Curtis Foster – “Slasher’s Delight II” review

This is the 3rd EP from Chicago, Illinois emcee Curtis Foster. Coming up in the fall of 2020 off his last 2 EPs Innertia & Slasher’s Delight respectively, he has since spent the last 2 years giving us singles such as “Ambition” & “Bad Memories”. But with the 2 year anniversary of Slasher’s Delight passing by this weekend, Curtis is choosing to celebrate in the form of a sequel considering that we’re in the Halloween season currently.

“Nightrover” is a blaring yet grueling trap opener with Curtis talking about being at the hands of such whereas “Vintage Horror” dives into boom bap territory with Novatore assisting him in vivid spitting the wicked shit. After the Phone Call” skit, we have Orlando Coolridge coming into the picture with Curtis & Novatore for an atmospheric yet rattling trap sequel to “Slashers” off the predecessor while the penultimate track “Ghosts in the Graveyard” returns to the boom bap bringing you the hardcore. And to finish off the EP, the Seuss Mace-assisted “Witching Hour” comes through with an occult trap banger talking about putting spells on his competition.

If you loved the boom bap/trap sounds & horror-themed lyricism that made the original Slasher’s Delight my favorite body of work of his to date, then you’re gonna like the sequel almost as much. In comparison to the predecessor, the sounds that it brought to the table are being refined & the pen-game’s nearly as gruesome.

Score: 3.5/5

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Donnie Darko – “Life Lessons” review

Donnie Darko is an MC from New Jersey notable for extensively collaborating with New York producer, DJ & occasional Black Sunday partner-in-rhyme Sutter Kain since the beginning of his career. The ghetto metal pioneer himself has laced pretty much everything that Donnie has ever done from The Darko Effect to Another Day at the Office. But with the latter being released this past spring & fall kicking off last month, Donnie’s ringing in October by linking back up with DJ Bless for his 6th EP.

Things kick off with the 6th installment of the “Block Game” series hopping on top of a soulful instrumental to talk about coming from the project lights whereas “Charles S. Dutton” has a more crooning boom bap flare to it spitting that hardcore shit. “Dark Dayz Rainy Nights” takes a more funereal route detailing how clout’s a Hell of a drug prior to Naymez coming into the picture for “Late Night” which samples Sade if I’m not mistaken belittling motherfuckers. The song “Desperate Measures” diving into trap turf talking about being built to win & then the title track with King Brian ends the EP with a touching ballad about being determined to win.

Although I enjoyed Another Day in the Office when it came out earlier this year, Life Lessons has gotta be my personal favorite of the 2 EPs that Donnie gave us this year. The lyrics are some of the most introspective/personal stuff that he’s has laid onto wax yet as his longtime collaborator Sutter Kain sticks to his signature ghetto metal sound behind the boards.

Score: 3.5/5

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Nvy Jonez LKR – “A.L.T.D. (Angels Loyal to Demons)” review

This is the 3rd EP from Brooklyn emcee Nvy Jonez LKR. Coming up in the summer of 2019 off an eponymous debut EP, he would go on to expand his profile in the underground within the last few years by follow it up in the form of Black Popeye & even a tetralogy of collab EPs with D-Rell called the Chicken Spot series, coming fresh off the latest installment 6 Piece earlier this past summer. But for A.L.T.D. (Angels Loyal to Demons) over here, Nvy’s enlisting Accosta the Man to produce the entire thing from start to finish.

“Blakk Magikk” is a vibraphone-laced boom bap opener with Nvy talking about wanting all the static whereas “Greed & Love” follows it up with some twinkling keys & dusty kicks letting y’all know who you’re fucking with accompanied by a sung AHVE verse during the 2nd half. “Enemy” with JahVybez & King Moe finds the trio over a trap instrumental asking if you see the villain when looking into their eyes while D-Rell & Rodey Cali’s Remedy tag along for the 3rd installment of the “Street Politics” series returning to the boom bap with some gangsta bars.

The penultimate track “Drugz” brings it back to the trap for the first half prior to the beat switch during the 2nd talking about coming in hot just before “Violence” finishes the EP off by enlisting Negash Ali & Showrocka to assist in him on top of a boom bap instrumental basically summing up the whole theme of the EP by praying & scheming at the same time.

I still stand on 6 Piece being the best Chicken Spot installment yet, so it had me intrigued about where Nvy would take it on a future solo project. Now that we got a 3rd EP from him, I think the fans will dig it ahead of his opening set for Conway the Machine next month. The boom bap/trap production that Accosta delivers is his strongest to date & Nvy lyrically continuing to step up.

