Dro Kenji – “The End of Nothing 2” review

Summerville, South Carolina rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Dro Kenji is back for his 3rd EP. Signing to both Internet Money Records & 10K Projects not even 365 days after he began making music, he has since put out 7 full-length studio LPs along with a couple EPs & a mixtape. The End of Nothing earlier this summer marked a return to form after experimenting with rage beats & a sequel’s here 6 weeks later.

“Fade” made for an emo rap intro confessing to his lover that he feels as if his heart’s beating I it of frame & the fear of showing how he feels whereas “Stay Focused” finds himself maintaining his concentration asking if he does too much when he’s off the drugs. “Outlandish” talks about never leaving his romantic interest stranded & wanting her to fall in love while “Plug’s House” poses the question of his authenticity being legit or not.

The End of Nothing 2’s final leg starts with “Joggin’”, where Dro hops over a melancholic guitar with more hi-hats talking about running to the bread. “Hookup 4 Anything” looks to start a catastrophe with his partner & realizes he possibly knows her more strongly than himself prior to “Annoying” getting to the bottom of whether or not he’s aggravating her.

Dro Kenji’s previous EP at the beginning of the summer welcomingly took it back to his emo pop rap/trap roots after experimenting with rage beats on Valentine’s Day, but I came away from The End of Nothing 2 liking it only slightly less than I did the predecessor. He’s topically sticking to his bread & butter which isn’t a criticism, except the production on here compared to the original End of Nothing doesn’t catch my attention similarly.

Score: 3/5

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Champtown – “Rocker at Heart” review

Champtown is a 52 year old MC, producer, DJ, film director & teacher from Detroit, Michigan known for his involvement in establishing a myriad of the city’s hip hop artists from Kid Rockto the Insane Clown Posse & even Eminem. His first couple EPs Call Me Joker & Check It! in the early/mid 90s would prelude his 1999 debut Now or Never N***a!, returning in 2016 for the sophomore effort Racial Profilin’ & almost another decade to release his 3rd EP executive produced by Body Count frontman Ice-T.

The title track is a rap rock intro with a hook reminiscent of old school hard rock talking about politics being wack as fuck to him & I have to agree with him as someone who enjoyed the South Park season 27 premiere couple weeks earlier whereas “Burn” carries over the rap rock vibes for an interpolation of “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps, which I prefer far more than the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion as well as the 2-time WCW World Television Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion of the same name.

“Hasbulla” aggressively references the Russian social media personality who signed a 5-year promotion contract with the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division UFC merely 12 months prior to them buying the WWE for $9.3B just before “We Dranking” moves forward with a rap rock song about consuming alcohol. “Jumpin’ for Eddie V” pays homage to the late Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen while “My Matrix” feels like an attempt at a throwback to 80s pop rock/synth-wave era.

Excluding the essential “What Color is Soul?” featuring Chaos Kid & Eminem taken from Now or Never N***a! reappearing to make it’s DSP debut, “W.A.G.D. (We All Gonna Die)” featuring Unko Jozee sends off the EP officially with a 6 minute outro remixing a rap rock with boom bap & trap talking about the color of one’s skin doesn’t matter because we’ll all meet our demise eventually with nothing to save you from it happening.

Only less than 10 days away from his performance at the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos or the Gathering of Legends, the Straight Jacket Records founder Champtown leans heavier towards a rap rock sound on Rocker at Heart compared to his previous material taking notes from The Rolling Stones of hip hop Public Enemy led by his mentor Chuck D to put his versatility front & center almost 4 decades in the game.

Score: 3.5/5

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Yeat – “Dangerous Summer” review

Portland, Oregon rapper Yeat elusively announcing his 7th EP earlier this week & it’s finally here. Emerging in 2018 off his debut EP Deep Blue $trips, he’s been dominating the mainstream since 2021 whether it be him dropping several 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 & it’s companionable deluxe EP Gëek Pack shortly after. Coming off his 5th mixtape Lyfë a few summers ago alongside Aftërlyfe & the experimental Capitol Records debut 2093, he went back to his roots to rep the Lyfëstyle & has returned 10 months later for a Dangerous Summer.

“Put It Ong” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying hops over a vocal sample with some synthesizers & hi-hats flexing that he can make $1M in a week tops whereas “Loco” travels towards a rage-inducing direction thanks to Synthetic of Internet Money Records admitting that the money got him going insane. “Loose Leaf” finds himself talking about a woman who loves percs & pearls leading into “Oh I Did” featuring NGeeYL finds the pair refusing to even waste a minute.

