André 3000 – “7 Piano Sketches” review

Brand new surprise 3rd EP from Atlanta, Georgia emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor & the Prince of hip hop André 3000. Coming up as 1/2 of the greatest hip hop duo of all-time OutKast with Big Boi whom he met at Lenox Square Mall when they were both 16, they were also a part of the Dungeon Family collective & released some of my favorite music EVER! This includes ATLiens, Aquemini, Stankonia & Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. The 2nd disc of which was basically the closest thing we got to a solo album from 3 Stacks up to this point. However after what would eventually be their final album Idlewild serving as a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, they would focus on their solo careers. Francis the Savannah Chitlin’ Pimp mostly notably putting out 3 full-length LPs of his own as well as an eponymous EP as Big Grams & an eponymous debut album as Big Sleepover too. André 3000 however stuck to doing features & pursuing an acting career, putting out an avant-garde jazz EP on Mother’s Day 2018 called Look Ma No Hands & signing to Epic Records for the new age ambient-driven solo debut New Blue Sun to critical acclaim. Moving Day was a fine collection of 2 outtakes from the New Blue Sun sessions & has laid out 7 Piano Sketches out of nowhere.

“Bluffing in the Snow” was a great intro to the EP showing off his keyboardist abilities for 3 minutes whereas “& Then One Day You’ll…” works in some more cumbersome tone to the notes he’s playing further assuming “die” to be the missing word in the title of the composition prior to the 34 second “When You’re a Ant & You Wake Up in an Awesome Mood About to Drive Your Son to School Only to Discover You Left the Lights on in the Car Last Night, So Your Battery is Drained” interlude.

The name “Hotel Lobby Pianos” goes for that exact vibe feeling like I’m walking into Circa Resort & Casino or any other high quality resort on the verge of checking in just before “Blueberry Mansions” turns it up on the luxuriousness for almost a couple minutes. “Off Rhythm Laughter” lives up to its name playing the piano overlapping a laughing sample that’s not on rhythm. “I Spend All Day Waiting for the Night” finishes by adding some drums in the fold for a climatic closer that I can hear at the end of a show or a movie.

Not too shocked to see people complaining about him doing anything except dropping a whole hip hop album but like I said when I reviewed New Blue Sun: André 3000 is literally one of those guys who can do just about anything & can find a way to pull it off. Instead of him using woodwinds like he did on that LP & the previous EP Moving Day, he’s playing the piano with hints of spoken word because of every track starting with the track number & title being said out loud for an easy listening experience.

Score: 3.5/5

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Tayo – “Bye” review

Seattle, Washington up-&-coming rapper & producer Tayo releasing his 7th EP. Originally starting under the moniker ByeTayo, he started on SoundCloud close around Halloween 2021 off his first few EPs Crash on Purpose as well as Inside Voices & PM the following year. He would later go on applying pressure with couple more EPs in wintr & a sequel to PM, coming off Thank You Tayo roughly 8 months ago so he can take himself to newer levels both artistically & personally on Bye.

The plugg-driven intro “19” talks about keeping a Glock on his hip & having a lot of money for not being in his 20s yet whereas “short dork” works in more synthesizers to suggest he’s thinking too much. “Tobacco Vanille” was a great choice of a plugg single suggesting he’d die if he can get any more flyer than he is now & “DJ Phat” gives his flowers to the iconic New Jersey deejay notable in modern trap.

“Rainbow 6” was another tight single building up the release of this EP talking about him needing somebody to lean on & having what others don’t just before the self-produced “wtf” gets even heavier with the synthesizers for a pluggnb track even if Tayo’s singing feels reminiscent to Lil Yachty at certain points. “pink 10” turns the distortion up a little to talk about doing pills while “text her” playfully contemplate hitting up his girl.

