Lucki – “Daysb4bad*” review

Finally getting the 10th extended play from Chicago, Illinois rapper & occasional producer Lucki to prelude his upcoming 4th LP. Beginning to turn heads in the summer of 2013 when he released his debut mixtape Alternative Trap to critical acclaim, he would later go on to give his fans 6 more tapes & a dozen EPs with the last one being the F1LTHY-produced Wake Up Lucki a week before my 25th birthday in December 2021. The full-length debut Flawless Like Me saw Lucki finding his style & the sophomore effort s*x mon*y dr*gs was the most I enjoyed Tune’s music in a while, coming off Gemini to drop Daysb4bad*.

“U Ready!” produced by LulRose begins with Tune talking about playing the game in order to ball & that the shit he does not being for show whereas “Sex Mula / Pete” featuring Lil Yachty fresh off helping Trick Williams become the new WWE United States Champion describes their preference of using weapons instead of fists. After freestyling over the instrumentals originally used for “All for the Love” by Jadakiss & “Made My Hoe Faint” by Future, the closing track “Capo 2x” featuring Kkanii finishes with both of them working smarter & trying to become rich.

Almost Woke & both entries of 2 Faced felt more like singles with an a-side & b-side than actual EPs but nevertheless, Daysb4bad* was a decent taste of what we can expect from what many can assume to be his final EMPIRE Distribution opus dr*gs r bad a couple weeks from now & expect it to be a lot better than what we got here. Excluding both freestyles & the outro, it sounds like he’s getting ready to let the world know how much of a student he is of this shit.

Score: 3/5

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Razakel – “The Possession of Razakel” review

I believe this is the 5th extended play from San Antonio, Texas rapper & Shrunken Head Entertainment founder Razakel. Known for being 1/3 of the Slice Girls as well as the Dead Girlz & 3FRMHELL in addition to her formerly comprising 1/2 of the Serpentines, she also has over a dozen solo albums under her belt along with her last 4 extended plays. She had a song on her most recent full-length Surprise, Surprise! last fall that was produced by Grand Rapids, Michigan rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & Dirtcore Music founder Crossworm and that has now led us to The Possession of Razakel.

“Sum1 Like U” begins with this industrial boom bap intro lyrically talking about figuring out the kind of people who’re fake & live always wishing for those specific types of individuals whereas “Funeral” further embraces an industrial vibe instrumentally, advising for the crowd who’re against her to begin planning their own memorials in advance & lacking any mercy. “Slasher” on the other hand ends the EP fusing horrorcore lyricism with EDM instrumentation.

Come to think of it: Pretty much everyone on the current Dirtcore roster has already put out new music on the label over the course of these past 4 years, so I can get on board with Crossworm’s idea of reaching out to other artists in the underground & do a brief takeover of sorts. Mainly because I firmly believe people will consider The Possession of Razakel to be some of greatest material she’s recorded in whole career, sharpening her pen for 10 minutes over a small handful of industrial hip hop beats.

Score: 4/5

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Twiztid – “Herb n Legends” review

Detroit, Michigan’s demented duo & Astronomicon founders Twiztid hitting us with their 18th extended play. Consisting of Jamie Madrox & Monoxide, both of whom originally started out as part of the House of Krazees alongside childhood friend The R.O.C. in 1992 before their initial disbandment 5 years later. Almost immediately after, the Insane Clown Posse took Jamie & Mono under their wings by signing them to Psychopathic Records as who they’re known as today. They would become the label’s 2nd biggest act being their mentors off projects like Mostasteless, Freek Show, Mirror Mirror, The Green Book, W.I.C.K.E.D. (Wish I Could Kill Every Day) & Abominationz. Shortly after the latter was released, Twiztid left Psychopathic to form Majik Ninja Entertainment in 2014. Since then they’ve released 8 albums & 9 EPs on their own label, my favorites of which being /ˌrevəˈlāSH⁽ᵊ⁾n/ & even their last full-length Glyph. Their last full-length Welcome to Your Funeral produced by Rob Zombie’s engineer Zeuss was a superior Unlikely Prescription sequel & are unearthing the Herb n Legends.

After the intro, the opener “So Numb” sets things off talking about a feeling a fire burning inside of them whereas “My God” by Triple Threat describes a way they’ve never felt before. “Noid” featuring James Garcia or the artist formerly known as Young Wicked throws it back to the latter’s Axe Murder Boyz roots & “D.I.D.” ends the EP having both Triple Threat & Otis linking up to talk about smoking to escape the problems they face in the daily lives.

