ReadyRockDee is an MC from Bridgeport, Connecticut most known as a founding member of the group Rowdy City. He just dropped a live album not too long ago & already, here we are with the man’s debut EP.
The EP starts off with “Still I Rise”, where ReadyRockDee talks about how nothing can slow him down over a boom bap beat. “The Chosen One” talks about how he has so many blessings over a rich instrumental while the song “What I Got to Lose” talks about being the truth over a triumphant beat. The penultimate track “What You Reppin’” with Teezy Money sees the 2 showing love to their respective hometowns of NY & CT over an aggressive instrumental whereas the closer “Lit & Dangerous” talks about being just that over an airy beat.
I personally thought this was a dope EP & would love to hear a full-length from ReadyRockDee at some point in the future. His presence on the mic is more ferocious than it’s ever been & the soundscapes on here suit him well.
Black Soprano Family Records is a Buffalo, New York-based independent record label founded in 2016 by Benny the Butcher of Griselda fame. Their roster has significantly grown throughout the years with the likes of Duffel Bag Hottie, Rick Hyde, Loveboat Luciano, Joneszy & even battle rap icon RJ Payne. The label just inked a distribution deal with E1 Music a couple months back & are releasing a DJ Drama-hosted collective effort to celebrate.
The EP kicks off with “Quarantine”, where Benny the Butcher promises his homies currently locked up that he’ll be rich when they come home over a violin-inflicted boom bap beat from Chup. The next song “Grams in the Water” by Benny, Loveboat Luciano & Rick Hyde of course talks about pushing coke over a dreary instrumental while “Da Mob” finds Benny, Heem & Rick talking about the crew being impeccable over a grimy beat from DJ Shay.
The track “In Love with the Streets” by Heem & Jonesy talks about what makes the hood so special over a boom bap beat with an alluring vocal sample while the song “Rick & Fonz” is a Rick Hyde solo cut about how he can’t go broke again over some synthesizers & some twinkling keyboards. The track “Paulie & Vito” by Heem & Rick goes at those who disrespect their names while the song “Valarie” is a Heem solo joint about what it was like growing up in Buffalo over a dark beat. The closer “It’s Over” by Heem, Rick & Benny then talks about wealth over a soulful Don Cannon instrumental.
Not a bad showcase effort from the Black Soprano Family. I was expecting it to be a little bit longer than just 8 tracks & 27 minutes, but everyone on the label stands out in their own way & does a fine job of giving the listeners what they’re capable of doing.
Flee Lord is a 36 year old emcee from Queens, New York & one of the hardest working people in hip hop today. Dude dropped a total of 5 projects last year & since this past February, he’s been putting one out every single month with the previous being Alter Ego Fleeigo Delgado. To kick off the 2nd half of this run, Flee is starting to bring the big guns out by enlisting the revered Pete Rock for his 10th EP.
The intro starts out with Lord talking how he’s living in the danger zone over a menacing instrumental & then the song right after “Stuck on a Grip” talks about his plan to become rich over a boom bap beat with a whimsical loop. The track “Surfin’ wit a K” talks about how he never caps over a forlorn instrumental while the song “24 Hollows” proclaims himself as a top dog over a rugged instrumental. The track “Different Options” talks about how he’s gonna always bring it home whether it be going independent or major over a ghostly instrumental while the song “Retired from the Sniffy” is a short yet killer freestyle backed by a boom bap beat with a dope ass piano loop.
The track “Job Done” talks about how he’s still moving in the hood over a slow instrumental while the song “Mini Mac on the Fridge” talks about he be spitting facts over a jazzy beat. The penultimate track “Givin’ Ya my View” is essentially his opinion on the George Floyd protests with a dismal instrumental & then the EP finishes off with the outro, where Flee Lord starts bragging about where he’s at today on top of a Bollywood-influenced beat.
This guy’s been one of my favorite NY spitters for about a year now, but he really outdid himself on this one because this is his best body of work yet in my personal opinion. Lord keeps taking his pen game to a higher level & Pete Rock completely knocks it out of the ballpark on the boards.
This is the 2nd EP from New York trio City Morgue. I became a fan of theirs in 2018 because of how ZillaKami, SosMula & Thraxx uniquely fused trap with metal on their debut Hell or High Water. A sophomore effort As Good as Dead came out just this past winter & even through Thraxx hardly did the production on there, Kami & Sos were able to get the criminally underrated Mike Dean to fill in that gap. But with their tour being one of the many to get cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re making it up to the fans with Toxic Boogaloo.
Things start off with “THE ELECTRIC EXPERIENCE”, where the duo compare themselves to Deadshot over a bombastic beat from Powers Pleasant. The next song “HURTWORLD ‘99” talks about wanting to fuck up anyone who comes at them over a trap metal instrumental while the track “YELLOW PISS” finds ZillaKami going solo to talk about death being longer than life over a chaotic beat from Thraxx. The song “BUAKAW” talks about their haters being pussy over some hi-hats & heavy guitars while the track “YAKUZA” is an unfinished SosMula solo joint backed by a beat that sounds something out of a horror movie.
