Meyhem Lauren – “Members Only” review

Meyhem Lauren is a 36 year old MC from Queens, New York that came up as the leader of the Smart Crew graffiti team. He eventually started rapping in the mid-2000s, but it wouldn’t be until this decade that he saw success. Most notably with Mandatory Brunch Meetings, the Buckwild produced Silk Pyramids, Piatto D’oro & most notably the DJ Muggs produced Gems from the Equinox. The latter was followed up with Frozen Angels last year, but it seems like now that the 2 are getting back together for Meyhem’s 9th EP.

The EP kicks off with “Aztec Snowflakes”, where Meyhem gets at his competition’s throats over an old school instrumental. The next song “GT3” gets lavish over a grimy boom bap beat while the penultimate track “Wavy” brags & the drums on here are thunderous. The EP then finishes off with “Blue Chinese”, where Meyhem gets mafioso over a morbid instrumental.

This is a dope continuation of Meyhem & Muggs’ partership. They continue to compliment each other’s own raw styles very well. Definitely looking forward to their next full-length album together whenever it comes out.

Score: 3.5/5

Missy Elliott – “Iconology” review

This is the debut EP from Portsmouth, Virginia trailblazer Missy Elliott. In case you‘ve been living under a rock: Missy came into the game alongside Timbaland in 1997 with her groundbreaking debut Supa Dupa Fly. They maintained an impeccably close relationship since with Da Real World, Miss E…So Addictive, Under Construction & This Is Not a Test! all dropping throughout the late 90s & early 2000s. Timbo would go on to produce only the first 2 tracks on Missy’s LAST full-length album The Cookbook & that was back in 2005. We’ve only gotten a few appetizers for a comeback ever since from a couple loose singles to a halftime performance during Super Bowl XLIX, but it wasn’t until Missy would surprise the world with Iconology literally the day before it even came out.

The EP kicks off with “Throw It Back”, where Missy talks about shows her competition how it’s done over a bouncy trap beat. The next song “Cool Off” is a Miami Bass throwback while the penultimate track “DripDemeanor” gets sensual over a synth-funk beat. The EP then finishes with “Why I Still Love You”, where Missy provides the listener with a mellow R&B tune.

A lot of people including myself were expecting this to be her 7th full-length album, but I’ll take it as a decent EP. Not sure who did the production, but the beats are fine by their standards & Missy still has a captivating prowess. Also, the “This is a Missy Elliott exclusive” tag at the start of pretty much every song is annoying.

Score: 2.5/5

Powers Pleasant – “Life’s Beautiful” review

Powers Pleasant is a producer/DJ from Brooklyn, New York that came up as a member of the Pro Era & Beast Coast collectives. He’s had a hand in the instrumentals on some of the latter’s output from The Underachievers’ 3rd mixtape It Happened in Flatbush in 2016 to Joey Bada$$’ politically charged sophomore album ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ in 2017. However if the Beast Coast’s disappointingly average debut album Escape from New York earlier this year wasn’t enough, Powers has seen fit to drop an EP of his own.

After the “Sway’s Intro”, we go into the first song “Vintage Chanel”. Where Joey teams up with Kirk Knight as well as the 2 Dead Boyz to boast over an alluring trap beat. The next track “Please Forgive” by Denzel Curry, IDK, ZillaKami & Zombie Juice is a lyrical onslaught with an ominous beat while the song “Can’t Fucc Wit It” by Buddy & G Perico showcases the gritty life on the West Coast over an apocalyptic beat.

The track “Pull Up” by A$AP Ferg & Joey sees the 2 flexing over a cloudy trap beat while the song “Hit My Line” by AKTHESAVIOR, Jay Critch & Joey finds the 3 getting sexual over an intoxicating beat with a hook sounding totally ripped off from the Travis Scott playbook. The penultimate track “Purified” by Aaron Rose, CJ Fly & Joey talks about being blessed over a classy instrumental & then it closes out with a decent “Pull Up” sequel by the Beast Coast.

There’s not much else for me to say beyond that, this is a decent EP. Powers is definitely a talented producer, but 5 of the 8 tracks sound like leftovers from the Escape from New York sessions.

Score: 3/5

Curren$y – “Hot August Nights” review

Curren$y is a renown 38 year old rapper from New Orleans, Lousiana that first got his start with No Limit Records in 2002. He would then hop over to Young Money Entertainment & Cash Money Records in 2006, but eventually branched out in 2008 with his own label Jet Life Recordings. Since then, the man made a name for himself by dropping a handful of projects every single year. The most recent being a collab album with California rapper Berner last July, but a little over month has passed and he‘s teaming up with Nard & B to entirely produce his 16th EP.

