Elcamino – “Full Moon” review

This is the 18th EP from Buffalo emcee & singer Elcamino. Blowing up in 2017 off his self-titled EPwith Griselda Records, his profile increasingly grew after being followed up by Walking on Water mixtape in the summer of 2018 along with dropped 2 studio albums & a few EPs the year after that. They Spit on Jesus proved to be a well received Black Soprano Family Records debut becoming the first Camino project that I had covered since On the 3rd Day & that much like No Weapon Formed Against Me was an improvement over some of the material we’ve gotten from him in recent memory. 6 months after having Real Bad Man produce The Game is the Game followed by Ill Tone recently producing Built for Cuban Links named after Raekwon’s iconic solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…produced by RZA, Meech started the final quarter of the year flexing his Millionaire status & is ending it with a look at a Full Moon.

“Who Braggin’?” awkwardly kicks things off by impersonating Future for whatever reason while “Legal Money” takes the atmospheric trap route instrumentally doing shit that no one else can compared to him. “Forever” works in some background vocals & hi-hats talking about being too valuable whereas “Real” featuring Duckman vibrantly flexes that they’re still clappin’ out here. “Dat’s My Bae” feels like another Future-inspired song & so does “Back Ballin’” except it’s more playful. “Everything He Knows” lavishly ends with promising that he’ll do this shit for life.

Not trying to make it to sound like that I’m hating on the guy because I’ve been listening to Elcamino ever since he first signed to Griselda almost 8 years ago & have given him his praise in the dozen of projects I’ve reviewed him in the past, but I’m kinda torn on this EP personally. He can very much sing as well as he can rap on trap production like he can on traditional east coast sounds, it’s that the heavy-Future influences can be a little off-putting to me.

Score: 2.5/5

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Frayser Boy – “Christmas Trees” review

Memphis, Tennessee emcee Frayser Boy ringing in the holidays with his 4th EP. A member of the Hypnotize Camp Posse, his first 3 albums under Hypnotize Minds Productions produced by his mentors DJ Paul & Juicy J would solidify himself as one of the label’s biggest acts ever as did the B.A.R. (Bay Area Representatives) collab effort with fellow Hypnotize Minds alumni Lil Wyte a decade ago already. Coming off the Bay Day trilogy of EPs however, Bizzle’s got Christmas Trees for everyone.

“Bah Humbud” is this choir-trap opener about smoking weed whereas the title track takes the Memphis route instrumentally telling us how he spending Christmas Eve gettin’ stoned. “Fly Away” gives off a dirty south vibe altogether talking about wanting to take a flight while “Let Me Smoke” returns to a trap direction inhalin’ & exhalin’. “High” featuring T-Rock formerly of the Prophet Posse ends with them flexing that you’re now smoking with the best.

Frayser for me has always stood out within the Hypnotize Camp Posse & I still hold his first 3 LPs in high regards when it comes to his discography. That said: Christmas Trees as a stoner myself is a fun holiday themed stoner’s EP to smoke to during the holiday season heavily basing it’s theme off puffin’ that good good in the middle of winter on top of production built around trap, the Memphis scene that made him who he is or even a hint of dirty south thrown in.

Score: 3.5/5

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Boondox – “Black Winter” review

Covington, Georgia emcee Boondox releasing his 7th EP. Coming up as 1/3 of the trio Southern Hustlas Inc. under the moniker Turncoat Dirty, he would go on to sign with Psychopathic Records in 2005 following the release of his debut EP Dama Blanca & remained under the Insane Clown Posse’s wing for about a decade putting out his first 4 albums along with his 2nd EP PunkinHed through the Detroit label that runs beneath the streets. “Sippin’” off his debut The Harvest is also the entrance theme for former 5-time JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion & JCW Hall of Famer 2 Tuff Tony if you watch JCW Lunacy. Former labelmates Twiztid later brought the Killer Scarecrow on board over at Majik Ninja Entertainment in the winter of 2016, whom he’s still signed to today. So Much Blood a couple years ago marked his return to the wicked shit & is now returning for a Black Winter.

After the titular intro, the first song “Punisher” produced by MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 is this dark trap intro likening himself to the titular Marvel antihero whereas “2 Wrongs Make a Right” embraces a rap rock vibe instrumentally warning that you don’t really want it with him. “Intermission” keeps the guitars in tact feeling like he won’t be forgiven because of the life of sin he lives while “War Journal” chaotically gets ready for a massacre.

