Swizz Beatz – “Hip Hop 50, Vol. 2” review

This is the debut EP from New York producer, “rapper”, DJ, songwriter, record executive & hype man Swizz Beatz. Emerging already a quarter of a century ago as the in-house producer for Ruff Ryders Entertainment, he later started his now defunct Full Surface Records in 2001 & dropped a decent compilation called G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories the following year on my 6th birthday. It wouldn’t be until 2007 however that he would try to officially go solo with 1 Man Band Man, a solidly produced album that was unfortunately weighed down by the lack of features & of course Swizz’ horrendous rapping on every song. He eventually took a backseat from the mic on the sophomore effort Poison over a decade later & is doing so on the Mass Appeal Records-backed Hip Hop 50, Vol. 2 following up the Hip Hop 50 EP that DJ Premier dropped through Nas’ indie label last summer.

“Runaway” by Nas starts off the whole thing with a soul sample & admitting that he’s still trapped in a box tryna clear his name whereas “This Shit Right Here” by Lil Wayne has a more celebratory vibe as Weezy F drops some fly braggadocio. “Take ‘Em Out” by Benny the Butcher, Jadakiss & ScarLip goes into boom bap turf making it clear that it’s all about the calls prior to “City Sound Like” by Fivio Foreign & Bandmanrill dives into synth territory paying homage to the Brooklyn drill scene with Fivio stealing the show. “Say Less” by A Boogie wit da Hoodie & Lil Durk finds the pair talking about they ain’t squashing shit over a cinematic trap instrumental, but then “Khalas” by Jay Electronica finishes the album with a drumless loop telling y’all about himself.

The previous Hip Hop 50 EP that Mass Appeal dropped last summer is still my favorite of the 2 that we’ve gotten so far, but I’d still say that the new installment here is worth checking out if you liked Poison as much as I did. Even though a couple of the guests punched under their weight with their performances, most of them manage to hit the mark as they rock it over Swizz’ signature production style. Curious to hear as to who’s producing the next installment of this series celebrating this culture we all know & love.

Score: 3.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Ty Fontaine – “Black Truck Life” review

Ty Fontaine is a 23 year old recording artist from the DMV area who broke out in 2019 off the strength of his debut EP Waiting on Ascension. He would go on to follow this up with the full-length debut We Ain’t the Same alongside a couple of mixtapes & 3 more EPs, the previous being The Revive which was a prelude to his Internet Money-backed debut mixtape Ascension. But as Ty gears up for a sequel to the latter, he’s returning with a 5th EP.

“DSO (4AM in the Black Truck)” starts it all off by Ty speaking on finding his purpose on top of a cloudy trap instrumental whereas “The Sky is Falling” with TTM Dawg finds the pair talking about the type of freaks they like over a moody backdrop with some hi-hats interpolating the Jay Sean/Lil Wayne song “Down” during the hook. “Sexc Lady” comes through with a more sample-based trap vibe describing just how sexy the woman in his life is, but then “Spread (on da Counter)” is an atmospheric/acoustic hybrid with some braggadocio-infused lyricism.

Moving on from there with “Lobstermac”, we have Ty talking about eating exactly that for dinner accompanied by another cloudy trap beat leading into the brief yet delicately produced “heartbreak hotel” telling his girl to fly with him even though she’s sober now. “Where I’d B” featuring Highway happens to be a favorite of mine off the EP from the vibrant instrumental to the lyrics about being lost without their lovers, but then “B.S.T. (BloodSweatTears)” is a 2-minute piano trap ballad explaining that it’s do it for as well as giving praise to the most high.

The song “City of Angels (Vinny Chase)” flips “Whole Lotta Something Goin’ On” by Raphael Ravenscroft referring to Los Angeles as his 2nd home which I can relate to personally while “The Come Down” returns to an airier, more melodic vibe pointing out the fact that it could be worse. “Keep It In Confidence” however ties things up here by hooking up hi-hats on top of a high-pitched sample by taking everything he was told & putting his trust into them.

Ascension still stands as my personal favorite body of work throughout Ty’s discography thus far & this prelude EP over here has me intrigued to hear what direction the sequel will take it when we get it presumably later on in the year. He does a fine job displaying his versatility whether it be poppy trap bangers or contemporary/alternative R&B ballads as L.3.G.I.O.N. helping him continue to expand his sound on the production end.

