Glokk40Spaz – “Slaughter House Recordz” review

This is the 2nd EP Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Glokk40Spaz. Emerging off the Don’t Get Took Off mixtape trilogy & the debut EP Spaz&B, he would also go on to drop his very first LP 2 Glokks followed by the sophomore effort Baby Whoa with both of them receiving quite a bit of acclaim. Took the Biggest Risk distributed by Columbia Records was a great major label debut for EBG Records founder, as was the acclaimed collab EP with OsamaSon earlier this summer 3vil Reflection & his latest magnum opus Da Real Oso. However, what was intended to be a deluxe version of his latest album has morphed into Slaughter House Recordz.

“Welcome 2 da Slaughter” produced by Noah Mejia & Internet Money Records in-house producer Vendr is this eerie drill opener breaking down his lifestyle whereas the rage-inducing “Decoy” boasts that he’s self-employed & rich as a muhfucka. “3rd Day Out” maintains a hypertrap vibe talking about being home from the pen for 3 days just before the drill-sounding “Take It Up with God” once again shows off his mob ties.

The song “Vicinity” talking about hoes being around him taking risks & bitches at the exact same time leading into “Black Rose Nightmare” hopping over another rage beat from Dylvinci flexing that he’s cool with the heat despite how cold his diamonds are. Finally, the closing track “Yess” rounds out the EP showing off his money being tall as fuck keeping his whole entire block on lockdown.

All 7 of these cuts could’ve easily made it onto Da Real Oso & would’ve fit with the context of it, but I’m not mad at him making it into a separate entity of it’s own. Even if I think the production on the latter is a tad bit better, Glokk40 still undeniably makes some aggressively hungry performances in roughly 17 minutes continuing to hold off from having any guests joining him.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jason Martin – “Repack” review

This is the 3rd EP from Compton, California emcee, songwriter & producer Jason Martin. Originally known as Problem, he would go on to release over a dozen mixtapes as well as 4 full-length studio albums & a couple EPs. I can’t forget to mention both collaborative efforts DJ Quik, the first being Rosecrans back in 2017 & the follow-up Chupacabra days before Kendrick Lamar’s now historic 1-off Pop Out concert at the Kia Forum. earlier this summer. However, he’s warming everyone up for the next era by dropping off a Repack.

“Problem” featuring Laila! is a soulful, self-produced Mobb opener referencing the moniker that made a name for Jason whereas “Kill Switch”featuring Daz Dillinger further pulls inspiration from the Bay thanks to Fredwreck talking about their gang ties. “Live It Up” featuring Lil Vada & Sada Baby on the remix maintains a Mobb vibe instrumentally detailing the gangsta lifestyle once more leading into “You Know What It Is” going for a traditional west coast flare to talk about everyone knowing the deal courtesy of Mike & Keys.

As for My Boy”, we have Jason & Glasses Malone coming together to drop braggadocio just before “Poridge” featuring Jay Worthy & Mitchy Slick shows off the rare aura of all 3 of them. “5 Pack” blends g-funk & hyphy talking about being artists being indicted for what they say in their music which I think is wrong, but then “Cookie” turns the bass up refusing to go back-&-forth over a topic of discussion he doesn’t care enough for.

“Come & Shine with Me” featuring RJmrLA playfully encourages everyone to shine with them leading into “Hold Up” featuring LaToiya Williams balancing g-funk & trap to talk about y’all having no more chances. “Actin’ Tuff” featuring Dreebo goes drumless breaking down specific type of bitches & after the “God Knows Best” skit, “Goin’” featuring Lil Neph soulfully finishes by talking about keeping it moving the money flowin’.

Restoring a feeling that’s been missing from California music as a whole 5 months ago, the Repack is completely different since Mike & Keys take the opportunity to help Jason bring together a myriad of west coast sounds old & new with the beats with the guests that join him being a dope mix of mainly west coast veterans and of course a few up-&-comers sprinkled into the equation.

Score: 3.5/5

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Sule – “Written on Wide’s Corner 2” review

This is the 9th EP from Englewood, New Jersey emcee Sule. Signing to Benny the Butcher’s very own Black Soprano Family Records at the end of 2022 after putting out 7 EPs over the course of a decade, he’s also notable for his guest verse on the Biggest Since Camby closing track “White Lives Matter” produced by Havoc formerly of Mobb Deep & of course the well received Black Soprano debut Written on Wide’s Corner earlier this spring. Fast forward to Election Day 2024, we’re being treated to a sequel.