“nun (text her 2)” nears the end of the EP with some bubbly synth melodies taking a melancholic approach than he did on the predecessor while “me & you” reflects on him kickin’ it with a chick in a hotel room for 105 seconds approximately. “get up” continues the plugg vibes telling his girl that he doesn’t even wanna fuck & “matters” finishes Bye wondering if she leaving or not.

5 months ago when RRoxket put out his eponymous mixtape last Black Friday, I had mentioned him as somebody to watch out for in the plugg scene & Tayo makes it a point to insert himself in the conversation merely 4 weeks after Rixhie Rixh 2 came out. My favorite aspect of Bye easily has to be the plugg-heavy production & although the Seattle artist isn’t a bad performer by any means, he has more than enough time to gradually evolve going forward.

Score: 3.5/5

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JPEGMAFIA – “We Live in a Society” review

Here we have the 5th EP from Baltimore emcee, singer, producer & visionary JPEGMAFIA. Breaking out almost a decade ago off his full-length debut Black Ben Carson, it wouldn’t be until the man’s next 2 albums Veteran & All My Heroes are Cornballs where he would reveal himself as one of the most creative minds in hip hop today. The 8-track EP, it’s follow-up with almost all newly recorded material, LP!, the Danny Brown collab effort Scaring the Hoes & Peggy’s production credits on both of ¥$’ albums Vultures & Vultures 2. We got a deluxe version of I Lay Down My Life for You that I highly enjoyed last summer & is teaming up with Flume so he can produce We Live in a Society.

“Track 1” starts off as a spoken word piece up until the drop during the 2nd half of it whereas “Is It Real” feels more of an Ravyn Lenae cut since Peggy only handles the hook singing about if the love they have is legitimate. “AI Girlfriend” humorously pokes fun at the concept of being romantically involved with artificial intelligence probably because of Kim Kardashian dating a Tesla robot these days while “The Ocean’s Fake” ends by admitting not even know when to see this individual again & goin’ back in time for them.

Being a big fan of the visionary take JPEGMAFIA has had on experimental hip hop on top of Flume’s influence in the wonky scene, both of these worlds collide for a quick 16 & a half minute EP meshing each of those individual styles together. Flume’s production here also contains hints of cloud rap, alternative R&B as prominently shown on the Ravyn Lenae song, industrial hip hop & a dash of sketch comedy as a way of holding Peggy fans off until it’s time for his new album whenever that may be.

Score: 3.5/5

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Benny the Butcher – “Excelsior” review

Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher returning after 9 months for his 9th EP. Being in the game for 2 decades already, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Harry Fraud came in for a sequel to the latter following the mature Burden of Proof & finally, Tana Talk 4 took it back to the basement a couple years back. Coming off having Hit-Boy produce half of it & leaving the other half to The Alchemist produce his Def Jam Recordings debut Everybody Can’t Go along with both Summertime Butch & Buffalo Butch back-to-back, Excelsior’s looking to refine the styles of those predecessors.

After the “Corner” intro, the first song “I’m the Program” is this symphonic boom bap opener suggesting you gotta laugh at life sometimes whereas “Sign Language” works in a vocal sample thanks to Harry Fraud living in the moment since too much going on. “$ & Power” featuring Skylar Blatt dabbles with trap courtesy of Daringer wanting those 2 things while “Duffel Bag Hottie’s Revenge” featuring Boldy James talks about the B$F artist currently behind bars. “Toxic” featuring Styles P returns to the boom bap to unite the Butcher with the Ghost until “B$F” featuring Fuego Base & Sule ends by repping their set.

With Excelsior, Benny continues to cement his place as one of the most important & vital voices in hip hop today continuing his evolution becoming reactivated in summertime mode with the streets watching & the culture listening. Some have jumped off the porch early & understood the game instantly, others took a lil time & some needed their hand held in every aspect and was only good at riding coattails. Then you have got people like him who’re The Chosen Few.

