Black Josh – “Today’s the Day” review

Here we have the 4th EP from Manchester, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Black Josh. Known for being a member the Cult of the Damned & LEVELZ collectives as well as 1/2 of the B-Movie Millionaires, he would make debut over a decade ago off an eponymous EP & the full-length debut Blick Flair’s Ape Mountain until signing to Blah Records. He went on to drop 6 more albums & a couple more EPs under the London label, celebrating Friday the 13th in no better fashion than Today’s the Day.

“Habitat” was a dark, occasionally crooning boom bap intro coming out the gate with unapologetically hardcore penmanship whereas “Doolally” works in an organ sample mixed with kicks & snares talking about driving people crazy. The title track dustily finds himself ready to catch up to the money & the paper chase while “Vince Carter” featuring Da$h references none other then the greatest Toronto Raptors player of all-time himself over a symphonic boom bap beat.

Sonnyjim joins the B-Movie Millionaires on “E R M8” continuing the last leg of Today’s the Day bringing all 3 artists together hauntingly leaving heads spinning harder than The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s intro & after “Close to the Edge” maintains a boom bap vibe instrumentally talking about him feeling like he’s on the verge of slipping homaging the late DMX in the midst of it, we get hit with a soul sample & Josh letting the people he has in mind know he’ll “Pray” for them.

I wouldn’t put it above Smoking Kills regarding the extended plays in Black Josh’s discography, but Today’s the Day is definitely the most I’ve enjoyed a solo project from him since Mannyfornia. Rather than continuing to delve deeper into some of the most vulnerable material throughout Josh’s career much like Heartbreak Hostel did, the latter’s wordplay & the grimier production are enough to please any hardcore hip hop fan.

Score: 3.5/5

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Samson Samson – “Bye-Fi” review

This is the 2nd EP from Hampton, Virginia rapper Samson Samson. Introducing himself a decade ago by releasing his debut EP Regret, he would return last spring by releasing the full-length debut studio album Beforecore flooded with guest appearances on nearly half of it, signing to Dirtcore Music exactly a month later & embodying everything he’s been wanting to do artistically on his sophomore effort albeit Dirtcore debut Witch Hunt celebrating it’s 1-year anniversary last weekend. But if you’re looking for Bye-Fi to recapture those vibes, you might just be disappointed.

“My Place” opens with a lo-fi trap intro with a cloudy remix from his Bodies Below Sea Level cohort Crossworm later on that I personally find myself gravitating to more talking about there being a little bit of evil his dreams whereas “E-motion” responds to those calling him emotional over a downtrodden boom bap instrumental. “Darker Coat of Paint” blends lo-fi hip hop & emo rap together suggesting he should’ve listened to himself when he said he wasn’t ready while “Compatible” expresses hope of finding someone who can turn it around when they’re both hurting. Fittingly, the title track ends with Sammy addressing an ex by telling her they weren’t meant to be.

Rather than continuing the horrorcore themes of Witch Hunt last fall, Dirtcore’s inaugural signing switches it up entirely taking accountability for himself & learning not to move on from a relationship so fast. The production’s prominently more lo-fi & the heavily emo subject matter spreads the lesson he’s learned, which is that love gets fickle when you dive into it quickly & says his farewells to something that was never going to work with the hopes of those listening say goodbye to things that we as people have wanted to sort itself out regardless if we have yet to realize that it won’t.

Score: 4/5

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Twiztid – “Odyssey” review

This is the 16th EP from the Detroit demented duo & Astronomicon founders Twiztid. 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 7 albums & 8 EPs on their own label, my favorites of which being /ˌrevəˈlāSH⁽ᵊ⁾n/ & even their last full-length Glyph that they dropped over the fall. But coming off the Stir Crazy-produced Echoes from Dimension X this past spring, DJ Godzila’s being brought in to fully produce a new 7-track Odyssey.

“Pot Snob” starts things off with a Jamie Madrox solo cut drawing blending trap & old school hip hop for all the weed heads out there whereas “It’s About to Go Down” has a bit of a thunderous boom bap quality to the instrumental talking about everyone getting smoked out. “6 Feet Deep” is another Jamie solo joint working in some ominous keys saying everything will all repeat until you’re dead in the ground leading into “Smoke Headed Monster” by Madrox & Blaze Ya Dead Homie finds the 2 over a funk/boom bap hybrid encouraging to smoke your kush if you got it. To start the final leg of the EP, the entrancing “Astro Planin’” by the Multiple Man talks about an out of body experience while the penultimate track “Lifestyles” is a glamorous look of what it’s like for Jamie & Mono to be as stoned & high as they are. “This 4 U” by Madrox rounds out the Odyssey with an energizing dedication to those in life who’re sick & tired of feeling like they’re useless.