Score: 3.5/5

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Pasto Flocco – “#TWLG” review

This is the 6th EP from Queens rapper Pasto Flocco. Coming up as an associate of Lil Tecca, he’s seen quite the success off his own once branching out on his own by dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the Surf Gang collective. Pasto rang in 2022 by dropping sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) under his newly founded Ghetto Luxury Entertainment & continued to build upon the sample drill sound on March Madness 2 in the spring & then Walking Glitch over the summer, so it was only a matter of time until he celebrated fall in the form of #TWLG only a day after his 19th birthday.

The intro is 2-minute kickoff to the EP with a futuristic instrumental admitting being in a certain mode as of late whereas “Off da Porch 2 takes a triumphant route picking up where the loosie “Off da Porch” left off as far as content goes. “mhm mhm” embraces a sample drill sound thanks to J6 talking about how that’s the exact noise he be making when a fuckboy tries to run his mouth to him prior to the airy yet booming “Joy Ride” letting y’all know he ain’t giving no 1s.

Meanwhile on “My Fault”, we have Pasto diving into cloudier turf so he can get unbottle his feelings towards a recent breakup while the song “Can’t Stop Now” brings a hazier vibe provided by Harrison talking about his refusal to quit. The penultimate track “Believe It” to things end with a remarkable sample drill-laced sequel to song that got Pasto where he is today: “Shawn M!”.

We’ve gotten a total of 4 projects from Pasto throughout the year & The Way Lyfe Goes has to be my personal favorite one of them all. Primarily because of the the fact that he throws it back to some of his older styles & mixes it with the sample drill sound that he fully embraced on the last EP he put out only a couple months back.

Score: 4/5

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Pacewon – “Good Dope Sells Itself” review

Pacewon is a 48 year old MC from Newark, New Jersey who came up with Young Z as one of the 2 founding members of the now defunct Outsidaz collective that once included the likes of Rah Digga & Eminem. He would also go on to drop 4 solo albums & 3 EPs, with the last one being the Daniel El Campeon-produced Invincibles nearly a little over a year & a half ago this point. But to coincide with what would’ve been the 49th birthday of the late D12 de facto leader Proof, Pace is enlisting Detroit veteran DJ Butter behind the boards for the majority of his 4th EP.

“First Impression, Last Impression” is a jazzy boom bap opener produced by DJ Butter with Pace referring himself as the one you wanna rap like prior to Bizarre & B-Boy Reg tagging along for the futuristic “Holdin’ It Down” promising that they ain’t going nowhere. “The DJ (Tribute)” dives into trap territory giving his flowers to all the DJs that our culture has seen, but then 4-Ize comes into the picture for the dusty “Watch It Smoke” to spit some charismatic battle bars.

Meanwhile on “Adventures of…”, we have Pace going into a moodier direction thanks to DJ Dez getting on the more romantic side of things while the final song “Get Blunted” with Davey Diggla a.k.a. DJ King David finds the 2 talking about weed of course over a funky trap beat. The penultimate track “Grow House (Outhouse) is a more instrumental cut with a little bit of an electronic dance groove to it & the outro “Chattin’ with Young Z” sends off the EP with a 10-minute phone call that Pace had with Z when he was still locked up at the time.

Now for those’ve you who enjoyed Won along with The Only Color That Matters is Green & The Only Number That Matters is Won as much as I do, then you’re gonna wanna give Good Dope Sells Itself a listen because it’s one of Pace’s best efforts to date. He can still very much rap his ass off at this point of his career as proven on his last EPs & further proves that here, but the production that DJ Butter brings to the table with the help of DJ King David & DJ Dez is more consistent in my opinion.

Score: 4/5

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Rafa – Self-Titled review

This is the eponymous 2nd EP from Detroit rapper Rafa. Coming up as a member of the WRLD Tour Mafia a couple years ago, he would also begin a solo career of his own starting on Thanksgiving 2020 with his debut EP Not for Household Use & followed it up earlier this year in the form his full-length debut Dog$hit & Ammunition. But with the Mafia coming fresh off Tourmania a couple weeks back, Rafa continuing to apply pressure by dropping a self-titled effort.

“Tighten Up” is an acoustic/trap opener produced by Carlo Anthony with Rafa talking about how that’s exactly what he had to do before going out & getting it whereas “Cat n da Hat” takes a more rawer route with it’s deathly instrumental & the lyrics essentially shit-talking. “Hoe Need Jesus” has a more wavier vibe to the beat talking about getting fly for no reason, but then “Last Dump” works in some foreboding piano chords & hi-hats addressing that they don’t wanna see him winning.