Score: 3.5/5

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The Pharcyde – “Timeless” review

The Pharcyde is a pioneering alternative hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California now consisting of Fatlip, Imani & Slimkid3. Originally a quartet, their first couple albums Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde & Labcabincalifornia would become some of the most beloved in the west coast scene. Plain Rap was more moderately received with Humboldt Beginnings & Spear of the Nation both leaving fans divided, looking to bounce back on this brand new EP & the 2nd one in their whole discography.

“Citrus Nioxide” featuring Danny Brown & produced by Rockwilder kicks off the 4-track run with everyone talking about having the answers to the questions on them always catchin’ em on the downslide whereas “Oscar” is the only song I could do without here suggesting they should be awarded for acting the way they do. The title track works in some prominent piano chords thanks to Rick Rock advising not to let life pass you by & “Phabulous” soulfully ties it up with the help of Khrysis reminding everyone who they are.

Nearly 3 years after reuniting without Bootie Brown as a trio, Timeless connects The Pharcyde’s legacy of offbeat humor as well as their jazz-laced beats & unconventional lyricism with a new era of experimental hip hop. With them being away from the scene for almost 2 decades, they took the time to highlight producers they’ve been fans of & help them craft the strongest batch of late career material in their arson.

Score: 3.5/5

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RJ Payne – “Triangle D’or” review

This is the 15th EP from New York emcee & revered battle rapper RJ Payne formerly known as Reign Man. Building up an extensive solo catalogue for himself with 24 mixtapes as well as well as his last dozen EPs & 4 full-length albums, Benny the Butcher even signed RJ to Black Soprano Family Records for a brief period of time & putting out some of best material like Leatherface & Square Root of a Kilo under Benny’s ever-growing indie label of his own. My Life’z a Movie produced by Stu Bangas quickly became my favorite LP in RJ’s discography & Enemy Soil Entertainment in-house producer C-Lance went on a trip with him to The Barbershop, coming off Erick Sermon producing a 3-Piece to have Drega33 fully produce Triangle D’or.

“Quinconces” is this soulfully drumless intro talking about being in the top 10 conversations when it comes to checking off all the boxes whereas “Paris Attack” keeps the drums out of the equation asking not to anger the Lord since he’s giving everybody heavenly music. “Brings to Me” maintains a chipmunk soul vibe likening his flow to the strength of cocaine while “Coffee or Tea” talks about the world waking up recognizing the Payne.

The song “Elegant Payne” starts the 2nd & final half of Triangle D’or by aggressively making it known to these other rappers that they’re levels behind him lyrically while “Splendid” pulls from chipmunk soul once again talking about leaving the red carpet covered in DNA if anybody crosses him. “Final Boss” concludes Triangle D’or with 1 last drumless track boasting about his soul not being for sale & his appetite being elite compared to others.

Coming off the 4th installment of the Leatherface saga a couple weeks ago, Drega33 comes fresh off producing both entries of the Lethal Weapon series of EPs by making Triangle D’or the most I’ve enjoyed a body of work from RJ Payne in a couple months. The production heavily draws upon the sounds of drumless chipmunk soul lyrically spitting some of that international Payne ahead of his upcoming collab effort with Method Man.

Score: 4/5

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Diorvsyou – “So Cunt.” review

Atlanta, Georgia up-&-comer Diorvsyou with his 2nd EP of the year & the 4th in his discography overall. Coming up in 2021 off his debut EP Scoreboard, it wasn’t until I saw him open up for southsidesilhouette in Brooklyn the following November where I was personally introduced to his music & I was actually impressed with his set. The next EP w.t.f.i.dvy? (who the fuck is diorvsyou)? marked a bigger breakthrough for him artistically & returned up from the Ashes almost a year since Diorvsrxlvnd’s eponymous debut. The previous EP Untitled EP.9 came out a couple months ago & is already keeping himself busy with So Cunt..