Conceptually inspired by a man disappearing in the forest of West Branch while getting away from friends only to be found 73 hours later carrying a 20 minute recording explaining where he had been & what had happened to him, Herb n Legends returns to Twiztid’s hip hop roots rather than continuing to expanding the rap/nu metal sounds of their previous full-length with a conceptual EP themed around their love of smoking kush with a horrorcore twizt.

Score: 4/5

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Sonnyjim – “Rob Ford” review

2nd extended play of 2026 & the 19th overall from Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Sonnyjim. Making his debut in the summer of 2011 with The Psychonaut, he would go on to drop 8 more albums as well as his last 18 EPs & a mixtape. Most notably the No Vi$ible Means of Income trilogy produced by Giallo Point, the Buckwild-produced Coke Le Roc, the Illinformed-produced The Chemistry Must Be Respected, the Leaf Dog-produced How to Tame Lions, the Camoflauge Monk-produced Money Green Leather Sofa, White Girl Wasted and finally the Lee Scott-produced Ortolan & Armagnac. Coming off the Sumgii-produced Chinatown Chicken Tour a couple months ago, he’s reuniting with Lee for Rob Ford.

“Tuscan Pleather” starts by talking about his phenom status whereas the only single “Krayzie, Layzie, Flesh, Wish-N-Bizzy” featuring Shyheim gives Bone Thugs-n-Harmony their flowers. “Lump Sum” featuring Jehst & King Grubb references 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 while “BOGOF” talks about being literature practitioner.

As Serious as Your Life 2 last month ago felt a lot more like a single with a b-side than an actual EP, so I was grateful to see that Rob Ford was somewhat longer. And despite not putting it in the same conversations like I would Chinatown Chicken or Ortolan & Armagnac, I’m sure a great deal of the fans who enjoyed the latter will still come away from this satisfied considering how well it recaptures the chemistry between Lee Scott’s production & Sonnyjim’s distinctive lyrical style.

Score: 3.5/5

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Giffy Pluggo – “The Get Back Pack” review

Another extended play albeit the 5th overall from Chicago, Illinois emcee & ATIP Records founder Giffy Pluggo. Emerging a few years ago off his debut mixtape Paid Leave & its sequel, he would later put out an expanded version of his debut album Los Pluggos followed by Pluggo’s Birthday & Douda respectively. The latter mostly produced by Myles Grayson & becoming the most beloved entry in his discography thus far, coming off both Luxury Manifesto & The Layoff: No Hooks to drop off a Get Back Pack.

“How It Feels” begins with an intro reminiscent to JAY-Z’s early output from the late 90s to the early 2000s whereas the title track produced by Myles Grayson could be favorite one here from the jazzy boom bap instrumental to vengeful hunger in Giffy’s performances. “What You See” soulfully kicks off the 2nd half blending jazz & rap talking about others seeing the fame on him while “Sacrifice” sends off the EP aims to create a balance between being educated & rapping.

Wasn’t anticipating Giffy Pluggo to hit us with another EP so soon since he already announced Paid Leave 3 was on the way during The Layoff’s outro, but I suppose it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise since The Get Back comes right after & it’s goal of expanding on him being laid off from his regular occupation accompanied by a set of variety of beats exploring the sounds of boom bap, jazz rap & trap singlehandedly rather than having any guest appearances.

Score: 3.5/5

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Benny the Butcher & Fuego Base – “Ashes in the $afe” review

New collaborative EP from Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher alongside Hartford, Connecticut emcee Fuego Base. One of whom co-founded Black Soprano Family Records with City Boy & the other blew up a few years ago after signing to the label. So I had no problem with them taking their chemistry to the next level with Ashes in the $afe almost a week since former WWE Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon, former IWA World Champion, 2-time IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, 3-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 4-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, PWG World Champion, RPW British Heavyweight Champion, the inaugural ROH Pure Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion, 2-time TNA World Champion, the inaugural 6-time TNA X Division Champion, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion, 2-time WWE Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion & 2-time WWE tag team champion AJ Styles, former 3-time WWE Tag Team Champions Demolition, former 5-time NBA Champion Dennis Rodman, former CWA Heavyweight Champion, 4-time WWE world champion & WWE United States Champion Sid Eudy and Bad News Brown were all inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

After the titular intro, “Sundial” kicks things off with a sumptuous boom bap opener talking about both of them being made for the stardom whereas “Pyrex & Prayers” lets Fuego Base hold it down by himself so he can put his life savings on the stove hoping everything goes right. Benny returns on “Like It Is” so they can move the weight & tell things the way they see it while “Rev X” featuring Sule finds the trio bringing it hardcore without a hook.