“New Jersey State of Mind” is a boom bap opener, letting us know what it was like for him growing up in the titular state whereas “Trois Sopranois” featuring Benny the Butcher & Fuego Base finds the trio representing B$F to the fullest for a few minutes. “Victor Cruz” produced by STREETRUNNER offers a soulful trap flare referencing the WR for the New York Giants, but then “Cutz” featuring Flames Dot Malik gets the 2 together for an aggressive hardcore hip hop joint breaking generational curses.

To start the other half, “My Brother’s Keeper” soulfully talks being known for making promises instead of threats while “Sule Common Wealth” featuring Lo Pro works in more kicks & snares so they can refer to themselves as the same ones who ran it. “I Made You Wealthy” featuring Fuego Base maintains a boom bap flare addressing people who’ve betrayed them after making them rich & “The Crash Out Story” ends by teaching everyone to leave their valuables at the stash house.

Sule has quickly risen to become one of the best artists on the Black Soprano Family roster in the past 8 months & in contrast to Written on Wide’s Corner achieving his goal of making Englewood a landmark, the follow-up elevates that further. The production is a mix of boom bap & trap just like the predecessor was, a couple of the guests stick the landing performance-wise & the New Jersey artist himself continues to tell us what it’s like where he’s from.

Score: 4/5

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Psycho Les – “Escape the Matrix” review

Psycho Les is a 52 year old MC/producer from Queens, New York notable for being 1/2 of The Beatnuts alongside Juju as well as 1/5 of the Liknuts supergroup with Tha Alkaholiks. He eventually started carving a path for himself as a solo artist in the spring of 2007 with the debut album Psycho Therapy & returning almost a decade later for the weed-themed, feature-heavy sophomore effort Dank God. Ahead of the Real Psychos’ eponymous debut with B-Real next month, Eric Bobo & Stu Bangas are getting together to help Escape the Matrix on his 1st solo EP.

“S.O.S.” starts by spitting conscious lyricism over a boom bap instrumental cautioning of the world we know it today being in danger & considering yourself lucky if you’re still alive refusing to get on his Chuck D shit whereas “Crooks” featuring Snyp Life works in more kicks & snares with a delicate backdrop referring to themselves as the last ones of their kind pleading for everyone to take facts over fear. “Fire” featuring Blahzay Blahzay properly ends the EP with Outloud joining Les with PF Cuttin’ on the scratching to talk about the world burning.

Dank God had its high points, but I’ve always felt like it was overloaded with features in comparison to Psycho Therapy. And although Escape the Matrix only became a 3-track EP instead of a full-length studio album, what it offers in nearly 10 minutes is better than a lot of what was on that previous LP almost a decade ago. Eric Bobo & Stu Bangas both recapture the magic of their production throughout their Empires collaborative effort on 4/20 2021 keeping it underground traditional boom bap vibes alive & Les himself offers more politically conscious subject matter.

Score: 4/5

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SoFaygo – “Pressure” review

This is the 14th EP from Cobb County, Georgia rapper SoFaygo. Cementing himself as one of the biggest faces in the plugg/pluggnB & rage scenes in recent memory, he’s since gone on to drop a dozen EPs & it’s even resulted in Houston trap trailblazer Travis Scott signing him signed to a Cactus Jack Records for his long awaited full-length debut Pink Heartz couple years back even though reception towards it was generally mixed. He coincided with the 1-year anniversary of both him making it on the XXL Freshman Class & the release of B4Pink with Go+, returning to once again apply Pressure.

“Big Body” produced by thr6x starts by mixing trap & pop rap together melodically flexing that he’s been on that shit hopping out of the big bodies whereas “Road Rage” takes a bit of a psychedelic trap route instrumental staying geeked 24/7 including a dope reference to Nettspend. “Pointers / Act Up” is a 2-parter to begin the other half of Pressure rockin’ out with the diamonds around his neck making plays in the field & “Minute Maid” properly ties up the EP with an incredibly loud snare leaving the bank boasting that he might let it rain.

There’s been a lot of speculation in regards to whether or not SoFaygo had actually quit making music & not only did he debunk all of that by surprise releasing a 4-track 10 minute EP, but one that serves as a prequel to his upcoming sophomore effort Mania that was originally conceived as a sequel to his 2019 EP War. Even if I think the production is average for the most part, his performances aren’t too bad.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ella Mai – “3” review

Mitcham, London, England, United Kingdom singer/songwriter Ella Mai celebrating her 30th birthday with her 4th EP. Signing to DJ Mustard’s very own Interscope Records imprint 10 Summers Records, her first few EPs Time as well as Change & Ready were all solid preludes ahead of her acclaimed eponymous full length debut studio album. Her sophomore effort Heart on My Sleeve would also be well received & 2 years later, she’s dropping off a 3-track offering produced by Mustard.