Things start off with “Must Admit”, where Spitta talks about being that dude over a cavernous beat. The next song “Eyes Closed” brags over a chilled out beat while the track “Caught Her Lookin’” gets charismatic over a somewhat tropical beat. The song “Know It” talks about being paid over a mellow beat while the track “Another Score” flaunts over an atmospheric beat. The song “Never Had” talks about people who act like he’s always been broke over a cloudy beat & then the EP finishes with “Right Now”, where Spitta tells the differences between himself & his competition about over a spacious beat.

It’s not as good as Gran Turismo, but this is still solid. Nard & B go to show that they’re one of the most underrated producers in the mainstream right now as Spitta sounds charming as ever.

Score: 3.5/5

Blu – “Ground & Water” review

Blu is a underground titan from Los Angeles, California that rose to prominence with the seminal 20017 album Below the Heavens: In Hell Happy with Your New Imaginary Friend. The man would go on to release a slew of projects with different producers since from a duology EP series with Nottz to his latest album with Oh No & now he’s adding onto that as Redefinition Records founder Damu the Fudgemunk is producing his 5th EP right here.

The opener “Both of Them” starts off with some old fashioned turntablism, but then Blu comes in to reclaim his prowess out comes in during the last minute or so. The next song “Feet on the Ground” is a party cut with a funky boom bap beat while the track “Beast Mode” is an average posse cut with an orchestral boom bap beat.

The song “Share the Love” with Raw Poetic finds the 2 talking about the industry over a somber boom bap beat & after the jazzy “Get on Down” interlude, the title track pays tribute to his hometown over a sample of Leon Haywood’s “I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You”. The song “Rhymes & Gemstones” gets insightful over an Indian sample & then the EP finishes with “Grey Heaven”, where Blu gets spiritual over some a beat with some shaking bells.

This was a pleasant surprise to me. Blu continues to show how much of a sharp lyricist he is & Damu maintains to be one of the best producers that the underground has seen all decade.

Score: 4/5

A$AP Ferg – “Floor Seats” review

A$AP Ferg is a 30 year old rapper from New York City that came up as a member of the A$AP Mob. He made his debut in 2013 with Trap Lord, which was a a fantastic display of himself to the mainstream. This was followed up the next year with the Ferg Forever mixtape & that was succeeded by the excessively commercial A.$.A.P. (Always Strive And Prosper) in 2016. Then came Still Striving in 2017 which returned to his Trap Lord roots, but was overloaded with features. 2 years later, we’re finally getting new music from Ferg with his debut EP over here.

It all starts with the title track, where Ferg charismatically brags over a trap beat with some prominent party horns. The next song “Jet Lag” talks about how fly he is over a grimy trap beat while the track “Wam” talks about killing his competition over an alluring beat. The song “Wigs” with Asian da Brat sees the 2 getting raunchy over a hyphy beat while the track “Butt Naked” with Rico Nasty is a tongue-in-cheek sex anthem with a synth-heavy instrumental.

The song “Pups” with A$AP Rocky sees the 2 talking about their friendship over a fantastic B.T. Express sample while the track “Hummer Limo” flaunts over an intoxicating Timbaland beat. The penultimate track “Ride” is a mediocre R&B crooner & the closer “Dreams, Fairytales, Fantasies” with Brent Faiyaz continues to get raunchy over a spacey Salaam Remi beat.

For the 2 year wait, this was just ok. I get that he‘s fusing elements from both of his albums, but obviously the cuts that’re in vein of A.$.A.P. (Always Strive And Prosper) don’t do anything for me at all.

Score: 3/5

Joey Paro – “Victory Gin” review

Here is the solo debut extended play from Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Joey Paro. A member of the Split Prophets collective, he & Bil Next would team up on New Year’s Day 2014 for the collaborative EP Weedmasons, but hasn’t dropped a full project by himself up until this point. I did however enjoy his guest appearances on Eric the Red’s debut album Caught Red Handed & Res 1’s sophomore effort A Dog’s Dreams both entirely produced by Illinformed, the latter of whom has now been brought in to fully produce Victory Gin.

The title track jumps over a cinematic boom bap instrumental talking about catching him inside of the kitchen sipping on a type of distilled alcoholic beverage he’s been saving from a celebratory occasion whereas “The Fall” featuring Eric the Red & Smellington Piff finds the trio dropping hardcore verses without a hook over this orchestrally raw beat. “Mobin’” featuring Datkid & Res 1 sees all 3 of them talking about living fast until their vitals crash while “No Fill” featuring Upfront MC work in some keys to discuss growing up with white trash.

