Twiztid – “Nickel Bag” review

Twiztid is a hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan 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 the demented duo 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 6 albums & 6 EPs on their own label, my favorite of which being /ˌrevəˈlāSH⁽ᵊ⁾n/. But with the 5th annual Astronomicon going down this weekend, they’re celebrating by dropping their 14th EP limited to only 420 copies.

After the melodic yet chilled out “Smoke” intro which only has Jamie on it, the first song “High Life” starts off the EP with a fun little ode to that good kush whereas the “Hydro” remix is alright even though the main version with Layzie Bone is a highlight off The Green Book & hearing it without the latter’s verse feels kinda weird to me personally. “The Clouds Outside” goes into hazier territory talking about being higher than such & as for the remix of “Come On Let’s Get High” off of The Continuous Evilutions of Life’s ?’s, I actually prefer it over the original. Especially with the horns throughout.

Even though it’s only an intro with 2 new songs & 2 remixes, I still look at Nickel Bag as an acceptable way to hold everyone over until the Unlikely Prescription follow-up Welcome to Your Funeral produced entirely by Zeuss & their “straight up wicked” album. I can do without the “Hydro” remix but other than that, Twiztid & Fritz reunite to deliver something fresh for all the smokers out there.

Score: 3.5/5

7xvethegenius – “Self 7xve 2” review

This is the 5th EP from Buffalo emcee 7xvethegenius. Breaking out a couple years ago off her first 2 EPs The Calm Before & Self 7xve as well as the full-length debut 7xve is Love, it wasn’t until she & Jae Skeese both became the first artists to sign with Conway the Machine’s very own EMPIRE Distribution imprint Drumwork Music Group where 7xve got her biggest break yet. Last we heard from her was over the summer when he dropped Thy Will Be Done during my first night at last year’s Gathering of the Juggalos & now in light of Skeese dropping his Big Ghost Ltd.-produced magnum opus Authenticity Check a little over a week ago, 7xve is stepping up to the plate with Self 7xve 2.

“Waves” kicks off the EP by cinematically talking about how crazy her life’s been up to this point whereas the bassy, yet flute-tinged “Affluence” follows it up by declaring that she’s cut from a different cloth. Trae tha Truth tags along for the wavy “Always Thank God” encouraging listeners to give their praise to the higher power, but then “Fluidity” brings back to the woodwinds thanks to EYEKETYSON to bring the smoke.

The song “Forecast” with Flee Lord sees the pair over some boom bap production from JR Swiftz advising to stay true to the game while the penultimate track “Back End” works in some jazzy undertones talking about fucking shit up with her partner. “Moxie” then ends the EP with a somber piano ballad putting her life up to this point on wax.

Of all the sequel projects in hip hop that have lived up to the hype set by the predecessor or even surpassed it, you can definitely add Self 7xve 2 onto that list. I really admire how she decided take it back to basics & enhance everything that I liked about the first one. Most notably also, the inclusion of features was actually a really nice move as they bring their on flavor to the tracklist.

Score: 3.5/5

Bukshot – “Never Safe” review

Bukshot is a 47 year old MC from Louisville, Kentucky who’s been around for a quarter of a century at this point whether it be his lengthy solo discography or groups/duos with some of the biggest names that the underground has to offer. The last we heard from him on his own was Night of the Zombie back in the fall & in light of his appearances at Astronomicon this weekend, he’s enlisting former Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 behind the boards for his 17th EP.

After the “Under the Surface” intro, the title track kicks off the EP in his wicked shit bag down the thrilling instrumental whereas “Asleep” works in some pianos to diss the woke. “Role Mode” goes into cloudier territory getting more vulnerable lyrically just before “Molotov” mixes keys with guitars showing motherfuckers that he’s a problem. The song “Hog-Tied” has a more dramatic aesthetic to it declaring his lack of respect for anyone who plots against him while the penultimate track “Round Here” ghoulishly cautions everyone not to stop coming around his turf. “Alright” then closes out the EP by incorporating elements of orchestral brushing off his haters.