The song “CRANK” sees the duo getting back together to talk about getting into altercations carrying MACs on them & not the Mac line of Apple Inc. computers over an eerie beat while the track “YOU CAN SUCK MY DICK” is another ZillaKami solo cut about him bringing the smoke to anyone who wants it over bass-heavy instrumental. The song “ALL KILLER NO FILLER” talks about destroying shit over another trap metal beat whereas “SUPER SOAKA” is of course another SosMula solo song that’s even more half-baked than the previous one. The album finishes with “PROSTHETIC LEGS”, where the duo talk about being wardogs over an abrasive beat.
Coming from someone who enjoyed City Morgue’s last 2 albums a lot, this project is a disappointment. I think their whole style is still unique, but it just sounds like ZillaKami & SosMula rushed the shit outta it. Hopefully they take their time on the next album.
This is the 2nd EP by Chicago, Illinois veteran Lupe Fiasco. Breaking out in the mid-2000s with Food & Liquor and The Cool, but the man started to become inconsistent once the 2010s came around. Lasers is easily the worst thing he ever put out and Food Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album was mediocre, but Tetsuo & Youth was such an incredible return to form. Then came DROGAS Light in 2017, which was a SLIGHTLY better Lasers. However, it’s sequel DROGAS Wave is a lot better despite being a tad bit too long. Lupe hasn’t put out much since but to surprise everyone, he’s teaming up with a 23-year old producer named Kaelin Ellis for HOUSE.
After the Virgil Abloh spoken word intro “HOMME MADE”, we get into the first song “DINOSAURS”. Where Lupe of course details the prehistoric age over a dreamy-boom bap beat. The next track “SLEDOM” talks about career decisions over a mellow instrumental while the song “SHOES” touches down on police brutality over a boom bap beat with some horns. The EP ends with “LF95”, which is essentially Lupe spitting off top over a jazzy instrumental for 5 minutes.
This is a solid prelude to Skulls when or if it comes out at this point. Couple joints drag out longer than they needed to, but Lupe sounds focused for the most part & Kaelin Ellis could definitely get bigger from here because I really dig his sound on here quite a bit.
London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Coops ending his High Focus Records tenure with an extended play full of material. Introducing himself during my adolescence off his full-length debut What Do You See? as well as Lost Soul, & God Complex, his High Focus debut No Brainer would be welcomed to mixed reception & Life in the Flesh was later received more positively a few months later. To begin the 2nd half of what has already been a disastrous 2020, he looks to outdo both in the form of Crimes Against Creation.
“Boom Biddy Bye” breaks the gate down with this old school boom bap instrumental from Talos dismantling all lyrical opponents in his path whereas “Factory Reared” jazzily talks about being fed up with all these rappers to the point of wanting to kill them. “Bring the Fire” works in a vibraphone with some kicks & snares talking about blazing the spot up just before “Piss Poor” eerily tackles the fear he has of becoming broke from a financial point of view.
Starting the 2nd half, “Laws of Nature” blends jazz rap & boom bap once more talking about being seen as either a threat to humanity or a savior just before the title track turns up the jazzier elements telling his story the way it happened refusing any other negotiations. “Profile” takes the lo-fi boom bap route stylistically recalling the time a woman gave him a number of her’s to dial & “End Times” jazzily finishes by talking about living in the middle of the apocalypse beginning.
In the midst of COVID-19 shutting the whole entire world down for 4 months & counting, Crimes Against Creationcomes across significantly darker than what Coops has done previously providing the soundtrack for these times of uncertainty we’re experiencing all across the globe. Taking inspiration from the greats instead of what’s current, the jazzy boom bap production feels nostalgically reminiscent of 90s east coast hip hop such as Mobb Deep facing issues like the current state of hip hop & politics directly.
Croydon, South London, England, United Kingdom emcee C.O.N-Vers dropping his debut extended play on the 4th of July 2020 fully produced by local veteran Micall Parksnun. The latter of whom has been making himself known for decades from his early Low Life Records output to his more recent material under Boot Records & the other has been fresh off a lengthy sabbatical with a new purpose to create music in a different direction, enlisting Micall behind to the boards to explain the feeling that he’s been Way Too Patient.
“Dead & Buried” begins talking about taking his style that made him a staple in the UK underground hip hop scene for what it is over a heavenly raw beat whereas “As I See It” embraces a boom bap vibe instrumentally & spits nothing but lyrical heat for 3 minutes straight. “My Monologue” suggests he might pop things off sending 21 shots while “M.I.A” finishes the 1st half talking about knowing what you’re running from.
Kicking off the 2nd leg of Way Too Patient, “The Conversation” brings a symphonic boom bap atmosphere to the table warning to never interrupt him when he’s deep in the middle of a discussion leading into “Mad Ramblings” swaps out the orchestral elements in favor of a jangly guitar loop rapping an fascinatingly long verse start to finish. The title track finishes up with a 2-parter maintaining a boom bap sound the whole time including after the beat switch.
