Smoke DZA – “We Outside” review

New York emcee & songwriter Smoke DZA enlisting Hollywood, California production duo Mike & Keys to produce his 22nd extended play. Starting out over 2 decades ago as 1/2 of Smoke & Numbers, he would eventually go on to achieve a cult following of his own by dropping 7 albums as well as 10 mixtapes & a plethora of EPs along the way. My personal favorites include the sophomore tape George Kush da Button, the Pete Rock-produced 4th album Don’t Smoke Rock & the whole 183rd-produced Ringside EP saga. It’s been a few years since Flying Lotus produced Flying Objects & was more excited for We Outside than some of his latest output.

“Exact Change” featuring Fergie Baby & Kai Ca$h finds the trio calling for everyone to celebrate even if the odds are against your favor but once “Statue of Limitation” featuring Benny the Butcher has both of them trying everything they can to keep the energy, “We Gon’ Be Straight” featuring Big K.R.I.T. hits the midway point of the EP linking up over a soulful boom bap instrumental issuing a promise of everything sorting itself out when it’s all said & done.

Beanie Sigel & Styles P both appear during the soulful “Diamonds Can’t Save You” to discuss the type of shit you don’t typically see on cable television while “1v1 vs. the System” featuring Reuben Vincent brings some keys & horns in the picture so both of them can talk about battling a corrupt governmental regime. “Food for Thought” featuring Bun B & King Chip spends the remaining minutes of We Outside encouraging people to never lose sight of the mission.

As much as I liked the recent collab EPs he did with The Musalini & Memphis Bleek earlier this year Uptown Saturday Night & Trees Open Doors, I do find We Outside to be a step above the likes of On My Way to Berlin or Road Trip to Amsterdam because of Smoke DZA’s socially conscious lyricism over Mike & Keys’ production ahead of the midterms 24 hours from now. I certainly wasn’t expecting a guest on every single song either.

Score: 4/5

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Kurupt & Snoop Dogg – “The Hollow” review

New collaborative extended play between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee, songwriter, actor & occasional producer Kurupt alongside Long Beach, California emcee, songwriter, media personality, actor, entrepreneur, record executive & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg. Both of whom met each other in the early 90s at the Roxy when they engaged in a 20 minute battle & signed to Death Row Records not too long afterwards, celebrating Halloween by taking their chemistry to new heights for The Hollow.

“Neighbors” after the ”Our Gang” intro kicks things off with this futuristically funky beat from Rick Rock telling us where they’re from & after “Priceless” takes a more luxurious route instrumentally thanks to Uncle Snoop himself talking about money not meaning shit when everything in life’s going the way it’s supposed to, “Get Yours On” featuring G Perico finds the trio goes full g-funk so they can tell everyone to get what’s rightfully theirs.

Soopafly appears during “Fuss About It” to commence the 2nd half refusing to complain of people building them up to tear them down while “A Dog Party” finds Snoop holding it down by himself calling for people from the suburbs to the slums to go crazy. “Survival” reunites with Young Gotti only to kill everything it had going for it by using AI for the final version of it when the original in May didn’t include that technology whatsoever until “Almost Broke My Collar” concludes The Hollow having Snoop rock it solo 1 last time.

It was telling Kurupt & Snoop Dogg were planning to have an entire collection of material when both singles came out within the span of 5 months almost 6, I completely understand why The Hollow arrived in preparation of Tha Kingpin linking up with Hus Kingpin this Christmas Eve for their own collab album Kingpin’s Theory & the Cuzznz’ eponymous LP over a decade earlier. Aside from ruining the lead single through AI usage, the classic west coast vibes & the boastful performances.

Score: 3.5/5

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Noah Mejia – “Platinum After Dark” review

Noah Mejia is a 25 year old producer from Los Angeles, California who was introduced to in the spring of 2023 when he produced the opening track off Sk8star’s 2nd mixtape whole new meaning. He would go on to work with a handful of trap artists ranging from SoFaygo to $crim of the $uicideboy$ & even Lucki, coming off a small handful of stand alone singles that he’s been dropping since the very beginning of 2026 to compile a solo debut extended play of artists rapping over his beats for less than 10 minutes.

