8tari – “Lofi Punk” review | 8タリ – 「ロフィ・パンク」レビュー

This is the debut EP from Japanese-American transplant 8tari. Born in Tokyo, she moved to New York as a child & began piano lessons before returning to Japan at when she was 12. However, a freak accident with a prototype blockchain connected gashapon machine outside of a keki shop near Takeshita Street resulted in 8tari being decentralized & becoming an NFT. Lost in the network & no longer able to physically touch a piano, she began making beats that soon began to fill the back streets of Shibuya after down-resizing them for transmission at human audible levels. Renown west coast producer DJ Muggs eventually took 8tari under his wing & is producing her debut EP in full.

これは日系アメリカ人移植8tariのデビューEPです。東京で生まれ、子供の頃にニューヨークに引っ越し、12歳の時に日本に戻る前にピアノのレッスンを始めました。しかし、竹下通り近くのケキショップの外でプロトタイプブロックチェーン接続されたガサポンマシンとの異常な事故により、8tariは分散化され、NFTになりました。ネットワークで失われ、もはや物理的にピアノに触れることができなくなった彼女は、人間の可聴レベルで伝送するためにそれらをダウンリサイズした後、すぐに渋谷の裏通りを満たし始めたビートを作り始めました。有名な西海岸のプロデューサーDJ Muggsは、最終的に彼の翼の下で8tariを取り、彼女のデビューEPを完全に制作しています。

“Neon Sunburn” is a dreary piano opener to the EP that I can only visualize serving as the soundtrack to a rainy ass day whereas “The Guns of Brixton” continues on with a lo-fi instrumental cover of the Clash song of the same name off their iconic 3rd album London Calling. The penultimate track “Paradise” has a more climactic vibe to it almost as if it were playing in the background of an important scene to a really good movie leading into “Bad Scene, Everyone’s Fault” ending the EP with another cover except this time it’s the joint off Jawbreaker’s 4th & final album Dear You.

「ネオン・サンバーン」はEPの退屈なピアノオープナーで、雨の日のサウンドトラックとして視覚化することしかできませんが、「ザ・ガンズ・オブ・ブリクストン」は、象徴的な3rdアルバム「ロンドン・コーリング」から同名のクラッシュの曲のlo-fiインストゥルメンタルカバーで続きます。最後から2番目のトラック「Paradise」は、まるで「Bad Scene, Everyone’s Fault」につながる本当に良い映画の重要なシーンの背景で再生されているかのように、よりクライマックスの雰囲気を持っています。今回はJawbreakerの4th&finalアルバムDear Youのジョイントです。

What we have on Lofi Punk here is essentially Muggs dabbling with chillhop for a duration of 4-songs, 15 minutes & it makes me wonder if he plans on traveling further down this rabbit hole in the future because it’s a really interesting change of pace for the seasoned west coast producer. The covers truly make the EP live up to it’s name, but the 2 original compositions are an even better homage to the style pioneered by the late Nujabes.

Lofi Punkで私たちがここで持っているのは、本質的に4曲、15分間チルホップをいじるMuggsであり、それは経験豊富な西海岸のプロデューサーにとって本当に興味深いペースの変化なので、彼が将来このウサギの穴をさらに下って旅行する予定があるかどうか疑問に思います。カバーは本当にEPをその名前に応えていますが、2つのオリジナル作品は、故ヌジャベスによって開拓されたスタイルへのさらに良いオマージュです。

Score: 3.5/5

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$uicideboy$ – “Yin Yang Tapes 2: Summer Season” review

This is the 25th EP from New Orleans, Louisiana duo the $uicideboy$. Consisting of Ruby da Cherry & $crim, these guys released a plethora of projects within the last decade whether it be the Kill Your$elf saga & Eternal Grey or even I WANNA DIE IN NEW ORLEANS & the Travis Barker-produced Live Fast, Die Whenever. The boy$’ sophomore effort Long Term Effects of Suffering followed as did their last album Sing Me a Lullaby, My Sweet Temptation over the summer & are now coming off the EP they dropped last weekend Yin Yang Tapes: Spring Season for the sequel Summer Season.