Meanwhile on “Comë n Go”, we have Yeat over some quirky synths to tell a bitch to come out & show him exactly how thankful she is that he showed her his Lyfestylë just before “[ADL IS COMING]” preludes the man’s upcoming 6th LP A Dangerous Lyfë & A Dangerous Love. “I’m Yeat” was a fun west coast trap/rage single talking about the kind of guy he is while “M.F.U. (Middle Fingers Up)” featuring SahBabii finds the pair breaking down the way they live until the end.

“2Tone” featuring Don Toliver starts the last leg of Dangerous Summer going back-&-forth with one another over a futuristic beat thanking God for the times they used to pray for coming to fruition while “Fly Nitë” featuring FKA twigs serves as a duet wanting to proven why they shouldn’t leave each others’ sides tonight. Last but not least, “Growing Pains” finishes up the EP by talking about feeling as if he’s going insane.

Whether we get A Dangerous Lyfë & A Dangerous Love by the end of 2025 or at some point the following year, Yeat reunites with BNYX for a 34 minute precursor that’s less 1-dimensional regarding the production & bringing a menacing demeanor with only less than a couple months until fall begins. In terms of consistency from the guests, the last 2 features at the backend of it suit the vibes the Lyfestyle Corporation founder was going for.

Score: 4/5

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Domo Genesis – “World Gone Mad” review

Inglewood, California emcee & songwriter Domo Genesis linking back up with Graymatter for his 2nd EP. Starting in mid-2009 as a member of the now defunct Odd Future collective, he’s gone on to give us 2 studio albums accompanied by 4 mixtapes & an EP excluding the Facade Records trilogy within the last dozen years, my personal favorites of which being his debut mixtape Rolling Papers, The Alchemist-produced 3rd mixtape No Idols, the Evidence-produced debut EP Aren’t U Glad You’re U? and sophomore effort Intros, Outros & Interludes. Doms’ last LP What You Don’t Get!? had a more drumless sound & they look to recapture that feeling in a World Gone Mad.

After the intro, “Weezy Face” is a jazzily drumless opener with a hint of a rock music talking about being the underrated greatest whereas “Church’s Chicken” gives off an orchestral boom bap vibe talking about having belief in half of what he’s seen. The title track strips the drums again explaining that he’s exactly what he sells because it’s his real life & “Rough Diamonds” soulfully ends with Domo talking about still drawing pictures in the sand.

What You Don’t Get!? to me was a solid continuation of the drumless sound he went with on Intros, Outros & Interludes even if I still have that as my favorite solo album of the 3 that Domo Genesis has dropped. World Gone Mad regardless maintains the jazz elements of What You Don’t Get!? aside from Graymatter occasionally venturing out in favor of chipmunk soul, boom bap or a small dosage of rap rock & Doms spitting heat for 10 minutes.

Score: 4/5

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Percaso & Tezzus – “SØUFSIDE” review

Orlando, Florida rapper Percaso & Atlanta, Georgia rapper Tezzus teaming up for a new collaborative EP. One of whom I was recently introduced to this spring off his Fast Car Music mixtape & the other on The XA Tape during this past Super Bowl Weekend. Crossing paths on previous songs like “Brazy Brazy” or “Roll 1” & “NUN2SUM” during the course of this year, it was interesting for me to hear these guys taking their chemistry to newer heights on Søufside.

“LikeDaMoon” is a cloudy trap intro flexing the respective runs each one of them have been on as of late wanting to high off shrooms whereas “Hallelujah” claps back at the pussies who don’t know the game & talks about previously being broke to the point where they used to sleep on floors. “Hard Body” has a more menacing trap vibe to it taking the lyricism from the perspective of gangsters & “UnknownSlut” turns the 808s up high as Hell so they can talk about fiends calling their phones.

The self-produced “THØT HOE” featuring ShawtyRokk shows resentment against a woman who’s apparently ran through the whole gang while the rage-inducing “TexasDølla” talks about the fact they’ve been making money for a while outside where they havin’ racks the old way. “Skrt” featuring Diorvsyou finds the trio boasting that they’ll pull off stealing your bitches while “Brand New” featuring diamond* talks about cutting throats if they don’t get their paychecks.

“Gøat” also featuring diamond* has got to be my favorite collaboration of the 2 from the plugg instrumental to the lyrics wearing their success on their sleeves while “Wish U Well” featuring Diorvsyou wraps up our damn near 22 minute journey down the Søufside with all 3 of them talking about getting high to cope with their stresses & kicking women out of the hotels they’re staying at, wishing the best for them nevertheless

When it comes to the underground trap scene, Percaso & Tezzus have given us the best collab EP in that style since Glokk40Spaz & OsamaSon’s collab EP 3vil Reflection last spring. Taking cues from trap to rage & plugg throughout the production, 2 of the best southern hip hop up-&-comers flow well with one another & both guests towards the end going back-to-back regarding their performances.

