Ransom – “This Life Made Me” review

This is the 8th EP from Jersey City wordsmith Ransom. Coming up as 1/2 of the short-lived duo A-Team alongside Hitchcock, he branched out on his own in 2008 following their disbandment beginning with his 2008 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 & his last EP 7 based around the 7 deadly sins, Heavy’s the Head produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Rome Streetz collab album Coup de Grâce & more recently his latest album No Rest for the Wicked earlier this spring. But now that fall’s here, Ransom’s enlisting Mayor & Ty Jamz to produce This Life Made Me top to bottom.

“Pain is Glory” is an organ-laced opener declaring himself to be the modern day Michelangelo whereas “Ignorance” works in a boom bap instrumental to talk about talking about being a businessman. “The Prophecy” takes a more triumphant route bragging that he’s the greatest while 38 Spesh tags along for the soulful “Last Gasp” confessing that they wanna see the best sides of them. “The World is Yours” has some cool rock undertones to the beat talking about swerving the law, but then Havoc comes into the picture to bring back the organs for the closer “Purge Night” belittling their opposition.

Ran went on social media last night calling this EP “a warm up for what’s about to come” & whatever that may be, I’m very excited to hear it because this dude is one of the most consistent MCs in all of hip hop today. Not only does he manage to explain how he the life he loved made him, but Mayor & Ty Jamz also manage to cook up some very eclectic production together pulling from boom bap to soul & even rock.

Score: 4/5

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Boondox – “So Much Blood” review

This is the 6th EP from Covington, Georgia emcee Boondox. Coming up as 1/3 of the trio Southern Hustlas Inc. under the moniker Turncoat Dirty, he would go on to sign with Psychopathic Records in 2005 following the release of his debut EP Dama Blanca & remained under the Insane Clown Posse’s wing for about a decade putting out his first 4 albums along with his 2nd EP PunkinHed through the infamous Detroit label that runs beneath the streets. Former label-mates Twiztid then brought the Killer Scarecrow on board over at Majik Ninja Entertainment in the winter of 2016, whom he’s still signed to today. Last time we heard from Boondox was last summer with the 7-produced Cryptodirt EP that Mobstyle Music backed with the help of MNE & is now ringing in the fall 4 days early in the form of So Much Blood after his Astronomicon appearance this past spring.

After the titular intro, the first song “Prey for Me” is a demented opener produced by Fritz the Cat with some rock undertones talking about being unable to pray for those who be hoping on his downfall whereas “A Beautiful Death” dives into trap territory thanks to MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 pondering how he ends up in the situations he gets himself into. “Re-Animator” works in some more rock undertones expressing that he wants something real while the song “Devil’s Due” returns to the trap talking about possession. The penultimate track “Open Vein” has a bit of a boom bap flare to it admitting that he feels alive committing murders & “Gravely Ill” ends the EP with a heinous trap banger about falling asleep in the cemetery.

In comparison to the heavy gangsta rap themes of Cryptodirt about 13 months ago now, So Much Blood finds Boondox returning to the wicked shit just in time for the Autumn Equinox next Thursday. Lyrically, the killer scarecrow sounds more vicious than ever with 7 & Fritz’ production excellently honing in on a darker sound to help bring these gruesome tales to life.

Score: 4/5

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Mo$tWanted – “L.A. Zoo” review

This is the 2nd EP from up-&-coming Los Angeles emcee Mo$tWanted. Emerging in the spring of 2020 off his full-length debut Flesh of West, he would go on to follow it up with his last EP Mentally iLL alongside his last 2 albums ‘Till Heaven Land & Divine Timing. But as he pr pares to open for Conway the Machine in November, it most certainly intrigued me enough to the point where I had to give L.A. Zoo over here a listen

“L.A. Zoo Troopn’” opens things up with a trap instrumental & Mo$tWanted rapping about the streets recruiting more soldiers at a young age whereas “Can I Hit It?” is a more melodic cut with heavy auto-tune & a bit of a skeletal beat getting romantic. “Step on ‘Em” however goes into hyphy turf talking about having his foot on their necks prior to “600 East” returning to the trap sound discussing never switching up.

Continuing with “Live Grenades”, we have Mo$tWanted sliding for his killers on top of a spacious instrumental with some hi-hats while the song “Way That They Made Me” is a piano-trap cut detailing the exact cloth that he was cut from. The penultimate track “Grateful” has a more personal tone to it lyrically expressing his gratitude with an instrumental that has a bit of a psychedelic flare to it & “Mob Talks in the Mirror” is an acoustic/trap closer with the title saying it all as far as subject matter goes.