Continuing from there with “Touch the Sky”, we have Rafa over some more mellow production exposing a rat & telling a hoe to get the fuck out his messages prior to “Prophet” returning to the Detroit trap sound declaring himself as such. “Wrldtour17” has a little bit of a West Coast flare to the instrumental confessing that he thinks God’s blessing him for his mother & he doesn’t deserve it because of how wild he can be just before “LIL Stro” almost gives off a cloudier tone to the beat opening up about this rap shit taking him to new heights.

“King Tut” switches up to a peppier sound admitting that he feels like the titular Egyptian pharaoh leading into the horn-laced “Dover Street” delivering some braggadocio. The song “Lean” laces some synths in responding to those asking what’s in his system while the penultimate track “Welcome to My Wrld” gets more personal lyrically with a drowsy trap instrumental. “Pushin’ On” though serves as a soulful closer to the tape talking about continuing to move forward.

Now for those’ve you who recently got put onto WRLD Tour off Tourmania & are looking to get into Rafa’s solo stuff, you’re gonna wanna check out self-titled because I happen to like it more than both Not for Household Use and Dog$hit & Ammunition even though that’s not to say either of them are bad whatsoever. Even though it almost feels like an EP running only at 25 & a half minutes, I can’t deny that it’s well produced & that Rafa’s performances & songwriting are both at their strongest.

Score: 4.5/5

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King Iso – “8 P.M. Med Call” review

King Iso is a 32 year old MC/producer form Omaha, Nebraska who up as a protege of San Diego chopper Twisted Insane. But he would only drop first 2 full-lengths The Insanity Plea & Autophobia under Brainsick Muzik, falling out with his former mentor & putting out his next album DeMenTia independently in 2018. However, I was thrilled to see him sign with Strange Music the following spring & his debut on the Kansas City powerhouse World War Me that came out when the COVID-19 pandemic started quickly become one of the label’s best albums ever. He just dropped Get Well Soon earlier this year & I happened to like almost as much as World War Me. So when Iso took to social media saying he recorded so much music for his last effort that he’s giving us the leftovers in the form of his debut EP, it intrigued me enough to check it out.

Tech N9ne & X-Raided tag along for the trap opener “R.A.P. (Really A Psycho)” talking about that’s exactly what they are whereas “Happy” works in some somber keys to wonder if he’ll ever find happiness again. “N.A.A. (Not At All)” returns to trap turf calling out someone for not listening to him, but then Taebo tha Truth comes into the picture for “F.W.T.T. (Fuck What They Think)” shoots for a moodier aesthetic down to the finger-snaps & hi-hats talking about not caring of what others say of them.

“I.M.H. (In My Head)” brings in the acoustic to let y’all know where he spends way too much of his time while the song “Speedy Recovery” is a twangy trap banger admitting that his road to recovery isn’t happening fast enough. The penultimate track “Touch the Sky” has a more glistening quality to the beat giving the world a letter from the other side & “Otherwise” ends the EP by chillingly confessing his hopes.

For a bunch of outtakes, I think nearly all of them would’ve fit right it on Get Well Soon somewhere in the track listing as a little long as that album already is. His production is on par with that & World War Me with Iso’s themes of mental health will definitely continue to resonate with a lot of people who’re not alone & are also in a dark point of their lives.

Score: 4/5

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Smokingskul – “Nat Cap” review

Smokingskul is a 20 year old Swedish-American rapper from Naples, Florida who first came up in the spring of 2018 off his debut EP Souls. He has since gone on to follow it up with 25 more EPs in that short amount of time, but it wasn’t until earlier this week where my little brother & UnreleasedSnip founder Jacob! played some of his shit for me during a smoke session. Namely the singles “Assembly Line” & “Vlone”. I was so impressed by the witty lyricism throughout both of those cuts, that it intrigued me enough to check out his 26th EP right here following his born day on Tuesday & landing a deal with Geffen Records.

“PSA” is an eerie trap opener sending a message to the TSA whereas “Nina” that MexikoDro & Trgc laced takes a pluggier turn talking about guns. XanMan’s verse on “If U Was Me” is a bit underwhelming if I’m being honestly as much as I like the quirky synths & the line during Skul’s verse where he says “You Justin Bieber with that baby Glock when you up that, you Ludacris” leading into the experimental “Jenga” produced by TDF calling himself “a main-eventer” & referencing WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Continuing from there with “Who is U?”, we have Skul calling out those who ain’t slime over a glossy trap instrumental just before “Hi tech” working in a whistling beat & a reference to 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena. “Valid” has a glitchier quality to the production as Lunchbox comes into the picture to ponder what they be on their dicks for, but then “Kong Kong” has a more rubbery yet psychedelic vibe to it talking about doing it all himself.