“Slit Ya Throat” produced by Devstacks & Goxan is this regalia intro looking to swag all of his sorrows away & tryin’ not to pop shit even if it may seem difficult whereas “Nosferatu” works in a psychedelic trap instrumental talking about feeling like an extraterrestrial vampire. “I.S.S.” brings a plugg flare to the table thanks to Devstacks once more telling his hoe to be grateful & keep faithin’ leading into “I Wonder” taking a moment to think about whether or not if any of this shit means anything to him & Devstacks applying even more pressure behind the boards.

The quirky synthesizers from 406ahmad on “Outta Hea” are a nice touch being on whole new levels of zooted just before Cade gives “1 Mistake” a cloudier vibe referencing Boston Celtics player Jayson Tatum. “Rob a Bank” gets back on the plugg tip having his twin watching his flank during a robbery while “Royal Rumble” makes comparison to WWE’s signature 30-man battle royale in light of this year’s winner Jey Uso dethroning Gunther to become the new World Heavyweight Champion last weekend. “Pissed” closes with an ode to the rockstar life that MexikoDro laced wanting to die in a mosh pit.

Dior is somebody in the regalia subgenre of plugg music I’ve been covering for several years up until this point & I would HIGHLY suggest you listen to So Cunt. or really the whole Diorvsyou catalog for anyone reading this who got introduced to regalia through the new Dave Blunts album You Can’t Say That getting the polarizing reception it deserves. The best regalia producer in the game Devstacks producing half of this was a great call & Dior is a far more captivating performer than Dave Blunts ever could be.

Score: 4/5

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Nowaah the Flood – “The Anomaly” review

Dallas, Texas emcee Nowaah the Flood surprise-releasing his 23rd EP on Bandcamp. Breaking out in the summer of 2018 by releasing his first EP Trill Life Mathematiks around the same time as Nas’ 11th album NASIR fully produced by Ye formerly known as Kanye West, he would go on to drop 21 EPs along with The Nowaah & the Dewer’s eponymous debut album and roughly his last 6 proper full-lengths. Standouts for me personally include the DirtyDiggs-produced Private Stock, the Estee Nack collaborative effort Planted Seeds, The Infallible, the Stu Bangas-produced Respectfully, the Giallo Point-produced Right Over Left & it’s sequel, the DJ D-Styles-produced Crème de la Crème, the Kyo Itachi-produced Sudan Samurai Scrolls & recently Plans of the Diligent last Thanksgiving alongside Beluga roughly a month ago. Giallo Point coming back for The Anomaly caught my attention & I had to give it a listen.

“Afwaan” is this drumless intro reflecting on Ye biting the Trill Life Mathematiks artwork for NASIR similarly to how Maxo Kream has accused Ye of biting the Punken artwork for Bully whereas “The Mental” takes the boom bap route instrumentally talkin’ that science to each & every one of us. “Hate to Be You” works in some tubas & bagpipes admitting the state of sickness his mind is at while “Sazon” hits everybody with the Shaman flow.

To begin The Anomaly’s final half, “Fortune 500” ruggedly talks about being a certified art stealer who’s hard to figure out & has never fronted putting it on God leading into the aptly-named “Menace Anthem” darkly fuses hardcore hip hop & boom bap both aesthetically & lyrically. “The Meek” suggests that there won’t be an overtime for anyone trying to take him on making it clear to stay catching Ws in rap battles & the final song “Revelation of the Sundanese” feels a little unfinished after starting it off with a verse attached onto an half baked outro.

Aside from that, I don’t really have any other complaints about this EP since a vast majority of the material here during the 20 minute run turns the back-to-back caliber of quality underground hip hop that Plans of the Diligent & Beluga both had to offer into a 3-peat. Giallo Point’s production is a consistent blend of drumless & boom bap with Nowaah handling all the performances by himself instead of having only 1 feature like he did last month on Beluga similarly to Plans of the Diligent not having any guests.