“Vigilante” gets back on the trap metal tip again to talk about the season of killin’ shit coming as well as never being the same & undertaking in public safety or retributive justice without commission, but then “Vae Victis” suggests that everyone pulls the curtain down to see for themselves that everything really ain’t what it seems making sure they know who he is in the midst of giving everyone else the 3rd degree.

Both of the previous EPs that Boondox had put out through Mobstyle Music in tandem with MNE under his original Turncoat Dirty stage name has shown how much the persona has grown artistically in the past 2 decades & Black Winter reaffirms that. 7’s production is mainly trap-based with some trap metal undertones sprinkled in & Boondox’ lyricism tends to be more hardcore as opposed to the gangsta-concept of Cryptodirt over 3 years ago.

Score: 4/5

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Fury – “The Bender in November” review

Bristol, Connecticut emcee as well as Leathal Wreckords founder & the founder of the Leathal Weekends festival Fury releasing his 2nd EP. For 17 years almost 18, he’s dropped 3 full-length studio LPs & an EP by himself in addition to the Leathal Winter collaborative EP with Majik Ninja Entertainment alumni/iLLViLLE Worldwide founder Gibby Stites & most notably the You Already Know collab EP with Tre Lb of the Chop Shop over the summer. 6 months later, the younger brother of Shaggy 2 Dope from the Insane Clown Posse is now fully producing The Bender in November.

“I Wouldn’t” featuring Trikkdout opens up with this alarm-raising trap instrumental & both of them talking about their deadly tendencies whereas “Red Lights” featuring Vanity Grime somberly admits nothing good’s coming to him in this place he’s in right now. “Somebody Help Me” works in some guitars to talk about not wanting to go on & after the “A Friend” skit, “The Last Time” ends the EP by orchestrally wanting to heal this person’s soul.

Fury himself has been saying that The Bender in November stands as some of the best music that he’s ever made & being somebody who’s been paying attention to him since he formed the duo Something Awful alongside Bizarre of prior D12 fame, I’d have to agree with him on that fully. Tre Lb’s production maintains the consistency of You Already Know except this time around, he’s letting the Weirdo Movement member rip the mic by himself for 15 minutes.

Score: 4/5

Polo Perks – “American Pie” review

Polo Perks is a 30 year old rapper from New York notable for formerly being a member of the Surf Gang in addition to the 13 EPs & 3 mixtapes of his own that he has built up for himself since 2018 already. He just linked up with AyooLii & Feardorian for the collaborative effort A Dog’s Chance this summer becoming the most acclaimed body of work in the lowend subgenre thus far, returning 6 months later to drop off his 14th EP hopefully ahead of an upcoming full-length debut studio album & only 48 hours away from the current 2-time ROH World Champion Chris Jericho’s defense against the inaugural WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green’s husband in former DDT普遍的なチャンピオン, GCW World Champion, ECW World Television Champion, HoG Heavyweight Champion, TNA Digital Media Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 2-time WWE tag team champion Matt Cardona.

“Sir Loogie Noise” starts by jumping over a distorted, sample-driven lowend instrumental from Feardorian talking about being in his head and showing him the money if you want him to come to your party whereas “Elvis Presley is Dead as Fuck” dabbles with digicore flexing that he’s too turnt at the moment. “Skramz” goes for a hazier lowend vibe except that Polo’s vocals are mixed too low for my tastes & finally, “Stay Gold” featuring Reno ends with both of them dropping braggadocio over a flute-based beat.

What has always made Polo stand out for me is that he’s constantly trying new sounds from plugg to cloud rap, sample drill or emo rap & American Pie comes off A Dog’s Chance by continuing to do that. The lowend production from that previous collab album makes its way over here in addition to pulling further inspiration from the jerk, midwest emo & emo rap scenes as he offers a take on all those styles that’s more exciting than what other artists have been recently doing for roughly 7 & a half minutes.

