La Reezy – “Lareezyana Shakedown” review

New Orleans, Louisiana based emcee/producer La Reezy self-producing his 4th EP. Introducing himself in 2023 off the full-length studio debut Reeborn, he would go on to follow it up with the debut EP We All Need Help as well as both Welcome to La Reezyana & Pardon Me, I’m Different earlier this year. The latter 2 have been drawing a lot of eyes on him within these past several months, which ultimately resulted in Lareezyana Shakedown unlocking a version of himself that even he didn’t know was ready to take the spotlight.

“Nolia Clap” begins with a cross between drumless, chipmunk soul & rap rock talking about the rocket being ready to go off whereas “Hardheaded” takes a jazzier vibe instrumentally talking about how he should’ve listened to his parents & now he has to solve it himself. “Move” featuring Da1TopNoch is the only song I could do without here despite the beat stylistically throwing it back to the late 90s dirty south while “Tiana Anthem” takes a backseat vocally for 67 seconds.

“Bad Man” works in some more sampling of soul music openly confessing to his mother that he’s not a good person while “Catch the Groove” closes the greatest musical statement of La Reezy’s career as of this very moment with a crossover between drumless & chipmunk soul talking about recently turning 21 in the current political climate of our country with some strings during the hook & I relate to it since I personally turned 21 at the end of 2017.

Receiving co-signs from the same weekend after former NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed & even Juvenile of the Hot Boy$ himself, Lareezyaa Shakedown conceived during a 5-beats-in-a-day challenge sharpens his artistic dexterity coming off the same weekend local former AEW World Tag Team Champion, FTW Champion, DEFY World Champion, the inaugural NWA World Television Champion & NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints ending the longest reigning NXT North American Champion Oba Femi’s nearly 9-month reign as NXT Champion at the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s developmental NXT brand’s No Mercy III in addition to the inaugural NXT Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan succeeding the current TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champion Ash by Elegance’s brief reign as TNA Knockouts World Champion and inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champion, 3-time ROH World Tag Team Champion, ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion, アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, the inaugural 2-time PWG World Champion, 6-time TNA X Division Champion & 3-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Frankie Kazarian ending former TNA World Champion Steve Maclin’s inaugural reign as TNA International Champion at Victory Road XIX.

Score: 4.5/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 16” review

Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim starting the 2nd season of the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap saga with his 64th EP. 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 series, 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. Almost 3 months since the season finale of the Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap series, the 16th installment has arrived not even 24 hours after being announced.

“Sword N Shield” begins Season 2 with a sumptuous boom bap beat talking about the 2 things he lives by whereas the drumless “Flip” shows off some lyrical acrobatics. “Safe & Dangerous” explains that it’s common knowledge he’s amongst the greats bring the kicks & snares back in the fold while “Flareon” soulfully talks about taking control of what’s his

The song “Spiteful Suffering” continues the 2nd half of the EP chopping up more soul samples & speeding it’s pitch up unloading the Glock at anyone who makes a false move while “Super Effective” talks about being a unique lyricist whenever he rhymes over a piano instrumental. “Good Bad Ugly” ends the S2 premiere observing the abundantly repugnant shadiness of the world as we know it currently.

Spending the past 11 weeks to recharge themselves, Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 16 gets back to business like they never took a break in the first place. Nicholas Craven’s production on this one is primarily catered to the styles boom bap, drumless & chipmunk soul clocking in at 16 minutes & Tha God Fahim dumpin’ precise bars by himself lost most entries.

Score: 4.5/5

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Santana Fox – “She’s a Rebel!” review

This is the 2nd EP from New York emcee/producer Santana Fox. Notable for being the daughter of the late Prodigy of Mobb Deep fame, she eventually followed in her father’s footsteps making music of her own couple years after his untimely passing putting out a handful of singles up until the full-length debut Girl Next Door. Her previous EP Eye Candy a year & a half ago was a crucial moment in her career not only for her producing it all by herself, but her improved lyricism too. We were supposed to get Femme Fatale last October & although it’s still not here, She’s a Rebel! looks to prelude it.

After the titular intro, the first song “‘Till the Angels Come” sets the tone with an eeriely self-produced boom boom bap opener talking about making muhfuckas disappear without a trace whereas “Raspy Berry” promises that she’ll get revenge on a hoe in the afterlife. “Deja Vu” featuring Big Twins & Chung finds the trio over a spooky boom bap instrumental advising not to get them hyped while “Taboo” featuring Hus Kingpin suggests for their competition to give up.