Now 2021 had to be one of if not the biggest year in Mobstyle Music’s history & for this to be the label’s way of keeping the ball rollin’, I’m highly impressed. Buk sounds incredibly ferocious on the mic & on top of that, 7’s production is absolutely chilling & compliments the aggressive bars very well.

Score: 4/5

The Kaleidoscope Kid – Self-Titled review

This is the eponymous debut EP from Phoenix, Arizona rapper & singer/songwriter The Kaleidoscope Kid. Coming up a week prior to this the pandemic hitting off his full-length debut Quail Run, he would go on to follow it up with the ATC-produced Thank You Stranger & All Dogs Go to Heaven later that same exact year. However in light of him signing to Suburban Noize Records this past fall, The Kaleidoscope Kid has seen fit to reintroduce himself to a wider audience in the form of a self-titled effort.

“Hold Up” is a bluesy opener addressing those who say he lost it whereas “Watermelon Kisses” follows it up with an acoustic romance ballad for all the couples out there. “Stampede” goes full blown reggae rock cautioning a stampede on the run leading into the ska punk-influenced “Cause & Effect” talking about a chick who left her name & number on his phone.

Meanwhile on “Fight or Flight”, we have The Kaleidoscope Kid on top of a down-tuned guitar tackling the phrase “crash & burn” leading into the boom bap-heavy title track reintroducing himself to the Subnoize crowd. The song “It’s All Love” goes full-blown reggae confessing his girl’s loving being on his mind while the penultimate track “Hell or High Water” mixes some acoustics with handclaps asking God to give him a sign. Big B then tags along for the guitar-driven closer “Maniac” advising to fasten your seat-belts.

Now it wasn’t until The Kaleidoscope Kid signed to Suburban Noize where I would go back & check out his whole catalog in preparation for this self-titled EP, but I have to say that his debut for the notorious Malibu-based underground label has to be his most well-conceived body of work yet. He has a lot of versatility, the songwriting is catchy & the range of sounds in his production is a great match given Subnoize’s history.

Score: 4/5

Bas – “[BUMP] Pick Me Up” review

This is the 2nd EP from Paris, France born albeit Queen, New York raised emcee Bas. Breaking out onto the scene with his debut mixtape Quarter Water Raised Me a little over a decade ago, he eventually signed to J. Cole’s very own Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records at the beginning of 2014 & his full-length debut Last Winter a couple months after. His sophomore effort Too High to Riot would go on to become one of the best albums that Dreamville has ever put out, but his last album Milky Way wound up being a bit of a mixed bag for me. That being said, I was very much looking forward to [BUMP] Pick Me Up given the singles he teased us with.

“[Eyes on You]” with Galimatias is a decently spacey R&B duet that kicks off the EP taking about being entranced by one another while the song “[Admire Her]” with Gunna of course goes into rubbery trap territory describing their admiration for bitches who be fully loaded & it’s slightly better than what we heard at the beginning. The penultimate track “[The Jackie]” with J. Cole & Lil Tjay finds the trio over a melodic yet bouncy instrumental from T-Minus telling motherfuckers to stop playing with them sharpshooting like former 7-time WWE world champion, 3-time WWE tag team champion, 5-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart while “[The Others]” ends the EP with a peppy ballad encouraging listeners to be grateful for all they have.

Even though [BUMP] Pick Me Up happens to be significantly shorter than Milky Way, I happen to think it’s a tad bit more superior than Bas’ last album & certainly fits as a short batch of summertime jams. The production is a lot more fun & the performances from the features alongside Bas himself are a lot more catchier.