If y’all not up on this guy by now, then L.A. Zoo would be an ideal place to start because this has gotta be the most well-crafted body of his so far. The trap/hyphy production is cold & I give him all the credit in the world for taking the listeners through his mind with vicious vernacular & witty wordplay touching on the highs & lows of this crazy thing that we call life.

Score: 3.5/5

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Sonnyjim – “White Girl Wasted” review

Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Sonnyjim enlisting The Purist to produce 75% of his 14th EP. Making his debut in the summer of 2011 with The Psychonaut, he would go on to drop 4 more albums as well as his last 13 EPs & a mixtape, most notably the No Vi$ible Means of Incomeduology produced by Giallo Point or the Buckwild-produced Coke Le Roc & the Illinformed produced The Chemistry Must Be Respected. Looking at some of the names involved with White Girl Wasted however, it’s not hard to see why it’s been getting a lot of attention.

“Paris Hilton” is a slickly luxurious intro clocking in at 64 seconds spitting a quick verse off the top referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion & WWE Tag Team Champion The Iron Sheik but after “Barz Simpson” featuring Jay Electronica & the late MF DOOM finds the trio spitting 1 head-spinning verse after another over a woodwind instrumental, “Doc Ellis” produced by one of my top 5 producers of all-time DJ Premier references 10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & $7 Productions co-founder The Rock.

Reaching the halfway point of the EP, “No Case No Face” works in some sampling to talk about life being a bitch that he’s fucking while “Does Mushrooms Once” returns to the boom bap Thais to another one of my top 10 producers Madlib boasting how nice Sonny is when he rocks the mic. “Lemon 714” brings the flutes back so he can talk about the holy grail of quaaludes while the final song “999” featuring the Mcabre Brothers preceding the “Buy Cocaine Not Art” outro finds the trio sending us off with them dropping hardcore verses on top of a blissful boom bap beat.

Almost 15 years since Trading Standards & this dude has already given us what might go down as the greatest extended play of his entire career, surpassing the Camoflauge Monk-produced Money Green Leather Sofa or the Leaf Dog-produced How to Tame Lions & the rest of those previous standouts I mentioned earlier. Joined by only a couple of elite lyricists, Sonnyjim’s abstract lyrics of braggadocio & using drugs over jazzy boom bap production makes for some of the most important songs he’s ever written.

Score: 4.5/5

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Autumn! – “Golden Child 2” review

Autumn! is a 24 year old rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Lafayette, Louisiana who made he got his start by dropping 17 EPs & a full-length debut on SoundCloud since 2018 prior to signing to Victor Victor Worldwide & Republic Records following Not Much Left this past fall. He put out his sophomore effort albeit major label debut Antagonist! few months back to positive reception & returned to his plugg roots a month ago with ##B4GC2, but is steadily grinding by putting out his 18th EP.

The intro sets it off with a glistening instrumental talking about being up now whereas “Inside My Head!” takes a more atmospheric route thanks to Goyxrd refusing to let the industry take his soul. “Can We Talk!” goes pluggnb responding to everyone who said he fell off prior to “Golden Child!” confessing about lying that he’s fine when he’s really not over a tranquil instrumental. The song “Jay n Bey!” works in a guitar comparing his love for his partner to that of The Carters while the penultimate track “Should Know Me Better!” spaciously talks about needing to relax after moving too fast & that he’ll always be here in the scene. “Myself!” though is a fun send-off to the EP telling this hoe not to deny that she’s like the rest.

As a sequel to one of the best projects in Autumn!’s ever-growing discography, it certainly lived up to my expectations. Much like the prequel & the predecessor, the actual follow-up itself picks up where things left off with it’s well-crafted pluggnb production that helped blow him up & the subject matter all comes from a unique perspective that he continues to bring to the table. He & Weiland are definitely holding it down for Victor Victor right now.

Score: 3.5/5

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Verbz – “Where It Started” review

Here we have the 2nd EP from Croydon, South London, England, United Kingdom emcee Verbz. Introducing himself in 2017 off the full-length debut Lessons of Adolescence produced by Brighton beatsmith Mr. Slipz, he would later put out the debut mixtape Pathways & the sophomore effort Radio Waves under High Focus Records followed near the end of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following up The Low almost 14 months earlier, he & Slipz are reuniting so they can take things back Where It Started.

The title track is a lo-fi boom bap intro talking about home being where the heart is & wearing it on his sleeve whereas “Music Banging Like” rawly speaks of reaping what he sowed now he’s getting older. “For My Peeps” instrumentally reminds me of A Tribe Called Quest shouting out all the important people in his life & after “Felt Like a Dream” takes a moment to talk about his successes in making music, “Walk Like a King” dedicates itself to those who left too soon.

