Eto & Flee Lord – “RocAmeriKKKa III” review

Rochester, New York emcee/producer Eto teaming with Queens emcee Flee Lord for their 3rd collaborative studio LP. Both of whom have become prolific in the modern day east coast underground hip hop scene & crossed paths with each other on several occasions over the course of time, most notably on RocAmeriKKKa in the fall of 2019 & RocAmeriKKKa II on Devil’s Night the following year. They’ve both spent the next 3 & half years continuing to carve their own paths with their solo careers, finally linking back up to finish the RocAmeriKKKa trilogy.

The intro is mostly Flee Lord hopping over a slowed down instrumental with a hint of psychedelia sprinkled in talking about coming from the state where you’re either wearing it or you’re buying it whereas “Cash Conversion” bring the pair together over a mellow yet dusty beat that Eto cooked up himself blasting anyone with no questions asked. “Digi Scales” featuring Conway the Machine works in some pianos to talk about their days moving weight while “Broken Phone Deals” hooks up a funky organ flip admitting the fast life didn’t change them.

“Kitchen” featuring NEMS maintains a boom bap vibe continuing to talk that Pyrex shit just before “Power” ominously boasting that they stay gettin’ litty without a chaperone. “Zip of Badu” featuring Vel 9 unites the trio so they can dustily talk about keeping the lips sealed during convos regarding money while “Moral of Struggle” featuring Starz Coleman takes on the message of hardships. “Self Crowned” featuring Mummz has one of my favorite instrumentals from godBLESSbeatz making the backdoor the entrance & “The Ones That Stayed” produced by DJ Green Lantern shouts out the people who never switched up.

Rather than having Eto fully handle the production by himself like he did on RocAmeriKKKa II over 4 & a half years ago, RocAmeriKKKa III takes it back the essence of the original RocAmeriKKKa by enlisting other producers to handle the musical soundscapes for a vast majority of it setting the bar of their chemistry as high as they’ve set it for their own solo careers presently when you think of them individually leveling up their craft since turning heads in the late 2010s. Be sure to catch them live at The Paramount in Los Angeles on July 18 for an exciting night for RocAmeriKKKa fans.

Score: 4/5

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Eto – “Long Way Home” review

This is the 7th full-length studio LP from Rochester, New York emcee/producer Eto. Learning of him through his verse at the end of the 6th installment of Westside Gunn’s infamous HWH mixtape series & eventually his DJ Muggs-produced full-length debut Hell’s Roof a few months later, this was followed up with Long Story Short as well as & Front Row & The Beauty of It. The Futurewave-produced Dead Poets would be as acclaimed as his debut & coming off Integrity 2 produced by Body Bag Ben which was a solid sequel the original EP itself, Eto’s taking the Long Way Home.

The title track has this unsettling atmosphere to the instrumental beginning by talking about the fact money comes a long way when you take the longer route back to the crib whereas “Purge Night” strips the drums completely alluding the titular series of films. The cutthroat “Yes Lord” featuring Flee Lord finds the RocAmeriKKKa duo getting in their hardcore bag lyrically prior to “Judas” produced by Chup finds him stuck at both ends of the pitchfork.

“New Money” hooks up a guitar sample thanks to V Don talking about that new paper coming in being speechless to him just before “The Light” featuring Tony Yayo seeing both artists over a boom bap instrumental from Nottz aggressively talking about how it got dark out. “No Pun Intended” featuring Kurupt cautions that neither one of them want any kind of trouble since the extended can extend in minutes & “Tearz” runs it all back up effortlessly.

Starting the final leg, Mephux brings a gospel trap flare to the table on “Oath” reflecting on when he used to play in the cold while the self-produced “3 Strikes” featuring Dark Lo & Nyce da Future jazzily refuses to make any kind of deal with the Devil going forward boasting they can go on for eons. The closer “Durnan” ties up the album refusing to share the proceeds choosing between a Desert Eagle or a box cutter.

Long Way Home isn’t on the same par of excellency as Dead Poets & Integrity 2 both were per se, nevertheless it still remains as an enjoyable offering from the Rochester lyricist & beatsmith. Yes the production on the last couple albums were more consistent, but Eto unquestionably sounds like he took his time with the verses & the brief amount of guests who join all match his level of lyricism finely.

Score: 3.5/5

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Eto – “Dead Poets” review

Eto is an MC from Rochester, New York who I first caught wind of him in 2018 with his feature at the end of the 6th installment of Westside Gunn’s infamous HWH mixtape series & eventually his DJ Muggs-produced full-length debut Hell’s Roof a few months later. This was followed up with Long Story Short as well as & Front Row & The Beauty of It, but is enlisting Toronto’s very own Futurewave behind the boards to make Dead Poets his first solo effort in 2 & a half years.

The titular intro sets things off with a bare piano instrumental talking about people trying to leave them in the dark & still shining regardless whereas “Vintage” works some raw kicks & snares declaring that he’s still living like the king he truly is to this day. “Bullets & Pills” was a good choice for a lead single keeping things in boom bap turf talking about having to clean up shop if one got the bills prior to Daniel Son tagging along for the gritty follow-up “Make It Out” as they both vividly describe being fortunate enough to get out of tough situations alive & well.