“Daydreamin’” starts the 2nd half of the EP with Fox by talking about getting on it like she wants it & wanting her cup to get poured up while “Crash Out” featuring Mijita takes a more promiscuous tone lyrically. “Lucky Girl” featuring Pohlosweater cautions that anyone runnin’ their mouths around them will get socked & “Lip Gloss on the Blunt” ends She’s a Rebel! by talking about trusting her intuition’s rather than giving a fuck what anyone else thinks.

In preparation for Mobb Deep’s upcoming 9th & final album Infinite getting ready to come out under Mass Appeal Records in a couple weeks, Santana Fox has delivered yet another EP capitalizing on the artistic growth that began unraveling 18 months ago. Her production skills have flourished tremendously since the last time we heard from her & her pen’s gotten sharper, although I personally could’ve done without a couple guests.

Score: 3.5/5

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Chris Webby – “88 Milligrams” review

Norwalk, Connecticut emcee Chris Webby tapping in with The Roots’ original keyboardist & former Aftermath Entertainment in-house producer Scott Storch for his 4th EP. Getting introduced to him during my senior year of high school when his full-length studio debut album Chemically Imbalanced under his own label 80HD Music in tandem with MNRK Music Group, he would go on to spend the late 2010s & the 2020s up until last Christmas doing the Wednesday series of mixtapes. 88 Milligrams linking up with one of my personal favorite producers had me thinking it was gonna be his finest extended play of his career.

After the “ASMR” intro, “Perfect Storm” begins the EP by pushing the hands on the doomsday clock over an instrumental that Scott Storch would’ve made in the 2000s during & succeeding his time with Aftermath whereas “In My Baggie” works in some pianos to talk about taking pills off the shelf at 12. “Put ‘Em High” cinematically cautions that no one wants to be a hero tonight while the trap-influenced “Running Scared” talks about playing the cards until they hit.

“Pyro” nears the end of 88 Milligrams with a beat throwing it back to either “Candy Shop” or “Just a Lil Bit” off of 50 Cent’s sophomore effort The Massacre celebrating it’s 2 decade anniversary earlier this spring talking about coming up in the spot to burn the place down leading into the cloudy “Rollercoaster” sending off the EP with Chris comparing life to a ride the way it goes up & down for roughly 5 & a half minutes.

As somebody who got introduced to him over a decade ago, Chris Webby has come a long way from his frat rap days in the past 15 years & 88 Milligrams comes right off the conclusion of the 80HD Music founder’s prolific Wednesday tapes with the most I’ve enjoyed his music in a while & easily his most cohesive EP on my opinion. Scott Storch’s production takes a nostalgic turn to when he was all over the airwaves as an opposed to adapting to modern sounds or techniques like having a producer tag on Dummy Boy & Chris gets in his baggie lyrically.

Score: 4.5/5

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Tezzus – “Tezzy Pendergrass” review

Here is the 7th EP from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Tezzus. Introducing himself with his first few EPs Hard2Kill as well as Hellraiser & Everyday’s Halløween, his debut mixtape Tezzus Khrist last holiday season would significantly elevate his profile locally as did the handful of appearances he made on The XA Tape earlier this year. Coming off his new Søufside collaborative EP with Percaso as well as Backrooms & more recently King Phønk, we’re finally being tested to Tezzy Pendergrass a couple weeks following the I Phønk, U Phønk prelude.

“Gøtham Løve Støry” gets the EP going with a cloudy pop rap/trap intro confessing that he wants this woman’s affection & continuously making the money whereas “Permanently Stained” talks about shedding tears when looking back at how far he’s come. “Cadillac Whipping” produced by Feardorian flexes that he switches lanes more than his homies switch bitches leading into “Cøme Øn”, which is one of the more lyrically repetitive moments.

Yung Fazo links up with Tezzus on “High Fashiøn” giving a middle finger to the pigs confident that they won’t ever catch the 2 slipping just before “Main Høe” featuring Sk8star & tana finds the trio coming together for a cloudy pop rap/trap crossover talking about the way fame goes. “I See” expresses a desire for all of his opps to drop dead & thanking his mom for raising a star while the pluggy “Gangsta” featuring Pz’ talks about people doing shit for tends.