After the intro, the first song “5 ‘n the Mornin’” is an occult trap opener with the boy$ declaring that players never die while the penultimate track “Starry 9” has more of a Memphis-inspired sound to it à la one of my all-time favorite groups & one of the Nawlins duo’s biggest inspirations Three 6 Mafia sonically so they can rep the 7th ward. “Bloody ‘98” featuring Ghostmane concludes the first half of the Yin Yang Tapes tetralogy with the trio collaborating for the first time with a demonic trap closer & all 3 MCs gelling with one another better than one would anticipate discussing their killer instincts.

I can only assume Fall is coming next Friday & eventually Winter the weekend after, but I really can’t complain because this is a tad bit superior to Spring in my personal opinion & it has me anticipating the 6 songs from the other 2 installments later on in the month ahead of Grey Sheep III afterwards. Blanco & Wetto continue to build upon the cloudy trap sounds of the predecessor with their production here as they keep spitting some gangsta-laced braggadocio for us to vibe to in time for next month.

Score: 3.5/5

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Russ – “CHOMP 2.5” review

This is the 3rd EP from New Jersey rapper, producer & singer/songwriter Russ. Dropping off a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud from 2011 up to 2014, he wound up signing Columbia Records a couple years later & made his full-length debut in 2017 with There’s Really a Wolf. Quickly becoming one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory in the process by being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s his infamous 2016 interview with DJ Vlad the culture vulture where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. His 2018 follow-up ZOO kinda caught my interest due to“The Flute Song”, but the end result of it being taken over by this annoyingly bitter demeanor. Shake the Snowglobe was slightly better & his debut EP CHOMP in 2020 ended up being his best work so far, although it’s because the features & producers carried. Funny enough, the same thing happened on the sequel a year & a half ago. But to prelude the 3rd installment, he’s rockin’ it by himself on CHOMP 2.5.

“Wicked Race”’ is a self-produced opener with no real stand-out lines even though the instrumental that he cooks up here is actually pretty decent whereas “Blow the Whistle” calls this a warmup to CHOMP 3 dropping this summer & even though Statik Selektah’s boom bap production is groovy, bars like “Stand tall like who? Like Tyler” & that he “never had to chase clout or do a bunch of weird shit” when he started to blow by constantly making a narcissistically bitter ass-hat of himself.

The “Buckle Up Freestyle” is more sample-based courtesy of Havoc talking about calling himself out on my bullshit & luckily he picked up, which I’m actually happy to hear him acknowledge that because it takes a real man to own up to his mistakes & don’t have any personal vendetta against the guy whatsoever. “Easy” weaves in some soulful chops from The Alchemist talking about showin’ why no one can fuck with him lyrically even though he literally made a whole fuckin’ tape where the features outshined him although the self-improvement line I felt was sincere.

“Reflection” has a more summery vibe to it thanks to Boi-1da & the melodic delivery that Russ executes here just isn’t doing it for me at all which is a shame considering it’s overall theme of rarely getting a second to put himself first. I don’t mind the reference to 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair either. “Perfectionist” closes out the EP with a soulful boom bap ballad that 9th Wonder cooked up confessing that he had 32 sessions with a therapist about being a recovering purist although the “in my Depeche Mode” line was cringe.

Although the first 2 installments of the CHOMP series were loaded with guest verses, the fact that Russ took the risk of proving that he doesn’t need features for a project to be good is admirable. However, this is as average as the predecessors. The production is remarkable, but the songwriting & performances from Russ himself are both mid at best. That being said though: I can’t deny that he’s trying to improve himself both artistically & personally and continue to hope for that down the road.