Some juggalos were trying to write this off as a 3-Headed Monster bite & I don’t really see it since 3HM contains 3 generations of the wicked shit in 1 & Odyssey finds Twiztid delivering a stoner-heavy concept although it’s predominantly Jamie Madrox on top of DJ Godzila’s production giving the demented duo a completely different sound from some of their past material from Glyph returning to their wicked shit roots to the hardcore hip hop approach of /ˌrevəˈlāSH⁽ᵊ⁾n/ & who could forget their rock debut Unlikely Prescription? The follow-up to the latter Welcome to Your Funeral is said to be more wicked, feature more rapping from them & fully produced by Zeuss so I expect them to deliver what Unlikely Prescription should’ve been

Score: 3/5

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Alecs DeLarge – “Alecs in Wonderland” review

Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Alecs DeLarge signing to High Focus Records for a brand new extended play of solo material. Somebody who’s spent the last several years dropping a plethora of beat tapes from Earth Seeds to S950 Bumps as well as Astro Livin’ & Bubble Goose Loops. He recently got with King Kashmere producing The Album to End All Alien Abductions in its entirety over the summer, stepping up to the mic for Alecs in Wonderland getting a chance to shine in the spotlight lyrically.

After the “$50M” intro, the first song “Scooby Snax” begins with a psychedelic self-produced opener talking about being more iconic than Cam’ron in the pink mink coat whereas & still being broke whereas “Green Goblin” takes the boom bap route instrumentally crumblin’ planets into spliffs. “Attaman!” goes for a drumless vibe talking about sending wack MCs out in space while the jazzy single “AM to AM” speaks of getting lifted 24 hours a day.

“Wonderland” continues to strip the drums talking about others suggesting he’s living the dream when he’s doing shows for drinks & some food leading into the funky “Megabus Dreams” featuring King Kashmere marking my favorite collaboration of the 2 looking at both sides of fame. “Empty Pocket Posse” featuring HPBLK hypnotically talks about both of them being poor & after the “Magic Scones” skit, “Muscle Head” drumlessly denies the possibility of slipping on an open trap ever happening.

The soulfully funky “Girl Joint” single starts Alecs in Wonderland’s final moments talking about the MPC 2000 while “Timbos x Pathfinders” jazzily finds himself seeing nothing’s changed around the block of flats that made him who he is since all the same people are there. “Far Out, Far Man” after the “Mushroom Hill” skit ends the EP taking a more melodic approach in terms of delivery singing for this woman to join him for the ride they’re gonna embark on right beside each other.

Heavily inspired by the Quasimoto alter-ego of one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib, the inaugural solo project in Alecs DeLarge’s career excluding all of his compositional tapes creates his own utopia to escape the one outside his council flat window idyllic living in Lynchian reality when he was exiled to a forgotten mining village. His production during Alecs in Wonderland’s course feels a lot stronger than that earlier instrumental output & he gets a couple of guests to join him in dissecting a lonely man’s soul.

Score: 3.5/5

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EARTHGANG – “EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm: R.I.P. Human Art” review

The EARTHGANG are a duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Olu & WowGr8. 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. But in light of severing ties with Interscope & staying on Dreamville solely, Dr. Dot & Johnny Venus are celebrating by releasing their 5th EP.

“The Wake” intro sets things off where things musically have a bit of Frank Ocean influence to it calling to let all their homies free whereas “Die Today” asks if you’d come & kiss my cold or run up in my bank account if something were to happen to them over a pop rap/contemporary R&B crossover produced by Olu that’s actually better than half of what was on Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy’s final album The Love Album: Off the Grid. “Flavors of Karma” is an organ/boom bap hybrid talking about karma coming in different flavors & not telling you what it feels like that is until the cloudy “Imagine” talks about having paradise at their fingertips. “Bobby Boucher” featuring Benji is a groovy southern pop rap closer reuniting with their vices.

These guys are truthfully my 2nd favorite act on Dreamville behind J.I.D other than Cole of course & here we have the first in a trilogy of EPs after no longer being distributed by Interscope makes me anticipate that they’re gonna have more creative freedom down the line now that they’re still with Dreamville Records & don’t have to worry about major label bullshit. The southern hip hop production also draws from cloud rap as well as boom bap & alternative/contemporary R&B with the EARTHGANG themselves feeling as if a weight’s off their chest delivery-wise.

