusion take them far, “skeptix.” begins the 2nd half talking about giving us audio dope.

Leota appears during “amfibbiannn” so he can explain that he has absolutely no interest in engaging in a band war while “reloaded.” featuring Anklesandwich reunites with his partner-in-rhyme over the sole Evilgiane beat to let their growth shine. “Mr. Doubt” featuring Cletus Strap & Earl Sweatshirt joins forces for a brief Tan Cressida posse cut until the outro “ZOUTHBAYLAKERZ” spends the final minutes of Next Day Air. on an atmospheric trap note detailing a woman wanting to get to know his friends.

Between this & rappers suck., it wouldn’t be surprising if I find myself revisiting Next Day Air. more in comparison since it’s the most interesting thing Rockitneedspace has done so far in addition to further welcoming Tan Cressida Records’ new era of introducing lesser-known acts to the underground. The cloudy plugg & ambient plugg production that Harrison handles a vast majority of sounds a lot more interesting than his earlier collab EPs & despite understanding that his monotonous delivery can turn some people off, the witty songwriting gives me a better understanding as why Earl gave him a label deal.

Score: 4/5

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Alla Xul Elu – “Universal Perverts” review

Kicking off the 4th quarter of the year with Portsmouth, Ohio horrorcore trio & Long Live Evil founders Alla Xul Elu’s 4th extended play. Consisting of Billy Obey as well as Joey Black & Lee Carver, they broke out a decade ago as a duo by releasing their first 2 albums Head of Horns & Sci-Co that same year. This was followed up with their 4/20-themed debut EP Necronomichron in 2017 & adding Carver into the fold shortly after, but it wasn’t until Twiztid signed them to Majik Ninja Entertainment in 2018 when the Xul Boys’ music got increasingly better. Their MNE debut The Almighty is unquestionably the greatest horrorcore album of the 2010s, their 2019 EP Church of Xul took a much darker approach, Mauxuleum made it in the top 10 of my Best Releases of 2020 list despite them ditching their signature boom bap sound for a more industrial, trap metal direction & Necronomichron 2: Dead by Bong was a superior sequel to their 4/20 EP. The Magic Xul Bus preluded their final MNE offering Gods of Evil Rise produced by Mike E. Clark, opening for Psychopathic Records & Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) founders the Insane Clown Posse last Hallowicked. Coming off No Masters however, they’re dropping Universal Perverts in preparation for WHellcome Home at the end of the month.

“Freakenstein” after the “Meet the Monsters” intro references former 3-time CWA Tag Team Champion, WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 10-time WWE tag team champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion, 2-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Scott Steiner whereas “Wackula” puts a comedic spin on the idea of masturbation over a boom bap instrumental.

The song “Woofman” winds down the last few moments of Universal Perverts talking about someone they know whom they’ve coined the titular nickname to while “Yummy Gummy Cummy Mummy” spends a couple minutes describing a mummy who’s addicted to performing oral. The beat during the outro reminds me of some 90s hip hop shit, concluding the EP describing a “Creature from the Crack Lagoon” using wordplay to discuss eating ass.

Some would consider Tunnel of Love to be ICP’s freshest sideshow EP although I’d personally put Beverly Kills 50187 above it, but Universal Perverts will certainly appeal to Xuligans in the same way Tunnel of Love did to juggalos or Kool Keith & Necro’s respective 2nd & 4th albums Sex Style & The Sexorcist if you wanna take it a step further since there are underground heads who still revisit tracks off those. That being said: It’s not my favorite EP they’ve made & anticipate WHellcome Home almost 4 weeks from now.

Score: 3/5

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9 Vicious – “Det Hot Shit” review

Already have the 6th extended play albeit 2nd this afternoon from Atlanta, Georgia rapper & producer 9 Vicious. Breaking out in 2024 off the single “U Fancy” despite releasing his debut tape Naz in 2020, he would go on to further introduce himself on B4SA & the full-length debut Studio Addict helped him gain more exposure to the point where Young Thug signed him to YSL Records after B4TM dropped & Tumblr Music wasn’t that bad of a debut for the label other than “Clout Demons”. B4FN & For Nothing have both become the best things he’s made since the YSL deal, leaving when the Uy Scuti Bøyz consisting of diamond* & Tezzus signed. B4EM & Emotions were both welcomed to mixed reception, coming off the widely panned Sedition to further prelude both Sex Money Power & Life’s Beautiful with LA NY ATL & now Det Hot Shit

“Cock” produced by Patrick Garza kicks things off with the worst track of the 3 angrily pleading for his hoe to fondle him regardless of her being unwilling to have sex with anyone unless being paid beforehand & after “Doing Me Wrong” takes a mellower approach instrumentally courtesy of 406ahmad advising this woman to hit up his line so he can tell her not to fuck him over, “Fifa” already finishes the 2nd EP of the day embracing a plugg sound to talk about drugs & sex.