“By Yøu” starts the final leg of Tezzy Pendergrass heading for an atmospheric direction once again admitting that love never felt so real until he stood by the woman he had in mind writing this while “2night” advises the female she has in mind to stay away from snitches & that he stays strapped in the streets. I Løve U” appropriately sends off the EP by longing for his partner to be right beside him in bed.

Eschewing the rage subgenre of trap from a lot of his earlier material & more specifically the other 3 extended plays that he’s given us in the past 6-7 weeks or so, Tezzus puts his artistic range in the forefront for 25 minutes so he can reveal a sensual side to himself. It was a no brainer Tezzy Pendergrass would embrace a heavier pop rap vibe stylistically & the same goes for the romantic subject matter, but it feels authentically sincere rather than coming off as forced.

Score: 4/5

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Forgiato Blow & Stitches – “Make America White Again” review

Miami, Florida rappers Forgiato Blow & Stitches teaming up for a new collaborative EP. One of whom has been getting the same attention that the far-right has been giving Tom MacDonald these past several years & the other gained notoriety for beefing with The Game almost a decade ago this upcoming winter. These guys have crossed paths with one another a few times & are linking back up for one of the most tasteless music offerings of the year.

The title track is a grating trap opener endorsing white supremacy whereas “Pink Tusie” takes on the Detroit sound with some heavy bells talking about bringing the illegal drug cocktail to the function. “Chop ‘Em Down” rehashes the themes of the previous song vapidly portraying themselves as drug dealers while “Casino 1724” spews more delusional gangsta raps about how they be serving fiends

“Cocaine Cowboys” starts the 2nd leg of the EP by repping their titular statuses even if “it may not mean nothing to y’all” when they couldn’t be more right while “Get Money” borrows from the Detroit trap scene again insipidly talking about making paper. “Fidel” gloats of themselves selling bricks in Miami throughout the whole summer & “Plug Cried Tears” ends the torture by talking about never folding through their struggles.

Forgiato Blow already has some of the worst singles of this ongoing decade under his belt from “Boycott Target” or the most recent example being “Good vs. Evil” earlier this month & Stitches was the only bad thing about that “8 Ways to Die” single the Insane Clown Posse put out in 2019, but the crossover between both parties results in shameless promotion of fascism along with nationalism & white supremacy. None of which are acceptable or tolerated in hip hop culture.

Score: 0/5

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Ty Fontaine – “LOV3NDL13S” review

Maryland recording artist Ty Fontaine teaming up with Internet Money Records in-house prouder Rio Leyva for his 10th EP. Coming up in 2019 off the strength of his debut EP Waiting on Ascension, he would go on to follow this up with the full-length debut We Ain’t the Same alongside a couple of mixtapes & 3 more EPs, the previous being The Revive preluding a sequel to his Internet Money-backed debut mixtape Ascension & Black Truck Life. He signed to MNRK Music Group for his 7th EP 264 & more specifically Ascension 2, tapping in with one of his former label’s biggest beatsmiths for LOV3NDL13S.

“O V E R L Y – G O I N” is a bit of a hyper intro to the EP talking about his girl going stupid & calling him fine shit quickly whereas Fuk! Type! Shi! U! On! Bih?” desires legitimacy from his partner from the best to the worst. “I Shouldn’t Be Here” talks about finding him in places he’s not to supposed be while “b o d y tlk” if you couldn’t tell takes on the theme of intercourse. “errythang” finishes LOV3NDLI3S by explaining that everything becomes easier when it comes to his lover.

Somehow someway, LOV3NDLI3S manages to raise the bar higher than Ty Fontaine did on Ascension & Ascension 2 moving Virtual World to the side for his finest extended play as well as becoming quite possibly my newest favorite entry in his whole entire discography. Rio Leyva’s production is a lot more detailed than some of the previous material we’ve gotten from Ty in recent years & it’s what he needed for some time already.

Score: 4.5/5

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Miz Korona – “…I Forgive Me” review

Detroit, Michigan emcee/producer Miz Korona returning after 3 & a half years with her 3rd EP. Releasing her debut album The Injection in 2010 produced by Chanes, she would return a decade later dropping her first EP The Virus during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic followed by The Healer & The Heartbreaker approximately 24 months later. Coinciding with her born day however, she’s releasing …I Forgive Me on her Bandcamp almost entirely producing the whole thing by herself except for the halfway point.