Catching a 52 minute train between Croydon & Brighton to reconnect throughout Where It Started, this extended play does everything & more fan have come to expect from Verbz & Mr. Slipz diving deep into their hearts & minds. Slipz’ boom bap production was made with an MPC without the need of using any samples & Verbz nostalgically conceives themes revolving around the trials & tribulations of both artists doing what they done & still do presently in order of surviving the streets of the Cronx.

Score: 4/5

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Internet Money Records – “We All We Got” review

Internet Money Records is a record label & producer collective from Los Angeles, California founded by Taz Taylor. Their full-length debut B4 the Storm celebrates it’s 2 year anniversary at the end of the month & even though it was a disappointment for me personally, the singles they put out prior to their debut EP over here intrigued me enough to go into it optimistic that it would be better than their last effort.

“$2k in the Soda” by Lucki is a triumphant opener talking about only pulling up to Los Angeles for the drink whereas “She Want Some More” by Ken Carson & Lil Tecca takes a cloudier route thanks to Outtatown describing bitches who can’t get enough of them. “On Me” by Destroy Lonely works in a rage beat talking about staying strapped while the song “No Handoutz” by Yeat is a fun successor to “Twizzy Rich” off his full-length debut Up 2 Më. The penultimate track “Codeine Cowboy” by Lil Yachty incorporates some synthesizers thanks to Rio Leyva talking about how he hasn’t slept in a week & “Falsetto” by Tecca closes out the EP on a spacious note going into detail about his ride or die.

Coming away from We All We Got, it definitely lived up to my expectations & is without hesitation the best project that the Internet Money crew has put together yet. This time around, the production that they bring to the table dabbles with more modern sounds like hypertrap & the performances from the guests are a lot more consistent than they were almost 2 years ago.

Score: 3.5/5

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RhymeStyleTroop – “Cypher” review

RhymeStyleTroop is a 26 year old MC from Imperial Beach, California who’s been turning heads in the underground for the past year now by dropping a total of 6 head-banging singles along with her mic session at UndergroundHipHopBlog.Com & her opening set at their 10 year anniversary show last month. However, all of that has been leading up to her conceptual debut EP over here fully produced by Manzu Beatz.

After the titular intro, the first song “Full Metal Jacket” sets it off with a soul sample & some dusty drums spitting some battle bars whereas the MC Wicks-assisted “Militant” takes a more spookier route talking about their titular mindset. “War of Art” works in some weepy strings advising that you’ll get burned playing with her just before “Ill” talks about being as dope as she is all her life over a downtrodden instrumental.

Following that, “Power” with M Doc Diego takes a more ominous turn explaining that they don’t give a fuck about any of these other cats while the song “Robin Hood” incorporates some vibraphones talking about making the time-wasters pay. The penultimate track “Strength” fuses some strings & keys together expressing that she feels like $1M & “Solomon” is a cinematic closer warning that the reaper’s coming.

For Cypher to be RhymeStyleTroop’s first official project, I think it’s a pretty solid introduction to a wider audience. The whole concept of a soldier finding her resilience is well pieced together down to the intricate lyricism & Manzu Beatz reveals himself to be one of the best producers that Italy has to offer right now.

Score: 4/5

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YBN Nahmir – “Faster Car Music” review

This is the debut EP from Alabama rapper YBN Nahmir. Coming up as the de facto leader of the now defunct YBN collective, he would go on to drop his full-length debut Visionland about a year & a half ago under Atlantic Records to be universally panned (more specifically for “Soul Train”). But after jumping ship to Def Jam Recordings recently, Nahmir’s looking to redeem himself in the form of Faster Car Music.

“Spend It” is a generically produced opener unenthusiastically bragging, that he has $800 on him whereas “Where I’m From” happens to be one of the better cuts with it’s vibrant production & the subject matter describing what it’s like around his parts. “Bows” has a decent instrumental to it even though there’s not that much substance to what Nahmir’s saying leading into “Pip ‘n Walk”, which is a bass-heavy cut talking about being the plug.

The song “Inna Trap” confesses that the feds raided his shit over a grim beat while the penultimate track “Only 1” comes off as a forced pop rap ballad with an ok Jeremih hook & the lyrics talking about how this bitch is the only partner that he really needs. “Lamborghini Truck” however finishes the EP with a bland ode to the whip that he be pulling up in.

As decent as From a Bird’s Eye View was compared to The Lost Boy, at least Cordae publicly acknowledged that recently & makes me feel like next album we’ll be better. That being said: I don’t get any more out of Faster Car Music than I did with Visionland whatsoever. It’s lazy songwriting, uninspired subject matter & cut-rate production makes it really hard for me to believe that this EP would appeal to any sports car enthusiast.

Score: 1/5

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