Score: 3.5/5

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Valee – “Great Sky London” review

New York producer Evilgiane teaming up with Chicago, Illinois rapper Valee for the latter’s 7th EP. Making his name known by releasing 3 mixtapes & a couple EPs from the span of 2015-2018, it wasn’t until one of my top 10 producers of all-time Ye formerly known as Kanye West signed him to a joint deal with G.O.O.D. Music & Def Jam Recordings. The next 2 EPs G.O.O.D. Job, You Found Me & Runnin’ Rich helped spread plugg music to a mainstream audience despite both receiving mixed reception to the point where he would go his own way from Thersday onward. I should also mention that Valee additionally has 2 EPs with AYOCHILLMAN as the duo The TrAppiEst as well as 2 more with ChaseTheMoney as the duo VTM & 2 with Stan Lane as the duo Vlane. His full-length debut Virtuoso produced by Harry Fraud from last summer won me over on him & Partridge produced by Black Noi$e from this spring reached that same caliber & increasing my excitement for Grey Sky London.

“Why Not” is this sample drill opener that he & WTM Niketech put together talking about being in Malibu & a bitch gotta catch him even though this ain’t the MLB whatsoever in addition to taking the backstreet whereas “Up Here” co-produced by Harrison takes a cloudier direction instrumentally asking the hoe what type of time she on since he has the same clock. “Hi Hater Maino” promises that he’ll break up with his girl if he finds out she’s broke & “Elbow” kinda has a plugg vibe to the beat from Eera talking about pulling a hoe for lean, but then “By da Way” ends the EP by refusing to chase a hoe & stopping at Chase Bank instead.

It’s incredible to think that the same guy Ye signed to G.O.O.D. Music for 15 minutes nearly 7 years ago by now would be going on a full redemption arc starting with Virtuoso, only for Partridge & now Great Sky London to expand on. Evilgiane’s cloudy, sample drill & plugg-influenced production is a welcoming change of pace compared to the experimental vibes that Black Noi$e brought to Partridge over 7 months ago & Valee’s own performances maintains the laser-focus that were prominent throughout the other 2 previously mentioned projects he’s given us in the past year & a half.

Score: 4/5

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Lelo – “When It’s Over” review

This is the 6th EP from Detroit, Michigan up-&-comer Lelo. Signing to 10K Projects earlier within the year following his first 3 EPs, he would make his presence known more widely in the local trap scene by putting out his 4th EP Nightingale not too long after landing a record deal & gained even more exposure a month later by dropping the single “No Contempt” on SoundCloud. LifeAfterDogshit just so happened to come out a month ago & exactly 30 days later, he’s picking up exactly where he left off on When It’s Over.

“Broken” starts by mixing a rubbery bass-line with hi-hats talking about his top shelf status & being in it forever whereas “Get It Together” takes the cloudy trap route instrumentally talking about trying to get everything all in order. “Manga” has a cool symphonic trap vibe advising not to compare him to anyone he’s better than while “Dresser” cautions that all the extra shit is gonna result in y’all getting lined up.

To get the other half going, “Evangelion” talks about his desires of becoming rich & not trying to come off as being too brash while “Game” speaks on racing his idols out here rather than looking up them & callin’ a fuck boy his child since he raised him. “Numbers” nears the end of the EP by talking about having hoes leading into “Real Dogshit” closing up shop pointing out some of these dudes be actin’ tough & not seeing any action.

Whenever the time comes for Lelo to put out an official full-length debut, I really do think it’s gonna elevate him to the next level because I can say with confidence that When It’s Over has to be the most enjoyable EP in his discography other than Nightingale. The production maintains the consistency of the EP that he gave us only a month ago, once more holding off on any guests to make way for him rippin’ mics by himself.

Score: 3.5/5

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DMX – “Let Us Pray: Chapter X” review

Yonkers, New York icon DMX posthumously releasing a brand new EP of unreleased material. Originally started off as a beatboxer for Ready Ron as a teenager in the mid-80s, it wasn’t until 1998 when X saved Def Jam Recordings from bankruptcy by dropping 2 of the most critically acclaimed hip hop albums of that decade back to back: It’s Dark & Hell’s Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. The follow-up …And Then There Was X at the tail-end of the next year was just as great in my opinion but from there, the next 4 albums from Ruff Ryders Entertainment’s flagship artist would range from average at best or hideous at worst. Exodus 1:7 was posthumously released a couple months after his death to mixed reception although I can definitely tell it was completed before his passing & wanted to give Let Us Pray: Chapter X a chance since I have nothing but respect from the greatest to ever come from the hometown of the inaugural AEW Continental Classic winner, former CZW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time CZW World Tag Team Champion, アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, EVOLVE Tag Team Champion, 新日本プロレス強無差別級チャンピオン & ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston.