Score: 2.5/5

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Pawz 1 – “Persona Non Grata” review

This is the 8th EP from Los Angeles underground mainstay Pawz 1. Breaking out in 2014 off the strength of his full-length debut Face the Facts, he would go on to add a couple more albums & 7 EPs under his belt with the last we heard from him being Random Acts of Violence’s eponymous debut EP last spring, but his returning solo solo in the form of Persona Non Grata ahead of him opening up for Cormega at Catch 1 in Los Angeles a couple months from now.

“Sepekku” is a gully boom bap opener giving all phony fans the finger saying he don’t need them anyway whereas the “Out of Bounds” remix featuring MC Eiht & Ras Kass is superior to the original we heard on his last full-length Watch & Learn. “Welcome Home” has a summery boom bap quality talking about the streets having good intentions prior to the title track has a playful vibe with some kicks & snares saying respect ain’t worth what it used to be.

Meanwhile, “Bad News” starts the final leg of the EP weaves in a twinkling boom bap beat so he can admit that he’d probably be afraid of himself too just before the “Cross Fire” remix keeps it dusty talking about how it be like the roads in the hood. The song “Good with That” gives off a richer groove speaking on learning to accept that things ain’t always gonna be good while the penultimate track “Still” ruggedly says fuck you to all his critics & doubters. We then get treated to the original version of “Cross Fire” which is dope, but prefer the remix a bit more.

As somebody who’s been a fan of Pawz since his debut dropped my junior year of high school, this EP is no question my favorite of his in a while & quite possibly the best body of work that he’s put out in this current decade. The production stays grounded in the traditional boom bap sound as he makes a statement in regards to his surroundings & the music business altogether basically telling any 2-face snake to fuck off.

Score: 4/5

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$uicideboy$ – “Yin Yang Tapes: Spring Season” review

The $uicideboy$ are a hip hop duo from New Orleans, Louisiana consisting of Ruby da Cherry & $crim. For almost a decade now, these guys released a plethora of projects whether it be the Kill Your$elf saga & Eternal Grey or even I WANNA DIE IN NEW ORLEANS & the Travis Barker-produced Live Fast, Die Whenever. The boy$’ sophomore effort Long Term Effects of Suffering followed as did their last album Sing Me a Lullaby, My Sweet Temptation over the summer & are now coming off the collaborative Shameless $uicide with G*59 Record$ signee Shakewell by ringing in the warmer weather with their 24th EP.

After the “Spring Season” intro, the first of 3 songs that we get here “Hot Razor” sets off the whole EP with a Memphis rap banger keeping it gangsta as a motherfucker while the penultimate track “Realism vs. Idealism” comes through with a straight up dirty south vibe as they talk about squeezin’ like they fiendin’ for a reason to give up & asking where your Makaveli is. “Château Gris” though finishes things up with a quirky yet cloudy trap jam admitting they be psychopathic with the 9 & that they be heaven sent.

They’re saying we’re getting a 3rd installment of the Grey Sheep series at some point this summer & for the boy$ to celebrate spring by giving us a 10-minute kickoff to the Yin Yang Tapes series is a fine way to hold everyone off until it’s time to complete the trilogy the way they started it. The production remains grounded in the duo’s southern roots as they stick to their guns (no pun intended) covering the usual topics that one would expect going into one or their projects.

Score: 3.5/5

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Q-Unique – “Pound for Pound” review

This is the 2nd EP from Brooklyn emcee, singer & producer Q-Unique. Emerging as 1/4 of the Arsonists & the lead singer of the 3-man hard rock outfit Stillwill, he’s also built up impressive solo discography for himself since the Uncle Howie Records-backed Vengeance is Mine nearly 2 decades back at this point. He would follow it up the previous decade with Between Heaven & Hell alongside BlaQ Coffee and The Mechanic, but is returning after nearly 5-years to have Stillwill bassist Fieldy of KoЯn fame to produce Pound for Pound in full.