“The Fighting Irish” gets the 2nd half of the EP going by talking about both of them feeling rather lucky prior to O.T. the Real & Rick Hyde appearing for “Warehouse 4”, which is a continuation of the series that began on Biggest Since Camby a few years ago. “Big Shirley” mixes some triumphant strings with kicks & snares for the last Fuego Base solo track talking about how well he goes with the game & “Castellammarese War” featuring O.T. the Real ends with them still predicting show like groundhogs who don’t see their shadows.

Tell My Momma I’m Still a Rapper was a good way for Fuego Base to start off 2026 & most people wound up preferring Benny the Butcher’s most recent tape Summertime Butch 2 over it’s predecessor including myself, but I’d put Ashes in the $afe over the eponymous Harlem Heat extended play Fuego did with Elcamino last summer. The chemistry’s stronger & the Butcher proves now’s the time for the Biggest Since Camby lets the world know his true artistic potential.

Score: 3.5/5

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Wallie the Sensei – “M.A.D. D.O.G.G. (Managing Angry Demons Deprived of God’s Grace)” review

Wallie the Sensei is a 29 year old rapper from Compton, California emerging in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic off his debut extended play No Love. He went on to follow this up with the full-length debut Golden Child & the sophomore effort Here 2 Stay under Capitol Records, which resulted in him doing the hook for “Dodger Blue” off Kendrick Lamar’s 6th album GNX. The latter would impress Travis Scott enough in signing Wallie to Cactus Jack Records last spring & his debut for the label has finally arrived in the form of his 2nd EP.

“No Shirt” made for an atmospherically decent intro talking about waking the streets up whereas “Dirty Bastard” carries over the cloudiness until the beat switch during the final minute or so to discuss the coldest hearts playing with the most heat. “City of Angels” goes for a moodier vibe confessing that he’s been going numb to the pain until the title track produced by Taurus talks about there being too many killers & not enough bodies as well as deserving of wealth.

The song “4 Lines / Self Destruct” splits itself into 2 halves again trying to get his mother out the hood & feeling like he’ll fail if he doesn’t prior to some drumless acoustics being incorporated midway through talking about carrying heavy weight. “Beam” featuring Roddy Ricch finds the 2 embracing a nervous vibe advising that real Gs don’t do the shit they do for entertainment purposes & “Product of My Environment” talks about making it this far because he hasn’t changed.

His brief appearances on Jackboys II last summer & more recently DJ Chase B’s debut album Be Very Afraid a couple months earlier raised some concerns regarding my anticipation for M.A.D. D.O.G.G. (Managing Angry Demons Deprived of God’s Grace) but considering that the chances of a sequel or 2 are looking increasingly likely, I hope they’re better than this. A lot of these instrumentals are dull & it’s disappointing since I don’t mind the perspective he gives regarding the people in his hometown.

Score: 3/5

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Jon Connor – “The Artist Yahn Freeman IV” review

New surprise EP from Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor. 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 the 4th installment of The Artist Yahn Freeman series produced by Smitti Boi.

“Lord You Know I’m Trying” hops over a trap beat sampling gospel music to begin this month’s installment talking about making music for the people who appreciate his style these days whereas “1st Day Back” goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally admitting he wakes up every day thinking of making something out of his life before his time’s up. “Solid Ground” keeps it rugged to spit streams of consciousness while “Evolve” featuring MRK_SX finds the 2 talking about now being the time to do better.

Starting the 2nd half, “The Party 2” comes through with a spiritual successor to a highlight off The Artist Yahn Freeman II promising to never give up his self-respect for money over a nocturnal trap beat while “Endless Road” vents the need to talk to someone except no one’s tapping in. “Praying for the Sunshine” returns to the boom bap calling for us to realize our children’s future is in our hands & “They Can’t Stop My Dreams” spends the last couple minutes promising everything will be ok.

Only a week after his birthday, this latest entry of Jon Connor’s ongoing saga has been only getting more interesting by the month & The Artist Yahn Freeman IV taking over The Artist Yahn Freeman III’s position as the All Varsity Music Group founder’s finest-sounding extended play this whole year. Maestro Williams of Silent Riot’s gives us the greatest mixing/mastering I’ve heard throughout this entire tetrarch through his engineering, carrying over the thoughtfully conscious lyricism backed by Smitti Boi’s production healthily balancing boom bap & trap.