Bil Next & Flying Monk are the only 2 Split Prophets who have yet to go solo, but I’m happy one of the Weedmasons was able to share some Victory Gin with the fans who’ve been waiting for this day to come & bringing one of the UK hip hop scene’s greatest producers on board to provide a brief look at Joey Paro individually. Illinformed’s production is on par with Res 1’s sophomore effort A Dog’s Dreams & despite there being a guest appearance on almost every single, they’re all on his level of penmanship.

Score: 4/5

Blueface – “Dirt Bag” review

Blueface is a 22 year old rapper from Los Angeles, California who went viral last fall off of the music video for his single “Respect My Crippin’”. This resulted in a contract with Cash Money Records the following month but with him being fresh off the 2019 XXL Freshman Class a couple months ago, he’s continuing all this buzz with his debut EP.

It starts off with the title track, where Blueface talks about being back on his bullshit over a bassy instrumental. The next song “Bussdown” with Offset sees the 2 talking about going from being broke & being successful over a trap beat with some decent piano chords while the track “Disrespectful” talks about getting just that over a hyphy beat with some keys.

The song “Daddy” with Ruch the Kid talks about their lavish lives over an instrumental that’s somewhat similar to “Thotiana” while the track “Bussin’” with Lil Pump sees the 2 talking about you slipping & them sliding over a trap beat from Scott Storch with some faint keys. The next cut is a remix of “Stop Cappin’” with a killer feature from The Game while the penultimate track “Gang” with Mozzy sees the 2 repping their respective gangs over an atmospheric beat. The EP then finishes with “Bleed It”, where Blueface talks about his experiences in the Crips over an old school hyphy beat.

Walking away from this, it really wasn’t as bad as I would’ve expected. The features were mostly redundant, but Blueface really steps up his flows on here & the instrumentals have a great vibe to them as well.

Score: 3/5

Tha Hav Knots – “Tha Low Budget EP” review

Tha Hav Knots are a hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan consisting of Anybody Killa & Big Hoodoo. Since 2014, the two dropped a couple singles together & they even let Bonez Dubb of the Axe Murder Boyz temporarily join the group for a couple years before going AWOL at the start or 2017. But now with the 20th annual Gathering of the Juggalos officially wrapped up, they’re officially back with their debut EP.

The project kicks off with “Intro / Cruel Intentions”, where Hoodoo & Killa talk about ushering in a brand new era of wicked shit over a perfectly nocturnal beat. The next song “We Gonna Rock” of course brags about their skills over a vicious beat while the EP’s only single thus far “Watch the Evil” gets reckless over a somewhat druggy & ominous instrumental.

The track “Trigga Finga” not only gets murderous over an abrasive trap beat with a cool 2Pac sample for the hook, but Hoodoo’s flow at the beginning could very well be the best on the entire project. The penultimate track “Hard Headed” pretty much speaks for itself over an eerie beat & then the EP finishes with “Take Us Alive”, where Hoodoo & Killa get triumphant over a symphonic trap beat.

For the 5 year wait, it was well worth it & it definitely makes me hope they have a full-length debut album on the way. The production is grimy & Tha Hav Knots compliment each other very well, with Anybody Killa sounding a lot harder than he was on his latest comeback album Tampon Juice as well as Big Hoodoo continuing to step up both his pen game & his flows.

Score: 3.5/5

Black Milk – “DiVE” review

Black Milk is a 35 year old rapper, songwriter & producer from Detroit, Michigan that came up as a member of the B.R. Gunna production trio. He eventually went solo in 2005 with Sound of the City, which was followed up in 2007 with Popular Demand. The following year, he would dabble with electronic music on Tronic & would later start incorporating live instrumentation on Album of the Year in 2010. His next album No Poison No Paradise eventually became Black Milk’s darkest work yet & it would see a solid sequel If There’s a Hell Below the year after. We saw a comeback form him last year with the politically charged FEVER & a little over a year later, Black Milk’s delivering a sequel with his 4th EP.

It all starts with “Save Yourself”, where Black Milk talks about friendship over a mellow beat. The next song “Black NASA” talks about self-empowerment over an atmospheric beat while the track “If U Say” talks about staying true to yourself over a meditative beat. The song “Relate (Want 2 Know)” with sees Black Milk & his younger brother Mahd talking about depression over a somber instrumental while the track “Blame” gets romantic over a smooth instrumental.

The song “Swimm” is a meditative cut based around the idiom “sink or swim” while the track right after is an Flying Lotus influenced instrumental piece. The song “Don’t Say” talks about fake love over a druggy beat while the track “Out Loud” serves as a psychedelic instrumental interlude. The penultimate track “Tyme” talks about just that over a glitchy beat & then the EP finishes with the synth heavy “Now Begin” instrumental piece.

While only 35 minutes long, I think it’s a fantastic as FEVER. The lyrics are just as smart as the predecessor & the production is equally soothing.

Score: 4/5