Wasn’t anticipating 9 Vicious to drop twice in the same day but compared to the rest of the EPs in his discography, it should go without saying that most will consider Det Hot Shit to be less enjoyable than LA NY ATL & quite possibly the 2nd worst thing he’s made behind Sedition. The production’s not an issue much like what we got 3 hours earlier considering 406ahmad handles most of it other than Patrick doing the intro, but the performances are significantly worse.

Score: 2/5

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9 Vicious – “LA NY ATL” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper & producer 9 Vicious uploading his 5th extended play onto SoundCloud without any warning. Breaking out in 2024 off the single “U Fancy” despite releasing his debut tape Naz in 2020, he would go on to further introduce himself on B4SA & the full-length debut Studio Addict helped him gain more exposure to the point where Young Thug signed him to YSL Records after B4TM dropped & Tumblr Music wasn’t that bad of a debut for the label other than “Clout Demons”. B4FN & For Nothing have both become the best things he’s made since the YSL deal, leaving when the Uy Scuti Bøyz consisting of diamond* & Tezzus signed. B4EM & Emotions were both welcomed to mixed reception, coming off the widely panned Sedition to further prelude both Sex Money Power & Life’s Beautiful with LA NY ATL.

“Light It Up” gets things going with this 85 second intro confirming that he’s been banned from his own city because of his countless beefs whereas “Baby Roscoe” produced by Patrick Garza disses YSL for being on what he calls “fake shit” & boasts that Playboi Carti co-signed him on the phone when his OPM BABI diss ranks amongst the worry songs I’ve heard this year. “Net Worth” digs up a microwaved leftover from the Emotions sessions & after reuniting with 406ahmad for “Studio Fein” talking about spending days in the lab, “Wyoming” ends LA NY ATL shouting out the state he visited this spring.

406ahmad has since confirmed he’ll be solely producing Life’s Beautiful when it comes out at the beginning of the New Year & that already tells me we’ll get more gratifying production on there compared to Sedition earlier this month, which I can fortunately say the exact same thing regarding LA NY ATL although I can’t really say the same for his performances considering he goes from confessing the truth of the latter city banning him to adding fuel to that fire literally the next song regardless of Slime Language III being overloaded.

Score: 2.5/5

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Action Figure 973 – “Dark Side of the Ring 4” review

Another extended play & the 15th overall from Belleville, New Jersey emcee/producer Action Figure 973. For a while at this point, his first couple mixtapes followed by his last 14 EPs & the full-length debut DOOM Was Right over a year ago giving flowers to one of my all-time personal favorite albums Madvillainy have each established himself as a promisingly skilled luchador who so happens to rap. The Most Interesting Man in the World got with Machacha for his sophomore effort last October, coming off What Would Harley Race Do? as well as & the baseball-themed Polo Grounds produced by DiMaggio & Souled Out for a 4th installment of the Dark Side of the Ring series only 48 hours after Vince Russo announced his departure from Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW).

The intro “Know You Role” references the current AEW World Tag Team Champion Adam Copeland shooting it with former AEW World Tag Team Champion, FTW Champion, DEFY World Champion, the inaugural NWA World Television Champion, NXT Champion & NXT North American Champion Ricky Starks whereas “Rap Is Still Crap” continues from there giving a nod to former WCW World Tag Team Champions the West Texas Rednecks.

“Going to Kill You” gives a nod to a chant originated by current AEW commentator, former 2-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time ECW World Television Champion, the inaugural 2-time FTW Champion & 4-time WWE tag team champion Taz just before “R.I.P. Vince Steel” pays tribute to the late New York performer. “Junkyard Dog” however ends the 1st half remembering the late WWE Hall of Famer & former WCW World 6-Man Tag Team Champion.

We get a lo-fi boom bap instrumental on “20 Minute Blowjob” so Act-Lo can keep it hardcore until “3rd Man” includes a reference to the WWE Hall of Famers nWo’s debut 3 decades earlier. “Main Event of Thunder” calls back to WCW’s secondary program Thunder & the outro “Macho’s Elbow Drop” wraps up Dark Side of the Ring 4shouting out the late the late WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE world champion & WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage.