Score: 4.5/5

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1300SAINT – “Saint Season” review

This is a brand new EP albeit YSL Records sophomore effort from Atlanta, Georgia up-&-comer 1300SAINT. Known for staying out of the box with a versatile sound & style drawing in listeners from all walks of life painting pictures of all colors & shapes to create a true experience for his audience, the heavy 808 based instrumentals he lays his smooth vocals over on his debut album Noir makes you feel every song a little more than usual & lead to Young Thug signing him to YSL not too long after he came home last Halloween. He made his YSL debut a couple months ago with All Hail & isn’t slowing down anytime soon by now ringing in Saint Season.

“Red Robin” kicks it all off with this trap intro talking about decapitating anyone who be playing with his team whereas “In Trouble” chaotically goes at the throats of the liable over a Rafmade instrumental. “Shogun” boasts that he’s mastered his levels of swag while “Seeumsayin” talks about it not getting any bigger than this. “Blakk Trukk” flexes his status as a star stemming from Day 1 & “Southside Forever” produced by London on da Track ends by showing love to his city.

For an EP, I’m still impressed with what Saint Season was capable of delivering & reinforces 1300SAINT’s rising status in trap music almost 4 weeks after 9 Vicious made his YSL debut Tumblr Music to more mixed-to-negative reception than All Hail received. A homage to SLIME S3ASON obviously, he continues to push himself artistically by carrying over everything that made his sophomore effort from a couple months ago the most beloved entry on his catalog.

Score: 3.5/5

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Action Figure 973 – “Dark Side of the Ring 2” review

Belleville, New Jersey emcee/producer Action Figure 973 continuing the Dark Side of the Ring saga with his 7th EP. Somebody whose growing discography comprised of 2 mixtapes & 6 EPs has been steadily making waves in the underground for a few years already, most notably his last EP almost a couple months ago titled after the Vice docuseries of the same name. In the midst of the show’s ongoing 6th season, a sequel to Dark Side of the Ring has arrived following WrestleMania XLI weekend.

“Raw is Act-Lo” opens with an eerie boom bap instrumental referencing the Endeavor-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s flagship program on Netflix whereas “Big Poppa Dump” references former 3-time CWA World Tag Team Champion, 2-time IWGPタッグチャンピオン, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 9-time WWE tag team champion Scott Steiner.

The finisher of current 3-time TNA World Tag Team Champion & inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy of The Hardy Boyz’ gets likened to Act-Lo’s work ethic on “Jordan Cement 3’s” leading into former SMW World Tag Team Champion, SMW United States Jr. Heavyweight Champion, 6-time WWE Hardcore Champion & WWE tag team champion “Al Snow” formerly married to the first of 4 women to win the WWE Hardcore Championship Cynthia Lynch getting a drumless homage of his own.

“Sunday Night Heat” featuring Young Reese Dude chops up a soul sample referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & NWA World Tag Team Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin just before ”Jaida Parker” gives his flowers to the NXT superstar who competed in a fatal 4 way at Stand & Deliver V against Jordynne Grace, ジュリア & the retaining NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer.

The song “Workhorse Champion” references both the late 8-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, WWE Hall of Famer & the inaugural WWE United States Champion Harley Race and the late 3-time ECW World Tag Team Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 2-time SMW Tag Team Champion, 2-time SMW Beat the Champ Television Champion, 3-time SMW United States Jr. Heavyweight Champion, WWE Cruiserweight Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & XPW World Heavyweight Champion Chris Candido while “Color the Old Fashioned Way” finishes with bars about the current 13-time WWE tag team champions The New Day fresh off dethroning former 3-time WWE tag team champions The War Raiders.

Ahead of the actual show’s next set to be focused around the late CWA World Heavyweight Champion
as well as WWE Hall of Famer & former WWE Champion “Superstar” Billy Graham tomorrow, Dark Side of the Ring 2 finds Action Figure 973 stepping back in the squared circle once more dropping lyrical suplexes as if he’s former IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン as well as a 10-time WWE world champion & former UFC Heavyweight Champion in both TKO Group Holdings divisions Brock Lesnar.

Score: 3.5/5

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