Moving on from there with “Poetry is Dead”, we have Eto over lavish piano chords pointing out the fact that those cut from the same cloth as him won’t live if the grind stops leading into “Cut the Robbin” returning to the boom bap declaring shop to be open for business nor to forget the unforgiven. The solemn titular interlude prioritizes self discipline & addressing that he hasn’t taken any losses or even wins yet just before G4 Jag comes into the picture for the jazzy “Did You Hear?” answering the question if either of them heard what others have said.

“My Poetry Deep” talks about how rare it is to see a costless person fall after learning that scared money gets it all over a boom bap instrumental with some harmonious background vocals while the song “City Broken” with Warlord Ironsheik has a more morbid approach sonically as both MCs advise not to slip & that slowly is the fastest way to get to where you wanna be in life. The penultimate track “Black Star” is a symphonic boom bap hybrid speaking on what those who die good men will receive & “Don’t Listen” ends things with Tearz handling the verses calling himself Van Gogh with a hoodie & Timbs on top of a tranquil beat.

From the moment Dead Poets was announced over the summer, I knew it was bound to be a great comeback from Eto after nearly 3 years of dropping a solo effort & I’m more than satisfied with the outcome of it. Although I respectfully wasn’t too crazy about the features during the back end of the album, Futurewave’s production is incredibly consistent & Swayze himself sounds rejuvenated on the mic.

Score: 4/5

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Nyce da Future – “Forever Mobbin’ review”

Nyce da Future is an MC from Queens, New York who came to my attention last spring with his Havoc-produced debut EP Future of the Streets that was pretty well received. But for his full-length debut over here, he’s enlisting Rochester’s very own Eto to produce the whole thing from top to bottom.

The titular intro is a piano-laced opener letting the world know that this is brotherly whereas “Head Shots” takes a solemn turn getting into boss mode. Reek da Villain tags along for the symphonic boom bap banger “Drillin’” to give off some murderous intentions just before the deranged “Close Range” to spit that gun talk.

Flee Lord comes into the picture for ”On God” to tug the heart strings from the subject matter to the sample-based instrumental leading into the dreary title track getting back on his gangsta shit. “Good Morning” returns to a sample-heavy sound talking about feeling blessed, but then the Big Twins-assisted “Fit for the War” perfectly lives up to it’s name from the combative bars to the cinematic beat.

Meanwhile on “Me”, we have Rob Gates joining Nyce to switch it up into trap territory talking about it doing it because of themselves while “It Ain’t Fair” marks a return to the boom bap declaring himself the hottest in Queens right now. After the “Reno Speaks” interlude, the song “Hoody Season” with Reno provides a gloomy anthem for the fall down to the dejecting instrumental while the penultimate track “Motivated” is a rich ode to his dedication. Reno returns again for the closer “Criminal Minded” for a grisly boom bap ode to the thugs.

If you enjoyed Future of the Streets as much as I did, then I highly recommend givin’ Forever Mobbin’ a listen because this is a very impressive full-length debut in my personal opinion. Couple of the features were lackluster, but it’s crazy to hear how much Eto’s production game has progressed within the last couple years & Nyce sounds just as hungry as he did 14 months prior.

Score: 4/5

Eto – “The Beauty of It” review

This is the 4th full-length album from Rochester emcee Eto. I first caught wind of him in 2018 with his feature on Westside Gunn’s Hitler Wears Hermes VI mixtape, but his DJ Muggs-produced debut Hell’s Roof that dropped a few months later would catch my full attention. This was followed up with Long Story Short & Front Row later that same year but for The Beauty of It, he’s decided to switch it up by bringing a handful of well-known producers into the fold.

The album begins with the title track, where Eto delivers a short yet raw verse over a haunting instrumental. The next song “No” with Grafh sees the 2 getting ferocious over a boom bap beat from a piano loop while the track “Nothin’ Like You” a luscious instrumental. “The Pot” gets on the mob boss tip over a dark Alchemist instrumental & after the short yet vicious “Guilty” interlude produced by Daringer, the song “Rusty Stainless” with Rome Streetz sees the 2 showing off their sharp lyricism over an chilling Statik Selektah beat.

The track “Growing Pains” talks about feeling like shit over a gloomy boom bap beat while the song “Beloved” displays his storytelling abilities over a spooky Marco Polo instrumental. The track “Metal Lords” with the Heavy Metal Kings finds the 3 talking about how they’re taking over the game over a cinematic beat & after the flute-heavy “Innocence” interlude, the song “Lawless” with $ha Hef sees the 2 talking about how people are just that over a hypnotic vocal sample.

The track “Anybody” talks about death over a forlorn piano-loop whereas “No Reply” seems awkwardly out of place & I say that because Jai Black is taking up a good bulk of the song with very little Eto presence whatsoever. The track “Pissin’ in Bottles” talks about partying over a slow instrumental from DJ Green Lantern & then after the short yet emotional “Purpose” interlude, “Back to the BBQ” is an odd way of closing out the album especially since Eto is once again barely on it. However, Large Professor does show that he can still cook up some grimy beats in 2020.

I personally think Hell’s Roof is his magnum opus but if you wanna get into the guy, The Beauty of It really isn’t a bad place to start either. Some of the features were weak but outside of that, the production choices are mostly top notch & Eto’s manages to come through with some of his most personal material yet.

Score: 3.5/5