“Ballright” by Boohavinn made for a decent trap intro talking about being the flyest muhfucka walking the Earth & flexing his connections to the mob whereas “I Don’t Need Love!” by Cashjunko explaining he’ll only fire his Glock if his girl in the mood. “Shine” by D. Savage co-produced by Rio Leyva kicks off the 2nd half talking about running these bands up while “1500” by Diorvsyou finishes the EP calling out broke ass bums with some buzzing synths Internet Money Records in-house producer Synthetic provides.

If we ever get a full-length studio debut from Noah Mejia at any point going forward, I hope I find myself enjoying it a lot more than I did Platinum After Dark considering I personally was left on the fence with it in general. The first couple guests don’t really stick out but once you get past it, I’m not gonna dismiss Noah handling 75% of the production with the exception of the outro & or the performances picking up towards the backend of it.

Score: 2.5/5

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Zukenee – “Nightmare on Slay St” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper/producer Zukenee celebrating Halloween with his 9th extended play. Starting in the spring of 2021 off his debut EP Undiscovered, he would continue to make a name for himself in the underground by putting out a couple more EPs in Castle & Playful alongside the debut mixtape Stop Playing. Subsequent exclusive singles like “OJAYS” & “Chest” would later become amongst his best singles since both of them were released in the span of a year & a half preceding Player Slayer. Guillotine, Birth of St. Slay, Slaytanic, Knight Shift, Eye Love U, Zuminati & the Trapped in the Dungeon series have all followed since. Coming off last month’s B4BB and Blunts & Blades, he’s putting Nightmare on Slay St exclusively on his SoundCloud page to celebrate the spookiest time of the year.

“Gangsta” produced by Toom of Vanguard Music Group opens up combining some pianos & hi-hats to talk about living like a G whereas “Tom Ford” hooks up some 808s flexing that he smokes big gas & stays pissing off the hoes. “Yen” brings these plinky keys in the picture so he can touch base regarding him consistently catching Ws & running bags up back-to-back just before “Ik Bout Dat” talks about his knowledge of making paper & spending it.

Cade gets behind the boards during the song “Mariah” boasting of his money looking like chapters even though he’s not trying to read a book & once “We Could’ve Been Something” works in these horns that immediately command the attention of those listening right when you press play observing a woman with serious potential of becoming a scholar stooping herself down to a stripper so she can make some quick cash, “Teapot Can Talk” finishes the EP discussing how he mixes lean with tea.

This guy’s dropped a total of 6 projects in the span of 10 months with the moderately received Zuminati & B4BB being the weakest & many considering both installments of the Trapped in the Dungeon duology to be their favorites of the bunch although I’d say each of them aren’t too far behind Blunts & Blades. That being said: Nightmare on Slay St is still a nice way for Zukenee to surprise his fans considering the fact he announced it literally a whole week prior.

Score: 3.5/5

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Madopelli – “Wicked Season” review

California City horrorcore duo Madopelli consisting of M.A.D & Ant Dog dropping off their 3rd extended play. Dropping a couple of mixtapes & EPs ever since forming a decade ago, their sophomore effort albeit Lyrikal Snuff Productionz debut No Bluffin’ proved itself to be Madopelli’s most refined work to date both lyrically & sonically to the point where they were instantly accepted within the Gorehop realm. The follow-up Stories from the Sanctum later resulted in both members making their LSP debut as solo artists with Sadistic Symphony & M.A.D (Me Against Death), coming off Suffer Not Dishonor & The Unkindness to celebrate Wicked Season.

After the intro, “Autumn Fallz” produced by M.A.D opens up having the pair drearily talking about them painting the walls with blood & mentally being gone while “Witching Hour” admits they can’t sleep at night because they feel like their souls are decaying over a symphonic trap instrumental. “Dark Arts” kicks off the 2nd half talking about murder & the title track preceding the outro concludes the EP shifting towards a trap sound again explaining there’s no time to sleep since Halloween’s here.

The Unkindness certainly rubbed people the wrong way last month largely because of its artwork when their observations of the world becoming increasingly crueler were 100% valid & one calling it one of the worst albums they’ve ever heard, which I understand because people like to shit on horrorcore in general. Either way: I like that Wicked Season was recorded throughout the entire month of October spitting the wicked shit over a collection of horror-related samples.