“Favor” produced by Warryn Campbell is this orchestrally drumless intro talking about being God’s favorite child & thanking Him for making X as righteous of a person as he was while “Bear with Me” featuring Lecrae works in some pianos hi-hats to get on the spoken word tip for 3 & a half minutes. “1 Life to Do It” featuring MC Lyte continues the spoken word delivery over drumless strings & “Until I’m Gone” featuring WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg ends with a bare jazz instrumental speaking on a unique kind of love.

What a lot of people including myself initially thought was gonna be 4 gospel rap tracks that DMX had left in the vaults for an unspecified amount of time turned out to be a disappointing cash-grab from Def Jam that I like even less than Exodus 1:7. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Warryn Campbell’s production whatsoever, but the spoken word performances from the guests & even DMX himself seems like a significant letdown reminiscent to The Rose That Grew from Concrete that 2Pac’s estate put out 24 years back.

Score: 2/5

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Autumn! – “##B4B2MR” review

Louisiana rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Autumn! preluding Back 2 My Roots with his 22nd EP. Gaining traction off all 21 of his previous EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records following the Not Much Left EP, he made his major label debut nearly 2 years ago with his sophomore effort Antagonist! as well as following it up with the last 2 installments of the Golden Child trilogy & Midnight Club. Wick just delivered a sequel to Solitary in the spring & You Never Was Mine over the summer, but is surprise-dropping ##B4B2MR ahead of the main course.

“Something New!” starts with a psychedelic, self-produced plugg intro talking about not doing any 9-5s since his money be ridin’ tryna show his girl some new shit while “Laws of Power!” works in some synthesizers to talk about 10 rules that he lives by daily. “Both Ways!” heads for a cloudy trap direction instrumentally likening his hoes to Cullinan doors since they’re bisexual flexing that he’s still talkin’ hot & “Did It Again!” finishes the EP by keeping it atmospheric promising that this is only the beginning for him.

Wick’s last couple offerings Solitary 2 & You Was Never Mine were both welcomed to mixed feedback having less of a plugg emphasis to them focusing more on pop rap, trap & Chicago drill containing highlights that demonstrate his artistic range. However considering Back 2 My Roots’ title & the prominent plugg direction he goes for on this prelude, these are huge indications that Autumn!’s next body of work will mark a return to form to the sound that blew him up.

Score: 3.5/5

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GT – “Great Timing” review

GT is a 33 year old rapper from Detroit, Michigan who got his start at the beginning of 2018 by releasing the debut mixtape Relentless along with both his full-length debut Timeless & the sophomore effort Relentless during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. He would later follow these up with 2 more albums Call Me GT & Motion, his first EP Money Counter Music spawned his own label of the same name & the sequel became the 5th LP in his discography. GT’s previous album Owe It to Myself got mixed reception the summer prior & is returning with a month left in 2024 for his 2nd EP.

“I’m Straight” produced by Pooh Beatz is this cloudy opener assuring everyone he’s been doing good whereas “Get ‘Em Back” works in a rubbery bass-line & pianos talking about being the same despite being stressed. “Stay Low” cautions those coming in your life with bad intentions just before “Money, Power & Respect” stand sour from the Helluva instrumental to the boastful lyricism.

Landstrip Chip joins GT on “The Streets Dead” clarifying that both of them can break down how deep shit can get while “Prayed for It” heads for a sample-driven Detroit trap vibe speaking his dreams into existence & finally being fortunate enough to be in a place where he can finally live them out. “This Life of Sin” featuring Streetlord Juan ends the EP with 1 more Detroit trap cut calling themselves living legends.

Right when you thought that the Detroit trap star wasn’t gonna drop anything in 2024, he came in the game during the 4th quarter & dropped off an 18 minute EP reaching the same caliber as both Money Counter Music offerings along with Timeless in being essential listens for those new to his discography. The features are alright, but the productions sees some notable improvements & GT sounds focused ahead of whatever he’ll do next.

Score: 3.5/5

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