“Thank You” by Stillwell starts off the EP with a cinematic boom bap instrumental by showing his gratitude the best way possible whereas “I Believe It’s Getting Better” is a opener ballad about a young brother being put on hold. “Torch Them All” is a Bollywood/boom bap hybrid grabbing the automatic from the corner store just before “Free” keeps it in the basement as far as sound goes talking about being imprisoned by his own thoughts. The song “Danger Room” takes a more menacing approach sonically robbing suckas for their bounty while the penultimate track “Blackout” hooks up some synths, kicks & snares being on his kung fu hustle. The ominous closer “Knevil Reeves” ties up the EP making it known that he has plenty of gas left in the tank.

As someone who loved Vengeance is Mine during his adolescence, it’s most certainly safe to say that Pound for Pound will quickly go down as the best EP in Q’s catalog & one of his best solo projects ever. The production that he & Fieldy cook up is the most consistent batch of beats that he’s hopped on top of in a while as the Brooklyn lyricist sounds incredibly-laser focused proving that he’s still got it lyrically after all these decades in the game.

Score: 4/5

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DaBaby – “Call da Fireman” review

DaBaby is a 31 year old rapper from Charlotte, North Carolina blowing up almost 2 years ago off his viral single “Suge”. He has since built up the discography of 4 full-lengths, 13 mixtapes, a couple EPs & a collaborative project with NBA YoungBoy. Last time we heard from him was back in September when he dropped off a horrific sequel to his debut Baby on Baby, but is now enlisting G.O.O.D. Music in-house producer Charlie Heat to return in the form of a 3-track EP.

“Shake Sum’n” is a Philly club opener with DaBaby encouraging all the bad bitches to show him exactly what they’re working with while the penultimate track “Ghetto Girls >>>>” samples “Project Bitch” by the Cash Money Millionaires so he can talk about his preference in woman that be ratchet as fuck. “Sellin’ Crack” however comes through with a bouncy closer to end the EP saying he makes music like he slanging dope & Offset goes on to murder him on his own shit with his guest verse.

Baby on Baby 2 wound up being the worst hip hop album of last year & unsurprisingly, Call da Fireman as a 3-piece 6 minute EP really isn’t any better. There’s nothing wrong with Charlie Heat’s production on here at all & I’ll even argue that it’s more stronger than any beat we heard on DaBaby’s previous album, but I just feel like he’s continuing to paint himself into a corner with the same fucking flows & vapid subject matter.

Score: 1/5

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Diorvsyou – “w.t.f.i.dvy? (who the fuck is diorvsyou?)” review

This is the 2nd EP from Atlanta, Georgia up-&-comer Diorvsyou. Coming up in 2021 off his last EP Scoreboard, it wasn’t until I saw him open up for southsidesilhouette in Brooklyn back in November where I was personally introduced to his music & I was actually impressed with his set. But considering that his born day was just a few days ago, what better way for him to give back to the fans than to introduce himself to a wider audience & enlist Zaan to oversee w.t.f.i.dvy? (who the fuck is diorvsyou?).

The title track kicks off the album with euphoric trap ballad produced by Toom of Vanguard Music Group talking about trying to hit everybody in the club whereas “mi amor” works in an angelic loop as well as some horns & hi-hats for a dedication to the love of his life. “Django” takes a more otherworldly trap route thanks to thr6x telling the coach to put him in the game because he knows the plan just before the cloudy yet bass heavy “look alike” by 4evrrthumbin’ boasts the fact that all their bitches fine.

Meanwhile, “fuck a bank” co-produced by Patrick Garza flexes having a money counter with a wavily colorful trap beat while the penultimate track “prize pick” takes a futuristic approach telling his hoe that he chose from the start to play her part cleverly enough. The penultimate track “joerogan” is a psychedelic banger of a closer that Cxdy of Internet Money Records laced making it clear to some hoe that living good these days & “throw up” ends the EP with some hi-hats & high-pitched synthesizers courtesy of Nosaint talking about classy shit.

If you’re aren’t familiar with this guy, then I think this EP should make you wake the fuck up because he just took it to a whole new level on here in comparison to Scoreboard. Zaan continues to himself to be a producer that you should keep an eye out for down the road as his production game is amongst is strongest to date & Dior’s performances are his most captivating.

