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 WME Group-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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Tha God Fahim – “Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 11” review

Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim continuing to dump with his 59th EP. Starting as an affiliate of Griselda Records as well as 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. Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 10 came out a few days ago & the saga is continuing with an 11th installment merely hours before Night 1 of the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s marquee event WrestleMania begins & after WWE CCO Triple H, former 4-time WWE women’s champion Michelle McCool, former 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger, former WWE Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters, The Ugandan Giant Kamala, Dory Funk Sr. & former WWE Champion Ivan Koloff all got inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame overnight.

“Make Better” is this chipmunk soul intro talking about taking the good & the bad to make improvements on top of flexing the unprecedented run he’s been on whereas “Guardian of Styles” featuring Jay NiCE keeps it drumless to call themselves the keepers of the technique. “Hungry 4 da Market” takes the boom bap route instrumentally likening his fighting style to the iconic Chuck Norris while “Motion” jazzily strips the drums again talking about having movement.

Jay NiCE returns for “No Days Without Dumpin’” getting back on the chipmunk soul vibe again so they can discuss not taking any days off in 2025 dumpin’ on the daily while “What Im Dishin’” featuring Jay NiCE talks about serving nothing but absolute heat on their ends references Homelander from The Boys on the Amazon-owned Prime Video. “Tha Lawbringing Revolver” finishes the EP with 1 more drumless track wanting to live comfortably & fleeing the country after concluding the saga 89 entries from now.

Given that I’ve been highly favorable towards the entire Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap saga up until this point, it might come as a surprise to many to hear me call this the weakest installment of the series so far although it’s still very much enjoyable. Nicholas Craven’s production here prominently centered around the drumless style on here & I appreciate hearing Jay NiCE on nearly half of it, but I hope to see more guests down the line as opposed to solely him or Big Cheeko.

Score: 3.5/5

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The Underachievers – “Homecoming” review

The Underachievers are a duo from Flatbush, New York consisting of AKTHESAVIOR & Issa Gold of the Beast Coast collective & the Clockwork Indigo sub-unit. They’ve put together a total of 4 mixtapes & 4 albums in the past 15 years, with my personal favorites being the Brainfeeder Records-backed Indigoism & the full-length debut Cellar Door: Terminus ut Exordium. Taking 6 years off to pursue their solo careers, The Underachievers are reuniting for a brand new EP of material clocking in at not even 24 minutes.

After the intro, the prominent organ all over the first song “Losing Feathers” produced by Issa Gold is a great way to set off their comeback effort touching the sky for the sole purpose of making themselves feel alive whereas the acoustic-boom bap crossover “Vices” talks about feeling like the world against us sometimes. “Brand New” shifts into trap turf a bit speaking the way they feel giving a fuck less who gets offended while the grisly “Wisher” expresses anger towards someone who thought he was slick.

“Megatron” works in this crooning instrumental explaining that you have to find your own way this day in age while “Sweepers” dabbles with trap again talking about cleaning shit up very well with the heaters they’re carrying on them. “Have Nots” returns to the boom bap keeping their ears to the block & having to switch up the load prior to “What is This Place?” rounding everything out realizing the enemy inside is the demons we try to hide.

Focusing on establishing themselves individually, The Underachievers have finally come back to where it all started & one that many longtime fans of the Beast Coast members will find themselves enjoying. The reflective themes & complex lyricism these guys became known for are in full effect, the production is stronger then Lords of Flatbush 3 was when they were last together & they ultimately sound happy to be returning to form.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ruby da Cherry – “Coping Strategies to Combat the Algorithm” review

New Orleans, Louisiana emcee/producer Ruby da Cherry back with his 3rd EP. Blowing up as 1/2 of the $uicideboy$ alongside his cousin $crim, they’ve built up an impressively extensive discography over the last decade & even have their own Virgin Music imprint G*59 Record$ with an ever-growing roster of artists.Tragic Love Songs to Study to & Existential Hymns for the Average Sigma were both enjoyably carefree punk EPs from Ruby, continuing towards that direction Coping Strategies to Combat the Algorithm.

After the “¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Shrug 3)” intro, the first song “End of Summer 2005 (Started Off as a Tropical Depression)” talks about how life sucks & riding it out until his last day whereas “VCR Eject Button (It’s Time to Grow the Fuck Up)” after the “where y’at duckboy? [6]” interlude admits to feeling he’s been in Hell for years. “Moldy Memories (Peer Pressure Turned Me Into a Diamond)” after the “where y’at duckboy? [7]” interlude was great easycore single with additional influences of melodic hardcore, emo-pop & skate punk fighting until the war’s over leading into “Kino Der Toten” after the “where y’at duckboy? [8]” interlude ends by choking on his thoughts.