From the Polo Grounds theming itself around America’s favorite past time to Souled Out celebrating his birthday describing some trips he took overseas, Dark Side of the Ring 4 mainly takes it back to what made Action Figure 973 one of the most interesting figures in the underground whether it be the raw production or the witty lyricism including gems that only professional wrestling fans would understand better than most.

Score: 4/5

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Remy Ma – “Alimony” review

Remy Ma is a 46 year old rapper from The Bronx, New York City who Big Pun brought into the Terror Squad some time before his death. Her full-length debut there’s something about remy: based on a true storycame out 2 decades earlier to positive reception following her debut mixtape Most Anticipated although BX Files, BlasRemy & I’m Around weren’t as great. Coming off her divorce from Papoose, she’s preluding a sophomore effort with a brand new extended play of material.

“Rem the Pen” actually wasn’t bad of an intro hopping over an apocalyptic boom bap instrumental from Ron Browz to talk about the possibility of her never speaking to Nicki Minaj again, but then “Cry in the Wraith” featuring Tink & produced by Hitmaka continues the enjoyability levels getting in their feelings a bit. “Who Raised You?” however reaches the halfway point with the exact moment where things begin to decline, wanting to know who raised these new bitches over a bland beat.

Kicking off the 2nd leg, “Why I Get Married?” gives us a response to Papoose’s “Jezebel” that just feels absolutely embarrassing both instrumentally & in terms of Remy’s own performances while “Altar” throws more shots at Pap’s way returning to the boom bap accusing him of dumbing herself down for the only purpose of building himself up. “W.Y.F.L.” spends the remaining minutes of this Alimony declaring herself to be a mogul over a generic trap beat.

Soon as Remy Ma & Papoose began trading disses towards each other, I joked that it’s Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake for people who enjoyed watching Love & Hip Hop because I personally was never a fan of that whole series of reality shows & Alimony pretty much prove my point outside the first couple tracks. It starts off hot until losing steam right when the halfway point because of some inconsistencies regarding the production that I hope are resolved when the next album arrives.

Score: 2/5

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Yeat – “Cocoon” review

Portland, Oregon rapper Yeat dropping off his 8th extended play. Emerging in 2018 off his debut EP Deep Blue $trips, he’s been dominating the mainstream since 2021 whether it be him dropping a plethora of projects or receiving cosigns from the likes of Drake & Earl Sweatshirt. He eventually signed to Geffen Records, who backed his sophomore effort albeit major label debut 2 Alivë few years ago & its companionable deluxe EP Gëek Pack shortly after. Lyfë, Aftërlyfe, the experimental Capitol Records debut 2093, Lyfestylë, Dangerous Summer and A Dangerous Lyfë & A Dangerous Love all followed except Cocoon looks to make up for the latter’s disappointing reception.

“Earnëd It” kicks things off with this decent intro talking about buying his girl a Birkin bag & living like royalty whereas “In2That” flexes to find him where all the bitches are. “Miss My Dawg” was better than I had anticipated it being hopping over a Noel Cadastre instrumental calling for everyone who misses anyone in their lives that’ve passed away just before a favorite of mine “Luh Burk” produced by Trgc talks about giving this person a taste of fame since they’re never having it.

The song “Holy Watër” reunites with Internet Money Records in-house producer Synthetic so he can discuss splitting lids right when he pulls up to the spot leading into Trgc getting behind the boards for the title track talking about poppin’ out wearing all white when he began touring a month ago. “Tënnis” spends the remaining minutes of Cocoon going back-&-forth with this woman assuring her it ain’t as much of a game as she’d initially thought.

Yeat preludes his upcoming 7th album Reborn next year with an EP he made on the road that debunking the washed claims that were emerging when A Dangerous Lyfë & A Dangerous Love came out roughly 5 months earlier, which has me hoping this step in the right direction. It feels more aggressive & less commercial than the last full-length, revisiting his artistic origins rather than trying to make something that appealed more to the masses than his earlier stuff.

Score: 3.5/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Lethal Weapon 5” review

Yes, we have a new extended play & the 76th overall from Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records & being 1/3 of the Dump Gawds alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, we also can’t ignore the massive discography that he’s managed to build for himself, some of the standouts include Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. He’s been putting out amongst his best material in the past few years like the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull, the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King tetralogy, the Oh No-produced Berserko, the Mike Shabb-produced Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth, Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul, Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz, Slam Dump alongside it’s sequel, the self-produced Ultimate Rapper 5000 Guillotine & of course the historic Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap anthology. However, he’s running it back with Drega33 for a 5th installment of the Lethal Weapon series.