Score: 3.5/5

Jae Skeese – “Authenticity Check” review

Jae Skeese is a 31 year old MC from Buffalo, New York who first emerged in 2010 off his debut mixtape W.A.C.K. (Women, Alcohol, Cash & Kicks). However, it wasn’t until a decade later where he & 7xvethegenius got their biggest break thus far after the very first signees to Conway the Machine’s very own EMPIRE Distribution imprint Drumwork Music Group. He just dropped his 7th mixtape Revolver Ocelot over the fall & then his 2nd EP Iroquois Pliskin a couple weeks ago, but is now tapping in with Big Ghost Ltd. to produce his 3rd EP from top to bottom.

“Shuttlesworth Form” is a creepy boom bap opener reintroducing himself whereas “Premium Grails” continues to flex his lyrical abilities & the groove of the bass happens to be my favorite part of the instrumental here. “Double Nickel at MSG” takes a more chilling route as far as sound goes talking about big stepping just before “Drip or Drown” works in a guitar & some dusty drums explaining that he’s in over his head.

Meanwhile on “Triple Post Offense”, we have Con & 7xve assisting Jae for a stellar Drumwork posse cut with an interesting vocal sample while the song “Stick-Up” reveals itself to be a perfect ode to muggin’ from the raw beat to the “Gimme the Loot” sample around the 43 second mark referencing 3-time WWE world champion, 5-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, 9-time WWE tag team champion, 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion, 3-time TNA World Champion, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion, HOG Tag Team Champion, ΩCW Heavyweight Champion, ΩCW New Frontiers Champion, 2-time ΩCW Tag Team Champion & The Crash Mundial Parejas Campeon Jeff Hardy. The penultimate track “Vintage Eastbay Pages” encourages listeners to staying committed to making that bread over some vibraphones & “$1.50 wit Tax” admits how crazy his life has been when you really think about it over a shimmering instrumental.

Now for those who loved Jae’s verse on “Drumwork” & you’re looking to get into his music, then I’d recommend starting with Authenticity Check because I happen to look at it as the crown jewel of his discography thus far. In comparison to Iroquois Pliskin he’s at his best lyrically & the production that Big Ghost Ltd. brings to the table is incredibly consistent.

Score: 4.5/5

Canibus – “C” review

This is the 5th EP from Kingston emcee Canibus. Coming up as 1/2 of the duo T.H.E.M. alongside C.I. about 3 decades ago, they eventually split up a few years later & Bis would blow up in ‘97 after appearing on the LL Cool J song “4, 3, 2, 1” that later resulted in a beef between both parties. He would then go on to make a lengthy yet consistent discography with albums like Rip the Jacker being breathtaking at best & then Mind Control being unlistenable at worst. He just dropped Body Bag Ben-produced 16th full-length Kaiju this past winter after a 3 year break & it wounded up being one of his better albums in his discography, even though the follow-up 1 Step Closer to ∞ was a little underwhelming. But when I found out that one of my top 5 producers Pete Rock was coming in to lace C from front to back, I had to check it out for myself.

“Princibly This” is an incredibly jazzy opener with ‘Bis talking about how life’s a bitch while the next track “Poet’s Palaquin” pulls from some Bollywood influences spitting bars like “They stealth bombed Wakanda after they killed Black Panther” & “You know this, still the dopest. Free the people like Moses, hyper focused with both barrels loaded ‘cause I’m a Poet”. The closer however is just a remix of the song they did on Time Flys, Life Dies…Phoenix Rise almost 7 years ago at this point except it’s more soulful & Bronze Nazareth is spitting a fresh verse on it.

Even though I’m a little disappointed that it’s only 2 songs & a remix, I still enjoyed what I heard & I’d definitely recommend it to the hardcore fans. Canibus sounds much more focused than he did on 1 Step Closer to ∞ & as far as the production goes, it’s pretty much night & day unsurprisingly.

Score: 3.5/5

Jae Skeese – “Iroquois Pliskin” review

This is the 2nd EP from Buffalo emcee Jae Skeese. Coming up in late 2010 off debut mixtape W.A.C.K. (Women, Alcohol, Cash & Kicks), it wasn’t until a decade later where he & 7xvethegenius got their biggest break thus far after the very first signees to Conway the Machine’s very own EMPIRE Distribution imprint Drumwork Music Group. He just dropped his 7th mixtape Revolver Ocelot last fall ahead up his upcoming Drumwork debut album Abolished Uncertainties, but now we’re getting another prelude with Iroquois Pliskin.