Score: 4/5

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Action Figure 973 – “Dark Side of the Ring 3” review

Belleville, New Jersey emcee/producer Action Figure 973 releasing his 8th EP to coincide with SummerSlam XXXVIII this weekend. For a couple years already, his first 2 mixtapes followed by his last 7 EPs & the full-length studio debut DOOM Was Right merely 3 months ago giving flowers to one of my all-time personal favorite albums Madvillainy. Sam Rothskeem’s now producing the latest entry of the Dark Side of the Ring trilogy on the day of former BJW認定デスマッチヘビー級チャンピオン, 2-time BJW認定タッグチャンピオン, アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, 2-time JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion & 3-time JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champion, Mad Man Pondo and XPW Women’s Champion Mickie Knuckles’ final match for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at Powder Keg.

“R.I.P. Sabu” appropriately opens with a tribute former 2-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion, FTW Champion, ECW World Television Champion, 3 time ECW World Tag Team Champion, JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, IWGPジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン & the longest reigning XPW World Heavyweight Champion whereas “Christopher Nowinski” references the former 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion himself.

Former AJPWオール・アジア・タッグチャンピオン, 世界ジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, KO-Dタッグチャンピオン, FMWインディペンデントワールド世界ジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン, 2-time IWGPジュニアタッグチャンピオン & GHCジュニアヘビー級タッグチャンピオンタカみちのく and former 2-time WWE tag team champion Scotty 2 Hotty get references on “Rubber Match” as does former World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion & 10-time WWE tag team champion “Jey Uso” of YEETC and former 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time AEW World Champion, inaugural ROH Hall of Fame inductee, ROH World Champion & 2-time ROH World Tag Team Champion CM Punk.

“Southern Philly Nights” last but not least sends off the EP with a boom bap closer referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger appearing on Nitro created by WCW founder alongside WWE Hall of Famer, former WCW Hardcore Champion & Real American Freestyle Wrestling (RAF) CFO Eric Bischoff during the Monday Night Wars.

Only less than a couple weeks since the current NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne became the new TNA Knockouts World Champion at Slammiversary XXI & hours after the oldest AEW TNT Champion Dustin Rhodes getting dethroned by Kyle Fletcher on this week’s episode of Collision, my favorite installment of Action Figure 973’s Dark Side of the Ring series come in the form of this most recent one remembering the man who former 3-time CZW Wired Champion, DDT極端なチャンピオン, 5-time アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, 2-time GCW World Champion, 2-time GCW World Tag Team Champion & HoG Tag Team Champion Joey Janela retired this spring.

Score: 4/5

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Blizzard – “Devilish Killer” review

This is the 2nd EP from Detroit, Michigan producer & rapper Blizzard. Aside from the 3 instrumental projects he’s already put out, his 2021 full-length debut from the Yung Fam Mafia co-founder Duel with Death had a few moments where the Middle Finger Music in-house producer hopped on the mic in contrast to letting a cast of guests handle the performances & Iron Tiger of Shaolin capitalized more on that last spring. A whole year later & Devilish Killer looks to take it a few steps further.

After the intro, the self-produced title track compares himself to the nuke following a 25 kill-streak in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 whereas “Shadowboxing” carries over the boom bap vibes talking about catching hands or the blade from him. “Midas” observes those tryna get on his same level when it’s a difficult within itself & after Foul Mouth chops up a soul sample for “Deadly Venom” talking about being a walking guillotine, “The Executioner” closes the EP by grabbing the sticks & tearing shit up.

Iron Tiger of Shaolin was the most we’ve ever heard Blizzard on the MCing side of things & instead of fully producing Devilish Killer all by himself, he takes a backseat from behind the boards except for a couple songs & holds the fort on his own disregarding the need for any features to hone in deeper on his lyricism. The sample-lenient boom bap production is still there, but it’s refreshing to hear him at his best as a performer & I’m happy he’s showing this side of him more.

Score: 4/5

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Rx Papi – “Where I’m From” review

Montréal, Québec, Canada producer Nicholas Craven fully producing a 5 track EP for Rochester, New York rapper Rx Papi. Beginning his music career when he was 9, Lil Meechy has since build up a solo discography consisting of 6 proper full-length studio LPs as well as his last 17 EPs & 13 mixtapes on top of a dozen collaborative projects. Essentials of Papi’s include the sophomore effort Numbers Tell a Different Story, his 13th EP Foreign Exchange, his 10th mixtape 100 Miles & Walkin’ and lastly the Pack a Punch EP with Smokingskul. I even enjoyed Raheem Dead, Somebody Shot ‘Em & his eponymous collab EP with 1600J last spring, with Where I’m From becoming highly anticipated for me as fan of both Papi & Craven.