Score: 3.5/5

redveil – “playing w/ fire” review

This is the 3rd EP from Maryland emcee & producer redveil. Emerging up at the tail-end of 2019 off his debut EP Bittersweet Cry, I wouldn’t get introduced to his music until 8 months after when a short-lived Twitter beef between him & the internet’s busiest music nerd himself Anthony Fantano broke out merely days after dropping his following EP Niagara. He then celebrated his 18th birthday last year in the form of his debut mixtape learn 2 swim & is returning by dropping playing w/ fire in the midst of the most recent tour that he’s currently on promoting it.

“stuck” is a triumphantly drumless way to kick the whole thing off talking about running it back whereas “giftbag” experiments fusing pop rap with jazz rap & chipmunk soul telling motherfuckers to get off his dick as well as how they be hoes by switching up on you. JPEGMAFIA slides through for the politically charged “black enuff” fusing trap metal with highlife & industrial music just before “f2g (fucks 2 give)” with Mekdelawit has a bit of an EDM groove to it talking about running out of exactly just that. “captain” makes it clear that it be known who’s frontin’ & that redveil is the man in charge over a soulful trap beat until the title track ends it all by blending synths, pianos & hi-hats declaring it to be done on everyone/everything he loves.

For those’ve you who started tuning into this guy off. His remarkable guest verse on Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA’s latest collab effort Scaring the Hoes, then I’d tell you off the bat that this & learn 2 swim are the strongest offerings in his catalogue thus far. The production is a bit more experimental this time around in comparison to his older stuff & the performances are incredibly captivating.

Score: 4/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Fulcrum – “All at Once” review

Fulcrum is a 24 year old rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & YouTuber from Walnut Creek, California emerging off the strength of his debut single “Fucking Nothing”. He then began to turn heads in the fall of 2021 off the banger “My Way Out” & his YouTube momentum taking off this past fall by getting faded than hoe all over public places on Yodie Land spreading positivity to the yodie gang. But to celebrate his born day, he’s giving the yodie gang his 4th EP following up Identity as well as abundance & self-titled.

“Fly Around” sets off the EP with a plugg instrumental from none other than Goyxrd telling y’all he is nowhere to be found in your area whereas “Further” takes the mellow trap route talking about how he keeps it pushing. “Japanese” has a more happier tone to the instrumental describing a woman in his life that he considers to be unforgettable just before “Back Then” calls out those who didn’t want to fuck with them until he blew up over another pluggy beat.

Moving on to the self-produced Fed Hoe”, we have Fulcrum asking why his girl lied to him by his side over some keyboards & hi-hats leading into the title track talking about smoking a whole pack of good kush at once over some more plugg instrumentals. “Driving to the Moon” has a more cloudier vibe as he continues to run it up, but then “Faded than a Hoe” comes through with a more delicate sound delivering an anthem based on one of his catchphrases. The penultimate track “Someone 2 Luv” returns to a pluggier aesthetic tackling romance until the closer “Lovely” ends it all with some hi-hats & pianos talking about feeling lucky.

Even though I enjoy this dude’s videos & some of his songs, one of my biggest critiques in the past was that you can blatantly hear a huge Pi’erre Bourne influence on some of his early material & it was a little distracting at times. However, I think Fulcrum shakes that off with All at Once because this is quickly becoming my favorite EP of his yet. It’s interesting to hear him take a backseat on the production side of things & stepping up his songwriting, thus coming into his own. Need I say more?

Score: 3.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Pi’erre Bourne – “Grails” review

Pi’erre Bourne is a 29 year old producer, rapper, songwriter & engineer from South Carolina who became one of the most in demand beatsmiths in hip hop today off amongst the biggest songs in Playboi Carti’s entire catalog “Magnolia”. He’s also made a name for himself on the mic by dropping 10 mixtapes as well as a couple EPs & 3 full-lengths albums, with the latest being Good Movie over last summer to mixed reception. However, Pi’erre’s looking to switch things up with his 3rd EP over here by officially releasing his biggest, most popular unreleased songs that were stashed in the vault.

“IG” sets the tone for what’s to come with it’s synthesizers & hi-hats as well as the lyrics addressing running into social media models at an Odell party whereas “Love Reeks” has a more playfully nocturnal vibe to it talking about how the grass is much greener after cutting hoes off. “Chicken & Waffles” for a TLoP4 leftover might be my favorite on the EP with it’s cloudy, bassy instrumental & the braggadocio throughout prior to “George Lopez” pulling together some synth-strings talking about feeling like Biggie with the more problems that arise when having more paper.