“Hearts on Deck” is this infectiously catchy ass opener singing about how this person’s next move better be the best one whereas “One of Those” samples I’ll Be Around” by Gnarls Barkley frontman Cee-Lo Green of the Goodie Mob subunit of the Dungeon Family collective admitting that she can’t get her boyfriend Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics off her mind. “Little Things” ends the EP on some trap soul vibes wanting to take some time thank y’all & just let you know just how you make her proud.

Introducing a fresh chapter in Mai’s career now that her 20s are behind her, 3 finds her & DJ Mustard’s reinforcing her signature soulful sound bringing listeners into a journey of love, connection & self-awareness. It also mirrors her personal growth & evolution, aligning beautifully with the themes of maturity & discovery reflected throughout the course of a 10 & a half minute listening experience without any features whatsoever.

Score: 4/5

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Westside Gunn – “Hitler Wears Hermes XI” review

Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter/booker with the founding of his own 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn restarting the Hitler Wears Hermes series with his 6th EP. 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. Last we heard from West was And Then You Pray for Me which as a trap-heavy sequel to Pray for Paris, but is dropping Hitler 11 on Halloween & in 24 hours’ notice of Still Praying.

After the “Stone” intro, the first song “Big Dump Ballad” is a soulful opener produced by Denny LaFlare throwing in bars about WWE’s current VP of Global Talent Development in former 4-time WCW World Television Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion William Regal taking on former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 4-time WCW World Television Champion, 8-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, 5-time WWE United States Champion & WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricky Steamboat.

Former NXT Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & now The Wyatt Sick6 leader Bo Dallas of the RAW brand gets “Unkle Howdy” named after him working in a rich piano instrumental referencing WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle whom 4-time WWE tag team champion Chad Gable has drawn comparisons to.

“Cain Tejada” takes the boom bap route recalling the 1994 SummerSlam bout between Tatanka & former 2-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger that is until “Paulin Paulin Paulin” brings a soul flare back turning 1 to 3 through the luck of the pot.

Hitler Wears Hermes X was a great place to finish the saga since it since it came out around the same timeframe as Ye formerly known as Kanye West’s infamous antisemitic meltdown calling himself a Nazi on InfoWars over a month later, but we still got an enjoyable 15 minute listen with Hitler Wears Hermes XI. Denny LaFlare gets to shine more behind the boards since he’s most underrated member of The Heartbreakers & the FLYGOD calls to let Sly Green home without any guests.

Score: 4/5

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Blaze Ya Dead Homie & Bukshot – “Blockwork Morgue” review

Here we have a brand new collaborative EP between alongside Detroit, Michigan emcee Blaze Ya Dead Homie & Louisville, Kentucky emcee Bukshot. One of whom broke out within the underground by signing to the Insane Clown Posse’s very own label that runs beneath the streets Psychopathic Records for his 2000 eponymous debut EP & the full-length debut 1 Less G n da Hood, with the other notable for founding Mobstyle Music. Both of whom have collaborated with each other numerous times in the past & are taking it further with Blockwork Morgue.

After the “Night at the Morgue” intro, the first song “Blockwork” produced by MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 starts with an off-the-wall trap heater explaining the way shit works around the block whereas “Panicking” featuring Jamie Madrox delves further down the hardcore rabbit hole altogether getting everyone against them in panic mode. “Do It” fuses boom bap & rap rock talking about how they was out in the streets pushing weight while the grisly “War Story” addresses the people who want beef with them.

“J.A.F.U.D. (Just Another Fucked Up Day)” featuring Monoxide on the remix puts some rap rocks influences up on display as the official closer of the EP talking about going through another stale day & the remix of “Take an L” featuring Drive-By off Helter Skelter: The Accomplices II includes a new verse from Boondox that can hang with the original highlight from that previously mentioned album in Buk’s discography.

Buk’s been teasing this EP for almost a couple months now & I’m happy that he decided to finally put it out after a phat opening set at the St. Andrew’s Hall basement The Shelter for the release party of the House of Krazees’ reunion LP 31 last night. 7’s production doesn’t miss & both MCs elevate their chemistry by colliding 2 unique worlds in the underground wicked shit scene to start Devil’s Night 2024.