The bassy “Blick” of course boasts that he has a Draco on him while the penultimate track “Who I Am” shoots for a more hypnotic aesthetic talking about running up on motherfuckers that ain’t do shit & to your spot. “Good Lad” however managed to send off the EP on a pluggier note with Skul explaining how you would’ve passed off to him if you were from the UK including a bar about former 3-time WWE world champion, 5-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, 3-time TNA World Champion, ΩCW Heavyweight Champion, 9-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion, HOG Tag Team Champion, 2-time ΩCW Tag Team Champion, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion & The Crash Mundial Parejas Campeon Jeff Hardy at the end of his verse is insane!

I seriously gotta shout out my lil brody for putting me onto to this dude because I think he really is someone to keep an eye on in the plugg scene right now. Both of the features didn’t really do anything for me with no disrespect intended whatsoever, but Skul’s witty gangsta rap heavy lyricism & crazed flows throughout this EP are both huge selling points for me to want to go back to it.

Score: 3.5/5

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Darby O’Trill – “Amputate” review

This is the 5th EP from Floridian emcee Darby O’Trill. Coming up in the fall of 2018 off his full-length debut Blood, Guts & a Whole Lotta Love, he would go on to follow it with Fester almost a year later & has extensively been working with Chapter 17/Psychopathic Records in-house producer Devereaux by bringing him into the cut to fully produce his 3rd album Piecemeal to critical acclaim during the COVID-19 pandemic. His last full-length Gully came out this past spring under Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & instantly became a modern day wicked shit classic so when it was announced that Darby & Dev were giving us Amputate as a prelude to The Tomb on Halloween, the anticipation was most certainly there.

“Carcass in the Car Wash” kicks off the whole EP with a synth-laced trap beat taking aim at all the knock-offs while the penultimate track “Take a Shower & Clean Your Clothes, You Smell Like Complete Garbage” has a more haunting atmosphere to it talking about drinking bleach. “I Hate Rappers Who Only Rap About Rapping” though sends Amputate off with an operatic loop, some hi-hats & Darby describing the sick world that we all be living in.

You know for a 3 track/5 minute EP, I think it’ll hold off just fine until we enter The Tomb a little over a month from now. Devereaux’s production continues to elevate, Darby lyrically continues to push himself as one of the best newcomers in the underground right now & the Jugg-A-Holics tags throughout are a fresh homage to DJ Trap-A-Holics.

Score: 3.5/5

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Cam’ron – “U Wasn’t There” review

Cam’ron is a 46 year old rapper, record executive & actor from Harlem, New York who came up in the mid-late 90’s as a member of the Children of the Corn. He eventually signed to Epic Records as a solo artist, dropping his first 2 full-lengths Confessions of Fire & S.D.E. (Sports, Drugs & Entertainment) with them until the contract expired. However Cam’s biggest exposure would come by forming his own group The Diplomats as a well as signing to Roc-A-Fella Records & Def Jam Recordings in 2001. His next 2 efforts Come Home with Me & Purple Haze would become his most sought out bodies of work, but Cam would leave The Roc & sign to Asylum Records in ‘05 due to the poor promotion of Purple Haze. Cam would yet again drop 2 outings with Asylum before parting ways, Killa Season & Crime Pays. He has since dropped a couple mixtapes & originally planned on retiring from making music following Purple Haze 2 a few Christmases back, Killa has had a change of heart & is bringing in Fool’s Gold Records founder A-Trak to produce his 7th EP.

Things kick off with a superior remix to “This is My City” off Cam’s last album featuring co-production from Thelonius Martin whereas “All I Really Wanted” works in some lavish keyboard embellishments & chipmunk soul with G Koop’s assistance talking about all the things he desires most in life. Conway the Machine tags along for the horn-laced “Ghetto Prophets laced with the help of DJ Khalil wittingly declaring themselves to be such, but then “Dipset Acrylics” weaves some reggae influences into the fold down to the Mr. Vegas feature awkwardly talking about sex.

After the spoken word Dame Dash skit with Kenny Beats supplying the synths, “Cheers” comes through with a colorful celebratory anthem just before Jim Jones & Styles P come into the picture for the tropical trap banger “Think Boy” demanding to know how others really feels bout them. The penultimate track “What You Do” is a jazzy ode to Killa’s accomplishments that !llmind helped put together & “Dipshits” ends the EP with a throwback to the Dipset era from the Juelz Santana appearance to Just Blaze having his hand with the beat.

For a little 27 minute EP, I can honestly say that U Wasn’t There is the most I’ve enjoyed a Cam project in a minute & will go down as a high point on his catalog in due time. A-Trak’s production happens to be admirably more eclectic than Purple Haze 2 was with Killa Cam sounding like he has a fire under his ass lyrically.

Score: 4/5

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