The final leg of the EP starts off with the cloudy “NY in June” telling his lover to simply follow him while the song “Tabloid” talks about a bitch that’s all up in him kin to the titular newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet accompanied by a psychedelic trap beat. The penultimate track is [a sequel] to “Honeyberry” with an instrumental that gives me 8-bit video game vibes discussing an ancient love & the wavy “Lessons” ends the EP talking about fucking bad hoes for practice.

I know some people like to dismiss Pi’erre as an MC as distinct of a producer he is but as someone who’s been following him for the past 6 years, Grails is easily the best EP he’s ever put out for a collection of previously unreleased leaks in contrast to the mediocrity of Good Movie & will keep everyone satisfied until Made in Paris drops. His improved songwriting is more catchier as opposed to the excessive horny subject matter throughout the previous album that gets annoying rather quickly & his production game remains unmatched.

Score: 4/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Mike Shabb – “Shadow Moses” review

This is the 5th EP from Montréal, Québec, Canada emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb. Coming up in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 4 EPs & a couple of mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery & producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X this past fall. So to continue capitalizing off that, Mike’s bringing in his mentor & one of the most prolific beatsmiths that the underground has seen in recent memory Nicholas Craven to fully produce Shadow Moses from top to bottom.

“Smokin’ Samson” is an atmospherically drumless opener with Shabbo letting y’all know that he only smokes only the finest kush in the world whereas “All Greatness” takes a more soulful route to flex his lyrical prowess. “Play for Keeps” goes into a groovier direction advising to look around & tell him what you see while the song “Save the Joker” incorporates some crooning background vocals making it clear that not even God can save you. The penultimate track “Baskiat” has more delicate sound to it talking about how the repercussions will be felt & learning from his mistakes just before “Respectfully” comes through with a jazzy closer boasting that no one can do it the way he does it.

From the moment Craven himself introduced me to this guy by networking us through social media, I knew it was only a matter of time before his profile in the underground would grow & I highly recommend that the people who got introduced to Mike through “Switches on Everything” give Shadow Moses a listen because it’s my favorite solo effort of his to date. He really is at his best as an MC which should satisfy the new fans he’s already made & those he’ll continue bring in with his mentor also helping make it his most well-produced effort as well.

Score: 4.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

halfBREED – “3P” review

halfBREED is an east coast hip hop duo consisting of Virginia rapper C Dot Castro as well as Maryland rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, author & Twitch streamer Logic. These guys have been longtime collaborators & friends dating back to the Young Sinatra days, but reunited last summer on Vinyl Days & even a couple months ago on Bobby’s latest album College Park. So considering their decade plus history of working with one another, they’re now announcing the formation of halfBREED & releasing a 3-track debut EP.

“Vroom Vroom” sets it all off with a booming trap instrumental from Bobby Boy Records in-house producer 6 & Logic even giving own producer tag at the beginning even though it’s a blatant ripoff of Tay Keith’s as the duo warn any crew who wants to step up to them of their impending doom whereas “That’s What She Said” is a horrid indie pop ballad throwing it back to Supermarket about being fools for love. “Game 6” however closes the EP with a decent boom bap jam getting over the sickness like they MJ & Pippen.

The first thing that came to mind to me personally when C Dot & Logic announced the formation of halfBREED was actually the now-disbanded Detroit duo HaLFBrEED consisting of The R.O.C. & Skrapz since their 2nd & final album kontamiNATION is such a horrorcore classic, but what a mediocre debut EP from the new halfBREED here. The production is ok as is Bobby Boy’s performances for the most part, but C Dot Castro’s were pretty average.

Score: 2.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Slump6s – “Forgive Never Forget” review

Slump6s is a 19 year old recording artist from Rochester, New York who broke out right when the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic started off the strength of his debut EP Naveah. He has since gone on to follow it up with 7 more EPs, a collab EP with tana who just dropped his major label debut GAULTIER through Lil Tecca’s very own Republic Records imprint Galactic Records a couple months ago & even the full-length debut Genesis last summer. But coming off the 3-piece Dog Pack, slump starting off the 2nd quarter of the year the way he started it: with a new EP & his 9th one overall.