Score: 4/5

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EARTHGANG – “EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 3: Perfect Fantasy” review

Olu & WowGr8 also known as the Atlanta, Georgia duo the EARTHGANG closing out the EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm trilogy with their 7th EP. Starting out a little over a decade ago dropping 3 mixtapes along with 2 albums & an EP independently, this resulted in J. Cole signing them to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records in 2017. This resulted in a trilogy of EPs leading up to their major label debut Mirrorland, which revealed themselves to be one of the best artists that the label has to offer. They went on to give their Spillage Village collective some shine by dropping their 4th album Spilligion on Dreamville the next year & Ghetto Gods further cemented them as the 2nd best signing on the roster behind J.I.D of course. EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm: R.I.P. Human Art last fall severed ties with Interscope to solely stay with Dreamville & gave insight on EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 2: Robophobia about the technological advancements we’ve seen in recent years, but Perfect Fantasy is all trying it in together.

“Godly” starts off on some relaxing boom bap shit courtesy of Blur frontman & Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn alongside Olu himself encouraging to never see yourself through someone else’s lenses & dancing with the devil feeling all up in their element whereas the psychedelically cavernous duet “Deep Blue” featuring Little Dragon shows a melodic side to the EARTHGANG singing about not wanting to implode on the ocean floor. “U Gotta” produced by The Neptunes is easily my favorite song on here even if it was made in 2021 telling their partners to get theirs & after the pop rap single “Love You More” featuring T-Pain, the sample-driven “Zone” talks being here 1 day & gone the next.

Cochise joins Dr. Dot & Johnny Venus on “Electric” dabbling with rage beats likening themselves to Pikachu or Zeus zapping muhfuckas leading into the inebriating club banger “In My Mind” talking about liquid sunshine trickling through their blinds & having magic in their fingertips putting a couple galaxies in a clip. After the “Robophobia” skit, the final song “Red Flag” finishes the EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm saga reflecting on bad relationships over this psychedelic guitar for nearly 5 minutes.

Informed by their passion for Japanese culture, EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 3: Perfect Fantasy combines these 9 new songs with the last couple EPs paying homage to a lot of different eras. All 3 installments as a whole cohesively explores the effects of AI on society by questioning the ways advanced technologies are consuming our lives & dreaming of an alternate universe where humans could live more freely.

Score: 3.5/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Tha Myth Who Never Quit 3” review

Tha God Fahim dumpin’ his 46th EP not even 48 hours after Tha Myth Who Never Quit 2. 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. But dude has been on a CRAZY ass EP run in 2023 with the standouts being 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, Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays produced by Mike Shabb, Tha Supreme Hoarder of All Pristine Wealth. Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga produced by Cookin’ Soul & more recently Machine Gun Vocabulary produced by Cartune Beatz. It’s been 5 years since Tha Myth Who Never Quit & to hear a trilogy chapter was coming had me hoping it’d reach the bar that the predecessor from earlier in the week had set.

“Becareful What You Wish For” samples a woodwind to kick off Tha Myth Who Never Quit 3 telling everyone to be careful what they wish for because they just might get it whereas “Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap” adds another victory to his winning streak over a raw boom bap instrumental. “Genki Dama” soulfully lets it known that the only way to come at him his correct while “Tha Deadzone” works in more kicks & snares making the ground break with his power level.

As for “A Lot on My Mind”, we have Fahim talking about this life shit being something going for a mellow boom bap vibe to the beat just before “100 Proof” drops new school jewels sampling soul music once again. “Absolute” hooks up some crooning vocals going all out & not because he grew up struggling, but then “It Ain’t Free” rawly yet atmospherically creates memories in the form of him dumpin’.

“Tha Legend Continues” pushes towards the final moments of the latest entry in Tha Myth Who Never Quit series crossing over chipmunk soul & boom bap warning that the studio isn’t a safe place whatsoever as soon as he steps in the booth & lastly, “Whippersnapper” finishes Breadrick Douglas’ 2nd body of work this week on the hardcore tip flexing no one can catch up with him & he’s etched in history.

3 albums in a whole month & I came away from Tha Myth Who Never Quit 3 enjoying it almost as much as Tha Myth Who Never Quit 2 since it reached my expectations, maybe a tad bit more since they’re both neck-&-neck for Fahim’s best offering of 2024. Nicholas Craven’s soul-heavy boom bap production matched with the hungry lyricism from the previous chapters are carried over & elevated even further.

Score: 4.5/5

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