Score: 4/5

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Mike Shabb – “Hood Olympics 2” review

Montréal, Québec, Canada emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb still applying pressure with his 10th EP & the 4th within the last month. Emerging in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 9 EPs & a few mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery along with producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X & enlisting his mentor Nicholas Craven to fully produce his 5th EP Shadow Moses from top to bottom. He would follow these up with Hood Olympics, Sewaside III, Shabb Van Gogh, Fight the Power!, Vrai Rap Keb!, the Drega33-produced Lost Tapes & Maple Flavored. The latter of which was alright compared to the others I named, but Hood Olympics 2 has finally arrived nevertheless.

The self-produced “Don’t Know” asks himself why would he fuck with all of these raggedy hoes when he already has a fine bitch by his side whereas “Dilla” euphorically talks about his desire being like one of my top 5 producers of all-time: The late, great J Dilla himself. “Scrubb”aggressively issues a warning of pulling up on blocks for the purpose of wiping ‘em up while “Smack!” talks about doing real damage if he has to send messages.

“Smile” gives off a more sensual vibe altogether telling his girl that nobody can ever make him hate her since she’s family to him at this point leading into Spook making Hood Olympics 2’s sole guest appearance on “Unc Rob”, finishing up the 1st half by letting his partner hold the blick. “I Like It” kicks off the 2nd half experimenting with sample drill flipping “That’s the Way” by KC & The Sunshineband just before “Muffinz” talks about being fresh as fuck every time he pops out, baking anyone who messes with his girl.

The song “Moune Bizz” has this experimental trap flare to it addressing the kind of people who think people wouldn’t want to get flicks with him or the women while “Grandma” talks about his inability of trusting his Day 1 homie because he doesn’t know any better. “Jackie Chan” winds down the last few minutes of Hood Olympics 2 looking to crack anybody who fucks around too much & “Juxtapose” ends by promising that he’ll keep moving the way he’s supposed to.

Of the 4 extended plays Mike Shabb has given us only a quarter away through the year, Maple Flavored was the only one that I didn’t really care for that much but for him to drop Hood Olympics 2 in preparation for Sewaside IV somewhere between the next 8 months makes up for the averageness of the EP that came out last weekend. I love hearing the finest in Montréal today testing out new sounds beyond the drumless/boom bap styles he’s become known for even if he has the stronger half of the production & his pen’s a lot sharper than Hood Olympics 2’s predecessor.

Score: 3.5/5

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Canibus & Chino XL – “Necksnapper” review

New collaborative extended play between the late East Orange, New Jersey emcee Chino XL & The Bronx, New York by way of Kingston, Jamaica lyricist Canibus. Both of whom have crossed paths several times prior including tracks like “Cypher of 5 Mics” & “Pendulum Swing” by Rakim, the latter of which was the very last song that came out prior to Chino’s untimely tragic passing a couple summers ago. However, they’re coming together to deliver a complete Necksnapper.

The title track breaks the gate down with this boom bap intro Johnny Slash cooked up looking to make human mean out of all competitors whereas “Abu La-Haab” continues with a 5-minute Canibus solo joint explaining that a work of art is actually a world of labor. Chino takes the mic from beyond the grave on “Always There” talking about the mental health struggles that took his life just before “God’z Wrath” featuring Rock finds all 3 of them coming correctly.

“Basquiat 2” starts the 2nd half with 1 more Chino XL solo track that surpasses it’s predecessor included on Prelude to The Mantis while “Celebration” by Canibus experiments with rapping over an EDM beat talking about still being here a quarter of a century later. “Bulletproof Metals” featuring Eto & Planet Asia returns to the boom bap calling for everyone to bow down to them while “Sick Mind” featuring Block McCloud, Joker & Poison Pen ends with them making bodies disappear in a flash.

Putting all of the previously released material like both the “Pendulum Swing” & “Champion” remixes and “Cypher of 5 Mics” aside, I think Necksnapper’s the best of the 2 posthumous offerings we’ve gotten from Chino XL in 2026 & it’s not too far from S.L.I.C.C. (Self Licking Ice Cream Cone) in becoming some of the most enjoyable material Canibus has put out in some time. When they’re not putting their chemistry to the test half the time, they’re spending the other portion of the EP holding it down themselves.

Score: 4/5

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