“71 Custer” is a jazzy, soulful opener giving y’all his story whereas “Against tha Grain” with Conway & Flee Lord finds the trio talking about not being the usual over a pillowy boom bap instrumental from Cee Gee. “EKIN 2” takes a cloudier route for a sequel to a Revolver Ocelot joint that I like more than predecessor while the song “Sometimes (Faith)” with Stove God Cook$ sees the 2 over a smooth beat talking about the days they be having. The penultimate track “Naked Truth” with Elcamino comes through with a slicker follow up trying to see one is made of & “Tumbled Leather” ends the EP by minimally talking about how life’s a bitch.

As the anticipation for Abolished Uncertainties continues, Skeese continues to prelude it with some of the best work of his career so far. I really fuck with how much he puts his artistic progression from W.A.C.K. (Women, Alcohol, Cash & Kicks) up to now on full display with his songwriting & production choices continuing to level up.

Score: 3.5/5

Ty Farris – “Moments of Mayhem” review

Ty Farris is a 41 year old MC from Detroit, Michigan who came up under the name T-Flame. He was featured on a lot of projects throughout the mid-2000’s until the very end of the decade where he started to put out solo stuff at a prolific rate from Tyrant to Room 39. But with his profile continually increasing within the last year or so & dropping Practice Raps back in January & then No Cosign, Just Cocaine 4 in November, but is now preluding the 5th & final installment with his 3rd EP produced entirely by Italy’s very own Slim 1.

“Glorious” is an appropriately titled opener as Ty hops on top of a bare orchestral loop shoving his greatness in everyone’s faces whereas “Here’s the Shovel” works in some foreboding horns talking about being self made. The song “Sure Shot” brings back the strings with some piano chords describing being the product of a poor block while the penultimate track “Scary Jungle” goes into angelic boom bap territory talking about never crumbling. The EP ends with “Highly Favored”, where Bub Styles & Mickey Diamond join Ty over some alluring choir vocals to gloat their big dog statuses.

Ty has pretty much proven himself to be one of the greatest MCs to ever come out of this reviewer’s hometown at this point & for him to give us Moments of Mayhem as a prelude to NCJC5, the fans will absolutely be satisfied with it. I’m very much looking forward to hearing who else Slim 1 will be producing next because his sound goes hand in hand with Ty’s raw lyricism.

Score: 4/5

Flying Monk – “Skullduggery” review

Flying Monk is a 30 year old MC from Bristol, England, United Kingdom known for being apart of the Split Prophets collective. Although he’s made a handful of guest appearances across multiple releases over the course of almost a decade like his fellow Prophet brethren Upfront MC or Res 1’s respective solo debuts Upfront & Personal and Delph Efficiency as well as Datkid’s first EP Grubby Mits to name a few, but has yet to make a proper collection of solo output until this extended play.

After the intro, “Fuck the Fame” gets things going with this creepy boom bap instrumental from Axel Holy explaining that the Monk could give a fuck less about the clout whereas “The Get Back” produced by Badhabitz offering advice on what to do if you wanna talk shit. “Can’t Deny” eerily talks about the Prophets never falling because they’re too fly & after telling all these muhfuckas to get their asses “Back to Work”, the final song “Levels” concludes by boasting that he’s on a level they didn’t think he could reach

Unfortunately he has since passed away, but I’m happy that Flying Monk was able to give us Skullduggery when he had the chance considering that Bil Next is now the only remaining Split Prophet who has yet to go solo much like how Salar’s the only Cult of the Damned member that doesn’t have any solo material under his belt. From the grimy production to Anbu flowing without the need of any guest appearances, this EP proves exactly what he was capable of doing on his own.

Score: 4/5

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