“Echoes of My Heart” featuring Neco Redd takes 3 & a half minutes to give everybody glimpses of their hearts real quick over a summery guitar instrumental whereas the title track asks God for self-forgiveness. “Space” takes the boom bap route stylistically feeling like she’s flying in a spaceship while “Last Goodbye” soulfully gets in her storytelling bag.

I felt threat “Melody of the Sun” was a highlight even for a single coming right out the gate back in her lane over more boom bap production & “Weather the Storm” featuring Na Bonsai & Neco Redd finishes with a stylistic departure from hip hop in favor over singing about nobody else being able to hold you down except yourself.

Said to be releasing a sequel EP called Travel in Peace dedicated to her mother later this weekend, Miz Korona celebrates her birthday with a more introspective side to herself than some of her previous material guaranteed to take itself further on Sunday & her growth as a producer since she made her first beat in the summer of 2021 is another key takeaway from it.

Score: 4/5

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The Musalini & Wais P – “Choose or Lose” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between from New York emcees The Musalini & Wais P entirely produced by Boston veteran Statik Selektah. One of whom has been signed to Jamla Records for the past few years now recently releasing a sequel to Pure Izm produced by Khrysis & the other also put out an EP with Khrysis last year called Hocaine. We’ve only heard them together once on a Planet Asia single last summer, so them uniting on Choose or Lose was exciting as a fan of Mu$ & Statik.

“Can a Player Live?” featuring Izzy Hott kicks it all off with a bluesy boom bap instrumental talking about forever gliding with no roadblocks of any kind in sight whereas “Return of the Mack” goes for an orchestrally dusty vibe to take us through the perspective of pimps. “How to Knocka” shows listeners the proper way to knock a bitch down keeping it in the basement instrumentally just before “Live in the Flesh” silkily takes about bringing it live & direct.

To get the 2nd half started, “4 Real” featuring Planet Asia clarifies that you’re fucking with 3 of the best MCs out currently maintaining a raw boom bap edge leading into the synthesizer heavy “Cashmere Coast” also featuring Planet Asia once again flexing that they’re dead nice. “Sake Bombs” brings some refreshing organs into the fold talking about their statuses being already solidified & “Pimpin’ Saved” ends with a warning that Mu$’ next LP could possibly get him banned.

If fans of either or have ever wondered what The Musalini & Wais P would sound like doing a whole entire body of work with one another, Choose or Lose collides both worlds with one another over rich boom bap production from the Showoff Records founder himself Statik Selektah to offer the player protocol of running to the game instead of running away from it.

Score: 4/5

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Quest Mcody – “Smoker’s Alley” review

Detroit, Michigan battle rapper, poet, actor & filmmaker Quest Mcody releasing a brand new EP. Notable for being the right hand man to Marv Won of the world famous Fat Killahz, he would goon to release both installments of the Ctrl+Alt+Delete mixtape series along with the King Cody & The Conquest tapes & his full-length debut The Light Project. A sophomore effort followed in 2018 called Th3 Gospel & is taking everyone down to Smoker’s Alley.

“I Just Wanna Smoke” makes for a cloudy trap intro talking about wanting to inhale some of that good kush whereas “Safe” goes for a soulful boom bap route instrumentally taking shots at those selling drugs to only include it in their raps. The self-produced “Duly Noted” expresses his desire to be quoted when he’s gone leading into “Seems Like It” talking about sinking the ship for showboating.

The song “Covered” starts the final leg of Smoker’s Alley on a cloudy drumless vibe flexing that he’s got money all over him while “Pray for the Prey” works in a reversed sample from Quest himself thanking his mom for the blessings & apologizing for making her stress. “Bring You Back” finished up the EP with Marv’s hype man looking at old pictures reminiscing over someone who can’t be here with him anymore.

Keeping my fingers crossed that we don’t have to wait very long for Quest Mcody to put out another body of work because I’d put him in the same ranks as his partner in rhyme when it comes to the battle rap scene & even with Smoker’s Alley hitting harder if you’re a stoner like myself, nonsmokers will even come away from this EP impressed by the production & sharp lyricism that has already established the seasoned Detroit native.

Score: 4/5

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