“2 5th Rick” drumlessly samples a church organ to talk about the east side of the Roc & not wanting anyone to get that fucked up whereas “2am on the Eastside” switches it up for a chipmunk soul direction wanting to chill in the late night hours with a cup & a pill. “Walked Me Into the Wild” is a drumless sequel to the Raheem Dead, Somebody Shot ‘Em track that I prefer over the original while “Groovy Lou” works in a jazz-funk sample getting in his penthouse bag. The closer happens to be the 8th installment of the “Fay” saga, joining the last couple entries to go on a 3-peat speaking straight from the heart.

The singles teased in the Where I’m From rollout were already amongst his best 2020s output, but what we get out of these 15 in a half minutes is a drumless gangsta rap EP with minor boom bap & chipmunk soul influences that I’d have to put behind Foreign Exchange as my favorite one in Rx Papi’s whole entire discography. Obviously they’re different in sound because Foreign Exchange’s more cloudier & pluggier, I just mean in a way that compliments his range artistic range pulling off all those styles.

Score: 4.5/5

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Seth Narley – “Oceans: Mondrian” review

South Bronx, New York emcee Seth Narley releasing his 9th EP & the 2nd one this year alone. Dropping his debut EP 5am on Crosby in 2019, he would later follow it up by putting out the Trissland trilogy & drop 3 more EPs last year; Night at the Roxy, A Millbrook Story & S.A.L.Y. (Still Ain’t Lie Yet). My favorite EP of his so far The American Dream: Son of a Dealer came out this past spring & only 4 months later, he’s continuing to stay busy with Oceans: Mondrian.

“Alton Road” was a drumless rap rock intro talking about moving on the low because he’s afraid of heights whereas the jazzy “Bob Costas” references the Discovery Global-owned CNN commentator. “Pussy & Paper” kicks the synthesizers into full gear talking about being hotter than the bread on the scale just before “Versace Mansion Memoirs” soulfully explains how deep shit gets when you got hood ties.

Hus Kingpin joins Seth for the jazzily drumless “Playa or Red” to talk about drawing the line once the fence got fucked with leading into “Sade at Carbone” sampling none other than Sade making the beginning of the week feel like the weekend. “What You Say” brings a guitar into the picture reflecting on the times he was on the 7 with that pure raw while “AB on DMP” keeps the drums out of the fold to talk about the rap game not being what it used to be.

“From Denmark” starts the final act of Oceans: Mondrian with a smoother vibe altogether flexing that nobody out here talking the way he is while the drumless “Los Muchachos” hits the back of a Rolls Royce to wish upon a dead. “Check Out Time (Mondrian)” wraps up the EP with Seth hopping over a bare guitar instrumental to admit that he might as well say his vows if he & this chick double fuck in the whip.

The former A$AP Mob affiliate comes off a unique tribute to former 3-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, NWA National Heavyweight Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, WWE United States Champion, 2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 3-time WCW World Television Champion Dusty Rhodes by taking a calmer & relaxed approach to his rapping style over primarily drumless production & the sole guest appearance outperforming the one we got last time.

Score: 4/5

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Boldy James & Rome Streetz – “Manhunt” review

Griselda Records signees Boldy James & Rome Streetz teaming up for a brand new collaborative EP. One of whom hails from Detroit, Michigan & the other was born in London, England, United Kingdom albeit raised in Brooklyn, New York. We’ve gotten hear both of these guys cross paths on several instances over the years on tracks like “Open Door” or “Serving”, but they’re looking to go on a Manhunt with one another as a way of elevating their chemistry coinciding Ricky Knight Jr. becoming a 2-time RPW British Heavyweight Champion.

After the intro, the first song “Hot Plate” works in a drumless sample from Denny LaFlare to start the EP talking about everything they touch being high grade whereas “Like Biggie Did” takes the chipmunk soul route instrumentally thanks to Nichole Craven becoming richer than ever after betting it all. “Tricky” is a Rome Streetz solo cut with a boom bap flare speedin’ in an AMG because of the wave he caught while “Only 1” soulfully talks about God knowing their come up wasn’t easy for them.

“Cheat the Grind” by Boldy James produced by Chuck Strangers could’ve been an outtake from Token of Appreciation & I wouldn’t mind if that’s the case at all as a a fan of that album, advising that the hustle cannot be cheated & the title track finishes up the EP with both of them getting together 1 last time for a mafioso heater about everyone else not having the drive they possess.

2 of the most consistent artists in the GxFR camp these recent years have joined forces coming off Trainspotting & Late to My Own Funeral respectively for an EP full of drumless chipmunk soul & hardcore gangsta lyricism enhancing the speed they’re individually known for running circles around. Boldy James & Rome Streetz have always been deadly MCs separately & combining them makes it significantly lethal.

Score: 4/5

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