Score: 4/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman VII” review

This is the 6th extended play from Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor & the 7th chapter of his ongoing The Artist Yahn Freeman series. 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 drop VI, VII & VIII simultaneously for Halloween.

“Look at Me Now” opens up with a trap intro talking about people laughing at this person instead of with them whereas “They Ain’t Free” calls for people to stop idolizing those who hate their lives. “Actin’ Like” talks about prioritizing his peace over what people in the streets be saying but after “Same Story (Don’t You Know)” observes everyone trying to get their money & minds right, “Leap of Faith” reminds us all that karma’s very much real.

As for “Dark or Light”, we have Jon talking about how making something outta nothing is simply what he does while “Halfway Home” explains there being more to life than what we’re shown regularly. “The Reminder” experiments with disco rap for not even a minute expressing hope of what he’s saying being made to clear to people listening while “Start Today” soulful ends VII offering some clear advise to those who aren’t living up to their full potential.

Considering that VI was dedicated to the memory of Jon Connor’s friend Mekeva Blackmon who always gave him a space to be himself & believed in him from the get go to her untimely death a couple months earlier, I love the idea of him expressing the gratitude he has towards professional life coach Chanel Patton throughout The Artist Yahn Freeman VII, who considers his older sister the 1st best friend he ever made in his life. I also have to commend Maestro Williams for the outstanding mixing.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman VIII” review

And here’s the 7th extended play from Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor albeit the 8th in his ongoing The Artist Yahn Freeman series. 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 drop VI, VII & VII simultaneously for Halloween.

Tito Lopez appears during the trap intro “There for You” talking about how they feel like superheroes whereas “Never Keep Me Down” explains that confidence is crucial for one to survive & things boiling down to whether you got it or not. “Seen It Before” calls for everyone to line up all the closest people in our lives in a row & after the sinister “Let ‘Em Know” reminds people who’s the realest from head to toe, “We Not the Same” talks about the differences between him & those saying they’re on his level.

“Faith of a Child” continues the 2nd half of VIII instrumentally leaning towards a boom bap to discuss grinding until he gets every last thing he prays for in life while “7 Days” talks about the importance of allowing our surroundings influence us regardless of where one lives. “On Go” discusses him hustling like he’s getting ready to lose his mind & trying to feed his kids while the soulful trap crossover “Legacy” wraps it all up talking about his optimism never being compromised by living in the ghetto.

Similarly to VI dedicating myself to the memory of Jon Connor’s friend Mekeva Blackmon who always gave him a space to be himself & believed in him from the get go to her untimely death a couple months earlier as well as The Artist Yahn Freeman VII honoring his older sister in professional life coach Chanel Patton, The Artist Yahn Freeman VIII brings these new chapters full circle mother Mahaley Lark to coincide her birthday only 24 hours earlier.

Score: 3.5/5

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SHVMIRE – “Grinch’n II: All Men Bear Arms” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee/producer SHVMIRE dropping off his 5th extended play on Devil’s Night. 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. It’s already been 7 months or so since Eyes Wide Shut told more stories of the masked hooded figure with a blue face & a closed yellow eye named ANU, celebrating the holiday season by putting out All Men Bear Arms only 24 hours away from Halloween.

“24K Desert Eagle” after the “Grinch” intro references the inaugural IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 3-time WWE Hall of Famer, Real American Beer founder, Real American Freestyle Wrestling (RAF) co-founder & known racist Hulk Hogan whereas “The Earth Isn’t Godly” jazzily includes a reference to 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair.

Meanwhile on “Grinch’n (Green Lights)”, we have SHVMIRE talking about all of his homies having their own guns eager to let shots ring out over a boom bap instrumental leading into “All Men Bear Arms” making it known that all these fishes can catch shells as far as he’s concerned. “Uhhhhh???” featuring Mondo Slade hits the midway point with a piano-woven boom bap beat suggesting artists whose music isn’t getting any play & can’t draw a crowd to rap or else their whole entire jig’s up.