Score: 3.5/5

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Roga Raph – “We’ll See” review

This is the 2nd EP from New York emcee/producer Roga Raph. Getting his start in the spring of 2015 off his full-length debut Visionary Shift, he would go on to follow this up in the form of his next couple albums Nostalgiks & Current-Space respectively. Raph even put out his very first EP Passing Momentsover a couple years ago & is looking to return by coming from an introspective approach on We’ll See.

“dontwannarun” has an aggressively psychedelic trap instrumental to set off the EP admitting having the desire to not run away from the problems anymore whereas “SeeingThru” works in some pianos this time around looking to trick them real good. “Up & Away” goes for a more chopped & screwed vibe paying homage it’s origins in Houston just before “LevelUp” pulls inspiration from jazz music with the beat talking about his elevation.

The song “Peace” shoots for a sample-based sound pleading for freedom of any disturbance whatsoever that is until the luscious boom bap joint “So It Seems” sheds light on the various illusions that blind us from experiencing life in its truest form. The title track ends the EP focusing on the subject of sacrifice & a wavier flare instrumentally.

If anyone reading this enjoys artists like Fly Anakin alongside Maxo or even CJ Fly from the Pro Era, then you’re gonna want to give Roga a shot because We’ll See has to be the strongest project throughout all 3 LPs & the couplet of EPs that he’s given us in the span of almost a decade at this point. The self-production is the catchiest batch he’s ever cooked up on top of him profoundly hoping that it’ll get listeners thinking about their own lives.

Score: 4/5

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Ransom – “Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child” review

Ransom is a 45 year old wordsmith from Jersey City emerging as 1/2 of the short-lived duo A-Teamalongside Hitchcock. In 2008, he would branch out on his own following their disbandment beginning with the full-length debut Street Cinema & the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort The Proposal. But it’s been safe to say these last couple years have been his biggest so far whether it be the 5 EPs that he put out produced by Nicholas Craven, the 7 EP based around the 7 deadly sins or his previous album Heavy’s the Head produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Rome Streetz collab album Coup de Grâce, or even his last couple albums Chaos is My Ladder or Director’s Cut 4. However only a couple months after Deleted Scenes 2, Ransom’s still applying pressure by putting out a 9th EP.

“The Powers That Be” is a drumless opener with Ran talking about prophesying this entire blessing whereas “New Test of Men” takes a jazzier route making it known that it was a never a priority for him to stay rich. “Scape Goats” featuring Che Noir & 38 Spesh is where the EP starts to pick up more as all 3 artists on the TCF Music Group roster astonishingly tossing the mic together over a string-infused boom bap instrumental & “The Desolate One” might be my favorite track on here from the rock-inspired Nicholas Craven beat talking about the industry being full of demons & broken angels. “Hymns” rounds it all out by providing some ghetto gospel over a ghostly instrumental from Sibbs Roc.

Even though I still think Deleted Scenes 2 is the best EP Ransom’s dropped this year, I still enjoyed a good portion of what we got on Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child. The 2nd half of the EP is better in my opinion, but the sounds are eclectic & the lyricism from Ran never disappoints me since he’s been on another level. That goes for both features too.

Score: 4/5

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tana – “London” review

This is the 7th EP from Atlanta, Georgia up-&-comer tana. Coming up in 2018 as a member of the plu2o9 collective under the original moniker BabySantana, he would go on to drop his first 2 EPs Recreation! & Planet Sosa alongside his debut mixtape Quan a couple years later & eventually signed to Lil Tecca’s very own Republic Records imprint Galactic Records the next fall. But coming off his last 3 EPs n(n) as well as Santana & it’s sequel, tana’s rang in 2023 by making an impressive major label debut off his last EP Gaultier at the beginning of the year. So considering that, I went into London to hear where he’d take it from there ahead of a self-titled body of work next month.

Things start off with a cloudy 2 & a half intro talking about being unable to prioritize a bitch over a bag despite wanting her badly whereas “nan” takes it a step further by detailing having to cut off his last girl because she was fucking with his head backed by a booming trap instrumental. “bool” talks about running the bucks up accompanied by a spacious beat with some 808s, but then “up” shoots for a glitchier trap approach sonically admitting he fucked up but he knows how to fix it.

“kould tell” psychedelically points out that the one he’s seeing now has clearly never been with a rockstar before leading into the trillwave-infused “cheque” encouraging shawty to rock with him even though he doesn’t play guitar. “rn (right now)” makes it clear that he don’t pop out when it’s bright out over a pluggnb instrumental that is until “ainmean.” strips the drums completely telling her that he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. “pop it.” wraps up London by blending synths & hi-hats telling his lover that he’ll buy anything in the stores for her.