“Lethal Weapon” hooks up a sample-driven boom bap instrumental talking about haters trying to decline the mastermind now that he’s been reactivated whereas “Vega” strips the drums to explain his whole function being leaving deathtrap in both the rap game & the trap. “All I Know” expresses his desire of trying to make millions & the wrong move resulting in facing time while “Times of War” soulfully talks about harmony coming before conflict sometimes.

Kicking off the 2nd half, “Verses N Curses” continues the sampling so Fahim can sling lightning while “New Life” featuring Jay NiCE jazzily talks about doing this shit for the next generation. “Stimulate the Mind” treads the drumlessly jazzy, soulful waters speaking of keeping his head high because he’s the chosen one until “Wear Fear n Love” concludes Lethal Weapon 5 talking about defining greatness as opposed to it defining him.

It’ll be almost 7 months since I last covered Tha God Fahim when Slam Dump 2 came out, which I’m not gonna beat around the bush admitting the reasons for being because neither The Blacker the Berry or Tha Nighthawk Chapter impressed me like his past material AND I felt like a break having reviewed him literally dozens of times in only a few years. Lethal Weapon 5 on the contrary has me more optimistic of his output ahead of Fanonmenal later this month from the improved production to the focused performances.

Score: 4/5

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WRLD Tour Mafia – “For the Fans” review

New surprise extended play from Detroit trap outfit the WRLD Tour Mafia consisting of Rafa, DaeMoney, WTM Solid, WTM Miles, WTM Re, WTM Amex & WTM Bankroll. Originally forming in 2019, they dropped their debut mixtape World Tour Mafia or Die a couple summers later followed by Tourmania the fall after that & the Mob Ties EP. Tourmania II marked DaeMoney’s final appearance as a member until his initial departure, returning after Blood, Sweat, Tours & C.$.B. (Cross $tate Boys) strictly For the Fans.

“Common Name” by Rafa & WTM Solid starts us off with both of them trading bars with each other whereas “Tour Signs” by DaeMoney, Rafa & WTM Miles produced by the latter alongside LulRose gets back to basics reppin’ the team. “Never Seen B4” by WTM Re & WTM Solid talks about pulling off shit they haven’t done previously but once “Quarter Zip” by Rafa & WTM Amex gets on their gangsta shit together, “Goated” ends the EP with a proper posse cut.

These guys’ last couple of full-lengths each have their fair share of tracks I still revisit even if I wouldn’t rank either of them in the same category as the Tourmania series & For the Fans dethrones the original Mob Ties to become the WRLD Tour Mafia’s greatest EP, putting all the bullshit Rafa had with Slae aside for a celebratory reunion over this tight collection of beats catered to none other than the Detroit sound giving the world only a taste of what we can expect from them hereon out.

Score: 4/5

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bleood – “Haunted Hills” review

This is the 5th extended play from Floridian recording artist bleood. Someone who’s debut EP Seal of Memories came out in the fall of 2023 followed by a handful of a-side/b-side singles preceding the Rascal 51 as well as Pain & How Bleood Stole Xmas EPs respectively. Case in point: You Don’t Need Your Skin or the divisively received IDK I Can’t Say. Coming off both the Kill of B Killd & Protagonist EPs however, the wait until his debut album Kill Your Idols continues with Haunted Hills.

“Cryn Innis Coupe” produced by BenjiCold comes out the gate with my favorite song here from the rage beat to the lyrics about not wanting to feel useless whereas “fuk 12” gives off some digicore vibes wondering how many hoes he can fit inside his big body. “yung vocaloid” includes a cool Fortnite reference during the hook & after the bombastic “shellshocked” takes a more repetitive approach in terms of songwriting structuring, the closing track “she wanna” ends the EP detailing a woman who’d like to hop in his wraith.

Apparently we’ll finally get Kill Your Idols next month & regardless of some calling Protagonist the weakest EP in bleood’s discography, the warmer feedback Haunted Hills has been getting in comparison raises any expectations people have had for the LP until this point. The experimental rage, Chicago drill, cloud rap & free car music production still has a lot going for it & I can understand the criticisms surrounding the vocals even if I think he’s a superior performer than 2slimey.

Score: 3.5/5

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