Notable for being 1/2 of Write 2 Speak as well as 1/3 of The Last Elect & a member of the D.S.o.t.M. collective respectively, C.O.N-Vers makes his long-awaited solo debut in a time of uncertainty & would say Way Too Patient does the finest job it could of encapsulating his growth since his early days in the garage scene. Micall Parknsun’s boom bap production greatly compliments C.O.N’s knack of thought provoking bars & smooth flows, holding off on having any guest verses accompanying him to give more room for his own.
This is the brand new EP from Atlanta, Georgia’s very own Nick Grant, who came onto my radar with a pretty solid debut album Return of the Cool at the beginning of 2017. It’s been a couple years since we last heard from him but with everything going on right now, he’s teaming up with Top Dawg Entertainment in-house producer Tae Beast for God Bless the Child.
Things kick off with “L.O.V.E. (Living Out Various Emotions)”, where Nick comes through with some thoughtful bars over a soulful instrumental. The next song “FEDS” talks about sending his competition to the morgue over a somewhat funky beat while the track “Bless the Child” is a well written response to George Floyd’s murder over a calming instrumental. The song “K9” talks about some dude runnin’ his mouth over a slow beat & then the closer “Black Windows” talks about haters over an instrumental that starts off tropical, but transitions into something more hard hitting about halfway through.
As much as I enjoyed Return of the Cool, this really might be Nick’s best work to date. From the dude’s ever-so-conscious lyricism to Tae Beast’s impeccably tight production, everything about this EP just comes together very well & it has me looking forward to seeing what’ll happen next on his sophomore album.
This is the 6th EP from New York veteran Skyzoo. Rising to prominence with the 9th Wonder produced Cloud 9: The 3 Day High, the man continued to make a name for himself with a lengthy yet very consistent discography. This includes his full-length debut The Salvation, the !llmind produced Live from the Tape Deck, A Dream Deferred, Music for My Friends, the Apollo Brown produced The Easy Truth & In Celebration of Us. But I really think it wasn’t until last September where he really outdid himself & dropped his magnum opus Retropolitan, which was entirely produced by the revered Pete Rock. However with Father’s Day coming around the corner, Skyzoo is celebrating with Milestones.
The opener “Memory Serves Me” fondly looks back on the early years of his childhood over a jazzy boom bap beat & keep in mind: This is a sound that’s prominently featured all over the entire EP. Following that is the next song “At Least I Got One”, where Skyzoo speaks on being grateful for having a father figure in his life in such a profoundly fashion.
The track “Turning 10” then talks about his relationship with his father adjusting as he got older & this subject matter is continued on in the song right after “Duffel Bag Weekends” as he looks back on what it was like for him having to visit both his parent’s individual houses as an adolescent.
Then the track “Eyes Wide Shut” continues to speak from the heart as Skyzoo discusses how his father has ”been up” since the Christmas Eve he was born & that he himself has “been up” since late 2017. The song right after is a touching dedication to all fathers worldwide & then “Duly Noted” is a great way to finish things off as we delivers a long verse full of wisdom on top of a blissful piano lead.
Skyzoo has always had an impeccably consistent discography & this is no exception at all. I really love the way he incorporates the jazz elements into the production & it’s refreshing to hear an MC talk about fatherhood in a more positive fashion.
Trash Talk is a hardcore punk band from Berkeley, California consisting of bassist Spencer Pollard, lead guitarist Garrett Stevenson, backup guitarist David Gagliardi, drummer Thomas Pridgen & frontman Lee Spielman. Dropping a total of 3 full-lengths & 3 extended plays between 2005-2011, it wasn’t until they began affiliating themselves with the now defunct Odd Future collective putting out their 4th album 119 on the same day as MellowHype’s 2nd & final album Numbers during my sophomore year when I caught wind of them. No Peace would become my 2nd favorite in their discography & I saw them open for Action Bronson a while after Tangle came out, locking in with Kenny Beats for their 5th EP.
“Point No Point” opens up with this 55 second hardcore punk intro screaming that he doesn’t want or need anyone whereas “Something Wicked” retains a hardcore vibe to call out bootlickers for convincing themselves into total warfare. “Worst of Times” gives a middle finger to time if it’s prevalent for any of us & no longer feeding the apathy within but once “Clutch (Any Means Necessary)” talks about always peaking their demands, “Kicking & Screaming” ends the EP suggesting the day won′t quickly forget even when it’s outside your door.
Tangle was mere ok in my opinion, so to see Kenny Beats handling the hardcore punk production with some chopped & screwed undertones throughout the duration of Squalor’s 8 & a half minute runtime definitely had me curious since he produced the FM! EP for former Odd Future affiliate Vince Staples & it’s definitely the most enjoyable EP of the 2 they’ve dropped since OF dissolved. It’s more intense than the predecessor even if it’s a few minutes shorter & the experimentation was really cool to me.