“Featherweight” continues from there hooking up an orchestral flip talking about chillin’ at the very front of the Heaven gates viewing people attending his wake & after the “Turn on the News” interlude, “Won’t Recoil” brings the jazzier elements back in the picture so he can discuss dodging law enforcement & grabbing cash right out the soil. “Reaping What I Sow” spends the remaining minutes of Grinch’n II: All Men Bear Arms talking about his goals keeping him focused when he didn’t have a bed unable to sleep at night.

Some people like to celebrate Christmas early right when Halloween ends regardless of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, but Luca Brasi 793’s jazzy yet dark boom bap production heard throughout the 20 minutes Grinch’n II: All Men Bear Arms has to offer makes complete sense as to why SHVMIRE decided to put it out a couple months earlier than most people anticipated considering he felt like the beats were putting his pen to the test.

Score: 3.5/5

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Kirk Franklin – “I Am What I Am” review

Kirk Franklin is a 56 year old gospel singer, rapper, songwriter, composer, producer, choir director & author from Fort Worth, Texas who would put out over a dozen full-lengths in the past 3 decades. My favorites of which being his 5th album The Nu Nation Project under Interscope Records & the RCA Records-backed Long Live Love, but seeing that the Fo Yo Soul Recordings founder had left RCA to join a relaunched Uptown Records now distributed by Republic Records for a brand new extended play had me intrigued.

“Free Me Tonight” featuring Jelly Roll samples “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins so they can ask God to set them free this evening whereas “This Time” featuring Glorilla flips “Dey Know” by the late Shawty Lo to discuss everything being ok in the end. “Hope in You” featuring Davido brings a bit of an Afrobeats vibe to the table expressing optimism of their partners seeing them for what’s in their heart while “It Gets Better” featuring Tobe Nwigwe finds the pair talking about dark times never lasting.

The 2nd single “Able” winds down the last leg of I Am What I Am passionately describing everything God’s capable of doing whether it’s making our day better or changing the way we live while the lead single “Do It Again” sings about the Lord restoring what we’ve destroyed & turning sorrow into happiness. “Stay” sends off the of the EP with a gospel outro advising that today could be the day God answers your prayers if one sticks around long enough for the sun to shine on them.

I Am What I Am would be an unquestionable recommendation if people are looking for a gospel project in 2026 to cleanse theirs ears from WWE Hall of Famer Kid Rock’s latest album Halfway 2 Jesus dropping a couple weeks earlier. Not simply because the message Kirk Franklin’s been delivering since his debut doesn’t get comprised by the inclusion of secular guests or needless to say: The sincerity behind it, but it’s also I’d honestly rank it amongst the most enjoyable music that I’ve heard from him in some time.

Score: 3.5/5

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Nettspend – “Virginia Creeper” review

This is the 2nd extended play from Richmond, Virginia rapper Nettspend. Blowing up in 2023 off his debut EP Kickdoor, he would also team up with Hooligan Lou for the poorly received collab EP 3rd Knock preceding him signing to Grade A Productions & Interscope Records a few months afterwards. His debut mixtape Badass Fucking Kid was welcomed to divisive feedback although I personally enjoyed it more than Kickdoor or Nettgenes’ eponymous debut EP. Coming off the introspective Early Life Crisis as well as the Him tape, the Virginia Creeper has appeared on Devil’s Night.

“same language” gets the ball rollin’ talking about making it big since Lil Bibby gave him a deal prior to “Get Guap” flexing that he’s been on top ever since he was a teenager over a distorted CXO instrumental. “6weeks” talks about every day looking like the previous 24 hours leading into “LL50” remembering the late Bloodhound Q50. “nite nite” produced by che spends a couple minutes dissing 9 Vicious & “JSX” concludes Virginia Creeper talking about wanting to fly his girl out using the semi-private airline.

Nettspend celebrates the Halloween season in preparation for his upcoming sophomore effort Slut & the NXO collaborative project with OsamaSon dropping the most mediocre collection of material he’s made since joining a major label, which is saying something because I enjoyed his last 3 offerings more than most did. The problem with Virginia Creeper lies within the trap, rage, cloud rap, plugg & pop rap production largely coming across as uninteresting regardless of him getting some stuff of his chest.

Score: 3/5

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