Score: 4/5

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Tha God Fahim – “Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays” review

This is the 45th EP from Atlanta, Georgia emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Coming up 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 4 & the Oh No-produced Berserko. Now I didn’t get the chance to cover Dump Gawd Reloaded or the Sadhugold-produced Dump Gawd: Tha Knocking of Loose earlier this month, but to hear Mike Shabb fully producing Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays was more than enough to peak my interest considering he just dropped his best EP Shadow Moses earlier a couple weeks ago.

The title track kicks the whole thing off with bare crooning soul loop with Fahim describing the way every single one of us play the game in our own different ways whereas “Cash Over Convo” takes the boom bap route with a gospel sample working in some kicks & snares to talk about every song he makes being mind-blowing as an innovator. “Fo My Peoples” blends some jazzy horns & strings making it clear exactly who he does this shit for leading into “Mr. Truth” returning to drumless territory talking about having to see it through because he’s a visualizer.

“The Dragon n The Treasure” dives back into the boom bap sound to begin the 2nd half of the EP asking to be protected by his enemies & his friends while “The League” hooks up a humming loop, horns, snares & kicks to talk about never interfering when it’s his turn ever on any circumstances comparing his readiness to that of UFC Hall of Famer, former Middleweight Champion & former 2-time Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. “The Remembrance” is mostly drumless even though there are few drum that pop up in the mix occasionally as he magnifies his riches & “Crème Dela Crème” closes out the EP glamorously talking about being the best of them all at the end of the day.

Of the 3 EPs that Fahim’s given us this month, Rhyme Pays is my favorite & Tha Knocking of Loose is right behind it. If you can tell by the title paying homage to the full length debut from West Coast gangsta rap pioneer Ice-T, tha 50 tape legend himself steps his pen-game in comparison to the 2 predecessors with Mike Shabb’s production style teetering between drumless along with chipmunk soul & boom bap. Very exciting to see what May brings us from the Dump Gawd.

Score: 4.5/5

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Billy Atlas – Self-Titled review

Billy Atlas is an MC/producer duo from San Diego, California consisting of Billy NoJokes on the mic & Admiral Atlas behind the boards respectively. Neither of whom have worked with each other in the past surprisingly considering the fact that they’re both from the same neck of the woods, but come to the realization that now is the time for them to form like Voltron & put out an eponymous debut EP to coincide with the celebration of Billy’s born day.

The titular intro kicks off the album with a grungy boom bap instrumental keeping the vibrations high for 78 seconds whereas “Nada Ain’t It” takes a more sample based approach with some kicks & snares attached to it talking about those who actually think they got it on the mic. “Soul Sweat” makes it known that this music shit gets him high with a more lo-fi vibe to it leading into “Premium Petro” working in some organs to compare his rhymes to high quality crack.

Johnny Hoax slides through on “Cook It More” I’d a flute/boom bap crossover talking about not having a chance to fail because they’re masterminds just before “It’s a Dub” with RMthePoet displays a back & forth chemistry that actually isn’t too bad over the dustiest of beats imaginable. “In the Nude” throws a little bit of distortion into the mix calling this the anthem while the song “Belligerent” incorporates more woodwinds to get hostile.

The penultimate track “God’s Chair” has more morbid quality to the beat making it known he’s in the upper echelon while the official closer to the album “Nothingless” weaves in some more sample chops cautioning to watch out exactly who you spend your energy on. “140” by Masamoon however is a perfect bonus cut preluding their upcoming debut album with a cutthroat ballad addressing those who’ve praised for death in the past 100 seconds.

NoJokes been putting it down for the past decade with 2 full-lengths & an EP on the solo tip, but I think we’ve only been seeing the real beginning of his growth ever since the formation of Masamoon & this self-titled offering from Billy Atlas is a short yet worthy way for the west coast duo to introduce themselves. The admiral’s lo-fi, dirty production matched with lyricism that knows no bounds is certainly more than enough to satisfy any underground head.

Score: 4/5

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