Gaultier quickly became the best EP in his discography once the year started & London is already right behind it on top of raising my expectations for self-titled next month. The production’s on par with tana’s major label debut continuing to expand on his pluggnb, cloudy pop rap sound & he’s continuing to deliver some of his strongest performances.

Score: 3.5/5

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Smoke DZA – “Flying Objects” review

This is the 20th EP from New York emcee & songwriter Smoke DZA. Starting out over 2 decades ago as 1/2 of Smoke & Numbers, he would eventually go on to achieve a cult following of his own by dropping 7 albums as well as 10 mixtapes & a plethora of EPs along the way. My personal favorites include the sophomore tape George Kush da Button, the Pete Rock-produced 4th album Don’t Smoke Rock & the whole 183rd-produced Ringside EP saga. But when it was announced that Flying Lotus was being brought in behind the boards throughout Flying Objects, I just knew it was destined to be the best thing DZA has done in a while.

“Spiritual” is a psychedelically futuristic opener to the EP talking about faith in the man upstairs whereas “Painted Houses” featuring Conway the Machine takes the eerie boom bap route with both of them coming together excellently cautioning to treat lightly since their respective teams the Smoker’s Club alongside Drumwork & Griselda stay strong. The latter 2 in particular. “Zelle Transfers” takes a calmer route instrumentally spitting a charismatic, 1-minute freestyle & “Drug Trade” featuring Black Thought & later Conway the Machine on the remix was a phenomenal choice for a lead single to the EP with the woodwinds, kicks, snares & mafioso lyricism.

The closer “Harlem World ‘97” featuring Estelle on the hook rounds it all out with elements of deep house & synth-funk trying to school the apple of his eye professing their love for one another. The first of 2 bonus tracks “Beyond Spiritual” featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Wiz Khalifa happens to be a sequel to the opener with the longest reigning AEW World Champion, former CZW Wired Champion, CZW World Heavyweight Champion,アイアンマンヘビーメタル級チャンピオン, MLW World Tag Team Champion, the inaugural MLW World Middleweight Championship & the current reigning ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF on the intro & the other finishes the deluxe run with a “Zelle Transfers” sequel.

I went into Flying Objects under the impression that it was gonna be a full LP, but I still came away from it looking at it as one of the best EPs I’ve heard this year. One of if not the strongest in his whole entire discography other than the Statue of Limitations collab EP with Benny the Butcher & Pete Rock obviously. FlyLo’s production is magnificently diverse in sound from boom bap to deep hip house & I really can’t remember the last time I heard DZA himself as focused as he is on here.

Score: 4.5/5

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Maajins – “teenage feelings.” review

Maajins is an up-&-coming 15 year old producer & recording artist who since the pandemic has been turning heads by lacing singles for the likes of tana & Pasto Flocco to Autumn! & even Yeat. However since February of last year, he’s been branching out into a solo career & has already put out a total of 10 EPs in just that short amount it time. And only 3 months after his last one Retaliation Tapes & then !@ another 3 months before that, we’re already kicking off September by delivering an 11th EP.

“jesus piece” is a self-produce woozy trap kickstarter to the EP talking about always having to catch his ice before going out on stage every single night alongside a syrupy outro whereas “stop me” instrumentally reminds me a lot of a calming retro video game boasting the fact that he always be going off the way he does. “outlaw” has a spacey, trap/rock groove to it calling himself a fugitive without y’all that is until “malibu” moves forward by cooking up a psychedelic tribute to the titular city in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, “your fault” blends some synthesizers patterns & hi-hats telling his ex off that he has a new woman in his house with him now prior to “phase” confesses that he ain’t in the mood over a tropical beat. “x6” probably has the most peaceful instrumental on the EP flexing that he’s been on the move just before “hold tht” dabbles with some rage undertones thanks to Paulo making this the only track here Maajins wasn’t behind the boards for talking about needing more cash & that your girl is throwing it back for him. Those hypertrap elements come full effect on the closer “meds” featuring Bandanna$aint confessing that they high out of their minds.

I‘ve been familiar with his production work for a couple years now, but have yet to cover a solo EP from him out of nearly a dozen in the span of almost 2 years up to this point & I can say that teenage feelings could very well be my favorite one of the batch yet. His songwriting & deliveries are on point yet sonically, one could say it’s a lot more versatile than previous efforts from rage beats to some elements of plugg or even the rock influences on “outlaw”.

Score: 4/5

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