“Show Me Luv” is an ethereal trap opener produced by CXO about how he does this for all the people he knows in his life who couldn’t be here standing with him whereas “Ruthless” works in a futuristic backdrop & some hi-hats talking about being focused on getting this money. “Fashion” shifts gears with the rage beats making it clear that he’s back in his motherfuckin’ bag again prior to “Commas” returning for a more psychedelic trap to rock all black like he’s DONDA referencing Ye or formerly known as Kanye West & the EP artwork itself. The penultimate track “S.D.M.N.S. (Shit Don’t Make No Sense)” returns to hypertrap turf with the title saying it all & “Walked” featuring Maajins ends the EP with both of them over some hi-hats & an intoxicating loop talking about being on route.

As the rage subgenre of trap music continues to expand from Playboi Carti helping start it all by dropping the album that started it all with 2020 Christmas Day sophomore album Whole Lotta Red to the rise of artists like Yeat, Summrs, the Homixide Gang, Ken Carson & KanKan to only name a small handful, I think Slump6s has definitely grown as an artist tremendously since he stated 3 years ago today & that not only proves what he said in late February that this is some of his best work, but intrigues me to hear if this is only the beginning of that.

Score: 3.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Supah Sayin – “Neo-Lizard King” review

Supah Sayin is a 25 year old MC from Fort Worth, Texas who began to make his presence known over the fall after signing to Broken Record Music Club as well as dropping his debut EP Oblivion // Elysium & then going on to follow it up with Tatarus on Christmas Eve a little over 3 months later. But with the 2nd quarter of 2023 already kicking off at the beginning of the month, the Dallas up-&-comer is back on the spot with his 3rd EP at 7 joints running 19 & a half minutes long fresh off 2 singles that were teased a couple months back.

“Fear & Loathing” has a dramatically bare loop as he makes it clear that nobody can stop him prior to the grungy trap hybrid “Encanto” asking his lover if she has his back. “ParselTongue” jumps on top of some hi-hats to talk about how he been at the bottom in the past leading into the briefly woozy trap ballad “Spirit Bomb” declaring himself to be a bad ass & having shit that can only be learned. The song “Double Dutch” discusses trying to keep it cool even though he wants to move on over a distressing instrumental while the penultimate track “1:12am in Tejas” has a more melodic, synth-based sound to it talking about the type of guy he is. “Afterglow” on the other hand finishes the EP with a chill ballad saying he ain’t even gotta flex.

It feels more like an EP rather than an official full-length debut & I’ll even admit that Neo-Lizard King happens to be my introduction to Supah Sayin’s music, but the results that we got out of it will definitely start to turn more heads because what we have is his most well-crafted effort to date. The production tastefully fuses hip hop with psychedelic rock with the Dallas emcee proposing imagery on the level of the great Jim Morrison himself providing audio enlightenment on the world we live in & the path to self-acceptance.

Score: 3.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Lex the Hex Master – “Cathedral of Chaos” review

This is the 5th EP from Queens emcee Lex the Hex Master. Breaking out in 2015 with his independent debut album Born in Hell, the demented Detroit hip hop duo Twiztid would go on to sign him to their label Majik Ninja Entertainment shortly after & he has put out a plethora of releases since. This includes The Black Season, Contact, the Mr. Ugly duology, Beyond Redemption, Shadow King, Strictly 4 My N.I.N.J.A.S., Party Castle, Haunted Mansion & Palace of Illusions. But after taking a year off, Lex is finishing the series that began with Party Castle & ending it in the form of Cathedral of Chaos.

“Hallelujah” opens things up with an eerie trap banger warning that it’s a wrap for these bitches now that Lex is back on the scene whereas “Money Back” has a more explosively aggressive atmosphere to it as he talks about the paper. “The Gang” has a more uncanny tone to the instrumental as dude reps his homies leading into Danny Diablo, Jake Palumbo & Madopelli Music coming into the picture for a rap metal/boom bap crossover to leave motherfuckers scared shitless in the terrordome. And prior to the titular outro, the final song “Bongs & Bonfires” ties up the EP with a peppy, tropical ballad about turning the night up.

So after almost 3 years this summer, the tetralogy of EPs from one of the most underrated/underappreciated MCs on the whole entire MNE roster finally comes to an end & it has me anticipating on whatever it is he that he plan on doing next whether it be a full-length or another EP or even another mixtape for that matter. Of the 4 installments, the production on the concluding chapter is predominantly more darker & the cutthroat Queens lyricist comes through sounding recharged on the mic.

Score: 4/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!