Almost a year & a half since Existential Hymns for the Average Sigma came out already, I can’t be mad at Ruby for putting out Coping Strategies to Combat the Algorithm simultaneously alongside $crim’s 4th album Via Crucis that also dropped today & only days before Duckboy’s 37th birthday. And while I personally find myself enjoying Via Crucis more, I still respect Ruby for throwing it back to his Vapor-Rats days. This one has a prominent easycore vibe with melodic hardcore, emo-pop & skate punk undertones in as opposed to the heavy skate & pop punk vibes of the last EP.

Score: 3.5/5

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Westside Gunn – “Heels Have Eyes” review

Here we have the 7th EP from Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter after forming the 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. The success of the 4th Rope promotion has included 2-time RoW Heavyweight Champion & current HoG Crown Jewel Champion Zilla Fatu becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion carrying on the legacy of his late father in former AJPW世界タッグチャンピオン, FMWハードコアタッグチームチャンピオン and 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga & even the current 3-time TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz becoming the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions, putting together a joint pay-per-view with the Brett Lauderdale-owned deathmatch promotion Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) called For the Culture that will be taking place in Las Vegas tonight ahead of WrestleMania XLI live on the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal-owned streaming service peacock, surprise-releasing Heels Have Eyes to coincide with it.

After the “Fishscale Friday” intro, the first song “Einstein Kitchen” produced by CG is this piano-based boom bap opener taking y’all to the spot where the rhymes are cooked leading into the drumless “Goro” that Harry Fraud laced admitting that he had to go back inside the kitchen so he can go to SummerSlam XXXVIII in August that’ll mark the 1st to take place across 2 nights. “Davey Boy Smith” returns to the boom bap thanks to Denny LaFlare homaging the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion of the same name & the closer “Egypt” featuring Doechii on the remix soulfully references former ROH World Television Champion, NXT Champion & 3-time WWE tag team champion Tommaso Ciampa.

In what’s already been a huge week for professional wrestling with WrestleMania along with AEW Dynamite outliving WCW’s Monday Nitro as Discovery Global’s longest running wrestling show in spite of WWE Hall of Famer & former 3-time WCW Hardcore Champion Eric Bischoff, West drops off a quick 10-minute EP to warm everyone up ahead of 4th Rope’s biggest event yet with the east coast hip hop styles that’ve made GxFR so beloved in the past decade & one that I might like more than the EP he put out 5 months ago. The production balances boom bap, drumless, a hint of jazz rap & chipmunk soul fluidly on top of the iconic curator handling the vocal performances solely by himself in contrast to having a bunch of guests on it.

Score: 4.5/5

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RMC Mike – “The 6” review

Flint, Michigan recording artist RMC Mike enlisting The World Famous D-Boy to fully produce his 4th EP. Signing a joint deal with Rio da Yung O.G. & Peezy’s own labels M.I.N.E. Entertainment & #Boyz Entertainment alongside EMPIRE Distribution, his first couple EPs Rookie Season & Sophomore Season established himself as in the Detroit trap scene until his full-length studio debut Junior Season elevated it further. His last EP Ghetto Season was good & his 2nd album it preluded Senior Season was ok, returning to embark on a trip to The 6.

After the “Walk a Mile” intro, the first song “I Remember” is this trippy Detroit trap intro shrugging off those calling him a rapper insisting he’s an artist whereas “Venting” talks about selling out every show because he’s a main attraction. “5am on Fenton Road” featuring Louie Ray vividly takes us to the Flint streets in the early hours of the morning while “U Never” cloudily shouts out his late grandfather who recently passed.

“Radric Davis (Get It)” featuring Bossileni Jagg goes for a darker Detroit trap vibe instrumentally paying homage to one of the big 3 trap pioneers Gucci Mane & prior to the “Walk a Mile” outro, the final song “Get Yo Roll On” featuring Iced Up Records signee Krispylife Kidd officially closes out the EP with them fucking up the whole zone.

Can’t necessarily blame RMC Mike for taking 2 years off because having Sophomore Season & Ghetto Season as my favorite EPs of his respectively, The 6 will most certainly accommodate for the primarily moderate reception Senior Season got. I found myself enjoying The World Famous D-Boy’s production for giving the Detroit trap style that can feel repetitive to some a refreshing take & of course Mike maintaining his signature mix of savagery, humor & rampant trash talk.

Score: 3.5/5

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